“Hey, Bon-Chan! Where have you been?“ Luffy turned to the changeling that had just caught up with them. They were trotting towards the exit at the front of the prisoner’s group.
“I opened the Gate for us. If we’re going to leave with a ship that will be the fastest way,” Mr. 2 replied.
“We need to get closer to Marineford,” Ace added. “The Old Man is probably already on his way. I just hope that the war hasn’t started yet.”
“I see the exit,” Ivankov exclaimed. “The Marines will without a doubt already expect us. We should think of a strategy before we– EH?” He stared after Luffy and Ace who were galloping ahead towards the exit.
The two ponies stepped out into the open and squinted against the bright sun. A dozen large Marine battleships were floating out on the ocean. Two giant metal doors were slowly opening in the distance. The Marines on the ships began to shout as they spotted the two ponies and grabbed their guns.
“Aw,” Luffy groaned. He ignored the bullets that pelted his body and bounced back. “There’s still a whole lot of them.”
“This is annoying,” Ace commented. “Everyone’s already tired from the escape. Fighting off all of the Marines will take forever.”
Sanji stepped out behind them, making sure to stay out of the bullet’s reach. “They have a lot of troops here. It’s hard to believe that they already called part of the usual number to Marineford.” He squinted and focused on something in the distance. “That doesn’t look like a Marine ship…”
A single ship came into sight between the Gates of Justice, sailing towards the prison. The Marines’ shouts became more hectic as the ship came closer. Sanji was able to see that the flag of the ship didn’t belong to the Marines or the World Government, but was the black that signaled a pirate crew.
“It seems to me that our timing couldn’t be better.” A night blue alicorn with a flowing mane stepped up to the ship’s bow. “Are you ready for your first real fight?” Six more mares trotted into view behind her, each with a different expression on her face.
“Where did they come from?” bellowed one of the Marine captains, a grey earth pony with a dark violet mane and a metal war helmet on his head.
One of his subordinates stepped forward. “I recognize that flag, Sir. It has been over a decade since I‘ve seen it, though.” He hesitated. “That flag… belongs to the so-called ´Lunar Pirates´. They caused some trouble on the Grand Line for a few months, fifteen years ago. Their only known member was their captain, ´Princess of the Night´ Luna… With a bounty of 92.000.000 Berry.”
The prisoners of Impel Down watched the pirate ship come closer as a few of the Marines’ battleships turned to face them. “I’ve never seen that flag before. What are they doing here?”
“They must be here to help us,” Sanji said. “Those are my friends from Equestria.”
“Equestria? That name is new to me,” stated Inazuma.
“I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you,” Sanji commented. “They were the ones who helped me get into this prison.”
“They can help us, but they won’t be able to take all of those Marines themselves,” Jinbe spoke up. “We don’t even know how many men they brought–“
“Seven…” Sanji remarked absentmindedly.
“–but they’re here with a ship. That will make things easier for us. We should still try to commandeer one of the battleships.” The seapony pointed to the one closest to the prison. “We’ll be able to reach some of the closer ones from here. The more ships we damage, the less problems we’ll have escaping.”
Rarity stood in the crow’s nest of the ´Moonbeam´, concentrating on the world around her. Her horn glowed and shot small beams of magic in all directions, each beam hitting a cannonball aimed at the ship. The unicorn turned her head in different directions to improve her aim, but that wasn’t really necessary as none of the magic shots seemed to miss its target either way.
“You won’t put a single dent into this ship as long as I’m here,” she announced to nopony in particular. “The design is rather simple, but it still has a raw beauty.”
“Whoa!” Luffy dodged a saber strike that was aimed for him. Before him stood a large grey earth pony with a dark violet mane and a metal war helmet on his head. He was holding two sabers in his mouth and his mane stretched out to form six appendages, similar to spider legs. Each of them was holding another saber, adding up to a total of eight weapons the pony was wielding.
“Kageru!” Ace shot a stream of fire from his hoof at the pony, who blocked the attack with his blades. “Be careful, Luffy! That is Vice Admiral Onigumo! He’s extremely dangerous!”
“I was here to escort you to Marineford, Fire-Fist Ace,” Onigumo said. “These complications were unexpected, but you’re not going to escape the punishment for your crimes. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure of that.” He raised the six swords in his hair-legs and pointed them towards Ace and Luffy. Then he lunged forward at them.
“Spring Tide!” A wave of seawater hit the Vice Admiral from the side, washing him away. A night blue alicorn stepped between him and Ace and Luffy. “I won’t let that happen! Nopony will gain anything from this war and it will only bring more death and chaos.” She turned around to the two ponies. “I’ve heard stories about you, Straw Hat Luffy. Don’t worry about your brother. I will not allow anything to happen to either of you, as long as I’m here.”
