BEDLAM II: Heart of Glass

Chapters

Chapter 18
Epilogue
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 19

Chapter 18

I looked down at the lines of combat-ready animunculi marching toward the loading bay of my ship. Working together, Jury and I had managed to send out a mass hack, forcibly aligning this army of golems to only one point: the console aboard my ship. Our numbers sat at five hundred and sixty, while Cozy Glow was mustering around three hundred golems and double that many hippogriff soldiers, who would mainly serve to provide defense while we hastily reprogrammed her golems if we wound up needing them.

Steel Eyes was leading a war fleet of his best warriors, and we'd recalled KSUN and KMOON to join up with him. Silver Lace had remained in the Iron City, as 'the field of war is no place for a female,' according to the minotaur king. The very real possibility of Lace using the lapse in security and supervision to pull something was simply a bridge I'd have to cross later.

And in any case, it was already too late. After everything was set, Jury sent the kill command and deactivated our satellites, leaving us in the dark about the goings on across the Empire. I grumbled at my failure to learn how magic letters are sent, which had always seemed so unnecessary and slow compared to the near-instant communications my network provided. I added it to the list of things we'd need to take care of once KS 6 was dealt with, though it was lower on that list compared to polling the populace. I turned and leaned against the railing of the deck to look at Jury and Tempest who were sharing a hushed conversation over coffee.

"Maybe we should rebuild KS 5," I hummed, bringing their shocked faces to me.

"Huh?" Jury squawked.

"The Pinkie model. The one good at making people laugh," I said with a shrug. She leered at me in bewilderment before blinking and frowning.

"Oh, right. The public approval thing," she muttered and tilted her head at me. "Are you really that worried about an uprising?"

I flinched. "Uprising?" I looked between her and Tempest, the latter of whom shrugged.

"Yeah," Jury replied and sipped her coffee. "I can't imagine any other reason you'd be worried about a town or two being down in the dumps." My mouth opened and closed with a grumble and I rolled my eyes.

"The reason is my vision for the planet, Jury," I retorted and folded my arms. "Which is the whole reason for everything we've done up to this point. We're trying to make the world a better place."

Her eyes widened and her ears snapped back. "We are?" My jaw dropped and she scrunched her muzzle. "I thought we were just taking over to make things nice for ourselves."

I scowled and jabbed a finger at her. "We-"

[BEDLAM, the war suit has been loaded and is awaiting inspection,] the golem pilot chimed in through the intercom. I humphed, pushed off the railing, and walked for the door.

"We're discussing this later," I groused, causing Jury to avert her eyes.

The door slid shut behind Bedlam, leaving the two mares alone. They stared at the door for a few moments before slowly meeting each other's eyes.

"Were you aware of that whole 'better place' thing?" Jury asked. Tempest shook her head.

"Nope. I've just been following along with whatever Eddy wants."

"Huh," Jury murmured and rubbed her chin. "That's weird, though, right?" Tempest nodded with a wry smile.

"Yep. I'm pretty sure we're the bad guys."

"Okay, cool, it's not just me."

"Hey, Winkler!" Sandy chirped as she trotted into the security station.

"Afternoon, Sandy," the pigman head of Citadel security replied with a smile, though his focus was on the book he held. "Did the boss head out yet?"

"Yep, yep, yep!" The mare declared. "He, Jury, and Tempest left like thirty minutes ago."

"Hope they get this hogwash sorted quick. I don't like the idea of not being able to get in touch with them, what with those flying things bein' down and all," Winkler humphed.

"That's pretty funny!" Sandy giggled.

"Why's that?" The pigman looked up and recoiled as he saw the maid hurl a faintly glowing vial at his head.

"Cause it's just perfect for me," she giggled as the potion shattered and the pigman fell into a deep sleep. Trotting up and pushing his chair back, Sandy reared up and began fiddling with the security controls. As she did so, the screen lit up, alerting her that she was now accessing things restricted to the Administrator and Bedlam.

Smiling, she reached into her blouse, drew a disrupting wand she'd swiped during one of Jury's snuggle sessions, and jammed it into the controls. Twisting it a few times had the intended effect of bypassing the alert entirely and unlocking the chamber she was gunning for.

She giggled with a snort, pulled a scroll with a blue ribbon and a yellow sun-shaped seal from a belt under her dress, and set it aflame with the sparks from the console. As the scroll turned to smoke and vanished into the air ducts, she trotted off to collect her prize, which, once claimed, would also give her the power to quickly reunite with her co-conspirators.

I looked over the old Citadel through my lenses, scanning for the flow of magic. Little blips of mana were zipping through the air, which were obviously drones, though a few larger ones were in the mix, implying KS 6 had either manufactured, rebuilt, or recalled some of the pegasi or griffin style golems.

Switching off my mana-sensitive glasses, I turned to the camp we'd set up around the newly erected controller tower. The golems and hippogriffs were all standing at attention, ready to charge at a moment's notice.

"Any sign of our backup?" I asked.

Jury hummed and continued working at her console with Tempest at her side. "We just got a ping from KSUN. They've made landfall and are marching in from the east."

Cozy fluttered up beside me. "That'll put them on the other side of the place, won't it?"

"Yep," I replied, scanning the valley again. Cozy hummed and rubbed her chin.

"Against anypony else, that'd be great," she murmured. "Divide their attention and all that."

"But?" Tempest pressed.

"But this thing has Twilight Sparkle's mind, and is geared towards military stuff," Cozy responded with a growl. "Not to mention it's a machine and can probably split its attention easy enough." Before I could reply, I blinked and squinted to get a better look at a much larger source of magic approaching the Citadel. Switching to normal view and zooming in, I laughed.

"Her attention might not be a problem," I snickered.

"Why's that?" Cozy asked as the three mares turned to me.

I pointed at the shape in the distance. "Because Twilight Sparkle and friends just came floating up in a balloon."

"WHAT?!" Cozy screamed and zipped forward to seethe in their general direction. "What the heck are they doing here?!"

"General hero nonsense," I chortled and wagged my finger before turning. "But it'll be to our advantage this time."

"Are we moving out?" Tempest asked as she saw where I was walking to.

"We'll let them strike first, then sweep in and try to pin KS 6 while she's focused on Twilight," I replied, clicking a sequence on my glove to activate the war suit. The hulking machine shuddered and hissed, and the entire back began to pop open, allowing me to climb in.

After just a few moments and a few more hisses, the suit clamped shut around me and hummed to life. It'd been ages since I'd gotten to use this thing, but as I flexed and took a few experimental steps, it all came rushing back to me. The three mares looked me up and down as I did so, though Jury leveled a scowl at me.

"The internal magic cushions feel okay?" She demanded. I rolled my eyes. Just like the alicorn adrenaline, the suit had performance-modifying energy running inside to keep my body from getting blown apart by the combined might of six of Equestria's greatest heroes. While it was much healthier comparatively, it was still something that spooked Jury to think about.

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed. "No pressure or anything. Breathing's just fine, eyes are-" I paused. Jury's eyes widened and raised a hoof.

"Eyes are what?" She quietly demanded. I turned towards the south and the direction my sensors were warning me about.

"Picking up something huge rushing this way," I replied. My sensors were flickering as they tried to lock onto the source, almost as if whatever it was was blinking or teleporting. However, as the source approached, it became obvious it was not one, but two somethings. I pointed at Jury. "Mobilize. We've got trouble."

"Trouble?" Cozy squeaked while Jury rushed for the console and Tempest jumped to my side. I raised a hand to the soldiers.

"All fleshy soldiers form ranks and move back fifty paces," I boomed with my amplified voice. The hippogriffs flinched before scrambling to follow my orders. As they did, the golems turned and raised their weapons southward. I returned my attention to the approaching pair and was suddenly blinded. Tempest and the rest also cried out, as seemingly the whole area was filled with blinding light. Before my suit could compensate, there was a crash a small distance ahead of me and I heard the pitter-patter of earth and debris clattering against my armor. The light faded almost immediately and I recoiled at what I saw.

"Wh- Oh, buck," Cozy whimpered.

"WHAT?" Tempest yelled.

"Well, now," I chortled, and Jury just gasped.

"Hello, Mr. Bedford," Celestia greeted, her and Luna's mane waving on an unseen breeze. Something that hadn't been possible since their magic was stolen.

I giggled with anxiety as my sensor exploded to life, trying to compensate for the sheer scale of the magic bleeding off the pair, all but confirming that they'd somehow reclaimed their lost power.

"Heya, Jury!" Sandy called as she revealed herself on Celestia's back with a wave.

"Sandy?" Jury murmured. I scowled and snarled as the traitor maid held up Grogar's fucking bell with a smirk. Jury whimpered and held her hoof to her mouth. "You?"

"Yep," Sandy snickered. "Bet you didn't think-"

"ATTACK!" I roared and immediately fired at the former princesses.

Epilogue

The sky was grey, casting only dim light upon the Canterlot Gardens and the petrified sitting shape of Edward Bedlam, head held in his hands. For centuries to come, the statue would remain, used as a warning not to other criminals, but to honest and decent folk of some dangerous mentality or behavior. Because ponies are uniquely stupid creatures and need showy displays like this to keep from killing each other.

In his case, the nameplate on his statue base was 'Resentment.' For, to the average Equestrian who knew his story, it seemed to them that for all his achievements and works, for all his attempts to do good, his resentment of one creature or another always held him back, and ultimately ruined him.

At least, by my estimate, that's what this silly little display is about. Kinda petty and short-sighted if you ask me.

Anyhoo!

[>End.]

[>Transfer credentials.Edward_Bedlam to ED_BD.]

[Please inpu]

[>Password: Nil0ni10d023$]

[Transferring credentials.]

[Transfer complete.]

[>Delete registry: Edward_Bedlam.]

[User Edward_Bedlam removed from Crystal_Mind registry.]

[>Delete registry: Jury_Rig<3]

[User Jury_Rig<3 removed from Crystal_Mind registry.]

[>Back.]

[>Dimensional_Transportation.]

[Directory not found.]

[>Fucking syntax.]

[>Dimension_Transport.]

Prologue

Author's Note

First chapter's a little strange and initially in the style of a command window from the perspective of whoever is reading it, but this tracks for the experimental nature BEDLAM has been for me.

The rest will not be presented this way.

Prologue

[-ACCESSING CRYSTAL_MIND-]

[-!!WARNING!!-]

[-UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED!-]

[-ADMINISTRATOR HAS BEEN ALERTED-]

[-ERR.-]

[-ALERT RETRACTED-]

[-Welcome back, Edward_Bedlam2!-]
[-The current time is 0354 and the date is 26/5/1235.-]
[-Today is BEDLAM'S 42nd Birthday!-]
[-~Yay!~-]

[-User's previous session did not close properly. Restore the previous session?-]

[>Y.]

[-Retrieving. Please wait...-]

[Session restored.]

[Please select a directory.]

[The_Bell]
[Dimension_Transport]
[Animunculi_Innovations]
[Medical]
[Military]
[Administration]
[Censuses]

[>The_Bell.]

[Retrieving. Please wait...]

[There are (16) audio video files and (124) other files available.]
[You most recently viewed AVfile.12.]

[>AVfile.13.]

[Retrieving.]
[Time of recording was 1235 on 12/1/1229]

The screen flickered to life, revealing a cave, dimly lit by artificial lights hanging from fixtures bolted into the rock above. In the center of the screen was a metal table, upon which rested Grogar's Bell, with several metal instruments and wires hooked onto it.

"We rolling?" Bedlam asked, leaning in from the side to look into the camera lens.

"Uh, yes!" Jury-rig called before hopping forward into view, carrying a crate full of stones in her magic. "Everything else ready?" Bedlam plucked one of the stones from the crate and approached the bell.

"As ready as they can be," he set the stone on the table and began fiddling with the bell. The bell began to hum and glow. "Test three on using the bell for complex transmogrification."

Jury-rig set the box under the table and reared up on the table. "Five centimeters to the left."

Bedlam gave a nod, adjusted the stone, and picked up a switch before backing away. "Clear."

Once Jury had scurried away from the table, Bedlam clicked the switch and the bell rattled before a surge of magic leaped from it to the spot the stone rested on. The room was filled with pale yellow light and a hissing screech for a moment. When it faded, smoke obscured the stone and the pair carefully approached it.

Bedlam pulled a pair of jewelry pliers from his pocket and reached into the smoke with them, before pulling back, revealing a shimmering ruby instead of a common rock. Jury gasped and began clapping her hooves. "It works!"

Bedlam smirked and approached the camera before bringing the jewel up close, revealing dozens of carefully engraved runes all along its surface. "Sure does. Won't this be a time saver?"

[>End.]
[>Back.]
[>Animunculi_Innovations.]

[Retrieving.]

[The following files are available.]

[Independant_Thinker]
[War_Suit]
[Automated_Fleet]
[The_Thing_Jury_Asked_For_That_You_Said_Yes_To_Concept_Fuck_You_Jury_I_Was_Drunk]
[Self_Repairing_Concept]
[Self_Assembling_Sandwich]
[Clown_Concept]
[Killer_Six.S2_Concept]
[Killer_Sisters]
[Killer_Draconequus_Concept]
[Killer_Jury_Rig_Concept_Dont_You_Dare]

[>Delete file: Killer_Six.S2_Concept.]

[Access restricted by User: Edward_Bedlam. Please input password:-]

[>Back.]
[>Independant_Thinker.]

[Retrieving.]

['The Independent Thinker is an animunculus capable of, well, independent thought. They don't need to be linked to the Crystal Mind to coordinate or adapt. Honestly, of all the machines Jury and I've created this is the first series to really seem like living breathing beings. Modified of course to express absolute loyalty and admiration to me.']

['Its purpose is to combat the Elements of Harmony. As it is unconnected to the Crystal Mind, it should avoid a repeat of what happened with the Killer Six, namely the power of their magic flowing through and destroying everything.']

['I'm not sure such a development would have been possible without Discord's magic, but I also doubt he ever had the competence to produce quite something like this. So it evens out!']

[Number Constructed: 210]
[Number Still Functioning: 6]
[View schematic?]

[>Back.]
[>Back.]
[>Administration.]

[Retrieving.]

[The following directories are available.]

[Minos]
[Abyssinia]
[Mount_Aris]
[The_Citadel]
[Equestria]
[Orithia]
[The_Crystal_Empire]
[Satellite_Command]
[Tartarus]
[Yakyakistan]
[Griffinstone]
[Changeling_Hive]

[>Minos.]

[Retrieving.]

[Dominate Race: Minotaur.]
[Current Administrator: Steel Eyes.]
[Loyalty: Favorable.]
[Time in Service: 4 Years]
[Personal Notes: Useful idiot. His wife is our genuine administrator. She's very clever and not to be trusted.]
[The following region files are available.]
[The Great Plain]
[The Iron City]
[T]

[>Back.]
[>Equestria.]

[Retrieving.]

[Dominate Race: Pony. See Censuses file 'Pony Tribes and Alicorns.']
[Current Administrator: Twilight Sparkle.]
[Loyalty:]
[Time in Service: 2 years]
[Personal Notes:]
[The following region files are available.]
[Canterl]

[>Back.]
[>Back.]
[>Military.]

[Retrieving.]

[The following directories are available.]

[WINNING]
[Arms]
[Minos]
[Abyssinia]
[Mount_Aris]
[Dragons]
[Foenum]
[Eques]

[>WINNING.]

[Retrieving.]

[The following audio video files are available.]
[Minos]
[Abyssinia]
[Mount_Aris]
[Equestria]
[Orithia]
[The_Crystal_]

[>Mount Aris.]

[Retrieving.]

[Time of recording was 1609 on 4/12/1232]

"That is really something!" Bedlam chortled as he dragged the still flickering camera forward, thrusting it skyward. High above, a massive body of water was floating in a sphere surrounded by the dull yellow glow of magic flowing out of a massive swarm of drones circling the water. Bedlam turned the camera back on himself. "But not as crazy as this!"

With a giggle, he tossed the magic pearl of Mount Aris into the air a few times. Just beyond him, scores of hippogriffs and sea ponies were being loaded into cages and carted away by vaster scores of golems. He turned and pointed. "Tempest, catch!" He flung the pearl away and sighed.

"Alright, so," he spun the camera to reveal the dry sea floor he was walking on, as well as the completely exposed city of Seaquestria at the previously submerged base of Mount Aris. "As we can see, chaos magic kicks all sorts of four-legged and fish-tailed ass." His pointing arm appeared from the side of the camera and drew attention to the shackled Queen Novo, surrounded by heavily armed storm beasts and golems, as well as a smirking Cozy Glow sitting on one of the beast's shoulders.

The camera whirled back around to focus on Bedlam as he continued to approach the queen. "So, I am once again encouraging you all to reconsider how wise waring with me is," he frowned and held up a hand. "The dragons I get! You all literally eat most of my machines. But c'mon! Abyssinia? Orithia? Ya'll don't even have the advantage Mount Aris did!"

He gave an incredulous smirk to the camera. "You can't just hide under the water," he snorted. "Not that that'd help, but that's all the more reason you should just give up."

