Pony Piece: Yonko Journey

by Theblondeknight

4) To be a Captain: Twilight's Role: The Equestrian Pirates Arrive!!

As often happened in New World afternoons, the weather's steady calm up till this point had been suddenly killed off, and a stormy complexion fell on the skies. Darks clouds and angry winds mounted together, the waves rose sharper and louder than before. It was not long before rain found itself descending upon the endless oceans, and all the ships sailing through it; islands also felt these changes, but Marine Grand Line Sixth Branch HQ, G-6, was twice as unnerved today as the base was ordered into lockdown.

The alarm rang through the storm as sailors fled into the confines of the base, scattering into pre-assigned and memorized positions. Less than a minute had passed before everyone was inside, except for the four men posted in the guard tower overlooking the base. They had locked the door at the foot of the tower, grabbed their weapons close, and kept the two cannons trained on the slope leading towards the base.

"What is it this time? Not another drill I hope...third one this week," the highest ranked among them muttered.

"No. Look, you can see the ship already. Cipher Pol strikes again," commented the third in the chain.

"Whoa, I've never seen CP agents before," the youngest and newest addition to the watchtower revealed.

Sure enough, agents of the second cell of Cipher Pol, CP-2, gathered on the deck of a plain ship, small but capable, and awaited its docking. In their midst was a large chest, which they surrounded, but did not look at or touch until it was time to move. As they strode down the gangplank, one of the marines in the tower dared observe them through a spyglass. He immediately dropped it and backed into the wall.

"What it it? What's going on!?" The senior soldier demanded.

"I-It....it's not a chest...."

"Wha? What do you mean?"

"It's a-a...casket."

Every man's brow began to sweat as that revelation sank in, and the man controlling the cannons kept the barrels trained on the small and silent envoy. It didn't matter whose side they were on, what their mission was, or if they even acknowledged your existence, Cipher Pol was bad news any day of the week.

"They've been bringing bodies here all this time?" The second in command pondered aloud.

"Perhaps...doesn't change our job though. Keep the cannons on their path..." The commander ordered, then began to rub his knuckles with great force, shaking them back to life whenever he went too far. All were silent as the intelligence agents in their black cloaks and hoods strode along the path. They were always in sync with one another, not a hair was out of place. It was unnatural, and they all shared a sense of being watched.

When the CP-2 agents rounded the hill and began heading towards the tower and the base behind it, one of the men broke off from his formation and raised a transponder snail.

"Watchtower. Come in."

"Y-Y-Yes? What is it? What's wrong?" The commander replied, swiftly taking possession of their snail from the second who was sitting at the communications desk.

"Please send word to First Wave channels in the vicinity: Revolutionary Commander Hikao has been neutralized. Our means was damaged in the commotion."

"Yes. At once."

"And relay this information to Control, and Control alone: 'Righteous Thief' has confirmed the reports from G-5. Awaiting orders.

"Righteous Thief, confirmed report, awaiting orders...got it."

"Very good watchtower. Not a word to anyone but Control."

The marine commander did not both give response, the CP-2 agent had already switched off his snail and trailed after his fellows, who were almost within the base's vicinity. He managed to catch up shortly before they all went down the restricted stair case, where not even the base commander had dared venture. Try as they might, the marines in the tower did not so much as get a brief glimpse as to what was beneath those stairs, and the iron doors closed on the Cipher Pol agents again without another word; they were left again to the emptiness of the rain and the hollow ringing of orders.

They relayed the first message with some pride; a revolutionary army high up had been killed. The glad confirmation from their peers was expected. The second order, the coded information to Control, they relayed without the slightest clue of its true meaning. Who was 'Righteous Thief', and what had their brothers in G-5 reported? They didn't know who inside Control was even hearing their message, much less what it meant. To them, it was just another mystery in the veil of Cipher Pol's shadow.

---

"Ah, awake at last," Shanks greeted Twilight as she joined him with Fluttershy and a man called Benn Beckman, who she had just learned was the first mate.

"I...look, I don't know exactly what happened back in the cove, but..."

"That's alright. There's a lot to explain. Please, sit down and grab a drink!" Shanks offered, his machiavellian smile returned once more to his face, and this time, there was less danger in it. It was more comforting, though Twilight was still very wary of this particular pirate captain.

With some hesitation, Twilight joined Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Benn Beckman in a circle with Shanks, lounging on the warm sand and basking in the afternoon's glow. It was a far cry from what this strange world had offered them thus far. It was a paradise in comparison, Twilight thought, but that was no reason to drop her guard. Paranoia was part of her job if it meant keeping everypony safe.

