Granny Smith had on a solemn look, hearing what had happened to Gold Roger. Raising her head, she smiled at the sight of Luffy.
"I see… Well, That's too bad to hear what happened to him. It's nice to hear Rayleigh is okay, as well as Rogers other crewmates." Granny Smith said. "But I'm happier to see the will of D. hasn't died yet."
"So wait a minute!" Pinkie bellowed. "You're crossing the seas to be the Pirate King?"
"Yep!" Luffy answered as he held his hat on his hoof, looking at it as he recalled the times he spent with it. "And this hat has been there with me ever since."
"You sure love that hat." Twilight inquired.
"Even though it's rather shabby." Rarity commented.
"This hat's my treasure though." Luffy shot back at Rarity's statement.
"This hat is important." Fluttershy thought aloud. "I was right after all…"
Rainbow crossed her hooves and scoffed. "Are you kidding me? A hat a treasure?"
Luffy glared at Rainbow and said, "What's wrong with that?"
"Isn't treasure something you find in a treasure chest or a dungeon like in Daring Do?"
"It can be anything as long as you treasure it. That's what treasure is." Luffy explained.
Applebloom was impressed to the point of having her eyes shine. "Really?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes at that statement. "Oh please, and you think you're gonna be Pirate King just because you're made of rubber?"
"He was able to beat you with it!" Pinkie pointed out, making Rainbow glare at her. "Sorry!"
"As long as I die trying, at least I tried." Luffy said as he placed the hat on his head.
"Really Luffy?" Twilight said, being impressed by his determination. "But, aren't you afraid of that conclusion?"
"I'm fine with it." Luffy answered with a childish smirk.
"Kinda reminds me of somepony else sometimes." Applejack said while nudging Rainbow's foreleg.
"Whatever." Rainbow replied. "I still don't think you can do it."
Luffy got amped and slammed his hooves on the table. "You wanna fight about it?!"
Everyone was surprised by the sudden outburst. Rainbow replied with the same reaction as Luffy. "Heck yeah! I can beat you in ten seconds flat!"
"Rainbow! Luffy! Calm down! We can settle this in a more friendly matter!" Applejack attempted to calm the two.
"No way! I'm not backing down from a fight, especially from this guy!" Rainbow claimed.
"Me neither, color pony!" Luffy remarked.
Before it got any hotter, Granny Smith brought in another batch of food. "If ya'll don't calm down, we can't eat."
"Okay." Luffy said as he sat patiently on the chair. Everyone fell to the ground from his unbelievable fast shift of feelings.
After dinner, Luffy was snoring away on the couch as the girls discuss matters with Granny.
"So, what else do you know about Luffy?" Twilight asked.
"I can't say much." Granny admitted. "I hardly know the fella, but if he met one of Rogers cabin boys and Rayleigh, the best I can say is he's been traveling the Grand Line."
"The Grand Line?" They all said in unison.
"The Grand Line is a sea that crosses the red line and the entire world. It has a chain of islands that many would find strange." Granny explained. "To my best guess, I'd say Luffy here is also supposed to be human."
"Human?" Twilight repeated. "What's that?"
"Simply another species dearie. I only say this because you told me Luffy here wanted to eat meat, right? Humans are omnivores, which would make sense why a pony like Luffy would crave something he could never eat before unless…"
"He's another species." Twilight realized.
"Right on the mark sugar cube."
"But wait…" Rarity spoke. "Why is Luffy a pony then?"
"I don't know. My hunch would be that Luffy ran into some unlucky business. Maybe a unicorn turned him into this, or maybe the Grand Line cursed him along his journey." Granny guessed. "After all, anything can happen in the Grand Line."
"That sounds so cool!" Pinkie said while hopping in one place. "I wanna go on an adventure around the Grand Line!"
"I don't know about that sweetie." Granny warned her. "The Grand Line is also said to be the graveyard of pirates…"
The ponies gulped at this while Granny merely laughed. "Only one bold enough to cross the whole sea around was Gold Roger. Luffy too if he becomes the next Pirate King."
Rainbow glanced at him and mocked, "Pfft, yeah right."
"Speaking of him." Twilight remembered. "What do you think we should do with him? He doesn't have a place to stay."
"And considering how much he eats…" Rarity thought. "Nopony will be able to pay off for his appetite."
The discussion of Luffy's residence turns south, leading to only one conclusion. Applejack tipped her hat and accepted.
"I'll take the little runt." She said.
"Really Applejack?" Twilight wondered. "Are you sure you want him around?"
"Like I said, he doesn't seem like a bad pony, and I think my family can handle the food problem lickity split."
"Aw, I wanted a rubber pony as my roommate…" Pinkie groaned.
"Well, I guess that settles it." Granny Smith stated. "Luffy here can stay as long as he needs to. But if he's gonna eat a chunk off of our fridge, he's gonna have to work for it too!"
"I'll get him working tomorrow Granny." Applejack ensured her. "For now, let's get some shut eye. Luffy already started."
