Chapters I never smoked much after arriving in Equestria. During college though, and for a few years after, I certainly fell into the habit. But ever since crossing over, even the urge to find a replacement for tobacco never crossed my mind. I chalked it up to some degree of happy fun purifying something or other in the air.
Now though, the cigar I held in my hands was certainly beckoning to me. I gently twisted it over a few times, occasionally glancing at the silver zippo in my lap that had come with it. Both the lighter and the band on the cigar had the same logo: A pair of S's beside each other with an off-center octagon surrounding them. Just one of the many crime family crests to be found in the human portions of the new world.
"What's that?" Came another voice. Turning, I saw Twilight stepping out onto the balcony I was sitting on. She trotted up and hopped onto the couch with me.
"A gift from Big Ricky," I explained, twirling the cigar between the fingers of one hand. "The Sour Stone gang agreed to withdraw from Little Canterlot once I made it clear the tanks were still technically my property, so you can resume shipping oil through the area."
"Yeah, that's what I've heard. You managed the whole situation pretty fast," she said with a smile, nudging me in the shoulder. "And I heard you didn't even need to threaten them!" She paused and her ears shot back.
"Well, you know, besides hinting that if they kept robbing our trains, they were technically robbing you, " she added with a chuckle before pausing again. "And you know, all the, uh, baggage that comes with threatening you. " I uttered a curt laugh and nodded.
"Not the first time I've cavorted with organized crime, so I know a thing or two about how to phrase things with them," I explained with a hearty sigh. "Old guys were definitely more polite though." I turned the cigar over, studying its wrap and seal. Twilight looked at me for a moment before tilting her head back in realization.
"Oh wow, that's right!" She gasped, bringing her hoof to her chin. "That was ages ago!" I paused for a few seconds before turning the cigar over and grabbing the lighter.
"More recent than you'd think," I replied, lighting the cigar and taking a small drag from it. Twilight frowned and nudged me.
"Aren't those really bad for you?" She asked and I gave her a tired smile, exhaling the smoke and scanning the horizon before I responded.
"Not the worst thing a guy could do to himself," I replied. She recoiled with audible disgust.
"Sure smells like it, though," she muttered, pulling the cigar from my hands with her magic and crumbling it inside a small magic bubble. She scooted closed and leaned against me with a hum. "And I thought you were trying to stop doing bad by yourself altogether." I shrugged and slipped an arm around her, and she slid onto my lap in response.
"Yeah, that's true," I idly scratched her side and scanned the sky in thought. For a few moments, only the faint din of the city around us was heard until Twilight reached up and tapped my chin.
"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked. I smiled with a shrug.
"Like I said," I replied as memories of a near-forgotten period of my life gained clarity in my mind's eye. The images of what I'd seen and done rapidly chased the smile from my face. "More recent than you'd think."
I peered around the tree I'd managed to creep to and scanned the path that ran along the edge of the Everfree. Unlike the forest, all of Ponyville was visible under the moon's light, and so I was able to see the few ponies still out this late. None of them had any urgency to their movements, which convinced me none were looking for me.
I narrowed my eyes and slowly emerged from my hiding place before dashing to the nearest house and pressing against it. I checked around its corner for anyone and then rushed to the next house. I carefully advanced through town in this manner, until the square and my destination came into view, and then I hid in the narrow alley between two shops.
I couldn't see the entire house from where I was, but the front door was unguarded and the light was on. Additionally, the curtains were pulled back and I could see candlelight flickering inside. All seemed clear, but after learning I'd been spied upon by Celestia, I no longer had it in me to trust anything in this town.
So, after looking across the square for anyone, I drew my blasting talisman and set it to charge. Unlike the crude version I'd entered the Everfree with, this one was made of stone and was smaller, like a TV remote back home, making it easier to aim and shoot. Its gems began circulating magic from the one all its raw magic was stored in and it hummed quietly, growing warm in my hand.
Taking a breath and listening to the rhythmic noise was slightly relaxing, which steadied my nerves enough to rush for the house I was spying on. Once I was close enough, I leaned over to look through the window and saw Jury-rig curled up on her living room sofa. I watched her for a moment and scowled when I saw her poke her head up and look back toward her kitchen.
She tilted her head before shaking it and then curled up again. Leaning the other way, I saw that the curtains of her kitchen were closed. Taking a shaky breath I crept up to the front door and stood just to the side before knocking.
No response came for a moment, but just before I knocked again the door was pulled open. Jury stepped out onto her little porch and briefly scanned the outside before noticing me. We locked eyes and her ears shot back before her eyes darted toward her kitchen for just a moment.
"How many? " I mouthed. She blinked and looked away from me, scanning the outside and gently stamping her hoof once. Taking a shallow breath, I nodded, gently gripped the frame of her door, and leveled my talisman. We shared a look as she turned to pull back inside and then..
I struck.
Using my grip on the frame as leverage, I swung myself around and thrust my talisman forward. The instant I did, the lone armored guard let out a yelp of surprise which turned to a yowl of pain as I fired my talisman, blasting him in the chest plate. Despite his armor holding against the worst of the effect, he was still thrown off his hooves and smashed into the cabinets of Jury's kitchen.
"HOOOugh?" He groaned and collapsed, rolling on the ground with his legs folded against his chest. I panted and tightened my grip on the frame to avoid falling over. My ears were ringing and my heart was pounding.
"Eddy?" Jury squeaked. I glanced down to see her looking up at me with tears in her eyes. She hiccuped and wiped her eyes. "What happened? Where've you been?" I huffed and glared at the incapacitated guard before nodding at her.
"Grab your things. We have work to do."
Author's Note
We'd spent a few days getting all the books in the castle organized in our new library once Jury moved in. It was an excellent first step and made research quick and easy.
Usually.
"Where is it?" I huffed as I dashed from one stack of books to another. Today, however, I was stuck digging through our collection to find something I'd seen and discarded somewhere in the room weeks ago. "Where is it? " I jabbed my finger against the spines of the stack before me and quickly traced it down, rapidly scanning the titles of each book. I grunted and shoved the pile over before running to one of our bookshelves. Before I reached the shelf, Jury jumped in front of me.
"Is this it?" She asked, holding a thin book up to me with her magic. I frowned and leaned in to read the title before laughing.
"Yes!" I roared in triumph, snatched the book, and raced to the table I'd left my other research material on. "The old castle visitor log!" I dove into my chair and slammed the book down before studying its contents. Jury reared up on the table beside me and leaned over to see what the book said. I very rapidly confirmed what I'd suspected and I let out a bitter hum.
"Why're you wanting to read Celestia's list of visitors?" She asked, furrowing her brow as we scanned the list of names. I nodded and turned a few pages towards the back of the book.
"Because," I began, pausing to press my finger into a page matching the date I was looking for. I narrowed my eyes as I found him. "Starswirl and company arrived on this day to declare their hunt for the Pony of Shadows."
"So?"
"So!" I flipped back a few pages in the log, quickly finding the point I had in mind. "Every visit from the so-called Pillars of Equestria after this point lists all of their names." I tapped the page and then traced my finger to an earlier entry.
"And yet, every visit from before this point lists an extra name," I added, holding the book to Jury. She tilted her head as she read the entry.
"Stygian? I've never read about him," she declared.
"I don't think anyone has, he's not in any history books I remember reading at Twilight's," I replied, setting the ledger aside and reaching for another book I'd found earlier. "But while I was digging for more information on the Pony of Shadows, I started coming across his name."
"Right, you were saying we might be able to use the power of darkness for something after you first read about it," Jury hummed with a small frown before perking up. "Oh! Speaking of magic, I've got a new design for a portable shield!"
"Later, Jury," I said, holding up the book I'd grabbed. It was a floppy, dark blue little thing. "Look here. One of Luna's old journals from the years around when the Pony of Shadows first appeared. I figured if anyone would have an idea about where that monster came from, it'd be one of the sisters." I explained, flipping through before finding and showing Jury what I'd read earlier.
"Look," I demanded. She squinted as her eyes scanned the old text.
"Uh, older Equestrian's kind of hard to read."
"You're telling me, but I kind of get the gist," I laughed before holding my finger against a specific line. "This clearly says Starswirl, for instance. What else do you see?" Jury adopted a wide frown and raised her eyebrows as she attempted to read the alicorn's old script.
"Yea, und der tuu , uhm, unicarns? " She sighed and tilted her head. "Whoo ar-, uh, aree ved wi he und-"
"Three unicorns, Jury," I interjected, pulling the book back and holding up three fingers. "Three. 'And the two unicorns who arrived with him,' effectively is what she wrote." Jury sighed hard and shook her head before blinking in realization.
"Wait, I thought Starswirl and Mistmane were the only unicorns in that group?"
"Exactly my thoughts," I replied setting Luna's journal aside and grabbing another. It was firmer and bore a white cover. "Celestia's journal is less matter-of-fact and, therefore, more telling." I quickly found and presented a passage. Jury glanced at it before fixing me with an annoyed expression.
"Her horn-writing is just as hard to read though," she grumbled. I rolled my eyes and read the passage myself.
"She mentions each of Starswirl's companions by name, including our mysterious third unicorn," I explained, finding and presenting a certain name to her. "Stygian. And all prior entries about the Pillars mention him as well." She nodded slowly before looking up at me.
"So?"
"So, I asked myself, what happened to Stygian?" I flipped through the journal as I spoke. "Was he killed when this shadowy monster first popped up?" Jury tilted her head expectantly as I searched.
"Just a few months before the Pony of Shadows ever appeared, I noticed a few things," I added before nodding once I found the pages I was looking for. I held each page with my fingers so I could quickly flip between them and show Jury. "Here, Celestia noted a private talk she had with Stygian, who was inquiring about the process by which one might duplicate magic items. Here, Starswirl apparently visited alone, speaking with the sisters about Stygian's exile on accusations of thievery, since he allegedly tried to steal some magical artifacts from him." Holding the book to her, I reached over with my other hand and grabbed Luna's journal. With a little difficulty, I presented a relevant page to Jury.
"And here, Luna recounts that the Pillars believe and spread the story that Stygian was simply hungry for power," I explained. Again with some effort, I roughly flipped Celestia's journal a few pages. "But! Celestia suspected his actions were born out of a feeling of inadequacy, rather than malice." Jury's eyes darted between the two books before she narrowed her eyes and raised her eyebrows.
"Okay?" She hesitantly pressed. I dropped both books and grabbed another white-covered journal.
"This is the last entry in Celestia's most recent journal just before she left for Canterlot," I explained, turning to the very last written page. Notably, more than half of the book was still blank. "She very briefly muses on Nightmare Moon, wondering if the dark power that took hold over her sister was at all related to the power of darkness that birthed the Pony of Shadows." I showed Jury, who rubbed her chin in response.
"As Starswirl and company had long vanished along with the monster, there was no one who'd know for sure," I added with a shrug before closing the book and tapping its spine against the table. "But that does have me thinking."
"About what?" She asked. I tapped the book a few more times before turning to her.
"You know about the magic of music, right?" I asked, continuing when she nodded. "That's an example of magic that happens in response to emotions. Positive ones, usually." I paused and looked off to the side.
"What if the inverse is true? What if when ponies are full of anger, misery, or anything else like that, some kind of magic boils up in response to those emotions?" I finally asked, still looking off in thought.
"I think dark magic works like that," she replied. I turned back to her and snapped my fingers.
"Exactly, and with that in mind," I hesitated and held my pointing finger at her. I felt my expression sour as certain thoughts came bubbling up again. "Who's to say this Pony of Shadows wasn't just another ordinary pony who, upon being exiled for the terrible crime of feeling like he was a burden on his friends due to his lack of power, was swept up by some fashion of potent dark magic?" I looked off to the side and slowly reclined in my seat.
"Eddy?"
"Bedlam," I spat.
"Sorry! Uh, Bedlam? "
"Yes?" I demanded. Jury didn't answer until I finally turned to glare at her.
"You okay?" She asked with her ears back.
"Yep," I curtly replied, leaning forward with a smile and patting her on the shoulder. "So! What about this shield of yours?"
Starlight frowned as she scanned the dockside warehouse through her binoculars. From the alleyway she was peering out of she could only see one entrance, but after spending the day scoping the place out, she knew that was the entrance the mob was using. The honest laboring ponies and minotaurs, who had left around sundown, operated out of the big sliding door on the dockside, while much better-off and shifty-looking sorts crept in and out of the door she was surveying. And always in groups of three, no less, which her unwilling informants back in town had said was a calling card for the city's criminals. Three ponies who knew each other by name and each fulfilled a specific role in the trio for the mob.
And none of whom knew every detail about their operations. For instance, Jumble had been his group's leader and received orders from higher up the chain, while Clatter made deliveries between groups and Chip handled the hard, physically demanding work.
As a result, Clatter knew to pick up payments from this warehouse, while only Jumble knew for sure that the warehouse was also where Manehattan's mob boss was hiding out. But none of the three knew who the kingpin of the entire operation across Equestria was, or had any solid ideas who Bedlam was for that matter.
But Piece 'o Work, the unicorn giving Jumble orders, just might have something concrete. At least, that was Starlight's thinking, and as the last bit of movement she'd seen was a set of three ponies entering the building several minutes ago, it seemed like the ideal time to test her thoughts.
"Just gotta get in there," she whispered.
"And do what exactly?" Came a voice behind her that made her jump out of her skin. She whirled around and fired a beam of magic at the source, which drew several cries of surprise and a warbling drone as her beam struck something. She blinked and recoiled when she saw a magical shield that rippled as the last of her spell dispersed, protecting Twilight and the rest of the girls from her attack. Twilight was the only one unperturbed by Starlight's action, but still fixed her with a slightly critical look.
"Aw, jeez! Sorry!" Starlight gasped. She looked the group up and down as Twilight let her shield down. "What the heck are you all doing here?"
"We're digging into a lead about this crime wave and whoever this Bedlam character is," Twilight explained. "What about you?"
"The same, pretty much," Starlight replied, looking back over her shoulder at the warehouse. "I found some mob ponies and managed to pry that this warehouse is where Manehattan's thugs are keeping the potions that have been causing so many problems." Starlight turned her full attention toward the building as the girls moved forward to get a better look at it. After a moment, Starlight frowned and looked at Twilight.
"But hold on, why are you here in this spot specifically?"
"We were skulking around Manehattan-"
"Sleuthing around Manehattan, Darling," Rarity interjected, rubbing her chin as she scanned the building. "Skulking makes us sound like a herd of low lives." Twilight nodded with a quiet grunt.
"Right, we were sleuthing around Manehattan all night to see if we could spot anypony doing anything weird," she continued and pointed a hoof skyward. "Then Rainbow saw that. " Starlight looked above and blinked when she noticed a small, slow-moving dot silhouetted against the moon. She brought her binoculars up and saw it was some weird contraption with four propellors and a big metal claw perfectly centered between them.
"What the heck is that?" She muttered.
"Dunno, but I saw it dump a little crate on top of a big apartment building before it raced off this way," Rainbow replied, scowling at the machine. "Think it might have something to do with how these guys are giving out those lame potions?"
"Maybe," Starlight said watching it slowly drift over the warehouse and slowly descend out of view. She dropped her binoculars and turned to the group. "Guess we should take a closer look, huh?"
"Right!" Twilight's friends said in unison.
"Oooh, this is exciting!" Pinkie squealed as she began bouncing toward the warehouse. "This is just like all those police dramas on the radio!"
"Certainly is an interesting change of pace from the usual dastardly schemes we have to handle," Rarity hummed as everyone filed out after Pinkie. Just before Starlight could follow, she was pulled back by Twilight's magic. She shot the alicorn a confused look only to wilt slightly when she met her sour expression.
"You stormed off after refusing to help deal with this situation," Twilight declared, jabbing a hoof at Starlight. "What are you really doing out here?" Starlight recoiled briefly before collecting herself and scowling.
"I'm hoping to find something that proves somepony is framing Eddy," she firmly replied. The two held their hostile expressions before Twilight sighed and smiled.
"Me too," she said with a nod. Starlight blinked before smiling back. The two shared a brief hug before dashing forward to follow their friends.
The crossing from their hiding place to the warehouse was simple, but now that they stood beside the building they were faced with their first challenge.
"How we gon' get inside?" Applejack whispered, adjusting her hat as she scanned the structure. "Figure they'll be watching that door and the big gate."
"We also don't know for sure if this place has anything to do with everything that's been happening," Twilight said, bristling her wings and turning to the group. "Or at the very least, we don't have any evidence of that being the case. So, I don't think it would be wise to just break in." The rest nodded slowly before Rainbow looked off toward the docks and flinched.
"Well, I guess somepony should've told that to Pinkie," she huffed, pointing in the direction she was looking. Twilight's ears shot back and she turned to see Pinkie bouncing toward the door.
"Pinkie!" She whisper-screamed all too late as the pink mare reared up and began rhythmically knocking on the door with both forehooves. Before anyone could intervene, the door swung open.
"Who the heck are you?" A thoroughly annoyed voice spat. Pinkie adopted a low stance with a sneer.
"I'm the loose cannon cop on the edge!" She snarled. "Who doesn't play by the rules! "
"Wha-" Was all the voice could get out before she dove in and tackled the voice's owner. The sounds of a violent scuffle began out from the door as the group stared in unified horror.
"Oh, dear Celestia, Pinkie's assaulting somepony," Twilight squeaked.
"What radio dramas has she been listening to?" Starlight huffed.
"Come on!" Twilight cried, snapping her wings out and propelling herself after Pinkie. The group galloped forward and swept through the door where they found vast stacks of crates and loading equipment filling the place. The crates were arranged neatly allowing easy passage through the warehouse from the door to the loading gate and then to the opposite wall, where a simple kitchen and dining area were set up under a flight of stairs leading to a long overhanging windowed structure. Lights were visible in the structure, but its curtains were closed.
Meanwhile, Pinkie was rolling in the middle of the floor away from a trio of furious stallions, two unicorns and an earth pony, who were charging after her. The unicorns each had a long knife in their magic, while the earth pony had extra thick iron shoes which left cracks in the concrete beneath him as he stomped after Pinkie.
"Wheee!" Pinkie squealed as she tumbled.
"Get back here!" The earth pony roared.
"There's more of 'em!" One of the unicorns yelled, sliding to a halt and swinging his knife toward Twilight and the rest. "Who snitched?!"
"Wasn't me!" The other unicorn screamed, turning away from the group and looking toward the overhanging chamber. "Piece! We got problems!"
"Wait a second!" Twilight yelled as the trio shot a unified glare her way. "This is all-" The earth pony gawped and jabbed a hoof at her.
"That's a danged princess!" He whipped around and snarled at his companions. "One of you idiots led the law right to us!" A knife was jabbed at him as the unicorn nearest him snarled back.
"Wasn't me, you clumsy rat!" He hissed, looking the earth pony up and down. "Them heavy shoes make enough noise she probably heard you stomping all the way in Canterlot!"
"Why you-"
"Are we still fighting?" Pinkie asked, lying on her back with her head tilted. The door to the upper chamber suddenly clicked open and all eyes shot up to see a thin, dark blue pegasus with piercing emerald eyes fixed in a judgemental leer slowly emerge and begin a controlled descent down the stairs. Twilight blinked and tilted her head when she noticed a strange amulet with a bunch of gems on it hanging from his neck. It was hard to tell from across the room, but she was pretty certain she could see little glowing divets, as you'd normally see in gem runes.
"Can I help you ladies?" The pegasus hummed once he was level with them and beginning to approach. Twilight shot her hooves up and waved them.
"Sorry! Sorry!" She pleaded. "Please, this is just a misunderstanding! Our friend was just-"
"Piece, she's one of the alicorns!" The earth pony yelled. "They're on to us!" The pegaus adopted a purse-lipped frown and tilted his head.
"On to what?" He asked, shaking his head. "We haven't done anything illegal, to my knowledge." He shot a smug smile at Twilight, but the earth pony furrowed his brow.
"Have you been drinking?" He huffed. "This is the shipping hub for all of Manehattan's mob connections!" Silence gripped the whole warehouse and all eyes fell on the earth pony, who maintained his bewildered stare leveled at Piece who responded with a weary, incredulous glare.
"Aha, wow, " Starlight huffed. Piece sighed hard and sat down before holding his amulet with one hoof, hoving his other hoof over it as he scanned the gems.
"Alright, what did the boss say, again?" He murmured and began slowly tapping the gems, seemingly in a sequence. "This one, that one, that one, then.. You. " He firmly poked the lowest-facing gem and nodded.
"Sorry 'bout that, but I'm still not an expert on operating," he laughed and shrugged at the girls. "Nopony's been stupid enough to try robbing us, so I haven't had a chance to make this thing do any fighting." The girls recoiled and shared a look.
"Make.. what do any fighting?" Fluttershy asked with a quaver. Piece responded with a venomous smile as a clatter came from the upper office.
Clank clank clank
All eyes were drawn back to the office, where now a tall, thin, bipedal metal thing with two arms that ended in long rectangular boxes emerged. The thing had a long, thin head that had a thick gem-covered metal band wrapped around it. The band slowly spun, and each of the gems slowly lit up as they arrived at the 'face' of the thing's head. It rapidly stomped down the stairs and then made its way to just behind Piece, who smirked and held up the talisman.
"What in the world is that thing?" Rarity gasped.
"The fruits of our most recent business arrangement," Piece chortled.
"Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow murmured, slowly turning to the alicorn. "Do you have any idea-" She paused at the sight of both Twilight and Starlight, staring at the metal thing with a unified, shocked expression.
"Alright, listen to me!" Piece demanded, tapping a gem on the amulet. The thing bent its head slightly and focused on the pegasus. "You see these mares?" The thing tilted its head and then stomped its foot.
"Good~," Piece purred before laughing and turning back to the girls. "Kill 'em." The thing stomped its foot again and raised both of its arms. The boxes hissed and slowly expanded, revealing a set of glowing gem-lined tubes. At the back of each tube was a larger blue gem that began to spark with energy that fed along the gem lines. With the exception of Twilight and Starlight, the girls all recoiled in fear as the machine made a whining buzzing noise and the light from its arms began to intensify.
Piece smirked as the light cast him into what he believed was a positively menacing silhouette.
VREEEN
And then he blinked, as a pair of beams, one lavender and one turquoise, screamed passed either side of his head and seemingly up the machine's arms. The light intensified even more as the machine squealed and flopped back. Piece slowly looked back over his shoulder just in time to see the machine rattle and then explode in a burst of magic that was contained in a two-layered bubble that matched the colors of the two beams.
Looking forward again, he saw Twilight and Starlight glaring death his way with both of their horns lit up. For just a moment he looked at the trio of thugs he was working with. The two unicorns were holding each other in terror while the earth pony's face had gone white. Piece was then yanked forward and driven to the ground by the mare's combined magic. Twilight and Starlight loomed over him causing him to whimper.
"Where. Did. You. Get. That?" They rumbled in unison.
The books, grimoires, and scrolls Celestia and her sister had left behind in their old castle rapidly proved to be a collection on par with Twilight's personal library. As a result, despite Jury and I being alone in the woods with no one but our golems supporting us, we were able to continue our research and experiments as if we'd never left civilization. Two days after collecting Jury and only one week after learning Celestia had been spying on me, we'd already completed our first flying animunculus.
It hovered unevenly for just a few feet off the ground, one of its four propellors was noticeably slower than the rest, and it was making a horrible scraping and crunching noise as its wooden parts bit into each other, but it was still flying!
Right up until it broke apart and sputtered on the floor before going still. Jury and I stared at the destroyed golem before sharing a look.
"IT WORKED!" We cheered in unison. I rolled to my feet and dashed to our worktable, where all our notes were, and jotted down the design's air time while Jury picked the gems out of the debris.
"This is nice," she said with a giggle as she dropped the gems back on the table. She reared up on the table and looked at my writing before giving me a sad smile. "Do we really have to go picking a fight with Celestia and everypony? Couldn't we just-"
"They started it," I spat, reaching forward and tapping our notes on potion-making. "Were you able to find any references to what 'popilot major' is?" Jury let out an almost imperceptible sigh before nodding.
