//------------------------------// // Alliance // Story: My Little Pirates: Luffy's Adventures in Equestria // by Fullmetal Pony //------------------------------// Loud slurps, crunches, and belches echoed throughout Level Five Point Five. The majority of its population was gathered around the cavernous chamber Ivankov reserved for his “treatments.” Fanged mouths dropped, compound eyes blinked, and minds tried to make sense of the spectacle in front of them. Gender changes, impromptu dance parties, and Ivakov in general were dwarfed by the sheer amount of food shoveled into the the chamber and the insane rate empty plates flew out of it. The only reason all of the Level wasn’t gapping at the event was that some of them had to go fetch more food. “All of our reserves...” the bunny hat changeling muttered. Iva stood at the head of the group and closest to the cavern’s doors. Occasionally, his eyes would catch a stalky hoof emerge from the darkness and pull multiple trays of food in at the same time. Astounding, to not only recover in less than a day, but to have this much vitality immediately afterwards... miracle doesn’t even begin to describe it. A few changelings ran back to the reserves room after some time passed, but came back with nothing. A hushed aura fell over the Level and all eyes went to the cavern. The slow clipclop of hooves against the ground filled everyone’s ears. Out of the darkness, a large shape appeared. Four spindly withered limbs supported it, despite its main body being at least ten times their size. It was oval-like in shape so that it resembled a thick balloon on the verge of popping. A small black tail and the straw hats on its flanks were visible from its back and a blockish horse head that clashed with its bloated torso was visible from its front. “Can we call him a pony anymore?” a changeling asked. More changelings whispered similar questions, but went quiet when the creature’s form rapidly shrank back to down a reasonable size. For all the mass its torso lost, its limbs gained muscle and healthy coloration. When its torso stopped deflating and the rest of its body was back to normal, it raised its head up and let out a hefty burp. “All better!” Luffy exclaimed. “Mugi-chan...” Bon set a hoof in front of him, but he placed too much weight on it and instantly fell to his side. “Huh?” Luffy blinked at the sound of Bon’s fall and then rushed to his side. “Bon! Hey, Bon!” “Your noble companion is merely exhausted,” Luna yawned through the stone on Bon’s limp leg. “He did not leave your side once during your struggle.” “But ya didn’t either!” Pinkie interjected, rapidly turning the stone pink. “I mean, so did I, but I had to break out all the stops and resorted to the super-mega-ultra-su—” The sound of rather loud snoring drifted through the stone until it went back to Luna’s deep color. “True, most of us are rather drained and will require some minor recovery time, but it was necessary to ensure your treatment was successful.” There was a pause punctuated by an airy yawn. “Straw Hat, get to your brother.” With that, the stone lightened to violet and Twilight’s voice came through. “Such recovery time even taking into account Queen Iva’s powers is amazing... if only I could have documented it.” “Hmm.” Luffy snatched up the stone and affixed it to right foreleg. He then faced Iva and touched his head to the ground. “Thank you, everyone! Especially Bon!” A wave of cheers went up to Luffy’s thanks and a few streamers were launched into the air. Amidst the celebratory mood, Inazuma emerged with a square muzzle and a stout body, but his colors still bisected. A straw hat and a blue vest, in lieu of the original one Luffy had worn into Impel Down, rested on his back. “Here’s clothes and your hat. It doesn’t really matter though since you’ll still need a few days to recover.” “I don’t have time for that!” Luffy shouted. He stretched out a hoof and clasped his hat. He extracted the tiny slip of paper from its red band and watched it scoot slightly downwards, as if pushed by a non-existent wind. “Ace is still here! I’m gonna g—” Luffy tried to take a step while he spoke, but his knee buckled and he went down to the ground. He tried to get up, but his legs all shook and hampered his balance. “See?” Iva pointed at Luffy’s legs. “You’re still too weak. Do what you want with your life, but as you are now, you probably won’t make it to the door.” Luffy sighed and positioned himself on the floor so that he was at least comfortable. “Don’t you want to escape too? Bon came all this way to rescue you, ya know.” “That’s cute,” Iva purred. “I could probably escape whenever I wished, but it’s not the right time yet. I have to wait until my comrade, Dragon, mobilizes.” “Oh, you mean dad?” Luffy nonchalantly asked. “Yes, once your dad gives the si—” Iva paused. His pupils shrank and his wings suddenly shot out