I looked down at the lines of combat-ready animunculi marching toward the loading bay of my ship. Working together, Jury and I had managed to send out a mass hack, forcibly aligning this army of golems to only one point: the console aboard my ship. Our numbers sat at five hundred and sixty, while Cozy Glow was mustering around three hundred golems and double that many hippogriff soldiers, who would mainly serve to provide defense while we hastily reprogrammed her golems if we wound up needing them.
Steel Eyes was leading a war fleet of his best warriors, and we'd recalled KSUN and KMOON to join up with him. Silver Lace had remained in the Iron City, as 'the field of war is no place for a female,' according to the minotaur king. The very real possibility of Lace using the lapse in security and supervision to pull something was simply a bridge I'd have to cross later.
And in any case, it was already too late. After everything was set, Jury sent the kill command and deactivated our satellites, leaving us in the dark about the goings on across the Empire. I grumbled at my failure to learn how magic letters are sent, which had always seemed so unnecessary and slow compared to the near-instant communications my network provided. I added it to the list of things we'd need to take care of once KS 6 was dealt with, though it was lower on that list compared to polling the populace. I turned and leaned against the railing of the deck to look at Jury and Tempest who were sharing a hushed conversation over coffee.
"Maybe we should rebuild KS 5," I hummed, bringing their shocked faces to me.
"Huh?" Jury squawked.
"The Pinkie model. The one good at making people laugh," I said with a shrug. She leered at me in bewilderment before blinking and frowning.
"Oh, right. The public approval thing," she muttered and tilted her head at me. "Are you really that worried about an uprising?"
I flinched. "Uprising?" I looked between her and Tempest, the latter of whom shrugged.
"Yeah," Jury replied and sipped her coffee. "I can't imagine any other reason you'd be worried about a town or two being down in the dumps." My mouth opened and closed with a grumble and I rolled my eyes.
"The reason is my vision for the planet, Jury," I retorted and folded my arms. "Which is the whole reason for everything we've done up to this point. We're trying to make the world a better place."
Her eyes widened and her ears snapped back. "We are?" My jaw dropped and she scrunched her muzzle. "I thought we were just taking over to make things nice for ourselves."
I scowled and jabbed a finger at her. "We-"
[BEDLAM, the war suit has been loaded and is awaiting inspection,] the golem pilot chimed in through the intercom. I humphed, pushed off the railing, and walked for the door.
"We're discussing this later," I groused, causing Jury to avert her eyes.
The door slid shut behind Bedlam, leaving the two mares alone. They stared at the door for a few moments before slowly meeting each other's eyes.
"Were you aware of that whole 'better place' thing?" Jury asked. Tempest shook her head.
"Nope. I've just been following along with whatever Eddy wants."
"Huh," Jury murmured and rubbed her chin. "That's weird, though, right?" Tempest nodded with a wry smile.
"Yep. I'm pretty sure we're the bad guys."
"Okay, cool, it's not just me."
"Hey, Winkler!" Sandy chirped as she trotted into the security station.
"Afternoon, Sandy," the pigman head of Citadel security replied with a smile, though his focus was on the book he held. "Did the boss head out yet?"
"Yep, yep, yep!" The mare declared. "He, Jury, and Tempest left like thirty minutes ago."
"Hope they get this hogwash sorted quick. I don't like the idea of not being able to get in touch with them, what with those flying things bein' down and all," Winkler humphed.
"That's pretty funny!" Sandy giggled.
"Why's that?" The pigman looked up and recoiled as he saw the maid hurl a faintly glowing vial at his head.
"Cause it's just perfect for me," she giggled as the potion shattered and the pigman fell into a deep sleep. Trotting up and pushing his chair back, Sandy reared up and began fiddling with the security controls. As she did so, the screen lit up, alerting her that she was now accessing things restricted to the Administrator and Bedlam.
Smiling, she reached into her blouse, drew a disrupting wand she'd swiped during one of Jury's snuggle sessions, and jammed it into the controls. Twisting it a few times had the intended effect of bypassing the alert entirely and unlocking the chamber she was gunning for.
She giggled with a snort, pulled a scroll with a blue ribbon and a yellow sun-shaped seal from a belt under her dress, and set it aflame with the sparks from the console. As the scroll turned to smoke and vanished into the air ducts, she trotted off to collect her prize, which, once claimed, would also give her the power to quickly reunite with her co-conspirators.
