• Published 5th Apr 2012
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My Little Pirates: Luffy's Adventures in Equestria - Fullmetal Pony



A One Piece MLP Crossover. Luffy finds himself sent to Equestria and must find a way back.

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A Changeling Stands Tall! The Fire of Friendship in a Pit of Ice!

“Idiots,” Hannyabal sighed.

“Too… tough,” Buggy groaned. Cuts and welts covered his body while an especially large bump adorned his head. Blood trickled down his mouth and onto Mr. 3, who lay below him, equally wounded.

Darn, I wanted to blame their escape on the Warden, thought Hannyabal. He turned away from Buggy and Mr. 3 and over to the guards that monitored the Level Three stairway. “Still no sign of the other escapee?”

“No, Vice-Warden,” one of the guards replied. “The Warden’s fight is making it difficult to navigate the Level.”

“Oh, boys,” a sultry voice called out. Hannyabal and the guards spun in its direction. Trixie stood at the entrance to gap between two stone blocks. Her flank was out to them and she flicked her tail back and forth to highlight it. “Over here!”

“Capture her!” Hannyabal ordered with a slightly reddened face. Trixie sped back into the gap. Hannyabal raised a hoof to get the guards moving. “Half of you come with me, the other half, remain here and guard the stairs! I’ll at least get credit for apprehending the escapees!”

Hannyabal rushed forward with his token group and disappeared into the gap.

~~~

Blades of wind slashed through the air, carrying a flurry of snow with them. They spun around and around, creating a world of white. Ceiling, floor, and walls all melted away into it save for a few patches of frozen stone that poked out amongst the snowdrifts. Icicles spanned across the ceiling with the remains of ones that had gotten too big and heavy buried in the blizzard.

Amidst the wasteland were outcroppings of gray. Like everything else there, the cold was slowly encroaching on them. Ice crept up and down their iron bars, snow constantly blew inside, and icicles gradually formed above the prisoners’ heads.

The prisoners were not free from the cold either. Ice caked their hooves, frost grew over their coats and beards if they had them, and stretching their bodies or wings sent a deluge of diamond dust to the ground. That is, if they did move. Most of them were slumped in the corners of their cells, huddled together if they were lucky to have multiple residents. One of them crunched down on a piece of bread, only for it to give a sharp crack and break apart like a fragile crystal. He gave a sigh and continued to force down the meal.

Something dropped into the light carpet of snow in one of the cells. A nearby prisoner looked down and extracted a small, jagged, black pebble from the ground. “Hmm.”

A wheezy cackle came from behind the prisoner. The one that had found the black pebble spun around. “What’s so funny about a black rock?”

“Ain’t a rock,” the cackling prisoner replied. He gestured over to the other prisoner’s ear where there was a small empty space where there should have been flesh. The area around the hole was black and inflexible. “It’s frostbite…” The other prisoner franticly raised his forelegs and rubbed it against his afflicted ear, but that only caused a few more pieces of it to fall off. The cackling prisoner sighed, “Stop panicking, at least you’re doing better than the guy next door… shame, I’da thought he’d last longer.”

A piercing sound whipped through the air. It came upon the frigid gusts that were constantly blowing and amplified them. The prisoners, whether young or old, battle-hardened or soft, all heard it and collectively shivered. More than the wind, snow, or cold itself, the sound cut deeper and harsher. No prisoner was safe from it, no matter how insulated they tried to make themselves.

~~~

“What is this?” Magellan roared. Guards were scattered all around with injuries ranging from purple bruises across their sides to sharp cuts on their heads. Hannyabal was collapsed in the middle of the display, showing off similar wounds. Magellan stormed over and lifted Hannyabal up with a hoof. “Wake up! What happened?”

Hannyabal gave a sharp fit of coughing. His eyes rolled open and swam around Level Four before they locked on Magellan. He flailed his hooves against Magellan and screamed. “Ahhhh! Please, Warden! Let me go!”

Magellan grumbled and released his hold on Hannyabal. Hannyabal quickly scurried off the ground and lowered his head. “S-sorry! We were ambushed by one of the escapees.”

“Stupid bug,” Mr. 3 muttered.

“Going off without us,” Buggy grunted.

