//------------------------------//
// 8) Happy Campers 
// Story: Fact or Fiction 
// by Mocha Star 
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	Before leaving the slums, Pea made sacks for any supplies they were carrying in the cumbersome crates. The blankets fit the bill nicely. Pea dished out the cargo between the three of them with a bit more for herself. They still had many weapons and several pounds of silver. Among other items were rope, matches, a grind stone, compass, spyglass, a few small pans to cook with and extra clothing. They had enough food until they reached Breeze, but water they lacked. Only three gallons in canteens. Daring Do and Rainbow Dash would've traded that money for more food or water, but they'd manage...hopefully.

The slums of the port city became further and further away. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do looked at the scrub land around them, a dismal road led them away from the city. Pea Gravel walked in the lead while the other mares walked further back. The noon sun was much more intense then in Equestria, no pegasus made clouds were in the sky to shelter them. The air was surprisingly dry and flies buzzed around the mares, darting around their faces. They Pea swat big flies away with her tail if they landed to long, the Equestrians copied, never having to deal with horse flies before.
Rainbow Dash shrugged of her pack and cloak. Pea and Daring looked to her while she took off into the air,"I'll try and make a cloud for us to walk under!" She called down to them. Pea rolled her eyes and let Rainbow Dash mill about in the air.

To Rainbow Dash's disbelief, the air wasn't making clouds like it did in Equestria, it just fanned around when she flew. It felt thin and intangible to the weather pony. She fluttered back to the ground, more tired then she ever was and picked her pack back up in defeat. Daring Do grabbed her cloak and the trio set off again, the sun beating down on them. 

Pea called back without looking at either of the Equestrians,"So how did you two end up on that boat?"

Rainbow Dash smiled meekly,"Well...I was following you anyway, left a message saying I was visiting in Cloudsdale back home. I met up with Daring Do near by the dock where you hijacked that ship and we followed you aboard."

Pea didn't respond, at least verbally she didn't. Daring Do cleared her throat polity,"You know, I was like you at one point..." The cyber mare stopped dead in her tracks and looked with an annoyed glower. Daring continued,"I used to think I could do everything on my own. Rainbow Dash helped me realize that you need somepony to watch your back sometimes.

Pea grimaced and spat at the ground,"Sorry, my mouth was getting dry. Let's get out of the sun, okay?"

More time passed and the dry land did little for the mares. Pea's pace was cut down two-thirds from how slow the Equestrians were going. She looked back and saw they ere showing sighs of dehydration. There was only so much water to drink. She took the canteen from her cargo load and the trio stopped. Pea told the Equestrians to sit for awhile and they nearly collapsed with relief. She tossed them the canteen and set off to make them a make-shift tent.

Daring Do had been in similar situations before and knew water was precious, she only drank enough to stop her head from spinning. Rainbow Dash guzzled it greedily, spilling some on the cracked dirt. Pea Gravel stuck her swords into the dirt and had a blanket corner tied to each sword grip. It provided a low but sheltering spot of shade. Pea waved them to go under it and rest. Rainbow Dash crawled under the mock tent and sighed, released from the sun's rays. Daring Do stayed outside and sat next to it, she patted the ground next to her for Pea to sit.

"So, fly girl, I take it you've hiked before," Pea asked playfully as she sat down. Her arms were resting on her knees unnaturally for an equine. She sat like a biped would. 


"I have. Equestria has some unforgiving environments too, you know!" Daring Do said sipping more water from their canteen,"I've never dealt with sun like this though, can I at least take my cloak off?"

Pea took off her navy coat with all the pistols inside and put it in her bag,"It's probably a good idea, just remember to cover up when in public."

Rainbow Dash inched to them under the shade,"Why's that? Dose it get colder where we're going?"

Pea snickered,"Kinda. I just...well clothes out here aren't like in Equestria. Back there you'd wear them to be formal or 'cuz you like to. Out here...it's just a inter-species thing to cover up your stuff," Rainbow Dash looked at her with a blank look. Pea sighed,"I your case it'd be to cover up your marehood."

