The Most Dangerous Situation! Get to the Elements!
“Are you sure it was okay to send Ace out into the city?” Twilight asked.
Celestia kept her eyes forward as the two of them walked down the hallway. “It’s important that Fire Fist learn about Equestrian culture and get used to things here.”
“What if he doesn’t take it well and gets into a fight or something?”
“Trust me, Twilight, I’ve taken the proper precautions to make sure that Fire Fist won’t harm himself or others. It may take a bit of time, but I’m sure he’ll eventually get used to things here.”
Twilight turned her head toward Celestia, lowered it to the ground, and then raised it again. Her walk slowed and her lips quivered a little.
“I… I’m not sure about that,” she said in a low voice.
Celestia came to a stop. “What?”
“I-I mean that of course anypony could culturally assimilate, especially given Equestria’s longstanding history of stable trade and diplomacy with other races like gryphons, zebras, mules, an—” Twilight slapped herself on the face and took a few deep breaths. “I’m saying that I don’t think Ace will be happy until he sees his crew again.”
Celestia hefted her shoulders and sighed. “Twilight, the risk is just too great. You don’t know the kind of fervor and cruelty the World Government has for anything related to the Pirate King. If Fire Fist were to return to his crew, the Government would inevitably find him again and destroy them. That’s not even mentioning the possibility of them realizing Fire Fist’s connection to Equestria. I dare not think about what would happen in that situation.”
Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but Celestia continued.
“I know that keeping Fire Fist here is against his wishes, but I will do everything in my power to make life here tolerable if not enjoyable. Nopony here will condemn him simply for the blood in his veins. I admit he seems a bit rougher than what most ponies are used to, but they’ll accept him. If he wants adventure, there are countless lands to explore. If he wants treasure, there are quite a few trinkets scattered about. If he wants friends, he can find them if he so desires. Perhaps you could even help him do so.”
“And what if he still wants his crew?”
The two of them stared at each other in silence. Twilight stepped closer to Celestia, her neck tense as she kept her eye contact stable.
“Princess, I learn more and more about friendship every day.” Twilight came to a stop inches from Celestia. “Distance, time, and even magic can’t destroy it. I’m not ignorant of the danger Ace currently faces, but it can’t last forever.”
Twilight bowed her head. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but please just think about it.”
“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia reached out and raised Twilight’s head. A warm smile had spread across her face. “Perhaps I’ve just been a little on edge given recent events. I’ll continue to monitor the Government’s actions through my Warlord duties and, should their enmity of Roger finally cool to a reasonable level, then I shall set about plans to see Fire Fist returned to his crew.”
Twilight’s face brightened and she wrapped her hooves around Celestia. “Thank you, Princess! I’m sure Ace will be so happy to hear this!”
“Now just a minute.” Celestia pushed Twilight away with a wing. “I don’t want to give him any false hope. It may still take years for things to reach a point where Fire Fist can go back to his crew. Until then, I’d like for him t—”
A nearby wall exploded, sending debris flying everywhere as a massive ball of black magic slammed into Celestia and sent her flying across the room.
“Princess!” Twilight screamed.
A rumble forced her attention back to where the attack had originated from. Her blood froze at the sight of a horned behemoth advancing through the rubble. He stood taller than most buildings on his four jet black hooves that cracked the ground beneath them. His clawed arms still radiated with magic from his attack, but their sculpted muscle alone looked like it could crush stone in an instant.
At his side was a creature about half his height, but just as imposing. Its forked tongue whipped through the air while its spiked tail rapped against the ground. Its red eyes locked onto Twilight and it snarled, its glistening tusks aimed right for her heart. With incredible speed, it darted across the ground and instantly closed the gap between itself and Twilight.
Before it could strike a blow though, it was yanked back by the chain held in its master’s left hand. It growled, but a glare from its master silenced it. He then turned his pitch eyes on Twilight, his pupils smoldering like coals. The deep laughter he let out at the sight of her shook the room and chilled Twilight to the bone.
“T-tirek,” she stuttered.
“Oh, so ponies do still know me. Well, at least the Princesses’ newest pet does,” he said with a sneer. “Seems my own pet wants to have some fun with you. Ah, this is a problem. I wanted you to be one of the final things I’d cut out of Celestia’s life!”
A concentrated blast of solar energy then smashed into Tirek’s side, sending him to his knees. Gritting his teeth, he glared up at Celestia, now in full armor and horn glowing bright.
“I won’t let that happen,” she said, her voice shaking the room just as Tirek’s had done. She then turned her head to Twilight. “Twilight, retrieve the Elements and then get to Luna’s room. Your friends will be there.”
