Zoro’s hooves echoed against the stone floor and reverberated off of the ancient corridor. Each step kicked up a small cloud of dust that trailed behind him, slowly settling down once more to the thick coat of debris that blanketed the ground. A glowing ball of light that surrounded what appeared to be some sort of meat floated close to Zoro’s mouth, steam escaping when he took a bite out of it.
Turning around a corner, the hall’s darkness gave way to a small garden nestled amongst the weathered walls that climbed high up into the blue sky. To the east, the sun poked up over the ruin’s ramparts, bathing the courtyard in the morning light. Marble legs, horns, wings, and bodies were strewn across the unkempt grass, moss dotting most of them like battle wounds.
Zoro trotted over to a large bust of a unicorn with only its top half sticking out of the ground, and reclined against it. He opened his mouth to take another bite of his meal when a cry drew his attention to the area above the hall he’d just left.
Along the ruin’s main tower, multiple platforms jutted out of the sides. Some hosted gargoyles, some held nothing but dust, and the one right over the exit held Trixie. Even from the ground, Zoro could see her shaking.
“T-trixie wants to get down!” she whimpered.
“Tch,” Zoro sighed.
In a swift motion, he clasped one of his swords in between his teeth, slashed upwards, and resheathed it. A silence pervaded the courtyard for a moment before the platform gave a groan, rock grinding against rock. Trixie’s eyes widened as the structure rumbled and sank an inch. She darted over to the tower and scrambled to grasp the wall, but the platform gave out beneath her before she could get a proper hold. She screamed as she tumbled down, but her cry was swallowed up by the great crash of the stone hitting the ground and sending up a large cloud of debris.
Hacking, Trixie slowly slid off the stone and rolled over the shattered rocks and came to a stop on the grass. Coat dirty, body pulled into the fetal position, and shaking, she rocked back and forth. Zoro took a step forward, but one of his hooves crunched and squished against the remains of his meal.
“Darn it.” He kicked the meat away, its roasted wings catching the wind and extending out as it rolled across the grass. Zoro drew close to Trixie and tapped her with the same hoof, now sticky and matted with dust. “Oi, I’m getting tired of having to get you out of messes.”
Trixie sharpened her eyes and shot off the ground, pressing her face close to Zoro’s. “You think Trixie wants this? You think she likes being stuck in this ancient castle that still has all the stupid traps working?! All Trixie wanted was to get a banner down to use as sheets, but no! She instead ends up on a—”
Zoro spun around and trotted over to the courtyard’s exit.
“Where in Tartarus do you think you’re going?” Trixie yelled.
“You made me drop breakfast,” Zoro snorted. “Now I’ve got to figure my way out of here again and go get some food.”
Trixie scowled and rushed over to Zoro. He continued walking into the ruins even when she was inches away from him. With a huff, she clasped the sash around his neck. She froze when the damp fabric smushed against her hooves, a few drops of deep red liquid streaming down her leg. Close up, she could now see that scratches and deep puncture wounds lined Zoro’s body.
“Y-you...” she stuttered, hooves sliding down and leaving a crimson stain on the ground. “You’ve been fighting again.”
“Yeah, well, this forest isn’t exactly friendly,” Zoro grumbled. “Can’t even get some apples without a bunch of pests taking them from you.” He took a step forward, but Trixie rushed in front of him. “Move.”
Trixie shook her head. “You need bandages.”
“Oh, no.” Zoro moved back. “The horse thing is bad enough. You’re not turning me into a mummy again! Besides, what do you care?”
“Trixie would rather deal with you than anything else here.”
~~~
The sun was fully over the ruin’s walls when Zoro stepped out into the small patch of open land at the front of them. The forest encroached on the ancient building from its sides with vines, moss, and branches creeping over the weathered walls. Yet, the area that led from the old structure to the rickety bridge was littered only with weeds and some blue flowers that kept to the shadier spots.
Scratching at the thick padding of gauze around his neck, Zoro snorted. Trixie followed behind him, a few bruises running up her body. They slowly walked over to the bridge, but Trixie didn’t continue onto it.
“Come on,” said Zoro, “now I need to get breakfast and lunch.”
“Wasn’t it enough that you acted like a foal when I tried to clean you up and then you got us lost just getting to the front of the castle?”
“I’m telling you, the halls move!” Zoro replied. “If you wanna stay here, fine, but I’ll just be getting food for myself then.”
“Trixie…” She lowered her head. “Trixie could always find those carrots again.”
“Or you could wind up on another ledge.” Zoro moved ahead on the bridge. “Pretty lucky those weren’t poisoned. Either way, I’m going to look for food and maybe find a way out.”
