Penn and Stone: Dynamic Duo

by Pennington Inkwell

Honor Among Rivals

When Pennington opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Twilight's sleeping face. Relief washed over him and he smiled. His eyes flicked upwards, taking in the massive cavern they were laying in.

If it weren't for his own memories of the trip here, he would scarcely have dared to believe that he was sitting in the center of the home of one of the most ancient noble dragon families in the world. This was a sight that, most likely, no pony had seen since Quill the Scribe, himself!

He slowly and carefully tried to get his hooves underneath him, raising himself up out of the water. He was absolutely flabbergasted to find his body obeyed him perfectly, giving no pain or resistance. The splashing of the water running off his back and into the water echoed and reverberated in the silent cave, and he saw Twilight's face scrunch up as she sat on the verge of awakening. As quickly as he dared, Pennington waded his way into deeper waters until only his neck was above the water and all was silent aside from his breathing. As he drew away, he felt his heart swell at the sight that Lily had been just behind him, sandwiching him in his sleep between the two of them. Seeing both of them here and safe filled him with a deep satisfaction. If they were safe, then all the pain and injuries, everything he'd been through... was worth it.

The magic of this place... It's incredible! He took a deep breath, stretching his lungs to their maximum. The pain of his brush with death was now only a faded memory. I haven't felt this good since- Well, since the changeling hive, if I'm honest...

He took a deep breath, ducking his head down beneath the water and swimming further towards the center of the spring, where the floor gave way to a deep black hole. Rising up from underneath was the hottest part of the water, along with a slow stream of bubbles. Every time one of the bubbles popped against his body, a jolt of magical energy would run through Pennington, invigorating him more and more with excited energy until he felt as though he could explode with it. He grinned and took off swimming as fast as he could beneath the water, swimming three laps around the hole in what he could only hope was some kind of record time.

Finally, more out of obligation than need, he climbed his way back to the surface, taking another satisfying deep breath.

"Wow..." he whispered.

"It IS quite lovely, isn't it?"

Even in the center of the hot spring, Pennington's blood ran cold. Slowly, he turned himself in the water towards the voice.

Full Sails sat on the shore, quietly spinning one hoof in the water with an almost absentminded serenity.

"Just a few seconds and a couple drops on the back of my neck and I was fresh as a spring daisy! Considering you've been marinating all night, I can only imagine that you're at the absolute pinnacle of physical health. Lily and Twilight, too."

When the names left Sails' mouth, Pennington felt a surge of protective rage well up in him. It wasn't enough to make him leap out of the water and attack Sails, but Pennington quickly wrapped his magic around the pegasus and lifted him up into the air.

"You broke the rules, Sails. Give me one good reason I shouldn't snap your neck like a twig with my magic..."

Sails sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I promise you, my... assistant... had no knowledge of our clause regarding friends and family. I did not know about his actions, only the results he'd promised me."

Pennington narrowed his eyes, slightly increasing the pressure on Sails's neck and tilting his head to the side. "I'm still waiting for the GOOD reason."

"Bahneighn."

Pennington stopped. Bahneighn was a small country he'd visited two years ago, a grouping of islands operating under a single government. While he had been there, he had dove headfirst into the underbelly of their criminal world in search of an artifact being used by a mob boss to control the minds of the local police force. He'd quickly found himself in over his head, however, and was captured and thrown into a cell right alongside Full Sails.

"What about Bahneighn? It was a one-time collaboration to save both our hides."

"What about it is that you're in trouble too deep to climb out of. Again. I'm here to bail you out. Again."

Pennington couldn't repress a chuckle.

"You expect me to buy that? after everything you've done to me over the last forty-eight hours? You think that you can just name drop the ONE time we worked together and suddenly I'll believe every word you say?"

Sails narrowed his eyes, growing more serious. He reached behind his back, and Pennington readied himself. If Sails was going to try anything funny, he wouldn't live long enough to do it. Pennington felt the bottom drop out from his stomach as he saw Cha'Qued's mask gripped in Sails's hoof. Sails held up his other hoof, politely motioning for Pennington to wait for him to finish. Rather than his face, Sails placed the mask over his heart, holding the teeth directly against his chest.

"Cha'Qued, chi ro etia, ro akai los benias..."

Pennington's eyes widened.

"S-Sails, this is no time for playing around! Those words aren't to be taken lightly!"

Sails remained perfectly calm.

"Pennington Inkwell, you are in danger, and I am here to save you."

