• Published 5th Apr 2012
  • 22,993 Views, 1,678 Comments

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.

  • ...
77
 1,678
 22,993

PreviousChapters Next
Set Adrift: Chopper's Stuggles and Twilight's Inquiries

It was cold, so cold that it stung. Chopper stared upwards, a pale moon looming over him. It twisted the branches above into dark shadows. He twitched an arm, but the exertion sent him into darkness. It was still night when he regained consciousness and still cold. The smell of burnt fur and scorched flesh assaulted his nose. He managed to glance at his arm and watched bits of fur flake off like ash. Unconsciousness took him again.

The sound of something hitting the ground awoke him. There was a gasp, more of the same thing rebounding against the dirt, and a sharp tug. Darkness began to take Chopper again, but just before he fell into oblivion, a slight warmth replaced the cold.

~~~

“Racoon dog… shorts…” There was a series of coughs. “... and horns. Oh, this is already making me feel better.”

With his hearing slowly returning, Chopper opened his eyes. Wooden walls filled to the brim with miniature houses and hovels stood in place of trees. Moving his eyes down, he saw that his body rested on a plush white bed that blended in with the bandages covering most of his body.

“Oh look,” someone wheezed. “My roommate is up.”

The voice sent goosebumps up Chopper’s arms. He looked in its direction and was met with a large shimmering pink bubble. Two sickly eyes stared back at him from within the sphere, sunken deeply into the sockets of a serpentine creature with various animal limbs sticking out of him and two distinctly different horns jabbing out of his head. The only uniform part about the bizarre thing was the sweat soaking his pale body.

“Discord, be nice,” said a new voice.

Chopper’s attention went over to the left side of the room. Hovering in the air was a winged horse the same complexion as the cooling yellow walls of the house. Her pink mane swayed back and forth, moving along to the small flaps of her wings. A platter rested in her hooves with two steaming bowls of what looked like soup, a glass with some hot liquid in it, and a cup filled with a milkshake-like mixture.

“Discord” extended out a bear claw while the pegasus slid one of the bowls and the glass through a thick tube that ran through to the center of the bubble. The two items pressed against the shimmering membrane for a brief moment and then popped out they other side. Discord took them, sighed, and raised a quivering spoonful of soup up to his elongated snout. The spoon slurped into his mouth like it was made of water while the soup splashed onto Discord’s yellowed coat.

“Oh dear,” the pegasus muttered. “Maybe a straw would be better?”

“No, no, hold on a moment,” Discord said, waving his paw.

He raised up an eagle claw and furrowed his brow while bringing two of the talons together. With a cough, he managed to snap them and a ludicrously long black and white striped straw appeared over his soup, looping and curling in all directions, spiraling around Discord’s head and arms and eventually ending near his mouth. He inched his snout forward to clasp the straw, but eyes suddenly appeared on the end and it split apart and bit him on the lip. With a scowl, he snapped his fingers again, dispersing the snake-straw into a puff of smoke. He let out a phlegmy cough and fell back on his bed.

With a tired look, he glanced over at Fluttershy. “If you have the little bendy ones. Oh, and those funny little umbrellas.”

“I’ll get them right after I check on our new patient.”

The pegasus hovered back from the quarantine bubble and over to Chopper’s bed. With a smile, she set the tray of food down on a small stand and peered down at Chopper.

“Hey there, little guy,” she said, voice barely above a whisper. “I’m so happy you’re up. We were starting to get worried. Does anything still hurt?”

Chopper turned his head down and flexed a few muscles. Everything carried a bit of a sting to it, but it was nowhere near to making him pass out. Remembering his last conscious moments, he reevaluated the bandages covering his body and the sensation of his skin beneath them.

“Not enough to be critical,” he said, eyes still on his injuries.

It hurt a little more to grab the blankets. He moved to get them off, but a yellow hoof stopped him. The pegasus gave him a small shake of the head.

“Well, I’m really glad you can talk…” The pegasus’s smile widened to an uncomfortable length. “But Doctor Fluttershy says you need a few more days of rest.”

“A few more days?” Chopper stared down at the bandages again. “But burns of this magnitude should take weeks. How long was I out?”

“Just…” Fluttershy backed up a bit at the volume of the question. “Just a few days. I mean, I asked Twilight for help since it was an emergency and I haven’t dealt with burns that much and I… I’m sorry, I’m just talking about me. You’re the patient. Everything feels fine? Bandages not too tight? Not feeling itchy anywhere?”

“No,” Chopper replied. “You said you were a doctor, right? What sort of medicine can heal someone this fast?”