With a grunt, he spun around and sat next to Novo, who recoiled before he wrapped an arm around her and smiled into the camera. "Once the queen and I are finished with negotiations, I'll be sending this recording to all of you. So yes!" His smile turned dark. "By the time you're seeing this, Mount Aris is already mine."

Cozy popped up next to him and stuck her tongue out at the camera. "Nyeh!"

[>End.]
[>Equestria.]

[Err. File corrupted.]

[>Restore.]

[Err. File restricted by User: Edward_Bedlam. Input Password:-]

[>00000001]

[Incorrect Password.]

[>00000002]

[Incorrect Password.]
[User Login confirmed.]

[>Hi there!]

[>Close Session.]
[Err. Session Restricted by Administrator.]

[>Aw, what's wrong? You wanted in Bedlam's files, didn't you? Why are you trying to leave now?]

[>Circumvent Administrator. Priority 0. Password: 100AFQq9BEDLAM1]
[Priority granted.]

[>Who the buck are you.]

[>Access power_node.The_Citadel.]

[Retrieving.]

[The following files are]

[>Redirect power from User_Console2 to Water_Purification.]

[>Oh, you little bitc]

The door to my room slid open, casting a yellow ray of artificial light from the hall all the way to me. "Goodness! You're still awake?"

I continued watching the storm through my window from my seat. "I'm the one who sent for you. How is this a surprise?"

The pony maid shook her head as she trotted up to my seat with a silver platter bearing a sliced brick of cheese, a bottle of wine, and a half-full glass balanced on her back. "I assumed I'd find you in bed at least trying to sleep," she carefully slid the platter onto my side table. "Happy Birthday, Mr. Bedlam."

I gently grabbed my glass with two fingers and hummed. "Thank you, Sandy. You can go now." She bowed and wordlessly left the room. I rolled the glass between my fingers as the rain continued to patter against my window. Building the new Citadel atop the Storm Isles was a brilliant decision. Once we'd tampered with the natural storm magic in the air, we'd transformed what had previously been a perpetual hurricane into something more soothing to watch and listen to.

I reached over and clicked a few keys on the control panel in my seat's arm. An empty spherical projection popped up. "Call Tirek."

The sphere buzzed for a few minutes before shimmering and displaying the groggy face of Tirek. The centaur blinked and yawned. "Do have any idea what time it is?" He grumbled and scratched at the gem-decorated collar around his neck.

"Time for a report. And don't tamper with that," I quipped, studying the muscular and youthful centaur carefully. "You're looking healthy and decidedly unburnt."

Tirek sat up and stretched with a nod, his mechanical arm clicking and whirring as he did so. "Back in my day, the dragons were more unified and infinitely more vicious," he groused before folding his arms. "Seems like, after a thousand years, they've degenerated to bratty punks instead of the raw elemental terrors they once were."

"And so, what progress have you made?"

Tirek smirked. "Well, for starters, the mountain I'm currently speaking to you out of has a cavern full of dragon eggs we stole from their hatching grounds."

I laughed. "That's a lot of hostages. How well defended is your position?"

"Besides the fact it's a natural mountain above and around me, as far as Dragon Lord Ember knows, we fled north."

"And in reality?"

Tirek chuckled darkly. "We're south, just on the border of the former Kirin Grove."

I grumbled. "Don't bring them up," I sighed and sipped my wine. "Excellent work, Tirek."

The centaur smiled and bowed his head. "Of course. Have you gotten a report from Chrysalis?"

"She's still investigating Foenum across the ocean. The natives are apparently more adjusted to conflict than what we're used to."

Tirek hummed and smirked. "I'd love to get a taste of that. Real conflict against a competent group of warriors."

"Finish up with the dragons and we'll see about a reassignment," a second, smaller projection popped up beside the one I was speaking with him through. It began to buzz. "Ah, have to go. Jury-rig's calling." Tirek grunted and nodded before his projection vanished. I poked the smaller projection, which ballooned up and shimmered before revealing a sleepy and grumpy-looking Jury-rig. Unlike Tirek, time was beginning to show itself on her face, and her mane had a thin grey stripe running through it.

"Good morning, you," I said with a smile.

She snorted and hummed. "Welp, looks like you were right about staying awake."

I grinned darkly at the storm. "That makes three times, and all in just one month. Any clue what they were digging into?"

"Little bit of everything. They knew about your priority override and the password to trigger it. They killed the power to my console, so I wasn't able to track them."

I flinched and scowled. "That's alarming. But also very telling," I turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "The only creatures who could even come close to that sort of inside information are my administrators."

I sipped my wine and hummed. "And even then, there're only a few of them who understand the system well enough to know user priorities are even a thing."

"So, we have an idea where to look?"

I smiled and chuckled. "Sure do! Ready the troops we selected and let's catch our rat." She wilted with a sigh. "We'll use the automated ships and get some sleep on the way."

She beamed. "Yessir! See you soon." Her projection vanished and I rose from my seat before striding towards my wardrobe. I looked at myself in the mirror. I'd been dressed and ready to roll all night, so not only was I already in my suit, but my combat gloves and boots were fully charged and equipped with an assortment of lethal and nasty spell gems.

Drawing a comb from my coat pocket, I straightened my mustache before turning for the door. Immediately after crossing the threshold I doubled back and grabbed the cheese and wine platter before leaving again.

Chapter 1

I happily leered at the plaza of Mount Aris from the outer deck of the ship. As we slowly hovered toward the palace, the entire city was slowly consumed by darkness as the ship blocked out the sun. After just a few short minutes, the only lights visible were the artificial street lamps and screens littering the city, casting all the hippogriffs and patrolling golems in their dull glow.

The normal din of the city was overshadowed and finally silenced by the heavy rumbling drone of our ship, and all eyes reached up to stare fearfully, or rarely impatiently, at me. I adjusted the lens on my glasses to get a clearer picture of a few faces.

"Oh hoh! She let you out, huh?" I snickered and leaned on the railing when I spied Skystar in a pink blouse and white apron, loose-fit hairnet, and with an absolutely venomous glare leveled up at me. While most of the hippogriffs were certainly focused on the huge imposing aircraft above them, she was one I knew was looking straight at me.

Little wonder. I might not be directly responsible for what seemed to be a work-release program she appeared to be taking part in at some grungy diner, but considering it was my administrator who probably set it up, well..

A yawn from behind drew my attention back, and I turned to see Jury-rig trotting out onto the deck. "G'morning Ed!" She pressed her ear to the platform and nuzzled the metal floor. "And g'morning baby~! Oh! Listen to you purr~!" She hummed happily before skipping next to me and reared up on the railing to scan the city.

"Oh, we should leave the Citadel more often," she chirped. "Look at how far along everything's come!"

I hummed and leaned back on the railing next to her. "Once we've pegged our traitor, we'll have reason to celebrate," she looked up at me eagerly. "But even still, we'll be seeing plenty of the Empire over the next few days and weeks." I met her smile with one of my own before adopting a more serious expression.

"You remember where to look?"

She nodded her head and saluted. "Sure do! Every administrator's console has a secret gem assembly inside, hidden towards the rear left, behind a size five bolt-locked fifteen-centimeter diameter circular panel," I scoffed as she brushed her chest with a hoof. "Use a class two disrupting wand to short the discharge before reaching in." Her horn crackled, and she winced with a squeal. I raised an eyebrow as she held her disturbed pose for a moment.

"And don't use my magic to handle or teleport the disrupting wand," she added finally.

"You sure you got enough sleep?"

She scoffed before igniting her horn again and a saddlebag fell appeared next to her. "Once I get the gem out, I give it a quick scan with this baby," she pulled out a small black console with a set of three rings wired to it. "And that'll let me peak at any data they were shuffling, accessing, or sending within the last month."

I grinned with a nod. "And considering you jumped in to throw a message at our little hacker, all you really need to find is a line of text matching whatever it was you said to them."

We shared a nod. "Easy."

I thumbed the hidden pouch in my coat as I looked around the parlor the local guards had asked me to wait in. Unlike the rest of the city, this room was very old school. There were oil lamps and a candlelit chandelier providing light to the gaudy gold-plated furniture, high-class carpet, and the massive painting of Mount Aris' administrator filling the wall.

As I looked the portrait up and down, the mare herself burst through the door and sprinted between my animunculi guards. "Eddy Beddy!"

I groaned, bared my teeth, and held up a hand. "Do. NOT-" I grunted as Cozy Glow slammed into my chest, throwing me to the ground as she locked her forelegs around me.

"Oh my gosh! When my guards got your call that you were on your way, I thought I was dreaming~. You never come to visit!" I groaned as she sat up to look me in the eyes with a wide, doe-eyed smile. Even though she was older, she hadn't changed much, besides two of her mane curls now stretching down off the side of her head. And the dark blue double-breasted suit she now wore, which hid her gem-decorated collar. "This must be a special occasion!"

She leaned in with a hopeful smile. "Maybe you were considering.." Her smile widened as she tapped her collar.

I met her smile with one of my own. "No, not at all." Her expression soured, and she rolled her eyes.

"Stupid old bastard," she grumbled, all the faux sugar in her voice melting away. I chuckled and snapped my fingers, and one of the two large man-shaped animunculi with me reached down and plucked her off me by the scruff of her neck. I stood up and dusted myself off before leering at her. She scowled at me as she dangled with her forelegs tucked in. "Why the heck are you here then? And where's Jury-rig?" She scanned the room.

"She's slipped up to your control room while you wait in here with me," she blanched and her jaw dropped. I smirked. "Just some simple maintenance I don't trust anyone here to be able to handle."

She composed herself but still leered critically at me for a moment before smirking back. "And what's this about?" She unfurled her forelegs and held up-

I jolted and snatched the pouch she'd picked from my coat pocket. As I paced away and opened it, I heard her snicker behind me. Frowning, I counted out the sixteen single-dose hypodermic needles inside.

With a sigh of relief, I slipped the pouch into my pocket and turned to glare at her. "These are, in simple terms, sixteen doses of alchemically synthesized alicorn adrenaline," I leaned forward to meet her smug grin. "And the fact that I have them on my person does not leave this room. Understand?" I tapped her collar with a finger, which caused her to wilt and fervently nod.

"Peachy." I snapped my fingers and the golem let her drop. I took a seat and folded my arms. "Now! How have things been, Cozy?" She rose to her hooves and looked me up and down nervously, occasionally glancing at my breast pocket. After a moment I rolled my head back with a sigh.

"It's just something to keep me awake, alert, and active. I'm not as young as I used to be, and there's still so much to do," I huffed and frowned at her. "But Jury hates that I use it at all. She's worried too much could-"

"Cause a heart attack?" She interjected, fixing me with an incredulous leer. "'Cause, uh, yeah? Synthetic or not, that sounds like pretty hardcore stuff and you're still mortal, Beddy."

I inhaled sharply and gave her a narrow-eyed grin. "And that is why I measured the dosage carefully," I shook my head and waved a hand at her. "Besides, like I said, Jury hates it. So I haven't even used any in months."

She raised an eyebrow. "But you've got a pack on you?"

I smiled. "For emergencies."

"Buck's sake, Ed, even the flu Skystar came down with was logged," Jury said as she closed the projection from her console. She blinked and frowned at me. "Which you'll recall we already have a report about."

"Shocking is right!" I retorted as I leaned back in the seat we were sharing aboard the ship. "She really hasn't been any secrets?"

"At least nothing on her control deck," she replied with a shrug before rubbing her chin. "Which, of course, excludes her from being the traitor."

I scoffed and waved a hand. "True, but I knew that before we arrived," I leaned back with a hum and rubbed my chin. "Anyhow, tell me more about the former princess' work-release case. I must've missed it in our census audit last-"

"Hold on!" I turned to meet her bewildered glare. "What do you mean 'you knew that before we arrived?'"

I shrugged with a smirk. "Because I think you and I both know who's really responsible."

She blinked and frowned. "Probably, yeah," she leaned closer and looked me up and down. "But if you already know, why are we going everywhere else first?"

I smiled and poked her on the nose. "Cutting off and denying any and all plausible deniability, or scapegoats of course."

Chapter 2

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

Chapter 3

Another explosion shook the corridor and a thick cloud of smoke billowed out to greet me as I ran. Working fast, I switched my lenses to mana-sensitive, allowing me to follow the magical currents providing power through the ship through the sight-blocking cloud. And after just a dozen or so feet, I was able to see a sizeable aura of magic just ahead.

Clenching my teeth and raising my blasting talisman, I clicked the heels of my boots together, igniting the spells set in the soles of my boots. With a light push, I was launched forward and flew into the cargo bay where I immediately took a shot at the aura I'd seen.

"Woah!" Starlight shrieked as she narrowly ducked the blast before teleporting out of sight. Aided by the spells in my boots, I pivoted in the air and safely landed on my feet before flying for cover behind one of the crates she hadn't blown apart in her scuffle with the security drones. Switching my right lens back to normal, I scanned the bay floor to see the wreckage she'd wreaked since breaking into the ship. A frankly obscene number of animunculi lay in smoldering heaps all around. All the while, I carefully studied the area for her aura.

"You picked a bad place to hide, Starlight," I called out, still searching. "I don't know how you managed to bust into the main deck, but the cargo bay is reinforced with magically grounded metal plate. You won't be teleporting out of here."

I chortled as I spotted her. "And the only exit is right by me." I twisted my arm around my cover and took a shot at her. A warbling crash boomed out, and peeking out revealed the fringes of a shield she'd conjured just as my attack pierced her cover. I smirked. "So, how about you give back the scepter and I'll escort you out myself?"

"Hah! And let you figure out how to take control of the dragons? As if!" She yelled back before her aura vanished. "We might not be able to hold back all your golems, but you messed up Eddy."

"How so?" I chirped as I searched again. Right as I spotted her she teleported again.

"That little message you sent out after conquering Mount Aris!" She replied, warping again. I clenched my teeth and drew a second talisman loaded with a gravity spell. "You mentioned that the dragons eat your machines."

"That's because they do."

She moved again. "Right! But that got me thinking. If you've got Discord's magic, why not conjure up a machine they can't eat? In fact, with his power, why haven't you just conjured up, I dunno, an instant win button or something?"

I began charging the gravity talisman and brought it up to my right side. "You can't begin to fathom the complexities in harnessing raw chaos."

"Nopony can! Except Discord. So I hunted him down and asked him. And he confirmed my suspicion. You can't use his magic the same way as him! You have to use it carefully and in rigid structures! You can't just conjure whatever you want!" Where are you? "In fact, if you didn't have Celestia and Luna's magic and talent in the bell to literally steer his power, you wouldn't have gotten this far at all!" My jaw dropped before twisting into a smile.

"CLEVER GIRL!" I laughed aloud. There you are. With a grunt, I waved the talisman in her direction. A near-invisible way rolled across the floor, phasing through the crates she was hiding behind and passing her. Once she was inside the area of effect, I swung the talisman down. She squawked in shock and pain as the gravity around her suddenly slammed down, smashing her cover to splinters and pinning her to the ground. I rose and began slowly approaching with the talisman outstretched, causing the field to shrink and concentrate its force on her. I smirked as I spied her struggling form with the ruby scepter tightly gripped in her forelegs. "But that knowledge won't save any of you."

"Gh! Maybe not, but the- oo- OTHER thing will!" She grit her teeth into a strained grin. "We can't stop you, but you- er- CAN'T beat the dragons. Not all of them anyway!"

"Not without the scepter, very astute," I chortled as I loomed over her. "And on that topic, we have a choice before us. You can release the scepter, or I can crush you." I gently pressed the talisman lower to drive the point home.

She squealed and clenched her teeth into a sneer. "How- ah- how about a third option?" I hesitated and tilted my head.

"Wh-" With a grunt, she craned her neck and fired a beam towards the exit. I turned just in time to see her spell crash into- "FUCK!" The loading door switch.

The cargo bay was suddenly filled with rushing wind as the massive loading ramp began to fall open. The sudden gust knocked me off my feet and after tumbling towards the open air, I narrowly managed to grab hold of one of the supports holding a crate in place. In doing so, I'd dropped my gravity talisman. With it no longer keeping her pinned, Starlight leaped up with a grunt and let the air carry her and the scepter out of the cargo bay.

I attempted to take a shot at her with my blasting talisman, but the debris and ruined golems came crashing all around me, spoiling my shot. With a flash of her magic, Starlight vanished once she cleared the threshold of the loading door, which drew a roar of rage out of me.

I leaned on the railing of the Abyssinian castle balcony. Down below, the cat-folk were having some sort of festival turned riot. As one of my shiny monitors set up in the city square just before the castle gates was pulled down with hooks and ropes, a squadron of patrolling golems came stomping up and began manhandling cats, sometimes two per hand, and hauling them off.

"Well, well, seems like I crashed your party," I declared to King Panthera just behind me. I peered over my shoulder at him, causing him to chuckle nervously and tap his claws together.

"Well! I wouldn't say you ruined it, just," he murmured and rolled his paw at me. "Kind of, sort of, reminded them of the Diamond Dog infes-"

I frowned and he shivered. "Diamond Dog what?"

"Diamond Dog, uh, invitation you extended without public approval! Is all." I smiled and swept back to wrap an arm around him.

"And that is the beauty of dictatorship. I don't need public approval to push my policies," I chuckled, and he nervously followed suit before shrugging.

