Dragon's Feud

As the pony medic went to work checking the dogs for various injuries a certain zebra was quick to join her, providing his own insight into the condition of their prisoners in a calm and professional manner. However, he couldn't help but smile with just a little bit of wicked glee in his eyes as he muttered "Before you travel down this warpath, I would implore the usage of a bath, for I do not wish to see disease in these cuts and scratches seize." It was interesting to swap back into rhyme, but it was an important part of the whole act. Besides, now it was time to see how strong the puppies resolve was when put up against soap and warm water.

Actions:

"If your alpha were going to mount a rescue attempt, he'd be more inclined to rescue your dragon boss than you. He's more valuable, so the reward would be better, and your alpha wouldn't have you boys to split it with."

Chassis pauses, then adds, "We could put on some music for you, make it a bit more homey down here. I'm sure we can find something relaxing to listen to."

Actions:

Two of the dogs back away from Pumpkin, but the cages are small and she can visually see well enough few cuts and bruises, nothing major. One of the dogs seems to have matted, damaged fur along his back and shoulders, which is no doubt a result of having hot coffee poured on him- most likely why they don't want her near them. The other dog is a bit slower, scooting back. He looks a bit dazed still, maybe concussed. "Dogs do not need baths! Dogs are good at cleaning, unlike smelly po-nees." The lead dog grins insultingly, taking a moment to lick one of his wounds. "And po-ny music is awful."

.....

The Amaranth ponies outside look up at Mossburg, clearly intimidated. "Uh, no... lots of ponies actually stopped to look at it... didn't see anyone mess with it." Replies a unicorn stallion, and then an Earth Pony mare chimes in. "I saw Pinkie Pie near it earlier. You could ask her?"

Unable to fly indoors, Helmaroc awkwardly hops downstairs, with Peony jiggling around in the carry bottle dizzily. They get down in time to catch the dogs' words, and Peony nods sagely. Right? Pony music, bad taste. Too peppy. Too bright. Not enough screaming guitar string. And smell! Don't mention smell. Pony perfume like fake flowers, hurts the nose.

"Peony!" Hellie glances at their pony hosts for a moment, aghast, before turning back to the dogs, watching them curiously. Neither of them really had the chance to observe them up close, without risking being captured or eaten.

"If you were friendly, we would take your choice into consideration. However you are not, as proven by your incarceration." Kabra'za was quick to inform, his eyes glancing from the dogs to his allies as it quickly became clear to him that the whole 'friendship will unite us all' approach was clearly not going to work here. The puppies were going to need incentive to play ball. "We have even made some special soap, that will clean all the filth from your fur we hope. After you've been cleaned to our Hostress's high tastes, we'll be serving up some flowers that have been blended to paste. And since you've made it so clear what you desire, we will track down the most upbeat and 'peppy' album that we can acquire. If after that you manage not to rout... we'll be forced to pull the big guns out."

Turning a little so that he could start to pace, he grinned as he continued talking without looking directly at the dogs themselves "When it comes time to change over, we will summon ponies that can perform a makeover. Ribbons, glitter, why stop there? They can do whatever, we won't care. I'm sure your alpha wouldn't blink, if we were to dye your fur a nice pink... " Before you offered the carrot, sometimes you needed to present the stick; Just to let it know that it was there so the carrot seemed more tempting to take.

Chassis opens her IBOTI box again, and cycles the shelves inside to one filled with records.

"'Track down' nothing," she says. "I've got a nice variety right here." Then the records start floating out of the box as she names them off. "Got some nature sounds, some soft rock, easy listening, classic rock, classical. If those aren't your speed, I've got heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal, hair metal, industrial, steampunk..."

---

Mossburg regards the two ponies that spoke to him, and then silently turns and plods toward Ponyville to find Pinkie Pie.

"Hey!" Pumpkin shoots a glare at Peony. "Same side, remember?" She crosses her hooves, grumbling under her breath, "Besides, I like peppy music."

It takes great willpower not to snicker as the zebra unveils his barrel of threats. Oh, he is evil. She loves it. And, that smaller one really would look just adorable in a pink ribbon! But as much as she wants to join in the fun, she resists. The others couldn't possibly have set up a better bad cop. Now they need a good cop. Hopefully it'd help that she'd attacked them less compared to the rampaging minotaur psychic (and possibly psychotic) mini-pony, or engineers with their crazy (if cool) inventions.

Her gaze trails over the back of one of them. Coffee burn. She winces a little. Not that she might still have gotten a little carried away, too.

"C'mon, they've been through a lot already. I'm sure none of that's necessary," she says to the zebra. She trots closer. "Hey, sorry about that coffee. That can really hurt, I know. We can get you something for it if you want," she offers as she slowly approaches the other.

