Pennington paced back and forth as he waited in his study. Moonstone had gone to investigate what was going on in the town, while he thought over their assets and how on earth they were going to defeat a pony granted the powers of a fully-fledged alicorn.
I'm just glad I never told her about what's in the basement... He thought to himself. But it's going to be like fighting a psychopathic, emotionally unstable Princess Celestia... He paused for a moment, the impossibility of the task sending chills up his spine before he quickly set himself back on the task at hoof.
He paused in his pacing as the locks on the door to his study all disengaged together. "Moonstone! Good! What did you-" He trailed off as the door swung open, revealing Trixie standing in the doorway, Snips and Snails at either side.
"You were expecting someone else?" She smiled, stepping inside and unceremoniously slamming the door in her companions' faces. "You still haven't changed the locks, sweetie..."
Pennington's temper began to rise again, but he held his rage at bay. She just walks in here like she still owns the place! This is MY study! He forced a smile as she laid on the ground in front of the small fire-burning stove he kept in the room. It had proven helpful in eradicating bad ideas, but only on paper... It unfortunately couldn't destroy the one in his mind.
"Well, you know me... Always hopeful, even when all of the evidence points otherwise!" He slowly sat down next to her, taking up the same position.
"You didn't seem very hopeful about my return when we met in the square..." She gave him a dark glare, made all the more sinister by the red glint in her eyes. "In fact, you threatened my life, if I remember correctly!"
"Well, you said that you had a good reason! I was angry, but now I've had time to settle down, think about what you said!" He placed a gentle hoof over hers, creating an intimate moment. "And I trust you, Trixie... If you say you had a good reason, there has to have been one!"
Trixie smiled, and the anger quickly seemed to fade almost dangerously fast. "I knew that you'd come around, Pennington! You were making a horrible mistake, trying to throw this amulet away! It can bring us anything that we want, anything we desire! We could be immortal, living not just the rest of our days together, but the rest of time!" She leaned forward, placing a kiss on his lips. Pennington leaned forward in the old, familiar way, bringing the heat of the kiss to a boil. Trixie raised her hoof and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him deep. His heart pounded in his chest as the seconds ticked by, and he could feel the electric energy of the amulet's sheer power slipping in through his mouth, sending tickling and tingling dancing under his skull. With a slight flick of her will, the horn at the top of his head began to work magic of its own accord, leaking white smoke that enveloped the two of them, forming a warm blanket. Pennington had rarely tried to construct anything soft out of magic, with the exception of a coarse rope, but the blanket was as soft and warm as a down blanket wrapped in silk and velvet ,just taken out of the dryer and wrapped around the two of them. Even with all of his practice, a construct of his complexity was still years of dedicated training beyond his reach.
As they finally pulled away again, Trixie wiped her mouth with a smirk. "With me and this amulet, we could do things... Things beyond your wildest dreams..." She whispered. "We would never have to see Twilight Sparkle for the rest of time."
Pennington's eyes lowered to a relaxed, half-open, glazed expression of desire. "My dear, I would want to do all those 'things' together... But I'm afraid that there's a far nobler cause to be done!" As her expression changed to one of confusion, he rose, dissipating the blanket in a fine mist. "Documenting, first-hoof, the rise to ruling of the Great and POWERFUL Trixie!" Enthusiastically, he leaped into his chair, lifting up a quill and dipping it into the already-open inkwell. With practiced ease, the quill scribbled across the paper, leaving a hasty streak of poor penmanship behind. "Such a glorious ruler-to-be deserves an account by only the greatest of writers: Scorching Quill!" He looked up only momentarily from his work to give her an enthusiastic gesture to himself. "There's nothing more inspiring than true love! I'll work tirelessly to chronicle your greatness day and night, my dear! No words can do you justice, but I'll devote my heart and my mind to doing so!" He gave her a coy grin. "You know me, don't you, love? Once I get an idea, there's no way to stop me from following through!"