Zoro trotted further across the old bridge, its creaks mixing in with the distant call of birds and the rustling of trees. Trixie turned her head to the ground, a spider the size of her hoof pausing its walk through the forest to look up at her with its eight beedy eyes. A shiver ran through her and she gave chase after Zoro, undeterred by the bridge swaying back and forth with each step she took.
~~~
Trixie and Zoro stared up at the tree that loomed in front of them. Its bark twisted in jagged patterns all the way to the tips of its branches. From its trunk to its limbs, the tree had an angular look to it that made it and the loose “orchard” behind it all stick out from the disorganized nature of the rest of the forest. A few crows flew overhead, squawking down at the pair, but never resting on the trees’ branches or filching one of the multiple grey fruits that hung from it.
Past the canopy of pointy leaves, the sky was heavy with clouds, the morning light gone save for a small blue patch off on the horizon. A rumble from afar yet closer than the sunlight accompanied the low hum that permeated the “orchard.” Trixie licked her lips and pressed a hoof to her stomach, pushing down parts of her now-frizzy coat.
“Are we going to just stand here gawking all day?” she complained. “Trixie wants to get food before it rains!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Zoro grumbled, making his way over the frontmost tree. “Lets see… horses…”
Furrowing his brow, he spun around and planted his forehooves into the ground. His swords clinked against each other, unleashing a few tiny blue sparks. He took a deep breath, quickly tucked in his hindlegs, and sent them flying back into the tree’s trunk.
A coil of electricity shot down from the tree’s branches and blasted Zoro backwards. He flew into the dirt and twitched as the lightning coursed through him, searing his sash and singeing his fur. Trixie rushed over, but kept a safe distance until the sparks stopped popping off of him.
The forest was silent for a moment before Zoro let out a grunt. Scraping against the ground, he wobbled to his hooves, ashes and scorched bits of cloth falling off him. He glared at the tree, electricity still pulsing around it, and unsheathed one of his swords.
“Wait!” Trixie yelped. “Don’t do anythi—”
Zoro slashed through the air, a razor-like beam launching out of his sword and careening into the tree. Lightning arced out of it like a great storm, the tendrils flying into anything unfortunate enough to be nearby. Trixie jumped back when a bolt landed inches from her hooves while Zoro remained motionless, watching the miniaturized storm while the tree’s wood cracked and splintered. It hit the ground with the great crash of thunder, unleashing one final strike so massive that Trixie was forced to shield her eyes as it climbed into the heavens.
The thunderclap’s echo was instantly swallowed by a harsh downpour of rain. With a swipe, Zoro flicked the water of his sword and sent it back into its sheath. He turned his head and looked at Trixie, who had fallen to the ground and gathered herself into a ball.
“Oi, you can stop cowering now,” he huffed.
Spinning around, he trotted over to the felled tree, fresh stump crackling with energy. Its fruit was scattered across the ground, a few grey orbs still attached to the branches. Zoro pulled out a scabbard and poked one of them. When nothing happened, he put his sword back and bent his head down, catching the fruit in his teeth. Instantly, volts coursed through his body, sending his coat straight up and causing smoke to billow out of his mouth. Shocked once more, he fell to the ground paralyzed.
Picking herself off the ground, Trixie inched over to Zoro, slick earth squelching against her hooves. His torso slowly rose and fell and he let out a deep sigh.
“I hate lightning,” he grumbled.
“Trixie is going to have to carry you, isn’t sh—”
A giant bolt of lightning came down on a nearby tree, followed by a deafening blow of thunder. Smaller tendrils of electricity poured down from the dark clouds, sending rings of plasma through the trees’ trunks. Then, just as suddenly as the storm had begun, the rain stopped, the clouds faded away, and a rainbow appeared across the sky.
Trixie’s eyes widened when the trees’ fruit glowed with the same energy that ran through the rest of the “orchard” and a stripe of red appeared on them like the juiciest of apples, followed by a plethora of other colors until the fruits matched the rainbow in the sky. Then, a prismatic light shot off of one fruit and latched onto another, and from there to another fruit. The majestic display continued until the entire forest was filled with color and the glow filled the entire sky.
Pushing off the ground, Zoro stared up at the fruits, squinting his eyes to assure that they had changed from a round shape to a square one. “I hate this forest too.”
“But these are Zap Apples!” Trixie called out, a grin appearing on her face. “Trixie’s stars! If we can figure a way out of here, we can sell them. Trixie could even get a new cart!”
“I’d rather just eat them now,” said Zoro, glancing up at one of the trees’ branches. “Or do they still shock you?”
“Ha! Who would want to eat that?”
Trixie lit up her horn and gave one of the apples a tug, sending it down to her face. She bit down on it and chewed, only for her mane to stand straight up. Zoro grinned wickedly at her.
