//------------------------------// // The Tough Get Going // Story: Far From the Tree // by Rust //------------------------------// Author: This chapter is dedicated to anyone who's had a bad day. Chin up, mates! Because when the going gets tough... CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE THE TOUGH GET GOING Omnius leaned back in his chair, carefully observing the poorly lit saloon from beneath his heavy hood. It was built in a classical old western style. A large, open floor made up most of the room, filled with smallish round tables seating four or five ponies at a time. On the far wall was an old-timey bar, with a greasy bartender serving up foul brews that would give even the most hardboiled drinkers a ticket on the fast lane to liver failure. A stage was set up on the side wall, it would have been considered the only decent looking thing in the place were it not for the moth-eaten curtains. A balcony ran around the second floor of the room, and the more free-spirited types of ponies hung about up there, offering their services with little discretion. He tipped back his glass and took a swig of the icy beverage (non-alcoholic, as was his preference) the saucy waitress had slammed onto the table. After, of course, propositioning him for a good time up on the second story. A gentlecolt as always, he had declined her offer and resumed his search for the target. Running his practiced gaze over the motley assortment of lowlifes and gutter-drinkers, he came to the conclusion that this place was set to blow like a box of fireworks next to an open flame. In one corner of the saloon, a group of pegasi had commandeered several of the tables, effectively claiming an entire section of the place as their own. They all wore ratty, black denim vests, and looked to be the Equestrian equivalent of a biker gang out looking for trouble. After casually asking around, he had learned that the group was known as the Rough Riders. The Riders were known in these parts for being generally unpleasant. Extortion, light mercenary work, theft, bit-laundering, the whole nine yards. On the opposite end of the room, sitting in a large clump around the stage, seemed to be their local adversaries, another gang of ponies who called themselves the Bluehoof Bunch. Not exactly an intimidating name, but that was more than made up for by its members. Disillusioned ex-guardponies, construction and mine workers, some of the more uncouth members of the Las Neighas weather team, etc.. These ponies ran this part of town, and were not looking too happy about having a bunch of upstart Riders flying up their neck of the woods. Omnius chuckled as he watched two representatives from each group, heatedly arguing in the unspoken no-man's-land in the center of the saloon. Each was gesticulating wildly, half screaming to be heard over the usual bustle and clatter of customers and employees doing their thing. After a few more minutes, they each stopped whatever they were talking about and simply glared at eachother, fire in their eyes. And of course, this was the exact moment he realized that Rust was no longer sitting at the table. "Son of a..." he looked back to the two arguing gang members. Sure enough, the eccentric unicorn was now standing between the two, forming a rough triangle. The faint glow from the poor lighting lit up his armor weirdly, making him look otherworldy, which was oddly fitting given his background. Omnius could see that he was talking to both of the ponies, and obviously saying something that pissed both of them off, because both spat at his hooves and trotted back to their respective groups. Rust seemed to be shaking where he was standing, Omnius observed. It was hard to tell as the unicorn was wearing his Mandalorian helmet. Wait... No, he was laughing. The crazy idiot was laughing at this! And now the crazy idiot was trotting back to the table, a spring in his step. "Look alive, meat. We've got ourselves a throwdown to look forward to!" Rust said cheerfully as he sat down again. Omnius glarred daggers at him. "What did you do this time? Insult their personal hygiene?" "Nah, the usual. The standard burns about their mothers and how much they love to sleep with me." Fluttershy squeaked at this, turning a bright crimson. "Oh... Um, thats... Nice?" Rust didn't answer, instead choosing to brace himself against the table as his armored horn lit up a bright green. There was a soft poof and trio's disguises immediately vanished. Omnius shivered a bit; he had grown used to the warmth of his Jedi cloak. "What gives, man? I thought we needed those!" "Won't do us any fucking good now. We're going to be in a tussle - they would have vanished immediately They were just disguises. Not the real thing. That lightsaber you had? Fake. My armor? Fake. I made them thinking we wouldn't be getting our hooves dirty, and now that we are, its pointless to keep them on." Omnius momentarily pause an wipe a tear from his eye. He had really been looking forward to using a lightsaber. Rust continued. "Any-fucking-way, I made a deal with those two groups there. Turns out the Bluehoof Bunch has been keeping our target here against her will. We beat them in a fight, we get to walk out of here with her." Fluttershy nervously frowned. "A fight? Oh, my. Um, Rust, you said that you made