Dragon's Feud

"Some Ponies think they did it because the castle was a symbol of Pony authority in the town, and they wanted to remove any idea that the Princess was in charge there anymore." Hammer shrugs. "... and some other ponies think like the breezie. Big shiny gem, dragons and dogs take."


A little while later, the wagons pull off the road at a rest area. It seems to be little more than a tavern with a few awnings constructed in the side lot, presumably to shelter the wagons. The wagon crews set about parking their vehicles, and Hammer and Wilted escort the party inside. The caravaneers are greeted by a sullen, perhaps bored looking young mare, who hardly looks up from her magazine when they walk in. "Back already? You only left a little while ago." "Change of plans. Staying another night. They need rooms." Hammer nods to the group, and the mare at the counter looks at each of you with varying degrees of interest.

Chassis unhitches herself from her wagon, and then bolts through the tavern door ahead past Hammer and Wilted, stopping only to scan the interior before charging in a beeline for the restrooms.

Outside, Mossburg casually pushes the wagon under one of the awnings and posts himself by it.

"Hi, we're a team from Ponyville. Team... Folderol. We're looking to solve the issue with the supply lines, and hopefully get some information by nabbing a dog or dragon on our way back." Atlas raises a hand in greeting, conscious not to brush the ceiling lights with his horns. "Ah... sorry if we're causing a hassle."

"No traffic since the dragons showed up, so no business. I got rooms." The mare replies in a bored tone. "A few of you gotta share, we only have 8 rooms, one's being used." She slides a few keys across the desk. "Pay in the morning." The caravaners grab 4 keys, as the rest of their teams enter the lobby, and group up accordingly, leaving 3 keys for the party. A sign directs everyone to the stairs leading to the 3 available rooms.

Pumpkin blinks a few times, staring at Peony. "You think they want to eat Princess Twilight's castle?" It's the stupidest idea that makes complete sense that she's ever heard.  They really had to find that castle. Having a whole royal castle get eaten was just wrong.

She gives a quick smile to the mare at the desk and makes to grab a key.

"One room for the colts, two for the fillies, I guess? None of you snore, do you?" she asks.

Out of curiosity, she looks towards the desk mare. "Who's took the room that's already taken?"

Helmaroc flutters her wings, and Peony nods. "We roost outside," Peony says, as Helmaroc preens her feathers awkwardly. "Hellie not like indoors."

~Will stay for now though~ Helmaroc adds. "Later," Peony agrees.

"In that case," Atlas scratches the top of his head, looking around. "I suppose I'll take my leave for tonight, then. I still need to do my stretches."

Waving everyone goodbye, he heads up to the room, and starts off his nightly stretches, planning to go to sleep after a nice relaxing yoga session.

That is, if everything goes as planned.

OK, Holiday's over. Back to work.

---

Out of curiosity, she looks towards the desk mare. "Who's took the room that's already taken?"

"Some old stallion. Says he doesn't care about Dragons, is gonna be here for a while." She shrugs, looking back at her magazine. "Didn't ask questions." She doesn't say anything else, and after a brief awkward moment, everyone finally makes it to their rooms. They're comfortable enough, and with those resting outside, there's enough beds for everyone.




In the morning, the general wake up time is chosen for everyone, as Wilted makes the rounds, knocking on doors and ushering everyone up. The caravans are already loaded and ready to move as soon as possible.

"Guuawaaaay!" Pumpkin Spice groans as there's a thump thump thump on the door. She pulls her pillow down around her head. It's a full minute before she manages to sit up.

Her eyes are barely cracked open, and there are big bags under them. Her mane a complete mess, with one patch sticking severely off at a random angle.  Her feathers are all over the place and she has a scrunched up terrifyingly grumpy look stuck on her face.

"UUUUUUUGH," she says, throwing the blanket off her. She falls off the bed with a loud THUMP. Pulling herself up, she grabs her saddlebags in her teeth, and staggers, zombie-like, out the door. Her blanket drags behind her, stuck on her hind hoof the whole way.

Outside, she pushes her way obliviously past ponies, knocking over objects, and bumping chairs out of place as she beelines across the room and spills a press and a few bags with little coffee bean pictures on them on to a table, hangs a kettle over the fire, and stands there, facing the fireplace, unmoving with her eyes closed as she waits.

Chassis’s attention remains fixed on the project she’s working on as she swigs a Rawberry and affords her companions’ arrivals with an absent-minded ”G’mornin’.”

In front of her, a soldering iron hovers over a device, carefully soldering the last few connections into place. After a moment, it cleans itself off on the nearby sponge and returns to its cradle while its owner finishes assembling the device. The finished product is a saucer about eight inches in diameter and one inch thick, with a button in the center just big enough for a hoof to press it.

A spellbook levitates in front of Chassis long enough for her to double-check her spell. Then she lowers a pair of welder’s goggles over her eyes.

”Guard your eyes, everypony,” she warns off-hoof. ”This is gonna be very bright.”

She waits a few seconds, then lights her horn and concentrates on the device. It gradually begins to glow the same hue as her magic, before a blinding flash of light erupts from it. When the light subsides, the device is resting on the table, as if nothing had happened. Then it slides to the side, and Chassis removes her goggles.

”Clear.”

Rolls:

All in all, it takes roughly the same amount of time for the rest of the group to be roused and rounded up as it takes Pumpkin to brew her breakfast. As coffee odor fills the room, Chassis finishes her work, and Wilted ushers everyone along. "We need to get moving as soon as possible. Who knows what else may have happened since last night." The caravans are already packed and ready, with a few boxes relocated to Chassis makeshift cart to make room inside one of the larger wagons.

