Fact or Fiction

by Mocha Star

30) Back on Track

Original chapter by Barnside

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Spark was hiding. For several hours he was hidden away in the strong house of the blacksmith. It was the dead of night and terrible sounds rang out through out the air as if drawn to the carnage. How it happened he wasn't sure but what he did know is that it was caused by Pea Gravel...

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They had reattached her metal limbs and went down to see what had happened to the sword smith. His body looked as if it had been worked and starved to death. In his hands was a grind stone and the sword he promised Pea Gravel. The sword was far different that the one he had loaned her. It's metal was a deep red, the hellish color of old blood. From what the to equines could tell he had worked the last of his energy into sharpening the blade.

The mare approached the sword like a moth to flame, a hungry look in her eye. Spark only looked in disbelief at her. When she griped it in her hand she stood up on her rear legs. Her look in the candle light was a chilling one as she gazed at her new blade.

Rattling came outside along with whoops of hungry orcs. The mare's face twisted into a smile.

"Pea Gravel! Don't go," Spark pleaded," A whole troupe of orcs is behind that door, even you won't stand a chance! If we run through the back we may outrun them."

The mare walked over to the door on two legs, her legs awkwardly bent and pulled to walk in such a way. Without a glance back she laughed to herself.

And she left through the door.

Outside it was different. Almost forty orcs were around the house, some on the roof overlooking the doorway. Each one had the look of a wild animal in his small mahogany eyes. The nightmarish shaman stood ahead of the rest and scoffed at the sight of a single mare standing against them. The powerful humanoids were drooling with anticipation. Pea Gravel simply held her sword up for a swing.

They took the bait.

At first four of the burly fighters ran to her, axes swinging in the air madly as their bare feet pounded the earth. The mare tensed. Some kind of energy was soaking into her, slowly at first. She felt an energy coming from the sword; a sensation of thirst. Though she was almost a third the size of these brutes this new blade leveled the playing field. Time seemed to stand still as the first opponent made it in range. With a mighty swing her sword's hungry edge reached out. The orc doubled over as the bulk of the strike buried itself into his abdomen. When she tried to pull her blade out of the choking body a tangle of entrails and crimson rivers followed. The fight didn't stop there, instead it gave the rest a fervent vigor to kill the mare even more.

A strike came from an ax blade to her left. She drew her sword up to block the attack. Catching the weight of a blow that could break bones, her arms gave way. She rolled over to the ground. Quickly another tried to chop at her leg, his ax head bounced off with a twang. A look of disbelief was in his small eyes. In retaliation the mare drove her long blade up into the attacker's inner thigh. Pea Gravel gave it an extra twist before yanking the plug out of the fatal blood gushing wound.

Springing to her feet, she narrowly dodging another swing. More from the pack stormed toward her, all howling with animal rage. Pea Gravel shouted back at them, her cry like a siren's. She ran head long at them with only one thing repeating in her mind;

More!

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As Spark hid inside, he cringed and flinched at every blow, whether it was from Pea Gravel or to her. He could hear the sound of slashing and ripping flesh. Cries of pain from beasts alien to a beating. It went of for several minuets, then eventually it went quiet. He swallowed a lump in his throat and with all the courage in his frail body, half opened the door to witness the carnage. He gasped.

Butchered bodies lay strewn about. Pools of blood shown out in the moonlight. At the far end of it was Pea Gravel. In the dark he couldn't see her eyes, most of her face was distorted by the lack of light. What did show was her mouth, gasping for breath. Drips of sweat and blood dripped off the sides of her freckled cheeks as she panted. Her arms were visibly shaking as they held for dear life to the hilt as if she'd be carried away by a flood if she let go.

Though he knew it was foolish the Unicorn left the house and approached the mare. He carefully stepped over severed limbs and bodies. He was now closer enough to see the rest of her face. Her eyes were wide open, staring out with pinprick pupils.

"Pea Gravel," He said timidly," We have to leave, this place is killing you!"

She panted for a while, barely blinking. She choked her breath," R-remember to remind me...never use this sword unless we're in real danger...this can't happen again..."

Spark nodded. He moved closer to the mare to help her up. She avoided his helping hoof," Grab what you can," She panted," We're leaving now."

He rushed back inside, happy to leave such a dreadful place. Once inside he found their old saddle bags and scrounged for supplies. While he found what food and supplies he could, he noticed Pea Gravel come inside the house. She had some of fire wood from outside. He saw her go out back to where the forge was. After a few seconds of grunting and sounds of shoveling her heard another sound. Fire crackling.

