I kept my eyes forward, but I could still see them through my peripheral. Thorax, Ember, Rutherford, Starlight, the alicorns, most of the Element bearers, and even Lace and her maids. All of my chiefest foes, here in the throne room, eyes locked on me. The public door to the room cracked open and another of Lace's maids approached her before whispering.

"Our medicinal elixir has been distributed to the injured," she explained to the gathering and tilted her head at me. "Including to your assistant. Their injuries will heal by sundown."

I audibly sighed and glanced over at her. "Thank you, Lace."

"I certainly didn't do it for you, Edward," she retorted with a wry smile. I winced and glanced the other way at Celestia. While everyone else wore expressions of outright contempt or thinly veiled and hostile glee at what was likely my comeuppance, she remained unreadable.

Before I could think more on it, the door at the far end of the room opened, and in walked Shining Armor, his daughter, and his sister. My breath hitched as the three met my eyes, and I desperately wished they'd let Tempest be here with me.
His face was drawn and haggard, telling a tale not only of the battle he'd just been involved in but also of weary resignation as though he was simply done with me.

Flurry wilted at the sight of me and hid behind her aunt.

And Twilight.

Like Celestia, she was unreadable. She spared me just a momentary glance before she began the climb to her throne at the far end of the room. Flurry and her father trotted over to her mother, where she sat averting her eyes from me. All eyes were now on Twilight as she mounted her throne and took a shallow breath.

"Why did you come back, Bedlam?" She demanded. "What's the scheme?" I swallowed and met her eyes.

"Initially, I was attempting to patch the tears between our world and his," I explained, gesturing weakly as I spoke. "But seeing as he's still here, I believed I should convey a critical weakness in his Citadel's design to you."

"What weakness is that?" She demanded again.

I nodded and held my hands out. "The same one all my machinery share," I began, which drew a subtle look of surprise from her. "Since all of his animunculi are connected by magical streams, if you were to use the bell on a critical magic channel in his fortress, you could siphon away all of it at once. Including him."

"Are you serious?!" Rainbow screamed, zipping up to me and nearly knocking me over. "You're saying we could've just blasted him with the bell and it'd all be over?!"

I held up a hand and glared at her. "No. I said you blast a critical magic channel in his fortress," I retorted waving my hand at her. "If you just target a single golem, he could just cut it off from the rest of the network."

"That's how KS 6 escaped the Element's magic all those years ago, right?" Starlight asked. I nodded in agreement and returned my attention to Twilight. Her face was still even, but she was clearly giving my words a lot of thought.

"Sealing him up in the bell along with disabling his machines would be ideal," she declared before frowning. "But he's also connected to your satellites, isn't he?"

"I believe so," I replied. She furrowed her brow and looked me up and down.

"Won't that also mean anything else connected to them would be drained?"

"It would," I replied again before humming with a slight shrug. "Unless, again, he cut something off from the network ahead of time."

"That would destroy everything you've built," she said, causing me to shrug again.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I sighed. She scowled.

"For you, it is." I hesitated and winced before meekly waving my hand.

"Let's.. Just say I've had some time to think," I replied. "Let's just focus on-"

"Elaborate," she demanded. I grunted and glanced up at her.

"We," I hesitated again and sighed. "We can discuss it later, once-"

"We discuss it now, Eddy," she spat, her expression turning sharp and venomous. I wilted at the sight and anxiously looked around. Again, all eyes were on me. Now, however, they were all slightly confused and expectant. I clenched my eyes and took a breath before looking at Twilight again.

"Is it too late for me?" I finally asked. Her expression shattered immediately and she recoiled in shock. Through my peripheral, I could tell the rest of the gathered creatures were having similar reactions. Some more furious than others.

"Sure is," Ember spat with a laugh.

"Wow," Thorax added with a heavy sigh.

"He serious?" Rutherford grunted. I couldn't make out what Cadance was saying as she was lost in a frothing, hissing rage that her bewildered husband was barely able to hold back. Flurry had peeked out from behind her to look at me in wonder. Celestia and Luna had only shared a look, while the Element bearers stared at me with jaws hanging.

