BEDLAM Minus One

She never reached me.

The second she was airborne, one of the golems screeched, thrust its arm at her, and unleashed a beam of magic that struck her square in the side.

"Twilight!" Starlight screamed as the alicorn was driven sideways into the snow, while two golems began peppering her with beams. Starlight ran to defend her while the rest of the group charged for me.

"You lousy-!" Rainbow impacted with my shield headfirst, and her entire body, including her tail amazingly, stuck straight out before she slid down into the snow. I cackled and aimed my spell talisman at her, hefted her up in artificial telekinesis, and then threw a haymaker with my blasting talisman into her chest.

"HOUGH!" She croaked as my spell exploded and launched her through the air before crashing through the rest. I leveled my talisman at Sunburst who wilted and hugged the ground in response.

"Keep writing," I ordered before signaling Jury. "Get our lovely hostage airborne and out of reach."

"Yessir!" She chirped, hopping back in the hovercraft and setting it to rise. I took a breath and turned just in time to be launched off my feet by a combined retaliatory blast from Starlight and Twilight. My shield protected me from the magic and from the fall, but I was still sent spinning through the air and down the mountain. As I rolled, I caught a glimpse of the group forming up and glaring at me as well as the fact they'd destroyed the two golems keeping Twilight pinned.

"What the heck is that thing?" Applejack griped.

"Some kinda crazy bubble!" Pinkie replied.

"Rainbow! Get after Jury-rig and rescue Sunburst's mom!" Twilight yelled before spreading her wings. "Everypony else get him!" I hissed through clenched teeth and rapidly clicked a sequence in my glove. The golems who had been standing and waiting for orders leaped to action. Half charged Twilight and the rest, three formed a circle around Sunburst, one began aiming its arm solely at Rainbow from a safe distance back, and the rest rushed to my aid just as I hit the ground.

Everything moved at once. The animunculi and ponies charged, Rainbow zipped into the air and was forced to double back when the golem began shooting, and I rose back to my feet on an uneven slope just in time to level my talisman at Twilight.

We both fired at the same time and the beams collided in the air and an ugly purple-green ball of fire erupted at the point of contact, expanding in all directions. Twilight hit the ground and threw up a shield to protect her and her friends from the blast, while it washed over my own with no effect. There was a faint, almost staticky effect that rumbled through the air and then the mountain began to shake. We both paused and shared a look before turning our attention further up the mountain.

Where a huge wave of snow was now crashing toward us faster than my golems and I at least could avoid. Fortunately, as the snow rolled over me, I found my barrier held up against it and the avalanche lacked the force to knock me off my feet. After a short time, the snow seemed to settle and I began melting my way out with my talisman. After just a few seconds, I managed to pop my head out and then drag myself up.

Scanning the white, dusty slope around me, I saw to my immense satisfaction a series of twitching and kicking hooves sticking out of the snow, along with the occasional tail and mechanical arm.

"Easy," I chortled before pulling myself all the way out.

Twilight gasped and fell to a coughing fit as she was plucked out of the snow by her tail. She shook her head and flopped onto her side before scanning the mountain around her. Just beside her, Sunburst, his mother, and Starlight stood, the last of these having Twilight's tail in her magic. Elsewhere, Rainbow and Applejack were pulling the rest of her friends free.

"Where-" Twilight began before scrunching her face and sneezing. She wiped her nose with a wing and stood up. "Where's Bedlam?" Rainbow threw her head back with a groan, releasing Fluttershy's leg in the process and causing the latter to sink back into the snow.

"I almost had him!" She bellowed. "If his dumb robot hadn't been shooting at me, I woulda- OH."

"He got away," Sunburst explained, cleaning his glasses with his cape. "He took the items I was transcribing and took off."

"Like a wuss!" Rainbow yelled.

"Or a distinguished rogue beating a hasty retreat to plot his next daring caper," Stellar added with a hum. Twilight and the rest gave her a bewildered leer before Starlight turned to Sunburst.

"What was he having you translate?" She asked.

"This," he replied, holding up an old-looking blue tome. "He was in such a hurry since Rainbow was still active he didn't notice I hid it under my cloak."

"Or he doesn't need it anymore," Twilight grumbled taking the book and looking it over. She knit her brows together as she began flipping through the pages. "The heck are you up to, you creep?" Starlight blinked and fixed Twilight with a concerned frown.

"Sunburst, can you and Flare go help fish the girls out of the snow?" She asked. The stallion looked between the two and slowly nodded.

"Sure. C'mon, Mom," he replied before turning to withdraw.

"Sunburst, honey, remember how I told you I was thinking of hitting the dating scene again?" Stellar idly asked with a hum, causing Sunburst to groan. Once the pair were out of earshot, Starlight stepped beside Twilight and nudged her. The alicorn's sour expression hardened and she bristled her wing.

"You okay?" Starlight asked.

"Ticked off," Twilight replied, roughly turning one of the pages. "Bedlam got away and is going to do Celestia knows what unless we stop him."

"Bedlam?" Starlight grumbled.