"Yep. It's actually a pretty common weed used as a fire starter," she replied with her ears back. "We should be able to find some in the Everfree."
"Fantastic," I chortled, leafing through our notes. "So, then we just need some cockatrice tears and pale moon moss and we should have ourselves a nasty little explosive to play with." I smirked at her as we walked to the door. She followed along, but with her head hanging slightly.
"Should be able to use it to start blasting up stone or metal," I added, which perked her up.
"Yeah! Plus if we keep it boiling, we can use it for smelting!" She skipped forward with a bright smile.
"Exactly~ ," I replied.
The golem we'd tasked with cockatrice wrangling was holding up pretty well despite the savage little chicken snake's flailing and screeching. The machine had its claws clutched around the animal's head, obscuring its eyes and allowing us to get close.
The forest around us echoed with the frantic hissing of the thing as it kicked and clawed at its captor and Jury swallowed before cowering behind me.
"H-how're we supposed to get its tears without getting turned to stone?" She squeaked. I leaned over to pat her on the back.
"Remember those gemstone glasses I was tinkering with last night?" I asked, at which she nodded. Reaching into my pants pocket, I pulled the glasses out. "Well, they might not be ready for what I really had in mind, they should be able to let me look in the thing's eyes without its magic working." I unfolded the glasses and checked the fit of the stones. I'd carefully chipped them from a larger pair of blue gems until I had a set of thin blue lenses for the frame. Eventually, I hoped I'd have something that'd let me see the flow of magic, but for now-
snap
I jumped and whirled around with my blasting talisman drawn. Jury let out a yelp and hugged the ground as we both scanned the woods around us. I quickly threw on my glasses on the chance it was another cockatrice but quickly realized there was no need.
Seven ponies with sour glares stepped out from the brush, led by a smirking orange stallion in a bow tie and big coke-bottle glasses who I recognized. Pinch Penny, one of the rich stallions who'd refused to even consider me for employment all at Filthy Rich's behest.
"Mornin' Bedlam!" He chirped.
"Bedford," I spat back.
"Oh, I didn't ask!" He chuckled. I grit my teeth and growled.
"Be nice, " I hissed, my eyes drifting across his group as they formed a semi-circle around us. "How'd you find us?"
"Well, I had an inkling of an idea," Pinch explained with a hum, looking my golem up and down. "And some pals who do work out here who might've seen you skulking around." A chill danced up my spine at the thought of being spotted, but something about that statement struck me funny.
"So, what the hell do you want?" I pressed, still with my weapon aimed. His gaze drifted to me, but his smirk remained.
"That's a real neat thing you've built there. That uh, wooden thing behind you," he said, gesturing to the golem. I snarled my lip and grunted.
"And?"
"And I feel it'd be real nice of you if you, I dunno, whipped up a couple for me?" He offered with a bright look in his eyes. "I've heard about golems and such before, but never seen one in person! I heard they make for great cheap labor." I snorted and rolled my eyes.
"They do, but why in God's name would I do that for you?"
"Because if'n you don't , we'll have to go with my original plan and just tip off Celestia about your whereabouts Bedlam." I froze and locked eyes with him. "Since you two've been hiding out here the last few days, you might not know it, but the princess is looking for you both. Heh, one more than the other, of course." His smirk widened and I growled, aiming my talisman at him.
"And what's stopping me from blowing your head meat all over the forest floor?"
"Hah! You ain't no unicorn!" One of his thugs laughed, stomping his hoof at me. "How you gonna-" With a flick of my wrist, a beam of magic shot out and blew a hole in the ground at his hooves. He jumped and stumbled back, landing on his side before scrambling behind his fellows. Despite their newfound hesitance, Pinch remained unshaken.
"Go ahead! Take your best shot," he chirped, giving me a toothy grin. "But maybe you weren't listening? I've got some pals who work these woods. Pals who're waiting for me to make it back home." His smile turned dark.
"Pals who'd be pleased to let Her Majesty know where you're lurking if I didn't, " he added before his smile turned bright. "So, that's some solid-" Whatever else he was going to say I'd never know, as I ripped the angry cockatrice out of my golem's grip by the tail and hurled it at his face. He let out a terrified shriek as the creature began biting and pecking at him, knocking his glasses off and then turning him to stone.
Pinch's thugs scrambled back with similar cries of terror, but before the bird could do them any harm I blasted it. Unlike the guard from a few nights prior, the creature was driven into the dirt and went still with a smoking charred patch on its back. The ponies huddled together, looking at me in terror and affording me a chance to look back at Jury, who was cowering on the ground with her hooves over her eyes. I took a heavy breath and then stalked towards the group of thugs, shoving over the petrified form of Pinch as I did.
"Let's clear the air," I began with a growl and thrust my pointing hand back at the golem. "I can have that golem or any of the dozens I've got in my lair hunt each and every one of you down, and haul a cockatrice with them, or one of these talismans, or any other awful thing I feel like. And I can teach 'em how to use 'em ." The ponies shivered as I spoke, and I bent down to one knee.
"I could also have them wait until dark, and get you when you're asleep," I added with a low tone, which drew a mournful moan from one of them. "Listen closely if you don't want to die."
The doors to the throne room were pushed in by my golems that I'd instructed to escort our guests to me. In addition to the ponies Pinch had brought with him, there were four rough-looking specimens who scanned the ruined throne room with contempt, only giving consideration to the lines of golems forming a path up to where Jury and I sat.
"Good afternoon," I cheered with a wave. One of them, a tan hulking unicorn with a glass eye looked my way and snorted.
"Hoh, you must be Bedlam," he grumbled. Jury growled and stamped her hoof.
"His name is- " I cut her off with a wave of my hand.
"Edward Bedlam, to be precise. Try to keep it in mind going forward," I replied. He raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Pinch's thugs who wilted under his gaze and mine.
"So, what the heck do you want? These bums said you 'n Pinch came to an agreement, but wanted to talk to us," he turned and scanned the room. "Where is he anyhow?" I snapped my fingers and the left line of golems parted, revealing the petrified pony in question. As the four new ponies recoiled in shock, Pinch's boys fled the room and pulled the door shut behind them as ordered. The two golems who'd opened the door stood between it and the ponies.
"Pinch! What'd you do to him?!" The scrawny pegasus of the other three cried out. The big guy lit up his horn and adopted a wide stance aimed my way.
"Told him to be nice. He didn't listen," I said with a shrug and a smirk. "I was hoping you'd be more receptive."
"Receptive? The only receiving here is your teeth of my hoof, pal!" The big guy grunted. "You think these flimsy toys spook me? Fat chance!" He thrust his head back and one of the golems was yanked off its feet and crushed by magic.
"Heck yeah, Gravel!" The scrawny one cheered, snapping his wings out. "You don't scare us, you freak!"
"Dunno if Pinch made it clear, but we know the princess is looking for you!" The unicorn spat, taking a step back and watching the lines closely. "If anything happens to us, we got guys who'll-"
"Tell her exactly where I am, yeah, he said as much," I hummed and shook my head. "But I don't think you want that to happen."
"Why wouldn't we?" He growled. I adopted a cool smile and knit my fingers together.
"Because you're criminals, and probably don't want any extra attention drawn to whatever illicit work you get up to out here." The unicorn raised an eyebrow, but the scrawny pegasus let out a squawk.
"How the heck do you know that?!" He shrieked, causing my smile to widen and the unicorn to groan with a grimace.
"Cause you just told me, dumbass," I chortled. After a moment, the pegasus wilted and adopted a bashful smile at his annoyed companions. "But it was odd to me that anyone tied to an honest business pony like Pinch would have anything to do with a place like the Everfree." I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees.
"Unless of course, they were up to no good and needed secrecy," I added with a low chuckle. The four of them shared an anxious look before Gravel hurled a venomous glare my way.
"So, what? You gonna rat on us to her highness to get back in her good graces?" He demanded. I smiled and turned to Jury, who let out a quiet sigh of relief. I turned back to the criminals and rose to my feet.
"Absolutely not. Rather, I was hoping we could come to an agreement," I explained stepping down from the throne and approaching them. "Since you are criminals, what are the chances you'd have need of, say, unstable alchemical mixtures for blasting?" I gestured to my golems.
"Or flying machines to tirelessly deliver sensitive materials? Or dedicated and enduring golem guards and laborers?" I stood before them and smiled. "Because I can offer all of this and more." The four of them scanned the animunculi around them and me before sharing a look. After a moment, Gravel turned back to me with a curious look.
"What'd you have in mind, Mr. Bedlam?"
"Evenin' Bedlam!" Hustle called as his team hauled in our wagon. Once it was in position, our fancy new golems and drones began unloading our boxes of gold and supplies while Hustle's goons relaxed off to the side in the cozy little reception zone we'd finished in the castle foyer.
I stood up from the side of the flying machine Jury and I had been working on, knocking the panel I was digging inside shut, and waved. "Hello you!" As I strode up to him, the earth pony's head swiveled and he scanned the foyer with a wry smile.
"Hey, hey, where's that lil' grease monkey friend of yours?" He asked with a low chuckle. I waved toward one of the exits leading to the rest of the castle.
"It's late, and she went to bed early," I explained, laughing to myself as his expression fell.
"Dang. Well, hope you'll let her know I got a hold of some of those white chocolate-covered cherries she likes so much!" He chirped before nodding and tucking his mouth into his saddle bag. "I also got this week's paper, as requested."
"Excellent, " I hummed as he handed me the item in question. I scanned the front page for just a moment before crying out. "Fuck yes!" I pumped a fist as Hustle recoiled.
"Jeezaloo, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Hustle cried with a nicker and a raised eyebrow.
"I never met my mother, but look at this!" I replied, kneeling to show him the headline.
WHO IS BEDLAM?
Within the last two weeks, Equestria has seen a sharp increase in criminal activity believed to be linked to certain so-called Mob rings within Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and certain outlaws dwelling south of Equestria's borders.
This crime wave has come in the form of smuggling of illegal or controlled substances, disruption and extortion of major routes of travel, including one train line which was destroyed, and finally, open desecration and destruction of public property, an act our contact in the Royal Guard believes was performed as part of what they referred to as a protection racket.
While this is all quite distressing, there remains a silver lining. In response to these events, the Royal Guard has redoubled their efforts to combat those villains living outside the law, and more than a dozen arrests have already been made, and we have been assured that the princesses are taking these reports as seriously as any other calamity which has befallen the country in recent years. Indeed, it is believed they may even have a lead on the source of these unhappy developments already.
Among the dozen or so criminals who were captured, six revealed some key details during interrogation. Nearly all of the destructive acts performed recently, including blockading our roads and the illegal demolition of the railway from Dodge City to Ponyville, were achieved with a dangerous alchemical concoction sourced from an individual known only as Bedlam.
None of the captured crooks know who or what this Bedlam is for certain, or even where he is, as they claim to have received their supplies from a middle stallion. Despite this, the knowledge that it is a single creature enabling and motivating this string of mayhem means that if they can be captured, peace and stability can be returned to our home.
Any information on this Bedlam may be reported to your nearest Royal Guard post with a reward being offered by the Crown for anything leading to an arrest.
Hustle grimaced and gave me a sideways look. "Y'know, we usually don't like much attention being tied to our names," he declared, nodding his head back at his team. "That's, uh, why we hire lackeys to turn over joints and do the dirty work and all that." I laughed and studied the front page again.
"I know, but that's one of the key differences between our operations. You need discretion in the long term," I gave him a knowing grin. "There is a rapidly approaching time when having some semblance of a legend about myself, some degree of terrible rumor and reputation will be very beneficial to me." And wasn't that the truth? Once I was ready to reveal myself, having the populace already scared and aware of how dangerous I was was sure to make terrorizing the general public into submission easier.
I just had to figure out where to really take my first real steps. As I rolled up the newspaper and beat it into my hand, my mind raced with thoughts and ideas. As I did, I scanned the foyer around me with a giddy smile.
My golems had finished unloading the wagon and were now depositing the mob's delivery of deadly potions and inactive animunculi, complete with instructions on how to work both. The whole room was a microcosm of the rest of the castle. All the ruined walls were repaired and reinforced, and the place was lit up with glowing crystal, charged by the latent magic in the air, casting a calming pale blue light over everything.
The thugs Hustle had brought were being waited on by smaller metal golems, delivering tea and treats, warmed in magical automated ovens which were themselves essentially just animunculi. Our deal was paying off in spades as the underworld delivered plenty of worked metal for Jury and me to use as well as alchemy and living supplies. To say nothing of the raw cash they started kicking our way after whoever their boss was realized how beneficial my contributions were. Of course, as they were my primary outside contact, any purchases were done through them, meaning their money was just cycling back to them anyway. But still!
Pinch Penny's ill-advised attempt at blackmail had sped up my plans by months, maybe even years. It almost made up for the fact I had to let the mob take him in to be destoned. Apparently, he was too valuable an asset to just leave petrified, and they made it clear he was in no position to rat me out anymore.
The thugs of Equestria's underworld were providing me with ample materials and funding to fuel my research, but what should I put it all towards?
I knew what I wanted to do with the country itself, of course. I'd completely upheave the place, cast the ruling pegs into the mud like where they'd kept me, and then use my machines to advance the whole country. The real question I was faced with was where to begin.
A full frontal assault?
Sabotage with my potions and drones, like what the mob was already doing?
Establish a dominant industry base that stomps out all competition with my ability to endlessly meet demand with endless supply?
A mix of all three? That sounded very tempting, but what to do about the Alicorns or Discord? Or what about the Elements?
I bit my thumb at that thought. I would wind up bumping heads with Twilight and her friends, wouldn't I? My eyes slowly drifted left and right before a bump against my leg drew my attention to my guest.
"You good?" Hustle asked. I didn't respond right away, causing him to frown for just a moment before he spoke again with a smile. "Just remembered! The boss has an associate who'd like to discuss extending your distribution." He leaned toward me with a smirk.
"For which you'd be appropriately compensated, of course," he wagged his eyebrows. "And let's just say this guy can be mighty generous, even by our standards." I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh-hoh? And who might this associate be?"
"How much do you know about the Southlands?" He asked with another smirk that held for just a moment before he looked at me critically. "Though, you're probably going to want to consider a change in wardrobe before you meet him. And he does want to meet you." I blinked and looked over myself. It was patched in places, but I was in the same t-shirt and pale brown slacks I'd worn.. Pretty much since I left Twilight's castle. I frowned and shrugged.
"What do you recommend?" I asked with a huff. He narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded.
"Something black, I think."
"Thank you all for coming, everypony," Celestia said, descending from her throne with a severe look and her sister and niece at her sides. Just before her seat were the Elements of Harmony and Starlight Glimmer, who all wore anxious faces. Except for Twilight and Starlight, the former of whom had a weary air about her and the latter wore a firm scowl leveled at the eldest Alicorn.
"Twilight said you guys might have an idea who that Bedlam guy is that the papers are all talking about," Rainbow said, pointing at Twilight, who averted her gaze. Celestia nodded once she and the other alicorns were level with the group.
"We do, and unfortunately as we explained to Twilight, we believe it may have something to do with Edward Bedford," she replied. Twilight quietly grunted while her friends gasped.
"Eddy Beddy? He's been missing for weeks!" Pinkie cried.
"Indeed, and the time frame for his disappearance matches that of this unidentified figure's sudden involvement in Equestria's underbelly," Luna explained with a sharp look in her eye.
"I knew it," Starlight quietly hissed, shaking her head with an unrestrained growl while Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. Celestia raised an eyebrow at the pair before she spoke again.
"Unless I'm mistaken, 'Bedlam' is the most common mispronunciation of Edward's surname," she explained, tilting her head back in thought. "Considering the circumstances he fled under, is it so hard to imagine that he would-"
"You can't be serious! Eddy's missing, not some organized crime lord!" Starlight yelled, stomping forward and jabbing her hoof at Celestia causing everyone else to shrink back in shock. "I'll tell you what's happening. One of the numerous ponies we know hated his guts is probably pulling strings to make us think he's a criminal." Luna scowled at her display.
"What evidence do you have to support that?" She demanded. Starlight rolled her eyes at the question.
"The fact that at least one pony who hates him is a very influential Canterlot noble? And said noble was all too eager to have him arrested previously?" She replied with an angry nicker. "How about the fact Eddy hates being called Bedlam? Did you ever factor that into your profile?" She yelped as Twilight pulled her back with magic and leveled an annoyed glare at her.
"We agreed we'd address this reasonably, " she said firmly before stepping towards Celestia with a sigh. "She has a point, though. I understand Eddy fled after violating your orders and he was obviously under a lot of mental stress, but you can't seriously think he's turned around and gotten involved with the low-lives of Equestria. Can you?" Celestia furrowed her brow and considered her former student's words for a moment.
"There is also the fact that the mare he conspired with was either abducted by him or left of her own accord," Luna added with a severe tone.
"Yeah, after you arrested her and then stationed a guard at her house twenty-four-seven," Starlight grumbled. Twilight groaned and leveled a glare back at her, while Luna snorted. Starlight shook her head and turned for the door. "Look, you need Twilight and the girls to help with this crime wave, but I'm betting they can handle it without me."
"And where are you going?" Luna demanded as the rest of the group watched her leave.
"Trixie wanted to hang out at the lake," Starlight spat as she pushed through the door. "I'd rather spend time with my friends than listen to you slander them."
As the Manehattan taxi carriages rumbled to and fro, with occasional insults and jeers being thrown from rival carriage ponies, no one paid any mind to the lone pegasus mail stallion touching down just before a corner pizza shop. Without any hesitation save taking a moment to dig through his saddlebag for a parcel, the mail pony pushed through the door and approached the sole inhabitant, an earth pony in an apron sweeping the floor. Said pony shot a fiery glare at his guest before his expression softened.
"Hey, hey," the earth pony chuckled. "Still not used to these weekly visits."
"You 'n me both," the pegasus replied as he trotted up the earth pony. "But boy howdy, ain't it grand?" He set the parcel he'd fished out on a table beside the earth pony, and as he did, his wing bristled and an envelope fell to the floor before being swept into a dustpan.
"Oh, for sure! Business is booming, " The shopkeeper laughed as he scooped up the dustpan and trotted for the back of the store, followed by the mail pony. Both stallions slipped through the swinging kitchen doors and then passed on to the store room at the very back of the building. Inside, another earth pony with protective sleeves on his hooves was hard at work, crushing a pile of light blue wilted flowers on a table.
"Why in Tartarus does Big Earner need powdered Poison Joke?" The pony huffed. "This junk makes my bones itch."
"Who knows!" The shopkeeper replied, rearing up on the table and ripping the envelope open with his teeth. Several small golden rings with platinum studs rolled out. "But he's paying pretty dang well for it."
"Yeah, well, why don't he ask Bedlam for it?" The worker huffed, shaking his head. "I hear the freak lives in the Everfree, for crying out loud."
"That's just a rumor," the pegasus replied, watching the shopkeeper as he carefully counted the rings and their studs. "I heard he actually lives on the moon."
"I heard that too!" The shopkeep gasped, looking up and pointing at the pegasus. "He's an alien from another planet! That's where he got all those crazy machines from!"
"Well, gee, you boys sure know a lot more about him than I do!" Another voice interjected. The three jumped and whirled around to see a light purple unicorn mare casually approaching them.
"Who the heck are you?!" The shopkeep roared as the worker galloped around the table and adopted a low, wide stance.
"Aw, c'mon, Jumble. Don't you recognize me?" She chirped, shooting the shopkeeper a smile. "'I need a few dozen tons of lumber and money is no object?' Huh? Huh?" Jumble, the shopkeeper, blinked before gasping.
"Hey, yeah! I remember you!" He cried, leaping from the table and jabbing a hoof at her. "You're that mare we shipped all those building supplies to way back when! Said you needed discretion."
"Who?" The pegasus huffed. The worker however shook his head and turned to Jumble.
"Hold up! You talking about the nut who was setting up that remote commune or whatever?" He asked at which his boss nodded. He recoiled and laughed before turning to her. "No kidding? I heard you got busted."
"More or less," the mare said with a sigh. "It's Starlight, by the way." Jumble laughed and shook his head as the four ponies approached each other.
"Well shucks! What in the heck do you want now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You on the run or something?" Starlight beamed and brushed her hoof against her chest.
"Nope! I'm perfectly reformed and an honest law abiding citizen now!" She proudly declared, at which the other three scowled. She pointed at Jumble. "But I know you guys are still tangled in Equestria's underbelly, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." The three shared a look before Jumble snorted.
"Hey, we don't know nothing about nothing," he spat, looking her up and down. "'Specially not for no stiff, you feel me?"
"Yeah, I feel you," Starlight hummed. In an instant, her horn lit up and blasted the three. The three stallions recoiled with a collective shout before going still and blinking. The three lined up and stood stock still with wide, unblinking, vacant eyes. Starlight beamed again and nodded. "So! Like I said, I have a few questions."
"Whatever you say, Lady," Jumble replied with an eager, even tone.
"Yeah, whatever you say," the pegasus added in a similar tone.
"I'm sick of stallions hitting on me," Jury grumbled once the rumble of the hovercraft's engine died down. I turned to see her sulking with a scowl. "I hate working with these guys."
"Well, on the bright side, you're not. I am," I offered, scooping her up as I planted my foot against the door of our transport. She sighed quietly but said nothing, so I kicked the door a few times until it popped open. Our first flying transport had definitely impressed Big Earner and Verko, his associate who was dying to meet me, but there were plenty of places we could improve on it.
The overall shape was fine and comfortable. It was slightly ovoid, with three propellors that extended out from the bottom which also functioned as landing gear by having three sturdy rods with claws at the end extend out. But it was slow and noisy, and having so many moving parts had caused a few things to stick. In effect, every piece of the machine was itself a tiny golem. The spinning blades, the extending landing gear, and even the doors. Luckily, no issues had come from its propulsion system, but the steering control and obviously the door had jammed a few times. Problems for later.
"The other silver lining is now that Verko's paying us, we have a third party we can lean on if we decide to tell one of Earner's boys to shove it and he gets uppity, y'know?" I declared, gently jostling Jury as I carried her off the vehicle. She hummed and managed a smile.
"I guess that's true," she murmured. I smiled as I carried her from the castle foyer to our living quarters. What had once been a ruin was now a booming and buzzing magical facility, with gemstones and wires carrying magical signals from place to place as well as providing light to the corridors we walked along. As we stepped into a t-intersection, golems that had been on standby while we were away clicked to life and rattled up to us, waiting for orders.
"You, prepare two baths, one in each of our rooms," I instructed one, which immediately spun and clanked off. I pointed to another pair. "You and you, dinner. I'm thinking menu five, item six for me. What about you?" I jostled Jury and she hummed, tapping her chin.
"Uh, menu two, item three, and item six for me," she replied. The pair spun around and marched off toward the kitchen. I swept my arm toward the other four golems at attention.
"Half of you attend Jury, the other half retrieve the book on my nightstand and set it on the sink in my bathroom," I ordered, handing Jury to one of the golems I'd assigned her. She giggled and waved at me before pointing forward, at which her animunculi carried her away. I moved to make my way to my bathroom before I caught a glimpse of myself in one of the repaired windows. I tugged at the collar of my tuxedo and hummed. It was fancy and sharp, sure, but..
Something was off.
Luckily, Earner'd passed the name of his tailor on to me, so I could probably commission something more personal soon. I scowled and looked down at the woolen socks they'd given me in place of shoes.
"Maybe even get some actual footwear," I grumbled before making my way to my bathroom. After a few minutes, I was slowly sinking into a massive hot-water-filled brass tub we'd repaired. I rested my head against the rim of the tub, which sat flush with the tiled floor, and ran a handful of water over my face. Snapping my fingers, a drone sitting on my sink buzzed to life and hovered a towel over to me, which I used to dry off my hands so I could read my book.
Then the drone, confused at what to do once I'd taken the towel, let out a whine and flew in a circle, before sputtering and falling into the tub with me. I clenched my eyes shut with a sigh and fished the drone out before gently setting it aside.
"Gotta patch that," I murmured, drying off my hands and opening my book to where I'd left off. "Okie-dokie, Sirens get blasted to Limbo, Starswirl and company are big heroes, yadda yadda yadda, here we go! 'The Pony of Shadows,' let's see."
