BEDLAM Minus One

Big Earner's Las Pegasus home reflected both the stallion who owned it and the copious supply of bits that flowed into his pockets due to his numerous illicit businesses that operated just beneath the surface of the city's welcoming veneer. While most ponies who visited the city only encountered the carnivalesque atmosphere and attractions the place was known for, those who knew where to look found a heart-pounding underground of games of chance, illegal iron-shoed stomping matches, Diamond Dog knife fights, Minotaur goring contests, and the absolute capital of Equestria's intoxicating substances.

And all of these were in one way or another under the hoof of Big Earner. Thus, whether it be some wealthy Canterlot noble seeking a thrill to even out their bored high society lifestyle, or some young pony in way over their head, the vast waves of cash that flowed through this underground always funneled back to Big Earner and paid for his enchanted cloud villa and the solid gold statue of himself that greeted anyone who arrived.

Such as the group of his six top lieutenants from across Equestria, as well as certain civilian-adjacent characters, like Pinch Penny and Sterling Sixpence both of whom facilitated distribution of Earner's illegal goods and services under a legal guise.

"Cheer up, Pinch!" Sterling said, nudging his companion who wore a perpetual grumpy scowl. "Mr. Earner's parties are always a riot! You won't have time to think about you-know-who, even if he's right beside you the whole time!" Pinch Penny just grumbled in response, which drew a leer from one of the mob ponies just ahead of him.

"You got a problem, Pinch?" The gruff, beige-colored pegasus stallion asked. Despite his tone, Pinch just sneered back with a huff. The pegasus and his fellow shared a look as the whole group ascended the stairs on either side of Earner's statue. Once they were level with his front door, one of the other mob ponies snorted a laugh.

"You're the only one Bedlam ain't made happy. So, try to keep that in mind, yeah?" He smirked back at the scowling bespectacled stallion as they pushed the doors open. "Cause Earner don't like nopony killing the life of his parties, 'specially not over something personal." One of the others snickered.

"Yeah-hah he don't! Piece got busted, and he's still set on hosting this-"

"Who's killing the life of the party?" The mobsters jumped and stared forward to see a familiar, smirking mole rat in a trashy suit.

"Verko?" One huffed, scanning the foyer of the mansion which was unusually empty save for the rat and his bipedal guards, all of whom openly carried a blasting talisman and wore unfriendly sneers. The pegasus ruffled his left wing and the whole group started backing up to the door. "I heard you weren't going to be showing."

"Yeah, wasn't planning on it," Verko replied just before a metallic crash came from behind the ponies. "But plans changed." They whirled around to see one of Earner's bipedal golem guards that Bedlam made standing in their way. Pinch and Sterling hugged the ground in terror, desperately glancing between their criminal companions and the mole rat. The machine hummed and leveled its magic-firing arms at the group.

"Changed, huh?" The mob pony said with a gulp, as Verko's guards approached. "Well, uh, I'm sure Big was thrilled to hear that. Where is he?"

"He's upstairs takin' a bath," Verko hummed, inspecting his claws. The mobsters froze in response. "He'll call for you when he gets out."

"No kidding?" The mobster whispered. Pinch and Sterling shared a bewildered look.

"Yessir," Verko purred, stretching his arms and snapping his claws. A few more of his bipeds emerged from a side door with a few terrified and well-dressed mares. He pointed at Pinch Penny and Sterling. "Tell you what! You two go enjoy the party, courtesy of me." The pair shared another look before Verko's guards approached and urged them to move. As they scurried away, Verko stalked towards the mob ponies who bared their teeth and scowled at him.

"Me and these boys need to discuss a few changes in how we operate."

I sat on my throne with one arm draped over my eyes and the other gently petting Jury's back. The quaking in my hands and knees had stopped, aided by how tight Jury had her forelegs gripped around my sides. I hadn't even personally done anything. Hell, as of right now, I didn't even have any confirmation anything had happened.

