"A demonic beast huh?" Luffy asks as he sat at the front of the boat while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly a little bit ahead to see if they come across land.
"Is he a dragon? I hope he's a dragon so that I can have a playmate and an additional flying buddy!" Spike said as he does a fist bump with Pinkie and the next thing was, they were now dancing with Luffy on the boat with Rainbow joining in.
"Hahahahaha! Yeah!! Alright!! Hahahaha!!"
"Roronoa Zoro is his real name. But they call him "Zoro The Pirate Hunter. He's like a bloodthirsty hound... Roaming the seas, hunting men for the bounties on their heads! They say he's a demon in human form" Coby warns Luffy as he gives him a piece of newspaper showing the picture of the infamous bounty hunter.
"Hmmm..?" Luffy takes a look at the picture of this feared monster and butcher of blood with an intrigue smile on his face.
"Luffy this guy sounds really dangerous and with the way Coby is describing him. M.. Maybe we can find someone else to join our new pirate crew?" Twilight asks as she starts getting cold sweat, now equally scared as Coby.
"Awww come on, don't jump to conclusions girls! Maybe he's just misunderstood is all." Pinkie said with a bright smile as always.
"I agree, I think everypony deserves second chances and we should always hear both sides of the story before putting judgement on somepony." Fluttershy said with a gentle smile, remembering how she used an ancient artifact from Ahuizotl's temple between her, Daring Do and Doctor Caballeron's party.
"If Coby describes this fella as an infamous bloodlusted demon as the papers say they are, I'm afraid of meeting this feared criminal. Think about it Twilight! He might be someone like Tirek who destroyed your home library and tried to take over Equestria!"
"I agree Applejack. I don't want to anger this guy and just stay as far away from him as possible.." Twilight said as she looked at Applejack with concern as Rarity now wrapped her hooves around Coby shaking with fear.
"Luffy he's a pirate hunter! Pirate hunters don't mixed well with pirates!" Coby insisted hoping that this would persuade Luffy not to pursue this rumored swordsman anymore.
"I haven't decided whether I'll invite him to join my crew or not Twilight. If he's a good guy then..."
"He's in prison because he's not a good guy Luffy!!" Coby interrupted looking more sweaty and agitated then before.
"We're finally here! We made it to the Naval Base of the town." Luffy shouted with enthusiasm, ready for a new adventure as Twilight and the ponies gazed in awe at a sight of a military structure at the center of town. Never having seen something like this back in Equestria.
"Coby your amazing!" Luffy said praising him.
"Huh?"
"You actually got us to our destination"
"Yeah way to go Coby! Man we're so lucky we ran into you." Rainbow said as she flies over to the boy and gave him hoof bump.
"You really know how to travel these waters Darling." Rarity complimented with charm as always.
"Of course I did! Thats the minimum requirement for people who sail the seas. Guys if you keep randomly floating around, You'll never become pirates. You girls should find a navigator for your crew."
"Yeah! That's what I'll do!! Now lets eat!!" Luffy said as he ran off with everypony else, finding a place to fill their stomachs.
"Hey anyone else wanna explore?" Pinkie asked as she ran off to find someplace to eat. "Yeah! Thats a great idea Pinkie Pie! I like your style!" Luffy said as he decided to lift the cotton candy mare and put her on his back.
When Luffy, Coby, Spike and everypony else at Food Foo, The local small town restaurant. Luffy and Coby didn't have any money with them as well as everypony else but thank Pinkie for the rescue cause she managed to pull out her bag of bits from her mane. Now this wasn't a currency known in this world but gold coins are gold coins for what they are and their value so everyone actually got to order a lot.
Later on after eating...
"Well Coby, I guess this is where we go our separate ways. I hope you join the navy and become a great sailor!" Luffy said after a burp with everypony else sitting right in front of them and back.
"Yeah! You can do it Kid! You know we'll always got your back!" Rainbow said as she flies around doing spins in the air giving Coby a trusty hoofbump earning the attention of some onlookers.
