BEDLAM Minus One

I spied through my binoculars at Twilight and her friends down in the gorge for which Ghastly Gorge was so named. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the sour expressions told me none of them were pleased about this arrangement.

"This is such a bad idea," Jury griped, reminding me they weren't the only ones upset about this plan. I set my binoculars aside and reached into the rear seat, making sure my bag was easily accessible.

"Do you have anything better in mind?" I demanded, casting a critical glare her way. She didn't meet my eyes, continuing to look off to the side. After a few seconds, I fully disembarked from the hovercraft and made for the path down into the gorge.

"Will you at least take a few of animunculi with you?" She pleaded and gestured to the host of six dozen machines we'd mustered. Of these, twenty were drones equipped with explosive potions they were set to drop on command.

"Absolutely not. Wouldn't want to frighten them," I replied, turning and descending backward so I could point at her. "But keep testing that voice-projecting system!" She watched me go with a miserable stare before sighing and tinkering with the device as I requested. If it worked, we'd be able to speak through certain animunculi, which would have its benefits should this all go according to plan.

But that's a big if and one which made me anxiously thumb my belt on which all my spell talismans were hanging, including a very experimental teleportation talisman. It really only worked for return trips, but that should be just fine for today's affairs.

I struggled to steady my breathing as I hit the lowest level of the gorge and began my approach. The six of them quickly noticed me and after sharing a look they marched side-by-side toward me. I anxiously clicked my teeth and sighed quietly once we stood before each other. My eyes drifted between each of them and I found myself somewhat taken aback at how decidedly uninjured Applejack was.

Heroic fortitude, I suppose. Noted.

"Bedlam," Twilight finally said in a low tone.

"Princess," I replied with a smirk. She raised an eyebrow as she looked me over.

"New haircut?" She asked, drawing a snicker from Rainbow. I hummed and rubbed my hand over my head.

"I think I pull it off pretty well," I chortled before fixing her with a glare. "So, do you have them?" She blinked and scowled at me.

"Nope," she replied, ruffling her wings as she did. I turned my head slightly and pursed my lips.

"Now, now. If you aren't willing to barter, then I'm certainly not willing to rein in the mob," I explained, wagging my finger at her. From the corner of my eye, I could see several armored ponies creeping forth from the caves lining the gorge's walls

"Yeah, we know," she replied, adopting a sharp grin as slowly I found myself surrounded. "But I think getting you out here and capturing you now is way more vital." I swallowed as I scanned the forces they'd brought to bear against me.

"Hello again, Mr. Bedford," Celestia said with an even tone. Of course, the look in her eyes told me how much rage she was holding back. The guards leveled their spears at me while several pegasi hovered above with heavy-looking iron shoes.

"I honestly don't know what you were expecting," Twilight huffed, shaking her head and fixing me with an incredulous leer. "Did you really think we'd just give you the artifacts?"

"No, that's why I said we could barter for them," I retorted with a wry grin. Slowly, my hand drifted to my belt. "But since that's off the table."

And my hand stopped moving.

Oh, scratch that.

My entire body was frozen and covered in a golden light.

"As I said in Somnambula, Mr. Bedford," Celestia hummed, stepping closer and circling me with her horn alight. "I was willing to be patient and lenient if you'd surrendered." She leaned forward and nearly touched the side of my head.

"That too, is off the table," she added. The guards stamped the spears and hooves and cheered as she carefully lifted me off my feet.

"Man, that was easy," Rainbow chortled, hovering up and sticking her tongue at me.

"Almost too, easy," Rarity added, looking me up and down. "I was under the impression you were clever." I narrowed my eyes as best I could despite being frozen.

"Question on my mind is where in the heck is that filly he's been scheming with?" Applejack growled, scanning the gorge. As she paced in place, my eyes fell on Twilight.

She had this angry, weary look a lot like the one she'd worn back in Shang-hay. And just like back then, it stung the longer I looked at her. Finally, she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Alright, let's-"

"Heads up!" Applejack yelled. Everyone jumped and looked up past me in shock.

"ATTACK!" I heard Jury scream. Immediately after, dozens of magic beams went flying through the air. I couldn't see what was happening behind me, but I heard Celestia cast another spell only for my vision to be filled with smoke as several bottles suddenly rained down around us and exploded.

This proved to be enough of a shock to force her to release her grip on me and I hit the ground. Gasping, I pulled my teleport talisman free and hastily fired it off. The world twisted around me and I felt myself being stretched and dragged before suddenly snapping back together. I slumped back in the rear seat of the hovercraft with a desperate shout.

