> The Strongest Man in the World
>  by Vesperia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. New World Arc - Welcome to Equis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The only way to claim my throne is to find that island and it's hidden treasure! Go! Look past the eye of the beholder and claim your destiny!"
- The Previous Pirate King





-Luke POV-

Amazon is a wonderful website in my opinion. You can buy nearly anything off of it, from mugs to sex dolls. But in my case I didn't need a new mug, or a plastic girlfriend. No, what I needed was something epic. I searched high and low for the one thing I had left, the one thing that I so desperately needed to make the next upcoming comic-con that much better. The comic-con that is starting in but a few days.

What do I need you may ask?

What I needed was simple. It was not a fancy weapon, nor a large coat. It was the one defining feature for who I dressed up as. The one feature that gave the man his name. That large, white, crescent shaped, glorious mustache that fits the face of the strongest man in the world of One Piece.

Whitebeard.

I had the bisento. I had the coat. I had the pants, I had the shoes, I had the bandanna. I had everything except the mustache. I had no idea why the mustache was taking so long to get to my house. I ordered it at the same time I did the other parts of the costume and I was beginning to worry that it may not show up in time for the Con.

I bit my lip as I continued to pace in worry, my arms crossed behind my back. Fortune seemed to smile on me though when I heard my doorbell ring.

"Finally! That has to be the package!" I cheerfully said as I rushed myself to the door. I opened it and saw the UPS delivery man standing there carrying a package.

"Hello stranger." Said the, rather creepy, UPS man. "Got a package for ya. Just gotta sign here."

He held out one of the signing machines and I gleefully went to work with it. After that he handed me my amazon package, tipped his hat and said, "Have a good time."

I didn't question his choice of words when he turned around to head back to his UPS van. Instead I closed the door and set the box down on the living room table. I pulled out my pocket knife and cut the box open, nearly ripping the box apart as I rummaged for the mustache. I was greeted with a glorious sight when I pulled it out.

"It's beautiful." Was the only comment I could make when faced with true beauty. Smiling, I set it back down next to the box and ran to my room, changing into my costume as quickly as possible. I finished that with relative ease, the costume wasn't exactly time consuming to put on after all. I walked to the table and picked up the mustache before heading to the full body mirror in my bathroom.

Once inside the bathroom I set the bisento against the counter and worked the mustache in place, once satisfied I picked the weapon back up and struck a pose. I was a fairly well built guy, so I felt that I could pull this cosplay off rather well. The only thing I couldn't do was make myself three times bigger than an average human like the real Whitebeard.

I smirked at myself in the mirror and said, "Luke, you look amazing." My smirk quickly disappeared when I began to feel a bit dizzy. I stumbled around while clutching my head until I fell over. Luckily I caught myself on the counter and groaned from the strain. I was feeling weak and I was starting to breathe heavier. My eyes rolled back as everything went dark and I passed out.





-Unknown Amount of time Passing-

I awoke to the sounds of people making noise. I groaned and started to get myself up.

"Shit! He's getting up! Come on, grab the spear and let's get out of here!" Shouted an unknown voice. But if the spear was what I thought it was then I was not going to give up that expensive piece of my cosplay.

My hands slammed with a thud on the ground and I lifted myself up to my full height. My eyes shot open and I gazed down at the would be looters. I marveled at my newfound height for a moment before returning thought to the important area. There was at least six looters, most armed with cutlasses and a few had what looked like axes. Four of them were trying to lift my bisento, I once again marveled at it's size. It was not that big before.

I glared at the two holding a weapon to me.

"S-Stay back! Or I-I'l cut you down old man!" The looter on the right would have sounded threatening, if it weren't for the fact that he was shaking like a leaf. Also, old man? Please, I was barely into my mid twenties.

"Trying to take my stuff will you..." I growled, even my voice was different. My gaze turned hard, "Like hell you bastards!" I roared and I took a mere two steps before I my fist was in range with the shaking looter. My fist met his face with a mighty crash and the bastard was sent flying into the sky. The other looter's jaw dropped as they stared in the direction he was sent flying before they regained their senses and dropped everything to run off screaming.

I snorted at their cowardice and reached down to pick the bisento up. I looked around and took note of the fact that I was in the middle of a small banana plantation. After that I gave myself a once over to make sure nothing bad happened to me while i was unconscious. I paused and took another look at the banana tree surrounding me. They were not as large as I thought they would be. But on a closer look I realized that it was not that the trees were shorter... it was that I was larger.

My eyes widened and I patted myself down. I felt scars that weren't there before, I felt so much stronger as well. I gently raised my hand to my face and felt my mouth. I had a large, crescent mustache on my face and I confirmed it was real with a quick tug. I looked down at my hands and saw that they were significantly larger and much more calloused.

"I'm... Whitebeard." I said, with no small amount of reverance. "Bloody hell, this is amazing..." I grinned wildly. This was practically a dream come true for me. "Ah haha! Wow! This is so great!" I cheered and threw my arms up in the air. I could finally become a pirate you'd find in One Piece.

In the midst of my cheering I barely managed to hear someone calling out to me.

"Excuse me! Hey!" I turned around and saw someone waving their arms and jumping up and down, trying to catch my attention. "Over here please!"

Shrugging a bit I rested my bisento against my shoulder and started my trek to the newcomer. I crossed the plantation quickly thanks to my longer stride, but I was being more careful walking than usual. I had a new, much greater, height to get used to. But I think I would get over that pretty fast, I imagine I'll be doing a lot of fighting now.

I got to the guy calling to me and took in his features. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. He had what looked like pony ears sticking up from his head, large eyes, a brown tail, and a small snout on his face. His skin was burnt yellow and his feet weren't even feet, they ended in hooves kinda like a satyr. He looked like a furry's wet dream.

He grinned up at me, "Hey there partner! I saw you chase those no good bandits off like it was nothin'! Mah name's Peelin''" He stuck a hand out to me, "What's yours?"

"So they were Bandits, not looters."

He seemed like a nice guy so I kneeled down and reached out to shake his hand with my thumb and index finger, "My name is Luke. But you can call me Whitebeard. So what's up with the bandits?" I asked, since this place didn't seem like a dangerous area.

"Pleasure ta meet ya!" He smiled then continued on to answer my question, "Anyway, those damned thieves have been terrorizing the town for the past few months, even stealing' mah crops. I'm sure glad ta see somepony not afraid to butt heads with 'em. I'd fight mahself but... I got family ya know?" He gave a depressed sigh, shaking his head. He perked up though and said, "Well since ya seem to be new here how about I bring you to mah home? Mah wife, Pink Harvest, is making something good tonight."

I sympathized with his reluctance to fight when his family's wellbeing is on the line. And free food sounded delicious right now. But there was a problem so I posed another question, "So how will I fit? I seem to be rather large and usually someone's house wouldn't fit me."

Peelin' just laughed and waved it off, "Don't you worry! I'm sure the family wouldn't mind eatin' outside under the stars!" Peelin' turned around and waved me forward. "Come on, mah house aint too far. And if ya need a place to rest I got a barn next door to the house."

I was getting food and a place to rest right off the bat, I must be lucky. I got up from my kneeled position and walked with Peelin' through the plantation. We made some idle conversation to make the short trip even shorter.

"And that's why this here plantation and mah family are the two greatest treasures in mah life." Peelin' practically beamed as we finally got to the porch of his house. "Now just wait here right quick, I'll go tell mah family we got company."

I gave a quick confirmation and watched Peelin' disappear into the house. Not long after he disappeared did he come back with extras. He was carrying a tray full of food, and a pink woman with green hair, who I assumed was his wife, set up a tray holder and gave me a warm smile. An older woman came out with a young girl skipping around while playing with a doll. The young girl stopped and simply stared up at me, jaw dropped.

She seemed to get out of her stupor and exclaimed with wide eyes, "Wow! You are huuuuuge! How'd you get sooo big mister?!"

"Sundae! Don't be rude!" Chastised her mother.

"Gurarara!" I laughed heartily, my head was filled with glee when I realized I even laughed like Whitebeard. "Eating healthy and plenty of exercise!"

"Really?!" Grinned the newly named Sundae. She rushed over to the food tray to grab the more healthier parts, which made the older woman roll her eyes in exasperation.

"Of course, the only way to git that girl to eat right is to say she'll be at least three times the size of a normal pony." The older woman turned to me and gave me a once over, "Now then... handsome. Mah name is Granny Zany, what's yours."

A cold shudder went down my spine, I really didn't want to go this route. I simply looked down at her and gave a nervous smile, "My name is Luke, but you can call me Whitebeard if you want."

Luckily it seemed that dinner was ready just in time to interrupt Granny Zany from further flirting. I gave a relieved mental sigh and got up to walk to the tray. Piling food high on my plate was a priority right now. Being bigger means I need to eat a lot more right? It seemed that Peelin' and his family also appreciated someone who can eat a lot. The night thereafter was filled with jokes, laughter, and general joviality.

