The moon was creeping into the sky by the time Minerva decided to stop running. She propped Luffy against a tree so he could face the river they found themselves at. The movement caused Luffy to stir, his eyes fluttering open.
Minerva took notice of this, stepping towards the river. "Glad to see you're awake. I managed to find a river. I don't know about you, but I need to wash off the grime between that cell and our escape.” Grabbing the bottom of her prison garb, she pulled it over her head and was left completely bare.
Luffy’s eyes threatened to evacuate his skull and any traces of sleep left his thoughts. Turning so red and moving so fast that he almost swore he entered his second gear as he put himself behind a nearby tree at the river bank.
With the image of his crewmate seared into his retinas, Luffy was left a muttering, stuttering mess. If one were to listen closely, they'd be able to make out the words, boobs, butt and abs being said at random intervals.
Reclined in the water, the pegasus took note of the rubber man's distress and tilted her head. "Why are you behind that tree? The water is fantastic."
"How am I supposed to do that?!" Luffy snapped, poking out from behind the tree with closed eyes. "Girls and guys can't share a bath!" His blush returned and he ducked back behind the trunk to quietly add, "Not unless they're dating."
Chuckling, Minerva went about scrubbing herself the best she could with just the flowing water. "Your species is rather odd. For us ponies communal bathing is all too common." Pausing, she turned her head towards where Luffy was sitting. "You had mentioned something about your world during our fight with Shadowmark, can you explain?"
Letting his hands rest on his knees as he turned his eyes skyward he answered, “Oh, I’m not from this world. I was originally from Earth. My name was Alex Birch."
Minerva stopped her scrubbing to give Luffy her full attention. She couldn't see his face, but there was an uneasiness radiating off of him. "How did you come to be here?"
"I went to a costume party when someone who I thought worked for my school offered me a cake shaped like a devil fruit. Next thing I know I woke up in the middle of the woods as Monkey D. Luffy." Sensing some confusion, he quickly added. "Back on my world, Luffy was the main character of a story."
Nodding, the swordsmare went quiet for a few moments, simply mulling over and digesting what her captain had said. "If I might be so bold, why ask to be called Luffy and not your original name?"
Pulling off his hat, Luffy examined the article of clothing as if expecting an answer from it. "Well, my birth parents gave me up for adoption basically right after I was born; I was never told why. So Alex Birch was the only thing they ever gave me and it just felt hard to get attached to it.”
Smiling, the rubber man returned the straw hat to its proper place. "But to me Monkey D. Luffy is synonymous with freedom and adventure, so since I found myself in a new world full of endless possibilities I thought I'd take on the identity and embrace adventure."
Minerva wiped a tear from her eye, a melancholy smile on her face. "That does make sense. I'll respect that and keep calling you Luffy."
Chuckling, he could feel tension ebb away from his body that he wasn't even aware had been building. "I appreciate it." Hearing the rustle of clothing he dared to poke his head around the tree.
Much to his relief, he was greeted with the sight of the pegasus adjusting the bow on her dress. Said bow almost resembled a military decoration with a metal portion containing a folded wing logo at its center. The dress itself was navy blue with ten copper buttons lined up neatly in two rows that started at the top of her chest and ended around her navel. A slit formed at the frame of the buttons revealing a black pleated skirt layer to the ensemble that ended just above her knee while the blue portion ended at the middle of her thighs.
Her mane was styled in a ponytail that seemed to turn up from the crown of her head before trailing behind her. She had two long bangs that framed her face and drew attention to her sharp, dark blue eyes. All in all, Minerva cut an impressive figure. If he hadn’t already seen her skills, the way she carried herself alone would assure Luffy he chose his first crew member wisely.
Opting to take a bath of his own, Luffy carefully placed himself in the water. He made sure to stay in the shallows, feeling the drain due to his devil fruit curse, but still able to move and scrub off the grime of his travels.
“I have to ask,” Minerva started, sitting behind the tree like he had been a moment ago. “I thought that those who have eaten a Tartarus Fruit were cursed to lose all their strength if they come into contact with sea water. So why didn’t that water orb the Count used seem to affect you?”
Luffy paused, the question surprising him. It seemed that just like in the world of One Piece, devil fruits did exist. And the way she asked the question revealed that the fruits were the stuff of rumors and legends like they were in the Four Blues.