a deal with both of the groups. Could you tell us how the other one is involved? You know, if that's okay with you, I mean." The unicorn slammed his hooves onto the table, sending their drinks up a foot before they all fell down perfectly, not a drop spilling. "Absolutely, Fluttershy! The Rough Riders have positively no connection to the target whatsoever! I just pissed them off so we could have more ponies to fight! They're helping the Bluehooves!" He grinned, and it looked somewhat maniacal. "... You're a sick bastard, you know that, right?" said Omnius. "Coming from the guy who decided it would be funny to sculpt my pet rock into a giant dick?" The chocolate pegasus straightened his glasses and rolled up an imaginary sleeve. "Why you little..." "That's not what your mother said." "BOYS! PLEASE!" yelled Fluttershy. The two stallions abruptly sat right down, and gave her blank stares. "Sorry, 'Shy." muttered Rust. "Yeah. What he said." said Omnius. "Now, I think we need to stop fighting eachother now, okay? There's a bigger fight coming up, and you both need to be ready to work together." Rust nodded solemly. "But what about you? Are you going to help when it starts?" Fluttershy ducked down, hiding behind her mane. "Oh, no... I could never harm another pony..." Rust and Omnius exchanged a glance, and quickly met in a two-pony huddle. They shot Fluttershy a look before they began. "Dude, we need her. You saw what she did to that bear, right?" "I know, I know, let me think of somethi- got it." The pair emerged from their huddle and face the timid yellow pegasus, who was looking at them fearfully. "Futtershy," began Rust slowly. "There comes a time in ever pony's life when... Ah, fuck it. 'Shy, the Bluehooves and the Riders are poachers. They catch wild animals, cut them into tiny pieces, and sell their parts for bits." The pink-maned mare sitting across the table from them went stock still. One of her eyes twitched. Slowly, an evil, leering grin crept across her face. Despite the fact that it was a perfectly clear day out, a distant rumble of thunder could be heard. "I'll end them." Rust and Omnius shuddered at the sight. The pegasus now radiated pure malice. Omnius leaned over to whisper in Rust's ear. "Do they really do that?" Rust simply shrugged and grinned, indicating that he had no idea. The Traveler facehooved. The ease by which his friend deceived her was somewhat unsettling. Regardless, now they had a bloodthirsty animal-activist on their hooves. He'd seen Fluttershy stand up a dragon, literally throw a fully-grown grizzly bear on its back, and pacify a rampaging manticore. When she was like this, it was downright dangerous to be around her. There was a loud slamming noise that startled him out of his thoughts. Abruptly, his drink fell over and spilled all over him. He looked up from his ruined beverage to see two scruffy mares, one in them ratty denim jacket of the Riders, the other wearing the signature blue legband of the Bluehooves. They were standing in front of the table with dark scowls on their faces. One of them had just put an angry hoof down to get their attention, upsetting many of the glasses. It worked. Omnius' glasses flashed in the light as he looked up at the two foolish ponies who had dared to spill his Coke. The Bluehoof glared down at Rust, pointedly ignoring the now seriously ticked-off Omnius and an equicidal Fluttershy. "Listen up, stranger. We're going to make you wish you were never born. Nopony disrespects the Bluehoof Bunch in our own turf." "Or the Rough Riders." Growled her new ally. Omnius watched as Rust casually leaned back in his chair and swirled a toothpick around in his mouth. Where the unicorn had gotten it, Omnius would never know. He regarded the two mares with a strange look in his eyes, before closing them and giving a small sigh. "Omnius. Fluttershy. Let's set some ground rules right now, shall we? Number one. Don't kill anyone. Number two. No mercy. Can you handle that?" The two pegasi nodded grimly. "Fucktastic!" Rust opened his eyes again and stared at the offending mares. "Now, you two bimbos have your sorry excuses for gangs ready to go? Actually, don't bother answering that, I could care less. We're going to start this now." His horn suddenly lit up, and both of them flinched back, bracing themselves for whatever spell he was about to cast. But it never came. In the corner of the saloon, and old jukebox suddenly began glowing a soft emerald, and began to turn on. Rust stood up from the table and reared back onto his hind hooves. "Let's do it to it!" And with that, he put his forelegs under the edge of the table and flipped it over, giving it a solid shove as it went, sending it straight into the two flabbergasted gangsters, knocking them down. The saloon suddenly went quiet. Acting on a hidden command, both the entire combined force of both the Rough Riders and the Bluehoof Bunch leapt from their respective corners and cleared an open space in the middle of the floor, encircling the three inside a threatening ring. Fluttershy took to the air, hovering several feet above the ground, fire in her eyes as she held an attack position. Nopony moved a muscle, the tension was so thick in the air that one could almost see it. Omnius stood up from his chair and faced the crowd, lowering his head