Pony Piece: Yonko Journey

by Theblondeknight

First published 22nd of February, 2016

Princess Celestia has a mission so grand that it stretches far beyond Equestria's borders, into the unknown of the "Great Blue Seas". Anything can happen, but with "Red Hair" Shanks and his crew along for the ride, they're up for any challenge.

Twilight Sparkle has been many things in her life: a student, a sister, a princess, and some might even call her a savior. But is she ready to be a pirate?

She better find out soon, because an important task has been given to her by Princess Celestia. Now faced with leaving her past behind her and venturing into an entirely new world or letting Equestria and everything she knows fall into ruin, she must step up to become a pirate captain, and venture into the mysterious world of "The Great Blue Sea"

Equestrian magic and determination can only go so far. Even with her friends at her side, she may not make it to the end of the adventure. Nothing is a guarantee. Luckily for her, a certain Yonko has taken interest in the signs of a new pirate crew entering the seas.

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MLP-One Piece crossover. Shanks-centric...ish. Reboot of the previous version of the story "Emperor's Territory". Some blood and injury, may attain a gore tag, but I'm not sure yet; Character death will occur. You have been warned.

1) The Mission: Set Sail Into The Great Blue Sea!

Time seemed to be flying by at the moment. Twilight had just stepped onto the old, wooden docks, and the sounds of oncoming ponies had already stopped. The process of boarding and preparing was supposed to take an hour. Could it possibly have been more than 15 minutes? She breathed in deeply and felt her heart beat several times before releasing the air. A strong shiver shot down her spine, and her ears had begun picking up sounds more clearly. Any second now and she would be summoned on deck. Hadn't it been just yesterday that she bade Spike and all their friends in Ponyville goodbye?

She chanced a peak out the window, folding back the silk-white curtains ever so slightly, catching sight of the crowd standing ashore, waiting eagerly to see them off. She noticed that Princess Celestia was not yet among them. Who knew, maybe she wouldn't show up at all. It wasn't a a stretch to say that this particular assignment had not been handed to her with the usual fervor. That said, it was far from a typical assignment. Usually Equestria needed defending from the inside. But to even think about venturing past the sight of the shore....it must be desperate indeed. Having faith was hardest at times like this, but she trusted Princess Celestia.

Most troubling, however, was that in her hesitance and reluctance to discuss this particular mission, Celestia had neglected some very important details. Not at all like her, and the more Twilight thought on it, the more it concerned her. All she knew was that the assignment would become clearer as she drifted farther into the Great Blue Sea. She hadn't been eager to bring up the subject of the mission, especially with her friends. She hoped the answers would reveal themselves soon....the stress was really starting to get to her.

Stepping away from the window she began moving closer to the large map that covered the port wall of the dinning room. Twilight felt the butterflies in her stomach rustle anew as she passed multiple round tables, each one set with white table cloths and empty plates. This map was the largest in Equestria's archives, and the best chance of navigation they had; unfortunately, it hadn't been updated since Starswirl the Beaded's Oceanic Trek to the Lost Dragon Isle, and that island had sunk centuries before Twilight's birth. Starswirl's information regarding the rest of the ocean before the barrier to the Great Blue Sea was spotty at best and entirely wrong at worst. But how much had it changed? Well, it probably hadn't become more accurate.

Only about four nautical miles away from Equestria's shores the ocean was considered too dangerous for all but the bravest or strongest to travel. Even they avoided it when possible. Long ago, Twilight recalled reading in the Canterlot Libraries, ponies sailed far beyond the large shipwreck that marked the entrance to the unknown waters called the Great Blue Sea. Of course at the time the shipwreck had not existed. Those years of sea-faring adventure were short, supposedly about forty in all, and most records of those times were long lost. Legends and myths told of monsters beyond pony comprehension and pirates of mysterious origin that would decimate all who dared sail beyond the first ship that was ever destroyed under mysterious circumstances - the shipwreck that now marked out the dangerous waters.

By the time Princesses Celestia and Luna had ascended to leadership after the unification of the Three Tribes, life at sea was deemed impossible, and neither of the sisters had ever ventured into changing that. Or so Twilight had been led to believe. Princess Celestia surely had some kind of connection to this mission into the unknown waters, and by extension whatever lay beyond that fated shipwreck. The question of how they were connected would have to be answered with time, Twilight supposed. All in good time and faith.

"Twilight?"

The lavender Princess nearly jumped when Pinkie's hoof patted against her back, and she turned to see her friends assembled behind her, the sunlight shining through the open stairway leading to the deck above.

"It's time?" She asked hesitantly.

"It's time," Rainbow Dash confirmed.

Twilight drew in a deep breath, held it as long as possible, and exhaled very deeply, visibly trembling as she headed for the steps.

"We're with you all the way darling!" Rarity called.

"To the ends of the earth and beyond!" Pinkie added.

Twilight couldn't help but smile. At least her friends were there. She had almost forgotten. How shameful for the Princess of Friendship to forget her friends. Their confidence should be enough to dispel her fear. More than enough. Twilight decided, as she ascended those noisy, wooden steps, that she would not be afraid. Not as long as she had her friends by her side.

The grand vessel to carry them on their journey, The Crepuscular Star was the largest Equestrian military project in over one hundred years. It featured room for over 140 crew members, mostly members of the Equestrian Royal Guard on special extended assignment, and was equipped with the most up-to-date magical and scientific technologies in regards to navigation, propulsion, and efficiency. It also housed 40 cannons, 20 on each side of the ship. In hindsight, Twilight wondered to herself if that was enough. The unknown was a dangerous enemy, as she'd learned over the course of her time defending Ponyville and all of Equestria.

The hull was comprised of five sections, plus a deck and crow nests along the main sails. The mainsail was triangular and bore Twilight's Royal Insignia, that being her cutie mark in a splendid lavender color resting in a field of gold and silver; the three headsails were more square and plain, while the kite was also triangular, but bearing no insignia. The primary color of the vessel was azure, with complimenting white and black secondary coloring. All in all it was about 200 yards long, and 30 yards at its widest point, that being the aft section, which housed Twilight's quarters and the most important rooms pertaining to resources, planning, etc.

The crowd gathered around it waited with palpable anticipation. To the citizens of Equestria it was quite exciting, a reinvention of sea faring and exploration. The guards station in ordered places around the deck, silent and frozen in preparation for setting sail, waited patiently as Twilight took a second to compose herself before the big farewell address. At least Cadence and Shining Armor had bothered to show up. She focused on them as she began speaking.

"Citizens of Equestria, friends, today marks a very important day in modern history. I will not lie and say that I was not nervous, frightened even, when I was asked to undertake this mission of extreme importance. Truth be told, even I don't know quite what to expect from it. But I do know this. In the name of Equestria and its well being, I will face any danger. No challenge is too big, not when I venture forward with capable ponies who have dedicated themselves to this undertaking, as I have. Not when I am surrounded by friends. Not when I can trust them with my life. The Great Blue Sea is mysterious, but I am confident that we are well prepared. We will return when the mission has been completed and the great ordeal is finally over. We will return with new findings, and the experience to say that ponies have reclaimed the power to travel the seas. And so, with Equestria's blessing, I announce this day as the start of our voyage...set sail!"

With the most important details, or what ones were provided, having been discussed prior to leaving her home, Twilight knew the next succession of events would go by in a flash. Formalities and appearances were the idea today. The crowd was cheering, their excitement growing like a living organism, taking stronger form as she waved and smiled as the guards on the deck saluted. It was no mere rehearsal of procedure to them.

The bottle of wine was released and smashed against the hull with a shattering that was immediately eclipsed by the stomping of hooves and raising of (even higher) happy voices. Twilight lingered on the sight of the crowd just a few seconds longer and turned to the guard captain behind her, giving him the affirmative to weigh anchor. Up the large bond to home raised, and the ties to the dock were cut after months of holding the ship in place. The sails extended as flowers were tossed aboard. They soon caught a strong wind and they were off. The crowd was still cheering, waving, and stomping on the sandy beaches and the wooden dock with their hooves. Twilight looked one last time to her brother and her sister-in-law, both waving enthusiastically. She also caught Shining Armor mouthing her a final warning.

'Stay safe little sister!' He silently shouted.

She responded in kind, 'I know; i will.'

She was soon joined once more by her friends, each smiling, some brighter than others. Fluttershy looked to be getting a bit sea-sick already, while in great contrast, Pinkie looked as though she had been waiting her whole life for this moment. Different strengths and a variety of skills. That's all it was. It was a good contrast. A strong foundation for the waters beyond.

"So, now that we've set sail, I want to run through the responsibilities we're carrying one more time," Twilight announced, being the first to speak.

"Do we have to go over it again? I mean, it's not too hard to memorize," Rainbow objected.

"Better safe than sorry...especially somewhere like the Great Blue Sea," Twilight replied, adding in her own mind, 'and whatever waits within'

Pinkie answered first, "Oh! Oh! I'm gonna run the galley, keeping the yummies in our tummies...er, a remedy a day keeps the barfing away," She added, looking to Fluttershy, who was now going green in the cheeks and beginning to sway with the waves.

"I'm scouting ahead in rotation with the other pegasi on the ship," Rainbow reported.

"I'll be reviewing the information we've collected beside you and acting as chief navigator for the length of the journey, you don't have to worry at all about that, darling."

"And while Rarity looks over the finer details, I'll be acting as shipwright, keeping all the main functions in working order," Applejack followed up.

"Great, Fluttershy?" Twilight and the others turned to the yellow pegasus, now slouching on her hooves and looking positively rotten.

"I'll be....throwing up," she paused to place a hood over her mouth for a moment before resuming, "if Pinkie doesn't start on those remedies soon...."

"Uh...take five below deck," Twilight told her, allowing Pinkie to help her down.

"Great. I trust that things are already in order in your capable hooves. I'm glad you all insisted on coming along."

With that, they scattered, and though Twilight knew it was all in her head, it made her feel much better. Just hearing her plans come to life through the words of her friends was a comfort. She sighed whilst surveying the ship. The ceremony had passed in the blink of an eye too, though not unexpectedly. Maybe it was the dangers that would finally make time slow down, and only when their lives were laid on the line would time slow to incomprehensible lengths. She was really beginning to hate these constant extremes.

Already the shore and all the sights Twilight had known all her life had disappeared from view, shrinking with every passing moment as the small dot she recognized as the marked shipwreck was drawing nearer. The sinking fear was already threatening to return, but she forced herself to banish it at once. Fear had no place in the heart of a captain.....unless one looked at fear as a safety mechanism, that was. Fear held you back, but sometimes it was better to be held back, right? All the cliches she'd ever learned on fear came in a tidal rush, overtaking all thought. But the bottom line was that her friends weren't afraid.....well, they weren't showing any fear. (Perhaps Fluttershy was too sick to show fear as of now). No! Away with such thoughts. She had her friends as the hopes of Equestria riding with her. It was time to overcome. She could do it on land just fine, she'd just have to study on the topic for a bit. She'd get the hang of being a sea farer in no time. That thought was, amazingly, more genuine than any since leaving the castle.

She forced a smile on her face as the shipwreck passed. The breeze and the smell of deep sea air made her feel alive, and a rush of sudden adrenaline came over her. They were making history and doing the unthinkable. Not that they hadn't done the unthinkable before, defeating great odds was almost a talent she and her friends had worked up by now.....but this was something else. The factor of the unexpected and the unknown kept coming back to her, but did not shake her again. She was the master of her own fears.

After settling her courage a little more firmly in her mind, it was time for the next order of business. The next order of business was undoubtedly going to the charting room, where a miniature copy of the large map in the dinning hall and many boxes worth of archived information waited, and consulting Rarity on their immediate course.

Rarity, true to her words of promise, had already dug out several old scrolls and charts, and had a compass laying on the grand desk in the middle of the chart room. Though new like the rest of the grand ship, it had an old-timey feeling to it, as though many generations of navigators had honed their craft within these wooden walls. Twilight, feeling much more at home surrounded by books and scrolls rather than out on the open deck amongst the many guards, took to her friend's side at once and looked over the chart in her hooves with her.

"Hmmm...now, I think if we just kept true for a bit and turned northeast here," she pointed down at a specific place on the map with the tip of her hoof, "we should be able to avoid the hazards Starswirl's group charted...assuming they are indeed still there."

"Have you looked over this way?" Twilight double checked, pointing to a Southward spot on the map.

"As a matter of fact, I have, and though it seems a decent option I also looked into this collection of wind charts, and it might be a bit riskier if the weather turns bad in the next day or so."

"Nice work," Twilight complimented, adding as an after thought, "I wonder how far in we have to get before the mission becomes clear..."

"Excuse me?"

The reddening of Twilight's face perfectly matched the bewildered look in Rarity's eyes. Twilight mentally scolded herself for not playing it better. But the cat was out of the bag at this point, her absentmindedness had gotten the better of her. Might as well come clean and explain everything in quick succession. The sooner they got over it, the better.

"Welll....funny thing really, Princess Celestia wasn't all too specific about the nature of this mission, heh heh, I really thought I would've cracked it by now, but it's just not coming to me. I'm sure it will though! We've just got to keep sailing onwards, and now that I think on it a bit, your plan sounds great! Let's steer just like you said and I'm sure the clues will all add up in no time!"

Twilight thought she had sounded an awful lot like a nervous Pinkie Pie while she held her smile and waited. Similarly, Rarity's look of bewilderment had not changed in the slightest. Twilight used her magic to summon the scroll which Celestia had given her when she was asked to go and lead this adventure. It held brief instructions, more like quick notes actually, about sea-faring safety and preparedness. The rest was blank, although, gazing at it, Twilight was filled with some hope. It almost did look like something was beginning to form...

"So....sounds good, right?" Twilight asked sheepishly while Rarity looked over the scroll again.

The white unicorn was shaking her head, struggling to form the words. Twilight was wondering how far she'd let her friends down in not telling them, but to her glad surprise, Rarity's shaking suddenly stopped and after a slight pause she was smiling, to Twilight's great relief.

"I suppose it's no real fault of your own. I'll just keep feeding the instructions to Applejack up top."

Twilight sighed and smiled back, "Great.....er, thanks for not overreacting. I know it's not at all like me, to be so unprepared and all."

"Don't worry about it....just....don't forget to mention when something does pop up. I fear we can only go so far before our maps become useless. We'll have to start drawing new ones up.....probably in just a few days."

"Agreed, especially considering the limited journey Starswirl took. I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you, darling!"

Twilight exited as Rarity scribbled down the course and teleported the note up to the farm pony at the wheel, keeping The Crepuscular Star propelling forward. The next order of business was probably to set out for the kitchen. She had noticed that a couple of the crew were looking uneasy. Nothing as bad as poor Fluttershy, but a sea sick crew was no good. Perhaps the drills and simulations just didn't quite match the real deal of sailing on open waters, for it was clear that not everypony was prepared for the journey ahead of them.

Getting to the galley had proved complicated. A short question from one of the guards had led to a string of conversations about things that Twilight thought would have been explained or reasonable enough to figure out. Maybe her expectations were a bit too high; the average pony was not familiar with extended sea voyages, and nerves were a factor even to the most experienced guards. At last, though, she was below deck, and had made it through the dinning room and into the kitchen behind the adjoining side wall.

Pinkie was hard at work, brewing up several different pots of medicines. The cook books she'd taken from the Canterlot Kitchens had a lot of great food recipes, but when it came to illness prevention and nifty yet tasty treatments, she found herself relying mostly on Pie family traditions. If only she'd brought more rocks.

Sitting on a stool in the corner, holding her head over a bucket, Fluttershy was quietly groaning. She hoped getting used to living on a boat wouldn't take very long. Oh how she already missed the wide open fields of grass and sunshine surrounding Ponyville. Even the Everfree Forest seemed nicer in her memories than it had before boarding. Worst of all, though, it was almost impossible to interact with any kinds of animals on the boat. Maybe there was a chance some kind of exotic bird would land on the ship. So far, the trip had been far less than stellar for her, and Pinkie's constant assurances that it would soon be over weren't making her feel much better.

When Twilight walked in, she immediately took note of Fluttershy's abysmal state. Frowning out of the pegasi's view, she quickly stepped up behind Pinkie, and they engaged in a conversation that Fluttershy was far too indifferent towards to make out more than a few words here and there. Soon she almost felt as though her stomach had stopped spinning and that her head was now revolving like a top. Her vision was swaying and she hung her head right into the bucket just to be safe.

Oddly, it sounded like there was more than one of her from inside the bucket. As though she herself were just waiting to puke while another sea sick Fluttershy was moaning....somewhere above her. Perhaps another pony was sick on the floor above? It wasn't an overly important question, but it was as good as any to ponder over until Pinkie was done. Her stomach has resumed spinning, and she was desperate not to think on it. Maybe her ears were affected like her head and stomach. Did being sea sick affect a pony like that? It was a good question for Twilight, but in her current state, Fluttershy dared not take her head out of the bucket. Besides, she'd probably have that question answered for herself sooner or later. It was taking ages for that remedy to be finished.

"So.....you ran out of room...for rocks?" Twilight asked in segments, imagining how Pinkie could've fit all she'd been describing plus rocks into her bags.

"Well it's not that I didn't bring any, but let's just hope not too many more ponies get sick, cause I'm burning through these puppies like apple cider at a family reunion!" Pinkie whispered in a desperate sort of way.

"Well....ideally we'd be making a stop at land.....hold on, burning through rocks, Pinkie, what on earth are you making!?"

"As much as I like you Twilight, I can't let the recipe fall out of the family," Pinkie replied, a tone more of consolation than worry now.

A loud noise from behind them broke their conversation, and Twilight saw Fluttershy leaning into the bucket, teetering on the edge of the stool, at last letting her stomach's contents run away from her. It seemed that something else had changed, but Twilight didn't have long to think on it before Pinkie's desperate voice had returned, pining for a new ingredient.

"Twilight! Quick! This part's important! Grab the blue and green shakers from the brown bag over there!"

"There's more than one! Which brown bag?"

"That one!" Pinkie replied, stirring her concoction like a madpony and pointing with her free hoof vaguely at all of the bags.

Back in the corner and temporarily relieved from her vomiting, while also feeling better than since before entering the kitchen, Fluttershy set the bucket down and saw that several crates full of food and cooking ingredients had been knocked over. Feeling confident that she could at least fix her mess and wait contently for Pinkie and Twilight to finish up, Fluttershy began sorting through the displaced goods. She avoided getting too near some of the more lively spices and smelly foods, but was able to put most of it back in place without so much as a gag.

After most of it had been sorted through she found that a substantial amount of flower had spilled from its box, and yet the box itself was nowhere to be found. She poked through the crates that had spilled over as well as those that had not, but the box was still mysteriously missing. By chance she looked up, and her mouth dropped on instinct before she manually shut it again, both to prevent the off chance of hurling once more and to stop a scream.

"No, not that green shaker, the other one!" Pinkie replied hastily, hardly glancing at the shaker Twilight had put before her.

"Again, which other one! There are five, six, seven different shakers in varying shades of green!" Twilight replied, counting them off and levitating the next one to Pinkie's side.

"No, this one isn't it either!" The baker replied, stirring faster still.

"Is it this one?" Twilight asked somewhat indignantly, levitating the third to last green shaker to Pinkie's face.

"Yes!" Pinkie exclaimed at once, startling Twilight greatly, for once again she had only just barely glanced at it before making a quick decision.

She almost broke the cap off and let the contents fall, like dark, gray rain into the sizzling pot. Now feeling quite relieved, Pinkie began to stir less maniacally, and hazarded a glance back to Fluttershy, dropping her big spoon in the process.

"We'll have a nice turnaround for that pouty tummy in-"

Twilight looked back at the sound of Pinkie's great gasp and let one of her own out as well, and they both jumped over to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus was halfway hanging out of the space between the kitchen ceiling and the floor above.

"Fluttershy!?"

"Don't come up!" the nervous and distorted voice sounded in reply.

"What's going on!?" Twilight nearly demanded, telekinetically gripping Fluttershy's body with her magic and tugging her out.

"Stop! Stop!" Fluttershy cried out.

"What's going on?" Twilight asked with alarm.

Before she could answer another crashing sound broke through the ceiling, and several large bags fell to the floor, rolling around in different areas of the kitchen floor. Pinkie instinctively chased after them, while Twilight continued at her best attempt to converse with Fluttershy.

"What in Celestia's name happened in the last two minutes?" Twilight once more inquired, with more exasperation than before.

"N-Nothing..."Fluttershy stammered, beginning to steadily fall back to the floor now, "I just....err..." she plopped on the ground and instinctively covered her mouth. If her sea sickness had left her before, it appeared to be back in full force...or Fluttershy had become a very gifted actress recently.

In the meantime, Pinkie Pie had discovered that the ship might be haunted, for one bag in particular was rolling around like a Saddle Arabian Jumping Bean. She chased it left and right, then left again, but it was to no avail. She was about ready to pounce on it, when it did something entirely unexpected and stood up.

"Why you...!" Pinkie whispered intently as if sneaking up on the bag as various cans and jars fell out and rolled in all directions.

"Wait!" a familiar and entirely unexpected voice called out from inside as the bag folded over on itself, "don't hurt me! I'm sorry!"

Twilight lost all interested in Fluttershy, who she decided was not faking when another vomiting fit came over the pegasus, and left her with the bucket. She used her magic to grab the bag and almost tore it in two pieces as she uncovered the source of this great disturbance. Squatting with his arms over his face and tightly shut eyes, Spike was waiting as though expecting a torrent of unprecedented intensity. Twilight wasn't sure exactly how she felt seeing her Number One Assistant in such a position, but she knew the first thing she would do.

"Spike?" Pinkie exclaimed, processing the meaning of his appearance with her usual Pinkie demeanor while Twilight reached out her hoof and picked him out of his cowering squat.

Spike opened his eyes, clearly fearful of what Twilight might do or say, but to his immense relief, she hugged him. He returned the embrace and Pinkie, cooing softly before hand, soon joined them. It was not long before others arrived, sensing the commotion, but the guards returned to their duties upon assuring themselves everything was still in order; Applejack, Rarity, and the just returned from flying duty Rainbow Dash stayed to learn the whole story.

"Spike," Twilight at last spoke, "what are you doing here? I told you to keep watch over the castle...o-over Ponyville!"

"I know...and I was going to. I wanted to...I'll always be there for you Twilight, but..."

"But what?" She responded, more out of bewildered curiosity than anger, though she was still ready to crumple a few book pages over this particular surprise.

"But, this time, I just....I just knew that being there for you meant being at your side this time. Besides, I....never mind."

"No, speak your mind," Twilight corrected him.

"I.....I was already starting to miss you..."

"Oh, Spike...it wasn't easy for me to leave you behind..."

"So why? Why did you? I know I don't usually go with you girls, but...I can help! I can do my fair share! Ponyville will be OK, it's in good hooves! With our families and our friends! I just knew that I had to be here!"

"So, what, you jumped onto the train and rode it to the sea with the last of the guards?" Rainbow asked, the first of the friends to speak since the conversation between Princess and Assistant had begun.

"Yeah. I snuck into one of the emergency supply bags they stored up there and waited for an eternity before I thought it was safe to come out," Spike explained.

"Well, we're all glad to see ya Sugarcube, but it wasn't very smart of you to come..." Applejack explained with some difficulty, rubbing her hoof over her hat.

"Spikey-Wikey," Rarity took over, bending down closer to him, "We'd all benefit from your stay here, but it's just much too dangerous. You are still a baby dragon, after all. Just thinking about what lies ahead of us, well, I'll admit it frightens me quite a bit."

"Me too..." Fluttershy croaked from her stool, still in recovery from the second wave of sea sickness.

"I don't think anypony isn't at least a little afraid....I mean, even I'm a tiny bit nervous about it all," Rainbow admitted.

"Well I'm not scared!" Spike said with surprising defiance, "I'm not scared as long as I'm with all of you."

"But you simply can't stay aboard," Rarity objected, "scared or not, it's far too much for you. We've got to turn around."

There was a slight pause, and everypony turned their eyes to Twilight, who was glancing conflictedly from Spike to the others and back again several more times. She turned her back to them for a moment and drew in a deep breath. It was already time for her first decision as a captain. This life at sea was going to be hard on most ponies, how much more so a baby dragon? But could they afford to turn back now? Spike was committed, he always would be? If they turned around, would this send him into a lonely and miserable depression, wishing that he'd only been allowed to stay?

She forced herself to make a snap judgement, and turned quickly, announcing her decision: "Spike, while I am displeased that you snuck aboard and disobeyed my instructions...I can completely understand your position. I'm not going to permit you full clearance or approval to complete certain tasks, but I have decided to keep you aboard for the length of this journey."

The looks she received ranged from the unsure and shocked, to the gleeful and excited, none more so than Spike himself. He ran up to his sister figure and hugged her tightly again, and soon enough everypony had embraced the decision. Spike was on the trip now, and getting at odds over that fact was only going to get in their way. They had all moved in, even Fluttershy, who had seemingly regained enough of her bearings to join in on the goodness of the moment.

The happy scene did not end until a flash erupted through the windows and a large wave rocked them all off their hooves and feet. Alarms raised all over the ship and Twilight more than anypony else felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Something very important had occurred, and she'd not yet caught sight of it.

"Check everything!" She instructed as two guards bolted in, and then back out on receiving their orders, followed steadily by different members of the Mane 6, "Get a hold of the wheel and keep us in the safest route possible until we get clearer instructions using the maps! I need eyes in the sky and ponies at the ready all around!"

Confusion and chaos had set in at once. The ponies scrambled around each other and the various designated places on the ship, all the while looking around the sea and sky for the signs of the disruption's origin. Spike trusted himself only to stay at Twilight's side, rushing to and fro with her around the ship as the reports gradually came in.

"All clear in the skies!" Rainbow shouted from orbit around the sails.

"The ship is in full working order!" Applejack called from the wheel.

"The chart room reports no known points of disruption along this route," a guard testified as he rushed onto the deck from Rarity's workroom.

A few other reports came in in quick succession, and Twilight could only ponder the question as they headed into waters that, while not stormy and threatening per se, were a far cry from smooth, blue, and beautiful. The tension and unease on the deck and throughout the ship matched the swelling seas as unrest steadily rose while the seconds ticked by. Twilight was at a total loss, gazing from pony to pony and back the water, back to more ponies, and then various places around the ship, over and over again.

"OK, " she said at last, "maybe if we-"

"Hey, Twilight," Spike nudged her side.

"Spike, this isn't the best time!" Twilight chided, then slowly realized that the dragon wasn't out to draw her attention to anything out of significance.

She noticed the scroll, shining and peaking out of the invisible walls of her magical displacement box always at her side. She used the appropriate spell and opened it quickly, unfolded the scroll in front of everypony, glancing over it with a smile.

"Oh, Spike, how could I have ever doubted you?" Twilight asked aloud, rhetorically, as she showed the scroll to her friends, who drew nearer.

They too beamed with smiles as they saw that, while far from complete, a good portion of the scroll was no longer blank. An arm was growing out of an odd mist, and half a smile was clearly visible. The instructions were leading them to something. It was thus far impossible to tell what, or perhaps who, but they had some kind of direction now. They had some figment of a goal. That was enough for cause of celebration.

"At last..." Twilight muttered, then, seeing her friends waiting expectantly, addressed them, "I should have told you all the truth from the beginning. I guess I make a great Captain, huh?"

"We knew," Applejack confided with a smile, "Most of us anyways."

"What?" Twilight asked with surprise, which appeared to eradicate most of her disappointment.

"Well, they've known for a little bit...I confess that I told them, dear," Rarity explained, "Forgive me. I had a feeling we would all be going into this adventure a little blind. It was a shock to see that you were almost as blind as the rest of us, I admit, but it was also comforting. It felt, more than anything else, like that first adventure, going into the Everfree to find Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon. Facing the unknown like this...I thought it might be a joy I should spread. Was I wrong?" She asked, turning to the others.

"Nope," AJ replied, the first in a long string of similar answers. Fluttershy and Pinkie had not had the chance to learn, but neither were particularly upset, and after examining Rarity's point of view, they couldn't deny there was a comfort to the idea of staring down great danger with all your best friends beside you, all in the same boat...quite literally. (Spike, both living with Twilight and knowing her so well, had a feeling about it from the beginning.)

Now that the cat was indeed out of the bag and everypony was brought up to speed, Twilight was more confidant than ever. She was carrying the most responsibility as Captain, but she could still rely on her friends. She would gladly do so, she thought to herself. They were all in it together, on equal ground, as they drifted ever onwards into the liquid tapestry of the Great Blue Sea.

Author's Notes:

Welcome to the end of the first chapter! I have to say that I much prefer the idea of the ponies going to the One Piece world than the other way around. I feel so much more at liberty and free to include many more ideas. As you've no doubt somehow figured out by now, this is a reboot of my past story "Emperor's Territory", which was a Shanks in Equestria fic.

Speaking of Shanks, I promise he'll be along soon! While I've already planned for more than few (seriously, so many!) characters to appear, like the original, Shanks will be featured most. The crossing over officially begins next chapter, which I am happy to say I'm excited to get to. With the original and with far too many of my works I have such a hard time getting into them, but this one I've so far found so easy to get into. It all just seems to flow naturally.

Anyways, I hope this first chapter proved satisfactory. I'm still planning out some of the details and looking for an overall direction for the early story, but I'm pounding away at it, day by day. Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!

-TBK

2) The First Encounter: Arrival in the New World!

The calmness of the warm day was a rarity in the New World. As the Red Force sailed along, the men singing and lounging about, their captain stood alone in the aft section, behind the man at the wheel, gazing into the clouds above. The rowdy noises from under the palm trees in front of the wheel were drifting right by him. His black cape fluttered in the gentle breeze, and he closed his eyes. He hadn't felt like this in a very long time.

The Era of his youth had passed. The next generation of pirates and marines were slowly rising up. He'd heard the rumors, the tales of sightings even from where he was, about the group causing havoc at the start of the New World. To think, not only the fiasco with some crazed supremacist at Fishman Island, but then Punk Hazard. It made laugh to himself; wild and unrestrained as ever. Nobody could touch Luffy's freedom. Shanks admired that in one so young, but it was far from what he most admired in Luffy.

Then again, with the events of Dressrosa behind that crew as well, even he had to wonder how long they could stay afloat. The difficulty of these waters only rose sharper as you progressed. Nothing was guaranteed, but he hoped with all his might that their promise would stand.

His thoughts were disrupted when one of his oldest friends approached, quiet like the breeze.

"Captain? You've got that look in your eyes..."

Shanks laughed, and Benn Beckman smiled, smoke billowing from his cigar.

Akagami turned around and he did indeed stare at Beckman with that look only a first mate would recognize.

"The seas haven't been this calm in a while," Shanks commented.

"Yeah, it's pleasant," Beckman agreed.

"Enjoy it."

"I know. I'm not at your level, but I've sensed it as well....It's not hard to figure out, even without this power," Beckman added, taking the cigar away for an instant and running his free hand over his silver hair.

"No. It's not. The Revolutionary Army is stirring, Teach is moving with fierce treachery, and Sakazuki is igniting the lanterns for war...where's an Emperor to fit in?"

"And then there's that group..."

"Which one?"

"Eh?"

"You'll see. Tell the men to soak in the last couple hours. Tonight we make sail."

"Where to?"

"...Towards that group."

With that, Shanks trod down the wooden steps, coming within earshot of Lucky Roo's chugging of the ship's largest keg of drink. Always a fan of the party life, Shanks opted not go nearer to the festivities under the palm trees, avoiding the sounds from the soft grass. The chanting was growing louder, but was drowned out as he entered instead through the doors that led below deck. He ventured down the empty hall, halfway lit by the sunlight streaming through the open windows. His door was the last one, his cabin sitting directly below where he'd been conversing with Benn Beckman a moment ago.

His quarter's were large, but surprisingly plain. A few maps on the walls, none used for charting directions. His saber was at his side, but the short sword he'd used as an apprentice also hung on the wall, right beside his bed, which was opposite the door. A large, but beat down rug lay on the floor in the center of the room. His desk sat atop it, filled mostly with empty cups and dishes, but a nice mess of papers lay underneath those. He hadn't used a pistol in a long time, it was never his preference, but it sat, as always, in its case on the stand beside his bed, along with clean paper and a pen.

He was not going to any of that, however. Not just yet. His eyes set immediately upon the chest in the corner, where the secrets of his past were buried. He shut the door behind him and was kneeling down in front of it in a matter of seconds. He couldn't remember the last time he opened it up. Life was about the differences you could make in the here and now, and while it was good to remember the past, and more than anything learn from it, it was the future you would always be waiting on as you lived through the day's challenges. He was no longer a cabin boy. No longer the red haired brat on Roger's ship. He was a Yonko now, and the things he did would shape this era, where he sat among the top dogs, waiting for the youngsters to knock him and his fellows down.

The lid opened with a bit of a squeak after he'd removed the lock, and he began to rummage around the mementoes of his past at once. He paused here and there to observe and recall, but he did not find what he was looking for until he had nearly emptied the chest.

Twilight's horn hadn't been this sore since she gotten out of school. After the myriad of final exams and magical aptitude tests, she'd always thought of herself as very magically conditioned. Setting sail into the unknown had proved her quite wrong. She gritted her teeth and felt the sizzle of her magical's prowess burn her once again, firing off several more spells. With the heavy rains pouring down upon the sea, her forehead was steaming constantly as more spells were cast.

The best unicorn guards were lending their strength in pushing back the monsters attacking from all sides, but even teamed up their magic was hardly enough to be effective. Most of their time and energies were spent bolstering the magical shield that was placed around the ship during its production. Its integrity had been greatly overestimated, because they were hardly a few days into their great voyage, and the abuse it had taken by giant fish, colossal squids, enormous crab-like spiders, and the rest of ghastly assortment of natural predators in these waters had nearly rendered it useless.

Twilight was sure their numbers had grown so large because ponies had ceased to sail across their paths for so long, even just a few of these creatures would bring them great trouble. As it was nopony had slept in over 24 hours, the kitchen and medical bay were constantly sending ponies in and out, and the squad of pegasi assigned to lead them through the monster's domain had all but fallen apart; only Rainbow Dash remained airborne, leaving her signature trail in the stormy skies for Applejack to follow at the wheel.

The only good thing about there being so many of the deadly creatures was that they fought amongst themselves as much as the crew of the Crepuscular Star. Apparently, a source of food so large or rare as their ship was not common. But Twilight took no fancy in being a delicacy. She was doing her best, but if they didn't catch a break soon....

A fish of enormous proportions jumped suddenly from the black depths, its maw as large as Twilight's castle back home. The cannons fired, but the fish absorbed them like pellets, and crashed into the shield, which only barely held out. For several minutes the more consistent attacks came, battering tentacles, underwater bumps and crashes, a strange electrical surge, and various other devices to destroy the ship. Twilight fended them off one and a time, but she was waiting tensely for the fish to jump back out. Any second now...

Their cannonballs were halfway exhausted already, and the shield could only be powered by unicorn magic for so long until its crystalized source in the engine room could be repaired, and needless to say, Twilight was the only one capable of making such repairs. The engines themselves had also found themselves in disrepair, although this was due to an unfortunate accident which occurred before the monster attacks began (Pinkie would definitely have to be talked to about where surprise parties could and could not be held). Regardless, they were operating on storm power alone at the moment. Spike had been charged with repairing the engines in the absence of AJ and the other shipwrights; their hooves were largely in his claws right now. If he'd only hurry up!

"Look out ahead!" A guard exclaimed, holding fast onto a second that was hanging precariously over the railing.

"Everypony brace yourselves!" Applejack added, turning the wheel to attack the incoming obstacle at a better angle.

"Reinforce the bottom of the shield!" Twilight cried as the ship began to vault up a wave so large that the vessel's bow was pointing towards the lightning above.

The last time one of these waves had carried them up, one of the spider-crabs found it opportunity to attack from inside the wave, and their hull had nearly been ripped in half. The unicorns refocused their magic so that it went towards the bottom of the shield, with Twilight alone facing the dangers that assaulted the top half.

And then it happened. The giant fish had returned, emerging from the top of the wave and gaping to swallow the ship whole as it rocketed back down. Twilight charged up her magic as long as she could and let it fly, a deep pink beam that the fish was helpless to avoid, and as it swallowed the magic blast it shrank at once. By the time it had hit the shield it was hardly larger than a child's doll, and smacked off the protective barrier and back into the abyss.

Rainbow had gone out of sight over the wave, and a squid had chosen this moment to wrap several tentacles around the shield, threatening to flip the vessel over, and that meant the end of the journey for sure. Twilight was panting as she forced herself to coat the shield with an anti-sticking agent, but the natural ability of the squid's suction cups were putting up a decent fight. Her plan might work, but not soon enough, and she divided her magic into two beams, one to coat the shield, the other to burn the squid's tentacles. Shockingly, the squid proved resilient, and the flames set upon it did not force it to release its hold.

If anything, it had enraged the squid that was now bearing tighter around the shield, though steadily losings its grip thanks to Twilight's coating spell. The unicorns had all gotten weak knees, and as the ship was taken higher up the wave's girth the squid's efforts were aided by the reappearance of a spider-crab. Poking its many pincer-like limbs into the shield around the hull, the ship buckled and the threat of capsizing was imminent. The squid gave it one more go, and then the grave sound of defeat erupted as magical sparks fell upon them; the shield was cracking, falling to pieces as the spider crab's legs began to surround the ship and push it further away from the water.

"Hold on!" Applejack yelled, clenching the wheel for dear life. The guards all around grasped the railings or each other, many clenching their eyes shut. The cannons below deck had ceased firing. They were turning over, gravity was going to drown them if the monsters didn't devour them first.

No. Not like this.

Twilight felt her chest tighten, her eyes went hazy, and more than anything else she felt a rush of warm blood run down her horn and into her face, but she succeeded in teleporting the ship. She knew it was extremely reckless to do so without a more concrete idea of where they needed to end up, but it was crunch time. Sacrifices had to be made. She had yet to lose one of her crew's lives, despite the odds, and she would take any chance to prevent certain doom. She'd made a promise to return. To save everypony.

But even Twilight Sparkle, a Princess of Equestria, could only push so far past her limit. When they landed again there was a temporary respite, but it couldn't last longer than a snowflake in the desert. She wanted to re-erect the shield, but her horn would not ignite. Her magic was there, she could sense it, even begin to feel it collect in her horn, but it would not reveal itself. Every time she attempted a spell the steady flow of blood trickled out faster.

She could hardly register on anything else except her inability to protect the crew. Applejack was yelling louder than anypony, and Twilight picked up on the fact that the waves had mostly ceased, but they were being pulled along very quickly. Like a small figurine, the Crepuscular Star was pulled along in the vast waters, and although they had escaped their previous predators, more awaited them wherever they had reappeared. The first and closest was a large sea serpent, though it had thick, black scales and resembled a great water-dragon as far as Twilight could perceive it.

The Princess could feel her legs moving towards the side of the boat as the rains continued to pour down upon them, though she wasn't entirely sure why her brain was giving them the command to move. Thankfully, several guards had clasped a hold of her. She sputtered out questions, realizing that her voice belonged to a pony that had just been in a terrible accident, but was unable to change it.

"Why...we end up....monsters water?"

"Hold on, Princess! We're taking you right to the medical bay!"

"Stand aside!" A female guard shouted as they barged through the doors that led inside, pushing two guards coming up out of the way.

"How...taking me...no!" The shaken voice staggered out again.

"Don't speak, Princess, save all your strength!" A third urged her.

Before she knew it, she was laying on a bed in the medical wing, the older stallion who had come out of early retirement from Canterlot Central Hospital on the request of Princess Celestia looking over her immediately. As one of his assistants, Fluttershy rushed to stop the blood leaking from her friend's horn.

"We need her back on deck ASAP!" The female guard told the doctor as he looked deep into Twilight's eyes and began filling in the notepad in his hoof, adding more notes upon further study.

She began to lose her hearing, catching only a few words the doctor began trading with the guards, but her vision was clearing up. The medical bay's chemically pristine smell was coming to her attention as well. The ship suddenly rocked to one side, and many bottles and bags and jars of various medical paraphernalia fell to the floor. Fluttershy seemed rather distressed as she bandaged Twilight's horn, and began to run a warm rag over her fur.

The guards rushed out, and the doctor bent down, trying to ask Twilight questions, but for whatever reason she had lost the ability to properly reply, and could hardly do more than mutter nonsense and jargon. Fluttershy and the doctor then began talking, and another rumble shook the medical bay. Twilight felt something cold pour over her head and sink into the bandages around her horn; the doctor was making more notes and scrambling around the jars on the floor for something.

A third great shake caused even more of his equipment to fall over, and it was then that two guards carried in a blue pegasus; Rainbow Dash was breathing hard, her eyes closed and her mouth agape. She was laid on a bed near the one Twilight was laying on, but she looked much more disposed than the lavender princess, who even now was trying to get up but held down by Fluttershy. Something had to be done about this. Twilight lost sight of Rainbow as another of the doctor's assistants blocked her view as she attended to the brave pegasus.

Twilight's head was suddenly tilted so that she and the doctor were looking into each other's faces. He was attempting to tell her something, but her ears were not yet restored to working condition, and her vision was still blurred, if but slightly. He gave it a good three or four tries, but soon went to the cabinets with contents spilling out once more, and it wasn't long before Twilight felt a great cold sensation. As she shivered, she found that her vision was failing altogether and the world soon went black. Her hearing did not recover, and after a slight jab into her neck, she lost all feeling in her body as well.

After that, she could not possibly describe what happened to her.

"Go fish."

"Aww!"

"A ten?"

"Go fish."

"What about a seven?"

"Aww man! Fine, whatever...just take it."

"Heh heh.....let's see....four."

"Seriously!? Lousy game..."

"Thank you!"

Twilight opened her eyes warily. The light hurt them deeply, and she immediately covered them with her hoof. The conversation continued and the sound of cards changing hooves ensued once more.

"One more set....let's see....a three?"

"Even Rarity?"

"Aha, I win!"

"Should we go again?" Applejack asked.

