//------------------------------// // Letter // Story: My Little Pirates: Luffy's Adventures in Equestria // by Fullmetal Pony //------------------------------// “Thanks for helping out with everything, Rainbow,” Twilight said to Dash as they both stacked books back onto the shelves. The storm had really done quite the number on the library: books were strewn across the floor, shelves had fallen on the ground, widows were cracked, and everything was soaked.               “Well... it is sorta my fault.” Dash blushed a little. “I, um, kinda wanted a new Daring Do book anyway.”               “You already finished the last one?” Twilight left a book floating in midair to look up at her flying friend. “Didn’t I lend it to you just last week?”               “It was a really good one.”               “Which one was it again?”               “Daring Do and the Treasure of Colte—” The library’s door busted open and Fluttershy zoomed into the room. “Twilight! Twilight! You have to help!”               “Fluttershy?” Twilight dropped the book she was levitating and rushed over to Fluttershy. "What’s going on?”               “It’s terrible!” Tears dotted the corned of Fluttershy's eyes. Her whole body shook as she spoke. “I was going to Zecora’s to get some medicine for Angel when I ran into this horrible monster!”   “Well, it’s the Everfree.” Dash flew over and lightly thumped Fluttershy on the head. “Of course there’s going to be monsters, but you've tamed a manticore before, so why was this thing so scary?”   “Because..." Fluttershy paused and gulped. “It looked like a pony.”   “Then how do you know it wasn’t a pony?” Twilight asked. “Because pony’s don’t...” Fluttershy's face paled. “Don’t...” Dash raised an eyebrow. “Don’t what?” “They don’t eat other animals!” Fluttershy cried out before falling into Twilight’s shoulder and sobbing. Twilight patted Fluttershy on the back. “It’s okay.” “Oh, Twilight!” Fluttershy hiccupped. “It was terrible! It said it wanted to eat fish, and pigs, and even cows! What sort of monster eats cows?” “But you said it looked like a pony?” Twilight inquired. “Yes.” Fluttershy pulled her head out of Twilight’s shoulder and sniffled a little. “It even had a cutie mark and was talking to me and Ze—” Fluttershy’s pupils turned into pinpricks. “What now?” Dash asked. “Zecora!” Fluttershy summoned as loud a voice as she could. “What?” Both of her friends replied. “I left that terrible thing with Zecora!" Fluttershy rushed out of the library as fast as she'd entered it. “Hey!” Dash called out. She gave her wings a flap and gave chase. “Wait up!” “Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled. “Don’t panic! I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for this! Ugh!” She turned around and looked up at Spike, who was currently precariously balanced atop a ladder. “Spike! I’m going to figure out what’s going on! I’m leaving the rest of the books up to you!” “What?” Spike rapidly turned around to complain, but Twilight was already out the door. “That girl needs to relax a li—" The ladder tittered under his claws. “Whoawhoawhoa!” Spike flailed at the bookshelf to try and re-balance the ladder, but he only managed to pull out the a large tome titled, Starswirl the Third's One Thousand and One Recipes. He and the ladder fell in opposite directions but both hit the ground at the same time. The tome then smacked Spike on the head and knocked him out. ~~~               “Fluttershy!” Dash called out. Fluttershy flew ahead of her and somehow managed to maintain a constant distance. Ugh,how does that mare fly so fast sometimes? “Wait up!” She pushed her wings and started to close the gap between herself and Fluttershy. She got close enough to reach out to Fluttersher and tackled her to the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?”               “I’m going to save Zecora!” Fluttershy exclaimed. She writhed underneath Dash's hooves, but her spindly legs were no match for Dash's.               “How are you going to do that?”               ‘I...I’ll give that monster a stern talking to!”               Dash buried her face in a hoof. “Look, it’s great that you want to help Zecora, but you can’t just go rushing off like that, what if whatever this thing is got you too?”               “I...I...”               ‘How about we take care of it together?” Dash smiled as a white flash of light appeared in front of her and Fluttershy. Suddenly, Twilight was standing by them.               