Jury glanced back and nodded before slamming the controls and sending us speeding off. Sitting up, I checked my person and then stood up to look back at the battle below.

And specifically watch for Rainbow as she came speeding up toward us. I recoiled with a yelp and flopped into the seat as the blue pest shot up and then arched down to slam into us. Reaching over, I grabbed my bag and swung it at her. She caught it with her forehooves and I gasped.

"No! Let go!" I screamed, pulling on it with both hands. She clenched her teeth and pulled at which point I let go and she went tumbling away. "Damn it!" I flopped over and drew my blasting talisman to take a few shots at her, carefully aiming to drive her back toward the ground.

Or more specifically, toward Twilight and Celestia as they came flying up to assist her. I wilted and stood up, shaking my fist.

"Fine! It doesn't matter! I might not be able to keep you from setting the Pillars free, but it doesn't matter!" I screamed as we sped away. The three paused their pursuit at my words. "Even with their help, there's nothing you can do to stop what's coming!" Twilight recoiled and glanced back at the bag Rainbow'd grabbed as I sat down with a huff.

"Go," I demanded and Jury whimpered before taking the controls again. I bit the knuckle of my thumb, desperately hoping I was correct and ignoring the occasional annoyed glances Jury was shooting my way.

"The heck'd he mean by that?" Rainbow grumbled as the flying machine rapidly shrunk into the horizon. Twilight hovered to her side and pulled the bag from her hooves before opening it and peeking inside. Celestia and Rainbow did likewise and the three gasped at what they saw.

"The other artifacts?" Twilight said in surprise.

"He must not have wanted to leave them unattended," Celestia hummed.

"Did we just win?" Rainbow asked, drawing Twilight's eyes to her and then to the flying machine in the distance.

"Not yet, we haven't," she declared with a steely glare.

This time we were a bit better prepared. We'd fashioned a cozy little cave with certain amenities to support a brief stay in the area around Ponehenge without being pestered by bugs or the humidity. While it wasn't perfect, we at least had lights, dry bedding to sleep and lounge on, plenty of food, and twenty golems lurking in the woods to back us up.

Didn't stop Jury from griping though.

"It's been days and still nothing," she grunted, slouching across the couch and onto my lap.

"It'll take 'em a bit to arrive," I replied, popping another finished gem into the prototype that would allow us to see through our golems' eyes. As it hummed to life, I peered through its viewport, waiting for the image to clear up.

"If they're even coming!" She cried before sitting up. "Bedlam, I- You- Ugh." I lowered the device to look at her. She scrunched up her muzzle and then sighed.

"I can't believe you're banking all the work we did on this," she finally said, averting her eyes. "On the idea that they'd be desperate enough to open that portal." I furrowed my brow and looked into the device again. Once the image was clear, I leaned forward with a gasp and then smirked.

"I'm not banking our work on that," I replied, handing the device to her. She tilted her head before peeking through as well. "I'm banking it on my now proven hypothesis that ponies are, by and large, present company excluded, stupid." Jury withdrew from the device with wide eyes and looked at me in wonder as I laughed and again looked at the transmitted image of Twilight and company arriving with the artifacts in tow.

I clicked a sequence into my glove, setting all the golems to attack on my command while Jury and I crouched in the bushes just outside the circle of stones. She wrapped her hooves around my arm as Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst combined their magic and set off the spell exactly as it was written in Starswirl's journal.

There was a flash of light just like the one the residual magic displayed weeks ago, only now instead of taking the Pillars away, it dropped them from twenty feet up. As they all hit the ground, I scanned the area for anything else and saw to my bewilderment that the shadows around the ruin were suddenly very animated.

And that they were slowly slithering toward the center of the stone circle. I shared a look with Jury before rising from the bushes and stepping toward the group.

"Equestria is in danger and needs your help!" Twilight cried to the raggedy old unicorn who must've been Starswirl. All eyes were on the two of them, allowing us to creep closer.

"What? No, no, stop!" Starswirl cried, grabbing Twilight and shaking her. "You must undo what you have done!"

"What?" She gasped.

"If you have set us free, he shall be free as well!" Starswirl pleaded. While I smirked at his words, Twilight's friends all recoiled in shock. Sunburst meanwhile grabbed Starswirl's journal and hastily flipped through to one of the last pages.

"The spell doesn't say anything like that!" He cried. Starswirl frowned and snatched the journal, scanning the page Sunburst had been reading.