“Why would they be th—”
“Go!” Celestia shouted.
Twilight nodded and galloped off. Tirek glared at her for a moment then down at his beast. The chain around it loosened before Tirek snapped his fingers and the chain vanished in a puff of smoke. The beast gave a contented growl before it bounded after Twilight.
Alone with Celestia now, Tirek let out another laugh. “You think the Elements in the hooves of that foal will be enough to stop me? Even if they were, they’re useless against devil fruits.”
“I take it that Blackbeard is here as well then,” Celestia calmly said as she kept her horn trained on Tirek. “I’ll be sure to deal with him and seal up whatever hole you used to get here as soon as Twilight and I have finished dealing with you.”
“Ah, Celestia, you haven’t lost a shred of your humor in the past millennium.” The manic grin on Tirek’s face grew wider. “Blackbeard and I will reduce everypony on this island to ash and then sink it into the sea. I’ll keep you imprisoned so you can watch me do the same thing to the next island and the one after that. Maybe after I kill Blackbeard right as he’s about to get whatever treasure or crown he wants, I’ll let you have your rest. Oh and speaking of dear daddy Dis, don’t worry about holding back because of him, I took the time to make sure he just sits back and watches as Equestria burns.”
“I think I’ve heard enough.” Celestia’s horn grew brighter. “You were never one for words anyway, Tirek.”
~~~
Magic arked through the air of the supply depo. Shelves exploded and their contents went flying everywhere. Shining Armor and Blackbeard paced around each other, Shining dodging the smoky tendrils that pooled around Blackbeard’s horn and hooves and Blackbeard avoiding both magic and kicks from Shining.
Nearby, Jinbei ran up to Jesus and spun around to deliver a kick straight to his stomach. Jesus flew backwards and slammed into a some nearby crates.
Free, Ace struggled upwards. Jinbei attempted to help Ace stay balanced, but Ace went into a full gallop and straight for Blackbeard.
“Die!” he screamed as he pulled his right foreleg back and aimed it for Blackbeard’s head.
Blackbeard sneared and smacked Ace’s attack away before bucking him in the stomach. Ace careened across the room and slammed into some shelves. At the same time, Blackbeard summoned a black abyss below him and sent out a barrage of debris at Shining.
Jinbei went into a gallop to help, but didn’t get more than a foot before a hoof connected with his face. It wasn’t enough to launch him off the ground, but it did stagger him for a moment. Jesus wiped off a bit of blood that dribbled from his mouth and grinned.
“Jinbei, that is one hell of a kick you pack.”
Nearby, Spike darted left only for Laffitte to shove his grinning face up to Spike’s. Spike jumped back and spun the other direction. This time, a wing blocked his way and pushed him back.
“This certainly is more fun than dealing with Tirek’s little pet,” Laffitte chuckled. “I think you’d make a nice addition to our ship.”
“S-stay away!” Spike flared out his nostrils and puffed up his breath. “You really don’t wanna see a ticked off dragon!”
“Adora—”
A jet of green flame shot out from Spike’s mouth and heated up the air where Laffitte’s head had been. A swift kick smacked Spike in the back and sent him to the floor. Laffitte pressed his hoof down, forcing a yelp out of Spike.
“Now, why don’t you be a good boy and keep playing games here?” said Laffitte. “Even if you could reach someone for help, it won’t matter. Tirek’s already at the castle.”
The echo of a large explosion resonated through the depo. All the fights paused for a brief moment before Blackbeard let out a deep bellow.
“Zehahaha! Sounds like our newest addition got started on his side of things!”
Ace grunted and pushed the debris off of himself. Shining did the same and both of them glared at Blackbeard. He met them with a grin.
“Ah, I know he’s causing a few problems. To be honest, I don’t think he fits too well on the crew. I’m thinking I might leave him here to do as he pleases.” He widened his grin at Ace. “So that means there’s a fresh spot open for you.”
“Heh, guess I must have hit you hard enough to finally destroy the last bit of sense in your head,” said Ace. “After all you’ve done, I’d rather be stuck here for the rest of my life!”
Ace charged forward and began trading blows with Blackbeard. Blackbeard just swatted them away.
“Okay, Ace, I get why you’re mad at me,” Blackbeard said while continuing to block the attacks. “You did force my hand with that attack back on Banaro Island though. Honestly, I probably would have left you and your brother alone if you’d asked nicely and left it at that. There were plenty of other ways I could’ve become a Warlord. So really, everything after that point is your fa—”
A blast to the back forced Blackbeard to his knees. He glared backwards at Shining before a hoof struck him in the face.