Eventually though it was time to head to bed, even if I probably spent a good deal of time knocked out I was still feeling tired. After bidding good night to Peelin' and his family I opened the barn doors and entered the barn. I collapsed on a huge pile of hay, while on the hay I adjusted my bandanna a bit. While I did that a note seemed to fall from the inside of it.

Curious I picked it up and opened it. I examined the contents and it read as such:

Dear Luke,
As you may be aware of by now, this world you are currently in is not your world.

I snorted, this guy has a sense of humor.

And you may also be aware of the changes to your body. You may or may not have freaked out in some sort of fashion. But, let me assure you of just one thing. Even though you are in the body of Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, you will not feel the effects of his advanced age. The original was getting old and sick, even though his power was still great. You will be as strong as he was in his prime, and thanks to a bit of tinkering by me, you will never age. Think of it as an "I'm sorry" for turning you from a young man into an old one.

But make no mistake my friend. You can still die, be it by weapon, poison, or even not eating. This is simply just a complementary heads up, and I don't normally do this. Now, I bet you are wondering why you are here correct? Well make no mistake! I did not send you here for any purpose at all! All you need to do is live life how you want to and be free like a pirate!

Best regards,
Your Mysterious Benefactor

I crumpled the paper and stuffed it into my pocket while talking to myself, "Seems like things are going to take an interesting turn in my life." I gave a humorless chuckle, "If the random world hopping and talking furry ponies weren't anything to go by I'd still have the fact that I'm now officially an anime and manga character."

I slumped down into the hay and closed my eyes.

"I'm going to miss my family." Was my last thought as I drifted off to sleep.
> 2. New World Arc - See the Town, Try the Powers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke around mid to late morning the next day. I rubbed the weird eye crust stuff from my eyes, the large fingers and face reminding me that I am not who I once was.

"So it wasn't a dream." I said to no one. It was still a little strange to hear my new voice, I heard my previous one for my entire life after all. I shook my head clear and stood up from my bed of hay and stretched. The cracks and pops felt wonderful and I felt immense relief when I remembered that I won't get to feel the effects of old age that would've come with my new body now.

I picked my bisento up from the ground and opened the barn door, my coat fluttering back dramatically with the wind. Honestly I kind of forget all about my coat during all of last night's encounters. I quickly checked it for any dirt covering it and, to my relief, I found none. If I was going to start my pirating days anytime soon I wanted to start it nice and fresh.

I stepped outside and closed the door. I was immediately greeted by Peelin' as he was walking to me.

"Hey there partner! I was just about ta wake ya!" He loudly said as he waved enthusiastically, a bit too enthusiastic for the morning if you ask me.

I rose my empty hand in greeting and said, "Morning Peelin'. Any plans for today?"

When he finally got close he said, "Well, ah'm thinking' we should go get some grub over at the house first. Then, when we're nice and full, we should head over to the town. I have something' ta do there anyway, besides ah think it'd be best for ya ta meet the townsfolk. Since you are new here and all."

I nodded my head and followed him as we went to go get breakfast. We got to the table that was still set up outside and saw a wonderful spread of pancakes, waffles, other breakfast items, and various fruit. A majority of those fruit were still bananas though. Conversation was abundant throughout the meal, I joined in on occasion but I mostly remained silent while thinking about what to do with those bandits.

I was still thinking when a concerned voice interrupted my thoughts. "Hey partner, you ok?"

I looked at Peelin' confused.

"Heh, well you seem distracted and haven't talked much. Any worries? We didn't offend you or anything' right?" Peelin' seemed like he would be genuinely sorry if they did that.

I shook a hand at him in a "Don't worry about it" gesture and said, "No no. Nothing like that. I was just thinking about what I'm going to do about that bandit problem of yours around here."

I was just about to take another bite of waffle when Peelin' said, "Oh! You have to do anything about it! It's not your problem after all. We keep sending messages to the Navy anyway, though we aren't getting any replies... Besides ah don't want ya to get hurt, there are a lot of them after all."

"Gurarara!" I laughed and shook my head in amusement. "It might not be my problem, but I can't just ignore something like this. Besides, if this has been going on for months and your Navy hasn't done something by now... I wouldn't rely on them to bail you out."

"Besides, Peelin' and his family gave me free room and board. It's the least I could do to pay them back for it. If I've truly been turned into Whitebeard... measly bandits shouldn't be a problem." I thought to myself.

I stuck the rest of my waffle into my mouth, the last bite of breakfast. "And don't worry about me, I might be old but I'm certainly not weak!" I said and flashed Peelin' and his family the same toothy grin that will be used as my future pirate flag as well as show off one of my impressive biceps.

"Now," I said as I got up, Peelin's wife and daughter already cleaning up the table. "How about we go introduce me to your town? I at least want to see the place I'm gonna save!"

Peelin' just sat there in his seat for a moment, but he eventually grinned and laughed. "Hah! You got guts Whitebeard! Alright I'll take ya, just let me get mah bag right quick."

Peelin' jogged back inside his house to get his bag while I waited patiently for his return.





We arrived to the main entrance of the town, which had the most original name, "Banana Town". The houses and shops were mainly made of wood, stone, and brick. It was around a smallish sized town, but that didn't mean it lacked citizens. They were all anthro looking pony things, some even had wings and freaking horns sticking out of their heads!

I think I even saw a few of them that looked like a humanoid, anthro griffin.

The strange, surreal feeling of being in an alien world finally kicked in. I'm certain that I was the only human in existence so that garnered a lot of attention, and it didn't help that I was practically a giant compared to all of these people. I looked and stared at all of the people and buildings around me, and they looked and stared at me as well.

"You holding' up there alright partner?" asked Peelin', who glanced up at me while we walked to the mayor's office.

I stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I'm alright. It just finally occurred to me that I really am no longer where I can truly see the similarities of home. The strangeness of this place... I have never seen people with wings or horns before."

"Really? You've never seen a pegasus or unicorn before?" Said Peelin'. "That's mighty strange partner. If you haven't seen a pegasus before... who creates and manages the weather where you're from?"

Pegasi and unicorns? Sure, why not?

"Well... the weather takes care of itself? Nature always does that, I don't think it'd be natural if people got mixed up in that." As I said that I happened to look up and saw one of the pegasi in the air, moving a cloud. I looked back down at Peelin' and shrugged. "But new world, new rules I suppose."

He hummed in thought as we finally got to the mayor's office during our brief conversation. Fortunately we didn't have to go inside, as it turned out the mayor was standing outside his office talking to a random stallion.

"They are demanding more food?" The mayor sighed dejectedly, "I don't know how much more we can give out. If this continues... we won't have enough to last us winter."

The mayor looked aged, he had a bit of a slump in his posture, his brown fur looked a little dull, and his hair, or mane as they call it, was grey. The wrinkles on his face signal that he smiles a lot, but he did not seem to be smiling.

"Yes mayor... I think we really should give in to this demand, they seemed really pissed about something. I'm afraid that if we don't cooperate this time... they might do something destructive." Said the stallion.

I might have a guess as to what made them mad.

"No need for that mayor!" Shouted Peelin'. "I think we have out solution right here!" He dramatically swished his arm in my direction.

The mayor turned to Peelin' first, then to me. Or more specifically to my legs, his eyes widened as he looked up and up until his gaze met mine. His mouth dropped when he saw my imposing figure.

"Well... I'll be Celestia's uncle..." Muttered the mayor before continuing, "So who are you, and what can you do for us?"

I smiled, "My name is Luke, but please call me Whitebeard. And as for what I can do.... I can take care of your bandit problem for you!"

The mayor stared at me in disbelief, "Not to be rude... but you are one stallion am I right? How can you possibly beat at least fifty bandits by yourself?" He was a bit skeptical, I couldn't find fault in that. Not everyday you could meet a person that claims that they could beat hundreds of people by themselves.

"I'm very strong. Let's keep it at that. But let's make a deal Mr. Mayor." He nodded, showing that he'll at least hear me out. "If I can defeat these guys for you, you'll have to give me a small ship that I can easily fit and operate by myself. If I can't... well I doubt I'd be returning here alive. We have a deal?" I stuck a hand out.

The mayor seemed thoughtful before replying, "You promise to not say why you were doing this if you get caught?" I nodded and he took my hand and said, "Then we have a deal! I just hope you aren't throwing your life away."

We released the handshake and I said, "Don't worry about that. I'm a tough one. Now how about you tell me where the bandits live and I'll head there immediately."

The mayor nodded and pointed, "They are on the more North-Western part of the island, just past the local banana plantations and over the large hill in the center of the island. They should be living in about four buildings in a semicircle. You can't miss it."

I thanked him and went on my way, but not without stopping to wave a brief goodbye to Peelin'. My trek through town was uneventful, even as I greeted a few curious townsfolk. The town streets soon led to a country road surrounded by banana trees. I looked up at the top of the mountain and decided to head there to get a good vantage point.

With that goal in mind I started a light jog and headed into the surrounding forest.





I walked through the forest, occasionally cutting through brush with my bisento.