Both ponies waited. Penn held his breath, expecting the screaming to start any moment. After almost ten seconds, Sails spread his hooves apart, revealing himself completely unharmed.

"As you can see, Cha'Qued has NOT eaten my heart straight out of my chest. I am NOT lying to you."

Pennington had to admit, that was a convincing argument. That oath, when spoken out loud in the original tongue, offered himself as a bloody tribute if he were to lie. Sails was absolutely telling the truth. Or working with Cha'Qued to fool him.

Pennington raised one eyebrow and slowly returned Sails to the ground.

"Fine. I'm listening..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight? Hey, Twilight, wake up!"

Twilight had no choice to obey the request as a set of small claws gripped at her shoulder.

"Spike... just a little longer..." she mumbled, rolling over onto her other side.

"Okay, first of all, I'm offended..." Moonstone grumbled. "Second, Penn's GONE!"

"...what?" Twilight cracked one eye open. Her body felt like it was made of overcooked spaghetti, completely relaxed and limp. With a monumental effort, she turned herself back over. Moonstone was standing over her and Lily with her arms folded over her chest. Lily was rubbing the sleep from her eyes, obviously as disconnected from the rest of the world as Twilight was. Moonstone was right, though: there was no sign of Pennington.

"He probably swam off or went exploring, he'll be back soon..." Twilight muttered. "You know how much he hates staying still..."

"Yeah, because I've never seen him spend 48 hours sitting perfectly still with a stack of paper, four quills, and six wells of ink." Moonstone narrowed her eyes. "Look, Penn isn't some stray dog who will just make their way home 'eventually!' He knows when it's not appropriate to just wander off alone-"

"Over here, Moon Moon!" Pennington's voice echoed across the gigantic chamber as he appeared in the mouth of a tunnel almost ten meters above them. "Just a sec! WOOHOO!"

Moonstone's eyes widened as she watched Pennington leap off of the ledge and into the air. Twilight was hardly surprised, watching him dive headfirst into the water. She tugged her hooves underneath her body and pulled herself out of the water, climbing back up onto the shore as Pennington swam his way back into the shallows. She grinned and gave Moonstone a nudge.

"Told you so."

Moonstone sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Pennington clambered out of the water to join them. Before he could say anything, she had jumped up and grabbed his ear, forcing his head down to her level.

"OW! Ow ow ow ow, Moonstone!"

"Twelve hours ago you were at death's door, and now you're showing off your high-diving skills? Are you INSANE?"

"Okay, okay! Just let go before you pierce my ear!"

Twilight couldn't hold back a giggle. Twelve hours ago, all of them had been beaten within an inch of their lives, nearly killed by an insane pegasus wielding magical artifacts. Now, it was like nothing had even happened, and Penn and Moonstone were back to their usual antics.

"Your home is pretty amazing, Moon Moon!" Penn smiled and tousled the black spines on the top of her head. "Kinda reminds me of the caves under Canterlot if they were dragon-sized!"

Twilight snaked her way around Moonstone and up to Pennington. Without warning, she leaned in and placed a warm kiss on his lips. The two of them remained locked in place for a few seconds, each one enjoying the feel of the other. Finally, Twilight broke the kiss, staring into his violet eyes.

"I missed you."

Pennington chuckled nervously.

"W-well, it's only been a couple days..."

Twilight felt a twinge of annoyance as the romantic moment seemed to fall flat.

"But honestly? I missed you, too." Pennington smiled and leaned forward to plant a peck on her cheek. "Seeing you and Spike sweep in like guardian angels was probably the happiest I've been in my entire life! Not to mention how you stood up to a nature goddess single-hoofed!"

Twilight felt her face grow hot with a fierce blush. "Well, you wouldn't have even needed rescuing if I had just listened to you and stayed in Canterlot..."

"Sails would have come for me, anyway..." Pennington's eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Taking friends and family isn't his style, I think that Delta Raider guy threw him off his game."

Twilight felt curiosity poking at the corners of her mind, a question she needed answered. "So... what exactly is the situation between you and Sails, anyway? You talk like you two hate each other, but when you saw him you both talked like you were friends! Well, up until the point when you started beating on each other..."

The question seemed to amuse Pennington, making him chuckle and shake his head. "I guess the best way of putting it is... You have best friends, right? Ponies you'd do anything to help, and you enjoy being around more than anypony else in the world?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well, think of Sails as my 'best frenemy.' We definitely enjoy one another's company and share a lot of interests, so we make the best of THAT, even if the foundation of our relationship is that we're deadly rivals. I mean, who else could I have a good conversation with about the cultural significance of the types of traps used to guard the last idol of Katamandu? We respect each other. We work by a set of rules we laid down a long time ago."