“Well, it’s hard to say but I do have an idea.” Luffy stopped scrubbing and stared up at the light filtering in through the treeline. “In the story the fruits were called devil fruits. Thought to be aspects of a sea devil. So if you eat one then you’d be so hated by the sea that you couldn’t swim. And your powers don’t work in sea water.”
“I fail to see how this explains your display while under that orb. Didn’t the Count conjure sea water?”
“Did he though?” the captain asked in return, scooping up a handful of water. “If you draw water up from a well and throw some table salt in it, does that make it sea water? I may not know anything about magic, but I’d imagine it’s something similar.”
There was silence from Minerva, a pregnant pause filling the riverbank. “That does make a lot of sense. A normal pegasus is able to weave clouds in all manner of shapes. Clouds are essentially just water and yet pegasi have no real control of bodies of water."
Luffy grinned, glad to have made some kind of sensible point. Grabbing his clothes, he started giving them a quick wash of their own.
"So what is our goal now?" Minerva questioned, polishing her swords. "Are we going to purchase a ship or flesh out our crew as our first order of business?"
Using the time of laying out his clothes to dry, Luffy pondered the question. "How good are you with directions?"
"I have somewhat of an internal sense of direction. All pegasi do to best direct weather and find good updrafts. However, I wouldn't exactly call it a particular strength of mine."
Nodding, the rubber man jumped out of the water. "Then a navigator is our next goal! What good will trying to buy a boat do if we can't even find a port?"
"That's an excellent point. One might almost think there's a genius behind that foolish grin."
Luffy couldn't see her, but he knew there was a smirk on the pegasi's muzzle. Stretching out his arms, he grabbed a nearby tree branch. Rotating his body dozens of times, he squeezed the water from his body. Once he felt he was sufficiently dried off he let go of the branch and was sent spinning like a pinwheel.
"Ahh! I can't stop!" Luffy screamed, trying and failing to stop his momentum as his spinning body crashed into a tree trunk and wrapped around it in a knot.
A loud sigh could be heard from within the brush. "Do you need help, Captain?"
Tugging at his limbs, the rubber man only succeeded in constricting against the tree. Letting his head sag, he nodded weakly.
The town of Platinum was in an uproar. When the Count had failed to return after leaving to confront the fugitives the town guard scrambled to go and find him. That left all the citizens to themselves. Tensions were mounting as several voices rang out to be heard.
"We have to flee this town now!” One stallion cried, his pupils contracted to pinpricks. “There’s no way that the Count won’t be angry once he returns. And where do you think that anger will go?”
There were some murmurs of agreement within the crowd before a mare stepped forward. "Why in Tartarus's name should we leave?! If we go and assist the guards then the Count will have no reason to take his aggression out on us!"
There were murmurs of agreement within the crowd at the sentiment. The two sides separated themselves and broke out into a discordant shouting match.
A russet maned stallion looked at his wife and whispered something to her. The blue maned mare nodded back at him, sending him off with a kiss as he pushed to the front of the crowd.
“What is this pony feathers I’m hearing?!” His voice boomed, carrying out across the square. Much of the arguing skidded to a halt, the crowd letting their attention to the stallion. “Why should we run from the homes so many of us have slaved our lives away to obtain?” His gaze swept along the crowd, a hardened look in his eye. “And why should we stay in those precious homes only to be held under the thumb of a colt wearing a stallion’s clothes?!”
The unicorn let the questions hang in the air, the last of the arguments dying. “I say that Platinum belongs to us! If he manages to crawl his sorry hide back to us then let us welcome him with the point of swords, daggers whatever you have at your disposal! After the beating he’s received there’s no way that he can rally against all of us! Family of guards should be at the front. Given our Count’s behavior it’s no secret where our protectors’ loyalties lie!”
A mare stepped forward, gray encroaching upon the raven hue of her mane. The beginning of crow’s feet and smile lines were evident on her face. “I have no doubt that we could easily turn the guards against the Count. His yoke fell heavy upon this town’s neck, even theirs. But what of the Council of Three? Shadowmark is sure to go to them if we decide we no longer want him here. What are we going to do if the forces of Equestria come marching on our doorsteps?”
“And why would the council do such a thing? Not to put our community down, but the revenue we generate is a drop in a bucket compared to the major hubs of Equestria. Not only that but we are a considerable distance away from the capital. Mobilizing troops to march upon us would be costly. However, we do have a refuge.”