Twilight quickly galloped over to the two pegasi. “Fluttershy! It’s great that you want to help Zecora, but you can’t just go rushing off like that!”               “Already covered that part Twilight,” said Dash.               “Oh, um...” Twilight stuttered. She raised up a hoof and pointed it into the Everfree forest. "Let’s go to Zecora’s then!”               “And show this monster that nothing messes with Ponyville!” Dash smashed her hooves together and zoomed off to Zecora's hut.               “C’mon, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she galloped after Dash. “We don’t want her wrecking Zecora’s place.”               “O...okay,” Fluttershy replied. She followed over Twilight and Dash and disappeared into the Everfree Forest.               “Alright!” Dash boasted when the trio reached Zecora's hut. She flew a few feet higher and angled one of her legs so that it lined up with Zecora's door. “Lets go save Zecor—huh?” She was stopped from busting down the door by a purple aura grabbing her tail. “Twilight, what the hay? We haven’t got time to waste!”               “I know that,” Twilight calmly replied, “but what if this thing is a wild animal or something? We can’t risk upsetting it.”               “S-s-so what do we do then?” Fluttershy quivered.               “We’ll move in slowly and take it by surprise!” Twilight stomped a hoof in determination. "Fluttershy, you open the door very slowly, then I’ll subdue it with my magic, and Dash,” Twilight looked up at her friend, “you’ll deliver the finishing blow, okay?”               “Got it!” Dash said with a smirk.               “Alright, Fluttershy.” Twilight gave her friend the signal to move out, “whenever you’re ready.”               “O-okay.” Fluttershy slowly trotted up to the hut’s door and barely cracked it open. “H-h-hello?”               “Oh my, if it isn’t Fluttershy,” Zecora greeted the visitor in her home.               “Zecora!” Fluttershy instantly hugged the zebra. “I was so worried! I left you here alone with that monster, and I thought it was going to eat you, a—”               Zecora silenced Fluttershy by raising a hoof to her striped face. “I assure you and your friends that I am alright, but now there are many mysteries I wish to bring to light.”               “Fluttershy.” Twilight gestured over to Zecora. “You said Zecora was in danger, but she seems fine to me.”               “But... but... that thing—Eep!” Fluttershy rushed behind Twilight and shivered.               “Now what?” Dash complained.               “T-t-the monster!” Fluttershy pointed a shacking hoof at a sleeping figure in the back of the hut, “I-i-it’s still here!”               “He looks like a pony to me,” Twilight said as she trotted over to the sleeping figure. “I had my suspicions when you said it had a cutie mark, but I wanted to see for myself. Now I’m sure, this is just a pony. After all, only ponies get cutie marks.”               “But it said it wanted to eat animals!” Fluttershy pleaded.               “Maybe you misheard him, was there anything else odd that he mentioned?” asked Twilight.               “Um..." Flutteshy's eyes slowly shifted to the ground. "I think he might have hit his head too. He didn’t even think he was a pony.”               “Ah-ha!” Twilight flashed her friends a triumphant smile. “That explains everything.”               “It does?” Dash asked.               “Yes,” Twilight replied, “he must have hit his head or something, and now he thinks he’s a dragon or another carnivorous creature. See, Fluttershy? There’s nothing to worry about.”               “O-okay,” Fluttershy meekly replied, “I should probably apologize then when he gets up.”               “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong, it was just a simple misunderstanding.” Twilight noticed the pony shift around a little. “But I think you’ll get your chance in a second.”               “Mugah,” the pony groaned.               “Wonder who he is.” Dash looked over the slowly awakening pony.               “Mphh,” Luffy grumbled and sat up. “Ugh, what a horrible dream, I was a horse and there wasn’t any meat.”               “Yep, looks like a bad case of amnesia.” Twilight looked over at Luffy.               “Woah! A unicorn! I haven’t seen one since Thriller Bark!" Luffy exclaimed.               “Um, right... sorry about the commotion earlier.” Twilight held out a hoof to Luffy. “My name is Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends: Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora.”               “Whoa! Another flying horse! That is so cool!” Luffy jumped up and down on the bed to get a better look at Dash.               “Well,” Dash smiled, “at least he knows awesome when he sees it.”               “Wait,” Luffy stopped bouncing, “if you’re all talking horses then...” His face turned a shade whiter and his eyes went wide as he stared at the ponies. “That wasn’t a dream! Ahh! The meat thing was a joke right?”               “Just calm down okay?” Twilight asked Luffy nicely. “I think you’re having a bit of memory loss. See, ponies don’t eat meat, or rather we can’t, our digestive system only really allows eggs at most to be eaten.”               “Hmm." Luffy placed a hoof on his stomach. "Anything sounds really good to eat right now, guess I’ll just get meat later.”                  “Bit of an oddball isn’t he?” Dash commented.                            “Rainbow,” Twilight chided, “be nice! I mean, aside from the whole ‘identity confusion’ thing, he seems like a perfectly normal pony.” Luffy reached up and scratched his head. He paused when he only touched his mane. He swiveled his head around and stopped on Fluttershy. “Hey, I didn’t drop a hat anywhere, did I?”          “Oh.” Fluttershy gestured to a straw hat that was sitting on a stool on the other side of the hut. “It’s, um, over there.”               “Thanks.” Luffy stretched out two of his hooves to grab his hat. Fluttershy and Twilight screamed, Zecora’s eyes went wide, and Dash’s mouth gaped open.               “Ahhhh!” Twilight continued to scream. She jerked away from Luffy and hid behind a nearby chair. “How... how are you doing that?”               “S-s-see? I told you!” Fluttershy cowered behind Zecora. “It’s some horrible animal-eating stretchy pony monster!”               “Man,” Luffy sighed, “talking horses are weird.”               “We’re weird?” Dash flew up and eyed Luffy in the face. “You’re the pony that’s stretching and wanting to eat other animals!”               “Whatever,” Luffy used a hoof to push Dash out of his face. He got up from the bed and started walking for the door. “I’m hungry, so I’m gonna go find something to e—huh?” A lavender energy shield prevented Luffy from exiting. He tapped on it and it produced a sound akin to tapping on a thick sheet of plastic. “What the heck is this?”               “I’m sorry,” Twilight apologized as her horn glowed the same color as the translucent wall, “but I can’t let you run around eating animals and, er, stretching like that!”               “But I have to get back to my friends! Now, Gum-Gum...” Luffy extended his right forehoof back and then sent it flying at the shield.               “Wait! What’s wrong with your fri—” Twilight didn't get to finish her question before Luffy hoof met the shield.               “Bullet!” Luffy’s hoof smacked into the force field and shattered it into pieces. The magical backlash sent Twilight flying.               “Twilight!” Dash and Fluttershy called out.               Luffy looked back at the ponies in various states of disarray.“Sorry, but I gotta get back to my ship!” He dashed out of the hut and back into the Everfree.               “Twilight!” Dash grabbed Twilight and shook her. “C’mon say something!”               “I am the best student!” Twilight said in a slurred voice. “I’m never tardy!”               “Oh for pete’s sake!” Dash shifted Twilight over to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, you take care of her, while I take care of him!” She zoomed out of the hut and gave to chase to Luffy. ~~~               Celestia sat in her throne room in Canterlot Castle, admiring the light that filtered through the windows that dotted the room. She looked up at the stained glass window that showed six ponies firing beams at a strange monster. I wonder how Twilight is doing? Her musings were cut short when she noticed a black shape slip into the throne room through one of the uppermost windows. It was a small black bat and it was carrying a letter.   “This does not bode well.” A golden aura surrounded her horn as an identical aura encased the letter the bat was holding. Celestia levitated the letter down and read it. Her eyes shrunk into the back of her head as she scanned the letter. “This... this is!”