and giving a small snort of anger, dragging his front hoof across the floor like a bull ready to charge. He felt a presence at his rear, and turned his head slightly to see that Rust was standing in some kind of kung-fu pose, both his shields ignited and held at the ready. The eccentric unicorn gave him a small smile, before fixing the conclave of criminals surrounding them with a fearless glare. Author: Click this shit if you want some fight music--->(Rust's Battle Theme of Choice) The jukebox in the corner suddenly erupted into music. Omnius couldnt take it any longer. He reared up and swung his hooves in the air like warhorse about to charge. "FOR NARNIA!" he roared. "FOR THE ANIMALS!" screeched Fluttershy from above. "FOR THE LULZ!" yelled Rust. Three of the braver ponies facing Omnius immediately stepped forward to answer the challenge, several more moving towards Rust, and a few pegasi rising into the air to face down Fluttershy. Omnius caught himself smiling despite the situation. The poor fools didn't know what they were about to get into. As the Traveler of Good, Omnius had been more or less everywhere, everywhen, and even everywhy. He had spent time on countless worlds, participated in innumerable battles, and kicked serious ass on a multi-universal scale. The first pony to get close enough to him found that out the hard way. WHAM! Omnius darted forward, slamming his foreleg solidly to the gangster's jaw. The pony's eyes rolled back into its head as it fell backward, and lay still. Two aggressors who had been all to eager to confront him suddenly ceased their individual advances, and exchanging a glance before charging forward as one, aiming to steamroll him. The Traveler stood fast. Right before the pair were about to hit, he hopped back and ripped open his wings as hard as he could. The two chargers slammed into the outstretched wings hard, before Omnius flexed them down, pushing them both right off their hooves and onto the floor. Two solid bucks ceased their attempts to rise. From the corner of his eye, Omnius could see Fluttershy doing an aerial ballet with the attacking pegasi, whirling and dive-bombing them with frightening speed. A loud bang and ensuing maniacal laughter, followed by the sight of several limp bodies flying trough the air told him that Rust was more than holding his own. Rapid hoofsteps. He turned. A body ran into him, sending him skidding back several feet. Grunting with the effort, he halted his slide, again whipping out his wings, sending the attacker flying. A sudden weight on his back sent him staggering as another pony jumped him from behind. He began to spin, whirling around so fast the room began to blur. The ambusher flew off and rolled before springing back up. The pony hoofed the ground and charged him, head lowered. Time seemed to slow down. Omnius reached a foreleg back, swinging it around in a circle similar to a baseball pitcher. His hoof began to glow with an angry fiery glow. Satisfied he had enough momentum in his hoof, the Traveler stepped into the charge and lashed out with his charged power. "FALCON PUNCH!" The impact from the blow not only halted the gangster in its tracks as if it had run into a wall, it was sent flying back so fast that it drilled through the crowd like a missile. The ponies who had been content to simply hold the ring intact now realized that facing the Traveler one-on-one was suicide. They grouped together and swarmed forward. Omnius was bowled over by the wave of angry criminals. The rank smell of booze and filth filled his nostrils. He felt himself being battered and trampled, yet he lashed out with all of his appendages, giving no quarter and receiving none in kind. The press of countless ponies began crushing him with sheer numbers. He panicked, redoubling his efforts, biting and kicking for all he was worth. Suddenly the weight dissapeared, and he found himself looking Rust, who hauled him back to his hooves. The unicorn's horn flared up, and a bolt of green lightning arced out into the enemy, causing a small explosion. The crowd fell back, unwilling to face the his wrath. The pair stood back-to-back again. Omnius was breathing hard, as was his friend, and both spoted several small cuts and bruises, although Rust seemed much better off. But they were given no respite, as the gangs regrouped and attempted to wash over them a second time. Rust suddenly jumped in front of Omnius, slamming his shields together, and they fused into a giant, glowing green wedge. The Traveler, seizing the initiative, spread his wings again and pushed Rust as fast as he could into the oncoming tide. The wedge cut through the masses like a runaway train, cutting down ponies left and right like a snowplow. They carved a swath straight through until they found themselves outside the circle. Making and abrupt about-face, they plunged back in for a second pass. A pegasi somehow managed to get around the wedge and took him in the side, sending him reeling as Rust continued forward. They locked limbs and tumbled, end over end until he felt himself slamming into the far wall, before falling down onto the stage. The pegasus bounced off him as they landed, stunned by the impact of their collision. Omnius quickly regained his footing and hurled the attacker off the stage. He paused to view the