Fact or Fiction

by Mocha Star

1) What Happened? Hunker down kid, this'll be a long one... (part 1)

The Equestrian moon glowed like a silver eye over the forest. The small campfire where two ponies lay under the dull green canopy brighter and larger than any other place across the world she’d been to. Even the grass here was greener and fresher. It reflected lightly off her polished, yet lightly scuffed, metallic limbs.

Another pony was with Pea; A young colt that was nearing the age of ten. She thought back to how he looked the first day she saw him as a newborn. Tiny, wrapped in an overly used and torn sheet that her mother had found, she said, hanging on a clothesline in a destroyed settlement years before.

’What a world to come into’. Pea Gravel, thought.

She looked across the low crackling flames to see him snuggled in a blanket similar to hers, only a third the size, to accommodate him and take less space in their travel equipment.

"Auntie G?" his voice called out softly. Pea was somewhat surprised to find out he was awake at such a late hour.

"Yeah, kiddo, you need something?" Pea asked.

Tuff stuck his head out from under his blanket. His fur a deep crimson. His blue eyes and hair shone in the firelight. "I don't know if I need something or not,” he said firmly, “I'm just having trouble sleeping," he said as he laid his head on the grass between his forelegs. "I-I had that dream again," he hesitated.

"Aww, come here, Tuff," Pea said gruffly.

Obediently, Tuff drug the blanket with his teeth over to Pea. Tuff shimmied around their stocky saddle bags and made sure his blanket didn't get too close to the fire.

He sat next to her and she helped him put the wool blanket over his slim shoulders. She looked at him with a sleepy expression. "What, ya’ not gonna lay down? You know my stories are long."

"Actually, I was wondering, Auntie,” Tuff hesitated while he tried to find the words.

Pea yawned. "Well, spit it out. If you take any longer I'll fall asleep."

"I don't know how to ask this,” Tuff turned his muzzle to the ground. Pea sat up and the wool blanket slid off her back. The firelight glistened off her forelegs as she stretched her back and neck. She looked at him and put one of her metal arms over his shoulder. The ends of her cybernetic legs had five actuated fingers that were attached to where the hoof wall would be, if they were normal.

Tuff kept his eyes on the ground, he still wasn’t comfortable seeing working fingers on a pony, even if he had traveled across the lands and oceans with her.

"Now listen here, Tuff Boulder, you can ask me anything. It's not like you're gonna ask me where babies come from, right?" she mused.

Tuff was quiet for a moment. "What, um, what happened that made you lose your legs?" He had a worried look on his youthful face that she’d be upset at the question.

Pea made a wry grin and pulled him closer to her. "Which ones? The front or the back legs?" Pea asked as she rubbed her steel knuckles in his hair.

"Auntie, I'm being serious," Tuff complained through a chuckle while in a playful noogie, "what happened to you?"

Pea released her grip and sighed. "It's a terrible story," she rose her arms slowly in the fire light with a wild look. "I sold them to the Devil,” she grumbled, “so now I can kick anypony's ass!" She laughed aloud

"Come on, I’m serious," Tuff said flatly. Pea's face pouted to his response. "Did you lose them in a fight?" Tuff asked getting slightly excited at the prospect of the story.

Pea groaned as she punched Tuff's shoulder playfully.

"Ouch! Why'd you hit me?" Tuff complained.

"That was a love tap and you know it," Pea snickered.

"Stop playing games and tell me already!" Tuff shouted in frustration.

Pea's smile faded. She began to look into the fire with a vacant expression. Pea flexed the finger-like extremities on her foreleg, each making metallic whirrs. Then tears built up in Pea's eyes; Tuff almost regretted asking. She kept her gaze at the fire and flexed her fingers in and out of a fist.

"You asked if I lost them in a fight?” she didn’t look to his response, “Well, that part is true." A tear rolled down her cheek, but her expression remained neutral. "The worst part though,” she blinked the tears out of her eyes, “is that I thought I could've won. I had it in my head that I could've conquered anything," she raised a metallic hand close to her face and chuckled dryly, "look how that turned out."

"So you lost?" Tuff asked quietly.

"In a way, yes, and in a way no. I lost my legs, but actually, no,” she frowned, “nothing good came from it, from this," she growled at her clenched fists as she thrust them over the fire, waiting for feeling to make her scream. A few seconds later she removed her hands and looked at them, with a sigh she placed them on the ground and inhaled deeply. “I don’t feel anything, not like I used to.

