//------------------------------// // A Rocky Departure // Story: A Life For Two // by RedBlack //------------------------------// In the questionable community of Klugetown, at its very edge, a simple tavern has been deemed the most famous place for the residents. The place had no name, yet every creature that lived there knew of it. In this establishment, there had been a mutual agreement for no weird or cowardly shenanigans. If you had a problem, fight it out. That had been the age-old rule ever since it was first opened. Right outside the tavern entrance, sat a filly on a wooden box. The filly had a light blue coat and a deeper shade of blue mane. A single horn stood tall with a few chips on the sides. A bored gaze as she slumped. She wore a cloak with the hood off as customers of the tavern flew by, either through the door or through the windows. Blood splattered as those who were thrown out were bleeding from several injuries as some never moved again. She patiently, albeit bored, waited as constant sounds of glass shattering and furniture being broken rang out from inside the tavern. Then it stopped. After a minute of silence, the entrance opened once again. This time, fully breaking it off its hinges. "Alright, let's get the hell outta here." An annoyed voice calls out as the owner stepped outside. The one who stepped out wore a grimace as a few shallow cuts were visible on his brown fur, likely going to leave more scars to his already damaged body. A long scar travelled across his right eye, reaching from his forehead to the edge of his mouth, not fully reaching the organ itself. His mane was a full black as it was splattered with blood of different colors, the same way his coat had been. He wore a full leather jacket, seemingly old as several stitches stood out, evidencing to it being fixed by hoof. He cracked his neck as wings stretched out through the holes in his jacket. One was a normal looking wing while the other was a metallic one, giving off steam as it moved while glowing with a blue hue. "Took you long enough. You getting rusty or something?" The filly said with a playful smirk as she levitated a simple cigarette in his mouth. "Bullshit, that fucker called in others since he knew I was taking this from him." He answered with an annoyed tone while pulling out a contraption of metals and wires as the cigarette was lit with a blue colored magic from the filly. Taking a long drag, he exhaled as a bunny jumped up on top of him. The bunny nestled itself into his messy hair, completely ignoring the blood on its white fur. The filly stretched before finally moving off the box. "So, that the last piece right?" He asked, adopting a grin as the metal contraption was taken by the filly. "Yeap." She answered excitedly as she took the rabbit as well. "Did you take long because you had a drink?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "No." "Bull-shit." She said while elongating it as she held the rabbit in the air. "Did he take long because he took a drink or is he a fucking liar?" She asked with an innocent voice. The pegasus laughed at her ridiculousness as they walked. "Fucking knew it." She proudly said before putting the rabbit on her head. "Yeah yeah, keep this shit up and you won't get a treat." He lightly threatened with a smile. "Fuck you, I'll be eating as much as I want when we reach civilization." They shared a chuckle at that. *BOOM* They looked back at the tavern, that has now imploded with wood splinters going everywhere and everything was on fire. Said fire started spreading to nearby buildings. The pegasus frowned, realizing something as he patted around his jacket pockets, then looked at the the bunny with an irritated expression. The bunny looked back with a nonchalant attitude, then shrugged, earning a giggle out of the filly. The pegasus tried to stay serious, but soon joined her laughter. "Alright, alright, let's get outta here before the entire town hunts us down." He said as they started walking again. The bunny victoriously grinned as they started moving. "Hasn't that always been the case?" The filly asked playfully. "It sure was." He replied with a reminiscing tone as he remembered their first day while throwing away the cigarette butt. "Yo!" The filly screamed at the top of her lungs as trio made their way inside a warehouse, her voice echoing back. "Do you really have to do that every time we come here, Bliss?" The pegasus asked lazily whilst locking the door with a dozen different locks. "Of course I do Maddie, gotta make sure everyone knows we're the owners of this place." She said while taking the rabbit on her head off with her magic. "You agree with me, don't you Daisy?" Maddie playfully rolls his eyes before moving towards a cabinet. Bliss heads to a wooden boat, roughly able to board 15 ponies, suspended in the air on a platform. Daisy decided to lounge on a nearby couch. "Better do it fast Bliss, monsters don't wait too long here." Maddie calmly said while moving random items such as clothes, weapons, all kinds of weird contraptions and toys towards the ship in boxes. "I know, just focus on not