"Gah... too much foliage! I can't fit easily through this junk." I continued to grumble. When some thorny bush snagged my pants once again I snapped.

"Damn it! Screw the forest!" I raised my fist in righteous anger and swung it sideways at a nearby tree. To my surprise it glowed right before impact and just when it hit the tree, whiteish-blue cracks appeared in the air and a shockwave blasted out in the direction my fist was pointing, destroying trees and bushes alike. I stared dumbfounded at the destruction caused by the shockwave, unblinking as this information processed in my brain.

Finally it clicked, "I have his devil fruit too?!" A grin formed full force on my face. "This is even more awesome! I just gotta figure this power out and I'll be unstoppable!"

I brought my hand in front of me and clenched it back into a fist. I stared at it and thought, "If I have Whitebeard's body, and his devil fruit... Do I have his haki as well?"

I looked forward and smirked, "I have the tools to become Pirate King at my disposal. I just gotta work on it." I looked back down at my fist. "Now... how do I activate the devil fruit again?"
> 3. New World Arc - Bandits and Farewells
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My trek through the god forsaken forest, and it's many annoyances, for about an hour or two had only one benefit. I was finally able to activate the tremor fruit in my hand, though my grasp on it was still shaky, no pun intended, when I tried to hold the power for a length of time beyond a few seconds.

Every time I try and keep the blue glow around my hand charged it eventually putters out and pops like a bubble. Without even so much as a gust of wind to follow. I couldn't even get it to work on my hand well, so I was clearly very far off from putting it around my bisento blade. But it wasn't all bad I guess, at least I actually have a sense of what direction I need to go in order to improve it. The only thing I haven't tried yet was releasing the tremor power in an attack.

I was waiting until I found the bandit hideout before trying that. I'd rather have a target to use it on, I didn't want to destroy nature all willy nilly. I didn't even live here after all, and the townsfolk probably wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

But I digress.

I continued to walk past trees and brush all the while turning the power on and off in my hand repeatedly. I was not usually a fan of nature, and it wasn't much of a fan of me. This is proven when for the hundredth time I found myself either getting caught in a bush, or getting knocked on the head by a branch I somehow didn't see. My teeth were grinding and if anyone were to see my face they would probably shit themselves.

After another yank of my leg and a casual karate chop to a nearby branch the foliage above me slowly disappeared until I found a little cliff that let me see the rest of the island. I sighed in relief when I stood at the edge and looked out. To be honest... it was a pretty breath taking sight. The ocean surrounding the island, the trees, and the general look of peacefulness brought a small smile to my lips. That smile dropped a bit when I saw the rise of smoke coming from the north western part of the island.

I slammed the butt of my bisento on the ground, straightened up, and muttered, "There they are."

With my destination set I began looking for a way down. I looked around left and right of the cliffside and didn't see anyway down which made me sigh in disappointment. I idly scratched the back of my head as I contemplated my little predicament.

"What to do. What to do..." I took a step closer to the edge to see if there was a way to climb down the edge, that was a mistake. The edge crumbled immediately when my foot sank into the soft earth.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I stumbled off the cliff. I began my immediate free fall and while I might be significantly more durable than before I still didn't want to land on the ground after falling off a cliff. Thinking quickly I righted myself in the air, took my bisento in my hands, and stuck the blade into the cliffside. This carved a nice gash into the rock and I slowly started to slow down.

My impact on the ground was lessened, but I still landed fairly hard. Once my feet touched the ground I could've sworn the ground itself shook from the impact it had with my legs. Thankfully I did not seem to be hurt at all, not even my teeth were rattled. So I straightened myself back up after pulling my bisento out of the rock and looked back up at the cliff.

I whistled, "Wow, that is quite a slash mark." I checked the blade. "And not even a scratch or a bit of dulling on the blade. Nice. I should probably get moving though, all that noise was bound to attract someone."

With that I started walking to where I saw the smoke.





Apparently no one must have heard my little bout with gravity. I did not meet a single person during my hike. These bandit must either be deaf, incompetent, or way too full of themselves and believe they are the most powerful people on this island. It could even be a combination of all three.

Honestly I was kinda glad, sneak attacks are better anyway.

I was thinking all this as I gave a calculating eye at the four buildings from my crouched hiding spot in the tree line. On a side note it was really hard to find one that fit me considering my size. The right middle building looked like it held food and the like, and if the noise were to go by it was probably their cafeteria too. The building to the left of that looked like an armory, it had a nice helpful weapon sign on it that had a picture of a sword and gun. The left and rightmost buildings looked like they were where the bandits slept.

All this and the small wall surrounding the camp made this look fairly organized. And from what I have seen there was only one gate, which made my first targets all the more clearer.

I stood up and stretched before beginning my walk to the gate. I casually twirled my bisento, creating a small gust of wind that kicked a bit of dirt up. The two bandit guards standing on top of a small, covered ledge above the gate saw me instantly. Not surprising since it was like the middle of the day and I'm practically a small giant compared to them.

"Hey! The hell are ya doing here bub?!" Shouted the first as he and his buddy gripped their spears tighter and pointed them at he.

I paid them no mind as I continued to casually trek onwards.

"Are ya deaf old man?! Or just stupid? Answer the question!" Shouted fodder number two.

I still ignored them as I raised my bisento up above my head and tilted to the ground. When they got in range of my weapon I turned it to the flat end and swung it t them. They couldn't get away in time and my bisento crashed into one of the support beams of the roof of the makeshift guard tower. It easily ripped through the flimsy wood and my weapon crashed into the sides of the bandits, knocking them out cold as they were flung off to the other edge of the camp. The ledge tower crumbling down with a loud crash.

I made a note of their location for later and focused on the wooden gate in front of me. I rested my bisento against my right shoulder and pulled my left fist back, ready for a punch. I inhaled a bit and released as I slammed my fist into the gate, the gate flung forward in splinters and various bits of wood. The first wave of bandits already coming out of the cafeteria.

I glared at them and rumbled loudly, "Knock, knock. Daddy's home."

A lot of them were visibly shocked at my height, appearance, and show of strength. But a larger guy, he was probably the bandit's leader, started shouting orders.

"Oi! Stop standing around like a bunch of piss ants and go get a weapon!" Every bandit that didn't already have one quickly started running to the armory.

"I'm not giving you a chance!" I yelled, they stopped and stared at me in shock as a blue glow surrounded my left fist.

"Combat magic?!" One yelled, stepping back in fear.

"It can't be! He doesn't have a horn!" Yelled another as he pointed a finger at me.

"But look at the glow! It has to be!" Shouted a third, grabbing his head I shock and fear.

"Whatever it is, we can deal with it!" Encouraged the leader as he got into a defensive stance.

"Earthquake punch!" I dramatically shouted as I punched the air in front of me, right in the direction of the armory.

I waited for something to happen.

And so did the bandits.

They looked at each other confused for a second, and then started laughing crazily. My face burned bright red in embarrassment as the leader started grabbing his stomach all the while guffawing. Some of his bandit minions were on the ground, slamming their fists. Others were putting their arms around each other for support as they too bellowed in laughter.

"Grrr..." I growled in anger, shaking with rage. "Stop fucking laughing at me!" I punched the air once again with my tremor powers activated. It worked this time and cracks appeared in the air. This shut the bandits up instantly and their jaws dropped to the ground when a huge shockwave of air pressure zoomed at the armory. The armory did not stand a chance, and there must have been gunpowder in there because it exploded after it got hit, sending wood and metal bits everywhere. Some bandits were blown away by the initial shockwave, others by the explosion. I'd guess around ten or fifteen.

A collective gulp could be heard in the silence that followed. Every head turned in my direction, every face sporting jaws dropped, wide eyes, and sweat pouring out of their bodies. The leader shook himself out of the daze first.

"Don't worry about that boys! There are still more of us than him, largeness be damned!" This seemed to give them a confidence boost. "Come on old man! Who do you think you are to challenge me! The great and terrible... Axe the Beheader!" His men cheered.

A shadow covered my eyes as I grinned at the newly named Axe.

"Who am I? You ask." I chuckled loudly and started spinning my bisento around my body dramatically before slamming it butt end into the ground, causing cracks to appear the end, and yelled, "I... am Whitebeard! And I will be the Pirate King!"

"Hah! Yeah right, no one has been able to claim that title yet. Face it old man, you'll die of old age before that happens." Axe spat to the side and glared at me, "Besides, the marines have been cracking down hardcore on pirates recently. You'll be dead as soon as you raise a jolly roger."

I snorted at him in contempt, "Hmph, I won't go down that easily. Now, I think it's time to get rid of you guys."

I took a battle stance with the end of my bisento pointed right at Axe. I made a "bring it on" gesture with my hand. The bandits roared a battle cry and they all charged me en mass. This was a poor decision, I work best in large groups. When they got close enough I dropped down into a crouch, pulled the bisento back in a swinging position, and swung it in a wide arc in front of me. The pole arm slammed into at least twenty of them and they flew into the rightmost building.

