//------------------------------//
// Beaten 
// Story: Penn and Stone: Dynamic Duo 
// by Pennington Inkwell 
//------------------------------//

Time is short... Pennington thought to himself, eyes darting between the three ponies approaching them. The two unicorn guards looked to be trained as differently as they were armed, one with a polearm with a wide, axelike blade at the end, the other a short, straight sword with a broad width to its blade.

One with a bardiche, the other with a falchion... Obviously meant to cover one another's weaknesses.

The one wielding the bardiche moved carefully, leaving carefully measured hoofprints in the snow but never any sign larger than necessary that he had been present. His build was lithe, but a single moment's observation showed no trembling or wavering in the spear levitated just over his shoulder: his magical grip was like iron. The other was of sturdy build, for a unicorn, his short legs only slightly wider than the blade of his falchion. He was obviously the one accustomed to close-range combat.

Pennington knew that taking his eyes off either of them could quite possibly be a lethal mistake. However, it was the pegasus they were flanking that drew the majority of his attention.

The pegasus didn't look like much of a fighter, but everywhere he stepped, the snow parted and blades of grass sprung up, leaving a trail of green hoofprints behind him, healthy as midsummer. He was obviously wielding some kind of powerful magic, and that made him dangerous. For the moment, however, all was calm and silent aside from the sound of crunching hooves on snow. Pennington took a deep breath and carefully trotted forward, coming to a stop at the center of the clearing.

"Pennington Inkwell, we meet at last..." The pegasus in the center smirked, offering his hoof.

Pennington forced himself to smile in return, if only out of courtesy, as he reached out and shook the pony's hoof. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure, Mister..."

"Raider, Delta Raider." The pegasus eyed Pennington up and down, his eyes lingering on his saddlebags. "I presume that you have the agreed-upon item?"

Pennington raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.

"I wasn't aware that Full Sails was outsourcing his devious deeds these days! How am I supposed to know that you're the pony I'm supposed to be negotiating with?"

The two guards tightened their grips on their weapons, but Delta held up a hoof, motioning for them to wait. Slowly, he reached into his saddlebag, producing a small sachet, which he offered to Pennington.

"Sent with Full Sails' highest regards..."

Pennington took the sack, loosening the drawstring and pouring the contents into the snow. Out came a multitude of coins, collecting in a small pile.

"Pennies?" Delta asked, surprised at the revelation.

Pennington sighed, tossing the empty bag over his shoulder. "It's an inside joke. With your credentials out of the way, we can negotiate."

The statement seemed to entertain Delta, who chuckled and shook his head.

"There will be no negotiation, Inkwell. You will give me the mask of Cha'Qued, and Twilight Sparkle will be released safely and unharmed. This is not up for debate."

Pennington's eyes narrowed, his temper flaring as he considered the fact that Twilight could possibly have already been harmed. Somehow, however, he managed to keep an exterior of stone-faced solemnity.	

"I want to see Twilight. You can't deliver her unharmed if you've harmed her already."

It was Delta's turn to glare suspiciously, and he shook his head. "Shows of good faith are for those who HAVE good faith, Inkwell. You will see Twilight when the mask is in my hooves, which had best be within the next ten seconds if you wish for the 'unharmed' clause to remain a part of our deal..."

In that moment, Delta Raider gave away the whole game. His front hooves shifted his weight back and forth as his tail twitched ever-so-slightly back and forth. The tone of his voice should have dropped when issuing the threat, but like the rest of his body, he was unconsciously forcing it to stay static and still. Delta Raider was bluffing, and badly.

Pennington smiled, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of Delta's face.

"She already escaped, didn't she?"

Delta's expression dropped, then twisted into an angry snarl.

"GET THE MASK!" He shouted, lunging for Pennington's saddlebag. Pennington didn't move, allowing Delta to rip the bags from his back while the two guards held their weapons to his throat. Delta desperately searched through each saddlebag, first with his hoof, then by turning them upside down and dumping their assorted contents onto the ground. The only item he seemed to take note of was a large blue crystal, which he held up in Pennington's face in an accusatory motion.