Starlight was the sole exception in the room. While initially taken aback, she was now focused on Twilight like I was. The head princess looked at me, visibly searching for something to say. She scanned the room at the rest of the group before clearing her throat and adopting a severe expression.

"I," she slowly began and her expression immediately melted to one of subdued regret and exhaustion. "I don't know." I felt my heart sink and my shoulders slumped with a quiet gasp. She shook her head gently but averted her eyes.

"A part of me wants to say no," she continued before slowly fixing me with a harsh glare. "But you and I both know what you've done." We stared at each other for a few moments before I swallowed and nodded.

"Right," I huffed. I sat breathing with my eyes drifting around as she just held her focus on me. Then she took a breath and nodded.

"But for once, I think you're right. We can discuss this later," she added.

"WHAT?!" Cadance screamed.

"Caddy, hush!" Shining begged. Twilight began to descend from her throne and looked over the group before standing in front of me. Starlight and the alicorn sisters were the only ones not taken aback by her words.

"Let's hear about these main channels, Eddy."

Jury, despite her injuries, had demanded I sit on the bed with her. So, she now sat curled against my side, while Tempest lay across my legs. Both of them had magical restraints on, and there was a pair of guards watching us closely by the open door.

"So, what's going to happen to us?" Tempest asked as I idly scratched her ear. Jury whimpered and buried her face deeper in my shirt.

"For now, we stay under supervision," I replied, glancing at the window and the Citadel visible in the distance. "Twilight and her friends are going to wait for the next attack before attempting to sneak into the place."

"How long will that be?" Tempest pressed, glancing up at me. Before I could respond, a familiar face stepped into the room.

"Sooner than you'd think," Celestia declared, eyes locked on me. "At least, if you are willing to cooperate, Mr. Bedford." Jury and Tempest looked from her to me and I shrugged.

"What do you need?" I sighed. She didn't respond right away but nodded after a few moments.

"Our adversary seems to have it out for the two of us beyond most other creatures," she explained. "So, it may be possible that if he were to observe you and I leading a direct assault out of the city, he could be compelled to meet us."

I hummed and scratched my chin. "True," I raised an eyebrow at her. "But that would imply I be allowed to leave this room."

"And you'd need a few pieces of equipment such as those we confiscated to support the deception," she said with a nod. "We are prepared to offer both."

"No way!" Jury shrieked, rising as she did before letting out a howl of pain and collapsing against me. I sat up and wrapped my arms around her as she hissed and whimpered. "No. Don't do it. He'll kill you." She shivered and let out a weak sob into my shirt. I held her and looked at Tempest, who met my eyes before turning to Celestia.

"What about the two of us?" She asked.

"Jury-rig is still injured, and I think it would be best if you remained here with her," Celestia replied. "So that she's not all alone." Jury squeaked and murmured into my shirt at her words.

"Don't go. Don't go, please don't go." I hummed and caressed the side of her head.

"Hey, hey, listen. I won't be alone, and they're going to let me use the distorter," I quietly began, managing to get her to look up at me. "He made it sound like the one he had on top of the mountain was his only spare, so it should be safe. More than safe." I gave her a reassuring smile. She sniffled and clung to me for a moment longer before relaxing.

"We," she gulped. "We have things to do, Eddy. Don't you dare skip out on me."

"I won't," I whispered and hugged her. As we parted I looked at Tempest, who met my eyes before taking a shallow breath and nodding. Returning the gesture I slowly drew myself from the bed and approached Celestia. "Lead the way."

Smoke from the still-raging fire cast the field south of Canterlot into faint shadow, despite the fact they'd managed to keep it from spreading. As a result, the glowing eyes of the mechanical horde down in the valley between the mountain and Badlam's citadel were more apparent. As well as those shuffling out of the fortress itself. I took a breath to steady my pounding heart as the hovercraft carrying myself and the alicorn sisters drifted on.

I adjusted my glove and popped open the side of the arm I'd taken from my double. Inside were a few dozen shells, and a mechanism largely identical to a simple shotgun. Closing it, I scanned the warband around us. Yaks, ponies, changelings, and the leaders of each army. We were throwing most of what we had at him to really sell the illusion. Lace and her maids as well as Cadance and Flurry remained behind just on the off chance he snuck something passed us. There wasn't much in the city we needed to defend since neither Twilight or Discord were there, but we absolutely couldn't risk him noticing the former was gone.