A quick glance from Magellan shut them both up. He then turned his attention back to Hannyabal. “So, he probably went up. In that case, we’ll send most of the guards back Level Three and corner him. Surveillance says Saldeath has the Level Two riot contained. This stint of chaos is over.”

“Understood.” Hannyabal waved a hoof to his right. Amongst the guards laid Trixie, unmoving save for her barrel moving up and down. Her legs were trussed and a metallic ring rested around the tip of her horn. “We at least managed to appended this escapee. That just leaves Straw Hat and the one that got past us.”

“No,” Magellan answered. “Just the one you let escape. Straw Hat is finished. If he’s lucky, Level Five’s cold will do him in before the poison.”

“D-didn’t we want to interrogate him?”

“We lost that option the moment he laid his hooves on me. Pain from that amount of poison would have rendered anything he said pointless shouting. He just pushed it further; now he’s got a day at best before all that poison kills him.” Magellan trotted past Hannyabal and headed deeper into Level Four. “I’m going back to my office now. I expect Impel Down to be fully restored to order the next time I come out.”

“Yes, Warden!” Hannyabal replied.

Magellan snorted and disappeared amongst the smoke and fire. Hannyabal turned back to the guards; some of them were slowly getting back to their hooves or claws. “Alright, you heard him! Get to Level Three and find the escapee!” His eyes went over to the other fugitives. “Take these three to an interrogation room as well. I’ll handle them.”

Buggy, Trixie, and Mr. 3 were roughly thrown against the ground with a series of grunts. Hannyabal slammed the door after the guards left and locked it. He spun around and looked down at them.

“Thanks,” Buggy sighed.

Mr. 3 whole body shook. “I was sure Magellan would find out.”

Trixie lifted her head off the ground and smiled at Hannyabal. “Trixie thought it was excellent acting on both our parts… Trixie wishes you hadn’t objectified her body like that though.”

“Now what?” asked Mr. 3.

“You heard Magellan.” A green spark fizzled out of Hannyabal’s head. More sparks continued to fall until they formed an emerald blaze that consumed him. The flames quickly abated to reveal Bon with Hannyabal’s hat perched just above his horn. “We have to rescue Mugi-chan!”

“I think we should ask if you heard Magellan,” said Buggy. “Straw Hat’s done! Lets at least use the chaos he caused to get out of here.”

“He has a point, Mr. 2,” Mr. 3 said with a nod. “Even if you did rescue him from Level Five, he’d still succumb to the poison.”

“I don’t care.” Bon clenched his teeth and shook his head. “I abandoned Mugi-chan when I knew we couldn’t win. That’s why I swear I’ll save him now!”

“Why throw away your life on a dead man?” asked Mr. 3.

“Because he’s my friend!” Bon yelled with a ferocity that made Trixie shrink away from him. “That’s all the reason I need!”

“But it would take a miracle to save him now!” Mr. 3 argued.