Twilight let out a moan of anguish and all interest in another game of go fish was instantly dropped. She dared to open her eyes, slowly letting the light in and blinking several times to adjust. She began to sit up and the girls rushed over, leaving the table and cards forgotten.

"Twilight!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"We were starting to get real worried," Applejack confessed.

"Oh.....my head...." Twilight whispered, as though admitting a shameful secret, and plopped right back into the bed.

"It's no surprise you feel awful," Fluttershy explained, trotting happily over from the other side of the room, "you were extremely overworked. Fatigue worse than any I've ever seen...except maybe the Honey Rush a few years back...those poor bees..."

"But you lasted just long enough, saved the entire ship and crew!" Applejack praised, stepping aside so Rarity could bring Twilight a glass of water.

She drank gladly, and handed it back to Rarity after finishing the contents in a span of seconds. It was only then that she noticed her horn was still bandaged. A sinking feeling set in, but she forced the conversation onwards, in part to take her mind off what may have happened to her, and out of great curiosity as to what had transpired after she passed out.

"We got away?" She croaked, looking from face to face as they explained the details of their escape.

"Sure did, and just barely at that," Applejack began, "I managed to steer us clear of the sea critters who were after us after you teleported the ship, they didn't pursue us after the water fall."

"Water fall?"

Rarity took over the explanation, "I thought we were done for, especially with you and Rainbow Dash unconscious. From where I was in the charting room, looking desperately through old books and scrolls for anything to repel the beasts with, there didn't seem to be the faintest chance. When I heard muffled cries of an oncoming water fall, I nearly fainted myself."

"But that was the best part," Pinkie broke in, "tumbling down in a panic, ha ha, panic....it's all much funnier in hindsight."

"Well, I didn't wake up until after we'd fallen, but we've gotten almost everything working again. Obviously the shield is a bit out of our ability, but the ship is working almost perfectly otherwise," Rainbow picked up after a small moment of awkward silence following Pinkie's outburst.

"And best of all, now that you've woken up, almost everypony is accounted for and doing fine," Fluttershy finished.

Twilight inwardly grimaced and externally frowned; she wouldn't call herself "fine" in any way at the moment. But the troubling part was that glaring word she'd dreaded to here since they set off. 'Almost' everypony is accounted. 'Almost' everypony is doing fine. Her friends picked up the distress, and looked sheepishly to one another, and at last, Fluttershy elaborated on her statement.

"Three ponies were lost between the start of the attacks and coming up after going down the water fall."

"Who?" Twilight asked, feeling twice as bad as when she had awoken.

"Wingspan couldn't take any more during the attacks, told me had to go back to the ship...I told him to go, but I never made sure he made it back. He didn't," Rainbow said sourly.

"Cloven and Tera Obsidian were seen before the attacks, but once we reorganized after the fall, they were nowhere to be found," Rarity noted with similar melancholy.

So those were the first unlucky heroes? The ponies who would be remembered by few and sorely missed by fewer. Wingspan, a pegasus with a humorous side and skills on par with the best of them; Cloven, an earth pony guard who was always the last of his squad to settle down at night, the first up in the morning to prepare for the day; Tera Obsidian, the sister of Slate Obsidian, who had been left behind in Equestria, both of whom were renowned for their charming attitudes and uncanny luck in dangerous situations. It seemed luck only got her so far.

These names and faces...how soon would it be before Twilight would have to memorize others? She hated to think about the fact that all three had been lost under her watch. The only thing that could possibly be worse now was to forget them. Twilight refused to forget them. She wished she knew more about them.

"Well..." Twilight said at last, "I take it things have been quiet ever since?"

She wasn't quite ready to try getting up again, but her eyes had adjusted better now, and for the first time in days, at least, she breathed in fresh air. A break had been caught, and that was more than enough to give her the willingness to push forward.

"Things have been pretty quiet for the past couple days, perfect party conditions," Pinkie Pie responded, sporting a mischievous grin.

"We've all had a chance to recover and unwind a bit, aside from worrying over you," Applejack concurred, "but now that your up...I don't think we've got one problem too big to handle."

Now was the time. Twilight smiled and pushed herself off the bed, the pillow underneath her sticking to her back for just a moment. Helped out by Rainbow and Pinkie, Twilight got her feet, wobbled for a moment, but like any second hoof skill, her balance returned quickly. She embraced them all and silently thanked Celestia for overcoming the hurdle behind them. Now, it was time to tackle the next.

They broke off the hug and Twilight's eyes looked up as she bent her head down, reaching instinctively towards the bandages around her horn. She was too afraid to know the full extent of damage done, but relief fell on her when nopony seemed fearful of explaining. Rarity levitated a hoof-mirror in front of her so she could more easily observe it. Upon a better view, Twilight too smiled. It was still in perfect position, no visible cracks along it and no signs of strain between the horn and her skull. Fluttershy confirmed her good feeling and passed her the doctor's official report, orating it to her.

"Superficial damage caused by extreme fatigue and use, but nothing permanent or seriously debilitating. The bandages can come off as soon as tomorrow morning."

She still had a headache, but things had turned out alright in the long run. The Crepuscular Star was back in order, aside from the shield, which would be attended to the moment Twilight ate and cleaned herself up. The question of how to better remember the three ponies lost to the journey, as well as how to avoid another torrent of sea beast attacks if possible, would be next in line. The world was a little more ordered again, and the quiet nature of their situation could not be more perfectly expressed by the calm wind and the warm sun shining overhead. The Star was gliding along in a glassy, blue sea scape that stretched farther than the eye could see. If for but this moment, all was well.

The morning brought with it a thick mist, and yesterday's blue tapestry sewn together with warmth was a far cry from the choppy waters and chill in the air as the sun rose once more over head. The guards on duty quietly went about their work as the rest of the ship awoke. It was not long before the smell of something warm and invigorating was lofting out the galley windows. The engines hummed to life again before most of the crew had congregated in the dinning hall, and at last the ship was propelling forward. Things were indeed back on track.

Spike was feeling particularly antsy as he sat at a table with Rarity and Fluttershy, twaddling his thumbs and looking towards the entrance every couple of minutes, eagerly awaiting Twilight's arrival. Seeing as he had been aiding in the restoration of the engines with Applejack and her crew once the great ordeal was over, and indeed, during much of it, he was not able to see Twilight since before the attacks began. Of course, part of the reason their reunion was delayed was on the doctor's orders, wishing that nopony disturb Twilight's rest. By the time he lifted that medical order and allowed the rest of the Mane 6 to wait at her bedside, Spike had finally allowed himself to rest and fallen into a deep sleep of his own.

"She'll be along any second now, don't you worry," Fluttershy consoled as Spike frowned, still receiving no sign of the lavender pony's arrival.

"You think so?" Spike asked, squeezing his legs with his claws.

"Of course, we're telling you dear, she was up and about as if none of it had happened yesterday," Rarity replied.

"I should've stayed up. I shouldn't have so much as dozed off until I knew she was okay," Spike scolded himself.

"Nonsense, you can't possibly blame yourself. You've proven yourself to be an invaluable part of this crew, Spike. You've earned as much of a rest as any of us. Twilight knows that more than anypony," Rarity soothed, putting down the scroll she'd been reading up till that point, and patting him on the back.

"Thanks Rarity," Spike said with a smile, small but genuine.

Their conversation was cut short when Pinkie burst through the door to the kitchen, carrying two large trays of pancakes and eggs, to which the crew cheered. Pinkie's cooking had proven itself to be a great resource, and though they had to wait for it, the time spent in anticipation had thus far only served to enhance the quality of the meal. The line soon formed as the trays were laid down on a table near the kitchen door, and Pinkie and her assistants brought out second trays of flapjacks and eggs, along with several batches of toast.

Yet the ponies had hardly dug into their meal when that too was cut short. A distressed cry from the deck caught the mass' attention, and many of them rushed up top to see the source of the disturbance. Given the massive amounts of fog over the waters it was hard to perceive just yet, but the pony to first cry out "ship ho!" from the crow's nest could see it just fine.

With Twilight not yet on the scene, it was Applejack, who had stationed herself at the wheel during breakfast, shouted out orders.

"Everypony, battle stations! Stand by for a possible threat!"

Guards rushed to their posts, the cannons slowly rolled into place, the engines hummed as the ship maneuvered to a more battle-savvy position. Spears and swords and crossbows had been given out, shields were brought to center, and breakfast was put on hold as the incoming ship drew steadily nearer. Soon enough, when it had become more clearly defined and shown its size to be about equal to the Crepuscular Star, they read the word on the front of the sail: MARINE.

The creatures aboard the ship wore cloaks, but they also seemed to wear military uniforms, most with slight variations. Some of them were rather large, others quite small, many had unusual characteristics when compared to the rest of their numbers, but they all stared with equally bewildered expressions at the ponies as the ponies did at them.

Rustled voices on the MARINE ship drew their attention, and nerves were steadily rising. Applejack attempted to keep everypony calm, but it was clear the creatures on the ship would not let the ponies pass without investigation. Congregated groups on both ships continued to talk amongst themselves, but neither made the first move just yet.

Applejack had sent a guard below deck to fetch Twilight, who's skill sets in diplomacy and magic would both come in handy, depending on how the first few minutes progressed. One of the marine ship's crew left the deck as well, though several more had joined with the gathering to look at the ponies as their ships moved in parallel positions and both stopped.

"Oi, what's this?"

"What are they!?"

"It can't be an all Awakened Zoan crew...can it?"

A moment of silent intrigue on the other ship ensued, and the ponies looked rather nervously to one another, Applejack looking with desperate hope that Twilight had arrived, but it was not so.

"Howdy there," the shipwright spoke, deciding that some action had to be taken at last, "what can we do you for?"

"Did you hear that!?"

"No way! It said something!"

"It's definitely not an Awakened Zoan crew!"

"I've never seen anything like this!"

"Who are you?" A female's voice asked from behind the gathered soldiers on the Marine ship. They parted and let a soldier of some considerable rank (and beauty, judging from the expressions they gazed upon her with) walk to the railing of the ship. Applejack allowed another pony to take the wheel and did as the female soldier had done, gone to the railing as she explained.

"We're on a mission from Equestria. We aren't looking for trouble, and if you'll let us, we'll pass by without another word on it," Applejack answered, as Rarity and Spike drew up behind her.

"Equestria?" The female soldier repeated, clearly hearing it for the first time, "What island is that?"

"It's our home, a many day journey from here," Applejack once again replied, wonder how much information was too much to give. Twilight was really the pony to do all the talking...

"You said mission. What sort of mission?" The female questioned, more suspicion in her voice than before.

"Well.....to be perfectly honest....I can't tell you that."

"What she means to say is," Rarity interrupted before anything else could be said, "that's a bit confidential. But we truly mean you no harm at all, and are just interested in passing through and continuing with our journey."

"So you say, but you aren't flying the appropriate colors," The female soldier accused, pointing up at their sails, which bore no marks at all aside from Twilight's. The Marine ship was bearing their name and insignia on the sails, and a flag registering the ship as in service to some form of World Government was also visible.

"Well, we simply haven't had the chance-" Rarity began, but was cut off at once.

"If you aren't flying the World Government's flag or that of the Marines, then you're obviously pirates. This entire scenario is suspicious, but that fact seals it; we'll be taking you into custody."

"Now wait just one-" Applejack started, though she too was cut off as the female officer drew her sword and called for a boarding.

Instantly, the pony at the wheel turned their ship away, but grappling lines shot out of the Marine ship a little faster, and the two vessels were bound together. The Crepuscular Star was drawn towards the Marine ship and the soldiers jumped aboard as soon as they were able, drawing swords and other melee weapons, while the soldiers on the deck of their ship drew long range weapons that looked like wooden-metal pipes.

"We have to put up a fight!" Applejack shouted, and the ponies marshaled themselves, taking their own weapons and sparring rather evenly with the soldiers. Spike found himself shaking as their ship fired cannons and the Marine ship quaked mightily. The soldiers did not take to being attacked well at all, and the battle began with fierce blows to the ponies, as several guards were knocked off their feet and pushed.

"For G-5 and Captain-Chan!"

The Marines pushed forward, but thankfully, were more interested in taking them captive than in outright killing them, although Applejack suspected that being killed was nowhere near out of the question. Confounded! Where was Twilight?

Already several guards were bound and tied, and though the ponies were fighting admirably, they were outclassed in combat, especially when the female Captain jumped aboard and joined the rumble. She wore red framed glasses, and her slender build was a sign of her great speed, for Applejack had not seen her jump down at all, and had at first thought she too could teleport. Her sword was unsheathed, and her determined eyes stared right into Applejack's.

Well, if that didn't make it her fight, what would? Whatever was keeping Twilight, it was surely not without good reason. Until their own Captain was ready to reveal herself, Applejack would take her place. The Marine Captain recognized the acceptance of the challenge, and ran forward, as did AJ.

Applejack had always considered herself fast, but in the unknown dangers of the Great Blue Sea, she may as well have been a slug. The Marine Captain charged forward, and just before her sword was in range she disappeared from sight, reappearing behind the earth pony and butting her in the side of the head with her sword's hilt. Applejack was tough, but words like "tough", "fast", and "strong" obviously meant something else here, because she was on her knees instantly.

She could feel her legs being bound together by the Marine Captain, and try as she might to resist, that blow to the head had decimated her determination, and she was almost completely bound and gagged before help arrived. Like a comet flying down from orbit, Rainbow Dash had returned from her scouting rounds, and flew in at top speed, catching the Marine unaware, and sending her flying across the deck of the Star. She rolled several times, but managed to get to her feet before she stopped skidding. Blood was coming from the side of her mouth, and the outlines of Rainbow's hoofprints were still red.

"Thanks," Applejack muttered, working herself out of the binding; at least rope tricks seemed to be the same here as back home.

"I can't leave you guys alone for half an hour, huh?" Rainbow teased, helping the shipwright to her feet.

"How dare you attack Captain Tashigi!" One of the other marines erupted, charging at the pair of them from behind. Rainbow flew up to evade his fist, and knocked him down with ease after flying circles over his head. Applejack had regained some of her pride by fending off two more. Others attempted to join in, but then the woman called Tashigi spoke.

"Enough! I'll do it."

The marines hesitated for a moment, but backed away from Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The pair of ponies drew closer together as Tashigi raised her sword once more and steadied herself. Rainbow did a better job of keeping up with her than Applejack could hope to, but even with flight on her side, Rainbow was hard pressed to avoid the flurry of strikes sent her way. Tashigi gave no pattern, attacking both indiscriminately. Her fast-paced offense left little room for either pony to attack, and without weapons they had an even harder time with it.

Their battle had drawn the attention of most of the ponies and marines alike, and both sides cheered on their champions, the marines cheering louder whenever Tashigi managed to cut strands of hair from the ponies' manes and tails.

"Go, Captain-Chan!!"

"Show them the power of the Marines!"

"You can do it!" Spike shouted from the sidelines, feeling rather useless, "We've faced worse than her before!"

But then, Tashigi completely neglected Rainbow, and focused everything on Applejack. Three times she swung her blade in quick succession, and three times she narrowly missed, but the fourth swing came at an opportune time, and Applejack did not evade quickly enough. Her right fore leg received a long, vertical cut and she hobbled onto her side as Tashigi aimed to remove the leg altogether; evidently one did not have to make sure a prisoner had all its limbs to be considered taken into custody.

Rainbow dove in to stop her, but Tashigi was more tactful than anticipated, and her farce had worked. When Rainbow was least expecting it, the Marine turned and her sword was inches away from taking an eye when Rarity interrupted, levitating a sword to block the path, and Rainbow crashed into the wooden deck, thanking Rarity as she skidded along.

Now an official part of the duel in Tashigi's eyes, Rarity was forced to defend herself with the sword as Applejack regained her bearings and pulled Rainbow up as well. Not at all skilled with a sword, however, the white unicorn was soon cornered and lost her grip on the levitating sword, which was flung overboard. Sputtered on by a strong inward courage, Spike leapt into action to defend Rarity, drawing in breath quickly and releasing flames as fast and fiercely as he could.

It was a good thing the vessel had been comprised of magically enhanced wood, which had a tremendously hard time catching fire, because everything around Tashigi was bathed in emerald flames. The Marine Captain burst out, her jacket and pants having caught fire, and she dashed in front of Spike before he could finish drawing in his next breath. A look of annoyed rage sat upon her face, and she drew her leg back quickly to kick the baby dragon aside, but was once again stopped before she could do so.

This time, however, Tashigi felt that she could not move at all. She quickly noticed that a deep pink aura had surrounded her. This couldn't be haki...could it? No, this field of energy was unlike anything she'd experienced before, distinct even to all she had felt and seen at the Paramount War. This was bad.

On the other hand, Spike and the ponies looked extremely relieved as all eyes drew towards a previously unheard voice. A wad of white bandages was thrown onto the deck and a lavender pony with both wings and a horn emerged from the doorway, a truly furious expression on her face.

"What is the meaning of attacking my friends?" Twilight demanded.

"Princess!"

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, dashing to her side instantly; she gave him a small smile, and returned to face the woman called Tashigi.

Tashigi was silent, but trying desperately to free herself from the paralyzing effects of Twilight's magic. The Marines looked outraged, some of them shouting at the pony crew, others threatening to utterly destroy them if Twilight did not release their Captain, but the Princess paid them no mind, shouting back to them in a far more menacing tone.

"We are here on our own business, seeking nothing but our own well being. I don't know exactly how this battle started, but I am ending it right now! My friends and everypony on this ship are out of bounds!"

Tashigi felt herself go weightless as she was levitated off the enemy ship's deck, her sword dropped and her body hanging down like a rag doll, as she was flung back across the deck and back onto her own ship, crashing through the door that led below deck. The Marines went completely silent in rage and horror, but seeming satisfied when yet another previously silent voice spoke up from the door where Tashigi had just been sent rolling through.

"Hey, scum!" a large Marine with white hair and a nasty scar running across his face said as he revealed himself, looking twice as furious as Twilight had a moment ago, "You've really done it now. I guess I'll have to handle you all myself."

Twilight looked apprehensive, perhaps viewing her outburst as a bit too impulsive, and the other ponies seemed equally tense. Opposite them, the marines praised the newcomer with gleeful exclamation.

"Vice Admiral Smoker!!"

Author's Notes:

Originally, this chapter going to go on a bit longer, but I just wanted to get this PUBLISHED and give you all more than just one chapter. So, the continuation will resume in chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed, and I thank you for reading. Comments are always welcome, even the sucky ones that make me hate my life after I read them

Much love as ever, TBK

3) Desperate Battle! Red Hair and the White Hunter!!

"Vice Admiral Smoker!!"

Twilight slammed her hoof into the deck of the Star, narrowing her eyes as the Marine who had just announced his intentions to do battle drew his weapon. Spike retreated a ways back, finding Fluttershy attending to the ponies that had been injured and bound, Applejack among them. Twilight beat her wings and hovered into the air as the atmosphere shifted on the Marine ship.

"Go get 'em, Smokey!"

"Avenge the Captain-Chan!"

"You guys," Smoker barked, turning his head to the gaggle of soldiers on the enemy deck, "get back here. I told you didn't I? I'll handle this."

The marines, who had become passive onlookers since Tashigi's involvement, quickly retreated to their ship while Smoker began to dissolve into the fog that remained over the seas. Proud and sure laughs bellowed from the grinning marines, while the ponies began to treat patches of fog as though it were deadly poison, and many backed away from the sides of the vessel.

"Twilight!" Rainbow called from the crowd of ponies, "We'll back you up!"

Before the Princess could respond a plume of smoke rose above Rainbow's head and a black fist emerged, raining down upon her head like a cannonball, knocking her out in one hit. Twilight retaliated with a blast that tore a hole right through the smoke plume, but it reformed as soon as the magic had passed, and drifted steadily towards the next pony.

Twilight charged her horn to try again, but a cry of panic from the other side of the ship caused her to turn her head, where a foot had bashed into the side of a guard's head and knocked him out cold as well. The other hand and leg revealed themselves soon enough, and a four pronged attack that Twilight could not stop despite the amount of spells she flung wildly at the enclosing mist ensued. Orbs to entrap the smoke were broken through, any kind of container had proven futile. Spells to isolate the natural fog from the pesky form Smoker was using were equally unsuccessful; above all, a widespread panic had ensued on the ponies' side, as more were knocked down, until Twilight gave the order to clear the deck, and the conscious ponies left the bodies of their kind alone and retreated below. The bodies laying across the deck looked eerily like corpses, and Twilight thought the entire area had gotten colder since emerging.

But without a wide spread target, the limbs began to hover together and the rest of Smoker's form appeared from within a cloud of fog. He was still glaring at Twilight, who bought herself an extra minute or two by engaging the marine in conversation.

"It's not enough to face me openly from the start? You have to attack my friends and subordinates?"

"That's funny," Smoker retorted with a wry smile, "you did the same, didn't you?"

"I only just got up to see what in the world was happening!" Twilight defended.

"Tashigi was right, you're not flying World Government colors, and I'm sure you're not marines. Way out here in the wastes of the New World, the only other kinds of ships that sail are pirate ships."

"We're not pirates! We're on an official mission of our government to-"

"Cut the crap," Smoker interrupted stepping forward as Twilight hovered in place, "any government not affiliated with the World Government and the Celestial Dragons is the enemy. I thought you might be Awakened Zoan types myself, some Revolutionary project gone wrong or something, but perhaps you're just relics from that long dead nation after all."

"Huh? I-I'm not sure what you're accusing us of, we're not really from these waters, but I think this all got out of hand. A simple explanation should do; we're not pirates, we aren't looking for any harm to come to your World Government, we only want to proceed with our mission and-"

"No. Even if what you say is true, you took it upon yourself to attack my crew and my subordinate. This is the only way it can go now. Besides, I'm sure no matter what the case is HQ will be interested in taking a look at you."

"I was only acting in defense of my friends!" Twilight pleaded, going higher into the air (but still doing her best to avoid the steadily rising fog) as Smoker drew very close to her, "And if they have done you wrong, please accept this sincere apology on their behalf!"

Smoker answered by dissolving his legs and riding the mist like a levitating device, swinging the metal pole with a branching segment he used to fight fiercely at Twilight, who formed a magic shield that was nearly shattered in half after contact was made. Twilight reformed it as the officer swung again, and they began a repeating segment of flying above and around the ship, Twilight reforming the shield and backing away every time Smoker broke it and pursuing her relentlessly. This couldn't go on forever, though, and Twilight was especially worried about working herself too far so soon after fatigue had beaten her just days ago. If that were to happen this time, it would not end well by any means.

Smoker continued bashing against the shield every time it was reforged, but he soon added an element to his attack, turning his left arm to smoke and pushing it behind Twilight so as to grab her by the neck. The lavender pony had not been expecting this mix-up and despite attempts to get away, found herself firmly in his iron grip as the shield was broken for the last time, and Smoker went in for a devastating blow to the gut. Twilight found her focus in the nick of time, and teleported out of his gloved hand as the jitte struck nothing but air. Twilight flashed back into existence just above the deck of the Star, mustering magic into her horn once more. They were really going to fight, no sense trying to reverse it now.

She cast a gravity spell on all the mist, and it quickly fell back to the top of the water, dragging Smoker with it until he retook his normal form and dove onto the wooden deck, where his weapon was caught by the same spell that had been used to throw Tashigi off Twilight's ship. To the alicorn's immense surprise, she found that the marine's weapon was far more immovable, and while Smoker gripped it tightly with both hands at first, he was soon able to keep it from flying away with only one. He outstretched the other and pulled it back, and with a nasty expression and great disdain for Twilight' magic, sent his fist rocketing at Twilight with his logia ability.

Smoker's fist blasted through several walls of magic, but did not find its mark as Twilight leaped out of the way, not yet ready to release her grip on his weapon. Smoker's hand shot back to him and he put it back with the other one, redoubling his efforts to tear away the jitte from Twilight's magical grasp, which he finally managed; he wasted no time in chasing down the Princess and closing the distance between them. Twilight shot a trifecta of shots, the first Smoker dodged by lunging left, the second by ducking right, and the third he swatted away after turning his weapon black. The spell flew into the water and burned out as if it had never existed.

There was time for one more spell, or room to evade and make back the space the Marine had shortened. Twilight opted for a freezing spell, that coated Smoker's weapon and right arm, but did nothing to slow him down. Throwing out his other hand to grab her by the throat, Smoker once again found himself barely missing his mark. As Twilight shot high into the air, he broke the ice around his arm and weapon, and it dissolved instantly.

Twilight thought the soldier would dissolve his legs and chase after her as he had before, but it turned out being quite the opposite. He slung the jitte behind his back and shot his arms into the air, creating a vortex of smoke around Twilight, choking her out and banging her around all at once. Around she spun for what felt like minutes, clutching desperately to the little air in her lungs that remained, and trying weakly to avoid being knocked out as he slammed her into the deck. As the smoke cleared away from her face and she breathed in deeply, she entered into a newfound panic, as the smoke pulled her right into the awaiting marine's arms.

With his right hand he reapplied serious pressure to her throat, throwing her right back into the same breathless trap, and with his left he clutched her foreleg and slammed her into the deck right beneath him. She struggled to look elsewhere, teleport anywhere away from Smoker, but he held her down and forced her gaze into his expression of fed up rage.

"Enough."

"puh-plea...." Twilight began to lose her sense of vision as Smoker's silent fury became more and more palpable.

"Let. Her. Go!" Rainbow barged in from out of nowhere, bolting right through the Marine's misty form. Smoker did not divert his eyes from Twilight until she had faded totally into unconsciousness, then darted the black orbs to the pegasus recovering on the deck.

"Don't interfere."

Rainbow's heart was beating like it never had before. Nothing from that fateful race as a filly to battling foes like Discord and Nightmare Moon gave her the chills like this strange warrior. At least those others could be touched, fought with on even terms, but without Twilight's magic, it seemed they had no hope of so much as pinching Smoker.

But wait. There was always the Elements, wasn't there? Of course, with the others scattered about and Twilight unconscious...chances were slim. The calling birds overheard circled among the clouds, the only safe spectators in this battle. The marines on the enemy ship jeered at Rainbow, as Smoker stood up, Twilight firmly in his captivity. Sweat dripped from the blue pegasi's brow as the Vice Admiral made his demands.

"Surrender your ship and your resources to us. Come along quietly. There's no need to be reckless."

"Never......we'd never surrender to you."

"Fine."

The jitte was drawn again, and Smoker raised it with one hand, the other still carrying Twilight by her neck. Rainbow hesitated, and knew at once she only had one chance. No elements, no magic, and no use in kicking and fighting. There was only one other option, and if it didn't work, then Celestia save them all.

They charged at each, Smoker running at a swift but cautious pace, Rainbow sprinting like she was in the Equestrian Games, putting them at a more or less equal pace. Smoker lunged downwards and to the right, giving Rainbow enough time to leap upwards to the left, and evade a strike that surely would have opened up her skull and knocked her out for a day or so. She didn't waste the good fortune, and rocketed out of his range in a flash of multi-colored light, leaving him to contend with the newly inspired Applejack and Rarity.

While Rarity took hold of Twilight telekinetically, Applejack lassoed Smoker's jitte and they divided his attention nicely. If their strength had been up to par, they might have stood a chance.

With a jerk of his arm, Smoker pulled Applejack off the deck and right into his striking range, butting her in the chest with the hilt of his weapon, and loosing it from the lasso at the same time. With AJ down for a moment, he shifted attention to Rarity, who was now exerting effort almost beyond her limit in tearing Twilight away, but the marine's grip was stronger than her will.

"You're troublesome little mysteries, I'll give you that," Smoker noted, throwing his jitte in a plume of smoke, and forcing Rarity to release Twilight and immediately repel the weapon, once again laced in a pitch black coating. To her surprise, she managed the feat, but it was all according to Smoker's plan, and he dissolved the rest of his body to fly towards her, becoming solid again and kicking her in the gut. She was launched into the air much like Applejack, but was struck over the head with the jitte, though thankfully, not nearly as hard as she could have been. Was he showing them some kind of mercy? Had their tireless efforts actually given them a slight edge?

No time to think. Pinkie bounded up and down as she charged at him from near the ship's wheel, bearing her party cannon and ultimate unpredictability. She hopped up and down, lunging ever closer towards him as he took aim to dispatch her with a well timed swing. Just before she landed on the jitte, the cannon boomed to life, and she shot over the weapon's arc, swinging the metal contraption like a mallet.

Yet, as it was not magical, it did not hit him, but passed through him as he knew it would. It landed on the deck with a loud cracking noise and he twirled his weapon around again, throwing her across the deck and into Applejack, who had only just begun to stand up again. With no other opposition in the area, Smoker looked down at the terrified dragon, who was shaking but dared not remove his eyes from the mighty marine.

"What are you gonna do?" Smoker asked calmly, raising Twilight's still unconscious form as he spoke, luring the dragon's eyes to his friend like bait.

"I......I...." Spike stuttered, suddenly turning his face away.

"None of this had to happen, but sometimes the unfortunate path is the one you're pushed down."

Spike did not give answer, but did look back into the Marine's face, which took an oddly sympathetic form.

"You shouldn't be here any more than your friends. Less so. These waters are not for kids. This is no game. Come with me, and we can end this fight without wasting anymore time."

"What...what h-happens to my-my-my friends?" Spike managed to ask.

"....That's not for me to say. But whatever my superiors do, it will be far less cruel than letting you continue in this sea. None of you are remotely ready for it."

"I...I don't..."

The birds still circling overhead suddenly became very interesting to Spike, and Smoker's eyes narrowed, then shot open after an instant realization.

"No," Spike retorted confidently as he hit the deck, "I'll stick with my friends!"

Rainbow Dash shot like a cannon ball through the clouds, dispersing them like a rock throwing through a glass window, and honed in on Smoker, who steadied himself as white light began to form all around the pegasus. Then, most unexpectedly, Smoker was blown from the deck in an explosion of rainbow energy, his scattered misty form billowing out over the water, as though he was nothing more than real mist. Twilight dropped to the deck of her ship, as did the jitte.

The marines, at first in shock at the explosion, soon turned to panicking as they realized their hull had been punctured from the blast, and their main mast had received a nasty crack right through the middle. Whether she had planned it so extensively or not, Rainbow had changed the tide of the battle, a complete 180 degree reversal.

"D-Damn! The hull's been breached!"

"Save the mast! Don't let it fall!"

"Smokey!?"

"Don't let them get away!"

"Help us over here!!"

Smoker slowly began to accumulate solid form, but a surge of energy from the pony crew and quick steering on Fluttershy's part allowed the Crepuscular Star to pull away from the Vice Admiral's vessel, which was very slowly sinking into the deep waters. Normally this would've been a problem, but given the trials G-5 had pulled themselves through, Smoker knew that the pursuit would continue soon enough. Their hull was already being patched up hastily from the inside. The mast could be replaced next time they made port, when they would have those strange ponies filling the cells. Nothing was adding up, but a good chase was something he knew he wouldn't fail.

They would be seeing each other again soon. No question about it. They would meet again.

And so it continued for the next several days. The marine ship had been repaired and thrown into the chase less than an hour after their great escape, and the ponies had not expected that. When the war vessel did come back into sight, a newfound panic was sowed among the crew, and the recently recovered Twilight extended herself in squelching this panic quickly. Luckily her friends had not wavered once. How could she ever had doubted their loyalty? With their help, the pony crew was convinced that the marines were a problem that was still capable of being dealt with. How was the harder question, but they need not concern themselves over it. That was her responsibility.

One boost in morale was that the marine called Smoker had been deprived of his weapon, and the steel baton was now in Twilight's possession. She didn't doubt that if they fought again he would strive to get it back, but she had a few ideas of how to keep it out of his hands. For one, she'd jinx it to explode when it was picked up without Equestrian magic. That was the first item on the list. But the weapon could wait. They had learned several other fascinating things and had to come to conclusions about them soon.

Firstly, it was apparent that they could not pass themselves off as marines or a party from the World Government. In Twilight's mind, it would have been an immense help to be recognized as a foreign diplomatic team, given small authorities and protection from the rulers of these seas. Yet, all such chances were presumably lost, now that an entire ship serving this World Government considered them enemies, and was likely spreading the word to other ships in the area. Maybe the leaders of this government had already gotten wind of a new ship in their territory. Maybe certain wheels were already in motion...

That brought up issue number two: If they weren't going to be able to call themselves agents of the World Government, and they took Smoker's words to be truth, then they must be pirates. Whatever sort of mental evolutions that needed to occur, if any, were unknown. But the truly bothersome thing about it was that pirates, by definition, were antagonist to each other. Exceptions were sure to occur, allegiances were made very often by rivals in many forms of life. Unfortunately, that simple fact just about doubled (at least) the number of enemies in these waters; and while Twilight was more than willing to bend her standards of character, would she break them? To save a crewman's life? To save a friend? How much of a challenge lie ahead of them? How could they possibly retain their morals and succeed in a world so vicious?

Finally, and most importantly, they would need to deduce ways of successfully defending themselves here. Two knockouts in back to back times of desperation was doing nothing to ensure Twilight that her power was sufficient. If a Vice Admiral was strong enough to dispatch her by himself, how much trouble would an Admiral bring? Who knew where Smoker was in the chain of power? Twilight almost hoped that he was closer to the top than the bottom, because the odds were already overwhelming enough. Then again, her magic was minimally effective, and from what her friends had informed her off, magic was the only thing that worked. How could they stop a foe that over half of them couldn't so much as touch?

Twilight confided bits and pieces of this to her friends, but the time to make decisions and work out a game plan was fast approaching. By the third night after the confrontation, the marine ship had gotten within cannon range four times. The engine repairs had become more and more complicated, and a faulty part that was barely functioning before the accident had been broken. They would remain off until they could find a new one, or more than likely, make their own replacement. Wind power had been favorable to them thus far, but that couldn't last forever.

Now, as the marine ship was once again ebbing forward a little faster than the Star, a new factor entered the equation. It wasn't easily spotted from so far away, but a third ship had begun tailing Smoker's envoy. The question was where its intentions laid. Was it another Marine ship? Back up to finish them off quickly? Or could it be a band of pirates, coming in to attack a Navy vessel while it was vulnerable? Twilight shuddered to think of what would happen if it ended up being a pirate ship coming to nab the Star. One pursuer was enough.

"Twilight?" Rarity called with slight reluctance, a hesitant look on her face as she beckoned the Princess to the wheel. Applejack was keeping her eyes fixed ahead, but listening closely as the conversation started.

"What's going on?" The lavender pony inquired, having a good idea of what was coming; their maps of the sea bordering Equestria was sketchy at best, but they had nothing to guide them out here. A map was being made as they sailed, but it was minimalistic, basic. They couldn't possibly know what was ahead, and therefore, if it was better to keep going forward, or face the known dangers behind them.

"Well, a number of things, actually. But first and foremost, we need to make a stop soon."

"The engines are deteriorating bad enough as is, but the longer we push the ship without correcting what's gone wrong the less dependable they'll be," Applejack added.

"Are you suggesting we should turn back and fight? And what about that mystery third ship?"

"No, no, that's not at all what we're suggesting," Rarity corrected, "but Rainbow's fliers have done some scouting ahead. There's a large rock formation that would be well suited to docking at. Cavernous, roomy enough to be easily hidden but provide adequate space to stretch the legs, disassemble the engines, and so forth."

"Only problem is, of all the possible places to get ambushed, it's one of the worst. But we figured that if you flew over and hid it with your magic, we could pull in undetected, so long as we weren't visible at the time," Applejack finished.

"And how would that be taken care of?" Twilight wondered, hiding some optimism behind a serious and objective face.

"Leave that to me!" Spike piped up from behind the trio.

"You!?" Twilight echoed, losing her well hidden optimism in favor of obvious doubt.

"Hey, I may be young, but I am a dragon. I'm sure what I've got cooked up will keep them going in circles long enough for us to race over to the cove."

"I don't know...if I just spent a little bit thinking it over, I'm sure I could come up with something better-"

"Well, unfortunately, that formation ain't too far away. If we're gonna do it, it has to be now."

Applejack's ultimatum aside, Twilight's sense of dread was growing. How long could they evade the marines, realistically? Maybe Spike was ready to prove himself. He had managed to sneak aboard without Twilight's immediate notice. He looked determined enough....

"Twilight..." Rarity stopped, and the sounds of the crew became oddly loud. The grunting, the intense breathing, the worried dread that hung in the air. She couldn't do everything by herself. She'd known it for a long time and re-learned it time and again. This is what makes a Princess. This is what a leader does. This is the life ahead of her. Her decision is the next step, and only she can make it. A crew mate buckled under the strain of moving a large crate, and his pained expression became the subject of tunnel vision in Twilight's eyes. For them. For them families and friends back home. She had to think of what was at stake. What depended on her decision making.

"Go."

With that, Twilight ran into a leap, which smoothly evolved into an upwards soar, and she was flying off to the cavernous formation which would be their safe haven, or if she was wrong, their watery tomb.

"Vice Admiral! Vice Admiral Smoker!!"

The commanding officer of the ship was gazing towards the fleeing vessel, carrying those peculiar ponies further into the dangers of the New World. Catching up to them had been tough, but he had a good feeling about the next few hours. Stronger winds were pushing them along faster than the ponies. No one had ever eluded him for long, Straw Hat aside. And his day was coming too. Smoker felt it in the air every time he pondered like this. The day would come when all criminals would face justice. He could only hope and pray that he was the tool used to bring them to their knees.

"Smoker-san!!!"

"What is it?" He barked, taking his eyes from the blue seascape and onto the nervous marine behind him.

"It-It's.....b-b-behind us!!" The flustered soldier sputtered.

"What? What're you getting miffed over-"

The expression on his face changed quickly. The cigars in his mouth began to slip out, but he closed his jaws tightly, almost snapping them in half.

"Break off pursuit!"

The marine seemed too stunned to follow orders, so Smoker dashed forward and used his logia ability to travel up near the crow's nest, both to get a better view and inform everyone of the change in plans.

"Break off the pursuit! Tactical retreat due West! NOW!!"

"Break off? So it's true!? That ship behind us belongs to...to-???"

"NOW!!!" Smoker repeated, gliding downwards and taking the wheel in his own hands.

"Are we going to fight!?"

"What's he thinking?!?"

"Let's follow his lead!"

"Everyone, make preparations! They're coming!" Tashigi commanded, sprinting to Smoker's side.

"Smoker-san," She asked in a much quieter tone, "are you sure about this? Can we really..."

"Of course," He almost shouted, "this is not the time for doubt. Follow your convictions and fight with all your strength!"

"Yes Sir!" She confirmed, raising her sword in an instant and rushing back out to coordinate crew efforts. The day had certainly taken an interesting turn.

"Are you sure about this, Spike?" Fluttershy asked, concern heavy in her voice.

"I am...I've got to be! Twilight is counting on me!"

"It does seem, er, risky. To say the least," Rarity interjected, but for once, Spike ignored what she said. It was time to become a man. Where better to grow stronger than ever than in this strange place of great dangers and many adventures?

"I have to. We've made a plan. I can't just not follow it."

"He's right," Rainbow chimed in from behind them all, flying with a barrel in her grasp, like Fluttershy, while Rarity held a smaller box.

Spike though she added "and I'm pretty impressed" under her breath, but he couldn't be sure. He was too focused on the ship behind them. He'd only have one shot. He had been practicing lately, but hadn't attempting this particular feat since before he stowed away. The butterflies in his stomach were shouting at him, but her had to. He was telling them how important it was he go through with it, now he had to live up to those words.

He moved forward, but a lump in his throat made him hesitate. Now wasn't the time! It was the time to be strong, not a coward! He swallowed hard and breathed deeply in and out.

"Here I go...alright Rainbow, let it down!" Spike shakily told the pegasus, who obeyed at once. The barrel flew into the water with a splash and began floating away like a corpse.

"Good, now Rarity, get ready to open the box. Our timing can't be anything short of almost perfect."

That was consoling at least. He didn't have to be perfect like Twilight. He just had to be close. That was doable. Definitely. He could do this. He was going to do this!

"Ready...three....two........one-"

"Wait! Look!" Rarity interrupted, "they're turning around! They've stopped chasing us!"

"What!?" Spike exclaimed, opening his eyes from their moment in the dark before the plan took off; now that it didn't, he wasn't sure whether he was mad or relieved, but decided that it was somewhere between the two as the marine vessel became smaller in the distance.

"You're right! Oh thank heavens!" Fluttershy breathed, a mixture of relief and exhaustion.

"But...why did...my plan..." Spike mumbled.

"Well, maybe it'll come in handy some other time?" Rarity consoled, leading them all back to report the good news, just as Twilight's flying figure began to take shape overhead.

Soon, the Star was gliding smoothly into the cove by Twilight's directions, and Smoker's ship was still hidden behind the horizon. The invisible rock walls they soon found encircling them where none had before brought a chorus of cheers on the deck, and everypony's mood improved as the first of the guards jumped down onto the glorious, hard rock floor. Several paths branched out deeper into the island, but they wouldn't be much bigger than a typical dining room. Most of the space was found where the ship was docked, tied down and anchored in a patch of water no wider than a river, just barely fitting her. On each side was a small field of solid rock. It was as advertised: quiet, cozy, and exactly what they needed.

Twilight soon found herself flying down onto the ground and breathing in literal joy. It felt like so long since she'd been this proud. They had banded together and accomplished a lot today. The first real moral victory since emerging from the terrible storm days ago.

"This was a great find, Rainbow," Twilight commended, walking towards one of the small halls and cavern rooms with her closest friends.

"I reckon we ought to use this chance to go over everything," Applejack spoke up before the blue pegasus could accept the honor, "might as well examine all we've got while we're safe here."

"I agree, it wouldn't do to leave this sanctuary and find out that something else on the ship has gone wrong. Take as much time as you need to do it right, AJ." Twilight replied.

The ex-farm pony nodded while Rarity began to speak, but was very quickly interrupted by several shrieks. Guards that were already investigating the smaller caverns had come across inhabitants. The guards who had met the strange men backed slowly away, but remained poised to attack. This time, though, Twilight would not allow a fight to start that she could avoid.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess from Equestria, here with my crew on a mission from our government! We aren't looking for trouble! Just a place to stop for a while!"

