Fact or Fiction (v2.0)

Twilight awoke the next morning refreshed and ready to ask a few dozen questions of the grey mare. She gathered some fruit, muffins, cheese, and drinks before she walked to the guest room with a tray of breakfast in tow ready to prepare Pea for a long morning. She swung the door open to find an empty room. She checked the room next door and found Tuff snoring in the bed.

Twilight left the food in Tuff's room and searched the rest of the first floor for Pea. After  almost an hour of looking she checked Pea's room again and found something she didn't notice before, a small piece of paper on the pillow with a cross inside a circle. She slapped her forehead in response.

“Of course,” she grumbled to herself,  “Pea had left to visit Daring in the hospital and since Pea can't write she made Daring’s cutie mark on a note.”

“So, is auntie gone?  Did she leave me here alone?” Tuff asked from the doorway.

“Oh, certainly not,” Twilight stammered, “she’s only gone to the hospital to see Daring Do.  She won’t leave you just like that,” Twilight asked, “will she?”

“No, but it never hurts to ask,” Tuff replied with a slight smile, “wanna eat with me, Princess Twilight?”

Twilight nodded. “I’d be honored.”

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Pea refused to leave Daring's bedside until she got better and as Daring’s health returned to her she decided to begin writing Pea's book again while Pea stayed at the hospital with Daring Tuff stayed at Twilight's castle during the healing process.

Daring healed quickly and left the hospital with Pea a week later when Daring took a  long flight around the town.  Daring decided she and Pea should sit in a reclusive spot in the park on a hill with a single tree so they could relax and talk.  Pea had brought Daring’s satchel along for the trip, along with her own saddle bag. The park had a few ponies and foals playing, completely oblivious to the duo. The two mares sat enjoying the sun and silence for a while until Daring broke the silence.

She kept her gaze ahead of her, looking at the pond as she asked. "Pea, what did you do to Ahuizotl?"

"Excuse me," the grey mare snorted, "what makes you think I did anything?"

"He is one of the most persistent creatures I know," Daring Do said, "and that night he had the same look in his eyes as always; he'd never just give up.  So, I have to ask, is he locked up somewhere or did you kill him?" Daring asked quietly.

Pea gritted her teeth, "And why is it so bad that I killed someone who was a danger for everyone else?"

"After all you said about Equestria… how perfect and innocent it is,” Daring hugged herself remorsefully, "you bring something like murder into it. I thought you knew better, wanted to be better.  But, maybe you're just some brute from a far off warring kingdom after all."

Pea moved and placed a hoof under Daring’s chin, turning her head so the mare would look at her. "Look, what I did may have been,” she bit her lip, ”no, it was wrong.  Once I saw your injury I just-"

Daring smacked her hoof away. "I don't need your pity!  I only decided to write you a book because I needed to make more money!  I need it and ponies are suckers for things they don't understand."

Pea grabbed Daring by the shoulders, lifted her up, and slammed her against the tree. The grey mare was on her hind legs and held Daring against the tree. Daring had a panicked look only for a moment.  Then she looked at the furious mare with a wry smile.

"You were going to use me?" Pea fumed under her breath, "I was going to be a means to your end, for money?"

"So, what are you going to do this time?  Hit me, break my nose?" Daring wheezed, ”You said yourself that you fought for money, isn’t that being someone’s means to an end?”

Pea's foreleg was shaking.  Pea Gravel hopelessly gritted her teeth. "Just shut your muzzle! I've been bought and used all my goddamn life, I will not allow that to happen again. What's wrong with killing that bastard ape anyway?"

Daring placed a hoof onto Pea's gripping foreleg. "This is a place of caring souls and shelter from the cold.  Bringing a thing like murder in here will taint that, do you want this place to end up like where you're from?"

Pea let go of Daring and the pegasus slumped against the tree. She sat and looked up to see Pea Gravel shivering.  Pea’s knees buckled and her weight toppled to the ground. Her green eyes stared out wide and afraid.