“S-shut up!” A blush appeared on Trixie’s face. “So they’re a little more potent raw. Trixie has faced worse with joy buzzers!”
“At least it’s edible now,” Zoro sighed
He lit up his horn and he brought an apple up to his face. He sunk his teeth in, a shock running through his mouth like he’d touched a wool sweater, but it was accompanied by a sweet savory taste. The flavor seemed to shift as he chewed on it, changing from the crispness of apples to the juiciness of oranges to the soft texture of melon and proceeded to transform its taste until he swallowed.
“Maybe I’ll take some of these back with me,” Zoro chuckled. “My captain could probably eat a whole forest of them.”
“What?” Trixie huffed, tearing more fruit from their branches. “Is you captain made of lightning or something?”
“Rubber,” Zoro replied. “Did beat a guy made of electricity though. That count?”
The apples fell out of Trixie’s grasp and splashed into the muddy earth. She gave her head a shake and went back to recollecting them.
“Your friends are all madponies,” she muttered.
~~~
With two sacks Trixie had seemingly produced out of thin air now full of zap apples and balanced on their backs, she and Zoro trotted back through the forest. The highest undamaged spires of the ruins crested above the canopy, guiding the two ponies to their camp. Trixie marched at the head of duo to ensure that the ruins continued to serve that purpose.
“Hmmm,” Zoro said, “maybe we could ferment a few of these.”
Trixie momentarily slowed down to look back at him with a raised eyebrow. “You know how to make cider?”
“No,” Zoro sighed, “that idiot cook could probably do it though.”
“And is he insane like you?” Trixie quipped.
“Just an idiot. Can’t even make us food if there’s a girl around.”
“Oh.” A small grin came to Trixie’s face. “And why’s that?”
“He’ll always be serving them the best food and then give us the scraps… of course, my captain will eat all of that.”
“Sounds like your friend knows how to actually treat a mare,” Trixie mused. “Why couldn’t he have come here instead?”
“I wish he ha—”
Trixie slammed a hoof into Zoro’s chest, forcing some apples to tumble out of his sack and into the patch of blue flowers in front of them. He glared at Trixie but a hiss from the ground drew his eyes back to the apples. One started sending out electricity again, another swelled in size until it was a big as Trixie and many of them stayed the same, save for blue dots afflicting their rinds like all the other fruits until they exploded. Bits of apple flesh rained down on Trixie and Zoro, the latter gawking at the display while the former shook her head.
“Darn,” Trixie sighed.
“‘Darn?’” Zoro tilted his head at her. “That’s all you have to say after seeing fruit turn giant or explode? Haven’t you been freaked out by everything else in this forest?”
“Yes, well…” Trixie turned her eyes to the ground, staring at the blue flowers blocking their path. “Trixie has experience with this plant. It causes all sorts of unspeakable things to happen to anything that touches it.”
“Oh, and what did it do to you?”
Trixie’s face turned bright red. “Trixie does not wish to discuss it. Just be thankful we haven’t seen any pinecones.”
“So how exactly is it you know nothing else about this forest except this flower?”
“When Trixie was afflicted,” she sighed, “a kind zebra gave me the medicine required to alleviate my symptoms.”
“And this zebra…” Zoro paused a moment and shook his head. “This zebra knows all about this forest?”
“It seemed that way, she even had a tiny hu—”
“Then why didn’t we find her first?” Zoro yelled, causing a few birds up above to flee from the trees.
Zoro opened his mouth to say more, but a rustle from nearby silenced him. A glow washed over two of his sword’s hilts. A large paw with claws like onyx appeared out of a bush. With a snarl, the beast’s head pushed through the foliage with a mane like a great fire that spilled out from its face. It bared its multitude of fangs at Trixie and Zoro, the former having backed into cowering.
Stalking closer to the two of them, the rest of of the creature came into view. Leathery wings pressed close to its sides, their sharp curves highlighting portions of the beast’s massive frame. A bulbous tail protruded from its back and ended with a stinger that glistened in the afternoon light. It restlessly swung back and forth through the air while its owner growled at Zoro and Trixie.
Two of Zoro’s swords slid out out of their scabbards and floated by his head, pointed straight at the manticore. Keeping his eyes on the beast, he bent down and chomped on the hilt of the final sword, biting down hard to keep the black blade in his grasp.
“Go,” he ordered Trixie.
“B-but…” Trixie inched a step back, drawing the manticore’s attention.
Its wings shot out and it careened through the air, opening its jaws to bite down on Trixie. Cold steel met its fangs instead, Zoro grunting as the aura around his blades flickered a little trying to hold back the attack. Dirt rose up around his hooves as he was forced back.
“Get out of here!” he yelled.