The warrior on the right was plump, large and goofy looking, but at the same time, twice as menacing as Smoker ever came across, even as this hulking man chewed on a large chicken leg. The one on the left held his arms in front of him, and a monkey sat atop his back, holding a small dagger up. In the center stood a tall man with flaming, crimson hair. His smile was the most unnerving of all, but held no obvious ill will. It was not until a moment of tense silence ensued that Twilight noticed the man in the center only had one arm.

"Oh? Princess did you say?" The crimson haired man asked, "Just who I was searching for."

The men seemed to exude even more confidence, while the ponies went even more deathly quiet. Twilight was running over her options and making a response on the fly, but the man spoke up again, his smile never having faded.

"I'm Shanks, the captain of the Red Hair Pirates."

"Red Hair pirates...?" Rainbow parroted under her breath.

'Pirates...' Twilight thought, 'that means that anything goes...' Her euphoria upon escaping the marines was quickly fading into an even worse dread.

"What can we do for you?" Twilight asked, too much hesitation in her voice for her own comfort.

"Join my crew."

"E-Excuse me?" Twilight asked, waiting for the joke's punchline.

"Join my crew. Become my nakama, and sail the oceans with me."

"A little...sudden, wouldn't you say?" Rarity asked, both scaring and gladdening Twilight.

"Well, if you don't want to join..." Shanks trailed off, looking a little bemused.

"We certainly don't mean to offend, and we aren't looking to-" Twilight was caught off by a wave of Shanks' hand.

"If you refuse, I'll have to lay down a challenge; you and me, one on one," Shanks announced, drawing the sword from his side.

"Hey, wait a minute, we said we aren't interested in-wha!?" The guard who stepped forward to make a disagreement was shot in the side of his helmet, the plump man on Shanks' right side, who was still smiling, though Shanks and the other man now bore serious faces, being responsible. The guard slumped over, blooding coming from the side of his head, but not from a fatal wound.

"Do you accept?" Shanks asked.

"Don't attack them! I-I'll do it! But leave them out of it!" Twilight demanded.

"Twilight, no!" Applejack hurried forward.

"You can't, not alone!" Rarity agreed.

But the protests were cut short.

"Listen.." Twilight spoke not to her friends, but to Shanks, "I'll accept your challenge. But not quite alone. I'm never alone, because my friends are always right there with me. If you want to challenge me, then you'll be fighting all of us."

There was no question involved. It was an outright statement. Shanks smiled briefly again, and gave his answer, "Fine. The six of you against me, to decide the fate of your crew."

"Wait! I want to fight! Let me in too!" Spike pleaded.

"You?" Shanks asked with intrigue before Twilight could let her assistant down (gently), "you're quite young to be here. Count yourself lucky I'm not waging war, little one."

"No, it isn't war. If we win, you let us go without another word," Twilight declared.

"And if you lose, you join me," Shanks finished.

With the terms set, the combatants moved forward. Minimal protest on the pony side was soon swept away as Shanks' men stepped away to give their captain room. It was just one thing after another. What rotten luck, Twilight thought, to find the perfect place to slow things down, and to come across it second.

Shanks awaited with his sword drawn, his eyes looking only at Twilight. The Princess and her friends gathered up and whispered quietly to one another, the crimson haired captain waiting patiently. When the ponies had come up with an acceptable plan, they put a little space between themselves. Rainbow was the first to dart forward, rocketing across the cavern to take a swing at the pirate captain. He dodged cleanly and without moving anything except his head and shoulder.

Rainbow circled as Pinkie and Applejack advanced, each bearing their weapon of choice. Pinkie swung the kitchen mallet high, and Shanks raised his blade, tossing the mallet almost to the ship. Pinkie hopped back as Applejack's lasso flew to take the sword, but Shanks bent low and spun away, and the rope retreated to its master. Shanks had the opportunity, but did not advance at all, he only stood up straight again and waited for the next attack to come his way.

Rarity rewarded his patience by teleporting behind him with Fluttershy and Pinkie, who ganged up to deliver a three pronged attack. Their efforts fell short when Shanks absorbed the physical blows from the earth pony and pegasus, and swatted away Rarity's magic blast, reminding Twilight of how Smoker had done the same thing. She wondered if the weapon turning black had anything to do with it, but then, Shanks' did not, and Rarity's magic was a few level below hers.

She stepped up as Rainbow came back for a return blow, but once again the flying ace missed her mark, and Shanks ducked the kick without looking at her. Twilight's spell, a magnetic one which would pull in his sword, shot into the air above the battle, opening a portal. Shanks' arm was raised, but the blade was firmly in his grasp and he didn't seem to be struggling at all to keep it in his possession. He stood, waiting quietly and seriously as though he were watching a fierce duel rather being in one. The ponies hesitated for a bit too long this time, however, when Shanks spoke up and an immediate, grave tension boiled up from within the cavern.

"I see that you have some good friends, Princess. I don't doubt that they'll always have your back, until they drop."

An invisible force of great power was coursing through the cavern. The rocks let ancient dust fall, the water was rustled into small waves. A great desperation came over Twilight, and the fearful anticipation of his attack overtook them all. It seemed apparent now that Smoker was a challenging opponent for them; Shanks was an unstoppable titan that they had no hope of defeating. Twilight tried to do something, to do anything. Teleporting, magical blast, order an all out assault, nothing she thought of came to happen. She looked over to all her friends, as much terror on their faces as was on her own. And then it hit them.

Twilight felt like in the span of one second she had been dropped from a five story building. Everything ached deeply, and her vision and hearing became distorted. Her mind became clouded and she lost all track of what she had been thinking. She retained just enough of her mind to take in what Shanks was saying now.

"So what happens when they do drop?"

Twilight gazed over to her friends, and they were all on the ground, motionless, foaming at the mouth, eyes shut or glazed over as though they'd suffered concussions. Not just them. Everypony in her crew, everypony on the ship. They were all lifeless. Whether it was this blurred image that forced her to regain her bearings or something else entirely she wasn't sure, but that wasn't important now. She wouldn't go down that easily, overwhelming odds or not.

She suddenly knew what to do. With a flash of lavender light, she summoned Smoker's weapon to her, and also telekinetically gripped a couple of swords from the ship. Shanks seemed impressed, or perhaps a better word was approving, and let her attack.

"I will defend them!" Twilight answered, defiance going ahead of the swords, which slashed and diced through the air at a surprisingly quick pace.

Shanks matched the swordplay with ease, and soon snapped one in two pieces with a speedy slash of his own. Twilight let it drop and brought the jitte into play, raising it above the sword and attacking from the front and air above the pirate. Once more, Shanks showed no difficulty in matching Twilight's attacks with impressive defense, and with a smile, he broke the other sword. The jitte fared no better, and was thrown behind Twilight with a loud thud. Before she knew it, Shanks was right in front of her, and his sword clashed with a hastily made shield, which cracked at once under his power.

"Come now. Is this all a Princess is worthy of? Make me work for the win!"

Twilight gnashed her teeth together and crossed her eyes as she struggled to keep the shield alive while the sword bared down upon it. Every second brought another crack, every words that came from the pirate's mouth was another blow to its integrity. Shanks stood in place for a moment, giving Twilight a shot to counter his attack, but she could not, and he pressed forward. One step at a time, he bore closer to her, and every time he advanced, another of her shields would fall.

She fluttered her wings and dashed back several steps, and he moved accordingly, matching her speed cleanly. But when he brought down his sword on this shield, it did not crack. This was no shield, but a trap.

Shanks had to smile at the cunning the struggling Princess illustrated in her moment of despair. When his sword touched the magic wall she had erected, it multiplied and surrounded him instantaneously, like a disease feeding off of his attack, it continued to expand and further entrap him in a cage of magic energy. By the time it was eight or so layers thick, Twilight's form was completely blurred behind the lavender glow.

But this wasn't nearly enough. Shanks eyed the cage and evaluated its merit, appreciating the move, but with another slash he broke it as though it were made of glass. As the shattered magic dissolved, Twilight reappeared, the jitte back in her possession, as was a round shield. The stolen weapon clanged loudly against Shanks sword, but he did not toss it away again. This time she would feel a different attack.

Twilight broke off almost at once, but knew that hesitating always lead to something worse in this fight. She tried again, pulling off a decent fake-out before bringing the weapon down from another angle, but Shanks caught it, and once more, when the metals collided, it felt as though Twilight was just rammed in the chest by a yak. They repeated the pattern twice more, and Twilight was having trouble puking. Shanks dashed forward and knocked the jitte from her telekinetic grasp, then put his blade up to her throat before she could blink.

"You're not fit for these waters," Shanks admitted, disappointment dripping from his voice, "perhaps I should just end your mission now...it would be the humane thing to do, to stop the insanity before the monsters come for you."

This time, Twilight knew what was responsible for her third wind: the threat of destruction. It COULD NOT end now. Even if he was beyond her, they would find a way. They did with the sea beasts, they did with Smoker. They would not fall today!

Twilight, still grasping the shield with her magic grip, flung it in the air and sent a spell chasing after it. Shanks dared to look up, and as the magic bolt hit the inside of the domed shield, fragment blasts erupted like fire from a spark. Magic rained down, and when those fragments hit, they erupted into surprisingly powerful blasts, and Shanks jumped back to avoid one that landed right on Twilight's head. To her credit, she absorbed the magic back into her horn like it was second nature, while Shanks had to take the blast head on. It wasn't an effective damaging attack, but a suitable escape method and an impressive distraction. There was more to her after all.

Twilight took to the air at once, zooming far out of the range of Shanks' sword, but not his power. He slashed away at nothing, but red energy in the form of crescents surged from his sword and chased after Twilight. Were she as athletic as Rainbow, or at least as agile, she could have evaded more than just two before the destructive force dragged her down into a crash landing. She skidded across the rock floor on her chest, and rolled into a nasty stone that cut her cheek wide open, swelling it at once.

Desperate time called for desperate measures. Life and death circumstances meant the sacrifice of many things. The warm blood trickling down her face became much more clear as she began to channel the hidden power she'd known existed since she was but Celestia's student, only magnified and becoming a secret struggle since her ascension. She raised her face, the cut resembling a crying third eye on her face, as her true eyes gained a deranged look and she let go into the darker sides of her herself. For the first time, Shanks was showing true worry.

Twilight's horn was consumed in the purple mist enclosed in a green lining. It was often called Alicorn magic, but its true form was a bit more complex than that. Dark magic, chaos magic, Alicorn magic, all different names for the same power in different forms, all unique, but the same in basest form. She didn't know all the details herself, but what was sure was that it was extremely volatile, easiest to be harnessed by Alicorns and creatures of chaotic origin (the draconequus), and very bountiful in her.

She had done her best to keep it under wraps, wanting to use it many times before, but knowing that this magic was the first step down a dark path. Better alive and hollow than dead with all her friends, though. At least that was certain. Still, it was never so easy to use as it was now. It had never taken to her like this. Never had she felt herself fall so far in such a short time. The black lightning associated with deep interaction had sparked already, and her eyes had long been lost in the tidal waves of purple distortion. She was levitating without consciously doing so, and her cut was flowing worse than before.

Shanks was now standing still, his black cloak and flaming hair waving with the air distorting power emanating from Twilight. All hints of mocking were long abandoned. His face was cemented in grave evaluation of her new form. His men were taking shelter in the farthest reaches of the cavern, and her friends and been moved from where they were knocked out cold. Twilight felt as though she was watching a bad memory from Zecora's potion again.

Before Twilight's wide eyes, the dark magic converged into a large orb of purple mist, which took the form of a long saber, the blade crackling with black lightning. She looked livid, blood thirsty. The air was becoming foul. Twilight had never known herself, never known any villain, to exude such evil. And most puzzling of all, Shanks put his sword away.

Steel sheathed, Shanks spoke, not as an enemy, but as though they had known each other for a long time.

"Enough. This is unbecoming of a Princess."

Twilight heard a voice return comment, but it surely couldn't have been hers...

"You make yourself helpless? This is unbecoming of a warrior!

"You have proven yourself. I understand now...cease this foolhardy attack."

The sword was growing larger, and purple mist was engulfing Twilight like stench on a rotten fruit. She spoke again, more confident than before, "No more running. No more hoping against hope. I shape our destiny from here on!"

"If you continue, I won't promise your safety."

The chaos blade slashed at the air, breaking the rock near it and crackling like forsaken thunder through the stormy cavern. Shanks moved his hand towards the hilt of his blade, but did not draw it. He waited, waited for the small chance that reason would ring through the enticement of power.

"You stand against my destiny. Perish!"

The chaos sword lunged forward like an arrow, nearly bursting with power. It broke the sound barrier, hissing like a whip and birthing a strong gale. Shanks eyed it as it tore through the distance between them, and narrowed his eyes as it came suddenly to a halt. Mere inches from his face, it began to groan and struggle against an unseen force, and then shattered like all of Twilight's efforts had before.

Before she comprehend what had occurred, she felt her power drain from her, siphoned in the blink of an eye. Next thing she knew, Shanks was standing behind her, looking back at her with one eye, and he said only one more thing.

"You're worthy all right, but not ready."

As his unknown power had before, it crashed into Twilight and almost put her down instantly. She fell to her knees, all remnants of the dark magic sealed away in her soul again. Shanks may have been smiling now, it was extremely hard to tell, and by a three count, she was on her face, knocked just as unconscious as her friends had been minutes before.

Twilight was roused by the sounds of crying. Shrieking. Familiar voices contorted beyond their normal states. She followed them as best she could, but she had yet to open her eyes and felt like Discord had used her body as a pin in a galactic game of bowling. But there it was again, the unsettling notion that her friends were in danger, that peril was lurking behind her closed eyes, and that she was not prepared to stop it. It hurt like very few things had in her life before coming to this strange ocean, but she welcomed the blinding light of fire through her pupils, and bolted up though soreness and inward pain.

Several more ponies cried out, and the shrieking got louder still, but it was not as Twilight had assumed. She glanced all three hundred and sixty degrees around her, and found that she was now in a sea-side beach party. The cavern was nowhere to be found in the distant sea, but beached like a massive beast not far from the surprising festivities was a pirate ship that was noticeably larger and bulkier than Twilight's ship; the Star, she noticed through the pounding in her head, was nowhere to be seen.

"Twilight! You're up!"

The lavender Princess turned towards the lush trees in the distance behind her and found Fluttershy flying down to meet her. Rainbow Dash was noticeable in the distance as well, laughing and drinking from a mug that dwarfed her hooves. Fluttershy, at least, looked as though she'd much rather be in Twilight's company than associating with...pirates!

Twilight fluttered up beside her friend, looking frightened, but the yellow pegasus quickly calmed her.

"It's all OK. It was a misunderstanding. Shanks is actually a fun and-"

"Don't say it," Twilight warned, head spinning worse than ever, "don't say it....not yet. I don't understand any of it. I was fighting for my life...for our lives just a second ago. I was fighting him."

"And you're here now because he wanted it that way," Said an unfamiliar voice from below the ponies, which continued when neither of them knew what to do except to gently float down to the ground, "He should explain everything. He's right over there."

The pirate pointed towards the center of the party, where Shanks was swinging his own mug around, singing a hearty chorus with other pirates, and at this point, unexpectedly, Pinkie Pie.

"I...I don't even know if I can make it over there without dropping again," Twilight admitted as she sunk to her knees, feeling a wave of exhaustion and further head ache.

"From what he told me, he didn't pull punches," the pirate said.

"Nope," Twilight confirmed, rubbing her temple slowly.

"Heh! Just be glad he didn't go overboard. I'll tell him you've awoken."

Author's Notes:

Wow, this came out way later than I wanted it to....like WAY LATER. Aw, shucks, I'll just chalk that one up as unpreventable distractions, ha ha.

Well, this story doesn't have the steam I'd like it to, but I guess my words have to do the talking....I mean, my writing has to speak to your........whatever. I'll let my work impress you instead of promoting it too much. Bottom line is that I have not given up this story, and I intend to bring it to completion, because I let too many of my works fall into incompleted states.

Please review and/or like the story if you enjoy, it keeps me on track

-TBK

4) To be a Captain: Twilight's Role: The Equestrian Pirates Arrive!!

As often happened in New World afternoons, the weather's steady calm up till this point had been suddenly killed off, and a stormy complexion fell on the skies. Darks clouds and angry winds mounted together, the waves rose sharper and louder than before. It was not long before rain found itself descending upon the endless oceans, and all the ships sailing through it; islands also felt these changes, but Marine Grand Line Sixth Branch HQ, G-6, was twice as unnerved today as the base was ordered into lockdown.

The alarm rang through the storm as sailors fled into the confines of the base, scattering into pre-assigned and memorized positions. Less than a minute had passed before everyone was inside, except for the four men posted in the guard tower overlooking the base. They had locked the door at the foot of the tower, grabbed their weapons close, and kept the two cannons trained on the slope leading towards the base.

"What is it this time? Not another drill I hope...third one this week," the highest ranked among them muttered.

"No. Look, you can see the ship already. Cipher Pol strikes again," commented the third in the chain.

"Whoa, I've never seen CP agents before," the youngest and newest addition to the watchtower revealed.

Sure enough, agents of the second cell of Cipher Pol, CP-2, gathered on the deck of a plain ship, small but capable, and awaited its docking. In their midst was a large chest, which they surrounded, but did not look at or touch until it was time to move. As they strode down the gangplank, one of the marines in the tower dared observe them through a spyglass. He immediately dropped it and backed into the wall.

"What it it? What's going on!?" The senior soldier demanded.

"I-It....it's not a chest...."

"Wha? What do you mean?"

"It's a-a...casket."

Every man's brow began to sweat as that revelation sank in, and the man controlling the cannons kept the barrels trained on the small and silent envoy. It didn't matter whose side they were on, what their mission was, or if they even acknowledged your existence, Cipher Pol was bad news any day of the week.

"They've been bringing bodies here all this time?" The second in command pondered aloud.

"Perhaps...doesn't change our job though. Keep the cannons on their path..." The commander ordered, then began to rub his knuckles with great force, shaking them back to life whenever he went too far. All were silent as the intelligence agents in their black cloaks and hoods strode along the path. They were always in sync with one another, not a hair was out of place. It was unnatural, and they all shared a sense of being watched.

When the CP-2 agents rounded the hill and began heading towards the tower and the base behind it, one of the men broke off from his formation and raised a transponder snail.

"Watchtower. Come in."

"Y-Y-Yes? What is it? What's wrong?" The commander replied, swiftly taking possession of their snail from the second who was sitting at the communications desk.

"Please send word to First Wave channels in the vicinity: Revolutionary Commander Hikao has been neutralized. Our means was damaged in the commotion."

"Yes. At once."

"And relay this information to Control, and Control alone: 'Righteous Thief' has confirmed the reports from G-5. Awaiting orders.

"Righteous Thief, confirmed report, awaiting orders...got it."

"Very good watchtower. Not a word to anyone but Control."

The marine commander did not both give response, the CP-2 agent had already switched off his snail and trailed after his fellows, who were almost within the base's vicinity. He managed to catch up shortly before they all went down the restricted stair case, where not even the base commander had dared venture. Try as they might, the marines in the tower did not so much as get a brief glimpse as to what was beneath those stairs, and the iron doors closed on the Cipher Pol agents again without another word; they were left again to the emptiness of the rain and the hollow ringing of orders.

They relayed the first message with some pride; a revolutionary army high up had been killed. The glad confirmation from their peers was expected. The second order, the coded information to Control, they relayed without the slightest clue of its true meaning. Who was 'Righteous Thief', and what had their brothers in G-5 reported? They didn't know who inside Control was even hearing their message, much less what it meant. To them, it was just another mystery in the veil of Cipher Pol's shadow.

"Ah, awake at last," Shanks greeted Twilight as she joined him with Fluttershy and a man called Benn Beckman, who she had just learned was the first mate.

"I...look, I don't know exactly what happened back in the cove, but..."

"That's alright. There's a lot to explain. Please, sit down and grab a drink!" Shanks offered, his machiavellian smile returned once more to his face, and this time, there was less danger in it. It was more comforting, though Twilight was still very wary of this particular pirate captain.

With some hesitation, Twilight joined Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Benn Beckman in a circle with Shanks, lounging on the warm sand and basking in the afternoon's glow. It was a far cry from what this strange world had offered them thus far. It was a paradise in comparison, Twilight thought, but that was no reason to drop her guard. Paranoia was part of her job if it meant keeping everypony safe.

"I trust that none of my crew were hurt in that confrontation then?" Twilight asked, playing off that last thought to open their talks.

"Of course not. It was all a test. A measure of your power," Shanks explained, handing bottles of various sizes to his first mate and the trio of ponies. Fluttershy and Twilight hesitated, but took them, the others drank readily, "Those who aren't with us are back at that same cove, just a little ways west of here."

"Applejack and Rarity and overseeing repairs, like we talked about," Fluttershy confirmed.

"But why do all this? What interest do you have in us?" Twilight countered.

Shanks took a moment to down several gulps, and smacking his lips together in salute of the drink, he began to stare dreamily over the water, "Well, you might say that your mission goes hand in hand with mine, but that's leaving out an important piece of history."

"What kind of missions do pirates go on?" Pinkie asked with some very Pinkie Pie-ish airy-ness in her voice, "don't they just hunt for treasure all day and run away from the World Government?"

Shanks laughed, and even Benn Beckman smirked at the comment, "There's more to it than that. In this era, many pirates are after a legendary treasure hidden in these waters, but personally, I couldn't care less about it."

No one spoke, and perhaps Shanks was expecting this, for he went on, "I'm just out to enjoy the world, see exciting things and live the life I've made for myself. There's no ambition for gold and glory in my heart. But there are times when a man has to put off his fun. When I was young, I was introduced to a power struggle that very few people of this world know about. Most of them are so preoccupied with their many whims they don't take the time to consider anything of greater importance. But this power struggle, from what I do know of it, has the potential to change the world in many ways...even to utterly destroy it."

Twilight had gotten so sucked into Shanks' words that she almost let the bottle fall into the sand, and having regained for focus, posed her first question, "How could you be aware of our mission?"

"It all ties into that history I mentioned. When I was a cabin boy, my crew crossed paths with a powerful creature from your lands. From Equestria. We made an agreement then, that this power struggle we were made aware of would be attended to no matter what. Truth be told, I don't know any specifics, I wasn't in attendance for much of the meeting between our Captain and the Equestrian emissary, but I know what I have to do in order to keep that promise."

Twilight couldn't help but ask the burning question on her mind, "That emissary from our lands...it wouldn't happen to have been another Princess? Princess Celestia, perhaps?"

Shanks did not give immediate answer, and soon looked as though his memories of the events were clouded. Twilight wondered if that information was sensitive somehow, but if there was some hidden history behind the two of them, it would add a few things up. It really wasn't like Princess Celestia to send them out without any clear idea as to the nature of their task; at last, Shanks responded, "No. It wasn't a Princess, but the emissary did mention that the next Equestrian we met would be a Princess."

"So your mission....is to help us in ours. They're both tied into this power struggle, and we're looking to reach the same outcome, I take it?"

"Yes. I don't know many details, fragments only in fact, but I've inherited this knowledge from my seniors. Your mission, whatever it is, is of great importance to this world's ending. How fortunate that I was able to read the signs of your coming and find you before anyone else, aside from the single Marine ship you encountered two days ago."

Twilight was shocked by the news that once again she had been incapacitated far longer than she thought, but the story Shanks told was keeping her perspectives in order, and she spoke up again, "I can't discern any lies coming from you, so you've come to help us after all, and you're not looking to force us to join your crew."

It was an outright acknowledgement (and gratitude, really) of the situation, and Shanks seemed to understand it well.

"No. I apologize for the act in the cove, but I had to be sure with my own eyes that you were who you said. But I believe now. I believe that your mission and mine go hand in hand, and that you are a Princess. I won't ask you to join my crew, but I will offer you an alliance. Your crew and mine, working together to achieve our goals."

This sounded like the closest thing to a friend they were going to get to Twilight, and Shanks didn't seem like a bad choice for a friend. Not in the realm of power and influence anyways, though she had to admit the fondness of his character was rising now that things were clearing up. As though he was reading her mind, he spoke again.

"When your existence becomes common knowledge, you'll make lots of enemies. I will give my all to see your mission succeed, because in your failure lies my own. Even if the nature of this power struggle stays hidden, which I can't guarantee it will, your uniqueness and special talents will draw the attention of many....Warlords, Revolutionaries, the World Government....and everyone in between. You will face monsters you can't fathom right now. But I will lead my own crew beside yours, and together, we won't be stopped."

To him, that sounded very much like something Roger might say. Shanks smiled a little wider outwardly, more so inside.

The reassurance was beaming like the sunset, and Twilight scolded herself for not thinking on it at least a little more before she spoke up with a slight shake in her voice, "Alright. If you swear to help us and fight with us, then I swear we will do the same."

Shanks laughed merrily, and extended his hand for a shake. Twilight hesitated for a second, but then quickly moved her hoof to join it. They grasped hold of one another, and Shanks spoke first.

"The Red Hair Pirates will fight through fear of pain, loss, and death to aid the..." He trailed off and gave Twilight a questioning look, and she hastily named her own crew.

"The Equestrian Pirates."

"The Equestrian Pirates," Shanks parroted, "in whatever they have to do and face to achieve their goals."

He waited for Twilight to speak; not being familiar with the customs, she put something together quickly and emulated what he said as best she could, but if it was incorrect, he didn't seem to be bothered at all by it.

"And I swear, as Captain of the Equestrian Pirates, that we will aid the Red Hair Pirates in our mutual goals, through pain, loss, and death."

"Then we have an agreement!" Shanks exclaimed happily, breaking their hold and raising the half drained bottle to his lips, polishing it off in one, large chug. Twilight couldn't help but join in on the excitement as she noticed that all the pirates, pony and otherwise, had observed their pact, and had let out cheers of their own.

It was fascinating. None of them seemed to mind. From her own perspective, this didn't make any sense at all, but Twilight had only caught the bad glimpse from the cavern. It seemed the Red Hair Pirates were not only ideal companions, but as fun loving and free spirited as any pony in Equestria. The sense of normality in their coming together was just beginning to sink in, and Twilight let herself get fully swept up in it all, and brought the bottle handed to her earlier to her own face, taking a few good mouthfuls before coughing violently.

Embarrassing as it was, it only lightened the mood and raised the collective spirits more, and she soon ignored it, though made sure to place the bottle down out of easy reach. Already, details were popping up into her head. Shanks had a first mate...why didn't Twilight? Then again, how could she pick between her six best friends and closest companions? What about their mission?? Shanks seemed easy going and light hearted, but how would he take the idea that the ponies had no real idea of what their goal was? The scroll Celestia gave to them was blank when they departed, but even now it hadn't shown them any solid leads. Or at least, it hadn't two days ago. Perhaps their battle and agreement had furthered their journey. Later, Twilight would look into it.

"First things first," Shanks said as he walked through the galley of the Crepuscular Star with Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Benn Beckman, "we need to update this map. I'll have one sent over."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Any information about the New World will prove helpful," Rarity replied, accepting a glass from the tray Pinkie had approached with.

"We'll be sending you quite a lot of information. If you guys aren't up to speed quickly, it'll drag us all down," Beckman spoke up, "there are lots of things to learn about these waters."

"If there's one thing you don't have to worry about, it's Twilight's ability to study lots of information very quickly," Rainbow assured, taking her own drink after Shanks and Twilight.

"Also of importance is raising your fighting ability," Beckman told them, not necessarily scolding them, but seemingly aware of how badly they had been defeated by his captain.

"Yeah, you were a bit pitiful earlier," Shanks jested.

"Hey, that fight was rigged!" Rainbow Dash shot back in defense.

"Da ha ha ha ha, you lost pretty bad!" Shanks joked again.

"Oh come on, you know it wasn't fair!" Rainbow continued.

"Da ha ha ha ha! Don't worry, we'll toughen you up quickly," Shanks continued.

Before Rainbow could respond again, Twilight broke in, "No, he's right. We're not up to par...not yet."

"That meany marine-y Smoker gave us some real trouble, but we didn't stand a chance against you guys!" Pinkie added cheerfully, much to Rainbow's annoyance.

"You have much to learn, but I think you're compatible with our techniques," Beckman stated thoughtfully, "In fact...I'd wager that some of you are probably real monsters in the making. If you have what it takes to master our arts, you'll become far stronger than you could ever be in your home land."

"We'll do whatever it takes," Twilight answered, looking out the window into the golden glitter across the sea, which she noticed Shanks too had begun to watch.

"You've shown true grit to make it this far," Shanks commended, looking out the window a second longer, then facing them all once more, "and I know just the man to get you all battle ready for the tougher opponents we'll likely run into down the line."

"Which brings our priorities into question," ever the strategic minded man Beckman was, noted, "we need to figure out where we're going first and how much preparations we need to get done as we set out."

Twilight noticed the slight hesitation in her friends. She had told herself she would check the scroll, and she had done that, but against her hopes, it yielded nothing new. The awkward situation presented to her did not escape the pirates. She took a moment to clear her throat and bide a few seconds to come up with an adequate response.

"Well, it's hard to say...especially not being familiar with this area. As soon as that map gets sent over, I'll work with Rarity to determine our next move. You'll know as soon as we figure it out."

She ended with a bright (if not slightly forced) smile, and both Shanks and Beckman took her at her word; though they obviously realized something was up, they didn't press her. That worked out just fine for Twilight.

"Anyways, what kind of techniques are we talking about?" Rainbow questioned, taking the focus off of Twilight.

"Depending on your luck, you'll either be learning the nature of haki, or should fate tip its hat mischievously to you, be mastering powers unique to you alone," Shanks answered, smiling at their lack of comprehension.

"Haki is the source of my power. We all use it on my ship, in some capacity. I sensed it during our sparring match. Without a doubt, you Princess Twilight, are gifted in Haki potential. Your vast magic prowess is another vein of power, especially the darker parts, but I believe it isn't too dissimilar to Haki."

"What about me? Am I gifted in, er, hock-ey?" Rainbow questioned, clearly fancying the idea of having power similar to the captain of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Tough to say," Shanks answered, rubbing the scruff on his chin teasingly, "you were taken out so quickly I hardly had time to gauge you."

"What-whatever. I'm already awesome, and that means that I can only get better here!" Rainbow shot back, Shanks again laughing jovially.

"So...your haki...that's what knocked out all my friends? What made me feel like I was thrown off a cliff when they all fainted?" Twilight inquired of Shanks, her curiosity as tangible as Rainbow's excitement.

"Yes, that's one of its three forms. The Conquering King's Haki is extremely rare, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of your number could awaken it."

"What about the other two types?" Rarity asked, also quite interested in the direction this conversation was taking.

"The Color of Arms Haki takes physical form by blackening the area you focus it to," Beckman demonstrated, holding up his fist for them to see and turning his balled up hand shiny black, just as Smoker's jitte had done during their battle, "and makes all your attacks more devastating, while simultaneously keeping your defenses sharp as iron."

"Observation Haki allows you to sense energy in all its forms, and react faster and more effectively than your own, average senses will let you," Shanks finished.

"And that's how you're so good at dodging things without looking at them," Fluttershy pieced together, her amazement seeming to give her social confidence.

"Sounds pretty cool," Rainbow cooed, "and you're all obviously pretty good at it. Why can't we start learning from you?"

"Ha ha, well, I may be good at using it, but teaching isn't one of my stronger suits," Shanks admitted, "besides, there's more than one reason I want to find that man. He's the best teacher there is, and while he will be supervising you in learning the ways of this world, that won't be his only task. Besides, you'll all need to do some preparation before we get that far ahead, so there's no rush there."

"I think we're up to it," Pinkie pipped up, "I mean, we've kind of done some amazing things ourselves. I think you're selling our skills short, really, but we'll play by your rules. Bring on the preparations!"

"So eager," Shanks chuckled, "but can you live up to those words? There are many areas of skills to learn, but haki is quite advanced. It's not something you can just pick up and learn like a sword. Not in most cases."

"Swordsmanship..." Twilight muttered, "that doesn't sound too bad. That's what you're expecting of us, isn't it? To find easier skills and build off of them, like swordsmanship. Gaining talents in lesser abilities to enhance with haki and so on?"

"Or sniping, melee fighting, yes, there are many ways to do battle on these seas," Beckman confirmed, "but your magic and primitive battle styles won't go nearly as far."

This fact seemed to sit uneasily with some of the ponies. They certainly had been expecting hardships and puzzles, but intense training to master foreign skills didn't seem to have crossed any of their minds.

"Hold on a minute," Rarity suddenly interrupted, "you said if fate were to tip its hate to us, we'd find another power."

"That power is less...stable," Shanks replied, giving a small pause, but knowing that they were expecting a better answer than that, he went on, "There are legendary men who live in this world. Some of them gain strength through the power of Haki. The rest find it elsewhere, most commonly, through the use of Devil Fruits."

"That was the power Smoker used!" Twilight realized with a gasp.

"What a fitting name, 'Devil Fruit'....at least the devil part," Applejack agreed, having joined up with the group quietly a moment ago, her rounds of the ship complete. It seemed the time to repair was over.

"Yes. He posses a very strong power indeed, the logia power of Smoke," Beckman returned, "like Haki, Devil Fruits come in three forms. Logias give the ability of elements: smoke, fire, ice, sand, and so on. Zoan fruits give the traits of animals or mythical beasts, the strength of a rhino, the intelligence of a human being, et cetera. Paramecia, the most common type, give any other kind of abilities, and how fearsome many of them are."

"But there's another reason they're called 'Devil' Fruits, something more sinister than the power itself," Twilight surmised and finished for him.

"Indeed. Aside from being unable to consume any other fruits at risk of death, one who eats a devil fruit can no longer swim," Shanks explained.

"That's a bit of a problem in this line of work," Rarity commented.

"No more swimming? Not even in, say, milk? Or chocolate milK? If I eat one, can I still bathe in orange juice!?" Pinkie asked, suddenly very worried.

"You...bathe in orange juice?" Rainbow asked under her breath, sharing a look of concern with Rarity; Shanks laughed, Beckman look as worried at the pegasus and unicorn.

"No, just water," Beckman replied, "or rather, specific properties of it."

"Oh. Disappointing, but not tragic," Pinkie replied matter-of-factly.

"But again, we're getting ahead of ourselves. I wouldn't take a Devil Fruit for all the riches in the world. Not even close," Shanks interrupted, "there ins't a single one on my ship."

Twilight wasn't sure how she felt on the matter. She was no stranger to studying and working hard to achieve results. She rather liked the idea of haki, maybe because it wasn't all too different from her own magic in many senses. Still, how many times had the power of magic come to bite her in the rear? A power unique to her alone sounded just as attractive. But Shanks was against them, so if it was a Devil Fruit she was after, it was on her to find one. Despite being fruits, they didn't sound like things one could pick off of any random tree.

"Well," she spoke up to give life to her thoughts, "I think before we start looking to any of that, we get our priorities straight. Rarity, let's work out where we'll be heading, and we all should be thinking about what's been said. We won't last out here if we don't adapt to the way things are done here."

"You got it."

"Right."

"Then I'll leave you to it, Captain," Shanks parted, smiling his customary bright smile.

"Nothing's changed..." Fluttershy noted anxiously as Twilight held up the mission scroll for her friends to see.

"No...I'm not quite sure how to make more of it appear," the lavender Princess returned, allowing Rarity to take possession of the scroll with her magic so the others could get an even closer look.

If only Celestia had said something. It was burning Twilight alive from inside out. When had her mentor ever failed her like this before? Never. So why now?

"What do we tell the Red-Hair Pirates?" Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder to the closed door, as though something were about to break through.

"They won't be mad, I'm sure, but there's no time to lose here. Frankly, the sooner we complete this mission the better," Twilight replied, pacing from across the map room.

"Maybe we just have to move forward. If we pick somewhere at random to go the map might tell us if we're wrong or getting closer to our goal," Rainbow offered.

"Risky at best, disastrous, at worst," Rarity corrected, "even with Shanks and the others with us there's no telling who we might run into. I agree with Twilight, we need to do this quickly and efficiently."

"But we can't really do that...this scroll isn't telling us much, as you can see," Rainbow replied, gesturing the partially blank scroll with an unknown picture piece shimmering in the candlelight, "and we can't afford to wait around here."

"We can't afford to run into the Marines or another fearsome pirate crew though, can we?" Rarity questioned, beginning to simmer at Rainbow Dash's stubborn nature and letting the scroll down on the table.

"Alright! I have to make the decision..." Twilight called them back to attention, "Shanks said that the man he's looking for will be in contact any day, I'm not sure how; but we'll be meeting him soon. And you both have valid points, "she admitted with a frown, "but maybe moving forward is a little less risky...how about we just take it slow?"

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked, joining Twilight as they walked towards the new map given by the Red Hair Pirates.

"These isles here, they look fairly safe. Small, isolated...we might even find some supplies. If anywhere is a fair next move, it ought to be there."

"We can't really know for sure until we go there," Applejack noted.

"Yeah, but at least we'd be moving," Rainbow added.

"And sitting around is no good," Twilight declared, "so I think it's settled. We'll head there next. At the very least it'll buy us time to come up with a better plan. I'll let Shanks know first thing in the morning. It's getting late...I'm going to bed."

And the Captain's orders stood. The next day it was made so, and the next leg of their journey began.

Author's Notes:

Not a super-jam-packed chapter, but hey, they can't all be. (The next one picks up the pace, promise) I've gotten a pretty good idea of where things are headed, and I'm getting more ideas to sift through every day! Excited to take this story farther, hope you're just as excited to read it.

-TBK

5) The Cry of a Victim: Encountering a New Foe

The small island formation turned out to be good for everything the ponies needed it to be...except in providing a better sense of direction. The scroll with the partially drawn out image, their only clue as to where they were supposed to go, hadn't changed at all. Twilight, torn between confessing this problem and looking as incompetent as a captain could, and frustrated in her mentor for lack of clarity, had opted to forgo the supply trip. In her stead, Spike, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash oversaw collection.

"Well, they're not zap apples, and they're definitely not as good as gems, but these taste amazing!" Spike exclaimed, holding one out for Rarity, who took just long enough for Rainbow to dive from above and take it.

"It isn't...it can't be....is this a devil fruit??"

Spike had evidently not thought of that possibility, and spat out the bite he had just taken, looking mortified.

"Is it!? Please don't be!!" He pleaded, dropping the fruit and beginning to shake.

"I don't think it is," Rarity assured him, "There are certain signs a good navigator can read while voyaging to tell one where a devil fruit may be growing. From what I've been reading with Twilight, they tend to grow alone, stealing all the nutrition from nearby plants and landscapes. All this lush fruit around...it couldn't possibly be."

"Oh...bummer," Rainbow sighed, dropping the fruit to the ground, where Spike reacquired it happily enough.

Rarity giggled, and the throng moved onwards, taking note of the baskets collected and the extra wood loaded onto the small boats. Fluttershy had joined them a short time later with extra baskets and a list straight from Pinkie's galley, documenting everything she wanted for an "emergency" situation. It looked suspiciously like things from a cupcake recipe. Still, everything was proceeded as planned, and the guard lieutenant made her report on schedule.

"We've gotten almost a full stock, but there's been some commotion near a forest trail," the guard reported.

"I'll check it out," Rainbow answered, flying off at once in the direction indicated by the guard.

"So rash..." Rarity said to herself.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Spike asked suddenly.

"Hence the commotion," The guard returned, some worry showing itself.

"Get another rope on this one! Quickly!"

"What a catch! I've never seen anything like them before!"

"Let's hurry guys, the boss is expecting us!"

"And on top of catching those runaway fishmen, this is amazing luck!"

"Please...let us go!" The netted guard begged, bleeding and exhausted from the beating she had suffered moments before.

"I still can't believe they can talk! What a find!"

"They're too chatty, they need to learn they don't speak until spoken to!"

A vicious whipping ensued across the captured ponies, among whom Fluttershy was weeping and cowering in the midst of, but remained less harmed than the guard who voiced herself and others that resisted. The pirates smirked and watched the scene unfold with pride. From the distance, Rainbow observed the events with horrified outrage. By the time Rarity, Spike, and the other guards arrived, she couldn't hold herself back anymore, and just as the first of their captured friends was hoisted into the arms of one of the thugs, Rainbow zoomed out.

"Let them go!" Rainbow screamed as she bolted into the face of the pirate who picked up the outspoken guard, and knocked him out cold.

"Another one?"

"Get them all!"

"I'll go for the Princess!" one of the guard entourage notified, running towards their rowboats, as several of the pirates followed suite, retreating towards their side of the shore.

"It's up to us now," Rarity told the guard, leading them out in the second wave charge.

Confusion as to their arrival complicated matters, and nets, bullets, and assorted tools of harm flew, swung, and darted around the wilderness of the island, the grassy hills and lush trees dancing to the tune of the battle.

Shanks had yet to appear today. Whether he'd partied too hard with his crew or was actually doing something very important or personal, Benn Beckman wouldn't let on, but Twilight's attempt to speak captain to captain were still waiting to be realized either way. She was preparing to return to the Red Force and investigate the state of affairs once more when a distant cry caught her attention. Turning to the cool sea breeze, she found a single rowboat beating fiercely against the mild waves. The guard manning the vessel was shouting out for help, and Twilight stretched her wings to their full span, and leaped into the air.

"Princess! Princess!!"

"What's happened?"

"Princess! I-I mean..Captain Twilight! Their's been trouble, an urgent situation on the isle!"

Twilight wasted no time in grabbing hold of the guard and taking off into the air, weighed down by the guard's extra girth, but inspired by the need of her friends. Just a little longer.

The battle was quickly turning sour. Despite their resolve, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike had found the words of both Shanks and Twilight proven true. They needed to hone skills applicable to the pirate world; tricks and talents that would work in Equestria weren't usually good for more than a decent distraction here. A few of these hunters were haki users, their fists or swords emblazoned with the hardened, black screen of the Color of Arms.