“Alright everypony, who wants some punch?”
The whole battleship was covered in confetti, balloons and streamers. Marines were dancing, laughing and playing ´Pin the tail on the pony´. One group of ponies was forming a Conga line while Pinkie Pie was teaching another group the Pony Pokey, offered some ponies beverages and participated in two party games simultaneously.
The pink pony paused for a moment to look around the party she had set up. “Hey, no fighting!” she shouted in one direction. “Leave your swords below deck. Careful with that bazooka; use more confetti and less streamers, and remember: Balloons only fit in a cannon – trust me, I tried. Oooh, neat trick; you have to teach me some time. Careful, that cupcake is made with hot sau– okay, nevermind… water is over there.”
“Desert Flurry!”
“Ocean Ripple!”
Dozens of Marines were sliced and dehydrated by the storm of sand feathers while others were pushed backwards and collapsed from an invisible assault.
“You’re adapting fast to your new body,” Crocodile stated, not even looking at the pony beside him.
“You have some interesting new attacks, too,” Jinbe replied.
“Uhm, excuse me.” The Marines on the battleship turned around to see a yellow pegasus with a pink mane standing at the mast of the ship. The pegasus noticed their stares and tried to make herself smaller, hiding her face behind her mane. “I-I mean…”
Fluttershy took a deep breath. She couldn’t just give up now. That wouldn’t be fair to her friends. She tried to remember everything she had learned about Conqueror’s Haki.
She still didn’t like the name. Fluttershy didn’t want to conquer anything. She didn’t want to use it to fight other ponies, either. From what she had learned about the Marine, these ponies were only doing what they thought was right. She wanted to help her friends, but how could she be of help here without harming other ponies.
She had almost given up on her training because of that. She understood everything, but she just couldn’t use it against another living being. Princess Luna had probably found that annoying. She was a strong pirate, and Fluttershy had wasted her time with her shyness and meek personality. But Fluttershy couldn’t change who she was, just like the Princess couldn’t change who she was.
Fluttershy had almost wanted to tell her friends that she couldn’t help them with this, when she heard Applejack and Rarity telling Sanji stories about their younger sisters. It had given Fluttershy an idea.
Fluttershy raised her head a little and looked at the Marines in front of her. This was no time for doubts. She wanted to do her part and help her friends and she could do it – her way.
She closed her eyes.
“Hush now, Quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, Quiet now
It's time to go to bed”
Fluttershy could feel the Conqueror’s Haki. She let it flow out with her voice and wash over the ship.
“Drifting off to sleep
An exciting day behind you
Drifting off to sleep
Wait for wonderful dreams to find you~”
“Hush now, Quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head
Hush now, Quiet now
It's time to go to bed...”
Fluttershy opened her eyes again and looked over the sleeping ponies lying in front of her. They looked peaceful. Those nice ponies would surely agree that this was a better solution than violence.
“Gyahahaha! The great Captain Buggy is taking over this ship!” Buggy was stomping around the ship on giant white legs. He turned to Mr. 3 who was wearing the same armor. “Your wax powers are really handy.”
“Those Marines aren’t too strong,” Mr. 3 replied. “And with all of those powerhouses around we’re completely safe.”
“You mean Sanji and his friends?” Clutterstep and Trixie walked up to them. “They already went over to the other ships.”
“EHH?” Buggy raced towards the next ship. “Hey, you’re supposed to protect me!”
“Look at Captain Buggy!” The other prisoners had just tied up the last of the Marines. “We’ve only just secured this ship and he’s already running to the next fight.”
“He’s risking his life to protect us! He really is a selfless soul!”
“Captain Buggy!”
Twilight stood at the bow of the Moonbeam, examining one of the battleships that was firing cannonballs at them. She was confident that she had figured out its design now. She concentrated on her Observation Haki and lit her horn brightly.
All over the Marine ship, screws and bolts were surrounded by a purple glow and snapped out of their place. Planks sprung out of the deck and the mast slowly tilted over to the side. Twilight watched Marines jump into the ocean as their whole ship fell apart.
“Whew!” She wiped the sweat from her brow with her foreleg. That wasn’t as easy as I thought.” She looked down at the ponies and mostly intact planks floating in the water. “Hmm… They should be able to build some rafts for themselves.”
“Death Wink!” Marines were blown away to all sides by the attack.
“Is that the only attack you use?” Sanji asked. He dodged a sword strike and kicked the attacking pony down with his front hoof. He jumped at another group of Marines and whirled around, striking them from all sides.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Mr. 2 yelled while twirling around himself and lashing out at the Marines. “Iva-Chan is the Queen of the Kamabakka Kingdom and a Miracle Worker!”