Trixie took off, a few apples falling from her sack. The manticore growled at Zoro, hot breath matting his mane to his head. It jabbed its stinger down, Zoro jumping out the way and the sharp tip burying itself into the ground. Around the impact zone, the grass turned brown and flaked off into the air and a foul stench rose up from the earth, accompanying a purple haze that spilled from the stinger.
“Sorry.” Zoro positioned his swords to the side of his head again. “We’re not on the menu today.”
The manticore leapt up once more, this time keeping its wings folded. It raised its right claw above its head, letting its weight and gravity handle the rest. Crashing down on Zoro, its paw pressed against Kitetsu, the dull end of the blade pressing up against Shusui’s sharp side. Both of them shook furiously as blood dripped down the former’s metal.
A second paw came out from Zoro’s right. With all his power spent on keeping the manticore’s claws from tearing off his face, Zoro didn’t have time to shift Wado down to block and the blow slammed into his side, ripping off parts of his bandages and leaving three red gashes across his torso.
He flew off the ground, swords losing their glow and clattering to the earth. A tree ended his journey, the wood shattering from the impact followed by the trunk snapping and crashing to the ground. Hacking from the blow, Zoro struggled to his hooves, Shusui a few inches in front of him now. He shambled forward at the same time the manticore bounded towards him.
Gotta get my sword!
The manticore raced at him and raised its stinger to strike the fatal blow. A howl of pain forced it to an abrupt stop and its paws became tangled in the undergrowth. It barreled across the ground, rolling a hair’s breadth away from Zoro and tumbling off into the forest. Its sharp yelp filled his ears, but quickly grew quieter.
Huffing, he stared across the decimated area. Trixie was also gasping for air, Wado enveloped in an azure glow by her side. In front of her, the manticore’s tail twitched around, stinger occasionally striking the dirty and killing all plant life nearby.
“Thanks,” Zoro huffed.
“Tri— I’m glad it wasn’t cur—” Trixie cut herself off, eyes widening at Zoro.
“What?” Zoro took a step forward, feeling the undergrowth brush against his legs. It sent a chill up them and through his whole body. Glancing down, he saw that he was surrounded by blue flowers. “Crap.”
~~~
It was raining again. Trixie slogged through the mud, legs half-buried in the muck and belly uniformly stained. Zoro rested on her back, taking slow shallow breaths that passed by shimmering lips dotted with azure spots. His legs and horn had a similar complexions; unlike the rest of his body, they were spotless and free of any blemishes. Rain beaded off them and dripped to the ground rather than soaking his fur. Other than that, he was caked with mud like Trixie with the addition of the area around his gashes being a rusty color that seeped down and mixed into Trixie’s coat.
Trixie’s hoof caught on a branch and the two went tumbling forward. Silt splurted out of the ground and further dirtied them. Trixie pounded against the mush and groaned. Zoro just lied on the ground glaring at Trixie.
“What?” she shouted. “Isn’t it enough that I’ve been carrying your sorry flank to wherever that Celestia-forsaken zebra is?!”
“Behind you,” Zoro croaked.
A slosh spun Trixie around. Jagged rocks rose up out of the bog. Two of them glowed like lava and glared at Trixie. Stones outlined the behemoth's form from its elongated muzzle to its craggy tail. The creature shifted and opened up its mouth, revealing set upon set of sculpted fangs that glistened like marble.
Trixie sucked in her breath and snatched Zoro back onto her back and held him there with her magic. Behind her, trees snapped and dirt flew everywhere. A reptilian hiss filled Trixie’s ears, quickening her pace to a mad dash.
A spot of darkness appeared to her right and she darted towards it. She wedged herself and Zoro into the small opening but the monster’s teeth snagged Trixie and pulled her back for a brief moment before its fangs rent her tail, shearing away her hair and leaving only a small tuft. Spitting it out, it eyed the two of them from the cave, hot breath filling the cavern with a dusty stench. It gave one final hiss and then backed away, slinking into the depths of the forest.
Trixie’s gasps and Zoro’s small breaths echoed across the cave’s walls. They didn’t move for some time, the drip of rain on stone ringing in their ears. Eventually, Trixie managed to get up on shaky hooves and glanced up at the mouth of the cave. In the heat of adrenaline, she hadn’t noticed that it loomed a few feet over her head even if it was level to the ground outside. The rocks around it were smooth and slick with water.
Looking the opposite direction, Trixie saw that the cave went back some way, its inner workings shrouded in darkness. A flash of lightning pushed back the shadows, revealing a glimmer from deep within. Trixie gulped and shifted Zoro onto her back again.
“Shouldn’t we be getting out of the cave?” he huffed.