Fluttershy was one of few ponies still wrapped in a mess of netting, but many other ponies were falling to exhaustion, fear, or the power of the hunters. Rarity was edging her way closer to her captive friend, but she was quickly surrounded by sea poachers. Only a few had nets; the others were ready to go in for a kill, if need be. Hardening her resolve, she opted not to fall into cowardice, and shot a screen of bright light from her horn, which allowed her to run forward in a mighty (and dashing, if she was allowed to say so) battle cry, and bucked one of the hunters in the gut, to which he stumbled, but did not fall. So much for her dignity.

Rarity teleported back, but was not in the same league as Twilight, and needed to wait approximately five seconds before attempting another teleportation; the goons around her would give her, at best, three seconds. She ducked a sword swing, rolled from a ground-pounding punch, and leaped over a whip's snapping attack, but before a net could tangle her, Spike came to her rescue.

It was better than in any dream he had ever fantasized about. His fire, less an emerald blaze and more of a green spurt, was just enough to turn the netting into ashes, and the charred waste fell to the ground around the unicorn, who shot her protector an adoring grin. Spike almost forgot he was in a fight that would drastically change his life. Before another hunter's sword came down on him, he darted to the side and unleashed another mouthful of flame; the hunter was stronger than the net, it seemed, and he absorbed the heat and pressed on, looking as though he had a fairly large, but entirely manageable, sunburn.

"A dragon too!? What a weird day!"

The hunter jumped at Spike, and Twilight's assistant had just enough time to slide under the attacker's feet, where Rarity ran to his side and teleported both to the outskirts of the battlefield. It was not a glorious sight, far from it in fact, it was now clear the ponies had a very slim chance of winning, and barely greater a chance of escaping without leaving friends behind.

"We can't keep this up...I'm not sure how long everypony else has got in them," Rarity told the baby dragon.

"Yeah....this isn't too good."

"Thanks for saving me."

"Thanks for saving me back," Spike replied, a slight red burning atop his scaly cheeks.

"We can't let everypony else take the brunt though. We've got to get back into the fight."

"I'm ready any-"

BOOM.

...time...."

BOOM.

Spike couldn't help but let his mouth hang open as all the ponies and pirates in the battle ceased fighting. It was coming on again, you could feel it in the ground if you focused on it.

BOOM.

It was getting louder. Stronger. Something very bad was happening, but the pirates weren't worried in the slightest.

BOOM!

They were smiling. Laughing.

BOOM!

The wilderness was rumbling, the pirates were retreating. The birds in the distance were scattering like winter had come full force in a span of 10 seconds.

BOOOOM!

"Rarity...Rarity, what's going on!?" Spike stuttered, clinging to the leg of his adoration, which he would simply melt doing were he not so frightened.

"I...I don't know..."

BOOOOM!

Fluttershy was literally rising and falling as the shaking continued, still trapped in the netting, but unable to escape from the certain and proud doom approaching. Then, from above, Rarity found the source of the disturbance.

BOOOOM!

"A g....g....giant...."

"A giant? A GIANT?" Spike turned his head and jumped behind Rarity in the time it took for the white unicorn to blink. The monstrous legs of a muscular man were coming closer and closer.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

"Boss!"

"Boss, we got a great catch today!"

"Down here, boss!"

The hunters were shouting and jumping and waving their arms wildly to attract the giant's attention. He was at least as large as any dragon the pony crew had ever seen, probably bigger, and bore many scars and bruises. He had a large and flowing beard the size of a swimming pool, and curled up and poised to the strike, his fist was the size of a building. The top of his head was coated in a helmet that may have once actually been a small building, it was hard to tell. His clothes were trashy and torn, but had clearly been made for a creature of his size.

"Not my crew! Not my friends!"

Twilight zoomed in and shot a flurry of spells that sizzled in the air and reddened the giant's fists as he absorbed the attacks, but he did not back down, and had clearly not been stopped. His voice was deep, like Spike would imagine a dinosaur's rage to be.

"What took so long!? Can't you fools nab a few baby horses!?"

Twilight, still flying swiftly around the giant, summoned a portal above her head, and drew four swords from within it. She spun each of them around in perfect synchronization, and displayed a level of skill that, while surely far from masterful, had shown she had taken Shanks' words and her own admission more seriously than the others had.

"Never mind, I'll do it!"

The giant threw back his fist with surprising speed, and Twilight braced herself, preparing to counter-attack at once; in the blink of an eye, the giant's fist soared forward, but suddenly, something dropped from high above even the giant's head, and collided with his fist, which slammed into the ground so hard and powerfully, he could not immediately pull it free.

From the smoke, a strange and armored warrior stood tall, and his voice rang out to every pony and pirate dog in the isle.

"I am the great champion of the forest far away...HERACLES'N!"

Heracles'n was apparently not a name renowned through the world, for most of the hunters looked surprised and confused, rather than in awe or afraid. The armored champion posed like a super hero, basking in the glow of the sun and looking composed and powerful, while the giant tugged until his hand came free and the earth shook again.

Twilight was prepared for anything at this point, but it was the giant who took first action.

"Get that freak!"

The goons rushed the mighty champion, but he did not move, not even did he flinch, until the hunters were inches from him. Then he sprung into action like a blur, clobbering and dismantling the hunters like wild beasts, beaten to a pulp. In a matter of seconds, eight pirates were down for the count, or longer than that, and the battle odds had shifted greatly. The question was why he chose to help the ponies, but Twilight was content to wait with her question until the threat of the giant and his goons were gone. She flew to attack the giant, Rainbow Dash flanking her.

On the ground, the hunters continued to gang up on the strange warrior Heracles, with no more success than the first eight had achieved. A punch to the face, a kick to the kneecap, an elbow to the gut, a toss to the side, a headbutt through the air and into a rock which shattered from the impact; Heracles was unstoppable.

"Do not despair strange and innocent creatures, I will aid you in this battle for freedom'n! I am the great champion Heracles'n! Fear me, hunter scum'n!"

Extreme vanity and hopeless showmanship aside, Heracles had captivated the ponies and amazed them into silence. This unexpected savior was quirky, but so were most things in the world beyond the Great Blue Sea. He was strong and wanted to help them, no complaints were to be found.

The giant was simmering with rage, and growled as he swatted at the odd forest champion, who evaded with minimal difficulty. After a few successive failures, Heracles'n took action.

"Pony defenders'n! Combine powers with me to smite this unworthy foe'n!"

Soaring forwards, the hero hurled his mighty fist into the giant jaw, and the hunters' boss was thrown upwards, head barreling through the clouds. Rainbow needed no second chance, and rocketed through the white haze in the sky to deliver another attack, which was far less impactful, but still strong enough to force the giant into a more level and horizontal position as he fell back down. As Dash sped away, Twilight followed up with a massive magical hammer, which caught the helpless giant like a nail head and crushed him into the island. The trees and hills shook worse than ever before, and the giant was stuck in a snug crater that matched his size and shape almost exactly.

Rainbow and the others cheered, but Twilight sought out their savior at once. Heracles'n was tearing up the net that had once bound poor Fluttershy, who was blushing and profusely thanking the forest champion. Twilight joined them at once and gave the hero's ego a double portion. When the pegasus and alicorn finished, he turned to Twilight.

"Thank you for the kind words'n, but I have to wonder what a band of pirates this weak is doing here'n. These waters are not for the needy'n."

"Yes, we're...uh, relatively new here. We've actually been traveling with another crew, but we didn't expect to meet these hunters here while we foraged for supplies."

"So you are pirates then, eh?"

"Not necessarily by choice, but...under the circumstances, yes, we are the Equestrian Pirates."

"To make it in the New World, you need more strength than you have. I'm sorry, but I cannot voyage with you'n. If you want, I can escort you as far as my home forest. The Grand Line may be more suited for pirates of your skills'n."

"Actually, we-"

"I insist'n. You were extremely lucky that I found you before things got too bad'n."

"Really, we'll be fine with-"

This time, the Princess was cut off by a ringing boom far louder than any before it. The waters on the horizon were being thrown around like the splashes in a bathtub. It took a minute of dread and keen eye-work to make out the shape of another giant. And then, to Twilight's massive horror, a third giant as well.

The sunlit afternoon and perfect skies reflected a false face. Inside the exclusive and isolated mansion, the faces of the five most important men in the world were grim. Two sat on a sofa, another two in the chairs on either side, and the fifth stood behind the rest, each on mulling over the troublesome events of the past few days, staring intently into the floor, the ceiling, or the walls.

"Discretion is key," The oldest, bald man told the others, being on the left side of the couch. He sighed loudly as he cleaned his sword.

"But if they do indeed sail with that man...of the Four Emperors..." The old man with curls in his hair and a walking stick mused, sitting beside his older companion on the couch.

"Then discretion would be a wasted effort," The man with a bald head but a flowing mustache finished, standing behind all his fellows.

"Then the next move is the most important," the man with the longest beard noted, sitting to the left of the couch.

"Perhaps providence has shown on us. Smoker wants another go at them," The youngest of the five brought forward, his blonde hair a striking sign of his sure youth.

"Then we should grant his request, with more capable allies to aid him, of course," The man standing behind the others suggested.

"Yes," The bald and clean shaven man agreed.

"The Righteous Thief has proven himself a most potent weapon. Keep him close by. Dragon can wait," the man with the cane told the others.

"A dangerous sentiment. The Revolutionaries have always been our greatest problem, especially when Dragon revived them," The oldest scolded.

"And they face no distractions like the power struggle sure to come within the ranks of the Four," The blonde haired man said.

"But the Thief has committed himself. He won't like being switched over to another assignment. Not again, at least," replied the man with the longest beard.

"But still...Dragon can only do so much. He doesn't know what Red Hair knows. Nobody knows what Red Hair knows, except perhaps the few remaining Roger pirates that continue to elude us," The man with the shaggy hair and cane argued.

"You mean fossils like Rayleigh and Crocus?" The oldest asked.

The blonde haired man laughed, "Some might call you a fossil."

"Still....in the end, we face many opponents, but our agents can only be in one place at a time....maybe it would be best to keep things going on the current course...just a bit longer."

The two giants who swam ashore were twice as large as the one Heracles'n had helped the ponies take down. Worse still, they were in an uproar at the sight of the third's defeat.

Little brother....WHAT HAPPENED?! the first, wearing horns fashioned from some long dead ancient animal screamed.

Die, worthless scum!! the second, with flowing hair long and wide as a black waterfall bellowed.

Unlike the smaller giant, these two were armed, the horned one carrying a giant's longsword, the blade itself stretching beyond the white clouds above. The other swung a club down at the ponies, the sheer girth of which was enough to bury the Star. Twilight created a large dome which fractured into dust upon impact, but bought enough time to let everypony escape unharmed.

"Pop Green!"

Heracles'n flung something from his belt, and as the other giant swung the longsword down a bursting plantlife latched onto his hand, cutting into his thick skin enough to draw blood. The forest champion went a bit overboard, however, and upon rushing up to break the blade, he found himself knocked away like a fly swatted out of the air.

Lying defenseless in a crater of his own, Heracles'n was saved by Rarity, who levitated him up into Rainbow's path, and she and Fluttershy carried him away as the group scattered from the giants. Twilight flew in to support them, after all, the hero of the forest was quite heavy. With that help, the three were able to pick up enough speed to evade another club swing.

Twilight scolded herself for not bringing more help. She always felt like she had something to prove these days, to Shanks, to her friends, to Celestia...and more than anything, to herself. But Shanks was right, her magic just wasn't enough anymore. The others had always depended on Twilight to do her part, but she had quite a bit of learning to do before she could be depended on again. The same was true of them all, and from now on, her policy was all honesty, sticking with Shanks and his crew like bees on honey.

A paralysis spell held the club at bay, but the longsword could not be attended to in time, and again they were forced back. Rarity, Spike, and the others down below attempted small distractions, but Twilight continued to hold the focus of the giant pair. They had to get help now. Waking up in time to contribute to their escape, Heracles'n dropped down and unleashed more of his odd plant-based weapon, slowing down the giants a little bit more.

As the ships came into view and a few more hopeless spells fell apart in front of the giants, so too did the exact man Twilight knew would arrive. He was odd and more lax than she appreciated at times, but when he was serious, Shanks was there whenever one might need him, as Twilight was learning first hand.

"Die, bastards!"

Shanks was a red blur, leaping into the path of the overhead swing of the giant's longsword, matching the massive blade with his own sword, and like magic, the instant the metals collided, the giant's sword exploded into jagged pieces. Shanks fell back to the earth as the giant was slingshotted clean off the island and into the ocean from the impact.

Twilight was like everypony else, mouth agape at this awesome power. He hadn't been trying at all in their skirmish. She suspected Heracles'n was just as captivated, for he was abnormally still and humbled. The other giant was left sheepish and stuttering to atone for his mistake, but Shanks was already dealing with him. Another quick dash and he disappeared from sight, only to show up a second later behind the monstrous man. The club was split in half, but Shanks' blade was untouched, not so much as a nick on it.

The giant was holding his breath, afraid to move.

"Wait for it..." Shanks said matter-of-factly, stowing his sword at his side.

The giant moved his head and looked down over himself, intent to see what he should be waiting for, and just as he did, a red surge of power tore across his stomach and he crumpled onto his frontside, thick, giant blood leaking all over.

"Poor giants never stood a chance," One of Shanks crew observed, walking over with his weapon slung on his back. Twilight believed his name was Yasopp.

He was joined by Benn Backman, Lucky Roo, and Rockstar, among a few others. Shanks smiled at the pony party, nothing that none of them had been too badly injured. Then he turned to the stranger.

"Y-Y-You......Akagami....." Heracles'n tripped over his words, and then himself, as he moved forward to shake hands with the Yonko.

"I don't believe we've met before," Shanks greeted, smiling his usual grin.

"I am the mighty CHAMPION of the GREENSTONE FOREST on the BOIN ARCHIPELAGO....HERACLES'N!!" The beetle-armored man shouted, as though his honor was to be judged on how loudly his words rang out into the air.

"What's his deal?" Rockstar quietly asked Lucky Roo, who continued to munch on his drumstick with a shrug.

"Pleased to meet you," Shanks returned. He then turned to Twilight.

"Seems your crew isn't as ready as we thought."

"You're right," Twilight admitted instantly, "We're not ready at all. We need to meet up with whomever you have lined up to teach us soon, because we're completely lost. We...we don't even know where we're supposed to be going. We would almost certainly be dead by now if you hadn't found us......Thank you."

Shanks smiled a bit brighter, a bit more goofier. Whether he knew it or not, Twilight could tell the map had revealed a bit more by the magical vibrations within the pocket locker she stowed it in. She also knew it would not be complete the next time she opened it, but progress was progress, and she was glad.

"My pleasure."

"Just do us the favor of not getting yourselves killed, or worse, captured," Benn Beckman added, "especially by cronies of the World Government."

"Akagami.....Shanks...." Heracles'n was still murmuring to himself.

"You don't mean to say these are Marines?" Rarity questioned from the side.

"Hmph. Haven't gotten to the power structure of the world just yet, huh?" Beckman replied.

"Look at their tattoos. They're the henchmen of another kind of World Government henchman," Shanks explained.

She hadn't noticed before, but Shanks was right, they all bore tattoos of the same insignia, though they came in different shapes, sizes, and colors. When none of the ponies said anything, Beckman continued.

"The bigger giants were probably the captains, but this was a scavenging and hunting crew, who somewhat recently swore allegiance to one of the Seven Royal Warlords..."

Shanks picked up the statement there, "And a good old friend of mine...Buggy the Clown."

"WHAT!?!?"

The ear-piercing scream of frustration was audible to those above and below deck, and even those entering the space around the large and luxurious ship called the Big Top.

"They'll die flashy deaths, those bastards! Dispatch the main fleet, we've got another S-Class assignment!"

"Yes, Captain Buggy!!" the chorus of obedient replies sang.

Author's Notes:

PHEW! This came out way later than I wanted it to. This is a persistent problem of mine, unfortunately, but this story...with all I've got planned for it. I think this one will go far. I'm gonna keep at it faithful readers, promise.

So you know what that means. Next up...it's the glorious Captain Buggy!!

Anyways...not sure if Heracles'n will make a return, but I love the guy. Seriously, even I don't use him again, I hope he reappears in the story. What a boss. lol, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be out.....as soon as I find sufficient time and energy to get it out.

-TBK

6) Clash: Buggy's Delivery Service!

This time, Twilight held enough trust in him to let him see the map firsthand. Shanks looked at it for a moment, and began laughing. She couldn't entirely blame him, it wasn't exactly a map in the conventional sense. In fact, it now appeared more nebulous and distorted than when the lines first appeared. The arm that was once visible was now a twisting blob on the page, something amid rotation and stopped for examination; undeterminable without the rest of the puzzle pieces.

"I can't make heads or tails of it," the Yonko admitted with another swig of his mug.

"So, do you have any suggestions of what to do next?"

Right about now, Twilight was wishing more faces were inside the cabin. They had gathered together for a one-on-one in Shanks' cabin, and Twilight knew the Star was close by, but she felt so distant at the moment. It was a little embarrassing to have been saved so many times and pretend to be his equal. She was his equal in rank alone, but not all pirate captains were built the same. She was feeling pretty good about her status as Princess at the moment.

"I know that sooner or later you're going to have to face Buggy. He's not the kind of pirate to let something like this go, you know."

"I wouldn't expect that of a Warlord," Twilight replied, gazing out the window to her ship.

They had already started training with some of Shanks' men, but thus far, the guards-turned-pirates were not adapting well. They couldn't all expect to find devil fruits, and the average sailor wasn't gifted in haki, who, then, among her crew could she expect to be? Inside, though, Twilight could already feel her power adapting. She knew that haki was within her, and so did Shanks, based off his words from before and intent way he looked at her on occasion. Something inside her was dying to get out, and as soon as this instructor Shanks was intent on finding revealed himself, she could finally compete with this world's powers.

"But I also know he won't be trouble for you," Twilight spoke up after a moment of silence.

"No...Buggy and I go way back. But fighting him would certainly prove your mettle as a pirate and a captain. He's going to make a show of it, you know, you may as well make yourself a pirate to be feared."

"I'd rather find this teacher you're lining up."

"He's not quite ready. And Buggy's men were left alive, they'll lead him right to us. I'll step in to help, but I can't fight all your battles for you."

It was hard to get around. Buggy the Clown. Never having seen him, Twilight imagined just what he was like. If it was true that he and Shanks went way back, she might be taking him a bit more seriously....although, Shanks didn't seem to consider him any sort of threat. In fact, he was encouraging a battle between them, so this Warlord was probably all show..........right?

"Well...I guess if he's going to go to the trouble of finding us, we may as well return his efforts."

"I imagine you're wondering just how strong he is," Shanks said, as always knowing what was going on in her mind; was this another power of his Haki?

"And?"

"And don't underestimate him. Especially with a crew as green as yours. Truthfully, he's not a very great pirate, but neither were those giants, and they wholeheartedly believed that Buggy was far superior to them. Though, in a way, he's superior to a lot of pirates in the world..."

Twilight was beginning to get a little nervous when Shanks finished his thought.

"He's got the dumb luck of a drunken leprechaun."

She couldn't resist chucking along with him, but he stopped before she did, and concluded his statement:

"But even dumb luck is enough to break some crews."

"I find sugar is like laughter," Pinkie explained.

THUD!

"Quit it, bastard!"

"You're gonna get it now!"

CRACK!

"Guhg!"

"Oi! Shi-"

"Aaargh!"

BAM!

"You gotta lay it on thick!"

Pinkie, currently winning the multi-crew brawl (training session) aboard the Star, whipped out the giant mallet she used in the kitchen (on what, Twilight could only guess). Her simple evasion of swings and kicks and punches had led her shockingly far, and Twilight and Shanks were eager to see what she could do with a weapon in hoof. Shanks even cheered from his seat.

She did not disappoint.

First a wide swing, which took out the legs of two pirates and a pony, then her tail acted like a whip and strung up one of the men so she could take a baseball swing at his ribs. He went flying right into another pony. When a pirate came from behind to attack, she threw the mallet behind her and it KO'ed the sea dog with a blow below the belt and then, somehow, boomeranged pack into Pinkie's hooves. Shanks was smiling, Twilight was shocked. Impressed, of course, but mostly shocked. At times, Pinkie could be quite magical.

The next victim tried to play dead, leaning against a barrel with his eyes closed. Pinkie wasn't fooled, and when she squared her eyes on him, he sprung up and threw the barrel towards her. She blasted it apart with one swing of the kitchen hammer, negated his kick with another, and the third swing clobbered him over the head and left his mouth wide open. She promptly made her kitchen tips relevant by whipping out the can of sugar and pouring it down the man's mouth until he was desperately choking for air.

"Let me help you out!" Pinkie offered with a smile, jumped up, and swung the mallet into the man's back, cannoning him right into Lucky Roo.

"She's in trouble now," Shanks warned Twilight as the big man picked his mate up and rose from his seat near the open space that was their arena.

Shanks observed the session wholly, and noticed that Fluttershy was hanging in, though that was more for lack of activity. There was one pirate who was standing against her, and she was trapped in the corner now. How would this little one react to the pressure of warfare? The man smirked and took aim, she covered her head. Perhaps she wasn't quite there. He wound up the arm and let it fly, and Shanks moved his eye away, but brought it back at the last instant. The pirate's swing was true and firm, he wasn't holding back.

That was, until the last moment, and his aim lowered, and the strength behind the blow plummeted. Fluttershy was still cowering in the corner, but the pirate was on wobbly legs. The man ended up slapping the floor and fell on his butt, scratching his head absentmindedly. How interesting...

Usually a pistoleer, Lucky Roo stuffed the giant leg of meat he was usually stuffing himself on into his mouth and raised both fists to fight. Pinkie smiled wickedly, and charged forward. Lucky Roo was slower to advance, but found the speed to turn around when Pinkie sort of vanished and reappeared behind him. Curious, but not enough to stop him from fighting. The mallet could've knocked a giraffe in two (not that Pinkie would ever do that to a poor giraffe!), but Lucky Roo simply expanded his chest and the mallet, and by extension Pinkie, went back several steps. An impressively (some might say impossibly) fast four-punch combo later and Pinkie was all the way across the arena, nursing a large sore on the back of her head.

Pinkie laughed heartily, then got her mean face out. Lucky Roo was cheerfully bouncing from foot to foot, like a professional.

This time, the pirate made the first move. He wasn't very fast in moving longer distances, but Pinkie was wary, and slowly circled around, waiting for her chance to come. Roo dashed in to knock her again, but Pinkie hopped on top of his fist and raised the mallet up, but this too was blocked, by Lucky Roo's free hand. Instead of swatting it away, he grabbed it out of her possession and smacked her aside with it, winning cheers from the Red Hair pirates and looks and whispers of sympathy from Twilight and her crew. Lucky Roo was still all smiles.

Pinkie took a little longer to get up this time, but before she could do anything, Applejack held her back. Pinkie only now noticed that AJ had cleared out the rest of the room, and it was down to the three of them.

"We can duke it out between us soon enough," Applejack reasoned, "But personally, I don't think either of us has a chance against this big guy by ourselves."

Pinkie nodded her agreement and the two mares stood tall against the round pirate.

The brisk wind felt good. He almost had the urge to let go and become free in his smoke form, but such conduct was unbecoming of a Navy Vice Admiral. And it was about time they got their game plan together. Even more so, he ought to be furious that the odd scum evaded him last time. It was the second of two unsuccessful capture attempts, and just like the first one, Smoker swore that he would see the criminals be brought to justice.

"Smoker-san?" Tashigi questioned from behind.

"What?"

"We've made contact with the Admiral's ship. He's still on schedule, and we should be within their estimated position by the end of the afternoon."

"Very good."

"..."

"As you were," Smoker told her and proceeded to walk away, stopping at her quiet but strong request.

Neither spoke for a moment.

"Akagami no Shanks...I remember him from the war. We were all weaker then, but...."

"He's far beyond us. Hence Admiral Kizaru. The Gorosei themselves sent us after these criminals, they didn't care who travels with them. Nor should we."

Such confidence. Tashigi desired it as much as the power to defend herself and those around her, the same kind of power Pirate Hunter possessed. But even Fleet Admiral Sakazuki hadn't dared engage Red Hair back in the war. Surely her commander hadn't forgotten that.

"Yes Sir!"

Smoker walked on, and it was not long before he was once again driven from solitude, this time by Hina.

"Smoker," She greeted.

"Everything is in order?" He asked with clear desire to be alone.

"Yes, but Hina wanted to speak with you anyways."

"Don't tell me you've got butterflies in your stomach too? Emperor or not-"

"Red Hair Shanks is not Hina's concern. You are."

He stopped abruptly, and she seemed to be expecting it, for she synchronized with him perfectly. The look in his eyes would make her laugh if she weren't so worried.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hina means it's not like you. Hina read the reports and heard some of the talk among your men. It sounds like you went ballistic over a misunderstanding."

"They attacked my crew and my apprentice. I don't care who you are, if you go against G-5, you go against me."

"That's awfully pirate-like of you to say."

He sighed heavily, thick, white cigar smoke exuding from his mouth as though he were a dragon.

"Vice Admiral Garp chose to let fate decide the destiny of Portgas D. Ace. We both know Fire-Fist was like a son to the Vice Admiral. He chose duty over family, and it sounds as though you did the opposite," Hina defended her position.

"And how did that turn out for Garp?" He looked down and spat overboard for the remark, but did not waver in his outlook, "Besides, you're beginning to sound like you sympathize with these criminals."

"What happened to the Smoker of two years ago? The one who told the World Government off for wrongfully congratulating him on the defeat of a criminal?"

He did not answer right away. He turned instead to face the open seas as the Marine ship glided along the water, and Hina waited patiently for his answer. It was a while longer before she got one.

"Listen...the things I saw on Punk Hazard...I'm beginning to understand why the World Government does some of the things it does. I don't agree with a lot of them, and I'd sooner die than sink as low as some of the high-ups. But I will carry out their orders as best I can....the world can't risk even a one percent chance that another pirate like Doflamingo comes about."

"So...you're maturing? Is that your answer?"

"It's as good as any you'll get right now. Ask me again when I figure the rest out."

With that, the White Hunter retreated into his long-awaited solitude, and HIna remained on the deck, watching the waves and the clouds and the birds.

Buggy the Star Clown, the Criminal King of the Underworld (now that competition had been crushed, thanks to that idiot Straw Hat), was smiling wide as the reports came in.

"Mission success percentage of the last week, 94%."

"Chance of future business with first-time parties, 92%."

"And? What about the bad rep caused by those yellow-bellied giants?" Buggy inquired.

The next swab came forward, paper in hand, "Chance of bad reputation lingering, 13%!"

Buggy laughed and rubbed his hands together, sending his torso flying up into the air while his legs remained in a reclined position, "Gya ha ha ha ha! Even without those useless giants, we're still the best in the world!"

Mr. 3 quietly sorted out fact from Buggy's fiction to himself, as he had grown accustomed to doing since the end of the Paramount War, "No...that's really only because Straw Hat defeated Doflamingo and stopped the Donquixote Family...I'm pretty sure they would've crushed us sooner or later...."

Buggy, if he heard the dissent, did not mind it, "Now then! On to crush the fools who crushed our secondary giant team! What is it with these worthless giants recently!?"

This time, Mr. 3 spoke up; even this madness had to be tempered with reason here and there, and with Alvida on more and more missions these days, he was left to be the sole voice of reason within Buggy's Delivery.

"Shouldn't we figure out who could beat that team? They may have been the second best giant team, but they still regularly undertook A-rank assignments. It wouldn't be wise to just barge in and-"

"Nonsense! I'm the Great Captain Buggy of the Seven Royal Warlords!! I fear no man! I'll crush them all!"

"If you say so..."

Galdino had a bad feeling about where this was going...but dumb luck wasn't the worst thing to have on your side. And Buggy had it in spades.

"Not long now, Captain!"

"Forward!"

Lucky Roo spat out the bare chicken bone and smiled a wide smile. Pinkie and AJ were huffing and eyeing the other's bruises. Lucky Roo hadn't been touched since they joined together. Pinkie was faltering now, and Applejack had underestimated the foe, and clearly overestimated herself. She stepped forward with wobbly legs. The pirate laughed.

Pinkie dropped.

These were the moments where growth happened.

"Come on then!" Applejack dared, "Let's finish it here! Winner take all!"

"Commendable," Shanks noted to Twilight.

"Yes. Very," Twilight agreed, hoping against hope that Applejack would win this round for the Equestrian Pirates.

Even as she said it, Applejack was falling down, she felt her legs going numb, her eyes shutting....her thoughts were drifting....her hat was floating down beside her. Make room, Pinkie.

Lucky Roo wasn't one to leave something matters unfinished, however. Especially after a gauntlet had been thrown.

He moved like the wind, despite being massive, his fist curled back to send Applejack to the wall instead of the floor. The crowd, pony and human alike, were raising their voices. The first training session between crews was going to end. It had been more fun than any of them could have imagined.

And in the end, the ponies showed real mettle. They wouldn't need to be carried forever.

Lucky Roo was in range. His fist slid forward like a bullet in the wind. It was over.

Until an orange leg covered in black rose up to meet it, and swatted it away like a paper ball. It swung suddenly in the other direction and caught Lucky Roo right in the nose. The castle of a pirate stepped backwards in a daze, holding one hand to his nose, the other to his knee as he squatted down to let gravity show him the extent of the damage.

Applejack was smiling, weakly. The crowd of ponies, and of humans, was going wild. Alcohol was thrown all about, food flew in every which way, hooves and fists were colliding. Twilight found herself standing, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"That's...is that I think it is?"

"Yes," Shanks confirmed, "Commendable indeed. She wins this round."

Though Applejack had managed to come back from certain defeat, she was still shaking in the stillness. A punch was not needed where a flick would suffice. She was too weak to resist the worst of Lucky Roo's assault now. She took pride in her short comeback, and noted the drips of red falling into the man's hand; it was a perfect counter attack. It felt perfect at least, she couldn't quite recall acting it out. Instinct really was powerful.

But true to Shanks' words, Lucky Roo stood tall and lost his smile. He examined the earth pony closely, her trembling form, the glean of sweat in her roughed up face, and the brighter smiler therein. He lamented his loss with another customary smile of his own, and plopped down onto his back. Shanks stood up.

"Well done everyone! Progress like this gives us the courage to face another day. Tomorrow will be no easier! For now, run wild and party! Dahahahahaha! Bring out the healing water!"

The first thing Twilight did was teleport to the once-farm pony's side, and keep her on her feet. She deserved all the recognition coming her way. The first among them to achieve haki use, if for but a second or two. Twilight cheered as loudly as the rest of them, and although Applejack was already falling asleep, Twilight noted that she was also still carrying that proud, Apple Family smile. These were the moments where happiness was found, in the moments after growth.

The celebrations came to an abrupt ending as an unfamiliar jolly roger was spotted from the deck of the Star.

As the ponies prepared for the incoming boarding parties, a loud shriek erupted from across the waves, and a torso shot into the air, the arms rocketing higher and falling back to the deck in a mess.

"SHANKS!?!?!"

The slightly drunk captain strode up behind Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"I'd say he wasn't expecting me to be here."

"Leave him to us," Rainbow urged.

"Of course."

From the other deck, the unsettled pirates watched their captain pull himself together - quite literally. Galdino was the first to speak.

"M-Maybe we should let this one go...he is classified as Yonko after all."

The crew immediately turned against him.

"What? How could you say that!?"

"What's he talking about, Captain Buggy stood his ground against Red Hair at Marineford!"

"That's true, I was there!"

"He's not alone though, Galdino urged, "we have no idea how strong this other crew is...but they could've been the ones to beat the giant crew. If not, the Red Hair pirates certainly wouldn't have trouble doing it!"

"Captain Buggy, tell him we'll beat them and maintain our reputations...as a Warlord Crew!"

"Yeah! Tell him, Captain!"

Buggy had finally stabilized himself against the railing and set his eyes intently on his former cabin boy cohort. He was still shaking, and a deep and troubled growl was growing in his throat.

"See, look at that," one zealous dog encouraged the others, "He's shaking in anticipation! What a man! Raring to take on a Yonko like that!"

The stirring growl sputtered louder as Buggy temporarily looked at the rowdy pirates behind him, then looked at Galdino. The growling settled down and he smiled his usual charmed smile. With a shrug and a hearty thumbs up, he raised his arm high.

"We can....definitely....take them all down! Let's...Let's go!!!"

One of these days his luck would dry up, and he was going to get them all killed. Warlord or not, Buggy was far from a crushing fighter, and Galdino made one final attempt at backing out as the other men prepared for battle.

"You really think you can beat Red Hair in a one on one fight!? Especially with only this ship!?"

"W-Well yeah...if I go all out!"

Galdino's jaw nearly hit the floor, "You said the same thing about Whitebeard two years ago! And he knocked down Admiral Akainu!!"

Buggy shrugged again, and turned out towards the sea, clearing his throat.

"And Red Hair Shanks was the one ended the war..."

Buggy paused.

"By coming out of nowhere and stopping Akainu. With ease."

"..."

Some hope was finally breaking through the night. If he pressed on...just maybe...

"And former Fleet Admiral Sengoku retired because he was afraid of fighting Red Hair in the war....even with all the other Warlords and Admirals and powerful warriors on his side...we can't hope to match the power he had in the War...."

"........and?"

This time, Galdino himself hit the floor. Hard.

"WHAT?!? YOU STILL WANT TO FIGHT???"

"I will become Pirate King! I can't let a mere Yonko stop me now!"

Galdino got to his knees, and then fell on his back again, this time muttering depressingly to himself. Buggy smiled and turned back around and then steadied himself again on the railing, pure terror back on his mug. Mr. 3 wasn't wrong.....this wasn't a good situation.....but, he'd lived through worse. This couldn't possibly be the end of his winning luck.....he hoped.

"We're ready Captain!"

"Just give the order and we'll start the attack!"

Buggy raised his hand high into the air and lifted his torso up in front of the jolly roger, "Men! Let's take down Akagami Shanks and his allies! To victory!"

A chorus of applause rang out, and from the other side of the waters, Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Good. I almost thought we'd have to chase him down."

"Any tips?" Twilight inquired of the Yonko as he turned to go below deck.

"There's no defense for dumb luck."

"And he's luckier than drunken leprechaun..." Twilight recalled.

The ships were steering towards one another, already the cannons were raining out fire. Twilight let her volley fly and flew up behind it to shield the Star. The demonstration of her powers mostly confused the enemy, but she didn't mind the edge it gave her side. She almost smiled when she saw the Warlord's face.

"What...what the hell?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria," the lavender captain announced from the air, "I fight with Red Hair Shanks, any attack on our vessel is an act of war against our alliance. We won't hold back!"

She partly desired to end this without conflict, but she knew Shanks was wise to have her fight with Buggy. He was a considerable opponent for the Equestrians, the way they were now. It was like a test, and not all tests were fun, a maxim she was very familiar with. But she was always ready to pass a test.

"Just get them! Go!!" Buggy ordered.

The pirates opposing them threw several lines in hopes of securing the vessels together, but Twilight would not have it, shooting all the lines down in impressively quick succession. Meanwhile, her own crew were preparing defensive measures, and fired a second volley of shots. A few hit their marks well, but the Buggy pirates were not dissuaded.

Twilight found herself deflecting another wave of cannons, but as soon as her shield dropped and she doubled checked the integrity of her ship, she found an unexpected attack landing its mark; a pirate she hadn't noticed before shot a string of goop at her and it landed perfectly on her horn.

"Wax-Wax Whip!"

Wax, eh? Then burning it might not be the best idea...luckily Rainbow Dash was there to lend her helping hoof. Sword bared, she let it fly against the white line, only for the wax to absorb the blow and hold the weapon hostage. Before Rainbow could try again, several knives flew at her and she took evasive maneuvers away from the enemy ship.

"Chop-Chop Shot!"

Twilight continued to struggle, but it seemed that just further entrapped her horn, and therefore, her magic. Someone among Buggy's crew was more intelligent than she had been led to believe. And to her misfortune, she saw the Buggy pirates had readied their cannons before the ponies on her own ship.

"Brace for impact!" she called as the black orbs launched, a couple coming close to hitting her in the air. Only a couple were aimed true, but it did not help ease her nerves. She ordered another round to be fired, and Buggy's ship once again flamed up in damage, but still they went forward. And now, without Twilight to block their attempts at connecting the ships, the lines pulled the Star into a deadlock.

The first few Buggy pirates to board Twilight's ship met with cruel fates at the hands of traps, surprise attacks, and a very ornery Pinkie Pie with mallet. But Buggy would win in a long run numbers game, and it quickly began to seem that in pure crew conflict, his men outgunned and outslashed Twilight's.

Rarity went to work on the wax whip, while Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack led the defense from the deck. Captain Buggy himself preferred to remain on his vessel for the time being, but the wax man stepped forward upon seeing Rarity chipping away at his hold on Twilight.

"I know we're going to regret this," Galdino lamented, "but now that we've come this far...Wax-Wax Whip!"

Another thread of wax rocketed towards Rarity, but she managed to scramble away. Galdino had no qualms in repeating the gambit, and shot several more whips her way, all the while Twilight continued to remain trapped. Worse still, though her friends efforts were valiant, the overwhelming numbers on Buggy's side was beginning to seriously push the ponies back, and the deck was already very compromised.

Knowing this could not keep up, Twilight decided to do something a bit drastic, and flew away from the battle, hoping to weaken the whip by stretching it thin. Galdino noticed, but only smirked.

"There's no escaping my wax!"

This time, instead of shooting for Rarity, he aimed it upwards and a second whip went Twilight's torso. Ever the opportunist, Buggy followed up from his place by shooting a knife-filled hand behind the whip. Dumb luck....this wasn't good.

Rarity could not stop the wax, but knives was another story, and she created a dome which entrapped the hand; Twilight attempted to maneuver away from the wax whip, but it began spreading as it closed in. She closed her eyes and dug deep, forcing a teleportation. It actually worked, she was amazed to see, though the wax residue was all over her face now.

"Twilight!"

Her victory became very short lived when Spike fell back to the deck, totally encased in a wax ball.

"I was going to save you..." he explained with misery.

This wasn't enough to keep her down though. She smiled and looked towards Galdino and Buggy. Dumb luck's reign was over.

"Don't worry, you'll be free in no time!"

"I wouldn't be so sure!" Galdino retorted, which made Buggy chuckle heartily, "Wax-Wax Mace!"

The wax engulfing Spike became more round and spikes were fashioned all over it, then Galdino swung. Spike screamed for dear life as his trapped form battered multiple ponies, and even a few pirates, Galdino quickly swinging right and left, again and again. Buggy, having broken his hand free from Rarity's magic, laughed loudly.

So there was a little dumb luck left in him...Twilight was free now. It wouldn't be long before the tides turned!

In fact, it was the wax man causing her crew most of its biggest problems, keeping the most useful mates trapped or occupied, so hse set her sights on him.

"Rarity!"

The unicorn heard the call of her Princess and captain, and understood what she intended to do. She concentrated hard and formed a dome around spike and the mace-like wax. Twilight teleported across decks, appearing behind Galdino, who hastily used his now free right hand to shield himself.

"Wax-Wax Dome!"

Twilight had successfully entrapped him, and turned her attention on the appendage before her, firing an incendiary spell, which lit the mace ablaze, causing Galdino to quickly detach himself. Spike, meanwhile, was protected by Rarity's magic.

"After you, I'm going after Shanks!" Buggy called, clearly empowered by his success so far.

Twilight decided to play the wax man's trick back on Buggy, and she lifted the dome of wax high with her magic, shielding herself and causing the man inside to to question why he was floating. She fired another fire spell and lit the dome ablaze, then threw it down at Buggy.

Galdino bailed fast as lightning, his arm and leg both on fire; Buggy's head shot up to the same level as Twilight's while his body quickly ran to her deck.

"Clever bastard! Don't think you've gotten anything on me!"

His head zoomed after his body which was well protected by four particularly large, axe-wielding men. Twilight flew back to the Star, and knew the best time was now.

"Get him! Get Buggy!"

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity ran to engage the guards, while Twilight met the now whole Buggy.

"Why you..."

"You think you're a match for Shanks?" Twilight asked, "You might be a struggle for us with your schemes and your dumb luck, but you can't hope to do anything to Shanks and his crew."

"What? You hoping I'll surrender or something?" Buggy asked, his aggravation threatening to tear him apart.

"Not a chance. I'm just glad to know that if I can beat you, it means I'm improving...getting closer to his level."

"Heh...cheeky too. You really irritate me, Princess. I'll kill you for the trouble...I'm a Royal Warlord, the future Pirate King! You don't stand a chance!"

His words alone seemed to give his men strength, and Twilight was beginning to understand that though dumb luck was the root of his power, it was not his only weapon. His followers were strong, and the tide was beginning to shift in his favor once more. He could detach himself, thus anything related to cutting or slashing was futile. Haki was...not yet an option for her, though she did have the confiscated weapon Smoker used, made of sea-stone, she had learned. That would do the trick.

Then again, Buggy's strengths didn't seem to be at all in the realm of actually fighting.

She fired a spray of blasts and bolts that made the Warlord dance and nervously jump about.

"Why you...!"

He shot his legs towards her, blades on his feet, spinning like a deadly top; she made sure to erect a shield was send them flying to the side. They flew back to Buggy before straying too long, and the combatants remained quiet for a moment. Buggy was quick, perhaps his most redeeming physical quality, and both hands shot out to her, but she easily flew up and over them, also taking care to duck low when they boomeranged back to him.

Shaken, but still willing to fight, Buggy shot his left hand, which missed, his right, which missed, his legs which missed, and finally barely jumped to the side to evade a scathing blast. She tried twice more, both times damaging him slightly. He screamed and hid body exploded into many parts, knives hiding in many clever places.

"Chop-Chop Carnival!"

A simple dome shield repelled them all, and once again he missed...until dumb luck reared its head again, and Twilight's heart almost stopped.

