//------------------------------// // Level Three: Bereft of Food, Water, and Love // Story: My Little Pirates: Luffy's Adventures in Equestria // by Fullmetal Pony //------------------------------// “Helllllllppppppp—” The rest of Trixie’s scream was swallowed up by the blast and roar of dragonfire. The dragon’s tail lashed around, sending Trixie with it. All the while, she continued screaming even though nopony could hear her. The dragonfire slammed against the ground, scattering Luffy, Buggy, and Mr. 3. The latter two went in one direction while Luffy jumped into the air and stretched back a hind hoof. “Huh, never thought I’d fight a dragon! Gum-Gum Buck!” The attack struck the dragon’s neck, but when Luffy’s hoof returned back to his body, wisps of smoke drifted off of it. “Darn, this guy’s skin is really hot!” “Just keep hitting him Straw Hat!” Buggy yelled. “While we get the hell out of here,” Mr. 3 whispered. He and Buggy raced over to the large door that led to the stairwell. In their excitement over escape, they both galloped through stacks of coins and jewels. The treasure clinked and the dragon’s eyes widened and their slits narrowed. It twisted its head away from Luffy and gnashed its fangs at the duo. Buggy was reduced to mincemeat and Mr. 3 to bits of wax. Behind a nearby pile of treasure and stone, Mr. 3 breathed heavily and tried to still his heart. “Too close!” “I’ll say,” Buggy’s head commented. Mr. 3 screamed seeing his new comrade’s head simply floating in mid-air. Buggy drifted down and uppercut Mr. 3 in the jaw. “Shut up! You’ll attract the...” “Groar...” An enormous slitted pupil looked down on Mr. 3 and Buggy. Smoke coiled around them and made them cough while the eye turned them pale. “Run!” they both screamed at the same time. The dragon’s jaws opened and clenched shut but were stopped from fully closing by a semi-solid piece of wax. The rest of Buggy’s body flew out of the dragon’s maw and reconnected with the rest of him. The dragon snorted, causing smoke to billow out of its mouth and nose. The wax melted in an instant but it gave the duo enough time to flee from the beast. “Hey! Don’t just ignore me!” Luffy jumped up above the dragon and extended back all four of his hooves. They raced back down straight at the dragon’s head. “Gum-Gum Twin Bazooka!” The hit pushed the dragon’s head halfway to the floor while its shock wave rippled through the dragon’s body. Its claws dug into the floor, which cracked under the pressure. Luffy landed next to one of the giant claws and grinned up at the dragon. The dragon staggered back and forth and its eyes rolled in their sockets. A pair of blue hooves wrapped around Luffy’s neck. He looked to his left and was met with a tearful Trixie squeezing him. “I-I thought it was over! T-thank you!” “No problem,” Luffy smiled. “You’re helping me save Ace after all.” Trixie instantly let go of Luffy and flicked back her mane with a snap of her neck. She placed a hoof on her chest and said, “Er, um, yes... we should probably make our way to the ex—Trixie means, your brother.” “Yep, that’s the id—” Luffy slammed his mouth shut, grabbed Trixie, and jumped out of the way of a jet of dragonfire. Above them, the dragon leered down at them and snarled. “Argh, and I thought I got it that time!” “You just made it more mad!” Trixie complained while Luffy jumped to avoid flailing strikes from the dragon’s claws. Nearby, Buggy and Mr. 3 avoided hits as well. Buggy didn’t so much dodge as get cut to ribbons and then reform. An unlucky strike came down and slashed Mr. 3 into pieces. The pieces fell to the ground as cold hard wax. Nearby, the real Mr. 3 smiled at his work. “Ha! I might not have Ms. Goldenweek’s colors, but the figurines are enough for a stupid beast like you!” The dragon growled and slammed a claw down on Mr. 3, but only pieces of shattered wax remained. All around its claws, dozens of Mr. 3s popped up. Among the figurines came a voice followed by the clinking of treasure. “By the time you find me, we’ll be long gone!” Luffy hopped over to Buggy and released his grip on Trixie. The real Mr. 3 emerged from out of the figurines and joined them. A waxy blob with treasure spilling out of it was draped on his back. “Nice job, three!” “That’s Mr. 3!” the wax pony complained. “Now lets get out of here before it roasts all the fakes or worse!” Above them the dragon reared its head back. A dark growl rumbled out of its mouth that shook the entire area. It leered down at the figurines along with the real ponies. “Miiiiinnnnnneeeeeee!” “It can talk?” Luffy asked both in confusion and awe. His eyes partially turned into twinkling stars. “Mine!” answered the dragon. It smacked its claws around and randomly struck the figurines, the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. Stones fell everywhere and the ponies had to zigzag to avoid the falling debris. “Mine! Mine! Mine!” “This is bad!” Mr. 3 exclaimed. “We’ve got to ge—” A giant cracking noise swallowed up the rest of Mr. 3’s complaint. Below the dragon, huge fissures opened up. The dragon gave a snort of surprise before it plummeted into darkness. The hole rapidly spread and swallowed up the other ponies too fast for them them escape it. All of them screamed as they disappeared deeper into the prison. ~~~ The sound of hooves on stone made all the prisoners turn their heads up. Hooves were the measurement of time in this place; they came at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was if the guards weren’t in the mood to starve the prisoners for a few days. What was curious about the hooves was that lunch wasn’t very long ago. That gave the prisoners reason to stir from their beds and press their heads against their cells’ bars.         