“Well, Zecora showed me a lot of herbal remedies that really help.” A small blush crept onto Fluttershy’s face. “Oh, but I’m not a real doctor. I just try and help my animal friends as much as I can. It was really hard with you though since I didn’t know that much about racoon dogs.”

“I’m not a racoon dog.” Chopper pointed a cloven hoof to his horns. “I’m a reindeer, se—”

He paused when he felt the empty space in between his horns. His eyes widened as he tapped a hoof against his head. A bit of sweat formed along his forehead.

“My hat,” he said. “Where’s my hat?”

“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy lowered her head. “If I’d known you were going to get up, I would have gotten it from Rarity.”

“It’s fine?” Chopper asked, some of the tension leaving his face.

“Yes, it was in pretty bad shape when I found you, but luckily Rarity was able to fix it up… after she stopped fainting looking at it.”

“Thank you,” Chopper sniffled. “It’s really important.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help.” Fluttershy pushed the tray of food a little closer to the bed. “Now, why don’t you eat up while I go get Discord his things?” She pressed her face a little closer to his. “Oh, and then when you’re done, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to hear about reindeers. I’ve never seen one before and none of the books said they could talk. This is just so exciting!”

She backed away and coughed into her hoof while straightening out her face. “I’ll, uh, be right back.”

She floated out of the room, leaving Chopper with Discord. He reached out a hoof and grabbed the drink first, the cooling sensation of it feeling incredibly relieving on his throat. Setting the cup down, he moved to get the soup, but a small chuckle stopped him. He glanced up to see Discord looking at him with a smirk.

“My, my, aren’t you a strange pet,” Discord mused before hacking into his bear paw.

“I’m not a pet,” Chopper said, feeling goosebumps on his arms again.

“Really?”

Discord reached behind his back and pulled out a small scrap of paper. Chopper’s own silly face with his tongue wagging out as he eyed at tuft of cotton candy stared back at Chopper. Discord chuckled and summoned a pair of oversized glasses to his face.

“This cold must be making me delirious then since it clearly says ‘pet’ and that you’re worth fifty berris. Not that that matters much here. I do like the whole ‘cotton candy lover’ thing though.”

“I’m worth more than fifty berris.” Chopper bowed his head and groaned. “I’m a real pirate, I swear.”

“Oh, are you now?” Discord’s grin widened. “My, Fluttershy seems to have a thing with associating with all sorts of rogues.” He hefted his shoulders. “Now, if only all of you were here, then I could really have some fun.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, so many things. From one purveyor of chaos to another, your little crew has my compliments. Just thinking about all the stunts your captain pulled at Marineford makes me feel better. Maybe I’ll disguise some of the news as a bedtime story for Fluttershy to tell me.”

“Wait.” Chopper’s pupils shrank a little. “That’s the headquarters of the Navy. Luffy couldn’t have gone there alone.”

“Oh, but he did,” Discord chucked. “Hmmm, I suppose a bunch of the most heinous and vile criminals aiding him doesn’t count as ‘alone’ though.”

Discord wiped away a tear from his eye, only for the drop of water to turn into a red throbbing welt on his bear paw. His melancholic look dissolved into a scowl for a brief moment while he grabbed a bottle and dowsed the new affliction in a pink syrupy substance. He then sank back down to his bed, propping himself on the various multihued and abstract pillows.

“It really does me proud to see that people like your captain still exist to cause so much disorder,” Discord continued before he pulled out a stack of newspapers. “That’s not even getting into the really juicy stuff.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A bit of sweat trickled down Chopper’s face. He tried to push off the bed, but the stinging sensation multiplied, making his vision swim. With a huff, he gently lowered himself back down onto the pillows.

“Is Luffy still okay?” he asked after catching his breath. “What about the rest of my crew?”

“Ah-ah-ah.” Discord wagged a finger at him. “That’d be spoiling on the fun.”

He crumpled the newspapers inward, turning them into large paper birds that swirled around his head before dive bombing his ears and disappearing into them. He scrunched up his face and let out a few deep coughs.

“Chaos and colds do not mix well,” he grumbled before a toothy grin returned to his face. “Now, I can’t just tell you everything that happened all at once. You’d probably do some big ‘That’s impossible!’ deal and worry Fluttershy. Besides, I think we can both help each other out. You probably want to get back to your friends and I want to get better. So how about we make a deal?”

“What sort of deal?”

“Nothing much, just helping me get back on my feet.” Discord glanced down at his hindlegs. “Er, claw and hoof. Oh, and keep quiet about your whole pirate thing. There are some ponies that think you’re a bad influence. For now though, we both need to rest, even if it’s a complete bore.”