I bit my thumb as I looked at the gems before me, which were arranged like fingers on a hand around a bunch like the palm of the same hand. Looking between the gems and the illustration I had beside them, I carefully swapped a few around with my jewelry pliers and studied the new layout. I tapped the 'fingers' and the 'palm' in a few patterns, trying to imagine them as keys being pressed in a sequence. I groaned and leaned back, rubbing my eyes with a sigh.
"How's it going?" Jury asked as she entered the workshop.
"We need a better way to visualize this shit," I replied, glancing at her as she stood beside me and looked at what I'd been working on. "Maybe we could rework your shield to project our designs?" Jury paused and rubbed her chin.
"Hm, yeah. We could probably fix something like that. Good thinking!" She smiled before looking back at the door and grimacing. "Anyway, you've got a visitor." I raised an eyebrow as she made for the door, and looking back saw the reason for her visible discomfort flanked by two of our animunculi guards.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The bulky ash-colored stallion in the door with the slicked-back grey mane, black tie, and polished gold horseshoes cheered. "There's my favorite mad scientist!" He paused and tracked Jury as she slipped past him.
"Well, second favorite," he chuckled before stepping into the shop with me, followed by our machines.
"Hello, Mr. Earner," I said, scooting my chair to face him. He laughed as he approached and swept his hoof at the golems beside him.
"I love these things, Bedlam! I ever tell you that?" He declared, looking up at the pair with a big smile. "They're like big ol' wind-up toys!"
He spun around and jabbed a hoof at me. "That can kill! "
"A gross simplification, but I appreciate your enthusiasm," I replied, a smile of my own working its way onto my face. He pursed his lips and peeked over his shoulder.
"Has, uh, she made anything on her own?" He asked, nudging me slightly. "Some of the boys don't believe me that you keep her around for more than just her pretty face." I raised an eyebrow.
"We work together, Mr. Earner," I replied, waving my hand at the door. "Tell your boys most of my achievements have been thanks to her contributions."
"Ah ha, knew it. Will do!" He said with a laugh. He tilted his head and then leaned to look at the table behind me. "Whatcha doing now?" I leaned back and gestured to the gems.
"Improving our control design. The model I've been giving you is fine, but each control talisman can only control the golem it's attuned to," I explained, taking the illustration and presenting it to him. He clearly didn't know what he was looking at but wore an amazed grin all the same. "This is the first step to something more universal. I'm trying to make a model that can access and direct any golem at any time."
"Wild, wild, wild," he murmured with unmasked wonder written all over his face. It was almost funny. The terrible kingpin of Equestria's criminal underworld was as enthralled by my inventions as Cheerilee's class had been. Despite everything, he was still a pony. Small, simple, and .. Dopey. I smiled and hummed quietly as I worked before Earner tilted his head and nodded. "Anyway, listen, about that request you wrote me about."
"You couldn't find it, could you," I sighed and shrugged. "I expected as much, so don't worry, this doesn't affect our-" He held up a hoof and shook his head.
"Actually, I think we found exactly what you were talking about," he added before reaching into the loop of his tie and pulling out a folded note. "My boys wrote this down item number from the shop they spied it in. It's got a description from the shop owner 'n everything." He presented it to me and I held my breath before reading it.
"Yes," I finally gasped, feeling an eager grin form. "I believe this is it."
"Well, there's the issue then," Earner hummed, tapping the note. "The guy who owns that shop is wise to us. So we can't get it for you." My expression fell and I furrowed my brow at him.
"What?" I demanded, at which he shrugged.
"Apparently, his grandson got mugged by some of my guys a few years back, and this old coot is pretty sharp," he said plainly before waving his hoof. "Listen, you've got the address and you know where it is. My recommendation is you take a trip down that way and get it yourself." I scoffed and threw my hands up.
"And risk getting caught? You serious?"
"Deadly, which is why I wanted to explain this to you personally. I've got too many distributors and protection rackets out that way to just go robbing some geezer for you. Ponies'll start thinking the rules have changed and I'll have a big scandal on my hooves," he said firmly without a hint of the mirth he'd had up till now. "To that end, if you do decide to go get it, I have to ask you use some of that cash I know you've got on ho- on hand to get it instead of stealing it. Alright?" I frowned and huffed before nodding. My hands fell to my legs and I shook my head in annoyance and disbelief. Earner patted my leg before making for the door. Just as he crossed the threshold he jumped and whirled around with a big smile.
"By the way! Stop by my villa in Las Pegasus at the end of the month! Gonna throw a real riot of a shindig and I'd love to have you there. Got a real sharp batch of wine I bet you'd like," he said with a laugh before wagging his eyebrows at me. "Plus there's a few girls who're dying to meet the fella who helped me afford their shiny new jewelry, you feel me?"
"I'll keep that in mind," I grumbled. He let out a curt cackle before vanishing out the door. I sighed and scanned the note again.
"And trim that stuff off your jaw!" He yelled. I frowned and dragged my fingers through my rough, unkempt beard. I considered all of his words for a moment before standing.
"Jury!" I called before leaving the workshop.
Piece and his three underlings sat side-by-side anxiously tracking the fuming alicorn and unicorn pacing in front of them. On the opposite side of the duo were the other ponies that had broken into the gang's warehouse and who were watching the angry pair with just as much hesitation written on their faces.
"And you're absolutely certain this Bedlam walks on two legs?" Twilight growled as she passed Piece.
"Yes," the pegasus whimpered.
"And is mostly furless?" Starlight added as she passed.
"Yes," Piece replied, recoiling as Twilight suddenly jumped back and jabbed a hoof at him.
"And has claws like a minotaur?" She demanded, creeping closer and jabbing him again. "And small, perpetually withdrawn ears like an ape?" Before he could answer, Starlight leaped forward as well.
"And four pointed teeth in the corners of his mouth! And a narrow pointed nose!" She added.
"And small green eyes!" Twilight continued.
"Black hair on the top of his head?" Starlight offered, at which Twilight gasped and looked at her.
"He might not have shaved in a while, so he probably has hair growing off his chin like a goat!" They both nodded firmly and glared at Piece. "So?" The pegasus blinked before scowling.
"Ladies, I never met the guy personally, I just have what the boss described! Big Earner and some of our shipping guys are the only ones who've met him," he spat with a shrug. "Earner's tight-lipped about where Bedlam's lurking for fear somepony'll shake up a good thing we've got going." The pair shared an angry look.
"We need to find Ed- Bedlam. Do you have any idea at all where we could look or who we could ask?" Twilight demanded. Piece pursed his lips before smirking.
"What's in it for me if I tell you?" He grinned. "You gonna let me go?"
"And us!" The earth pony beside him begged. Starlight rolled her eyes and smiled at Piece.
"No, but if you tell us willingly I won't nail you with the same spell I used to force your cronies downtown to spill the beans on this warehouse," she said at which Piece's ears shot back. She leaned forward with a dark grin. "And on the flip side, if you make me use that spell, I'm sure there's plenty of embarrassing secrets I could get you to tell us about yourself while we're at it." The pegasus visibly shivered before throwing his hooves up.
"Okay, okay! Look, I really don't know where the guy is, but I know where he's going to be!" He huffed, nervously waving his hoof. "He's been putting in some weird orders for our distributors over the last couple days. He sent a request to Big Earner directly as a matter of fact." The mares shared a look again.
"What's he been asking for?" Starlight pressed.
"Books mainly. Rare ones, from like, ancient times and junk," Piece shrugged. "We managed to find one he was eager to get in a shop over in Shang-hay, but the old coot who runs the place won't sell it to us. We thought about just stealing it, but the boss said Bedlam can fetch it himself." He frowned and looked off to the side.
"Certainly has enough money to afford it himself," he grumbled before shaking his head. "Anyhow, I'm pretty sure once word gets to Bedlam, he's gonna head to buy that book. Or at least, you'll know where something he's after is holed up. Does that help at all?" The pair shared another look as Twilight rubbed her chin.
"One last question," Starlight said, turning back to Piece. "What's this book he's after?"
"Some old journal from that one dead wizard," he shrugged. "Starswirl, I think? Only one of its kind, as far as I know."
Shang-hay was a little city, with a seedy, unsafe feel to it. There was a perpetual haze from the coast it sat upon, which made it feel like, at any point, someone could just jump out and mug you. Being Equestria's westernmost port meant it was far from most of the major trade routes, and was thus favored primarily by ships and travelers heading further west to remote regions and settlements. Of course, that included criminals and outlaws, who had been pulled under the control of Earner's mob years ago.
"You know what you're doing?" I pleaded, nervously peeking around the dumpster we were hiding behind. I scratched the side of my face, tensing up both from nerves and from the face I still wasn't used to my face being shaved after so many weeks. Jury sighed and patted me on the shoulder, which made me jump.
"Bedlam, just come inside," she said, waving her hoof at the empty Shang-hay street. "It's late, and we're so far from central Equestria, I really doubt anypony out here is looking for you."
"But!" I hissed, jabbing a finger at her. "If anyone does see me, word'll spread about the weird, lanky thing running around!" I fixed her with a sharp frown, but she held her unimpressed expression for a few moments more. Finally, she sighed and shook her head before adjusting her bag and trotting for the shop. Then, she squeaked as I grabbed her tail and yanked her back.
"Do. You. Know . What. You are," I began, but she cut me off as she ripped her tail free.
"Yes! Jeez," she huffed, shaking her head again. "Blue, hard-bound book, with six stars in an irregular pattern on the front over two swirls and all inside a slightly uneven hexagon."
"And the stars are?" I pressed, pointing firmly at her and narrowing my eyes.
"All different sizes with the exception of the outermost three!" She cried with a glare. I slowly nodded.
"Good. Off you go!" I shooed her with my hands and she rolled her eyes before trotting away. I watched her carefully as she pushed through the shop door and vanished inside. I clutched my hands together and scanned up and down the alley I was hiding in. A few minutes passed and I found myself pacing, clicking my teeth, and murmuring to myself.
"Hey, Eddy," came a familiar voice.
"Hey, Twilight," I replied, bringing my hand up to my mouth and mulling over our design for a magical display, just to take my mind off my nerves. After a few seconds of staring down the alley in thought, my brain caught up and I whirled around to see Twilight right behind me. I froze as we locked eyes and she idly kicked the ground.
"I had a feeling if you were around, you'd probably keep to the alleyways and all that," she quietly said, looking off to the side. "You're smart like that."
"You-" I blinked and looked up to see the rest of her friends, including Starlight, making their way into the shop. Starlight cast a sad look back our way before heading in. I blanched and returned my attention to Twilight who wore a concerned expression and was looking me up and down.
"WHY NOW? " I roared in my thoughts.
"Have you only worn that outfit since you ran away?" She asked, taking a step closer and tugging on my pant leg with her magic. "I know you took off suddenly but, is that all you've had?" I withdrew from her with my hands up.
"I uh," I cleared my throat. "I've got other clothes, this is just comfortable." My mind was racing and my heart was pounding. How in the hell did she FIND ME.
A thought occurred.
"Other clothes, huh? Where'd you get them?" She pressed. I rolled my hands, both searching for an answer and processing my thought.
Earner was adamant I come here myself. I fought off the angry grimace that was threatening to appear on my face.
"Ah, you know, uh-"
"No. I don't," she grumbled, taking a few steps toward me. "I have some ideas but I'm really hoping they aren't true." I frowned and met her eyes briefly.
"What, uh, ideas are those?" I swallowed, my eyes glancing up at the shop. There wasn't any sign of a struggle, but then again, what struggle could Jury put up against all of them?
"We made it so fucking far," I mentally seethed. "You are going to PAY for this you- "
"Are you," Twilight squeaked, clearing her throat and closing her eyes for a moment. "Eddy, please be honest with me." I frowned as she looked up at me.
"Are you Bedlam?" She finally asked. I hesitated, which based on how her ears twitched and the way she clenched her eyes again told her everything she needed to know. A painful silence held sway for a few moments, giving me time to focus on all the horrible things I could do to get back at Earner.
"Eddy, I'm sorry, but this is," she finally murmured, shaking her head slowly. "This is all way more serious than I think you realize. Do you understand what you're involved in? Who these ponies are?"
"I have a pretty good idea," I replied more confidently than I intended. After all.
I knew who one of them was for certain now.
"Do you?" She pressed with a slight quaver. "These ponies aren't playing games, Eddy. They're willing to hurt ponies and even kill them. You're in way over your head here." I scoffed despite myself and shook my head, but she either didn't notice or didn't care, as she stepped closer and placed her hoof against my knee.
"So, please, Eddy, for me," she fixed me with this sad, heartfelt frown that.. It just hurt to see. It wasn't even disappointment that I saw in that frown, it was.. Desperation? Pleading? Hope? Whatever it was gnawed at my chest. "Just turn yourself in." I grimaced hard and averted my eyes, desperately scanning for anything else to focus on.
I spied Jury in the alley across the street, waving fervently at me. She held up the book in her magic and cast an anxious glance between Twilight and me before ducking behind some trash cans as the rest of Twilight's friends came trotting out of the shop. I swallowed and returned my attention to Twilight.
"I will! I just," my eyes darted as I scrambled for something to say. "Please. I need to explain it to Jury."
"Jury?" She repeated. Her frown shifted to something more critical and less painful. "So, she really has been helping you, huh?"
"Yes, she- Look, just," my eyes darted and I got down to her eye level. "Please, just let me go and I'll turn myself in soon, on my own, I promise!"
"I," she looked away before giving me a weary frown. "I can't do that, Eddy. Celestia is-"
"Twilight," I huffed and crawled forward before bringing my hands together at her. "Please? I'm literally begging you." Seconds crept by and slowly inched towards becoming minutes.
She didn't respond, but I could see the hesitation on her face. She was wavering and just needed something to push her over the edge. Anything. Anything at all, and that led to a positively heinous idea forming so fast I couldn't help but immediately blurt it out.
"Can't you side with me over her even once? " I spat with as much desperation as I could muster. The effect was immediate and she recoiled with an absolutely devastated expression. I clenched my jaw, both to sell the act and to fight off the immense sinking feeling rolling around in my chest.
"I," she squeaked. Her eyes danced as she took a few steps back and finally sat on the ground. "I-I didn't.." I managed to lock eyes with her and held her gaze for a few moments. My jaw began to ache from how tight it was, which did nothing to distract me from the awful feeling in my stomach. She practically deflated and her head hung low.
"Okay," she finally replied, so quietly that I briefly wondered if I'd misheard her. "Just.. Try to hurry." I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and nodded fervently.
"Yes, of course," I gasped, crawling forward and placing my hands on her shoulders. After a moment, she looked up at me with tears in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you." I quickly pulled her into a hug which she returned in earnest.
When we parted, I dashed down the alley away from her friends and back along the route Jury and I had plotted out. Driven by angry and guilt, I arrived at the fenced-off little yard we'd landed in in record time. Jury poked her head out of the hovercraft when she heard me crash through the gate, and sighed once she saw my face.
"That was way too close!" She cried, tossing away the brick she had raised. "Anyway, we got it! We got Starswirl's lost journal!" She presented it and I snatched it up a bit more aggressively than I'd intended, causing her to wilt with shock. I quickly leafed through the pages, desperate to keep my mind from settling on the conversation that just took place. Despite my efforts, I still couldn't rationalize why I'd just done that to her.
But I knew damned well who was going to pay for it.
I scowled at what I saw in the book. "I can't read this, can you?"
"Nuh-uh," she replied, leaning forward to frown at the illegible pages. "Old Equestrian's already hard to read, but I'm not even sure this is the same language. His horn-writing's really sloppy."
"Damned wizards," I angrily sighed. "We need to find someone with expertise on this archaic trash." I climbed into the driver's seat of the vehicle and handed Jury the book. She tilted her head at me, but didn't say anything for a moment.
"Doesn't Starlight Glimmer know somepony like that?" She asked as we began to rise from the ground.
"Pretty sure she does and pretty sure she told me who that is, but there's something I need to handle first, " I growled.
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.
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."
The forest echoed with the creaking roar of timber falling as our small army of tree-felling animunculi tore a path for us toward the horrendously named mountain which loomed above the treeline. The knowledge that this horrible woodland was having a big ugly line torn through it almost made up for the fact these trees were too thick for us to fly over.
I grunted and slapped my neck as more of the horrible biting insects swarmed into the cockpit of our land vehicle. Despite the noise the rolling, tread-bound machine was making all on its own, the miserable pests were seemingly too excited by the prospect of feeding on our blood to care.
"This place sucks!" Jury screeched, snapping her tail at the cloud of vermin. "Why'd we come here?!"
"Because our research showed it to be the location of Ponehenge, which was the place Starswirl claimed they'd have their final battle with Stygian," I snarled, waving my hand through the air to try and disperse the bugs. "And we need to investigate it directly."
"Why can't we just send an animunculus to do it?!" She pressed. I threw my head back with a groan.
"Because we need to see what's there, Jury."
"Fine, but why don't we just build one we can, I dunno," she rolled her hoof and rocked her head in thought. "See through the eyes of?" I turned to retort but paused at her suggestion.
"Not a bad idea, actually," I hummed, leaning back in my seat and mentally scheming up a design or two before shaking my head. "But we're already here, so we aren't turning back now."
"You might wanna reconsider that, Eddy," a familiar feminine voice replied from just behind us. We both froze and turned to see Starlight Glimmer sitting at the back of our cockpit with a critical leer cast my way. While Jury wilted with a whimper, I sighed.
"I'd ask 'how,' but I'm more interested in what the hell that is," I retorted, waving my hand and gesturing past her with an annoyed glare. "Some scheme against me, I presume?" She blinked and looked over her shoulder before gasping.
"Aw, you son-of-a-" Was all she got out before being slapped in the throat by my blasting talisman. She made a noise like a sputtering duck before being launched into the woods by a squealing ball of magic which exploded as soon as she was out of sight.
I snapped forward and began frantically hammering the controls, setting the vehicle to top speed. We wound up crushing several golems in our path, but fortunately, we had a suitably long path to roll along ahead of us.
"What the heck is she doing here?!" Jury screamed, casting a terrified look back.
"Hunting us, obviously," I huffed, quickly sending a command through my glove to the golems around us, setting the signal to repeat as we traveled so it spread to those that weren't immediately in range. Many turned back and moved to form a line between our vehicle and Starlight, according to my command. "Dumb unicorn luck led her straight to us, probably. Or some other stupid pony magic excuse." Jury recoiled and then turned up her nose with an indignant humph. Ignoring her, I pulled back my coat and checked the various spell talismans I'd brought along.
"Over here! Starlight found him!" I choked and turned to see Rainbow Dash emerging from the trees with a thoroughly pissed-off Starlight at her side.
"Look what he did to these poor trees!" Fluttershy cried as the rest of them stepped into view. She stamped her hoof and snarled our way. "You horrible thing, you!" I smirked at her indignation until a certain purple alicorn made herself known and cast a look of reserved fury my way.
"Whuh-oh," I murmured as she snapped her wings and exploded after us. More alarmingly, as I turned my attention forward to steer the machine, I realized we weren't moving.
"Eddy?" Jury squeaked.
"Bedlam," I replied, checking the controls.
"Bedlam?" She repeated, just as fearfully.
"Yes?" I turned and blinked, as we were being tilted back by a purple-hued magic field. "Huh." The entire vehicle was pulled and then balanced on its rear. Twisting my head, I saw Twilight hurdling toward us and I quickly snapped my telekinesis talisman out, grabbing one of the animunculi and yanking it into her path.
She slammed into it head-first and shouted in shock as she and the machine tumbled to the ground. Before we could celebrate, our vehicle began to creak and slowly began to fall backward. Jury squeaked as I grabbed her and flopped out, switching on my shield once we hit the ground. The tank fell and impacted my barrier with a metallic crack and bounced sideways. We both exhaled in unison once it settled and we were able to stand up.
"Thank you for coming up with this, Jury," I gasped, inspecting the shield's talisman for any issues. She beamed and bashfully kicked the dirt.
"Aw, you're wel-" was all I heard her say before I found myself hurdling through the air with a ferocious warcry filling my ears. Ferocious for a tiny purple alicorn, anyway. My shield kept me stable enough in the air that I could look down over my shoulder at Twilight, along with the trail of purple and pink streaking away from her due to how fast she was tackling me.
Before I could pull any of my talismans free to strike or dislodge her, she banked upward, letting me continue sailing into a standing stone. My shield reverberated and I bounced off, where a blast of magic drove me into the dirt. Then, several more came booming in, pushing me deeper down. After a few seconds of bombardment, I managed to roll over just in time to see her hooves impact with the shield right where my chest was. Then she shot back up and slammed down again, and again.
And again.
And again.
And once more for good measure. She leaned into her stomp this time with bared teeth, and I swear I saw little embers roll up her mane. As well as faint cracks in my shield which faded after a second. She clenched her teeth so hard I heard her jaw creak as she bent lower and lower, and then she stood up straight with a sigh.
"Boy, am I glad you built this thing," she quipped, tapping the shield twice, before fixing me with a venomous glare. "Cause that was cathartic. "
"yeh," I squeaked. I heard Jury cry out as she was tossed overhead, after which the rest of Twilight's friends peeked down the small crater I was buried in at us. They shared a look before Applejack cleared her throat.
"You, uh," she coughed into her hoof. "You good, sugarcube?"
"I'm good," I gasped. Twilight raised an eyebrow as Applejack scowled.
"I was talkin' to-"
"Uh, everypony?" Sunburst suddenly quailed. We all turned our attention to him as, from under his cloak, Starswirl's journal-
God damn it.
Anyhow, Starswirl's journal slowly floated up out of his grip and began spinning while encased in a brilliant golden light. The entire grove around us was lit up by the book, which then drifted off out of sight. Twilight gasped and reared up on the edge of the pit, looking at where the book went with stars in her eyes.
"Omigosh," she gasped before scampering off of me and out of sight. Whatever was happening must've really been something since literally the whole group was no longer paying attention to me. I groaned and sat up before stepping out of the pit to see what the hubbub was about and found myself just as mesmerized.
I still found time to glance back and groan with annoyance at the piles of ruined golems behind us, but the events transpiring around me almost made up for that.
The standing stone Twilight had slammed me into was in fact, one of six, confirming we were now standing in Ponehenge. Additionally, they were arranged around a single, stone platform and were lit up with golden magic. Jury scurried up and put me between her and Twilight's friends before she nudged me and pointed at one of the stones.
Starswirl's book was sitting open at its base and a ball of light was bubbling in the air above it. Scanning the grove, similar phenomena were taking place with the other stones, and several familiar shapes were forming in the light at each point.
"Those are the Pillars' artifacts, aren't they?" I idly asked.
"They are," Twilight murmured, her head slowly pivoting to each stone. "What's happening?" As I pondered the question, I saw several golems creeping toward the grove through the corner of my eye. I quickly clicked a sequence to have them stand by and then focused on the scene around me.
"Starswirl!" Twilight suddenly gasped, pointing at the light above the guy's book, which had suddenly taken on his alleged shape. I frowned and folded my arms with one hand on my chin. As the ponies ooed and ahhed at the scene, my mind began running through explanations. I slowly turned on my heel as the other lights turned into the shapes of the other pillars. I hummed and nodded as the figures began reenacting a scene.
"The magic is showing us what happened before they vanished," I idly voiced.
"What?" Starlight asked, looking up at me before turning back to the scene. Sure enough, the Pillars began performing a ritual with their artifacts and blasted the central stone platform with their magic. From the platform, a bubbling, black ooze gurgled forth and swelled into a huge ball before bursting, leaving behind a gargantuan, monstrous alicorn-like thing made entirely from shadow.
The ponies gasped as the monster jeered and cackled, but I narrowed my eyes as the scene played out.
"You summon me at your peril, Starswirl, " the thing chortled, shadowy tendrils slithering out from its wings. "Once I destroy the six of you, this land will embrace the power of darkness as I did so long ago! " I hummed and kept my eyes locked on the shadow pony, ignoring Starswirl as he offered something inane in response.