Twilight tilted her head, beckoning him to continue. She'd heard the term 'frenemies' before, but she'd always dismissed it as a meaningless oxymoron.

"We respect each other, even if we each want the other dead. We wouldn't stab each other in the back or kill him in his sleep because that would just be rude. It's just as much a game to us as it is a struggle for life and death, one with strict rules."

"Rules? Like what? What kind of rules are there for two ponies trying to murder each other?"

"Well, for instance, we're never supposed to involve friends and family-"

"Fat lot of good THAT did..." Moonstone muttered.

"-which is why I think I didn't spot Delta's body anywhere after I woke up. Sails definitely wasn't happy about that rule being broken, was he?"

Twilight blinked, realizing Penn was right. When she'd regained consciousness Spike told her what had happened to Sails, but Delta's fate had remained a mystery. Both of them turned to Moonstone, who shrugged.

"By the time I got there, all that was standing next to Sails was a bloody smear."

"We don't make lethal sneak attacks, first one back to civilization keeps the artifact, and neither of us are allowed to retire from adventuring until the other is dead." Penn sighed and shook his head. "It's a rivalry that won't end until one of us is gone."

Twilight had to admit, it was a rivalry unlike any she'd ever heard of before.

Moonstone cleared her throat, drawing attention back to herself.

"Penn, I think it's time you were introduced to my dad, the head of the household."

The statement snapped Penn out of his forlorn reverie, bringing a wide smile to his face.

"Sounds great. I'll wake up Lily and-" Penn started to walk over, only to be stopped by Moonstone placing a clawed hand at the center of his chest.

"Hey, let's let her sleep. She needs the rest after the insanity she's been through. I'll make sure somedragon comes by to make sure she's watched over and kept safe."

Twilight felt her blood run cold as her mind put the pieces together. Up until now, Moonstone had kept her fooled along with everyone else, but Twilight knew their reason for being in the Adelind Eyrie was twofold. She wrapped up Moonstone in her magic, yanking her to the side and pulling her away from Pennington.

"Could I.. borrow her for a second, Penn?"

Without waiting for a response, Twilight rushed several steps away out of earshot and pulled Moonstone close enough for their noses to nearly touch.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Exactly what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing, same as you, Twilight." Moonstone crossed her arms over her chest as she whispered her response.

Twilight scoured her mind for a good reason to argue with that. "NOW? He's already ON a mission to save Equestria, do you really want to risk messing that up?"

Moonstone raised an eyebrow, silently judging her.

"Celestia told you the stakes, didn't she? This is bigger than just stopping one dragon! If calamity is coming to Equestria, we NEED the guardian spirits! Anything Penn could do to stop Scorch, the Scribe can do better!"

Twilight felt trepidation mounting in her chest. Moonstone wasn't incorrect, but something about this still felt wrong. Her thinking was cut off as Moonstone reached up and gripped her shoulder.

"I know it's sudden, but you've known we were going to do this for a long time. It's destiny, and we're instruments in its designs! No matter what we do, this will happen eventually!"

Twilight had nothing to say, so she shut her mouth tight. She weighed her options. If what Celestia had told her was true, if the mountain of evidence she'd put on display had been correct, Twilight's path was clear. This was empirically the correct decision, minimizing the risk to Equestria.

But for only the second time in her life, Twilight's "gut" was telling her something different than what Celestia had told her. The first time had been Nightmare Moon's return, and that had proven to be all according to Celestia's plan in the end. Celestia had always felt near-infallible when she'd had proper time to think and plan, and according to what she had told Twilight, she had been planning this for more than a thousand years.

"Everything will be fine, Twilight. This is SUPPOSED to happen." Moonstone smiled and patted the top of her head before walking away and back to Penn, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She didn't hear what Pennington and Moonstone said before they disappeared into the tunnels. Silence fell like a suffocating blanket. The only sound was breathing reverberating off of the walls. A mess of inhalations and exhalations...

...too many inhalations and exhalations.

Twilight took a deep breath and held it. Just as she suspected, even without the sound of her breathing, she could hear multiple sets of lungs working. She gathered up her concentration and sent out a magical pulse, feeling out any other creatures nearby. It wasn't long before she felt a hit in one of the tunnels above her. She could easily tell that it was a pony, not a dragon. She tightened her grip and dragged it out of the tunnel, quickly bringing the spy down to eye level.