But I knew damned well what I'd demanded. And I knew damned well who I'd made the demand to.

And so it wasn't much of a shock when Verko and his cronies came swaggering in, laughing and jeering each other.

"Boy, oh, boy, Ed!" Verko hollered. Jury tensed up and squeezed me harder. "That over-writey-whatever-you-called-it is just tops! You shoulda seen the look on his face when his own clankers whipped around! And these magic blasting things! WHOO!" He wheezed and I heard him slap his knee a few times.

"Thank you, Verko," I hummed, slowly adjusting myself and looking down at Jury. Her eyes were screwed shut, but the fur around them was slightly damp. She hated the guy, but it was still a lot for her to stomach. I turned my attention to Verko as he and his chums stood at the foot of my throne. "Were his lieutenants compliant?"

"Sure were," he chirped, snapping his fingers. "Second I made it clear they'd still be getting their cut, just that it'd be coming from me they were real keen to switch their loyalties."

"And his distributors?" I asked. He blew a breath and stood up straight with a grimace.

"Not as keen," he smirked, jabbing a thumb at one of his larger, pig-faced goons who beat his fist into his palm. "But a black eye or two never hurt nobody important. They'll play nice or my new four-legged compadres'll let us know." I scowled.

"At least one of his distributors knows where I'm lurking right now," I hissed. "I can't afford to risk someone else-"

"Hey, hey, hey!" He interrupted, waving a claw. "They might be shakey on distribution, but ain't no way they're gonna roll on you." He waddled up beside me and leaned on the arm of my thrown.

"I got a feel for these things. Those doughy nobodies love their business more than they might dislike you or me," he explained, jabbing me in the shoulder as he spoke. "If they spill the beans, they're smart enough to know someone's gonna ask what garden they dug 'em up in, you feel me?" I furrowed my brow and grimaced.

"I think?" I murmured. I felt Jury stir and looked down to meet her teary, nervous eyes. I hummed and rubbed her ear, causing her to lean into my hand. I offered a momentary smile which melted as soon as Verko jostled my shoulder.

"Listen, I gotta get rolling to make sure word's spreading adequately about the shift in leadership, so thanks for the aid in expanding my revenue!" He leaned up and slapped my shoulder. "Genuinely couldn't have pulled it off without you and your wacky toys!" He waddled back to his thugs and I nodded.

"Of course. Thank you, Verko," I replied, returning my attention to Jury. After a moment, the sound of his feet stopped and I looked over to see him standing just at the door's threshold with his hands behind his back. He rolled his head left and right before slowly turning with a grin.

"You know," he slowly began. I rolled my eyes with a sigh and reached into my coat as Jury fixed him with a scowl. Verko's thugs began chortling quietly as their boss slowly approached me again and drew the overwriting command talisman we'd built for him to make sure Big Earner's golem guards weren't a problem. He rubbed the gems on the thing's surface and eyed up the golems we had in the room. "A fella does have to wonder-"

I pulled out and slipped on a gem-covered glove as he spoke before quickly clicking a sequence on said gems. The second my thumb pressed the final gem in the sequence, Verko's talisman made a high-pitched squeal and burst apart with a subdued pop, causing him to jump and stumble over. He slowly sat up and fixed me with an anxious look as I glared death his way.

"Wonders never cease, but you aren't so durable," I hissed. My pinky touched the base of my gloved palm, and my golems rumbled to life. "So I wouldn't press my luck." Verko swallowed hard and shot me a smile. When I didn't respond, he slowly rolled to his feet and dashed out of the room.

"Very astute! Nice chatting with you!" He cried as he and his goons fled my sight. Once Jury and I were alone, she buried her face in my shirt and groaned.

"Great, so we've switched one back-stabbing creep for another back-stabbing creep with even less self-control," she moaned, slowly nuzzling my shirt with a whine. "What was even the point?" I sighed hard and pulled out Starswirl's journal from the inside of my coat.