“This isn’t about what I’ve done, Teech,” said Ace. “You killed your own brother. You have no value for friends or family. That’s why I’ll never join you and that’s why I’m going to stop you right here and now!”
“Pops would be so proud,” Blackbeard spat. “Black Vortex!”
Darkness bubbled out of horn and concentrated into a small sphere. The walls and roof groaned while the scattered debris flew off the ground and towards the sphere. Shining charged up his horn to use a spell, but his footing gave way and he was propelled toward the sphere.
Instead of fighting the pull of the vortex, Ace jumped at it. His momentum built up, but just as he got within striking distance, Blackbeard lowered the vortex, pulling Ace and Shining down. They collided with each other and collapsed into a heap.
“You know, Ace, it really does pain me fighting you,” Blackbeard sighed. “I had no choice with Thatch, but I’d rather not waste talent like yours. Think of it Ace, with the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit and the blood of the Roger, you’re destined to be immortalized on my crew!”
“I think he’s made his feeling quite clear on this,” Shining coughed as he pushed off the ground.
Blackbeard delivered a swift kick to Shining’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Shining went to the floor again. This time, he didn’t move to get up.
“Brats shouldn’t stick their noses in other people’s business.” Blackbeard looked down at Ace again as he got to his hooves. “You know, Ace, I’d actually like to get the whole crew back together again as well. We’ll be an even greater crew now that Po—”
“You shut your mouth!” Ace flailed out a hoof that Blackbeard easily blocked.
“Ace, Ace…” Blackbeard shook his head. “You don’t seem to get that I’m looking out for your best interests. Most of my crew just wants the Flame-Flame Fruit, but what good is a Devil Fruit in the hands of a man without dreams or determination? Men like that are rare and are born for greatness. Don’t make me destroy such a man because of some ridiculous pride or whatever.”
“A man without pride, friends, or family could never be great!” Ace saw something glint nearby and jumped back. “That’s why you’ll always be scum, Teach!”
A massive blast of magic punched into Blackbeard’s stomach. He roared in pain as the attack launched him off his hooves and across the room. Lafitte looked up just as Blackbeard bowled into him, knocking him off of Spike. The duo crashed to the ground with Lafitte pinned underneath Blackbeard.
“This is happening a bit too much today, captain,” Lafitte coughed.
“Shut up!”
Blackbeard flopped onto his stomach and gasped for air. Trails of smoke curled up from where he’d been hit. Across the room, Shining shook off some dust that had covered him in the previous attacks.
“That was a strong kick,” he said, “but the Royal Guard is used to that sort of thing.”
“Nice one, Shining!” Spike exclaimed as he rushed over and placed himself behind Shining. “Mind doing that to the rest of these guys?”
“I intend to.” Shining charged up his horn while Blackbeard lumbered upwards. His gaze then shifted to Ace. “Spike, you need to get Ace out of here now though.”
“I think you might need a little backup.”
“Not from him.” Shining stared at Ace’s gritted teeth, but also took note of the way his legs were shaking. “He’s still recovering and whatever history he has with these guys is clouding his fighting.”
“B-but…”
“Spike, I can’t fight at full strength if it means protecting both you and Ace. So I need you to get him someplace safe.”
“Zehahaha,” Blackbeard rasped. He stumbled a bit, the last attack’s aftershocks still offsetting his balance. “There’s no place safe from me. I’ll go where I want and take what is mine. The World Government couldn’t stop me, so what makes you think a bunch of stupid horses can?”
“Because unlike you and the World Government, they actually care about their citizens, regardless of history or bloodlines,” Ace said as he stepped forward. “Ponies don’t see each other as pawns or trash, Teech. Any one of them would make a better king than you.”
It was silent for a moment as Blackbeard lowered and shook his head. He then laughed. It started softly and but quickly grew to a howl that echoed across the depo. Spike shivered and cowered behind Shining’s leg. Everypony else felt their hair stand up a little. Despite laughing like a madman, there was a cold dead look in Blackbeard’s eyes and his body shook as he tightened his muscles.
“Zehahaha! So you think they’d make a better king than me, do you?!” He bent his left foreleg across his chest and twisted to the side. He saw Ace’s pupil’s shrink from the stance and widened his grin. “Well, let’s see how well they deal with a power that can truly conquer the seas!”
A clear bubble of aura materialized around Blackbeard’s left hoof. Unlike his darkness, it didn’t appear hazy, but rather glowed more akin to a regular spell. In a flash, he whipped his leg out and braced for it to strike the air to his side.