"You were supposed to bring the mask! What is THIS?"

"Oh, that old thing? It's more of a party favor than anything else..." Pennington smiled, reaching out to take it, only for Delta to pull it back out of reach. "It's an ancient artifact that was once used in the migration of earth ponies to equestria! They used it to cross the ocean by freezing it solid! It allows you to change the state of water between solid, liquid, and gas!"

Delta gritted his teeth, tossing the gemstone to the side.

"Thanks for the history lesson! WHY do you have THIS instead of the mask?"

Pennington wrapped his magic around the stone, awakening the old magic within. The snow around them melted away into a slurry of slush, and Delta and his guards plummeted through a now-open hole in the ground. Pennington chuckled, leaning over the edge.

"Because it's good at covering up pitfall traps in the snow!"

Pennington barely dodged in time, however, as the bardiche-wielding guard planted the end of his weapon into the wall and catapulted himself back out, followed by Delta flying his way back to the surface. Grinning with anticipation, Pennington sprinted for the edge of the clearing.

"Don't let him get away!" Delta cried, and Pennington felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end: the chase was on.

Ahead of him, Pennington could spot a familiar pair of trees. Bolting for the landmark, he dove to the ground, sliding smoothly on his belly underneath. Hiding behind the trunk, Calalily magically raised the rope they had buried under the snow and held it as taut as she could with her magic. Unable to stop in time, Delta and his guard both ran headfirst into the improvised trap, each caught under their chin by the rope and knocked flat onto their backs. Before they could recover, Lily had taken the rope and looped it several times around the unicorn, deftly tying a knot in it and snatching up the weapon before he could recover. By the time he had realized what was happening, Lily was already holding the bardiche in a position to strike, causing him to freeze in place.

"Try anything funny, and I won't be afraid to use this! I HAVE HAD A REALLY BAD DAY!"

Pennington smiled and placed his hoof on Delta Raider's chest, pinning him to the ground.

"Nice knotwork, Lily!"

Lily blushed, clutching the unfamiliar weapon close to her chest for a moment.

"It's not that hard, I can do a braid in half the time..."

Pennington wanted to sit there and continue praising Lily, but he needed to place his focus elsewhere. "Now then, Delta Raider, you're going to go BACK to Full Sails with your tail between your legs, and you're going to TELL HIM-"

As he turned back to Delta, however, Pennington felt something huge strike his chest, catapulting him up into the air. His eyes widened and he could only manage a weak squeaking sound as all the air was forced from his lungs and he felt what was definitely at least one of his ribs fracturing. He twisted himself in the air, trying to find something to grab onto to soften his landing. Instead, he watched as one of the trees seemed to come to life, rearing back one of its branches of its own accord and bringing it down onto his back. The impact sent an explosion of pain through his body as he was sent face-first into the ground, burying him in a large snowbank.

Pennington wasn't certain how he was injured, being completely buried in the snow had numbed nearly every one of his senses, there was only pain.

What.... what could have-

It was several seconds before Pennington could feel something gripping onto his hooves. Slowly, he was forced upwards and back into the air, suspended by his hooves. As his head pushed its way out of the snow, Delta Raider loomed over him. Now, however, his face was covered by a green mask, featureless aside from a pair of empty black eyes. Looking down as he was brought completely off the ground, Pennington could see that he was being held aloft by tree roots wrapped around his hooves.

"I don't think you understand just how high the stakes are here..." Delta growled, walking up to Pennington. He paused only for a moment before reeling back and striking Pennington in the jaw. The world began to spin as Pennington saw stars spinning about in his vision. He tried to muster the presence of mind to give a witty retort, but he was barely clinging to the edge of consciousness.

"Where. Is. Cha'Qued?"

"You... can't control him..." He eked out the words through ragged breaths. "I'll never... let you... have it..."

The roots holding Pennington began to draw apart, turning him onto his back and forcing him into a spread-eagle position. The tension grew tighter and tighter, until it felt as though his limbs were about to ripped from his body. Finally, just before he was torn apart, the roots stopped. Delta carefully placed his hoof squarely on his chest, applying only the lightest pressure to create agonizing pain.