"You can count on us Coby. And when you do become a great sailor, We'll throw a super duper mega awesome party for you! In secret of course so that we won't get arrested by your mates." Pinkie said with a smile, even pulling out her party cannon and firing a shot!
"Yeah and if we do get you captured, Expect us to release you so that you can ran home to base Hun" Applejack joked making everypony else giggle.
"We believe in you Coby. We know you can do it" Twilight said as she put her forehooves on Coby's hands and looks at her with a reassuring smile with the addend support of Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike.
"You can do it Coby!! Do it!! Do it!! Do it!!" Pinkie shouts in Coby's face with much needed encouragement, popping up everywhere from plates, glasses, bowls, and even picture frames even startling a guy who was about to eat his soup.
"Thank you so much Luffy, Twilight, Girls.. I hope that you become great pirates! E... Even if that means we'll be enemies.
"Yeah, Just expect us to escape every time you try to capture us" Spike grinned as everypony else grabbed Luffy and Coby in a warm group hug.
"Hey I just remembered. That guy is supposed to be imprisoned here. Roronoa Zoro!" Luffy said out loud making everyone ran off with tables and chairs getting flip as well as kitchen plates and other kitchen utensils being thrown off everywhere, the people backing themselves up the wall in sheer fear and terror of this mysterious demon hunter.
"What's gotten the people all worked up about. They look like they've seen a ghost and I don't even know if ghosts are real!" Applejack said with a confused look on her face.
"With everything that we've seen and encountered before, I'm not even surprised anymore if they do exist and what other things are out there in the world!" Pinkie replied as she finished the rest of her desserts.
"Maybe you girls shouldn't say that name out loud in this place" Coby whispered to Luffy, Twilight and everypony else but Luffy was just silently observing as a coocoo clock. "Hmmm.."
"I saw a poster that said Captain Morgan is at this base" As soon as Coby said those last five words, everyone got so afraid that just ran out of the restaurant like it was on fire screaming their heads off.
"Wowie! Those guys must be a hoot!" Pinkie said as she bounced off to them to see if they were still moving since these townspeople are all frozen in fear.
"Hahahaha! What a great restaurant! I want to go back there again!" Luffy said rubbing his tummy in satisfaction of everything he ate. "You said it buddy! You and me both have big appetites. Well dragons do digest their food faster than humans." Spike said flying beside Luffy.
"So your Twilight's brother?" Luffy asks as he starts picking his nose. "Yeah! I started as purple spotted egg that Twilight hatched for her exam so that she could get into magic school!" Spike said as flies down and sat on Luffy's shoulder, the boy easily carried him despite how much the purple dragon just ate and how much he weight.
"Wow so you ponies really know how to do magic?" Luffy said as he does a power tumbling in front of them. "That is so cool!" Stars popped up in Luffy's eyes filled with awe and amazement. "Do you know how to make money appear from your ears?"
"Well no but we can do this" Twilight demonstrated as a purple aura surround her horn and she began to teleport back and forth in different directions at the same time with a large burst of magic. All that hours training under Celestia, Luna and Cadence really paid off on the days following after the battle with Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow.
"And I can do this!" Spike then sprang up in the air with his wings wide open as he starts to breathe green fire while doing loop de loop aerial tricks surprising everyone else on the street who watching on thinking maybe they were some band of travelling performers.
"Woohoo!! Alright!! You go Spike!! Now that was a performance!!" Pinkie said as she lead everypony else in cheering and clapping their hooves off for Spike, The pink party mare now wearing a cheerleading outfit.
"Wow that was so awesome!! Did they really taught you that in school?" Luffy jumped in amazement, cow bells ringing in the background for that pizzazz effect.
"Well I did taught him everything he knows." Twilight said patting the spines on Spike's head like a proud mother or big sister would. "That is literally my task at school while learning about magic. You did go through the same right?"