Celestia tried to keep her eyes forward, but they kept drifting over to the cells and the prisoners within. Scars, missing teeth, dark leers, and sharp grins greeted her. To see such traits on pony faces tugged at the back of her mind. Even as ponies, they still hold such evil looks.         Soon, the jeers began. Prisoners hollered at Celestia and spat at Magellan, Hannyabal, and Momonga. Celestia wasn’t sure what they would have said to Domino as she had stayed by the elevator, but it probably wouldn’t be pretty.         “The ones that don’t talk are the worst, but the ones that do are annoying,” Magellan grumbled. His eyes were on one particular cell that had a golden gleam of a hook within. He led the group past that cell and over to a nearby one. “We’re here.”         Hannyabal trotted forward and peered into the cell. Chained to one side wall was a Jimbei, First Son of the Sea and one of the Seven Warlords. His form was massive and the tales of his strength made him seem more monster than man, or pony given current circumstances. His strength wasn’t enough to break the chains the held him in the cell though. He glanced up at Hannyabal before his eyes drifted over to Magellan and Celestia.         Hannyabal’s sight likewise went away from Jimbei and over to Ace. The man had been made into a red Earth Pony by Equestria’s magic, but that didn’t take away the giant tattoo the encompassed his back: a skull and crossbones with a wicked grin and a white sickle of a mustache. He’d gained an additional mark on his flank upon entering Equestria’s domain: a grand orange and yellow flame that made it look like the rest of his body was a great bonfire and the mark was just the tip of it. Without the seastone cuffs he was enchained in, he could have very well done that.         “You have a special visitor, Ace!” Hannaybal called out. He glanced back over to the other prisoner in the cell. “Bet you’ve never met her either, Jimbei. She controls the sun here and she rules over this entire land! I present, Warlord Princess Celestia!”         A shape moved in the cell that also held the pony with the golden hook. A wispy yet guttural voice emanated from the shape. “Celestia?”         Ace stared up at Celestia with empty solemn eyes. “What do you want?”         “I have no business with you,” Celestia coldly replied. She made a point to look down her muzzle at Ace. “I just wanted to see the man who was the trigger for this war.”         “Glad to see I’m a display now,” Ace sneered.         “Princess!” Jimbei called out. His chains rattled against the stone wall and floor as he craned his neck to get a better look at Celestia. “Don’t tell me you’re actually planning to aid the government in this war? I’ve read up on Equestria and this war will only bring suffering to it, just as it will bring hardship to Fishman island!”         “Celestia,” rasped the gutteral voice again. Its owner’s throat sounded dry, like sand had been poured down it.         “What are you complaining about now?” asked the pony with the golden hook. In the darkness, his eyes rolled in annoyance. “Your kingdom, your children, your food. It’s always something with you.”         “She took it from me!” the voice hissed back. Something scraped in the darkness and the shadows shifted so that out of them emerged a hoof. It was so black it seemed a part of the darkness if not for the holes of varying size that dotted it. Three other hooves shot out to join it and their owner’s head banged against the cell’s bars. The bars couldn’t stop a long jagged horn from poking out of the cell though. “Celestia! You’ll pay! I’ll break you and make you watch as I drain every last drop of life out your kingdom! I’ll start with your student! She! Will! Scream!         The raving emboldened the other prisoners, who joined in and began jeering louder. Insult after insult was slung at Magellan, Hannyabal, and Momonga while far more lewd words were thrown at Celestia. A vein pulsed on Magellan’s head at the noise. “This is getting annoying.”         Celestia ignored the black horn for a moment and focused on the two prisoners in front of her. “So you’re Jimbei? There’s no need to be rude. I’m only doing what I can for my citizens. It appears I have other matters to deal with though...”         Celestia brought her attention over to the black horn and its owner. “You’ll never harm another one of my little ponies ever again. This is your punishment; you’ll be confined here, alone and surrounded by hatred until the end of your days.” Forgive me. “No!” the creature in the cell snarled back. It opened up its mouth and snapped at the air with needle-like fangs. “I’ll break out and then you will suffer! Oh, my children will be hungry! They’re much less delicate when they’re hungry!”         “That’s enough!” Magellan bellowed. His skin turned purple and a thick liquid encased him. Hannyabal and Momonga scooted back and Hannyabal hid behind one of the cells. He glared at all the prisoners whose jeers had gone silent as well as the prisoner with the black horn that continued raving. “You all need to be taught a lesson. Hydra!”         The syrupy liquid covering Magellan exploded out of his back and into the air. The formless purple mass quickly condensed itself into a main portly body and three slender heads with gaping maws and forked tongues. A tail-like appendage kept the monstrosity connected to Magellan. The prisoner’s jeers had now turned into panicked screams and even the prisoner with the black horn had trotted back from the creation. All three heads reared back and then darted into three of the cells. Anguished wails rang out from all the cells struck, but especially the one with black horned prisoner. It rolled around on the ground, both the floor and its body sizzling from the poison they were now coated in. The prisoner with the golden hook didn’t say anything, but his eyes spelled out a very clear and simple message. Fool.         “Don’t forget, you’re all on death row here!” The poison around Magellan faded and his features softened. He extended a hoof out to Ace’s cell. “Take all the time you like.”         “Oh, my business is done,” Celestia replied. She turned around and marched off to the elevator. She didn’t wait for the others. Any longer amongst the wails and her cover might slip. Even a thousand years couldn’t diminish hearing pure agony.         Back at the cells Jimbei watched Celestia disappear around a corner. The others followed, leaving him with Ace and the other prisoners once more. The screaming was disturbing, especially from the black horned prisoner, but Jimbei had heard worse things in his nightmares. He brought his attention on Ace, whose eyes had sharpened and were now filled with more emotion than Jimbei had seen since his arrival. “Ace, what did she tell you?”         Ace stayed silent and bit his lip. “She said my little brother... is here!” ~~~         Trixie’s right ear twitched, followed by her eye peeking open. Two giant rows of monstrous fangs greeted her. She yelped and jumped into the air before falling back down and rapidly scooting away from the unconscious dragon. She bumped into something and was met with Luffy looking down on her.         “Cool, you’re awake,” Luffy smiled. “I was about to shake you, but now I don’t have to.”         “Your voice only serves to annoy Trixie,” she grunted.         “Where are we anyway?” Luffy raised a hoof to his forehead and wiped the sweat that had quickly accumulated on his brow. The gesture wasn’t worth much since new sweat instantaneously replaced the old. All around them was nothing but sand and white stone towers. Cells were cut out of the towers and were the only things covered in shadow.         A wisp of smoke rose Luffy’s left. He darted over to it found a small brown steaming sphere. He picked it up and smelled it. “Takoyaki.”         “Oh!” came a sob from the stone on Luffy’s leg. “That poor parasprite!”         Luffy examined the ball, shrugged, and took a bite out of it. Fluttershy gave an eep and the stone went from yellow to blue. Dash’s voice now came through the stone. “Hey! Watch what you eat in front of her!”         “Eh, it’s not that good anyway.” Despite his complaint, Luffy still devoured the rest of the cook parasprite. “Wonder what cooked it.”         “Level Three,” Mr. 3 sighed. He appeared from behind the dragon and made his way over to Luffy. Buggy followed at his side. “The heat on this level is second only to Level Four’s. There’s barely any food or water given to the prisoners here. Plus, I’ve heard a special set of guards makes it so that mirages and other odd weather conditions afflict the prisoners.”         “Sounds like some pegasi playing tricks,” Dash muttered.         “Why not give the prisoners some illusion of hope before they die?” Before anypony could pinpoint where the voice came from, the ground beneath them moved. Huge inlaid ropes of metal sprung out of the sand and over the heads of everypony and the dragon. In a matter of seconds, they were all caught in a huge net high over the baking sands.         “The hell is this?” Buggy pushed against the net, but found he couldn’t mesh his body through it. “Don’t tell me this is seastone?”         “That’s it! Trixie has had it!” Trixie shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. Her horn sparked out, only for it to fizzle out a second later. “What? My magic!”         “Hmm, guess you can use magic after all.” All eyes went down to the voice. It’s owner was a tiny little creature composed entirely of white. His hind half was like a lion’s, with a whip-like tail that ended with was sharp white spike of hair; while his front half was like an eagle’s with a tiny beak and thick plumage that ended where his lion’s half began. Small wings draped his sides as well. His oversized floppy white hat with what appeared to be horns poking out of it and a skull adorned to the top of it completed his composite appearance. Behind his stood a squadron of guards with a mix of wings and horns. A few Blugori popped up here and there as well. “I swear, this day is a mess between misinformation and the Warden not helping. I suppose you’re all lucky on that last count. I’ll just throw you into cells. The Warden would be like to execute you outright.” “Who are you?” Luffy demanded. “I am Saldeath,” the griffon answered. “And you are Straw Hat Luffy. I don’t know how you got here, but you’ll never leave this prison again.” “You’re a monkey?” Despite the cramped space in the net, Luffy managed to tilt his head. “You look more like a bird-lion... or a lion-bird.” “I’m a griffon for your information!” Saldeath shot back. “Regardless, this little escape attempt of yours is ov—” “Mine.” The net rustled. Trixie shrieked when the eyelid she was stuffed next to flicked open. Its slit of a pupil narrowed and the dragon roared. A jet of flame raced out of its mouth and turned the net burning red and then blazing white. “Mine! Mine!” “Damn it!” Saldeath cursed. “The net won’t hold! Men! Get ready to take all them! Especially Straw Hat!” True to Saldeath’s word, the net broke, sending its prisoners to the ground. The dragon’s fall kicked up a cloud of dust, but the Blugori and their axes plunged through it and straight at Luffy. The guards followed after and fell upon Luffy. Luffy lifted up his hind legs and sent them flying at guards and Blugori alike. “Gum-Gum Buck Gatling!” The enemies went sailing, giving Luffy a brief reprieve to look back. Only air greeted him. “Darn it, where’d they go?” “Hurry it up, you stupid horse!” came Buggy’s voice from high above Luffy. He looked up and spotted three spots atop a massive wooden rafter that had been used to hold up the equally giant net. “Oi, you guys! What are you doing up there?” Luffy called out. Buggy mockingly waved a hoof and stuck out his tongue at Luffy. “Getting out here! If Ace lives, tell him I’ll buy him a drink!” “Now go and distract them!” Mr. 3 yelled. “Yes!” Trixie chuckled. “Trixie’s decoy plan is perfect!” “Aw, but we just met again,” Luffy frowned. He then beamed back up at them and waved a hoof. “Well, see ya!” All three of the prisoners on the rafter sniffled a little. Such a nice guy! A second later, they all ran off. Such a fool! Down below, Luffy sent his hooves flying again and struck down another wave of enemies. He jumped through a gap in their ranks and hopped across the towers. The guards all grunted and gave chase. Meanwhile, Buggy’s group darted through Level Three’s upper structures. Even this high up, there were cells upon cells, each filled with shells of former pirates. None of them moved, though a few stared at the group with hollow eyes that might as well have been empty sockets. “Wait!” Trixie skidded to a stop at one of the cells. “What are you doing?” Buggy demanded. “I needed to check something.” Trixie pointed into the cell she’d stopped at. Inside were hundreds of black shells.There were shaped into a common grotesque form with a sharp point jutting out of what looked like skulls. A material similar to spiderwebs covered parts of the shells as well and a thin film shaped like wings was draped over their backs. “We don’t have time to gawk over creepy stuff like this!” Mr. 3 complained. He opened his mouth to say more but stopped when his ears perked up and a sound pervaded the air. “Un, deux, grah!” ~~~         Luffy’s hoof met another guard’s face. He continued his climb among a set of stairs while guards shouted behind him and flung seastone nets in his direction. The nets didn’t just fly at him like a bullet, but looped through the air and relentlessly pursued him. He rounded a corner and a claw slammed him to the ground.         “Mine!” the dragon roared.         “Crap!” Luffy pushed and slapped his hooves against the dragon’s claw to no avail.         “Stop, you beast!” somepony from above yelled.         The voice made Luffy’s heart stop for a second. His eyes darted up and found a black unicorn with an seaweed-green mane. Three swords criss-crossed across his flank. A large scar ran from his left shoulder diagonally across his belly. “Z-zoro?” “Just kidding!” The pony masquerading as Zoro jumped off the ledge in a brilliant blaze of green flames. When the flames abated, a creature clad entirely in black chitin remained. It’s thin transparent wings buzzed through the air as it slammed into the dragon’s head with a hole-filled hoof. “Black Swan Arabesque!” The attack sent the dragon sprawling headfirst into one of the towers. Stones smacked into its head, adding to the damage. Luffy could only say one thing in the face of watching Zoro appear out of nowhere, burst into flames, turn into a black pony thing, and kicking the dragon. “Huh?” “Mugi-chan!” The black pony thing happily called out. It landed, twirled over to Luffy, and gave him a huge hug. Up close, Luffy could see that the creature had blue compound eyes and sharp white fangs along with a sharp black horn. “Long time no see! I know how horrible I must look right now, but it’s truly so good to see you again!” “Wait a minute!” Luffy’s eyes went wide with realization. He pulled the creature away and looked him in the eyes. “Bon Clay?” “Correct!” the crossdressing former-secret agent replied. “Oh and sorry for the impersonation earlier. I couldn’t resist.”