"Why's that a problem, I mean it's normal right?" Rainbow Dash asked naively.

Pea felt like she was telling a small child about the wonders of puberty,"Well let's just say we don't want someone looking somewhere their not welcome, okay?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged off this, the concepts of covering ones privets up alien to her. Daring Do fanned her wings to keep cool,"So...what kind of things live out here?"

Pea rubbed her chin with a metal finger in thought,"Ummm...some coyotes, the Diamond dogs of the scrub lands. We're about four days away from Breeze."

Daring Do's eyes lit up,"That's the trading city you lived near, isn't it? We're visiting your old home?"

Pea sighed,"Yeah. Alia isn't there anymore. I didn't get to tell you what happened to her...did I?"

Daring Do reached over to pat Pea's hand for comfort but the cyber mare pulled away,"Don't touch me!" Daring Do looked almost pained my this but Pea softened up,"My arms are made of metal, I've been walking in the sun all day. They'd scald you." Daring Do laughed awkwardly. Pea's gaze went to the east where the faint black line of mountains were and smiled.


Almost a half hour passed of the trio resting and eating. Daring Do was the only one awake in the noon sun. Looking around at the land, six dots to the west caught her eye. She looked over at Pea and Dash who were both napping. Daring Do fumbled out the spyglass from a pack and looked to the shapes in the distance. She gasped in horror.

"Girls, girls wake up!" Daring whispered harshly. She punched Pea's shoulder and shook at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked up groggily,"Ahh...five more minuets..."

Pea was bleary eyed for a moment, but a moment too long. The Equestrians pulled back in terror as two arrows hit Pea. One landing in her gut above the hip and the other caught in the exposed workings of her elbow. Pea dropped, clenching the arrow in her stomach. Rainbow Dash panicked and tried to fly away while Daring Do was close to the three swords, watching the shapes with wide eyes.

Rainbow Dash was only five feet in the air before three arrows whizzed by her. She flew higher up in the air until her blue skin matched the sky she hid in. Daring Do looked to Pea and their cargo, there's no way she could carry them. She was even to drained to carry Pea, a lump formed in her throat when she grabbed one of the cutlasses with timid jaws. Her whole body was shaking, not knowing what would happen next.

The shapes were now in view. There were five monitor lizard looking bipeds in loin cloths armed with machetes or bows. At the head of the attack was a snake with arms holding a knife in each hand, in fact he had a bandier of knives on a leather sleeve of armor around his slithering body. The pack of lizards approached Daring Do, weapons pointing at the scared little mare.

"Your massster cheated my father out of a deal,"The snake hissed,"Now you all ssshall pay for it!"

Daring Do's eyes darted to each lizard, a terrified heart beat in her chest. The snake saw how frighted she was and smiled wickedly,"Ussse your claws, not swordsss. We'll bring her back to port to sssell."

Then a monitor lizard sauntered up to Daring Do. She swung the sword in her jaws but her target simply grabbed the blade and wretched it from her grip. The others circled Pea Gravel, one grabbing a metal limb for himself. They held her up and she just hung there, panting and bleeding. Daring Do's neck was grabbed by her assaulter and watched as the Serpent slithered up to Pea.

The snake trailed a finger around the gut shot arrow,"Ssso thisss is the famousss 'Hellion', the warring pony that'sss killed a dragon? My father's ssight is truly fading..." 

Pea strained her neck up to look at the snake,"That's me. If you try anything with my girls I'll rip you a new one," She spat blood at the serpent.

He wrapped his tail around her injured waist and ripped her from the lizard's grip. He threw her to the ground, a puff of dirt and rocks moved from the impact. Daring Do bit her lip, not wanting to see Pea lose like this. The Serpent flicked his tail and the four lizards ponced on Pea Gravel. They swung their fists mercilessly at her injured body and blocked her from Daring's view.

The serpent slithered up and caressed Daring's face,"You'd fetch a good priccce," His long forked tongue licked the side of Daring Do's cheek. She winched which made the serpent even more wicked looking. Daring Do tried to break from the lizard's grip but to no avail. She quivered when the serpent's had began trailing across her sweaty torso, he hissed with fiendish delight.