"Well I was raised in Foosha village and we really don't have those kinds of school. You could say I was homeschooled by my grandpa. I didn't even know if I had a mom or a dad"
"You and me brother.. I know exactly how that feels like.. You and me both.." Spike said as he tapped Luffy on the shoulder showing sympathy for his friend.
"Awww don't you worry and get all sad now cause we're here for you Luffy. We're now your loving family crew and we wouldn't leave you behind on this pirate adventure of ours. Not now. Not ever and I hope do the same for us" Pinkie said as she wrap forehooves around Luffy who was overjoyed about the company of his new crew mates and the fact that its only going to get better they meet this infamous Roronoa Zoro. "Shishishishi! Thanks for sticking me with everyone. Wait till Shanks hears about this!"
"Anyways I was thinking why everyone is so jumpy! I'm getting a bad feeling about this! I can understand why they get nervous when hearing Roronoa Zoro's name. He might escape at any moment! But why would they get nervous hearing the Captain's name?"
"Who knows?! Maybe they just got carried away!" Luffy said as he kept walking towards the sites that this neat little town can offer.
"Maybe they are just off on cider or.. Whatever it is they drink in these here place" Applejack replied as she followed Luffy behind.
"I'm trying to think seriously here!!" Coby said trying to analyze the situation.
"Yeah!! Yeah!! Just cool your jets Kid. If something happens, We'll be here to kick butt and thats all you need to know." Rainbow said as she flies off.
"I know what you meant Coby and I also want to asses the situation. Guess all I want to say is trust us.. Just trust us cause these ponies can do more than you think. We'll help you become a marine. I promise" Twilight said as she looked at Coby with a caring smile like a mother to her child and gives Coby a quick hug before letting go.
"Thanks Twilight. I knew I could count on you and the girls" Coby said smiling back. Even if Luffy and his new friends were pirates and he a future enemy marine on the other side. He knows no matter what, He could and would trust these ponies in his heart.
At the huge towering Navy Base...
"It looks so big up close!" Luffy said in awe but Twilight and the others were just speechless at this point. They never seen a Navy Base before. This structure couldn't even compare to the cadet school that Shining Armor went during his guard training.
"Go on in Coby!" Luffy said giving Coby a good luck pat on the back while Spike and everypony else gave the chubby kid a reassuring now. "Come on Coby, I know you can do it. We believe in you" Twilight said using her magic to slowly push Coby to the door with everypony else.
"B.. But I haven't mentally prepared myself yet... And those people were were scared when they heard the captain's name." Coby said as sweat starts dropping from his forehead out of sheer nervousness but deep inside him, his gut tells him to give it a try and go for it.
"Come on you big chicken.. J.. Just go inside that Naval Base and apply for the Marines already!" Dash said as she kept pushing Coby forward with everypony else. "I.. I said I don't want to! I.. I'm not ready yet!" Coby tried to say but everypony else wasn't buying it.
Meanwhile at Captain Morgan's office..
"A new recruit is here you say? Did you receive any kind of CV or document about him or her?" Captain Morgan said with his back turned and smoking his traditional cigar.
"No sir. It seems to be a kid with no prior experience." Commander Ripper said as he gives a salute to his superior officer.
"Then he has to learn who's boss. Kid or not, if he defies me, he should die."
"Yes sir. I will make sure that he knows about this. I am sure he would be a faithful soldier for you." Commander Ripper replied keeping his salute while inside the office.
"Right. Faith over terror. I hate cowards. Their respect for me is not honest." Captain Morgan said as he stand up and quickly brought down his huge silver axe on the floor making Commander Ripper flinch a bit to the wall.
"Luffy! What are you doing?!" Coby asks as he ran up the wall where Luffy has decided to climb up. "I wonder if I can see the demonic beast from here." Luffy said as he puts a palm over his forehead trying to search for the captured criminal for him to recruit.
"Do you want me to act as a look out in case I find him Luffy?" Rainbow asked as she quickly flies into the air and over to Luffy. "Sure thing Dash. Just give me a heads up if you see him."
"Alright. I'm on it Captain!" Dash saluted Luffy before speed blitzing to the other structures of the naval base.
