Fact or Fiction (v2.0)

“...and that’s when Daring met him in the Quest for-”

“Ugh,” the mares and Pea, save for Rainbow, had finally had enough, “we’ve been at this for hours!  Enough is enough.  Twilight, Rainbow, take to the skies and search the area.  See if he’s nearby.  Fluttershy, check on Daring and Spike.  Applejack, I need you to make sure Rarity doesn’t faint again,” Rarity and Applejack frowned as Pea smirked.

“Let’s go, girls.  She’s more experienced than we are at this sort of thing.  I’ll take east, you take west and we’ll meet back here if we find anything or half an hour passes.

Rainbow nodded and took off through the open window, leaving her contrail behind her as Twilight took wing and left the same route at a far slower pace.

A few minutes later in the evening light Twilight returned and landed with a clatter as she stumbled, keeping her balance.  “I found some torchlight in the Everfree, near the edge.”

“Take me there, Twilight.  I need to see what’s going on out there.”

"Like carry you?" Twilight asked sheepishly.

"And drop me in there, you got a problem?" Pea's cold eyes pierced Twilight's.

"N-no, let's go," Twilight stammered.  She fluttered her wings and lifted up Pea in a cloud of magic. They teleported in the air close to the forest and a low conversation could be heard from their height. Twilight’s breathing quickly accelerated, causing her trouble keeping her elevation.

"Shhh, relax. It's easy," Pea encouraged, "just fly close by and drop me right in. You've played ring toss haven't you?"

"Y-yes, but I don't see how it helps here!" Twilight panicked as the thought of meeting Ahuizotl in real life.

"Just pretend that I'm the ring and the gap in the trees is the goal. The prize you win is your town's safety and Daring Do’s life."

"I'm not sure that made me feel any better” Twilight mumbled, “but okay," Twilight nodded.

She flew Pea over and saw a gap in the trees where torch light leaked out.  Twilight looked to Pea with concern while Pea just looked up at her and nodded. Twilight bit her lip as she let go of the mare, releasing her from her magic at a height that should have broken the leg of a normal equine. She watched with awe as Pea waved back to her as she mare fell to earth.

Pea extended her fingers from all hooves and grabbed the top branches of the nearest tree with all four limbs. She moved her hands and feet one after another silently as she made her descent. She saw the big blue beast that was named Ahuizotl, he fit the description the princess eventually had given her. She made her way to the the branches just out of view and above. There were several tribal looking ponies and a variety of tough, bruiser ponies as well. They all held torches as they looked at Ahuizotl.

"Treasure hunters!  Stallions of Fortune! The greatest treasure in Equestria is in that town. I want it and will pay any price to whoever brings it back to me!" he shouted and the stallions cheered.

Pea saw an unnatural look in his small eyes. She had seen that look before, it was a look of greed like this that led to lives being smashed like grapes for a beast's wine. She readied herself for a surprise attack on the blue ape monster.

The crowd began to rush to the edge of the forest and Pea took her chance. She jumped off the tree and slammed her hind hooves into Ahuizotl’s shoulder blades.  He coughed as he slammed onto the ground under her.  He hopped up and spun around, grabbing Pea with a meaty hand. His eyes had the look of murder in them, as did Pea's. The ape's crowd stopped dead in their tracks and watched the brewing fight with anticipation.

"What are you, a PONY, doing to stop me getting the King's Tear?" He hissed.

"I don't give a damn what is or who you think you are," Pea barked, "there are innocent ponies out there and I won't let you get that thing, even if that means killing you."

"And how will-" Ahuizotl smirked but stopped short.

Pea squeezed both fore-hooves on his thumb and bent it back in a nasty direction. The ape screamed and dropped Pea.  She landed like a cat on the ground and wasting no time tackling the ape's legs and pulled his ankles out from under him in awful positions as well, savoring the crunch they made.

Ahuizotl squealed and grabbed an ankle with his unbroken free hand. Pea stood on her hind hooves ready to strike again.  Out from the ape's back his tail, ending in a fist, whacked Pea in the gut. She grabbed it only for a moment then looked into Ahuizotl’s eyes.

"What did you do to Daring Do?" She asked coldly.