"Time," I explained. "We bought ourselves time to fast track this ploy of mine."

Twilight pulled three books from her library's southmost shelf and swapped them around, before tapping her hoof and then swapping them back. Then, her wings bristled and she removed just one of the three and slid the entire row of books over and placed it at the very end.

And all the while, Applejack, and Rarity watched her with concern.

"It's been almost three weeks, Darling," Rarity began after Twilight pulled the entire row out. "Are you certain he-"

"He promised he would," Twilight spat, casting an angry glare her way. Rarity wilted, causing Twilight's face to soften with a sigh. "He just.. Needed time. That's what he said." She sat on the floor and hung her head. Rarity and Applejack shared a look, but before they could say anything Starlight burst in. All three mares looked up at her in surprise as she galloped up to Twilight with a scroll in her magic. She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated and winced.

"Starlight?" Twilight said, looking between her and the scroll. Starlight grimaced and hovered the scroll to Twilight without looking at her.

"You uh, need to read this," she murmured. Twilight frowned and snagged the scroll before unfurling and reading it. As she read each word her expression gradually softened before slowly shifting to despair.

"Oh, Eddy."

Sire's Hollow was visibly gripped by unease by the time Twilight and her friends arrived a few days after Twilight had read the scroll. Ponies who dared to remain on the streets cast anxious glances at the Elements as they passed, and Firelight came galloping out to greet them with more intensity than whenever his daughter came to visit.

And the source of all these strange happenings drew a weary glare from Starlight and Twilight as the former's father explained everything in more detail once they were all in the privacy of her old home.

"He just dropped in on some weird flying machine and started asking about Sunburst and you!" He cried, pacing and shaking his head anxiously. "So of course, when word reached us, Stellar and I were all too eager to meet this bipedal stranger and learn how he knew you two." Firelight paused and tilted his head.

"Of course, he was a little confused and thought Stellar was Sunburst's sister, which is why she went with him so easily," he hummed before shaking his head and fixing the group with a desperate, fearful look. "Then he just scooped her up, gave me that letter I wrote you about, and flew off!" Starlight narrowed her eyes with a quiet grunt and looked at Twilight who digested Firelight's words silently.

"Well, shoot, and y'said he wanted you to send that letter to Sunburst?" Applejack asked, scratching the back of her neck and avoiding looking at Twilight. The entire group was doing their best to do likewise.

"Yes! He," Firelight grunted and bit his lip. "He said if we contacted the guards, he'd know and." He paused and his ears twitched.

"He said it wouldn't end well for us," he all but whispered. Twilight hummed quietly and shifted slightly. "Since then I've seen some weird ponies lurking around. I didn't know what else to do so I sent the letter to Sunburst like he asked." He sighed miserably and shook his head.

"Of course, a day or so later, I came to my senses and wrote you too," he murmured, offering Starlight a weak smile. "I figured my daughter coming to visit wouldn't be too peculiar, but I guess I should've figured you'd bring your important friends along, huh?" She frowned and shared a look with the rest of the group, save Twilight who was still staring ahead.

"Think you could point some of those strange ponies out to us?" Starlight asked after a moment.

"More coffee?" I offered, holding a steaming cup of the stuff to Sunburst. He looked up from the workstation I'd provided, raised an eyebrow, and shook his head.

"No, thank you," he sighed, his breath coming out in a thin gout of visible vapor from the cold of the mountain we were camped on.

"Oh, I'd love some," Stellar called from the hovercraft. I grimaced and clenched my eyes before looking back at her. She giggled and waved her hoof at me. Jury, who was controlling the few dozen golems keeping guard all around the mountain, scowled at her.

"Guy makes one honest mistake," I grumbled, removing my glasses and rubbing my eyes. I leaned forward and glared over Sunburst's shoulder at the journal and the paper he was writing on, translating Starswirl's worthless horn-writing for us. "How's it coming?" He frowned and managed to glare right back at me.