“Not if that thing is out there… Trixie can’t get out anyway and you can barely move.”
Trixie sparked up her horn, bathing the cave in a soft light. The deeper in they went, the higher up the ceiling grew. The walls ballooned out to the sides, making Trixie’s spell seem like a tiny beacon.
“Taking bets that there’s something even worse in here,” Zoro sighed.
“S-shut up,” Trixie chattered. “We don’t k-kno—”
She stopped when her hoof clinked against something. Her body seized up and she slowly brought her eyes to the ground. In her spell’s light, a goblet reflected a distorted image of herself and Zoro. Gritting her teeth, she sung a leg at it and sent it into the darkness, its metal ringing across the cave.
“Stupid cave! Stupid monsters! Stupid!” Trixie screamed.
She heaved herself forward and went to her knees. Zoro slid off her back, aided by his oily limbs and sat in silence while Trixie cried into the ground. She wailed and beat her hooves against the stone, her horn’s glow rapidly shifting from a raging aura to a tiny flicker. Soon, it completely sputtered out, and only Trixie’s sobs remained in the dark.
“Oi,” Zoro called out. “We can either sit here crying or we can figure a way out.”
“There is no way out!” Trixie rasped.
A rumble from nearby silenced Trixie. A glow formed in the darkness, red and hellish, illuminating the piles upon piles of treasure that littered the back of the cave. The light also showed off the figure that rested atop them.
Serpentine eyes danced with flames. Scales like emerald scintillated in the blaze’s light whenever it fumed out of a mouth that could devour a pony in one bite. Most of the goliath’s body was steeped in the cave’s shadows, but the glitter of metal around it and the way its fire fell on it gave enough sense of its size to still Trixie and Zoro’s hearts.
A massive claw slammed against the floor, shaking the entire cavern. Another claw came down, loosening some stalactites and sending them crashing to the ground. The great beast twisted its body towards Zoro and Trixie and snaked its head down towards them, filling their vision with its enormous fangs and burning eyes. Acrid smoke flew out of its mouth and coated both of them in ash.
“Ponies,” the dragon growled, its voice booming throughout the cave. “Come to take my hoard again? Come to disturb my sleep?”
“Run,” Zoro ordered.
Trixie wasn’t listening. Her whole body was frozen and her eyes locked on the glow coming from the dragon’s throat.
“Hey!” Zoro yelled, glaring up at the dragon, his vision starting to blur as the ground grew slick under him from his wounds. “Yeah, you! You can keep your crappy treasure! We don’t want it!”
“Lies!” the dragon roared, smoke spewing out of its nostrils. “You will no—”
Its jaw closed but smoke still poured out of its nostrils. Its eyes glowed in the dark, rooted on the space behind Zoro. The flapping of wings entered the cave. Tiny tiny dots of gold floated in the air, piercing through the darkness to glare at the dragon.
“You,” the dragon snorted. “I have not encroached on your home. Why do you come here?”
“To deal with the commotion these two have been causing,” an icy voice replied. “I think my method is preferable to burning them though.”
“Wait...” Zoro gasped, vision quickly fading and limbs going numb. “W-what are y—”
~~~
Something soft pressed against Zoro’s body. His eyes flicked open, only to be filled with a brown blanket. He winced pulling a hoof up to grab them, but paused and stared at his leg. Gone were the azure dots that had afflicted it before. Pressing his lips together, he realized they too were no longer slick from the blue flowers’ poison. A glance down showed that fresh gauze covered his body, no longer wound up in tight rolls around his injuries but in patterned strips that had a turquoise tint to them and felt cool against his skin.
He reached up and pulled back the covers, light from a fire forcing him to blink as his eyes re-adjusted. When he could fully see, he found himself in a dome-like room with shelves upon shelves of bottles, jugs, and containers reaching up to the smoke-hole in ceiling. Atop the fire in the center of the room sat a boiling cauldron with green bubbles floating out of it and up through the roof.
A zebra stood over the concoction with a spoon in her mouth. She seemed to be humming a deep chant, occasionally pausing to bring her spoon down into the mix and give it a stir, temporarily turning a vibrant orange. As if sensing eyes on her, she set the spoon down after one last swirl and turned towards Zoro.
“Long and harsh your sleep has been, it is good to see you awake again,” she said, drawing close to Zoro.
“That’s good and all,” said Zoro, “but last I checked we were about to be a dragon’s lunch. Where’s the stagepony?”
“Sleeping in the room adjacent.” The zebra flashed him a small grin. “She seems to have gotten a lot less complacent.”
“Wait…” Zoro placed a hoof to his head, recalling the last few conscious events. “How did we get here anyway?”
“Mostly through your little friend carrying you once I got her to actually move,” a voice called out.