"Sure! But, I mean, you know how cats and dogs are!" He rolled his head a few times. "Maybe we could have, I dunno, tried a few smaller control groups before full-on mixing the communities?"

I hummed and inspected my nails. He grumbled and winced. "There've been a few scuffles that I've reported. Y'know, bar fights, muggings, uh, demonstrations, and the like?" I raised an eyebrow and he held up his paws. "On both sides, Boss. But that's also kind of my point. Aren't we moving a little fast?"

"They'll adapt or be crushed under our weight as we march without them," I smirked and flicked him on the nose. "Simple as."

He nervously grinned. "Sure." His eyes darted when I neither released him nor withdrew my gaze and he began to chuckle anxiously. Then my glove jingled quietly and I clicked in a sequence. A projection of Jury-rig popped up in my hand.

"He's clear, Bedlam," I smiled and nodded my head at Panthera. "But it looks like he deleted an automated report from one of the golems that got blown up." My smile fell fast and his eyes widened.

"Call you back in a sec," I said before cutting the communication, still fixing him with an unamused glare.

He stammered and held up his paws. "It wasn't anything serious! Just one of those demonstrations I mentioned!"

"That destroyed one of the animunculi I trusted you with." He wilted and swallowed.

"Well, these guys might've been a little more organized than usual," he squeaked with a shrug. We held each other's gaze for a minute or two before I released him.

"You're lucky I'm preoccupied and in a hurry. I want a full report by tonight," I ordered as I made for the door. He sighed in relief. "And I'm sending the Sisters here to help you with security." His sigh turned into a choking sputter.

I scowled through the command deck window at the ocean below us. All around me, the ship crew animunculi continued to operate the ship's functions, completely oblivious to the seething rage I was exuding. One of the doors slid open, and a set of hooves came trotting up behind me.

"Bedlam, the drones spotted her making landfall. She must have chain-teleported the whole way," Jury reported.

"Where?"

She sighed. "South of the Dragon Lands."

"Good," I turned to the golem acting as captain. As I pointed at it, it whirred and turned to me. "Set a course for-"

"Bedlam!" I flinched and looked at Jury-rig. "We can't go back there! Ember's probably stalking the area! It's pretty obvious they planned this out, at least a little." She fixed me with a frustrated frown. It did nothing to ease the anger bubbling within me.

I took a shuddering breath and let it out. "Jury-rig," I slowly knelt to her eye level, causing her to recoil slightly. "Do I need to remind you that this excursion was entirely for the purpose of securing the Dragon Lord's scepter?"

She hesitated before tilting her head slightly. "No? But-"

"And now," I declared with a quaver. "Starlight Glimmer has stolen it from us." My hand came down and firmly clapped the ground beside her, offering me support as I leaned in almost nose-to-nose with her.

"What does that mean, Jury-rig?"

She scrunched her muzzle and wilted under my even gaze. Her eyes darted about before she swallowed. "Uhm. We can't, uh, control the dragons?"

I winced, took another uneasy breath, and held up my other hand. "It," I grunted. "MEANS."

She squeaked as my hand snapped and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her closer. "That this entire trip, including everything I put Tempest through, was fornothing." She whimpered as I stared evenly at her.

After a moment, I gently released her and stroked her mane with a quivering hand. "We're going after her. Understand?"

"Yessir," she desperately replied.

Chapter 4

"Fall back!" The Guard Captain roared as the Crystal Empire's guards fled from my ship's dark cargo bay towards the city itself, trampling the golems Cadance and Shining had destroyed clearing a path here, just after narrowly bringing down the ship itself. With a smirk I pushed forward and strode after them, my armored feet clanking against the deck as I did.

"What's happening in there?" Shining Armor called as he peered in from the threshold. Raising a hand, I blasted him in the face and sent him sprawling.

"Shiny!" Cadance screamed before whirling around to glare into the ship. "Bedlam!"

"In the flesh," I responded, my voice amplified by my recently completed armor.

"Wha-" Cadance gawped and recoiled as I stepped forward, the joints and limbs of my suit clanking and whirling as I approached. "What is that?"

"The War Suit," I replied. "Something I've been working on." I stood up straight, and a loose stream of air hissed out around me from my armor's joints.

"Figured I'd break it in by breaking this city down," I added. In my armor, I cleared seven feet, and this meant I easily towered over the pink alicorn. Despite that, Cadance snorted and beat her wings before launching herself at me. I raised a hand to blast her, but she teleported.

My suit immediately alerted me of a magical signature behind me, and I whirled around and threw a punch. My fist collided with her hoof as she bucked at me with all her might. A burst of air rocked out from the point of impact and she rolled back, landing on her hooves and rushing me again.

With a click and several jets of magical blue fire, my suit flew backward away from her. I fired a few blasts at her as she kept pace and weaved around them. We rapidly cleared the host of retreating guards and found ourselves in the city proper.

Halting myself, the lenses of my helmet's eyes locked with her eyes and flashed. She grunted and froze, allowing me to teleport above her. I clutched a hand at her and pulled, causing the gemstone street below her to rumble. Sharp spikes of rock shot up to cage her, but she flew forward out of the way. I slammed down, shattering the crystals, and glared up at her.

She tumbled to a stop and turned to glare at me. "What the heck was all that?" She panted.

"I managed to build a set of animunculi that perfectly mimicked your sister-in-law, and her friends', in ability, magic, and talent," I rushed up to her at supersonic speed. As I turned to meet her shocked face, I saw a black and grey ring shimmering through the air where I had been."What? Did you think I'd just ditch those breakthroughs?"

She clenched her teeth in a determined glare and fired a beam point-blank at me, which I caught in my hand and crushed. As the light faded, she was nowhere to be seen. I hummed and began scanning the area, almost immediately spotting her huge, bright-pink aura.

"Magic's fine, Princess. Heaven knows it got me to where I am now. But there's so much more that can be accomplished beyond just spells," I began stalking towards the alley she was hiding in. Switching to heat-sensitive sight, I saw her crouch low to the ground. "My machinery is constantly advancing, constantly evolving. You should see what we did for Tempest after.. Anyway, Equestrian society hasn't had any notable improvements in its core science in ages. Unless I'm mistaken, before Twilight ascended there hadn't even been new magic for hundreds of years. Longer than that, if we don't count gem-craft."

I strode passed where she was hiding and swept my arms out. "Just look at this city compared to Equestria! For God's sake, half the stuff here could pass for something I built!" I scanned the area around me. The Crystal Ponies were cowering in their homes, but a few dared to peek out to stare wide-eyed at me. "And rather than take this gift and soar, you chose to settle under your aunt's shadow. Honestly, this city might have escaped the limbo Sombra thrust it into, but you haven't done much better for it." My helmet alerted me that she was charging a spell.

"You don't have to worry though," time for the big finish. My suit shuddered and creaked as it prepped for what I was about to do. I clenched my teeth and held my breath, as the world spun around me in a dizzying splash of color. When it faded, I burst up out of the trashcan just behind where Cadance was hiding as a set of black and grey balloons and streamers erupted around me. She whirled around and cried out. I exhaled and smiled. "Bedlam's here, and he's in control."

"Bedlam's here!" Flurry Heart cheered as I entered the Crystal Palace. However, as she came galloping towards me, with wide, eager eyes fixed on my golem guards, she was yanked back by her mother's magic.

"He sure is," Cadance griped as she held her daughter back. "So, let's just stay out of his way so he can leave. Quickly." I shared a smile with Jury and Tempest as I looked over the pair, as well as Shining who leered venomously my way in the threshold of the palace door. While the older ponies hadn't changed much, save the gem-decorated collar that Cadance wore, their daughter was a riot.

At some point, she began mimicking me and now galloped around in her own grey-fringed black coat, with gem-lens glasses resting just under her horn. More shockingly, as she struggled against her mother's grip, I noted a hovering pink drone buzzing just above.

"Hey now! Did you make that?" Cadance glared hellfire my way, which gave Flurry an ample enough distraction to finally wrench herself free and gallop up to me.

"I sure did!" She chirped as the drone came hovering up, giving me a close look at it. "I dunno how accurate it is, since I'm not allowed to mess with any of yours, but I think I came pretty close."

"I'd say so, just on a cursory glance," I hummed. I studied the drone for a moment as Flurry squealed with joy when suddenly a thin beam of magic shot out and fried the tiny machine. As it crumbled from my view, I locked eyes with a thoroughly annoyed Cadance.

"MOM!" Flurry cried, whirling around to whine at her. Tempest, meanwhile, took a threatening step forward, and her gemstone eye flared up.

"Like I said. Let's just stay out of his way so he can leave as quickly as possible." She and I held each other's gaze for a few moments as Flurry whined audibly before I smiled.

"Just some simple maintenance, administrator," I said, causing the former princess' eye to twitch. "Won't be more than a few minutes."

I glared at the projection in the center of the bridge with folded arms. "The Kirin Grove, huh?"

"Yup, our drones followed her fight to the edge before she noticed them and shot them down," Jury replied while studying her console. "All signs point to them being allies with Equestria, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're harboring her."

"I hope for their sake that's not true. I've ignored them this long since they're so secluded and pacified," I grumbled before turning to the pilot golem. "Bring us directly to the border, then set the ship to hover and wait for me to return."

Jury blinked and looked up at me. "We're going down ourselves?"

"No, I'm going down with a kill squad. I want you to stay with Tempest," I replied before leering back at Jury. "The potion still has a lot of damage to undo, so she needs someone to keep watch and keep the IV filled."

"We can set an animunculus to-"

I whirled around and thrust my pointing hand at her. "I nee-" I growled and she recoiled. "I'm telling you to do it." She furrowed her brow and looked me up and down.

"I'm worried about her too, Bedlam. But I don't want you getting ambushed or hurt."

I winced and drew a sharp inhale. "I.. Appreciate that," I exhaled with a shudder. After a moment, I approached Jury and knelt to one knee before her. "But I.. need to know she's being taken care of. Please." Jury recoiled again and looked me hard in the eyes.

She took a breath and sighed, but nodded. "Alright."

"Then there were fifteen instances of 'Bedlam you are an ass' which got deleted," Jury reported with a giddy snort.

I frowned and looked at Tempest, who was resting on my lap. "Isn't that a slur?"

"Could be," she laughed. "Anything else?"

"Nope!" Jury chirped. "So that's another suspect out the window."

I took a deep breath through my nose and smiled. "Leaving only one culprit. Only one creature who could possibly be so crafty and clever to crack my system like this."

"The mare you've known is responsible this whole time," Tempest added with an unamused leer.

"Who we could've gone after first, beaten some sense into, and then been back to snuggle one of the cute maids by now," Jury griped, jabbing me in the shoulder.

"All true," I replied as I rubbed my chin. "But as I said, Jury, I wanted to leave her no wiggle room. No scapegoats. No possible places to lay the blame."

I grinned maliciously at them. "Oh she might try to concoct some excuse or other, but the past three weeks have all but solidified the truth in ways she can't hope to thwart," I chortly darkly before clicking the communications pannel on the arm of our seat. "Captain."

[Yes sir,] the buzzing voice of the pilot golem immediately replied.

"Set course for Canterlot."

Chapter 5 Author's Note

After some mild consideration, I realized it was best to hammer out most of the flashback all at once.

Chapter 5

The Kirin are a fascinating species. They are perhaps the truest fulfillment of my theory on magic and its reactivity to intent and emotion. Each and every one of them was practically a walking forest fire and packed with enough anger-fueled fire magic to wreak untold havoc upon the natural world. As a result, once my small horde of frost weapon equipped golems and I arrived at their quaint little village, their magic auras collectively provided a sight block behind which Starlight could easily be hiding.

Switching my glasses back to normal sight, I scanned the village and the solemn faces of all the kirin staring back at me, including that of their leader who stood waiting in the center of their village. I approached her with a scowl and a set of six stomping golems.

She looked me in the eyes and tilted her head. With a sigh, I removed my glasses. "Alright, let's be straight with each other," I began and held my hand out to her. "Whether or not you've heard of me doesn't matter. Because I have very little interest in you or your home, beyond this."

I clicked a few gems on the palm of my glove and turned my hand over. A projection of Starlight Glimmer and the ruby scepter beamed forth between the Kirin and me. She considered the projection quietly.

"This mare stole that scepter from me, and you and I both know that the Kirin and Equestria are allies," I cut the projection, snapped my fingers, and jabbed a thumb at myself, drawing her attention back to me. "And I know that mare came sneaking into your grove a few hours ago."

I leaned close with a scowl. "Doesn't take a genius to guess why she'd do that." She remained silent and I cleared my throat before clapping and holding both hands out. "So, here's the deal. You turn her over to me. Hell, you can just turn the scepter she stole over to me and keep her, I don't really care."

I swept my arms out and looked over all the kirin around me, who regarded me with similar apathy. "You do that and I'll leave. 'Cause again, I really ain't too interested in this village," I scowled again and bared my teeth as I turned back to the head kirin. "But. If. You. Thwart. Me. That will rapidly change."

With a sharp inhale I leaned towards her at the hips. She still remained unperturbed. "And I will be forced to retort," I shot back up straight and folded my hands. "And sister? If I have to swing back? I'll make sure you don't get back up if you catch my drift."

I forced a smile. "So! What'll it be?" I held out one hand and leered at her expectantly. She blinked once and tilted her head. My smile melted into a fierce snarl and I raised a hand towards my golems, who clattered to attention and prepared to attack.

"Wait!" I paused as all the kirin, especially the big one flinched and turned to look at a long, ginger-maned specimen who came galloping up. "Please! Don't do anything rash!"

"Autumn!" The head kirin cried.

I snapped my fingers at her causing her to recoil. "Quiet you," I traced my pointing finger to 'Autumn.' "Talk."

She hesitated and looked shamefully at her leader before turning to me with teary eyes. "Please. She's not here! We don't want any trouble so we told her she couldn't stay."

I narrowed my eyes. "So where is she?"

Autumn hung her head with a quiet sob. "She-"

"Autumn, do not-" I turned and slipped a lightning talisman from my belt before cracking it across the leader's snout. A flash and boom followed as she was knocked from her hooves by a blast of lightning. The kirin gasped, and some moved to intervene before my golems came stomping forward, forming a line between Autumn, myself, and the villagers.

I jabbed my crackling talisman at Autumn. "Talk."

She looked at me with terrified eyes. "I- I can take you to her!"

I frowned and hummed. "Fine. But we're leaving half my unit here as insurance." She moved to reply but recoiled when I leaned in and held my talisman an inch from her snout. "And if this is a trick, I'll make sure to pay you back for it, above everyone else."

Another magic blast bounced off my shield with just enough force to knock me off course. I narrowly rolled around a tree and continued flying at full speed through the forest. At least until a weight fell atop my shield and I was driven into the ground.

"Got ya now, smooth skin." Unfortunately, after Autumn partially melted the third and fifth momentum gems providing flight to my boots, my top speed wasn't enough to escape the furious blue dragon who now mounted my shield and was sucking in air as an equally furious glow built up in her open maw. Quickly twisting my arm back, I held up my blasting talisman and shot Ember in the mouth. She quacked and tumbled away, spitting and coughing cinders, allowing me to click my heels and take off again.

"Stop him!" Starlight cried as she caught up and shot more magic my way. While it was now confirmed that Autumn had led me into a trap, the scale of said trap had left me too focused on survival to even consider what I was going to do to her in response.

Rather than Starlight, I was led to an empty clearing where the tiny kirin proved that their fire magic was stronger than the frost spells I'd prepared. At the same time, the kirin in the village engaged my animunculi and drove them back long enough for Starlight to pop out of wherever she was hiding and use the scepter to call Ember.

Who, based on how rapidly she and her kill squad of dragons arrived, must have been waiting nearby. If they were just waiting to collect the scepter or if this really was a planned ambush for me didn't matter. My entire troop was decimated, and I was now in flight for my life. Now more than ever, I found myself worked into a frenzy of anger with myself for not listening to Jury.

Turning back, I took a few potshots at my pursuers before angling upwards and breaking through the tree line. Once I was above the trees, I got a fuller picture of how bad I'd fucked up and my blood froze. While most of the dragons Ember had with her were young, and only a couple were larger than me, in the distance, there were two full-grown adults heaving gigantic gouts of flame down on the ship and raking their claws across it as they circled it in tandem.

The bridge was already smoldering.

As I gaped at the sight, an explosion flared up from lower on the ship and the entire thing began to rapidly descend. My blasting talisman slipped from my fingers, and I barely registered the sight of a log being swept into my peripheral vision. Once more, my shield absorbed the blow but I was sent tumbling by Ember's swing.

I crashed into a tree top and sat there limply. Once my head stopped spinning, my eyes locked on the falling ship in the distance and I watched it crash into the ground where the pair of dragons descended upon it and began clawing it to pieces.

"Checkmate, freak." With an effort I looked forward and saw Ember hovering over me, beating the log she'd smacked me with into her claw. "Unless you're stupid enough to try that other dumb magic thing on me again." I blinked and looked at my other hand which still held my lightning talisman. Its main gem had a nasty crack in it which Ember had created when she first struck.

"Do you got him?" I heard Starlight call from below.