Standing up, herself, Trixie gave him another grin. "Are you sure? I know you had a few other ideas a moment ago..."
Pennington's face flushed, even as he became thoroughly engaged in his work, his mind nearly completely removed from the time and place of the present.
"But you are right! The Great and Powerful Trixie shall need a biography deserving of her greatness!" She smirked as she walked towards the door. "But you can expect me to come back again... Expecting one quill in particular to be ready to write!"
"You know where you'll find me, my love!" Pennington winked at her, watching her make a point of running her tail along the doorknob as she walked away, shutting the door gently behind. The locks all engaged automatically once again, and he heard the bell above his front door jingle, indicating her departure. Immediately, his lovesick grin turned to a painful grimace, and he ran to the small stove, spitting in the fire and vigorously wiping his mouth. He smiled again as a tapping at the skylight of the windowless room, which he often regarded as one of his smartest decisions, gently alerted him to the fact that Moonstone was waiting to be let in. With a quick spell, he released the secret mechanism that kept it locked tightly to his roof, and it raised enough to let the tiny dragon in.
Moonstone fluttered down to his desk, where she settled, giving him a skeptical glance. "So... Tongue, huh?"
"Oh, shut up! You have to tell a pony wearing that thing exactly what they want to hear! It was all part of the act." Rolling his eyes, he began pacing again. "So, what did you see?"
"I saw you enjoying it a little too much..." She muttered, prompting an angry glare.
"Yes, I was reliving some of my fond memories from before she left!" He growled. "Forgive me if I tried to find a 'happy place' grasp onto while I made out with my ex in order to stop her from vaporizing me from the face of the earth! Can we move ON, now?"
Moonstone nodded, her skepticism quickly fading. "Okay... So, the entirety of the town has been placed under a gigantic glass dome, and Trixie can tell if anyone tries to get through it..." She shook her head. "I can't say that I'm feeling hopeful about any chances of escape or smuggling anypony out... and leaves us limited room to maneuver." Pennington nodded, continuing to pace wordlessly. "Trixie seemed to spend her first day redecorating the town hall, along with the rest of Ponyville. There are flags and banners with her face everywhere... And she seems to have asked the Cakes to make her a candy throne..." As Pennington nodded in response to the ridiculous statement, Moonstone turned her head in confusion. "That doesn't seem odd to you?"
"The amulet magnifies a pony's desires as it strains the mind to the breaking point... I have a feeling that sultry figure didn't come without some eating restraints... Deep down, she just wants to indulge a little, but the amulet is confusing her, and she can't tell what kind of appetite they're supposed to fill. So, she delegated that it is simply supposed to indulge her desire for position and power, rather than her craving for sweets." At her stare, Pennington gave her his own skeptical stare. "Yes, I've tried it on before... I think that the only difference between Trixie and I was that I kept a journal that helped me to see my descent into madness... which she took. I have a feeling Trixie can't even tell she's changed. Anyway, go on! Tell me more!"
"Well, Applejack seems to be the most rebellious, but Trixie has her doing hard labor to make 'applesauce facials,' and is requesting her to do impossible tasks, such as growing apples without peels.." Pennington smirked at the news.
"It almost makes me not want to fight... But freeing my thickheaded cousin is just going to be the price I'll have to pay! Applejack was the most cruel to Trixie when she was staying with me, insulting her outright when she came asking for some kind of job working on the farm... I came to her aid, of course, but for revenge, Trixie peeled the apples on several of her trees. Funny that, in her state, she seems to have a better grasp of poetic irony..."
Moonstone seemed to be reserving her questions about Pennington and Applejack, only nodding. "Well, Applejack seems to be the leader of Twilight's friends trying to resist, but Trixie has them playing the roles of her servants, so there isn't much that they can do... Pinkie Pie is the jester, forced to dance by magic, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are the labor when Trixie is too lazy to levitate something, herself, and Rarity is a one-pony sweatshop, creating the banners and flags for Trixie's new mini-empire..."