and propelled him into a nearby wall. “Eh? Your dad?!” ~~~ Hannyabal’s ears perked up slightly. One of the guards standing over the screens that monitored all of Impel Down looked over to him. “Is something wrong, Vice-Warden?” “No, just getting the kinks worked out from being tied up for so long.” Hannyabal lifted a leg off the ground and swiveled it around in its socket. “Still nothing on the escapees?” “Nothing but your bloodied headpiece,” the same guard replied. “The only advantage to having Level Five on the fritz is that no bodies could be buried in the snow, but we’re still coming up empty. It’s most likely that the timberwolves got to them.” Hannyabal grimaced at the guard’s reply. His stomach was slightly constricted, but that may have just been from the lack of food and water during his near-day captivity. Across the screens, scenes of prisoners hardly moving in their cells played. A parasprite occasionally buzzed by the cells of Level Two, but no other sign of action was observable, save for a few screens in the lower right corner of the display. The light coming off of those screens was dimmer than the others’. Magellan and a select group of guards moved from one screen to another. They passed by multiple cells completely darkened save for a glint here and there but kept their attention forward. Hannyabal glanced over at the screens for just a second, but it garnered the attention of all the guards in the room. It was a rare sight for anyone to go to Level Six and even rarer to see a prisoner leave it. ~~~         “This changes everything,” Iva said in a hushed tone. A trickle of sweat dripped down his shiny carapace. He stared at Luffy and contemplated the situation. Dragon won’t stand by and let his son be mercilessly executed in front of the world. There’s also Whitebeard’s wrath to consider. That should’ve been enough to steer the government away from such action, but Straw-boy’s rescue has entangled the Pony Kingdom too. What is the government thinking? “Straw-boy! I can’t stand by and let a comrade’s son die!” Iva proclaimed. He spread his wings and took to the air. “Everyone! We’re going to rescue Ace and break out! It’s your choice to come, but opportunities like this are rare! We’ll head for Level Six and wreak havoc on the guards!” A resounding battle cry bubbled up among the masses. Luffy stood back up and shouted, “All right! Hang in there, Ace! I’m coming right now!” Luffy tried to take a step forward again, but once more fell to the ground. Iva darted over and tsked. He raised his head up while keeping his eyes on Luffy. “It’s a risk after your recovery and it’ll cut down on your strength, but you need energy and speed.” Iva swung his head down like a guillotine and buried his horn in Luffy’s side and swiftly extracted it after a few seconds. Luffy gasped for air and clutched at his side as his body convulsed and his back deformed. Muscles melted into a malleable state before they jutted out and drooped over Luffy’s sides. Bone that hadn’t existed before filled in the lumps of flesh and gave them structure while the rest of Luffy’s body slimmed down slightly and lost a few of its rougher edges. The skin that had once belonged to Luffy’s back now turned paperthin and feathers erupted out them. Luffy instantly stood up once the transformation was complete. “Whoa.” “I don’t think that’s a proper description,” Twilight gawked. Through the stone, she could see the edges of new wings shift at Luffy’s sides. “Nothing like that has ever even been recorded.” “Emporio Wing and Emporio Energy,” Iva explained. “Glad I’ve had time to test the former out. Now, Straw-boy, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to fly, but your body will be much faster and aerody...” Iva paused at the sight of Luffy balling up his new wings. He shot them out in front of him in rapid succession in a style akin to a boxer. “Awesome! I’ve got fists again!” ~~~ “Huh?” a guard yelled. Hannyabal rushed to the guard’s side. “What?” The guard jabbed a hoof at the screens that showed the stairway between Level Five and Six. Three figures dashed across them: a changeling queen with purple hair and pink wings, a pony perfectly divided into orange and white, and another pony that appeared to have two large spheres sticking out of his back. “Sir, I can’t believe it, but I’m certain that’s prisoners Ivankov, Inazuma, and Straw Hat Luffy!” Hannyabal slammed a cloven hoof into the ground. “Two of them disappeared years ago and the other should be dead by now! Put Level Six on red alert, activate all the traps on the stairwell and flood it with guards! We can’t allow them to reach Fire-fist Ace!” ~~~         A part of the wall to Luffy’s right collapsed in on itself and a spike shot out of it. Luffy jumped into the air and over it only to land in a patch of blue flowers that had sprouted out of the floor.         “Straw-boy!” Iva exclaimed. “That’s poison joke!”         “Crud!” Luffy leapt out of the patch and swatted at his limbs. “I’m gonna get all weird again!”         Damn, Iva cursed as he dodged a hole that opened up in the floor. Giving Straw-boy any more injections in such rapid succession is too dangerous! I...         Luffy continued to swab his legs, but no blue dots indicative of poison joke showed up. A battle cry filled the stairwell and a platoon of guards emerged from the bottom of it. Luffy shot a clenched wing out and decked one of them in the jaw, knocking him out. It returned to Luffy with the same elasticity as it had left him. He flexed it around for a second and smiled. “I must’ve gotten lucky.”         Iva’s eyes widened, but quickly went back to the guards rushing at the trio. He let loose a flurry of kicks and jabs that left the guards at the front of the platoon immobilized on the ground and few with new appendages and genders. That wasn’t luck! Did Straw-boy gain immunity? ~~~         A pile of guards and ruined traps littered the Level Six stairwell. The great doors that were the last line of defense for the Level were wide open. Luffy, Iva, and Inazuma darted through them and into the rows upon rows of cells.         “Ace!” Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs at the sight of a cell that loomed in front of them. Inside, a set of chains rested against a wall that had smears of fresh blood on it. “He’s not there,” Luffy huffed.         A massive blue shape moved within the cell. Jinbei’s astonished face came into the light and took in the scene from outside the cell. His eyes locked onto the straw hat that dangled from the Luffy’s neck. Ace’s brother! He actually made it through all the Levels!         “Are you Straw Hat Luffy?” Jinbei bellowed.         “Uh... yeah,” Luffy replied.         “Go to the elevator!” Jinbei roared. “They just left! There’s still time!”         “There!” Inazuma pointed to an empty stone cylinder that rose up and disappeared into the ceiling. The group made a mad dash for the elevator with Luffy offering a quick thanks to Jinbei. At the elevator, they all looked up. Something glinted above and came crashing down. Luffy missed getting impaled and crushed by a giant tablet of spikes by a hair’s breath. The trap did its secondary task of annihilating the shaft, cracking its stones and blocking off any attempts of climbing it. The clang of metal on stone emanated from the stairwell’s direction. Iva scowled at the noise. He flew into the air and got a view of the seastone bars that barricaded the exit. To add to the situation, a thick purple vapor hissed out of destroyed shaft and began to fill the Level. “Damn! They were ready for us! Inazuma!” “On it.” Inazuma darted over to the shaft and snapped his head back. His muzzle distorted and thinned into two razor sharp edges that met when his jaw closed. He tucked his transformed muzzle and it cut a straight line into the floor. Arch-shaped incisions appeared in the stone as Inazuma ran along it. When he completed an arch he hefted it off the ground with the ease of lifting paper and the altered stone would then affix itself to the shaft, sealing off part of the gas. Inazuma repeated this process until the shaft was entirely contained and not a whiff of gas escaped. “Incredible,” said Twilight. “That’s the snip-snip fruit for you,” said Iva. Inazuma lifted his head and his muzzle reverted to a normal shape with a snap of his neck. Iva’s expression darkened and his lips drew back in a deep frown. “We won’t get poisoned anymore, but Ace is on his way to Navy Headquarters and we’re still trapped here.” Luffy stared at Ace’s cell and up to the ceiling. He lowered his eyes and took a breath.“Then we’ll go to Navy Headquarters!” A slow clack of gold against stone entered Luffy’s ears. From a nearby cell, a deep gravely voice called out, “Still a greenhorn fool, eh, Straw Hat? Tell you what though, let me out and I’ll make a hole in the ceiling for you. Kuhaha.” “That voice!” Luffy spun around and glared at the cell the voice was coming from. Out of its shadows emerged a pony with an orange coat and slicked back greasy mane. His tail had a similar sheen as well. A fine storm of golden sand was eternally frozen in midair across his flanks. The golden hook adhered to his left foreleg banged against the ground as he made his way to the cell’s bars. “Crocodile!” “The things I’ve heard in the last few days,” Crocodile mused, barely acknowledging that Luffy was there. “This war is a chance for me to kill that old geezer Whitebeard and you get to rescue your brother, just when I thought the outside world had nothing to offer me.” “No way!” Luffy scowled. “Luffy, who is this guy?” Twilight asked. “A jerk!” Luffy’s eyes burned holes into Crocodile, but he merely smiled while his eyes kept the same tired look to them. “He nearly