//------------------------------// // New Beginnings // Story: My Little Luffy // by Fluttrick //------------------------------// "Gah." Luffy groaned upon awakening. He tried using his hands to sit himself up, but they were tied, along with his legs. The world around him was a bit blurry, but he could just make out figures of ponies. "What are we going to do with it?" The voice that he'd heard when he was knocked out spoke. "Ah don't know, but before we do anything to him, what is it!?" An unfamiliar voice with a western accent spoke. Just then, he heard a pair of doors slam open. He could just make out three little thuds. "He's a human!" Scootaloo's voice suddenly exclaimed. "And he's not a monster like everypony says, he's a very nice human." Sweetie Belle's voice added. "And even though he gave those Timber Wolves and Manticore a good beating, he still deserves better!" Apple Bloom finished. Now with regained senses and his old energy Luffy chided cheerfully. "Yay! I'm saved!" And with that he broke the ropes loose, and stepped up to the 9 figures. The crusaders he knew, but the other 6 he didn't know yet. "And hey, where's my hat?" Luffy looked around to see it beside a bale of hay. "Oh there it is!" He took a step, only to be blocked by an orange pony with a stetson hat. "Stop right there! Ah don't know what or who you are, but you ain't takin' another step closer." She spoke angrily. "I just want my hat." Luffy said while reaching out his hand to his hat, only for it to be slapped away. "Aw come on!" The other 5 were dumbfounded by this creature's reaction, and carefree emotion, yet fully aware of the situation. The cowpony gave a hoof stomp on the rough ground, then letting out a huff. "Okay," Luffy took a deep breath. "I'm a human named Luffy, I'm made of rubber, I wear that strawhat and I'm really hungry right now!" Luffy whined, the orange pony at the moment was a bit confused, so Luffy took the hat quickly placing it on his head. "That's better, so, can we just be friends." Luffy spoke in a casual voice, extending his hand for a hand/hoof shake. There was a moment of silence before the cowpony suddenly screamed. "Get e'm gals!" And with that, the 6 all pounced for him, but he dodged quickly, causing them to smack into one another, then stumbling backwards. Luffy, who'd kicked open the door and disappeared into a nearby barrel. As the mane 6 stepped out, he gave it his all to not burst out laughing until a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane spoke up. "Well girls, maybe he's just afraid or scared of us. Sure he may look a bit," She gulped, "like a monster, but we don't even know." Her voice began to thicken with an assertive tone. "All we know is that we all attacked him, captured him, and didn't even take the time to listen and understand him." "How do you know it's a him?" The orange cowpony said stubbornly, which surprisingly earned her a hoof slap from the yellow pegasus. "You don't know what it's like, what it's like to be alone, scared, and hated. It takes willpower, it takes love, and most of all it takes a good friend to earn trust once you've done what we did to him." Tears now leaked out of her eyes as she finished speaking. Just then, Luffy stood up and out of the barrel, then to the yellow pegasus, giving her a nice pat on the back. Sitting next to her, he whispered in her ear. "Thanks, for what you said before." Because for once in his life, he'd never been so touched by such strong words of kindness. He then turned to the other 5, stared them down for a moment before holding out his arms in surrender. "You can take me now..." He said simply until the cowpony burst out. "WHAT! Ya'll just gave us one heck of a run and now you just give up like that!" Luffy gave a nod, then stood still for a moment before the 5 looked to each other not saying a word, yet agreeing upon something, then a purple unicorn stepped up. "We've come to the conclusion that you aren't the monster that we saw you as, and that you're free to roam Equestria." With this, Luffy perked up in joy as he went for a group hug with them all, even pulling the yellow pegasus along, thanks to his rubber arms. "Oh guys, I'm so happy, and why don't we all introduce ourselves!" Luffy suggested, finally letting them all go as they sprawled across the ground exasperated from the bear hug. "Well for starters, I'm Twilight Sparkle." The purple unicorn stepped up, giving him a friendly smile as a white unicorn joined her. "My name is Rarity." She elegantly said a she curtsied, and was joined by a hyper active pink pony. "I'm Pinkie Pie! I can't wait to have a WELCOME TO PONYVILLE PARTY!!" She exclaimed as she was joined by a cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane. "I'm-" But the pegasus was interrupted by Luffy's sudden oohs and ahhs as he played with her hair. "You're hair is really cool!" He said excitedly before the pegasus smacked his hand away. "You mean my mane? And anyways, I'm Rainbow Dash. Fastest flier in Equestria!" Rainbow huffed proudly before Luffy was slowly approached by the cowpony who held her hat in her hooves and stepped forward towards him. "Howdy partner, ah'm Apple Jack, and ah'm really sorry fer botherin' ya'll and not trustin' ye." Apple Jack looked down in shame before Luffy gave a cheerful giggle. "Oh it's okay! It was fun after all." His usual grin placed across his face as he chided in joy before turning to the shy yellow pegasus, whom he was looking forward to being introduced to. She was still a bit sad, but that didn't stop him from stepping in front of her and kneeling over to talk eye level. "Oh hi there," She began surprised upon suddenly seeing him. "My name's Fluttershy." She quickly muttered as she retreated to the opposite side of the barn, but Luffy didn't let up as he followed her. Rainbow Dash was just about to stop him and hold him back until Rainbow was held back by Apple Jack's hoof. The two athletes looked into each others eyes before turning to Luffy and Fluttershy. "Hey what's wrong? I thought you'd be more lively heehee." Luffy chided, which brought a light smile to Fluttershy's face. "I just don't understand how you endure all the hate and pain. You're so strong and brave, and a bit carefree." She teased playfully, finally opening up to him. "But that doesn't stop me from seeing what you really are." Luffy turned his head sideways as if to ask. "How so?" "The best friend anypony could ask for." There was a moment of silence as the twosome's eyes, human and pony, locked into an unbreakable stare, "And-" She blushed and stopped herself, but wasn't the slightest bit hesitant to lean forward and give Luffy a hug even he himself found as a challenge, that he would be looking forward to, to return, but until then, he was going to do what he did best. Make new friends, make new enemies(Not on purpose), and new adventures which he'd overcome with the help of his new friends, his new crew in this new world.