Seeing their comrades so easily dealt with made the others stop their charge and skid to a halt in front of me to try and run away. They couldn't get far when I took a few steps and swung downwards at them at few times. The bisento crashed into the ground with mighty force and blasted bandits away each time. One guy got brave and tried to come at me from the side with his sword raised high. I simply gave a low kick, it was at torso height for him, and sent him flying into a few of his friends.

I knocked a few more heads around, and destroyed a bit more of their buildings until it was just me and Axe left. By this point he was shaking and sweating in fear as he watched his men get knocked around like playthings. The funny part was... I kinda was just playing with them. I always kept an eye on the gate though, in case they tried to escape and all. But once I was sure everyone but Axe and I were knocked out I just focused on him.

I slammed the bisento on the ground once more and glared down at Axe, "I'm positive you know where this is going correct?"

Axe was shaking so much I was afraid his sword would bounce out of his grip. He slowly nodded, an answer to my question.

I grunted, "Good. Now... will you fight me like a man, or cower and wait for your punishment meekly?"

Axe's face gained a smallish amount of steel, but he was till clearly afraid. It was better than nothing though. He raised his axe in the air, I had to force myself to not roll me eyes, and charged me like his men did. Though I could tell he had significant more battle experience than his underlings. That was probably why he was their leader.

It wasn't enough though. I casually sidestepped his chop and backhanded him downwards, he was out cold before he even hit the ground.

I scratched my face and examined the camp, looking for rope or chains. I spotted a rather lengthy bit of rope off to the side of a building, it was enough to tie up everyone. why they had that much rope I couldn't have guessed. I smiled and put the rope in the middle of the camp, then gathered all the bandits up and tied them up tight in groups.

I wanted to have these guys face their crimes but I didn't have a clue as to how I'll transport them. I was about to simply drag them when I spotted the intact left residential building. An idea hit me.

"If Zoro during the Alabasta arc could lift and throw a building... then couldn't I lift an entire building as well?" I grinned. "This'll be quite a shock to the townspeople. I just hope I get there before the evening. It looks like its two or three now and I'm kinda hungry."

I walked to the left building and tried to think of a way to lift it up. I walked around it perimeter and when I got back to the front door I nodded as I figured it out. I stuck my bisento in the ground blade first and walked a bit to the side of the building. I cocked my right fist back and slammed it hard against the ground. Cracks appeared around where I punched the ground. I did the same thing to a number of locations around the building, making sure to connect the cracks.

Once the area was sufficiently weakened I walked back to the front and started throwing the bandits inside the building. Once they were all inside I walked over and picked up some of the loose rocks around where I first hit the ground and threw them aside. When an area was clear I gripped the bottom of the ground the building was resting on, the unbroken rock, and started lifting it up from the ground. The building started slowly rising and I had to occasionally shift my grip in order to keep bringing it up from the ground.

Eventually the entire building was raised and I was proudly holding it up with almost no strain. I shifted the building's weight around and rested it on my right shoulder. With it firmly in place I grabbed my bisento with my other hand and stabbed it above my head and into the rock, I grabbed the rock and building with my free hand to keep the load steady and began my trek back to town.

"This will be a shock, might even make a few faint if I'm lucky." I laughed in delight at the prospect.





I was sweating when I finally managed to get back to town. I was pretty warmed up right now and I was beginning to feel the strain of lifting this big building, rock, and bandits for about three hours in the heat. Going back through the forest took longer with my larger load and no real knowledge of the land. But I can admit I was pretty proud of this little feat. It's not everyday that someone could be able to do this.

I managed to garner a large crowd before I even got close to the town gate. Apparently seeing a building approach your village is cause for concern. When they all saw that it was just one person who was doing an extreme version of home moving they gawked. One person even fainted, that caused me to smirk.

The mayor and Peelin' were at the forefront of the gathering. Both could not seem to believe what they were seeing either. They constantly rubbed their eyes, probably hoping to try and get rid of an illusion. But stopped a bit in front of the crowd and set the building down next to me. I walked forward until I stood in front of the mayor.

"Well, your bandit problem is no more mayor. In fact they are all beaten and tied up inside the building I brought with me." I waved an arm in the direction of the downed building. "They are yours to do with as you please."

The mayor looked at the building in amazement, then turned to me and said, "Well I'll be damned..." Then he grinned widely and turned to the townsfolk, "Well I'll be damned! We're free!"

The townsfolk got out of their amazement and started cheering loudly. They hugged each other, slapped each other on the back and had a grand time. Someone suggested a party and they all seemed to agree. Drinks and food was already being passed around.

I looked at the mayor and smiled awkwardly, "Well, while I'd want to stay and party... I want to go out there and get my dream started more. So how about that boat?"

He grinned up at me, "Hah! You can have two boats! To be honest I didn't even think you could do it... But I've never been gladder to be wrong before! Come on, it's just down at the docks." He waved for me to follow him and I did.





We stood at the edge of the pier and looked at my new boat. It was big enough for me to sit and walk around the deck with a bit of squeezing, though I couldn't get into the cabin or any of the areas under the deck.

"She was mine when I was younger, took her fishing and sailing to neighboring islands before settling down. She should serve you well until you find yourself a bigger one." Said the mayor as he seemed to reminisce about old times.

I nodded and smiled down at the mayor, "Thank you mayor."

He shook his head, "No... thank you. I'm glad we can finally be able to live in peace now."

I grinned and we laughed. I was about to get on the boat when we heard a voice.

"Now partner. You aint just gonna up and leave without so much as a goodbye huh?"

I turned around and quickly caught something that was heading for my face. I looked down and saw that it was a pretty large bag, much too large for someone Peelin's size to throw easily. I looked questionably at him.

Peelin' smirked, "Now how can I let our hero and friend go without so much as a proper thank you? We might have only known each other for a day but that don't mean nothin'. In that bag is some homemade food and basic supplies like map and compass. You don't look like you got much else on ya."

I smiled at Peelin', "Thanks Peelin', this means a lot to me." I set the bag to the side as I stepped in the ship, I started fiddling with the sail while I briefly wondered how I knew what to do. I brushed that off when I heard one last question from the mayor.

"So what are your plans? I don't think you ever mentioned it."

I turned to Peelin' and the mayor and grinned, "Gurarara, why I plan on becoming the next Pirate King!"

Their eyes widened in shock. While they stood there in shock I started lightly laughing and stood up and waved goodbye as I slowly drifted out to sea. My adventure has finally started.
> 4. Filler - The Late Marines
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

☠☠☠Two Days After Whitebeard☠☠☠

Captain Feather did not think that today was going to be a good day. Not because he has a string of bad events piling up around him. No, it's because of one event that managed to get overlooked for far too long. A small town called "Banana Town" was apparently under constant pressure  from local bandits in their area.

The Captain breathed a deep sigh and closed his eyes, he knew well what kind of damage any kind of outlaws could do while getting off scott-free. Especially in the amount of time it has taken for the Marines to get mobile about it. Normally such a thing as the Marines coming late was unheard of, the government likes to take immediate action when reports of criminal activity come in. They did not want to show weakness, not with the increasing pirate threat in the last two and a half decades.

It was simply an unfortunate turn of events when the village's constant pleas for help got lost in the massive mess a young and inexperienced recruit made of the information center. The town was a poor town, they did not have the luxury of being able to set up a calling tower or get the skilled operators to run it. They had to rely on the mail system, but that got clogged up fast thanks to the recruit. Had such a major setback not occurred Captain Feather or another Captain of equal rank would have been sent to squash these parasites of civilization.

Captain Feather reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigar, placing it into his mouth. He lit his lighter and brought it to the fat cancer stick, taking a long and much needed drag. He hated it when civilians got dragged into these messes, they deserved much better. It was why he joined the Marines in the first place, to protect the helpless.

If it were up to him he would be on constant patrol around the islands. But he did not have the command necessary for that.

He took another drag from the cigar and stared at the ever coming closer island from the deck of the ship. He narrowed his eyes and called for a recruit to bring him a spyglass. The recruit rushed back after a minute and handed Captain Feather the spyglass.

He held it to his eye that wasn't covered from the smoke of his cigar.

"What the..." He muttered as he stared at a part of the cliff side of the island. It had an enormous gash that clearly did not look natural. Feather hummed in thought as the Warship sailed around the island. He noticed another anomaly on the island, part of the forest looked like a huge cannonball ripped through it. The path from the sea to somewhere in the middle of the island.

Feather brought the spyglass down. "This has gotten interesting." He simply said.

"Sir?" Asked a Marine earth pony recruit with a questioning look. "What's happened?"

Feather rubbed his chin, "I'm not sure. I saw a huge unnatural gash on a cliff side, and now I see a huge section of the forest simply blown away in a line. Like a huge cannonball ripped through the trees and brush."

The Marine looked flabbergasted, "But how is that possible? Magic perhaps?"

Feather seemed thoughtful and he continued to ponder the situation. He responded after a moment, "Maybe... But that would mean it would be a pretty powerful unicorn that shot that blast. While I want to investigate it, the safety of the villagers is top priority."