I anxiously drummed my gun. "Did you get the disrupting wands distributed?" I asked.

"We did," Luna replied.

"And did you explain how to use them?" I pressed. "And my idea for the changelings?"

"We have done all that we could do, Mr. Bedford," Celestia declared. I drummed the gun a few more times before sucking in a breath.

"Right," I huffed and stood up, making a show of cupping my hand over my eyes and staring out at the army. Despite how far away we were if even one of them was equipped with long-range vision, then he'd-

"Ah," I gasped as the entire mechanical horde shuddered to life and began stomping towards us. I sat back and turned to the sisters. "Ready?" They nodded in unison, at which I focused forward and sped up to meet the army.

I watched the army Eddy was leading begin to charge, and turned to the girls. "Alright, let's move." They shared a look before Applejack cleared her throat.

"Twi, do you," she paused and glanced at the army. "You don't really think he's honest, do ya?"

"Yeah, we've kinda done this song and dance before, haven't we?" Rainbow added. I frowned and looked at Starlight who wore a small, weary, but telling smile.

"We sure have," I huffed.

"So what in the world makes you think things will be different this time?" Rarity asked. I watched the army as it raced on, mulling over her question.

"I don't know it will, not for sure anyway," I finally replied, closing my eyes and taking a breath. "I'm choosing to take a risk." I turned back and gave them the best smile I could manage.

"Cause that's what friends do for each other," I sighed. Their faces told just how little my words reassured them, but Starlight stepped forward.

"Besides, all things considered, we don't lose much just letting him help," she declared with a meek shrug. "And I'm certain if he tries to pull something again, we can handle it. We've got the bell, remember?" The girls hummed and shared a look.

"True," Rarity murmured. I nodded and turned towards the Citadel.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's move," I declared and lit up my horn before teleporting us away.

God, what I wouldn't give for my war suit. The phase distorter was in worse shape than I thought, and kept overheating after just a few seconds of use, which led to my current situation. The hovercraft was toppled over and being used as cover by myself and Shining Armor. He huffed as more gunfire pelted the overturned vessel. He huffed and turned to me as I manually cleared the jam in my gun, which had gotten stuck the second I tried to fire it.

"Never thought I'd die-"

"Shut the fuck up," I spat. I glanced up and saw Celestia and her sister working in tandem with Ember and the yaks to absolutely demolish every golem that came within reach. At the same time, the unicorns were straining to hold back the greater tide with a collective shield. At my suggestion, they'd opened small paths at specific points through the shield, by which the mechanical horde was slipping through in much thinner lines.

However, changelings disguised as me were waiting at those points with disrupting wands, which they used to rapidly incapacitate the encroaching horde.

But despite all of it, we were still vastly outnumbered, and the advancing army had already encircled us, bypassing the shield on three sides, where Celestia's team and the rest of the royal guard were doing what they could to hold them off.

As well as Shining and myself. Taking a breath, I leaned around the side of the craft and took a shot. The gun didn't jam and I successfully blasted a handful of golems. As soon as I did, Shining sprang up and hurled his shield spell out. We'd been using his magic sparingly, out of fear that my double might sweep in and use the bell against him.

"AHHHH!" Shining screamed as a thick, warbling gong echoed out. I gasped and peeked out to see the black and yellow magic of the bell siphoning Shining's shield spell and drawing all the magic out of his horn.

"Fuck," I gasped as the spell was cut, and my double smirked at us.

"Heya, Bedlam. The real one, anyhow. Cute with the changelings!" He chirped as he stuffed his bell back into the pocket dimension he kept it in. I grit my teeth as Shining collapsed beside me and I took a shot at Badlam. The spray hit him dead on and he tumbled back with a squeal. However, as he fell, the red lights of his eyes vanished and appeared on a different golem just beside him.

