An alarm blared, forcing an indistinct lump of covers to slowly stir. A hand shot out, hitting the snooze button dozens of times. Before the hand could retreat into the refuge of the blanket, it was torn away to reveal a curled up young man.
“Oh no Alex, none of that.” The young man through groggy eyes looked up to find a middle aged woman with dark red hair save for a lone silver streak staring back at him with blankets in her grasp. She tried to hide that streak with a neatly layered bun haircut. “You promised to have perfect attendance this week instead of sleeping and running off to the woods.”
Forcing himself upright, Alex yawned and gave a slow nod. “Okay Mrs. Patrick, I’m up.” Hopping out of bed he popped his back and strode towards the nearest bathroom.
“Hurry up, Alex, or else your omelet will get cold~” Mrs. Patrick called after him, a small smile creeping onto her face.
This had the desired result, the groggy teen double timing to the bathroom for the promise of food. Running the sink, he tried to tame any upright strands of his pale blond hair. Satisfied with his work, he took a moment to examine his reflection as he brushed his teeth.
Even at fourteen he still had quite the baby face with rounded features and a certain fullness to his cheeks. If he hadn’t managed a lucky growth spurt that put him nearly at six feet tall, he could almost be confused with someone nearly half his age.
With one last gargle and rinse, Alex slid down the stairway banister to follow the scent of food to his place at the breakfast table. A man around Mrs. Patrick’s age was already there, a mug of coffee in one hand and an Ipad in the other.
At the sound of Alex pulling out his chair, the man greeted the teen with a smile and put his tablet down. “Ah, there you are, Alex. We’ve got some news for you.” Alex nodded, showing he was listening as he tore into his omelet with all the manners of a feral dog. “We’ve been working things out and if you keep attending classes like you have been and keep your grades at a passing average, it looks like we’ll be able to fully adopt you. How does that sound?”
Swallowing, Alex gave himself time to think by making a halfhearted attempt to clean his face with a napkin. “Well, it would mean I’d stop traveling around all the time.” Frowning, he crossed his arms for a moment. “But I guess it’d be pretty cool.”
Lifting up his coffee cup in an offer of cheers, Mr. Patrick’s smile grew warmer as his wife put a bowl of hash browns onto the table. “You jerk, didn’t we agree to tell him together?” she chided, giving him a light slap on the arm.
“Did we? I don’t recall.” Chuckling, he returned his attention to Alex. “By the way, do you have your costume ready for that party?"
"Yup! Mrs. Patrick lent me a wig since she said dyeing my hair that dark on short notice would be hard. She's even doing some makeup for the eye scar."
Alex couldn't help but grin at the thought of the Halloween party his latest school was holding. While hopping from one foster family to the other was an easy way to see the country, it made socializing difficult to put it lightly. With his costume he hoped to at least start a conversation or two. He was going as one Monkey D. Luffy, rubber pirate extraordinaire.
"Are you sure you just want that work done?” Mrs. Patrick questioned, dishing out some of the hashbrowns for herself before passing the bow to her husband. “I’ve got enough to give you that chest scar you showed me.”
Alex waved off the idea, finishing off the last of his omelet. “Nah, I’m built more like Luffy before that scar so I’ll go with that version.”
With the matter settled, an amicable silence formed, broken only for the sounds of eating. Alex’s school day passed in a monotonous slog. If it weren’t for the promise he made it’d be a great chance to pick up on some extra sleep.
The night of the party finally came. Alex had biked to the school in costume, replacing his helmet with the straw hat that completed his costume. Jogging into the gym to get out of the brisk Autumn air.
A whistle escaped Alex's lips as he entered the decorated gym. An elaborate graveyard had been set up, complete with fake mausoleums and patches of fake turf brought in. Some fog machines had been hidden in a few places to complete the ambience. After a moment of taking it all in, Alex went to the right wall where the snack table was set up. Manning the table was a member of the faculty in an elaborate witch costume.
“Nice Luffy costume,” the witch said, pulling Alex away from the cupcakes with zombie designs in the frosting and oreo crumbles to simulate disturbed soil. “Did you do the makeup on the scar yourself?”
“Nah, my foster mom did that for me,” he said, trying to recall if he recognized the witch. He didn’t, but that wasn’t saying much given his lack of time in school. “I’m surprised someone working at the school knows about One Piece.”
The witch chuckled and offered a hard to read smile. “It can’t be that surprising, anime has gotten so popular in the last few years.” Reaching under the table, she produced a tupperware container and removed the lid. “Speaking of which, I was going to give these out at the next choir practice since one of the members is a big fan, but I have to reward the effort in that costume.” Within the container were what looked like devil fruits on paper plates. Reaching in, she offered the one made to look like the fruit the real Luffy ate.
“Whoa, how’d you get a fruit to look like that?” Alex asked, taking hold of the plate.
“I didn’t,” the witch answered, giggling. “I just bought one of those fancy cake decorating kits and wanted to try my hand at it.”