"What about Spike?"
"Hiding in the otherwise abandoned library..."
Pennington nodded, sitting down to truly ponder the information. "So, her base of operations is Town Hall?" Moonstone nodded in return. "Then that's where we're going to have to try to throw the wrench in her plans. And if we see Applejack, we'll have to give her some friendly advice: one does not insult Trixie... to her face!" He gave a nod to the piece of paper on his desk, finally standing again and walking to one of the bookshelves. When Moonstone picked it up, she saw that the "record of her greatness" had been a long slew of insults.
Hmm... "Dog-faced spawn of a mule and the creature of the black lagoon..." I might need to save that one for later! She tucked the paper into a fold in her scales that worked well as a pocket, then took to the air.
"By the way, Penn! That was a nice touch, changing the locks! She really seemed to think that you were sentimental enough to leave them as they were, didn't she?"
"Well, if she couldn't have gotten in, she would have beaten it down, so changing them back to what she knew seemed only logical!" He grinned as Moonstone landed on his back. "She bought it hook, line, and sinker!" He looked up at the bookshelf, obviously pondering something, as if the books presented some kind of puzzle.
"Now, Moonstone, I'm going to reveal to you one of my best-kept secrets... Under no circumstances are you to let any pony know about this!" He gently pulled one book halfway out from the shelf. "Do you understand? You need to swear to me on... whatever you hold most dear... That you won't tell anyone about this! Only in the most dire of emergencies will you be allowed to tell Princess Luna alone."
Moonstone nodded, crossing her claw over her heart. What followed was a series of jumbled words, accompanied by several growls, clicks, and hisses. "Narrind kjafka sorindan gorrinfindar!" After a moment of silence, she cleared her throat.
"That was Old Draconian for 'I swear upon my family's burial grounds.'"
"You speak Old Draconian?" Pennington paused for a moment, marveling at his "assistant." I'm starting to wonder if she might have more qualifications than I do...
"Well, I dabbled after my parents taught me a few lessons. Just a few phrases here and there, I'm far from fluent!" Moonstone blushed, shifting her wings uncomfortably. "In fact, I probably wouldn't even recognize it if I met someone who was!"
Pennington smiled, knowing that she was simply trying to be modest. Pulling more books partway from the shelf, there was a sound of several heavy bolts of metal being removed, and the bookshelf swung outward, forcing them to step back again. Inside was a dark passageway, with a set of stairs traveling downwards. "Looks like we both have some surprises up our sleeves, then!" While Moonstone's jaw dropped, he quickly carried her downwards.
"Moonstone, welcome to the Vault."
Pennington smiled as the door swung shut, locking with a solemn sound of metal colliding with metal and several gears turning. It was a solemn sound for a solemn door, and they were completely cut off from the world. By the light of his horn, Pennington began to slowly descend the stairs.
"And... All this on an author's budget?" Moonstone asked, her grip from behind on his neck tightening.
"Well, I may have applied for a grant or two from the NLR..." He chuckled. "When your organization works mainly off of legends and rumors of the past thousand years, you tend to get well-reimbursed for archaeology work! We saw the return of Nightmare Moon from miles away, thanks to a few lucky finds..."
"So... what is this place?"
"Well, I like to call it 'The Vault!' He grinned. "You see, I encounter a lot of strange and dangerous artifacts in my line of work. If you were to believe everything in the Daring Do series, you would think that I either donate or return all of them..." His next chuckle was a shade darker. "Trust me. Not ALL of them leave me... When I find one that I know could come in handy, or one that I simply think is too dangerous to be left where another bold pony could find it, I bring it down here, make sure it's well-contained, and save it for an emergency..."
"You... have a weapons stockpile?"
"We're not all saints, Moonstone. Even I have enemies... I just prefer to give them good reason to stay at a long distance!" As they neared the bottom of the stairwell, Pennington froze and snuffed out his light.
