//------------------------------// // Utterly Fluttered // Story: Majesty: Queen of the Castle // by Paradise Oasis //------------------------------// "Good Gravy, this path is really overgrown with vines." Applejack grumbled, glaring at the stallion in front of her. "Are you sure we're heading the right way?" "Miss Applejack, the Flutter Ponies don't use the paths much, they simply fly." Ice Crystal replied, trying to hold his temper. "They have no reason to keep the paths up, except for their earth pony slaves." "The flutters keep earth ponies as SLAVES?!" Wind Whistler blurted out in shock. "How horrible!" "They used to, Miss Windy." Thundercloud reassured her. "But don't worry, Tornado's son Firehooves told me they stop keeping slaves about two hundred years ago, when the rest of the confederacy threatened war." "You have a son, and you were hitting on me?" Majesty glared at him. "You are one weird stallion, Tornado." "Yep, my boy the unicorn genius; always studying his history, even though he's only nine." Tornado said with pride. "And hey, I just just hitting on you for my friends here, I wasn't personally interested in you, myself." "Right, and the sky isn't blue, it's purple." A.J. muttered. "I don't believe a single word the comes out of your mouth, you damn stallion horndog." It had been two days since the incident at the clinic- giving enough time for Majesty to recover- and the six ponies had left Misty mountain for the tropical forest of the Flutter Valley hills. The party was now tracking through the thick undergrowth, the stallions leading the way along a path only they seemed to know. "The flutter ponies show up in Misty Mountain once in a while, to buy our root beer and pastry goods." Ice Crystal explained, lowering his head and plowing his way through the thick branches. "We followed one of them back to this path here, and he disappeared into the tropical forest." "We mountain boys assume this path leads to Flutter Valley, Though we've never tried this road ourselves." Tornado continued. "The flutter ponies are extremely hostile to other pony types who intrude into their lands." "Nobody actually knows where flutter valley actually is inside this forest." Thundercloud finished. "And I don't think the Flutters would take too kindly to their home being discovered, so we'd better be careful." Majesty rubbed a few trickles of sweat from her brow as they trotted through the thick and foreboding jungle. Having grown up in the temperate weather of Dream Valley, the filly was unaccustomed to such warm environments. "Ugh, why is it so blasted hot here?" The princess complained, her tail swatting away at the mosquitoes trying to suck the blood from her flank. "How could any pony stand to live in this scorching inferno?" "Well, my my my! Are you telling me the little princess can't take a little heat?" Applejack chuckled snarkily. "It seems the spoiled and sheltered filly can't deal with the real world." "Hey, I've dealt with a lot worse than this back home." Majesty retorted. "If I can take the fires of my nanny's anger, I can deal with the heat of Flutter Valley!" "Hey, would you please stop being so mean to her, A.J.?" Wind Whistler pleaded, flapping up into the orange mare's face. "Good grief, is it really so hard for you to say something nice for a change?" "I dunno, is it really so hard for you to think something through logically?" Applejack snapped back. "Or do you always have to let yer passions override yer brain?" "Hey, I live by my emotions, girl! My feelings guide my life!" Wind Whistler snapped back. "I'd rather be dead than be some cold-hearted mare who is ruled by logic alone!" "Sheesh, you girls argue a lot!" Tornado said with a laugh. "Are you sure you're not sisters?" "Hah! As if!" Windy snorted angrily, crossing her hooves over her chest and turning her head away as she flapped along. "Shut up, ya stupid muscle head!" A.J barked at him. "You don't know anything!" "So Majesty, this is your first time out of the castle?" Thundercloud asked, trying to change the conversation to something more pleasant as they trotted along. "I'm kind of surprised to see you out here, without any guards or anything." "Yeah, I've had it with the stupidity of palace life." Majesty snorted, turning her head away in disgust at the memory."I'm out to see the world my mother and Satin N' Lace sheltered me from, and I am not going back." "Yeowch, that sounds a bit harsh." Ice Crystal replied, leading the way through the foliage. "Don't you think your mom and nanny might have acted that way because they care about you, and were doing the best they could to raise you?" "Ponyfeathers! The only thing those two care about, is their stupid rules!" The princess snapped back. "And making sure mom's precious heir is just as much of a cold-hearted witch when she becomes queen as she is!" Tornado was about to interject, when a whizzing sound suddenly zipped by them in the trees. The four ponies all stopped dead in their tracks, and began to look around. "Whoah." Thundercloud exclaimed. "What was that?" "Something just went by us!" Majesty replied, her eyes darting about. "Something really, really fast!" They four felt another rush of air on the other side, a barely visible pink and white blur zoomed by. "Oh, there it goes again!" Ice Crystal muttered nervously, as the three stallions instinctively formed a protective circle around the mares. "What is making that noise?" "Ohhh, maybe it's the cutiesaurus! -tweet!