"I trust that none of my crew were hurt in that confrontation then?" Twilight asked, playing off that last thought to open their talks.

"Of course not. It was all a test. A measure of your power," Shanks explained, handing bottles of various sizes to his first mate and the trio of ponies. Fluttershy and Twilight hesitated, but took them, the others drank readily, "Those who aren't with us are back at that same cove, just a little ways west of here."

"Applejack and Rarity and overseeing repairs, like we talked about," Fluttershy confirmed.

"But why do all this? What interest do you have in us?" Twilight countered.

Shanks took a moment to down several gulps, and smacking his lips together in salute of the drink, he began to stare dreamily over the water, "Well, you might say that your mission goes hand in hand with mine, but that's leaving out an important piece of history."

"What kind of missions do pirates go on?" Pinkie asked with some very Pinkie Pie-ish airy-ness in her voice, "don't they just hunt for treasure all day and run away from the World Government?"

Shanks laughed, and even Benn Beckman smirked at the comment, "There's more to it than that. In this era, many pirates are after a legendary treasure hidden in these waters, but personally, I couldn't care less about it."

No one spoke, and perhaps Shanks was expecting this, for he went on, "I'm just out to enjoy the world, see exciting things and live the life I've made for myself. There's no ambition for gold and glory in my heart. But there are times when a man has to put off his fun. When I was young, I was introduced to a power struggle that very few people of this world know about. Most of them are so preoccupied with their many whims they don't take the time to consider anything of greater importance. But this power struggle, from what I do know of it, has the potential to change the world in many ways...even to utterly destroy it."

Twilight had gotten so sucked into Shanks' words that she almost let the bottle fall into the sand, and having regained for focus, posed her first question, "How could you be aware of our mission?"

"It all ties into that history I mentioned. When I was a cabin boy, my crew crossed paths with a powerful creature from your lands. From Equestria. We made an agreement then, that this power struggle we were made aware of would be attended to no matter what. Truth be told, I don't know any specifics, I wasn't in attendance for much of the meeting between our Captain and the Equestrian emissary, but I know what I have to do in order to keep that promise."

Twilight couldn't help but ask the burning question on her mind, "That emissary from our lands...it wouldn't happen to have been another Princess? Princess Celestia, perhaps?"

Shanks did not give immediate answer, and soon looked as though his memories of the events were clouded. Twilight wondered if that information was sensitive somehow, but if there was some hidden history behind the two of them, it would add a few things up. It really wasn't like Princess Celestia to send them out without any clear idea as to the nature of their task; at last, Shanks responded, "No. It wasn't a Princess, but the emissary did mention that the next Equestrian we met would be a Princess."

"So your mission....is to help us in ours. They're both tied into this power struggle, and we're looking to reach the same outcome, I take it?"

"Yes. I don't know many details, fragments only in fact, but I've inherited this knowledge from my seniors. Your mission, whatever it is, is of great importance to this world's ending. How fortunate that I was able to read the signs of your coming and find you before anyone else, aside from the single Marine ship you encountered two days ago."

Twilight was shocked by the news that once again she had been incapacitated far longer than she thought, but the story Shanks told was keeping her perspectives in order, and she spoke up again, "I can't discern any lies coming from you, so you've come to help us after all, and you're not looking to force us to join your crew."

It was an outright acknowledgement (and gratitude, really) of the situation, and Shanks seemed to understand it well.

"No. I apologize for the act in the cove, but I had to be sure with my own eyes that you were who you said. But I believe now. I believe that your mission and mine go hand in hand, and that you are a Princess. I won't ask you to join my crew, but I will offer you an alliance. Your crew and mine, working together to achieve our goals."

This sounded like the closest thing to a friend they were going to get to Twilight, and Shanks didn't seem like a bad choice for a friend. Not in the realm of power and influence anyways, though she had to admit the fondness of his character was rising now that things were clearing up. As though he was reading her mind, he spoke again.

"When your existence becomes common knowledge, you'll make lots of enemies. I will give my all to see your mission succeed, because in your failure lies my own. Even if the nature of this power struggle stays hidden, which I can't guarantee it will, your uniqueness and special talents will draw the attention of many....Warlords, Revolutionaries, the World Government....and everyone in between. You will face monsters you can't fathom right now. But I will lead my own crew beside yours, and together, we won't be stopped."

To him, that sounded very much like something Roger might say. Shanks smiled a little wider outwardly, more so inside.