The mare quickly walked back into the house in her human style of walking. She hoisted the Unicorn up and walked out through the front door for the last time. The plume of smoke billowed up through the dense canopy of the forest. Luckily it wasn't a dry spring or the whole forest would catch on fire.

The Unicorn looked up at Pea Gravel as she walked away from the pyre," Shouldn't we have at least buried Barsom? He worked to death on that sword."

Pea Gravel had a glossed over look," He's a blacksmith, been working with fire all his life. It's only fair his is ended by it."

There was a few moments where the only sound was the log house being eaten by flames. Spark sighed," I's the one who should be carrying you. You just killed a drove of those monsters..."

The mare was silent.

Spark had an uneasy look when seeing her new sword in her other hand," Please don't tell me you actually want to keep that sword," He grimaced," There's an evil aura on it."

Before he knew it the sword's edge was on his throat. He whimpered," A-alright, no need to be violent again!"

With a quick pace the mare kept walking. After awhile she dropped the Unicorn who was happy to be on his hooves again. It was a long trek through the woods, even more difficult through the night. The Unicorn was smothered in fear, from behind him if more company came, and in front of him. The Unicorn remembered when he looked into her mind last. He had seen something in her, something that shouldn't be inside a pony. With this new sword what ever that was now had a way to come out. Despite being her friend and wanting to help her anyway he could, his fear of her only grew.

It was dawn before they made it out of the forest. A plume of smoke rose up into the sky above the treeline behind them. In the light of the rising sun Spark saw the mare in a new light. The way she walked away from such a dark place with her head held high, it was almost like a painting.

They had exited the forest a very different way from what they had entered. Instead of a prairie there were far more hills and sparse pods of green trees. Pea Gravel had wrapped up the sword in her own blanket, not wanting the blade to touch her skin when she strapped it over her back. She went berserk from just her cyber arms touching it, she had no idea what would happen if it touched her skin.

Elated to be away from the confining forest, the two equines eventually found a road, on which they found a cross road sign. They were written in a language neither of the two could read. One was pointed in the general direction of Dogdurhal and the other was in the opposite direction. Pea began heading following the sign leading to the Centaur City.

Spark gulped down a lump in his throat," This is the way, isn't it?"

" Sure is,"Pea drew in a deep breath," What an amazing day for a walk."

"I don't mean to be negative but...won't we be exposed in such a city?" Spark said.

The mare huffed," You might but that's what I'm here for."

After a long day of walking, a town came into view. Spark had been through this country before, it was mostly filled with humans and this Unicorn wasn't to fond of their race. As the town grew closer it looked like a merchant town that had unwelcome company. Near the entrance several guards lay dead. Inside the equines were in what looked like a ghost town. The windows were shut tight save one broken into. Spark saw the problem the town was having when it walked by. A pair of humanoid dogs, much like the ones in Equestria but far worse. They weren't the only ones in the pack.

"Gravel," Spark hissed to his companion," They look like trouble..."

Pea Gravel smiled,"Are you going to save the village?"

"Well...they do need help," Spark bit his lip. Some of the dogs waltzed through the streets and kicked people who were in their way.

"Rainbow Dash and Daring Do need us too," Pea said flatly," Want to stop and help these poor people?"

Spark was caught in a moral cross roads. Pea just nodded," That's what I thought. Leave em' behind and keep your priorities straight."

For a day and a night they walked. The roads became cobblestone instead of dirt and more travelers passed by. Their nights were spent next to campfires where Pea would spend hours at a time sharpening her new blade. After two days they were now passing by farms. Horses and oxen worked with humans in the field while centaurs armed with spears watched over them.

The farms became denser until they became tall villages on either side of the road. In the distance Dogdurhal could be seen.

"Where do you think they are being kept?" Spark asked.

"If I know Belial, fought that bastard for years, he probably has them locked up in a cage like birds," Pea Gravel popped her neck," If they've played their cards right they hopefully haven't tried to escape."

"Why's that?" Spark asked.

"I did some spy work for Rochi years ago in this city to get some information. It should've been impossible to find me but they were waiting behind a corner on my way out. I barely escaped by the skin of my teeth."

"So they should stay locked up?" Spark asked.

"They're more of trophies or captive guests than prisoners, happened to me once. Only once though," She cringed.

Spark gulped," What happens if they try to escape?"

Pea sighed heavily," They'll regret it."