"Moonstone..." He whispered in only the faintest of voices. "Are you snoring?"
"No..."
"I was afraid not..." He muttered. A glowing blue sword began floating in front of him as Moonstone finally noticed the sound of a light snore echoing in the tiny hallway. "Well, whoever is is certainly going to be in for a rude awakening... It should be impossible for any pony to sneak in here! Are you ready?"
Moonstone hopped down off of his back, her nerves more than slightly shaken. "Penn... What kind of enemies did you mention having, exactly?"
"Nasty ones..." Without another word, Pennington leaped into the room at the bottom of the stairs with his sword, a near-blinding light shining out of his horn to catch the intruder off-guard.
Moonstone jumped out, as well, mouth full of flames and ready for anything.
Anything, that is, except the sight of a pink unicorn passed out in the corner of the room with an empty wine bottle and several lewd magazines. She had obviously passed out there some time ago, after consuming the entire bottle of alcoholic beverage. The magazines, mostly titled "Playbrony," depicted ponies in skimpy outfits and... intriguing... poses. There were also several "adult" books that Moonstone was pretty sure wouldn't be allowed in a public library. The most shocking thing, however, was that she hadn't seemed to notice that her body was missing from the waist down! After a moment, Pennington's sword disappeared into mist again, and he let out a long, exasperated sigh.
"Whipstitch, how did you get in here?" Bending down, Pennington grabbed at the air with his teeth and pulled. As he did, the rest of her body came into sight (along with about a dozen more magazines), and a thin cloth appeared in between Pennington's teeth. He opened a small compartment in the wall and placed the cloth inside, which Moonstone was quickly recognizing as an "invisibility cloak."
The pony's eyes slowly flickered open and came into focus, and her feeble attempt to stand made it obvious that the alcohol still hadn't worn off. "Pennnnnn... Penn... I was waiting... for the party! But you were taking SOOOO LONG! So, I drank the alcohol I brought for the party..." She grinned at him, the silly smile almost wider than her own face.
"It's alright, Moonstone, she's a friend of mine. This is our neighbor across the street, Whipstitch! She mostly works with sewing and repairing things via sewing. Though I have no idea what she's doing in here..." He muttered, walking to the wall and flicking a small switch. As the lights came on in the room, Whipstitch shielded her eyes, but Moonstone screamed and jumped back in surprise as her "talent" granted her another vision. The pony standing in front of her transformed, only for a moment, into a twisted, horrific, spider-like creature, with her body and legs wrapped in her long, black hair, staring her down with hungry, black eyes, raising long tendrils of her hair up into the air in preparation to attack. The vision was gone as quickly as it came, but it was still enough to terrify her, sending her sprinting back towards Pennington. Gripping at his leg, she pointed back at Whipstitch.
"P-Penn! Monster- Spider- THING!"
Whipstitch looked at Moonstone as if she'd grown another head, and Pennington simply sighed. "You saw something, didn't you? Moonstone, relax... Whipstitch here just has a few... 'unique issues.' Trust me, you won't be seeing that in real life unless you follow her into Everfree on Nightmare Night." Looking up at Whipstitch, he let out a long sigh. "Sorry, Whips. Moonstone, here, can sometimes see when a pony is hiding secrets... Apparently, that Includes Spiderstitch!"
Whipstitch looked down at the little dragon, then back up at Pennington.
"She has... special eyes." Whipstitch chuckled to herself, extending a friendly hoof towards Moonstone. "WELL, then! Hello, Moonstone! I'm Stitchwhip."
"Whipstitch!"
"Okay, okay! My name is Whipstitch." After shaking her hoof, Whipstitch sat down in the corner and began reading another magazine.
"Whips, we're kind of in the middle of something... Don't you think you should be getting home?" Pennington asked, pulling all of the magazines together into a pile.