carnage from his higher vantage point. Fluttershy had achieved air superiority, and was now ferociously dive bombing the mob, nothing more than a yellow and pink flash. As soon as she hit her target, she was in the air again, whipping around the chandelier as she indiscriminately selected her next victim. Omnius involuntarily winced as he noticed that the ponies she left on the ground were bent in ways that weren't normal. An orange blur crashed into the stage next to him, launched from the crowd. Rust stood up slowly, a large gash on the side of his face, running voer his left eye, which was now closed. He spat some of the blood from his mouth, the crimson loogie making a wet smack as it fell to the floor. "Okay, NOW I'm pissed. Omnius, hold them off while I finish this." He took a few steps backwards and braced himself, his horn suddenly glowing an angry green, and his one open eye doing the same as he charged up a new, frighteningly powerful spell. Omnius turned from his friend to face the crowd. They were mobbing the stage, attempting to climb up to them. The Traveler stomped his hooves, whipping around to buck a gangster who had dared attempt the climb. A screech from his side told him that Fluttershy was now on the defensive too. He was suddenly knocked back by a concussive force. A unicorn mare wearing the Rough Riders vest leaped up onto the stage and face him, horn glowing dangerously. Omnius spread his wings yet again, and with a powerful downstroke, launched himself straight up, dodging another bolt of magic. The pegasus screamed skywards before flipping around mid-flight and pushing off the ceiling, propelling him down to the stage like a meteor. The Traveler stretched out a hoof and struck the stage as hard as he could. The sheer kinetic energy of the impact sent a shockwave out like a cone in front of him, ripping up the floorboards of and sending the unicorn sprawling back into the crowd. Omnius grinned and blew some of his mane out of his eyes. "Ground pound, for the win!" There was a sudden flash of green light, and the scent of toasted almonds filled the air. "HEY, GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS!" came Rust's yell. Omnius turned again to see the Elder standing on all fours, his head pointed skyward and his horn shining so bright it made Omnius' eyes hurt. Omnius looked up to see what Rust was looking at... ...There, floating near the ceiling of the saloon, surrounded by an bright green glow, hung the biggest subwoofer Omnius had ever seen, easily the size of a eighteen wheeler. His eyes widened as he noticed there was a fuse sticking out the top. It was lit. The Traveler's jaw dropped. Thinking fast, he hunkered down and covered himself with his outstretched wings, wrapping himself up in a cocoon of brown feathers. "It's time... to DROP THE BASS" Rust flicked his horn down, and the entire mass whipped downward almost faster than the eye could see. KA-THOOM!!! A massive thunderclap sounded as the ensuing explosion of machinery and ponies literally blew the roof right off the saloon. Debris flew everywhere, and Omnius winced as several splinters from the destroyed bar bounced off his glasses and body. Ponies were plastered to the walls like Christmas decorations. Windows were blown out in every building in a two-block radius. He coughed, clearing his lungs from the choking black smoke that now filled the air. Omnius needed air, and he needed it now. Beating his wings front-to-back, instead of up-and-down, he began wafting the acrid fumes away. Once he had deemed that he was able to breathe again, he folded the wings to his sides and took assesment of himself in the poor visibility. One of his lenses was shattered, but that could be fixed easily. A quick peek at his extra two limbs revealed that a few of his feathers were either missing or bent out of shape. He rolled his shoulders, wincing again as he felt the sharp sting from the cut the pegasus that had blindsided him gave when he'd hit the wall. Nothing to bad, but he was banged up for sure. The smoke cleared. Not a single sound was heard in the eerie silence. The Traveler waved some dust from in front of his eyes and saw Fluttershy was standing nearby, her rage now cooled as she dug through a medical bag that she had procured from somewhere. A coughing wheeze sounded to his left, and he looked to see Rust, who turned and smiled, despite one half of his face being covered in blood and the damage to his eye. "Well, that was fun! Let's get our prize now, shall we?" he said. His horn lit up again, and a hidden trapdoor in the stage suddenly swung open, and a magenta blob was lifted up from it to be deposited neatly at their hooves. The shape, wrapped in a purple fabric covered in stars, unwound itself and stood up on pale blue hooves. The pony, now revealed to be a unicorn mare with silver mane, quickly adjusted the wizard hat on her head. She looked at them haughtily. "Well, it's about time somepony came to rescue the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Author: You know what's fun? CLIFFHANGERS! They make me giggle as I imagine you poor souls reading this and going; "You bastard, what happens next?!" Too bad. I'm not telling. Why? Because I'm a jerk like that. P.S.- Due to overwhelming support, Flutterhshy lives. For now. Mwahahahahaa...