She lowers her voice. "Looks like you might have gotten banged up pretty bad. Is your head hurting? How many hooves am I holding up?" She holds up her forehooves before asking them both. "What are your names?"

Atlas watches his teammates speak to the dogs, and notes - regretfully - their hostile reactions and how beaten up they look. He winces. He let himself get carried away again. Minotaurs are bull-headed and easily provoked by nature, but Atlas firmly believes everyone has a choice in how they act and present themselves. When he let himself go and badly hurt the dogs, he had surrendered to his baser instincts. He should be better than this.

Stepping up to the cage, he looks at the dogs and tries to lock eyes with the lead dog, and bows his head apologetically. "Look, I'm truly - truly - sorry for what we've done to you. You probably think we're all horrible people, hitting you and locking you up and all. But believe me when I say that I mean you no harm - I'm just trying to make sure this is resolved with minimum casualties. For both ponies and diamond dogs. I... lost my temper back on the road, and I apologize for that, I'm really really sorry."

"But now I'm  trying to make sure you all are treated with the respect you deserve, and that means," he shoots Kabra'za a dirty look. "No unwanted baths, and definitely no glittery makeover. My friend here is willing to give you medical treatment for your injuries, and I'm sure we can get you food and drink. We just need your cooperation, and everyone gets out of this happy. Okay?"

He glances hopefully at the dog, hoping that he understands the concept of mutual benefit. He really does want to resolve this without any further hostile action, but he'll need the cooperation of the dogs for that to happen.

Rolls:

FRIENDSHIP DESTINY!:

"Plus," Chassis adds, "if you work with us, we can actually pay you, in actual gems."

Actions:

"We really mean it. We don't want to make things worse for anyone. Give us a chance to prove it to you. Let me at least do what I can," she says as convincingly as she can. Which isn't hard because, despite all that'd happened and how awesome they were (she wishes she got a photo of them with that dragon!)... she does feel bad about her part in actually hurting them.

Aiding Atlas in being extra sincere.:

The dogs seem to be confused by the Zebra's speech, but overall get the message. They remain silent, though, opting not to argue or insult further, allowing the 'Good cop' to step in. They seem wary of Pumpkin's offer to treat them, unresponsive to her questions- at least, until Atlas steps up. The lead dog listens to his earnest apology with rapt attention, unknowingly being swayed by the huge monstrous beast's endearing demeanor. "Big Bull promises not to smash Dogs? And no baths or horrible po-nee music or disgusting smelly soap?" The other two dogs, not under Atlas' charms, look to the lead dog in confusion, but seem to be ready to accept his decision. "What po-nees want to know?"

---

I don't think you guys could have done more to completely neutralize this mission, short of mind reading the dogs. Not done yet, though.

No update for Mossburg yet, and Cherry can come in now.

While he might have disliked the Minotaur's clear dislike for his suggested methods, Kabra'za was more then happy to stand aside to let Atlas and those ponies in his camp do their thing with a silent grace. In fact, when it became clear that the lead dog was willing to play ball with them he confidently turned to walk towards the wall near the door with the intention of leaning against it... and offering Rarity a playful little grin and a quick wink to inform her that this had been the plan from the start; For him to be the bad cop to Atlas's good. "If there be answers you want knowing, now's the time to get going."

"Sure. Let's start with Spike. Tiny purple dragon, about yay tall. Do you know where he is?"

Chassis glances into the IBOTI box and cycles back to where she'd just put Lt. Derringer. The soldier salutes her, acknowledging that it is listening.

Pumpkin has to resist giving Atlas a hoof bump. He really pulled through on that one. Amazing how the same charging bulldozer in battle could be so friendly out of it. Pumpkin gives the dazed dog a friendly smile before getting to work. Chassis's first question matches her own, so she just focuses on what she's doing.

Concussion, probably. That's the first thing to deal with. She does what she can to make sure he'll be alright and he's feeling as comfortable as possible.

Healing:

"The dragon and, well, the castle. Really, we just want the castle back. If you know where it is being kept, or what happened to it, could you tell us? We won't, you know, make you come with us or nothing, but it would really help if we could know its whereabouts." Atlas says. He pauses, then asks as well, "And, do you know if anyone other than the dragon - Sliver was it? - was in charge? Someone we might be able to negotiate with?"

As much as it pained him to drop the act, it was clear that the pups were having trouble understanding his words and it was important that they understood the questions that they were being asked. With a small sigh, Kabara'za spoke up and dropped the rhyming as he asked "What is the name of your Alpha? Do you have any idea just what exactly the dragons offered him in return for your services as their meat shields and scapegoats?" Aware for a moment that this might require some explanation, he was quick to add "After all, dragons are generally prideful, arrogant creatures and I can already hear the excuses that a dragon couldn't be at fault for this defeat, surely the fault must have been with the worthless hired help. Your dragon friend has certainly going to be screaming it to all that can hear him to try and save as much face as possible." A white lie to be sure, but it wasn't an unreasonable guess of what was going on elsewhere. Besides, there was no harm to Ponyville if some seeds of discontent was sown between the Dragons and the Dogs.

