//------------------------------// // Chapter XI - Pinchy's day out Part III // Story: The Adventures of Damon Lipton // by Mr101 //------------------------------//           The Adventures of Damon Lipton         Chapter XI - Pinchy’s Day out Part III  Berry shook her head as she wandered through the town, when she had gotten home she had completely forgotten about getting any kind of dessert for the evening and she had wanted to make Pinchy and Damon each something special to round of their day out as they told her the days events. With that in mind, she had headed out and decided to first see if Applejack was in the marketplace, figuring some apple pie would be a nice start for desert. Still, she couldn’t shake off the earlier events with Rarity and Twilight. Their behaviour concerning Damon had been… odd, even odder than she would have assumed. She knew from the meeting that Twilight was itching to ask more questions given her studious nature and Rarity had clearly been annoyed at not getting the chance to create a bunch of clothing for him, something Berry had to admit she found rather funny. Still, it was odd. Shaking her head and dismissing it, she arrived at the marketplace to find the pony she was looking for. Applejack. “Well howdy, Berry!” Applejack greeted, “how goes it?” “Fine thanks,” Berry replied, “I just came to see if you have any apple pies I could buy for Pinchy and Damon’s desert later.” Berry saw Applejack smile at her but there was something behind that smile. Determination. “Well shoot, ah don’t have any on me right now… but ah can head on home and whip up a couple of ya later if you like?” Applejack replied. “Oh, I don’t want to bother you, Applejack…” Berry replied. “Nonsense, Rarity may be the Element of Generosity but that doesn't mean ah can’t be generous in mah own way!” Applejack insisted, “I’ll come bye later on this evening with a couple of pies.” “Well… okay then, thank you. How much do I owe you?” Berry asked. “S’on the house,” Applejack smiled. Berry thanked her and smiled as she said goodbye and headed towards sugarcube corner to but the final dessert item for later on. “Least she’s acting normal…” Berry muttered. Applejack watched her leave before her smile fell from her face and a wicked and mischievous grin replaced it. “Oh ah’ll have them pies ready… and Damon is gunna enjoy them… no pony insults mah apples… worm or no worm!” The lead Goblin grunted as several bolts bounced off Damon’s ward once more, doing little to no damage. Damon responded once more by using his free hand and shooting a ball of fire at the Goblins who had sinced taken makeshift cover, this back and forth had been going on for a couple of minutes with Damon being able to land a few shots on the Goblins, who had been dragged away or left for dead as the fire burned their flesh from their bones leaving a stinking burnt corpse on the ground. Damon was desperately trying to think of an idea to get out. As soon as his hands had engulfed, some of the Goblin had produced small makeshift crossbows and fired them at him, forcing him to erect a ward to protect him and the girls cover. Normally, he would have been able to take them out with ease but because of the girls, he wasn’t able to rush in spells ablaze and sword drawn for fear that the Goblins could try and flank him and attack the girls. He cursed under his breath as he began to charge another fireball spell up, determined to at least take out the lead Goblin. “DIS AIN’T WORKIN’ FALL BACK BOYZ, WE NEED TO GET DA BOSS AND DA OTHERS!” Damon blinked as the Goblins got up and began to fall back down the tunnel, all the while firing off bolts at him until their heavy thudding disappeared, thats when he began to panic slightly. “A-are they gone, Uncle Bones?” Pinchy asked nervously. “We need to leave. Now,” Damon replied picking her up. “Why? What’s the matter? You could’ve easily beaten them!” Sweetie Belle said. “Not if they have a Boss with them,” Damon said, only just being able to pick the other three girls up. “What’s so bad about a Boss?” Scootaloo asked. Damon quickly started running down the tunnel ignoring her question, eventually coming to a fork where they had run into the goblins originally and headed down the opposite tunnel, his light orb floating close by. “Mister Damon?” Scootaloo asked again. “I’ll answer later, right now we need to get out of here and fast.” “But why?” Applebloom asked a little scared. Again Damon didn’t answer, he was more focused on getting out of the mountain with the four fillies alive and didn’t have time to play twenty questions. They soon reached a large cave that had several tunnels connecting and Damon looked to each of them, his panic rising steadily. “Uncle Bones…” Pinchy asked, “I’m scared…” Damon put the fillies on the ground and saw they were all trembling slightly, he sighed before giving them a group hug. “I know girls, but you need to be brave for me okay? Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle. Didn’t your siblings risk their lives to save Equestria? I even heard that Rarity kicked a manticore in the face! Who’ve though eh?” Damon grinned, “I would’ve thought she would freak out from a dirt hoof touching a smelly beast.” The girls giggled softly at this as Damon turned to Pinchy  and smiled at her. “And, Pinches… your mother befriended a talking skeleton that everyone else thought was a monster and was terrified of, that’s pretty brave.” Pinchy sniffled and nodded with a smile. “And besides… we need to inform the Princes of this and it’ll be a very important mission, what would you think Daring Do would do right now? Would she be scared?” The fillies gasped and growled, stomping the ground with their hooves. “No!” “So are we going to be like little foals and cry?” “No!” “Are we going to be fearless explorers like Daring Do!? “No!” Damon looked at them with a grin as they realised what they said. “We mean, YES!” “Then lets find a way out of this mountain!”  