Tuff leaned over and hugged Pea. She had been taken completely by surprise and it took her a few moments to pull back into reality from the loss and regain of her limbs. Tuff hugged her tight and she patted the top of his head lightly once she realized he was hugging her.

"It's late Tuff; you should try and get to bed," Pea said softly.

"I'll sleep here," Tuff said with a smile. He still held onto her tightly, even as she protested.

"Fine," Pea stifled a laugh as she wiped the tears from her face and muzzle. "But loosen your grip, eh? You're gonna break my ribs," she said feigning a wheeze.

A few minutes passed and Pea heard the sound of Tuff’s breaths steady and his body slumped. She looked down at Tuff and tucked his blanket around him with a few pokes from her snout. When she was certain he’d be warm and comfortable she stood up to get more firewood.

She had found a dead tree with perfect-sized branches to keep the fire going for a few more hours. She clamped her cybernetic hand onto it and twisted violently. It splintered where she grabbed, and the rest landed heavily down onto the leaf covered ground. Spending several minutes, she broke it into smaller pieces before piling them on her back and returning to the campsite.

The fire, billowing once again, reflected in her eyes as she remembered her past. The adventures, fights, and tales of glory -slightly embellished- that were told around fires, just like this one. She reached to her side and into her saddlebag with her hand, removing a jar that was down to it’s last three pieces.

“Jade cactus fruit… Once you’re gone, you’re gone… just like everything from back then.”

With a slight smile on her muzzle she opened the jar and shook it, dropping a single one of the green, prickly, sweet fruits onto the ground before her. With a sigh, she leaned down and licked it from the dusty earth and swallowed it whole.

“I’ll,” she yawned as the fruit began to work, “tell you a story in the morning, Tuff.”

…

Pea woke from her dream with a content sigh. The colt had snuffed the embers of the fire with dirt while she slept. She looked at his bright eyes and saddlebags, ready to go. He leaned down and nipped her neck lightly causing her to nicker. “Okay, I’m up. I’m,” she yawned as she forced herself up and bent her back, “up.”

“Yeah, now. C’mon, let’s go! And what about the story about your legs? You told me you’d tell me and damned if you don’t do it.” With a motion of her fingers, Pea flicked Tuff on his ear. “Ouch! Fine, no dang swearing.” He dodged the next strike, which would have been a whack on his mane. After he stuck his tongue out he continued.

“So? You’re the only mare with legs with fingers and all that.”

Pea slipped her vest on and buttoned it while sitting on her flank. She patted her belly cleaner of grass and dirt as she cracked her neck. “I like the enthusiasm, but breakfast first, right?”

“Yeah, cuz it’s the best meal of the day, but I’m ready to go now,” Tuff said with a smile before baring his crooked teeth and exposing his slight underbite.

"That's my boy. All ready to go before breakfast," Pea yawed again," Speaking of breakfast, I'm gonna eat one of these oat packs… and so are you. So, you want cinnamon with… Berry,” she hesitated, “or apple with cinnamon?"

"I already ate, Auntie. Thanks anyway."

"Huh, more for me I guess," she stuffed one bag worth of oats into her mouth, "let’s go, we’ve got a long way to go.”

"Yep, so where are we headed?" Tuff asked as he followed Pea down a rough, unbeaten path.

"Were gonna go, um... that way. North East," she muttered, indicating the direction with her left metallic foreleg.

Tuff hopped on his hooves, prancing through the exposed roots and soggy forest floor as they moved ahead. “Where my cousin lives?”

“That’s what I think, anyway,” Pea truly smiled, “that’s what her letters said,” she finished hopping her rear. Landing with the sound of something shuffling in her saddlebag. “I feel dumb for leaving them next to the hatchet though,” she frowned.

“It’s okay, Auntie Pea; we’re only ponies.

Pea was still chewing while the carbon tendons in her limbs pulled and pushed as she stood up. She hoisted the larger of the saddlebags onto her back and began walking through the trees. The two earth ponies were walking through the forest for some time until a strange tree came into view. It was a knobby looking tree with only two windows and horse head masks outside. Tuff had a skeptical look but Pea put on a smug smile and trotted to the door.

"Wait, what if somepony dangerous lives there?" Tuff whispered loudly.

"Pffft, what? You think there's gonna be some Voodoo magic pony in there that'll curse us? Come on, Tuff, your Auntie has seen enough to handle some woodland hermit," She said as she neared the door. She knocked loudly on it several times.

"Who is making that noise?" A feminine voice called from inside the tree, "Are you a sales pony or some pesky boys?"

