Fact or Fiction

by Mocha Star

2) Strangers in Paradise (part 1)

The morning sun shone bright in the guest room in Twilight's castle. Pea rolled onto her back to look up at ceiling while she thought about her situation. She lifted herself up and wandered into the throne room, following the smell of freshly made breakfast. The scent of things she had never eaten led her to the sight of Tuff, Twilight and Yearling sitting at the main table with a breakfast fit for a princess. Tuff had a pile of muffins and candied fruits in front of him as he chugged his third glass of orange juice. Twilight and Yearling had never seen a young colt eat so much.

"He can sure pack in in, can't he?" Pea chuckled as she sat at the other end of the table.

"Ah, Good morning! Did you rest well?" Twilight said as she sipped on a mug of coffee,"Funny, I found you on the floor instead of a bed."

"Yeah, I slept pretty good," Pea eyed Yearling who was eating a doughnut quietly,"What's she doing here?"

"Twilight told me you were going to write of your life in the outside world, being an author I couldn't help but offer my assistance." Yearling smiled.

"But I told her already, I can't write. I can barely read,"Pea said scanning the breakfast banquet,"How am I going to write a whole book?"

"Tell you what, you tell me and I will write it for you," Yearling offered," That can't be hard, can it?"

"You'd really do that?" Pea asked. She rubbed her shoulder sheepishly,"Even then....all books need a name don't they? What would you call mine?"

"The title can come later, right now you need to eat up," Twilight butted in,"We have a few things we need to do today."

Pea grabbed a muffin and took a bite,"What kind of things, if I'm so bold as to ask?"

"If you're staying here a while, which I'm sure you are, you need to meet some of the locals," Twilight mused.

Pea half choked when she heard this,"I've already tried that, you know where that went."

"True, but be a bit more...gentle this time. Yearling will be with you to make the ponies here a bit more...accepting of you," Twilight said.

She noticed that most of the food was gone now, thanks to a certain colt, and used her pink cloud of magic to move the dishes to the kitchen. Yearling thanked Twilight for the food and headed for the front door with a satchel in tow. Meanwhile Pea and Tuff stared at the spaces that were once occupied by plates and tea cups.

"Now Tuff," Twilight said,"Have you ever gone to school?"

He thought about the question for a moment,"School?"

"Oh dear..." Twilight said worriedly.

Yearling called from down the hall,"Pea Gravel, aren't you coming with me?"

"Sure, give me a sec!" Pea called. She looked over to Twilight,"Now look here, I appreciate you wanting to teach him but...I don't think a school room environment would be best for him."

"Why? Is he shy or have problems with bigger children?"

"No, he'll be fine. I'm more worried about the other kids," Pea looked to the colt,"Now look here, you be nice to Princess Twilight and do whatever she tell you, got it?," And with that Pea trotted off to meet up with Yearling.

Twilight looked at Tuff's youthful face for a moment. She wondered how a young colt like him could be so dangerous.

"Tuff, have you ever been in a fight with another colt?"

"No, I did have to help Auntie fight a big armored pig though. He had blood all over his axe, it was so cool!" Tuff smiled at the princess.

Twilight laughed nervously,"Well, umm...that's...wonderful! Let's change the subject, alright?"

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Do you know how to read or write at all?"

"Nope," Tuff said with a cocky smile,"I never had time for it."

"Figures," Twilight said under her breath,"Well today is your lucky day, Tuff."

Yearling seemed nervous walking next to the cyber mare. In fact, everypony on the streets they passed gave odd looks. Pea noticed how unsettled she was and offered to buy her a drink.

"We just ate," Yearling protested,"And besides, why would you buy me just a drink?"

Pea smacked her forehead,"I'm sorry, let me be more specific. Would you like a hard cider?"

"No, I don't drink alcohol...much" Yearling blushed slightly.

"Well let's get a little and talk about our book," Pea grinned.

"I do know a place outside of town...and I suppose a drink or two wouldn't hurt."