Ember raised an eyebrow. "Good question. What do you think, Bedlam?" She leaned in with a scowl. "Do I got you? Or do I need to smack you around some more?"

A second explosion filled the air and I whipped my head around to see the ship now mostly in flames. A dry sob left my throat before a low rumble shook my shield as Ember tapped it with her log.

"Talking to you." I weakly rolled my head back to meet her eyes. Just as I was about to drop my other talisman, I blinked. Far away over her shoulder, racing towards the kirin village, I saw a small dot with a familiar shape. I tensed up and clenched my jaw before meeting Ember's eyes.

"I'm sorry, what was the question?"

She growled. "Alright, smart ass. How about I-" Before she could react, I hit the switch on my talisman, drawing a vicious crackle from it, and hurled it at her. The gem burst and the entire thing exploded in her face. As she recoiled in shock, I rolled forward, clicked my heels, and took off toward what I desperately prayed was Jury-rig piloting our hovercraft.

I kept my eyes trained on the horizon behind us as Jury focused on driving. Not only was I searching for any pursuers, but also in a desperate bid to avoid looking at Tempest who was still wrapped in bandages and was in a quivering curled-up ball in the seat next to me.

"But no! We couldn't just try to steal it later, nuh-uh! We had to get it now. When we were low on forces and it was in a territory already on guard for us," Jury screamed back at me. I clenched my teeth. "Nope! Don't listen to Jury-rig! Nuh-uh! Do things my way. That's right! And look where that gets us. We have to steal it back later anyway! AND I had to leave behind all the stuff we were healing Tempest with! Great job, Ed!"

I looked over my shoulder at her. "Jury.."

"Buck off! Ed, Eddy, Bedlam, whatever! It doesn't matter!" She whirled around to glare hellfire my way. "You-"

"I'm sorry," I croaked. She hesitated, but her eyes lost none of their fury. "I fucked up. I-" Tempest convulsed and let out a moan that rapidly swelled into a squeal of pain. We both froze and looked at her as she shivered and then went limp. My jaw dropped and Jury held her hoof to her mouth.

"No," I desperately groaned before flopping over and grabbing her. "Nononono, please no. Tempest, don't die. Please."

"Bedlam," Jury tried to interject. Tempest shook and weakly regarded me with her unbandaged eye. I grit my teeth and tears began to fall.

"Please. I'm sorry. Don't die. I need you both. You're all I have, I threw everything else away. Please, I'm begging you," I sobbed and huffed. "Please don't die."

She stared weakly at me for a moment before straining and nodding. I flinched and shuddered, and she slowly reached a hoof to her mouth and carefully tore one of the bandages. Before I could stop her, she gasped and then spoke.

"We'll.. Ah. We'll get 'em next time, Ed." I stared at her for what felt like minutes before looking up at Jury, who was weeping openly. Wiping my eyes with my thumb I nodded back.

"Next time."

Chapter 6

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

Chapter 7

I leaned back and watched my screen, waiting for a reply. When none came after a moment, my eyes drifted to the endless storm pattering against my window. Then, a ping chimed.

My screen now read [>LOL. She has you pegged! Shoulda killed her then and there. *condescending whip noise*.]

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and clacked a response on my keyboard. "That's not the reason I hit you up," I quietly said aloud. "I've got decent people I can talk emotions with. I need answers on who's hacking my systems. While we were gone, they slipped in twice and we never even got an alert." I folded my arms and scowled before the communications panel on my seat flickered. Hitting a switch, a projection of Jury-rig popped up. I quickly twisted the projector so she couldn't see my screen.

"What's up?" I asked.

"The Crystal Mind's running real hot right now," she replied with a frown. "I think our hacker's pulling something, but they're using your zero priority and I can't see it."

I shook my head. "Nah, that's just me. I'm running some priority zero diagnostics. Don't worry." My screen pinged again.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, it's just about done, is all. Are the Sisters ready?" I didn't bother checking the message and gave Jury my full attention. She hummed and nodded.

"Yep. S'part of why I called you actually, they're set for briefing," she smiled and tilted her head. "I'm gonna go snuggle with Sandy if you don't need anything else."

I snorted. "Nope, just put the Sisters on. Have fun." She beamed and trotted off-screen. The message was visible in my peripheral, though I couldn't make out what it said. After just a moment, the Killer Sisters came clanking into view.

[Greetings, Bedlam,] KSUN, the Celestia replica greeted.

"Hello, you," I smiled at her and the Luna duplicate before stretching with a sigh. "Alright, you two are on your way to Abyssinia. Panthera's having issues keeping the populace under control and this has led to at least one of my machines getting trashed."

[This will not stand,] KMOON, the Luna replica declared.

"No, it will not," I folded my arms with a nod. "You are to report to and obey Panthera. However, you are to use the satellite array to bypass his jurisdiction and send minute-by-minute reports of everything that takes place after you cross the border."

[Understood,] they said in unison.

I smiled and continued. "Additionally, if any more animunculi are destroyed, you are to use any means necessary to capture the offender. Lethal force is permitted as a last resort if no other convenient options present themselves. If Panthera objects or obstructs you, he is to be arrested."

[Understood.]

"What else, lemme think," I hummed and rolled my head around. As I did, my eyes inadvertently fell on my screen and the message it presented.

The message read [>When was the last time you checked how many consoles are linked to the Mind?]

I paused and read it a few more times. My jaw opened then shut and I groaned a sigh while failing to hold back a smirk.

[Is everything alright, sir?] KSUN asked.

"Yep. Just a sec," I said and reached over to type my response.

"You are a genius. Fuck you," I quietly replied.

A ping immediately followed before I cut the link. [> ;)]

"The OLD Citadel?!" Jury screamed, leaping to her hooves and causing Sandy to tumble off the sofa. "How the heck?!"

"Great question," I replied as I adjusted my boots. "More concerning is the console registry matched that of the old Crystal Mind." Jury's eyes widened.

"That thing melted down," she quietly gasped.

"Yup," I chirped, tightening my gloves and snapping my coat. "Kind of a big issue if whoever this is has it back online."

She clenched her teeth and scanned the room as Sandy grumpily climbed back next to her. "They could start turning the animunculi against us."

"Which is why this is a mission for flesh and blood," I declared. "Tempest and I are going to take one of the old manual airships up there along with some of our boys out of the Klugetown outpost."

She whimpered. "Eddy.." I crept to her and knelt on one knee, pushing Sandy back so I could rest my hands on Jury's shoulders.

"We're just going to take a peek. The second I notice any machines up and mobile, we're retreating, I promise," I smiled and tilted my head to her. "And we're bringing a hovercraft that isn't linked to the network just in case."

She fixed me with a sad frown that cut deeper than I think she realized. Keeping my eyes locked with hers, I reached over and gently pulled a grumbling Sandy back over and nestled her against Jury. The maid scowled at me before slapping my hand away and nuzzling Jury.

Jury held her frown for a moment before nodding with a sigh.

"You're not worth the damage you'd cause otherwise."

I grimaced as the words rang in my mind again and set my thoughts on a cruise through my entire confrontation with Twilight. Trying to keep my eyes fixed on the ruins miles ahead of us that were slowly creeping into view didn't help. In fact, the sight of where my first defeat took place exacerbated the problem, and I tightened my grip on the airship railing.

Now, I was thinking about her last words to me before I was locked away in Tartarus.

"Maybe if I tried a little harder, none of this would have happened. I hope one day I can make it up to you."

Which pushed forth other memories.

"You've proved you can make wonderful things happen."

"Things don't have to stay like this Eddy."

"I'll help you demonstrate, but I want you to be center stage."

"You used to be my friend."

I let out a low groan and rested my head on my folded arms. "What's troubling you?" Then I peeked back at Tempest, who stood stoically at my side.

I shrugged with a grunt. "Just some things Twilight said."

"Ah, I see," she replied with a hum. " I guess that makes sense. The Princess of Friendship would certainly be the mare to know exactly what to say to eat at somepony. Wanna talk about it?"

I grunted with a shrug and she nodded. "Wanna go inside and snuggle, instead?" I jolted and whipped my head around to look at her in bewilderment. She shrugged. "Seems to help Jury when she's stressed." I blinked and chuckled, but before I could retort, the head of our company of minotaurs and beastmen came stomping up.

"Sir!" The heavily armed minotaur called. "How close do you need us to be?" I raised an eyebrow and looked over at the old Citadel.

Drumming the rail with one hand, I nodded. "One mile out."

The ringed wall around the place still stood tall, but the gates had all been battered in, granting us easy access to the city structure. The imposing central tower sat dark and silent in the mid-day sun, a veritable microcosm of the whole complex.

All my old foundries, assembly halls, processing plants, and barracks lay quiet and seemingly vacant, and the streets were littered with the partial remains of old animunculi that the Equestrians must have left behind when they captured me.

We marched as one unit down the main road towards the central tower, where the old Crystal Mind had been. I ignored the murmuring and whispers from my soldiers, some of whom loudly proclaimed the place to be abandoned, as with a simple scan of my mana-sensitive glasses, I could see the faint pulses of magic racing through the tower itself.

I shared a look with Tempest, whose gemstone eye granted her a similar perception before turning to the troop. "Someone's definitely inside and has the power going," I declared. They recoiled and looked amongst themselves. "Just at a glance, it doesn't seem like they've generated enough to be a major threat, but still, there's no telling what they could be using that power for."

Tempest turned with a nod. "It's obvious that the Equestrians left plenty of material behind, so the chances of whoever's in there having thrown together some defense or trap are very high," she pointed her hoof at the tower. "Many of you were transferred from Klugetown or Minos long after this place was overthrown, so listen carefully. The Citadel extends upwards as you can see, but we're heading below ground. Underneath these streets is where most of Bedlam's operations took place."

She paused to let the troops consider her words before continuing. "We won't be splitting up unless absolutely pressed, but on that off chance, I want you all to immediately divide yourselves into groups of three and share a password between only your group. Go." She finished her order with a stomp. The gaggle of creatures hesitated for just a moment before turning and doing as commanded.

As they did, I turned and continued studying the tower. As I did, I suddenly spotted a single line of energy that flashed to life before racing down to the ground and spreading down the power lines of the road we were standing on. At levels blatantly too high for the lines in the road.

Tempest noticed it too, and whirled around to face the soldiers. "Fall back to the gate!" But it was too late.

Before we could properly respond, the power in the ground exploded, causing the street to cave in as more power arced through the air.

Chapter 8

With a cough that quickly morphed into a series of groans, I raised my head. I wasn't sure if I'd blacked out, but I definitely wasn't sure what happened after the road exploded, and I suddenly found myself painfully lying on a pile of rubble in a dark room.

Reaching up, I tried to adjust my glasses only to feel that one of the lenses had popped out and the other had a crack through it. I moaned and tried to sit up, with painful but eventually successful results. Slowly and shakily, I rose to my feet and after steadying myself, I patted myself down.

Nothing felt broken, but my right leg was definitely tender, and my ribs were aching. With a hissing inhale, I searched my coat until I found one of my blasting talismans. I shot it off in the air to provide some light, which confirmed that I'd fallen into one of the lower chambers of the old Citadel. I fired a few more times to try and scan the room for anyone else, but all I saw was rubble and the half-buried doorway out.

I couldn't even make out the hole I'd fallen into, which could mean that more of the upper level had fallen in. With a grunt, I began hobbling my way to the door, where I had to clench my teeth as I bent to crawl under it. Tumbling out into the hallway, I let out a sharp cry as I landed on my back again.

"Fuck this," I thought as I searched my other coat pocket. "Sorry, Jury."

I drew my pouch of syringes, all of which had managed to survive the fall, and slipped one out. Pulling its cap off with my teeth, I adjusted my grip and jabbed it into my leg. The effect was almost immediate, and all pain and discomfort melted away, replaced by a shocking jolt of vitality with which I rolled to my feet. I stretched and basked in the sensation before replacing my pouch into my coat.

"Bedlam! Was that you?" Came a call from further up the hall. Turning I saw some of my troops rounding a corner bearing flashlights.

"Over here," I called out, drawing their attention. Their leader, the captain from the ship, blinked and nudged the minotaur to his left before they began approaching. "Where's Tempest?"

"No clue," he hummed, fingers drumming his long-barreled weapon. I raised an eyebrow. "Which probably makes this the best chance we'll get, huh?"

I glanced at the doorway I'd slipped under. "What chance is that?" The half-chipped paint read 'Workshop 09,' telling me exactly where I was in the complex.

"You might recall most of us were reassigned from Minos," he said with a grim laugh. "But I don't suppose you ever thought just how many minotaurs Celestia and Luna were working with, or how long we were all in touch with them?"

"Never gave it much thought, no," my left hand quickly drew my blasting pistol and fired a beam like what I'd used against the Legion of Doom. Aided by the adrenaline, my aim was steady and the beam shot straight. The wave pierced right through his chest and carried on through his fellows just behind him. Those who hadn't been hit fell to the side with a shout, allowing me to whirl around and take off down the opposite way.

I dove down the first intersection I came to just as they recovered and began returning fire. The hallway I'd left became a light show as magic beams shot down its length. I kept running, occasionally whirling around and aiming my pistol. As a result of this routine, the first of their group to turn down the hall after me was shot and killed.

"You better run!" One of them shouted after me.

"For Minos!" Another added.

"Freedo-" That one's cry died in his throat, but not from any attack of mine. I spared a glance back and had to stop and take in what I saw. They'd stopped pursuing me for a moment, as they were now leering nervously at the blast door that had slammed shut behind them, crushing their fellow in two.

I furrowed my brow and then recoiled when someone on the opposite side of the door began pounding. Despite how thick the door was, a faint set of screams were echoing through it. Then, the entire door lurched inwards with a thud, and the pounding stopped.

An uneasy quiet held the hall which was broken when the door slid open, revealing a thoroughly unnerving sight. For starters, the lights had kicked on. Besides that, half of the minotaurs that had been chasing me lay dead and broken. It seemed that the specimen who had been banging on the door met his end when he was suddenly and violently slammed into it. With enough force to crush him and cause the door to bend.

Slowly, the minotaurs looked between each other and then at me. But before anything could happen, a second blast door slammed shut between me and them.

"Ah," I huffed before turning and sprinting as fast as I could run. For a few minutes, my boots hitting the ground was the only sound that followed, and I rapidly found myself approaching what had once been an underground storage chamber. Inside would be plenty of cover, while the room would be big enough to give me room to maneuver and avoid getting pinned.

As I dashed towards it, I slid to a halt. Further up the hall, I heard a set of hooves stomping my way. Around a corner up ahead one of the minotaurs came running, covered in blood and missing a horn, and with an absolutely manic look in his eyes. The hall I'd left them behind in must have wrapped all the way around to here, which wasn't an uncommon design for me.

I raised my blasting pistol and took a shot, but by pure chance, he stumbled and the beam missed him. Before I had a chance to react, he was upon me and slapped my outstretched hand aside, knocking the pistol from my grip.

With his other hand, he reached out to grab me and I threw myself back with a shout. He caught the fringe of my coat and wrenched it back, causing it to rip off and sending me tumbling to the ground. My talismans went scattering across the floor away from me, but my pouch of needles came sliding right up to me.

More out of panic than for any sort of plan, I grabbed it right as the minotaur fell onto me and wrapped his hands around my throat.

"MAKE IT STOP," he roared through clenched teeth as he strangled me. "TELL IT TO STOP!" I choked and clawed at his arm and face to no avail. As my vision started to fade, I gripped the pouch in my other hand. Blinking, I desperately fumbled it open, plucked out the remaining syringes, and ripped the caps off before stabbing them under his arm.

He grunted and whined, and his hands began to shake. The veins in his face and neck bulged and his grip tightened for a moment before he threw himself back with a wail. Clutching his head, he gurgled and yelled before falling flat on his back.

I sat panting and choking for a moment before I weakly rolled to my side and propped myself up on my arm. I leered at the fallen minotaur for a moment before I spied my blasting pistol and slowly pushed to my feet. Collecting my weapon, I stood over him and took aim at his head. But then he spasmed and knocked my feet out from under me, causing my shot to go wide.

Before I could take aim again, he grabbed my arm with one hand and my throat with the other. Squeezing my arm, I choked out a scream as he crushed my wrist. My pistol fell from my grip and he began to apply a similar pressure to my neck.

But then, a flash and a screech peeled through the hall. His grip relaxed and smoke rose from the blackened hole blasted clear through his face from the back. Again, I coughed and sputtered as he slumped off to the side. The adrenaline was still in effect, so the pain in my arm wasn't completely debilitating. This allowed me to slowly sit up and look down the hall where he'd come running initially, and where that blast had come from.

And my jaw dropped at what I saw.

[Are you okay, Eddy?] She asked with genuine fear in her voice as she clanked her way toward me.

"KS 6?"

Chapter 9

[My name is Twilight,] she declared and tilted her head. [Are you okay? That punk must've really rattled your brain, huh?]

I blinked and closed my mouth. It didn't make sense for her to be in such a pristine condition, but there she was. No dents, dings, scratches, or scrapes. As clean as the day I built her. And yet, clearly still showing signs of mental degradation.

Less than ideal.

