//------------------------------// // Chapter 50 - Turn the Tables! Type Match up Advantage! // Story: Luffy in Equestria // by SparkStone //------------------------------// Hundreds of vines rose up high around Luffy. Within the time they gone up, they then practically tore apart as each were given a fast punch. Luffy kept going as Laflora was trying to keep the same pace. All the while, she tried to throw Luffy off his game. "By now, she can be poisoned!" She teased. "Or electrocuted! Or both!" A solid punch went to Laflora, pushing her back. She looks up at the furious stallion as he tells her, "Twilight won't lose!" "Can you be so sure? Can she really take on our top class attribute users? I bet she couldn't even fight the attribute users we sent after you all this time!" "Shut up!" Luffy shouted as another raging punch flew in. Laflora jumped up and brought with her a dozen pointy vines, tipped with razor sharp thorns. She lunged them at the red stallion, who wasn't able to dodge in time. "Thorn Bouquet!" "Solar Flare: Sun Storm!" Fiery meteors then shot at the plants, burning them to a crisp. Laflora backs off from the fire and sees another challenger showing up. Luffy turns to see Flare and Gilda has caught up with him. Laflora stares out her new foes, regrouping before her. "Gilda! Flare!" Luffy spoke. "Luffy, where's Twilight!?" Gilda questioned. "She went up ahead!" "What!? Why didn't you go after her!?" "Because of her." Flare answered as she pointed to the doorway. "It's covered in thorny vines. This one seems to be able to manipulate plants very easily." "Luffy! We have to get to Twilight! They set up a trap! All of this is a trap! Shining Armor isn't even here!" "I know." Luffy growled. "That jerk plant bird told me." "You don't have time to waste Luffy." Flare told him. "Rescue Twilight and let's get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want to stay here any longer if our objective isn't in Talon's Hold." "And what makes you think I'll let you pass?" Laflora questioned. "You griffons may have new armor to introduce new skills, but don't forget that fire burns plants." Flare reminded her as she shoots a bolt of fire to the door. The plants were burned down to ashes, and the passageway was now open. Flare looked to Gilda and Luffy as she said, "Go! I'll handle this!" "Right! Let's go Gilda!" Luffy told her. The two made their way to the door. Along the way, Laflora unleashed more of her plant havoc, but a fire wall shielded the two from the plants. Laflora glares at Flare as the two were about to face off. Luffy turned back and said, "Thanks for the help!" "No problem." Luffy nodded and went on ahead. Laflora grits her beak as she said, "You just had to get in the way, didn't you!?" "Well of course." Flare said nonchalantly. "I'm trying to be noticed by that boy, so he'll owe me one back." The green griffon raised an eyebrow and asked, "And why is that?" "To prove that I'm a much more worthy apprentice than that shy mare in the poster." Gold and his army of prisoners made their way to Stage 3, and freed the crowd of ponies and griffons, all while pushing the jailors back even further. By the time they finished up, the army had come to a full stop, resting in the room of enchanted metal. Gold inspects the material carefully while his new comrades treat the ill and injured. After much checking with his peers, he turns to them. "Is this… metal magic?" Gold questioned. "Yes. Using our magic, they harvested our power to enchant the metal. The process works from Stage 1 to 3. Stage 1 powers the facility by making prisoners run on the treadmill, except for unicorns. Unicorns push magic energy into the machines, harvesting the energy for this Stage. Stage 3, they use the magic to enchant the metal, which is at the same time, processed to make enchanted metal, powered up to be used by the griffon commanders." "How crafty of them to use the prisoners as slaves." Gold thought to himself. "This metal must be very useful." "Hey! You! Captain of the Royal Army!" A griffon prisoner called, running to him with a crowd of other prisoners. They were jogging with tired expressions and worn out bodies. "Yes, what is it?" "These prisoners who you've rescued before, were trying to escape through the very bottom layer, the lobby. But then they got there, they saw all the jailor griffons had regrouped there. They're not even trying to chase the prisoners anymore." "Now that's certainly disturbing." Gold stated. "Why would the griffons stop trying to retake the prisoners?" "They basically barricaded us in. They have their entire staff on guard in the very first floor. The only way out now is either through the harbor with