In the middle of his swipe though, his leg was met by a piece of cold metal. Glaring down, he saw that Ace had rushed over and blocked the attack with the bracelet around his leg. Blackbeard sneered and jumped back.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking taking up that stance,” said Ace. “But you’re not the only one canceling out powers today, Teech!”
~~~
Twilight careened around a corner. She felt a bit of shattered stone fall on her when the beast clawed around the same corner. She dared not look back when hot rancid breath brushed against her hindlegs. Her pounding heart froze for a moment when something snached up her tail, but he continued running. The was a brief tug on her rear before she pulled free. Shredded and uneven threads of hair now brushed against her flanks.
The grand doors leading to the Elements finally appeared as Twilight rounded another corner. Closing her eyes, she made a mad dash for them and lit up her horn. Purple aura filled the space between the doors and covered their hinges as they slowly pulled opened. Twilight felt the air bend toward her right and ducked. Claws ripped through the space where her body had been.
For the first time since she’d gone into a gallop, Twilight beheld the beast. Its crimson eyes were still locked on where she’d been. Twilight’s horn glowed brighter. She tensed up when the beast lowered its gaze toward the glow. With the same massive leg it had used to swipe at Twilight, it brought down its claws.
A split second swerve to the left saved Twilight’s head and a chunk of her upper body from becoming pulp. The beast’s claws tore through the carpet and dug deep into the stone floor below. As it struggled to free itself, Twilight aimed her horn straight at its gaping maw and struck it point blank with a spell.
Twilight bolted upright and raced toward the door not bothering to see what state the beast was in. The tremor from it bounding across the hall as she reached the doors told her enough. Twilight crouched down and jumped through the gap in the doors before she summoned as much of her magic as possible and slammed the doors shut.
The combined actions distracted her from the rapidly approaching floor. Her left side slammed into the ground, forcing a pained gasp out of her. Adrenaline still filled her veins and she quickly scrambled to her hooves. The vault which held the Elements was right in front of her.
“Okay,” Twilight huffed, “just need to unlock the seal and get the Elements. Then I can teleport to Lu—”
The beast burst through the doors, sending wood and bent mental everywhere. One of its tusks was blown clean off and its left eye was swollen shut, but it still plowed forward. Twilight froze at the sight of it careening through the air straight towards her. Her horn flashed and a barrier flew up in front of her.
The beast smashed through it like wet cardboard. The magical backlash whipped Twilight backwards. Jaws chomped down on where Twilight’s face had had been a second earlier. The backlash wasn’t enough to push Twilight away from the beast’s claws though.
It slammed into her and pinned her to the ground. The room swam around Twilight before she blacked out for a second. Jagged claws digging into her sides brought her back to consciousness. Her head exploded and her body spasmed when she tried to charge up her horn. The beast had gained two afterimages and the floor felt like it was rotating under her.
The beast spewed its decayed breath on her. Combined with the backlash, Twilight was on the verge of losing her breakfast. As the beast glared down at her, its mouth seemed to pull back into a crooked grin. Twilight squirmed under the beast’s grasp but couldn’t move an inch.
“No, no, no!” she whimpered as its grin opened up into a black abyss.
The beast plunged its head down and Twilight closed her eyes. The weight suddenly lifted off her. Trembling like a leaf, she managed to open one eye after a moment. The only thing above her now was the ceiling. She glanced to the left and saw that the beast had been launched across the room and was struggling to get back up. A deep imprint of a hoof pressed into the scales on its right side.
“Don’t just sit on the ground, dear.”
An azure aura washed over Twilight and lifted her upright and set her back on her hooves. Her legs were wobbly though, so she nearly crashed back to the ground, but a jet black hoof reached out and kept her balanced. It felt like an iron bar was holding her up.
Twilight stared down at the hoof and traced it upwards. At its knee, it returned to a familiar marshmallow hue.
Rarity flashed Twilight a smile. “Like the new look?”
Stats
Page generated in 0.04 seconds
Total duration
800 users online
673,827 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Whap bam, whap bam, whap bam boogie.
[evil]Why torch the island and then sink it? Sink it first then you can pick off the high power survivors more easily?[/evil]
Or are these guys too used to enjoying the slap fight above and beyond all else?
Rarity has new shoes, or Nightmarity?
welp.
6684743
I believe the cause of Rarity having a black hoof, is the fact she is using Haki.
Anyway as usual, could use some work on sentence structure and all that. But I'm not going to harp about it.
6684743 Armament Haki. Turns the boosted limb black if it's strong enough.
....omg. Armament Haki... It would've been nice if she got there sooner, but you know Rarity. She just HAS to be fashionably late.
