//------------------------------// // Chapter 46 - On the Ship without the Captain // Story: Luffy in Equestria // by SparkStone //------------------------------// Day 1 of 3 Luffy, Twilight, Gilda, Flare went to a cave. Being so dark, Flare lights her mane to create fire. Gilda and Twilight couldn't help but snicker, while Luffy laughed to make it obvious how amusing it was. "Wahaha! What's with your hair?" Luffy chuckled. "It's a torch light." She said calmly. "I can light any part of my body on fire, if you recalled. Now, this way, quickly." Upon walking further, they meet the ravaging river within the dusky caverns. The water splashed rapidly and violently. The river pushed anything down its current at frightening speed. Twilight and Gilda were wide eyed in fear of this monstrosity, but Luffy was quite excited. "Whoa! What kind of river is this!?" Luffy questioned. "This is our ticket to Talon's Hold." Flare answered. Gilda and Twilight opened their mouths, shocked of their route. Flare looked at them before saying, "This is faster than walking on hoof. It'll take half a day. We even have some boats, so don't worry too much." Flare went to the corner to take off the large leaves to reveal the collection of the dinghy. Twilight raised her eyebrow and asked, "How come there are so many here?" "We planned to infiltrate Talon's Hold through this way, but ever since the order to be picked up by Cadence, we abandoned this place. Anyways, I have to mention something." "What is it?" Gilda spoke. "I can't swim." She told them. "My body is sort of like fire. If I get wet, I become weak. I don't have any swimming ability, so you three will have to keep me safe." "Oh, I can't swim either." Luffy stated, surprising Flare. She groaned and looked to Twilight and Gilda. "Okay, scratch that. You two will keep us on board, and out of the water, okay?" The two looked at the river thrashing about and at the dinghy. They slapped their faces as Flare pulled the boat out. As everyone got in, Flare pushes the boat in the water before jumping in. Holding on tight, they prepare for the ride of their lifetime. "Wahoo!" Luffy cheered. "OH CRUD!!!" Gilda screamed. "OH MY CELESTIA!!!" Twilight cried. Day 1 of 5 On the Thousand Sunny, the crew was quiet. It was only yesterday they had lost some companions from their crew. They don't know where they are, only that they are alive. But even so, the mares were at their own despairs. Whether it was the lack of strength or conviction they needed to obliterate Magnus, or their actions that let this all happen. Fluttershy had it the worst. In the sick bay, she cried while holding onto Luffy's straw hat tightly. Chopper was doing his best to comfort her, but she had a hard time accepting it. It was so sudden, and too soon. Sanji had come inside with a meal to help her feel well, but she had been eating very little. Rainbow was gazing out to sea, sitting on the ledge of the ship. Her eyes were still in shock over what had just happened. Failing to save the three of her friends, she was in her own troubles. She couldn't reach them in time. She wasn't fast enough. She held her head, grinding her teeth in frustration, but tried her best to keep everything bottled up. But knowing that she couldn't help Gilda, Luffy, or Twilight in time made her feel worthless. Then Nami came by, seeing her troubles as she lowers her head to view the bottom of the ship. She tapped Rainbow by the shoulder and asked, "What's wrong Rainbow?" Rainbow looked to Nami and sighed. "Oh, hey… It's nothing." "Is it about yesterday?" "… Maybe…" Nami combs her mane lightly and smiled. "Don’t worry about it. Luffy and the others are fine. When we were sent like that, we lived. Twilight and Gilda are strong enough to survive a fall like that too." "… But I still have one question…" "What is it?" Nami wondered while tilting her head. "How come we never help Luffy? Whenever he fights these really strong guys, you all never want me to help. We fought together back in Ponyville when the griffons first attacked, but after that, I never got to back him up again. Zoro always keeps stopping me, and I'm sick of it!" Rainbow crosses her hooves in anger, but it wasn't until her statement was countered by Rarity. "Well it's quite obvious why they stopped you Rainbow." she reasoned. "They don't