//------------------------------// // Goblins! // Story: Majesty: Queen of the Castle // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// Majesty and her two friends were safely asleep, awash in the warmth of dreams without a care in the world, as the small and devilish imps slowly crept in all around them though the darkness. The three fillies did not see all the glowing eyes peering at them through the darkness, nor did they see the horrible little green imps stride forwards towards their unsuspecting prey. "Ohhh, lookie! It pretty ponies!" The first goblin gleefully gloated, rubbing his greasy and dirty palms together. "We make a good kill tonight! "Yeah! This enough hunting to feed whole tribe!" Another agreed, holding up a spear. "Yum Yum!" These were the goblins, hated enemies of ponykind who lived in the great wild forests between the cities. Small green monsters with animalistic faces and crude spears and clubs for weapons, they hunted any equines foolish enough to wander out into the wilds alone. And right now, this small band was looking to make a meal out of Majesty and her friends. The seven goblins quietly crept into the circle of sleeping ponies, and tossed a large net over them. The three fillies immediately jumped up, and began to jump around in a crazy panic. "Aieeee! What's going on?!" "Goblins! They snuck up on us! Damn!" "Come on girls! We gotta get out of this! -TWEEEEET!-" The trio yanked and pulled against the nets, struggling helplessly, until Majesty decided to step up. The unicorn teleported out of the net, appearing behind one of the goblins, and kicking him in the back of the head. "AGH! Stupid Pony!" The little green creep shrieked, falling to the ground. "Ha ha!! Got him!" Majesty yelled in triumph. "Take that, you little scuzball!" As the first of the goblins went down, two more jumped forward, and stabbed Majesty in the side. "Ahhh, they got me!" The filly cried out. "Applejack, help!" "Hang on princess, I'm a 'comin!" The apple picker snapped the net with her earth pony strength, and charged at the two attackers. Headbutting one and knocking her back with a running charge, she spun around and kicked the other one down before her could spear her, as well. "Well, looks like that's my cue to fly! -tweet!-" With a few goblins no longer holding down the net, Wind Whistler began to flap her wings. Taking off up into the sky, she left the rest of them hanging onto the net for dear life. "Ahhh, flying pony... flying!" One of the monsters screamed. "Me no like heights! Pretty pony, put me down!" "As you wish!" Windy giggled moving out from under the net, and letting the screaming goblins tumble into the treetops below. "Happy landings!" Having discovered these mares were tougher than they looked, the two or three surviving goblins decided they had had enough, and fled into the forest, disappearing as quickly as they had first come. "Yeah, we did it, we won!" Wind Whistler squealed, doing a celebratory dance in midair. "We showed those big green meanies!" "We only scared them off, Windy." Applejack shook her head. "Once they've regained their courage, they'll bring reinforcements from the goblin tunnels a hundred strong. We've got to get ourselves out of here, as quickly as possible!" "That... that brute!" Majesty whimpered, looking down at the blood oozing out of the open wounds on her side. "Applejack, Wind Whistler... he cut me!" "Uh, yeah! That's generally what happens when a goblin spear stabs you." The Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Like, duh! I'm a dumb bimbo, and even I know that!" "But you didn't, did you, Majesty?" Applejack asked, looking the princess over seriously, for the first time. "In fact, you never gave much thought to what it was like out here in the real world at all, did you?" "But I... but I..." Majesty stumbled, at a loss for words. "I just wanted to get away from my mother. I didn't think about how dangerous it would be outside the walls of Dream Castle." "What the flank were you thinking, girl!? That you'd just go on a fun little vacation across the countryside, visiting the pony kingdoms as you go?" Applejack snorted. "This isn't the paradise the ancients built where friendship kept everyone safe. This is Ponyland, and it's a dark and dangerous world out there, kid!" She got up in Majesty's face, pointing a hoof straight at her. "You just survived your first battle, princess. Be happy it wasn't your last." The mare stormed off, while Wind Whistler flapped up to Majesty. "A.J. was a bit mean there, but she wasn't wrong. The world is, like, a really dangerous place." The Pegasus looked at her wound. "Hm, those could've been poison-tipped spears, we'd better get you to a doctor in Misty Mountain, fast." She flew back up into the sky, motioning with her hoof after A.J. "By the way, that was some very fancy teleporting you did back there, you might survive out here, after all." "Thanks, and it's called winking, not teleporting." Majesty replied, limping along after the two other ponies. "And I'm really and truly sorry I was so naive about the world outside of Dream Castle. I guess I really do have a lot to learn about the outside world, if I'm going to make it out here in the wilds." "Don't worry to much about it, kid. I had a lot of trouble learnin' ta stand on my own four hooves when I got out here, too." A.J. replied, thinking for a minute. "At least, I think I did... shoot, I really can't remember." "Whoa, you don't remember your own filly hood?" Wind Whistler asked in surprise, flying along beside the other two. "That's incredible!" "Kid, I'm lucky if I can remember yesterday sometimes. there are days where I have to struggle to remember my own name." A.J. laughed bitterly. "Now come on, let's get on to Misty Mountain, before our sheltered little princess bleeds to death from goblin spear wounds."