//------------------------------// // Diamond Dog Masters // Story: Bad Luck for a Bad Manager // by DarkStarWolf53 //------------------------------// Storm grabs the lead in her teeth again, to drag the prisoner away. "I won't let you sell me!" snaps Svengallop. "Oh, we know you aren't going to let us," says Goldfeather. "Makes things more fun!" "What?" "If you fight and struggle rather than just give up, it makes things interesting around here." "You're both insane, sadistic, mother-bucking-" "No worse than you." "What?" "I overheard my lady talking to that pretty mare, Countess-whatever. Apparently you meant to keep her as a slave, trapping her through her fame, since you got her famous in the first place. And once she reached peak fame, you were going to get her killed for insurance and publicity." "I never said-" "Don't try lying to a griffin. We can sense fear." "I'm not lying!" "Yes, you are. I heard you directly say you wanted the life insurance money and were using her fame." "Why you-" "We're just doing the same thing to you that you would have done to that pretty mare, albeit a bit less murderous." "But I'm not a murderer! I wouldn't have killed her, at least not myself. If you sell me to the Diamond Dogs, they might eat me!!" "Welp, that's your problem." "WHAT?! How can you say that?! I'm, important, not some useless lowlife-" "You mean like you called me?" asks Storm, letting go of the lead. Svengallop tries to bolt, only to be knocked down by a lightning-fast strike of the she-griffin's talons. "You did call my lady that," says Goldfeather, taking the lead in her talons. "And she isn't the 'useless lowlife' here. You are." "But I got Countess famous! I'm not useless!" "You manipulated her and got her famous by bullying and swindling. Not exactly the proper way..." "But still, I'm not useless riffraff like you two!" "You are just digging your own grave here, aren't you?" "What do you mean?" "Nine out of ten ponies agree that provoking someone who has you caught good is not wise," says Storm. "Especially if she has a weapon," adds Goldfeather, extending the claws on her free talon. "Point taken..." "Now then, time to take you to the Diamond Dogs." "But why them?!" "Because they always need more slaves and they pay pretty well. Now come on!" Goldfeather jerks hard on the lead, choking her captive. "We're nearly there," says Storm, noticing Svengallop's struggling. "Then my lady will turn you loose. And if you pass out, well, that'll make things that much easier for us." Svengallop would protest, but at the moment, he's finding it difficult to breathe. The golden griffin finally loosens up on the lead as she halts before a large cave. "Hey Diamond Dogs! Got something to sell you!" "No! Last sellers tried to make us buy a machine we didn't need, tried to force us into buying!" "Well, I'm not selling machines. Got a slave for you if you still need miners." "Slave?" A big gray Diamond Dog comes to the entrance. "Here it is," says Goldfeather, shoving Svengallop in front of her. "Pardon me, but I'm a stallion, not an 'it'!" snaps Svengallop. "Hrm," says the Diamond Dog. "Noisy one. Doesn't look like much." "Perhaps not, but you can probably just use a bit of 'persuasion'..." says Storm. "True... This one is not worth much though, so how much do you want?" "Hm, what do you have?" "We won't trade anything more valuable than iron or copper for this thing." "How about obisidian?" "How much?" "Maybe one cart-load. We can use it for weapons. Deal?" "Still think that's a bit high for the weak creature you brought." "Well, it's either pay what we want, or we'll sell this critter somewhere else." "Grr, fine. I'll have the stones sent out." "And you better not cross us," says Goldfeather. "You know what we griffins are capable of." "Yes, I know..." After a few minutes, the Diamond Dog comes back out, along with a large cart. "Better let us inspect that, critter." "As you wish." The pinto mare looks through the stones for a while, then, satisfied, nods and signals Goldfeather. Goldfeather hands the lead to the Diamond Dogs while Storm takes the cart. "WHAT?!" snaps Svengallop. "Obsidian?! That's one of the least valuable stones! Surely I'm worth more than that!" The Diamond Dog growls. "Shut up, pony, or we cook you for food now instead of later." Svengallop shuts up. "Now then," says the dog once his captive is deep in the mines, "You pull carts." "But those carts look really heavy!" "Pull the carts or be our next meal." "AHH!" Svengallop obeys, but finds the cart is too heavy for him to really move. "Gah, what's in here, lead?" "Yes. We sell it to the dragons. They have the power to turn it into gold." "Why are you making me pull it when you are so much stronger?" "It's not a slave's place to question their master." "But-" "Pull the cart or be cooked and eaten." "Yessir!" Svengallop tries to pull the cart, but he's too weak. One of the dogs cracks him with a whip. and he spooks and bolts, even carrying the heavy cart. Unfortunately, once the adrenaline rush is gone, his legs give out. The dog just shakes his head. "We'll try lighter carts. If those don't work, you're useless to us." The next time, they use lighter carts with lighter minerals, but Svengallop fails time and time again. He's just too weak to do the heavy labor. Finally, the dogs just shove him into a side cavern. "What are you doing?" asks Svengallop. "You're useless as a slave. We're keeping you here til we kill you. Probably will be tomorrow." Svengallop's scream of terror is cut off as a huge rock is shoved into the entrance, keeping him trapped. The next day, the rock is removed, but before the Diamond Dogs can grab him, Svengallop bolts. He gets recaptured, but as soon as one of the dogs pulls an obsidian dagger, he runs off again. Even though the Diamond Dogs are fast, they are no match for a panicked pony, and he manages to get away, though just barely. Eventually, he comes to a halt deep in the forest and hides in a bush, where he overhears familiar voices. "Well, pretty pinto, this is the last of the blades. Did you give out the others?" "Of course, flier. They're ready! We'll need more before we can do the job, but this is a good start." Svengallop storms out of the bushes, extremely angry. "YOU! You sold me to those demon-dogs! I'll destroy you!" The pinto mare in the clearing looks at him with complete disdain. Obviously, she is unimpressed. "Got an appointment?" she asks. "Appointment?! Wait what?" "Heh, my lady and I are on quite a few hit lists. So if you want to kill us, you need an appointment. Maybe next Tuesday at 2:00? I should be free then." "I'm not a murderer! I wouldn't kill you! I meant destroy you professionally!" "Too bad we don't have a profession then, huh?" "Argh, I mean I'll make sure no one trusts you again!" "Well, no one trusts the two of us anyway, what with my being half-wild, and her being a griffin, so..." "Gah, what does it take to cow you?!" "Huh? I'm not a cow, I'm a horse. Did my black-and-white patterning throw you off, or..?" "I mean what scares you! What makes you afraid and intimidated?!" "Most folk say my lady and I don't have enough sense to get scared!" "I hate you both so much now..." "You mean you didn't already?" "Argh, you are impossible!" "No, I'm pinto!" "GAAH!" Svengallop is so frustrated and exasperated by Storm's repeated non-answers, he just leaves, rather quickly. "Good luck not being killed by hungry predators," hollers Storm behind him. "Wait, predators-" He's cut off by a loud manticore roar. "YIIIKES! MANTICORE!!" Once again, Svengallop is sent into a running panic, only to notice an odd glow nearby. It almost looks like a blue-white lantern, and he finds himself called to follow it. The source of the lantern is a pale green unicorn stallion with a pale yellow mane and tail and lantern cutie mark. "Hello, traveler," says the stranger. "I'm Willowy-Wisp. And you are?" "Uhh, Svengallop... What are you doing here?" "Come closer and I'll tell you..."