//------------------------------// // Fight For Your Freedom! – The Great, The Powerful and Trixie // Story: My Little Pirates: Set Adrift - Sanji in Equestria // by River Road //------------------------------// Luffy stared up at the orange earth pony that was standing at the edge of one of the platforms. “Ace…” he whispered. “Ah, Mugi-Chan! Is that your brother?” The ponies of Level 5.5 appeared behind him, led by Ivankov, Inazuma and Mr. 2. Luffy kept staring at the orange pony. He took a deep breath, inflating his chest. “ACE!” Ace met his gaze and his grin grew even wider. “It’s been a while, Luffy. How is your journey to become the Pirate King going?” Luffy couldn’t stop laughing, tears in his eyes. “I came here to rescue you! How did you get away from the Marines?” “I had some help,” Ace replied nonchalantly. Four ponies stepped up behind him. Luffy didn’t know the blue earth pony, but he recognized Buggy and Mr. 2, as well as the light blue unicorn that was with them. “So…” Ace turned his head to look at the panicking guards. „Need any help rescuing me?“ He didn’t wait for an answer and leapt off the platform, right into the mass of guards. A blazing pillar of fire shot up where he landed and flung a dozen of guards out of the way. “Gomu Gomu no Stampede!” A group of guards who had aimed their guns at Ace were assaulted by a flurry of hooves from above. Ace smirked as Luffy landed in front of him. “You’ve gotten stronger since the last time.” He was interrupted by a large spiked mace swinging through his head. For a second he was missing half his face until fire began leaking from the remaining half to resurrect the head. Turning around he saw a giant bipedal zebra holding the mace on a long shaft. “Should we take that guy together?” The two ponies jumped to the sides as the mace came crashing down again. The Minozebra roared out as a jet of flames hit it right in the chest. Ace sent another attack at it, but the zebra moved out of the way and swung its mace around towards Ace. A pony appeared out of thin air between Ace and the weapon, steam rising from his body. “Gomu Gomu no Jet Buck!” Luffy’s hind hooves slammed into the mace with so much force that it bounced right back, stunning the Minozebra for a short moment. Luffy didn’t waste any time, jumping high into the air, taking a deep breath and biting on his right foreleg just above the hoof. “Gear Third!” he yelled as his leg inflated to an impressive size. “Gomu Gomu no Gigant Horseshoe!” The giant hoof came down on the Minozebra’s head and slammed it into the stone bridge, knocking the Demon Guard out and making a noticeable indention in the stone. “Careful, Luffy!” Ace shouted. “We still need this bridge.” Trixie snuck around another corner, away from the sounds of the fight. Those pirates could manage just fine without her. She didn’t want to move to far from that ´Fire-Fist´ pony or the other powerhouses, but she didn’t want anything to do with the fight, either. She had gotten her share of close encounters in this prison, and it was larger than she felt comfortable with. Something smashed into the stone pillar to her right. Through the dust Trixie could see a spiked iron mace indented in the stone. A grey minotaur slowly pulled it out and rested the short shaft on his shoulder. “Going somewhere?” his deep voice rumbled. “Oh Celestia, not you!” Trixie screeched. “I thought we got rid of you!” She stepped backwards, trying to get as much distance between them as she could. The minotaur walked towards her menacingly, the mace held high. “I’m smarter than those mindless animals.” He pointed at the fight in the distance where the giant zebra had just been slammed into the floor by the rubber pony. “I take on the enemies that I can defeat. Last time I was unlucky and underestimated those ponies. But I know that you are no match for Steel Wall’s power, unicorn!” Trixie felt a wall behind her. The minotaur readied his mace for another strike. “I, Um…” she stammered, frantically looking for a way out. “You can’t be that smart if you’re so easily fooled by a simple illusion spell!” The minotaur turned his head and saw Trixie standing several ponylengths away. Her eyes widened as the minotaur turned around to charge at her. “What Trixie meant was… Um… Ignore me, I’m the illusion, I–“ The minotaur’s charge was broken as a hoof slammed into his side and sent him sliding across the floor. A blue and silver blur bounced away in the opposite direction, coming to a stop on its two hind legs. “Stop joking around! You can’t defeat the great and powerful Trixie!” “What?” was all a dumbfounded Trixie could say as she stared at the scene before her. “Desert Wing!” Crocodile sliced through a group of guards with his right wing, which had turned into a sand blade, leaving the guards completely dehydrated. Other guards stepped in front of