Pea looked back at Tuff with squinting eyes full of confusion. "Did she just, rhyme?"

Suddenly the door opened and a zebra stood in the doorway. "Yes, and I do all the time."

"Ah, hey there," Pea said, "me and my nephew are on our way somewhere and I was wondering if you could give us some directions?"

"Of course, I know the way to many a place. Is there somewhere you have in mind? The look on your face says you have no time of a bind." The Zebra smiled.

"Y-you're gonna keep talking like that, aren't you?" Tuff said apprehensively. Pea just now noticed how close he had followed her to the stranger’s door.

“We’re looking for Ponyville; a family member lives there.”

“Ah, Ponyville is where you seek? You may nearly see it if you peek, there, along the path that rocks do lie is where your destination resides.”

"That's exactly where I'm trying to get to. Care to tag along?”

“I have no cause to go to town, and I can see from your… hooves on the ground that you are more than capable to trek, so I will wish you well, and perhaps to carry the little one on your back.”

"It's Pea Gravel, and this is Tuff Bolder. Thanks so much, but we should get going," Pea said as she went for the path, "thanks again!"

The zebra waved with a puzzled expression. "Her legs are made of metal? I hope by the goddesses and Celestia that she hasn’t dealt with the devil.” Zecora shrugged and returned to her home, a boiling pot awaited her.

Pea trotted at an energetic pace through the overhanging foliage along the path while Tuff began to have trouble keeping up behind her. “Auntie, slow down,” he said loudly. Silence befell the area in an eerie scene.

“...I think the Zebra was right, I’ll carry you.”

As they sped through the forest path nature began to ebb into existence again. A bright light shown through the trees, and with that, Pea's heart lit up. She began galloping towards the edge of the forest, bursting out of the wood's borders with a flutter of leaves following her into the bright sunlight that made Tuff wince and tighten his grip around Pea’s neck.

The sight of the valley ahead of them almost overwhelmed the travelers. Pea’s knees buckled slightly as she slowed to a walked suddenly, entering a lush green field. The blue sky stretched above and clouds, with visible swirls, floated in loose patterns. Tuff jumped off Pea and gasped as he touched the ground.

"The grass! It's the softest, greenest, tastiest thing thing I've ever felt!" He giggled as he rolled around in it, licking some grass into his mouth. Pea was going to stop him from grazing, but stopped herself to let him enjoy himself.

Pea leaned down and nibbled some grass as well. Her senses tingled at how sweet it tasted and she chomped down on more of it while Tuff rolled around giggling. In all their travels she’d grown tired of grazing on the poorly nourished flora of the world, but this grass was nearly ambrosia to her hindbrain. Pea stopped grazing when her nose hit the dark brown soil. She rose her head up and saw the sloping Equestrian mountains in the distance and a cluster of thatch roofed homes.

She motioned Tuff to follow and the two advanced for the pony town. Once details of the outlying houses could be seen, Pea lowered onto the grass like a predator preparing to strike.

Tuff cocked his head to the side, "Aren't we gonna go in?"

"I can't," Pea sighed, "I'm afraid that they'll be too scared of me."

"Why's that? Oh," Tuff's voice trailed off when Pea rested her chin on her metallic forearm. Tuff shifted his weight around nervously between his forelegs, "So you want me to go in there, alone?"

"Sweetie, it's probably the safest place on the planet. I just need you find a dry place for us to stay awhile. Ask for the inn, or an open room, or something. We have a chance to sleep in a real bed, with real stuff. Let’s not waste it until we find our cousin.

Pea smiled reassuringly and rustled his mane. "You'll be fine. Oh, and don't get into any fights. You know most ponies in this land are wimps, okay?”

"Why not? Fighting is how you fix problems," Tuff teased, knowing fighting was wrong.

"Well, not always and certainly not this time, okay? You don't need to fight these kind of ponies."

"Okay,” Tuff hopped to Pea and hugged her tightly, after she nodded he let her go and told her he loved her then turned and began prancing towards the town. “Get a place to sleep and no fighting,” he began to repeat as the distance between them grew.

"I love you too, Tuff," Pea said as he left her. Every few lengths he would look back and wave. She'd wave back with a proud smile until he lost sight of her. After he was out of sight Pea ate her last Jade Cactus fruit, and slept the wait away.

...

As Tuff walked through main street, he looked with wonder at the clean buildings and lovely ponies. Their smiles seemed contagious in the early morning sun. Near a fence, the sight of five fillies caught his attention. Two of them seemed to be picking on the other three. Tuff's curiosity took the better of him and he moved over to see what was happening.