"Whatcha doin?" Whipstitch asked as she turned a page, obviously only slightly invested in the conversation.
"We're going to overthrow a tyrant and topple a newly established government, hopefully returning an exiled fugitive and beating my ex-girlfriend to a pulp in the process!" Pennington stated cheerfully. "Not to mention fighting a pony who is, for all intents and purposes, as powerful as one of the princesses!"
Moonstone suddenly felt less confident in their mission.
"Hmm..." Whipstitch seemed to take all of this surprisingly well, simply turning the magazine and opening a centerfold. "What, did some crazed, overpowered being take over the town again? I'm not interested unless it's Discord!" After a moment of silence, she turned the page again. "Oooh! That's a nice design... I think I'll have to remember that one?
"Did you really have to bring these?" Pennington asked, nodding towards the stack of magazines. This was obviously a mistake, as Whipstitch was finally drawn away from the magazine long enough to grab his shoulders and look him dead in the eyes.
"Pennnnnn... Do you know what my specialty is? Do you know my forte?" Using her magic, she levitated a magazine into the air and shoved it into his face. "I make lingerie! Ponies ask me to repair things, and yes, I make normal clothes, but THIS is my talent!" Pennington didn't move, as if slightly afraid of what the inebriated unicorn would do to him if he did. The magazine opened and began flipping through the pages, making him cringe. "This is my living! Do you know- hic!-how many of my designs are in here?" As she slowly put the magazine down again, she gave him a grin. "Besides... I thought that you might want something for Twilight, so I came with a few catalogs..."
"Whipstitch!" Pennington's face descended into a deep violet as he finally walked away. "No, I don't think Twilight needs any lingerie! What she needs is for somepony to defeat Trixie and let her back into town! Preferably with brute force!"
Whipstitch paused for a moment, then her face shifted to a sadistic grin. "Is this the same Trixie that stole your stuff?" Pennington nodded. "Well, then lead the way, Penn! Do you know how long I've wanted to get my hooves on her?"
"Probably just over a year, since that's when she left..."
The comment seemed to catch Whipstitch off-guard, and even Moonstone was surprised at the ease with which Pennington recalled the fact, not to mention the utterly emotionless tone in his voice when he said it.
"Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we, Moonstone?" Pennington finally turned away from Whipstitch, looking around the room.
The Vault had an interesting design, to say the least. The walls were lined with small compartments, each holding some kind of artifact. Several pedestals stood in the center of the room, each with a glass dome at the top to hold yet another artifact. Nothing was labeled, Pennington obviously knew them all well enough that putting labels would be more of an aid to an intruder than to himself. Moonstone made a mental note never to declare war on a pony with an arsenal like this at his disposal.
Now then... The only question is: What here would be the best for fighting Trixie?" He muttered. "Physical enhancers won't be much help, we're going to need something that can help us avoid her magic." He thought for a moment, then his face light up with understanding. "We need a inhibitor!" Rushing to a compartment, he pulled it open and removed a black ring that Moonstone recognized as an "inhibitor ring," the tool used by the guard in order to restrain rogue unicorns and prevent them from using magic. While most rings were constructed from enchanted ceramic, the flawless shine and obvious weight in his hoof pointed to this one being made of a dense metal.
"This was a special request: a Class AAA Magic Inhibitor. The NLR was saving it for Nightmare Moon's return, but when she was dispatched so quickly by the Elements of Harmony, it was left to my keeping... All that we need to do is slip this little baby around her horn, and Trixie will be as powerless as a newborn foal! But... how do we get close enough to do that?"
"Couldn't you just wait until she comes back? She's obviously planning on getting pretty close to you next time..." Moonstone muttered.
"That's not our best option... If I were to somehow fail, Trixie would probably kill me on the spot. Being betrayed by her lover is the last thing that we want her to realize is going on..."
Moonstone nodded. "Well, could we use that invisibility cloak? We could sneak up on her and slip it on without her even noticing!"