Then, all at once, the Pillars channeled their magic into a hexagonal shape around the shadow. The grove was filled with white light, as the entire group rose into the air, dragging the shadow with them. As they ascended, the light increased before finally, against all at once, they all vanished. From the points where the Pillars had just been, their individual artifacts fell and upon making contact with the solid earth, the images vanished.
I smirked as everything clicked into place in my mind. Meanwhile, with the exception of Jury who stayed hidden at my side, the ponies scanned the grove with wonder visible on their faces.
"Uh, what the heck just happened?" Rainbow asked, fluttering from place to place.
"Like I said, we got a glimpse of what happened when they vanished," I replied with a dark chuckle, scanning the forest for a path of escape. Sunburst gasped.
"I think he's right! Powerful magic like what they used to seal that monster would leave an impression on the land," he declared, galloping to and scooping up Starswirl's journal. "Bringing the book back here caused some degree of resonance, letting us see what happened!" Awe-inspired silence gripped the area for a moment.
"Whoa," Rainbow huffed.
"That's amazing," Twilight added just before I laughed aloud and drew their angry glares my way.
"Lucky me! I might've been up against a brick wall otherwise," I giggled rubbing my palms together and stalking toward Twilight. "So if I see things right, all of their artifacts are the key to the door they cast themselves through." I grinned wickedly and bent at the hips to look her in the eyes.
"So, to achieve the next part of my plan, I just need to find them all," I began as she scowled fiercely. "Before you. " She studied my face for a moment before smirking.
"Actually, I'd say the first major hurdle is getting out of this grove," she retorted, spreading her wings as her friends circled me. "And thus, passed all of us." My smile widened.
"Fair point. All me to retort!" I quickly slipped a talisman from my belt. While Twilight and the rest braced to tackle me, Jury gasped and covered her eyes. Her action was the only correct one, as the rest recoiled with a unified outcry as the talisman filled the entire grove with a glaring burst of light all at once. "High-intensity light spell, set to mimic that of the sun for brief intervals! Wasn't sure what we'd find up here and some old ruins can be pretty dark after all!" The ponies all tumbled over, clutching their eyes with their hooves and spitting insults my way as I quickly snatched Starswirl's journal.
"Isn't he brilliant? " Jury wistfully declared as she trotted up to my side. I offered her a smile of appreciation before waving at the golems in the distance.
"But don't worry, Princess, I would dream of leaving you without an aid!" I said, to Twilight's audible annoyance. I picked up Jury and made for the path we'd cleared through the woods, rolling my hand at the golems as we passed them. "My dear animunculi, please keep these poor lost ponies here and safe until I return!"
"And so thoughtful, too!" Jury said with a giggle.
"Bedlam!" Starlight screamed as she opened her eyes and attempted to blink her vision back.
"Hoh-hoh-HOH! That's the spirit!" I replied as the golems moved on the ponies. In short order, we made it back to our vehicle, and with her magic and my talismans got it upright and rolling again.
"That was great!" Jury cheered as we sped away.
"Sure was! But let's not get ahead of ourselves," I replied, wagging my finger at her. "We need to hurry back to the castle and resupply. Probably need to crack open some of the more experimental and unethical shit we've got locked up." I cast an inquisitive glance back at the grove.
"Got a nasty feeling we're going to need some serious ordnance for the coming weeks."
The ponies in the quarry looked up at me as I loomed on the pit's ledge. Some of the older ones had hate in their eyes, while others especially the younger ones were nearly scared to tears. Maybe it was the ring of armed animunculi aiming laser weapons down at them, who knows? In any case, they'd paused their work and I shrugged.
"You said you didn't want my machines to do the digging since they'd smash up whatever I didn't need," I called down, drawing an angry grunt from one of the head archaeologists. "Don't blame me that the only solution is you digging in their place." I grinned and leaned over at them.
"Now, get back to work," I demanded, causing them to continue chipping at the rock after a moment. I clapped my hands a few times as I turned to check on the other workers. "And hurry up! Double-time!"
The entire dig site was crowded with golems and ponies hauling carts of stones which were then dumped into the sea the site overlooked. I strode along, peeking down into each pit as I passed before making it to one of the ancient founding stones Rockhoof's village had been built upon, where Jury-rig sat, with a few ponies fanning her while she looked over their notes.
"It's hotter than Tartarus out here," she griped without looking up once she noticed I was nearby. "And the air's all salty."
"If'n ya can't handle the heat," a voice echoed over the area, drawing our attention to one of the cliffs surrounding the ruins. I hissed air through my teeth at what we saw. "Then get the heck outta here!" Applejack reared forward and bucked a massive boulder into the air.
Not down the cliff.
Into the air.
"Oh, sweet Jesus," I squeaked as the hundred-ton rock arched through the sky and came hurdling down toward me specifically. Jury screamed and galloped out of the way while her fanning ponies and I did likewise. The boulder slammed into the spot I'd just been with an echoing boom before it bounced and came rolling after me. I rushed at an angle and then dove to the side allowing the rock to roll past and into the cliff face where it burst apart. As I huffed and moved to stand up, I was violently smashed into the ground again.
"Gotcha, y'varmint," Applejack spat, holding my head to the dirt with her hoof. I growled in response, but when I reached for my belt, she gently tapped me in the hip, drawing a prolonged, wheezing squawk of pain from me. "None o'that now. Yer comin' with me."
"You wanna bet?" I heard Jury scream, followed after a moment by Applejack gasping. A second after that, she grunted and stepped off of me, allowing me to sit up and look back to see Jury, with several golems aiming their weapons at her cowering fan ponies. I smirked and waved at her in gratitude before standing to my full height and drawing my blasting talisman.
"That's dang low of ya, Ed," Applejack spat as I dusted myself off and eyed up the pit just behind her.
"Not as low as you're about to be," I said before shooting her in the face, sending her sprawling head over hooves and causing her hat to spin through the air. As she fell back and down, I blasted the ropes we'd been using to haul ponies and rocks out of the pit. "Enjoy the climb back up!"
"Bedlam! Look!" I whirled around to see Jury pointing at where the boulder had impacted. The rockface had caved in, revealing a small shrine at the back of which stood an altar bearing Rockhoof's image and his dinky magic shovel. I recoiled in shock before smirking.
"Easy."
"He threatened to burn your home down?" Rarity gasped, with a hoof to her mouth. The distraught, elderly unicorn before her just shook her hanging head as she sat miserably on the steps leading to the little two-story house at the center of a partially ashen and thoroughly overgrown garden.
"He didn't just threaten, he started setting fires all over the place," she moaned. "He didn't even bother putting them out once I gave him the flower he was after." She grunted and cast an angry and teary-eyed glare over the garden. An entire corner had been singed down to the roots, leaving only the bare, ashy earth where plants had once grown.
"That flower was the last good plant in this place, but that's still no excuse to do all this," she murmured. Rarity furrowed her brow as she scanned the mess before tilting her head with a hum. She lit up her horn and tugged at the belt of gardening tools sitting beside the unicorn, who looked at her with confusion.
"May I?" Rarity asked as she drew several tools and began trotting around the garden. She worked the tools she'd taken all at once and set them into a flurry of snipping and scraping. Within minutes, the elder unicorn gasped as what was once a mess of overgrowth and weeds was trimmed and shaped into something more presentable. Rarity glanced back at her with a smile as she worked. "Even if that horrible ape hadn't harassed you, I just couldn't turn a blind eye to all this." She spun around, scanning her work with a hum.
"A bit of pruning can work wonders, you know."
The hovercraft squealed and rattled at the speed we forced it to move at. I clenched my teeth hard as Jury continued beating her hooves into my back to put out the fire.
"Are they still chasing us?" I screamed, casting a glance back. Jury blinked and looked that way as well. Off in the distance, Ember the Dragon Lord hovered with her arms folded and an intermittent gout of flames springing from her snout. Just beside her, with Spike on her back, was Rainbow Dash, sticking her tongue out at me and rolling her eyes.
Additionally, the puny dragon was holding Flash Magnus' shield up triumphantly. I shuddered and growled as I turned my attention forward. Jury sighed in relief as she seemingly finished extinguishing my burning back. Then she gasped.
"Bedlam, your hair's all gone!" She cried. I tensed up, touched the top of my now bare scalp, and then groaned, dragging my hand down my face, revealing half of my beard was gone as well.
"I hate that dragon," I hissed.
I sat in disbelief as our flamethrower-equipped animunculi shorted out and sank into the mud of the swamp. As each one failed, the horrible little sparking bees that were swarming the area and slipping into their joints buzzed angrily, sending out crackling sparks of electricity as they did.
On a distant embankment, I spied Fluttershy and some local bumpkin pony speaking. The bumpkin pulled Meadowbrook's mask off the top of his head and handed it to her.
"Jury," I growled.
"Yes, Bedlam?"
"Remind me to burn this place down later."
All this over a stupid blindfold.
I panted and wheezed as my legs pumped and launched me along the road as fast as they could manage. Our initial sweep with our golems had done a great job of corralling Somnambula's ponies indoors, so there was only one four-legged figure I needed to worry about. Though all things considered, she more than made up for the lack of numbers. As I ducked around a corner, I saw Jury galloping toward me.
"Bedlam!" She squealed, magically holding up the weapon and protective masks I'd asked her to retrieve. I pointed at an enclosed porch beside her and dashed for it myself. Once we both met up, I snatched the tools out of the air, we both slipped on the masks, and I whirled around, aiming my weapon at the corner and open air right as a set of hooves came clopping toward us.
"I believe I was quite reasonable with you previously, Mr. Bedford," Celestia declared in an even tone as she stepped into my line of sight. "And despite your actions, if you surrender now, I am willing-" Her spiel rapidly shifted to a brief coughing fit as I blasted her in the face with a pump-action fired canister that burst open and coated her in a sparkling, blue dust. While Jury shivered anxiously, I smirked as Celestia shook her head and then blinked before scanning the dust. Her sudden look of horror told me she'd immediately recognized the stuff.
"Is- Is this poison joke?" She gasped, recoiling and retreating a few steps.
"An alchemically cultivated, fast-acting strain we've been playing with," I replied with a wicked grin behind my gas mask and pumped my launcher to load a new canister. "Delivered as a powder for even quicker results."
"Edward Bedford, this is a war crime," she quailed with a hanging jaw.
"Loser-talk, Loser," I replied, drawing a mirthful snort from Jury.
"You- HONK!" Celestia honked. I shook my head in bewilderment before laughing upon realizing she'd been turned into an angry, normal-sized goose with a big, goof aurora mane. Jury choked and slowly slid to the ground, desperately and poorly fighting off laughter.
"Guess your goose is cooked, eh?" I chortled, looming over the transformed alicorn. She scowled up at me, then down at the layer of dust on the ground. With an angry gurgle, she desperately kicked some of the dust at me, causing me to clumsily spring back. "Hey! Watch it!"
I slouched in my chair, glaring at the workshop table on which we'd set the magic items we'd stolen over the past few weeks. To wit, Rockhoof's shovel, Mistmane's weird flower, Starswirl's journal, and Somnambula's blindfold. Jury reared up on the table and looked at the set with a hum.
"We've got four to their two," she chirped, offering me a reassuring smile. "I think that means we're winning."
"We need all six to open the door to limbo, Jury," I replied, slouching further and dragging my hands down my face. "And we've lost a lot of material and machines just grabbing these. " I sighed and gave her a defeated leer. She scrunched her muzzle in thought before beaming.
"At least we still have the hovercraft!" She offered before resting a hoof on my knee. "And, may I say, somepony's looking very sharp with his new hair and beard style?" She tilted her head with a wide, toothy smile. I rolled my eyes and stroked my mustache in thought, it being the only bit of hair still on my head.
"We need all six," I murmured, running a few schemes through my mind. Jury wilted with a sigh and sat down before me.
"Well, on another bright side, at least they can't open the door and let the Pillars out," she mumbled. I shuddered with disgust.
"Very true. One set of heroes is enough of a problem," I replied. Then, I furrowed my brow and leaned forward on my knees. After a moment, I cupped my chin with my hand. "Jury, take a letter."
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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"Please. Just come home. "
The sun was about to set again. I could see it through the repaired throne room window. The sight didn't motivate me to stand up from my seat, however, despite it being proof I'd spent another day sulking on my chair. My left hand supported my head as I stared off into space while my right hand idly and slowly twisted my fork into what was left of the potatoes Jury'd brought me earlier.
"Please. Just come home. "
"Who do you think you are? " I spat mentally. "Who do you think I am? "
"My friend, " she'd probably say. Despite everything. Everything I'd done, everything I'd said.
How?
"Bedlam, I'm glad you're finally eating but you can't just sit here forever! You're gonna put on a hundred pounds at this rate," Jury said. I blinked and looked down at her in concealed surprise as I never noticed when she entered the room and made it up to my side. She was reared up on the army of my throne fixing me with a sad frown. "What kind of genius mechanist lets himself get all egg-shaped, huh?" I returned to staring straight ahead, mulling over Twilight's impudence.
"How can you possibly still want me back? " I mused, feeling a grimace work its way to my face. "If you're even being genuine. "
"Do you wanna try turning lead into gold again? We got pretty close last time!" Jury offered before pausing and looking off to the side. "I mean, it melted when it made contact with the air, and it burned a hole through the table." She paused again and cleared her throat.
"And floor. But still!" She leaned forward to try and meet my eyes to no avail.
"What are the chances she was being genuine? " I tilted my head back as I followed my thoughts. "Let's see. She was absolutely trying to prevent me and Stygian from pulling off our scheme. "
"C'mon, Eddy," Jury suddenly pressed. Despite her mistake and her immediate, anxious smirk, I ignored her and continued thinking. She sighed and tilted her head. "Nothing, really?"
"She was trying to trick me, wasn't she? " I narrowed my eyes as suddenly a few things clicked. "Trying to trap me. To thwart me and seal me away somehow. " Jury slowly and miserably trotted out of the room allowing me to pace in silent thought without being bothered.
"But Stygian had already surrendered. The plan was already wasted, " I growled at the memory. "Little bastard. " I made it to one of the windows and leaned on my elbow against it, staring at the animunculi gathering lumber and rocks outside.
"So, what? Was she just trying to be thorough? " I stood for a few minutes, stuck on that question and unable to find an answer. Instead, I found a different query.
"What the fuck am I doing?" I quietly murmured, rolling into the wall and sinking to the ground where I sat with my head in my hands.
What the hell was the point of all this? Before Stygian, what was I even doing? Where was I going?
"Toppling Celestia's government and making things better for me. But why? " I knit my fingers together and dug through my memories. The answer raced to the forefront of my mind. "Those bastards who fucked me over. " And there I found a snag.
What had I actually done to pay any of them back? I'd rattled Pinch, sure, but he was small compared to the bastard. Compared to Neighsay and Celestia. My thoughts began to clear up and I slowly nodded as everything meshed in my head.
"Please. Just come home. "
And then it was muddled again, causing me to groan aloud and thump my head back against the wall.
"I need a change of scenery," I grumbled, removing my glasses and rubbing my eyes. "Something to help me clear my head and get back in the swing of things." I dragged my hand down my face and huffed.
"And definitely a break from all the little ponies," I added, rising to my feet. I cleaned my glasses with my cape and then paused. A bitter scowl formed on my face. "After I settle a few old scores."
I found Jury outside curled up on the grass, idly chipping at a gem with her etching tool. I strode up and sat beside her causing her to snap to a sitting position and fix me with a wide-eyed stare.
"Bedlam?" She squeaked. I considered her for a minute before scanning the golems at work around us. The castle grounds were cleared of trees, forming a neat circular grove full of pits where stone and gems were almost constantly being hauled up. I sighed and gave her a weary stare.
"Sorry for my extended melancholy, lil' lady," I began, cupping her chin with my hand and offering her a weak smile. "My head's been all abuzz since Twilight screwed everything up for us."
"I could tell," she said sadly with a frown. "Are you okay now?" My smile waned for a moment and I hummed, scanning the golems once again.
"I have a plan," I replied, raising an eyebrow and giving her a stern leer. "But it involves us hitting the road." She blinked and tilted her head, but after I offered a malicious chortle she smiled.
"And I think we'll need some new tools to pull off what I have in mind," I added.
All warfare is based on deception.
But a few advanced magical gizmos and weapons don't hurt, either.
To that end, for what I had planned we'd prepared a few doozies which were now laid out on the workshop table before me. After taking a few days to really test the limits for our range of controlling signals and then testing a few controlled explosives, I now had a remote detonating fire starter carried by a sturdy drone.
My shield was stronger than ever and my blasting talisman was rebuilt. My glasses were now not only sensitive to magical auras, allowing me to see unicorns through walls as it turned out. My belt was loaded with talismans dedicated to unique spells such as a weak gravity field generator, three short-range single-use teleporters that didn't need to be set ahead of time, something Jury made and called 'the scrum-bumbling spell', a long-range teleporter set for just outside the castle's clearing as an emergency, a potent fire conjuring spell, and finally something just delightful.
A talisman that created a three-foot-long, thin, oscillating, green beam of pure magic in the style of a damned lightsaber. No mundane material in the world can hold up against such a tool, since it burns as hot as a unicorn's beam spell, but the oscillating feature meant it was in motion like a chainsaw. Additionally, it should be able to slap spell work out of the air and, if it makes contact with their horn, it'll give nosy unicorns head spins. Sadly, we discovered this fact by pure accident when Jury tried testing it herself. The bright side was we discovered it doesn't cut through magical material, like a unicorn's horn.
I smiled and drummed my fingers on the table. With this and the drones I was bringing along, it'd be a cakewalk to punch my way into the E.E.A's office, regardless of Neighsay's interference.
"And then what? " A thought popped up, giving me pause. "Murder him? " My smile vanished and I leaned heavily on the table.
Was that the plan?
I intended to just ruin the place and set their whole operation back years by burning all their records and books but..
If he does interfere, won't I have to kill him? Twilight and company were sturdy as all hell as recent events proved, but Neighsay didn't have whatever chosen-one divinely appointed durability to protect him. If I blasted him..
More importantly, why did I care? Bastard ruined my life even when I thought I was as low as I could go. Why did I care if I slit his little pony throat or not?
"Because she probably thinks you're better than that, " I thought, and grimaced as a result. "Even though I had Verko kill Earner for me. "
But she didn't know that. And I technically hadn't done it myself, so it was different, wasn't it?
I cupped my face in my hands and groaned quietly as I followed this line of thinking, which just posed the question again. What if he interferes? My eyes drifted down to my tools.
"If he interferes it won't matter. I don't need to be so drastic," I said with a shudder as I gripped one of my talismans and held it up. "Because, unlike Earner, this little pony is scarcely a threat." I clicked the gem and the saber-like beam hissed to life. I looked it up and down, inspecting the edge and visualizing the ease with which it could cut material and mentally repeating my declaration.
"Boom. Easy." A knock at the open door drew my attention to Jury as she came trotting in.
"Okie-dokey! The animunculi are all set to start marching and carrying our supplies to the south-most edge of the Everfree," she declared as she came to my side and smiled up at me. "Just waiting on a command to get everything moving." I smirked and switched off the saber before reaching down to pat her head.
"Great work. Guess it's time for phase two," I declared before fixing her with a firm look. "You remember what you need to do while I sneak up to the caves near Canterlot?"
"Yep! I already sent for some of our distributors to come and buy up the surplus potions we've made and exchange all our gold for something easier to transport," she replied, still smiling.
"Good, but what else?" I pressed, causing her to wilt.
"Uh, well," she averted her eyes and scrunched up her muzzle for a moment. "I'm nervous about talking to the princesses alone, Bedlam." I hummed and crouched onto one knee to approach her eye level.
"Do you remember what I told you to say?" I asked, causing her to sag with a sad whimper.
"Yeah, but," she paused again before looking at me with a frown. "Telling them you just brow-beat me until I did what you said's just gonna make them hate you more." I smiled and nodded.
"I know. I'm counting on it," I said with a chortle before poking her on the nose. "And thus, I'm counting on you. "
Twilight poked her head into the library door and twisted it to look up at Starlight, who was floating in the air, suspended in her own magic and scanning the upper-most bookshelves.
"Hey," Twilight called, causing Starlight to stumble in the air and roll until she was looking down at her. "Whatcha doin'?"
"I'm trying to find one of my notebooks I left lying around. I assume you put it away somewhere in here," Starlight replied, righting herself to continue her search. "I wrote down a lot of what Eddy used to talk about in a few of them. There might be something to help us find him or, well, hold him down long enough to talk." Twilight frowned before floating up beside the unicorn and scanning the shelves as well.
"You know, Stygian and I had a talk before he and the Pillars went to explore their old homes," Twilight said as the pair shuffled the rows of books.
"About Eddy?" Starlight asked.
"Yeah, and about Neighsay," Twilight replied with a sigh. Before she could continue, the books all burst from their places causing the pair to shoot back and cry out.
"Twilight!" Pinkie screamed as she dove from the shelf and clung to Twilight. "Come quick! You'll literally never guess who just walked into Sugarcube Corner!" Twilight blinked and finally relaxed with a sigh as she fixed Pinkie with an annoyed leer, while the pink mare hung off her kicking her rear legs in the air.
"Who?" Twilight asked.
"Jury-rig! She says she's giving herself up!" Pinkie declared causing Twilight to flinch. Pinkie pulled herself up and wrapped one leg around Twilight's neck, using the other to gesture as she spoke. "And don't worry, I made sure not to give her any double-mint chocolate donuts like she used to order before she turned to the dark side." She grabbed Twilight's face and twisted her head to touch their snouts.
"Because evil ponies only get vanilla donuts, " she added with a scowl. Twilight blinked and her eyes darted to Starlight who floated with her jaw hanging slightly, before she returned her attention to Pinkie.
"Okie," Twilight squeaked.
Jury-rig slowly trotted away from Twilight's castle door, flanked by guards and the royal sisters, both of whom kept their attention forward with steely glares. Jury occasionally spared an anxious glance back at the castle where Twilight and Starlight stood, waiting for the other Elements to arrive with Pinkie who'd been sent to collect them all.
A tense, unhappy silence hung over the pair as they watched the errant unicorn being led away, knowing what was coming next.
"I guess we finally have him cornered, huh?" Twilight finally said, turning to look at the forest in the distance. She winced and her already dour expression worsened. "I just hope he gives up this time."
"Something about this rubs me the wrong way," Starlight said, rubbing her chin and drawing Twilight's attention to her. "She said losing Stygian made her question if Eddy's as capable as he made her believe, but." She paused and screwed up her face before giving Twilight a firm look.
"You remember back at Hollow Shades? When she first scrambled up to his side?" She asked. When Twilight nodded, she cast an incredulous leer at the group shrinking in the distance. "She sure didn't look or sound too disillusioned with him." Twilight blinked and held her hoof to her chin.
"Maybe something happened within the last few weeks?" She offered.
"Maybe," Starlight mused before shrugging. "Then again, last time I felt like letting you all handle 'Bedlam ' without me, I was pretty on the money, wasn't I?" She turned and began to trot back inside. Twilight turned but didn't follow her.
"I'm thinking he might be up to something outside the Everfree," Starlight replied before leaning into a full gallop. "And you mentioning Neighsay earlier sure ain't quieting those thoughts." As the unicorn raced inside, Twilight furrowed her brow before turning to meet her friends.
Starlight dashed through the halls until she made it back to the castle library. Even if she was right about what Eddy was up to, having her old notes on his inventions seemed necessary, regardless of how much advancement he'd made. It seemed like a reach, but she hoped something in them could help her figure out something to counter his tools with.
"Where is it?!" She snapped as she hovered and ripped books free. She groaned aloud and drifted back to the floor, spinning in place to scan the entire room at once. She screwed up her face and smacked her hoof against her head trying to remember.
"Well, what are the chances I'm even right?" She finally sighed before turning for the door. "Twilight and the rest are probably gonna find him and-" She gasped and clapped her hooves.
"Right!" She lit up her horn and popped back to her room. "In my closet, duh. " She threw her closet door open and began hauling out her raincoat, ruined kites, and finally, her special box in which she found a sparkly rock Maud had given her, a bundle of used fireworks from one of Trixie's shows, and a worn old notebook which she pulled out and began leafing through as she lit up her horn again.