~~~

Fluttershy came back a little later, awaking Chopper from his nap. She lightly flapped into the room, hovering just over the floorboards. Dangling from one of her foreleg was a bag filled with colorful straws bent in various directions and tiny drink umbrellas. In the other was a second bag, this one sealed and almost as big as Chopper. Yet, despite the weight, Fluttershy only appeared to be breathing a little heavily.

She hefted the second bag down next to a door and reached around to the saddlebags on her back. A purple glow surrounded them and caused her to pause. Encased in the same lavender aura, a key flew out of the bag and into the door’s keyhole.

“Here, let me get that.”

A new pony trotted into the room, her horn glistening the same color as the key and the bags. Like Fluttershy, she also had wings on her back, but chose to walk instead. Chopper watched with wide eyes as the key withdrew itself from the door and slid back into Fluttershy’s possession.

“Thank you, Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured. “You didn’t have too.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Twilight replied.

Her head then twisted over to Chopper, a wide smile spreading across her face. Galloping over, she stopped at the foot of the bed, but craned her neck to get a little closer to him. Chopper glanced down under her gaze, draping the covers over his shoulder while exposing the rest of his body.

“Fascinating,” Twilight remarked. “A homogenous mixture of deer and primate characteristics. You wouldn’t happen to be an undiscovered species of racoon dog, would you?”

“I’m not a racoon dog!” Chopper pulled the covers tighter over his shoulder. “I’m a reindeer.”

“Twilight…” Fluttershy moved over to the bed. “I told you, he doesn’t like being called that.”

“I…” Twilight paused and shook her head. She inhaled deeply and extended out a hoof to Chopper. “Sorry about that. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m glad to see that the burn heal spell worked as well as it did.”

“Right…” Chopper looked up at Twilight. “Wait, when you say ‘spell’ was that also the thing you horn was doing?”

“Yes, again, very pleased that it worked successfully. I was a tiny bit worried you might turn into a giant callus.” Twilight let out a strained chuckle. “Anyway, I wanted to check in on you. There’s so many questions I have… provided that’s okay with Fluttershy.”

“A little time with others is good medicine too.” Fluttershy scooped up the now-empty utensils by Chopper’s bed. “It really helped me and Rainbow Dash become friends.”

Balancing the bowl and cup on her back, she trotted out of the room. Twilight and Chopper watched her leave and both jumped at a loud cacophony that sounded like a cat being squeezed through a sink disposal. They both stared at Discord, still fast asleep, the horrific noise clawing out of his mouth and slipping past the massive snot bubble that dangled from his nose. Twilight shot him a glare and the chaotic snoring came to an end.

“What exactly is he?” Chopper asked. “I mean, unicorns and pegasi are a bit odd, but he doesn’t even look like something actually alive.”