"HA-HA-HA!" He laughed before taking a shot back at me. Somehow, I was faster and managed to activate the phase distorter. I scrambled to my feet and took a shot at him before deactivating it. Again, the spray blasted him and his lights switched from one golem to the next. I repeated the process and found myself desperately scrambling back and forth in distorted time as his horde tried to encircle my position, never attacking except for the one he was currently piloting.
The glove began to glow red and burn my hand, but I fought on, ducking back behind the hovercraft when the device failed to respond.

"Uh-oh! Technical trouble?" He laughed. I stuck the gun around the side of the craft and took a shot. I heard it hit, but also heard more laughter. "Have you tried turning it on and off again?" I yelled in frustration and took another blind shot. Shining grunted in pain and tried to sit up, which drew my attention to the machines that now properly surrounded me and him.

"Fuck," I spat as the horde just stared at us. I aimed my gun at them, shifting from target to target, waiting for one's eyes to light up. Then when it finally happened, the possessed golem held its arms out expectantly. I leveled my gun and blasted him.

Or at least I tried to. All that came from my weapon was a dull click and I held my breath. Badlam wagged his finger and tsked as his gun barreled extended.

"Gotta learn to count those shots, man," he chided before smirking and slowly, deliberately raising his gun. Before he could blast me, however, he and half the circle were engulfed in a spray of dragonfire as Ember swooped low. His voice came out in a warbling drone as his frame melted. "Ffffucking!" The lights vanished as he abandoned that body. I glanced at Ember who didn't offer a second look before flying on, hurling burning death down on the horde.

Right up until she was tackled out of the air by a trio of alicorn clones. With more wheeling in, hissing and shrieking as they came. I panted and looked to the Citadel. It was still illuminated by arcane lights and more and more machines continued to stampede out, now backed up by an unleashed swarm of artificial alicorns.

"Holy.." Shining gasped.

"God damn," I sighed, slumping against the hovercraft. "I'm sorry, Jury."

"I'll be sure to let her know." I closed my eyes and turned to see my double crouching on the edge of the hovercraft, gun barrel at the read.. Shining grunted and tried to stand, and was blasted in the leg for his efforts. As my only backup collapsed with a shout, my double somersaulted over me and whirled around on his heel, stopping on a dime with his gun aimed at my head and a wide smile. I glanced down at the distorter, which was still bright red and now smoking.
I shivered and leaned my head back to stare at the sky. Despite the noise of battle around me, and the screams both of the injured and the clones, I managed to find a sense of peace.

"I tried," I huffed. I blinked and watched as Celestia came soaring down towards us only to also be swept out of the air by her own clones. I looked forward down my double's gun and shrugged. His smile widened and-

The lights along his Citadel flickered and he paused.

No.

His own eyes went dark for a moment.

The entire army went still, even the clones who fell from the sky like dead birds. I held my breath as his eyes lit up again and his arm and jaw dropped. He whirled around to look at his Citadel, while all around us his golems began spasming and crackling with energy that began racing back towards the Citadel.

"Wh-NO! NO! AHHHHH!" He screamed. Then, he also began spasming. Red lightning rolled up and down his frame and he began spitting out curses and oaths that all mixed and blurred together as his body twitched and rocked. Finally, he managed something coherent.

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" He howled before shooting his arm up and flipping me off. Then, with a gigantic thundercrack, it all stopped. The Citadel went dark, and all the animunculi went still or began to collapse. The whole field was silent. I panted and just stared at his frame which slowly hissed and sank to the ground, still with its middle finger extended.

I sat on the curb of the sidewalk, staring at my gloved hand. It had finally cooled off. I briefly considered using it to grab Jury and Tempest and escape, but I quickly pushed that thought away. Instead, I took a breath and scanned the street around me. Guards, yaks, and changelings all celebrated as they took turns trampling or smashing the derelict golems left behind. My eyes drifted to the various screens and other leftover machinery I'd installed in Canterlot once upon a time. All of it was inactive. I sighed and rubbed my eyes, stopping and looking to my side when a wing brushed my back.

"It had to be done," Celestia said softly.

"I know," I mumbled. "Doesn't make it any easier." I grunted in annoyance as I was yanking in a tight hug.

