Yeah, that's the angle I'm taking. Create a metal statue of a pegasus, and "animate" it. I found the thread I was looking for, but it looks more geared toward creating and animating a stone animal from scratch and not animating a statue.
Do we have any craftsmen capable of making a steel statue of Pegasus? Or would we have to "cheat" and have someone Rego the block of steel into the appropriate shape, then Rego the silver trim onto it and what not?
That's 2 different things, actually.
If you Cr(Re)Te a block of flying metal, whatever its appearance, you can arguably include additionnal magnitudes for having it be flexible enough so as to not break when flapping its wings.
Let's say: Base 5 (create base metal), + 1 touch, + 2 sun, +1 elaborate shape, +1 unnatural, +1 Rego requisite, +2 size = lvl 35. Ouch. The size is clearly killing you there.
If you have a statue, you'll need a Re(Mu)Te spell to avoid it. Advantage: You know it's good looking 
Base 3 (as "Ominous Levitation of the Weighty Stone", this "Control or move dirt in a very unnatural fashion"), + 2 metal, +2 size, +1 Muto Requisite (the base would be similar), +1 touch, +2 sun = lvl 35... Okay... I see a Pattern here...
Or if you want to go the clunky road and we have a good enough craftsman, he can include articulations, so a Re(Te) spell would be enough (but clearly not as cool looking). This'd save you 1 magnitude on the previous spell.
This is what I've come up with, so far.
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Fiona's Mount of Awesomeness.
Spell Effect: ReTe(An)
This effect animates the statue and allows it to act as a real pegasus would. Base would be Level 3 ("Control or move dirt in a very unnatural fashion"), +2 magnitudes for "metal or gemstones," R: Personal (since the enchantment is affecting the item itself), D: Moon (+3, because I don't want to have to worry about landing at sunrise/sunset if I don't have to), T: Individual, +2 for size*, for a final effect level of 30. However, that would be just enough to give it Warping every time it's used (although Warping a metal pegasus could be awesome in its own way), so let's drop the Duration to Sun, for a final Spell Level of 25.
The item itself is steel (base metal, 5 base points), and at least Huge+1 (Multiplier x6), for a vis cost to open of 30 pawns.
The Spell Effect is usable twice a day (+1), for a final Effect Level of 26. We could make it constant by adding an Environmental Trigger (+3), to raise the Effect Level to 29, which would still cost 3 pawns. Or we could make it usable only by Fiona or by current members of Mons Electi (and their apprentices), which would also be a +3.
How does this look, so far?
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*Medieval warhorses weighed 1500-2000 pounds. I was unable to find anything showing how dense horseflesh was, but the human body is 1.01 g/cm[sup]3[/sup]. So, assuming that a horse has the same density as a human, and putting Aragorn in the middle of the weight range (1,750 pounds), that gives us 793,786.6475 grams, or a volume of 785,927.3738 cm[sup]3[/sup]/27.7547632730418 cubic feet. A pace is three feet, so that puts the total volume of the horse at a cubic pace, not including the wings. The base Individual for Terram (base metals) is one cubic feet. Two magnitudes would be 100 cubic feet, which would more than allow for the wings.
You don't need an animal requisite to move a lump of metal, whatever its shape 
For the above reasons, though, you'd need a muto requisite (unless you want it to be an inanimate statue, of course). This would add 1 magnitude to all the above, but otherwise, we agree.
Do not make it constant unless you want it to warp quickly. Which would be kinda cool, IMO (and a good way for it to possibly become a magic thing), but, well
This would no more cause Warping to the statue than Leap of Homecoming would cause the caster when it is range Personal. Magic doesn't warp if it targets an Individual it was designed for.
30 pawns to open - Craft: Silver 9 with speciality (a very faerie-esque silver filigree) - Alchemy 6 = 15/2 = 7.5, so I'd need an MT(enchanting) of 8. Don't think that I can make this a greater device in time for the Tourney.
Verditus special ability. I can combine any elements together so long as it wouldn't collapse on itself when it comes out of the lab.
So....we're no longer going to be converting Ogmios' Saddle for Fiona? Because now that I know about those open enchantment spaces, I really want to do something with it. And Steed of Vengeance looks like a mighty fine idea to start with.