Sweeping an arm towards the mountain, he continued. “The mines have tunnels that can lead us up the mountain. We can even create a hidden shelter up there if such things come to pass. My fellow townsfolk, we’ve seen today that the nobility is not invincible. One stallion and mare can openly defy them and succeed. So what could happen if we all came together?”
Silence hung over the town for what seemed like an eternity to the stallion. Just when he was about to open his mouth to speak again, a raucous cheer tore through the crowd. The hamlet came to life, defiance in the eyes of the ponies. Chants against the nobility started and echoed along the streets. Leading the charge were the miners and carpenters, eager to get the proposed plan put into action.
Sitting in her mother’s arms Celestia couldn’t let her eyes drift from her father. Where there had been confusion and fear in the town there was certainty. She didn't know a lot of what the stallion had been saying, but even still there was no stopping her sense of pride over his effect on the crowd. At that moment, she knew she wanted to be just like him.
The sun hung low in the sky over Dressageshire, its tall buildings casting long shadows on its stone streets. Lining said streets were metal posts with glass paneling. The purpose of said paneling became apparent as a uniformed unicorn approached one. With a quick use of his horn an orb of light started floating within the enclosure.
With nightfall approaching the carts carrying goods meant for the capital had a choice to make; either stay at an inn and pay for some form of protection, or press onward and take a chance that one of the bandit troops known to make the surrounding grasslands their home happened upon them. Those from larger trade groups easily chose the former while those who were from smaller groups or independent traders had to save for months to be able to afford the protection services.
At the center of the city was its pride and joy, Clover Hall. Equestria's undisputed best magic school and research center. Its central tower was home to not only the head of the Hall but also to the current and those training to be Sun and Moon Movers. Only those found to have high innate magical reserves upon their enrollment could even hope to join the ranks of the Movers.
Inside those tower halls, a young robed stallion was being led by an older mare. His fur was a pinkish red one might find at sunrise or sunset while his well trimmed mane with a fringe in the front matched the sun itself with strands like golden sun rays intermingled in. His aquamarine eyes were pointed forward, a bored glaze settling over them as the mare droned on and on.
It was a lecture he had received more times than he could count. About the prestige and honor of what being a Mover in training represented. It was all he could do not to laugh at the idea. The true secret to the training was that it was the most mindless thing on the planet. It was levitation, but for vastly heavy objects.
There was no doubt to the importance of the work, but it wasn't magic. Magic wasn't just mindlessly lifting things, but an art. Something that allowed one to pluck at the strings of reality to create melodies without compare.
While he was lost in thought he almost collided muzzle first into the door to his room. “Solar, are you even paying attention?” His senior sneered, fixing an annoyed glare upon him.
“Yes ma’am, you were just talking about how our occupation has existed since before the founding of Equestria and will exist as long as ponies do.”
Sighing, the mare turned to walk back down the hall. “Very well, now rest up. We’ve secured large quarry stones for tomorrow’s training. It should prove to be quite the challenge.”
Nodding, Solar entered his room and quickly closed the door behind him. It wasn’t hard to guess where in her diatribe his senior Mover had been at. He’d heard it so often he had the timing of the words down within a few seconds. The only time he’d be thrown off is if she had a cough or a bad case of the sniffles.
His room was a simple affair, a cot, a window, a desk meant for research with a chair. Above his desk were a couple shelves that held scrolls and books that housed his research materials. He thanked that research pursuits outside the realm of his Mover duties weren’t expressly forbidden. One of the few luxuries he was afforded. If one were to look within the contents of his books, they’d predominantly find studies on the nature of magic that each of the pony tribes possessed. There was a slight favoring towards pegasi and their weather manipulation in recent months. Besides magic, there were books about the stars and various other topics that caught his eye.
Sitting at his desk, he produced an orb of light with his magic that he allowed to hang over his head and grabbed a length of parchment and quill. With another bit of magic, he threw open the shudders to his window so he could look out across the city while he worked. Another luxury he was thankful for. With his atmosphere set, he began to draw up a map of all the places he’d been to within Clover Hall. This habit had started as a means of mental stimulation he’d found to be lacking in his training. As time passed though, he’d found a genuine passion in the activity. He only wished that he could draw upon other places to create his maps.