"Looks like the Blank Flanks aren't going to make it to the festival. Even though anypony who's important is going to be there!" said one of the bullies as she flicked her silver braided hair.

"It ain't our fault," a yellow filly with a red bow in her hair said to the bullies, "Rarity’s got a cold’n she can't make us dresses."

"Then why don't you make your own, oh that's right," a pink pony with a tiara on her head snarked, "you can’t make your own, and you're too poor to buy them yourself!" the bully tittered after she gave the insult.

Tuff had heard enough. He trotted over, with heavy steps, to the group of fillies and sat in the gap between them. All five stared at him with looks of bewilderment. He turned his head toward the pair of bullies and looked at them with his piercing blue eyes.

"Why are you making fun of these fillies?" he asked flatly.

"What are you doing?" the bullies scolded in unison. The pink one walked toward Tuff with a smug smile and an air of false bravado. "I've never seen you before, are you Scootaloo’s new coltfriend?"

"Nope, I don't know any of you. But I know a female dog when I see one," Tuff folded his forelegs. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle snickered.

"H-how dare you?!" The pink filly asked aghast, "How dare you talk to a lady like that?!"

"I've seen ladies,” Tuff smirked, “and they smell better than a wet dog covered with perfume.”

Diamond Tiara scoffed, gasped, then trembled with rage. "Do you know who I am?!" the filly screamed, "Do you know the ponies who answer my beck and call!?"

"If you don’t know, how should I?"

The pink filly fumed. Her face turned a lovely shade of angry red as she stamped around. Tuff grinned and chuckled at the sight of her tantrum. With a few whispered words from Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara glared daggers at Tuff, turned, and stamped off down the road.

Tuff stood on all four hooves and bowed slightly to the trio he had defended. "Morning ladies, my name is Tuff. Tuff Bolder. It’s nice to meet you."

"’Tough’ is right," Apple Bloom said, "nopony back talks Diamond Tiara, but that was-"

"That was awesome!" Scootaloo blurted, "What is a colt like you doing here? Are you here to fight crimes and protect the meek?"

"I'm looking for a place to sleep," Tuff said as he brushed himself off casually, "what are you three doing?"

The unicorn filly answered for the group. "We're working on our Dragon Repellent Cutie Marks."

Tuff looked around at the sky and the streets with admiration. "You're doing a good job at it. I haven't seen a single dragon since we got here."

"Why are looking for a place to sleep?" Apple Bloom asked, “Don’t ya have a place ta lay yer head?”

"No, we’re from out of town," Tuff said thoughtfully.

"How far out of town?" The Sweetie Belle asked.

“And who’s ‘we’? I’ve only seen you, Tuff,” Scootaloo blushed lightly, “I mean, we’ve only seen you.”

Tuff locked eyes with Scootaloo before looking to the others. "Have any of you been to the ocean?" Tuff asked the trio.

"Not me," Apple Bloom replied, "but mah sister has been to Applewood, that's close to it... isn't it?"

"I, guess?" Tuff shrugged. "So, what are your names? You know mine."

The fillies eyes brightened and they lined up.

"Sweetie Belle, " the unicorn announced.

"Scootaloo, " the orange filly spread her tiny wings.

"Apple Bloom, " the yellow filly stood proudly.

"And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" they shouted in unison.

"Huh … neat," Tuff said as he nodded and began to walk past them.

“Wait a minute,” Sweetie shouted with a cracking voice before he finished passing and sending him hopping to the side in start, “why not stay with my sister?”

“Because… she’s sick, you said earlier, right?” Tuff asked, continuing his path.

“What about with me at the farm?” Apple Bloom added quickly before stumbling over her words. “I-uh, Ah mean with mah family, that is. We got a farm and we sell apples.”

“Ah, that explains the name,” Tuff commented as he began to ignore the fillies, “wait, a farm? Apples,” he slowed to a stop, “would you have two bedrooms open? We can’t pay, but-”

Scootaloo huffed loudly. “Who’s we? Your fillyfriend?”

Tuff inhaled sharply, his eyes pinned, and he shook his head quickly. “N-no, it’s my auntie! She’s just...” he gulped, “different... and she needs a firm bed to lay in.”

“Is she hurt?” Sweetie asked as Apple Bloom moved closer and nodded in concern.

Tuff blinked at the fillies and slowly shook his head. “Not anymore.”

The cutie mark crusaders looked between themselves then back to him.