"I did it again, even in a place so innocent as this I’m still the same,” Pea pulled up her hooves to her face, "you were right!  I murdered him in cold blood, and… I enjoyed it," her lip quivered.

Daring rubbed a bruise on her shoulder. "So, you're sorry?"

"W-what? Of course I'm sorry!"  She lay on her back nearly sobbing. She held her hands in the air, fingers extended, to look at the palms as if the blood was still there. Her face twitched and winced as she held back a barrage of tears, "It's these legs, these arms, these things! Before I lost them I had to think my way out of fights I knew I couldn't win, but now…" she pulled her arms back to her chest, "I'm just like them, a monster. "

Pea curled into a ball and shivered. Daring had never thought that a mare like Pea Gravel would cry like this.  Despite her lashing out at Pea, Daring still had a sense to stay next to her. Daring scooted over and ran a hoof through Pea's mane.  Pea looked up with watery eyes.

"Pea, if you're truly sorry… well, I'm not sure there's anything we could do," she smiled and placed a hoof on either side of Pea's head and pulled the grey mare to her chest. Pea was shocked and blinked in disbelief. "Shh, if you need to let anything out, go ahead," Daring said hugging Pea.

The cyber mare wrapped her forelegs around Daring's barrel and hugged tight. The pegasus patted her head gingerly as Pea Gravel let out choked sobs.  For her recklessness here, for the pain out there. It had been awhile since she had cried like that and it calmed her nerves to let out what was bottled up.

How much time passed there the two mares didn't know, but neither cared. Pea had only hugged a handful of ponies in her life and eventually pulled herself into a sitting position up next to Daring.

"Thanks. I um, I n-needed that," the grey mare sniffled.

"I'm sorry I lashed out at you," Daring Do sighed, "I was scared. For you and of you, a bit. When I said I was going to use you to make money,  you know I didn't mean it, right?  No hard feelings?" Daring smiled with a hoof around Pea's shoulder.

"Yeah, no hard feelings," Pea sat for a moment with Daring's arm over her shoulder, "oh, I meant to tell you," Pea said wiping the wetness from her face with her vest, "that thing you found, it's called the King's Tear. The ape mentioned something about it being an invaluable treasure, have you heard of it?"

Daring Do leaned on Pea looking up through the tree leaves, "The King's Tear huh? Very poetic sounding," she sighed. Pea looked down at the tanned mare leaning on her and blushed slightly.

"I’ve heard of it," Pea said, "It's something Volm is looking for, something I'm looking for, it’s the reason my lands are at war, and I have it now,” she grinned.

“We have it, and it belongs in a museum.”

“Well, it’s not even from here,” Pea smirked, “and if I leave it here a whole army of evil will find a way here to get it.  It’s safer with me, right?”

Daring relented. “Perhaps.  We’ll talk about that later.  The festival is next week and your book is nearly ready, I’ll have copies on the way to sell.”

“That sounds good,” Pea sighed as Daring sat up and grinned, “what?”

“You need an outfit.”

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The night before the Literature Festival Daring Do, Pea Gravel, and Rainbow Dash sat in Rarity's boutique while the white unicorn was picking different dresses for the festivities. Next to the door was Daring’s satchel with a thick, newly bound copy of Pea's book.

"Are you ready to try out a dress?" Rarity called from inside a dressing room.

Pea eyed the cyan pegasus. "I dunno. What do you think, Rainbow, would I look good in a dress?"

"If it was made of sheet metal," Dash smirked, "Come on. I think getting a dress for you will be a fun," she smiled warmly as Pea rolled her eyes and trotted ahead.  Rainbow grinned wickedly. “Better you first than me,” she whispered as she pressed her hooves together.

"Oh goodness! I'm certainly glad you came here, I'd simply die if you went to the festival with that on," She cried pointing to Pea's worn vest.