him, training their guns at him. Crocodile beat his wings and a sandstorm split away from them, lifting the guards off the ground. Feathers made of sand whirled around inside the storm, cutting through anyone inside. Crocodile looked up to see the Minokoala stomping towards him. Before it could reach him, though, a blue streak slammed into his head. “Flambage Shot!” A blue pegasus set down on the ground next to Crocodile. “I didn’t need your help for that,” Crocodile stated. “I don’t like you and you don’t like me,” Sanji replied. “But there are more than enough guards to vent our frustration on.” “Whatever. My target is Whitebeard, not you.” Crocodile watched the Minokoala get back to his feet. “Say…” Sanji looked at Crocodile. “You’re a pegasus, too, aren’t you?” The Minokoala focused on the two ponies again and charged at them once more, preparing his spiked knuckles for an attack. Crocodile beat his wings and a sandstorm lifted the Demon Guard high into the air. The Minokoala spun around just in time to see the pirate send another sandstorm his way, though this one was much smaller. A blue pegasus rode inside the tip of the storm, his hooves glowing bright and heating up the sand. As it shot towards the beast, the whole top part of the sandstorm started to glow red, surrounding the pegasus. “Alabastan Instant Roast!” A huge explosion shook the sky above the level floor. Sanji dropped back to the floor and fell into a hover next to Crocodile. “Good work. That was a lot more effective than my normal attacks would be.” “Pegasus Magic, huh?” Crocodile commented. “It feels different from my normal sandstorms. I should look into that.” “Stop hiding!” the minotaur roared. “I know that this is some kind of trick!” Two Trixies hunkered down behind an empty cell. Green flames surrounded one of them and a changeling appeared in her place. “He’s strong! Last time I had the help of Mugi-Chan and Mr. 3. Your magic doesn’t seem to do much, either.” he turned around to the other Trixie. “Which one are you, anyway? Are you the real Trixie, or…?” “No, I’m an imposter as well,” the unicorn replied. “I wanted to help, but I guess there isn’t much I can do against that minotaur. I’m not much of a–“ She paused. “You! You’re a pirate, aren’t you? I’ve seen you hit that minotaur with a really strong kick!” “Of course I’m a pirate!” the changeling exclaimed a bit too loudly. “I am a master of Okama Kenpo!” “Okama– …Nevermind. My mother taught me this spell. I don’t like casting it, but it might help us win this battle.” The unicorn’s horn lit up with green magic. “Stop there, fishman!” A group of guards were galloping towards the large blue seapony, carrying pitchforks. The seapony didn’t move as he watched them come closer. “This form is still unfamiliar to me,” he mumbled. “I’ll have to adapt my Fishman Karate to it.” He reared up and let out a silent roar. The guards stopped and braced themselves for the impact, but no sound came out. For a second, no one moved. Dust on the ground began to vibrate in ripples, moving towards the guards. “Cannonball Current,” Jinbe said flatly. Guards started to fly away as they were hit by an invisible force. The seapony looked up at the raging Minorhinoceros charging towards him through the unconscious guards, a spiked mace in each hand. “Death Wink!” The Minorhinozeros was hit by a shockwave and tumbled backwards. A changeling with a poofy purple mane stepped next to the seapony. “Do you need any help, Fish-Boy?” Jinbe looked at the figure beside him. “Emporio Ivankov from the Revolutionary Army… My goal was to stop Ace’s execution and the war that would come with it. It seems that Ace has been freed without my help, so all I can do is to try and free the way for him.” “You’re really concerned for Fire-Fist. Is there–“ Iva stopped when her tail began to twitch and jumped to the side, just in time to dodge an attack that slashed across the floor, leaving a deep scar in the stone. A deep pink pegasus mare with a blonde mane was hovering above them, holding a whip with her wing. “How dare you do that to my lovely minions? Mmh, I’ll make you pay…” “I’ll take care of that pegasus,” Iva exclaimed. “Can you finish off the rhinoceros?” Jinbe examined the Minorhinoceros, which was already back on its feet. “That beast shouldn’t be much of a problem, even on dry land.” “Very good.” Iva opened her mouth and two fangs appeared in the upper row of teeth. She raised a foreleg and sunk her fangs into it. Green fur sprouted all over her body and a pair of wings grew from her sides. “This form has brought me some interesting new Hormone techniques. This one is one of my personal favorites,” the newly formed alicorn said. The stone pillar behind Trixie collapsed under Steel Wall’s attack. “There you are!” the minotaur rumbled. Trixie disappeared in a bright flash, only to reappear a few steps further away. She stumbled and fell to the ground. Fighting the minotaur with those two strange copies of her she had used up almost all of her magic and now she had nothing left. Not that it made any difference, the way he had just shrugged off her attacks. “Any last words?” the minotaur asked. He was standing right in front of Trixie now, towering over her. “I’m… just another illusion spell?” she asked half-heartedly. Un! The minotaur laughed. “This shouldn’t hurt you then.” He raised his mace over his head. Deux! Trixie didn’t move as the mace came down on her. She didn’t have the will to run anymore. Even if she did, without her magic she couldn’t hope to escape the minotaur, much less the prison. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact. Her end would be just as pathetical as she was. “TROIS!” Nothing happened. Trixie opened her eyes to see the weapon hanging in the air just a few inches away from her head. A changeling stood to either side of her. They looked exactly the same and both held the same strange pose. And both had set one of their hind legs between the spikes of the mace, stopping it in its tracks. “Changelings?” the minotaur said, pulling his mace back. “I knew there was some kind of trick. It doesn’t matter, though. I beat you last time and I’ll beat you again.” “Stop joking around!” Both changelings replied in unison, moving into a new stance on their hind legs, forelegs held up high. “The combined power of our Okama Kenpo makes us much stronger!” They jumped at the minotaur and aimed at his head with one of their hind legs each. The minotaur blocked the attack with his mace, but both changelings already dropped to the ground. As soon as their hoof touched the floor they spun around again, kicking the minotaur into his ribs from both sides. Trixie watched the minotaur falter under a flurry of kicks from all sides. “Okama Kenpo: Mirror Ballet!” “Get out of our way!” Another barrage of kicks hit the Vice-Warden. “You’re really annoying,” Luffy said. Hannyabal slowly stood up again and picked his double-bladed weapon, Kessui, up with his magic aura. His fur was covered in blood and clung to his body, but he didn’t give up. “I won’t let you pass, pirates! If you leave this prison we have failed our duty to protect the people outside!” Luffy prepared for another attack, but Ace put a hoof on his back. “You’re barely standing anymore,” the orange pony stated. “We’re out of your league. We’re going to leave this prison and you have no way to stop us.” The other pirates trotted up behind them. “If you want to do something you should get an antidote for your Warden. We left him tied up on Level One.” Hannyabal’s eyes widened and his pupils shrank. “Oh no. Warden!” “Candle Release!” The prisoners stared into the corridor behind the wax seal. The corridor was empty and nothing moved inside it. “Eh? Where are the Marines?” Buggy and Mr. 3 looked around the wax wall they had been waiting behind.” “They must have gone back to their ship to wait for Ace or alternatively face us outside the prison where they have the advantage,” Jinbe said. “Hey,” Luffy turned to face Iva, "Where is Bon-Chan.” “He went to take care of something,” Iva replied. “He should be back in a minute.” Five guards were staring at the various screens in the monitor room, observing the levels. One of them turned around as the door opened. “W-Warden! What are you doing here? The prisoners are escaping! They already–“ The Warden pushed the orange earth pony that was at his side, causing it to collapse on the floor. “I secured Fire-Fist Ace, that is the most important thing. I’ll take care of the other prisoners soon, but first I need you to open the Gate.” “T-the gate? What–“ “The Gate Of Justice!” The Warden stepped up to the guard. “Open it! Marineford sent us reinforcements to deal with the rioting prisoners.” “I-I… I never got any notice from–“ “Now!” The Warden roared. “Y-Yes, Sir!” The guard scrambled back to his control panel and pushed a few buttons. One of the screens changed to show the picture of two large metal doors in the middle of the ocean. “Good.” The Warden watched a line of light appear between the doors as they slowly opened. He looked down at the control panel and brought his fist down, crushing it. “Wha–“ The guard was knocked out by a hoof to the side of his head. The other four guards quickly followed. The Warden was surrounded by green flames and Mr. 2 appeared in his place. He turned to the orange pony standing in the doorway. “That went well,” he said. “Thanks for your help.” “I didn’t really do anything…” The orange pony disappeared in a burst of green flames and a female changeling with a pale blue mane appeared. “It was more convincing this way. Besides, it’s always better to work with a friend.” The female changeling smiled warmly. “Thank you… my friend.”