"Oh, look on the bright side my boy!" Discord laughed, hoisting me up and swinging me around. "You've finally come to your senses, just like I told myself you probably would!" He spun me and set me spinning on my heel where I barely caught myself. I glared at him until I turned and saw Twilight approaching with her friends, including Fluttershy this time, as well as Tempest and Jury. At the same time, Cadance and her family came trotting up with Luna and all sat beside Celestia. The alicorn of love still regarded me with contempt, but a nudge from her husband softened her glare somewhat.

Flurry was no longer wearing anything resembling my wardrobe, but she no longer looked away from me. All of them sat and turned to Twilight as she trotted up. Jury, who was still wrapped around the torso with bandages, swallowed and looked nervously at Twilight. Tempest remained unshaken but gave me a weak smile.

Twilight took a breath and smiled. "Hi, Eddy."

"Answer the question," I demanded. She blinked and recoiled, at which I frowned. "Is it too late?" She paused and looked from her friends to her old mentor and back to me. She opened her mouth to speak but paused when the sound of teleportation popped behind me.

Then Discord screamed, the noise of which almost overshadowed the dull drone associated with the bell being activated. I turned and looked in horror to see the draconequus fall over, all his magic drained into the bell held up by a KS 6 copy. The thing waved at me as it deactivated the bell.

[Hi, Eddy! The other Eddy put some neat stuff in my brain, like how to access his bell's pocket dimension and some final orders if he died!] It said with as chipper and sweet a voice as it could manage. [He said to tell you thanks for losing track of me! Oh! And he also recorded this message for you!] The bell began to glow. It shimmered with a really off-putting color. Sort of a purple-green kind of hue. Then it began to shake and crack and streaks of similar colored light shot out in all directions. The golem cleared its throat and played the message.

[Doesn't matter if I win, so long as you lose! And another thing? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA,] it cackled in his voice as the space around it stretched and quivered. Purely on terrified instinct, I raised my phase distorter and activated it. There was a deafening boom that made my teeth rattle, along with a crushing pressure that felt like it lasted for an eternity. I was thrown onto my back and my eyes were forced shut.

Then, it ended and I opened my eyes with a gasp. Sitting up, I looked around in shock. Twilight, her friends, her brother, the alicorns, and my girls were all still here, though it seemed like they'd been crushed down like I was. The bricks of the street we'd been standing on were still here, as well as the storefront we'd convened in front of.

And that was it.

A small circular patch that was closest to me when I activated my phase distorter was all there was, floating in an unending white nothing. After a moment, as the ponies all slowly struggled to an upright position, the literal storefront, as that was all that remained of the building, cracked and fell away before crashing against the white expanse as though it were solid. The sound of its impact was heavily muted but served to snap the ponies all to attention, and they all gasped in unison.

"What the heck just happened?!" Rainbow cried, rising to the air with a single wing beat. "Where is everypony?!"

"He did it," I huffed, slowly leaning forward on my knees. A tense silence, matching that of the rest of the space around us, fell over the ponies. My eyes were locked on the ground.

"W-what?" Rarity asked. I slowly held up my gloved hand.

"He did it. The singularity. I skipped the impact, but he did it," I panted and my arm drooped back to my knee. "He did it." Silence again.

"Eddy," Twilight squeaked. I sucked in a breath and let it out in a full-chested scream as I fell forward onto my knees, clutching the air in rage as I dropped. I screamed until all the air was forced out of my lungs and then just sat with my head pressed to the ground, and my fingers locked on the back of my neck. When I finally took another breath, something else happened.

I laughed.

I laughed harder than I had in a long while, since well before they put me in stone. I fell to my side, rolled onto my back, and laughed as I scanned the sky.

Nothing.

Nothing above, nothing below. Nothing all around for as far as I could see.

Nothing.

The only noise besides my laughter came in the form of desperate cries and arguments from the ponies, but I paid them no mind. Just as the universe paid me no mind and let itself fall apart right as I was ready to change. To make something of myself.

It didn't matter what they were saying. It didn't matter what she was saying, even as she was desperately pulling on my arm, trying to get my attention.

Nothing mattered.

He was right, and in the end, everything was for nothing.

Nothing. All of it was for nothing.

I finally stopped laughing, instead drifting into a quiet giggling fit that brought convulsions with every chortle, and draped my arm over my eyes.

Author's Note