"Fine. Can you make sure my mother doesn't freeze to death, please?" He spat. I narrowed my eyes and he narrowed his right back. Finally, I relented and stood up before walking to the hovercraft.

"Here," I said curtly. She giggled again and took the cup with her magic.

"Oh, such a gentlecolt," she hummed. "And such a dashing sense of style!" I rolled my head to fix her with a weary stare before huffing and looking over myself.

"Thanks," I murmured, ignoring Jury's angry glare which was now leveled at me. Shortly after Verko'd dealt with Earner for me, I'd decided to upgrade my wardrobe and finally pin what it was that was missing from the tux Earner had made for me.

Turns out it was mainly the tie being too thick, and the fact it didn't have a cape. The tie was now one of those thin, stringy bolo-ties, and of course, I now had a silky red cape flowing from my shoulders.

"Nice costume, Eddy." I froze. Slowly, my eyes drifted up to see Starlight, Twilight's friends, and Twilight. With the exception of Starlight and Twilight, and as usually meek little Fluttershy, they all had determined, steely expressions fixed on me. Starlight meanwhile, was looking me up and down, appraising the 'costume' as she put it. And Twilight.

Her face was unreadable. Somehow, that made things easier. I took a breath and braced myself.

"Starlight!" Sunburst cried, jumping from his seat and whirling around. I quickly drew one of my blasting talismans and aimed it at him.

"Sit down and write," I ordered causing him to freeze. I felt a hoof bash my shoulder gently.

"Be nice to him!" Stellar sharply demanded.

"Quiet," I replied, pushing off the hovercraft and striding towards the girls. As I did, I clicked on my shield talisman. "Jury." She nodded as I passed and set the animunculi to motion. While the machines began to circle us, the girls mostly kept their attention on me.

"How'd you find me this time?" I asked from about ten feet away, my thumb gently rolling over the firing gem on my talisman.

"We roughed up one of your mob buddies down in Sire's Hollow to get him to tell us where you were," Rainbow replied and shook her head. "Not cool dude."

"Foalnapping poor Sunburst's mother!" Rarity added, stomping her hoof at me. "And dressing up like THAT."

"I reckon you feel some kind of way about what went down with the princess and all but," Applejack sighed and adjusted her hat. "This all just ain't right, fella." I raised an eyebrow and turned to Starlight and Twilight. The latter finally shifted her expression once we locked eyes.

"You promised," she hissed wearing an expression of thorough contempt.

"I lied," I shot back, slipping my glasses back on. "I have work to do. And I can't get any of it done rotting in one of Celestia's cells. Or yours for that matter." I began to circle them slowly, and they responded in kind, following Twilight's lead.

"What work is that?" She demanded.

"I'm going to remake this worthless little country, that's what," I spat, causing her to narrow her eyes. "I'm going to rip Celestia's throne out by the roots and replace it with something of my own design." I couldn't help but bark out a laugh and leaned forward at the hips to smirk at her.

"Cause as we've seen, my designs are new and revolutionary," I chortled. "While she can't help but drag everyone else backward. And can you really call her a 'leader' if all she does is pull you back?" I inhaled sharply and fell into a brief laughing fit. My nerves were rattling and my heart was racing as the seven of them recoiled at my words. Except for Twilight. She maintained her glare.

"Laugh all you want, Ed-"

"Bedlam," I growled. She paused and I drew myself to my full height. "Eddy was your friend. Or thought he was. Just like he thought you'd be there for him when he needed you." I swept my arms out as the words just flowed out.

"I'm certainly not and am under no such delusions," I laughed again as it felt like some weight slipped free from my shoulders. It felt like I could finally breathe again. Starlight recoiled with a gasp, and the rest of Twilight's friends looked at me in shock.

But Twilight.

"Noted," she said.

She kept the same determined stare she'd worn the whole time, as she spread her wings and charged me.