want us to get hurt. The deeper we into these fights, the more likely we'll be injured, or worse. You remember how much damage was inflicted to you when Luffy had brought you back as well?" "Yeah, but we lived!" Rainbow retorted. "Besides, now it's like you expect he can take on everything himself! And now looked what happened!" "Rainbow, please calm yourself." Rarity told her. "There was nothing you can do." "I'm not you Rarity! I could've done something!" The white mare stepped back before glaring at her irritated companion. "What's that supposed to mean?" "I'm not just standing around, pretending to help! It's not like I'm some damsel in distress, who just happens to be there when things get rough! Ever since we came with Luffy to travel around, all you've done is relax whenever we finally get a moments peace, hide whenever the baddies come, and whine about everything! From this crew to what we have to do!" Rainbow said in one breath. Rarity was now as tempered as Rainbow. She walked up to her and poked her chest. "How dare you claim such a thing!" "Oh, whine some more why don't ya!?" "Hey! Calm down you two!" Nami shouted as she pushed them away from each other. "This isn't going anywhere!" "Calm down the racket, will ya!?" Applejack scolded the two as she and Usopp came down the stairs. "Fluttershy needs some rest after what happened. She's not doing so hot after having the close encounter." "Yeah, I never seen her so sad. But she's not as sad as Pinkie." Usopp stated before leaning to them. "She's so bummed out, he mane's gone flat." "Yeesh, I don't want to deal with Pinkie when she's like that." the colorful mare told them. "I was gonna go cheer her up. Do any of you wanna help?" "I'll go with you." Rarity volunteered before glaring at Rainbow. "See? I'm helping." Chopper left his room and brought some of his herbs to dry. Making his way to the bow of the ship, he sees Zoro standing near. "Oh, hey Zoro!" Chopper greeted. "Hi." He replied. "How is she doing?" "She left earlier to walk around. I saw her in the aquarium for a while, but other than that, she's on the ship exploring." The green haired swordsman nodded. As Chopper sets his medicine to dry, he had a thought in his mind. "Do you think she really cares about Luffy?" "What do you mean?" "I remember she went to go get his hat when Luffy was fighting. She must have known how important it was to him." Zoro merely shrugged and looked out to the ship. "I think they all know how important that hat is to Luffy. The yellow one is like Vivi, caring about everyone." "Yeah…" Chopper said before tearing up. "Vivi…" "ARE YOU STILL ON THAT!?" Zoro shouted. In the dining room, Robin was reading while Sanji was preparing desserts. Rainbow was with them, circling around in the room blabbering on and on about what was on her mind. "I mean, I could've helped! Maybe bonk him on the head while Luffy goes down low. Or maybe I could've used my buccaneer blaze, to maybe, I don't know, blind him! Or! I could have-" Even though Robin was patient she quoted Rainbow on her plans. "If you interfered, you would have been sent flying out of the island like the others. His hands were able to make you disappear with one touch, and could deflect most physical attacks." "B-But!" "Luffy wanted to make sure he wouldn't lose his comrades like that again." Sanji explained. "Again?" Robin nodded in agreement. She turned to the colorful mare and continued. "There are a lot of things our captain hates, and one of those would be to relive the terror of losing his companions in such a familiar setting. But for now, we can only keep moving forward. Alright?" The stubborn Rainbow crossed her forelegs and moaned. "I just want to help fight! I hate just waiting around and running away!" "But I think it's best we do that…" Fluttershy spoke as she came out the door. The three looked at the solemn pegasus as she weakly gazed at them. "After all, if it wasn't for me, Luffy would still be here." "Fluttershy…" Robin said. "I-I didn't mean to… I mean…" Rainbow stuttered, unsure how to respond. "Don't beat yourself up about it." Sanji assured her. "We all make mistakes." "But… Because of me…" "Our captain always gets into jams. This is normal." Sanji grinned. "Besides, he just wanted everyone, especially you to be safe." Fluttershy looked up with a