One blade went flying and landed right under Rainbow Dash's right-side wing, and as she cried out from the sneak attack, the axe cut her across the chest, her blood coating the deck and the pirate together.

"NO!!"

Twilight lunged forward, and Buggy's poor aim did not help his attack land...on her. But it had a possibly worse effect.

"Muggy Ball!!"

The red explosive zoomed past Twilight but landed squarely on the main mast, and it fell quickly; Twilight's only option was to hold it up, or let the ship sink under its weight.

"Pinkie, Applejack, somepony help Rainbow!"

Pinkie jumped away and scooped up her friend, while the distraction caused Applejack to turn away at a crucial time and allow the pirate to land a devastating blow with the hilt of his weapon on the top of her head. Seeing that made the mast so much heavier, and sweat was falling like rain from Twilight's brow.

"Enemy ships ahoy!!!"

Twilight didn't know who called out, but the mast became even more overbearing when she saw three vessels on a rapid interception course, all of them flying Buggy's colors.

She was beginning to lose herself in the chaos. Balance! Strategy! It wasn't over yet!

First thing was first, she had to get rid of the mast. With great effort she began moving it over the hectic waters, but Buggy was not keen on giving his chance up.

"Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! I told you! I'll kill you all!"

That wasn't helping her balance, and the mast began to slip out of her control.

"I'll blow you away! MUGGY BALL!!"

BAlaNe....

This wasn't good... this was VERY BAD...by CELESTIA THIS WAS BAD

The red orb blew but before it could reach Twilight it blew up in a flash of smoke...and a green pellet emerged in its stead.

"SPECIAL MODEL: POISON!!" Buggy finished.

A green gas blew up all around Twilight and the mast fell into the side of her ship, compromising it right down the middle as the mast sank below the waters.

Twilight coughed and heaved and saw through burning, bloodied eyes that Fluttershy and the unconscious Applejack in her care had also been caught in the blast.

BAL-LANCE C ON T R O LL

A pain unlike any other struck her and she saw a knife handle sticking out of her stomach. She stumbled about, her horn trying to pull off several different spells at once, the only result being some of the green powder on her body blasting off and floating right down onto Fluttershy and Applejack.

BA - OU

Another handle stuck out of her forehoof, she struggled to stay standing.

S TA Y In ContrOlL KEEp Fo CUS nd BlNACE

It was all just too much.

"Twilight!" Pinkie called out as another bullet ripped the coating off her leg.

Red tears flowed down her green and purple face, her voice barely audible, and extremely weak.

"Ssshanks..."

Buggy's next knife flew out of his hand and held good aim, and his smile grew the widest it'd been in days.

And the next thing he knew, everyone of his pirates had fainted and his knife flew into the deck harmlessly in front of Twilight.

Buggy looked around and quickly lost his enthusiasm, and his head literally flew off his shoulders when a familiar and hated voice spoke from behind him.

"Come on Buggy, let's call it a day and get drunk together."

Author's Notes:

Wow....I made updates to other stories on other accounts...on other sites, so I apologize for the near 2 month break in progress on this one. Alas, life is filled with the brim these days. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, there will definitely be more to come!

Thanks for reading, feel free to drop a review with your feelings on the chapter, any ideas you have, or whatever. It's always appreciated!

-TBK

7) Discharge and Divergence: Two Paths

"Sorry Buggy," Shanks told his friend with a hand on the headless body's shoulder, "I can't let you kill 'em."

The flying head zoomed down and shouted angrily back.

"NO CHANCE! I'll kill them all for the embarrassment and damages they caused me!"

"You can tell everyone I did that."

"THAT DOESN'T HELP ME LOOK GOOD! IDIOT!!"

"Well, if you'd rather tell people a bunch of ponies did it rather than me...I guess it's your choice. I don't think people will take you as much of a threat though."

"I really hate you...and stop touching me!"

The head landed back on the shoulders and Buggy practically jumped aside to face Shanks, Warlord to Emperor. Buggy struggled to hold a human composure, while Shanks seemed to be showing the edge of a smile, which further enraged the Clown.

"Come on, have some of the good stuff before your men wake up. We can all enjoy ourselves for a bit while we fix them up, and then we'll let you go without another word about it."

Buggy gnashed his teeth together and contemplated the offer for a moment, when Shanks suddenly spoke up once more.

"By the way, if you have a transponder snail, tell your men in those ships over there to pull back...or I'll sink 'em."

Buggy eyed his rival, then the ships, then Shanks once more, and quickly scrambled to find a snail among his fallen mates.

"Okay! OKAY! You win! I need those ships!"

As soon as the words left his mouth and went through the snail, Shanks practically dragged Buggy below deck, while his men attended to the wounded ponies with the still up and about members of Twilight's crew.

"It's a bit of tough situation."

"Yeah."

Was that Shanks?

"We could take her to a specialist...maybe when we find that man?"

"I doubt even he could help fix this."

"To think...a Warlord. It was a Warlord. Imagine the end of this adventure. Imagine what a man like Blackbeard could do...or an Admiral. Or-"

"We have a Yonko with us as well. He won't sit by with a peer involved. And this isn't life threatening....just unfortunate."

"I still think it's not..."

The rest became a blurry mess, and darkness once more became overbearing. It was time to sleep again.

On a shimmering, glassy beach on a deserted island, a man walked alone with a snail in his hand, his voice exchanging with the other amid the beating of waves on the sand and the call of birds in the air.

"Most interesting, wouldn't you say, Thief?" The snail asked.

"Red Hair didn't act until loss was a certainty. They haven't met a real test yet."

"We've got one lined up," The snail replied, "several, in fact. Their triumphs, whatever the circumstances and whatever you label them, against both Vice Admiral Smoker and the Royal Warlord Buggy the Clown have earned them all bounties. High bounties, all things considered."

The thief made a disapproving sound, but did not speak; the voice behind the transponder snail carried on.

"In the meantime, our agents have their own objectives."

"Red Hair is still the biggest problem. Don't underestimate him."

"You need not remind us. We are well aware of it."

"Then I'll continue my observations and reports, and move the plan along."

"Very good."

When the Thief remained on the line, the voice allotted him the time to ask.

"I'd like to request a squad of Pacifista."

"You'll have them and much more. When the time is right, we will give you the tools to dispense of Red Hair and bring us the visitors."

"And is it within my prerogative to decide that time?"

The voice took some time to answer, "....We will consider your judgement, but we are your authority."

"Of course. That is something you need not remind me of."

"Then keep a close eye on them a while more, soon they will face more Marines, other Warlords, and without doubt, many other surprises along the way. We'll contact you again in three days time."

"Understood."

"Oh, by the way, your comrade, Angler, reported suspicious activity going on in Baltigo. Be wary of surprise visits...from that man."

"I always am."

The communications ended, and the Thief went on his way, traversing the glossy sand all by himself, save for the birds overhead and the small village in the distance.

Again the voices stirred away the sleep, but again it was unclear who was there and who was saying what.

"I heard the antidote worked. Not very much longer now."

"Ask me, their luck is greater than Buggy's."

"For the most part, at least."

"...unfortunately, you're right. This poor one..."

Then everything went dark once more, and there were words spoken in the darkness, some she understood, some she did not; she saw many things in the pitch blackness as well, some scary, some enraging, but very few comforting. Certain things kept coming across her thoughts, like luck and skill, swords, sabers, and the blood...of Emperors and of Admirals.

And before she knew it, Rainbow Dash woke up.

To her immense surprise, she was alone save for the Red Haired captain she and her friends had aligned with. He seemed to not notice her at first, gazing into the bright, blue sky and looking out over the waters. She noticed as she groaned and raised herself into a sitting position on the bed that her back and wings were numb. Most everything else hurt though. At last, Shanks turned towards and handed her a cup.

She looked inside for a moment, at the clear liquid tranquilly calling out to her; she was very thirsty, and though it was no cider, it was still very soothing.

"Welcome back," the Captain greeted.

"What happened?" She asked, breathing deeply, as though for the first time in too long.

His bluntness was a bit shocking her as well, "You fell in battle. You'll get a nice scar on your chest to match the new bounty, but I'm afraid you'll find things will be different from now on."

It was at this moment Rainbow noticed two very important things, firstly, that they were not aboard the Star, but from the looks of it, the Red Force. Secondly, she found none other than her own Captain lying on a bed to the side opposite Shanks.

Her head filled with questions a burning sensation, a part of battle injuries or the before-mentioned questions. As he was so very good at doing, he seemed to feel exactly what was going on in her mind, and smirked his usual grin while explaining what he knew.

"Firstly, I'm sorry to say your ship was scrapped. You'll all be aboard the Red Force now, at least until another ship can be gained for your crew."

"Well....it was just a ship right? Our things can be replaced and-"

"Many of your friends died...."

".....Oh........."

"Let tears fall where they are wanted. It's not a crime to cry, not even for a pirate."

And so she did. Rainbow had many good friends on that ship, she fully realized as she wondered who she would never be seeing again. As far as the strange things in the world of the Great Blue Sea went, the most shocking thing had to be the death that abounded. How many ponies had died since their arrival? At least thirty of forty? Probably, and sadly, more than that. It was a dangerous business, existing here.

"Twilight is okay though, isn't she?"

"Yes. As are the other close friends of the Princess."

"Well, that's a relief."

"But I might as well add that you...won't be flying anymore."

The words shouldn't have hurt after hearing all she had before, perhaps the relief that the other Element bearers were alive and well had restored some happiness. If pirates were cruel, Shanks was a great pirate...of all the things to say. Now.

But it just couldn't be true. She looked at her left wing, and it was fine. She moved to see her right and nothing seemed amiss. Shanks looked her in the eyes and explained.

"Buggy got you. Near the end of the battle. When you fell, so did everything else. Twilight is a good leader, but she's inexperienced here. I advised her not to underestimate Buggy."

"It doesn't seem like Twilight to underestimate anything," Rainbow replied with a growing choke in her throat, "but what does that have to do with my wings? With me...flying?"

"She has led her crew into many dangers, but even great captains can't protect their nakama all the time. This time, you took a knife in the back. Under your wing, you might be able to feel the bandages when the numbness goes away."

Now her heart was beating fast, racing at the thought that she might not be able to do things like race ever again. She knew this wouldn't be a recreational trip, knew dangers were going to be around every other corner, but she never thought any of it could happen to her. And if she was being honest, the great many deaths aside, it was hardly ever real, until now.

"We're no expects, but we know when something is beyond repair. I'm afraid your right wing will never support flight again."

That was when the tears really started coming down.

"Oh Celestia.........."

Shanks sat quietly, looking at her, doing his thinking with a somber face.

"Why............I..."

He took his arm and placed it around her neck, sitting down on the bed beside her and holding her because no one else could. It was a Captain's job to protect their nakama, and though she was Twilight's nakama by technicality, she was also a guest on his ship. Her friends would bring comfort to her when she needed it most, but there was something else that needed to be done first.

"Why am I...so selfish? Ponies died......and I'm crying......over myself. Twilight is there....knocked out....fighting for her health....and I'm crying over a stupid thing like flying....."

"It's never easy to lose something you're attached to."

"D-Did you...feel this way over your arm?"

Shanks actually smiled, and for a split second, the tears had nowhere to go; his answer, and the smile with it, evaporated the sadness, even if for only a moment.

"No."

"No?"

"No. Because I gave it up for a worthy cause. Just like you. Your friends were in peril, and you stepped up to save them. You took a knife in the back, but would you rather it was Fluttershy? Or Rarity? Perhaps young Spike? Does flying really mean so much to you?"

The tears came back to her, but the sadness was diluted. Something in his speech was healing her. Somewhere, he had a very good point. She wanted more of it. And he obliged with a small smile, and a warm voice.

"I was a left hand man. I was on par with swordsmen like "Hawk-Eyes" Mihawk. I was a fantastic duelist. But I gave it up, because if I hadn't, someone very special would've been killed. When I compare my once greatest strength to all the warmth and delight and inspiration that person has brought into the world, especially after I saved him....then my arm means nothing. Flying is special to you. Understandable. But if circumstances were different, it may have gone into Pinkie Pie's neck. Or Applejack's heart. So smile and be glad. Be thankful you could take a knife for them, so they can make your life and the lives of everyone around them better. Smile because things so silly as arms or flying aren't worth crying over."

The tears didn't stop, neither of them truly expected them to right away, but Rainbow Dash felt it in her heart. Something inside was changing; Shanks was right, things were going to be different, but they didn't have to be worse. There was room for more tears, but right now the two most pressing things on Rainbow's mind where doubt, and curiosity.

"So..." She asked with a sniffle and a fresh run of tears, "If I can't fly anymore, how do I continue to protect my friends?"

"That's a question only you can answer. We all protect each other in different ways. If you can't do it by flying, find yourself a new power. Use what you still have to the utmost, and be there when your friends need you, however you can be."

"I want to protect my friends like you do."

"Then you're in luck. Your teacher is almost ready. When Twilight wakes up, we're setting sail to meet with him. Haki isn't an easy thing to learn, not in the amount of time you're going to have, but it is an excellent way to protect your friends."

"Good."

They sat for a moment together, admiring the magic of the moment. But she couldn't resist asking him one more question when he finally did run his fingers through her mane and rough up her head before stepping away.

"Wait! That person....that you gave your arm for...who was he?"

Shanks smiled brightly, but kept his back to her as he answered, "I wish I knew who he was right now...it would be nice to see him grown. But I can't forsake what I know he will be."

"What does that mean?" She begged as he got closer to the door.

"It means that I can't break a promise, just to re-unite with the future Pirate King."

As the ponies rushed into the medical room, Benn Beckman and Shanks were joined by Yasopp and Lucky Roo.

"It's confirmed...the old man will meet them on that island. But what will we do?" Yasopp asked.

"Well...no need to let them worry about these things just yet. Let them learn to defend themselves first," Beckman replied.

"I agree," Shanks added, "Whatever is going on behind the scenes...be it the World Government, another Emperor...or maybe even something else entirely, let's let them learn to overcome failure before we push them into even tougher things."

"It won't be easy to keep those challenges away from them. As soon as they finish training, pirates, bounty hunters, and Marines of all sorts will be tailing them...not just because of the new bounties," Beckman reasoned.

"True...heh...360,000,000....that's bigger than mine was for over ten years," Yasopp spoke, lament and admiration within his voice, "I wonder if the world will buy it. Buggy's not much of a Warlord, and pirates with far lower bounties can stand up to Vice Admirals."

"There's also association with us," Beckman reminded his crew mate.

"Look at Jack...his bounty is bigger than any of yours, he's an Emperor's lackey any way you put it. The people might fear them, but the ones coming after them won't. It'll just get them riled up. We best try to take the heat off of them. They're more important than we are, after all," Shanks advised.

"Yeah. But you know, I wonder...if you had to choose between Luffy and Twilight..."

"Stop joking, Yasopp," Beckman scolded.

"Who would I pick? Hard to tell...but I'd give my life for either of them," Shanks said, "Without a second thought."

"Doesn't matter right now," Lucky Roo said from behind his bone of meat, "we're sailing smooth. There's a long ways to go yet."

The four maneuvered below deck and Beckman poured them all sake cups in the galley. The cook himself gave them a bottle from a hidden compartment.

"All that's left now, is to tell Twilight when she wakes up," Yasopp summed up, "the rest of her crew will be glad to see her up and about."

"It will lessen the sting, but won't change the reality around them. Three hard losses. Three points at the edge of destruction. They'll come to rely on us as even more of a crutch if they don't do well with the Old Man."

He handed Lucky Roo and Yasopp cups, took his own, and left the bottle for his captain.

"To a time of splendid hard work then," Shanks made the toast.

They clanged the cups together and all drank, and if anyone enjoyed it more than the Red-Haired captain, none could prove it.

It took a couple days longer than it did for Rainbow Dash, but Twilight finally awoke. The crummy feeling in her stomach wasn't entirely the residual effects of the poison, she realized, but the fact that she had a bad habit, if not a vice, for losing badly. She was no pirate by nature, these challenges were far from academic...but she thought she'd fare better, frankly. This was not a pleasant case of deja vu...but there were far worse things than waking up to see her friends after a long, lonely sleep.

"...so...how bad was it this time?" Twilight asked with a wry smile.

"Went off without a hitch...except for the ship...more ponies lost..." Rainbow explained.

"Oh," She muttered, retracting the dry humor, "well, the ship was just wood.....our friends knew the dangers...we'll have to work harder to prevent the rest of us some meeting the same ending..."

"But it wasn't all bad," Fluttershy put forward, attempting to put a patch of optimism on the glum moment, "whatever we did, we did something right...the map, it changed."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, not sure how "good" was used to apply to a map that acted like a painting mid-completion.

"Take a look for yourself," Pinkie said, holding up the map in front of her with a smile which infected the others quickly.

To her immense amazement, the map was no longer a contorted, incomplete picture, though it retained many of these elements. But now, it sported a fine red line slowly weaving its way across the brown seas, cycling in action until they progressed far enough. It was leading them somewhere now. And that made Twilight forget all about what had happened to her.

This enigmatic piece of parchment had caused so much mental frustration; where in the world Celestia could've forge or gotten it from was beyond Twilight's imagination, but now that it was acting like a proper navigational tool, things were really beginning to turn her day around.

"Amazing!"

Twilight practically jumped out of the bed, but the dizzying effects made her swoon right back into it. Applejack and Pinkie helped her get settled again and Fluttershy brought forward a (very soft) drink.

"It is a refreshing bit of news, isn't it? Rairty asked, giving the biggest smile she'd put on in a good while.

"it's wonderful!" Twilight corrected, "After losing so much so many times, falling into traps and blunders and problems of all kinds..."

"Well, things are looking a lot better now," Applejack cut her off, "we have a map that works like a map!"

"It even led us to this!" Spike exclaimed, unable to contain the excitement straining his patience, holding up the second surprise of a burlap sack that was waterlogged and weathered down to patchy fabric in some places.

"That's..."

"It is!" Spike confirmed happily, "Shanks himself made sure....it's a devil fruit."

He pulled the pink orb from the sack, discarding the burlap and holding up the swollen ball with an odd pattern across the skin. It wasn't quite a perfect circle, and who could tell how the water may have affected it, but it was the most unusual looking fruit any could imagine. They all watched it bathe in the sunlight, still dripping a little sea water onto the wooden floor.

"So who gets to eat it!?" Pinkie asked with an excitement only Pinkie Pie could tap into.

"Twilight is the Captain of our crew, and a Princess, we shouldn't forget. She should eat it," Fluttershy suggested.

"H-Hang on...I'm not even sure I want it. I mean, it would be nice, but...now that I'm looking at one...the risks..." She turned away and rubbed her temple soothingly. Of all the surprises after an injury...

"Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to let her have it..until she heals up a bit," Rarity reasoned.

"Can we really keep Pinkie from eating it that long?" Spike asked with some concern as he passed the fruit over to Rainbow, all the while Pinkie scooted closer to the beautiful fruit.

"Maybe Fluttershy should eat it," Applejack spoke her mind.

"Why me?" Fluttershy inquired, backing up a step in anxiety.

"Well, I figure if we all have to get stronger, we might as well get the, er, least battle-experienced the better tools. Right? Shanks can't carry us forever."

"A valid thought," Rarity figured, "but perhaps not the right one. Ultimately though, Fluttershy is correct in that it must be Twilight's decision."

The Princess quietly groaned in the bed. A decision like this to make at a time like this...not a good combination. But now they were all staring at her, seeking her wisdom, and unable to turn away without an answer. Oh well...

"Somepony has to have it, right?" Twilight reasoned, more to herself than any of her friends, "I mean...we are going to have the chance to learn Haki soon, but you can use both powers...but then there are risks...Shanks and his crew won't touch fruits....hmmm..maybe nopony should have it after all."

Pinkie was taking this turn the hardest, but they all kept watching her, studying her reasoning process until she realized she was going in circles with this debate; sometimes the best decisions were snap decisions, even if there was a factor of randomization to it. Finally, she declared her ruling.

"OK...this is what we'll do, spread the word to the rest of the crew. Whoever finds a fruit can choose to eat it, or pass it on to somepony else. Who found it?"

The floor was given to Spike, who stepped forward, once again in possession of the orb of sheer, unknown power. He was shaking now that the reality was dawning on him, and Twilight couldn't blame him for it.

"I-I fished it out on the deck with Lucky Roo," he told Twilight.

"Okay, so what's it going to be, Spike? It's your call to make now."

Back in Equestria, Twilight wouldn't have given a second thought to refusing Spike a danger like this, but in her role of protecting Equestria, and at the same time her friends, she was thrust into difficulty situations. Shanks himself told them the only way to survive was to adapt, and if the way of adapting was to take on a power with a curse, then it seemed they'd take the curse; surely it was preferable to dying with all hope for their home.

Meanwhile, Spike only looked dumbfounded, both in awe and curious of the fruit's power, but cautious of it all the same. He began to stutter a reply as Applejack and Rainbow held Pinkie at bay.

"Patience is a good thing," Twilight told her assistant, "but so is promptness. You don't always have all the time in the world to-"

Spike grabbed the fruit firmly and thrust his face into it, taking a large bite and ripping it right off the pink body. Twilight smiled and the others watched on eagerly as he munched on it, dropping the fruit as he swallowed it and holding his stomach and turning a new shade of green.

"Spike!? Are you alright?" Rarity asked, putting her hoof on his back as he covered his mouth.

After a period of low, rumbling gurgles, the unease was lessened somewhat as Spike spoke up at last.

"It tastes awful....like mold and....blegh..."

He covered his mouth again, and things seemed to be calming down. Now it was just a matter of time to see what would happen to him.

He seemed to be regaining his bearings, standing to full height again and watching himself, moving his fingers and legs, blinking and sniffing the air. He kept on for a minute, then shrugged, feeling no different than he had before he took the bite. And then the others back away as his whole body began shaking uncontrollably, and fear entered his eyes like it scarcely had before.

"Spike!?" Twilight moved towards her assistant with fervor.

"W-What's happening to me?!?" He panicked, shaking like a tornado was ravaging him from the inside.

"SPIKE!!"

"Just to be clear," Buggy advised those gathered in the meeting room aboard his flagship, "I didn't let them get away."

"Of course not," One of the sailors replied, "that was never in doubt."

"It's all a brilliant plan to catch them later, right?"

"No," another jumped in, "it's even better than that. He's working on a grand plan to catch and destroy them all."

The pirates continued their speculation of the clown captain's plots, while Mr. 3 and Alvida had a quiet discussion off to the side.

"It was a miracle you escaped alive...what were you thinking? Taking on the Yonko Shanks like that?" Alvida demanded.

"I was profoundly against it from the start."

"This kind of thing isn't going to fly. We may be operating under his name, but this is still technically the 'Buggy-Alvida' Alliance."

"I wonder if they'll let this one go? If he ends up doing nothing about it and moving onto something else, will they forget it?" Galdino wondered.

"Doesn't matter. If either of you had bothered to ask what I had been doing while I was away, you'd know this actually wasn't the stupidest thing he's ever done."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I made contact with the World Government as Buggy's representative while you two were running wild...they've called for a strategic conclave, all the Warlords are going to be attending. Seems this strange crew of mishaps sailing with Red Hair have a big target on their backs. Your experience against them will improve our standing as a Warlord's crew. With another vacant spot from Doflamingo's dismissal, it's a great chance..."

"What are you getting at, exactly?"

"Well, down the line....we might try to do it again. More organized, more ruthlessly, and more better equipped to get the job done. It'll all come down to timing."

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"So...what's the verdict?" Shanks wondered.

"It doesn't match the picture perfectly....maybe something happened to it before we got it...but it looks like the 'Time-Time Fruit: Self Model'...capable of changing the user's physical and mental abilities based on growth or rewinded aging," Twilight recited, putting the book down on the stand beside the bed. Quite fortunate that for a crew of non-Devil Fruit eaters, they had a Fruit Encyclopedia.

"I've only seen a handful of pirates consume Devil Fruits, and I've never seen this. He seems to be doing well. We'll keep a close eye on him," Shanks promised, leaving the very same bed Twilight had occupied just hours ago, now in use by a semi-conscious Spike. The Princess trailed after him, and more ponies and humans fanned out after their captains.

"I'm gonna bake something special for when he wakes up, see you later, Twi," Pinkie bade farewell.

"I look forward to it," Twilight returned, then shifted her focus to Shanks beside her, "...Did I make the right call?"

Shanks chuckled, "If you keep asking me what's right and wrong you won't learn to tell for yourself."

"I can't help it," Twilight complained, "back home, I could usually tell. I wasn't perfect mind you, but everything was clearer. I led my friends through a lot of dangers, but we always managed to come out OK...but now we're in the unknown. After what's happened to Rainbow and Spike, I just..."

"You're doing good."

Twilight took a moment to fight back what she wanted to say, now that the crimson haired swordsman had so effortlessly assuaged her argument.

"Thank you," She said at last.

"Doubts come and go with the waves. Stand with your friends and they stand by you."

"I know, and I'm so thankful for that. I just...I feel like we repeat the same mistakes, like I don't learn."

"That's usually a sign you're learning faster than you realize."

"Do you read self-help books secretly?" Twilight teased, "You've always got something wise and proverbial to say."

"I used to be almost as hopeless as you," He teased back.

"In any case," She rebutted with a renewed smile, "I'm sure we wouldn't have made it this far without you. But we need a ship. We need to be organized, now that we know where we're going, we need to focus on what we need to do."

"You're right, it's time to focus on what you need to do. But first, we should clarify where it is you're going."

"What do you mean?"

"You asked my man to steer the wrong way."

"Huh? What are you talking about? The map was clear which way to go."

"I'm not following your map, I'm following mine; your teacher is an old friend of mine, and he's in the opposite direction. He's been preparing for our arrival....and don't worry, he's not a clown."

"So...we're finally going to learn to defend ourselves properly. That is good...but this really would have been ideal had it happened before we ran into Buggy."

"You're worried your map will become unreadable again, isn't that so?"

"If I could just figure out how it works, I wouldn't be so worried....but have you considered that maybe the end is right before us? I know it wouldn't make much sense, to have the answer hidden in plain view, so easily accessible, but...I don't know if I can risk letting our only guide in this world turning against us again. And if we run into trouble, you'll be there to protect us while we finish this adventure."

"Or maybe the end is so far out of sight you won't make it a quarter of the way as you are now, despite my help."

"That might be....but I don't know which gamble to take."

"..."

"Do I go to the right, where there may be nothing left, or do I go the left where nothing seems right?"

"...That sounded like the hook of a self-help book."

"I used to be even more hopeless," Twilight admitted, but quickly lost the tinge of humor along with it.

She waited for him to pull out another of his amazing fixes, something key she was missing or not familiar with, but he just stood there, under the setting sun, silently admiring the view with her. These moments were perhaps the hardest of all, where he said nothing whatsoever.

So they stayed unmoved and unspoken for a time, Pinkie's baking putting an aromatic spell in the air. And for a second, Twilight thought that this time, silence was an acceptable answer. Her thoughts were streaming through so clearly in the perfect atmosphere. The decisions were tough to make, but the speed at which she analyzed her thoughts and came up with new ones was as impressive as it had been.

That didn't make for a flawless brainstorm, but the choice to take was soon clear. It was very wishful thinking to believe that the key to solving the mystery she'd been sent after was right in front of her. And if Buggy was someone who relied on luck instead of skill to conquer, then even a modest threat who managed to get by the Red Hair Pirates would obliterate them. And if the map became useless again, they'd just have to find the key to making it clear.

Before she knew it, the moon was out and Shanks was gone, but his echoing voice led her to the party unfolding on the deck. She made sure to stop by the wheel before joining in the festivities and belay her prior orders. To the teacher they went, to learn to become strong.

When she found a spot next to Shanks, she took a slice of Pinkie's cake first and notified him of her agreement with his assessment.

"Glad you solved it," Shanks greeted with a lightly flustered smile, "Make the night more worth celebrating!"

He had somehow slyly planned it all out to unfold like this. She was ninety percent sure of it.

"I look forward to beginning the training, but I think we should stop off and get a few things...a new ship would be nice. I'm never sure if I'm taking an alcoholic drink or not on this one."

Shanks laughed.

"Besides...the man at the wheel doesn't listen to me on this ship."

The laughing all around her grew more jovial, and she soon joined in. Tomorrow's worries were for tomorrow. She wished she'd learned that a while ago.

Author's Notes:

I've noticed that the last several chapters have been running the same formula, and I'm not OK with that. From here, we shift gears a bit, and I hope you enjoy where I'm steering this thing, cause there's lots more planned.

Oh, and as for Spike's new power....I had switched around many times, I hope I made a good choice. I look forward to having him use it.

Reviews always welcome.

Thank you.
-TBK

8) Island of Despots: The Witch's Eye!

They were sailing away from the path part of Twilight was still begging to follow, but the obvious truth could not be denied, and they had begun treading these waters, there was no going back.

What was acceptable, however, was the necessary stop for food. The cuisine of the Red Force was a bit heartier than most of the ponies could yet tolerate. Additionally, not all of it was edible for the ponies, and with their own supplies lost in the battle with Buggy, they were in desperate need of a restocking. In fact, with two crews inhabiting the same ship, it was really getting crowded; it would be grand to find another ship, but this far into the New World, there weren't many places to buy ships, rather, there were plenty of places to lose the ones you already had.

But as it happened, one such rare place was not too far from the current path, and Shanks ordered the side stop. At the worst, it was a couple days off schedule, and that was factoring in the time to acquire supplies and, if available, a new ship for the Equestrian Pirates. It seemed like a pretty good deal, all things considered. And perhaps more hopeful than that, despite getting farther away from the place they needed to be, the map had not yet turned its back on them.

The only real dampening part of the day thus far were the gathering storm clouds overhead.

"Will we make it to the island before we run into the worst of that?" Twilight asked both Benn Beckman and Rainbow Dash, who were having a chat at the railing of the deck.

"Well, if the weather here works mostly the same as it does at home-"

"You'd be surprised," Beckman muttered under his breath.

"Then I'd say....we should reach the town just as we make into the eye of the storm. But we're still going to get tossed around a bit before that. It looks like a pretty big one. Bigger than almost any I've seen."

"We can handle it," the Red Hair pirates vice captain confirmed, "We've been through worse before."

There was a slight pause, and then he continued.

"But we should get prepared all the same. I'll have the men starting on that."

"Feel free to tell my crew to chip in," Twilight called after him as he strode away, wondering if that was how a good captain would do her part.

From this distance it looked rather fascinating. Twilight recalled fondly all she knew about storms and how they affected the seas. Equestrians usually didn't earn their sea legs, but there was a time when Shining Armor was rather fond of pirates, and from his admiration, Twilight found a small interest as well. How ironic that she would end up a pirate herself. She certainly wouldn't have ever imagined it as a filly.

"So," Rainbow started up with an awkward clearing of her throat, the fine red scar running through her cerulean coat becoming more and more noticeable as the days went by, "I don't suppose you know anything about this teacher? I figured the egg head underneath the Princess and the Pirate would be curious about that kind of thing," She joked with a slight smile.

"Well, actually...I wasn't wholly committed to the idea. I'm really still not. But I know this is right. We need to learn."

"Yeah, I was hoping maybe...you had some...pointers?"

"Pointers? About haki?"

"Yeah."

"Actually, well, I haven't used it. I've...I've tried but, I can't seem to grasp it. You should ask Applejack though."

"I did, but she's not quite sure how it happened in that sparing match. I didn't even see it, I wasn't in there."

"Well, I'm sure the teacher Shanks has lined up will be able to teach us all a lot."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I should just do my best to be prepared."

"Mighty egg head-ish of you," Twilight joked back.

They shared a smile, and then Twilight's attention was instantly hooked by Pinkie Pie from the entrance to the hull.

"Twilight! Twilight and Rainbow, come quick! Spike's up!!"

They shared another quick glance, and ran to meet Pinkie, then the three mares hurried down to find the baby dragon, just rising out of the bed, and looking well rested and relieved to be awake.

"Heh...what's the world coming to? Of all the lousy...why I never believed the Government could make such a mistake."

"Well, supposedly, they're with Red Hair."

"But look at them!" The first man protested, throwing down the small pile of wanted posters. Chief among them, and marred by many lines from being crumpled up and reopened many times, bore the name Twilight Sparkle, with a bounty of 360,000,000 berries.

Across the table flew posters with other names and hand drawn pictures of these horse-like creatures:

APPLEJACK 100,000,000

RAINBOW DASH 120,000,000

RARITY 100,000,000

PINKIE PIE 100,000,000

FLUTTERSHY 90,000,000

"It seems like a bad joke, I'll give you that...but if it happens to be true. No known origins, a sudden connection to a Yonko, and the defeat of a Warlord.....it would definitely warrant a bounty jump so incredibly high."

"A first bounty at over 300,000,000...this captain better be something really amazing."

"They honestly don't have to be," A woman said, joining them with another stack of wanted posters and adding them to the collection on the knife-hole ridden table.

YASSOP 400,000,000

ROCKSTAR 500,000,000

LUCKY ROO 535,000,000

BEN BECKMANN 880,000,000

SHANKS 1,575,000,000

"No matter who or what these new pirates are, and no matter where they came from or what their capacity is...if they can sail with these men, then we can't question the numbers," the woman added.

She sat down with her two male cohorts and poured half of her bottle into their empty cups.

The bar around them was filled with noise that somehow made their conversation all the more clear; the heavy scent of stale food and an overabundance of alcohol in the tavern was almost like a barrier. The rest of the bar was living life without a second thought, but these three looked grimly at the posters, as if realizing that they were proof of the end of the world.

"We can't hope to get to them if it turns out they're with a Yonko's crew," the more complacent and calm mannered man admitted.

"Damn. Of all the pirates to side with," the more complaint-prone pirate muttered.

"At the moment, we'll just have to wait and see if they live, try to pick off weaker pirates," the woman agreed, "I'm sure groups like us are meeting all around the New World right now. Looking at these images, sharing these words. Life's funny that way."

"Well, someone go back to the board and find someone else to target," The impatient man said, downing the rest of his cup.

"I'll go...I'm starving anyways," the woman said as she departed.

"Heh...at least some things won't ever change. That's Bonney for you."

For the trouble the devil fruit had caused him, you couldn't tell Spike was any different today. Twilight had brought him a keepsake from Equestria, a gem he'd been saving for a rather special occasion. She was sure waking up from a mysterious coma qualified, and present the young drake with the large ruby at dinner that night. He was just now bringing it to his lips, looking up at Twilight with the same happy and trusting look he'd given her when she hatched him all those years ago.

"I was really scared when things started going black...but now everything is different. I feel better than I ever have, but I can't figure out how to work this power...I can't even tell anything has changed, except in how different everything seems inside. Does that make sense?"

Spike had been going on and on about his experience with the devil fruit for over an hour, but Twilight was enthralled all the same. Were it anypony or anyone she knew less well, she might judge them for being over-talkative and too excited for their own good. Like Pinkie Pie gone on a sugar rush, Celestia forbid. But this was Spike, by rights and by time's judgement, her little brother. She could never get tired of what he had to say, especially when she thought she might never hear him again when he faded out and dropped the fruit for the first time.

"I look forward to seeing what you can do now...and I know you'll be a big help to us," Twilight replied, stepping away from her inner thoughts for a moment, "I was more than a little scared when you showed yourself for the first time. But I'm glad you're here now."

"I'm glad I can finally be useful," Spike returned, moving the gem away for a moment, "I couldn't fight, I couldn't get a word out to Princess Celestia...I was just a burden."

"No. You did your best, and that's what you always do. An assistant who does his best is never a burden."

"I'm glad you feel that way..." He almost wanted to slap himself across the face for asking, but he couldn't resist it, "You..you really mean that right?"

She smiled so warmly he moved his claw to do just that, but she grabbed it before he could finish it, and she moved the gem towards him instead.

"You know it. I don't give gems out just to be nice.....not outside of Equestria anyways."

He smiled and sniffed the tears back in, and happily devoured the gemstone and took in all that it meant. It was a sign of trust and admiration, and of gratitude. It was exactly what he was afraid he hadn't been earning, and it was the best possible time to receive it.

"Just be careful you don't fall overboard. Ever," Twilight warned.

"I'll have to be careful about sea stone too...that's what the weapon you stole is made of, you know," Spike said between crunchy bites.

"I did figure that out, I'll keep it away from you."

He seemed a bit too focused on savoring the last of the gem on his pallet, and there was no rush to put him on a strict regiment just because there were a few new hazards. Hopefully he'd learn all he could about using these new powers soon though. Much as she hoped otherwise, her gut was telling her something was going to be going wrong, sooner rather than later. For now, though, she settled herself into the meal, and laughed and talked and even sang with the others.

And it was at this time she decided she liked being a pirate almost as much as she did a student, a librarian, or a Princess. Almost.

Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep........bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep......bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep

Something in the dark finally stirred.

Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep....... bedep bedep bedep bedep - CLANK

"This is Angler."

"Any update?"

"Oh my, the Thief himself. Targets approaching. Multiple suspicions confirmed."

"Baltigo?"

"Not yet."

"We're not going to screw this one up. Are you in position?"

"Of course."

"Then just play your part. The Wild Card is up next, currently, Admiral Kizaru is on deck."

"Pardon my saying so, but...isn't that rushing it?"

"...We'll see what happens."

"Understood."

"Keep that Transponder Snail handy."

"Yeah."

"Righteous Thief out."

CLANK

Angler resumed his position. And then he waited.

"It's not much of a commotion, or rather, the tussle seems to be dying down, but I thought I'd let you know all the same," Applejack reported.

Since the destruction of the Star, and the loss of her regular duties, Applejack had been finding other ways to occupy herself. Being away from home was probably very hard on somepony so connected to her family. Twilight knew this wasn't the first late night shift she'd volunteered for since the transition to the Red Force, nor would it be her last.

"No, it's fine," Twilight replied, yawning into her hoof as the fire came into view in the distant darkness.

In the midst of the darkness, hidden behind the waves and the rush of the sea, a blaze was raging and it was not going to be stopped until at least one wreck of a ship was sent below. It seemed as though there were only two ships present, but even with a spy glass it was difficult to tell from this distance and in the veil of shadows, not to mention the storm which was overlooking everything, like an eager bully smiling down on two young kids.

"Well...I hate to leave anyone in need, but this is really none of our business. It would probably be best to just pass by and let whatever happens happen."

Was that what she really believed? Being a pirate, even for the sake and safety of her home, came at a cost. For all the freedoms she saw, she found just as many chains coiling around that younger and more naive Twilight in the Golden Oaks library. It wasn't a question of if she would be judged for these kinds of things, it was by whom...and she didn't want to know the answer yet. Every step in this journey was another piece of evidence for or against her.

"I was always taught to help those in need...but I can respect that decision. 'Sides, it doesn't look like anyone's asking for help," Applejack added her own sense to the matter.

"Exactly," Twilight agreed, grateful she wasn't alone in her opinion on the matter, "But keep an eye out. If anything changes, come get me again. Best not to take chances, we don't want the risk."

"Will do, thanks Twilight."

She was just stepping back down into the darkness when a desperate sound reached above the waves and the seas and the raging flames of battle.

The frantic bell that was screaming like a scared filly in the night was an unmistakable cry for help.

"Looks like I stand corrected," Applejack said as he ran to get a party together.

"I'll fly us over, but have somepony take a row boat as well!" Twilight ordered.

"Roger!"

Perhaps to give the distressed party some relief, or maybe just because she wanted to be as prepared as possible, in case this wasn't as clean and clear cut a situation as it seemed, she shot a flare of bright light over the waters. The dark waters became tinted with purple for a moment, and the flames on the ravaged ship became more clear. If she saw the victims more clearly, the aggressors lost what humanity they had in the glow, becoming more monstrous and blood-thirsty somehow. She quickly ran an assessment of the battle, and formulated the plan.

The first thing to do was put out the flames, easily enough done. The second priority had to lie in stopping the fighting. It was a nasty world on the seas, but it was worth a shot to try and quell the conflict. Better to engage it on your own terms too. If there was a deeper reason for the fighting, it might be better to acknowledge it as soon as possible. No sense in engaging without the intent to do anything less than completely stop the attack.

"I'm taking the boat!" Rainbow called as she jumped into the smaller vessel as let it fly down to the waves.

"Alright!" Applejack called with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and several other ponies; Ben Beckmann was also with them, but seemed to be on more of an observational capacity for the Red Hair Pirates. Or maybe he was always this stoic and reserved, that wouldn't really surprise.

He seemed more than a little uneasy when Twilight gathered them together and created an orb around them, lifting them through the air and sailing through the sky towards the ringing bell and the blazing flames. He did grow quickly accustomed to it though, and was the first of them to raise his voice as they drew nearer.

"Your heart is still soft. It's fine to help others when they need it, but if you go crusading to help everyone, you'll only end up killing yourself."

The clanging bell was cut short this time, and Twilight swallowed hard as the burning ship was becoming more real and ever closer.

"We just happened on them, and it sounds like they need help to me," Twilight returned, shooting them towards the deck a little faster.

They landed in the shadows of chaos, the fire having blackened the now lifeless bow of the ship, but the bell near the wheel caught a ray of dashed moonlight, and Twilight saw the specs of blood splattered on it. She noticed all too late the blade that was also shining ominously in th scattered moon beams, and lowering into her skull. By the time she eyed the blade, it was already being re-directed into the water, and the attacker was completely at Beckman's mercy.

"More invaders!?" Someone screamed.

"Who are these pirates??" Someone else shrieked, and subsequently gurgled with the sound of falling overboard.

"Douse the fire, or we'll all sink!" Twilight ordered, which elicited a smile from the Red Hair Pirates' Vice Captain, prompting a follow up, "What's funny!?"

The ponies scattered into small teams, the unicorns lighting the way and providing eyesight of the defenders and attackers. The defenders were pirates, no doubt about it, and gravely outnumbered, but it could have been that they were the ones who started the conflict and couldn't finish it. Either way, the fight was over, it was all a matter of saving lives now. Punishment was due in some form, she was sure, but killing was...rarely the necessary step. This surely couldn't be any different.