"We won't ask you again. One."

Pennington's breath came in short, ragged gasps. Between the pain of his broken rib with every breath and his efforts to repress the urge to scream, he doubted whether he could answer if he wanted to.

"Two."

Somehow, in this moment, Pennington thought of Equestria. Of Princess Luna waiting for his next letter that would never come, of his parents and how they would never know where he was lost in the storms ravaging Equestria, of an empty study in Inkwell Commissions that would never be filled again. For the first time in his life, Pennington felt an emotion he'd thought he would never understand:

Pennington was homesick.

"Thr-" Delta was cut off as a massive roar tore through the serene mountain air. As Delta turned to face the direction the sound had come from, Pennington felt a flutter of hope in his chest, mixed with dread.

A few seconds later, the ground began to shake, and a new creature reared up into the air over the horizon, towering over the evergreens. It was a gigantic white centipede, with a body of rolled snow and legs of broken-off branches. It easily towered five stories high before diving down and beginning to crash its way through the trees, set on a collision course with them.

Delta stepped back in shock, and Pennington felt the tension of his restraints loosen as his concentration was shattered.

"What- what IS THAT?" He shouted as the threat grew closer and closer, uprooting trees and screeching an unholy noise at them.

Pennington forced out the weakest of chuckles, drawing Delta's attention back to him, if only for a moment. He only managed to choke out a single word.

"Run..."

Delta glanced nervously back and forth between Penn and the monster before spreading his wings and taking to the air. The giant centipede turned its course accordingly in hot pursuit, and Pennington let out a sigh of relief. Somehow, by some miracle, the plan had worked.

"By the stars..." a familiar voice whispered. "Penn, what did he DO to you?"

Pennington let out a sigh of relief.

"Took you... long enough... Moon Moon..."

"Don't talk, save your energy." Moonstone's disembodied voice came from beside his ear. His sword floated out of its sheathe on his back, making quick work of the vines holding him up. A new wave of pain washed over Penn as he fell back into the snow, forcing him to grit his teeth and groan as he tried to keep his voice low.

"Sorry... At least you were right! The invisibility cloak confused the Ruber Locomotus enough to keep that snow golem from coming after me for the moment. You even managed to put a few of my scales on him when you pinned him earlier!"

Pennington nodded, the comment not helping the fact that he now knew what a chewed-up piece of gum felt like.

"How long do you think we have before that thing tears him to shreds?" Moonstone may have been invisible, but luckily her footprints in the snow gave Pennington a good point of reference for where to look when she was speaking.

There was a low rumble and the sound of snapping wood, quickly followed by the monster's pained roaring.

"Oooor vice versa... We need to get away while we can, either way."

Pennington nodded, trying to muster the energy to clamber back to his hooves. His first attempt to lift one of his hooves off the ground was met with a weak trembling. "I- I don't think... I can move..." he wheezed.

There was a brief moment of silence, then a long sigh from Moonstone. All at once, she appeared before him, holding the black cloak in her hands. In the distance, the creature roared anew, and the shaking in the ground began to grow stronger. It was on its way.

"What are you-"

"Shh!" Moonstone hissed, laying the cloak over him. "You need this more than me! I'll try to outrun that thing, Lily said there was a lava pool a few miles west of here, right? I can destroy it there!"

"You'll never... make it!" Pennington felt panic beginning to set in. "TAKE... the cloak!"

Moonstone ignored his plea, tucking the cloak in around his body and piling snow around the edges.

"Lily already made it to the rendezvous, try to get there when things have calmed down. If you can't... well, we both know she's going to come looking for you."

"Please! Don't-"

Moonstone, however, ignored him, taking to the air and quickly disappearing into the sky.

Pennington's chest clenched as he felt burning tears began to streak down his face.

Useless! How can I be so useless? There has to be something I can do!

He tried again to move his hoof, this time able to muster up the strength to pick it up off the ground. The icy snowbank was beginning to numb the pain away and help him get his strength back, if only enough for him to think clearly. He froze as he watched Delta Raider fly back into sight, hovering just above the ground. Delta glanced back and forth, searching for Pennington. Pennington didn't move a muscle, even holding his breath under the cloak. After a few seconds, Delta roared in fury, punching his hoof against the nearest tree so hard the wood splintered under the blow.