A wide brimmed black hat with a blood-red underside entered into the room first. The sight of it coupled with the voice sent a chill down Zoro’s spine. With yellow talons and and black paws scraping against the earthen floor, the hat’s owner marched into the room, piercing golden eyes locked on Zoro.
A small cross necklace swung and ruffled the white plumage around his neck. Upon his back a titanic sword, its jeweled hilt starting where his feathers turned to fur and extending out to run parallel with his curved beak and pointed mustache. The sword’s jet blade stretched the entirety of the rest his body, running past his sharp wings while its tip hung over tail that looked just as sharp, even if it was only hair.
“A dragon’s den,” the griffon lamented. “Was it not enough that your little light show attracted every denizen in the forest?”
“Hawkeye,” Zoro said, his muscles stiffening and a hoof instinctively grasping for the swords at his neck, even though they weren’t there. “What is this?”
“An overly elaborate joke on Kuma’s part, it seems.” The shadows grew deepened around his face. “Or perhaps some last-minute scheme of his for your crew.”
Zoro’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. “What are talking about?”
“I suppose you have been out of the loop.” Hawkeye reached back and pulled a newspaper from off of his back, throwing it at Zoro’s lap.
The headline widened his eyes. At first, he didn’t read the article and instead shot his attention down to the bandaged figure in the center of the paper. A straw hat was clasped at the young man’s chest and a small collection of flowers rested at his feet. Behind him, countless marines had their swords and guns raised at him, but were held at bay by a bulky blue creature with aspects of both human and fish and a weathered man in a cloak as white as his hair.
“Luffy...” Zoro muttered.
“Either your captain’s tenacity or stupidity make yours look small in comparison,” Hawkeye quipped.
Zoro didn’t reply to the backhanded comment and instead continued looking over the paper. The headline story continued on for multiple pages, many of them filled with various scenes of destruction or with wanted posters displaying increased bounties and new terrifying facts. His lips contorted and he gritted his teeth reading some of the account, but eventually he flipped back to the front page.
“I assume that after all of this, you want to go back to your crew still,” said Hawkeye. “You’re welcome to try and follow me back to port, but the path is even more perilous than the dangers you have already faced in the forest. I’d say you could stay here too, but we both know that’s not going to happen.”
“You’re right.” Zoro lowered his head but kept his eyes glaring up at Mihawk. “That’s why I want you to train me.”
“You would beg an enemy for instructions?” Mihawk scrunched up his face and scowled at Zoro. “Have you lost all pride?”
“I want to get stronger!” Zoro shouted.
“Pathetic.” Hawkeye began to turn away. “You can’t even call yourself a swordsman in your current state.”
He fully spun around and took a step over to the exit, but stopped when the tip of a black sword poked at his feathers. Floating in the air, it drifted alongside two other swords, all of them encased in a rippling green aura. With a raised brow, Hawkeye looked back to Zoro. Aura roared off of his horn as he bared his teeth.
“I am always a swordsman,” he huffed, moving out of the bed onto the floor. He went to his knees and prostrated himself in front of Hawkeye, summoning his swords back into their scabbards and over to his side. “But I know I’ll never reach my goal the way I am now. That’s why I’m asking you teach me what you know!”
“Why?” Hawkeye asked, raising his voice.
“To surpass you!” Zoro yelled.
A silence filled the room for a moment. Zecora quietly slipped out, leaving the two alone. They stared each other down for a moment before Hawkeye’s scowl was broken by a small grin. A chuckle escaped from his beak and he erupted into a fit of laughter.
“You want me to teach you so you can one day take my head?” he said between laughs. “Out of all the things in this land, you’re easily the strangest!”
He let out a few more chuckles before taking a deep breath and regaining his composure.
“In our duel,” he continued, “I thought your prized pride over all else, but I see now there is something even more valuable than that. Perhaps I was wrong about you living here, shameless fools like you are plentiful and even heroes in this land.”
He spun around once more and made an uninhibited march to the door. He glanced back to look at Zoro with his distinct eyes, sending a few goosebumps up Zoro’s legs.
“When you are healed, return to the castle,” he said. “There, your instruction shall begin.”
♦♦♦
3D2Y
The lights in the tent dimmed and the crowd sucked in their breath. Everyone, from grown men to little children, had wide smiles on their faces as they stared forward at a darkened stage. Suddenly, a huge plume of azure smoke exploded outwards. It trailed through the wide air, reignited the lights in a spectrum of color while changing shapes that ranged from a serpentine dragon to a raging bull. Finally, the smoke collapsed down, gaining speed and momentum as it transformed into a galloping mare of mist that slammed back onto the stage, sending out a great blast of air that knocked back a few people in the front.