"You won't find him just peeking over the fence or flying up to see him from the sky. He's probably deep within the bowels of the prison" Coby explained just as Rainbow made her way back to give the lookout report to her captain. "I think I see someone tied up with a bandana on his head. Somebody is definitely over there!"
"Oh yeah? Thanks so much for being the lookout Rainbow Dash!" Luffy said waving to his crewmate as he starts to climb up the wall with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy helping Coby and everyone else looked at the captured bounty hunter.
"W..Whaa?!!" Coby quickly fell back out of fear and shock as he saw a glimpse of the captured fellow. Thankfully Fluttershy caught him.
"What's wrong?!" Luffy asked.
"A b..black bandanna and a haramaki sash!!! I.. Its really him! Thats Roronoa Zoro!!! He looks so menacing!!!" Coby said as he starts backing away on the ground much to surprise of everypony else who help him get back up.
"So that's him. Hmmm! If I could just untie those ropes and set him free..." Luffy said pondering out loud when Twilight teleports behind him with a concerned look on her face. "N.. Now.. Now Luffy... Maybe we should think about this for a moment?"
"Twilight's right! That's suicide!! If you let him loose, He'll kill us then wreck the town!!" Coby said, desperately begging Luffy to just leave Zoro alone and find some other recruits to join, everypony else thinking the same at first glance.
"Hey Kid!" Zoro called out from the cross he was tied in, catching the attention of Luffy and everypony else.
"Huh?"
"Yikes!" Coby freaked out, almost falling off the wall he was holding unto for the second time if not for Fluttershy's help.
"Come over here... ...And untie me... I've been here for nine days and I can't take it anymore" Zoro said with a devilish grin on his face.
"Come on. We have to help him girls. Just look at the poor guy. Who knows how many days he hasn't eaten. That's gotta be worse than anything else" Fluttershy said feeling sympathy for Zoro in this situation.
"Didn't you hear what Coby has been talking about back there? He's a really dangerous man, Like really dangerous!" Twilight couldn't tell why but she felt her hooves shaking and her blood ran cold just from looking into his eyes.
"Hey he's smiling!" Luffy said pointing at Zoro.
"Hey if he's smiling then that's a good thing right? He must be a fun guy to be around and a blast at parties!" Pinkie said as she was about to pull out a Red Velvet Cupcake with Buttercream Frosting from under her mane.
"H..He's talking to us!!" Coby said as he starts freaking out once more and hiding behind the wall so that their eyes couldn't met.
"I'll make it worth your while. I'll capture someone with a big price on their head and give all of the bounty to you. You can trust me. I'm a man of my word."
"I don't know Sugarcube. Something tells me that this guy is telling the truth. I don't know why but I feel it in my gut that he's an honest apple" Applejack said as she observed his movements and that look in his eyes.
"Applejack is right girls. I don't even know why he's tied up in the prison courtyard like this. He might be innocent, we don't know the whole story! My Pinkie Sense tells me that this guy can keep a Pinkie Promise I'll tell you that.
"D.. Don't do it Luffy! As soon as you untie him, He'll kill us and get away! I just know it!" Coby said began to burst out of his forehead like a fountain and has his hands on Luffy's back ready to restrain him whether he succeeds or fails to do is up to fate even if he knows the rubber man can overpower him.
"He won't kill us. He couldn't. I wouldn't let him!" Luffy said as he looks at Twilight with a confident smile. "Yep. I know a number of ways on how to restrain him with my magic that he wouldn't even see it coming." Twilight said with a smirk.
Suddenly a ladder was set up on the high wall of the prison courtyard causing Luffy, Coby and everypony else to look up. "Shhh!" The little girl signaled to be quiet as she slowly walks up to Zoro with freshly made riceballs which were nicely wrapped.
"Hey d... don't go down there! Its dangerous!" Coby called out to the little girl, concerned for her safety. "Luffy do something! She'll be killed!" Coby asked, desperately needing Luffy's interference right about now.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Luffy nonchalantly asked with a straight face.