-" Wind Whistler exclaimed. "Ohhh, I can't believe I'm finally going to get to meet it!" Suddenly, the six ponies heard several voices coming from the bushes. "Behold! regular ponies from outside Flutter Valley!" "It's three mares, one of each pony kind!" "And look! They have stallions! Let us grab them for ourselves!" "Take them down! Shift to utter flutter!" Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind came from the trees all around them. A blast so powerful, it knocked all six ponies off their hooves, blowing them backward so strongly, they had to cling to the trees to not get blown away. "Aiiieeeeeeeee! This wind is too strong!" Wind Whistler wailed. "What's going on?!" "It's the utter flutter! We're under attack!" Applejack declared, barely audible over the howling wind. "It must be the Windy Wing pony brigade, the royal flutter pony guards!" Suddenly, three multicolored blurs zipped by, grabbing each stallion as they passed. being too busy clinging to the trees for dear life, the stallions couldn't do much to fight back. "Ahhhhhhh!" Tornado screamed, as he was pulled away. "Nooooo!" Ice Crystal wailed, as a flutter pony took him. "Girls, help me!" Thundercloud pleaded, as he too disappeared from sight. "Oh no you don't!" Majesty yelled over the howling wind. "You aren't taking taking the boys on my watch!" Still clinging to the tree trunk, majesty let out a powerful blast of energy from her horn. She blasted one of the flutter ponies out of the sky, sending her spiraling out of control into a nearby bush. "Whoaaa-oaaaa-oaaaah!" *Thud!* "They have a unicorn spell caster!" One of the flutter ponies yelled excitedly. "Let's get out of here, fast!" Suddenly, the winds died down, and the three remaining mares let go of the trees. Before anyone had time to react, Applejack rushed quickly over to the bush, and kicked the downed flutter pony out into the open. "Get out here, bug wings!" A.J. snorted angrily. "You got a lot to answer for!" "Ow!" The flutter mare squealed, lying on the ground. "That really hurt!" "You think that hurt?! You took my cutie Ice Crystal!" Wind Whistler yelled, hopping onto the flutter's back, and jumping up and down on her. "I'll show you what real hurting is!" *STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP!* "Ahhhhhhhh!" The flutter wailed in pain. "Please, stop it, you're hurting me!" "Windy, let her up." Majesty told her friend. "She can't answer any of our questions if she's dead." The Pegasus took a step back, and the wounded flutter pony mare wobbled as she tried to stand up on her hooves. She was everything Majesty had expected from a Flutter pony; taller and slimmer body, elegant and gracefully curving figure that put non-flutter mares to shame. She had a pink body and white mane, and on her back were a pair of glittering insect-like wings. The stories did not do the flutter pony race justice, in describing their radiant beauty. "Jeez, look at her figure!" Windy whispered to A.J. jealously. "I could diet for two years straight, and I still wouldn't have a body like that!" "Flutter ponies put the rest of us mares to shame, I've heard stallions say they have 'the flanks of a goddess'." Applejack snarled in bitter contempt. "There's a no way the rest of us can compete with bodies that tall and slender." The two girls were so jealous, they had no problem taking it out on the unsuspecting mare in front of them. Normally, the two were no where near this cruel, but the stallion's lives being in danger pushed them onward. "Okay, you worthless insect pony! You'd better tell us where your buddies took the stallions, or you'll be really sorry!" Wind Whistler snapped at the flutter getting up in her face. "Either you talk, or we're gonna make the little bug go splat!" "I know how fragile flutter pony's wings are, how easily they come off!" A.J. growled, pounding one hoof against the other. "Either you tell us where the Windy Wings took the boys, or we tear those pretty little wings right out of your back, and dig out the roots so they'll never grow back!" The flutter mare looked back and forth between the two angry mares, and suddenly burst into a shower of tears. "Noooo! Please don't tear my wings out! I wasn't even a part of the raiding party that took your boyfriends!" The bawling mare wailed, the waterworks pouring out of her eyes. "My name's Hollywood, and I'm a Flutter pony actress. I was only out watching the Windy Wing guards on patrol when your unicorn friend zapped me!" Hollywood buried her head in the grass beneath her. "Please don't hurt me, I want to go home!" "Leave her alone, you two. She's not responsible for abducting the boys." Majesty commanded the other two, taking charge. "You're scaring an innocent mare to the point of traumatizing her, with threats you're both too kindhearted to ever actually carry out." The other two grudgingly took a step back from Hollywood, while majesty went up, and patted her on the head with a hoof. "There there, it's going to be all right." The frighted flutter looked up, and Majesty smiled at the young mare. "Did those two hurt you when they attacked?" "N-no." Hollywood whimpered, standing up slowly. "I-I'll be all right... I think." "Good, because we're going to need you to lead us to the Flutter Valley capital." Majesty narrowed. "I intend to have a few choice words with Queen Rosedust."