brightened expression for a moment before turning away. "You… Really think so?" "After all the time you've spent with Luffy, I think you should've known by now." Robin grinned. Feeling better now, Fluttershy smiled as Sanji placed a sundae before her. He pulled up a chair and offered the seat. "You must be hungry madam. Why don't cool yourself off while I make everyone dinner?" "You don't have to, really-" Fluttershy was about to decline, but was brought over by Robin as she gently pulled her hoof. "It's fine, he's a good gentlemen to any women." Robin assured her. "I have one for you as well Robin~chan~!" Sanji informed her as he spun and brought her sundae as well. "Hey Sanji, can I have one too?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah, just give me a second." In the study, Applejack and Brooke were cleaning the floors while Nami was sketching her map. Applejack happened to take a glance at Nami and her map before asking about it. "Hey, what cha working on?" "Hmm? Oh, it's just another piece to my map of the Grand Line." Nami answered and she showed off her work. Applejack gazed at her long work before commending such detail. "Wow, this looked like it took a long time!" "Yep. I'm pretty proud of how far it's gotten." "Nami-san's dream is to draw the map of the world." Brook informed Applejack, making her jump. "Really now? And the Grand Line is the way to do it?" "More or less." Nami replied, grinning before giving Brook a stern look. "Now, don't spill anything her like you did last time Brook." "I promise I won't do a mistake like that again!" Brook assured her. "Ah, but before I do, would you mind as to show me your panties?" "KNOCK IT OFF!" Nami cursed as she punched Brook hard to the shelf, causing a few books to fall out. Applejack ran to it and started picking up the books. "Ah horse apples. Hold on, I'll pick it up." Applejack said before looking at a peculiar book. "Hello? What's this here?" "Huh? Oh! That's our log book." Brook told her. "It contains all of the Straw Hat's adventures from beginning to end." "Really now? Well, you wouldn't mind if I…?" Applejack implied to take a peak. Nami chuckled and allowed her to do so. "Go ahead. We're about to put all of you in it too." "Really now? Well ain't that something!" Applejack laughed before checking it out, leaving Brook to clean himself. Only he was still lying on the floor. "Ah, I can't seem to get up to do my bone breaking work! Oh! Yohohoho! What a bone appropriate joke!" Rarity exited the room full of laughter and guffaw of Pinkie and Usopp. She held her mouth before gulping it down from the stories she had heard so far. "I've heard enough of the goldfish and it's disgusting fake island." She stated before noticing Applejack reading. She walked over to her to see what she was doing. "Applejack, what are you reading there?" "Oh, hey Rarity. It's a log book of the Straw Hats." Applejack answered before turning the page. "They had some pretty interesting adventures back then." "My, it does seem more intruiging than the stories I've been listening to." Rarity stated before sitting next to her. "May I take a gander?" "Sure. Hey, maybe we should get the others too!" Applejack suggested. "Splendid idea!" She said gleefully before realizing something. "Oh… huh…" "What's wrong?" "Sorry darling, it's just… As fun as it may be, it wouldn't be the same without Twilight." Applejack shook a bit before understanding why she was so gloom. "Yeah… Just the five of us wouldn't exactly be the same. And Twilight's all about reading this kind of stuff." Rarity looked out to the sea and thought long and hard about what Rainbow said. Finally, she asked Applejack about it. "Applejack, do you think I was any help on our adventure?" "Hmm?" She spoke before scratching the back of her mane. "Well, we all try as hard as we can. But there's only so much we can do." "I see…" She nodded before turning away. "You know, maybe I'll read with you another time. I need to do something first." "Oh, alright then." Applejack replied. After Rarity left, Applejack looked back to the book before shedding a few tears. Wiping her eyes, she thinks of Twilight, Luffy, and even Gilda. She wonders if they are truly okay like the others say. As the day ended, it would mark the first day out of five before finally reaching Featheran.