Rising out of the smoke as it coalesced down into a star-strewn cape, a blue skinned woman grabbed the brim of her hat and flung it across her chest, bowing as the audience erupted in a great cheer. With a smirk, she raised herself up, extending her arms out to the crowd.
“Trixie! Trixie!” they chanted.
“Quite a grand audience today!” she said, voice resonating across the tent even without a microphone. “Trixie was concerned with Soul King playing here as well, but what can one do? Magic waits for no one, especially not today.”
A few hoots went up at her words.
“Trixie does not call herself psychic, but on this day, a great foreboding rose up with her.” She raised up a hand, light shimmered off it as a blue glow swirled upward, twisting into a large straw hat even bigger than Trixie’s. “No doubt you’ve heard the rumors? That Straw Hat Luffy, foulest of pirates, has returned to his very island, seeking out the worst of the worst to join his vile crew.”
The audience grew silent at this. Trixie squashed her hand down to a fist, dissipating the illusionary straw hat. Golden rays seeped out between her gloved fingers; in a flash, a shower of fiery flower petals exploded out of them and rained down on the crowd, making them cheer once more.
“But even the coldest of creatures can’t resist Trixie’s spells!”
Under the fan’s roars, she marched back a few paces so that she was dead center on the stage. Reaching into her cloak, she produced a pair of thick handcuffs and floated them high into the air so that everyone could see. More applause and shouts filled her ears.
“Trixie sees you are familiar with these.”
She brought the cuffs down, opened up one manacle, and clasped it around her left arm. At the same time, she summoned a ball of flame that rotated around her wrist, gaining speed until it resembled a comically oversized bracelet. It suddenly broke away from her and launched up to the peak of the tent, unleashing a multihued firework.
“It’s so easy to pull of trickery in this world with devil fruits users everywhere you look,” she sighed. “Trixie assures you that all you see, hear, and feel at her shows is the purest of all the mystic arts. Now, do we have any devil fruit users in the house today?”
A shadow leapt out of the crowd and bounded onto the stage. In the light, the creature’s scales scintillated a sickly green hue. Its slitted eyes scanned over Trixie with a lascivious gleam that sent goosebumps up her arms. It stuck out a forked tongue in her direction, churning her stomach.
“Soka the Viper,” said Trixie. “Shouldn’t you be in one of the lower numbered groves?”
“Sisisi!” Soka shot out his tongue, showing off his gaping mouth and fangs to the audience. “In a second, but this show sounded like a fun way to kick of my reign in the New World!”
“Really?” Trixie droned.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his chin and leering at Trixie. “But putting seastone cuffs on in a really big risk for a guy like me. So, how ‘bout we make this interesting? I know your whole routine of putting the cuffs on some fool and then easily slipping out while the other person has to wait while you tease them with a key, but I bet I can get out faster than you.”
“And what do you get if you win?”
“You,” Soka hissed, “and all of your profits! Sisisi! Imagine all the treasure I could steal with an escape artist like you on my crew?”
“Don’t do it!”
“It’s a trick!”
“He’ll cheat!”
Jeers like this and other similar calls for Soka to step down rang throughout the crowd. Trixie raised up a hand and they all fell silent.
“A pirate’s life is even more dangerous than all the traps Trixie frees herself from here,” she proclaimed. “You’re asking a lot out of Trixie, so she’ll do the same to you. Lose and she collects your bounty.”
A gasp went through the crowd. Soka stared blankly at her for a second before laughing again. He shot out an arm in her direction.
“Not like that part’s a secret either, you stupid bounty hunter!” He rattled his hand at her. “Now, come on! Let’s see who the real escape artist is!”
“Very well.” With a smile on her face, Trixie marched over to Soka, playfully swinging the cuff around her wrist. At arm’s length away from him, she looked into his reptilian eyes. “You do realize all your powers go away when I put this on you, correct?”
“Oh, I’m well aware.” Soka inched a hand toward his belt. “That’s why a hostage is much easier to deal with!”
A dagger flashed out of his pocket and her curved it down at Trixie while audience members screamed. Trixie remained rooted to the stage, her eyes wide and her body shaking. Cackling like a madman, Soka shot his blade down, aiming for her shoulder. It cleaved straight through her, sending a now-translucent arm into air that quickly dissipated into nothing.
Lunging forward, Soka stumbled and crashed to the ground, his dagger skidding across the stage. He pushed against the floor to get back up, but paused when something cold affixed itself to his hand. With a quaking breath, he looked down to see that the seastone cuff was wrapped around his wrist.
He gasped, his scales reverting to pale flesh while his fangs shrank in size. Wobbling to his feet while trying to breath, he managed to glare at Trixie standing over him with a triumphant smirk on her face.