“Whatever…” From the corner of his eye Sanji noticed a pony rising into the air. “This should be interesting to watch.”
“Ha! Missed me!” The blue pegasus dodged another attack and pounced one of the Marines. “Are you ready yet, Applejack?” she asked the orange earth pony that was examining the mast.
“Just a few more seconds, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack replied. “Can you hold them off?”
“I’ll manage.” Rainbow Dash flew out of range of a few swords and watched her friend place a hind hoof against the mast.
“Alright, Ah’m ready!” Applejack announced. “Let ‘em come!”
Rainbow Dash rose into the air above the ship, leaving Applejack in the center of the Marines’ attention. Applejack ignored them and concentrated. She ducked down, shifted her weight to her front hooves and bucked the mast with all of her power. The Marines hesitated for a moment and stared up at the mast towering over them. It didn’t move. It didn’t even tremble.
Then the giant wooden log cracked. Cracks moved up the wood at right angles and split it apart. Firewood of almost identical size and shape rose a few inches into the air and proceeded to fall down, covering the whole deck except for the area just around the mast’s base, where Applejack was standing.
The orange mare adjusted her Stetson hat with a hoof. “Not as good as applebucking, but it has its merits.”
Rainbow Dash had watched Applejack to make sure the earth pony didn’t run into any problems. Now she was rising even higher into the air. She stopped and hovered in the sky, singling out one of the few ships the fight hadn’t reached yet.
This was it. She had trained harder than any of her friends for this stunt. She looked down at the battleship. It was a huge wooden construction reinforced with massive wooden beams and steel. More importantly, though, it was going to try and hurt her friends.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and concentrated on her Armament Haki, covering her whole body in it and focusing it in her wings. She narrowed her eyes at the ship below her and put all her power into the wingbeat.
The battleship shot towards her. Another beat of her wings and she could feel the air against her body, trying to push her back. The third wingbeat smashed her right through the barrier. She barely even felt it through her Armament Haki. She was almost at the ship now, but she could still make one more beat of her wings. Just one more…
Water. She adjusted her wings to change her angle, stabilizing them with her Haki. The water slowed her down and she had lost most of her speed when she broke the surface. She fell into a hover and looked back to the battleship. Something had pierced an impressive hole right through it and knocked most of the ponies off the deck. Rainbow Dash hadn’t even felt the impact.
She took a deep breath and immediately started coughing. “Seriously! Who the hay put all that salt in the water?!”
Five large ships sailed across the bottom of the ocean. Figures were moving on each.
“Prepare yourself! We’re almost at Marineford!” The voice of the large man carried across the whole ship even without an amplifier. “We’re going to–“
Purupurupuru
The man stopped immediately and turned to the table at his side with wide eyes.
Purupurupuru
He picked up one of the snails on the table, one with an orange and black color scheme. “Hello?” he said slowly.
“Oyaji!”
The man stared at the snail in disbelief. “Ace?”
“Oyaji! Don’t attack Marineford! I’m safe! Luffy came to rescue me!” The snail had tears in its eyes and a wide grin on its face.
“Ace… How–“
“We don’t have much time,” the snail said in a female voice. Its expression was much calmer now. “Call your ships off. This war can still be avoided! We’re sending you a sign right now.”
“Oyaji!” a different snail spoke up. “Something’s happening out here!”
“Namur...“ Whitebeard said.
“I’m on it!” a small shark fishman replied. He shot off into the ocean and returned only a few seconds later. “It’s… a giant fireball. In the sky over the Tarai Current!”
“Ace…” The man cried openly now.
“We have to take another way and we’re out of the signal range soon,” the snail said with the female voice. “We have a stronger Den Den Mushi where we’re going, so you can resume contact later.”
“Wait!” the man said. “At least tell me who you are.”
“My name is Luna… I am just a pirate, like you.”
Ace watched the Den Den Mushi go back to sleep. “Do you think they’ve seen it?”
“I think the people in Marineford have seen that,” Luna chuckled. She was the only one on the Marine battleship the prisoners had taken, who was still a pony. “It was quite impressive.”
“So, where are we going now?” Luffy spoke up. “Didn’t someone say that we can’t leave this current until someone opens that gate?”
“That’s right,” Jinbe commented. “The Tarai Current is surrounded by other currents that make it impossible to escape, except through one of the three Gates Of Justice. What is your plan, Luna?”
“Why do we need a plan?” Luna smirked. “Trust me, those currents are no problem. We’ll just follow the tides.”