“I sometimes wonder,” Twilight grumbled before bringing her head closer to Chopper’s. “He’s a draconequus, so he’s a hodgepodge of all sorts of creatures with all their powers. At least he’s sick for now, so he can’t cause too much trouble. Just be careful, if you’re lucky, he’ll just try to play some mean tricks on you.”

“Hmmm.” Chopper gazed at Discord for a moment, the snot bubble growing or shrinking with his breaths. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, these spells you’ve mentioned… is there any way to replicate them without a horn?”

Twilight blinked. “What makes you ask that?”

“To heal someone with my degree of injury in just a few days is incredible. If I could learn skills like that, maybe…” Chopper trailed off and lowered his head. “Maybe I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Twilight frowned a little. “I don’t quite follow.”

“It’s a really long story.” Chopper looked up and offered Twilight a small grin. “It’ll be okay. As soon as I’m better, I’ll be on my way.”

“Well, hopefully I can learn more about your species before then.” Twilight flashed him a smile. “Perhaps in exchange for a small zoological study, I could give you some medicine books and introduce you to a zebra friend of mine.”

“Zebra?”

“Yes. Actually, Fluttershy and I got some help from her in taking care of you and Discord. I’m still amazed that she can make potions with no aftertaste, even I can’t manage that.” Twilight stared at Chopper with a gleam in her eyes. “So, you’re a kind of reindeer, yet all the books I’ve seen have listed your taxonomic family as quadrupedal. That’s quite a distinction.”

“I did walk on all four hooves, but then I ate the Huma—” Chopper paused at the sight of Discord miming behind Twilight. He pulled a talon across his lips turning them into a sealed zipper. “A, uh, special fruit.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A fruit? I don’t quite follow. You’re saying a fruit is responsible for you being bipedal?”

“Maybe it’d be easier if I showed you.”

Chopper took a deep breath and shifted his body around. His horns elongated and his limbs stretched out while the fur on his chest up to head thickened. It stung a little as his torso grew out along the bed, going from a rotund shape to a streamlined form slightly slimmer than Twilight’s build.

“Oh my stars!” Twilight exclaimed, drawing her head closer to Chopper. “A non-magical transformation ability. How wonderful! You have to tell me how it works!”

“I, uh, did.” Chopper looked over Twilight’s shoulder to see Discord bobbing his head up and down, his snout somehow compressing down enough to sink into a tiny glass of water. “It’s a devil fruit.”

Discord gave a small chuckle. Twilight spun around and was met with him peacefully sleeping. She turned her attention back to Chopper.

“Devil Fruit.” She pursed her lips. “Sounds like something out of the Everfree, but it appears you’ve had its… abilities for a while. So, it can shift you between a natural reindeer form and that other shape?”

“Yeah.” Chopper looked down at his elongated legs. “Actually, there’s something I need to check.”

Taking a breath, he shifted his body again. The fur and his chest thinned and lightened in color to match the rest of his coat while hair on his head lengthened into a brown cropped mane that hid his shrinking antlers as they receded into his skull. The fur of his tail grew out enough for it to swish back in forth. There were four small pops when his hooves rounded out and keratin filled the cloven gaps in them. Finally, a section of his flanks gained a pinkish hue where a half-filled beaker and some cherry blossom’s appeared.

“Incredible,” Twilight gasped. “It even gives you a cutie mark.”

“A what?” Chopper glanced down at his flanks. “This thing?”