"Huh. You know, I always knew you were good, but THAT was impressive..." Full Sails grinned from the place Twilight was keeping him suspended in the air.

"YOU!" Twilight felt rage flare up inside her, enough for her to ignore the possibility of waking up Calalily. "You FOLLOWED US?"

Sails shrugged nonchalantly, surprisingly unconcerned about the fact that Twilight could crush him in her grip with only a thought.

"There's one thing Penny didn't- HRRK!"

Twilight had tightened her grip around his windpipe. For a moment she wondered if she might have been a bit to forceful in her anger, but she dismissed the thought. She was mad, but she was in control.

"Don't call him 'Penny.'"

Sails nodded as best he could, prompting Twilight to release his throat. Sails let loose a raspy chuckle as he gasped for breath.

"Well, I was calling him that long before you were... but alright." He gave Twilight a sickly, lopsided grin. "There's one thing Pennington didn't tell you about our little game."

Twilight narrowed her eyes and increased the pressure across Sails's entire body. Sails glanced to the side and back.

"Am I the only one worried that the gutsy one still hasn't woken up yet?"

Twilight blinked, taking a moment to figure out what he meant by "the gutsy one." He looked in the same direction he had, her eyes coming to rest on Lily's still-unconscious body.

There was no way that Lily could have slept through all of this.

"Funny things, wyverns. A lot of dragons don't even have venom, but theirs can be used for a variety of different purposes in different dosages. Some people say small doses make the most wonderful sedatives." Sails shrugged. "I prefer a nice cup of valerian root tea, myself."

Twilight spun back on Sails, eyes wide with shock.

Moonstone wouldn't- she COULDN'T-

Sails leaned in close to Twilight, his smug smirk still on his lips.

"Still think I'm the one you should be afraid of, here?"

"Yes." Twilight's answer was unequivocal and without hesitation.

Sails's eyes rolled upwards in quiet contemplation.

"Fair enough." Chills ran down Twilight's spine as his smile turned to a terse frown and his eyes narrowed in a glare that felt like it was cutting straight through her. "But the one thing Penny didn't tell you is that I'm not going to let anyone else take him out except myself..." His expression shifted to a more casual eye-roll. "Or his own stupidity, but there's not much I can do to stop THAT." He squinted, examining Twilight carefully.

"Well, I guess it would make sense I can't see a bite mark on you, the spring probably healed it..."

Twilight's hoof sprung up to her neck, rubbing and fruitlessly inspecting it for any injuries.

Moonstone said we'd been asleep for more than twelve hours... when was the last time I slept for twelve hours straight? I keep a strict 8-hour schedule!

"Hey, can I ask you a question, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight was snapped out of her thinking by Sails once again. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she was willing to listen.

"I was never gung-ho for the Old Lunar Republic, they were just the means to an end for me, they have resources. But I'm not exactly an Equestrian patriot, either. I never even bothered to learn what the Elements of Harmony are. Could you list them off for me?"

The question threw Twilight for a loop, nearly breaking her concentration on her magic. "Magic, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and Loyalty."

"Loyalty... that's the one that gets me! Loyalty to whom? To an individual friend? To the greater good of a group? What about a city or a country? I always stay loyal to myself, does that make me virtuous?" Sails shook his head. "Say somepony, maybe Rainbow Dash, decided to abandon you in order to go save Cloudsdale from danger? Would she be acting disloyal, or just showing MORE loyalty to her home? Would that be evil?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed. Sails knew EXACTLY what he was talking about: Discord. Telling Rainbow that Cloudsdale was in danger was exactly how Discord had broken her, tricking her into acting against her element by abandoning her friends. Rainbow had always been more angry that Discord had manipulated her than curious about how the logistics of her element functioned. Twilight had tried multiple times to resolve the paradox of Rainbow's supposed disloyalty, and the only way Twilight could imagine her actions being defined as disloyal was because she had chosen to be loyal to Cloudsdale INSTEAD of her friends, the other Element bearers.

"What's your POINT, Sails?"

Sails raised one eyebrow. "Well, suppose Twilight Sparkle was more loyal to Equestria than to her friend? Would THAT be evil? And if so, and I were more loyal to the old friend than to the ruling demigoddess of Equestria..." he leaned in close enough for Twilight to feel his hot breath on her cheek.

"Would that make ME the hero and YOU the villain?"

Comments

[Love able chaos]

No Delta that would make her Lawful good and Lawful chaos or chaotic neutral.