The Vault

by Educated Guess

V-83: Quicksilver Horseshoes

Item Number: V-83
Designations: Useful, Cautionary, Contained
Administrator: Lady Alexandra
Lead Researcher: Agent Braydon

Procedure: When not in use, V-83 is to be kept in a vacuum-sealed container in the Emergency Equipment Vault of Base [REDACTED], Locker 12. Access to the EEV requires two (2) Administrator-Level keystones. Access to Locker 12 requires the keystone of Agent Braydon, who will maintain a log of the time all personnel have spent wearing V-83, and monitor all experiments involving V-83. V-83 is not to be worn by any single pony for more than 4 hours within any period of 7 days, and no more than 10 hours per month.

Note: Unless otherwise approved by myself or Agent Braydon, future research on V-83 is to focus solely on how we can replicate its primary effect without the secondary effects. We already know what it does, we just need to know how to do it. This kind of device would be indispensably useful, especially for our earth ponies and unicorns. -Lady Alexandra

Description: V-83 is a set of four (4) ornamental horseshoes, similar in style to the shoes from suits of old-style ritual Pegasopolan armor. Visually, they appear to be made out of pure mercury, but it has proven impossible to collect samples.

Tools, magic, and other inorganic materials pass through V-83 as though they were liquid. Any “drops” drawn away from the material of V-83 will gravitate back towards the shoe they were taken from. It these drops encounter high resistance to their flow, such as being contained in a beaker, they will break, melt, and/or drill their way through any resisting materials. Tested materials include glass, wood, hooves, and 2-inch reinforced steel plating. Similarly, if any shoe is moved more than 10 feet away from any other shoe, it will lose its shape and attempt to “flow” back towards the other shoes, reforming itself once it is within 2 feet of any other shoe.

When V-83 is worn, it is possible for the wearer to “step” on liquids and gases as though they were solid surfaces. This effect manifests itself as though there were invisible slopes, stairs, walls, or platforms wherever the wearer desires them to be. However, these objects will not manifest or change themselves if it would have the possibility to cause harm to the wearer (i.e. creating a sheer cliff in the wearer’s path while they are standing several feet off of the ground). V-83 does not appear to take the skills and proficiencies (i.e. training in safe falling, wings) of the wearer into account, and operates on its own consistent set of “safety rules”.

It has been observed that even when the wearer appears to be standing “on solid ground”, V-83 never actually makes contact with the floor, but rests on an extremely thin cushion of air. If the wearer is not moving, they can be easily pushed, pulled, or turned. However, if the wearer is actively desiring to stay still, V-83 has an indeterminately high coefficient of friction. Due to the fact that V-83 only reacts with living beings, it has proven unreasonably dangerous to our personnel to test the upper limits of its hold.

The long-term effects of wearing V-83 appear to be consistent with regular mercury poisoning, though at a highly accelerated rate compared to regular dermal absorption. As such, time spent wearing V-83 is to be strictly monitored and limited.