"Get Lost! Do you want to get killed?!" Zoro asks with an angry glare. At first the ponies think that Zoro might actually be warning the little girl about some immediate danger as Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity were even touched by the little one's heartwarming show of generosity.
"I made these rice balls for you! I thought that you might need some food!" The little girl said as she presented the freshly cooked rice balls to the tied up prisoner, all wrapped up nicely. "Its the first time I've ever made rice balls. I hope you like them."
"Awww maybe he isn't a bad guy after all! The tough guy is really just a big softie at the end of the dat after all" Pinkie said with a grin while Rarity had a heartfelt smile on her face. "Maybe we are just over reacting about this captured prisoner being arrested for all the wrong reasons Darling. If she could trust him then I would too."
"I'm not hungry!! Now beat it and take that stuff with you!!" Zoro yelled at the little girl which made the ponies looked on with seething anger while Coby concerned for the safety of the child and Luffy just watching with a straight face.
But then something triggered within the minds of these ponies. A threatening set of words that they never thought they would hear.
"B.. But..."
"I don't want it!! Now get outta here!! Or I'll stomp you to death!!" Zoro yelled as he trashed around the wooden cross threatening this little girl with the look of darkness with the devil in his eyes.
"Oh no!! Didn't you hear that? He said that he's going to kill her!! We have to do something girls!! Come on!! Do something right now!!" Spike said as he wrapped his arms around Coby sweating profusely with the chubby kid, feeling more tense on the scenario now as the Mane 6 all rushed towards Zoro with burning fires of anger in their eyes while Coby waved his hands back and forth in a worry some manner trying to stop them as to not cause any more attention.
"I can use my laso to wrangle him up like a cattle stampede riding off into the Sunset" Applejack said as she pulled down her hat as shadows began to cover her face. "And buck him like the most stubborn apple tree that don't give me its fruit!!" The apple farmer then decide to rush into the prison courtyard and uses her laso to grab a stone and throw it into the air then kicks it into smithereens.
"I'm unpredictable with my party cannon and all the tricks I can pull up my sleeve, If I had sleeves that is" Pinkie smiles playfully as she slowly gets down the wall with her mane and tail all deflated in the process and her colors turned dark and dull. "If this Zoro guy wants to kill us then does must mean he wants to play, Do you want to play?" Pinkamena said to a rock then proceeding to talk to a leaf and to a twig. "Who wants to play?" Pinkamena asks once more as creepy musicbox began to play in the background. "Who wants to play..? Who wants to play..?! I SAID WHO WANTS TO PLAY!!! AHHHH!!!" Coby began to slowly back away from her, not knowing who to fear now. "WHERE'S RORONOA ZORO?!! He better still be kicking cause I'm the one who's gonna play with him!!! Where are I?! Where am I?! WHERE AM I?!!" Pinkamena yelled as she fired her party cannon everywhere at once , moving from one place to another in a pop in pop out cartoony earth pony physics way as a distraction before brutally stabbing the ground with her knife like an insane brutal murderer from a mental asylum who would not hesitate to murder and drink the blood of whoever did Pinkie or her friends wrong.
"Oh yeah?! Come on then!! Bring it on!!" Rainbow Dash said as she starts to charge up into the sky so fast that the ground cracked beneath her, travelling at a speed of 10,000 miles per hour and turning her an actual rainbow in the process twists, turns and loops into the air before creating a gigantic tornado up above but dispersing it at the last second which presents anything below from getting destroyed but it did something more than split the sky, It dispersed the clouds like never before more than the naked eye could follow, catching the attention of whoever else was there.
"Can you please be so kind as to not hurt my friends? Please Mr. Zoro? I.. I mean I.. If thats okay with you... Or else.. I'll be forced to..." Fluttershy demonstrates her stare, concentrating on all the inner darkness within the once shy and gentle mare and transforming her into Flutterbat which is a savage, merciless, bloodthirsty vampire bat. "Who are you gonna kill now huh?! Is that it?! huh?! huh?! huh?! Answer me!!!" Fluttershy yelled followed by a terrifying screeching snarl and deafening roar that forces Luffy, Coby and everyone else to cover their ears except for the threatening Zoro because he's all tied up.