"This has been tampered with," he quietly murmured.

"That's probably because Jury and I carefully erased the part that clarified it before we let you take the journal," I declared, causing the ponies to jump and whirl around to look at me in surprise. "Wasn't too hard since we had a handy translated version to cross-reference." I bent forward at the hips and smirked at Rarity.

"How's that for clever?" I chirped as the sun was suddenly overshadowed. Casting my attention skyward, I watched as the shadows converged and then unfurled into a pony's shape. The huge, shadow horse threw his head back with a malevolent, roaring laugh before sneering down at Starswirl and the rest of the ponies.

"Your feeble attempt to imprison me has FAILED Starswirl!" He laughed. Starswirl clenched his teeth and tried to ignite his horn, but only managed to produce weak sparks before he nearly stumbled over.

"My powers are weak," he moaned as Twilight held him up. He looked at her in desperation. "You must reverse the spell!"

"Oh no you don't!" I roared and thrust my hand toward the group. "ATTACK!" On command, the animunculi surged forth and began unleashing a torrent of magic.

"Bedlam!" Twilight screamed as she conjured a shield against the onslaught.

"You creep!" Rainbow added as more golems rushed in from all sides. I turned toward the shadow pony who was looking at me in astonishment. However, before either of us could say anything, he was blasted in the head by a teal beam of magic, courtesy of Starlight Glimmer who had teleported on top of one of the standing stones and out of sight of the golems.

"C'mon! We can take 'em both!" She declared before yelping and teleporting away as I blasted at her. The shadow pony snarled and then shot up into the air in a dark pillar that stretched up and pierced the clouds.

And then he was gone.

"Wait!" I roared.

"Where'd he go?" Jury cried before squeaking as I scooped her up and sprinted for the edge of the woods.

"Bedlam!" Twilight yelled after me as the golems closed in.

"If Starswirl's magic is drained, then his was probably affected as well," I explained, dashing to where we'd hidden the hovercraft. "We have to find him!"

Once we made it to the hovercraft, I quickly took us straight up and scanned the horizon for any noticeably dark patches in the sky or trees. I gritted my teeth when nothing stuck out to me and adjusted my glasses, looking for any peculiar magic auras. The glasses were still new but worked more or less.

"Bedlam?" Jury squeaked, grabbing my arm.

As a result, I quickly spotted the large magic aura looming directly over us. I slipped my glasses up and wilted at the amorphous shadow hanging over us. It slithered through the air, surrounding us and then a horse head emerged and glared at me.

"Who are you, Creature," he demanded. "Why did you come to my aid?" Jury sobbed quietly and hid her face in my sleeve. I swallowed and nodded at him.

"My name is Edward Bedlam. And I believe you and I have much in common," I explained before taking a shallow breath. "Stygian." He recoiled and his jaw dropped before he clenched his teeth and hissed.

"How do you know that name?" He growled and reached for me with thorny shadow tendrils.

"Because unlike the sycophants and brainless unicorns of the modern age, I know how to read between the lines," I replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "It helps that I began to notice certain patterns that spoke to me personally." He paused and narrowed his eyes.

"Explain."

Jury cowered inside my coat, only barely comforted by my hand which gently stroked her back. She'd given up her seat to the scrawny, grey unicorn who sat with a thoughtful, sad expression on his face.

"To think that after all their efforts, Equestria would still turn out so foul," Stygian said mournfully.

"Considering what they did to you, it's not that surprising," I replied with a smirk, drawing his attention to me. "If the pillars are rotten, the roof just won't hold." He considered my words for a moment before smiling.

"Well, Edward," he sighed and offered his hoof. "How shall we proceed?" I smiled back and shook his hoof.

"I have to collect some things from my lab before we can get started, so you go ahead and get your rest," I said. He nodded and slowly climbed out of his seat before darkness overtook him. "Where should we meet up?" The shadow spun in place before Stygian's shadowy face emerged again.

"I have a place in mind. Perhaps you have heard of Hollow Shades?" He asked. I paused and tilted my head in thought.
"Isn't that place right over the Foal Mountains?" I shot back, leaning on the back of my seat and looking north toward the mountains. I turned to Stygian with a drawn frown. "That's a bit obvious, don't you think?" He smirked and nodded.

"And that is what makes it so ideal, Edward," he laughed darkly. "It's the first place they'd look, so therefore it's the last place they'd look." I frowned harder and shared a look with Jury who peeked up at Stygian, yelped, and dug back into my coat. Before I could argue with him further, a familiar voice rose up to greet us.