Bon’s compound eyes widened and he slumped against a wall. A shaky smile emerged on his face. “That’s right, a miracle. We have a miracle worker right here, Queen Iva!”

~~~

A glacial wind spiraled up the winding staircase and caused Trixie to shiver. Condensed streams of breath emanated from Buggy’s mouth and goose bumps ran up Mr. 3’s legs when his cold iron cuffs clinked against them. Bon, once more in his Hannyabal disguise, climbed down the stairs with the rest of the group following behind him, but his eyes were glued on the clipboard clasped in one of his hooves. They scanned the same spot over and over.

“Is something wrong, Vice-Warden?” one of the guards that had accompanied them down to Level Five asked.

Bon beckoned the guard over and showed him the clipboard. Various names and numbers were typed onto multiple sheets of paper, but here and there, a few had a black line running straight through them. Bon’s hoof was right beside the crossed out name that read: Emporio Invankov. “Did we release this prisoner?”

“No, sir, we…” The guard paused and leaned closer to Bon. “You recall the incident, right?”

“The incident…” Bon widened his eyes and stomped one of his hooves against the stairs. “Oh, yes. That one! Um… what happened again?”

The guard’s eyes shifted away from Bon and over to Buggy, Trixie, and Mr. 3. “In front of them?”

“Yes,” Bon bluntly replied.

The guard sighed and explained, “Every now and then, a prisoner vanishes. We ensure they can’t use magic, fly, or even move in some cases, yet they just… disappear.”

“That… that’s a good t-trick,” Trixie chattered.

“Quiet!” one of the other guards ordered.

The group remained silent until they came to a stop at a pair of doors at the base of the stairs. Parts of it were frosted over and wisps air blew through its gaps, cutting through everypony’s coats and making them shiver. The guards remained as composed as possible, but even their hair stood up.

“We’re here,” said one of the guards. He looked up at Bon with a tight mouth. “Beware of the timberwolves and…” A harsh blast of wind slammed against the door, producing a sharp unearthly cry. Everypony shuddered at the noise and Trixie hid herself behind Bon. “…The cold, sir.”

With that, the guards went to the sides of the door and pulled against it. A torrent of cold washed over the stairwell, sending a flurry of snow into it. Bon rushed forward while the guards prodded Trixie, Buggy, and Mr. 3 into Level Five.

“Be careful!” All the guards said in unison and then used all the strength to shut the doors as quickly as possible.

Bon’s group stood with snow up to their knees and shivered. Everything was white and blurry around them, until a shape emerged out of it. The group first made out its thorn-like claws that led up to its branch of a leg. A thick trunk made up its torso, while sharp branches traced a spinal curve across its back that ended in a tail of pine needles. Like its claws, the creature’s fangs were thorny and just as sharp. In a sea of white, its eyebrows made of green leaves stood out, as did its equally green eyes that glowed with a sinister light.

“T-timberwolves,” Trixie quivered as more wolves appeared and paced closer to her and the rest of the group.

Buggy grinned at the wolves. “Heh, we solved our cold issue, a bunch of firewood just showed up.”

“T-that won’t w-work,” said Trixie, “they p-put any fire o-out instantly and t-this storm won’t let a f-flame catch.”

“Then get ready to fight!” Bon stomped a hoof into the snow and glared at the wolves. They didn’t seem to notice and continued their advancement. He glanced to his side and noticed nopony there, only six pairs of cuffs and one magical restraint ring. Three lines of track led to three silhouettes that were barely visible in the midst of the storm. “I said ‘fight’ not ‘run!’”

“Screw that!” Buggy yelled back.

“Trixie had enough Timberwolves before getting thrown in here!”

“You’re on your own!” Mr. 3 added.

Meanwhile, the wolves got closer to Bon and growled.

~~~

A pony’s scream mixed in with the wind’s wails. It was punctuated by fits of coughing and pained wheezing. In a cell the screams came from, a collection of prisoners stared down at Luffy. Globs of poison dripped off his body and melted the snow around him while fumes rose off him and kept the other prisoners as far away as they could from him.

“How come we have to watch the new guy die?” one of them complained.

Luffy shifted to his side, producing more screams. With his limbs still elongated tangles, he propped himself up on his knees. The cell’s bars loomed in front of him and caged him off from the rest of Level Five. He grunted and slammed his head into them. They clanged and a small bit of ice dislodged from the impact area, but nothing else changed. He got up again and banged his head into the bars multiple times. After the fifth time, blood started to trickle down the side of his head.

“Stop that,” a prisoner near the center of the cell bellowed. “You're a goner anyway, so die quietly and stop bothering us.”

“I’m… I’m not gonna die!” Luffy shouted. He braced himself to ram the bars again, but his knee slipped and he crashed into the ground. Lying defeated and dying, Luffy defiantly glared at out through the bars. “Not until I’ve rescued Ace!”

The piercing noise rang throughout the Level. Everypony’s ears, except for Luffy’s, perked up and the prisoners huddled a little closer to each other. The center prisoner scowled. “Shut it, before the cold comes! I don’t care who you want to rescue! Here, you only look out for yourself!”

“There’s no help coming!” the prisoner ranted, ignorant of the ice that was rapidly creeping up his legs. All around him, the other prisoners shivered and tried to brush of the ice, but it just continued to spread. “Worrying about others will only get you killed! So stop raving about rescuing someone! It makes me si—”

The end of the prisoner’s tangent was silenced by his head being encased in ice. Frozen, he still wore a scowl and his eyes were filled with an anger that harshly clashed with his predicament. The other prisoners were reaching similar states. The piercing sound was closer now, breathing down the prisoners’ necks. The air around them coalesced into ethereal equine forms. Snow glinted in certain spots to give off the illusion of eyes. The forms raised their heads and made the sound again: a ghostly whinny that shot straight into the prisoners bones and made the ice consume them even faster. The ground near Luffy froze over and the equine monstrosities galloped over him in a macabre circle.