“A shame, Trixie really would have liked to see how you would have escaped.” She raced forward and slammed a glowing fist into Soka’s stomach. A shower of sparks and miniature fireworks erupted out of his back while smoke spewed from his mouth. With a wheeze, he crumpled to the ground. The roar of the crowd was deafening. Trixie took a few bows under a hail of confetti and even a few flowers.
“Thank you, thank you,” she said once the cheers died down a bit. “Trixie will be having the marines handle him after this. Lets have another round of applause for Soka the Viper! It’s pirates like him, even if their egos far outweigh their bounties, that make this show possible.”
A wave of laughter went up through the tent. It quickly ended when Trixie floated Soka offstage and resumed her stance at the center of the stage. She once more reached behind her back.
“Now that we’ve gotten formalities out of the way, Trixie will no—”
The tarp to her right distorted and tore apart. A multitude of unconscious marine soldiers tumbled in, a variety of wounds marking their bodies. The crowd gasped at the sight and a few even fainted when a man in a flowing red vest and a straw hat swung onto the stage via an elongated limb.
“Oh, maybe we can lose them if we hide in this crowd,” he called to outside with a wide grin.
Parts of the crowd were now fleeing out of the tent at the sight of two other figures stepped onto the stage. One was dressed in a fine-looking three piece suit that clashed with his disheveled head of blond hair that extend over his right eye practically down to his coarse goatee. The other was garbed in a deep green robe a few shades darker than his hair and held in place with a red sash. Three swords justed out of the fabric, making Trixie scowl at their owner.
“You!” She stomped over to him and got right up to his face. “Trixie was hoping to just give a nice goodbye since she planned for her show to be here, but you came along and scared off everyone! Tri—”
She paused, noting that the blond was drifting close to her with glazed over eyes and a wide mouth.
“A real woman,” he mused, taking a deep whiff of Trixie’s scent while a bit of blood dribbled out of his nose.
“Beast!” Trixie smacked a hand against his face, leaving a hoof mark rather than a palm print. Zoro gave a hearty laugh at that.
“Serves you right, pervert cook,” he chuckled while Sanji picked himself up. “Besides…”
In a flash, he sent out a sword, swinging it through Trixie’s body and turning it into smoke. It faded away, revealing a quivering pony and a rent hat.
“Did you really become this bad?” he said with a wicked grin.
“You bastard!” Sanji screamed, rushing over and grabbing the collar of Zoro’s robe. “Turning innocent girls into livestock! What sort of demon have you turned into?!”
“I don’t need to hear that coming from you, number seven.”
“No one cares about tha—”
A bullet zooming in between Zoro and Sanji cut the latter off. They both spun around and darted towards the tents exit, grabbing Luffy and dragging him away.
“After them!” a marine ordered, troops storming after them.
However, when they pulled the triggers on their guns only flowers and signs with the word “bang” scrawled on them. They glared over at Trixie, who flashed them a mischievous smile, her human illusion back in place.
“Sorceress Trixie,” the leading marine growled, “stand aside or you’ll be charged with aiding pirates.”
“Very well.” Trixie threw her glowing hands down and sighed. “But my show had already begun and there’s no way to stop it now.”
“What are you talking about?” the marine barked.
His nostrils flared up, taking in the too-familiar scent of gunpowder wafting up from below the stage. Curls of multi-colored smoke rose up between the floorboards. A few more cautious marines took a step back.
Trixie jumped backward and floated into the air, her whole body aglow now. Her form rippled and shifted, a muzzle pushing out from her nose, her gloved hands turning back to hooves, and her clothes melding into blue fur until she had returned to her pony form. Some marines raised their weapons at her.
“The most important rule of any performance,” she said once her transformation was complete. The magic around concentrated onto her back and expanded outwards to form sweeping gossamer wings. Below, smoke was making some of the marines cough, some were abandoning their positions. “Always go out with a bang.”
“Retreat!” the marine leader screamed. “She’s going t—”
A great explosion of color swallowed up the rest of his order. Pieces of the tent flew off in all directions while a great rainbow cloud climbed upwards, passing the massive mangrove trees and spreading out over multiple groves. The boom resounded in Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy’s ears.
“Oh, awesome!” Luffy cried out, twisting his head to look back at the grand explosion. He flashed Zoro a smile. “Was that who you trained with? Did you learn awesome tricks like that? Can you juggle your swords now?”
“Pay attention to getting back to the ship,” Zoro sighed.
He glanced back, watching a blue dot zoom off from the blast with his one eye. He grinned a little.
Stupid horse.
Up above, Trixie hovered in the air, her mane and coat wild now from the grand finale. She smiled watching the three pirates from afar grow smaller.
Gruff idiot.
To the New World!