The grey mare chuckled. "Promise?"  Rarity glared for a second before returning to her haughty smile.

Rarity proceeded to look over at all the dresses she had out. They all were beautifully colorful and ornate, each a work of art. Rarity and Rainbow went through most if not all of them, each making Pea feel less and less comfortable. When Daring saw her being stuffed into and pulled out of dresses she couldn't help but laugh; Pea stuck her tongue  at the mare in response.

After what felt like forever they had gone through every dress Rarity had in the mare's size and bigger.  Pea wasn’t pleased with any of them.

"Rarity?" Pea asked, putting a hefty necklace back into a drawer, "Do you have something perhaps more, oh, I don't know… humble?"

Rarity giggled, "Well, I suppose. A while back Zecora came in asked me if I could make her another cloak-"

"Could you?!" Pea asked excitedly for a moment before returning to her calm nature.  The other mares giggled.

Rarity went over to her fabrics and reached behind a stuffed shelf case. She pulled out a dark green fabric that looked like it had never been rolled out. She carried it over to her work bench and began making the stencils necessary for the cloak.  Several minutes later she beamed a smile and removed her red rimmed glasses.  “Finished~,” she sing songed.

Daring was in a dark blue dress when she walked up to Pea, "Do you think this one looks good on me?" she asked.

"You look daring!" Pea smirked. The pegasus chuckled.

Rainbow Dash's voice called over from the entrance door. "Hey, what's this?"

Daring scrambled over to the mare and snatched her bag that contained the novel. "Hey, no peeking!"

"Peeking at what?" Dash in a puzzled tone.

Pea waved a hoof for the mares to walk back over into the main room. Daring held the shoulder strap in her teeth, keeping the contents away from Rainbow Dash. Pea grabbed the bag when she had the chance and pulled the book out as she galloped around the room with Daring chasing her. She and Dash stared at how simple the brown and red bound book looked. Pea handed it over to Rainbow Dash who blinked in disbelief.

"Go ahead, read it."

"Pea, I wanted you to see it bound first," Daring said.

Rainbow took the novel and held it as if it were gold. Pea smiled back at the pegasus as she lifted the cover to see the first page. Dash cocked her head to the side when she saw there was no title.

Pea smacked her forehead. "We forgot to name it!"

"You know, I had an idea if you two want to hear it," Dash said quietly. Pea and Daring leaned forward with their ears turned to listen. Dash put the book safely under her wing, "Pea, you told me that there was so much out there a pony couldn't control, that creatures like us are at the bottom. It sounds like a story, like, not a real one, but it is real.  So, I was thinking of naming it ‘Fact or Fiction’."

Pea and Daring gasped. "That's a great idea!" they shouted in unison as they clapped their hooves, Pea’s making a tinking sound.

Dash stood in a proud position. "Of course it's a good idea, I thought of it!"

“Well, I got my dress and I’m good to go,” Daring said. Dash thanked the two mares  and Rarity then flew off into the sky to her home.  Rarity was too busy muttering over the silliness of Pea's cloak to pay much attention as Rainbow Dash exited the boutique.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Rainbow held the novel in her forelegs as she pumped her wings through the night sky. She raced through air currents and glided through clouds on her way back to her home, the perfect place to read the book. She slowed her pace once the door of her house was in view then she threw it open and kicked it closed on her way to her room.

Not very many ponies knew of her book collection. It was in her trophy room on shelves hidden by various banners of sports teams and Wonderbolt’s members, but in the center of that room was her very own LazyBuck recliner.  Dash flew into the room full of dart boards, pool tables, and hidden books and landed on the wide cushioned chair. She took a moment to catch her breath after the race home.

For some reason she couldn't calm down. She vaguely remembered the things Pea Gravel said in the field outside Ponyville, but to see it all and more there in black and white, the mare felt anxious before she began reading it.  Dash opened the cover and turned to the first page with text.