“Well thanks!” Alex greedily took a bite, juice dribbling down his chin.For whatever reason, he didn’t seem to notice the fact that instead of spongy cake, the flesh of fresh fruit greeted his senses. He couldn’t even taste it until even the stem disappeared as if compelled by some unknown force. When the taste finally did hit him, it hit hard. “Gah! That tasted awful! Are you trying to poison me, la-!” His outburst died as he swayed on his feet. Before he realized it, the world was going dark and he collapsed forward into the snack table.
The sounds of birds chirping finally caused Alex to stir back into consciousness. Sitting up, he groggily rubbed the back of his head. He snapped alert, a realization shooting through him. Where he had expected to feel the shifting of a wig, he only felt hair and scalp. Scrambling to his feet, he cast his eyes downward to find he was still in his costume, the red vest, cut off shorts and sandals were completely undisturbed.
“What the hell is going on?” Alex asked, the question falling into the wind. Plucking a hair, he examined it to find that it was black.
He didn’t have time to dwell on that, a distant animal sound made him whip his head to notice he was in the middle of a dark forest. His eyes darted around, the foliage not matching the area he had been in. Sucking in a deep breath, he tried to recall all the survival skills he’d learned from Youtube and blogs. He started to walk into the forest, looking for a water source to follow. If he could manage that, it theoretically should eventually lead him to some form of civilization.
To distract himself from the panic creeping in, Alex started to hum as he walked. Weaving through the trees, he pushed himself in a singular direction only stopping in attempts to keep an ear out for the sounds of moving water.
With the thick canopy of the forest, he couldn't use the location of the sun to gauge how long he'd been walking. Eventually, the terrain turned muddy, with patches of standing water scattered around. The trees had thinned out and were replaced with smaller, leafy plants poking out from the ponds.
"Alright, water!" Alex cheered, approaching the edge of a pond. "If I remember the videos correctly there's likely a moving water source nearby that helped make these."
He scanned the surroundings, finally seeing the sun. His best guess was that it was midday. Before he could dwell on that, bubbles from within the pond caught his eyes.
A massive alligator surfaced with stone-like protrusions on its back. It gave off a deep hiss, jaws at the ready to snap on Alex's neck.
Screaming, Alex bolted in the direction he'd just come from. Grabbing a tree, he planned to swing around it to outmaneuver the strange reptile. Instead, his arm stretched going on until it easily reached fifteen feet in length.
Looking over his shoulder, Alex only had a second to process the situation before he was sent flying towards the gator. Face screwed up in terror, Alex could only follow his instincts and threw a punch right into the reptile's throat. Upon impact, the animal went stiff and collapsed.
Taking a stick off the ground, Alex poked it for signs of life. When it didn’t stir, he allowed himself to fall back and relax. Pinching his cheek, he gave it a pull. Just like his arm a moment ago it stretched well beyond what a human body should be capable of.
“So that wasn’t a hallucination. I’ve got a rubber body.” Swiveling his head, he finally got a good look at the thing that attacked him. It was larger than a normal alligator, looking more at home on an Animal Planet special on ancient animals. The other notable thing about it was that instead of scales its body was made up of plates of rock. “And that thing for sure isn’t from Earth.”
Alex let the realization sink in, the cacophony of the forest fading as his thoughts swirled in his head. It was clear that his body had been changed and he was in another world of some kind. If he was honest with himself, it was even unlikely he’d find his way back to his old world. He didn't have much in the way of possessions, but things had been slowly turning around.
While Alex hadn't known the Patricks for very long, they'd opened up their home to him. They even wanted to take steps to make him a proper member of their family. If he really was stuck in this world, there was no way that could happen now. This could only mean one thing.
“I get to go on an adventure!” Alex boomed, thrusting his arms upward at his declaration. His arms rocketed skyward, hanging in the air for a brief moment before falling back down and conking him in the head. Shaking his shoulders, his arms contracted back to their proper length. "Hmm, might wanna train and get used to this body."
Grinning, he hopped up and gave the downed gator the hungry eyes. "But first, my first meal in a new world!"
Making a mad dash, Alex gathered up firewood. Once that was complete, he pulled off enough of the rocky plates to make a fire circle. With some work, he sharpened one of the plates and used it to cut into the flesh hidden beneath the rocky exterior.
Alex couldn't help but drool, the smell of meat cooking over his hard earned fire triggered a long buried instinct. He could now fully understand the primal satisfaction of his ancestors after a successful hunt. When harnessing fire was a fresh discovery and the inner workings of the world were all a mystery.
Pulling the meat off the fire, Alex took a bite and closed his eyes to savor the flavor. "Gack!" Face scrunched up in disgust, Alex coughed in a desperate bid to expel the offending matter from his tongue. "That tastes awful!" Throwing the stick down, he gave a frustrated kick to the harvested creature.
Standing up, Alex regretfully patted his stomach. "That's a sour note to start my adventure on. I better go get some actual food and make a shelter. Then I can start training. Shouldn't take too long."
A little filly sniffled, tears no longer flowing down her cheeks. Her white fur had been stained with dirt and mud and sticks and leaves poked out from her pink mane. The faint golden glow from her horn led her through the dark and foreboding forest night.