The reassurance was beaming like the sunset, and Twilight scolded herself for not thinking on it at least a little more before she spoke up with a slight shake in her voice, "Alright. If you swear to help us and fight with us, then I swear we will do the same."

Shanks laughed merrily, and extended his hand for a shake. Twilight hesitated for a second, but then quickly moved her hoof to join it. They grasped hold of one another, and Shanks spoke first.

"The Red Hair Pirates will fight through fear of pain, loss, and death to aid the..." He trailed off and gave Twilight a questioning look, and she hastily named her own crew.

"The Equestrian Pirates."

"The Equestrian Pirates," Shanks parroted, "in whatever they have to do and face to achieve their goals."

He waited for Twilight to speak; not being familiar with the customs, she put something together quickly and emulated what he said as best she could, but if it was incorrect, he didn't seem to be bothered at all by it.

"And I swear, as Captain of the Equestrian Pirates, that we will aid the Red Hair Pirates in our mutual goals, through pain, loss, and death."

"Then we have an agreement!" Shanks exclaimed happily, breaking their hold and raising the half drained bottle to his lips, polishing it off in one, large chug. Twilight couldn't help but join in on the excitement as she noticed that all the pirates, pony and otherwise, had observed their pact, and had let out cheers of their own.

It was fascinating. None of them seemed to mind. From her own perspective, this didn't make any sense at all, but Twilight had only caught the bad glimpse from the cavern. It seemed the Red Hair Pirates were not only ideal companions, but as fun loving and free spirited as any pony in Equestria. The sense of normality in their coming together was just beginning to sink in, and Twilight let herself get fully swept up in it all, and brought the bottle handed to her earlier to her own face, taking a few good mouthfuls before coughing violently.

Embarrassing as it was, it only lightened the mood and raised the collective spirits more, and she soon ignored it, though made sure to place the bottle down out of easy reach. Already, details were popping up into her head. Shanks had a first mate...why didn't Twilight? Then again, how could she pick between her six best friends and closest companions? What about their mission?? Shanks seemed easy going and light hearted, but how would he take the idea that the ponies had no real idea of what their goal was? The scroll Celestia gave to them was blank when they departed, but even now it hadn't shown them any solid leads. Or at least, it hadn't two days ago. Perhaps their battle and agreement had furthered their journey. Later, Twilight would look into it.

---

"First things first," Shanks said as he walked through the galley of the Crepuscular Star with Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Benn Beckman, "we need to update this map. I'll have one sent over."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Any information about the New World will prove helpful," Rarity replied, accepting a glass from the tray Pinkie had approached with.

"We'll be sending you quite a lot of information. If you guys aren't up to speed quickly, it'll drag us all down," Beckman spoke up, "there are lots of things to learn about these waters."

"If there's one thing you don't have to worry about, it's Twilight's ability to study lots of information very quickly," Rainbow assured, taking her own drink after Shanks and Twilight.

"Also of importance is raising your fighting ability," Beckman told them, not necessarily scolding them, but seemingly aware of how badly they had been defeated by his captain.

"Yeah, you were a bit pitiful earlier," Shanks jested.

"Hey, that fight was rigged!" Rainbow Dash shot back in defense.

"Da ha ha ha ha, you lost pretty bad!" Shanks joked again.

"Oh come on, you know it wasn't fair!" Rainbow continued.

"Da ha ha ha ha! Don't worry, we'll toughen you up quickly," Shanks continued.

Before Rainbow could respond again, Twilight broke in, "No, he's right. We're not up to par...not yet."

"That meany marine-y Smoker gave us some real trouble, but we didn't stand a chance against you guys!" Pinkie added cheerfully, much to Rainbow's annoyance.

"You have much to learn, but I think you're compatible with our techniques," Beckman stated thoughtfully, "In fact...I'd wager that some of you are probably real monsters in the making. If you have what it takes to master our arts, you'll become far stronger than you could ever be in your home land."

"We'll do whatever it takes," Twilight answered, looking out the window into the golden glitter across the sea, which she noticed Shanks too had begun to watch.

"You've shown true grit to make it this far," Shanks commended, looking out the window a second longer, then facing them all once more, "and I know just the man to get you all battle ready for the tougher opponents we'll likely run into down the line."

"Which brings our priorities into question," ever the strategic minded man Beckman was, noted, "we need to figure out where we're going first and how much preparations we need to get done as we set out."