"Bedlam!" Twilight yelled. I glanced down and saw the Pillars and Element-bearers all in a narrow clearing below. Stygian and I shared a knowing look before he burst through the clouds and vanished. "What have you done?" I laughed and spun the hovercraft around to face them.

"Oh, just come to an agreement with a new pal is all!" I declared drawing looks of horror from the ponies below.
"You petty warlock! Are you insane?" Starswirl roared. "The Pony of Shadows will-" I blasted the ground right at his feet, causing him to yell and jump back.

"I'm well aware of what you believe," I spat, before grinning wildly and jabbing myself with a thumb. "But I know better." I took a deep, shuddering breath and pointed a damning finger at him.

"I know the truth that you have denied. I know the true nature of your so-called monster!" I laughed grimly and tilted my head. "And have found in him a kindred spirit." While the Pillars all looked at me in shock, Twilight furrowed her brow and Starlight tilted her head with a sad frown. I clutched at the air and cackled.

"Now that he's free, I have a powerhouse of an ally I can rely on," I chortled, drawing a talisman from my belt. "Once his strength is recovered, I bet even Discord will think twice before getting in our way." I rose up and thrust my hands out in triumph.

"Such is the infinite power of darkness!" I laughed as I swept my talisman down at them, a huge gout of green fire rolling down and cutting them off, allowing us to speed away.

Starswirl stroked his beard as he scanned the magic map in Twilight's castle. With a flick of his horn, the map shifted to display Equestria as a whole, though with certain spots much darker than the rest. He nodded and looked up to face the rest of the ponies in the room, namely the other Pillars and the Elements of Harmony, as well as Starlight Glimmer.

"The Pony of Shadows will seek a place far from sunlight to recover his strength in," he declared, sweeping his leg toward the dark patches on the map. "We must determine where in Equestria that is and confront him." He lit up his horn again and projected the images of the Elements of Harmony and his own journal.

"By combining your Elements with our magic, we should be able to overpower the Pony of Shadows and banish him back to the void," a sour sneer worked its way onto his face as he dispelled the image. "Along with that bipedal warlock if we're lucky." Twilight recoiled and glanced at Starlight for a moment.

"Banish Eddy?" She murmured. "I don't-"

"Is there a problem with that?" Starswirl demanded, fixing her with a critical glare. He narrowed his eyes when she didn't answer. "What is he to you?" Twilight's eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed before she finally averted her eyes and frowned.

"He was my friend," she quietly replied. Starswirl blinked and shared a look with the other Pillars.

"Ah, I see. Well then, it seems history truly does repeat itself, and your friend has also been snared by the temptation of darkness," he said with a sigh. Again, Twilight and Starlight shared a look.

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"The Pony of Shadows was once an ally of ours. Jealousy and envy made him vulnerable and susceptible to the pull of shadows," Somnambula explained with a sad tone. "The same seems to have happened to this Edward Bedlam of yours." Twilight's ears snapped back and she shook her head.

"I don't-" Starswirl cut her off by stomping his hoof on the map table.

"Enough! I must prepare the spell we will use to banish these villains once and for all," he declared, sweeping his leg at the other ponies. "All of you go forth and seek them out!"

Starlight sat on the bed which had remained unused for a few months now, studying the picture she'd taken of Eddy when they managed to figure out what day his birthday was and they surprised him. The human was half out of bed and half on the floor, looking up at the camera with wide, bewildered eyes while Starlight and Twilight smiled right beside him.
The door creaked open and the sound of hooves drew her eyes from the picture. She offered a weak smile as Twilight approached and sat beside her.

"What's up?" She asked, resting her head against Starlight's and looking down at the photo. Starlight frowned and hummed.

"Hearing him put it into words like that just has me," she paused and screwed up her face. "Thinking." Twilight nodded softly.

"About Eddy?" She asked.

"About Eddy," Starlight replied, pulling away from her and shrugging. "And the Pony of Shadows, actually." Twilight blinked and tilted her head, so Starlight continued, hopping off the bed and pacing as she spoke.

"He said they were both vulnerable and that's how all this evil power was able to lure them in," she paused and closed her eyes with a sigh. "Kinda like what happened to me all with cutie-marks." Twilight's ears shot back and she looked down at the picture sitting on the floor.

"But you helped me out of all that," Starlight finally added. Twilight took a shallow breath and rested her head on the edge of the bed.

"Do you think I gave up too quick?" She croaked. Starlight turned and reared up on the bed to hug her.