Benn Beckman suddenly brought the butt of his rifle down to the darkness besides them, and another pirate fell over, bleeding heavily from his mouth and nose, "Nothing...just interesting to see you work."

Twilight decided she was a little too occupied to answer back, and began channeling spouts of sea water onto the flame ridden deck, aided by a few other unicorns while Applejack, Fluttershy, and co. went to work on separating the fighting groups. Beckman seemed to stay true to his position as an observer, merely lending a hand when somepony was backed into a corner, or acting when a pirate was going after him; it wasn't long before the aggressors decided that was not a smart thing to do.

Before long, the weakened defenders were completely behind the ponies and Beckman, while the standing attackers looked apprehensive about engaging the new line of protection. They eyed Beckman with extreme reverence, and Twilight distinctly heard the words "Yonko" and "Red-Hair" used in their whispers. She was met with much more curiosity, but a couple of them seemed to recognize her. Pony pirates were becoming a more usual sight in the New World, or so she was led to believe by their behavior, and she wasn't sure she liked that.

"You've clearly defeated these pirates. But you don't have to slaughter them. Let them come with us, and be on your way," She reasoned.

A man with a black bowl cut, a very round and large nose, quite like Buggy's, but less comically natural and of normal coloration (plus gut to match) stepped forward, into the light of unicorn magic glow.

"I am Mu, leader of the envoy you stand against. Leave these scum be and hand them over to us....Beast Wizard."

Beast Wizard? Was this a name she would be known as? It was very disappointing next to names as simple as "Red Hair"....Beast Wizard. That had to go. Definitely.

Another man stepped forward beside Mu, this one was much skinnier and slightly taller, had a very block-like and rectangular nose, and wild hair on the sides of his head, but a buzz cut in the middle, "Rari, second in command."

Then a third, "Kari, vice-vice captain."

Kari was the tallest, but halfway between being as fat as Mu and skinny as Rari, and his nose was most akin to a triangle. He was bald, with a tattoo of a bulldog on the side of his head.

"Mu, Rari, Kari....I'm afraid I have to stop you. I won't let you shed anymore blood tonight."

"You can't do that!" Kari burst out.

"I can. Take them into the boat!" Twilight ordered.

The bleeding and heaving pirates were escorted into the boat Rainbow had just noisily rammed into the half burnt ship, and Applejack and one of the taller crew members in the party stepped beside Twilight to match the three stooges standing opposite to them.

"Thank you...stranger..." One of the retreating pirates said with happy tears in his eyes as he hurried down into the row boat.

"Just a minute!" Mu shouted, "do you know who we are?"

"Sure they do!" Kari answered.

"Shut up and let them answer, stupid!" Mu scolded, slapping his larger partner upside the chin.

"How could they not know us?" Rari asked, the rhetoric being lost upon his partners, each of whom walloped a side of his face, and he dropped to his knees thereafter.

"...Should we know you?" Twilight asked.

"Of course!" Mu answered.

"We're famous in local waters!" Kari added.

"Feared by men, women, and children of all ages!" Rari topped off.

"We are the one and only...the mighty....San Baka Kaizoku!"

"...The...Three Idiot Pirates?" Twilight parroted.

"Clearly the irony is lost on her," Rari told his partners, both of whom nodded in agreement.

"We don't have time for your nonsense, and we've ended this fight. Go back to where ya'll came from!" Applejack told them.

"Nonsense? Nonsense she says!" Mu told his group, disappointment written all over his face, "How's that for you? We try and be decent-like and get told off by this of all things!"

"That's enough!" Twilight spoke up with a betrayal of temper, noticing Ben Beckmann's mix of amusement and impatience, "You're going to let this go, and that's that."

"How do we let it go? They've already gone!" Rari pointed to the waters, and Twilight could vaguely hear the laughter of deceit vanishing with the mists and air bubbles floating to the surface.

When she realized they had been fooled at Rainbow Dash's expense, she divided the waters over 30 feet deep, where Fluttershy and a pegasus pirate flew to rescue their compatriot. While most of the ponies hovered over Rainbow as she let out a distressed fit of coughing, Beckmann gazed into the dark mist, then closed his eyes. By the time Rainbow had finished and was nodding to Twilight's questions, he opened them again and spoke his mind.

"We were duped."

"...I know," Twilight replied.

"They all got in and before I could get a few rows away then hit me over the head and dumped me over the side," Rainbow recalled, "...there's no way we can track them down?"

"They're a bit far off now...besides I want to let them go," Beckmann answered.

"A smarter move than I made."

It was here the Three made their presence known again.

"Hold up!" Mu questioned, "you want to let them go?"

"Just like that?" Kari followed up.

"We'd heard rumors the island in these waters where strong-wood ships were being made had gone to hell....I had a hunch this was a result of that," Beckman told them.

"That it is," Mu answered, scratching his chin in a way a wise old man would, "We're not pirates by trade you see, little known fact...we used to build ships."

"'Till our town got overrun by a gang of mare-do-wells," Kari explained, drawing confused looks from the ponies.

"It's na're-do-wells, baka!" Mu corrected with a jump and a slap upside the face.

Kari whimpered and closed his eyes before risking a slap in return. Mu dragged Rari by the hair and moved his face into the perfect position, causing the middle man to be knocked on his butt again and grab his hair screaming from the attacks on all sides. Mu chuckled and Kari joined in, causing Mu to try again, but fail and fall to his face. Rari and Kari then both laughed at their leader, who was about to deliver retaliation when Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Beckmann all cleared their throats loudly.

The trio paused and made truce between themselves, switching back to their explanation.

"We was top rate ship builders, the galleons used to go leagues and leagues," Mu started.

"Down, that is, nyek, nyek, nyek," Kari interrupted.

"Quiet!" Mu threatened another slap, "Anyways....our town was prosperous and happy, and everything was swell. And then one day a raft came in with a couple of bad fellows."

"We didn't know it at the time," Rari picked up, "We took them in and provided them a new ship and supplies to get to the next town. Not one month later and they returned with an army of pirates-"

"Including some of those guys who you stopped us from taking out," Mu interjected, "We tried to fend them off, but we're not pirates or warriors by trade. We got kicked out of our homes and our families were run off...or taken captive."

"Then we owe you an apology...and our regrets that this happened to you," Twilight told them.

"Do you know who these pirates were?" Rainbow asked almost immediately after her captain had finished.

"They were wearing disguises when we took them in, and when we came back none of us saw their faces. Their army made sure we never got close to them. They took over our businesses and started making underground deals. All we know is the name we hear his goons use to speak about him: Fisher." Mu went on.

"We can't get close to our old town now," Kari noted with a plain sadness.

"We're trying, but we can only do raids in the night. If we tried to stand up to them in an open battle we'd be killed for sure," Rari said.

"Well.....if what you say is true, we'll gladly help you free your town of these miscreants," Twilight offered, noting the storm was suddenly growing and getting very close.

"We have ants? Mystery ants? Hey Mu, what's a mystery ant?" Kari asked.

"Baka, she said miscreants, you know, scum!" Mu chided.

"Oh...that sounds nice. Yeah, that really picks me up!" Kari smiled.

"Pipe down!" Mu scolded again, elbowing the taller man in the gut.

"Gentlemen!" Twilight raised her voice, "If you are your men want to stay close by us while we endure the storm, we'll start working out how to get rid of these villains for you...and when that's done, you can craft us a new ship. Do we have a deal?"

The three looked at each other, shaking heads and nodding in an unrecognizable pattern, or perhaps pure random, and finally all nodded towards them in sync, extending their hands. Twilight, Applejack, and Beckman all shook them.

"Very good," Twilight said, smiling at the turnaround of the situation and then turning to frown at the storm growing ever colder and louder in the far distance.

"Hey...it's been a while since we've seen you here!" The bartender greeted a fatigued traveler, who set his bag down and ordered a drink.

"Yeah...been roaming around a lot, passed by on my way to the next stop."

"Busy times, huh?" The bartender asked, putting down the glass he'd been wiping out and getting a cleaner one for his guest.

"In more ways than one."

"Well you're welcome here any time."

"Thanks," The wanderer said, taking his drink and staring in it for a moment before pushing it back, "Can I get some ice in this?"

"Oh, sure thing, sorry," said the bartender, correcting the error.

The traveler took it and drank it all in one gulp, smacking his lips together and savoring the after taste. He then got himself lost in deep thoughts while the bartender catered to the needs of his other customers. Somewhere along his trip down the rabbit hole he was shaken out by a woman who saw him and dropped her mug, spilling her drink.

"Oh my," The traveler noticed, and ordered another for her, "It's on me. For old time's sake."

The woman stayed quiet and stared at the man, like all the others in the candle lit bar. He sighed, and handed over another few coins, "Buy her a leg of meat too."

"...You..." She muttered through her teeth.

"Now, now...let's not get tough on each other...Jewelry Bonney."

The woman grabbed the plate of food and the free drink and scurried back to her table. The man didn't so much as move a muscle for several minutes, recollecting their last meeting only a couple years back. He then stood up rather suddenly and inquired about a room to stay in.

"Yeah, we've got the one you usually use ready to go. I'll walk you up."

"Thank you."

Jewelry Bonney watched the man until he was completely out of sight, and only then dug into her confections.

"You...You know him?" One of her associates asked with respect.

"NO! I....we met once, on Sabaody."

Her friends grinned, but she took no notice. She was still watching the door, just to be sure that person wouldn't come down. She knew she couldn't stay at this bar anymore.

"It's going to delay us," Shanks advised.

"I know, but I think it's worth it...sorry for holding us up that much longer."

"Don't be. Your work here shouldn't come at the cost of taking away who you are."

Strange as it was, Twilight hadn't thought he'd say that. By now she was almost used to thinking in the mindset of expecting the unexpected, but for someone who called himself a criminal and a renegade by his own society's standards...well, that was looking at it all from a very general and impersonal point of view. Shanks was a pirate, but for all it was worth, he was as insightful as Princess Celestia had ever been. She didn't hesitate to confirm that truth to herself. They were very lucky to have found him before anything serious did.

"You're right. Thank you."

He smiled his very Shanks-like smile and asked his next question, "And what of these Three Idiot Pirates?"

He chuckled.

"You like them?"

"I do. I bet their quite fun to drink with."

"Well, they seemed to have handled Fisher's thugs well enough. But still...."

"Don't get into that mindset. Leave the paranoia to someone it suits better...like Ben Beckmann."

As if his insides had warmed at hearing his name, the man himself shot a wry smile to his captain from across the deck.

"Either way...we shouldn't have much of a problem. We just have to flush them out and scare them off," Twilight said.

"It's rarely so simple. But let's stick to simple for now anyways."

"Okay," Twilight agreed.

"Yes sir...it was them...the....ponies."

"The Equestrian Pirates?" Fisher mocked, "Bah...what's the New World come to? Hmmmm...but Akagami no Shanks is with them, as the rumors say."

"Yes sir. We saw Ben Beckmann with our own eyes."

"That complicates things...I need to rethink some things. Leave."

"Of course, Fisher-sir."

When they had gone, the man moved his hand to his hair and leaned back in his chair, looking to the pictures on his wall of possible New World encounters. Right there in the middle were the new posters printed just the other day. Six ponies. Six creatures right out of a fairy tail. It wasn't their appearance that bothered him so...it was their sudden arrival and jumpstart to fame. Like those damn Supernovas....overrated trash. But trash guarded by one of the Four Emperors....

Author's Notes:

Well, this chapter is the start of this story's evolution into something less cut and paste and more...One Piece-ish. I hope so anyways. Oh, I changed the pictured because the previous one, and the one before it, just didn't get as much recognition; the previous version of the story (Emperor's Territory) had a cover picture of Shanks, so I figured I would try to amp up the views with the same technique.

Don't judge me.

ALSO please note that at the current time it is impossible not to diverge from canon in some way, so from here on I'm playing things my way. Don't expect world events to play out like they do in the manga/anime.

I hope you enjoyed, rest assured more is on the way. Thanks for reading, I'll see ya later.

-TBK

9) The Once Peaceful Home: Fisher's Evil

The village Twilight had envisioned was, admittedly, worse off than the real deal.

Though the homes had been plundered and left half opened with gaping wounds, and the shops and stands in the town and at the chaotic docks were abandoned or under constant renovation, the business of the island went on...under different management. Fisher's goons, like those of Smoker and Buggy before him, came in different forms, but Twilight was grateful none of them were giants. So far as they could tell, the natural resources and supplies still being shipped to the island were put to use in the construction of war ships, but there might have been ulterior uses hidden from their view.

Beside her, Mu's hands were almost drawing blood from his own palms. Rari and Kari were both looking down, and she couldn't help notice the streaming tear coming down Rari's face. Benn Beckman was watching many places at once from within the brush, and Rainbow, who had volunteered to go along with Applejack to get another angle, was making eye contact. Twilight turned her attention were it was being directed.

In the middle of the run down street, full of debris, stood a tall man with a scar running over his eye, longer and deeper than the small scars Shanks bore. Other than that, his image was impeccable, a clean suit and tie, trimmed hair and excellent posture. it was almost as though a mannequin had inserted itself into a human dream. All the same, he had a glare in his eyes, a glare that made Twilight afraid.

"He's the one," Mu accused.

"The one?" Beckman repeated.

"The man who drove us out. The man who dragged our families away screaming in the fiery night. He reports right to Fisher himself," Mu explained.

"I doubt it's as simple as getting to him to get to Fisher though, right?" Twilight asked.

"The way I see it, we won't draw Fisher out until we make enough of a fuss. We three haven't been able to do that yet....but with you lot with us..."

"I can pound him into the dirt," Beckman stated flatly.

"That's good, saves us from having to be pounded in the dirt!" Kari piped in with a slight cheer.

"Quiet..." Mu simmered, though he did not retaliate physically.

"We should probably go to town on those warships too," Rari added.

"Watch the language there," Mu scolded with as much restraint.

"We shouldn't have much of a hard time with that," Twilight offered, "but maybe we could save one...for us?"

"Agreed," The three said in unison.

"So we'll strike tonight?" Twilight asked.

"That works, I need to report back to Shanks," Beckman said.

"OK, it's a plan. A couple hours after dark, we strike!" Mu announced eagerly.

News was that Jewelry Bonny fled town that very same night the wandering man had appeared. That suited him just fine, too much commotion wouldn't do. No point in getting all worked up about the past. Really she should thank him, but oh well. What could one expect of these Supernova youngsters?

He was due to move out the next day, but then he received word of a delay in the form of two young men he knew worked for Red Hair. No use slugging it out in the wild waiting for his new students. So long as everything stayed quiet it would actually be nice. He could spin some story over the transponder snail later on.

And so he found himself laying on a reclining chair, under the bright sun, enjoying the calm buzzing of silence. He would hear in very hushed tones the amazement of passerbyes, but he was not truly bothered until the sun was at its highest point above him. A different sort of man came with the noon heat.

"You...are worth a lot of money, aren't you?"

"Am I?"

"That's right...and seeing as you've practically gifted yourself to me...."

"You wanna fight with me? Not really in the mood."

"You're strong, I know, but so am I, and I'm not alone."

"......Weren't you with Jewelry Bonney last night?"

"She's a coward, but I'm not. We'll take you on and get that bounty reward!"

The reclining man noticed he was indeed surrounded by thugs, each one with a weapon in hand. The man speaking with him curled a large fist and grunted lowly as it lit up red like fire, then turned black as a cannon ball.

"Oh ho. Haki, huh?"

"Surrender or we'll pound you into the dirt."

"You know who I am you say. Then you know this isn't too bright."

"It doesn't matter what you were, what you are now is in trouble!"

Night had fallen, and with it came a lush tropical wind. Fisher's new domain was decently lit by candle and lantern and the occasional bonfire for the perimeter guards to keep warm by. The group of attackers was to be headed up by Twilight and Benn Beckman; Shanks himself had volunteered to investigate, but rumors of the Navy nearby had drawn him away. Some of their men had accompanied him, but most were remaining with the ship. As of now, it was still undetected, but with both captains away, leaving it sit would not do.

The plans had been forged, the patterns of the enemy exposed and studied. Fisher's Lieutenant was, according to the trio, going to be in a meeting at the shipyards tonight. It was the perfect time to take two birds with a single stone, wipe out the warships and capture Fisher's right hand. Ideally, they were to head out as the meeting was commencing and proceed with the ambush when the Lt. was on his way out.

So, as they crawled through the brush and hid within the shadows under the crescent moon, they waited. Everything was going well, the meeting was underway and the figures inside had settled at a table, none of the guard patrols had come close to spotting them. It could not have been a more ideal situation until a dark presence made itself known; was it Fisher himself?

The small dread and anxiety Twilight felt before every challenge had welled up in full force; she hadn't felt this bad since Shanks introduced her to the power of his Conquering King's Haki. She felt cold above all else. The only small relief was short lived: It was not just her, Rainbow and Applejack and even Benn Beckman were shaking themselves, breathing deeply, shivering, rubbing their eyes, or holding their stomachs.

Mu, Rari, and Kari had all fallen down and were unconscious; was it Conqueror's Haki after all? Who could have it to such a degree of potency? Just what was hiding in the dark with them, and how long could they take it? Others were already falling down. Twilight fell into the damp earth and wretched several times. Benn Beckman, who was taking this attack the best, was almost on his knees.

"Get away..." he muttered, and stumbled into a nearby tree trunk.

Twilight fought to move herself, and she slowly rose, but others did not fare as well; Rainbow was out now too, and Applejack was crawling out towards the beaches. Shaky step after shaky step took Twilight farther than most, but now her vision was going past the triple, and she hit something that felt like the ground, but by her eyes could not possibly be. Either way, a darkness was coming over her, and it seemed the island itself was being torn away as something far more nefarious was put in its place.

Yet when she was up, she was surrounded by friends inside the ship.

"Are you OK?" Fluttershy asked, rubbing a wet towel across her captain's forehead.

"I'm not sure....I have no idea what happened," Twilight recalled and adjusted to the brightness of the doctor's cabin, "but my head hurts."

"Well you're the first to wake from the group who went to the town," Rarity reported, "I'll have Pinkie bring something to help."

Twilight near shuddered at the thought of what Pinkie Pie would prescribe for a headache this bad. But there were more pressing matters at hoof for the moment.

"What about the town? About Fisher and his men?"

"No one is quite sure," said Fluttershy, "we were barely able to get you and the others away. Something awful is happening there."

As she recollected herself, Twilight found that although the more crippling symptoms were gone, she still felt that underlying dread, pressing against her willpower to once more overtake her. Something awful indeed. Perhaps Fisher himself was there, perhaps he had somehow found out everything; mayhaps he even spread the word about the Navy being around to divide them. On the other side of the token, they had no idea who he was or what he looked like or what his goals were or how we would go about them. All they had was a name.

"Twilight!"

Spike and Pinkie Pie and Rarity had all come through the door, and the dread within was contained a bit more; the darkness did not reach this far away, yet.

"This should bring you back to speed!" Pinkie announced happily, only after Twilight started drinking did she add in the disclaimer: "If you only drink a few sips!"

Twilight took the cup away immediately, gagging on the overly sweet drink inside. It was almost as bad as Pinkie's lemonade, which was about as lethal to your sleeping habits as a dragon was to straw in any amount more than a cup.

"Thanks," She said, placing the cup on the stand beside the bed; she was here so often she got deja vu standing back up.

"You were out almost all night!" Spike exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer.

"Was I?" She asked, recalling how long she had been unconscious the last time she faced down the Conqueror's Haki.

They reviewed what they knew and moved up to the deck, watching the sun slowly come up from under the waters. Something odd was pecking at Twilight's mind the entire conversation, but she never gave it too much attention. With the matters of the innocents harmed by Fisher and his designs, and their current predicament of not being able to approach the island, and the fact that many of them were out of commission at the moment took up all her focus. Still, she always felt it there, pecking away and trying to be discerned among the mass of data dropped into her hooves.

"What can we do about waking the others?" She changed the subject after a brief quiet.

"Give them some of Pinkie's 'up-to-speed drink'?" Fluttershy suggested.

"They can't drink anything though, and besides, it's even more potent in injection form...they might never sleep again," Pinkie warned.

"It comes in a shot too?" Rarity asked for clarity.

"Aside from that," Twilight took back the focus of the conversation, "We really need all hooves on deck. As soon as we're spotted, we'll be in big trouble."

Another brief pause gave her the chance to close her eyes and run through a possibility, but the deafening silence her friends were giving made it harder to concentrate on her idea, and besides that, the anxiety inside was welling up faster now. She knew why when she opened her eyes.

"I think it's too late for that!" Fluttershy cried and pointed to the horizon, where a slew of Navy ships were coming in with the golden glimmer of the morning sun.

"The rumors were true..." Twilight muttered in horror, "The Navy is here."

She counted at least six ships, all filled with soldiers to the brim, and speeding at their vessel. Whether or not they had come for Twilight and her friends or for Fisher was inconsequential now: they were here, and would attempt to subdue or kill them all. Her fear broke through her will when she heard the shout from a pony in the crow's nest.

"Three more in the rear....including Vice Admiral Smoker's ship! And.........and..."

She flew up to meet him, her heart already racing for their ill equipped battle in front of them, "And what?" She demanded.

The terrified pony closed his eyes and whispered the rest: "And...there's an Admiral's vessel in the center."

The chill was back, and Twilight felt the tears of duress well up in her eyes. She landed shakily and breathed with long, deep, inhales and short, bursting exhales. She closed her eyes and shook her head and felt the choke in her voice as she rallied her crew; what else could a captain due in such a situation?

"We have to..."

All the other words died before they made it out. What did they have to do? What could they do? Twilight was a shaky match against a Vice-Admiral, what could a full Admiral do to them at their current, broken strength?

"We have to do whatever we can!" She shouted, "no matter what happens, protect the ship and our friends. If worse comes to worst, surrender!"

There was absolute quiet as the dread in her exploded and found the others. There was nothing else to say, except the most important thing: "NO MATTER WHAT...STAY ALIVE!!!"

As they braced themselves, the enemy's voice rang out over the small divide between them.

"Equestrian Pirates! Surrender yourselves to the justice of the World Government! If you lay down your arms now, we will only execute your captain!"

Twilight had a hard time swallowing those words....so she was wanted DEAD, not ALIVE...and surrendering would not change that.

Pinkie shouted back, "WE'D NEVER!"

"....Then prepare for the wrath of the Marines...as dispensed by the Admiral himself!"

Fear was broken by joy for a small, fleeting moment, and Twilight looked upon her friends with tears. Her words were expected, but not needed. They would always fight when needed, and they would never sell her out. Somehow, in all this mess of adventure, she had almost forgotten. She took up swords with her magic as the cannon balls blasted at them.

Smoker was the first enemy aboard, flying overhead and darting right to Twilight. His jitte burned and solidified to black and one of Twilight's swords was blown right over the side, while the other went to offense, swiping at his form but batted away each time by his haki-empowered weapon. They broke off and before they could come to blows again, Pinkie went wild with her mallet, and spike let out a true battle cry as his whole right arm expanded exponentially, aging hundreds of years in seconds.

The giant claws could have broken the ship in half, but Spike was careful only to swipe at the marine. His new power was awe-worthy, and gave Twilight pride, and hope of coming out of this encounter alright.

For his part, Smoker disbanded his body into his namesake and shot himself over to take out the source, when Spike roared again and his arm was de-aged at an incredible rate, while his head grew larger, his teeth sharper, and his eyes massive and anger-filled. It was frightening to see him swallow the Marine whole, but as other marines climbed aboard, her attention was split.

The woman Tashigi found her, and brought her sword to bare, flying in like a shooting star, clashing blades with Twilight in a fierce encounter; once her speed was slowed down, however, she became easier to manage, and Twilight pushed her aside with a wave of magic. A little more swordplay left Twilight in a position to blast her right back to the ship she came from, but Smoker had fought his way out of Spike's massive jaws.

He took the jitte and smashed it into Spike's throat while his head reverted to its original state, and the dragon spit blood.

Twilight moved to fly to him, but she found herself completely trapped as another marine woman extended black cages from her arms.

"Hina has you now! There is no escape!"

Try as she might, Twilight could not shake the cage around her, and the struggle was rapidly wearing her out. The cage shot back to Hina's arms and Twilight received a hard punch in the muzzle, but the restraints stayed firmly around her. She lit up her horn and fired a suction spell, almost a black hole to suck in the enemy; many marines were caught, but Smoker and Hina were not among them.

"Get away from her!" Pinkie screamed, slugging the mallet at Hina and knocking her down, but not taking the restraints away. Twilight redoubled her efforts to break through the cage, but freezing, shattering, and heating did not work. All the while, Spike was knocked down and chained up by Smoker. Yet still more marines flowed onto the ship, now lit ablaze by cannon fire.

Where was he? Now was the time he was supposed to show up, wasn't it? Why wasn't Shanks here? Wasn't he supposed to find the Navy before the Navy found them? Why was this happening now of all times, while he was MIA?

While Pinkie Pie and Hina squared off, Smoker turned his attention to Twilight as a subordinate grabbed the captive Spike, crying out for help in the sea-stone chains around him. What to do now?

Heating didn't work, freezing had no effect. No vibrations or strength could seem to shake them off, but there had to be a way. Changing the matter would never work before Smoker got her neck between his jitte, there was something that had to be done NOW.

Almost by instinct she used her magic, and knew that the answer was expansion. She picked up on it from Spike, no doubt, but did not consciously process the idea until the pressure was too great. She expanded the material and increased its size so that she slipped right through the bindings. Her shield cracked but held under Smoker's onslaught.

"You're mine!" He assured her, whacking away with ferocity.

"Give Spike back!" She returned summoning the jitte she had stolen from him and battling it out with sea stone, which would be more effective against him than her, though he was more skilled with it. No matter what, though, she could not lose. Not until Shanks came to save the day.

"He's in the hands of justice now, and soon you will be too," Smoker said amidst the ringing of the same metal fighting itself.

She managed to land a blow on his leg, but his arm was already mid-flight, and whirled around her backside, breaking her shield and catching her on the back of the head. His fist wrapped around her throat the exact same way it had when they first met each other and she knew it was almost over for her, when a miracle happened.

"No!" A shaky voice called, and a black leg swept across the White Hunter's face, blowing him away.

"Applejack!" Twilight called gladly.

The former farm-pony helped her friend and captain back to her feet, "I reckon I couldn't lay idle while the rest of y'all fought for our lives. Let's do this!"

"You're really sure you're up to this?" Twilight felt required to ask.

"I have to be, so let's get it done!"

"Alright!"

They re-entered the chaos of war atop the burning deck, and somehow hope took root and flourished. It surely wouldn't be long until Rainbow was up too, and then Benn Beckman and the others, and by then Shanks must surely be back for them. Marine after marine fell to them, until they found Hina and Pinkie, still struggling with each other.

The mallet flew high but was dodged, swept low but was backed away from, and went right to the marine's face, but never came back. The cage tendrils erupted once more from Hina's hands and wrapped around the hammer, which was discarded and Pinkie now open to attack; the kick-strike combination from AJ and Twilight's jitte saved the pink pony, and they formed a trio as Smoker found them all again. He had blood leaking from his nose and scuff marks on his face, but overall was simply more angry.

But three-on-one was an advantage for them. They were actually beginning to hold the Navy off. Smoker's weapon rang against Twilights, he avoided Applejack's kick, let the mallet fly through him, but could not land the blow on the party pony. They traded blows, one after the other, but slowly the ponies made ground while Smoker did not, save for one blow to the side of the head on Twilight. He was beaten back but not subdued by Pinkie and Applejack.

But as she rose, Twilight found a new horror. The nagging sensation that had been nipping at her mind the whole time finally revealed itself. Amidst the cries and clashes of battle, she discovered a frightening reality; there were no humans fighting with them. They had disappeared. The Red Force was here, everything seemed to be as it was, but all the Red Hair pirates were gone.

Ponies were being beaten and killed, but only marines bled and burned as humans. Where were Yasopp and Lucky Roo and Rockstar? What happened to Benn Beckman, and where had Shanks gone? All around her the defenders were ponies, each and every one, and they were badly outmatched, she found, as the Admiral strolled onto the deck. His jacket, worn like a cape, fluttered in the morning battle breeze.

His sword was unsheathed, his words commanded the attention of everyone, most especially Twilight, whose entire world was crumbling around her at the sight of him.

"Listen up," The Admiral commanded with a quiet and powerful voice, "this battle is over. You pirates are beaten, if you need me to prove it I will. Your ship is burning, some of your comrades are already in chains aboard our ships. You have exhausted yourselves while we have men fresh and waiting to fight. I will see Justice served today. Twilight Sparkle, as Captain of this pirate crew, will be executed publicly and the rest of you will be sent to Impel Down to serve your sentences. Your days of running amok in defiance of the World Government are over."

Twilight was weeping, disbelief and extreme terror overtaking her all at once. This could not be, and yet here it was. The one-armed Admiral. Red Hair himself. Shanks.

"We....we won't be swayed! We'll fight till the end!" Applejack shouted at the man who was somehow totally unfamiliar to her.

"I'm sure you will," Admiral Shanks said in cold return, "So let's make this the end."

Twilight braced herself as best she possibly could, but there was no getting over this nightmare come true. There was no defense to this power that was so very, very far beyond hers. With a single blast of his Conquering King's Haki, the Red Haired Admiral knocked them all out, and Twilight could practically feel the chains around her as everything went to black.

Sure enough, the chains were there when she awoke. It didn't matter though. Of all the things to ponder and feel sorrow and anger and confusion about, some binding was very low on the list indeed. So much was wrong with it all it defied her sense of everything.

The aftermath had broken Twilight. Everything she thought she knew was a lie. Vice Admiral Benn Beckman and Rear Admiral Yasopp watched her constantly, while her friends and crew were left to the devices of these marines, headed by Admiral Shanks, who had announced over the ship that Enies Lobby was half a day's travel away, and from there the crew would be taken to Impel Down and their imprisonment; Twilight would not be accompanying them, for headless pirates served no purpose in prison.

The pains of it all were numerous. Firstly, there was no justice in this, they had committed no crimes of piracy, only protected and aided those who asked while searching for their home's ensured safety. All the ponies that had died in the name of "justice" and all those who would, were blood on her conscience, not that she would have it any longer than her life.

Then there was the fact that Shanks had beaten them like the insignificant pirates they were, with a thought and a glance. From the first moment they had met no matter what he had told her and no matter how much she tried to like and admire him, she was always wary of him. His power was too immense to be trusted, she knew.

Fisher had been forgotten, left to stew in his vile plans; all that mattered was that Twilight and her friends were captured, taken off to be dealt with like the great menace they were. What a disgrace! What a shameful world! When those charged with protecting society call evil good and good evil, there was no place for individuals who were good. And so, Twilight must be executed, her friends must rot away over the years in an inhumane environment surrounded by true monsters.

All she could ask was how it had turned out so wrong.

"How? Why? What happened!?" She demanded of the Admiral as he escorted her off the ship.

"Keep walking," he told her.

"I thought-"

"I said be quiet."

"NO!"

The guards escorting her in chains kept the brisk pace until Shanks turned.

"Words won't change anything now. It's time to accept the truth of the world. Pirates are evil, and must be punished."

"I'm no pirate. I've never been a pirate!" She shouted as they moved onwards toward the execution stand.

"Going mad won't get you out of this one," Shanks told her calmly.

"I'm not mad! I'm not crazy! Everything is all wrong! This isn't how things are supposed to be! STOP! STOOOOP!!!"

As they climbed the stairs, she attempted multiple times to escape, but running was futile and struggling made them yank her along harder. She fought them as best she could, but they were still moving up towards the stand all to quickly. The transponder snails on the other side of the platform were running and she saw the red spray as the pirate in front of her was dealt the justice of the World Government.

"STOP! THIS ISN'T RIGHT! THINGS ARE DIFFERENT! THIS IS ALL WRONG! HELP ME! CELESTIA, HELP ME!!!!"

"Twilight Sparkle, captain of the Equestrian Pirates, wanted dead by the World Government, bounty of 340,000,000 berries. Captured by Admiral Shanks."

"PLEASE! PLEASE TELL ME SOMETHING OF THE TRUTH REMAINS!! THIS CAN'T BE REAL!"

The guard went on, "Twilight Sparke, for your crimes against the world and the World Government, including but not limited to murder, plunder, assault, property damages, and willful rebellion against all established laws, you are hereby stripped of any and all rights you once possessed. You are now sentenced to die."

The words would no longer come, but she cried deeply and loudly, and struggled against the chains with all her worth, but it was never enough. She looked him in the eyes as the order was given and the swords were raised. Shanks. He was no Celestia, no true leader, no friend of any kind. He was filth worse than Discord, Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Tirek, or any of the rest.

And yet his eyes were not monstrous like theirs. They were a different sort of evil. A grim embrace of the world of pirates and marines, both containing men and women in their numbers who would sell you over to the Reaper himself for a good enough reason in their heads. Had it all been a lie before she found herself here? Was there anything left in the world that was ---------

The next name was called promptly, and the Admiral Shanks stepped away to speak with his cohorts.

Author's Notes:

Wow....this was seriously delayed, and for that I apologize. Things got real hectic and overbearing in life, and I was putting work into other fics on other sites, not to mention putting hours and hours into playing my latest addiction: Overwatch.

That said, I love One Piece and I knew I had to get back to this, so I apologize again for the late update, this has not been forgotten!

Kind of a weird chapter, huh? I actually was going to do a one-shot about Shanks as an Admiral some time ago, but it never panned out. I thought since it fit so nicely with the story going on here at the moment, I'd just throw it in.

Thank you for reading! Much love! Next chapter will hopefully be out sooner than a month later...

-TBK

10) Rekindle the Fire: Battle Reset!

"Are you OK?"

The sensation of having been decapitated was enough to make Twilight vomit, and she nearly did. Choking it back, she opened her eyes to see Benn Beckmann pulling her up. The others were still out cold, and the darkness around them was colder still.

"What was that?" She asked.

"A powerful attack, unlike most anything I've ever seen. Devil Fruit more than likely."

"Of course..."

"Seems the Three Idiot Pirates didn't tell us all they knew, or they were in the dark too. Either way we may be getting in over our heads."

A bird called out from somewhere, and the feeling that mustered in the pit of your stomach when you were being watched fell on Twilight rather quickly as well. She quickly put her backside to Beckman and they watched the darkness together. A radiant glow shot from her horn, and the lush green around them was scanned to reveal figures in the far distance - the perimeter guard. The source of the nightmarish disturbance, however, remained unknown.

"Let's not take a chance...we need to wake them," Beckman advised.

Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....bedep bedep bedep bedep - CLANK

"What's going on?"

"Fisher sir, we have confirmed activity on the island! Intruders, including Ben Beckmann."

"Hmmmmm, that's interesting."

"Orders?"

"Stall them. I have someone very interested in meeting with Ben Beckmann and his Captain here with me."

"Yes sir!"

The transponder snail clicked back off, and Fisher smiled, the puff of his cigar wafting through the air towards his guest.

"Did you hear that? How does that sound?" He asked with a slight pause while he blew his cigar smoke towards the man opposite him, "Basil Hawkins?"

The Magician remained expressionless as he gazed out the window towards that very island some miles away. He looked Fisher dead in the eye when he turned around. The chill in the air grew, they both knew, and both relished in it.

"I do not guarantee participation. My partners should not be far off, but as there is no way to know if Red Hair will make an appearance..."

"Oh? I figured you'd turn over one of those cards of yours and dictate the future. Kuha ha ha ha."

"I do not claim to affect the future, only to see how it may unfold. As it stands...the Yonko may be occupied elsewhere."

The Supernova walked towards the desk, and pulled up one such magic card. His expression remained blank, but when he looked back at the man sitting across from him, his voice grew deeper.

"We play a dangerous game."

"Of course, why shouldn't it be dangerous? Such is a pirate's life."

"As I see it...there is exactly a 50% chance we will succeed in this conflict, and thus, exactly 50% of a chance we will all die....yourself included."

Fisher's smile grew wider, "Better men than Red Hair have tried to do me in."

"You overestimate yourself."

The air shifted, the cool edge falling in favor of a heated temperament.

"No reason to start a war with me, cause if this turns nasty between us, I can guarantee that if Red Hair doesn't kill you, I will."

"Calm yourself. Shifting the odds now would be catastrophic. Let us go and see for ourselves how fickle fate will be this evening."

Another thick puff of smoke followed in answer, and the man currently called Fisher stood up, "Follow me."

The men proceeded down the wooden hall, their conversation the sole sound of life in the dimly lit mansion serving as headquarters. Outside the moon was glowing behind dark clouds.

"I heard you fought an Admiral once. Kizaru."

"I did, and thankfully, fate was kind to me that day."

"Is that why you rookies banded together? To keep each other alive?"

"We saw common goals. We learned from your generation not to fight each other until those we could not defeat ourselves were attended to."

"Hmph. Well said."

"I calculate many things, Fisher, I see an 80% chance of betrayal on the battle field, I see the ways more than one of us could double cross another....in fact, I see very clearly a double agent among those who will fight........and I also see the desperation on you. You need allies, deliver Red Hair to us, and we can be allies...for a time."

"I don't need your help, but I won't stand in the way of convenience when it knocks on my door. Let's just get this done and move on from there."

"Agreed. The most important man in this scenario is Red Haired Shanks."

"What happened!? Who did me in!? I'll murder 'im!"

"And Mu makes three!" Kari cheered as the last of the downed pirates awoke.

"Together again at long last!" Rari echoed.

The jubilant duo hugged their third, who brushed them off angrily, "I think I preferred my nightmares."

That word confirmed it: Nightmares. Twilight and Beckman had confided in each other their experiences, which were more similar than she would have ever guessed. To all accounts, they had fainted and lived out a hellish dream, awoken one by one with no memory of what had happened before this attack. Someone was targeting them systematically, and though the presence still felt strong, Twilight couldn't help but fear the possibility that this entity had moved on, for example, to their friends with the ship.

"What happens now?" She found herself asking the first mate.

"I'd push ahead, but I might have more faith in my nakama on the ship than you do. You're the captain here."

That was true; Twilight held a higher rank, but that was all she had over Ben Beckmann. Knowledge, experience, skill, she was dwarfed in those regards, yet the choice was ultimately hers. Irony was something she loved and hated, depending on the circumstance.

"Then let's do it. I trust your crew and I trust mine. We have to keep going!"

Like a reverberation, a refraction of her dream, those few words haunted her for a brief moment. "I trust your crew" she had said. And in her heart, she trusted Shanks, no bad dream could undo that trust and all that he had done to earn it. But she was painfully aware of how much more wary she felt of them all now. Thinking on it, that may have been the intent all along. To sow seeds of discord. By Celestia...if the actual Discord was here........

"OK, then let's get going!" Rainbow insisted, leading the way through the darkness and crowded brush that swallowed them whole. The presence seemed different as they moved ahead, somehow more aware of them than before. A terrific omen if there ever was one.

"Oi! Ukuma! You messed up in reverse! They're coming this way!"

"Sshhhh...I need concentration."

The man called Ukuma was an odd one. His tattered brown cloak bore a faded logo on the back, his skin held a purple tint to it, and his eyes were masked with pitch black lines like tears of ink. His chestnut hair was leaving him, but only barely, and was shoulder length and unkempt. He stood still like a rock for a time, but suddenly he moved his hands, wrapped in fingerless gloves, into an "X" shape and a wave of royal purple shot through the wild outside of the ruined town.

"Nightmare: Shake!"

"Well?"

"That should keep them away for a bit, at least. Fisher will be pleased, I think."

"How could the same trick work twice?"

"It probably wouldn't...not on the stronger ones among them. 'Shake' is not a nightmare in and of itself, you see, it brings pieces, little dark seeds of their fears into reality for a few seconds off and on...quite the good distraction."

"Nightmares are well and fine," a familiar third voice came from the stairs leading to the rooftop, "But they don't cut it against my ability."

"Easy there Mr. Bones....you haven't seen my full power yet," Ukuma insisted, "And believe me...'Shake' and 'Whisper' are the minor aspects of the true power of terror. Nightmares become real when I bid them. Minds shatter against the monsters I command."

The man in the suit who stepped out of the shadows remained unconvinced, or if he was, he did a good job of not showing.

"Anyways, Fisher will be here with our guest shortly. We can kill some of them, but Beckman is to remain alive, as is the pony captain."

"As if I would be so stupid as to think so," Ukuma complained.

"Let them enter and allow them to make ground. They need to be on the verge of confidence before we strike," The man in the suit instructed.

"Again, lecturing me on things I already know!"

"As is my place per Fisher's orders."

Ukuma scowled, but could not argue with the facts of his station. One of these days, Fisher would see the truth, and he hoped that day would arrive sooner rather than later. He couldn't wait.

"Very well. By all means, lead us into battle."

"Let's go."

The night was once more still above the once peaceful home of a boating village, and the waiting began. The storm was soon to be unleashed, and whoever could ride it the longest would stand victorious. Such was the way of battle. But Ukuma had a habit of turning victory into defeat, and he was intent on making that a reality this time as well.

"Twilight?" Rainbow put her hoof on her captain's shoulder.

"I...I'm fine. Really."

They were all uneasy, each had in their own turn paused, grimaced, or gasped at something in the distance. She was sure it was nerves at first, but this could not be coincidence. The enemy had re-engaged, it seemed. She had a couple ideas on how to defend against this manner of attack, but she wasn't ready to let them fly yet. So long as they could keep together and make into the town, they ought to be fine. If not...well, she hoped the message would get back to the ship in time.

The humidity in the air was rising, and the covering of branch and leaf and mist was becoming overbearing, more so than before. They didn't have eyes on the perimeter guards anymore, and rushing in before realizing their location was a fool-proof way to get into a bad spot. So they waited and watched, and felt the seconds tick by with their heartbeats while the guards went about their rotations beyond their sight.

It was maddening, and she was really hitting herself inside for dragging them all into this.

"Mu, Rari, Kari," She whispered, "Are they changing shifts? What's going on?"

"Let me see..." Mu whispered back, rubbing his chin as he ran through what he knew in his head.