"Alright, lead the way!"

Yearling led Pea down a road leading to the far end of town, there the houses became less packed together and eventually no houses at all. The two mares were in the field outside of the town and a small crowd of ponies followed at a safe distance. Yearling looked behind them and noticed the curious ponies with cameras. The more Yearling thought about it, the more the crowd looked like an mob from a monster movie.

"Ummm...I think we're being followed."

"It's not an angry mob is it?" Pea asked without turning her head.

"I think so, should we do something about them?" Yearling asked.

"Well unless you have a pair of wings...oh," Pea looked at Yearling's wings as if they just appeared there. She looked at the pegasus with a wry smile,"You think you can lift me up?"

"Umm...I suppose, why?" Yearling asked.

"Why not?" Pea grinned wryly.

Yearling sighed and shook her head with a smile,"Well, we need a running start."

She spread her wings out and sprinted forward. Pea threw her head back and laughed as her cyber legs pounded the dirt after the tanned mare. The crowd behind them began running in pursuit and came about twenty feet behind the two mares. Pea looked at the Pegasus who was breathing heavily.

"Is this as fast as you can go?' Pea called over the rushing air.

"Corse not! It's just been awhile!"

Yearling jumped on Pea's back and locked her forearms under the cyber mare's. Yearling pumped her wings and sent them into the air, the ground and the crowd shrank under them as they climbed into the sky. Pea held onto Yearling's hooves tight as she tried not to look at the ground.

"You know, I thought you'd be a little heavier," Yearling chuckled.

"Hey, you calling me fat?" Pea looked up at her with a sour look.

"No, don't be silly!" Yearling said.

"Well...now what?" Pea looked back down at the ground. She had never really been this high up and giggled at how the ponies looked like ants.

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Yearling peered off into the oncoming distance. Pea looked in the same direction and saw a trace of a rainbow line in the sky.

"Funny, I thought rainbows made an arc, not a straight line."

"That's not a real rainbow. That's the trail Rainbow Dash leaves behind when she flies, I wonder if she's coming over here."

"Well I can see why they call her that," Pea said as she saw the blue pegasus fly in arcs and loops. She began flying toward the mares and Yearling began descending.

"Hey! Where are we going?" Pea said covering her eyes.

"I can't carry you forever, Pea. Besides I was meaning to talk to Dash today," Yearling said as they grew closer to the ground.

They landed and Pea sat with her arms folded while Rainbow Dash followed up at the rear. The blue pegasus trotted up to the other mares and smiled to Yearling. Dash then cast a sour look to Pea.

"Daring Do...er...I mean A.K Yearling, I'm so glad you're here!" She glared at the cyber mare,"I see you caught the freak."

"Hey," Pea cast a similar look back at Dash,"I have skin and blood just like you. If anypony here is a freak it'd be you, I've never seen anything with a mane like yours."

Rainbow Dash ignored the cyber mare,"We've been looking for her all night. You know she scared Applejack to death and that colt of her's got Diamond Tiara's dad pretty upset."

"Dash, I don't think you understand," Yearling sighed," Pea Gravel here is a very...interesting mare once you get to know her. Oh, and she was staying the night at Twilight's."

Rainbow Dash shook her head,"No way! I asked Twilight about that mare and she said that she already looked for her..."

Yearling knew Rainbow Dash was hard to convince,"You've got the wrong idea about her. If it makes you feel better, she and I are writing a book soon! Isn't that exciting?"

Rainbow Dash was shocked,"B-but...you write...you are Daring Do! How can you write something else...let alone with her?"

Pea stood up which caused Dash to inch back,"Kid, I've got plenty of stories if you're willing to listen."

Rainbow Dash was dumbfounded, completely flabbergasted. Her favorite author...no, her idol was sticking her neck out for a complete stranger and a rather unsettling one at that. Dash's knees buckled and she fell on her haunches. She looked from Daring Do (Pea didn't know Yearling and Daring were the same mare...yet) to the cyber mare with her jaw hung open.