Daring Do clenched her eyes to try and evade the Serpent's gaze. She half opened them and saw a lizard that had piled on Pea was now laying on the ground, dead. The Serpent groped around Daring's thighs and suddenly his claws dug into her skin from trauma. Daring's eyes, as well as the lizard's that was holding her, looked in terror at the serpent's head. Pea had jumped out from the pile and now had a grip on the snake. One hand clenched around the top jaw, the other crossed against his neck and grabbing the lower one. The armed snake flailed and twisted to get her off. He was a few feet away from Daring Do who was still held up against her will when everyone present heard a bone shattering crack.

The snake's body flopped over dead, twitching and gurgling. His head was twisted backwards with rolled over eyes staring out into space. Pea rose up on her back feet, the detached bottom jaw of the snake in her hand. Her face was shadowed by the sun but the mint irises of her eyes smoldered at surviving lizards. The lizards inched back, not knowing what to do with their leader dead. Pea's gaze went to the one holding Daring do and the lizard faltered a bit.

Pea coughed up a mouthful of blood,"Drop her...now." Her legs seemed to be locked standing.

The lizard looked at her injuries and how she was still alive, they thought it best to turn tail and run. They didn't bother taking their dead back with them and left their would-be victims in the dust. Pea's legs loosed up and she fell on her back with a puff of dirt. Daring Do kicked the dead lizards away and came close to the injured mare.

Pea's face was bruised and suffered a broken nose. Her torso looked bruised too under the leather vest she always wore. The arrow protruding from her abdomen, a little above the hip, oozed out little rivers of dark blood. The cyber mare looked broken and practically dead from the lizard's beating. Despite her injuries she smiled up at Daring Do and patted her shoulder, leaving a hand print of blood on the mare's sweaty shoulder.

"I saw you pick up that sword," Pea coughed,"Good job, fly girl."

"Don't waste your energy," Daring Do said trying to shade her beaten friend,"It's the least I could do."

Pea smiled and slowly slipped back into an unconscious sleep. Awhile later, a guilty Rainbow Dash flew quietly and landed near the others. Daring Do had did the best she could of cleaning off Pea, she knew a bit of first aid out in the wild. What she didn't know is how to fix an arrow wound.


Rainbow Dash slowly crept closer,"I...I'm sorry...I was so afraid I r-ran off...Is she okay?"

Daring Do sighed sadly,"Now she is, we still have to get there arrows out of her," she shivered,"She broke that snake's neck like a twig...but all of that adrenaline pumped a lot of blood out of her."

Rainbow Dash rubbed her tear streaked face,"She was right...when danger came around I...I just ran away. I'm nothing like you two, I'm a coward!"

Daring to look at her with a reassuring smile,"No, you're not a coward. You just got surprised is all, don't beat yourself up. All we can do is trust Pea Gravel now"

Daring put her cloak back on and began tying a bandage around Pea's wound. To her horror it was sunk all the way through and and iron spade stuck out as an exit wound though her back. The sun was beginning to become low in the sky and dread fell upon the Equestrians. Night was an inherently scary thing in their home, what abominations roamed out here at night? Rainbow Dash tried to shake Pea awake but the mare was out cold. 

Rainbow Dash grimaced,"Why're you doing that? She's tough as nails isn't she?"

"Maybe, but she's still mortal like us," Daring Do shifted two of the tree bags until the weight rested on her back,"There's no hope waiting out here so we'll just have carry Pea Gravel and our gear."

She loaded one bags and the tent onto Rainbow Dash. She put the swords and blankets along with he bag and curled her hooves under Pea's arms,"I'm gonna lift her on your back, okay Dash?"

The sun was beginning to set now, Rainbow Dash nodded in the dying light. Daring lifted Pea over onto Rainbow Dash's back. She was landing belly down and Daring Do did her best to not irritate the wound. Now the two were loaded up and ready to walk again. Daring Do looked at the black pearl necklace on Pea Gravel, remembering what the thing lead to. They followed the shining point like a compass rose and headed out into the oncoming night.