breaking my shit." She responded nonchalantly while focusing on the circuits inside the hull of the ship. *BANG* Three pairs of eyes widen as the banging on the door quickens. "SHIT!" Maddie exclaims as he started sprinting towards the ship with the last box. Bliss quickly attached the last wire to the contraption, slammed a metal cover on it and started screwing it shut. Maddie threw the last box on to the ship and stood near Bliss. A loud boom rang out as the entrance, along with the surrounding wall, exploded, revealing an angry mob. "TODAY IS THE DAY YOU DIE!" A bipedal fish with a big figure yelled while holding a pitchfork. Right as Bliss finished tightening one screw, Maddie threw her up, earning a startled yell from her. With one flap of his wings, he landed on the ship deck. Bliss was standing at a wheel, attached to a number of wires that ran through the ships interior. A loud startup noise flooded the warehouse as two large fans started spinning, blowing away those who tried to approach it. "HIT IT!" Maddie yelled, prompting Bliss to press one of the buttons on the wheel. The ship hovered as two large wings spread from the two sides of the ship. "SHIT'S TOO HEAVY!" Bliss yelled as she opened a compartment right under the steering wheel and stepped on a lever. Maddie ran towards the edges and looked down, spotting several hooks lodged into the hull. He simply pulled one off, the one who threw it screamed before splattering on the ground. Bliss waited while constantly tapping her hooves as she looked at a tube slowly getting filled with a green liquid. "Come on, come on, why the hell is physics so annoying sometimes." She silently complained as she worriedly looked around the deck while waiting for the tube. Maddie gave a heavy punch, knocking off another climber as more and more creatures started climbing on the ropes. He tried to pull off another hook, only for his organic wing to get snatched by another hook. As he fell, he roughly pulled it out, spraying blood into the air. Instead of flying, he gave a single flap and tucked them in as he turned into a sharp object. *THUD* He stomped down, breaking the face of whoever had pulled him down. With a grim frown, he stood tall as he looked around his surroundings. Giving out a beast like growl, he pounced towards the first one who approached him. Back on the deck, Bliss jumped back while throwing down multiple orbs from her robe which filled the area with smoke. "You think a little smoke would give you an edge? We're all blind here!" One of 7 different bipedal creatures yelled as he pulled out a sword. "Am I?" The childish voice asked with a taunting tone, shortly before a gurgling sound rang out. A singular thud told the six left that they were in danger. Slowly, bodies fell one by one as the only one who was left gained more and more fear with each, and every dull thud that rang out. He frantically looked around, trying to locate anything to help him, or at least where his initial target was. Then he spotted something. Three blue lights, far away in the smoke, slowly fading away. He took a step back, fearing what the lights were as they suddenly turned back on, brighter than ever as it rapidly approached. He hastily made a swing with his sword as the lights ducked low, fully dodging the attack before he felt a sharp pain in his stomach area. He looked down, noticing the knife with a weird edge. The edge started glowing with a blue light as he hastily looked towards his attacker, only to see the three dull lights, surrounded by a metal shape of a pony head. Bliss let out a relieved sigh as she took her mask off, the body with an opened ribcage fell on the floor with a thud. She quickly dragged the body and threw it overboard as the ship floated higher. "MADDIE! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE! WE'RE LEAVING!" She yelled before letting a small orb fall onto the deck. The orb opened up, revealing the insides as the signature blue shined brightly as the smoke was blown away. Maddie, on the other hoof, was having a hard time with the mob as he gave a quick punch for any who stepped closer. He was breathing heavily as a few bruises were shown on his body. With a spin, he knocked out one more before hearing the shout. While ducking lower, he tensed all four of his limbs as he prepared his wings. The mob noticed the pattern and jumped him, only to hit nothing but themselves as Maddie was already in the air. However, he couldn't make it. Just as he started to panic, the silhouette of Bliss appeared as she threw the rope down with all her strength. Maddie barely reached the edge, biting into it before his hooves slipped. Bliss hurriedly held the rope, only for it pull her forward, forcing her to use the edge of the ships fence as leverage. Struggling with the rope, she held it with one hoof and her mouth as she brought out a tool with two sharp ends and slammed it into the fence, holding the rope down tightly as the tool retracted, holding the rope tighter. Maddie, still dangling on the rope, slowly climbed up as he used his mouth and all four limbs to hold on tight. Then, he