Pea closed it with a smirk on her face,"You better keep that mouth of yours closed, something may crawl in and eat your brain."

"Thanks lady," Rainbow Dash smacked Pea's hoof away from her face,"But you need to leave. Equestria isn't meant for somepony like you."

The grey mare pulled her metallic fingers in and out of a fist,"Well then...why don't you make me?"

Dash made a cocky laugh as she stood up into an aggressive position,"So you want to do this the hard way?"

"Show me what you got," Pea Gravel said flatly.

Yearling looked from one mare to the other,"Hey, nopony is in the wrong here! What are you two doing?"

Pea's emerald eyes were now almost mint in color and met Yearling's in a cold stare,"I'm showing this punk how we 'outsiders' handle our problems."

In a flash the blue pegasus rocketed to Pea with a hoof ready to swing at the cyber mare's face. Pea watched as Dash swooped toward her and felt the impact of Dash's swing on her jaw. Pea staggered back and Rainbow stood on her hind hooves rubbing the one she swung with.

"Heh heh, a little taste of Dash Fu a bit much for-"

Dash didn't even see the cyber mare spring back at her. Her boastful words and the rest of her hot air was forced out as Pea rammed a metal fist into the pegasus' diaphragm. Dash fell like a split tree on the ground gasping for breath. Yearling had a grimace on her face while the cyan pegasus lay sprawled out. Rainbow Dash looked up at the cyber mare with wide eyes as her attacker had a hand ready to pull her up. She began breathing normally again and accepted the cyber mares assistance up. She stood breathing hard for a moment and looked at Pea from head to toe. She stood smiling as if nothing happened even with the trickle of blood running off her lip.

Pea wiped some blood off her muzzle,"You got some arm there, if you swung any harder and I might've lost a tooth!"

Yearling looked to the cyan pegasus,"Are you alright? No broken bones?"

"She'll be fine," Pea Gravel answered,"I hit her diaphragm with about fifty psi. She's probably hit the ground harder than that from a flight crash."

"Is that all you can do?" Dash asked. On the outside she still looked ready for a fight, but she was screaming at herself from the inside.

Pea twiddled her fingers again,"I don't want to have to dig my fit back out of another chest alright?"

Dash backed away from her with a pale face. Yearling stopped her,"Dash, don't go! Just stay for a moment, please," She looked over at Pea with an icy look before stamping to her face to face.

"If you want that book written you're going to have to be more tolerant with others," She whispered severely,"No more scaring and fighting with ponies, alright?"

Pea clenched her face up as she was about to counter Yearling's threat but sighed in stead. She looked over Yearling's shoulder to Dash who was waiting nervously. Pea rolled her eyes and groaned before trudging over to the pegasus.

The cyber mare rubbed the back of her neck,"Look...I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have been so quick to violence, can you forgive me Rainbow Smash...er Dash?"

"Only if you let me help out on the new book," Rainbow Dash said quickly,"I've helped Daring Do before, I could help you too! As long as there's no more punching."

"You recovered pretty quick, Rainbow Dash," complimented Yearling,"I hope we can all get along now," she glared at Pea.

"Wait, isn't Daring Do a character in Yearling's books?" Pea asked,"Wait...is she," The cyber mare pointed to the tan pegasus,"Is she...Daring Do?" She looked to Dash who nodded.

"You got me," Yearling smiled bashfully,"You haven't even read my books and you know. The Daring Do books are my personal adventures here in Equestria hunting rare and important treasures. From what Twilight told me you were looking for treasure too, and with some war going on every waking moment...that must be such an adventure."

Rainbow Dash was dumbfounded, completely flabbergasted...again. Her idol, Daring Do, was putting this stranger on a pedestal like Dash had done for the ruby eyed pegasus. Rainbow fainted and landed on the grass face first. Pea and Daring looked at her with wide eyes.