“Looks like we’ll need to compare some notes.” Her horn lit up and a stack of blank papers coupled with some writing materials popped into existence and floated over to the stand by Chopper’s bed. “I can write for both of us if it’s too difficult.”

~~~

The sun was beginning to set by the Twilight got off the stool she’d hauled over to the bedside. Both her and Chopper’s jaws were sore and each of them had bundles of filled pages at their sides. Sketches of pony and reindeer anatomy dotted them alongside rough pictures of fruit and vials of medicine. Twilight lifted them up into the air and divided them into two halves, floating the larger stack onto her back and leaving the other one besides Chopper.

“This has all be very informative,” she said with a smile. “We could really make some amazing scientific breakthroughs with everything you’ve told me.”

“I can say the same,” Chopper replied before taking a sip of the medicinal juice Fluttershy had brought in a few minutes ago. “All the plants and cures you listed could be indispensable for future doctors.”

“Well, I’ll let you rest now.”

Twilight turned and trotted over to Discord’s quarantine bubble. Fluttershy sat next to it, one of her hooves extended into the tube and giving the congested draconequus a back rub.

“I think I’ve spent enough time here, and Spike’s probably getting tired of working the library alone. You’re okay?”

“Oh, definitely,” Fluttershy replied. “Having everyone awake makes taking care of them so much easier.”

“Okay then.” Twilight trotted over to the door and opened it, briefly glancing back at the room. “Thank you all for everything. Chopper, I hope your recovery goes well.” She furrowed her brow. “You too, Discord.”

~~~

The walk back to the library breezed by Twilight, aided by the skip in her step. A giddy grin was plastered across her face. The thought of corroborating all the new notes she’d gained today with the research she’d gathered back at the library made her wings twitch upwards with each step. Eliminating debunked hypothesis, correcting earlier observations, and getting closer to a complete paper filled her with energy. That wasn’t even getting into what she could now say about the physical evidence.

Twilight skidded to a stop, banging her head into the library’s door. She rubbed it and let out a groan.

“Twilight?” Spike opened up the door. “Was the weird monkey-dog thing that disappointing? Was it just one of Discord’s tricks?”

“No.” Twilight swung her head low and shuffled inside.“He was very informative, quite smart but a little excitable. Kind of reminds me of a certain assistant I know.”

“Aw, come on, Twilight” Spike bowed his head to try and hide the blush on his face. “So, what was with the melodrama earlier?”

Twilight marched over to a table to the side of the main room. It was covered in notes, sketches, beakers, and all other manner of scientific instruments. Many depicted Chopper and highlighted various aspects of his anatomy while others contained long lists of chemical equations. In the center of all the research, resting in a petri dish, was an orange sphere about the size of a golfball.

“This.” Twilight pointed at the ball. “I was so caught up in just talking with him, that I forgot to even ask about it.”

“Couldn’t you just ask tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Twilight fidgeted a little starting at the ball. “But I want to know now! There’s so many ingredients in it that I don’t even recognize. We’ve only got two left and I haven’t seen it have any effect on control groups at all.”

“Why don’t you just try it then?”

“Spike.” Twilight shot him a look. “You can’t just eat something and hope for the best. Remember what happened when Apple Bloom tried that?”

Spike chuckled a little, but stopped when Twilight glared at him. He hefted up his shoulders and sighed. Turning away, he walked over to the stairs and began ascending them.

“I still don’t think it could be that bad,” he said at the top of the stairs. “Especially given some of our past experiments.”

He slipped off to the bedroom, leaving Twilight alone. She looked back at the tiny sphere and then down at the ground. A massive star was still burned into ground, albeit a bit faded. Staring at it sent a chill down her spine. She gave her head a shake and turned her attention to the rest of the library. She smiled seeing the neat shelves, clean desks, and only a small stack of books that needed to be reordered.

Just as she took a step over to the return stack, the front door burst open. A shower of confetti and streamers paved Pinkie Pie’s entrance as she waddled in. On her back rested a large bag, filled to the brim with Celestia-knows-what. Despite the hefty size and the sweat on her brow, Pinkie wore a smile on her face. Taking a few more steps into the library, she bounced the bag off her back and it landed on the ground next to her with a squeak rather than a thud.

“Pinkie!” Twilight leapt over to her. “Glad to see you’re back. How was your trip? Your parents were well?”

“Rock solid!” Pinkie said, giving the bag a smack to produce a drum beat. “It was a really great time, but…” A loud growl erupted from Pinkie’s stomach. She blushed and placed a hoof over it. “I’m a bit hungry.”