felt a pulling sensation on the rope and looked down, noticing the mob trying to climb up. He frantically looked up and down, weighing the options before finally deciding. "BLISS! TAKE OFF!" He yelled, loud enough for every creature to hear. Bliss, without even a second thought, instantly slammed the previous lever as the tube was emptied. The ship started to shake as the sound of the two fans became loud enough to deafen anyone near them. It sprouted out green fire as the ship instantly took off into the air, breaking through the crowd and burning the few who had stood behind it. With the ship in the air, Maddie peacefully started climbing up with a fast beating heart. Still under the ship, he looked forward rather than upward and noticed an armored bipedal dog quickly climbing up on a rope. The dog gave him a vicious grin before quickly going up. Maddie frowned heavily as he increased his speed, only to be slowed down as a sharp pain ran through one of his back legs. Quickly looking down, he saw the leader of the mob, piercing his hoof with a hook and tried to pull down, only for Maddie to lift his hoof, consequently the leader as well. Maddie gave a glare at the fish as he gave a sheepish grin before he fell from the sky with a dozen broken teeth and a broken nose. Finally reaching the deck, Maddie gave a quick look around, only for him to notice the dog holding a sword, about to swing down on Bliss. "BLISS! LOOK OUT!" He shouted as loud as he could as he ran towards the pair, being painfully slowed down by his injured limb. Bliss quickly turned around, spotting the sword high in the air. With adrenaline running through her body, she sidestepped without thinking, fully dodging the attack as she leaped away. The dog tried to give chase, only for a pissed off pegasus to jump onto him, knocking him to the ground. Maddie gave a him a pounding, morphing his face into a broken mess with a few punches. He tried to attack back with his sword, only for Maddie to swat it away with his metallic wing before finishing him off with a stomp. Breathing heavily, Maddie threw the corpse off the ship before slumping down at it. Bliss was at the wheel, pressing all kinds of buttons as a giant balloon appeared on top of the ship. She let out a relieved sigh as she walked towards one of the scattered boxes, pulling out a big blue box, decorated in stars. "Don't work too hard Bliss." Maddie said as Bliss opened the box, bringing out plenty of medical supplies. "Shut up dumbass, I ain't letting my big brother die like that." She said with a teasing smirk before applying alcohol on his injured hoof, earning a flinch from the stallion. "Baby" "Fuck you" The two stared at each other blankly before bursting into laughter. Tightly bandaging the wound, Bliss sat next to Maddie, leaning on him as they peacefully drifted through the clouds. "We're really making it out." Bliss mindlessly said as she let out a small yawn. "Yeah, it does feel like a dream, especially since we don't even know where we're headed" "Oh yeah." She mindlessly replied before pulling out a rather outdated map and a compass with a broken protective glass. "So, this says Klugetown and we're headed towards the N symbol" "North" "Mhmm." He nodded in response. "Then our first town would be 'Appleloosa', what you think?" "It's sandy, how about a greener area?" "Aight, going further we have 'Ponyville', though it's located behind, the Everfree, shit." He grumbled, remembering the book that talked about the forest and its uncertainties. "Oh come ON!" Bliss yelled in annoyance, pulling her face down with her hooves, knowing exactly why it was dangerous. The ship suddenly started shaking slightly. "Fuck, is the ship injured?" Maddie mumbled as the two stood up. A thud grabbed their attention as a bipedal bird creature ran out, burnt spots on various parts of his body. He held up his sword at the two as they tensed, preparing for an attack. But it never came as a familiar white bunny, now red as blood drenched off of her, appeared right behind the birds' neck before biting into his throat. The two watched with slight disgust as the little rabbit brutally ended the life of their enemy. Panting slightly, Daisy pointed to a door behind her. The two opened the door as a heavy scent of blood filled their noses. The room, which was supposed to be where they stored their stuff, was filled with over a dozen corpses of all kinds of species. "Guess that's what's shaking the ship." Bliss commented as Maddie moved to throw the corpses overboard. "Take your share." Bliss lazily said as he opened up a bag of jerky. "Savor it, it'll be a long time before we eat this again." Maddie joked as he put a piece in his mouth. Daisy just rolled her eyes as she munched on her piece. "Fuck no, I ain't ever eating this crap again" "Well, I'll probably miss it after a year or two, nostalgia and all" "I guess you're right, but I ain't liking it" Maddie simply chuckled at her attitude. Their small meal time was disrupted however as the ship rattled, though the trio weren't bothered. "Guess it's about time that ran out." Bliss commented as