"You know, I think a drink can wait. Let's just hang out here in the field, what do you think Yearli-...I mean Daring Do?"

"I...I suppose?" She replied and Pea promptly lay on her back in the grassy field. Daring looked around in the empty field, she saw the mountains, forest and Ponyville all comfortably away in the distance. She lay on her legs near Pea while Dash lay unconscious near by.

Daring reached into the satchel she had carried with her and pulled out a notebook with a pen clipped to it. She opened it and Pea held her torso in a crunch to see the book. It was blank for the most part, a few scribbles on the first page. Daring held the pen in her mouth and looked closely at Pea. The cyber mare felt almost embarrassed under the writer's keen eye.

Daring made notes of the way Pea's mane reflected the sunlight like the orange of a morning sunrise, how her torso fur on closer inspection hid a well toned muscled core, the metallic legs had a plated look and seemed to be designed for more than just helping a pony walk again. Out of her vest's v neck a hint of her circular brand could be seen and then Daring's eyes went to the mare's flank, Pea pulled her tail over her flank's bare skin.

"Hey missy," Pea shouted,"We’re not writing a smut book!"

"Really, Pea?" Daring Do asked with a groan,"I was looking at your cutie mark, not your butt!"

"For you, I'll take that excuse," Pea moved her tail to reveal her cutie mark. It was a sandstone colored heart with a cracked center and a compass behind it. Daring made a note of it and looked with worry at the cyber mare.

"Why do you have a broken heart for a cutie mark?" She asked.

Pea lay down again on her back. She folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the slow rolling clouds in the sky. Dash had regained consciousness at this point but kept her head low and watched the two adventuring mares through the short grass.

"Rocks are beautiful, yet I have a heart of stone," Pea said mostly to herself,"I've been forced by chance or maybe fate to be a wanderer, the crack is from my first kill. Or...or from how much of a bitch I became...I was an alright kid before then but after...."

Daring was writing down everything Pea said,"Go on, tell me what happened," She encouraged.

"She was a Carnahorse. I was eleven years old. She kidnapped me when I was in the mountains and was going to eat me...I'll never forget those green eyes. They looked just like mine..."

"How did you escape?" Daring asked mesmerized.

Pea sighed as a breeze flowed over the lush grassy field. The mares who listened to the cyber mare were whisked away with Pea's words. They felt as if they were with her as she described the dry heat of the pine forest that covered the low mountains. She also told her about the beast carrying her. As the name suggests, they are equines that eat meat. Unlike other horses though, they're built like tanks and have a three toed hoof like ancient horses.

They saw Pea as a young mare, no more than a filly. She was hog-tied across a big stick attached to a large leather backpack on a husky looking yellow carnahorse. The 'carnahorse' carried Pea up a mountain path to a shabby log cabin. Pea kept quiet because far more dangerous creatures then ponies like her captor lived up here. They arrived at the cabin and the husky yellow mare placed the stick Pea was tied to over two wood tripods that were on either side of an ashy pit. Pea inhaled sharply when she saw bones peaking out of the old coals.

The grey filly looked around desperately at the complete mess around the cabin to try and find a way to escape. The carnahorse was busy with a few small sticks and a ball of cotton for the beginning of a cooking fire. Pea waited until the captor had moved to the other end of the house before she attempted an escape. The rope that had kept Pea on the stick hadn't been very well tied and after some careful wiggling the filly was free of the binding cords. Her captor hadn't seen her escape, but something kept the filly there. A strange kind of hunger she had never felt before.

"She thought she had me tied up pretty good when she left me in her fire pit," Pea's voice was dry as she retold the event,"I got out of the rope and found her not to far from the house at a big tree stump. She was so busy swinging that ax splitting wood she never saw me sneak up behind her. I kicked out her leg and she staggered, dropping the ax. For my age the ax was heavy, but something inside made me stronger...like her.