“Mugi-chan!” Outside the cell stood Bon with a ring of keys dangling from his horn. Puncture wounds ran across his carapace and green ichor dripped out of a few of them. His breathing was labored, but he managed to limp over to the cell. “I’ve come to save you!” he huffed. “In the name of friendship!”

The Wendigos' heads bolted upright at Bon’s call and they gave another whinny. It wasn’t the one they sounded as they moved in on a target, but instead a screech. Their forms wavered and spasmed before they flashed past Bon and disappeared into the storm, leaving only the regular cold and their frozen victims behind.

“W-who are y-you?” One of the few prisoners that hadn’t been fully encased asked.

“A friend!” Bon replied. Some of the ice around the prisoner trickled down the ground, allowing him to free his forelegs at least.

~~~

Bon’s legs shook with each step, not from the cold, but from exhaustion. Initially, he’d carried Luffy on his back, but the poison scorched him and the fumes made him too dizzy to walk even more than a few steps before having to stop. Amidst the snow, his leg had caught on something. He wiped the snow away to reveal a long abandoned sled. It was splintery and rusted, but it offered more efficient transportation. He clenched its rope in his teeth and trudged on with Luffy semi-conscious in tow.

Every cell Bon passed, he poked his head in and asked about Iva. Grunts and sneers answered him most of the time. At best, he’d get a flat “no” or “that sounds familiar.” Occasionally, his inquiry would reveal a cell filled with only ice and pony-like ice sculptures, a haunting whinny seemed to echo from those cells and made Bon quickly retreat from them. As his fangs began to freeze to the rope, he reached a cell where the prisoner told him of a strange pony that sometimes appeared from a nearby collection of trees.

As Bon approached the trees, the sound of wood cracking filled the air. Timberwolves emerged from out of the blizzard. Many of them howled at Bon, but after the whinny had stalked him throughout the Level, their noise failed to even make him flinch. He crouched down and readied to fight.

The wolves pounced on him in a wave. His hooves shot out and whipped around, reducing many of the wolves to kindling. The broken pieces of wood would soon rise from the ground and reassemble into new wolves though. They growled and joined the ongoing attack on Bon.

Bon’s breath quickly turned to gasps. His movements slowed and more and more wolves sunk their fangs into his black chitin. One wolf leapt into the air and brought its jaws down on Bon’s head with a sickening crunch.

It then gave a sharp yelp as it felt something chomp into its back. It swerved its head around to see a tan pony sinking its teeth into its wooden coat. The area around the bite smoked, distorted and started to collapse in on itself. The wolf gave another sharp yelped and scurried away.

“What… do you think you’re doing to Bon?” Luffy rasped. He was barely able to stand up on his knees. Even then, his form wobbled and looked like it could topple at any second. His shaky voice and unbalanced body brought out the ferocity in his eyes all the more. They burned with such intensity that all the wolves’ ears perked up and they looked to him in silence. “Beat it!

A sharp blast of pressure went through the area, swaying the nearby trees. All the wolves stood still for a moment and only the sound of the wind could be heard. Then, their legs fell to pieces and the rest of their bodies followed. In a short order, Bon and Luffy found themselves surrounded by a large amount of inanimate wood.

“Mugi-chan… what was…” Bon stuttered. He tried to crawl over to Luffy but he only managed to scrape his hoof against the snow before the rest of his body collapsed into it. Luffy didn’t even say anything and passed out.

In the middle of Level Five’s bleak environment, a splotch of bright orange materialized. Without the snow and wind to obscure it, a pony would have been revealed. Rather, half a pony since only half of it was orange while the other half was pure white and blended in perfectly. Thick glasses that matched its alternating color scheme adorned its face and obscured its eyes. Whatever expression it held was hidden behind the shades as it loomed over Luffy and Bon’s unconscious bodies.

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