Helmaroc flutters down from the roof, carrying Peony in her travel bottle.

Peony is noticeably not a morning breezie and is not talking, but Helmaroc looks pretty chipper for an eagle.

~Morning!~"Mhmm"

They look ready to go, in any case, and as the group starts off they will follow along, keeping watch from above.

Chassis heads outside to put the second of her two devices in the remaining caravan wagon.

"Not my best work," she comments to Wilted as she works, "but for what we need, it should be enough. If we see any dogs ahead, we'll signal you. When you see the signal, push the button, and it should project a force field around the wagon and any ponies escorting it. That'll help us keep anything from getting damaged if the dogs attack."

Mossburg, meanwhile, eyes the makeshift wagon behind him, the tracer cables from the old wagon now adapted to hitch him to it..

”Annoyed. You do possess enough physical strength to pull this wagon yourself, Chassis."

"Delegation of responsibility, my dear Mossburg! It’s for Equestria!"

If Mossburg’s face allowed for any expression at all, he could be regarding his creator with a raised eyebrow. He says nothing, though, and turns to align himself with the caravan for travel.

While the others leave, Pumpkin Spice doesn't budge from standing in front the fireplace. At least, not until the coffee is ready and she's downed two cups of the hot liquid so fast it's a wonder she didn't spontaneously burst into flames. She's working on her third cup of her own special extra-caffeinated blend when she finally makes it out of the inn. A small army of cups are expertly balanced on her out-stretched wings. Her eyes are still half closed.

"Coffee," she announces, beginning to make her way around to everypony. She even has a small thimble of it for Peony. As she passes a cup to Chassis, she looks carefully at the mare, pulls out a notebook, then scribbles something down before spitting the pencil back into her saddle bag.

Rubbing her eyes with a hoof, she nods. "Well, let's do this."

Abilities (ATTN PARTY):

Cherry had slept somewhat better than she had the previous day - but one night's decent sleep does not make up for chronic insomnia. Still, she was able to wake up, get properly equipped, and come downstairs without assistance. Which was usual, really, but waking up at a specific time was not her strong suit.

The coffee helped a little as well. Caffeine had ceased being effective long ago, of course - but it was good brew. She let out a contented huff as she sipped her tea without a word...

Instant Party:

As everyone makes their way outside, the caravaneers set off, letting Mossberg take up the rear of the wagon train. As before, it takes a few hours to get back to where they met the day before, and Rock Hammer pulls the non-trap wagon to the side. "Alright, Wilted will go with you all in the main wagon, taking the lead. The big guy and his small wagon can follow close, and we'll bring up the rear. Just give a yell if a fight's about to happen so we can be ready." The wagons adjust positions, and Wilted gives the signal to start, letting the group steer along a clear path...

---

I warn ponies if anything come close

Peony broadcasts a psychic message as she and Helmaroc keep an eye out for trouble, scanning the forest and the road for incoming dogs, dragons, or anything suspicious.

Stuff:

Chassis rides in the back of the lead wagon with her forcefield device, her hoof ready to press the button to deploy the shield at the first sign of danger. From where he follows the wagon, Mossburg also keeps watch for signs of incoming trouble.

Rolls:

Pumpkin leans forward, squinting her eyes as she looks carefully at Cherry as she drinks the coffee. She takes the liberty of refilling it with something stronger before dragging her hooves towards the wagons, flapping her wings just enough time to get on one of them, and then go along for the ride, watching one side of the road with half-closed eyes.

Actions:

While both Peony and Helmaroc have a bird's eye view, Peony happens to be looking in the right direction to spot them first. The dogs are coming from the woods again, rather than from the ridge, and this time there are four of them moving with a purpose towards the road. Peony also spots what looks like a thick, scaly tail slithering underneath a tree, but she can't be sure if that was the dragon or not. The dogs near the road, but halt just behind the treeline, watching. They have an excellent concealed vantage point to see the caravan. They haven't noticed the eagle above them.

No one on the road is quite so lucky to see or hear the dogs approach, but Chassis does notice a bush that she saw earlier, that inadvertently lines up with the edge of the pit traps- now's the time to steer clear of them.

Chassis leans forward and taps Wilted.

"Traps start here," she says. "Keep us along the side."

Two dogs dart from cover, stopping about 10 feet ahead of the caravans, blocking their path. "Stop, po-nies! No wagons this way!" Chassis recognizes Fe-Tcher giving the warning. They stand tall, looking as menacing as possible. "We warned you not come back this way! We take your wagons now!" Peony is able to keep an eye on the other dogs in the brush, waiting in ambush. The ones on the road seem to be waiting for someone to make a move, and there is still no sign of a dragon.

More dogs in bushes. No dragon, but saw a weird scaly thing before. Be careful...

Peony broadcasts the psychic warning to whomever is receptive and is a friendly, as Helmaroc continues to circle over the group, though still not making an overt move.

Chassis tenses on the button.

"We weren't gonna come back this way, originally. But after you told us all about your pits and how to get a wagon past them, we figured 'what the hay?' and went for it."

While she speaks, Mossburg disengages himself from his load, moves to the side of the lead wagon, and assumes a defensive position.

Cherry sighs and begins the process of readying her oversized crossbow, before holding it so it was pointing just slightly above the dogs - and in full view of said dogs. Also in full view was Cherry's usual expression of, "Not dealing with your horseapples."