"Like I said before and I say it again. Fighting isn't really my forte, I'm more into fashion but I think Mr. Zoro here is getting more than what he can chew. Don't make me laugh. My magic of Darkness can literally suck in life itself as long as there are shadows. It doesn't matter if it comes from living things or inanimate objects. As long as there are dark areas from small areas, I can send you to oblivion and destroy everything at will. You don't know where we came from or what we're actually capable of doing Darling" Rarity said with a slight giggle and a smirk as she transformed into Nightmare Rarity turning into dark purple mist for a second before standing there looking like this tied up man in a log cross is inferior to her.
"And you've forgotten about your real opponent and the strongest fighter you have to face between these ponies..." Twilight said as she angrily jumps down the prison courtyard to join her friends and transforms into a cream white colored alicorn with wild raging fire as her mane and tail, having darkened red eyes and her cutie mark turning all red. This was her "Raging Twilight form". "Who's weak now?! Who's pitiful now?! Who are you gonna kill?! Answer me already!!" Twilight yelled as Spike jumped on her back breathing a enormous ball of green flames to go with Twilight's three gigantic tornado fires emanating from her horn, flaming mane and tail. "Come on!! Come on!! Who are you going to kill Zoro?! WHO ARE YOU GONNA KILL?!!" Twilight yelled so loud, they could have sworn that anyone stationed in this Navy base could have heard it.
Twilight could have even used her Royal Canterlot Voice but decided against it at the last minute. Twilight and her friends had just witnessed full scale war against Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow back in Equestria that threatened to fall into the wrong hooves and everyone's lives in danger when the wendigos came back to blanket their home in ice with a never ending snowstorm. Twilight would swear that she would never let any friend of hers die ever again. This is a world without magic and damn these arrogant humans here are going to have a taste of it.
"Damn it! I thought that these were only colorful ponies but it just proves that these are monsters! Butchers! I can't let them slaughter me like this! I've never seen such display of powerful magic in my entire life. It was almost unnerving." Zoro said as he began to feel his heartbeat a lot faster. "I can't let myself die here..!! I have made a promise to her..!!" Zoro thought as images of his childhood friend flicker in his head.
"Well?! Are you gonna kill her or not?! What's your move?!" Twilight angrily ask as Coby tried to pull the purple alicorn and her friends back just in case but they were not budging and with Luffy only acting as a spectator.
"Look I don't wanna pick a fight with you okay?! I just told her the best way to scram so that she wouldn't get caught by the authorities and get executed with me here!! I'm a bounty hunter, Not a murderer" Zoro said as the ponies and dragon looked at him bitterly definitely not buying it.
"Come on Twilight!! Lets just leave before.." Coby said as he quickly pulled back the ponies and the dragon behind the thick bushes with Luffy as Helmeppo who is Captain Morgan's son makes his way to the courtyard.
"Roronoa Zoro!!! You shouldn't pick on little girls. I'll tell my father on you!" Helmeppo said with that smug look on his face while he's clutching the collars on his suit.
"Who's that weirdo?" Luffy asks as Twilight and the other ponies quickly put a hoof on Luffy's mouth as to not catch any attention. "Shhh!!! Shhh!!! Shhh!!!"
"He must be some high ranking naval officer. Now that little girl will be safe" Coby said feeling a bit relieved.
"Hmpf! Well... Isn't it the Idiot Son living off Daddy's Wealth"
"Did you just call me an Idiot?" Helmeppo asks rhetorically putting a palm on one of his ears and pretending to clean it out like he has some earwax inside. "A man in your position should guard his tounge... Or he could loose it!" Helmeppo glared at Zoro, looking at him in the eye trying to assert his authority over his life which the captured swordsman found irritating.
TO BE CONTINUED!