"Let's see. Magic projection, shaping, meh-meh-meh," she held her breath and began chain-warping for a few seconds, after which she exhaled hard and shook her head, looking around to see she'd made it to Canterlot. Blinking the dizzy stars away she nodded before turning and making her way up the street to Neighsay's office. She again scanned the notebook, pausing on one particular entry. "Thaumic frequencies. Hm."
A few weeks of planning and preparation had all been worth it. Once I saw the chariots loaded with guards racing for Ponyville, I knew they'd taken the bait and I knew the time was now. The fact I hadn't been incinerated after breaching the front gate proved neither alicorn sister was present.
It was all too perfect.
The dozens of guards scrambled to keep me surrounded while also staying a safe distance from me as I marched down the main road of Canterlot. Just beyond my ring of silly armored ponies, the upper class ran screaming for cover behind market stalls and in alleyways. We came to a crossroads, and I hummed as I scanned the available paths.
"Which way was the E.E.A. office?"
"Like we'd tell you!" A white guardsmare screamed as she dove at me from behind. There was a crackle at my belt as the barrier spell stone I'd built snapped to life. The poor, ignorant little pony was zapped and sent flying over the ring of her comrades, who cried out in terror.
"Ah-hah! It was this way," I looked at the most important-looking member of my unwelcome entourage. "Don't you have a fire to handle?" He blinked.
"Fire?" I smirked and slipped a control rod from my coat and pressed the stone on it. Nothing happened. I pressed it again, to a similar effect. The guards shared a look as I groaned and took a few steps back the way we came. Holding my arm out, I firmly hit the stone again and this time there was a distant boom. The guards looked dumbfoundedly in its direction then back at me.
I rolled my hand that way. "The fire which you have a better chance of handling than you do of handling me. " They blinked and looked back then wilted in horror at the billowing tower of smoke rising over the city skyline.
"When the princess hears about this-!" The important guard choked as he and his fellows scrambled toward the smoke.
"You bet!" I cheered, waving at him as we parted ways. Walking alone towards the office, I looked it over through my glasses. The magic-sensitive gemstones and lenses immediately revealed a potent magical aura on the second floor. And it sure as hell wasn't Neighsay. I frowned and drew my magic saber before igniting it. As I approached the front door, I dragged the tip of the magical blade along the road. There was a hiss as it burned a thin, shallow cut in the stone.
Then, the aura imploded, which was followed immediately by the sound of teleportation just behind me.
"Hey, Eddy."
"Hey, Starlight!" I whirled around and smiled. "How'd you know I was coming?" She looked me up and down with a frown.
"Didn't really know, but I had a gut feeling you still had a bone to pick with Neighsay, and it looks like I was right."
"Still doesn't explain why you aren't trawling the Everfree with the rest."
"Right. I figured if you were really holed up out there, Twilight and the rest could handle you, especially with Celestia helping out," she smirked. "But I also had a sneaking suspicion that Jury-rig wouldn't roll on you that easy. She just turns herself in after three months of practically worshiping you? Yeah, no." I hummed in approval.
"Bless your incredulity, Starlight. Won't help you here, but it's a delight to see," I waved my saber back and forth.
"Oh, I don't need the help," she replied, her horn lighting up as she condensed her aura. I smirked as she blasted me with all her might. My shield crackled to life and caused her beam to split and flow around me harmlessly. I snorted and chortled, but then my shield wavered as the beam doubled back and danced all over its surface. Starlight took a breath and smirked. "Cause I think you forgot who you used to share your discoveries with." I blanched as the stone on my belt whined and then popped, causing my shield to literally melt away.
"Ah," I said.
"Ah ," she replied.
After a brief moment, the wall to the Ponyville jail had a neat little hole cut into it. The circular chunk I'd sliced fell inwards with a heavy thud, allowing me to step inside. I smiled at the lonely little inmate who looked up at me in wonder.
"Hey, 'lil lady! You come here often?"
"Bedlam!" Jury squealed as she galloped up and hugged my leg. "I knew you'd be back!"
"'Course you did. I promised, didn't I?"
The door to the cells creaked open. "What was that?!" A guard came galloping in, sliding to a stop when he saw me. "Y-! you. "
I drew one of the last remaining stun spell talismans. "Me." With a click, the guard was blasted and knocked out cold. Jury and I stepped back out into the moonlit yard around the jail before slinking away. After just a few minutes we made it to the school and slipped inside the toolshed I knew wasn't locked. It had been broken for months, but Cheerilee never had a chance to fix it. I was going to handle it for her the day she dismissed me.
Woopsie-daisy.
I pulled the light string and lit the shed up so we could talk. "So, did they say anything about the lair?"
Jury nodded. "They came back like you said they would. I told them you probably realized I was betraying you so you were clearing out, like you said I should."
I patted her head. "Good girl. What then?"
She hummed and leaned into my hand before responding. "The guard told them you were attacking Canterlot, so they rushed up there. Like you said they would."
I inhaled through my teeth and pumped my fists. "EASY!" I let my breath out in a cackle. Jury smiled and giggled but then blinked and looked off to the side.
"So.. Did you do it?"
I chortled and sighed. "Do what?"
"Uhm.. Neighsay.. Did you.." She shuffled her hooves and her ears shot back. "Ki.. Get him?"
"You weren't?"
"No! I was going to burn all the E.E.A.'s records and books!" I shook my fist northward. "Let's see how they like having to start from scratch!"
She raised a hoof and blinked. "O-oh!" I scowled down at her.
"Listen, the guy has more in common with a rat than any pony I've ever seen, in looks and personality, but that doesn't mean I'm down to kill him," I smirked and scratched her ears. "I've still got a soft spot for all you adorable little idiots." Again, she leaned into my hand and giggled.
"So, you burned their archives?"
I scowled and folded my arms, drawing a curious squeak from Jury. "Unfortunately, no. Starlight intervened and I had to detonate some of my tools just to get away. So much for my grand temporary farewell to Equestria!"
"Darn!" Jury grumbled before giving me a sympathetic smile. "Well, at least we got the important stuff out!"
I waved my hand. "Pfft, please. The real silver lining is they left you so poorly guarded," I smirked and scooped her up. "You and I can just rebuild, but I think I'd go crazy without you." She blushed and smiled.
I rolled her and held her under my arm before pushing to door open. I thrust my pointing arm south. "Let's get a move on. We got a long trip ahead of us!" I carried her out into the yard and made my way to the road.
She looked up at me. "After we collect the animunculi and our tools, we're going south, right?"
"Correct. Why? Did you learn something about the southern lands?"
She frowned and nodded. "Mhm. Some of those mob ponies we've been selling explosive potions to said there's a warlord taking everything over."
"Shouldn't be a problem. We can talk to that Verko twerp and-"
"With a fleet of airships. He also recently took over Klugetown."
I sucked air through my teeth. "Oh."
Road trips are great for clearing one's head. Finding yourself in the middle of a recently conquered, rocky desert was as well, albeit in a more irritating 'why is it so hot, oh fuck there are patrolling airships' sort of way. Fortunately, even moving at the slower pace we were driving our landcraft at so our mechanical servants could keep up, we managed to avoid any encounters with the locals until Verko's shanty town crawled into view. While I needed to see if Verko was still alive, I had no intention of hiding out anywhere he was aware of. Even if Klugetown wasn't currently occupied, I knew better than to trust that little rat not to stab me in my sleep, so we made a note of the town's location before moving on.
A day and a half later, we managed to find the southern coastline, which led to Jury discovering a hidden little cave we decided to hide in. I left her in charge of getting it habitable while I skulked back to Klugetown with a swarm of armed drones to find Verko.
While my personal weapons kept the denizens of the town at bay, sneaking into Verko's office was a little challenging thanks to the hulking, yeti-like guards swarming the town who were backed up by a small number of my humanoid golems. But my controlling override allowed me to make them explode, which revealed a critical weakness to fire that was held by all the yetis. But, the fact that my override worked on the machines at all confirmed something thoroughly infuriating.
"You gave him my machinery? " I hissed. Verko's personal guards hugged the ground with their claws over their eyes, cowering from the buzzing, laser-armed machines hovering over them. Verko himself just sat with his arms folded and an exasperated scowl aimed my way.
"Well hey! What do you expect?" He demanded, throwing his claws up. "The guy isn't the type to take no for an answer!"
"You could have sent for me. I'd have come up with something to deal with him," I retorted, folding my own arms as I paced the office. Through the window just behind his chair, I could see the uproar I'd placed the town in with my sabotage, as well as the yeti's efforts to quell the fire I'd started.
"Oh yeah? So why's it matter? Come up with something now!" Verko spat, leaning on and jabbing his desk with a claw. "Guy's cutting into my business and demanding I smuggle all his hokey merchandise! Smuggle! In his own territory! So he can stiff his import guys on the taxes and tariffs he set! Who does that?" I growled and slammed my hands on his desk as well.
"It matters because you gave him a sample of my designs," I explained, jabbing a finger at him. "Who's to say he hasn't picked them apart and reverse-engineered them?" Verko paused and slowly sank back in his chair, looking off to the side in thought.
"Well, uh," he pursed his lips and hummed before shrugging. "I don't think he has. At least, I haven't noticed any extras floating around, y'know? And I'm pretty danged sure he'd be flaunting them if he had a bunch!" I grimaced and shook my head.
"I suppose that leads to my next question. What is he using my animunculi for?" I turned and leaned back against his desk while glaring at his cronies.
"Most of the same stuff I was," Verko replied. "Deliveries, security, things like that." I raised an eyebrow at his explanation as a plan began to form. I turned and fixed him with a smirk.
"Deliveries, eh? You wouldn't happen to have any information on his logistic routes then if you know he's using them for such purposes?" I asked. He smirked back, reclined in his chair, and brushed off his chest.
"I might. What's it to you?" He retorted. I snorted and snapped my fingers, at which three drones whirred up and began hovering around his chair, causing him to wilt.
"What's it to you? " I shot back, my smile widening as he gulped. "Keep in mind I feel this does violate our initial agreement and I am looking for a reason not to retaliate." He cleared his throat with a fervent nod.
"Hey! That's a good point there!"
I watched the slowly approaching train of drones through my binoculars with a wide frown while Jury set up the pointy little radio tower device she concocted for this operation. Despite being out in the open in the sandy crags of the desert, there was no danger of being spotted as, just like Verko said, the Storm King was content to just have my machines fly supplies to and fro unguarded while he directed his ships elsewhere.
We'd spent a few days observing the route above us, but we'd also taken a few weeks to spy out the others. By my rough estimation aided by binoculars, Verko was right and the Storm King only had as many machines as I'd given to the mole rat. In fact, more than a few seemed to be in dire need of maintenance, which both eased my anxieties about my work being reverse-engineered and infuriated me at the sight of my machines being so mishandled.
The radio tower clanked as Jury slapped one of its panels closed and then trotted to my side. "It's all set up. Just waiting on your command, Bedlam," she said. "Uhm, I hate to ask, but are you sure it's a good idea to go to war with the Squall King? We haven't even rebuilt our hovercraft yet."
"Storm King, and don't worry, this is temporary," I replied, reaching back and gently patting her head. "I'm not going to tolerate this B-list warlord, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great wannabe abusing my hard work. " I watched the drones approach before lowering my binoculars and turning to her with a smile.
"We're just going to thin his supply and then relax in that lovely hideaway you found," I added drawing a smile from her. I nodded at the device she'd set up. "Speaking of, let's test this signal booster of yours." She returned my nod and got into position. With a button press, the side of the machine projected a thin, blue magical sheet that held up Jury's weight as she reared up on it and began tapping little blips of light and text with her hooves.
As I'd suggested ages ago, we'd figured out how to rework the shield projection design to produce a screen to display information and visual designs instead of needing to break out pens and paper. Once we were finished with the Storm King, I had plans to expand it to include the ability to control our machines, but this was plenty for now. I looked down at my controlling glove as the gems hummed quietly and lit up.
"Booster's at full charge, and it's found your glove," she said, narrowing her eyes and leaning closer to the screen. "And that looks like several animunculi. I think we're ready."
"Alrighty, let's go," I said. Using the screen as a visualizer for where my signal was going, I quickly pinged the machines above us and then sent the kill command. We both turned our attention skyward and watched as the drones flew unabated for a few seconds before bursting apart in a fiery chain. Jury gasped and flailed her hooves with excitement.
"It worked! EEEEEE~!" She squealed and eagerly pranced in place.
"Sure did. Let's get out of here!" I watched as the heavy crates the drones had been carrying fell to the earth. "After seeing if they've got anything good."
I relaxed on the sofa we'd hauled from the Everfree and stared at the lights Jury'd bolted to the ceiling of our relatively bare breakroom. Unlike Foal Mountain, we had our full complement of golems to work with, so she'd managed to turn this miserable little hole into a proper dwelling while I was dealing with Verko. Our golems were hard at work digging out more living and work space, as well as organizing the raw materials they were harvesting both from the rock and the coast. Even while we were scoping out the Storm King's supply chains, they were at work and so this cliffside was already a cozy lab and home almost comparable to the castle.
If I wasn't in the villainy game, I swear I could make a killing at residential development. Then again, real estate is its own form of evil, so let's not take it off the table for what we do next.
In any case, I sighed happily for the first time in just under a month. Small victories were still victories. The size doesn't matter so long as you keep the momentum up, and while the Storm King was at the head of a massive, burgeoning empire, we were guerilla fighters. So long as we were careful, we could pull off more hit-and-run jobs like we'd just done and rapidly exhaust his supply of animunculi. A pair of hooves clopping against the stone drew my attention to the left entrance to the lounge cave.
"Okie-dokey! The menu routines are all finally updated for the local foodstuffs, the diggers just found a really fat pocket of rare ore, and the soil top-side is rich in alchemical gobbledygook," Jury chirped as she trotted up and hopped onto the couch beside me. A golem carrying a heavy-looking black case marched in behind her. "This place is pretty nice, don't you think?"
"Sure is. Good work finding it," I replied, gently petting her side and drawing a happy hum from her. "Just what I need to get my head straight and off the lil'est princess." I eyed up the golem as it set the case down in front of us and opened it up. Jury beamed and hopped down before using her magic to pull out and set up a contraption from inside the box. The thing was a larger silver frame, inside which there were several exposed and suspended charged gems. I tried to examine the runes she'd carved, but she scooted over and blocked my sight with a wink.
"I wanted to show you something I was working on back at the Everfree. I never got a chance to finish it since stuff started heating up once you figured out how to release Stygian, but while you were in Klugetown I got it put together," she explained. I leaned forward with curiosity as she set the gemstones spinning. "You talked a lot about those 'computer' things back in your home world and how you could use them to make music. So, I made this and tried to make that one song you said you liked." The gems pulsed with different shades of light, and then began to hum and squeal. At first, it was just ugly noise, but slowly it shifted and something coherent formed. I huffed in amazement as the sound turned into actual music and then I quietly gasped as a familiar song began to play .
"I used your voice to do that sampling process you mentioned and tried to remember how the words went from when you sang it a few times," Jury explained hopping back to my side and curling up. I slowly sank back in my seat. It was grainy and as she said it was my own voice being used, but it didn't matter.
"Good god, how," I paused and shook my head before looking at her in wonder. "How'd you the tune right?" She beamed and shrugged as her tail swept to the song.
"I dunno. It just felt right when I was tinkering with it," she replied, her head bobbing to the rhythm. "Might be the magic of music and harmony at work, but I dunno for sure. I got it right, though?"
"Sure did. You figured all this out on your own, huh?" I asked, at which she nodded happily and I chuckled. "Sometimes I forget what a brilliant little lady you are." I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
"Voice synthesis, hm? Have to keep that one in mind." I leaned my head back and smiled as the song rolled on. Slowly, I found myself lost in the music like I was back home. My real home. Back during a time when I was fresh out of college and things were looking up.
I was in a similar situation now, actually. Fresh out of a sort of learning and growing period and facing an uncertain future. And certainly , some folk looking on with heavy, judging eyes.
But now?
Now, as I found myself compelled to set Jury aside so I could stand up and take a breath with my arms outstretched, now I had the power to make some serious strides. And nothing could get in my way, especially since those heavy, judging eyes were far, far away, giving me space to think and plan.
You gotta
"Make your own kind of music~! Sing your own special song! " I sang, sweeping one arm to my chest with the other still stretched out. Jury gasped, then giggled and clapped her hooves. "Make your own kind of music, even if nobody else sings along! "
Seemingly, the Storm King hadn't taken our repeated and active sabotage lying down. No, he'd taken it and left it on his kitchen counter before promptly forgetting about it.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and grumbled. "Explain it to me again, Verko," I asked, leaning on my knees in my chair across his desk. I idly scanned the room as Verko shrugged, adjusting his tie and twitching his ratty whiskers.
"His guy who came to demand more of those flyin' machines said the big lug thinks they're just breaking down," he said, drumming his claws on the arm of his seat. "Like I told you a little bit back, Ignatius don't put much thought into these things. If it works it works, and if it don't, just trash it." Ignoring the anxious tone he'd had since I walked in, I grunted and all but threw myself into the back of my chair, throwing my hands up in exasperation.
"We've spent the last two months hunting down and nailing his automated supply lines and you're telling me he isn't even considering sabotage?" I folded my arms and one leg over the other and huffed. "How in God's name did this guy conquer half of the Southlands?" Verko sharply cleared his throat.
"Air superiority mainly," he replied, pulling one of the lower drawers on his desk open. "Plus, the rest of the world ain't all too stable." As he dug through his drawer, I carefully pulled a small gemstone machine from my pocket and tucked it in the leaves of the small plant on his desk. It was effectively just a small camera that would send whatever it saw and heard to another device I had hidden in a little crevice a quarter mile away from Klugetown. The second device could actually hold whatever was sent like a computer file that could be viewed later. We'd whipped up the design in between sabotaging the Storm King's operation, and as Verko was pretty involved in said operation, we felt we could get a lot of mileage out of keeping direct tabs on him for once.
His newly developed antsy demeanor notwithstanding.
After another few moments, he quietly exclaimed and pulled out a rough, leather-bound stack of papers and held it out to me. "Here, give this a read sometime," he demanded. Taking it from him, I checked the first page but he spoke up again before I could really read it. "Hey, speaking of conquering and logistics and supply chains, keeping up my supply of those swell potions is nice and all, but you ever gonna share where you and that little pony friend of yours are holed up?" Keeping my attention on the page, I raised an eyebrow. To him, it would seem like I was intrigued by what I'd read. In truth, I was intrigued by the sudden relief in his voice that came with his question.
"No," I curtly replied, leafing through a few more pages before standing and making for the door. "Good talk as always, Verko. See you soon." He muttered something in response, but I paid him no mind.
The armored dark purple hornless unicorn carefully paced Verko's office, her eyes slowly scanning the walls and shelves around her as she moved. "Were you able to discern his hideout's location?" She suddenly demanded. Verko made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a chitter.
"Nah, the guy's being real stingy with it," he choked. A palpable silence followed his response, during which the unicorn paused and slowly fixed him with an even stare. Verko twitched and adjusted his tie. The unicorn stared at him for a few moments more before her eyes suddenly snapped down at his desk. She tilted her head slightly and a small smile broke across her features.
"Well, I suppose that's to be expected, even for someone he used to think of as an ally," she said coolly as she approached the desk, her eyes fixed on it. Verko choked and stammered.
"'Used to'? What, you think he's on to me?" He gasped. The unicorn arrived at the desk and carefully knocked aside the plant I'd hidden my camera in before rolling the device onto the center of Verko's desk. I smirked at the recording as she studied the camera closely while Verko tensed up.
"It would seem so," the unicorn declared before bringing her hoof down and the recording cut off.
Once we were both comfortable on the breakroom sofa, Jury grumbled at the video of Iggy's hornless unicorn while I continued to read the book Verko'd given me. One of the little drones staffing the room hovered over and carefully lowered a cup of hot tea to her that she hastily snatched with her magic.
"That sneaky, no good- OUH!" She nickered angrily and curled up on my leg. She looked up and tilted her head to get a better look at my book. "What's that?"
"Rough census Verko gathered, I guess," I replied, turning back a few pages to double-check a few comments. "The opening pages kind of suggest he and his criminal buddies wanted a solid idea of supply and demand for weapons, narcotics, all that good stuff and he started to figure out which countries were worse off as a result of their findings." I flipped forward again and furrowed my brow.
"So he compiled what they found in this. Not sure how true most of it is, though," I said with a quiet hum. Certainly, if what was in this book was true, it not only explained how the Storm King had managed to trash most of the world already, but it also painted a very unhappy picture for most creatures outside of Equestria.
Despite everything, when I read about the rampant slavery, poverty, hunger, and extreme prejudices that were handed out like candy at a carnival in some of the areas even just near Klugetown, I found myself feeling blessed to have landed in Equestria, despite how awful things had turned out.
And that feeling rapidly evolved into a deep-seated, thoroughly veiled, multifaceted anger that only grew and matured the more I read and the more my own situation seemed to shrink in comparison.
"Okie-dokey," Jury suddenly replied, snapping me out of my mental spiral. "Uhm, so what're we gonna do about the Storm King?" I closed the book and hummed in thought.
"Well," I began, leaning my head back and considering the paneled ceiling and wallpaper we'd installed. As she'd handled most of the interior design, said paper was covered in little silver hearts with gears in them. "His little attack unicorn doesn't know where we are, so we probably still have stealth on our side."
"But she's still hunting for us," Jury retorted, standing up to look me in the eyes. "That's going to make collecting stuff kinda hard, won't it?" I nodded in response.
"Right. And without knowing where she is, we're going to be constantly looking over our shoulders," I groused, folding my arms. "And Verko's compromised, but that's hardly a shock." One of the drones hovered a cup of coffee to me but I waved it away. As we sat in thought, the door slid open and an animunculus foreman marched in, delivering a written report to Jury. She studied it for a moment before handing it to me.
Hey, hey! They found a new and big vein of silver in the lowest level of the facility. And us without a fence to sell it to. Hm.
"Maybe we should go back to Equestria?" Jury peeped, drawing a narrow-eyed frown from me.
"No, not yet," I replied, sharply. With a grunt, I snapped to my feet and adjusted my belt. "I think we're going to have to make a stand." Jury squeaked in response as I strode for the door, pushing passed the golem that was waiting for further orders. I heard Jury's hooves hit the ground as she trotted after me but then she paused.
"Aw, shoot! Right, just come with us!" I heard her say over the fans ventilating the whole complex. A few seconds later, I was joined as I marched down the well-lit, smooth-tiled hall by a set of hooves and the mechanical feet of our golem. "You- You mean like fight the Storm King?"
"I think so. We've got a surplus of armed animunculi, don't we?" I asked as we arrived at an intersection. I continued leading us to our command center as Jury stammered and squeaked.
"Y-yeah, but," she murmured. Waiting for her to complete her response, we stepped onto the walkway over the cavern where most of our quarrying was done. Arriving at the lift, I sent the foreman back to the lower levels and then turned to Jury once we were alone.
"But?" I demanded over the echoing din of the drills and picks hammering far below us. She looked through the guard rail at the cavern below as well as the teams of golems scaling the rockface.
"They've got all those airships, you know?" She finally replied. I hummed and gripped the rail, considering the space below us as well.
"Very true," I said before smirking and raising an eyebrow at her. "We'll just have to steal a few, won't we?"
The moonlight bathed the wasteland in a cool azure hue which contrasted sharply with the yellow search lights atop the numerous watchtowers surrounding our target.
We'd spied this particular site out during one of our sabotage runs. One of the Storm King's slave camps and a deep quarry filled with prisoners and guarded by the tall, bulky yeti-like 'Storm Beasts' that filled his army's ranks. It was a simple camp, mainly just a deep pit with barracks to one side and surrounded by fencing with towers lining the perimeter.
And so, once Jury finished ensuring our small army of golems was ready to march, and hopped back in the "Bedlam Buggy" as she insisted on calling our tank-like machine, I stood up in my seat and raised my gloved hand.