Twilight noticed the slight hesitation in her friends. She had told herself she would check the scroll, and she had done that, but against her hopes, it yielded nothing new. The awkward situation presented to her did not escape the pirates. She took a moment to clear her throat and bide a few seconds to come up with an adequate response.

"Well, it's hard to say...especially not being familiar with this area. As soon as that map gets sent over, I'll work with Rarity to determine our next move. You'll know as soon as we figure it out."

She ended with a bright (if not slightly forced) smile, and both Shanks and Beckman took her at her word; though they obviously realized something was up, they didn't press her. That worked out just fine for Twilight.

"Anyways, what kind of techniques are we talking about?" Rainbow questioned, taking the focus off of Twilight.

"Depending on your luck, you'll either be learning the nature of haki, or should fate tip its hat mischievously to you, be mastering powers unique to you alone," Shanks answered, smiling at their lack of comprehension.

"Haki is the source of my power. We all use it on my ship, in some capacity. I sensed it during our sparring match. Without a doubt, you Princess Twilight, are gifted in Haki potential. Your vast magic prowess is another vein of power, especially the darker parts, but I believe it isn't too dissimilar to Haki."

"What about me? Am I gifted in, er, hock-ey?" Rainbow questioned, clearly fancying the idea of having power similar to the captain of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Tough to say," Shanks answered, rubbing the scruff on his chin teasingly, "you were taken out so quickly I hardly had time to gauge you."

"What-whatever. I'm already awesome, and that means that I can only get better here!" Rainbow shot back, Shanks again laughing jovially.

"So...your haki...that's what knocked out all my friends? What made me feel like I was thrown off a cliff when they all fainted?" Twilight inquired of Shanks, her curiosity as tangible as Rainbow's excitement.

"Yes, that's one of its three forms. The Conquering King's Haki is extremely rare, but I wouldn't be surprised if one of your number could awaken it."

"What about the other two types?" Rarity asked, also quite interested in the direction this conversation was taking.

"The Color of Arms Haki takes physical form by blackening the area you focus it to," Beckman demonstrated, holding up his fist for them to see and turning his balled up hand shiny black, just as Smoker's jitte had done during their battle, "and makes all your attacks more devastating, while simultaneously keeping your defenses sharp as iron."

"Observation Haki allows you to sense energy in all its forms, and react faster and more effectively than your own, average senses will let you," Shanks finished.

"And that's how you're so good at dodging things without looking at them," Fluttershy pieced together, her amazement seeming to give her social confidence.

"Sounds pretty cool," Rainbow cooed, "and you're all obviously pretty good at it. Why can't we start learning from you?"

"Ha ha, well, I may be good at using it, but teaching isn't one of my stronger suits," Shanks admitted, "besides, there's more than one reason I want to find that man. He's the best teacher there is, and while he will be supervising you in learning the ways of this world, that won't be his only task. Besides, you'll all need to do some preparation before we get that far ahead, so there's no rush there."

"I think we're up to it," Pinkie pipped up, "I mean, we've kind of done some amazing things ourselves. I think you're selling our skills short, really, but we'll play by your rules. Bring on the preparations!"

"So eager," Shanks chuckled, "but can you live up to those words? There are many areas of skills to learn, but haki is quite advanced. It's not something you can just pick up and learn like a sword. Not in most cases."

"Swordsmanship..." Twilight muttered, "that doesn't sound too bad. That's what you're expecting of us, isn't it? To find easier skills and build off of them, like swordsmanship. Gaining talents in lesser abilities to enhance with haki and so on?"

"Or sniping, melee fighting, yes, there are many ways to do battle on these seas," Beckman confirmed, "but your magic and primitive battle styles won't go nearly as far."

This fact seemed to sit uneasily with some of the ponies. They certainly had been expecting hardships and puzzles, but intense training to master foreign skills didn't seem to have crossed any of their minds.

"Hold on a minute," Rarity suddenly interrupted, "you said if fate were to tip its hate to us, we'd find another power."

"That power is less...stable," Shanks replied, giving a small pause, but knowing that they were expecting a better answer than that, he went on, "There are legendary men who live in this world. Some of them gain strength through the power of Haki. The rest find it elsewhere, most commonly, through the use of Devil Fruits."

"That was the power Smoker used!" Twilight realized with a gasp.

"What a fitting name, 'Devil Fruit'....at least the devil part," Applejack agreed, having joined up with the group quietly a moment ago, her rounds of the ship complete. It seemed the time to repair was over.