"There are two flaws to that plan, though I like the way you're thinking!" Pennington smiled. "One, you would have to reach out from underneath the cloak to put it on her head, making you visible, and two, if you were to try and put it on from behind, there's no easy way to reach her horn!"
"What if we waited until she's asleep?"
"The amulet is going to start making her paranoid, she probably is going to cast a spell on herself so that she doesn't need to sleep if she hasn't already..."
Moonstone scowled and looked down.
"What... What if you magicked it onto her head?" Whipstitch asked.
Pennington rolled his eyes. "Hey, Whipstitch! Catch this!" Lifting his hoof, he threw the ring at her. Whipstitch didn't move, simply allowing the ring to bounce off of the tip of her horn, then slowly roll back to Pennington.
"OW! Why couldn't I catch it?"
"Magic doesn't work on an item made to NEGATE MAGIC." Pennington rolled his eyes as he picked up the ring again. "So, we're going to need a way to get in close to her..."
"Hey, what about this thing?" Moonstone pointed up at one of the compartments, which Pennington quickly pulled open. It appeared to be some kind of wand, with a pale, rough handle carved out of coral and a large sapphire at the top faintly glowing.
"Ah, the Tidal Wand. Anyone wielding this weapon can create and control large amounts of seawater and even some of the less intelligent of sea animals... It could come in very handy for creating a distraction!" With a smile, he passed the wand down to Moonstone. "I think you would be better suited for this one, Moonstone. Just don't try using it in here, okay? This place may be fireproof and flood proof, but it'll drown us if the flood starts in here!"
"What about this thingy?" Whipstitch pointed at what appeared to be a strange trinket of some kind. It was covered in strange odds and ends, almost looking like a three-year-old filly had taken a short metal rod and glued as much of her mother's jewelery onto it as she could, then dipped the entire conglomeration in her father's toolbox and set it to dry.
"It's the universal lock pick, not much use unless Trixie decides to lock herself in a vault like this one..."
"Penn..."
"What?"
"I want one."
"No, Whipstitch."
"Pleeease?"
"No!"
"Umm.... Pennington?" Moonstone pointed at one of the higher compartments, which was flickering and buzzing loudly. Inside, she could see what seemed to be a bolt of yellow lightning bouncing from side to side, trying to break out from the prison. She was somewhat nervous to be flying so close, just in case it somehow succeeded. "Is this thing alive?"
Pennington nodded, giving Whipstitch a glare as he engaged a magical lock on the lock pick's compartment. Walking over next to her, he observed the lightning bolt with a wary eye. "It's an electrical symbiote. When it strikes a pony (which it will when given any opportunity), it scatters itself along the nervous system, providing enhanced reflexes, a boost to agility and endurance, and even a notably faster processing power for the brain, enabling startlingly increased intelligence..."
"Okay, tell me the bad news?" Moonstone asked. "You obviously know something I don't, since you haven't decided to use it, yourself!"
"The body that it shares will constantly be building static electricity that, for some reason, can only be released either via shorting themselves out in a pool of water, which causes the creature great pain, or through shocking another pony. It can also increase the body's temperature to dangerously high levels, or the occasional rogue impulse of energy can stop the heart. This is one only to be used in an emergency where our lives mean very little in the grand scheme... Understood?" Moonstone nodded, slightly shocked at the lethality of the side effects.
"Hey, look at me, ha ha!" Whipstitch called. As they turned around , they saw that she was wearing a skull-like white mask. "I'm the 'Phantom of the Vault!'"
"NO!" Pennington rushed forward, snatching the mask off of her face. Horrified, he looked down at the mask, then up at her. Without permission, he tugged her eyelids open wider, inspecting her pupils. "How long did you have that on?"
"Just a few seconds!"