Inputting a sequence, I then yelled. "ALL UNITS! CHARGE!" Sweeping my arm forward, the army rumbled to life and hurled across the valley. Jury switched seats with me and we both flipped on our shields before she set the buggy rolling after the horde from a safe distance back. Drawing my blasting talisman with one hand, I adjusted my glasses with the other to zoom in and focus on the scene ahead.
The ship had landed and the crew had disembarked to begin loading. Once the alarm was raised it would take them time to get the vessel airborne again, and that was time we could-
"What's that?" Jury suddenly asked. Blinking, I zoomed out and recoiled as the searchlights whipped around and lit up the horde ahead of us. The light took on a blue hue like the moon's and appeared to be crackling.
"Hit the brakes," I huffed. As Jury complied we sat and watched the golems that had been illuminated begin to spark and crackle, before finally, a deafening boom split the air. Jury squeaked and covered her mouth with her hooves as the fore-most line was blasted apart by lightning shot from the towers. The lightning continued to shower the field as the alarm echoed across the valley, and as a result, the rest of our small attack force was quickly swallowed up by the lightning as well.
"Fascinating," I hummed before reclining with a sigh. "And also why we let the golems go first." Jury whimpered and I reached over to jostle her gently.
"Get us home. The standard designs clearly aren't good enough for this clown," I grumbled. By the time the lights had rolled over the rest of the field, searching for any stragglers, we were already gone and my mind was already at work.
If nothing else, dealing with Iggy was certainly going to keep my mind busy for a little while.
The alchemy lab was dark save for the dim light over the table on which some freshly manufactured materials were sitting and the colorful glow emanating from the six glass vessels holding the magically charged fluids I was currently working with. Each had a tube feeding into a pump that then fed to a large flat basin we used to create crystals or weak gems. While gems were natural bodies of magic, crystals like what we made couldn't hold magic for extended periods, but they were great for carrying magical currents from one gem to another—a real resource and time saver.
But I wasn't aiming for crystals or gems today.
As the red flask came to a boil and shifted to a dull yellow, I switched on the pump and leaned on the table over the basin, watching as the fluids began to drip and mix.
Then I squawked and all but threw myself back, having realized I wasn't wearing a face mask and nearly got a face full of wacky fumes. As I scrambled to the supply rack where a man-shaped mask and pony-shaped mask were hanging, the door beside it slid open. Jury came trotting in with a smile before glancing over at me and scowling.
"I told you to be careful about that," she huffed. I waved a hand at her as I slipped my mask on.
"And I remembered just in time," I replied as she rolled her eyes and lit up her horn. "And besides, you were popping in anyhow, so you would've found and saved me." Her own mask slipped off the wall and drifted over to her as she reared up on the table and joined me in watching the process once the mask was she had her mask on.
"How's that remote camera coming?" I asked once we were at the table, tilting my head as the pump made a quiet, but familiar squeal. Jury's ear twitched and she turned toward me.
"Remote what?" She murmured before perking up. "Oh! The mobile observer! Good! I just sent it out to look at some stuff along the coast, so we'll see how stable its imaging is soon."
"Fantastic," I replied with a nod, leaning back as the pump began to rattle. The fluid was swirling together in the basin and shifting between several hues. Jury turned her attention back to the setup.
"What about you? Have you figured out alchemizing magic-resistant material yet? This looks like it's going great!" She chirped before recoiling when the pump stopped pumping, at which point I bent over and pulled her back.
"No, unfortunately. The setup keeps-" Before I could continue, the pump squealed and its top burst off. At the same, a purple bolt of energy danced across the basin and up the tubes into the other vessels, causing them all to burst into a frothing mess, bubble up, and then settle as an ugly brown foam. At the same time, the magically powered lights flipped on for a few seconds before slowly going dark. "Doing that. Which is also why I needed this secluded room to work in so that it doesn't spread to the rest of the facility." I gestured to the pile of ruined glass, ruined machinery, and soaked rags beside the table before setting her down with a sigh.
"Darn," she grumbled. We stood in frustrated silence as the foam quietly sizzled and I folded my arms.
"Chrysalis' throne must've been natural," I finally sighed, causing Jury to tilt her head at me.
"Huh? Chrysalis?" She said.
"Something Starlight mentioned a ways back," I replied with a shrug before moving to the supply rack for a fresh rag and gloves. "The changelings used to have this wacky throne in their hive made from a rock that nullified all nonchangeling magic."
"Spooky," Jury murmured, tapping her chin as I began the rough clean-up process, sweeping the debris to the side.
"You're telling me. It apparently even worked on Discord," I paused and scowled at the ruined fluid pump. "But I'm getting nowhere trying to recreate it." Jury hopped forward and bumped my leg.
"Aw, don't say that! Look at it like this," she reared up and gestured at the pump. "If the magic in our equipment is getting sizzled too, doesn't that mean you are nullifying all magic? Technically?" She offered me some kind of expression that was obscured by her mask, but which seemed to be an attempt at reassurance.
"That's a way of looking at things, yes," I replied with a shrug before wagging a finger at the table. "But not very useful for our situation." Jury hummed and considered the mess for a moment.
"Well, we've only seen the Storm King's army use lightning so," she clapped her hooves together and looked up at me. "What if we just focused on resisting lightning for now?"
"I thought about that, and already have a few working samples complete," I replied, idly gesturing to the finished material on the other table before folding my arms. "It's that unicorn of his that's got me worried." Jury considered the samples for a moment before humming.
"Well, if the observer works, we might be able to use it to find her, and, I dunno," she shrugged and tilted her head at me. "Make sure we never bump into her?"
"Maybe," I replied before leaning on the table with a sigh. "Man, we need to rebuild the flying machine."
"They've breached the perimeter!" One of the storm beast guards yelled from his watch tower. He scrambled to the opposite side and leaned out to yell into the quarry. "The lightning guns aren't doing anything!" He turned back and recoiled upon coming face-to-lens with the remote observer I had hovering just behind him. Before he could swat at it with his club, I had it zip out of the way and begin hovering over the quarry.
Just as he'd said, to my immense satisfaction and Jury's unrestrained, squealing glee, our animunculi were now tearing down the outer fence of the quarry we'd attempted to raid not too long ago. At the same time, the watch towers attempted to pelt the horde with their lightning machines, only for the electric discharge to wash over them with no effect.
The crew of the airship we were targeting this time were scrambling to get their vessel airborne but were too slow and our golems began swarming over the side. Strangely, the second the first few machines were on deck, the storm beasts shared a look before diving off the opposite side, leaving the ship undefended.
"Works for me," I snorted before thrusting my hand forward. "Let's go claim our prize!"
"Yes sir!" Jury cheered, slamming her hooves on the controls and sending us rocketing forward. As we approached, I quickly sent out a command on my glove and directed the horde to begin toppling the guard towers. As they obeyed, I pulled my coat back and checked the talismans I'd brought with me: A few fully charged blasting spells, my spell sword, a general-purpose shield and one specifically for lightning, a telekinesis spell, something for short-range gravity control, and finally a few small vials of a substance that exploded into thick clouds of smoke.
Even with our golems, there was always a chance someone or something would have a chance to take a swing at me, after all.
For the moment, however, none of it seemed necessary as the Bedlam Buggy was able to tear right into the quarry's perimeter undeterred. As Jury drove us toward the ship and around the open pit, I scanned our surroundings, watching as our animunculi proved themselves able to compete with the storm beasts in raw strength.
Many beasts had their claws locked with individual golems as each pair tried to overpower the other to little effect. However, our golems were living weapons, with blasting talismans instead of claws. And so, as they struggled, the moment a given golem noted their blaster was lined up with their opponent, they started shooting.
A very interesting phenomenon then presented itself. The magic bolts they were shooting only seemed to deal damage to the bare flesh and fur of the storm beasts. If instead, the bolts hit their armor, the magic actually ricocheted off harmlessly.
"Iggy's got his own alchemy racket going, it seems, " I thought. "Or he's found a natural source for magic-resistant metal. "
"Stop right there!" Came a rumbling voice that snapped my attention forward. One of the storm beasts was standing in the path of our buggy with a big, two-handed sledgehammer at the ready. Jury and I shared a look as we rolled toward him before I drew and hurled a smoke potion at him. The vial shattered against his armor and spread a thick cloud of smoke all around him, as it was supposed to. As the beast fell into a coughing fit, he was suddenly silenced when we simply ran him over.
"So potion- based magic still works on contact with their armor," I mused aloud as the buggy steadied and rolled on. Glancing back, I watched as a few golems entered the smoke and fell upon the poor idiot. "Good to know."
"There he is!" I rolled my eyes and looked forward again to see a.. bird person emerging from the quarry via one of the ramps. He had a worn-out pick pointed my way and a confident smile plastered on his face. "He's the one leading the raid!" I raised an eyebrow as several other creatures emerged and cheered my way.
"We're saved!" A cat person, from Abyssinia I think, called. The group clamored out and came racing to meet us, causing Jury and I to share a look. I turned back toward them and leveled my blasting talisman at them. The bird man's feathers went white and they all scrambled over each other, narrowly avoiding getting shot by several bolts of magic.
"Creatures all day today," Jury grumbled, shaking her head. We didn't bump into any more roadblocks until we finally arrived at the airship. Sending out a command to the nearby golems aboard and around the ship, they quickly surrounded us.
"Heave!" I commanded. In response, the golems began hauling the buggy up and then carefully deposited us aboard the ship. We both hopped out of the buggy and set about getting enough golems gathered to crew the ship. I turned to Jury as I sent out several commands. "So, now that you're aboard, you think you can fly this thing?" She looked around the deck and over the side before turning to face me with a smile.
"Looks pretty similar to some of the Equestrian military's designs, so I think so!" She chirped before pointing at a few places. "Have some animunculi there and there to get those ropes pulled taut!"
"Wait!" I paused and glanced over the side at the bird man from before as he came racing toward us, followed by his friends and pursued by a few storm beasts. "Take us with you!"
"No," I called back and blasted him. The bolt nailed him in the chest and he threw himself back with a squawk. His chums came to a halt and looked at me in horror.
"What kind of freedom fighter are you?!" A pig woman cried as she tried to help her pal to his feet. I smiled and began sending out commands to our crew.
"I'm not!" I retorted as the storm beasts fell upon them. The last they saw of me before they were overwhelmed was as the ship began to rise and I hung off the side by one of the support ropes. I swept my arm out toward them. "I'm just Bedlam! Be grateful I'm only here for the ship!" I cackled aloud as the ship rose above even the guard towers and slowly turned to sail away.
As we flew, I watched the battle continue to roll on back at the quarry, and noted that even with reduced numbers our horde was able to hold its own against the guards. This was especially pleasing to see as we hadn't mustered half as many machines for this raid as we could have. I chortled quietly before striding up beside Jury at the helm.
"Ah, Jury, the future is looking bright," I declared as she continued to operate the peculiar mechanism that guided the ship. While our vehicles worked using magic stones, circuits, and wiring, this vessel seemed to use a mix of steam, gears, and lightning magic exclusively. Jury paused in her operation to look up at me.
"Do you think we can deal with his armada with only one ship?" She asked with one ear back. I laughed again and swept a hand toward the deck where all our golems were hard at work.
"One can become many! If nothing else, we can use this as a mothership to deploy drones from and use those to capture other ships," I explained, my mind already envisioning modifications we could make to the ship to facilitate such a purpose. "Having a platform at an even altitude with our targets will make guiding our machines much easier, after all."
"Well, well~, sounds like you've just got it all figured out, don't you?" A faintly familiar female voice came from above and sent ice up my spine. Jury and I whirled around in tandem and looked up to see the Storm King's attack unicorn hanging from the underside of the balloon and leering back at us. I grimaced at the sight and she adjusted herself before falling onto the deck right in front of us. Jury squeaked and hid behind me as the unicorn stood up straight and locked eyes with me, adopting a subdued, self-satisfied grin as she did.
"How the hell," I huffed, slowly turning my hand away so she couldn't see me sending a command. "Where'd you come from?"
"Atop the balloon, silly," she replied plainly, looking me up and down. Then she glanced off to the side as the golems paused in their work and began encircling us.
"Ah," I said before folding my arms and smirking at her. "Alright, second question; why were you atop the balloon?" I bent forward at the hips to meet her eye level and to hide the fact I was reaching for a talisman and switching on my shield. She hummed and her eyes drifted from one golem to another and then back to me as they surrounded our position.
"Well for one thing, from what Verko's told me about you, I guessed you were something of a tinkerer, " she explained, looking me up and down again. "The type who experiments and tests things. " She began slowly pacing side-to-side.
"So I had a hunch that little raid you attempted wasn't going to be a one-time thing, and it maybe wasn't even something you intended to succeed, " she continued just as I grabbed my blasting talisman and gravity talisman. My eyes snapped from her to the ring of golems and I stood up straight, hiding my weapons and hands under my coat. "I had a hunch you were testing how well your clanking warband fared against His Excellency's defenses." She paused and looked up at one of the golems with an even stare. I gently nudged Jury with my foot, urging her back.
"Horn or not, she's still a unicorn, " I thought, sizing her up. "And of course, she's got some of that magic-proof armor on. " I tightened my grip on my blasting talisman before considering the gravity spell.
"Then again, I didn't get a chance to test how indirect spells work against that material, did I? " I mused.
"But why here? Why this dumpy little quarry?" She continued, tilting her head. "Surely if you were just comparing soldiers you could have tried raiding one of his strongholds, right?" Glancing back, I saw Jury scrambling away from our position for cover behind the buggy. Looking forward again, I thrust my gravity talisman forward.
"ATTACK!" I cried, unleashing my spell at the same time. The magic pulsed out in a straight line toward her and once it was directly underneath her, I slammed the talisman down with all my might. Ordinarily, the motion would cause the point the spell was touching to be crushed under a huge amount of sheer gravity, incapacitating whatever was caught by it.
This time, however, as I bent forward from the motion, I was met, face-to-face, with her.
Maybe it was a time dilation effect. After all, gravity affects time! But whatever the cause, everything seemed to slow down. I watched helplessly as she leaped back away from me and brought her two rear hooves up to my face level. At the same time, all the golems opened fire on the point she'd been at previously, implying she was faster than they could keep up with. Which was neat! Except for the fact she then kicked me in the face and backflipped off of me.
My shield absorbed the blow of course, but boy howdy, did I sail. In fact, the next thing I knew, I was suddenly brought to a stop by the rim, or gunwale, or whatever it's called at the bow of the ship. Or was it the stern? The front and completely opposite from where the helm was.
I sharply exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding and looked around in a mild daze before noticing her again.
"A clever creature like you surely had something else he was after, and if I had to guess it'd be the one thing His Excellency possessed that you don't," she explained, right in front of me, before gesturing to the rest of the ship. I heaved another breath and moved to stand before she pressed her hoof against my chest and pinned me against the ship rim. "What's wrong, Bedlam? Not used to being read like an open book?" I grimaced and then gawped as she pressed harder and faint cracks formed in my shield.
"What the hell ARE you? " I mentally screamed.
"Don't worry! There's still plenty about you I haven't figured out," she cooed before pushing harder and causing the shield to break. The second her hoof grazed my actual chest she leaned in close. "And I intend to peel those secrets out of you. Slowly. " Unstable blue magical lightning danced up her broken horn as she smiled. Staring at her in horror, I momentarily glanced past her and held up a hand.
"Wait?" I squeaked. She actually paused and tilted her head.
"Wait?" Then she flinched and kicked back just as Jury tried to tackle her. Despite the fact her hoof nailed Jury in the throat, drawing a squeaking wheeze from her, I managed to roll out from under her grip and took a hasty shot at her unarmored head with my blasting talisman.
She ducked the bolt.
Fascinating.
Hurling my blasting talisman at her, I drew my spell sword and leveled it at her. She spun around and kicked the talisman back at me.
Or so she thought! The fool! The buffoon! The ignorant pony! Her hoof nailed the gem array straight on and caused it to shatter.
"Idiot!" I cackled as the talisman exploded on her. She recoiled with a shout allowing me to rush for Jury as the golems came running toward her. "Just as planned!" I scooped up Jury and raced for the buggy, drawing my telekinesis talisman, and leaping into the driver's seat.
"Bedlam!" The unicorn screamed as my golems fell upon her. At the same time, I switched on the buggy and sped towards the edge of the ship.
"B-HAgh! Bedlam!" Jury squawked, massaging her throat and hugging me tight while looking forward with terror in her eyes. "What are you doing?!"
"Did you see what she did to my shield?" I cried as we smashed through the side of the ship, drawing a horrified squeal from Jury. "Those flimsy golems don't stand a chance!"
Sure enough, even over Jury's steadily increasing scream of terror as we began to fall, I could hear the noise of my machines being pounded apart. Ignoring all of that, I aimed my talisman at the buggy and switched it own, grabbing the whole vehicle in a telekinetic field. The talisman immediately started crackling and hissing from the strain, but it would probably hold up long enough for me to lower us to the ground.
Jury heaved a sigh of relief and melted into my lap as we descended away from the one-horse warzone aboard the ship. Strangely, even as we approached the ground, I could still hear the noise of her battle. Jury sat up and we both shared a look before glancing up at the ship.
"What in god's name is she?" I huffed.
"Really freaking scary," Jury replied before her ear twitched and she looked to the side. "Oh! And she's on the screen!" I blinked and looked over to see Jury reaching for the control and screen for our remote observer golem. Seems we left it aboard the ship and it was now hovering and watching one seriously pissed-off purple unicorn tear through our machines like putty. We watched the video for a few seconds until we touched down on the ground, at which point Jury cleared her throat.
"Sooo, monitor her with the observer and never bump into her again?" She offered.
"Agreed."
Author's Note
She's smart. She's sharp. She's deadly. She's the perfect body guard for any would be world conqueror.
Scanning the enemy airship with my zoomed-in lenses, I smirked at the impotent and angry gestures the storm beast crew were hurling our way. A mile behind them, the smoke from Ratmeijer billowed high into the sky. The place was a prominent supply depot along the Storm King's Abyssinian logistic chain. Emphasis on was, as we'd raided and started a fire that caught some potion stockpile they were working with, leading to the whole place going up in smoke.
Thanks to Jury's careful coordination of not one but seventeen different remote observers, we managed to do so while Tempest Shadow was busy hunting for us in the desert near Klugetown. The fact that we now knew the name of the Storm King's attack unicorn was also thanks to Jury's careful surveillance, even though having to carefully cycle the observers to ensure they were energized and properly following commands kept her awake practically all night.
It at least afforded me time to scheme around the movements of the vicious, hornless mare, leading to our victory today. Not only had we just stolen a pair of airships and all the cargo aboard them, but we'd also injured the Storm King's operation.
I cast a smirk toward our sister ship piloted solely by animunculi before turning to Jury at the helm. "First item once we get these things landed is reworking the propulsion system," I declared, moving to stand beside her and lean on the railing between us and the lower deck. "We escaped this time because we were in the air before them. In an open-air battle, merely matching speeds with other ships just won't do."
"Where-" She paused and brought a hoof to her mouth with a yawn before smacking her lips and rubbing her eye. "Where we gonna hide 'em?" I considered her for a moment as she blinked to refocus her eyes and pondered her question.
"The southern Equestrian border," I finally declared, causing her to jostle slightly before looking at me in mild surprise. "The jungles in that region are perfect for keeping things hidden." I turned to lean backward on the rail and fixed her with a smile.
"Plus, we could send a few observers into Equestria to see how things have developed up there," I declared before holding a hand out to her. "Speaking of, why don't you take the night off? I'll handle keeping tabs on-" She grunted and waved a hoof at me.
"No, no, I'm fine, I'm fine," she replied, blinking a few times and offering me a wry, weary smile. "Besides, it's kind of weird to say, but I'm enjoying keeping tabs on her."
"Oh-hoh?" I declared, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Mhm! It's kind of like one of those sappy operas or stage plays back in Equestria," she replied with a weak chortle. "She gets up to all kinds of adventures when we're not around. The Storm King really works her hard."
"I see. Can't say I blame him!" I all but hissed, clutching my hands in the air as I remembered the sight of her not too long ago. "The mare's a living weapon, and no mistake. I wonder why someone so potent is willing to play underling for Iggy?" Jury rubbed her chin as I folded my arms.
"Blackmail maybe?" She offered before her ears snapped back and a grave expression came over her face. "Or maybe he's even scarier than she is." I grimaced at her suggestion.
"Possibly. Of course, we don't even know for sure what kind of creature he is," I replied, holding my chin. "If he's just a Storm Beast, I'm not too worried. They're sturdy, but not any worse than any pony we've dealt with." A contemplative silence fell over us both as the golem crew clanked around us. After a few moments, I hummed and faced forward.
"Well, we'll worry about him once we're ready to wage a proper and direct war with him. For now, set a course for Southern Equestria," I ordered, sweeping my arm forward. A few quiet seconds passed, during which time I noted we were flying in the same direction. Turning, I caught my sleepy little helmsmare with her head resting between the loops of the wheel and her eyes closed. "JURY!"
"I'm awake!" She squawked, banging her head on the core of the wheel as she snapped to attention. "Owie!"
The harsh, humid wind swept across the rocky badlands outcrop Tempest stood upon, swirling her mane and threatening to extinguish the deep blue flames in the small brass bowl she stood before. However, the flames crackled with lightning and then roared with renewed life, expanding upward and spreading out. The flames shimmered and then swirled before revealing a scowling grey-skinned face with a black two-pronged crown, white hair, and piercing blue eyes. Seconds after appearing, Tempest knelt before it and the creature jabbed a claw at her.
"Two whole galleons! TWO!" He roared, pounding a clenched claw on an unseen surface. "Because of your sloppy work!" Tempest winced and looked off to the side as the creature threw his hands up with an exasperated groan.
"You told me you could handle this Bedlam bozo, Tempest," he spat, reclining in his seat and glaring at her. "This sure don't seem handled to me." Tempest grimaced before looking up at him.
"Your Excellency, I'm only one mare. I can't-" The creature, evidently the Storm King, held up one hand in a mocking talking gesture, wagging his head as he cut her off.
"'Only one bleh bleh bleh,' that's what I say to that!" He declared in a high-pitched tone, leaning forward and jabbing a claw again. "I've seen your work, 'solo mare.' Mount Aris? Panthera City?" He tilted his head to emphasize the two names.
"If it was Klavis or Scourge or Hovel, I could buy it," he added, waving one claw before casting an unimpressed leer at her. "But you got my expectations and hopes sky-high only to leave them in the dirt." Tempest clenched her teeth, but he spoke again before she could retort.
"Some dozy toy maker from Ponyland manages to give you the run around when you had him right in front of you , and then you not only lose track of him but you let him steal my ships, and ruin my city," the Storm King grumbled, leaning on one hand, and focusing on the two claws he idly rubbed together. "Makes a guy wonder if you're worth the time and trouble." Tempest's ears shot back and she blanched at his words. In response, the Storm King smirked, still not looking directly at her.
"Yeah, I'm going there. I've spent a solid chunk of my precious time scheming a spell to fix that stubby antenna of yours, and I've already got an idea of what I'll need to make it happen," his eyes locked with hers in a glare. "But! If I gotta refocus on how I'm gonna deal with Bedlam, I just don't think I'll be able to spare another moment on the project!" He sat up and leaned close.
"Capiche?" He demanded. Tempest stared at him horrified for a few moments before clenching her eyes with a quiet grunt and bowing her head.
"Yessir," she replied, at which the Storm King smiled.
"Aces," he snorted before shooing her away. "A pair of airships shouldn't be too hard to spot. So get those hooves a-galloping! Your kind are good at that." He let out a hearty laugh as the flames swirled again and then died down, leaving Tempest with her head still bowed and the wind still tossing her mane.
The recording zoomed in on her for a moment before the observer that had been following her cut the feed. As the delivered video went dark, Jury pursed her lips and her tail swished from side to side.
"Neat," she quietly appraised.
Klugetown had changed.