"I don't think they do that until midnight," Kari pseudo-whispered his two-cents.

"How do we know what time it is?" Rari pseudo-whispered in reply.

"How am I going to hurt you two if you don't shut up?" Mu asked with rhetoric as sharp as his tone.

"Focus...please," Twilight begged with a sigh.

"Alright, alright...let's see....I think this is about the time the jerk in the suit wraps up his business for the night. He often takes some of the guards with him when he leaves to who knows where. They don't usually come back. I think we're safe to move on in."

A gambit to be sure, especially if the unknown power that assaulted them had anything to say about it. Despite that, it was too late to turn back, they were going in no matter what.

"OK...stick to the original plan and watch each others' backs. I'll make the first move."

It was good to take initiative, she reminded herself by doing just that. Now then.....were the enemy expecting a loud, flashy entrance? Was stealth going to play into their plans or the enemy's? At the end of it all a fight was a certainty, but the less bloodshed the better as far as Twilight was concerned. She was here for a ship, not revenge, not profit, not anything in between.

She crept up close to the treeline, watching for guards and finding some a ways off. They wouldn't see her if she decided to sneak in and start a distraction from the middle of the town. Since they were targeting the warships and, if possible, the executive working under Fisher, a nice explosive entrance on the opposite side of the town would serve them well.

Twilight's horn grew warm and shown brightly as she shot several successive spells into the air.

Rainbow and others were already racing along the outskirts of town to make it to those warships, while Ben Beckmann and the rest joined Twilight under the light of multi-colored fireworks. The guards and goons didn't miss that. She expected more of them, to be honest, but they were coming from buildings and the shadows all around like an infestation; perhaps Fisher had more lax expectations than she had imagined him to have. Either way, she was putting her all into it now.

She shot off a follow up spell that exploded high in the air and rained fire down in the night. A little thuggish of a move, but the town was already in a shambles, and this would make sure any stragglers knew to be here and away from the ships.

"Get them!" Someone called.

"Go to work everyone!" Twilight commanded.

She fired several basic concussive spells into the fray, knocking goons back and downing enemy pirates rather easily, though the stragglers were now coming up in the rear, and it was clear Twilight's side was the smaller. That didn't stop their courage when pushing onwards, though.

The enemy stock was falling before their push rather easily, when the first sign of true opposition mounted atop a nearby roof. A trio of goons hoisted bazookas over their shoulders, and a light brighter than any flare illuminated the scene for a moment as Twilight shielded her allies by creating spherical shields around the projectiles. The shockwaves were still enough to blow a few of them away, and a fourth from a rooftop on the opposite side of the lane followed up. The blast knocked Twilight and others forward, but was not lethal.

The rushing wave of enemies kept her occupied, but Ben Beckmann was cleaning up nicely, already having disposed of the bazooka wielders. After possessing one of the thugs with her magic and knocking him around into his friends, she took hold of a sword and chanced a glance behind the bulk of the action. The ships were sitting quietly, unguarded. Excellent.

"You realize we can't fight him...not yet."

"What was that?" Vice Admiral Dalmation asked the subordinate who dared raise his voice among the gathered officers.

"Forgive me, sir," The younger man stuttered, "I...We lack our full strength. It m-might be better to wait until Admiral Kizaru arrives."

"Of course it would be," Smoker scolded from the railing, "but if push comes to shove...."

"Red Haired Shanks....cripes," Vice Admiral Strawberry muttered beside Dalmation, gazing at the very man through his spyglass.

The gathering grew quiet. In the far distance, the Yonko and a small group of his men were cooking over an open beach fire. Rumor had it the man calling himself Fisher was somewhere nearby, but if it was true, Shanks clearly didn't seem interested. They were lucky he hadn't spotted them, and were pushing it every second they were without the Admiral's assistance.

As to when we would arrive, it was anyone's guess at this point. Either way, the group consensus was clear, taking on that man as they were was tantamount to suicide.

"Might as well get the boys ready...I think we'll be fighting whether or not the precursor events go our way," Smoker said.

"Yes sir," The non-officer marine replied, hurrying down to the hold.

An eerie calm set over them, and with the wind Strawberry raised his voice: "By the way...Weevil destroyed another garrison."

"Damn," Dalmation cursed.

"All those Warlord scum are going crazy right now. Last I heard a big announcement was on the horizon. A meeting. Almost like its got them scared. If Admiral Fujitora is to be believed...they should be scared," Smoker said as his cigars burned over the deck.

"Personally," Momonga, who rose from his chair on the opposite side of the deck, at last spoke, "I think we ought to leave things be. Imagine a world where the little dependability we have in the Warlords doesn't exist. Imagine Weevil destroying our bases and actually aiming to kill our men."

It was an unsettling thought. Fujitora was well loved by most (unless you feared the Fleet Admiral more so than you admired Fujitora himself) but his ideas were radical, to be sure.

"These past couple of years have brought big changes, more than enough, I believe. We must proceed carefully," Momonga continued, "...or we'll be lead into ruin."

"I wouldn't mind abolishing the system if the Marines alone could keep balance...but we've never had the numbers we need," Dalmation agreed.

"In the end it comes down to One Piece...the reason the pirates rise. If we could find it first....." Smoker mused, his thoughts broken by the subordinate running back to the Vice Admirals.

"Sirs! Sirs! We have new orders, effective immediately we are to position ourselves and await the arrival of Admiral Kizaru," He paused to catch his breath, "Arrival is imminent!"

The flaming of those warships was the most beautiful fire Twilight had ever seen. Even more than the fireplaces in the Crystal Empire or the bonfires out in the late Apploosa nights, this burning was admirable above all. It was, unfortunately, not viewed as such by all present. After the first wave had gone down rather easily, the man in the suit revealed himself. Along his backside was an even larger army of thugs, none happy to see them.

"Those weren't your ships," The suited man raised issue.

"No," Twilight agreed, "They weren't."

"You going to pay for them with gold, or blood?"

"Your blood, maybe."

That was awfully pirate-like, but it still made her feel less like a Princess. Thus was the balancing of roles and duties, she supposed. The man in the suit displayed no emotion other than a raised eyebrow. Maybe she needed to sacrifice more of Princess Twilight to bring Captain Twilight out.

"Cockiness without power," He said darkly, simply backhanding the telekinetic sword strike from Twilight away, "is always fun to exploit."

"Well, let's just see who bleeds first," Twilight retorted, opting to sheath her blades for her spells.

"Sure," He replied, holding his arm out and contorting it into a metal frame, his skin becoming steel. A devil fruit ability...a nasty one.

In the time it took for Twilight's heart to beat she had a shield around her, and the man in the suit was in her face, his arm contorted like a sword, and thrashing against her defenses with tremendous speed. She let him wail away a few times and teleported out of the crumbling shield. From behind his back, she used a paralysis spell, which stopped his fingers like darts from taking her eyes out, but barely.

She chanced a glance to the thugs behind her, most of whom seemed rather confident they had the upper hand. She did not dwell on them.

He broke through the paralyzing force an instant afterwards and formed his whole hand into a swinging machete, which she once more teleported away to avoid. Before she was fully back into her senses, and once more behind him, his other hand shot up from under her like a scythe, making a fine red line appear over her muzzle.

She made a flash of magic and retreated to Benn Beckman and the others' side, but he remained still.

"Well look at who bled first," He mused with a smile.

Twilight kept silence as she wiped away the blood. Benn Beckman snuffed his cigarette under his boot and stepped forward.

"Big talk from a small fish. Think you can keep up with me, youngster?"

"Benn Beckman? That's a bit much for just me, I admit."

"Daz Bones...which means Fisher is another name for Crocodile. Not as big a threat as I imagined."

Despite his calm, Beckman's words sent a jolt of panic through Twilight. She'd brushed up on the names of the world, she knew Crocodile was once a Warlord, and to this day a wanted man with a current bounty of 230,000,000 berries. Another big name in a big world, and her without much of her crew and friends.

"The clue is in the name, isn't it?" Daz Bones asked, forming swords with his arms and sending his masses charging forward.

Throwing her thoughts to the side, Twilight created a whirlwind and blew a patch of the enemies away, and then took up her swords again. In the chaos, it was easy to progress towards a goal by simply pushing the enemy aside or teleporting around them. By the time she was close to Daz Bones, Benn Beckman was putting him through the wringer, battering him with every blow, each time they clashed Crocodile's man lost ground and blood.

She hovered up to make a pincer attack with Beckman, but as she ascended a dark sword barred her path, and she shot back down, only to find it gone. She scanned the skies, looking around until a rifle butt found the back of her head and Mu came to her aid.

"What's going on!?" He asked, clashing sword against rifle with the other pirate.

"I don't know..." Twilight whispered back.

Daz Bones grunted and fell to his knees, panting heavily. Benn Beckman had his own rifle in hand, but as he raised it up to deal a finishing blow, the shadow returned. Like a phantom it glided from the backside of the Yonko's right hand, and Twilight teleported high above the battlefield, horrified as she hovered in the dark sky.

The dark was playing tricks with her, or something else sinister was. She could do nothing but shake her head and try to unsee the grim face of Admiral Shanks, but it was aligned perfectly. Unbelievably, Admiral Shanks was drawn out in the carnage below, staring through her soul, the fires, the battling men and ponies, the shadows mingled into an evil presence. And she felt it for the first time since the battle began: the inner dread that held the same effect as Conqueror's Haki. It was back, but it seemed to be focusing on her.

She drew magic to her horn and felt it tremor on the tip, putting effort into creating a flare that blew away the image. In the afterglow of the flare, she found a faint trail of purple shadow, which descended onto a rooftop. Despite her fears, she flew down and found a man alone.

"You must be Twilight Sparkle. The whole world is throwing a fuss over you right now."

"Who are you?"

"They call me Ukuma, I call myself a master of fear."

He was perched in a squat, like a vulture sitting on a barren tree branch, observing its dying prey. His hands had stopped glowing with the purple shadows, but he still spoke like he was all powerful. Either way, Twilight approached him warily.

"So it's you. You've been keeping us lost in our nightmares...you're creating illusions to throw us off."

"That's right. I've come across a few different treasures working with Fisher, but you're certainly the brightest. Why does the World Government care so much about such an odd creature? To give you such a high bounty, and to be allied with a Yonko....you are special...the question is why."

If she was honest, she didn't know what made her so special here other than the fact that she was not home to this world, but he didn't need to hear any answers. He was just putting up a villainous bravado.

"Odd then..." He continued as he stood to full height, being half a head shorter than Benn Beckman, "that you fear your only ally in this world."

"Shanks isn't my only ally."

"He is the only one of this world you can trust....but that's what makes him dangerous. Why you really can't trust him after all," Ukuma went on.

"I'm not going to play this word game with you. Fight me, or leave," Captain Twilight shot.

Ukuma cracked a smile and his neck, spinning his head around and moving his fingers like a puppeteer would pull at the strings of their wooden tools.

She shot a flurry of magic blasts at the man, but he moved his hands forward and the purple energy returned, absorbing her magic like a sponge taking in water, and Admiral Shanks returned, bathed in a purple glow, right in front of her. He had dashed to her and cut her in two before she could blink, and as the immense pain of being eviscerated consumed her, he vanished once more.

The disembowelment was broken only when Ukuma jumped at her with knife in hand, cutting into her horn and drawing blood, but not doing anything to cause irreversible damage; on top of that, she realized only when the blood had been spilled from her head that she was in fact still in one piece. The pain did not subside very much though. This was a cruel power. To attack in body and in mind, and to make both hurt so deeply.

But mind games could be overcome, with the right confidence and traps in place.

She erected a multi-layered bubble shield around herself, and set a revealing pulse spell to emanate from it every five seconds. Despite his mental abilities, Ukuma seemed to be a lackluster physical threat. He confirmed it by hesitating, unsure of how his power would stack against a coordinated effort of her magic.

She watched him carefully, simply standing still and thinking through his options, all the while she was creating black holes in her head. She forced herself to see the triggers, to feel Admiral Shanks return, to cry out as his unstoppable sword ended her. She watched herself die in her minds eye so many times, but every time she was reborn, and could never be killed the same way again. If Ukuma tried to project such an imagine into her brain, her spells would seep in and suck away the memory, emotion, and physical sensations of it all. Time flew by as she worked, and it seemed that after a few blinks Ukuma had refocused his strategy.

He stood like an orchestral conductor, his hands raised high. The purple energy swirled out of his fingers in a hazy blur, blowing with the night wind over the battlefield.

"Fear is not always crippling," he told her smugly, "sometimes...fear can be empowering."

If he was attempting what she thought...he may be the craziest person they'd yet faced off against.

She waited and listened, unsure of what to make of his move. Soon she heard it. The shaking cries, not of her allies, but of the enemy. The entire battlefield gave a short pause and watched as the thugs behind Daz Bones cried out. Pure terror and unrelenting fright filled the night. It seemed he wasn't sure if her magic was affecting herself alone, or her allies as well; in truth, it would be hard enough to place traps in the minds of her close friends while in combat, but for those like Benn Beckman and Mu, Rari, and Kari, it would simply be impossible.

Yet, Ukuma had found a way out. He was using his powers on his half of the chessboard. Fear could indeed be empowering, when it triggered adrenaline, and augmented your abilities for fear of certain doom. Despite the crazed panic in the enemy, they were fighting back twice as hard, faster than before, and more vicious than Twilight had ever seen a coherent force fight.

They were all too scattered among each other, friend and foe too mixed in, to protect her side efficiently, her magic wouldn't work quite the same as a controllable mist would. Furthermore, it was possible that by subduing Ukuma his powers would ware off. It was worth a shot, at least, Captain Twilight needed to do something.

She moved as one with her protections, physical and mental, and dashed at Ukuma, who continued to pose and smirk. A quick fire of ranged spells proved as ineffective as it did the first time, for his strange energy protected him like last time. Now he tried his hand against her, and though her shield strained under the weight of his mist's fury, she stood firm and her shield outlasted. She felt some of the traps going off, but felt not a single twitch of fear of anxiety from his power.

Perhaps it was a matter of enduring. Whether or not she could create enough mental traps to survive his powers might determine their whole mission in this strange world.

They both moved around warily, knife coming out of a lunge clean, spells fizzling into nothingness inside the purple screen around Ukuma. Basic powers were null against the other, it was time for new tricks. Twilight focused magic under his feet and reversed gravity's flow, flipping him upside down and launching him into the air. He laughed as his purple mist leveled him out and glided down with him.

Deciding to be extra bold, Twilight ran at him with her swords, and she saw the flash of alarm in his eyes as she charged forward. The purple power surged out of him like a wet shirt wrung to expel water, and she lost him in it. She did not stop though, and despite the pressures of the mist on her defenses, she hurried through it until she found him.

She swung swiftly, and as he breathed in his toxins deeply, his skin seemed to take on new color, a lavender that nearly matched her own. She swiped more than once, just to be sure, but she never made contact. He had completely disappeared from within his mist, and she flew out of it, her bubble now cracking, and her mental traps snapping like mouse traps.

She scanned the building top, the battlefield, even the outlying landscape, but he was nowhere to be found. Surely Ukuma was no nightmarish figment...was he? She settled back onto the rooftop, circling around and around, but he was still nowhere to be seen.

And out of the blue, his knife burst through her shield, sticking her in the foreleg and drawing a steady stream of blood. In shock, she found him, like a ghost coming out of the shadows, his mist no longer purple, but pitch black like the night around her, his skin almost luminescent. He was shaking like Pinkie Pie had spent the week torturing him, his eyes vibrating like jumping beans. And then his words came back to her.

"Sometimes...fear can be empowering."

Was he living in a nightmare, augmented by dread and unholy terror to outmatch her on a physical level?

Before she could gain a good telekinetic hold on the knife and snap it in two, he had pulled it out and disappeared into the darkness of night and his mist again.

"What are you afraid of? Deep within?" The night asked her.

She sealed the whole and continued to circle around, adding power to the revealing pulses, but even still she could not see him...he may be moving too fast for the spell to reach him.

"Admiral Shanks is but a recent fear...what have you long dreaded? What haunted your youth?"

She bit her tongue, wanting to converse and draw things out, but with types like Ukuma, words were ammunition if you weren't careful. She opted to place more mental traps, realizing that if he started targeting older, deeper fears, she would be in danger all over again. Magic Kindergarten, failing those she cared for, Discord and Nightmare Moon and the horrors Starlight Glimmer had almost unleahed...none of it could be used against her if she acted fast enough.

But how could she hope to be fast enough if she didn't get even a second to focus? One instant the knife was breaking through behind her, the next it was over her head, nearly clashing with her lit horn, and then out of nowhere it was slashing right through the side of her bubble. She managed to gather up force and expel it all around her, holding Ukuama at bay, but not in place.

"You can't run from the feeling of fear, heightened awareness of your fate as the demons of your soul close in to take your life...you can't outrun my nightmares!"

The enemy was practically invisible, too fast to anticipate, and could take her out in one move. What could be done? Running wasn't an option, even if she wanted to. But he could still be kept away, he was much faster, but only marginally stronger. He could not outdo her in force, so she had to be forceful. But in what form?

Her mental traps were going off like a lottery machine, tapping and snapping and rattling away, his mist was enveloping her, but had not yet touched her. Even still, he was within it somewhere, and his influence alone was tearing her apart. And with the frantic ticking of her traps, it came to her. She didn't need to run, she needed him to get closer, to deliver a killing blow.

She spun around and around and around, more and more and more until she began to get dizzy, and then she stopped short.

"I don't run from my nightmares...I face them," She told him, closing her eyes and dropping her magic with a flash.

"Then perish!" The night cried.

"Gotcha."

Ukuma's eyes went wide as his knife fell from his grip, and his hallucinating eyes looked straight into hers as she reappeared behind the hollow image she had placed down as a trap. In his haste, he had run his arm right through the edge of her blade.

"You're not the only one who can camouflage," She told him as she grasped his wounded form with her magic, locking him down over and over again with binding spells.

"I....I am...fear itself."

"Power that comes from being afraid isn't real power," She told him a very Captain Twilight way.

He still seemed shocked by it, as though he were still trying to work out how she had substituted the fake of herself and hidden behind it; actually, he looked more so as though he were wondering how he had ended up there, and it was clear despite his mistake, he was still wandering in his own hallucinations.

".....One day...you and all the others...you will suffer in the despair I bring.......I will hunt you down.....Twilight...Sparkle.......I will hunt you....."

He began to shake rapidly, seizing up and breathing in short, painful looking bursts. Was he going to die?

Something in her said that wouldn't be a bad thing. One less foe, one less problem to deal with in the future. What good would come of letting him live? But that was Captain Twilight speaking, and she had been saying too much lately. Princess Twilight was the pony she wanted to be. She could not kill him...it made cold, hard sense to do so, but she would not. Chilly logic was never her style...she could not.

But a tangible voice spoke out against her just then.

"Well? Finish him off."

She turned and found two men standing opposite her. By the large golden hook on his arm, she knew the man who had spoken was the former Warlord, Crocodile. Fisher.

She had gotten lost in her fight, did not consider the battle going on below. She saw Benn Beckman, a single cut on his brow, looking around at fallen enemies. The others in her sortie still standing were in much worse shape. Ukuma's devil fruit was crude, but it could be this effective at least.

"She does not have the heart for it...I sense a ninety percent chance this man will live through the night," The other man announced upon looking at a card in his hand.

"Weakling," Crocodile called out.

She raised her defenses again, more so physical this time, but given the crazy night they'd been having, she did not let go of all her mental traps. This was serious. This was the toughest foe she'd ever faced down.

"I won't let the world change who I am!" Twilight cried out.

"The talk of fools and dreamers," Crocodile belittled again, morphing partially into a cloud of sand.

"Crocodile!" Benn Beckman shouted, appearing between Twilight and the two men in the speed of a blink.

Rifle butt clashed with hook, each laced in the black coat of haki, and the crash was palpable in the air as it echoed through the ruined town.

"Looks like you and these ridiculous new allies of yours cleaned up Mr. 1 and Ukuma. Maybe it's time I showed you the real deal."

Beckman's rifle swept through the air like a blade, knocking the hook away twice more and swatting at scurrying sand patterns that moved through the air, a desert virus come to put them down. The golden hook shot upwards and then angled down into a dive bomb, aiming for Twilight head.

Before she could react, Beckman slid his rifle down his hand and his finger found the trigger, firing a bullet and knocking the hook off course.

"Your ego has always been bigger than your own head," Beckman told him, "I won't let you touch her."

"Keep talking," The ex-Warlord egged on.

Crocodile leapt up, still mostly scattered sands, and shot down many hardened blades, further reinforced with armament haki. Beckman coated his rifle and both arms in the same, and fought through the sand blades, leaping up and landing a solid blow on Crocodile's face. Rolling on the rooftop, Crocodile wiped the blood away drew the hook back to himself.

Despite continued efforts, Crocodile was shut down at every opportunity by Shanks' second right hand. At last, Crocodile skidded away on his back, human again and bleeding out of his nose, mouth, and from under his eye. His breathing was sharp and haggard.

"I'm shutting your operations down. It's all over," Beckman declared, "Don't think of getting involved, Basil Hawkins."

"That would be unnecessary," The man called Hawkins replied as calmly as ever.

Crocodile was back on his feet, looking half of what he had when he arrived. He was still breathing hard, but now he laughed and grinned at the Yonko's enforcer.

"What now?" He asked.

"What are you on about?" Beckman asked.

"Shut up. I'm talking to the mysterious new captain here...Twilight Sparkle."

"Don't - gaah!"

Now it was Benn Beckman's turn to drop to his knees, clutching his stomach. Twilight's eyes and mouth were as wide as his, and she saw the blood leaking from tiny holes under his shirt.

"What? When..." He tried, further shaking and collapsing.

His answer came from a slow trickle of sand, escaping the corner of his mouth. Crocodile was a smarter fighter than he seemed at first. Twilight had to admit the brilliance of it. He had simply been buying time while he slipped bits and pieces of his sand inside Benn Beckman during their short clash. And when there was enough, all he had to do was manipulate it and tear him up from the inside.

"So...What now?" Crocodile asked Twilight, who was suddenly very alone.

Author's Notes:

Welcome back to another chapter, I have recently been inspired to write more, both fan fiction and original works, but I have so many (so, so many) it took quite a while for this piece to get out. Apologies. I'm glad to say my planning for later chapters has developed considerably....especially for the reappearance a great character a ways down the line. I mean, it's not like he was gonna be in manga anytime soon.....

Anyways, I always love to read the input you guys give me, so keep reviewing and what not.

Thanks, have a fantastic day!

-TBK

11) War for Peace: Restoring a Home

The little wooden cabin on the cliff was right out of a novel. A small residence perfect for a pair to take in the beauty of the glittering forest to the South of the cliff and the great big sea to the North. Considering the hassle it was to get here, he was somewhat disappointed. The people in the last town had gotten riled up over nothing and chased him off, and after two nights travel to get here, he was rather beat. The last thing he needed was the ringing of the transponder snail.

He groaned as he closed the door and plopped himself down onto the large cushion chair in the immediate corner.

"Yo," He greeted.

Matching his weary expectation, his employer was hot over something, "Where the hell have you been!?"

"Oh, sorry boss, been chased around a lot lately."

"Don't make excuses...Kuzan!"

"Right, right."

"How long until you get on that project I assigned you? Just because you're not part of my crew doesn't mean my words hold no power over you. We struck a deal, if you don't honor it...we'll hunt you down."

"No need for that. I'm working on something big, I'll report in from time to time and keep you up to date," He assured.

"The world is going crazy right now, I need all hands working hard. Even yours."

"Never been one for hard work, but I'll play my part. Rest easy."

"I'm sure you will at least. Whatever...stay on task, get back to me before the year is up. I've got a feeling.....the One Piece won't remain hidden for long."

"Sure thing," Kuzan returned and hung up, sighing for a whole new reason now.

If the words weren't enough, the way he said them sure was. The One Piece close to being found. Could be all talk, might be true. Things had been getting closer to a boiling point the past couple years. It was enough to make a man drink away his sorrows and sleep for a year. Until Red Hair and his pupils showed up, he had nothing better to do.

The bar was on the opposite side of the cabin, and the bedrooms were the entirety of the second floor. He gazed around for a moment, then gave up and kicked off his shoes right on the cushioned chair. It was well and good by itself.

Benn Beckman clutched at his gut and stood up again, breathing in and out until he coated his chest in armament haki, eyeing Crocodile dangerously. Twilight wasn't sure if that would help stop the bloodflow, but it was good to know Shanks' right hand man was not so easily incapacitated. For her part, Twilight formed circular shields to envelop herself and Beckman, Crocodile's trick would not work twice. But then there was the matter of the other one...

"Do I have to pull this off alone?" Crocodile asked.

"I don't see you dying...yet," The other man replied, turning around and drawing something from the inside of his shirt, "Besides, I have to contact my partners."

Sand swirled into a small vortex in Crocodile's hand, his hook glimmering menacingly in a ray of moonlight.

"I underestimated him....not very much like me," Beckman admitted, "but it won't happen again. No mercy."

Twilight nodded, running through viable options for the fight. Crocodile was a logia user, just like Smoker, though she'd heard that Smoker was the one to defeat and imprison Crocodile a couple of years before hand. It wasn't much of a comforting thought, given that she hadn't actually beaten Smoker herself, but it was something.

"Watch Basil Hawkins, I'll take Crocodile," Beckman told her.

The slender man called Hawkins wasn't minding them in the slightest, speaking to someone else over a transponder snail, but it would be foolish to leave him unobserved. Still, she shifted uncomfortably at the thought of simply standing by and watching an injured friend fight in her stead.

"Ku ha ha ha, then let's get back to it. I'll finish the job this time. Sables!"

The sand tornado that fit into the palm of his hand seconds ago grew exponentially, raging into a force that blew the unconscious and downed pirates nearby into the air. Her shields suffered a strain, even cracking in a few places, but they held. In retaliation, Benn Beckman jumped at the ex-Warlord, rifle meeting hook, both coated in armament haki, the resulting crash popping like lightning. As they withdrew, the sand that had blown behind them formed into spears that jabbed at them both from behind.

Twilight flew up and away, Benckman's shield took the attack, but was close to shattering as they locked weapons once more. Twilight went to work repairing both shields, but the sand behind the dueling pirates kept after her, swirling up like blades and chasing her father away. A third quick clash of weapons between Crocodile and Beckman elongated the draw, but Beckman put speed into an immediate follow up, catching Crocodile in the gut, drawing more specs of blood from his mouth and shoving him backwards.

Meanwhile, Twilight was up quite high, but the sand was still in hot pursuit, so she teleported back to the ground, noticing that the man called Basil Hawkins was patiently watching it all unfold; if he wanted to, he could easily turn the tide of this fight. The sand continued to dog her, until at last she tried to contain it all in a stretchable magic shield. For the time being, it held, but the sand swarmed like an angry colony of bees, thrashing against it without losing vigor.

Crocodile was on one knee, but Benn Beckman was clutching his bloodied stomach, and was huffing louder. Where was Shanks when you-

Hmph.

Time kindly froze for a moment and allowed her to briefly mull over her thought. Was she still so dependent on the red haired captain? Did she not have any faith in Benn Beckman, or her friends with her, who were cleaning up Crocodile's mess? She could never discard him, he was their only friend when they arrived in this strange place, though he showed it funnily enough; but she understood his reasons, and the things he knew could not be discarded. Shanks had an important role to play in the future of his world, and hers.

But he could not carry them into the fight. They had to learn to walk, and then run, did they not? She botched things when Buggy came looking for them. This was an even more dire strait, and the best chance she had to show the world that had labeled her a dangerous pirate that she was indeed to be feared.

"Fight."

She looked over to Benn Beckman, who knowingly looked back at her, and repeated his agreement: "Fight."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and looked back at the unchanged Basil Hawkins. His eyes moved, but nothing else. Crocodile was the one who made a show, laughing again and standing with a grunt. They were alone now, surrounded by the dark forestry and desolate buildings, and faint signs of life from the struggling pirates and ponies, who were too engrossed in their battle to give much mind to theirs.

Wordlessly, she flew up with all the speed Rainbow Dash had ever drilled into her, while the former Warlord shifted into stirring sands, except for the golden hook, that shot up like a bullet, crashing into the jitte she summoned from her magic pocket. Crocodile's head, arms, and torso formed to meet her, but plenty of sand was dancing around and below her, and she increased the magic energy in her shield as well as that in Benn Beckman's.

He began to press harder and harder against her stolen weapon, and her answering strength was not enough. She flipped back as the hook overpowered the jitte, and amid twirling to regain balance, his hand reached to strangle her. It met the shield as she straightened out, and it immediately began to suffer.

She was familiar with his devil fruit, after finding its entry in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, but this power may not have been listed. It was as though he was simply absorbing the energy she put into the shield, which was already badly cracking after a few seconds of contact. She rocketed to the ground and backwards, landing beside Benn Beckman.

"Wasn't sure that would work," Crocodile chuckled as his form turned fully to sand again, reappearing on the ground before them, "But it seems that interesting power of yours is based somewhat in your own life force."

"And what of it?" She asked, mending her shield while she had the chance.

"It only makes this easier for me. Let's get on with it...."

As he spoke, the sand which so relentlessly chased her before broke free of its prison, and rejoined Crocodile as he slowly walked towards her. Her eyes narrowed down on his form, and her horn grew warm as she collected magic there. The standard three shots proved ineffective, but she did not move, and he kept on towards them.

Four more aimed at his lungs and heart slipped right through the sand, and his pace remained the same, like her composure. Not much longer now...

Five shots this time, and she only cared about the last one. The first struck through his shoulder, the second and third passed through his face, the fourth went back to his heart, but the fifth was close behind it, but his reflexes were beyond ordinary.

"Close," He commended, still walking towards her menacingly, "But I know my weaknesses. Without haki, there is one way to neutralize my powers. Only two people have ever successfully exploited it."

His dripping wet hook flew from his hand like a bird of prey gone to scout, traveling above her and hanging there, poised to strike at any moment. The name Fisher never suited him more.

"What if I have haki?" She asked herself as much as him, and with impressive false confidence.

"It won't be as good as his," Crocodile replied, "And it won't be enough. I suppose killing you would be a waste, but if the government wants you...I don't think I'll give you to them."

"Don't get carried away, our part of the deal has not yet come to fruition," Basil Hawkins reminded Crocodile from the distance.

"You'll get Red Hair in time," Crocodile brushed off.

Without anything else to come to her, she went with her gut: "What makes you think you're strong enough to defeat Shanks?"

Basil Hawkins was clearly not the type to easily fall into a distraction, and though Crocodile might be, in this case he did not. She teleported away and put up several dome barriers just before his hand blurred into a storm of sand and reappeared around her throat.

"When Shanks does arrive, we'll walk right over you all!" She continued to bluff.

Crocodile smiled in response, and the hook came racing down - right into Ben Beckmann's face.

Injured but not oblivious, Beckman had his armament haki ready, but was struggling with one arm against Crocodile's hand, which pressed down on the first mate and slowly took the fight away from him, despite his defense of continued armament haki.

"Stop!" She cried, sending two more bolts of water at him, which the hook ran into to block like a perfect puppet.

"Stop!!" She screamed, running at Crocodile with jitte at the ready and water blasts shooting. It did her no good, as the hook and jitte locked up like last time, with her once more coming out the loser, while a wall of sand took the many water blasts, most of it simply returning to Crocodile, the rest staying a mush on the floor.

"I'll make a mummy of you yet," Crocodile told Beckman, breathing cigar smoke in the slightly pale face of his foe.

Twilight saw now, it would take a flood to stop him like that, so a flood it would have to be. She funneled massive amounts of water to her horn, enough to flood a home, a tidal storm to drown out her foe and take away his strength.

Crocodile scowled shoved the weaker than ever Beckman aside. Taking his sand into the ground, he crushed the dirt and stone to gravel, taking control of it and increasing his ability of manipulation tenfold. Like a paint brush on a canvas, Twilight directed the water, chasing Crocodile as fast as she could, clumping up his new defenses quicker than she expected.

For the first time, she was truly in control, as Crocodile made a beeline to escape the rush of water, and the younger pirate Basil Hawkins looked on intently. He almost looked concerned about his prospects. She was inching closer by second, until he could delay no longer, and dispersed completely, letting the golden hook drop to the ground while his form was split into billions of grains of sand and shot around all around her.

She stopped the water stream and focused it into a large orb, careful to keep one eye on Hawkins as she prepared to sweep the area and gather up as much of him as she could.

"Your efforts are in vain, you are destined to lose to him," Hawkins told her as she swirled the orb around, yo-yo-ing wildly to take in as much as she could.

"I've never let a silly thing like destiny stop me from saving my friends or myself before," She replied, then slapped herself mentally for opening her mouth and allowing any number of the grains of sand to enter her. She slowed the water orb and ran a cleansing spell through herself, eliminating anything that did not belong. It took focus and more time than she liked, but Basil Hawkins was not intent to do much more than talk for the moment.

Still Crocodile had not yet reappeared, and her eyes scanned the entire area, looking for any larger gathering of sand, but none were revealed.

"Do you really think destiny is pushed away, or only steps back with your push?" Hawkins went on, much to Twilight's chagrin. She refused to open her mouth again, and shot him a brief, nasty look instead. He hardly seemed to take it in.

She continued to spin around, shifting position in the vertical and horizontal planes every few seconds, eagerly awaiting Crocodile's reappearance, but at this point, it may simply never have returned. She was beginning to wonder if the ex-Warlord had run off, when his voice returned to laugh at her, but his form remained absent.

"Kuha ha ha ha ha..."

The water in her control expanded as she willed more of it into being, assuring herself that she was ready for anything.

"Sables!"

As if from under her, a vortex of wind and sand exploded and trapped her, thrashing her about the tempest and making her drop the water all over the ground. She attempted to bolster her body and shielded it as best she could, but the winds were picking up and searing and tearing at a faster pace now.

Trying to fly out would be pointless, she knew, as the world turned into a giant blur and her eyes focused on the winds themselves. A counter spell to this would require her to put less focus on the shield, but could be done. The question was if she was willing to risk it. Indecisiveness was worse than choosing poorly, so she put herself on the line and concentrated on slowing and then reversing the wind flow, and the shield around her body began cracking and crumbling almost at once.

It seemed Crocodile was watching closely with hidden eyes, for the vortex ceased as soon as she began to work on it, and the next thing she knew sand sharp as blades assaulted her from all sides, breaking the shield to bits and drawing blood from multiple cuts. As she fell back to the ground, wincing with the pain, Crocodile's hand appeared over her face, grasping to drain all the life force out of her.

She forced her wings into motion and kept herself from hitting the ground, but put most of her efforts into keeping that hand at bay. For the moment it was solid, and so long as it was solid, she could repel it with her magic. Still, they were in a tug of war battle for control, and he was slowly winning.

She resorted to one of her usual fall-backs and teleported herself out of there, breathing heavily as she saw the golden hook spring to life and swipe right where her neck had been.

She was so caught up in the battle, she didn't notice the arrival of newcoming pirates until they were talking.

"Crocodile...what is this!?" A man with fiery red hair, lighter than that of Shanks, but much wilder, and spiked upwards. Most noticeably, one of his arms was very large, and very much made of metal. Joining him was man who seemed to have two elbows in each arm, and whose various body parts resembled...instruments.

And of course, as was usually the case, they were joined by prongs of low-level pirate thugs, eager to gang up on foes and take whatever they wanted.

"Quiet down brat," Crocodile returned, finally showing his full form as sand raced from all around to give him composition, "I'm dealing with it."

"And so my cohorts arrive," Hawkins announced, "I believe you have an end to hold up, Crocodile."|

Twilight had only glanced over the names, but upon Hawkins' words she was able to recall them from the middle of a study session after allying with Shanks, these newcomers could only be Eustass "Captain" Kidd, and "Roar of the Sea" Scratchman Apoo.

Benn Beckman had noted their arrival, but was unable to do anything about it, other than weakly advise Twilight to leave him behind and run, which she was sure he knew was not an option for her.

"Then finish up quick, I'm eager to get down to business," Kidd replied.

"As you can see, I've got other matters to attend to; do us all a favor and bite the bullet," Crocodile advised Twilight.

"No!" She refused, rushing forward with another wave of water ready, but a cloud of sand ceased her from behind, again forcing the water from her magical grip and digging into her from all sides, not so much cutting and simply bearing down into her body, making light, red puddles appear all over her.

She briefly gave in and stopped resisting, at which point Crocodile slammed her down onto the ground - hard.

"Persistent thing, huh? Pathetic," Kidd denounced.

"She is doomed to fail, without doubt," Hawkins added.

"I give you credit for holding on, but you're a small fish in this sea yet. You were bound to get swallowed sooner or later," Crocodile told the bleeding Twilight as she struggled to get off her back.

"Don't touch her," Beckman called out hoarsely, still on one knee, his rifle aimed to shoot the hooked man down.

"Don't interfere. Your time is over, just wait till we meet your captain," Kidd interrupted, pulling the gun straight out of Beckman's hand, and dragging the Yonko's second right hand to his chest.

"Quit dragging it out," Appo complained, "Kill her, Benn Beckman should be enough to lure Red Hair here."

"Yeah," Crocodile agreed, raising the golden hook for the final strike, hesitating only long enough for Twilight's shaking gaze to turn into a defeated grimace, and then it fell as an executioner's weapon...and flew into the night's sky as a sword intercepted.

"You guys really messed up my friends," Shanks said, "That's not good news for you."

Relief fought with shame, briefly, to take control of Twilight. She had failed to prove herself yet again, but she was saved. Their journey was not over yet.

The expressions on their enemies went from bored and slightly amused to outright shock and awe. Hawkins dropped the cards in his hand, Apoo fell onto his butt, and Kidd froze completely. Crocodile dashed away, sand swirling where his now broken hook once lay. Their followers, still vastly outnumbering Shanks and his allies, shook and held their stances uneasily.

Now the rest of his crew joined Beckman and Twilight and the up-till-now quiet Three Idiot Pirates. Suddenly, the tides reversed, and a glowing red aura surrounded Shanks and lit up the night. Kidd was struggling to raise his voice, but his anger was easy enough to comprehend. Hawkins and Apoo were more hesitant, while Crocodile looked very cross at being interrupted. Killer shot from his place in Kidd's ranks and flew at Benn Beckman for an opening strike.

Shanks didn't flinch a muscle, though Killer ran dangerously close to him. Instead, the brash Supernova was thrown back by a single punch from Lucky Roo just feet in front of his Vice-Captain. Kidd was practically drooling, his mouth was so agape for so long.

"You lot have been playing pirate until now. If you challenge a Yonko, you better be prepared for the fight of your life. So come at me then, all four of you cowards, and see if you're worth my time."

"GET THEM!!" Kidd managed at last, charging against Shanks in a straight line. Appo hopped up above, Hawkins moved to the side. Crocodile turned his form to sand, but remained in place. Shanks had yet to move since putting his blade down after he'd broken Crocodile's weapon.

The clash between Kidd's metal arm and Shanks' blade rang like lightning, and sparks flew. The power emanating from the Yonko was making it hard to see and hear clearly, even to think well, but Kidd pushed through on anger and willpower. He began to contort Shanks' blade, while reaching for a pistol with his hand of flesh.

Shanks in turn kneed him twice in the blink of an eye, and Kidd dropped the gun with a bloody cough. One swat was all it took to throw him back, but Appo and Hawkins were in the position by then. As Apoo dove from the building, contorting his arm into some impossible shape, Rockstar intercepted and overpowered him, leaving him in a small crater on the ground.

Hawkins evaded the shot fired from Yasopp's gun, but did not see or expect Shanks to dive after him, and was put to his knees after a swift hit on the head from the hilt of Shanks' blade.

Kidd was on his feet again, and having collected a large sum of metal wreckage and parts, flung them desperately at Shanks as his men, none of which connected, and instead Shanks halfed the distance between them.

"Damn you!" Kidd cursed, dragging Mr. 1 from the ground and using the metal in his arms like a puppet, but the steel in Crocodile's man was shattered by the fine skill and quick blade work from Shanks. Wiping his mouth, Kidd screamed out and drew a second pistol, firing many times with the same success as the large metal glob he threw seconds before.

"Help us, damn you!" He shouted to Crocodile, who was hovering behind the battle, watching quietly.

By the time he turned back around, Shanks was in his face; a swing from the giant metal arm did him no avail, and Shanks cut it at the wrist with one swipe. A kick to the gut and then to the chin after Kidd had dropped to one knee rendered the blade on his neck. Staring down at the ground, Kidd's eyes were wide, his mouth open wide, and his breathing hard. Twilight knew, as she picked herself up in the midst of the chaos, that this young pirate's life was flashing before his eyes, and his mind was fighting off the chaos of losing everything he'd ever been and achieved.

She had felt much of the same against Crocodile, and even Buggy and Smoker before him.

"Twilight!" Applejack called as she ran to her captain and Princess's side with Pinkie Pie and Rarity close behind.

"Am I ever glad to see you....how are you holding up? That Ukuma guy and his weird power of fear did a number on all of us."

"We'll make it," Pinkie Pie promised.

"Yes, and reinforcements from the ship are on the way, and Shanks returned from the hunting trip. We'll make it, without a doubt!"

The encouragement made her smile, but the facts were clear, "Well, try as we might, we're not ready for this yet. Let's head back the ship," Twilight told them, holding her head to stop the slow shaking.

"Agreed," Applejack replied as they set off on a mad dash towards Fluttershy, Rainbow, and everyone and everypony else on the outskirts of the battle. Needless to say, Shanks and those with him were pulling the weight of his encounter, and more.

Lucky Roo halted them halfway to the respite of quiet and calm, Benn Beckman on his shoulder.

"Take him," Lucky Roo said, allowing Twilight and Rarity to levitate the Vice Captain and flee with him in tow.

"...Thanks..." He muttered, still clutching his stomach, which was now hastily wrapped to stop the bleeding. If it had been delayed much longer, he might not have lived; he was already looking very pale. At the very least, Twilight could ensure he was alright once back on the ship, but they first had to escape without any further complications.