---

“Auntie, wake up, Auntie Pea?” Tuff asked the sleeping mare softly.

“Why’s her legs gold?” Apple Bloom asked Sweetie.

“I dunno, maybe it’s how nobility shows off where they’re from,” Sweetie guessed.

With a speed none of the fillies had ever seen, Pea had grabbed Tuff by the back of his mane in one hand and was holding him in the air above them all as she stood tall on her hind legs while the other held a knife she’d drawn from her vest, ready to strike.

“Auntie! Let me go, sheesh,” Tuff whined as he dangled from her grasp, “you’re hurting me.”

Pea gasped, and released him, stumbling back and onto her flank. Her cybernetic limbs clicking as she sat in stunned silence and stared at the three fillies who were hugging in fear, looking at the knife that had been tossed into the ground before them.

“Auntie, these are the Cutie Mark Crusaders… are you all okay?”

The silence was broken only by a light gust of wind that blew through the grass and knocked the knife over, breaking the fillies from their stupor. “Are we okay? Are you okay?! What was that?”

“That’s how she wakes up after she takes her sleepy fruit. I’m fine, see. She’d never hurt me, right Auntie Pea?”

Pea shook her head quickly and cleared her throat. She smiled and looked at Tuff. “I’d tear a dragon’s heart out before I’d let you get hurt, Tuff.”

“Ugh, that story again? I know about the dragon you killed already,” Tuff groaned in annoyance while the fillies snapped their attention to Pea in stunned silence, again.

“You killed a dragon? That’s so cool!”

“Was it an adult, or just a baby like Spike?”

“I don’t think, they know who Spike is yet, Sweetie Belle.”

“Ah dunno, girls, she looks tough enough to do it,” Scootaloo finished as a flapping sound came from overhead. A pegaus wearing a full body robe and thick reading glasses landed nearby with saddlebags packed, and overflowing, with books and scrolls.

“Hi, I’m here for the Literature Festival, do you know where I sign up?”

The five looked amongst each other. “Um, excuse me, miss, but why do you think we’d know anything about that?”

“Well, it’s going to be in this town and,” the pegasus poked the ground with a hoof in anxiety, “well, you’re the first ones I saw on my path into your town.”

“Ah know! It’s on the other side’a town by mah family’s farm! Best apples in Equestria, can’t miss it.”

“Thanks a lot,” the mare smiled and nodded as she opened her wings and took in a deep breath. With a few flaps she took to a hover and looked to Pea. “My name’s A.K. Yearling, miss...”

“Pea Gravel, and this’ Tuff Boulder,” Pea pointed to the lone colt.

“An honor, and if you happen to meet me in the festival I’d love to know about your limbs. I bet there’s a great story I could write with that.” With that she flew up and off, dropping a small cookbook as she left, accidentally.

Pea scoffed. “Damned pegasi and their ego,” the trio of fillies gasped, “Oh, your poor ears won’t bleed from my language, you’ll adjust after a couple days. So,” she turned her attention to Tuff, “where’s our hotel?”

“Ah, yeah, about that, Auntie…” Tuff said as the book landed on Pea’s head with a soft whack.

…

“A barn is good,” Pea said as she stepped inside the red barn on Sweet Apple Acres, “it’s better than a pile of leaves, right Tuff?”

“Right,” he agreed.

“Now, where’re all the adults? I need to make sure that it’s okay we stay here before we unpack,” Pea said to Apple Bloom.

“Right that way, at the farmhouse. Granny and mah sister Applejack are there. Mah brother, Big Mac, is in the orchard setting up for plantin’ a few new trees.”

Pea nodded and took a lead while Apple Bloom and the other crusaders stood to the sides of Tuff. “So, ya hungry, Tuff? Ah can get some apple snacks fer ya?”

“I, think I’ll wait,” he hesitated to say.

“You can eat, Tuff. This isn’t like the old place; no pony will try to drug or poison you,” Pea reassured him with a weak smile.

“Yeah, okay then,” he piped up, “I’d like to try some apple foods.”

“Best ones in Equestria,” Scootaloo and Sweetie droned in unison.

Apple Bloom grinned with pride. “What they said.”

Author's Note:

6-25-2016

Comments

[Meep the Changeling]

Not bad. I think Ill see where this goes.

[Limelight02]

Good story.

[Mocha Star]

A LOT of spelling and grammar issues that delayed me from focusing on finishing this chapter much faster but it was great!

[treegrowth]

"Why don't you just yell at em’? It works here."

oh Really?