More storm beasts, more dilapidated shacks and buildings, and fewer locals who weren't in chains. As near as I could tell, the destruction of Ratmeijer had called for Klugetown to pick up the slack along the logistics chain and the Storm King wasn't taking any chances on any of the locals mucking it up. Still, even with the increased security, I was able to find my way in. It was even easier this time thanks to the fact I'd come alone. If all went the way I expected, there'd be no need for animunculi.
If not, I was at least still armed. I'd even brought a vial of poison joke extract to be on the safe side.
Taking a breath, I slinked back into the darker portion of the alley I was hiding in and picked up a stone. To my right was the backdoor to a little apartment whose inhabitant I'd given a scare and then tied up shortly after arriving. Resting my empty hand on the doorknob, I hurled the stone Tempest's way.
Hauntingly, she ducked the stone and then twisting in a way that let her kick it straight back at me. I slammed through the door with a yelp, causing my bound and gagged host to squirm and howl as best he could from where he sat beside the inside of the door.
Scrambling to my feet, I watched the door with trepidation as the sound of hooves clicking against the paving stones drew near. Seconds later, the curious face of Tempest appeared in the doorway.
Curiosity turned to astonishment and then to narrow-eyed malice just as quickly. Her eyes darted around as she took a single step into the apartment, hovering for just a moment on the tied-up Klugetowner which gave me time to raise one hand and switch on my shield with the other.
"Before you tear into me, I was hoping you could clear something up for me," I explained, drawing her attention back to me. She blinked and tilted her head before kicking the door shut behind her.
"Before I tear into you? Ooh, that's a big ask, " she mused, shooting me a venomous smile. "What is it?" I swallowed hard as she approached, heedless of my request.
"How's he going to do it?" I demanded, managing to halt her advance.
"What?" She asked, furrowing her brow. I huffed and offered a smile.
"The Storm King," I replied, causing her to tilt her head. "How's he going to fix it?" Her face lit up with shock and then shifted to incomparable fury. I blinked, realized I was on the floor, and immediately tensed up with a sharp, hissing groan. Curling up in pain, I barely noticed Tempest panting and looming over me with her horn a bright, scalding red and smoking. My own body was also smoking and my shield's gem was completely shattered. The Klugetowner was screaming and weeping as best as he could with his gag on. She must've blasted me so hard it knocked me out briefly.
Sure as hell felt like I'd been hit with some serious magical power. But before I could contemplate any of that further, she stamped a hoof into my side and rolled me over to look up at her.
"How. Do. You. Know. That?" She demanded through clenched teeth, her horn sparking again as she snarled. I grimaced and coughed before managing to catch my breath.
"Put- ooh- put two-and-two together," I wheezed. Her eye twitched and she rocked her head to and fro for a moment before smiling wickedly.
"Congratulations, you're very good at addition," she declared, pressing her hoof against my chest. "Now let me see if I can match you with division. " She raised her other hoof and hovered it above my face.
"You- ah, God- You haven't answered my question," I retorted, realizing my body had gone numb and was now slowly regaining feeling. "How's he- Ouh." She stamped her hoof down right beside my head with a crack before shooting forward to glare right into my eyes. I blinked and realized my glasses had shattered when she blasted me.
"Why does that matter ?" She demanded.
"Cause I think he's lying," I replied.
"What?" She shot back with a bewildered look. I weakly smiled.
"How's he going to do it?" I pressed, slowly clenching my hands now that I could feel them again. Tingly. "Cause if he claimed he was going to use a spell, I think- mm, I think I should remind you Storm Beasts have no innate magic power." My smile slowly became more confident as the gears began to visibly turn in her head.
"And so they can't weave spells," I added. She eased off of me for a moment before her expression intensified and she leaned into me again.
"Once his plans are complete, he'll have all the magic he needs," she declared. I retorted with a laugh that quickly turned to a cough.
"Maybe. But how long will that take?" I asked, before bringing a hand to my chest. "I, meanwhile, could work something out for you now. " She recoiled, allowing me to reach into my coat and draw out the drawing I'd prepared for her. She scowled as she looked at what I presented.
"What is this?" She demanded, easing back another step and allowing me to sit up.
"A diagram of the biological function found in a unicorn's horn," I explained, holding it closer for her to inspect. "And beside it, my rough schematics for a prosthetic that can match that function." She studied the illustration with her jaw hanging slightly and her brow furrowed.
"That's possible?" She huffed, shaking her head. "No hospital or wizard in Equestria ever talked about something like this."
"I'm no doctor and I've been called Warlock, but never wizard," I shot back, offering a wry smile. "I'm Bedlam , and that means I am the greatest thaumaturgic mind in the world. So of course it's possible for me. " She blinked and looked at me with a stern glare.
"The Storm King is using you. He has you convinced he's the only means by which your horn can be restored," I explained, chortling as I spoke. "And thus, he can keep you dependent on him for as long as he needs you." I rattled the paper at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I, meanwhile, will whip this baby up for you in exchange for you fucking off and leaving me alone," I added. She recoiled and her jaw dropped.
"That's it?" She huffed, causing me to laugh aloud.
"Hah! Don't sell yourself short!" I cried, sweeping my coat back and gesturing to my destroyed talisman. "The Alicorn Princess of Friendship wasn't able to bust through this shield with raw strength alone. And clearly, you've got a magic reserve just as potent as hers." I held my hands up.
"I consider this more than a fair trade for your passivity. In fact, I'd be tempted to say I'm ripping you off," I said before relaxing and leaning on my splayed-out legs. She furrowed her brow and looked down in thought. After a painfully long time, she glared up at me.
"Do you have it with you? I'd like to try it on," she demanded, narrowing her eyes. I laughed again and wagged a finger.
"Of course not. It has to be fitted to you and calibrated while it's being built," I explained, folding my legs so I could lean forward at her. "We wouldn't want it coming loose or overheating, now would we?" We sat like that for a while, a few inches apart from each other. I matched her maintained, incredulous glare with a grin.
Jury had thrown a fit when I got home and granted, she might've been in the right about this one. But my gut told me that once this little lady before me had this false horn fixed in place, she wouldn't be a problem anymore. So hey! Why not invite her to the lair where I could work with everything we had to offer to make sure she got all the care she deserved?
Plus, if she tried to betray me or wasn't satisfied, we could collapse the whole complex on her head! That'd probably do her in!
Hopefully.
In any case, I snapped my fingers and gestured for the animunculus handling the tool cart to approach the table I had Tempest lying on. Several others surrounded us to provide support in other areas. One kept a steady light focused on her horn, one had a tray loaded with potions and syringes, and three solely to start blasting if she got ornery.
As I began selecting a tool to file down the rough edges of her broken horn, I considered her body, which was unarmored save for her face upon which I'd placed a mask to shield her eyes and face during the procedure. She was riddled with scars visible through her coat, which helped suggest the intense muscle definition she possessed. I wasn't an expert on pony anatomy, despite the fact I was about to revolutionize pony surgery, but I was fairly certain unicorns couldn't be built like earth ponies.
"You are a fascinating specimen, do you know that?" I asked, pulling my safety glasses down, my face mask up, and gently cupping the base of her horn. "How did you manage this kind of physique and power?" I began carefully grinding her horn.
"Can't say for sure. Once I was old enough to set out on my own, I just," she replied with a huff, her legs shifting slightly as I worked. "Kept training. Kept focusing on getting stronger." I nodded slowly before gesturing for the light golem to move to my left.
"So that's what a horn core looks like! " I mentally chirped.
"I didn't have a horn anymore, so I knew I had to make up the difference if I wanted to make it outside Equestria," she continued. "And after everypony told me there was nothing to be done for my horn, outside Equestria was where I had to search." I paused and tilted my head back.
"Interesting. I wonder," I considered her cutie mark for a moment It was a six-pointed star with a golden trail moving around a small chainlink at a sharp angle. "What does your mark mean?" I looked over her horn, satisfied I'd cleared enough of it to proceed. Unicorn horns were funky. The bony material grew around and atop the core, which magic traveled through. When the core is severed, like Tempest's, obviously that both limits how long the horn can grow and how much magic can be cast. Her core was scratched up in places beyond just being cut short.
Despite all of that, she'd nuked my shield all at once with her magic. Curious.
"Dunno. I got it after all my friends went to that school for nondeformed unicorns," she replied, offering a shrug and a grumpy nicker. "If I'd been invited, maybe I could've gotten it interpreted." I nodded and began preparing my potions.
"What were the circumstances under which it appeared? Do you remember?" I asked, carefully soaking a swab with one of my brilliant concoctions. "And let me know if this stings." I carefully dabbed the solution onto the core directly.
"It- Nhn," the entire table shook from her flinching. I withdrew and quickly and gently patted the core with a dry swab. She shivered but relaxed again with a sigh. "It popped up when I kicked a hole in a boulder back home, just before I made up my mind about finding somepony else to fix my horn." I hummed and leaned in to look at the core closely, stifling a victorious laugh as I did.
"Of course, I can heal damage to a horn's core! I'm ME," I mentally cheered. Restoring the entire thing might not have been possible, but the fleshy nub would at least allow her magic to flow normally. Wonder what that was gonna look like?
As that thought entered my mind, I again considered my bodyguards before grabbing the prosthetic horn itself. We'd fitted it earlier, so it was just a matter of fixing it to her. The device was a metal cone that came to a rounded tip. Inside were several gems similar to a blaster on an animunculus. But the gems were blank, only serving as a circuit to carry her magic in place of a natural horn-length core.
"Perhaps all the magic power you would have been able to manifest through your horn manifested in other ways," I offered as I hooked the horn into place. She hummed in surprise and I felt the device vibrate a little. "Sort of like when a blind person develops sharper hearing or what have you." I grabbed another potion and a clean swab before gently applying the solution to the base of the horn. Stepping back to consider my work I nodded and removed her face protection. She blinked under the light before looking up at me.
"Alright. I'm not going to add any major binding just yet, because we want to see how it looks and handles," I declared whirling around to grab a mirror from the tool tray. "Take a look at your leisure." I held the mirror up for her and she immediately sat up to get a better look at herself.
An uncertain expression washed over her face as she turned her head left and then right. I leaned closer with a nod.
"It should still be able to handle channeling magic," I held the mirror out to her. "Give it a shot. Let's see if we need a stronger gem core." She raised a hoof in an uneasy gesture, considering the mirror for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head toward it. I watched her horn light up completely, prosthetic and all, and then watched the mirror light up a similar color. As I released my hold, she began hovering it closer.
Then she yelped and snapped her head to the side as the mirror shot towards her like lightning. It sliced into the chest cavity of one of my guards, drawing a shivering laugh from me.
"That seems pretty good!" I anxiously laughed. She sat with her jaw hanging and held a hoof to her head.
"I," she looked down and blinked. "It's been so long-" I cleared my throat and held up a finger.
"And yet you still managed that with such a small application of telekinesis!" I declared. "You are fascinating. Hoh hoh!" She blinked again and looked up at me with an unreadable expression. I cleared my throat again and held a hand out to her.
"But enough about my assessment," I began, leaning forward with a hopeful smile. "What do you thi-HRK" She snapped me off my feet and threw me to the ground with her forelegs wrapped around my neck, choking me.
"Back- Backstabbing- Ack! Bitch!" I squawked, struggling in vain to break free. I desperately flailed to signal to the guards. "I-"
"Thank you," she whispered in my ear, at which I froze.
"Oh," I whispered in response as her grip relaxed, adjusted, and then tightened again. No longer choking me to death, she buried her face in my shoulder and just. Just sobbed. My eyes darted around the ceiling trying to figure out what to do. This was a new feeling. One I wasn't sure how to process. But I-
I think made a difference for once.
Jury impatiently paced the lounge floor, casting a grumpy glare at Tempest who was lying across my lap as I inspected the binding agent keeping her new horn attached. Following the initial procedure, she'd stayed pretty close to me during testing and adjustments, to Jury's maintained chagrin.
In fact, it was shortly after we'd agreed to relax in the lounge after half a day of testing that she'd suggested something that added to Jury's annoyance.
"Like I said, the horn was just to get you to leave me alone," I explained, gently swabbing the excess glue from her horn. "I really wasn't expecting you to join up with us in exchange, you know." She hummed a laugh and adjusted her posture slightly.
"Even if you don't believe me that I'm just feeling grateful, let's be realistic," she explained as Jury narrowed her eyes. "If this thing gets dinged or chipped, you're the only one who can fix it." I leaned close to inspect my work before humming with a nod.
"Hm, true. And I think we're set here," I replied, setting aside my cleaning tools. She and Jury looked at me expectantly as I leaned back with my arms folded. Smirking, I nodded at Tempest. "Well, I suppose that settles that." Tempest offered me a warm smile before snarling as Jury jabbed a hoof into the side of her mouth.
"Welcome to the team! Scoot," she chirped in a tone that flowed from sweet as sugar to abjectly venomous and pushed Tempest off of me. The pair wrestled against each other for a moment before I held a hand between them, shooing them apart. They glared at each other before one of the serving golems approached and offered them each a drink.
They maintained their glares as they each took a cup and gently sipped from them; Jury using her hooves and Tempest using her magic. Considering the two, my attention was again drawn to the latter when she hummed a quiet laugh.
"I have to wonder how long before the buffoon realizes I've betrayed him?" Tempest asked, drawing a malicious snicker from me. However, as I considered her words, inspiration struck.
"You know, you raise an interesting point," I said, tilting my head back and bringing a hand to my chin. "I've had an inclination to get rid of him for a little while, and you might be perfect for making that happen." Both unicorns shared a look before looking up at me, so I gestured to Tempest.
"You go back and keep him running in circles while Jury and I make some preparations, and then once we're ready," I snapped my fingers with a chortle. "We kill him." Jury hummed with interest at my proposition while Tempest blinked and stared into her drink.
"I could kill him for you now," she retorted as her ear twitched. "Especially since, if I'm following your line of thinking, I need to keep working for him." She shot a firm glare my way.
"Meaning I need to ditch my new horn so he doesn't suspect anything," she added with a low tone. I hummed and glanced at Jury who looked off to the side with a sad frown.
"Unfortunately, yes, that's right," I replied, gently patting Tempest's back, drawing a grunt from her before I held a hand out. "Even if we kill him, I don't think that's the end of our issues with his operation." She grimaced and her ears pressed back as I explained my thoughts.
"I want to be sure we can round up and deal with any other commanders he's got on his payroll as quickly as possible, and we're just not ready to make that happen," I said with a sigh. She held her sour expression for a few moments before closing her eyes and grumbling.
"Alright," she huffed. Offering her a sympathetic smile, I gently patted her back again.
"Excellent."
A few days later, Tempest was on her way back to her patrol while Jury and I were back to scheming. To that end, as I sat examining some of the scout drones' recordings on a handheld tablet, Jury came trotting into the workshop with a team of golems hauling alchemical supplies. As the machines set down our supplies, Jury hopped into a seat beside me and leaned over, looking at my screen.
"So! What exactly is the plan?" She asked with no small amount of glee in her voice. I snickered as the feed displayed one of the drones zipping through the Everfree.
"Remember how we were sending drones back to Equestria to check up on things?" I asked, earning a humming nod from her. I tilted the screen to give her a better look. "Well, for old time's sake, I checked up on the old hideout and found these two shacked up inside." She watched the video for a brief moment before gasping.
"Hey! That's Flim and Flam!" She cried, furrowing her brow as the two sang a song while hammering parts of machinery together. "The heck are they doing?" I considering the recording.
"Fucking around some of our machinery it looks like," I replied, gesturing to some familiar parts they had piled up nearby. "I wouldn't be surprised if they scrounged some scrap from one of our confrontations with the Elements." I frowned and tilted my head in thought.
"Or maybe they just snatched some stuff from the mob," I hummed before waving a hand and tapping the screen. "Anyway, look at this." The screen showed the wagon-shaped thing the pair had been tinkering with was now floating in the air completely unaided by either of them. The brothers laughed and shook hooves in delight at their work.
"It's-" Jury stammered and leaned closer to the screen. "It's flying? There's no propulsion!"
"No mechanical propulsion," I corrected, wagging a finger before gesturing to the underside of the machine. "But do you see that glow?" Jury narrowed her eyes before humming at the very faint blue light visible under the machine.
"Magic?" She mused, shaking her head. "I don't see any telekinesis runes or anything. How-"
"I intend to ask them myself. They've been working out of the old castle for a little while it seems," I declared, cutting the feed. "I think they're trying to fill the underworld void I left." Setting the tablet aside, I offered Jury a nod and a smile.
"So! While you stay here and keep in contact with Tempest, I'll be heading up to the Everfree," I concluded. She considered me for a moment before frowning.
"Are you sure that's safe?" She asked before her expression darkened. "What are you going to do about, you-know-who and her friends if they bump into you?" I waved a hand with a laugh, drawing the tablet again.
"I'll bring some drones and tools to help me, just in case," I said, sweeping through to another video file. "But more importantly, I want your help to see if we can do something with this. " I presented the new recording to Jury, at which she tilted her head.
"Discord?" She murmured, drawing a snicker from me.
"I've got literal days worth of footage of him, captured while he was bumming around Ponyville," I explained, tapping the screen as he conjured up a chorus of singing apples for Fluttershy while the pair had a picnic. "Plenty of shots of his magic at work, too." She considered the image with a blank expression for a moment before nodding.
"Neat," she mused. Afterward, she fixed me with the same blank stare. "But what I meant by 'plan' was what we're doing next." I recoiled slightly.
"What?" I huffed, at which she shrugged and tilted her head back and forth.
"You were talking about killing the Storm King," she murmured, continuing to rock her head. "I get that's for you know, dealing with an enemy but." She paused, looking off to the side with an uncertain light in her eyes. After a moment, she fixed me with that uncertain expression.
"What are we doing once he's gone?" She asked. I furrowed my brow and leaned back in my seat, drumming its arms with my hands as I pondered her question. Of course, I already knew the answer. I'd known since shortly after Tempest stopped bawling into my shirt. The only issue was how to put it to Jury.
All over the world, there were creatures like Tempest, if the census Verko'd given me was to be believed. Creatures who, like me, were given a raw deal by life or those above them. And here I was, with the power and proven talent to improve things for them. It would take a lot of time and no small amount of effort, but how was that any different from the rest of my recent affairs?
And then there was Twilight.
I hadn't thought much about her these past few months, but once all these gears set to spinning, she popped up. Specifically, I finally understood what she meant.
Please, just come home.
She wasn't asking me to give up anything. She wasn't asking me to surrender or turn myself in at all!
She'd seen what I could do! What I did for that little rat and wanted to steer me in the right direction! It all made too much sense. What other reason could there be?
But there remained the splinter in her desire and our relationship. The 'right direction' involved kneeling before someone like Celestia. It can't be helped, since even as brilliant as she was, Twilight was still thoroughly indoctrinated to believe Celestia was all but perfect. Flawless. Practically divine and therefore worthy of worship.
A sad lie, obviously, and thus the one thing genuinely keeping me from taking her up on her offer.
But that wouldn't matter, I don't think. Not if I did this on my own! Well, with Jury's help anyway. Then she'd see we don't need Celestia. We can fix what's wrong with everyone ourselves. I smirked at the thought before considering Jury and taking a short breath.
"I'm going to take over the world," I finally replied. Before I could justify my declaration, she squeaked.
"Oh! Okie-dokey!" She chirped before giggling. I stared at her in wonder for a moment before realizing she was being serious.
"That easy?"
"I figured we'd be doing something like that eventually. You've been escalating everything ever since Stygian betrayed you," she said, before clapping her hooves with a giddy look in her eyes. "I'm excited! We finally have a direction and a super huge goal to work on!" She paused and fixed me with this strange blank smile before suddenly leaping up and wrapping her legs around my neck in a tight hug. As I squawked and stumbled, she nuzzled my neck.
"Together, " she hummed. Pausing, I huffed before returning the gesture, wrapping my arms around her back.
Nothing like a period of research with Jury in peace without fear of assault by one of the deadliest unicorns on the planet. Half a month was all we needed to come to a few conclusions about a certain draconequus and his unique power set.
Assuming I ran into him during this venture. Honestly, I was hoping this would be a quick trip and then we could deal with Iggy. To that end, I clicked a sequence on my glove and sent my small band of drones whirring through the mostly abandoned Everfree castle. I eyed the halls as I followed their lead, noting that despite Flim and Flam's presence, the lighting I'd installed way back when remained inactive. We'd ripped out all the power-supplying bits when we made our exodus and it seemed like the brothers either hadn't bothered to replace them or they hadn't thought to. Either way, it meant that the only illumination through the castle came from the magical currents pulsing through my drones.
Which of course explained the startled scream that suddenly split the night from further down the hall.
"Brother! I told you!" One of the pair cried over the sound of hooves retreating further inside. "Bedlam's machines are alive!" I paused before smirking with a snort and striding after the frightened pony. Sending out another signal, I recalled all the drones who were exploring other parts of the castle to join me and the batch who were now pursuing Flim and Flam. As I did, I turned a corner and saw one of our old workshops which was actually lit by lamplight.
"I'm telling you, you're just paranoid," another voice said from inside, drawing closer to the doorframe in tandem with myself and my swarm. "Everypony knows no matter how good at tinkering the fellow was, he-" The mustachioed brother poked his head right through the door and locked eyes with me. The other leaned out before wilting and sliding back out of view.
"Ah, I see what you mean," the first brother murmured. More drones began filling the hall, at which he dove back into the workshop and slammed the door shut. Chuckling, I drew my spell sword and sliced the door in half. Pushing through, I found the pair hugging each other with terrified expressions in the middle of a workshop filled with all sorts of redesigned machinery Jury and I had invented. As my drones slowly filled the room behind me and I considered their work, one of the brothers moaned at the sight of me.
"Good grief!" He quailed. "You're- You're HIM! " I tilted my head upon spotting the wagon-shaped thing I'd recorded them working on sitting on a raised table, allowing access to its underside.
"Very astute," I replied, approaching the vehicle.
"We thought you were dead!" The other brother wailed.
"Obviously not," I said, inspecting the machine. Just as we'd assessed, there were no obvious gem runes along the bottom. As I hummed at the sight, the brothers shared a look and slowly separated.
"So, ah," the one with the mustache began, clearing his throat while the other one nervously considered my drones which were now hovering quietly above all of us. "How er, can we help you, fellow inventor?"
"I'm curious about this," I explained, tapping the wagon and still searching for any sign of how it worked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is cobbled together from parts of my machinery, isn't it?" When no answer came, I turned to the brothers and found them both white as a pair of sheets. When they saw me staring, the second brother swallowed hard.
"Well! You've been gone an awful long time so, er," he coughed into his hoof and offered an anxious smile. "I hope you can understand we came to the conclusion you weren't using these bits of scrap anymore." I hummed and nodded slowly.
"I might be in a forgiving mood depending on whether or not you're willing to part with this thing," I explained, offering the pair a toothy grin. "I'd love to have a closer look to see how you managed this clever design for levitation." For some reason, that caused them both to perk up, if only slightly. Sharing the look the second brother cleared his throat.
"You expect me to pay you?" I huffed, before pounding my fist against the wagon, causing the pair to shiver. "This is based on my technology." The pair hesitated for a moment before the first brother spoke up.
"But the innovation is all ours!" He argued, sweeping a hoof at the machine. "You said yourself the design's quite clever!" The second brother nodded vehemently.
"And surely this is just the first transaction in a lengthy and profitable partnership!" He offered a wide smile and a hoof. "Best to get started on the right hoof, right?" The pair show me their best showman grins which only held for a moment in the face of my unimpressed glare. I took a breath that rumbled out in a growl.
"Here's an innovative idea: I'll pay you for the machine and your designs. How about that? Save me the time and trouble of having to take this apart later," I finally retorted. They shared a look before nodding at me.
"That seems fair," the second replied.
"Agreed!" The first added. I rolled my eyes.
"How much?"
"Two million," the mustachioed little bastard quipped without skipping a beat. I clenched my eyes for a moment before fixing them with another unimpressed leer. This time, however, they both wore confident grins.
"That's highway robbery," I dryly declared.
"And a criminal mastermind like you can surely appreciate that fact!" He chirped in response. His brother nodded along and then a silence followed, during which time I considered the pair and my swarm of drones above them.