I looked over the old Citadel through my lenses, scanning for the flow of magic. Little blips of mana were zipping through the air, which were obviously drones, though a few larger ones were in the mix, implying KS 6 had either manufactured, rebuilt, or recalled some of the pegasi or griffin style golems.
Switching off my mana-sensitive glasses, I turned to the camp we'd set up around the newly erected controller tower. The golems and hippogriffs were all standing at attention, ready to charge at a moment's notice.
"Any sign of our backup?" I asked.
Jury hummed and continued working at her console with Tempest at her side. "We just got a ping from KSUN. They've made landfall and are marching in from the east."
Cozy fluttered up beside me. "That'll put them on the other side of the place, won't it?"
"Yep," I replied, scanning the valley again. Cozy hummed and rubbed her chin.
"Against anypony else, that'd be great," she murmured. "Divide their attention and all that."
"But?" Tempest pressed.
"But this thing has Twilight Sparkle's mind, and is geared towards military stuff," Cozy responded with a growl. "Not to mention it's a machine and can probably split its attention easy enough." Before I could reply, I blinked and squinted to get a better look at a much larger source of magic approaching the Citadel. Switching to normal view and zooming in, I laughed.
"Her attention might not be a problem," I snickered.
"Why's that?" Cozy asked as the three mares turned to me.
I pointed at the shape in the distance. "Because Twilight Sparkle and friends just came floating up in a balloon."
"WHAT?!" Cozy screamed and zipped forward to seethe in their general direction. "What the heck are they doing here?!"
"General hero nonsense," I chortled and wagged my finger before turning. "But it'll be to our advantage this time."
"Are we moving out?" Tempest asked as she saw where I was walking to.
"We'll let them strike first, then sweep in and try to pin KS 6 while she's focused on Twilight," I replied, clicking a sequence on my glove to activate the war suit. The hulking machine shuddered and hissed, and the entire back began to pop open, allowing me to climb in.
After just a few moments and a few more hisses, the suit clamped shut around me and hummed to life. It'd been ages since I'd gotten to use this thing, but as I flexed and took a few experimental steps, it all came rushing back to me. The three mares looked me up and down as I did so, though Jury leveled a scowl at me.
"The internal magic cushions feel okay?" She demanded. I rolled my eyes. Just like the alicorn adrenaline, the suit had performance-modifying energy running inside to keep my body from getting blown apart by the combined might of six of Equestria's greatest heroes. While it was much healthier comparatively, it was still something that spooked Jury to think about.
"Yeah, yeah," I sighed. "No pressure or anything. Breathing's just fine, eyes are-" I paused. Jury's eyes widened and raised a hoof.
"Eyes are what?" She quietly demanded. I turned towards the south and the direction my sensors were warning me about.
"Picking up something huge rushing this way," I replied. My sensors were flickering as they tried to lock onto the source, almost as if whatever it was was blinking or teleporting. However, as the source approached, it became obvious it was not one, but two somethings. I pointed at Jury. "Mobilize. We've got trouble."
"Trouble?" Cozy squeaked while Jury rushed for the console and Tempest jumped to my side. I raised a hand to the soldiers.
"All fleshy soldiers form ranks and move back fifty paces," I boomed with my amplified voice. The hippogriffs flinched before scrambling to follow my orders. As they did, the golems turned and raised their weapons southward. I returned my attention to the approaching pair and was suddenly blinded. Tempest and the rest also cried out, as seemingly the whole area was filled with blinding light. Before my suit could compensate, there was a crash a small distance ahead of me and I heard the pitter-patter of earth and debris clattering against my armor. The light faded almost immediately and I recoiled at what I saw.
"Wh- Oh, buck," Cozy whimpered.
"WHAT?" Tempest yelled.
"Well, now," I chortled, and Jury just gasped.
"Hello, Mr. Bedford," Celestia greeted, her and Luna's mane waving on an unseen breeze. Something that hadn't been possible since their magic was stolen.
I giggled with anxiety as my sensor exploded to life, trying to compensate for the sheer scale of the magic bleeding off the pair, all but confirming that they'd somehow reclaimed their lost power.
"Heya, Jury!" Sandy called as she revealed herself on Celestia's back with a wave.
"Sandy?" Jury murmured. I scowled and snarled as the traitor maid held up Grogar's fucking bell with a smirk. Jury whimpered and held her hoof to her mouth. "You?"
"Yep," Sandy snickered. "Bet you didn't think-"
"ATTACK!" I roared and immediately fired at the former princesses.