Damon cried. “YES SIR!” The filles saluted in unison with a giggle. “But… how do we get out?” Pinchy asked. He booped her nose with a bony finger before pointing down a tunnel. “That way.” “Really?” The girls gasped. “No, but the air is doesn't smell so foul here, when in doubt, Pinches, always follow your nose.” He picked them up and began to head down the tunnel he had pointed to, he had contemplated the idea of teleporting but he hadn’t fully mastered that field of magic yet and was only able to teleport over short distances and that took a lot of energy for him to perform. Not to mention he wasn’t sure how many bodies he could teleport at onc. He smiled as the fillies chatted to themselves clearly now calmer although on the outside, he was acting as if everything was fine. In actual fact, he was truly concerned about getting out of there now, especially now that he knew a Goblin Boss was in Equestria. The door to sugarcube opened and the little bell over rang softly as Berry entered the shop with a smile, the cool air of the air conditioning blowing over her as she did. From behind the counter she could see Mr and Mrs Cake who were serving a customer and she queued up behind them. When it was her turn to be served, she greeted the couple with a warm smile to which they returned. “Hello there, Berry, what can we do for you today?” Berry swore she heard a clang behind them as if someone had dropped something but ignored it. “Good afternoon, I was wondering if you had any special kind of dessert cakes I could buy for Pinchy and Damon?” This time, the clang was louder and followed by a crash which both Mr and Mrs Cake noticed and looked a little worried. “Uh… sure B-berry, what kind of cake?” Mr Cake asked. “Well… as may or may not know depending on what Pinkie’s already told you you know, Damon’s never eaten a cupcake before,” she started ignoring the gasp of the two bakers, “and I figured that I could buy him and Pinchy one each for when they come home later.” Suddenly, Pinkie appeared behind the counter, her mane was flat and a small smile on her face. the Cakes looked at her in silent fear before she spoke to them. “Why don’t you two go and have a lie down… I can handle things from here,” Pinkie said in a flat monotone voice. “O-okay then…” Mrs Cake replied. Berry watched in concern as the two left the area and headed out of the room, each sharing a nervous glance between one another before they headed up a flight of stairs that lead to their bedroom on the top floor as she slowly looked at Pinkie who was smiling at her. “So… you want to buy Damon a cupcake?” She said coldly. “That’s right… and one for Pinchy to,” Berry nervously replied. “GREAT!” Pinkie squealed, her mane returning to its normal look before bouncing into the kitchen. Berry blinked in confusion at Pinkie’s sudden change in mood and tone, she did the same thing the other day at the meeting and sighed shaking it off. “Another one… great…” she grumbled remembering Rarity and Twilight. Soon, Pinkie returned with two cupcakes on a tray and Berry couldn’t help grin. One was bright pink, covered in sprinkles and hearts and had a strawberry on the top. Berry assumed that it was for Pinchy and she looked at the other which was clearly chocolate flavoured, though she was a little unsure of it. The amount of chocolate icing, sauce, sprinkles and grated chocolate as well as two sticks of a chocolate bar made her worry for Damon’s health before realising he was technically a skeleton, therefore would be fine. “Wow, Pinkie!” She exclaimed, “they look amazing! How much do I owe you?” “Oh nothing, think of it as Damon’s first taster for what he will find at his party tomorrow!” Pinkie giggled, “I’m sure he will… love it.” Berry felt a little cold on hearing that last line but shrugged it off, it was Pinkie after all. Though she still had some questions. Thanking her one last time, Berry took the cupcakes, which Pinkie had wrapped up in a special box each, and left the shop as Pinkie waved goodbye. “Oh yes… he will love my cupcake… and soon… he won’t be able to resist the sugary goodness ever again!” Pinkie cackled, her mane flattening and her eye twitching slightly as she headed back into the kitchen. A small group of Goblins were crowded around in a tight huddle muttering to one another in front of what appeared to a small cave that was within the actual cave they were in. “You pulled da short straw, do it!” A Goblin hissed. “But!” A little Goblin protested. “Just fucking do it!” The little Goblin swallowed hard as he approached the makeshift wooden door that covered a large hole, trembling in his armour as he stared up at the sign saying ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ written in what appeared to be red ink before he nervously knocked on the door with a trembling hand. “Boss? You der Boss?” He asked. Behind him stood several other Goblins each equally looking a little terrified, but thankful they hadn’t pulled the short straw. “Boss?” The Goblin called out again. Before he got an answer, the door was booted off its makeshift hinge, crashing into the face of the Goblin forcing him to the ground as the door fell on top of him. He let out a squeak of surprise before it was silenced by a yelp a sa large boot slammed down on the door, crushing his chest slightly. “WOT DID I SAY ‘BOUT DISTURBIN’ MOI NAP!?” The Boss roared. The Goblins watched in fear as a large Goblin, easily triple the size of the Goblins there, stood out of the doorway, his large belly struggling to stay within his armour, a crude metal helm with twin horns sticking out at jagged