"If they are still alive." Thought Feather darkly. He shook himself from those thoughts, they had no place in a Marine Captain.

He turned to the crew manning the ship, "Double time! We need to move it!"

"Yes sir!" Saluted the Marines on the ship before scrambling to get the ship moving faster.





They made good time and made port at the village. Feather did not wait for the landing plank to come down, he simply jumped. As he landed he took quick note of the state of the village. Nothing seemed amiss. Which was strange considering they were being constantly hassled by bandits.

He began his trek into the village as his crew went about their duties, ignoring the desire to stretch his pegasus wings with a brief flight since it was't the time for that. A small squadron of marines following him. Feather looked at the citizens and their expressions, they all seemed to be in good spirits. Captain Feather was deeply confused so he decided to gather some intelligence.

"Excuse me ma'am." Feather put on his best smile as he stopped a nearby mare. "But I believe this village called for the Marines. Something about a bandit problem?"

She seemed confused but brightened when she remembered something, "Oh! You don't need to worry about that sir, King Whitebeard took care of that for us!" She smiled at Feather and started to walk back down the street. Leaving a stunned MarineCaptain behind.

"King?" He asked the mare before she could go any further. "I'm afraid I haven't heard of any king by that name before."

She turned back to Feather, smile still on her face. "Oh, he isn't a king of a nation. He said that he will be king of the pirates."

Feather's and the marine's shot their eyes open and shouted, "What?! King of the Pirates?!"

The mare nodded, "Yeah, it surprised me too. But I don't doubt it, he is really strong."

Captain Feather pulled himself out of his shock and asked seriously, "Can you tell me what he looked like? And a name? I'm afraid I will need this to be in the records."

She looked unsure but seemed to resign herself, "Alright... His name is Luke, but he said he goes by Whitebeard. When I saw him he looked to be about three or four times the size of a normal pony. He had a large, crescent shaped, white mustache and did not look like a pony at all. He didn't have hooves and he didn't have fur either. He also wore a large captain jacket and had this really big spear like weapon!"

Captain Feather nodded as one of his subordinates wrote all of this down. "Anything else?" he asked after a moment.

The mare put a finger to her chin and thought, "Well... He apparently lifted an entire house, rock base and all, and carried it through the forest with all the bandits tied up inside. He was the one that defeated them."

While that kinda of strength was not unheard of... it was mostly kept to skilled individuals that trained their bodies well. Mostly big named pirates and Marines, rarely would you find it anywhere else. And even more rare be able to keep it on the down low for so long.

The Captain's musing were cut short by the mare.

"If you don't need anything else, then I need to go. My husband and I are a little busy." Captain Feather simply smiled and let her go back to her life. His smile dropped when he turned to his men.

"Alright men. This situation has become dire. I want you," He pointed to a group to the side. "To go into the forest and examine the destroyed path. The rest of you, see if you can gather any more information. I need to go make a call from the ship."

The Marines saluted and rushed to do their duties. Captain Feather sighed once more and started walking back to the ship while thinking, "I am thankful this new wannabe Pirate King is not the type to kill civilians. But he chose his path when he announced his desire to be a pirate of any kind. I must do my duty."

He took another drag from his cigar and continued his walk, a small shadow covering his eyes.

"Not a good day at all." He muttered as he look up to the sky and blew the cigar smoke out of his mouth.
> 5. Breezy Town Arc - Land Ahoy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

☠☠☠Luke POV☠☠☠

I've been sailing on my large fishing boat for the past three and a half days and my food and water stock was starting to run a tad low. But I wasn't worried, based on the map and compass I was given in the bag the next island should be within sight... soonish. I idly tore at a chunk of meat in my hand, some random sea monster thought I was easy prey and tried a sneak attack on me about an hour ago. It was too bad for him that he could not remove that large shadowy shape he made when rising from the water.

Honestly, how could anyone miss that?

I tossed the bare bone over the edge of the ship and reached for another piece of meat. The supplies I got were well and good and all but all the food was made of vegetables and fruit. While I did like vegetables and fruit, I was also no mere rabbit. I needed meat so that little annoyance did me wonders. It was just too bad that it was a smallish thing, barely two to four elephants in weight I'd wager. The brazier I found the day I left Banana Town was still crackling and kept the last of the meat nice and warm. Why there was a brazier on a fishing ship I'd never know, signaling maybe?

It was a stroke of luck nonetheless. I tore my eyes from the sizzling meat and to the direction I was heading, some sort of blob was now visible.

I squinted my eyes and wished I had some binoculars but I could guess what it was, "I guess that's the next island. Breezy Town if I followed the map correctly." I looked down at the map in my hands for a second before shrugging and putting it back away in my new bag.

"Well, even if it isn't. Adventure still awaits." I grinned widely, "Gurarara, I hope this'll be fun!"

-A few hours later-

I finally got to port and tied the boat off at the pier, making sure to stash the bag inside the small room portion of the boat before getting off. The wood of the dock groaned and creaked a bit under my weight but it held fast. I looked around and noted few ships here, they were small ships like the one Luffy and Zoro first used in their journey before getting the Merry. One of them was particularly... messed up. It looked like it saw Hell and back and kept going for seconds and even thirds.

Not seeing anyone around the dock I shrugged and sauntered down the pier, taking note of the arching sign saying "Breezy Town" at the end of it. I guess I did well enough navigating by myself. A feat most worthy since I never steered a ship before in my life, despite what these weird feelings I keep getting that say that I have. Mentally shrugging off those feelings I walked down the street without a care in the world. I wasn't wanted... yet.

A lot of the anthro ponies stopped and stared at me with wide eyes and dropped jaws. I was getting the feeling that this will be a common occurrence in this world. I looked around the street, making sure to not accidentally knock someone over. The street was nicely paved with cobblestone and everyone seemed a tad bit more well dressed but not along the lines of nobility, hinting that this town was much better off than Banana Town. A metal, cell tower lookalike stretched high above the town, at least four to six times higher than the houses.

I was about to make a left at a corner when I heard some sort of commotion to my right instead. Not even an hour on the island and something interesting was already happening. This place is turning out great so far. Myself and every other person stopped what they were doing and looked to the general direction of where the commotion was coming from.

"Gah! You scoundrel! You're not getting away with this you thief!" Some voice bellowed out from a bakery across the street.

A window shattered into the street, some sort of black form shot out of it with the force of a cannon and with what seemed like fire surrounding the edges of the window. Luckily the wood of the building didn't catch. He, or I think its a he, rolled on impact with the ground and immediately bolted down the street in my direction. He didn't seem bothered at all by the fact that he just rolled in glass. He was carrying a wrapped up bundle, probably some sort of pastry I'd hazard. He did erupt from a bakery after all.

The mystery figure stumbled a bit when he got a good look at me, but he continued his sprint when I didn't make any move to stop him. The baker he stole from was also sprinting out his door with a rolling pin in his hand, he had an awesome Mario mustache and was swearing loudly enough to make a sailor blush. As the thief got closer I was able to make a few more observations about him.

The first was that he did look male, the second was his obviously well worn black cloak and brown pants. He didn't have any shoes on, like most people I've seen in this world. But while they had weird hooves for feet, this stranger had purple, scaly claw feet. His sprint brought him even closer and time seemed to slow down around us. He turned his head to look at me and I could make out a bit of his face. A purple snout, a sharp tooth sticking over his bottom lip and a yellowish underside of the jaw greeted my gaze. I couldn't see his eyes but I knew he was looking at me.

Time seemed to speed up and he looked forwards again. He sprinted a few blocks with the baker in tow, but he seemed to lose him when he turned into an alley if the pissed baker storming back down the street was any indication. The poor baker was practically stomping holes into the street, he was so pissed.

When he got close to me I spoke up with a question, "So who was that? I'm rather new here."

"Listen buddy, I'm not in the-" He cut himself off impressively quick when his gaze fell on me. "Uh, I mean... Uh."

He started blabbering at this point and I simply rolled my eyes and sighed a bit. I realize I'm a scary guy to look at but come on. I raised my hand not holding my bisento in a 'don't worry' gesture and said, "I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want an answer to my question."

The baker broke out of his stupor, "Uh, right. Anyway I don't know." He scoffed, "It's just some punk dragon that recently got here. I don't know his name, he's been a known thief though. Easy to get recognized when you're the only one of your species here after all. Damn dragons, probably on his quest for a hoard." The baker muttered that last sentence so quietly I almost missed it.

"A dragon?! Oh that is so cool! I want him as a crew member!" I excitedly thought.

My first mate is chosen, and is already awesome in my book. Keeping my glee down I thanked the man and headed in the direction the supposed dragon ran off in. I got to the area the baker lost him in, when I didn't see anything or anyone hiding in the alleys I jumped up onto one of the roofs, making sure to avoid a metal antenna thing. I was glad it was a sturdy roof, I put a hand over my eyes to block out the sun and scanned the surroundings from my new vantage point.