"She tried to take the King's Tear. I stopped her with a dart coated in the sap of the Orange Hart tree!" He chuckled wickedly, "She'll only have a few hours to live!  I shall be finally rid of her by morning!"

Pea pulled her arm back and stomped on her hind legs up to the blue apes leg, cracking the bone.  He squirmed as her metallic fingers wrapped around his tails fist and the crunching of his finger bones was audible. She moved next to his long torso and her coiled arm sprung out.  It sunk into Ahuizotl's chest and Pea strained to pull her fist out of the crater she made in his ribs.

He coughed up blood on the ground and the look of murder was gone.  He curled up as his damages would allow and rose a hand up to Pea in desperation.

"P-please, spare me!  I'm but a gold hungry fool," his plea were silenced when Pea's other fist pushed his bottom jaw to the ground causing him to piratically kneel. He tried to push Pea off his jaw but she stood like a rock against his struggle. Pea's grim face curled up into a smile.

"You think just because you're bigger and stronger than ponies that you can just take whatever you want. I'll tell you that he pigs and Gnolls I've fought would kick your candy ass and eat you raw for breakfast; these days they tuck their tails and run when I walk into town. You though… you tried to kill one of these ponies here,” she gestured to Ponyville.  “They were nothing but nice to me so I'll do them a favor."

She slid her hands between the ape's teeth on his top jaw and pushed up slightly.  He pulled back and screamed as the mare used her mechanical limbs to lift the ape's top jaw, tearing the sides of the ape's jaw open until there was a loud crack, then she twisted sharply and the ape went limp.

Pea stepped to the side and Ahuizotl’s jaws closed out of alignment.  His once berserk eyes had rolled back into his head leaving them blank and lifeless. Pea rolled her shoulders and cast a frightening glare at the torch bearing crowd.  Ahuizotl’s followers were completely dumbfounded.  They had never seen such brutality in their lives and whimpered as Pea walked over to them, blood on her hooves glistening in their torchlight while she sported a grim smile on her face.

"Alright boys, I'm going to need you to busy yourselves and bury our poor friend who has passed on.  Better make it snappy or I'll make your necks go 'snappy'," she ordered as she raised a finger to her lips and licked it.

The stallions ran in a mindless mob around the ape and frantically dug a trench next to the dead monster with their bare hooves.  Pea sighed and walked on all fours, fingers closed now, to the edge of the forest until she emerged into the field outside and found Twilight waiting for her. The princess sprung next to Pea with a barrage of questions.

"What happened? I heard a lot of screaming, are you alright? Is Ahuizotl still in there? Is he coming out?"

Pea held a hand to quiet the alicorn and sighed. "You and your friends won't have to worry about Ahuizotl ever again. Before I go lay down, tell me about Daring Do. Is she alright?"

"Yes, the doctor said she came in just in time," Twilight said reassuringly, "If she was any later a poison would have stopped her... heart?" Twilight paused as she looked closer at Pea’s hooves. “Is that… blood?”

Pea rolled her eyes and passed Twilight in silence.

Pea's mind was half asleep as she made her way for the town. Twilight quietly teleported them both back to the castle, in the guest room’s bathroom.  The grey mare glanced around for a moment before turned to look at Twilight, who grimaced at the bloody mare.  Without a word, Pea went into the shower, still dressed, and began to wash herself.  Twilight left her in peace.

She left the room and gathered her friends back up. They all waited outside Pea's room in the hallway while Twilight was obviously shaken up.

Applejack comforted the  princess. "We got Daring Do safe with the doctor. Did that mare tell you what happened with that ape fellah?"

"No, she didn't tell me, but she was…” she stopped and gulped loudly. “Is her nephew alright?" Twilight asked. Tuff jumped out behind Rarity.

"Right here, Princess Twilight, is Auntie G alright?" he asked.

"She's just in the shower. We'll talk in the morning," Twilight assured the group of ponies, “let’s get to bed, all of us,” she looked pointedly at Tuff.

They dispersed back to their houses with few words to each other on the way out, each shaken up by the sudden events. Twilight made her way back to her room with a head full of one thought, what did Pea do in that forest? She groggily opened her bedroom door and slumped to the bed and fell into a fitful sleep.