she approached the steering wheel and pressed a few buttons. The loud sound coming from the fans were lessened as the sails dropped down from a singular wooden pillar. "Uh, Maddie?" Bliss asked nervously. "Yeah?" He asked back with a full mouth as he stood next to Bliss. "So, we already passed the sandy area right?" "Yes?" "And now we're flying over green" "I, have noticed that, yes" "Well, since we ran out of that green juice, we'll be flying over Everfree with normal speed" "Oh, fuck. How far are we from Appleloosa, we could ride the train from there no?" "Alright, yeah, that makes sense" Just as they were about to solve their current issue, the ship rattles once more. And this time, it doesn't stop as smoke starts to rise from one of the sides of the ship. Bliss stayed to check up on the ships controls as Maddie ran towards the smoke, peered down to see the metal cover bent in half. "Fuck! Bliss, Daisy, we'll have to get off the ship." He said as he ran towards their stacked boxes. Pulling out a few essential items such as scraps of metal, a few white boxes wrapped in plastic, his secondary lighter and a bag of jerky. "Shit, can't believe I have to leave this stuff." Bliss complained as she grabbed a few small devices and put it into her cloak before finally grabbing a ball with a ring on it. "You blowing it?" Maddie asked with a raised eyebrow. "Hell yeah, not a single fucker apart from you two is touching my shit." She replied with a malicious smile as she pulled the ring off with her magic. As she tossed the ball into the box full of devices, Maddie grabbed both her and Daisy before jumping off the ship. A loud boom was heard as the ship was torn in half from the resulting explosion, slightly inconveniencing Maddie who was trying to control his gliding. "Hold tight you two, I'll try to glide straight to Ponyville, hopefully not getting knocked down over the Everfree." He told them as his wings straightened out, giving him more speed as he rode the air currents. "HYDRA!" Bliss yelled, prompting Maddie to look down as the distant three headed beast threw a boulder straight towards them. Maddie furled his wings, barely dodging the projectile as he and his passengers fell rapidly. Uncurling his wings once more, he groans in annoyance as he hears his metal wing creaking from the wind pressure. Now flying only a slight bit above the tree line, the three waited with bated breaths as their altitude lowered bit by bit as time passed. Time passed slowly, the trio tense as Bliss and Daisy carefully watched the ground in case something attacks. Even though they've traveled at a fast speed for a time that felt longer than it was, they still had not left the forest. "We'll have to stop for now, my wing is getting too tired" "Aight, land there, we can follow the river to Ponyville." Bliss responded as Maddie shifted his wings, leading them towards the river. "Hang on tight." He said with a grimace as he fully positioned his wings to stop his flight, yet they still went forward with a high speed as his hooves scraped against the ground. Leaving a long trail in the dirt ground, the trio finally stopped as they fell into the river. A series of grunts were heard as the three got fully submerged into the water. After a few seconds of silence, three distinct groans were heard as the three started climbing out of the river. "Damned physics." Bliss complained as she stretched her back, only to hear a painful crack, eliciting a high pitched squeal from her. Daisy simply jumped back in, though at a shallow part as she started to clean the blood off her body. "Oh for fuck's sake." Maddie said as he checked his metal wing. A few sparks of electricity sizzled out as the entire interior of the wing was exposed. Maddie felt around the base of the destroyed wing for a while before pulling it off entirely. A dozen different needles were extracted, leaving the area where his wing was supposed to be, filled with needle marks. As blood started to flow from the marks, Bliss wiped it off with a wet part of her cloak before putting a few band-aids on the bigger holes. While Bliss worked on his injuries, Maddie brought out a white box and ripped the plastic covering off with his mouth. He took out one cigarette with his mouth as he pulled out a lighter from his jacket pocket. "Ah, shit." He said as nothing but clicks came out from the lighter. "Oh what will you do without me?" Bliss said with a teasing voice as the cigarette was lit with magic. "Probably die from fighting the entirety of Klugetown." He said with a chuckle. "Dumbass." She responded with her own chuckle before she slapped his back. "Done" "Thanks." He said as he stood up, only to stumble slightly. Daisy finally came out of the river, fully regaining her white color and yawned slightly. "Actually, we should probably rest a bit." Maddie said while sitting down. "Cool! We're gonna camp out!" Bliss said excitedly before bringing out several spikes, all connected by strings as she started placing them around their area. Maddie chuckled at her excitement as he walked towards a few trees. "I guess I'll make the campfire"