I didn't see anything immediately and hopped over a few more roofs. I looked over the crowd and pointedly ignored the various questions they posed to themselves of why I was roof hopping. When I didn't see anything I was about to jump to the next set of houses when I caught sight of a black cloak turning a corner. Not taking any chances that I might miss him I leaped from the two story roof and sailed down. I barely registered the screams of the townspeople as they thought I would surely die or get seriously injured from the fall.

My powerful legs absorbed the impact and I chased the purple dragon down the street. I made sure to always keep him in some sort of sight as I slowly gained on him. The dragon looked behind himself, he probably sensed he was being followed, that was when I finally caught sight of one of his eyes, it shot open in surprise when he saw me chasing him and he started running faster.

"Waaaaiiiittttt!!!" I desperately screamed out while putting a hand in front of me, I put more effort into running as well. "I want you to join my crew!!!"

Instead of placating him as I hoped this only seemed to serve to spur him on. His hands flattened and swung up and down in an arc at his sides, as if he thought that will speed him up. I didn't give up, even when I had to constantly move my bisento to keep from hitting various townsfolk and mutter apologies as I nearly bumped into random strangers. Everyone was looking at us as we raced through the town, it must've been a comical sight to see a huge behemoth chase the town thief around.

Our chase came to a close though, but I do imagine we ran across the entire city at this point, when the unknown dragon made a fatal mistake. He turned down an alleyway and was forced to stop when he saw that it was a dead end. I skidded to a halt in front of the entrance to the alley, blocking his escape route and shadowing my body. That probably didn't help.

The cloaked dragon slowly backed up down the alley as I walked to him. Eventually there was no more room to back up to and we were now mere feet away from each other. There was a rampant silence in the air as we stared each other down, neither of us moved and the dragon was breathing rather heavily. I hope he wasn't sick.

I needed to break the ice. "H-"

I was interrupted, "What the hell do you want from me?! I don't have any money!" He bared his teeth at me in anger.

"Well-" I started.

"What?! Do you want to turn me into the Marines?! As if! I'll never go back there do you hear?!" He swiped an arm in front of himself in anger to emphasis his point.

This was getting kinda annoying now, "No, now if you'll let me finish-"

I was cut off once again by the dragon shouting, "I won't let you take me back!"

He looked absolutely feral, I was too busy being distracted by the annoyance of being constantly cut off so I didn't expect my new potential crew mate to swipe at me.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, stumbling back in order to dodge the razor sharp claws. The dragon took his chance to escape and darted past me while I was still recovering my balance. I saw him make a right turn around the alley corner and moved to chase him back down. Sadly I tripped on a trashcan and fell face first on the stone ground.

"Ouch," I rubbed my face. I got back up and ran back out the alleyway, successfully this time. I looked left and right but did not see the cloaked dragon. "Damn it, he got away." I muttered.

My pride was a little sore but I was not about to give up. I had a gut feeling that this guy should be my first mate, and I'm gonna follow it.

-???-

"Are you certain it is him?" A soft voice coming from a magic pocket mirror in someone's hand asked.

"Yes ma'am, I'm certain. The color of the scales match and I was able to get a good look at his face." A second voice spoke, the one holding the mirror. The unnamed individual looked around the corner of a building and eyed the unknown creature towering over the ponies. "And what about this other... variable. How should we proceed?"

The other voice was silent for a moment before replying, "If this is the same individual that Captain Feather reported then we should move silently. Too many unknowns right now, we don't need this getting larger than needed. Stay out of sight."

"Roger." The second voice said while looking at the mirror and snapped it closed. The unknown person looked back at the strange being with the large white mustache for a while longer, but had to duck back behind the wall when the being's head snapped in her direction.

Deciding not to tempt fate any longer the spy rushed down the alley and hopped over a wall. A glint of pale blue hair flashed briefly before disappearing.
> 6. Breezy Town Arc - A Meal and a Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Occasionally I have been getting the strangest feeling of being watched. Not all the time mind you, the feeling sort of just pops up every now and then. Every time I try and spot the supposed watcher I don't see anything, sometimes I see a small shadow duck behind a wall and when I see it, I sprint to its location. But nothing is there when I reach the alley or wall or whatever.

I'm beginning to think I've gone mad.

I snorted, annoyed at many things right now. It's been a few hours since I last saw my potential first mate and the being watched feeling sprang up. My stomach growled as I walked down a random street. I put a hand over it and complained, "Gah... I'm hungry. Where's a restaurant when you need one?"

I gave a sigh now and began my new search of a place to eat, finding my new crew mate had to be put on pause right now. I walked about a block and took a left. And what do I find? A large tavern, and those were a great place to get some food and drink. Grinning, I jogged across the street and just barely managed to squeeze myself through the double doors.

Every individual in the tavern went quiet when I entered the building. Even though I had to practically squat to fit in here I shuffled myself to the bar. The people already seated there scrambled to get out of my way, shrugging I grabbed two stools and seated myself on them. I placed my bisento up against the counter and turned my head to stare at the people that were still staring at me.

I finally broke the silence after a few seconds of silence I grunted out, "Well? What do you want? Stop staring and get back to eating and drinking."

Everyone turned back to their drinks and friends and the silence slowly ebbed way to what would be the usual levels of chattering in a tavern. I turned away from them and looked at the nervous barkeep.

"Give me five of whatever your special is. And a barrel of... what kind of alcohol do you have?"

The barkeep, seeming to get his nerves together, said, "We have cider here, usually my stock would be more varied but pirates raided the last shipment." He went silent as he thought about something, "A... barrel you say?"

I nodded, "Yes, a barrel. And cider is fine, never had it before. Now hurry, I'm starved."

The man looked bewildered but complied with my demands. I heard him mutter, "Never had cider? How...". I didn't pay much attention to it though, cider was probably the most commonly drunk alcohol in this new world for all I knew. I tapped a finger on the bar as I waited for the food and barrel to arrive. I felt that tingling sensation of being watched, I tensed and slightly turned my head right.

I saw out of my peripheral someone seated alone at a table. It wasn't my mystery dragon, the person looked far too thin and much smaller for that. From the build I'd wager that the person was female and likely whatever passed as a young teen here, but I couldn't get any details with that long cloak and hood in the way. I mentally noted where she was and turned my head forward again. I must have been observing the mysterious stalker for longer than I thought, the food was ready.

The barkeep put down a huge bowl and when I raised an eyebrow he shrugged and said, "Five special soups here, didn't feel like wasting five bowls for one guy."

Fair enough. I watched as he struggled a bit as he heaved a barrel onto the counter. Once the barrel was secure he huffed in exertion and nodded at me before going back to servicing some of the other patrons. I took the spoon resting on the inside of the bowl and took a gulp of the soup. It was pretty good for tavern food. I turned my head again to see if the mystery person was still there, she was.

I ate the bowl of soup for a minute before deciding I needed a drink.

"Well, here's hoping I get Whitebeard's alcohol tolerance." I thought to myself.

I easily lifted the barrel with one hand, the tavern got quieter for some reason. I unsealed the top of the barrel and looked at the cider inside. "Bottom's up." I thought and drunk straight from the barrel. I heard gasps of astonishment from the other patrons as I drained the barrel. I reached a third of the way through before stopping and putting it on the counter, like one would a simple glass.

I went back to eating, completely ignoring everything around me while feeling like a badass.

"I guess I do get his alcohol tolerance, I don't even feel the slightest bit buzzed."

I looked to my right again, the stranger was gone.

"Looking for me?" A girlish voice to my left asked.

I admit... I did not expect that and jumped just a tad. I turned and looked down at the voice, annoyed, and said, "Yeah, you've been following me all day haven't you? Why?" I took another few mouthfuls of soup as I stared down at her.

She was silent for a moment before saying, "I know you want to take Spike away from here." She looked down at her hands, they were dirty which prompted another look at the new girl before me. "And... please don't take him back to the marines sir."

The girl bowed her head and silently wept, I put my spoon down when I finished my food and looked at her.

"Why do you think I'm a marine? I don't have anything to do with them." I chugged the last of my cider as I examined her.

The hooded girl looked at me in astonishment. "What? You... you aren't a Marine? Then why do you-" The girl was cut off when the doors to the tavern burst open. One fell to the floor, its hinges bent and broken.

It was my new first mate, his head swiveled around as he took in everything and everyone. His eyes locked onto me, or more specifically the girl beside me. He sprinted towards us and positioned himself in between, slamming his clawed hand on the counter hard enough to leave gouges. He was lacking his hood now, I finally got a clear look at his face. Everything scaly except his jaw was purple, he had green slitted eyes, and a green fin thing that looked like a mohawk. He also had some weird light green things on the sides of his head as well.

He interrupted my inner thoughts when he pointed a claw at me and said, "Stay away from her bub. I already said I won't be taken by a Marine and-!"

"I'm not a Marine! I'm a pirate!" I shouted and slammed the side of my fist on the counter, cracking it. "How do I in any way give off a Marine vibe?!" The tavern goers screamed and scrambled to get out of the tavern as quickly as possible in order to get away from the large man that just announced he was a pirate. Unfinished meals and drinks littered the tables, even the barkeep wasn't around right now.