The moon began to rise, it too looked different. The craters were fainter and smaller, no shames resembling an alicorn at all. The chilled night air was graced by the occasional howl echoing through the emptiness. The Equestrians' teeth were chattering from fear and the frosty air. In the distance they occasionally spotted shapes lurking about and their eyes reflected the moon's light like a cat's. Their trek through the night was strenuously intimidating to the two mares. Rainbow Dash tried talking with Daring Do, it might calm them down.

"So, you spent more time with her then anypony else," Rainbow Dash said quietly,"Do you know what we got into?"

Daring Do was still shaken up from the serpent's exploring hands,"Adventure right?"

"I got an idea since we're carrying her. We'll just sneak on another boat and go back to Equestria, it's not to late," Rainbow Dash said waveringly.

Daring Do looked at Pea then at Dash. A swell of fearlessness came over the adventuress,"She's trying to save her friends, no matter what happens to her. Wouldn't you do the same for your friends?"

Rainbow Dash thought about this,"Yeah, yeah you're right. Where are her's though?"

The tanned pegasus, as well as the cyan one, were growing tired. Daring yawned,"Pea has this pearl, she got it from...somepony she knows and it's like a compass to them."

Rainbow Dash smiled,"Oh, that was nice of them!"


There was much of Pea Gravel's story that Daring Do didn't write. Either because of they simply didn't get that far and of her new 'adventure'. She looked at the frightened look on Rainbow Dash's face, not sure if she should tell why Pea was known as the Hellion out here. It'd be a crime to keep important details in the dark, no matter how morbid to Dash they were.

"Do you remember how Pea's book ended?" Daring asked finally.

"Yeah, she and Alia captured the castle and went back home...right?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well...that's not exactly how it went. They did capture the castle but it wasn't a happy trip home," Daring began,"Her natural equine nature was conflicting with her abilities to fight. Alia saw this as weakness. I bet you don't know how a 'branding' works according to Pea, do you?"

Rainbow Dash gulped timidly and Daring continued,"It can work on other creatures but it's brainwashing for ponies. They'd either tattoo or brand with an iron an insignia on your cutie mark. It could be a sharpened sword, broken skull or any other kind of violent imagery. As I'm sure you know from experience, changing a cutie mark can mess with a pony's head. Out here it's a way to toughen up our fragile race..."

"Sweet Celestia..." Rainbow Dash breathed,"If that's the truth...then what happened to Pea? She told us that when she killed in self defense that's when she got her cutie mark."

Daring Do bit her lip,"We changed it a bit. She really got her cutie mark when she was very young. It was a compass with a gold pointer then. As a child many were envious of her, one destined for fortune."

Rainbow Dash blinked numbly,"Then why is there a sandstone heart on there now and why's there a crack in it?"

"She's branded to have a heart of stone," Daring said softly,"I'm not sure if the breaking is from rage or trying to love again...it could be either."

Rainbow Dash's stomach churned painfully,"Forcing somepony to change their cutie marks? I've been to that equality place but...making a pony something nopony should ever be...killers?"

Daring scanned the chilly desert night,"It's the cold hard truth. Once Pea had a heart of stone, she would throw herself at her enemies in fights and not care who lived or died. I'm honestly surprised she didn't kill us on the dingy."

Pea groaned,"Ahhh...where the hell are we?"

"Ah, your awake!" Rainbow Dash forced back a smile,"No that you're up you can help us out," Dash stopped and carefully helped her to the ground. Pea lay on her back with a drained look to her. Her skin toned muzzle was pale from blood loss, perhaps poison form the arrow?

Pea patted the ground,"Okay ladies, get a campfire started," She looked at the arrow and chuckled to herself.

"Uhhh...where?" Daring Do asked. A tumble weed rolled past her in the dry scrub-land. There were patched of dead grass and some bushes all around. Everyone an awhile there was a dried up old tree, perfect fire wood.