angles. He had gruffy brown hair all over his arms and a large scruffy beard hung from his chin, in his right hand was a large club made of metal with several spikes jutting out of it. His long nose, dotted with warts, stuck out at a slight twisted anger as were his long ears, sharp fangs protruding from his mouth upwards as he snarled. “WELL?!” “B-boss, we gots ah problem…” “Something’s not right…” Damon muttered. “Why’s that?” Pinchy asked. “I can’t explain it properly… but… I can feel a slight trace of magic in the air, something that is familiar to me but at the same time I simply can’t explain where I know it’s from.” “That’s weird…” Scootaloo said. Applebloom bopped her on the head as sweetie Belle giggled beside them, Damon had put them down back on the floor  and they were walking in front of him, after some time walking down the tunnel, they had come to a new one which Damon recognised as being the one he and Pinchy were in earlier when they had first descended into the mountain and let out a sigh of relief. He had been wondering what the hell to tell Berry when they would get home as to what the other three would say to their siblings, he contemplated lying but he knew that if there was one person you never lie to, it was a mother. He shuddered at what Berry would do to him when he told her about their adventure. “Whatcha thinking about, Uncle Bones?” “Oh, just how your mother is going to kill me.” “But you're ah skeleton… how can you die?” Applebloom asked. “She would find a way…” Damon shuddered. Pinchy looked at the other three who only offered a confused shrug as they carried on, Damon, however, was unable to shake off the annoyance of not being able to recognise the magic signature that lingered in the air. He groaned in frustration as he let out a sigh. “At least we’ll be out of this damn mountain soon… then comes the hard part of explaining to Berry the days events… that’s going to be fun…” Damon was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the sounds coming from behind him until it was too late, something slammed into his head with a loud thunk causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the floor, the last thing Damon heard was the sounds of the girls screaming and laughter. Damon groaned as he slowly woke up to the sounds of jeers and roaring, rubbing his head as he got to his feet before looking around his surroundings. He was in an arena of sorts and all around him were at least twenty Goblins of various sizes and shapes, all jeering and whooping as they roared down at him. He then saw the four fillies all shivering in fear in a small pen near the edge of the arena being guarded by a couple of Goblins, tears in their eyes. He growled and stood up, ready to fight whatever it was the Goblins clearly wanted him to fight. Damon heard the low chuckle behind him and turned around, his pupils shrinking as he stared at the giant Goblin stepping into the arena with him. The reason why Damon was nervous about Gobblin Boss’s was, unlike their underlings, Boss’s tended to be fairly resistant to magic attacks due to their size, age and toughness from all the fighting they had done in their life to get to be a Boss. Boss’s also had the nasty habit of being strong, if not stronger, than a mountain troll and Damon wasn’t what you would call and amble fighter, relying more on his agility and quick offensive spells to get the better of opponents. “So… you must be the Boss right?” “You is gunna pay for running mah boyz dinnar, fer killing some of dem AND worst of all. Disturbin’ moi nap!” He roared. Damon looked from the Boss to the fillies and then back again before cursing under his breath, he just had to go explore the mountain. But then again, if he hadn’t done so then the cutie mark crusaders would have become Goblin chow by now, and at least he had a chance to save them. All he had to do was trick the Goblin Boss and pray he bought it. The Goblin crowd roared in approval as they banged their swords and hammers against their metal armour. “Any last words, Bone man?” The Boss laughed, raising his club. “WAIT! I have a proposal for you!” Damon suddenly shouted. “Da fuck? Just kill ‘im Boss-” The Goblin in the crowd who interrupted received a threatening growl from the Boss and shrunk back in his seat, keeping quiet as the Boss snorted and turned his attention back to Damon. “Wot kind of proposition?” He asked. “Here’s my proposal, you fight me one on one, my sword against your club, no assistance from the others. If I win, you let me and the fillies go free.” “An’ if I win?” The Boss growled. “You get my servitude…but you must let the fillies go” Damon was interrupted by jeers of disapproval of the Goblins till the Boss raised his hand silencing them. Damon silently prayed the Boss would fall for his trick, he had said that no assistance from the others implying the other Goblins, but he didn’t say his magic. He hoped that the Boss was stupid enough not to figure out the trick “Could always use a magic user… could be strongest der is! Alright Bone man, you gotcha self a deal!” The Goblins roared in approval as Damon shook hands with the Boss, the fillies looking terrified as they were placed in a pen and looked at Damon with worry. He smile to them and winked, somehow making them feel reassured. “There’s just one thing I want to know though…” Damon started. “Wots dat?” “How did you get here in the first place?” “Oh that would be me, I was bored and brought them here for entertainment purposes you see. Hey that rhymed!” Damon cringed at the voice, knowing damn well who it belonged to, he slowly looked up to the tip of a pointed boulder as a mist swirled before forming into a familiar form grinning a twisted and mischievous grin before it burst into a manic laugh. “Dorian…”