The dragon looked taken aback, "Wait... if you weren't a Marine then why did you chase me?"

"To get you to join my pirate crew of course!"

Spike blinked, then shook his head. "No way! I don't want to be a pirate!"

I huffed and crossed my arms, "Well too bad! You're my first mate now!"

"No! I have things to do here! I can't just up and leave whenever!"

"Too bad." I turned my head in the other direction, as if dismissing his reasons.

Spike sighed and pinched the bridge of his snout. He took and deep breath and slowly released it, a small flame shot out from between his sharp teeth, nearly searing my leg. He must've notice because he snapped his mouth closed and mumbled an apology, as if expecting me to be fearful. I however practically had stars in my eyes.

"Dude, that was awesome! That's why I love dragons! They are so neat!"

My little exclamation must have surprised him. "What? But most are afraid of dragons. You know? Sharp teeth, fire that kills..." Spike trailed off.

"Pfft, please. I'm obviously not most."

"Um..." A small voice spoke out.

Spike and I turned to the hooded girl. She seemed nervous for some reason. The girl pointed to a window and we all turned to look out of it. From what I could see there was a large squad of Marines outside of the tavern. I squinted, trying to look out the rather dirty glass, and noted that they had guns and swords alike. Reminded me of the One Piece Marines.

"Hmm... I wonder what they want." I simply said.

"PIRATES!!" A loud shout came from outside. "WE THE MARINES DEMAND YOU COME OUT AND TURN YOURSELVES IN! IF COMPLIANCE IS MET, THEN YOU WILL BE TREATED WITH UPMOST RESPECT. IF YOU FIGHT THEN LETHAL FORCE MAY BE AUTHORIZED!"

The loudmouth went silent and we the group of three were left to stew. I turned to Spike, "Well buddy it turns out you are a pirate now! Can't wait to bring you aboard!"

He turned to me with an annoyed and angered expression, "Gah! I told you I'm not gonna be a pirate!" He inhaled and exhaled in an attempt to calm down. Once calm he looked at me and said, "Look, I don't really trust you. But at least you aren't a Marine. I don't want to become a pirate. But I do want to protect her." Spike pointed at the hooded girl, who shuffled on her feet nervously.

I looked at her, "What's so special about her?"

He shook his head, "Not now. Maybe later." He looked outside at the Marines stationed there. "We need to get out of here, there is a backdoor I can sneak myself and... her out. But you wouldn't fit..."

I laughed, "Don't worry about me. I can take care of a few grunts." I grabbed my bisento, turned to Spike and said, "Now where should we meet up?"

He looked at me like I was crazy but thought better of trying to persuade me different. "East of town, there should be a river and along that river you'll find a house in a clearing near it's banks. Once you escape head there... if you survive." I shrugged at Spike and watched him leave out the backdoor.

I turned to face the front door and said, "Well, best not to keep the poor men waiting."

I twirled the weapon around in my hand before flinging it p into the air. It crashed through the roof and left a rather big hole, I'd apologize to whoever owned this but he probably left a while ago. I heard shouts of alarm as my weapon slammed blade first in the street just outside the tavern.

I tensed my legs and leaped out of the tavern and through the new hole I made in the roof. I crossed my arms in front of myself and channeled my devil fruit power, I was thankful that I practiced during my voyage here. I could make the vibrations explode on contact with something instead of it just carrying forward until it didn't have any energy left.

And explode it did when I landed in front of my bisento and slammed my fists to the sides. Two cracks appeared in the air in front of my fists and the shockwaves shot out. When they each hit a soldier the shockwaves exploded and the Marines flew in every direction, screaming in surprise and pain when they collided with an object or each other. Only a few were left and those were the ones directly in front of me, they were shaking in fear and one even gulped.

They seemed to remember that they were Marines and were suppose to fight pirates like myself. So they gathered up their courage and pointed their weapons at me. Faster than they could blink I reached back and grabbed my bisento, they shot and I swept the blade in front of myself. The blade's side bounced the bullets away, and any that got past the blade were directed off course by the wind pressure and away from my body.

Not letting them get over the shock of that move I swung the bisento again and cut through them. Blood splattered on the floor and judging from their new cut I doubted it was deep enough to kill. I cracked my neck and rested the bisento on my shoulder. I still needed a bit of work on my fighting skills and I couldn't improve if I kept fighting fodder.

I turned to what I thought was the east and was about to jump forward. However, I got a flash of something in my mind of a bullet going through my heart from behind. I dodged to the left and a gun shot filled the air. The bullet whizzed through my previous location. I looked in the direction it came from and saw a prone Marine, he was barely holding the pistol in his hands.

"D-Do you have eyes in the back of your head?" The Marine stuttered out.

"No." I simply said as I glared down at him and kicked him in the side. He was flung into a nearby wall and passed out. With that taken care of I jumped onto a roof and ran across the rooftops to my new destination.
> 7. Breezy Town Arc - Smelling Adventure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's dark." I said while jogging through the forest.

I did not know why I felt the need to state the obvious when it's night time in a forest of all places. Of course it would be dark, civilization is a mile back with all the wondrous housing and night life. I've begun to realize that I might have to get used to forests, which won't come naturally since I've lived in a city for my entire life.

I was just glad I managed to ditch the Marines. Turns out they had backup on the way and did not take kindly to their comrades being attacked. Aside form the minor assault on the local law enforcement and openly admitting I'm a pirate I didn't know why they were so fervent in chasing me. Not like any of the Marines I first attacked were killed, scarred sure but not killed.

And of course none of them wanted to explain.

So while I not-so-inconspicuously roof hopped around the city I was spotted pretty quickly. Those pegasi were really broken, all of them had the ability to fly and attack from any angle. If I didn't have my own range attack then I would've been in much more serious trouble. And don't get me started on the unicorns, I've had to keep a strong grip on my bisento the whole chase. The bastards kept trying to take it from me with their magic, luckily one can counteract the telekinesis with brute force if they have enough of it. The unicorns got tired much more quickly with the constant strain of trying to force the bisento out of my death grip and giving chase.

I assume that's why they simply gave up and instead opted to fire lasers at me. Laser is an overstatement though, the beams moved much slower and could be easily dodged. Piccolo would've been proud. Oddly enough I could also smack them away with the blade of my spear, I had fun making them deal team damage.

When I decided that I'd had enough fun I dropped down to the streets and did my best to lose them in the alleys and turns. It took a while, I didn't know the lay of the town and those stupid pegasi could fly, but I finally managed to lose them after at least an hour. With my size it was hard to move without attracting too much attention. I was way too much of an anomaly in this town.

But I managed and escaped to the outskirts of town, where this godforsaken forest was.

I exhaled in minor annoyance and wondered how far away the stupid river was. I knew I didn't pass it, I couldn't have missed it since a river is not something you just pass over without noticing. Especially when you have a devil fruit ability. I grumbled in my head for a few more moments until I heard the telltale sign of a river. The rush of water.

I grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. I was that much closer to finding out what Spike wanted to say.

I reached the bank of the river and looked around, I didn't see any sort of shelter around here. Instead I only saw the river itself and a really large boulder sitting off to the side. I concluded that wherever Spike and his mystery girl were they were in either direction of the river.

I tapped a finger on my chin as I tried to figure out which direction to go. A genius idea was born in my head. Why not use all my leg strength to jump up and look around from that height? I'd surely see where the house is from there.

I chuckled to myself, "Oh, this'll be fun."

I did a few stretches to loosen myself up and crouched down. I took a deep breath and jumped upwards with all my might. I cleared the treetops easily and I went to work locating the house. I didn't see anything on my first jump, I landed back down with a mighty crash.

"Damn." I grumbled. "Oh well, one more time. I think I saw a light on the way down."

I went back into position, took a breath, and launched myself back up and over the trees. I looked to where I thought I saw a light and squinted. I was correct, there was a light coming from that direction. And since it was by the riverbank it must also be where Spike lives. I made sure to mentally note the location so I'd be able to find the place again.

The landing was different this time around. Instead of just a crash there was also a yelp of pain and surprise. A groan of discomfort came from some sort of person clad in all black. She, from what I'd guess, was also hooded and twitched a bit.

"Uh... oops?" I said to the downed person. "Sorry about that. Didn't see you there." I lifted my foot off the stranger.

She immediately shot up and back on her feet and turned around, making sure her hood kept her face hidden. I figured it was probably in embarrassment.

"Y-you d-didn't see me!" She yelled and bolted off into the forest.

I scratched my head in confusion. "The heck was that about?"

After receiving no word from the surrounding forest I simply shrugged and began my new trek through the forest. It seemed like the faster route than trying to follow the riverbank. The quickest route is a straight line right? I stomped my way through the forest, hoping that the trip would be a short one.