"That's what he wants to be called, so yes," the alicorn huffed, nearly ripping a page as she turned it. Starlight frowned at the sight and shook her head.

"And you really think he's-"

"No. I don't. I don't know what to think! I thought I could trust him. I thought he was going to turn himself in," Twilight ranted, slamming the book shut and squeezing it with her magic. She turned to Starlight and jabbed a hoof at her. "I thought once he did I could help him work through whatever the heck's going on since I clearly wasn't there enough for him! I THOUGHT-" She clenched her teeth and shook her head before stomping and slamming the book into the ground over and over again. Starlight recoiled at the sight before grabbing the book in her own magic. Twilight glared at her and tried to pull the book free and the two entered a brief tug-of-war over it before she finally released it and turned her back to Starlight with a scream.

Starlight furrowed her brows at the alicorn as she stomped away and sat in the snow with her head hanging. Looking to the side, she saw the rest of the girls trotting down the slope to her side. Once Starlight joined them, Twilight looked up at her with her ears pressed back and tears freely falling.

"I thought we were friends."

"Bedlam, that was amazing!" Jury cheered, jostling me with her hooves wrapped around my arm. She giddily laughed and pranced in her seat, causing the entire vehicle to rock slightly. "You were all 'Pow! Bam! Boom!'" She punctuated each word with a hoof jab into my shoulder. She laughed again and leaned into me.

"Not to mention the avalanche!" She gasped, desperately jabbing me in the shoulder. "It looked like an accident, but I know you had it planned! Genius!"

Despite her antics, my hands tightly gripped the controls and my eyes continued to burn from how long I'd kept them open and staring ahead.

"I'm certainly not and am under no such delusions," the memory echoed.

"Noted," her icy response followed. My head spun, and only the grip I had on the controls and Jury's praise kept me cognisant of my surroundings, which kept us airborne.

I'd been here before.

Months ago, now.

That night in the castle. When I first ran off.

I'd fucked things up with Celestia all but permanently then. But now? Now, it was her I'd ruined everything with.

And yet.

"Yeah, it sure was something wasn't it?" I finally replied, turning to Jury with a smug leer. "And did you see the look on her face?" She blinked and then beamed before nodding her head.

"Yeah! She was totally caught off guard!" She threw a punch into the air and spun into her seat. "Bam! Right into the ground!" She laughed again and I replied with a low chortle as my grip relaxed.

"I figured alicorns were only one-third earth pony, but golly! She sure seemed right at home in the dirt," I laughed. Jury recoiled a gasp and her hooves to her mouth before she burst out laughing. A warm, bitter smile worked its way onto my face.

Because she turned her back on me first.

And it didn't take a genius even half as smart as me to see it.

"So! What's next?" Jury said with a sigh. I raised an eyebrow at her and drew the pages Sunburst had transcribed from my coat.

"We use this to confirm my suspicions on what really became of Stygian," I explained, shaking the bundle at her. She tilted her head at me. "In addition to using his power to fuel my plans for overthrowing Celestia, I can give him-"

"Where's Starswirl's journal?" She interjected. I blinked and looked at the papers then down at my coat. I adopted a wide frown and glared ahead for a moment. Finally, I snorted and shook my head.

"Who needs it? Even if they have it, it's not like they can guess what we're planning!" I declared with a triumphant guffaw.

"The Pony of Shadows?" Luna huffed. "Are you certain?" Twilight closed the book and fixed her and Celestia with a determined frown.

"Not entirely, but with all his talk about taking over Equestria, I assume he needs something from Starswirl's journal that could help him," she began pacing between her friends and the stairs to the sisters' thrones, holding the book up for all to see. "Most of the thaumaturgic stuff in here is pretty well documented already, and unless Bedlam's just taken an interest in the personal exploits and travels of the greatest unicorn to ever live, I can't imagine he'd be too interested in any of it." She stopped and looked up at Celestia.

"But an ancient monster that almost toppled Equestria ages ago?" She shook her head and lowered the book, studying it with a weary stare. "Who knows? Maybe he thinks he's got a way to control it." Celestia furrowed her brow at the sight before Sunburst stepped forward.

"Our working theory is he has something related to his gloves prepared for it," he explained with a roll of his hoof. "If this is even close to what he's planning anyway."

"His gloves?" Celestia pressed.

"He was able to control his animunculi with the gems on his glove," Starlight replied with a huff. "I'm not sure how he managed that, but he's smart like that." The royal sisters shared a look.

"Indeed. Such a shame. Such a waste," Celestia sighed before raising her head with a firm nod. "Well, if you believe pursuing this theory will lead to his capture, as always you have our support, Twilight." Twilight didn't respond right away, still studying the book. Finally, she turned to Celestia with a nod.

"Thank you, and luckily we might already have a lead for where he might go next. Again, assuming this is what he's scheming," she opened the book towards its back and tapped one of the pages with her hoof. "One of Starswirl's last entries describes Ponehenge at the base of Foal Mountain as where they planned to make their last stand. I think we should start our search there."