"No, I think his words just hurt, and you tried to snap back," she said as Twilight wrapped her in a wing. They held each other for a minute or two before Starlight spoke again. "Which is why I think we should try again." Twilight clenched her eyes shut as a few tears fell onto the picture.

"There you are, Princess," Starswirl grumbled as he strode into the room. The two jolted slightly and looked up at him as he studied the pair. "If you're quite finished, I require your assistance completing my spell. As you knew this Bedlam character, I need your expertise to ensure the spell will even work on him." Twilight wiped her eyes with a wing and stared at the wizard for a few seconds to his visible annoyance.

"No." Starswirl recoiled at her response.

"Excuse me?" He demanded.

"I said no," Twilight repeated, hopping off the bed, and picking up and looking at the picture in her magic. "We're not just going to throw Stygian and Eddy away without even trying to really reach them." She turned her attention to the wizard as she set the picture back on Eddy's old nightstand.

"You said it yourself Starswirl. They were both in a bad place and vulnerable," she fixed him with a small frown. "And they both made some awful decisions because of that." She fluttered up to him and jabbed him with a hoof.

"But friends don't just give up on each other when they make mistakes out of fear or desperation," she took a deep breath and nodded. "And I refuse to just give up on him."

"Are you implying I am mistaken about this?" Starswirl demanded with a snort and a sharp glare. Twilight glared right back.

"No, I'm telling you," she jabbed him again before relaxing her posture and expression to a sad smile. "That when the time comes, you need to let us talk to them."

Starswirl narrowed his eyes at her and then glared at Starlight who frowned back at him. His eyes shifted between the two a few times before he exhaled hard and shook his head.

"You really are Celestia's pupil, goodness me," he grumbled, bowing his head slightly to Twilight. "As you wish, Princess." Twilight flinched at his words, but then beamed and hugged the old unicorn to his audible shock.

"Thank you."

"Are you sure we can't bring any extra lights?" Jury moaned, leaning against my shoulder.

"Yes. Stygian needs darkness to recover," I replied, drawing another dramatic moan out of her. Ignoring her, I glanced back at the supplies we'd loaded into the hovercraft. Food and such, sure, but we had plenty of gems and tools with which we'd test Stygian's magic. My running idea was that, since his power grew in darkness, if we encased the gems he'd fill with his magic and completely cut them off from sunlight, then they'd effectively have an infinite power supply.

Most gems could only hold so much magic, and in order to get the most out of them I had to be careful in what runes to apply to what gems. But if my theory worked, we could throw that limitation out the window. It was no exaggeration that if this worked, we might be able to give Discord a run for his money, to say nothing of Celestia and Luna.

Visions of animunculi firing blasts of magic indefinitely and for days, weeks, months on end raced through my mind. Machines able to run at peak performance forever.

All of this had a very real chance of becoming real and it brought a warm smile to my face.

"Everything's coming up Bedlam," I mused.

Then a teal beam of magic screamed through the air and nicked the lower half of the machine.

"That seems a bit extreme," Twilight said with a wince as the flying machine in the distance began swaying and drifting toward the ground. Starlight scoffed and waved her hoof.

"There's no way that's enough to put him down," she replied before fixing Twilight with a firm look. "Just like there's no way we could talk either of them down while they're in the same room." Twilight knit her eyebrows together and turned to the rest of the group gathered around the open pit into the darkness below Hollow Shades. Starswirl gazed down into the shadow before offering her a reluctant smile.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight nodded and spread her wings before glaring down the pit.

"Stygian!" She called.

"Damn it all!" I roared as we sped on foot and hoof along the valley. "I told him this place was too obvious!"

Jury galloped up next to me. "Maybe it was just a coincidence? " I scowled down at her and then back at the smoke rising from the horizon where our flying machine had crashed.

"Coincidence. Right," I growled. "Starlight Glimmer and the Pillars AND the Elements ALL just happened to be in Hollow Shades when we returned." I enunciated my words with a flourish.

I squawked and stumbled but caught myself. "And I'll bet Starlight was just taking potshots at pigeons and happened to hit the blades keeping our aircraft afloat, too!"

Jury humphed and stuck her nose in the air. "What I'm saying is maybe they were heading this way anyway and they're gonna pass right over-" Just then, a multicolored light exploded up out of the ground at the center of the ruined settlement. "Oh."

I clenched my teeth and hissed a breath. "Damn it, I put too much effort into you. I'm not giving up now!" I drew my blasting talisman and flipped on my shield talisman before speeding on.