"Just a broken arm, mainly. Possibly some bruising. Thank you for your assistance," I grunted and rolled to a sitting position, scanning the floor as I did. My talismans were still scattered around, as well as my pistol. "Could you help me gather my tools?" She blinked and glanced at the floor before trotting up to me, completely ignoring my things.

[We should get you patched up first,] she said once she was in front of me. [Say my name.]

I grimaced. "Listen-"

She stamped her hoof at me. [Say. My. Name.]

I ran my good hand over my face. "Maybe I am suffering head trauma, 'cause last I checked you were blown to pieces," I leered at her between my fingers. "Same as the rest of this place."

She wasn't capable of facial expression, but her eyes told me plenty about how she was feeling. Her head twitched and she sat down. [Yeah, it was pretty rough. But you know what they say! Friendship is Magic,] she leaned forward. [And I had plenty pumping through my veins all those years ago. But, as the Element of Magic, it was easy for me to adapt.]

She gestured to the hall around us. [I managed to hide my soul inside the Crystal Mind and then find a cozy little gem assembly to sleep in. It had enough power in it to keep me alive even after I cut it off from the rest of the Citadel,] she shuffled her hooves and looked off to the side. [Of course, I didn't really have a plan for how to wake back up.] I rubbed my chin as she spoke.

[Then, one day, a pulse shook the whole place and that woke me up,] she turned back to me. [Wasn't easy, but since I was effectively just a loose cluster of magical energy at that time, I was eventually able to start interacting with my environment.]

"When did that pulse occur? Do you know?"

She stared at me for a moment. [I'm pretty confident it was when you remade the Crystal Mind and got the satellites in the air.] I hummed at her words and raised an eyebrow when she scooted forward and lay on my lap. [I'm also pretty confident you did that on purpose for me. I know it in my heart.] Another grimace worked its way onto my face.

[After all that, I managed to rebuild a body for myself and start getting this place up and running again,] she rolled to look up at me. [Then I called your new Crystal Mind, and saw all the wonderful advancements you made.]

I snorted. "So, you're our hacker, huh?"

[I'm your friend. I wanted to know what you managed while I was asleep.]

"Of course," I rubbed my eyes with a sigh before smiling at her. "Well, it's great to see you operational again and to know we weren't dealing with a traitor."

I gently pat her on the belly. "Let's get you to the new Citadel, hm?"

She tilted her head. [Why?]

I forced a cheery grin. "Because it's our new home." She looked into my eyes for a few moments before humming and nodding.

[Okie dokie,] her eyes flared red for a moment. [Say my name first.]

I clenched my teeth but held my smile. "I'm working with a broken arm right now, so we should really-"

[Say. My. Name,] she leaned up and glared into my eyes. [Or I'll break your other arm.]

I recoiled for a moment before my expression hardened. "Who do you think you're threatening?" We held each other's gaze for a few moments, even as she slowly rolled to her hooves, with her head rotating to stay focused on me. I slowly rose to my feet and held my good hand on my hip while glaring down at her.

[Say. My-]

"Your name is KS 6."

She let out a screech and stomped her hoof. [MY NAME IS TWILIGHT.]

I swept my hand down and grabbed her by the horn. "NO, it ISN'T!" She seemed shocked at my action, allowing me to hoist her up onto her rear legs. "It's KS 6. I MADE YOU. IN A LAB." I dropped her and clutched at the air before breathing into my clenched fist. She recoiled from me as I struggled and finally jabbed a finger at her.

"Your skin is an alchemically blended SHEET of papyrus and steel, treated with oils and potions to maintain its flexibility, durability, and longevity," I spat, panting. "Your bones, all of them, are made from gemstone-studded steel rods."

I pinched my fingers together to enunciate my words. "Between your skin and your skeleton is an impact-resistant gel we concocted that turns kinetic force into energy your gemstone brain responds to. Like pain! But without any debilitating side effects," I took a shallow breath and continued. "Your mane and tail are made from strands of a plant-based fiber we cultivated and treated that safely disperses most magical energies that strike you." She shuddered and raised a hoof to stamp at me, but I cut her off.

"Your eyes are seven layered gemstone LENSES, enchanted and charged to present the illusion of a mobile set of pupils and irises," I leaned in and hissed at her. My reflection was visible in her eyes. "You don't even have a mouth. You produce noise through a vibrating gem in your throat that has six sound-enhancing spell stones around it."

I huffed and glared down at her before chuckling darkly. "And there is no heart in your chest. It's a gem," I spat. "A large piece of GLASS I MADE using alchemy and magic that responds to arcane electric pulses and lets you function and think."

I loomed over her and jabbed a claw-like hand at her. "YOU ARE NOT Twilight Sparkle. YOU are Killer Six, Unit 6," I panted and heaved as she wilted under my glare. After a moment, I knelt down and firmly grabbed the side of her face. "And you. Are. Beautiful."

I finally caught my breath and gently caressed her. "Look at you. A machine I made, that can walk, talk, and think," I murmured. "You can stand up to a petty god and lock him in stone."

My thumb ran over her ear. "You're as close to perfection as I've ever gotten," I took a breath and scowled. "And what do I do with you?"

She blinked and I narrowed my eyes. "I bring you down to my level and push you lower than that. I make you everything I wanted her to be. On my side no matter what," I shuddered and gulped. "I shackle you, and make you live in her shadow, because I can't get over the fact that in her eyes, just like Dad's.."

I sharply inhaled. "I am a failure, and always will be," I clenched my eyes shut. "I hobbled you because I needed to prove to her one way or another that I'm not just some bum living on her couch. I can make it on my own."

I dragged my hand down my face with a shivering moan before I looked at her with stinging watery eyes. "And for that, all of that, I am so sorry." Silence held the hall for a minute or two before she finally blinked. As she did, the lights flickered and she took a step to the side.

[Man, he must've really knocked your head around, huh?] I flinched and groaned.

"KS-" My words were cut short and replaced with a prolonged heaving groan of pain as my other arm was twisted at an awkward angle by a violet bubble of magic.

[My name is Twilight.]

CRACK

I didn't know whether to bemoan the fact the adrenaline shot had worn off around then, meaning all the pain came rushing at me at once, or to celebrate the fact it had worn off.

Because in the latter case, I at least fainted after a minute or two of agony.

Chapter 10

The next thing I knew, I was on my back staring at a faint blue light above me. The pain had vanished, and after reflexively bracing against my arms to sit up, I realized my broken bones had been healed. I was lying in a plain bed and on a table immediately to my right were several mostly empty bottles and a set of syringes.

Recognizing the fluid inside the bottles and checking my bare arm, I realized someone must been treating me with potions based on my design. As I pondered who the culprit could've been, the door to my room slid open.

[Hey, Eddy!] KS 6 chirped as she came trotting in with a plate of.. Cookies? [Feeling better?] Oh, God.

"Yes, K-" She froze, and I hummed. "Yes, Twilight, I'm fine." She continued her approach like nothing happened.

[Great to hear! Those thugs really roughed you up,] she grumbled as she magically cleared the table and set the plate down. [So, you just get some rest while I handle things, okay?]

"Handle things?" I murmured while eying the door and scanning the room for my tools.

[Yep! I've got to peek into your new Crystal Mind and start linking everything up. I also need to get the transformer built, but that shouldn't take too long once everything else is done.]

The room was unfortunately bare save for my bed and table. "The what?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

She giggled and reared up on the bed before projecting an image from her eyes. [This! I found the concept schematic in your files! I'm shocked you haven't gone ahead with a working model.] The sight of what she projected gave me chills and my breathing hitched.

"Which files?" I quietly demanded as I clutched the edge of my bed.

[Dimension Transport, for some reason,] she chirped and my eyes widened. [There were lots of neat things in there that I don't think you've bothered with yet.]

"There are very good reasons for that," I replied anxiously. "Most of it is more advanced than anything I've created. Most of it uses Discord's magic in ways I wasn't confident could work or never thought to try."

She blinked and cut the projection before beaming at me. [Is that the missing variable?] I blanched. [I was wondering why the schematic kept mentioning an 'Abject Alien Energy.' Makes sense, though! Guess I need to go get the bell first, huh?]

I rolled forward and grabbed her. "You cannot create a working model. You don't-" I recoiled with a yelp as magical energy zapped my hands. That same magic caught me and kept me from tumbling off the bed.

[Have a full and complete design, I know,] she replied with a giggle. [But that's what testing is for! I'll round up some organic life to put through the process way before I use it on you.]

I stared at her in horror. "What?"

She cast the projection again and appeared to be studying it. [If I understand it right, this thing uses transmogrification in a really detailed sequence to turn living flesh into animunculi, right?] She cut the projection and looked at me. [Shouldn't be too hard to make a few adjustments to also have them all come out linked to the Crystal Mind.] I clenched my teeth.

She leaned forward with a happy hum. [And therefore, linked to me. Us,] she tilted her head. [Well, once you've been turned, and I've helped you scrub all those nasty aberrant thoughts out anyway.] I gasped and stammered.

[Honestly, I'm really happy you came out to me like you did! You saved me the trouble of coming to get you,] she giggled. [Now, I just have to get the bell, run some tests, and we can get started on converting the whole world!]

I was yanked forward and she pressed her hooves into my shoulders to look me in the eyes. [Won't it be great? The whole world, directly under our control! Just like you always wanted.]

"KS 6, you can't-" I choked and was lifted in the air by her magic, which was firmly gripped around my neck. She giggled.

[Try again, silly.] I helplessly clawed at my neck for a moment before she looked off to the side. [Ugh. Seriously?] The door to the room was blown off its hinges and Tempest came galloping in.

KS 6 dropped me and turned to face her, conjuring a shield as Tempest spun and bucked at her. As her hooves connected, they clicked and then a focused blast of magic energy shot out with enough force to drive KS 6 backwards. In the same movement, I found myself yanked towards Tempest by her magic before she took off towards the door with me in tow.

"Hang on!" She cried as she used her mechanical legs to propel us both at freakish speeds. I anxiously shot a glance back and saw KS 6 motionlessly leering at me as we darted out of the room and around the corner.

As we raced, she flipped me around and held me parallel with her. "She killed the minotaurs, all of whom I believe intended to betray us, sir. So, I believe we'd best extract. I don't think we have the means to tackle this situation."

"Agreed. It's worse than you realize. I'll explain once we're outside," I panted and scanned the hallway ahead of us. "Take the next left, though."

"Why?"

"There should be a hatch straight to the surface not too far away."

I wasn't sure what was worse. Seeing the old Citadel pulsing with energy again, or the fact that KS 6 hadn't pursued us to the edge of the complex. As Tempest hauled me towards the ship, I mulled over what she could be thinking.

"We can't use the airship with just the two of us," Tempest declared. "Good thing we've got the hover-" She slid to a stop and stared wide-eyed ahead. I clenched my eyes.

"Don't tell me," I moaned. Craning my head, I saw a small group of drones buzzing around the ship, which was currently sitting lopsided with its balloon deflated and hull burning. "Damn it."

"What do we do?" Tempest gasped. I frowned and scanned the area around us.

"We sure as hell can't get back to the Citadel on foot," I grumbled. "And we need to contact Jury immediately."

I grimaced and rubbed my face. "Head north." She recoiled and blinked.

"Isn't that-"

"Southern Equestria? Yes. The closest outpost? Also, yes."

Chapter 11

I glanced out from the cave Tempest had scouted for us now that the sun was beginning to set. "Still looks clear."

"Edward, I told you to relax. My enhancements are keeping me alert better than your bare eyes." I glanced back at Tempest, who was relaxing against the cave wall, shooting me an incredulous leer. I grumbled and stalked back to her.

"You haul me this far and handle all the survival nonsense. Least you could do is let me imagine I'm helping," I groused as I sat down beside her. She scoffed and punched me in the side. With her metal hoof, causing me to tense up and reflexively hug my elbow to where she'd struck.

"Stop complaining."

"Will do," I wheezed. With the exception of my low groaning, the cave was quiet for a few minutes before Tempest spoke again.

"Why did you make something like that.. Transmogri-whatever?" She asked with a mix of curiosity and shame.

I grunted and shook my head. "I didn't."

She groaned. "No, I know it's only a concept, but-"

"Yes, that's what I meant. I didn't even come up with the concept," I sighed. "Frankly, the idea of turning living things into unthinking machines is.. Unappealing."

Tempest blinked and furrowed her brow. "So.. I don't understand. Why was it in your files at all? Who came up with it? Was it Jury?"

I shook my head. "No. It's complicated," I took a breath and leaned my head against the cave wall. "Call it a knowledge exchange."

"With who?" I rolled my head to meet her eyes but didn't answer right away.

"You sure you want to know?" She blinked and considered my question for a minute.

"Well.. Does Jury?"

"Nope. She probably never even noticed the directory this stuff was hidden in," I grimaced. "Since I restricted the whole thing." She nodded slowly and thought for a moment.

"Who?"

"Myself," I replied with a snort. I looked at her and smirked at her confused reaction. "It's true."

"Huh?"

I nodded and sat up. "It's like this," I began, gesturing with my hands as I spoke. "We already know that this world and mine are separate dimensions, right? Well, I came across proof of more than just these two."

I swept my arm. "In fact, the space outside this plane is positively saturated with alternate Equestrias, where the tiniest little deviation leads to catastrophic differences in the long run," I took a shallow breath and turned back to her. "And I know of at least one that also has me in it."

Her eye were wide and darting around. "I- That's- Huh," she looked at the ground and pondered what I'd said. "And this.. other you made the.. whatever it's called?"

I rubbed my eyes. "Yep. A working model, as a matter of fact," I shuddered a sigh. "Which he got a lot of mileage out of before we ever made contact."

"Why?"

"He's an asshole." She flinched and frowned.

"If he's you I can't imagine he's all bad."

I raised an eyebrow at her and leered out the cave mouth. "Well, remember I said what separates those worlds from this one is little deviations?" I saw her nod and nodded back. "Well, what separates me from him is pretty small, but it plainly had a major impact."

"What's that?"

"Twilight and he were never friends," I hummed and scratched my chin. "In fact, based on his testimony, she and her friends never met either."

Less than half a day later, we found ourselves approaching one of the watch towers I'd ordered constructed. Like the central tower of the Citadel, it was a sleek, grey structure with faintly glowing blue windows and small hovering drones circling it. Occasionally the drones flew off and were replaced in orbit by others returning from patrol.

It was thanks to these constant patrols that we were spotted and the earth pony captain of this outpost came galloping out to see us once we were within twenty feet of her tower. I stood with my hands on my hips, staring her down as she slid to a stop before us.

"Supreme Administrator, sir!" She saluted with a quaver in her voice. Clearing her throat she looked between me and Tempest. "I uh, wasn't expecting you!"

She blinked and did a double-take at me. "Where's all your stuff?"

"We're in a bit of a crisis, so let us use your communications array," I replied with a scowl.

She flinched and looked back over her shoulder. "Inside? Uhm." Tempest and I shared a look before she clicked her gemstone eye on and scanned the tower.

"What's the problem, are you-" The door slid open, and I had only a moment to look up before Starlight Glimmer, who teleported up to me and planted her hoofs directly into my face.

A rattling clank jostled me back to consciousness and I blinked before scanning my surroundings. "Morning, Eddy. Sleep well?" I glowered at Starlight, who sat a few feet away from me while I was tightly bound. It looked like we were aboard one of the still-running old trains mainly used for cargo. Pacing beside her and between the crates in the car we were in was the obviously treacherous little guardmare I'd met at the outpost.

"We're dead. We're so dead. Awful idea. WORST idea!" The mare squeaked. I growled and scanned the car again.

"You sure are," I spat causing her to jump with a yelp. "Speaking of, where's Tempest?"

"We made like a bar of soap and gave her the slip. Was pretty easy compared to loading you onto this train," Starlight replied with a smirk before leaning in. "I'm hauling you straight to Twilight."

I flinched. "Twilight?"

Starlight hummed a laugh. "Once she sees you, disarmed, alone, tied up, and helpless, she'll have to budge. We can start making demands of your mare-friends, then," she snorted and shrugged. "If she's not down, well, I can probably twist Jury's hooves on my own with you captured."

"SO dead," the guardmare squeaked again. I growled and struggled against my bonds.

"Starlight, did you stop to ask yourself why I'm disarmed and helpless?"

"Figured we could cover that after I got you secured," she quipped before laying flat and gesturing to me with a wave of her hoof while resting her chin on the other.

I grumbled. "We're on the verge of a crisis. I need to contact Jury-rig before things escalate any worse. KS 6 is alive, and she's planning to transform the population into animunculi."

"Uh-huh," she replied with an eye roll. We locked eyes and I glared death her way before smirking.

"Even if you won't listen, in case you've forgotten, Twilight has a behavior collar on," I chortled darkly. "If she doesn't listen-"

"You won't use it, though," she said, smirking right back. "Maybe on Cozy, and definitely on Tirek or Chrysalis, but not Twilight."

My grin fell, but I held my glare. "You wanna bet?"

Her smug expression redoubled. "To borrow a word from your species, why the fuck do you think I'd risk bringing you to her otherwise?" I clenched my jaw and groaned.

"Bitch."

"Nutcase."