the wall of vines." "But like said, the wall of vines have us trapped. We'll need Flare to burn it all down." Gold thought. "Still, what are they planning? What good would it do to send your entire force to guard? It doesn't make sense if they were trying to capture us…" "Either way, it gives us a chance to regroup." a prisoner pointed out. "We can rest up. A lot of the young ponies and griffons can be treated for any ailment they had from working for so long. Some of the injured have to be given attention too. It would be the best way to use the time of peace." "I guess so. Right now, I'm looking for two ponies. One of them isn't here, but I'm sure the other one is." "Who exactly?" "A good friend who went to the Royal Guard under Shining Armor's command. He knows how to get to Scraper City, so that's why he's my top priority." "Scraper City!? You're not thinking about going to…!" The army of prisoners looked at Gold with shock expressions. If they were going to Scraper City now, that could only mean that they were about to participate in something deadly. Only one could speak the word of what they were heading into. "War." Venom and Electra looked around as they were surrounded by dozens of Twilights and Trixies. They attempted to attack them, but for each copy they hit, it vanished into thin air. The two griffons looked around for the real unicorns, but it proved difficult with how real they were. "The blue one was using illusions." Venom huffed. "We need to take her out first." "Just poison the place to weed them out!" Electra suggested. "Sparkle is able to create a shield to block it out." Venom reminded her. "Then we'll just keep destroying these fakes until the real ones show up!" The two proceeded to their assault, smashing and obliterating the illusions. Near the door to the next floor, Trixie and Twilight were breathing slowly. They kept quiet and hidden from the griffons before hatching their next plan. "Alright, Trixie will buy you some time. You go help your brother." She told her. Twilight nodded and smiled gratefully. "Thanks Trixie. This means a lot." "Just so you know, this is as far as Trixie will go!" She declared. "Trixie is going to find the keys to unlock the cage to those griffons that can drive those airships. After that, Trixie and her accomplices will be leaving! So farewell!" Trixie ran from the corner and headed out, looking for the room with the keys. Twilight looked to her goal. The stairway lead to what she believed where her brother is. She races up quickly now having the chance to rescue Shining. Right after she left, The griffons turned and saw Trixie. They shot their poison and lightning to stop her at her tracks. Trixie jumps, and loses focus on her spell, causing the copies to disappear. "There's the real one!" Electra shouted. "You have a lot of nerve playing tricks with us like that." Venom hissed. "Now, once we get rid of you, that will be the end of all of your meddling." "T-Trixie wasn't meddling! Trixie was simply putting on… a show?" she claimed. As the two were ready to execute the blue unicorn, Gilda flew with Luffy riding on her back. Gilda threw him as he pulled out both hooves to yank the necks of the two griffons along with him. "Gomu Gomu no Kama!" ("Gum Gum Sickle!) Dragging the two griffons down to the floor, Gilda went to Trixie with a raised eyebrow. Trixie also was confused by the griffon assisting the red stallion. At the same time, they said… "Who are you?" "Ah! Such insolence!" Venom hissed before raising himself from the ground. "But at least we don't have to go looking for the colt causing so much problems!" "Hey! Tricky! Where's Twilight!?" Luffy yelled. "It's TRIXIE! The great and powerful Trixie!" "Wait, she was with you!?" Gilda spoke. "Where'd she go!?" "She went up ahead to rescue her brother or something." Trixie shrugged. Luffy and Gilda's eyes shrunk into pinpricks. "WHAT!?" "So Sparkle went up ahead huh?" Electra grinned. "We've done our part. Now let's take out the trash." Gilda and Trixie moved back as Luffy went forward. As the griffon duo attacked, Trixie quickly warned him. "Watch out! One of them casts lightning and the other makes poison!" "Luffy!" Gilda shouted. As lightning suddenly struck Luffy, a great flash came and blinded everyone. Trixie and Gilda opened their eyes, stunned by what seemed to be the quick defeat of the red stallion. But as the blinding light went away, the smoke clears and shows Luffy completely fine. Everyone was still, staring at the undamaged colt. It was only a second later another strike was given, up close this time. "Taser Claw!" Another electrical attack touches Luffy, this time point blank. As the attack clears