"NO! That's IMPOSSIBLE! There's NO WAY he could have walked away from that! WE HAD him!"

Now that he had the chance, Pennington could get a better look at the mask. It was smooth and covered in mottled greens and browns, and seemed to have grown organically around his head, gripping onto his skull.

Speaking of impossible... There's no way, right? Could it be?

Delta tilted his head, heeding a voice Pennington couldn't hear.

"Fine! We'll go get them! But if we don't find Inkwell, they're going to WISH I had left them out here to freeze!" With that, Delta flew away towards the place Pennington had sprung his trap.

Pennington let out a long sigh of relief. If they didn't know that he had the cloak, it was unlikely they would be able to find him quickly, so his priority now was trying to find a way to get away and go save Moonstone from her own stupid decision.

If I get up, I'll leave hoofprints, so I'll need a destination in mind before I start. I can't lead them to the rendezvous point, there's no way Lily and I could survive. There's no way I'll ever catch up to Moonstone without magical help, either. I need a plan, and I can't just wait around for them to come back and figure out I never left...

But what am I supposed to do? I can hardly even move! All I've got is this cloak, my sword, and my magi-

My magic.

I HAVE MY MAGIC!

Pennington wanted to slap himself as his mind seemed to conjure up a thousand different ways he could have used his magic to free himself, or to stop Moonstone from sacrificing her own safety. Before he could begin to berate himself, however, Pennington turned his head, forcing his face into the snow and snapping him out of his shock.

Okay, no time to dwell on the past, I need to think for the moment! Now, I have magic, an invisibility cloak, and a sword. I think I MIGHT have enough strength to stand, as well. My foe is incredibly powerful and seems to be phytokinetic. What would Twilight do? She'd play it smart. Safe. Take no chance. Whatever happens, my greatest asset is the element of surprise. If I come out from under this cloak or leave any kind of hoofprints in the snow, I'll lose that.

So I don't take off the cloak, and I don't walk on the snow! ...right. Totally NOT impossible.

Above him, Pennington saw Cha'Qued's mask fade into existence on one of the overhanging tree branches, staring down at him with a condescending look.

He has the power of a god on his side. You cannot hope to win without my power. Become my vessel, and I will happily annihilate them both!

Pennington rolled his eyes, although he was unsure whether or not Cha'Qued could actually see it.

Your friends, your family, your country all depend upon you completing your mission, and you risk it all for your PRIDE? Without me, this fight is impossible, and you will condemn them all!

Pennington took a deep breath, focusing on his horn. The spell used to be second nature to him... If he could only perform one spell right now, he prayed it would be this one.

"If you ever think something is impossible..." he whispered, screwing his eyes shut in concentration, "you haven't looked at it the right way."

White mist began to float off of his horn, seeping out from under the cloak and beginning to coalesce outside.

"Always see anything... as possible!" He grunted, finally lifting up the first of his hooves on the ground and slowly beginning to push himself back up into a standing position. His concentration nearly shattered as he felt his injuries filling him with shooting, stabbing pain, but he held on tight to the image in his mind of the items he was trying to create. Slowly and on shaking legs, Pennington finally rose up into a standing position. Staring down, he saw the precious results of his magic: four copies of his wide-bladed sword laying in the snow. He carefully placed one hoof onto each of the blades, then used his magic to drape the cloak over himself once again, hiding the entire assembly. As he was about to try and lift with all his strength, Pennington remembered what had happened to his saddlebag back in Turvian's home. Instead, he closed his eyes, slowly increasing the power of his levitation on the swords at the smallest increments he could. 

"W-woah!" The transition to floating on the air was a jolt, even with all of his caution, and he nearly lost his careful footing. Eventually, however, he leveled out, and was hovering in the air above the snow. With a grin a mile wide, he carefully began to move forward, hovering in the direction Delta had gone.