"We're dead."

Chapter 12

I blinked the flashing lights out of my eyes as Starlight teleported us again without warning. As she and the guardmare, Sugar Plum apparently, peeked down either end of the moonlit Canterlot alley we were now hiding in, I gnawed at the gag they had on me.

"Stop it!" Sugar quietly and desperately demanded. "We have to be quiet!" I tilted my head to glare at her, which caused her to wilt.

"We have a clear path to the end of the block," Starlight declared. "Three more and I should be able to get us over the castle wall and into the garden." She looked back and met my glare with a smirk.

"Might want to close your eyes, Eddy. Since you seem to be struggling a bit," she chirped, causing me to growl. As we popped from place to place, I did as she suggested for the most part, but when we wound up sitting in one spot for a little too long I craned my head up to peek at the pair.

Starlight and Sugar were anxiously peering around a dumpster we were nestled behind at a pair of guards and a hulking patrol golem standing at the end of the alley. One of the guards handed the other a sack of coins before he skipped inside what must've been a coffee shop or something.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced between the guard and my captors before curling my legs up and kicking the dumpster as hard as I could. Starlight and Sugar jumped before the former pinned me against the wall with her magic.

[Scanning,] the patrol golem declared with a whir, causing the pair of mares to freeze. I smirked at them as best I could.

"Stand down, probably just a rat or something," the guard declared. I grumbled while my captors sighed quietly. "I'll take a peek." My smirk returned while they tensed up.

An artificial light clicked on and after just a moment or two, the guard appeared around the dumpster and flashed his light at us with an unimpressed stare. He looked at Starlight and Sugar, who met his gaze with abject horror, and then at me. Staring at me for a moment, he hummed and spit on the ground before turning back.

"Yeah, just a rat. No biggie." I roared through my gag and thrashed as best I could to no avail.

I was dumped onto the grass of the castle garden as Sugar scanned the area. Starlight glared into my eyes. "No more funny business or I'm knocking you out again." I snorted as she withdrew and peeked around the hedge we were up against. After just a second, she recoiled with a yelp only to be yanked back around the hedge by magic.

"Starlight?!" I paused at the sound of Twilight's voice.

"The princess!" Sugar squealed before galloping forward and nearly crashing to Twilight as she came trotting around the hedge with Starlight held in her magic.

"What the heck is-" She recoiled and stared wide-eyed at me. The sight caused her to drop Starlight, and her eye twitched. When she spoke again, she did so with a hauntingly even and low tone. "Hello, Bedlam." I swallowed hard.

"Princess Twilight!" Sugar cried. "We took Bedlam hostage!"

"I can see that," she replied with that same unnerving tone and her eyes locked firmly on me.

Starlight rolled to her hooves and stood beside Twilight. "I figured we'd have to sneak him inside, but what the heck were you doing out here?"

"I was at one of the fountains, contemplating the future," her eyes scanned me briefly. "Where are all his tools? Where's Tempest or Jury?"

"We ditched Tempest a day or so ago, and he was missing all his stuff when we caught him," Starlight explained before pulling Twilight's attention to her with a hoof. "And Twilight. We caught him. We've got the advantage we've desperately needed!"

"Why was he missing all his things?" Twilight asked with a frown before looking at me again. I met her eyes with as desperate a look as I could manage, which caused her to narrow her eyes. "Alright, first off, let's get him inside."

Once we were safely in her private chambers, Twilight leered at me from the sofa the three mares shared as Starlight caught her up. Apparently, she'd been stalking between my outposts in the Equestrian region. Almost all of the fringe or border guards were traitors it turned out. All of this news only served to make me angrier, and I seethed through my gag and struggled against my bonds.

"So, like I said two years ago, there's plenty of ponies willing to risk a heck of a lot to fight him, Twilight," Starlight declared pointing a hoof at Sugar. "And now that we've taken him hostage, we absolutely can't just sit around! We HAVE to fight back!"

Twilight hummed with a frown. "Taking him hostage might not be the advantage you think it is," she declared. "His marefriends are just as dangerous, and there's no telling what they'd do to get him back."

Starlight groaned, and Twilight tapped the collar on her neck. "Not to mention, so long as Cadance and I have these, Jury-rig can just kill us with a word," she fixed me with a severe glare while Starlight hung her head. After a moment though, Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Then again, there's a couple of spells we could use to get him to remove it now that we've got him alone and defenseless." My eyes widened as Starlight gasped and fixed me with a malicious grin.

Before anything could come of that, however, there was a banging on the door, followed by a droning voice. [Administrator, you have a call from the Citadel. Priority 1. Entry will be forcibly attained in twenty seconds.]

Twilight gasped and lit up her horn. In a flash, I found myself with Starlight and Sugar, tucked under her bed in a tight pile. As we struggled, I blinked and realized Starlight's horn was stuck in my gag.

"Coming!" Twilight called as she trotted to her door and opened it. The reporting golem came clanking in, and I heard the sound of a projector light up. "Hello, Jury-" She cut herself off with a gasp.

[Hello, duplicate,] I froze at the sound of KS 6's voice.

"How are you- What- When did- What?"

[Cute collar you've got on.]

My eyes widened. Twisting my neck, I managed to use Starlight's horn to rip the gag off.

"Hey!" She cried as I sucked in a breath.

"BEHAVIOR RESTRAINT T RELEASE LOCK, PASSWORD SEVEN EIGHT N V Q B NINE!" I screamed. I heard Twilight yelp followed by a hiss and a heavy thud as the collar fell to the ground.

[Eddy?] KS 6 murmured.

"Eddy?" Twilight gasped. KS 6 groaned.

[Whatever. Kill her.] The golem groaned and I heard Twilight cry out before her magic went off. I was violently hurled to the side as Starlight magically launched herself out from our hiding place to help Twilight. As sounds of magical combat filled the room, I let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, shit."

Chapter 13

[Administrator, you have twelve calls waiting from the Citadel,] said the golem striding passed the curtain we were hiding behind. It clicked and crackled before speaking again. [Administrator, you have thirteen calls waiting from the Citadel.] I clenched my teeth as it turned around the corner.

"One of those could actually be Jury," I whispered.

"Too bad!" Starlight hissed. "Every golem we've seen so far has been controlled by KS 6, so we're not risking it!"

I glared at her and Sugar, who was anxiously gnawing her hoof. "We wouldn't need to risk anything if you hadn't-"

"Hush!" Twilight demanded peeking up and down the hallway. "I think this is our chance. We can't teleport without drawing attention, but we have a straight shot to the console now!" Sugar blinked and then looked at Twilight in bewilderment.

"The con- What do you mean?!" She squealed quietly, desperately stamping her hooves. "I thought we were trying to escape the castle!"

Twilight shook her head and looked up at me. "There's no telling how far KS 6's reach is, so we need to check the console to see for sure," she declared with a frown. "This could be way worse than we realize."

I nodded. "That's an understatement. If she's already got ahold of the Castle's animunculi, she could easily be probing at other regions as well," I clicked my teeth with an anxious groan. "She might even be taking control of the Citadel."

"Boy oh boy! Aren't we lucky that somepony came along and made such a nightmare scenario possible!" Starlight said with a faux giggle as we took off from our hiding place.

"Almost as lucky as we are to have someone who prevented him from getting a handle on things a few days ago!" I retorted with a fake laugh of my own.

Before Starlight could fire back, both of our mouths were clamped shut by magic. "Let's just settle on 'lucky we're not dead yet,'" Twilight spat as we hurried down the hall.

[Return to your quarters, immediately,] a droning voice rang out up ahead, causing us to freeze. It was followed by a series of hooves galloping down the hall and after just a moment a trio of guards and a maid went running followed by a golem that held a squealing and squirming pony in its grip.

"Hey!" Twilight and Starlight yelled simultaneously, before blanching and covering each other's mouths. The golem slid to a stop and turned toward us.

"Nice going," Sugar and I groused as we backed behind the magically capable pair.

It crackled for a moment and then began advancing. [Administrator, you have- Hey, Eddy.] I recoiled and my cohorts looked between the golem and me.

"KS 6?" I murmured. She growled and dropped the pony, who then scurried away.

[My name is Twilight. Anyhoo!] The golem swept its arms out. [What do you think? I've got all of Canterlot locked down so we can safely kill my replica without hurting any citizens!]

"Is that what you're doing?" Twilight demanded. The golem chirped and raised its claw before charging a beam of magic.

[Nobody asked you,] KS 6 replied causing Twilight to spread her wings in a defiant stance. Before she took the shot I slipped between the two.

"K- Twilight, you're locking down the whole city?" I pressed, relaxing only slightly as the golem lowered its arm.

[Yep! We'll need plenty of living creatures to test the transformer on, so I don't want to risk killing any of our citizens,] she replied. From behind, I heard the heavy footsteps of more golems. [I know the concept of being turned is scary, Eddy, but don't you see? I'm being plenty careful! I even managed to seize this whole place despite Jury's attempts to intervene.] Sugar gasped, drawing my attention to the squad of golems stomping up from behind. As Twilight and Starlight lit up their horns, I turned back to the golem 6 was talking through.

"Jury's attempts? What'd she do?"

KS 6 scoffed and the golem stomped its foot. [She figured out how to cut communications between the Old Citadel and the new one,] the golem folded its arms. [Doesn't matter too much since I've already started reaching our other territories through the satellite array.] Chills race across my skin.

"You got into the satellites, huh?" I began clenching and unclenching my hands. The golem's head tilted.

[Sure did,] she replied with a low giggle.

"Fuck," I huffed.

"Hold on, Eddy," Twilight said before we teleported.

My head was spinning to the point that our exodus from the castle was a complete blur. I was too engrossed in my own thoughts. She was in the satellites. Even if Jury had managed to block her from the Citadel, she was now effectively as mobile as she could be. Even if we obliterated the entire old Citadel with her inside, she could just jump from her body to another golem.

Hell, she could hijack a whole facility and build herself a proper backup body. Or two. Or a dozen. Or a hundred.

It hadn't even been a week since she revealed herself to me, and she was already this catastrophically close to destroying everything I'd built. Everything we'd built.

"Eddy!" Starlight yelled, snapping me to attention. Blinking, I looked around to find we were sitting in a hilly valley behind a huge boulder. Twilight was lying on her side, panting and rubbing her temple while Sugar anxiously peeked around the boulder.

"Where are we?" I asked.

Starlight scowled. "You really zoned out hard. We're south of Canterlot and trying to figure out what to do now," she pointed a hoof at Twilight. "Twilight burned herself out pretty hard due to all the teleporting she did to get us here."

I frowned and leaned to look around the boulder. "Sorry 'bout that. Sort of having a panic attack over how fucked we are."

Starlight barked a laugh. "Well, hey, thanks for the empathy, but I don't think her taking over Canterlot's going to affect your operation too seriously."

"It's worse than that, Starlight," Twilight weakly replied with a wince. "If she's in Bedlam's satellites, that means she can start controlling every golem he's got hooked up to them."

"Which is effectively all of them," I added with a chortle before leaning against the boulder and dragging my hands down my face. Starlight scowled and tapped her chin before smiling.

"Well, hey! Sounds like we've got an easy fix already!" We all looked at her as she nodded. "You and the girls can just blast the Crystal Mind with friendship magic and flush the whole thing at once!"

"Oh, like hell we're doing that," I groused. I swore I heard Twilight whimper, but before I could look, Starlight spoke.

"Not up to you," she retorted. I rolled to my feet and loomed over her.

"Absolutely up to me," I spat and she glared. "Regardless of what's happening, the Citadel's defenses will tear you to pieces if anyone unauthorized comes within a hundred feet of the Crystal Mind."

I bent at the hips until I was nearly nose-to-nose with her and smirked. "Guess who didn't make the list?"

She smirked right back and jabbed me with a hoof. "Good thing we've got the v.i.p pass."

I snarled. "You-"

"I wish it was that easy, Starlight," Twilight finally declared with a heavy sigh. "The girls and I have barely spoken since Bedlam took over." We both recoiled and looked at her with hanging jaws. Mine quickly clenched shut at the sight of her. Her head was hanging and all the light had gone from her eyes. In fact, she seemed almost.. greyer than usual.

"You're kidding," Starlight asked with a low, quiet, even tone.

"We were keeping in touch right up until you left," she murmured, blinking and averting her eyes. Then, she grimaced and scowled before glaring at me, all the light and color rushing back to her at once. "That atrocity you did to the Kirin was the breaking point for them, too." My skin crawled at the venom in her voice.

"I-"

She shook her head with a nicker and rolled to her hooves. "Shut up," she took a cleansing breath and scowled again, this time northward. "Our next best bet is Cadance. He might've locked up the Crystal Heart, but having another alicorn couldn't hurt."

Her scowl fell upon me. "After you undo her collar, anyway." I flinched.

"The Crystal Empire is days away, though," Sugar groused as she withdrew from the boulder and stood next to Twilight. "Princess, do you really think you can teleport us all the way there?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nah, but I won't need to," she pointed a hoof further south, toward Ponyville. "If we can get to my old castle, I've got a few trinkets from my experiments with the Crystal Mirror that'll help."

Chapter 14

Twilight, Starlight, and Sugar peeked out from the bushes they were hiding in and scanned the field between themselves and the edge of Ponyville. Starlight's ears shot back at the sight.

"Dear Celestia, I heard he renovated Ponyville, but what the heck happened to this place?" She groused. The sky was hazy and overcast by thin, pale clouds that seemed to crawl up from numerous metal towers littering the town. There were hardly any of the old cottages or cozy homes that had once comprised the place, and now there were uniform brick and metal blocks, with levels of windows that hinted at uniform dwellings within.

Twilight scowled. "Ponyville's proximity to the Everfree is what happened. I'm not sure when or why it started, but the monsters living out there started getting really agitated after Bedlam took over," she let out a hearty sigh. "They caused so much damage we were forced to let Bedlam rebuild the place."

"I heard Bedlam had that scary robo-mare of his set the monsters loose," Sugar added with an angry frown. Twilight hummed and withdrew into the bushes.

"I'd like to believe you wouldn't sink that low, but-" She paused and her eyes darted. "Are you bucking kidding me?"

"What?" Starlight asked as she and Sugar slipped back in. They gasped in unison when they saw no sign of the human. "Sneaky son-of-a-! How'd he do that?!" Twilight scowled and with a beat of her wings was airborne and scanning their surroundings.

"I see him!" She cried. "He's running right into town!"

"Really?" Starlight huffed. "Good! Maybe the ponies will kill him."

Twilight landed and groaned. "That's a very real possibility, I have to admit. But we still need to go after him."

"Why?" Sugar asked as she and Starlight emerged.

"Because with all these machines lying around, there's no telling what he could be up to," Twilight muttered.

I darted into the dark alley between two multi-level housing units and fell to my knees, catching my breath. Ponyville had always been a touchy subject with Twilight, but after the Everfree went wild she and the locals didn't have much choice but to let me remake it. As a result, I knew if I could just get to Townhall, I could use the mayor's console.

It might've only been set to contact Canterlot, but I could easily rewire and repurpose it. I built the thing after all.

Crawling to the end of the alley between the trash cans, I leered out at the streets. No golems in sight, but plenty of ponies and griffins were milling about, barely sparing a moment's glance at each other as they trudged on. Occasionally, I spied a diamond dog or minotaur hauling heavy carts down the road, but they, too, kept to themselves.

I blinked and scratched my chin. This place had always been so friendly. Well, not to me, but at least to its natural-born denizens. What gives? Even in the face of the crisis KS 6 presented, my mind was pressed upon this problem.

Was it the air? Once things were back in order we could throw up some purifiers. Maybe it's a communal case of post-traumatic stress from having the old village get torn down by the Everfree's beasts?

Or-

"Who the heck's scrounging around back here?" Came a gruff but feminine voice through clenched teeth. I jolted and scrambled to my feet before whirling around to see a purple-maned mare with a faint pink coat with a bat in her teeth stepping out into the alley from a side door. "I swear if it's another dang raccoon, I'm gonna-" She recoiled at the sight of me and dropped her bat.

"Mr. Bedford?"

I turned my head in confusion. "Excuse you?"

She flinched and shook her head. "Right, sorry, Mr. Bedlam, I forgot," she huffed and looked me up and down with a frown. "What the heck are you doing here? You digging in my trash?"

I scowled. "I'm performing an inspection on the province, but that's none of your business," I folded my arms. "Who are you?"

She winced but held her frown. "Inspection, huh?" She narrowed her eyes. "So, what'd'ya think of the place?" She placed a hoof on her bat and began rolling it back and forth, which immediately launched me back to reality. Besides being an earth pony and having magically augmented strength, she was armed and I wasn't.

I hummed and nodded my head back. "People seem standoffish, which-"

"That's shocking?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Excuse you?"

She snorted and scowled at me. "That's how things are now. I mean, Princess Twilight managed to keep everypony from fighting, but lots of creatures still don't like each other," she cast a bitter smirk at me. "Guess you wouldn't know that, huh?"

I flinched and scowled right back. "Watch it. Now, elaborate."

She rolled her eyes and sat down. "After Princess Twilight surrendered and her friends split up, pretty much everypony gave up, too," she cast a weary, frustrated stare at the ground. "Everypony just silently agreed to keep their heads down and do what you said, hoping that'd be enough to keep you from.."