off, Luffy remains unaffected. She stepped back, sweating at this anomaly. "W-What is this trickery!? Another illusion!?" "WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?" Trixie screamed at the sight. "That's no ordinary pony to survive something like that!" "That's right…" Gilda held her head to her own idiocy. "I forgot that he's made of rubber! Lightning can't hurt him." "Rubber?" Venom muttered. "Rubber!?" Trixie exclaimed. "A rubber pony!?" Electra said in shock. "Well, if lightning doesn't affect you, then…" Venom's armor then released a large batch of toxic gas out, flooding the air. Gilda grabbed Trixie to back away from the gas. Luffy attempted to get away, but was grabbed by Electra by the hind leg. "You're not going anywhere!" She said sadistically before throwing him into the poison gas. "LUFFY!" Gilda shouted. "There's no way out of these toxic fumes!" Venom said within the cloud of poison. "Once you take a whiff, you're as good as dead Pony D. Luffy!" Gilda and Trixie land awat from Venom and his poison. Stepping back, Trixie is on the verge of running from this bleak situation. Gilda however stays, wondering if Luffy made it. She wonders what she could do to help him once the smoke clears. Seeing her scratching the floor, ready to dive in, Trixie placed her hoof onto Gilda's shoulder to stop her. "That's poison gas." Trixie pointed out. "Being rubber may mean he's immune to lightning, but poison? He's as good as gone. There's no point in trying to help him from here." "I'm not giving up on him." Gilda declared. "He sure didn't give up on me or any pony else. I gotta be there for him if he needs me." "Are you sure he'll be willing to do the same for you in these circumstances?!" Trixie questioned. "Maybe more." Gilda replied without batting an eye. Trixie watched as this highly dedicated griffon or foolish bird prepares to throw away her life for the red stallion. But just as the cloud of smoggy poison cleared, Gilda, Trixie, and Electra watched from afar. As they finally see the two, Venom was stepping away from Luffy. "W-What is this!? T-The poison should have killed you!" "I guess I can't get poisoned." Luffy shrugged. Electra turned to Venom, quickly deciding the next move. "This could mean trouble!" Electra told her partner. "I didn't expect to run into something like this!" "Let's go secure Sparkle and move onto the next phase of the plan!" Venom commanded. The two escaped, urging Luffy to follow after them. He gave chase, making it futile for Gilda to stop him. "Luffy! Hold on!" She shouted. "Ugh, there he goes, running off again." "This gives you and Trixie chance to escape!" She suggested. "Help Trixie release the prisoners in this floor! If we have all of them with us, we'll be sure to escape! There are even two griffons that know how to pilot the airship! Trixie and the others will steal one, and get the hay out of here!" "What's with the way you talk?" Gilda wondered. "Seriously, you use the word I in your life? Anyways, if they can help, fine. Where are the keys?" "Trixie was about to go get them. You keep watch while Trixie retrieves them." As Trixie left, Gilda walked over to the prisoners. The caged ponies and griffons stood in joy, hearing what was too good to be true. They spoke in jovial voices, eager to escape and possibly plot revenge. "We're getting out!? You hear that brother?" "Yes I did! I did hear that!" "It's too good to be true!" "Thank Celestia! Now I can get back at those griffons!" "Hold your horses!" Gilda shouted. "We don't need to you make any more of a riot than we need. After we let you loose, you all have to do as I say. That way, we can all make it out, alright?" "Yes! Whatever you say!" A griffon spoke. "I just want to sail far away from this place!" Gilda paused as she listened to the voices carefully. She turned to where the voice came from, and saw two griffons. One old male, and one old female. Although at first glance, Gilda didn't notice anything until she saw the golden piercings they had. Their talons had a bracelet of gold, and on the male griffon's head was an old bandana. She then realized who it was. As she walked up to them, the griffons smiled to their savior. "Thanks missy! After this, we're gonna sail right out of here!" "Yeah. We'll make sure of-" The female stopped as she glanced at Gilda. Tilting her head, she thought of something. "You look… familiar." "That's not surprising…" Gilda said with an expression of disgust. The griffon couple took a while before they had an idea of who Gilda was. Before they could even speak, their faces grow fearful of who it may be. Gilda gritted her teeth as she managed to spit the words to those griffons. "Mom… Dad…"