I took my chance and held it ready to swing, she stood on her hind legs looking at me with false confidence. I remembered what she said about ponies like me, how we were weak and meant as food for creatures like her. I swung it and it sunk into the side of her face and her blood splattered against mine, she still wasn't dead though.

I looked at her with the same cold green eyes she looked at me with when she when she told me I was just food, a fluke of existence. I had split wood before but when I looked down at the sputtering mess of that carnahorse I couldn't help but laugh in her face. I lifted the splitting ax over my head and swung down at her thick neck, it stuck in and I had to kick it free before swinging again. Oh, the look in her eyes was...something I'd rather die than have in mine," Pea fell silent as Daring scribbled the remaining words onto the page with watery eyes.

Dash's voice broke the silence, "But...how did you get there, weren't your parents looking for you?"

"No kid, a dragon named Wiktet came in and smashed my house. Actually this whole 'carnahorse' thing is a bit after that. Once our house was gone, Wiktet grabbed my mother and ripped only one her wings off like a doll's arm. My padre and I tried to find shelter and keep her from getting sick. A whole winter passed while we lived in a cave close to the mountains. My mom was healed from injury but being stuck on the ground made her mind very sick, she always kept her eyes in the sky after that. We managed to find a small village with a doctor of sorts and when we told him about her condition he prescribed a kind of fruit called Jade Cactus Fruit."

Daring Do and Rainbow Dash gazed at the powerful looking mare. They way she was speaking, it seemed as if this was the first time she had told anypony about this...the first time she had anypony who would really care.

"Once she had been eating a small piece for every meal for a while her mind recovered...slightly," Pea Gravel continued,"Only four months had passed and she took bigger and bigger doses each time. One night after seeing a flock of birds fly overhead she stuffed a hoof-ful of the fruits into her mouth. Padre and I woke up to the sounds of her strangled, foam clogged breathing. Padre tied to help but she kept convulsing and then every muscle went limp... "

Dash held her hooves over her mouth in shock. Daring stared at Pea with her mouth slacked open. Pea pulled her neck up and rested her head over her hand. The pegasi were silent in shock and remorse, Pea had a small smile as her closed eyes held back a tear or two.

"How can you smile?" Rainbow Dash asked frantically, "You watched your mother die… in ...in such a horrible way too. Is that funny to you?"

"Not at all. I'm smiling because I'd rather remember the mother that raised me then the one I saw die. If she saw me sulking over something as common as death after so many years she'd never forgive me. But a pony like me has seen a lot of it...caused a lot of it," She sat up and looked at Dash's shocked magenta eyes with a soft and almost worn down look, "Living as long as I have through the things I've brought on myself, smiling is one of the only ways I have left to not go crazy. Besides, it takes more muscles in your face to frown."

Daring Do made a shaky breath and the cyber mare looked over to the writer, "Is that all true?" The tanned pegasus asked, "Did you really see all of that while you were so young?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, or anypony here for that matter. You all are so sincere and innocent, I'd feel like I would be cheating you if I wasn't honest," Pea smiled. She motioned Rainbow Dash to sit closer and the pegasus was hesitant for a moment, "Come on Dashie, I won't bite."

Dash got up from her spot in the grass and walked over to sit with the adventuring mares. Pea moved her hind legs into a criss-cross position and had her fore-hooves on her knees. She looked at the two pegasi like a school teacher would while reading a story to her class.

"You've got more room in that notebook right?" Pea asked pointing to the book in front of Daring.

"Do you have more of your story to tell?" She asked ready to write.

"You bet your ass I do!" and Pea began where the event in the mountains had left off.

Comments

[BigBadBorox_Is_Back]

Due to plot threads happening later on in the story, I'm changing the rating from Teen to Mature.

If you aren't a fan of the more...morbid fanfics, (don't worry I wont go Cupcakes on yo ass) I apologize. If you do like them, stick around! You'll enjoy it...hopefully...

[Mocha Star]

Great chapter.