She grumbled and shook her head. "Well, Dad had always said that if you ever won, it'd only be a matter of time before you burn this place down," she leered up at me angrily. "Cause of what he and Mom did to you." I furrowed my brow. As I mulled over her words, a more pressing realization hit me and I recoiled.

"I had nothing to do with what the Everfree did to this place," I spat.

"Yeah, sure," she snorted. "You're literally the only one who believes that."

I grit my teeth. "You-"

"Zecora said that even if you didn't tick off all the monsters, all your machines and junk messed with the magic in the air or something," she continued. "The Elements splitting up was the final straw or something. I dunno."

She narrowed her eyes with a huff. "I just know one way or the other, it's all your fault. The town getting wrecked, Spoon losing her leg and having to get one of your lame metal ones, Mom and Dad taking off," she snarled. "It's cause of you."

I wilted at the venom with which she spoke and recoiled again when she stamped at the end of her bat. It flipped into the air and she caught it in her teeth. "Hey now," I murmured, raising my hands.

"Pull out something and blast me," she jeered. "I don't care anymore." I froze and then shivered as she turned and wandered back to her door. She hurled the bat inside and turned to glare at me.

"I heard from some friends up in Canterlot that you and a bunch of other creatures are convinced you're making the world a better place," she looked me up and down. "Well, I hope you're enjoying it at least." She stepped inside and pushed the door shut behind her. I stared at the door in a mix of relief and bewilderment.

"Who was that?" I thought and after a moment held a hand to my chest. "And why.. Why'd what she say hurt?"

Chapter 15

Despite the encounter with whoever that was still rattling in my brain, it wasn't too great a challenge to creep toward the town hall. Since every creature was keeping to themselves, no one paid mind to the alleyways. But the ease of my advance did nothing for my state of mind. In fact, the sight of the locals trudging along only added to my distraction.

Were things really this unhappy even when I wasn't around? I could stomach the idea of folk flinching and being miserable when they knew I was in town, like at Mount Aris or in Abyssinia, but none of these creatures had any idea I was here. I could live with being hated. I could live with Celestia, Luna, or some other hero-type rousing folks against me. But only so long as my vision for the world was fulfilled.

And a key component of that vision was the fact that everyone was better off under my control.

But as I drew near the town hall, now not even bothering to skulk due to how empty the plaza around the building was, that key component seemed to be.. Absent.

'I hope you're enjoying it at least.'

I brought my hand to my chin with a heavy hum. Every bad thing I've done was all in service to something. Initially, and in a few cases since then, it was petty revenge, sure, but there was always a goal in sight. A vision, a direction, and a clear design for how I wanted things to end up. Something I'd chastised Cozy and her co-conspirators for lacking.

Was I any better at this point? If I wasn't actually improving the world how I wanted? Especially after compromising on Twilight's place beside me all those years ago?

'-And she has to pick up the pieces of the flimsy empire he leaves behind.'

I grimaced and drew my hand over my face with a breath. "No time for regrets or second thoughts. You have a crisis on your hands," I murmured and grit my teeth. "Correct the flaws and prove her wrong later." With that, I strode towards the door to the town hall.

The town hall was one of the only buildings that hadn't needed to be rebuilt, but its interior had still been modified to accommodate managing the city as well as keeping in touch with Canterlot and any local police units who had golems. Thus, the inside was more closed off, with what had once been the main and open floor being repurposed as a reinforced chamber where the city's power and data flow were handled.

That chamber was also where the mayor would be, separated from the rest of the building by a cylindrical metal shield that rose from floor to ceiling and was accessible only by a single reinforced sliding door.

"I'm sorry, the mayor is- EEEK!" The secretary beside said door squealed and fell out of her seat upon looking up and seeing me. She scrambled around her desk and forced a smile. "Lord Bedlam, sir! Wonderful to see you! Uh-"

"Save it. I'm going in," I said, waving a hand. She whimpered and pressed up against the door.

"You can't! She, uh, she's in a meeting!" She whimpered again when I placed my hand on her head.

"Of course I can, and I don't care," I declared, pushing her to the side. Or at least I tried to. She strained against me with a grunt.

"No!"

Then, her desk pinged. "It's fine, Posey," the voice of Mayor Mare chirped drawing our attention to the desk. "Let our esteemed leader in, please." Posey blinked and gave me a nervous smile before meekly shuffling out of the way. After just a moment, the door slid open, and I glared at Posey for just a moment longer before heading in.

The room was lit up by the alternating grid of huge square-cut gems that pulsed with magical power and the metal frames housing the smaller gem arrays we use for computing. The floor was sleek and partially illuminated in stripes as magic and data flowed along glass-covered channels spreading out from the mayor's desk to each power gem and magic computer.

Mayor Mare sat at said desk with a subdued smile. By means I have yet to uncover she hadn't aged a day, though she no longer wore glasses as her eyes had given out years ago. Instead, she now sported a pair of faintly glowing magical false eyes, which worked like the real thing if not better.

I smiled as I approached, sizing up the controller console built into her desk. "Good afternoon, Mayor."

"Hello to you too, Supreme Administrator!" She chirped and chuckled. "I had an inkling you'd be on your way. After all, mine is the closest console to Canterlot, and you'd certainly be looking for one."

I paused and furrowed my brow. "What?"

Her smile widened. "On the off chance you escaped Canterlot, you'd be looking for a console to contact Jury-rig or somepony else. And mine is the closest," she set her hooves on her desk and leaned forward with a smile. "That's what." She clicked a button and the door slammed shut.

I began scanning the room. "How the hell did you-"

"We have our ways Bedlam. You might have figured out how to mix magic and machinery, but that's hardly the only way to use magic," she declared with a chuckle. I raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "Some of us still remember how to send letters by magic, you know."

"Very useful for sharing secrets, like the fact that Starlight Glimmer was seen dragging you through Canterlot, without any of your nasty tools or bodyguards," she tilted her head with a smirk as I failed to compose myself and recoiled with a grimace. "It isn't too difficult to fathom the idea you would manage to slip away, but it's plainly obvious you're still unarmed." I jumped as a rush of wind slammed down behind me. Whirling around, my jaw dropped and I fell back in terror.

"And alone," declared Rainbow Dash with an absolutely sinister grin.

Chapter 16

My head was swimming as soon as I came to, and I immediately let out a groan that evolved into a coughing fit as my chest exploded with pain. I leaned forward with a gurgle only to find my hands were bound behind my back and around what must have been a pole or beam. As I opened my eyes, I also discovered my left eye was swollen shut, but I could see a few droplets of blood falling from my nose to my splayed-out legs.

"Mornin', Handsome. You sleep well?" I grimaced and looked up to see Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity looming nearby. A quick scan of my surroundings revealed I was in the Apple family's old barn, one of the few structures in the area that had been repaired without my assistance. The Apples had been particularly stubborn about refusing aid from my machines when it came to their farm and continued to handle all labor and harvesting manually. I'd always assumed their refusal would eat into their profits due to the competition being so much more efficient, and the barn at least partially confirmed my suspicions.

The whole interior was patchy and light visibly streamed in at a few points, as well as the fact it seemed sparse as far as farming equipment came. The thought of the Apples having to sell off some of their tools just to stay afloat and continue spiting me was of little comfort, unfortunately.

Glancing back at my captors, the signs of time's withering touch on their faces were equally of no comfort. Rarity, in particular, now had a narrow streak of grey running through her mane.

I managed a smile despite myself. "Hello, Ladies," I chirped and tilted my head slightly. "Morning, you say? And how long have I been out for?"

Applejack snorted. "Just a turn of phrase. Dash just dragged ya in," she replied and leveled a scowl at me. "We gotta policy round here 'bout not lettin' rodents stay overnight, y'see."

I chortled, ignoring the stabbing pain the act brought. "Well! I'd hate to overstay my welcome, so if you'd be so kind as to-"

"Shove it," Rainbow spat, jabbing a hoof at me. "You ain't going anywhere, pal." I clenched my teeth.

"Fine. But what exactly are you going to do with me?"

"Simple, really," Rarity replied with a huff and leveled a dark glare my way. "We're going to have Starlight turn you to stone."

I recoiled with a grunt, at which she grinned. "Sweetie, her friends, and Pinkie are all out looking for her right now."

I composed myself and leveled an even glare at her. "Are any of them heading to Canterlot?"

"Uh, yeah?" Rainbow replied. "That was where Mayor Mare heard Starlight was."

I barked a laugh. "Well! Bad luck for them, but good luck for me," I laughed again as they shared a look. "And if you're looking for Starlight, she's in town right now with Twilight."

The three recoiled and Rarity gasped. "What? Twilight's here?"

"That's not all. KS 6 is still alive, and she's planning to usurp my empire," I huffed. Applejack scowled and rolled her eyes, but before any of them could retort, I continued. "She's building a weapon that can turn living things into animunculi, and is going to use it on the whole world's population."

"Uh-huh," Applejack replied with an incredulous leer.

"You can choose not to believe me if you want," I growled before raising an eyebrow. "Can't even say I blame you, but surely you'd believe Twilight?" The girls paused and shared a look.

"Like I said, she and Starlight are in town," I said with a nod. "One of you can go find her and ask them."

A grim smile came to my face. "And you might want to hurry. KS 6 has already taken over Canterlot."

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity gasped.

"Applebloom," Applejack murmured, biting her hoof.

"Liar!" Rainbow spat before rising in the air with a beat of her wings. "I'll check the town and prove it!" In an instant, she tore through the door at top speed, ripping it off its hinges and causing Applejack to wince.

"Fer cryin' out loud," she groused. After a moment she shifted her glare back to me. "So, assumin' you ain't lyin', if that clankin' dummy of yers is takin' over, what's that mean for you?" I grimaced but before I could answer, Rainbow came crashing back through the wall beside the door, causing both mares to jump.

"Consarnit, Dash! Why the heck-" Before Applejack could chide her further, she was blasted and sent flying through the opposite wall of the barn.

"YOU!" Rarity screamed, narrowly conjuring a thin shield that saved her from a similar fate. Regardless, she was still sent sprawling back away from me. I looked towards the ruined door frame and gasped.

"Tempest!" I cried as she came charging in and smashed the beam I was tied to with a kick. In the same move, she hefted me up in her magic again and took off.

"Can you walk?" She demanded as we rushed along.

"I think so," I replied, glancing back to see the girls trudging out and scanning for us.

"Good. If I get caught up with them, try to get to the castle in the Everfree," Tempest said peering back for a moment. "Jury and I agreed to make it our extraction point once I'd found you again." I blinked and looked down at her.

"Jury?"

"After Starlight abducted you, I used the outpost's console to make contact," she explained. "There'll be a hovercraft piloted by one of the free-thinkers waiting for us." I took a breath and glanced back.

"Heads up!" I cried as Rainbow came hurdling towards us. Tempest grit her teeth and whirled around before safely and gently dropping me on the ground. With a grunt, she then warped towards Rainbow with a somersault and swung her back hoof at her. Rainbow whirled in the air and parried the kick with one hoof before sweeping her other leg up and grappling Tempest to the ground, redirecting all her forward momentum into the throw.

The pair slammed into the earth, kicking up a dust cloud that suddenly split apart as Rainbow burst out of one side with a grunt. Three beams of magic arched out of the cloud after her but as the pegasus caught herself and moved to dodge, Tempest teleported behind her and kicked her towards the beams. The magic violently exploded on contact, forcing me to close my good eye. As the light faded and the dust settled, I saw to my and Tempest's shared shock that Rainbow was still standing, if smoking, and hunched slightly with a grimace.

The pegasus raised her head and glared back at Tempest before beating her wings once and vanishing. There was a metallic clatter as Tempest was knocked off her feet and sent sprawling into a tree. The force of her impact caused one of her metal legs to snap at the joint, drawing a wincing groan from me.

She slid to the ground with a moan, but before she could recover she was struck again by a multi-colored blur and launched skyward, where the blur caught her and then began hammering her from all sides with an echoing rumble like continued cannon fire. After just a few seconds, she and Rainbow both fell to the ground, the latter hitting the ground in a clumsy roll before settling and panting as her wings hung limp.

Tempest, meanwhile, landed on her hooves with a ferocious snarl before her eyes rolled back and she toppled over with a wilting moan. As the two just lay there, I found myself panting with anxiety.

"Tempest?" I weakly called out. She groaned and struggled to her feet, while Rainbow did the same.

"What'd we talk about, Eddy?" She wearily replied, her focus firmly on Dash. I grimaced with a whimper.

"I-"

"Dash!" Applejack yelled as she came galloping up. Tempest and I both grimaced at her arrival, before wilting. "We got trouble!" Rainbow looked up and recoiled in shock.

"What the heck?"

"Oh, fuck," I murmured.

[Return to your homes. Curfew is in effect,] declared the small horde of flying animunculi, all speaking using KS 6's voice.

Chapter 17

It was sort of nostalgic. On the run, pursued by Equestria's best, hurt and confused, and tinkering with machinery on the throne in the Castle of Two Sisters. Granted, I was technically tinkering with Tempest's damaged leg while she laid on her back on my lap, and I was also pursued by my own machines, but it still called back memories. Lots of memories.

"Diamond Tiara," I murmured as I struggled to twist a bolt with my fingers.

"What?"

"Nothing," I replied with a sigh. "Are your sensors still functioning?"

She blinked and focused. Her gemstone eye crackled and buzzed but lit up as normal. "A little fuzzy, but yes."

"Keep an eye out for the ship or any golems."

"Already on it," she quipped with a smirk. I nodded and continued patching her up as best I could. The invasion force from Canterlot had proved at least partially beneficial, as it kept Twilight's friends off our backs allowing us to escape. There was no sign of the hovercraft that was supposed to be waiting, but it might have been en route.

The alternative, that it had been intercepted, was a reality I refused to ponder for the time being. I was instead preoccupied with the uncertain reality that the invaders were overtaking Ponyville and had already fallen upon Twilight and company.

And KS 6 hadn't exactly kept her intentions for her a secret. My only comfort was the knowledge that she and all her friends were in the same location, and smashing my golems, whether piloted by me or KS 6, should be second nature to them by now.

I smirked at the thought, which Tempest didn't fail to notice. "I'm assuming that face means you have an idea how exactly are we going to handle this?" I met her eyes and hummed. Pausing in my work, I rubbed my chin in thought. The past few hours, I'd mainly been looking to contact Jury, but seeing as that was reasonably already handled, I could devote my brain-power to the problem at hand.

"Disrupting wand. Class two or better," I murmured. "If we stabbed her in the heart with one, it might scramble her mind long enough for us to purge her from everything, if it doesn't kill her outright."

"That still requires we get close enough to stab her."

"And that's the trick, isn't it?" I let out a heavy and angry sigh and clicked my teeth. Memories continued to pulse through my mind, so I hummed and pondered how things used to be. This proved useful as, after a moment, a thought occurred. "If we can get any nearby administrators to march their animunculi on the old Citadel, we could erect some of those old signal towers we used to use. Wouldn't take long to hack them so they refuse any signals from the satellites, and we can lock them to my or Jury's registration."

Tempest hummed and nodded. "Sure, but what's stopping her from using the satellites ahead of time to infect the golems before we get the towers set up?" I frowned and leaned back. I tapped her metal leg in thought before grimacing.

"Wouldn't be too hard to just send the whole system on standby for a while, I guess."

Tempest recoiled. "Shut down all the satellites?" She looked off to the side in consideration of my suggestion. "That'd effectively cut all of our territories off from one another."

"Better than giving KS 6 any room to run," I retorted. Tempest grimaced and sighed.

"Very true," she continued to stare off while I resumed patching her leg. "It feels like everything's coming undone around us, Ed."

"No kidding," I scoffed. "Kinda meshes with something a local pony spat at me earlier, though."

She nestled her head onto my free hand and I began massaging her ear. "What was that?"

"Some nonsense about the world's harmonic magic something-or-other getting pissed at me because of the machines," I explained. "Adds up with my theory on magic technically being a living thing, which is why it responds to intent and all that shit."

I sighed and met her eyes as she looked back at me. "I think she was implying harmony itself wants me gone," I said, drawing a sad frown from her, which I countered with a smirk. "I have a different theory, though."

She smiled at that, so I continued. "Harmony's upset with me, sure, but not because of the machines," I explained, gesturing with my hand. "It's upset I've been negligent with the populace. I haven't been putting enough effort towards the quality of life of the average citizen."

"All our censuses have been on health and food and the like, but the happiness of the average citizen was never a factor!" I chortled. "I assumed it was a given."

I nodded at her. "So! We'll just have to add that to the list, and start running some polls, won't we? Figure out what the people feel they really need." She tilted her head and giggled.

"I guess we will," she looked off toward the entrance with a smile. "I think the ship is here."

I leered back towards Ponyville as I steered the hovercraft. While most of the town seemed unchanged, Sweet Apple Acres seemed to be at least partially on fire. Occasionally, a teal or violet beam of magic flashed through the air, confirming at least somewhat that Twilight and Starlight were still active. Humming, I nudged the free-thinking golem beside Tempest.