"Two million for this? Lucky I didn't skin them alive, those rotten little," I grumbled and hissed as I sat inside my new hovercraft, attempting to get a better understanding of its intricacies, pulling open metal panels and replacing them as I searched for anything familiar to my designs. The controls and seating would need to be completely redone to comfortably accommodate me, and despite the fact I'd gotten it airborne after nearly bringing the entire castle down on Flim and Flam's heads with the drones, I still didn't really get how it was able to fly on magic alone.
To my continued shock, the hovercraft was handling beautifully. No propellors or visible means for stability, and yet it didn't jostle or rock even as I tossed and turned from side to side pulling panels open. It was like it rested upon an invisible flat plane at all times. Whatever those two had managed, once I let Jury have a crack at it with a wrench, I was confident their secrets would be mine.
"Ah-hah! That's a gem!" I declared with a low cackle, having found a magically charged gemstone embedded beneath one of the panels. It was, however, completely bare, further confusing me as to how they'd pulled this off.
I sighed hard and sank into my too-small seat before hucking the panel I'd just pried loose off the side of the hovercraft, nailing one of my drones in the process.
Even if we pulled this whole machine apart, since we only had the one , if we failed to reverse engineer it, well.. That was that.
I had to face facts: We needed their designs, and more importantly to my frustration, we needed them on friendly terms. After all, maybe I would need their talent in the future if they pulled something like this off. Groaning, I reclined in my seat and drew my hands over my head, mulling over what to do. As blatantly thieving as their demanded price was, I'd have to meet it to smooth things over with them.
"Thievery, huh?" I murmured, before glancing off to the north. Humming, I set the craft to fly in that direction as an idea began to form.
Slapping shut the hatch on the drone I was working on, I gave my small attack force another once-over. Each drone had been fit with a big old claw with which to hold a vial of a new potion I had brewing nearby. Returning to the brewing station, I tapped the beaker in which my new blue mixture was boiling, drawing a series of anxious squeaks from the squirrel I had caged beside it. Hopefully, this stuff wouldn't be toxic. I really wasn't set to murder anyone just yet. With any luck, this bank robbery I was planning wouldn't escalate to that.
Of course, the chances of someone, or rather six someones popping up to interfere were very high. And the chances of me winning a fight with them right now were nonexistent. Fortunately, regardless of what we might be able to do together in the near future, for the moment they were guided by unchecked heroism.
Thus, the bank I was planning to rob was really my second target. In fact, I'd only decided to rob the bank after discovering my intended target in the newspaper and realized it was just close enough to provide a perfect distraction.
But only if the proper leverage was applied.
Dipping my gloved finger in the solution I was hacking together, I gently dabbed it against the chest of my captive, yanking my finger back when it tried to bite me. Despite the brief contact, and to my immense satisfaction, the squirrel flinched and glanced down at the spot I'd touched, which was now completely bald.
Ignoring the insulting-sounding chittering that was then spat my way, I turned and eyed up the city far from the little hilltop I was lurking upon.
Using her teeth, Applejack gripped the rope she'd used to lasso a high rotten branch in an overgrown old tree near the edge of the farm. With a grunt and a heave, she pulled with all her might, clenching her eyes shut as she pulled.
"Need some help?" Came a voice that made her eyes snap open. Looking up, she first saw Rainbow Dash hovering nearby. Then she saw that not only had the branch not broken loose but the entire tree was bent down at a rough angle. Releasing her grip the tree snapped back up and she wiped her brow.
"Hey, Dash. And yeah, I suppose if you wouldn't mind," she replied, at which her friend nodded and zipped up to the branch before wrestling with it. "How's scoping the skies with the Wonderbolts goin'? I heard the Royal Guard's had ya'll helpin' out with all them underground fellas." With a grunt, Rainbow finally yanked the branch off and spat it off the side, earning a grateful nod from Applejack.
"Underworld, and yeah, we've been pretty busy. Half of those thugs Bedlam was working with have vanished" Rainbow said as she hovered back down, kicking the branch away once she landed. "Probably fled the country now that Bedlam's not setting them up with those dumb robots."
"You don't reckon they're trying to find him after all this time, do ya?" Applejack asked as she sized up the rest of the tree for any other issues. Rainbow snorted and snapped her wings.
"Nope, and for two reasons: One, like Spitfire pointed out, if they had any clues on how to find Bedlam, then that means he knew how to find them, in which case, he'd still be supplying them with junk," she said before rolling her eyes. "And two, he probably picked a fight with a dragon or something and got roasted." Applejack flinched and raised an eyebrow at her.
"S'a bit grim, don'tcha think?" She asked at which Rainbow bristled her wings with a frown.
"So what? Twilight gave him like a billion chances to stop being such a jerk and he snubbed her every time," she replied, shaking her head. "She might be genuinely hoping he'll come back, or she might just be under obligations as the Princess of Friendship, but I'm neither." She fixed Applejack with a determined look.
"I'm just glad he's not around to make her cry," she added with a curt nod. Applejack grimaced for a moment before sighing.
"Well, shoot, I'm partial to hoping the fella'd work out his business myself, but," she shook her head. "I'm with you at least on that last bit." Rainbow hummed before brushing Applejack with her wing before turning and pointing toward the town.
"Hey, speaking of Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie wanted to take her someplace nice to help get her mind off of you-know-who," she said, turning fully and frowning again. "Starlight said she caught her sitting in his old room a few times." Applejack grunted at the thought.
"Gotcha. What'd they have in mind?" She asked as the two began walking side-by-side.
"Rarity was talking about this dopey fashion show over in Manehattan," Rainbow replied, causing Applejack to blanch.
"Uh-"
"Which Pinkie pointed out was happening in the same event center where they're also hosting a book fair and a home brewing show," Rainbow added with a smirk.
"Shoot, you shoulda led with that one!"
Twilight focused on the ambient noise of the city around her and her friends making idle chit-chat as they trotted along at a nice, even pace. She'd always preferred quieter settings, and never fully appreciated the modern, industrialized look of Manehattan, but today she welcomed the change.
Taking a shallow breath as she glanced up at one of the fancy billboards loaded with flashing lights, she managed a smile. "Just loud enough to drown out all those bad memories, " she thought.
At that moment, as they rounded a corner onto the street that led to the event center, an explosion rolled through the air causing all six mares to jump.
"What the heck was that?" Pinkie squealed as they whirled around to see smoke rising from a few blocks away. Twilight furrowed her brow with a grunt.
"Sounds like trouble. Come on, girls!" She demanded before taking off in the ruckus' direction. Along the way, they passed through a small stampede of fleeing ponies that obscured their sight of whatever was causing the problem.
"Ain't no way," Applejack gasped, being the first to recover.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Rainbow roared, spreading her wings with a snarl.
"Unbelievable," Rarity sighed, shaking her head. She turned to Twilight, but before she could say anything, Rainbow took off, violently drawing her attention.
"Let's get him!" She yelled.
"Right!" The rest cheered in response. Following Rainbow's lead, they all took off at a full gallop toward the madman.
All except one.
I groaned as I plopped the last sack onto my hovercraft before heaving a breath and leaning against it myself. "My fucking back," I hissed, pressing my palms against my hips and attempting to pop my spine.
"My money!" The bank owner wailed from the crowd of terrified onlookers. However, when he reached one hoof out, either for dramatic effect or as a genuine attempt to take back what I was stealing, I snapped my fingers. In response, one of my drones zipped down from the veritable canopy of machines hovering above us and floated just before the banker, causing him to wilt and shrink back out of sight, forcing one of the other terrified ponies to get between him and my machine.
I snorted a laugh at the sight before blinking and smirking when I saw several familiar faces burst forth from the crowd. "Well, well. Long time no see," I chirped as I strode forward, putting myself between them and my plunder. The girls lined up, side-by-side and fixed me with a set of determined glares.
Strangely, she was missing, but none of them seemed to notice.
"Bedlam. Was hopin' you wised up and got lost for good," Applejack declared, spitting off to the side. "The heck are you doin' now?"
"Engaging in common thievery, by the looks of it," Rarity offered, sticking her nose up at me with a humph. "Can hardly say it's beneath you."
"The intricacies of what I have planned would, unfortunately, be lost on you currently," I explained, preparing to send my drones off for the next phase of my plan. As I did, my eyes darted around, looking for any sign of Twilight. I held my free hand up. "But I promise! All will be made clear sooner rather than later." I swept my raised hand across myself with a bow, causing their angry expressions to harden.
"For now though, I need you to step aside and let me work," I added with a smirk, before looking all around. "And that means you need to stop sculking and show yourself, Princess. " At my words, the five shared a look before realizing they were short one.
"Where the heck is Twilight?!" Rainbow cried as they all took their eyes off me to scan the street. I beamed and slapped a command into my glove. A nearby drone immediately responded, dropping its potion to my hand and shooting forward and snatching her out of the air before dragging her to my side. She squawked in surprise and then struggled helplessly against the drone's claw, which completely closed around her entire body. Just as her friends moved to intervene, a flash briefly blinded us. I blinked and then smirked as the light faded.
"Bedlam!" Twilight yelled.
Twilight paced up and down the narrow alley she'd dove into once everyone else had galloped away. Her breathing was frantic and her ears were firmly pressed against her skull as she shook her head with her eyes clenched shut.
"His name is Bedlam, he's not your friend," she panted as she paced. Her wings bristled and snapped as she trotted. "His name is Bedlam, he's not your friend." She murmured a few more times before clenching her teeth.
"Eddy was your friend. His name is Bedlam, " she stopped pacing and hugged the ground. "His name is Bedlam, he's not your friend. "
Her face contorted as she repeated the mantra a few more times until she finally threw her head back with a painful croaking groan that she strained to keep quiet. After another moment she stamped her hoof a few times and then wiped her eyes with the same hoof. Letting out a shallow breath she quickly adopted a steely glare and lit up her horn.can't let him hurt anypony."
There was a flash out in the street that caused everyone to jump. Suddenly, between the Elements and the mad human stood Twilight Sparkle.
"Bedlam!" The princess yelled.
"Ah-hah! There you are ," Bedlam chortled. He swept aside his cape and clicked one of the talismans hanging from his belt while holding up a bottle. A magical bubble filled the air around him and Rainbow Dash. "Now, watch carefully!"
"You ghastly creature!" Rarity shrieked as she battered my magical bubble with her hooves. I smirked and glanced down at my companion who was still struggling against her full-body metal harness. Rainbow scowled up at me, before blowing the last strands of her mane out of her face. The rest of her scalp was completely bare thanks to the potion I'd demonstrated on her.
I cackled and pointed at Twilight and the rest, all of whom were glaring at me with grim determination. The crowd of Manehattan ponies around us, however, looked at me with terror in their eyes. Except for the bank manager, who was gnawing his hoof and looking at the bags of money I had loaded on my hovercraft just behind me.
"Now, it's very simple!" I swept my hand toward the buzzing, hovering, magically powered drones above us, each of which had a bottle of my potion affixed to them. "You can stay here and harass me." I brought my free hand to my chest and leaned forward with a smirk.
"Or, " I snapped my fingers and the drones whirred off towards the busy event center just up the road. "You can keep that lovely fashion show from making the headlines for all the wrong reasons." The five mares gasped.
"Monster!" Rarity wailed. I shot up straight and held up my free hand.
"But wait! There's more!" My fingers went to work, clicking the gemstones on my glove in a sequence. A magical signal sparked to life, and the harness around Rainbow shuddered before the stones all over it crackled and she was levitated off the ground.
"Hey! Wh- WHOA!" All at once she was shot off towards the event center by a preset telekinesis spell, drawing cries of shock from the ground as a few ponies had to dive out of the way.
"And there you have it!" I cackled and swept my arms towards her with a bow.
"Meanie!" Pinkie screamed.
"This isn't over, Bedlam!" Twilight yelled. "Come on, girls!"
"Hoh! How about that? Wait 'till Jury gets a load of this, " I giggled as I looked over the hovercraft blueprints Flim and Flam had given me. They were steamed when I stole the working model they built for me, but now that I'd dumped all that money I stole from Manehattan in their laps, we were gravy again. Not that I'd need much more from those two, but this innovation in magical flight with no other means of propulsion was too rich to pass up!
Hell, the thing hadn't even received a charge in days and it was still able to just hover this high up with no issues while I read the brother's plans. And once Jury gets her hooves on this? Hoh hoh.
"You're first on my list Iggy," I chortled through my teeth. "We'll see how grand that glorified pirate fleet of yours is when my machines-" The hovercraft rocked as something dropped in behind me.
"For a glorified petty thief, you're hardly one to be deriding anyone for thinking too much of themselves. " I laughed aloud and looked over my shoulder at my unwelcome passenger.
"Hello, Discord," I purred. The draconequus was lounging in the wide rear seat with his claws behind his head. He either wasn't in range or didn't notice the spectacular danger he was in. If the latter was true, it confirmed my theory that what I'd made was practically undetectable. "How'd they convince you to come after me?"
"Fluttershy begged me to finally put an end to your little tantrum," he yawned. "And when they told me you've stooped to bank robbery, well!"
He draped his arm over his forehead. "As a former A-list villain, I couldn't bear the idea of allowing you to go on ruining the craft," he gave me an unimpressed leer. "Honestly, villains used to have standards."
I snorted. "Who asked?" I stood up and stretched. "But! I know when I'm licked."
"Not even going to try one of your silly toys?" Discord groaned and slithered to his hooves. "Fine! I guess I'll just-"Take me in. " For a delicious few moments, the quiet hum of the hovercraft and the gentle breeze were the only sounds.
Discord looked me up and down. "What?" I thrust my wrists at him, causing him to recoil and hold up a claw.
"Go on! Apprehend me!" My grin widened and my breathing intensified. He took a step back onto the edge of the craft.
I gasped and brought a hand to my chest. "Why! Surely nothing that could perturb the Great Discord, " I bowed to him with my other hand outstretched. He snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever," he snapped his claw. Or at least tried to. Instead, as his talons snapped, he hissed and then threw his head back. "YEEEEOW!" He tumbled back and nearly fell, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back in.
"Careful!" I leaned in close. "It's an awful long way down. " He hissed and clutched the arm I had.
"What- AH- What IS this?!"
I chortled hard and opened my coat, revealing a gemless talisman hanging off my belt that was currently glowing bright. "I heard about your little escapade in the Changeling Hive from Starlight," I hummed, basking in the terror the almighty spirit wore. "Some ancient rock was able to neutralize even your magic." My smile widened and I laughed.
"So! I figured since I can already use alchemy for all kinds of fun stuff, and I can already duplicate spells with gems, why not see if I could alchemize something similar to the changeling throne?" His eyes went wide. "Now, making something that neutralizes all magic we found wasn't feasible. That throne must have been naturally occurring since all our attempts ruined our magically powered equipment. But against one specific type of magic? A type that already has proved to have very specific counters?"
I huffed and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "A magic you're always showing off and giving everyone plenty of chances to collect data on? Hoh hoh!" I pressed my forehead to his. "That might just work."
I slid through the front door of Jury and my headquarters on my heel. Responding to my presence, the golem serving staff whirred to life and held up their arms in salute. "Jury! I'm home~," I chirped as I strode forward between the golems. Behind me, the newly acquired hovercraft was carried inside by a team of loading golems I'd summoned out upon arriving. Moments later, and just following an excited squeal that echoed from further inside, Jury came galloping down the corridor to meet me.
"Welcome back!" She cried as she dove right in front of me. Taking a moment to catch her breath and admire the new ship, she fixed me with a concerned frown. "Did you bump into- You-know-who?" I snorted a laugh in response.
"Sure did! Went pretty well actually," I declared, snapping my fingers and reaching into my coat to grab the blueprints I'd gotten from Flim and Flam. "Discord even popped up." She huffed and raised a hoof.
"And since you're here," she hummed before beaming. "I assume that means our stability runes work?"
"Correct!" I chirped, causing her to leap up and clap her hooves.
"Yay!" She cheered before pausing and tilting her head. "Wait. What'd you do to Discord, then?"
"Ah, I just persuaded him to cover my escape is all," I said as I pulled out the papers.
"Hold on, Discord!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she took off at full speed after the helpless draconequus currently tied to a cluster of drones. The rest of the Element-bearers lagged far behind due to the sheer speed of the drones.
"For the love of Equestria, stop this crazy thing!" Discord screamed back as he struggled against both the chains holding him down and the spare charm Bedlam had pinned him with, neutralizing his magic. The cluster banked hard to the right and went careening down into a low canyon which was then filled with Discord's echoing screams for help.
"Anyhoo, take a look at this!" I said, rustling the stack of papers at Jury. She blinked before examining them.
"Oooh," she purred as she leafed through each sheet slowly. A familiar smile crept onto her face. "Bedlam, my gears are turning~."
"As expected," I hummed a laugh before frowning and snapping my fingers, causing her to stand up straight. "But before we can get to work, I want a status report."
"Huh?" She murmured, tilting her head for a moment before perking up. "Oh! Right, so Tempest has the Storm King convinced that she's hot on our trail and is busy uprooting us at every turn." She folded the papers and held them to the side in her magic as she gestured with her hooves.
"I let her put on a show of smashing a few golems here and there to sell the story," she explained before searching her person and then frowning. "She also took the liberty of giving me a few maps of the Storm King's territories we can work with." Rubbing her chin, she finally hummed and nodded before gesturing for me to follow her as we now made our way toward one of the workshops. Halfway there, she perked up again.
"Oh! She also said he just got ahold of some information on a magic item he's been hunting for," she added, tilting her head as she trotted along. "The Staff of Sacanas, I think it was." I raised my eyebrows at her report.
"Oh?" I hummed, tilting my head back in thought. "That's the one that sucks up latent magic power, right?"
"Yep! He's planning on using it to invade Equestria and steal the alicorns' magic!" She declared with a fervent nod. I paused for just a moment before smirking.
"Oh, really? We'll see about that," I chuckled darkly as we turned into the workshop. Inside and on one of our tables, Jury presented the maps Tempest had delivered to us. "Anything else?" I began shifting them around and glanced at Jury, who shook her head at my question.
"Brilliant," I purred before nodding at the maps. "Well! Let's not waste any more of her time!" I turned and gestured to the blueprints Jury had.
"Let's sharpen the pin to stick in our dear tyrant," I added with a toothy grin.
It took a month and a half of communication through proxies and letters, but we were finally having our peace talk after almost a year of petty skirmishes. He'd done the hard part of clearing this little valley of any potential nuisances, leaving me to bring the table and chairs. He'd done a predictably shoddy job, as there were plenty of buzzing insects creeping through the tall grass around us.
"Hello, Ignatius!" I called and waved. The grey-skinned satyr leaped up from his seat and pounded his fists on the table.
"THE STORM KING! JUST. THE STORM KING," Iggy roared. He thrust three fingers at me. "THREE WORDS! EASY! Rolls off the tongue! For crying out loud!" He threw his white-furred head back into his hands, clenched his teeth, and screeched.
Then, he sat down, neatly folded his hands on the table, and smiled. "So! How's every little thing?" I smiled back and scanned the line of yeti-like Storm Beast officers just behind him who were scowling and beating their weapons into their hands. Tempest, just to his left, snorted at me when she met my eyes. I looked over my shoulder at Jury-rig who gulped at the sight of the large creatures.
"Hey," I looked up at Iggy, who now wore an annoyed glower. "You wanted to talk, so talk."
He knit his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "You finally ready to become my commander and lend me those super keen robots?"
I smiled and folded my hands on the table. "No."
He scowled and leaned back in his seat. "So what then?"
"You're canceling the invasion of Equestria I heard you've been planning." He flinched held a hand over his mouth and then turned to his commanders who met his look with fearful ones of their own.
Then they started cackling. As they did, some of the grass shuddered and the insects went silent or flew away. I smiled as Iggy wiped a tear and shook his head.
He pointed a finger at Tempest. "Last time I listen to you," he sighed and kicked his feet up onto the table. "Canceling huh? Why's that?"
"It's mine. Rest of the planet is too, but that's a later thing. So, I'm fine with you bumming around the rest of the world for a little longer."
"Pfft! OH- kay! " He chortled and jabbed his thumb at me while looking at a commander. "You believe this guy?" The grass shuddered again.
wiiiiii
"Okay!" He slammed his hands on the table and stood. "Here's what's really going down." His commanders began to file out and encircle the table, making their way to me. Jury whimpered and grabbed my arm.
wiiiiii
Some of his commanders stopped and looked around the field. Tempest stared straight ahead at me while Iggy paced his end of the table. "You're coming with me back to the Storm Isles where you're going to whip up some of those fancy drones of yours! Or just about anything else I need," he whirled around and jabbed a finger at Jury. "And she's going to the mines." Jury cried out as he raised his finger before scowling and looking around.
wiiiiiiiiii
"The heck is that sound?"
I smiled. "Incentive." What followed stuck with me for months.
POP POP POP POP POP POP
"HEEEAYGH" Iggy squealed and threw himself over. Jury also cried out and buried her face in my sleeve while Tempest shuddered at the sight of the commanders suddenly collapsing with smoking bloody holes in their skulls. A few of them continued to writhe, including Iggy who was screaming and clutching his face.
"No time for regrets, " I thought. With a shuddering breath, I shook off the sight of my work as well as Jury and rushed around the table.
"That's amazing!" I chirped as I loomed over his moaning form. "There's enough explosive glue in these to pop a hole in a steel helmet! And yet all your heads are still on. I knew Storm Beasts were tough, but woo lad!"
He rolled over and looked up at me with his one remaining eye, his hand clutching his blasted face. "Temp- AH- Tempest!" He shook his hand at me. "K-kill- Kill him!" I smiled and leered back at Tempest, who scanned the injured and dying commanders before humming.
"I don't know, Your Excellency," she said as she slowly moved to my side. "I think we might be outgunned on this one. My mistake. "
Iggy winced and moaned. "You- houuu.. What?" He looked between us as Tempest smiled down at him and then pointed a finger at her. "You.. You set this meeting up.. Con- urr... Convinced me to.. When did he?"
"Cornered her in Klugetown while she was on patrol," I explained with my hands folded behind my back. "But Jury was keeping an eye on her for way before that. Part of how I figured out why she was working for you."
"What can I say? He made a compelling argument about switching sides," she leaned in. "And he actually had something tangible to back up his promise." I chortled as Iggy gurgled and rested his head on the ground.
Wiiiiiii
He clenched his remaining teeth and looked at me. "What.. What is that?" I smiled and held up my hand before inputting a sequence on my gem-covered glove. As I unfolded my hand, a very tiny circular disk came hovering in and rested in my palm. All around me, a dozen or so rose from the grass and flew in a circle around us. Jury came up and sat down on the table just next to me, and looked up with pride at our work.
"You've seen my drones. You know roughly how they work. Big ol' propellors spinning to keep them afloat," I bent at the knees and held the drone in my palm to him. "These on the other hand use magic to fly. And since magic has no size relative to its power, we can make 'em tiny and hard to see. Like a swarm of wasps! Then we can fill them with something nasty, like poison or alchemically produced explosives! Just gotta set 'em up with a deployment method then."POP. " His snarled lip quivered and he groaned.
I stood up and looked at the drone in my hand. "'Course, they still got that little range problem all my animunculi suffer from. Have to be close to give them new orders or change old ones, but that flaw won't be an issue soon. Especially now with your resources at my disposal."
I looked him in the eye and smiled. "We're going to ride out and let your boys know how things are now. They work for me," I closed my hand before flinging the drone into the air. It bobbed for a minute before correcting itself and hovering in a circle around me. "Shouldn't be too hard, but on the off chance there's anyone out there who actually cared about you, we got these little beauties to HAH help 'em clear their heads."
"W-" Four more drones circled me and then went still, lining up with his face. He whimpered and held up his hand. "Wait!"
"I'm not stupid, Iggy," I bent over him and the drones followed. "I never liked you, but I just never had a chance to really put a pin in you. That's done and over, and y'know what's so poetic and rich about that ?" I held up my hand, my thumb pressed against my index and middle fingers.
"So are you."
Snap.
WiiiiiiPOP POP POP POP