Pea rubbed her face,"Just get the biggest bushes you can find and dig a hole in the ground."

Rainbow Dash flew up and in a matter of seconds, brought back a bushel of fuel for fire. Daring Do dug a small pit in the still-warm earth and the cyan pony stuffed some sticks in. Daring got the ever so convenient matches and lit one, she dropped it and the dry stick smoked. After a little air was added it swelled up into a small fire. The two pegsi sat proudly at their fire.

Pea grabbed the arrow shaft sticking out of her and snapped it off. She tossed it into the fire and blinked tiredly at the Equestrians,"Have either of you cauterized a wound?"

Both of them shook their heads. Pea groaned,"Alright, I'll do it myself. Get the fire going as well as you can." She commanded while trying to sit up. She unwrapped the bandages around her waist,"Who did these?" Daring Do raised a hoof and Pea smiled proudly,"Thanks doc!" She took off the bloodied bandages and looked back to her friends who were getting out dried food for a simple supper.

"You two should probably eat later, this could get gross. For you two at least," Pea looked to her left elbow that had another arrow in it. She groaned and with her other had attempted to unhinge a part of her arm at the shoulder. Her face tightened in pain from the arrow still in her abdomen,"Nope, nope...that son of a bitch gotta get out first!"

She broke off most of the arrow in her left arm and tossing the arrow into the fire. Though her right arm was stiff she used it to hold her torso up. Pea grabbed a rope from their bags and bit down on it. The Equestrians were greatly confused at what was going on. Pea's free had grabbed at the arrow head sticking out of her back, it wasn't far out enough. She bit down hard on the rope and pushed the broken end of the arrow  further inside. She grunted in pain and yanked it out from the arrow head's end. She panted and tossed the rest of the arrow into fire. The wound bled out dark blood until it began pumping cherry red liquid out instead. There was a lack of color in the cyber mare's face and she moved with little energy.

Pea was sweating now as she used her unfeeling hand to grab the coals of the fire. She held them in her had for awhile and pulled out glowing red fingers. Pea bit down again and clenched up. She put a scalding hot finger on each end of the wound, cauterizing it. Her flesh sizzled from the heat for only a painful moment. The ordeal looked painfully impossible to a normal pony, but Pea acted as if it was as common as a scrapped knee. The two Equestrians were sickened by the field surgery but it had to be done.

Pea sat up now, looking less strained,"Alright ladies...you can eat now, I'll just be fixing this."

Daring Do ate and apple that was from the ship they rode in on. Rainbow Dash watched Pea preform a crude mechanic's surgery. The cyber mare reached for the metal panel on her arm as before but it opened now. Among a dark black mass of wires that looked like muscle was a large brass ring. Pea spun the ring like a bottle lid, after a little turning everypony heard a wizz-click and Pea's right side arm dropped off at the shoulder. 
Where the arm met Pea's body looked like a metal circle where the base of the arm should be. It looked like a complex mess if pistons and cords but they all retracted when the arm fell off. Pea sat cross-legged at the fire and put the detached arm in her lap. She pulled a cord inside it and the arm failed at bending back and forth. Pea crinkled her nose.

"Can you fix it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Pea rubbed her sore hip scar,"I dunno. The enchantment they came with is starting to wear off."

"Encantment?" Rainbow Dash asked,"I thought things like those were only science fiction."

Daring nodded,"We decided not to mention about where she got them from, didn't we?"

Pea winced when she smiled,"There's this part of the world we live in, overrun with dragons. Further east the more human the creatures look, until you get to the Trenches," Pea saw the puzzlement on Rainbow Dash's face so the cyber mare continued as she fiddled with her dismembered arm," I take it you haven't met a human yet. Don't worry Dash, they're not as bad as they look at first...most of them. Actually their a lot like us, the way we ponies behave and a similar sense of purpose."

Rainbow Dash sat still, shaken by the day's events,"Soo...we're out here for eighteen months then? It's going to take that long to find your friends?"

Pea found a clicking pulley in the arm and messed with it for a bit,"I'm not sure."