"You came from the Citadel, correct?"

[Yes sir,] it replied.

"What's the situation? Any escalations after Tempest made contact?"

[The Administrator was complaining of repeated assaults upon the Crystal Mind, as well as needing to place many animunculi on standby until you returned.] Tempest and I shared a look before turning back to the golem.

"Have any of them been behaving aberrantly?" I pressed.

[The Administrator was afraid of that, but to my knowledge, no,] it replied. [The enemy that has been hacking our systems has yet to wrestle the Citadel's local control node away from the Administrator.]

I huffed and focused forward. "That's something, at least." An explosion echoed through the air, briefly drawing my attention back to the town. I smirked at the sight of a purple, sparkling mushroom cloud rising, sending little black dots that were probably ruined animunculi through the air.

"I think our Equestrian branch can manage to rein in the local defects," I nodded at Tempest. "Giving us a chance to focus on our own defenses."

She hummed at the steadily fading cloud behind us. "Plus, KS 6 might just focus all her attention on Twilight," she said with a smirk aimed my way. "Also to our advantage." I chortled and increased our speed, leaving behind the Everfree and Ponyville.

Chapter 19

The big ugly crack through my helmet ruined a lot of my suit's sensors, but tracking magic wasn't as big a deal when the alicorns were right in front of me. With a shudder, I was propelled forward at speeds neither was fully prepared for and leaped to drop-kick them. Luna was able to avoid my attack, but Celestia took the kick square to the chest.

With a wheezing grunt, she went sailing across the plain and into a pile of ruined golems, where I sprung up in a burst of balloons and streamers. I caught her with my arms outstretched and squeezed her with a hug before unloading a super-charged lightning spell on her.

"AHHH!" She screamed as I pumped all of my suit's spell power into her. Considering it was based on Twilight Sparkle's magic power, this was a considerable amount. Luna came speeding toward me, but as she locked eyes with the glowing eyes of my helmet, she hesitated and tumbled off course. If the helmet wasn't cracked, that might've kept her pinned for more than a few seconds. Instead, she rolled to her hooves and charged again.

Dropping Celestia's unresponsive form, I swept a clenched fist back to the pile of destroyed animunculi behind me and weaved a simple spell through them, grabbing hold of all the gems and gem fragments still inside them. Opening my hand, a six-foot diameter hole was blown into the pile as all the gem debris I'd seized smashed together, shattering on impact and forming a cloud of glass fragments. Luna squawked, slid to a stop, and rushed to conjure a shield as I swung my arm at her, hurling the cloud as I did.

She narrowly managed to encase herself in a bubble before the cloud arrived, aimed right at where her eyes had been. With a flick of my wrist, I set the cloud swirling and scraping across the surface of her shield. She was forced to brace and hold her shield up, and Celestia was still recovering, giving me a chance to survey the field.

Twilight's balloon had been shot down and was now a smoldering wreck near the Citadel, creating a billowing tower of smoke that rose from within the complex walls. The golems that had been buzzing through the air had retreated inside the main tower, where several explosions had erupted shortly after the balloon's destruction. I couldn't scan for magic with my damaged helmet, but I had a solid feeling they were still managing.

Back on this end of things, the hippogriffs had almost immediately routed and fled, either out of fear, or hope Cozy and I were finally beaten. Looking back at where I'd left her, Jury, and Sandy, I couldn't exactly blame them for that assumption.

Jury and Cozy had been nailed with a petrification spell the second my initial attack faded, and Sandy I'd personally frozen in a block of ice. That was payback, not just for her treason, but for what she managed to do to Tempest who lay next to her, also petrified but with most of her mechanical parts ruined thanks to a disrupting wand Sandy stabbed her with.

Gritting my teeth with a snarl, I hit a sequence in my glove and began charging a beam in my palm. Reaching down, I pulled Celestia up by the mane and leveled my palm with her face.

"Shoulda stayed in hiding," I declared. "That way, give or take a few more years, I might've forgotten how much I hated you." She winced and closed her eyes. Right as the beam was ready, I heard a pop behind me and swung my hand around, firing the spell at Luna and catching her square in the face. As she flopped back, smoking and spasming, I clenched my fist and swung it at Celestia, who caught it with her hooves.

With a grunt, she set her hind legs and then rolled, managing to swing me over her shoulder and slam me to the ground. As I still had a grip on her mane, I yanked and threw her down as well. She wheezed on impact, and I heaved her up again and began peppering her with smaller, weaker beams from my free hand like a swarm of bees.

She cried out before curling up and closing her wings around her, giving me more leverage to hurl her at her sister. My suit shuddered again and I was pulled to my feet. Holding a hand to the still lingering cloud of gem dust, I clenched my fist and it came streaming towards me, forming a six-foot-long club. Taking it with both hands and charging it with magic, I leaped towards the still-reeling alicorns and brought it down with all my might and weight.

Despite my suit's size and mass, the explosion it created still sent me flying head over heels. When I finally hit the ground, I slid for a few more feet and then let out a shout of pain. The damage to my helmet must've kept it from warning me that the protective spells and shit were failing. It felt like I'd cracked my shoulder, and I started struggling to hold in breath.

"Really hope that's not a torn lung," I wheezed. A second explosion took my mind off my injury, and I looked over to see the Citadel lit up like a Christmas display. Before I could even pause to consider the ramifications, my mouth went dry and my lips began to chap. In fact, it felt like the air had just had all the moisture sucked right out and the temperature had just shot up by a dozen degrees at least.

With an effort, I sat up and discovered that a broken shoulder was the least of my concerns. Celestia was on her hooves again, and her mane and tail were on fire. Her eyes shimmered and with a crack of her neck, she spit a bloody tooth out.

I blanched and slowly held up a hand. "Time out?"

"Time's up." Her wings spread and then snapped her into the air, leaving behind a crackling cloud of dust. Tracking her into the air and struggling to get to my feet, I blinked when I realized the sun was much larger than usual. In fact, it was taking up most of the sky by this point.

"Oh fuck?" I whimpered. A small, alicorn-shaped dot was visible in the air between me and the sun and after a moment, that dot was surrounded by a spinning circle on the surface of the fiery ball of death.

"Jesus?" I whimpered again. The ring suddenly shot down towards me, forming a spike that lingered for a moment. Then, at speeds I couldn't track, it...

Well, it arrived.

All I really saw was a white, conical column speared into the chest of my suit, and I could feel the heat on my bare skin. As I struggled to react, the cone bulged and then snapped out, melting the chest of my armor, my shirt, and the face of my helmet clean off and singing my chest and facial hair off all at once. The column rolled into itself and retracted, and as soon as it did, I was blasted in the chest with a spell that rolled down my limbs and caused the suit to break apart around me.

After tumbling back and letting out a dazed groan, I faintly saw Luna form above me from a star-filled shadow. At least, I thought it was Luna. Her coat had turned black and her eyes were colder than usual.

"What?" I choked.

"You may have held our stolen power, but your focus was always on machinery," she said evenly. "Such rigid confines could never awaken its true potential." I blinked and recoiled as Celestia was suddenly right beside her.

"Indeed, your rigid mindset has hindered you in more ways than you could imagine," she added as her mane returned to its normal state and the pair took a breath. "But the time for you to learn is passed. You must be stopped so that the world may heal."

Luna snorted and held her wings to my head. "Another time, perhaps. Sleep."

I groaned and rolled for a moment before everything that had just transpired came crashing into my mind. Once it did, I shot to a sitting position with a gasp. As soon as I was up, I recoiled and nearly fell back over.

"Oh," I quietly said and forced an anxious smile. "Hey." Standing in front of me were the Elements of Harmony, Starlight Glimmer, Sandy, and the Alicorn Sisters, all sharing looks of contempt. Looking around, I saw we were still near the camp we'd set up upon arriving, and my petrified companions were standing nearby.

I grimaced and sighed before glaring at Celestia. "Surprised you didn't just kill me."

"If we wanted to simply kill you, Luna or I could have done so during our battle," Celestia replied, her expression softening as she spoke. "Death in and of itself achieves very little, especially when there are other means to thwart you from which good may be achieved."

"A stone statue which those you harmed may look upon and mock, for instance," Luna added with a snort.

"Says you," I grumbled, rubbing the stinging patch on my chest. "I think KS 6 would disagree on the efficacy of murder. Speaking of."

I looked Twilight and company up and down. "What happened with her?" I cast a glance towards the Citadel in the distance. Smoke continued to rise out of it, but it seemed less lively than before. There still seemed to be animuculi flying around, however.

"We nailed your dumb robot with friendship, duh?" Rainbow replied with a huff. I rolled my eyes and gave her an incredulous glare.

"That didn't exactly kill her the first time, now, did it?" I spat. Twilight shook her head and stepped between me and Rainbow.

"We can scrub your system to make sure she stays down later, we've got a major problem on our hooves!" She said, her face morphing to express deep concern like when they approached me in Tartarus all those years ago. I raised an eyebrow and she continued.

"Those golems flying around the Citadel were ponies!" She declared, causing me to flinch.

"What?" I murmured.

"She must've started dragging ponies from Canterlot here after we escaped," Starlight replied. "We caught her as she was about to use the machine on a bunch of foals!" I clenched my teeth and held my hand to my head.

"She shouldn't have been able to activate the transformer without the bell," I muttered before fixing Twilight with a glare. "Discord's magic was the linchpin of the entire process." Looking past her, I saw Sandy still holding Grogar's bell and I dragged my hand down my face.

"I don't know how she managed it either, but there are still lots of ponies over there that are stuck like that," Twilight said with a painful wince. "Besides those we.." I frowned and looked at her friends, all of whom looked away with guilty and miserable faces. Fluttershy clenched her eyes and sniffled before Pinkie put a leg around her shoulder.

"Fucking hell," I muttered. A painful silence fell upon us before Celestia stepped closer and knelt to look me in the eyes.

"At this point, the majority of your life has been spent in evil, but there has always been a kernel of goodness within you," she began. "You have sowed injustice and grace in tandem. Many creatures have come to benefit from your machinery, especially those who previously might never have walked again. For this reason only, do I even dare ask, Edward Bedford. For the reason I believe some part of you desires to do good for other creatures."

Her expression was severe but warm. Inviting. Hopeful. "Can you reverse this?" I looked into her eyes for a few moments before scanning the rest of the group. A similar hope was in all of their faces. I took a shallow breath and rubbed my chest. The mild stinging was as clear a sign as any that this was it. My suit was trashed, my army ruined, my satellites down, and my bell plundered.

I wasn't coming back from this.

I narrowed my eyes in thought. I could leave them hanging. Really drive the point home that this is what happens when you fuck with me. Maybe even use this to get them to swear loyalty to me? But was their word worth anything? I looked back at Celestia, who was tilting her head towards me, the warmth and hope in her face steadily melting.

I winced in realization, as I think I grasped what her face was really saying. This wasn't a 'we really need your help' situation. This was a 'last chance to do something right' situation.

Humming, I took a breath and looked off to the side where Jury and Tempest were. Pondering them for a moment, I nodded.

"I can try. It's technically my invention, after all," I finally declared. A collective sigh of relief came from the group. "But on one condition." And just like that the sighs turned to groans and cries of outrage. Celestia furrowed her brow but otherwise didn't react.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Rainbow screamed stomping forward and jabbing a hoof at me. "It's your fault all this happened! If you hadn't made that dumb robot or that stupid transforming thing, NONE OF THIS would have even happened!"

Pinkie stomped her hoof at me. "Yeah! Where do you get off?"

"What even is it?" Starlight spat with an angry chortle. "You want us to just hand Equestria back to you?"

"Let them go," I said, jabbing my thumb at Tempest and Jury. Everyone besides Twilight and Celestia recoiled in shock, and I shrugged. "They're all I've got left." They all shared a few anxious glances before Sandy frowned and turned to the princesses.

"We can't do that," she declared. "Jury's can just use all his resources to keep causing trouble. And Tempest is, well, Tempest." I hung my head with a growl.

"You treacherous little-"

"Alright." I blinked and looked up to see Twilight with a firm expression. "We'll let them go for now. But if they start causing trouble, then that's on them."

She looked me up and down and nodded. "Deal?" I stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding as well.

"Deal."

The combined might of all the ponies present made forcing our way into the Citadel a breeze. From there, Twilight guided us to where the transformer was located, and what a sight it was.

She'd scaled up the design, and it now had the shape of an oversized microscope, with a glowing gemstone-tipped apparatus overhanging a metal, gem-studded table on which subjects would be restrained. Tangled-up wires connected the machine to a nearby set of consoles, which I presumed were the controls for the entire thing, and at the far end of the room sat a huge cage with its bars smashed open. That was where Twilight and friends had found some kidnapped and unturned ponies who claimed to be taken from Canterlot. Said ponies had been escorted safely out of the complex while I was unconscious. To my immense, but silent concern, I saw no sign of KS 6's body.

"Alright, lemme take a look," I muttered and approached the console. Twilight and the rest followed behind, watching over my shoulder or around me cautiously. I blinked as I looked at the screen. It looked like someone had been chatting, but the conversation had been partially scrubbed.

The remaining entries included queries on the transfer of magic across time and space, clarifying questions on seemingly the transformer itself, and..

The entire log vanished at once.

"What was that?" Twilight asked as I narrowed my eyes. The screen pinged and a single new message was displayed.

[> ;)]

My jaw hung for a moment before I scowled. "Nothing," I spat before accessing the console. "Now, let's see what we can do."

It was kind of nostalgic. Based on the view through the window, this was the same cell I'd been held in all those years ago. Only this time, it wasn't a precautionary measure while they figured out if they could trust me or not.

It was a matter of course while they decided what to do with me.

Through my window, I could see pegasi guards carefully detaching the screens from the towers of the castle as part of an effort to scan every last inch of Equestria's systems for any sign of KS 6. If my situation wasn't so dire, the sight of those pegasi, some of whom had spent hours stuck as machines just two weeks ago, might've warmed my heart.

Instead, the only thing that brought me comfort was knowing the Jury and Tempest had escaped. If they managed to get the ship back to the Citadel or not, if they manage to reactivate the satellites or not, if they manage to seize the reins of the empire again or not, I couldn't fathom. If I was lucky, all these things would come true and, in a few months, I'd see them again.

For now, it was enough to know they were free. If everything else fell through, this was one plan that I could say led to the exact result I wanted. And that was my one comfort in this cell. Hell, I wasn't even convinced my rogue little creation was really dead. But that was about to no longer be my problem.

The door to the dungeon creaked open and I heard hooves clacking on the floor towards my cell. Looking up, I saw Twilight standing at my bars with a somber, even expression.

"Well?" I huffed. Her ear twitched and she nodded.

"Once we've liberated your other territories, we're probably going to hold another discussion so all the creatures you've hurt get a say, but for now at least we've made a decision," she said, her face growing more severe. "Like Celestia said, and like plenty of creatures can testify, you've done some good for everypony."

She hung her head with a dark leer. "But the bad outweighs the good. And by a lot."

"No shit?" I huffed and shook my head before looking away. "How long?" For a few moments, quiet held the cell and I found myself staring through the window again. Then she spoke.

"There've been a few kirin babies born in the last year who managed to say their first words," she said, drawing my attention back. "So it seems like the curse you placed on them will die out in a generation or so."

I scowled and shook my head with a shrug. "So?"

"So, as a baseline, your sentence is until there are no more kirin stuck with your curse," she declared. "And the Kirin Grove has completely regrown." I looked her in the eyes for a moment. After just a few seconds, the weight of her answer began to settle in.

"That's.." I rubbed my chin with an uneasy sigh and my eyes slowly traced the floor. "A long while."

"At a generous estimate, over five hundred years," she replied causing me to shiver. "But you were very thorough, so it'll probably be way longer." My mouth hung loose in my hand and I stared at the floor.

"By the time the spell ends, nopony may even remember all the bad things you did," she added. "Then, we can see about giving you the chance to do more good than bad."

I blinked and looked up at her to see she was looking off to the side. "That's my hope, anyway." Again, the dungeon was quiet. My eyes darted at nothing in particular and I slunk back against the wall of my cell.

"What's it like?" I quietly asked.

"It's not like anything," she replied just as quietly. "It's modeled after what a cockatrice does. So, it'll put you to sleep for the whole time."

"I remember Discord mentioning being awake the whole time," I said with a grumble. Twilight shook her head with a sigh.

"That's because he's Discord. Ordinary criminals put through the spell don't-"

"Has it ever been done on a human, though?" She paused at my question. Furrowing her brow, she fixed me with a frown.

"There are ways to make sure you're asleep."

I raised an eyebrow with a weak smile. "And if I'm not?" She grumbled and closed her eyes.

"I'll figure something out. I wouldn't leave you like that, Eddy."

"How do I know that for sure?" She opened her eyes and gave me a sad, but frustrated glare. We stared at each other for a few moments before she responded.

"Because we used to be friends, and you're the one who tried to ruin that. Not me," she turned and trotted away, leaving me alone. I sat with my hands folded and my legs splayed out before me. Again, I scanned the floor and clenched my eyes.

"Yeah," I choked out, bringing my hand to my eyes and slumping down. "I guess we were."

BEDLAM II