"WHAT!?"

"THE NAVY!! LOOK OUT!!!"

Complications like that.

Kidd was on the verge of being beheaded, but a flurry of golden blasts sent him flying away from Shanks and through a crumbling wall. Shanks paid it no mind, focusing only on the massive, yellow star above their heads.

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

"Hit the dirt!" Mu shouted, barreling into the group of ponies amidst a mad dash for cover.

"Argh!" Kari followed, shortly thereafter came Rari with his wordless screech.

Golden projectiles fell like rain drops, small and thin, but above all else deadly in destructive force, blowing up the landscape of the battle, searing and tearing apart pirates under Shanks and Kidd and Crocodile alike. In all her life in Equestria and in this New World, Twilight had never seen so much blood spilled so quickly and with such little regard. Bodies fell and broke apart, toys to the power of this grave new force.

It could not have lasted longer than few seconds, but the destruction was undeniable as a small horde of marines rushed them all, rifles, swords, and chains in hand. Only Shanks and his elite officers still stood, largely unharmed. Then, with another golden flash, the tallest Marine Twilight had ever seen appeared. His status was the only thing not in question here. This was what a real Admiral looked like.

"Kizaru..." Shanks addressed.

"Oh ho....Red Haired Shanks. That didn't take long."

"You've come all the way here for me? Bold."

"Actually, my men came for a man called Fisher, then they heard you were here...with those out-of-this-world ponies. Hmm, so weird. I can't possibly return to HQ without all of you in my brig, Sakazuki will be furious."

"Then I'm gonna leave you disappointed. My friends aren't going anywhere with you."

The Admiral gave a low sound, something between a sigh and an intrigued 'Hmmm', and in the speed it took for her heart to be beat, his foot was off the ground and pointed at them like a rifle, and a golden beam was already racing towards them. Shanks darted at it and deflected with a swipe of his blade, the only thing within the blast radius to not be scorched and burned.

The next instant, the Admiral called Kizaru put his hands together and then stretched them out, a yellow blade of pure light appearing between them, until he had a sword that dwarfed Shanks' in comparison.

"Run..." Twilight breathed, "just run!"

Shanks stood his ground, and Kizaru's form evaporated in golden light, then rushed forward particle by particle in a great flash, reappearing half a second later to clash blades with the Yonko; the force of impact sent a gust of wind that could have belonged to a hurricane rushing at everyone behind Shanks.

Without argument, everypony with her ran for the ship, but the sounds of fierce battle did not get quieter as they made their break. In fact, more than once, yellow beams flew over their heads and tore through brush and trees beside them. One of Kidd's allies, Scratchman Apoo, fled with them for a time, though neither party was concerned by the company.

"And I thought he was strong last time!" He panicked.

A short time later, Apoo jumped aside from another of the yellow beams, and disappeared thereafter.

The forestry broke at last and the ship came into view, Spike noticeable on the railing, trying to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic scene. Benn Beckman was taken below deck quickly, and Twilight got the ship moving. If they could make it down shore a ways, it would be a faster getaway for Shanks and those with him. The execution of that would be tricky, however, as two marine ships sailed towards the island in the distance. On top of that, the stragglers were followed out of the forest by none other than Crocodile himself.

"Is he back to finish us off?" Applejack questioned alarmingly, steering the ship into a more viable position if the marines were going to fight.

"If he is, you guys go on without me. Maybe...maybe I can't beat him, but I can hold him off for a while."

"No way-"

"That's an order, Rainbow."

How long had she been a captain, she wondered as her eyes met Crocodile's, and how many orders like that had she given? She flew up into the air, and mustered magic to her horn as the former Warlord slowed his pace. There was silence for a few seconds, then with a huff of cigar smoke, he spoke up.

"You damn ponies...you screwed everything up here. I'm calling it a night, but don't ever think you can rest easy. I'll hunt you down and finish what we started. Guaranteed."

A collective breath was held and let go, as Crocodile dispersed into millions of grains of sand and disappeared. One less enemy to deal with, but the danger was far from gone. On the contrary, the arrival of Admiral Kizaru put them all closer to defeat - and death - than they'd ever been.

The marine ships in the distance were coming into an attacking formation, and the Red Force put all haste into making it up shore quickly, but also drew her cannons. Thinking it better to avoid a long confrontation if possible, Twilight flew up and let several volleys of spells fly, some regular magic, others to set fire to the ships or create a magnetic force to miss-align all the cannons.

Despite her efforts, she could not have anticipated the arrival of a third ship, which was coming at them from their destination, and cannon balls flew at Shanks' vessel and hit their mark, to Twilight's shame. They returned fire and did about as much as was done to them, and Twilight flew overhead to stop the battle short. Time was everything now.

"Should be smooth enough sailing from here...why don't you get them to head over," Applejack announced.

"Good idea - make sure Rarity and Fluttershy have what they need to help treat Benn Beckman!" She added as she soared high, back to where a fire had started and many yellow beams were flying around.

"Be careful yourself!" Rainbow called out, but it was muffled in the wind as Twilight sped forward.

As she drew close, Twilight shot off several flares to raise the attention of the Yonko and his men, but wondered if it was a mistake when she got closer, realizing that the Admiral and his subordinates were putting up a close fight; Kidd was in shackles and under Smoker's foot, Hawkins was unbound, but also seemed to be incapacitated. It seemed only Crocodile and Apoo had successfully made it away as of yet.

Shanks was dirty, scuffed up like he'd been pushed around and thrown back many times, but Kizaru looked no better; everything around them was in tatters. The other officers in his crew looked about as fair, but most of them were huffing to catch their breaths.

"Time to go!" She announced with a magically enhanced voice.

Lucky Roo punched Vice Admiral Momonga through a tree and fell to one knee. Rockstar joined him and picked him back up, "You heard her, we're in trouble if reinforcements show up!"

"As if we'd allow you to escape!" Smoker returned, flying in half a whisp of his namesake, and striking Rockstar onto the ground with his jitte.

Twilight surveyed the scene, herself in the air, Shanks, Lucky Roo, Rockstar, Yasopp, and a couple others on the ground. Standing against them were Admiral Kizaru, and Vice Admirals Smoker, Strawberry, Momonga, Dalmatian, and at least three squads of men, some of them bearing the cape-like jackets and suits that denoted officers. Mu, Rari, and Kari were nowhere to be found at the moment, and Twilight wasn't sure if they had made it back to theRed Force or not.

Nobody said anything for a moment, but Twilight was more anxious about the oddly content smirk on Kizaru's face than the collective quiet. At last, it was Shanks who spoke.

"Been a while since I had a good fight. Get all the wounded aboard my ship and prepare to take our leave. I'll hold them all off."

"All of them!?" Twilight repeated.

"You just see that nobody is left behind," Shanks added.

"Ooh boy...brace yourselves," Kizaru warned in a very mocking tone.

A red flash shot out around them, and Shanks screamed a battle cry that flew through the island, and all Marines aside from the Admiral and most of the Vice Admirals fell to the ground at once, and the trees, stone debris, ground, and even the clothes on their backs were split and cracked.

Faster than she'd ever seen anything go, Shanks was suddenly gone, but Vice Admiral Dalmation went flying into the air, his scream getting softer by the second. Smoker was thrown onto his back as Shanks suddenly appeared before him, his sword only barely being held at bay by Admiral Kizaru, who seemed to be putting in more effort than before.

"Wow...that was fast," Kizaru remarked.

Shanks cursed him with a smile, and disappeared again. The area was bathed in golden light and Kizaru disappeared too; a half an instant later they both reappeared in a different spot, then again they were gone and back before she could blink, in yet another position, their blades of steel and light meeting each other in a firm deadlock every time.

A fourth time it happened, and then a fifth, this time in the air, and they broke off amid falling back down to the ground. Shanks was now visibly annoyed. Kizaru looked amused.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get lost!" Shanks cried out, racing forward faster than eyes could perceive a sixth time.

This time, however, Kizaru met him with more force than expected, and they broke off almost at once, with Shanks losing his footing and stepping backwards several feet before regaining his stance. Kizaru kept his feet firmly on the ground, but slid back about as far all the same.

It was only now that Vice Admiral Dalmation fell back to the ground, landing in a crater the size of a small hill when he hit a few hundred feet away. Upon that, the pirates began to obey, carrying their wounded comrades out the way Twilight began to lead them. But Kizaru was resolute.

"Looks like you might have me beat in terms of firepower," He admitted as his golden body flickered away, and then finished with his voice seemingly coming from everywhere at the same time, "But it seems I'm still faster."

Twilight felt the impact before she saw it, as though a camera had recorded the lightspeed kick that sent her hurdling over the forest and into the water, splashing so hard she thought she'd broken bones. With one explosive kick, Admiral Kizaru had sent most of the pirates past the ship, and in varying degrees of injury. She wanted to swim back up, but she found her body was no longer listening to her brain's commands. After everything, would this be her end?

"Well, that was unfortunate...looks like I screwed up in reverse."

Admiral Kizaru pushed off his back and stood up, grabbing his jacket from the ground with one hand, while dabbing at his forehead with the other, blood returning to his field of view of three fingers. Shanks was gone, most of the pirates were, though Eustass "Captain" Kidd and "Magician" Basil Hawkins had been captured, along with most of their crews.

Vice Admiral Dalmatian would be out of commission for the foreseeable future, but he was still alive. The rest of their island forces would be too slow in catching up, but there was still a chance to engage the Red Hair Pirates and their curious companions; they were not out of the thick of it yet.

"Take the prisoners into custody, I'm headed towards Vice Admiral Jon-Paul," Kizaru announced, forming the Yata Mirror with his hands and reflecting a golden path out to sea. In less than three seconds he was aboard a fresh Navy ship, with two more at his backside, and another two opposite him. The Red Force was in range, smoking lightly from the continued fire put upon it by this segment of the Fleet.

From the top deck, Kizaru gave his orders, "I'm going on ahead, follow up with maximum cannon fire. I should be able to break the ship in half upon landing. Ready..."

His body once more formed into a gilded statue, a great flash lighting up the ship and illuminating the sea below. He could already see his kick upon reappearance shattering the Yonko's vessel into pieces, Shanks unable to defend his crew from an attack so fast. It was evident that he was aware of Kizaru though. He had been bested before hand, but that didn't change Kizaru's speed advantage, and speed was always a sure way to break the enemy in one go.

"Aim......"

Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.......bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....

"Hmm?" Kizaru's form returned to its normal state, and he removed the transponder snail from inside his coat. It clicked on and all ears listened to the message.

"Admiral Kizaru....please disengage at once."

A puzzled look came upon him, "Disengage? Who is this?"

"Righteous Thief, working on behalf of the Gorosei."

"Righteous Thief...?"

"I have my own intelligence that informs me you've cornered the newly arrived pony creatures under the protection of the Emperor Red Haired Shanks...I also understand they have nearly escaped you."

"No matter. They're as good as sunk now."

"Precisely why I'll need you to stand down. Now."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm sure someone as capable as yourself would be able to take control of the situation without much effort, but the World Government is going to need these creatures unharmed, and you'll not be able to take them in unharmed if you act now. Rest assured, I have contingency plans."

The Admiral rubbed his chin and thought over it for a second before reply, "I don't like the idea of just letting it go..."

"Far from it. I'll have need of someone with your talents down the road, but I'm responsible for ensuring that the World Government gets these creatures in proper condition. As of now, I cannot uphold that obligation, so once more, I'm asking you to stand down."

"Hmmm...it's a bother, but, I suppose I gave it a fair enough shot already. Very well, I look forward to seeing how this plays out," Kizaru relented with a smile the 'Righteous Thief' could not see.

"Very good, Admiral."

CLICK

Kizaru watched the Red Force sail onwards towards the coming dawn and the horizon, silent as all his men as they soaked in the knowledge that they almost caught an Emperor that night. For at least a solid minute, nobody moved, and the slapping of rowdy waves against the hull was the only sound. Then, the Admiral turned his back to the Yonko and headed below deck.

Once out of the medical bay, Twilight felt about as bad as Shanks looked, that said, that was a lucky thing.

Shanks took a seat and wiped his brow with his arm, reaching for the bottle of rum on the counter immediately thereafter. Twilight had never seen him so roughed up from battle, though he wasn't injured in any significant way. Her friends joined them shortly along with Yasopp. The galley of the Red Force was more disheveled than usual, and repairs would need to be made, but this area wasn't much of a priority. Broken boards on the kitchen floor didn't mean much next to broken boards in the living quarters or right on the hull.

"Shame about those three Idiot Pirates...would've been nice to help them out. Can't do anything about it now."

"No," Twilight admitted, "and we can't go back for a new ship."

"Forget another ship, you'll all be on land for a while soon anyways," Shanks said between swigs of the alcohol.

"Are we finally ready to train?" Rainbow asked.

"Past ready," Yasopp spoke for his captain, "We made final contact with your teacher. He's waiting at an island only a couple days from here. Somewhat remote, shouldn't be a problem since the Navy isn't after us anymore, or so it seems."

"They could've well sunken the ship," Applejack thought aloud, "Why did they stop?"

"I'm sure I could've matched Kizaru, but with many of us subdued, the overall battle was in their favor...I guess I'll be adding that to the schedule while you're all learning to fight in the terms of this world. You've each displayed great potential, I'm going to look for ways to use it once you've turned it into skill," Shanks explained.

"I don't like being left alone without you," Twilight admitted, feeling much more like a student again than a Princess or a pirate Captain.

Shanks laughed and grabbed the next bottle, courtesy of Yasopp, "I think you'll find the man I've arranged to help is more than capable of keeping you safe while you earn your place on an Emperor's ship."

"But who'll be teaching us?" Rarity asked, unable to contain the curiosity.

Shanks and Yasopp shared a knowing smile, but said nothing, even with the added pressures from Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

"For now, rest up. We all put work into that place, and our investment didn't turn much of a profit. But all in all, I'm glad you all fought. To stand against those men took the bravery you'll need to make it in the world. I'm proud."

Despite the shortness of their relationship, and that uneasy as it was at times, Twilight's heart fluttered at the praise. If for but a moment, even her head had stopped aching. She was always a real sucker for a kind word, if it came from someone she recognized as smarter or stronger than herself. Her friends were proud of being held in pride as well, and one by one they shuffled out leaving the men alone at the bar.

Once sure they were gone, evident by the muffled shouting they were doing on the deck, Shanks turned to Yasopp and spoke much darker than he had in the presence of the ponies.

"We have to find this man...Righteous Thief."

"I've already got some of our allies on it."

"Keep eyes behind us tonight too. I wouldn't put it past Kizaru to feint a retreat and follow up with a surprise attack in the middle of the night."

"I'm keeping watch myself," Yasopp answered with confidence.

"Good. We just might pull them through this after all."

"Here's hoping, for all our sakes."

The small campfire cooked their fish nicely, and the smell of smoke instigated their rumbling bellies. Their alliance with the Emperor Red Haired Shanks was over, and they all knew it. Even still, despite the failure to remove "Fisher", or rather, Crocodile, from their home, the Navy had done a nice job of it. They'd move out once all the evidence of his activities were gone, and the land would go back to the families that once lived so peacefully there.

"Man, I'm hungry," Kari moaned, reaching out for a frying fish until his hand was swatted at by Mu.

"Quiet down, fish aren't done cooking yet."

Another rumble filled the air, and the distant marching of marines through the woods below their cliffside took their attention for a moment. It was a risk to run, Mu recognized, but they would put it out as soon as the fish from the river were nice and cooked.

"I hope they make it...to whatever they're aiming to do. Nice pirates, really. We couldn't have made this happen without them," Mu said aloud.

"Yeah, swell lot," Rari agreed.

"The greatest thieves and scoundrels I ever did know," Kari further agreed.

A brief silence filled the air, and then one more rumble, obviously from Kari. He eyes the fish, the other two eyed him. Despite the speed at which he went for the food, Mu's hand slapped onto his hard.

"I thought I told you they weren't done!"

A further rumbling filled the air, this time coming Mu himself. His peers looked over to him until he looked back, at which they looked away.

"Ok," the unofficial leader admitted, "Now it's time to eat!"

"Oh boy!" Rari and Kari echoed each other, all three of the men poking a frying fish with a stick.

They had only just begun to dig in when a noise came from their belongings behind the huddled fire.

Bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep.....bedep bedep bedep bedep bedep....

Slowly, Mu lowered his fish and looked back, one eyebrow arched as he then surveyed his cohorts, "Which one of you swiped a transponder snail from the thugs?"

"Not me," Kari defended himself at once.

"Well I didn't grab one either," Rari said.

"Well unless our clothes started talking, someone misplaced a snail. One of you go check it out."

"Okay," Kari relented, starting to rise until Mu grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tugged him back down.

"Not you," Mu declared with prejudice.

Eyes shifted to Rari, and he soon set his fish down and went to investigate.

"More fish for me anyways," A new voice said, making Mu and Kari look behind them, but all they saw was Rari. He found the snail quickly, and answered.

Bedep bedep bedep bedep - CLICK

"Go ahead," The voice answered, coming from Rari's body.

Mu and Kari rose as the other party said something.

"Oh, it went better than expected."

Mu and Kari set their own fish down and moved over to their friend, who was not only talking with a new voice, but standing in an unusual posture, as if he were someone else entirely.

"These two? Already dead," Rari answered something the other party had inquired about.

"How are you-"

Mu's voice was silenced as a red line appeared over his throat, he stumbled down and fell to the ground gurgling blood.

Kari jumped and shifted to run, but he only made it a step before a similar line appeared over his throat, and he bent down with both hands trying to stop the red life from leaving him, with no more success and as much a pained gurgling sound.

"Understood," Their friend replied, "Angler out."

Author's Notes:

Wow, this one took a long time to get out.....er...sorry about that.

lol, glad I finally finished this chapter, I'm looking forward to the upcoming training. And from there, it only gets better!

Reviews and upvotes are never appreciated, even if given in jest or spite.

Thanks for reading, love you all, and hope to see you back next time!

-TBK

12: Boot Camp: Blue Pheasant Haki 101

For the first time since being ordered away, Twilight had spoken with Princess Celestia.

Well, she could've sworn she had. Thinking on it, it had been a dream, but Princess Luna was capable of entering dreams, perhaps Celestia had asked her to let her speak to Twilight. It had been vivid and of great importance, but Twilight could hardly remember a thing about it. Maybe they were simply too far away to reach, if indeed the Princesses were attempting to contact them. It was only a dream after all.

She recalled only a brief segment in great detail:

The map is not the end!"

Twilight shook her head, confused, asking what she meant by it.

"Trust in your heart, the map is not the end!" Celestia insisted.

That was when things got blurry again, and the words being spoken were deaf again, and all Twilight could comprehend was the overall sense of worry and urgency in her teacher, but nothing else specific.

It puzzled and troubled her, but no matter how much she concentrated on it, she could not remember anything more. She checked the map when she woke, it was silent again, nothing written on it, nothing lighting up despite her pleas, nothing to indicate it was even working anymore, other than a vague warmness radiating off it.

Since when did maps go into hibernation?

That took her out of the mystery and back into her frustration with the thing; where did it come from, and why did it simply refuse to work like a map should? The next time she really saw Princess Celestia, she would be sure to ask.

The ponies under her watch had grown weary of being cooped together with Shanks' crew aboard the Red Force, but there was no helping it. In any event, training was soon going to begin, and they would have a long time to stretch their legs and grow acquainted with land again. Applejack seemed especially eager to disembark from the ship, despite the hours she'd been putting in to repair it from the Marine attack on Fisher's Isle.

And as the shore came into view, Twilight too felt a mix of readiness to enter this training, but a reluctance to let Shanks and Benn Beckman and all the others go off without them. There was no fear they would not return, but a fear that when they did, things would be too different, that something external to either crew would change things for them.

As Twilight ventured onto land with her friends and Shanks, plus the mostly recuperated Benn Beckman, she noticed the cabin was beautiful, as if written into life from a novel. It was well stocked, and looked newly made or re-modeled in the last few years, and more than anything untouched. The surrounding area was beautiful too. Plains of grass and an equally wild forest farther back would give them space to train and improve their bodies, while the cliff overlooking the sea in the opposite direction would give Twilight a quiet place to reflect and think over things...she hoped.

Despite their struggled, much of her crew remained, in all nearly forty ponies, not counting Spike and her close friends. Many of them would be sleeping outside, she knew, but in a place like this, that wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would be better for her to lead by example and sleep outside herself. She puzzled over it for a moment, but before she knew it, they were at the door. Carved by a fine craftsman, it opened without so much as a faint squeak, and the inside of the cabin was as luxurious as the outside.

What caught her eye the quickest, however, was the lanky man lounging on the floor in the middle of the room. She held her breath a moment and heard him snoring.

"This...is our teacher?" She asked Shanks.

"Actually...it is."

"So....what's his deal? Even I've never slept in this late..." Rainbow observed, poking at the man with her hoof.

"Did he fall asleep waiting for us to show up...because he planned a surprise party!?" Pinkie inquired, facwe lighting up with her train of thought pulling once more into the party station.

"He's awfully tall..." Fluttershy chipped in quietly from behind the group.

Spike offered his own input into the situation, but Twilight was still caught onto what Fluttershy had said. He was tall. Very tall, about as tall...as the man who had most recently tried to kill them. It took a while for the others to notice her suspicions, except for the two veteran pirates, who had let the ponies gradually stumble onto the realization of who their teacher was.

"You can't be serious," Twilight told Shanks at last.

"Oh?"

"This man...who is he?" She asked, the subject in question snoring a bit louder to emphasize her point.

"Name's Kuzan," Beckman answered, blowing the smoke from his cigarette out the still open door, "He was once called Aokiji, a Marine Admiral."

The outrage sparked like wild fire, cries erupting at once from all around.

"WHAT!?"

"NO!"

"...unbelievable!!"

The sudden rush of noise woke the man, who sat up slowly, while everyone behind him stayed quiet. He looked to both side and checked a transponder snail from inside his coat. He was still for a moment, and then put it away and laid his head right back down.

"HE'S JUST GOING BACK TO SLEEP!?!?" Pinkie shouted incredulously.

The Admiral's head remained in place longer than Twilight figured it would, but it quickly lead the charge as his whole towering form stood up tall, though slightly hunched over, and behind dark sunglasses he uttered his first words.

"I was expecting you sooner."

They all watched him go to the bar and reach down behind it for a bottle, pouring himself a glass.

"I assume you want one too?" He asked Shanks.

"It's as though we've known each other for years," Shanks greeted, taking a seat beside the man with a smile on his face.

"Just like that!?" Twilight demanded, "Just like that you sit down with...with a Navy Admiral!?"

"He's trustworthy," Beckman vouched, still standing in the doorway.

"Actually, it's ex-Navy Admiral," Kuzan corrected, handing a glass to Shanks and grabbing his own again.

He paused and stared at it as the glass slowly misted over, then spoke up again, "I quit the Marines a while ago. Red Hair here contacted me with an offer I.....well, let's just say I'm not eager to turn you over to the World Government. Quite the opposite."

"I'm sure Twilight isn't trying to cause any discord between us..." Rarity started, thinking over her word choice, "...but I too find it...uncomfortable."

"It's hard to accept, but I need you all to become strong, and I don't have the time to do so myself. I've got several things I want to get done, and I can't bring untrained pirates with me. Learn to use haki, study up on devil fruits and foes we may yet face. Prepare yourselves, because I need you to stand with me when the time comes for our worlds to be decided upon."

He had a point she knew, but hearing Kuzan speak again broke her concentration: "Speaking of foes yet to face, Blackbeard is mobilizing. I assume you heard about Baltigo?" Kuzan inquired.

The mention of another Yonko, one of whom Twilight had yet to hear Shanks speak of from his perspective, made the dizziness in her head worse. The name was new compared to most others, but it grabbed attention quickly.

"What did you tell him?" Shanks asked darkly.

At this, Twilight could not contain herself any longer, "Wait...you're working with him? With Blackbeard!?"

"He thinks so. I made up an excuse. I'm sure he knows I'm lying to him, but he's unwilling to send anyone after me."

"Did you tell him where you were?"

Kuzan chuckled, "I'm not so dense as to do anything like that."

"You know, I'm liking this less and less myself," Applejack weighed in, "The connections to the Navy, and now this other Emperor...just doesn't sit well with me."

"I...I believe him. He seems...warmhearted," Fluttershy defended.

"I'm not so sure..." Rainbow sided with Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack.

"I like him...even if he is bad at surprise parties," Pinkie chimed in.

All eyes were on the captains then: "I can't walk my followers into the hands of someone untrustworthy," Twilight told Shanks.

"I can't teach anyone who isn't willing to learn," Kuzan reflected.

"Enough!" Shanks raised his voice, "I know it must be hard to trust anyone after the way I introduced myself. I had to be sure you were who you said you were. Now, I need you to trust in those I place my trust in. Kuzan was a Marine, and he's a spy, but he cares about the world, like we do. He's one of the good ones. He'll train you and make you strong...but you have to trust in him, or at least, in my trust in him."

Twilight bowed her head. She was reliant on Shanks, overly so in many ways, and this might change that. It might also be disastrous if he was wrong.

"Then trust me enough to leave behind a transponder snail, and tell me where you're going," She asked.

He nodded, finished another drink, and explained his motives.

"I need to scout out our enemies. One in particular has been poking around our group since we joined our crews in an alliance..." He turned to Kuzan, "Which reminds me. Know a fellow called 'Righteous Thief'?"

Kuzan shrugged, "Never heard of him."

Twilight traded looks quickly between her close friends, but none of them seemed to recognize the name. It didn't surprise her, as usual, she'd done more research than they had by far.

Shanks continued, "That's too bad. I also need to make contact with other allies, get them into better positions. I've no doubt the world is about to get crazy. In particular, I need to track down Marco the Phoenix, and the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates. If I can get rid of that punk Edward Weevil at the same time, so much the better."

"The Payback War has left them vulnerable; we'll need to hurry," Beckman pointed out.

"Lastly, I need to attend a wedding."

"A wedding?" Twilight prodded with a slightly angled head and raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry about what we'll be doing. Focus on what you need to learn. Make sure every single member of your crew gets stronger."

"I will," She promised.

"Good, in that case...I think we found something you might enjoy!" Shanks said with his gruff grin and a laugh. It was still odd to see the scary pirate turn into a party animal to give Pinkie Pie a run for her money.

Benn Beckman reached inside his outer shirt and pulled out a very small fruit, dark gray with squiggly lines across it. It most closely resembled a pomegranate.

"A devil fruit," Kuzan confirmed their thoughts, "How interesting."

"Compliments of Fisher's stores. Rockstar made a raid during the night. Catch!"

He tossed it into the air with tremendous speed, and after Fluttershy darted out of the way like it was a swarm of parasprites, Rainbow Dash caught it with confidence.

"Cool..." She muttered, eyeing it over.

"I was hoping you'd be the one to catch it," Shanks told her as he got up from his seat.

"What kind is it?" She asked eagerly.

"Guess there's only one way to find out, huh?" He returned with a mischievous smile.

"We'll be gone at least a few weeks. Got your map and all the possessions you need?" Benn Beckman asked.

"I think so; Spike will make sure," Twilight answered, and the baby dragon nodded as he headed out the door with Beckman.

"Keep your heads up...and trust Kuzan," Shanks instructed.

Twilight nodded, wondering if she should say anything else, but the red haired Emperor was out the door before she knew it, leaving them alone with the former Navy Admiral. With him went a great sense of stability for Twilight and her friends and the rest of her crew, but it had to be done.

"Why were you sleeping on the floor anyways?" Rainbow asked.

Over the past two years, he'd gotten more headaches than the rest of his life combined. He grunted as he massaged his temples, taking solace in the privacy of his office. When Sakazuki closed his eyes, he felt the tremoring pains from the War come back to him. The War of the Best, it was called, the Battle at Marineford. It was Whitebeard's last day on earth, but the legendary pirate had left deep scars on both the Marines, and Sakazuki himself.

It was as though he was there again, in the hazy battlefield, watching his previous self do battle with the hulking monster of a man, whose adopted son had just been killed after Sakazuki put a magma fist through his chest.

Whitebeard's fist was on his head in the blink of an eye, pressing Akainu's face into stone, feeling his skull shake between the unforgiving ground and the even less merciful power of the gura-gura no mi. Just as the pain was becoming too much, Whitebeard relented, and leaped up many stories into the air.

Akainu moaned as he picked his head out of the small crater it had been crushed into, barely seeing the Yonko fall back down above him. Pushing himself away, he rolled roughly to the side and avoided a deadly blow by inches; Whitebeard was already in a mad sprint towards the Admiral as Akainu regained himself. Rolling onto his feet and evading a slash from Whitebeard's Bisento at the same time, Akainu turned his whole arm into molten magma, and wasted no time in sending a volley of flaming fists to incinerate Whitebeard.

He threw at least nine into the smoke, seeing the last blow take half of Whitebeard's mustache, and the skin on that side of his face to boot.

But it wasn't enough. He knew, and he ran at the Yonko with a raging battle cry, but did not use his magma just yet; first he had to bypass Whitebeard's defenses. Akainu sent a powerful punch towards the giant man's chest, but it was blocked. Without hesitation he tried again, to the same result, and once more, which was yet again fruitless. Each time the sound of his fist being slapped away by Whitebeard's arm rang through his ears.

Finally he attempted a roundhouse kick, twirling around 360 degrees, but was knocked away by a powerful, haki-laced counter-blow, and paved a trench in the stone with his back. It was among the worst injuries he'd felt since basic training. He didn't see them then, but Sakazuki saw them now, that his eyes betrayed his fear and his pain. Whitebeard was that close to absolutely destroying him.

A white-clad fist of pure earthquake power raised above Akainu's prone form, and adrenaline was taken over by something deeper. Something that went beyond his own instinct to survive, and existed solely to see justice done. Something that would not let a silly thing like personal welfare, or lack thereof, come before the life - and death - of one of history's most dangerous pirates.

And Akainu willed himself into action, raising and screaming, erupting his fist into blazing magma and stabbing it through Whitebeard's chest, the Yonko's defenses totally dropped in the second before the final blow that would end Akainu's life.

But that blow never landed.

"Hell Hound!" He yelled, feeling his arm slip so far into Whitebeard's chest his elbow was almost touching the pirate's abs, and frying all of his organs with a burst of magma that dropped Whitebeard to one knee. The pirates who had previously been screaming for their pathetic excuse of a father had gone silent, and Akainu embraced the pain caused to him in the battle as Whitebeard did the same with the injuries the Admiral had given to him.

But it was Akainu on his feet, and poised to deliver the final blow now. And in the name of Absolute Justice, he raised his arm again to do just that.

"You must resign," Akainu warned with more of a stable voice than he felt, as the pirate's so-called sons cried out to him in even greater alarm.

But the mighty Yonko did nothing but sit there on one knee, not even breathing as the residual fire burned him to pitch blackness on the inside. It was fitting. Poetic. And Justice deserved to be seen, so he held off for all but three seconds. Watching the old man in his moment of defeat. Watching the great pirate Whitebeard accept his long overdue death.

But reflecting was Akainu's mistake, and out of nowhere, Whitebeard's fist shot out from his side and grabbed Akainu by the front of his shirt.

Unsure if it was merely the last, fleeting attempt at a comeback, Akainu braced himself, but did not act, and it was once more his mistake. Whitebead's eyes shot open, and he raised himself up again, taking Akainu off the ground completely.

The fear and the pain were back in his face now, and fury was all that was written on Whitebeard's. Before Akainu could will himself into a counterattack, Whitebeard threw him up into the air, and mustered his quake powers into his giant fist, posing to end the fight then and there.

Akainu braced himself, but the trip up and then back down felt instantaneous, and before he could throw his arms in the way, the mighty fist struck him right on his side, and he felt not only his ribcage shudder and crack and break, but the very air around him. Blood spurted out from his mouth like he'd been stabbed by a hundred swords. The ground all around shattered, quake lines forming in all directions, fault lines erupting all around, and it seemed as though Marineford was thrown up over itself.

The nightmare was interrupted by a knock on the door, and the calling voice of Commodore Reiyu.

"Fleet Admiral Sakazuki-san!"

And in an instant, it was left in the past. Akainu spun around in his chair and looked towards his door. Still, he knew Whitebeard would come back to haunt him. Whitebeard came back often in the quiet moments of Sakazuki's busy life.

"Come in," He permitted.

"Sir, two new reports coming in from Admirals Ryokugyu and Kizaru!" The officer announced, holding two transponder snails in his hands.

Akainu grimaced but silently held out a hand, and one of the snails was placed in it.

"This is Sakazuki!" He barked.

"Ryokugyu here," The voice replied, "Following up on the work started by Admiral Fujitora and the rest of Doflamingo's escort, I have confirmed that Jack the Drought remains lost. We found scattered remains of his fleet floating on open water, but the Calamity himself is nowhere to be found. Kaido appears to be preparing to mobilize."

"Where to? With whom? Give me details!"

"Intelligence has indicated that some commotion is happening in Big Mom's territory. Given Kaido's eagerness to attack a weakened Whitebeard two years ago...I'd place my money there. As to with whom he's mobilizing, it seems the other Calamities are on missions of their own at the moment. He will most assuredly have back up though."

"We can't rule out any possibilities..." Akainu admitted, "But nothing of value would be on the line inside Big Mom's waters. If he goes to her, let him be. Maybe one of them will kill the other. If he goes anywhere else, alert me as soon as possible."

"Understood."

The snail clicked off, and Akainu handed it back, but before taking the other one, gave the subordinate before him an order, "When I finish this call, alert all Marine bases in the vicinity of Admiral Ryokugyu, lend him all available support. Get on Cipher Pol's case as well."

Reiyu nodded and gave him the other snail.

"Sakazuki here."

"Oh, Sakazuki, at last. I was waiting."

"What is it, Kizaru?"

"We sent out a reconnaissance unit to chase down Red Hair and his strange allies. They were found twenty minutes ago. Dead."

"Damn," Akainu cursed, "The Emperors are causing problems across the board it seems."

"I'm sure....Righteous Thief has a lead on them."

"He's under the impression he's beyond my orders. In any case, the Gorosei are trying to keep me away from him."

"And the ponies?"

"Let the brat have his schemes for now. When he asks you to join him, tell me right away. I'll make sure he doesn't slip up again."

"Understood. Kizaru out."

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"You've made sure the prisoners reached Impel Down, right?"

"Yeah."

"Your next set of orders...forget them. I'm putting Fujitora on it instead. Something tells me he'll be able to kill two birds with one stone."

"So what do I do?"

"As you're in that punk's back pocket for the moment, stay in friendlier waters. The World Nobles are convening for Reverie shortly. Don't make a public appearance, but I want some of our men in on that meeting. God knows Cipher Pol won't share half of what they learn with us."

"If you say so, I'll set course right away."

"Good."

With that, Sakazuki clicked the other snail off and gave it to Commodore Reiyu. The subordinate Marine ran off and left the Fleet Admiral alone once more. He sighed, and stroked his neatly trimmed beard. Many pieces on the board were in motion, and many others were hidden from his sight. He had risen in power since his near death to Whitebeard, but he did not have the power he needed to ensure Justice was done.

Instead, he'd simply have to trust in the Gorosei, and their young puppet.

"If it helps, don't be afraid to-"

Kuzan's words were cut short as a giant mallet shattered his face into thousands of tiny ice crystals.

"Urgh, no fair!" Pinkie complained, hoisting the hammer onto her shoulder and watching as the ice came back to its master and reformed his head. It still looked a bit unnatural to them, and Fluttershy dared not watch the repeated destruction.

"As I was saying, if you have to-"

This time, he caught the mallet, stunning Pinkie Pie with his speed.

"Could you not shatter my head to pieces while I'm talking please?" Kuzan asked.

"Sorry...it's like an immortal pinata!"

The ex-Admiral sighed, and dropped into a casual seat on the grass. He had made ice sculptures of himself which were intangible to any attack not laced with haki for the ponies under Twilight to train with, she and her friends were with the original. How he had managed that impressive feat, she did not know.

"We've got a long ways to go yet..."

The ponies looked somewhat awkwardly at one another as Kuzan scratched his chin and fell onto his back. After near thirty seconds of silence, Rainbow cleared her throat loudly.

"Hm? Oh....let me try to be dramatic, I guess."

He lifted one leg up and rested it against the other, like he was leaning back in a chair, and instructed them to close their eyes.

"If you're anything like humans, and you concentrate very hard...you should be able to feel things past your heartbeat. Emotions, goals, maybe feelings for others. What makes you unique, what gives you a soul....concentrate on that feeling. In the Marines, a lot of us hold the desire to protect others in our souls...I take it you lot are much the same."

He paused and took in a deep breath, and they imagined he was doing as he was explaining.

"The things you cherish most in the world, in all your lifetime....the things that keep your hearts warm. They're all in danger. Everything you know and love and care about is going to be crushed. Destroyed. Ended. It'll all go to waste unless you can save them. Wrap your souls in that iron will, in the determination to save what you love. Let it stir and burn in your chest, and let your blood vessels send it through your bodies."

Twilight felt herself shaking...and she thought she heard Fluttershy quietly crying. Beside her, though, Rainbow was breathing deeply in slight frustration.

She shivered as Kuzan spoke up again: "Now...take that power of will and fight back against the fear, the cold darkness coming to tear up and devour the things in your soul. Fight against the overwhelming sense of immediate death."

Half a second later, Applejack cried out in shock, her hoof held out in self defense, and the shattered remains of an ice saber on the grass around her. Her arm was clad in black, and shining too, like a cannon ball. It was just the same as Smoker's use in what seemed like ages ago.

"I-I...did it. Haki."

"Armament haki," Kuzan clarified, "the first one to achieve it. Good job. Allow me to demonstrate what would have happened if I struck anyone else."

In his other hand was a similar ice-sword. Blue-ish white, it steamed in the sunlight with intense cold that they could all feel. He moved over a few paces and struck a rock of fairly large size, and they watched with awe as it split in two where he had slashed it.

"You'll be combat ready when you can arm yourself with that kind of haki on the turn of a second, by instinct."

The ponies looked at one another, work clearly cut out for them, they gulped.

Kuzan formed another ice clone and began walking away, "And let's not forget, there's also Observation Haki to learn, everyone has different aptitudes....and I wouldn't be shocked if one or two of you had the ability to use the Conquering King's Haki either. For now, focus on Armament."

The genuine ex-Admiral headed towards the small inn while the afternoon of training went on for the ponies.

Eustass Kidd cursed the Emperor Shanks one more time as he was thrown into his cell on the deepest floor of Impel Down. Rendered armless by the confiscation of his artificial limb, and chained to the wall by his feet, the Supernova captain screamed out. The other inmates of the floor snickered and laughed, all of them enjoying his suffering.

Only days ago he'd had everything going for him, including the chance to assassinate one of the Four Emperors. Unfortunately, the Marines had interfered, not to mention those damn pony-creatures. What a disgusting outcome. He looked for any way to vent his rage, but all he could do was scream again and take a seat on the cold, dirty stone floor.

Killer was two floors above him, with Hawkins having somehow escaped capture during transit. Most of his men were on Levels Two and Three. Apoo had never been captured at all, and wherever he was now, he was surely laughing at his former allies. And then there was that damned coward Crocodile. If he'd fought like a man things may have turned out differently. Or maybe not. Kidd was confidant in his abilities, but he also realized that he was not untouchable, and his confrontation with Red Haired Shanks had not gone down the way he wanted it to.

Now he was stuck here for six to nine months, and then, he was due for execution. He had three quarters of a year or less to escape, to do something that had only been done twice before, once by the Gold Lion Shiki, who had never shown his face again, and once two years previous, by Straw Hat Luffy.

Thinking of the success that guy had made for himself, Kidd grew only angrier; for the third time he shouted in frustration at the top of his lungs, thrashing against the heavy chains at his feet, which made it nearly impossible to move at anything faster than a limp.

"Hey, brat....shut up."

Kidd jerked his head to the right, where the shadows were longer and darker, and many torches left unlit. From somewhere within, a voice spoke up again.

"I've had enough of you shitty youths for a while."

"Who the hell are you? Better hope we don't meet when I break out of here, or I'll rip out your-"

Something in the air changed, it was slight, but clear. Kidd stopped and chewed on his words as a malignant evil made itself tangible within the darkness. And then it laughed.

"Fufufufufufufu....escape? Why bother. Just watch the world turn to hell."

"Who are you!?" Kidd demanded, finding some of his spitfire confidence again.

He was met only with the same laugh, "Fufufufufufufufu!"

The wind picked up from that direction, and from the ceiling descended a couple of pink feathers, one of which landed on Kidd's shirt, the other, hitting the ground in front of him. Kidd grimaced, and fully took in the scope of pirates with him in the bottom pits of Impel Down. Pirates like Donquixote Doflamingo.

"Straw Hat beat the crap out of you, I heard," Kidd spoke with a dirty smile.

"I suppose he did. I don't mind anymore though. He's only brought the monsters of the world to bear. He'll be dead soon enough, and I'll be watching it all unfold from here."

His deepest and longest laugh yet followed, and Kidd decided to spend his time doing anything but encouraging the crazed man in the shadows.

The Supernova took a seat, snorting in resentment once more. Doflamingo be damned, he would escape, and he would find the One Piece before Straw Hat, Blackbeard, or anyone else. He would. He absolutely could not be held here.

Silence allowed Kidd to begin contemplating his position and the work it would take to break out of the cell, but Doflamingo's voice came from the dark again soon enough.

"Oh, and if you threaten me ever again..."

The darkness seemed to grow darker still, and Kidd found he was getting colder too.

"I'll kill you when you least expect it. And I'll make it hurt."

Kidd swallowed and sat in silence again, only just realizing that the scariest part of Impel Down wasn't what the jailers did to you, but what the other inmates might.

Author's Notes:

Since I neglected to mention it last time, BIG THANKS to RainbowDashVegetaFan123 for the custom cover art. Feelsgoodman.

Also....wow, it's been a while.A LONG WHILE. Sorry. Life happens. I hope you enjoy regardless.