We reached the edge of a deep pit out of which the light was beaming. And down in a chamber at the bottom, I could see the Elements and the Pillars combining their completely unfair high-powered magic tools to drive Stygian back into Limbo.

I took a breath and then leaped down. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" The group jolted and looked up at me, weakening their spell and allowing Stygian to push his way back out.

"It's him!" Mistmane cried. I aimed my charm down at them.

Starlight charged her horn. "I got him! Focus on the Shadow!" She fired a beam which smashed into my own, but then she teleported up and blasted me from near-point blank. My shield lit up and absorbed the blast, but the force still knocked me off course, and I was sent harmlessly bouncing away, cursing all the while.

Though initially surprised by the barrier, she recovered and warped after me just as I clamored to my feet and took another shot at her. She parried the blast out of the air and fired another at me, which again was absorbed by my shield. She furrowed her brow and studied the effect closely. Just beyond her, I could see the combined powers of harmony going to work again.

I growled and took aim at her. "I spent too much time and effort letting him out! You're not sending him back."

She grimaced and lit up her horn. "Why the heck are you so buddy-buddy with the Pony of Shadows anyway? In case you haven't noticed, Eddy, it's a LITERAL monster!" She snorted. "I know you got that whole 'infinite power from darkness' idea, but do you really think it's going to cooperate?"

"He's not an 'it' and he's not a 'monster,'" I spat. "You'd know that if you actually read between the lines in all the legends about those old bastards."

"Edward! Stop!" I flinched and looked up at the scrawny unicorn currently galloping towards us.

"Stygian? Wha-" I looked past him to see the shadow creature currently getting blasted into Limbo and then back at him. "How.."

He panted and stepped between Starlight and me. "Edward, just stop! It's over." I scowled but before I could retort there was a boom and a squeal, heralding another rainbow blast that filled the whole chamber. When my sight returned, the portal to Limbo was gone, and so was the Pony of Shadows.

I looked between Stygian and the place where the shadow had been in bewilderment. "What.. the hell just.. How?"

"We freed him!" I frowned as Twilight and the Pillars came trotting up. "We pulled him out of the darkness he'd been living in for all this time. He's free."

I scoffed and aimed my talisman at her. "You mean you neutered him. Took away his power. Made him weak," I waved Stygian to my side. "Don't worry, I can fix this. We can still make this work."

He blinked and looked at me with a frown. "Make what work?" The entire line-up of Equestrian defenders was now present and glaring at me.

I groaned. "What we talked about after I freed you," I swept my arm out at him. "Remaking this world how we want it. And most importantly?"

I clenched my fist and bared my teeth. "Justice. Recognition for your works and mine," I looked him in the eyes. "What we both deserve." He furrowed his brow as we held each other's gaze.

"No."

I tilted my head slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Excuse me, too!" Jury chirped as she delicately slipped around the Elements and scurried to my side. My attention remained firmly on Stygian, though she looked up at me. "What'd I miss?"

Stygian took a breath and nodded. "It's over Edward. I.. I'm done."

My arm went slack and my jaw hung open. "What do you mean you're done?"

Starswirl took a step forward with a determined glare. "He means-" I blasted the ground right at his feet, causing him to yell and jump back.

"I mean I've chosen to let go of my resentment, Edward," he gave me a sad smile. "I'm choosing to forgive and move on." I glared hard at him as he turned and walked to Starswirl's side.

He sighed and nodded at me. "And I think you should, too." I think I felt one of my teeth crack from how hard I clenched them, and my fist was definitely quivering.

"He's right, Eddy," Twilight said, taking a step closer and fixing me with a serious look. "Nothing's happened that can't be fixed if you give us a chance to help." I clenched my talisman so hard, I felt the gem crack.

"Please. Just come home." She gave me that sad frown. The one she must've known ate at me.

In that moment, I thanked God for my glasses, which were too dark for her to see through.

I smiled and adjusted my glasses. "Sorry! Terribly preoccupied now that Starlight's wrecked my flying machine," I leaned in at the hips. "Have to look into getting a new one."

Her ears folded back. "Eddy, please.." Her friends shared a look and began to advance on us.

I leaned back and tossed my crackling talisman in the air a few times. "I think I'll call the new one 'Integrity!'" I snapped my fingers at her, causing her to flinch. "In honor of the fact that I can't be bought." Before anyone could make a move, I slammed my talisman gem-first on the ground. The explosion that followed provided perfect cover for Jury and me to escape.