What will you do, fool? You cannot resolve this peacefully, and he WILL take your life if you give him another opportunity! Do you even have the strength to do what needs to be done?

Pennington took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He didn't want to admit it, but he did truly have only one chance to beat Delta. If not Delta would definitely come after the ones he loved again. Delta Raider had crossed an unspoken line by going after Twilight and Lily. His mind wandered back to his last thoughts when he thought he was going to die, of his family and of Equestria, all of which would be destroyed if he failed his mission. His sword, the real one, floated back to its sheathe, ready at any moment to strike again.

"I'm still a field agent of the New Lunar Republic... If Equestria is at risk, I have all the strength I need in order to fulfill my duty. He'll never see me coming until it's too late."

Hypocrite. You refuse me because I will spill blood, yet you are prepared to kill in a heartbeat for your precious princess and your country!

Pennington considered responding, but he couldn't be certain they were alone, and risking his position wasn't worth making a point to a Nightmare Night mask with an over-inflated ego. Instead, he simply continued onward in the direction where they had left Delta's guards.

Several minutes passed in solemn silence, Pennington trying to think of any other way than the obvious bloody solution to the situation at hoof. As he finally reached the original clearing, however, he discovered something that ripped all of his careful plans to shreds.

There stood Delta and his two guards, all standing and staring at a massive tangle of roots. Poking out of the top was the head of a purple unicorn, struggling back and forth fruitlessly.

"Wow! I thought that Celestia's prized pupil was supposed to be SMART!" Delta jeered, laughing maniacally. "Instead of running and getting help, you just stumbled your way right back into our hooves!"

"RRGH! You're NOT going to get away with this, Delta Raider!" Twilight replied, even as another root curled up around her horn and gave it a threatening bend, causing her to stop struggling. Even immobilized by the threat of losing her horn, however, Twilight still gave Delta a searing glare. "I'm GOING to get free again! And you'd better hope Pennington gets to you before I do!"

Delta chuckled, turning his back to Twilight and facing out into the clearing.

"WELL, INKWELL? WHAT'LL IT BE? I HAVE TWILIGHT SPARKLE, NOW!" He shouted, making a grand gesture to Twilight. "YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO CRAWL OUT OF WHATEVER HOLE YOU'RE IN BEFORE I START SNAPPING BONES, STARTING WITH THAT PRECIOUS HORN! TEN! NINE! EIGHT!"

Pennington's heart felt as if it had stopped with fear. He was frozen, even as Delta counted down the seconds. There was no time for a sneak attack and no way his magic was well enough in control to speed up his plan.

"SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!"

He could try flinging his sword with his magic, but there was almost no chance he would be accurate enough to hit or fast enough to outspeed the guards' movements to block.

"FOUR! THREE! TWO!"

The safety of Equestria was on the line if he died here. He couldn't give in to the demands of a terrorist. The needs of the many had to outweigh the needs of the-

"ONE!"

Pennington flung off the cloak, revealing himself to everyone.

Not her. Not Twilight... Equestria isn't worth her.

The eyes of the mask scrunched up in a mouthless smile as Delta locked his eyes on Pennington.

"Well, well, well... that explains why I couldn't find you. You've been a worthy opponent, Inkwell. I can see why Sails told me to be hesitant about you!"

Pennington glared at him with every ounce of hatred his body could muster as he slowly descended back to the snow.

"PENN! What happened to you?" Twilight asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "Did- did HE do that to you?" Pennington had no idea what he looked like, but Twilight's reaction was enough to show him that he looked at least half as bad as he felt. "Run away! RUN! I'll be okay, just run!"

Pennington sighed, shaking his head.

"Run? I can hardly stand..." he whispered, mostly to himself.

"Now, no more games, no more running... No more fighting it, Inkwell!" Delta announced as he strode across the clearing. With a stamp of his hoof, more roots grew out of the ground, tightening around Pennington's throat and yanking him violently to the ground. Delta placed a hoof on his head, driving the face of his bowing opponent into the snow. Slowly, deliberately, Delta leaned down and whispered into his ear. "This is your last chance to save her and to save yourself."

"Where. Is. The. Mask?"