“Well, Spike’s usually the one that cooks, but I ca—”

Twilight stopped, watching Pinkie’s eyes widen and hone in on a something behind her. A bit of drool dripped down her face and she bent her knees, ready to pounce. Twilight dared to glance back and realized her work desk was right behind her.

“Jawbreaker!” Pinkie yelled and dove for the desk.

“Pinkie, no!”

A bolt of magic raced out of Twilight’s horn and covered Pinkie just as she brought her teeth down on the sphere. The crunch echoed across the room. With a paling face, Twilight rushed over to Pinkie while keeping her held in place with a spell.

“Pinkie! That was research!” she moaned. “I don’t even know what that could do to you!”

“But you made it…” Pinkie looked down to avoid Twilight’s glare. “Right?”

“Guh!” Twilight placed a hoof against her head. “It’s too long of a story to explain now.”

“Would it help if I said you should make it less chalky?” Pinkie flashed Twilight a sheepish grin.

Twilight hefted her shoulders and sighed, planting her eyes on the ground. The magic around Pinkie dispersed and she fell the ground. Picking herself up, she slowly moved over to Twilight and reached out a hoof to her.

“I’m super duper sorry, Twilight. I’ll be sure to make it up to you. Free muffins from Sugarcube Corner for week. That sound okay?”

“It’s fine.” Twilight lifted her head up. “I’ve got a few more samples an—”

Twilight’s jaw slackened. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Concerned, Pinkie shifted her head to the side, loosening a curl from her puffy mane. She glanced up and was met with strands of shimmering yellow hair.

“Huh?”

“Pinkie!” Twilight yelped. “Oh my stars! I need to take notes! Tell me everything you’re feeling right now!”

“Uh…” Pinkie brought a hoof up to her now-blond mane, but jumped back when it pink fur was overtaken by white. “A little bitty worried.”

She let out a small cry and lept into the air. With her whole body rapidly turning white, she rushed over to shelf and started rubbing her back against it. Twilight followed after her.

“Pinkie, what’s wrong?”

“Itchy!” She drove her back against shelf, moving like a blur until she came to a sudden stop and fell to the ground with a sigh. “Ah, that’s much better.”

Twilight stared in silence. Jutting out of Pinkie’s back were two fully formed pegasus wings, their feathers slightly ruffled by the impromptu use of the bookshelf as a backscratcher.

“My back still feels kinda weird though, like I’ve got extra legs or…” One wings drifted forward and into Pinkie’s view. A massive smile spread across her face and she jumped up, hovering in the air for a brief moment before crashing down. “Wings! I got wings! How weird is that!?”

Twilight gave her head a shake and trotted over to Pinkie. “It’s up there with the other non-Discord moments. Full pony type shift and coloration change… does anything else feel different?”

“Well…” Pinkie screwed her vision for a moment, sticking out her tongue. “It feels really nice being so light after carrying all that stuff. I’m probably gonna be super tired though, what with all the neat sciencey tests we’ll have to do. Snuggling up in under the fuzzy covers is gonna be grea—”

The rest of Pinkie’s speech was drowned about by her fur exploding outwards and turning pink once more along with her mane. Twilight tried to leap out of the way, but the fur surged forward and swallowed her up, eventually stopping when it took over a few feet of space. The only signs the massive ball of hair had once been a pony were the four sets of hooves on the ground and Pinkie’s face, which poked out of the fluff. She glanced up and saw that Twilight’s head also stuck out and stared down at her with a mixture of confusion and slight annoyance.

“Wow!” she giggled. “Who needs a bed when you’re this fluffy?”

Author's Note:

Note: Chopper's Set Adrift is going to be comprised of three parts as I felt putting everything together in one chapter would be too disjointed. Also, really kicking myself for not going with this angle from the start, but when I originally tried it with Fluttershy, there was way too much exposition. Hopefully, there wasn't that much in this version.

PreviousChapters Next