They all laughed at the antics of Luffy. All except for Rainbow, still wary of the rubber fiend.
As the sun rose over the valley of apple trees, chickens nearby gave the early bird call, waking everyone within the house of the Apple family as well as Luffy. He woke up with a loud yawn and looked around. He viewed his surroundings and his hooves to recall last night.
"Oh yeah…" Luffy thought. "I got turned into a pony and slept on Applejack's couch."
"So you were a human after all." Applejack stated as she trotted over to the kitchen.
"Yeah, I was." Luffy replied.
"How come you didn't mention it earlier then?" she questioned.
Luffy crossed his hooves and looked up to the ceiling thinking about it. "I don't know, I guess no one really asked."
"Nopony, you mean." Applejack corrected.
"Huh?"
"The phrase is nopony around here."
Luffy just laughed at this information, clearly annoying Applejack.
"Now what's so darn funny!?" She questioned.
"That just sounds so stupid! Why would you say that?" Luffy managed to say under his excessive amusement.
She simply scrunched her nose as she left Luffy alone, trying to tend to breakfast. As she did, Applebloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith came down the stairs. Luffy tilted his head on where they were going.
"Luffy?" Applebloom called. "What are you doing still on the couch? Don't you want breakfast?"
Luffy jumped off of the couch hearing this. "Breakfast!? Where!?"
"Over here!" Applebloom informed him as she walked to the dining room. Once again, the table had plates set and everyone was seated. Applejack was cooking this time. Luffy was excited on what he was going to eat next. As they waited, Applejack came out with a platter of pancakes.
"Sorry for the wait everypony!" Applejack said jokingly as she placed the food on the center of the table. "Breakfast's done!"
"Oh boy!" Luffy said. "This looks so good!"
"Now Luffy, before you chow down, you should let everypony have-" Applejack attempted to prevent Luffy from doing what he did before, but it was too late as the pancakes were gone. "Some…"
He had out a breath from his delicious meal. "Man, that was good. Not as good as Sanji's food, but still really yummy!"
"Who's Sanji?" Applebloom asked.
"Sanji is the cook on my crew!" Luffy informed her. "He makes all kinds of yummy food."
"Really?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah! He makes all kinds of stuff, and he also never wastes food too! I'm glad he joined my crew when he did."
"I take it this Sanji fellow is a gentle pony unlike somepony right now." Applejack said as she eyed Luffy.
"Oh, lighten up Applejack."Granny Smith told her. "If you hadn't noticed, Luffy isn't exactly mature."
Applejack sighed in agreement. "Even so, I just wished he left some for the rest of us. Now I gotta cook up another batch."
"Oh! Can I have some more too?" Luffy asked.
"Make that several more batches." Applejack grimly corrected herself.
After breakfast, Applejack along with Big Macintosh and Applebloom went out to do their chores. Luffy was paired up with Applejack to get him doing some jobs around the place in exchange for their services towards his eating habits. As the two walked through the orchard, Luffy gazed at the many apples.
"Wow! This place is huge!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Pay attention Luffy." Applejack called. "I'm gonna show you your job for today."
"Okay then."
Applejack demonstrated by bucking the tree, letting all the apples fall. Luffy was a tad astonished by her strength.
"Whoa…" Luffy muttered.
"See that?" Applejack said."All you have to do is get all the apples down and collect em'."
"Wow! You're like Sanji!" Luffy pointed out.
Applejack raised an eyebrow as she said, "That cook you were talking about earlier? Why?"
"When he fights, he usually kicks a lot." Luffy stated. "Actually, he only fights by kicking."
"The cook on your crew fights?" Applejack asked.
"Well, we all do. " He informed her.
"Hmm… That's interesting I guess." Applejack responded as she went back to the job at hoof. "Now, back to this! Luffy, buck the tree like I did."
Luffy went to a tree and got ready to copy Applejack. Once kicked, the tree blasted off into the air. Applejack dropped her jaw as Luffy just stared at it for a moment before realizing what he did. He turned to Applejack and awkwardly said…
"… Sorry…"
Applejack's face turned into an angry shade of red as she yelled, "LUFFY!!!"
She ran up to him and bonked him on the head, thrashing him to the ground. Applejack opened her eyes and realized what she just did. She just hurt somebody in a fit of rage. She picked up Luffy and checked to see if he was alright.
"A-Are you okay sugar cube? I-I didn't mean to do that!" She said rather hastily, regretting what she did.
"I'm fine." Luffy said while getting up.
"Thank goodness." Applejack replied. "I'm so sorry Luffy."
"It's alright." Luffy said with a grin. "It's nothing to get worked up about."
Luffy happily trotted along, leaving Applejack bewildered by Luffy's passiveness. To forgive her that easily? Most ponies would probably never talk to her after that.
"Hey, can we eat? All these apples are making me hungry." Luffy claimed.
Applejack merely chuckled as she said, "After we get some work done."