"Yes. He posses a very strong power indeed, the logia power of Smoke," Beckman returned, "like Haki, Devil Fruits come in three forms. Logias give the ability of elements: smoke, fire, ice, sand, and so on. Zoan fruits give the traits of animals or mythical beasts, the strength of a rhino, the intelligence of a human being, et cetera. Paramecia, the most common type, give any other kind of abilities, and how fearsome many of them are."

"But there's another reason they're called 'Devil' Fruits, something more sinister than the power itself," Twilight surmised and finished for him.

"Indeed. Aside from being unable to consume any other fruits at risk of death, one who eats a devil fruit can no longer swim," Shanks explained.

"That's a bit of a problem in this line of work," Rarity commented.

"No more swimming? Not even in, say, milk? Or chocolate milK? If I eat one, can I still bathe in orange juice!?" Pinkie asked, suddenly very worried.

"You...bathe in orange juice?" Rainbow asked under her breath, sharing a look of concern with Rarity; Shanks laughed, Beckman look as worried at the pegasus and unicorn.

"No, just water," Beckman replied, "or rather, specific properties of it."

"Oh. Disappointing, but not tragic," Pinkie replied matter-of-factly.

"But again, we're getting ahead of ourselves. I wouldn't take a Devil Fruit for all the riches in the world. Not even close," Shanks interrupted, "there ins't a single one on my ship."

Twilight wasn't sure how she felt on the matter. She was no stranger to studying and working hard to achieve results. She rather liked the idea of haki, maybe because it wasn't all too different from her own magic in many senses. Still, how many times had the power of magic come to bite her in the rear? A power unique to her alone sounded just as attractive. But Shanks was against them, so if it was a Devil Fruit she was after, it was on her to find one. Despite being fruits, they didn't sound like things one could pick off of any random tree.

"Well," she spoke up to give life to her thoughts, "I think before we start looking to any of that, we get our priorities straight. Rarity, let's work out where we'll be heading, and we all should be thinking about what's been said. We won't last out here if we don't adapt to the way things are done here."

"You got it."

"Right."

"Then I'll leave you to it, Captain," Shanks parted, smiling his customary bright smile.

---

"Nothing's changed..." Fluttershy noted anxiously as Twilight held up the mission scroll for her friends to see.

"No...I'm not quite sure how to make more of it appear," the lavender Princess returned, allowing Rarity to take possession of the scroll with her magic so the others could get an even closer look.

If only Celestia had said something. It was burning Twilight alive from inside out. When had her mentor ever failed her like this before? Never. So why now?

"What do we tell the Red-Hair Pirates?" Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder to the closed door, as though something were about to break through.

"They won't be mad, I'm sure, but there's no time to lose here. Frankly, the sooner we complete this mission the better," Twilight replied, pacing from across the map room.

"Maybe we just have to move forward. If we pick somewhere at random to go the map might tell us if we're wrong or getting closer to our goal," Rainbow offered.

"Risky at best, disastrous, at worst," Rarity corrected, "even with Shanks and the others with us there's no telling who we might run into. I agree with Twilight, we need to do this quickly and efficiently."

"But we can't really do that...this scroll isn't telling us much, as you can see," Rainbow replied, gesturing the partially blank scroll with an unknown picture piece shimmering in the candlelight, "and we can't afford to wait around here."

"We can't afford to run into the Marines or another fearsome pirate crew though, can we?" Rarity questioned, beginning to simmer at Rainbow Dash's stubborn nature and letting the scroll down on the table.

"Alright! I have to make the decision..." Twilight called them back to attention, "Shanks said that the man he's looking for will be in contact any day, I'm not sure how; but we'll be meeting him soon. And you both have valid points, "she admitted with a frown, "but maybe moving forward is a little less risky...how about we just take it slow?"

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked, joining Twilight as they walked towards the new map given by the Red Hair Pirates.

"These isles here, they look fairly safe. Small, isolated...we might even find some supplies. If anywhere is a fair next move, it ought to be there."

"We can't really know for sure until we go there," Applejack noted.

"Yeah, but at least we'd be moving," Rainbow added.

"And sitting around is no good," Twilight declared, "so I think it's settled. We'll head there next. At the very least it'll buy us time to come up with a better plan. I'll let Shanks know first thing in the morning. It's getting late...I'm going to bed."

And the Captain's orders stood. The next day it was made so, and the next leg of their journey began.

Author's Note:

Not a super-jam-packed chapter, but hey, they can't all be. (The next one picks up the pace, promise) I've gotten a pretty good idea of where things are headed, and I'm getting more ideas to sift through every day! Excited to take this story farther, hope you're just as excited to read it.

-TBK