destroyed my friend’s country. There’s no way I’m letting him out!” “Alabasta holds no interest to me anymore,” Crocodile sighed. “He could get us out,” Iva postulated. Crocodile sucked in his breath and sharpened his eyes. “Ivankov! You’re looking worse than usual.” “That all you have to say after all this time, Croc-boy?” Iva replied with a mischievous grin. “Given our... circumstances, be a good boy, help out Straw-boy, and don’t try anything funny. Do that and I keep my lips sealed about it.” “Damn you,” Crocodile hissed. “Please!” Jinbei cried out from Ace’s cell. Everyone’s attention went to him as he strained against his chains. He managed to inch a little closer to the bars and shouted with all his might. “Please take me with you! I’ve know Ace since he joined with Whitebeard! I’m only here because I was against this war! Please let me fight!” “Okay, fish-pony,” Luffy instantly replied. Jinbei lowered his head as much as his constraints would allow. “Thank you!” Inazuma made his way to both cells, cutting off Jinbei’s chains first and then moving onto Crocodile’s. As he finished freeing that latter, a female voice from within the cell rasped, “Wait, wait. Take me too.” An emaciated thing came into the light. Its black shell sagged in places as if there was nothing to hold it up. Parts of it were warped as if they were partially dissolved and gave the thing’s body a decayed look. The thing’s eyes were so sunken, it was easy to mistake its face for a skull. Clumps of its turquoise mane were missing as well, adding to its ghoulish appearance. Its legs dragged across the ground as it shambled to Luffy in spite of its confinement. “You... you’re the one.” “Hey.” Luffy turned to Iva and pointed at the rotting creature. “That kinda looks like you.” “It is,” Twilight sneered. “That’s what happened to the Changeling Queen.” “Celestia’s dog!” the creature hissed. It strained against its chains, but only succeeded in slamming into the ground. Regardless, it still scraped in the direction of Twilight’s voice and bared its fangs. “I’ll drain you for what you did! You and Celestia!” A fit of sickening coughs interrupted Chrysalis.Twilight’s voice turned to a whisper. “This is sad... even for her.” “Just give me that love,” Chrysalis begged. She tried to squirm over ot Luffy, but her chains wouldn’t allow any further movement. “My hive... my hive... I have to feed them. You have enough! Just a taste!” “Hmm.” Ivankov took in the scene and tapped a hoof to his large chin. He bent down until he was eye-level with Chrysalis. A few noxious vapors wafted off of her and made Iva back up a few feet. “You’re dying.” “I just need food, imposter,” Chrysalis replied with an extra dose of venom added to the last word. Her attention went back to Luffy and her hollow eyes gained a crazed desperation. “I’ll do whatever you want! You want the red pony, right? Oh, he gave off some love too, but you...” Her tongue went out and lapped at the air. “Yessss, it pours off you.” “Luffy, don’t trust her,” Twilight ordered. “She’ll put a spell on you and make you her slave!” “Quiet!” Chrysalis hacked. “Fine! Fine! I’ll leave Equestria in peace, just let me save my hive! That’s all I want!” Luffy’s mouth became an unreadable line and he marched over to Chrysalis. “If you promise not to hurt Twilight and her friends and you really just want to save your hive, I’m fine with it.” “Luffy!” Twilight exclaimed. “Yes!” Chrysalis sobbed. “I’ll do it! I won’t harm them or Equestria! Now...” Chrysalis’s mouth spread open and her fangs sunk deep into Luffy’s leg. A chill ran up his body far worse than that of Level Five. It was like fire, but instead of searing pain, it spread ice through his veins. He shuddered and went to the ground. At the same time, the vapors rising off of Chrysalis ceased and her body tightened and repaired itself. A sheen returned to the chitlin on her face and spread throughout the rest of her body. Her eyes moved back to the front of their sockets and regained a predatory gleam. When Luffy fell, she got back onto her restored hooves and unclenched her teeth. “Ahh, that was even better than the prince-to-be.” “Straw-boy!” Iva rushed to Luffy’s side. “I’m okay,” Luffy groaned. He staggered to his hooves, but managed to stand up with a few shivers running through his body. “That was gross.” “Oh, I only took a small amount,” Chrysalis huffed. She reached up and stroked her now-vibrant mane. Her wings gave a small flutter, which made her show off her fangs. “Desperation is truly an amazing spice for love. It was actually hard to choose what to eat: your love for your brother or your friends. Such an interesting creature.” “No time to critique our meals,” Iva proclaimed. Inazuma sent out his scissor-like muzzle and undid Chrysalis’s chains. “We have to hurry! It was unavoidable, but now it will be a true blitz to escape this prison!”