Armament... huh, and here I was expecting Nightmarity to make an appearance... phooey.
Nice that they are back, but it kinda sucks that twilight isn't any better.
I know you wrote it before Tirek was on the new show, but I wish you didn't make Trixie into one of his monsters.
I think she would have made a good member of Buggy's crew. If you are planning to write that far in the One Piece story that is.
I feel this is a bit rushed for Rarity to have mastered armament haki, don't you think?
I know Luffy is kind of a dunce, but he needed some time, at least a few weeks if not months, until he got the armament haki down, the rest of the year was then training with the other hakis, plus general endurence and power training.
The special, or movie whatever, that includes his training with Silver, shows as much how he struggles with hakis, and even though he is already for brute force or fighting, he only got the armament haki, plus the 'Red Hawk', at the end of his hard fight with that one captain, whose name I forgot.
It was also a moment of intense struggle for him during the fight, to awaken his haki. Even if you take the 'movie/special' as none canon, it was still a fitting display of Luffy's difficulties to learn haki.
Now while Rarity has much better focus and fine control then Luffy, she certainly isn't very used, and does not prefer, brute force or physical attacks, rather then throwing something at her enemys. She also avoids fighting since it's not becoming of a lady.
Of course, their situation and training requires to just overlook those exact preferences.
Still, how long have they been in the forest exactly? Because given Rarity's conditioning, she'd have to get used to ruffness, fighting, and brute force, in order to learn, and get the oppertunity to use, armament haki.
That doesn't happen in just one day, or two.
Also, poeple have certain affinities towards haki, in which case rather then learning armament haki fast, I'd say Raritys affinity would be more like the sensory type haki (what's it called again? I only have Mantora stuck in my head from Skypia). Rarity is a finetuned character, with passion to the detail, so it's much more probable that the sensory haki is her thing and easier for her to learn. I am aware that she is skilled in at least self defense (martial arts) to a certain 'sufficient' level, but still.
Pinkie doesn't count to any of these affinities, Pinkie is an amalgamation of all types, she's just random (cheaty little poneh), but surprisingly, or perhaps not, it does make sense that she would have the 'armament haki' on spot, thanks to having lived on a rock farm, with a really strong and obsessive about rocks sister, while her sensory skills are well displayed through her 'Pinkie Sense'.
Again, clever background story for her armament haki.
In any case, given how long they'd spent time in that forest, it may take, or may have taken, each pony a lot of time and even more, to learn all of the hakies.
Therefore, I find less then a week unrealistic for any of them to have learned sufficiently enough about ONE haki, not to mention two (boy, I never thought I would say that about talking pastel colored ponies).
Rarity's surprising display of having learned, I dare not say mastered, armament haki doesn't really fit her overall characteristics and given affinity.
In other words, you'd expect her to DODGE rather then HIT, first.
Alas, it would have been better if Twilight had been saved by Applejack, in example, since it's obviously clear what her haki passion is.
Or you could have sent Pinkie after the poor beast and traumatized it, because haax.
So my question again: "How much time did they spent training?"
I can ASSUME that this here doesn't take place just two days or so after Luna picked up the elements, but unfortunately it is never really said/told by 'mistah narrata' what timespan lies between that day and this one here where they get attacked.
You could easily fix this by writing something like: "A few days later...." or rather "a/two/three week/s later" at the begginning of the previous chapter (you know when Ace's stomach grumbles).
Or mix it up with Ace's sleeping period:
Ace’s stomach grumbled and he stirred from his sleep. A nudge at his side forced open his eyes. Ace stared up at Jinbei and snorted at him. How long has it been since he had dragged him to this room? A week or Two? He wasn't sure. It might as well been a month, for how he felt.
There, something like that would clear out the time the elements spent under Luna in training, at least partially.
At least it gives a general understanding, assurance, or feeling of how much time has passed since they started training (which is something I'm missing here between those chapters).
These three chapters were pretty good with the exception of one thing...Ace. HE was too whiny in this whole thing. "Wahh, I want my crew, I want my crew!!!" kind of ruins his character for me. MAkes him feel rather selfish and like his character wont grow beyond this story that you have set before us. I want to see ome compassion for his little brother, some understanding about his situation, something more than him whining about his crew every five seconds.
Now, I love the character development that Celestia shows here,giving her a chance to grow beyon her badly done characterization so far. his actually helps to show some freaking hhumanity in her.
What??
static.wikia.nocookie.net/roblox-slap-battles/images/0/08/What_badge.png/revision/latest?cb=20221118004733