Kabra'za, while speaking to Rarity, notices her sigh. Her look betrays some annoyance or another- she clearly feels as if this wasn't the optimal route. She remains silent though, content to allow the party's methods to work.

Pumpkin knows full well that time and care are needed to treat a concussion, but when she opens the cage the dog allows her to work, wrapping his head and applying an all purpose salve that reduces swelling and numbs pain. She also happens to spot a bucket of ice that was brought down- no doubt for some nefarious interrogation purpose, or maybe to chill the apple juice that is provided- and can give him an ice pouch to help with the soreness. He seems to take the treatment in stride, staying quiet as his boss answers the questions.

"Yes, little purple dragon, and big shiny gem castle. Dogs dug out castle and dragons flew off with it, and little dragon was inside. Very shouty, very annoying." The main dog explains. "Took them both back to caves on the hill. Dogs had to dig big pit for the castle. Dragon Alpha took little dragon. Sli-vurr not Alpha Dragon, he can cry and shout all he wants. Dragon supposed to beat po-nees, dogs just there to help. His fault." He crosses his forelegs haughtily, turning his nose up. Rarity narrows her eyes, but apparently holds her tongue- the look she gives them from the back of the room looks like it could peel their skin right off. She turns, and storms out of the room.

At the Zebra's next questions, he scratches his head. "Dogs not say Alpha's name- he is Alpha. Using his name is disrespectful. Only other Alpha's can call him Max." He nods, satisfied with his answer. "Alpha says deal was made with dragons, lots of gems from Po-nee lands to share. Dragon Alpha says they want crystal castle and po-nees to leave, and dogs can have lots of gems for themselves. Dogs thought it was a good deal." The other two nod in agreement.

A moment after the final answer, the door opens again, and a very refreshed looking Cherry enters the room.

Chassis breaks into a smirk.

"But as you no doubt noticed back in the woods, we ponies can also fight back and beat the dragons. If that happens, do you still get paid?"

Actions:

Kabra'za noticed the fact that Rarity had taken off in a huff, but he wasn't about to abandon the questioning at this point in time. In fact, he saw an wonderful chance to help bring the dogs onto their side and against the dragons. "So... all the dragons want are things that they can carry back to the safety of their lairs without having to stick around while you're being 'paid' for your services with gems that you need to mine up yourselves... meaning you're going to be stuck here to face any and all retaliations that the ponies can come up with until you're either driven off or manage to mine all the gems up." Letting this sentence linger in the air for a moment, he decided to add in order to nail the point home "It sounds like you're getting conned."

Dice rolls:

So dragon was supposed to be the muscle? Peony asks doubtfully. Dragon was pretty wimpy though.

Cherry looks like quite a different pony, looking unusually peppy, even happy. Looking over the rest of the group with a smile, she says, "So, what have I missed so far? How are our captives doing after we gave them what-for?" The rest of the group hadn't known her that long but it was still quite a change from the grumpy, subdued pony they'd seen previously.

"So far, we've got our castle in a cave on a hill."

She throws a look to Kabra'za. "We do still need to find out which hill this cave is in, though."

The dog scratches his head. All in all, you can tell he's having trouble following the line of thought, but that doesn't stop him from readily agreeing. "Yes! Dragons give dogs bad deal. But Dogs not get conned, Alpha got conned. Alpha agreed to deal with dragons or else dogs get eaten or burned, even though rest of dogs not scared!" You can tell this may be an exaggeration. "But Alpha not dumb!" He adds, "Alpha tricked dragons and sent po-nee spies without telling them!"

.....

Mossburg takes his sweet time trodding through ponyville, until he reaches the most likely place (though only a calculated 2.1063333...% chance) to find her. Sugarcube corner is relatively quiet on the outside, no bustling busy ponies from team Cocoa Loco coming to and from the building. Scanning the building optically, the robot can clearly see a pink pony looking down at him from the top window, not moving.

What! Peony buzzes, and Helmaroc takes her closer to the cage. What you mean? Is spy to spy on ponies?

"There! That should help." Pumpkin says, looking satisfied. She gives a friendly smile at her patient. This one didn't seem so bad now that they weren't all fighting. Poor guy. I mean, not that they didn't all kind of deserve it after kidnapping a dragon and stealing their princessess' castle, but who likes having a headache?

Pumpkin listens to the conversation - which is going surprisingly well. "Those dragons don't sound like they're very nice to diamond dogs either. Sounds like your alpha must have a smart plan," she prompts encouragingly.