Chrysalis glanced back at the crater my blaster punched through the side of the mountain. "I'm shocked! You were capable of such power and yet those miserable ponies managed to capture you?!"
I bellowed a laugh as I took aim again. "The difference is I like them! You receive no such handicap." She snarled and teleported just as my beam filled the space between us. Pure forward momentum is one thing, but the secret gem I'd inserted meant it was hurdling gravity instead of air. So, whatever this beam struck was getting pushed by countless g's of force concentrated to a single point. Almost like a black hole taking a swing at you.
Unfortunately, the kick-back was a bitch and a half. I was thrown back, forcing Tempest to pull me back onto the Integrity with all her might. As she dragged me forward, I grabbed my shoulder which was beginning to ache from all the shots I'd taken.
A feral roar came from above, and I looked up just in time to see Chrysalis bearing down on us. Jury jabbed her hoof up at her. "Go!" Six of our drones which were hovering just under the Integrity came whirling out and shot up into her face. As she was thrown off course, Jury hit the controls and we sped forward.
A beam of red magic peeled through the air we'd been sitting in just after we moved, indicating the Tirek had recovered from having the tower my blaster blew through topple onto him. Rubbing my shoulder, I leaned on the back of the hovercraft to aim at him, scanning the skies and ground as I did.
"Still no sign of the pipsqueak," I thought. As I prepared to take a shot at him, he was suddenly swarmed on all sides by golems which pinned his legs before crawling up to attack his face. Smirking, I looked back to see Chrysalis zipping through the air after us. Adjusting my aim, I took a shot at her. She conjured a shield just in time, but the raw force still sent her hurdling back.
As Tempest steadied me, I turned to Jury. "How many drones do we still have?"
She hummed and scanned the skies. "I think those were the last ones."
I choked. "Seriously?! How durable are these freaks?"
"Not just durable," we all turned to see the pipsqueak sitting on the back of the hovercraft, with a smirk and Grogar's Bell pressed against the vehicle itself. "Sneaky and crafty, too."
"Ah." Before we could respond, she activated the bell, and the magic keeping our machine afloat was siphoned right out. The only silver lining was I got a solid look at how the bell is activated. That lining was uniquely thin, however, as she hopped back with a giggle as we were thrown into a free fall.
Jury tumbled back into my lap and clung to my chest as the ship sped toward the edge of the city, or more specifically one of the still-standing towers. Tempest grit her teeth and thrust her prosthetic horn forward, blasting the tower with all her might. She managed to clear a hole for us to slide through, and we banged against the floor of the room we passed through.
We continued flying, screaming all the way until we narrowly cleared the outer wall of the city. I grabbed Tempest and pulled her close. "Hold on, damn it!"
The Integrity crashed into the ground and went skipping along before finally carving a shallow trench and launching us out. As we sailed, Tempest grunted and cast a hasty teleportation spell. We reappeared closer to the ground and were sent tumbling forward. I lost my grip on the pair and we rolled in separate directions.
Once I stopped rolling, I groaned and sucked in a chestful of air before letting it out in a howl of pain. I huffed and puffed before looking up and to the side where the girls had been flung. Jury was lying on her back with a grimace, while Tempest was struggling to her feet with bared teeth. Her prosthetic had been snapped off in the tumble. Then there was a warbling drone as a portal opened up behind me.
"Excellent landing!" I heard Tirek jeer.
I rolled onto my back to look up at the trio, who wore similar smug grins. Said grins melted instantly, as I leveled my blaster and took a shot.
"HAAAGH!" Tirek screamed, being the only one to fail to dodge completely. I chortled as the beam tore into his left arm and completely erased the limb. He fell to his right and clutched at the smoking black wound that used to be his shoulder.
His cohorts looked at him in shock before turning to me. Chrysalis charged magic in her horn and I winced. "Last mistake." I brought a hand up and closed my eyes as she fired her spell. Then I heard the sound of a shield popping up. Opening my eyes, I looked forward to see a magic bubble conjured around me.
"Hey, Eddy," Twilight greeted with a smile. I blinked and sat up with a wince to look around us. In the bubble with Twilight and me were Celestia and Luna, as well as Starlight and the rest of Twilight's friends.
"You scum!" Chrysalis roared.
"Stay back!" Tirek added with a pained inflection. Outside the bubble, a small army of changelings, yaks, griffons, and a mess of other creatures were charging the Legion.
"What.." I huffed.
"All of Equestria's friends and allies heard about the Legion and were rushing to our aid," Twilight replied, letting the bubble dissolve. "The girls and I found them while we were heading for the Crystal Empire."
"Shoot, they was nearly to Canterlot when them nasty customers kicked us out!" Applejack added.
"Yeah, so uh," Rainbow grimaced and rolled her eyes before nodding at me. "Good job.. holding down the fort till we all got back." I frowned and slowly rose to my feet with a groan. I scanned the army as they charged around us.
"I.. I've made enemies of most of these creatures," I murmured.
"You made enemies of us, too," I turned to meet Twilight's sincere smile. "And yet here we are."
I looked into her eyes for a moment before smiling back. "Here we are."
Tempest, Jury, and I stood side by side, staring our old enemies in the face with Twilight and her friends in between us. Save for Pinkie, but I hadn't a clue where she'd run off to. Thorax, Ember, and all the other leaders of the world who I'd declared war on. With Twilight's urging, they'd all united and beaten the Legion with their combined harmonic magic. And now they were questioning why they shouldn't do the same to me.