A shiver ran through her form both from the chill in the night air and the sounds from within the woods surrounding her from unseen sources. Just as she was about to take refuge under a tree, a flickering light in the distance caught her attention.
With newfound strength, the filly tore through the woods towards what she hoped was signs of rescue. What she found made her jaw drop and her eyes nearly flew from her skull.
There was a group of cragodiles, fearsome creatures she'd only ever heard of in stories, all surrounding the dead body of a hydra, and an even stranger creature sitting atop the largest of the gators.
It mostly lacked fur with the only hair she could see were bits of its black mane poking out from a straw hat. The fact it wore clothes was somewhat reassuring, but the bite it took of what she could only assume was hydra meat made her nervous.
The source of the flickering light she had been following became apparent. A large bonfire roared in a drier part of the marshy clearing washing everything in a brilliant orange and beckoning her with its promise of warmth.
"Whoa a unicorn!" A male voice called out, nearly making her jump out of her fur. When she turned her head, she could see him hopping off his cragodile perch to approach her. "Can't believe you guys are so short."
That comment set her off, her fears entirely forgotten for the moment. "I'm still growing, I'm not short, jerk!"
To the filly's surprise, this made the creature laugh, the widest grin splitting his face. "Ah, so you're a kid? What're you doing out all by yourself then? It's not that safe out here."
Wringing her hands on her dress, the filly cast her eyes down at her hooves. “A storm blew over from the forest and hit the caravan my family was traveling on. I got separated from them.” She sniffled, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks. “I thought I could catch up to them by cutting through the forest but I got lost.” Before she knew it, she was breaking down in sobs, her tears refusing to stop as the faces of her family flashed in her mind.
A hand on the filly’s head stopped her, gentle fingers ruffling her mane. “There’s no need for that. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I can get you out of here and back on the road. Besides, I think I’ve spent enough time here. I’ve got a world to see!”
The crocodiles reacted to the declaration, a chorus of plaintive hissing rumbling from their throats. The creature in the straw hat frowned at this, holding up his hands in reassurance. “Aww come on guys, none of that. I’ve told you before that I was leaving some day.”
The filly’s eyes lit up, her tears forgotten for the time being. “Wow mister, I’ve never heard of anypony making friends with cragodiles before.”
The creature grinned again, kneeling down next to the filly. “Yeah, these guys are pretty great once you show ‘em who’s boss. I never killed them because I learned a long time ago they taste bad and slowly but surely they all started hanging out with me. You wanna pet one? Rocky likes head pats.”
The filly nodded, letting the creature pick her up and walk over to the cragodile he’d been using as a perch. Hesitantly, she reached out a hand and gently placed it on the top of its head. Rocky let out a light rumbling, encouraging her to continue patting at the smooth, stone surface.
“Rocky likes you too. By the way, what’s your name? If I’m taking you home it’d be weird if I just kept calling you Unicorn.”
Looking away from the pacified gator, the filly offered him a smile. “I’m Celestia, what’s your name?”
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, but you can just call me Luffy! Nice to meet ya, Tia!" Placing her on his shoulders, Luffy made his way out of the clearing. When they were on the edge he turned back to face the assembled gators. “Thank you guys! You made my training so much fun! Be good, okay?!” The cragodiles gave an affirmative hiss to bid the pair farewell.
Humming to himself, Luffy weaved around the trees without a care in the world.
“What’s that song you’re humming?” Tia chimed, her head popping into view from his shoulder.
“Wanna hear it?” Luffy asked, grinning. “I know all the words.” With a nod from the unicorn, Luffy began to sing. He told the tale of Binks’ Sake though the English lyrics he was familiar with used the word brew for the sake of rhyme scheme.
When he finished, Celestia broke into a giggle fit. “Wow mister, you’re a bad singer.”
Luffy gaped at her admission, staring back at her in shock. “That’s so rude!”
The pair started to laugh together, time losing meaning. When they finally made it to the forest’s edge, dawn was just starting to break. For the first time since he arrived in this world Luffy was able to see what laid beyond the forest. Rolling hills stretched on for miles, with a set of woods a couple hours walk away. The most striking landmark was the massive mountain rising up over the horizon and into the heavens.
Tia pointed off to the mountain. “My town is at the base of the mountain there.”
“Great! Let’s get you back to your folks.”
With the destination in sight, Luffy picked up the pace. In only a few hours, the duo came upon the village’s edge. Celestia’s expression fell, her head swiveling for signs of life on the empty streets.
“I don’t get it, there should be somepony up at this hour. Did something happen?”
Joining in the search, Luffy spotted a notice board ahead. “Maybe there’s something there that’ll fill us in?” Walking up to it, there were several pieces of paper nailed up to it with bits of news on them. A quick glance confirmed he could actually read it much to his relief. “Aha! Public trial for Minerva Gale for improper guardsmare conduct. That must be where everyone is! Let’s check it out.”
With their new destination set, the pair walked deeper into the town. Luffy grinned to himself, excited to see even more people. It really felt like his adventure was off to a proper start.