"A few seconds too long... But you should be alright." Pennington looked down again at the mask, jumping a little at the sight. It had now somehow twisted itself into an expression of anger, silently snarling at him and exposing needle-like teeth painted crimson. Putting a hoof up over his heart, Pennington let out a long sigh. "I haven't been that badly scared since Luna cured my changeling half..." Looking up again, he gave Whipstitch a glare to rival that of the mask. "Do you know what you almost unleashed? This is the tribal mask of the cannibal god, Cha'Qued! Fire and brimstone, Whipstitch, not to mention demonic possession and the likely consumption of most of Ponyville, and the incineration of whatever remains! Any pony who puts on this mask gains deistic powers, but loses their mind and becomes a vessel of Cha'Qued! This is one of the most dangerous artifacts here!"
"Then... why are you keeping it around?" Moonstone asked quietly.
"I don't..." Pennington took the mask and locked it into the compartment again. "It followed me after I managed to retrieve it from what I now know was its prison. It seems to think I'm the one 'worthy' to wear it. I didn't know what it was at the time, but the nightmares I had and the legends of the nearby village were enough to convince me to destroy it... But it refuses to die. Whatever secret there was to putting it down for good were lost when the temple collapsed." He took a moment to return the mask's glare. "I believe THAT was no accident..." Walking to the center of the room, Pennington placed it on one of the few pedestals, then placed the glass dome over it, locking it into place with a sudden twist. "We very nearly had a much greater menace than Trixie on our hooves..." He shot Whipstitch a glare. "And you just lost your 'touching privileges!'" His horn flashed, and the sounds of new locks engaging echoed through the room. "All of the doors are now locked. You want something, you're going to have to go through me..."
Moonstone couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to access things, either.
"Aww, come on, Penn!" Whipstitch hiccuped again, reminding them that she was still drunk. "We both know Spiderstitch could beat any of these things when it comes to nightmare fuel!"
Pennington gave her a deadpan stare before returning to browsing through the cupboards.
"Would you bet your life on that, Whipstitch?" He raised a hoof, not even looking at her as she began to speak again. "It was rhetorical."
"You're rhetorical!" She muttered.
Pennington paused for a moment. "We're going to need disguises... I have a great one!" He ran to the far side of the room, where there was yet another wall covered in small compartments. Unlocking one of the empty ones, he reached inside, pressing his hoof against the back wall. There was a loud clicking noise, and the wall swung outwards, compartments and all, revealing a large glass container, far larger than any of the others. Inside were what seemed to be a mechanical pair of pegasus wings. They were constructed out of what seemed to be cast-iron, and looked more like an art piece than some kind of ancient and powerful artifact. The longer she looked at them, the more impossible it seemed that Pennington was serious. The spans of the wings were filled with heavy chains, and the iron rods holding them in place were twisted and manged. They met at the center in some kind of metal harness that looked as if it were modeled after a saddle.
"Pennington, there's no way those things are going to help us!" Moonstone cried.
"You have a secret door... In your secret room." Whipstitch rolled her eyes. "Think we need to go deeper, Penn?"
"Moonstone, trust me..." Pennington grinned. "These things don't just fly, they soar!" He pulled open the door to the glass case, grunting with effort as he floated the wings out into the room. "Trust me, ugh! If Trixie's attacked by a pony who can fly, she'll never suspect it's me!"
"Okay, but what are the side affects of these?" Moonstone asked, examining them with a cautious eye, in spite of her obvious sarcasm. "Do they tear out your spine? Maybe they give you super slowness! Oh, let me guess! They make sure that you don't only throw out your back, but the rest of your body, too!"
Pennington chuckled, turning the bottom of the saddle to face her. She was shocked to see, growing out from the metal, thousands of tiny follicles waving back and forth, reaching out towards the nearest source of warmth.
"None of that... They just hurt like you wouldn't believe when you put them on!" Pennington looked up the stairway to his study. "I have some painkillers in my medicine cabinet, Moonstone... Would you mind going up and getting them?"