Thorax hummed and looked me up and down with a scowl. "Princess Twilight says you're willing to try and make amends for everything."
I looked down and then at Jury and Tempest. The latter was stoic as ever, but the former looked dejected as she had been since I conveyed we were done with conquest. I nodded and met his eyes. "Any way I can. I uh," I rolled my head and held a hand at the griffin elder. "Could, for instance, rebuild the valley around Griffinstone with my machines." He raised an eyebrow with a growl.
"But!" Twilight peeped up, hovering next to me with a smile. "We can discuss all that later and in more official terms! Setting up work orders and things like that!" The world leaders fixed her with a critical look before looking at each other.
"Don't get too comfortable, Princess!" We all jumped and turned to see Chrysalis and her cohorts a short distance away, drained of power but still full of fire. "We will always return! Nothing will ever-" I cried out as a house-sized cupcake fell from the sky onto the trio. Twilight and I shared a look before a crackling buzz filled the air.
"Pinkie?" Turning, I saw the rest of Twilight's friends recoiling from Pinkie who had Grogar's Bell in her hooves and was jittering with power. Rainbow looked her up and down. "Is that Discord's magic?"
Discord himself, along with the alicorn sisters and Starlight carefully approached. Twilight fluttered forward. "Are you okay?"
Pinkie hummed and rubbed her chin, dropping the bell as she did so. "Okay's pretty relative. I do on the other hoof feel," she crackled again and swelled to a colossal size. Candy-colored clouds gathered and began raining chocolate on the valley. "LIKE I COULD BEND THE VERY COSMOS SO THAT EVERYTHING IS MADE OF ICING!!"
"Ah." Twilight whimpered. With a hum, I carefully snuck forward and picked up the bell.
"One sec," turning it over in my hands a few times, I aimed it at her and successfully triggered its magic. With a warbling gong, the bell sucked the chaos magic right out of her, returning her to normal at which point she stumbled and fell over with a giggle. The sugary weather and the cupcake she'd crushed the Legion with had all vanished, leaving the three groaning and snarling.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief before Twilight smiled at me. "Thanks, Eddy."
"Mhm."
"Eddy?"
"Mhm."
It was only for a moment, but when the bell drained the magic from her, I felt it. All of it. It was like that night back in the Castle of Two Sisters, when I first set my animunculi to work. The raw potential it presented. My fingers drummed the bell as I stared at it and my mind went to work.
Chaos magic has no limits when used right. If you avoid its counters and just think things through, there is literally no limitation to what can be accomplished. I wouldn't even need to use it in combat. I could just use it to test my animunculi in ways only possible in my wildest imaginations. Because that's literally the framework I held in my hands: Imagination.
Raw creativity, unchecked by reality's constraints.
Within my hands, I held everything I ever wanted and more. The world. My world. Mine. The world I wanted to show Twilight.
I paused.
"Embrace the opportunity she's offered wholeheartedly. Or you will never have her."
My eyes darted back and forth. "I will not compromise on my vision for the world by even one half-acre."
I grit my teeth. "I get what I want in the end."
"Eddy?" I looked down and saw Twilight's concerned frown. I felt the weight of the stone bell now more than ever. I clenched my eyes shut as my breathing began to match that weight. Glasses or no, there was no way she couldn't see my tears. "Are you okay?"
I took a shuddering breath and nodded before smiling at her.
"Sorry." I flipped the bell around and conjured a portal with it before jumping through.
"Wha-" Was all Twilight could squeak out before the portal slammed shut behind him. She scanned the air where he had been and stumbled back. "You-" The noise of a few more portals popping up around drew her attention elsewhere, and she saw the Legion of Doom vanish into the ground.
"Whoa!"
"Eep!"
Followed by Jury-rig and Tempest.
"THAT CREEP!" Rainbow roared as she shot towards one of the portals but hit only open air. Twilight sat on the ground and looked around.
"He-" Her ears flopped back. "I-"
"Twilight!" She looked back and saw her friends, namely an equally horrified Starlight running up. Just beyond, she saw the shocked, sorrowful eyes of her teacher looking straight at her.
Twilight whimpered and gulped as her friends surrounded her and drew her into a hug. Starlight gasped and squeezed her. "Hey, it's not.. We can-"
"We'll find him and get him for this, I swear it," Rainbow spat.
"I trusted him," Twilight squeaked. "And he-" A heavy sob followed.
"Eddy.. Why?"
The last portal closed shut as Jury tumbled through. My hands were shaking. I looked over the gang I gathered, three of whom looked up at me in shock. I clenched my jaw and rattled out a snarl their way. Even Chrysalis was taken aback.
"Nice work, Bedlam!" I turned and glared down at Jury who took the bell from me and began examining it. "All of Discord's magic and the Royal Sisters?"
She beamed up at me. "Imagine what we can make!" Her expression fell when she got a proper look at me. After fixing her with a glare for a moment, I looked forward and at my hands.
I fell to my knees and drew in a chestful of air. I lurched forward onto my hands and then screamed until nothing came out. Once I was out of breath, I pressed my forehead to the ground and clenched my teeth until they hurt.
Silence filled the glade I'd pulled us all to until I took a shallow breath and stood up. Adjusting my glasses, I stalked toward the former Legion of Doom.
Looming over them I huffed before drawing my blaster and leveling it at them. All three wilted before me. "We have work to do. You're either in or in the way. Which is it?"
BEDLAM