That's okay, I'm just toying with the idea here and with an animating idea over on the main forums
It would be easier, I think. Is it possible for a Verditius to "tweak" the Wizard's Steed effect that's in there to add a magnitude for size to make the original horse bigger (more in line with Fiona's size), if it's not already at least the size of a large destrier, or would we have to add a second, larger Wizard's Steed? And I agree, that Steed of Vengeance would be spiffy, especially since it doesn't have to worry about dropping dead when it's done.
There's 40 spell levels in there. I can enchant a Linked Trigger Effect which auto-casts another spell on the horse anytime it is conjured. The question is, how to do it in a way that takes advantage of my specialties, because a MuAn transformation enchantment is really your area of expertise, not V's.
It wouldn't be that hard, either. Start with a MuAn 4 ("make a major change in a beast...for example, make a horse bigger"). R: Touch (+1), D: Sun (+2), T: Individual, for a final Spell Level of 15. Two uses a day (+1), Linked Trigger to the Wizard's Mount (+3), for a final Effect Level of 19, and two pawns of vis.
Fiona's Lab Total would be Int 1 + MT 6 + Muto 17 + Animal 7 + 7 + Inventive Genius 3 + Aura 5 + Lab Bonuses 3 = 49, without using either her familiar or her apprentice.
"Sure, you could do that," Viscaria agrees. "Even I could do that. But then what about the other two pawns worth of space left in the item? Besides, the point of having someone else enchant an item for you is to gain strengths that you don't have on your own.
Right, although it could still accrue warping for continuous effect. Which is much slower, actually.
Yes, I think it is an awesome spell. IMO, it should be relatively easy to, say, add a Creo requisite and 1-2 magnitudes so as to sustain the horse, avoiding it to drop dead.
Yes, I think that's the best way to go 
Maybe she could invent an Improved version of the Steed of Vengeance.
I'd say that she could add a Creo requisite and one magnitude to avoid it dropping dead, and another magnitude to make the horse bigger.
This is a close enough effect that she should be able to do it without it requiring 2 different spells
"Yes, but we were talking about what I ought to do to pay her back for making a transformation pendant for Theraphosa. The more we talk about it, the less this sounds like the project I should do in exchange for it. Cygna should modify the saddle herself, since transformations are her specialty. I suspect she should conceive of an enchantment which lies within my area of expertise and outside her own for her payment. Perhaps a combat spell? A Ring of Crystal Darts with....over 8 magnitudes of penetration?" (ooc: Penetration 44) "Or a defensive spell? Something that conjures a shield wall?"
Maybe...
If there's some space left, you could enchant the saddle so that it conjures a magical armor for her horse. Something that couldn't be done by mundane means. Tough, flexible, and lightweight, so as not to impede its movement.
So, looking back at Theraphosa's doohickey that Fiona's making in the summer of 1226. Did we ever decide whether we wanted it Concentration or Sun? And is Theraphosa wanting to help in the lab? (basically, if Thera helps, then we can do the Concentration duration so she can change basically whenever she wants, and we don't have to experiment)
And I'm fine with Fiona's payment being a "solid 'you owe me'" down the road.
Sure! She can help Fiona in the lab. Though if you offer to experiment, she'll be very interested -- Viscaria rarely experiments at all.
Okay, so shall we go with the twelve uses a day, concentration duration, with the item maintaining concentration, and only usable by Theraphosa, then? When I ran the numbers before, I came up with a Spell Level of 20, and an Effect Level of 40.
Using a magnetite piece of jewelry brings us to a Lab Total of 76 without experimenting. Experimenting increases Fiona's and Sheelagh's help by 6, which takes us to 82 + die roll of 9 = 91. Done.
Now for the icky part. The Extraordinary Results chart. Die roll of 6 shows Side Effect. Die roll of 9 comes up with "The spell has a major side benefit. For example, a spell that transforms you into a wolf also lets you speak to all beasts while a wolf." This could be interesting.
~dances~ Genius! Pure Genius! I can't wait to find out what the side effect is.
Was this the base MuAn/Co spell that gave her a basic human form, or the one that kept her multiple arms, spinneret, etc?
Unfortunately, it was "just" the base MuAn/Co with the basic human form. Unless, by some stroke of miraculous luck, that winds up being the "major side benefit". anime puppy eyes
If it is a hybrid animal/human creation, Fiona might want to dive into the research rules and try to stabilize that effect. Doing that to grogs would make for some pretty nasty soldiers.
There is no stabilizing of an effect when experimentation is used outside of Original Research.