It wasn't, but I did find something interesting on the way. A tiny cliff, barely over my height, and a metal door with a wheeled knob, like you'd see on a safe, leading into it's depths. I bit my lip, the door looked like it reeked of potential adventure. I looked in the direction where the two people I was suppose to meet were waiting and back down at the door.

"Decisions, decisions..." I muttered.

I came to a conclusion after an intense debate. "They can wait. I'll be an hour, tops."

I grabbed the wheel of the door and turned. It wouldn't budge, seemed that it was either locked or the mechanism was rusted. I grunted in mild strain as I pushed harder on the knob, as if I could make it turn on pure will alone. And it did turn! It just broke in the process...

I stared at the useless bit of metal in my hands and sighed. "Wonderful. Now what?" I chucked the wheeled handle to the side and pondered. My pondering stopped when I remembered I had devil fruit powers. I grinned and a glow appeared around my left fist, I could hold it for much longer now.

I punched the door and it bent in half before flying down the hallway it lead to. I heard it crash and boom around as I shook my hand, the door must've been made from thick steel. I stepped into the dark corridor, minding my head as I walked, the ceiling was barely higher than I was. I got a few steps in and lights started turning on.

I looked to my right and saw light fixtures and wires hanging on the sides of the wall. Perhaps there was some sort of motion detector for living beings, because the flying door should've turned on the lights if it was a simple motion detector. It took about five minutes of walking until I reached another door, passing the folded steel one that laid pathetically on the side of the corridor.

This door was simple wood, not steel, and had a simple knob. I was glad I wouldn't have to force my way through again and I grabbed the knob and turned it. The wood door's hinges fell off and I was left holding the door by its handles.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course."

I tossed the door to the side and examined the new room I found myself in. It looked like a laboratory.

A large semicircle of computers lined the far back wall with monitors up to the ceiling. A worktable with microscopes, vials and petri-dishes. Another table with burners and various tools. Huge racks upon racks of vials and liquids lined the route edges of the lab, and many more tables that were in ruin. Some looked like they had some sort of burn marks on them, others had claw marks.

"Whoa." I said, I couldn't stop looking around. It was like an abandoned lab you'd see in a movie or something.

I walked into the lab a bit more, I heard a clinking sound. I looked down and saw a broken vial that looked like ti once contained something at my feet. Curious I reached down and picked it up, reading the label.

"Serum-12X?" I asked to no one.

After examining it a bit more I put it down on one of the tables and headed to the computers. The chair was broken but I paid it no mind. Seeing if the computers still worked I pushed a button. Nothing seemed to happen and I tsked in annoyance. I was about to turn around and head out but I stopped when I saw something sitting on the computer table.

It was a book.

"Interesting. A completely intact book amongst a ruined and destroyed laboratory? This must be where I smelled adventure coming from." I picked the book up and looked at it. It seemed to shine with some sort of energy upon contact with me. I hummed in thought, it didn't seem dangerous but I kept myself wary.

And I dropped it in shock when it started glowing brightly and vibrating.

"What the!" I looked at the book on the ground, it still continued to glow and vibrate. And it must be my imagination but the vibration sounded like the vibration of a cell phone. I blinked confused, I tentatively reached down and picked the still vibrating book up. I held it in my hands and flipped it open.

I was staring at a blank page, but a blank page that began to start writing itself.

"Did I stumble upon Tom Riddle's diary?" I quieted myself and read what the book wanted to tell me.

Oh my, it's been so long since we last talked.

Have you finally decided to come back to us Twilight?
> 8. Breezy Town Arc - Story of Spike and Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you finally decided to come back to us Twilight?

This wasn't creepy at all. It's one thing to watch a movie and see the text write itself, it's a whole new thing to see it for real and in person. But, my curiosity was peaked and I simply had to see it through to the end. I quickly darted my head around, looking for a pen. This was a lab, there had to be one somewhere.

I shoved drawers open, paper flying out and dust exploding out in a grey cloud. I coughed and waved a hand in front of my face trying to clear the air, my mustache was probably stained with dust now. "Damn it, where's a maid when you need one?" I complained.

I found a pen after a few minutes of frantically looking around. It was in a box in one of the shelves on the wall. After grabbing it I quickly rushed back to the book that I placed on an empty table. I looked back down at the page and the text was still there.

"Alrighty then, let's see... This obviously belongs to someone else, and this person thinks I'm that person. Now the question is... how should i go about getting some answers?" I said and placed the pen close to the paper, thinking hard.

"Huh, I can't think of anything..." I looked down in thought before shrugging, "Oh, well. Let's go with the truth!"

"Sorry, I'm not this Twilight you speak of. Who is this?" I wrote.

The book was silent for a moment before words started writing on its pages. "A long lost friend of ours. Perhaps you could help me find her?"

Right buddy, like that didn't look suspicious at all. I wrote back, "I apologize, I don't know who this is. But if I find anything, I'll let you know."

The book was silent. I was a bit uncomfortable and tapped the pen to the book as I thought about what to do next. Sighing, I closed the book, stuck the pen in the pocket of my pants, and silently walked out of the lab with the book in hand. There wasn't anything left to look at in here, figured I'd leave and go see what my new first mate wanted to tell me.

I only heard the sound of my footsteps as I walked down the empty hallway, as quickly as I left I found myself back outside. I looked up and noted that the moon hasn't shifted in its position much. I still had plenty of time, I laughed and shook my head. I didn't know why I was laughing, I guess it was because my entire mini adventure was all for a book. Granted, it was a magic book that talked back but still. A book.

I turned right from the doorway, remembering the direction where I assumed Spike's little holdout was. Grumbling about how I had to trek through the forest once more I set off into the relatively unknown.





I finally forced myself through the forest and entered a small clearing by the river. A small run down looking cabin greeted me, I guess that this was the place. It also explains why Spike was stealing food, those two probably weren't all that rich, if they even had money. I stepped fully into the clearing and sauntered down to the cabin. I reached the door and politely knocked.

Scrambling was heard going on in the cabin, I must've scared one of them with the sudden knock. The door open after about a minute of noise and Spike greeted me, he seemed genuinely surprised to see me.

"You actually got away from the Marines? You're pretty tough for an old man."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I'm gonna get that a lot. Now, you said you'd explain some things right?"

Spike nodded and stepped inside. I stood awkwardly at the doorway, Spike seemed to notice me not moving and turned to look at me in confusion. I rose an eyebrow and pointed to all of me and to all of the cabin. He seemed to sheepishly smile and quickly jogged back outside. I snorted in amusement.

"Heh, right. Sorry, forgot how big you were for a second there."

I shrugged, "Eh, don't worry about it. Now, let's talk eh?"

He nodded, "Yeah, just give me a second. We need one more for our group." He stuck his head into the cabin and called out, "Hey Twilight! The big dude is here!"

I was shocked that I heard the name of the person the book was looking for. I heard a shout of agreement and saw the small girl from before rushed out. Her cloak and hood was gone now, revealing an anthro unicorn with purple fur, a purple horn, and purple a lot of things. She even had a dark blue mane and tail, along with a dark pink highlight and a purple highlight on her mane and tail.

I nodded in greeting at her, wondering what the book wanted with a little girl, and asked, "Well, it's nice to actually see your face now. Why were wearing a hood and cloak?"

Spike rubbed his head, "Yeah, that's part of what we are going to tell you. Some of it will probably shock you."

Oh? Well this is getting better and better.

"Well let's not keep waiting!" I sat down on the ground, the other two following my example, and set my bisento against the wall. "Let's get to story telling!"

"I'll give you the version that led to what got us here and now. Our full story is about thirty five years long." Spike said.

I rose an eyebrow, the young girl of the two didn't look that old to me, and to be honest neither did Spike. He noticed my look of disbelief and laughed. "Yeah, I know we don't look that old. But trust me, we are, and there's a reason for her current age."

I nodded, placing my hands on my knees. "Does it have something to do with a that lab a ways back?" I randomly asked.

Both of them looked shocked and spike asked rather loudly, "H-How did you know about that lab?!"

I pointed a thumb in the direction I came from. "I overshot the direction to your house. Ended up a ways back, found a suspicious door in the middle of a forest and followed it." I held up the strange book, "Found this magic book in there too."

Twilight looked sad and angry at the book, Spike not so much, he was all anger. It was an interesting difference, "I see that you guys have some history with this book?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Spike said, "That there is a magic book that let's whoever writes in it to communicate with the owner of it's opposite book. This one was in our hands, the other is with Celestia."

"I take it things didn't work out so well with this Celestia?" I asked, stating the obvious.

Spike nodded, but it was Twilight who spoke next, sniffing, "Yeah. That serum we were developing... we thought it was simply a way to extend one's life by a set amount. A way to improve health and cure disease around the world." She snorted, "Turns out it was simply a way to give the higher ups in the Marines a way to obtain longevity. Militarize it so to speak. Nopony else was going to get a chance for it, and no cures for diseases either. Hay, they even wanted to add a way to increase overall power."

Spike nodded, "Yeah, they weren't exactly subtle about it though. We caught on quickly and tried to flee from the lab, turns out they had some soldiers stationed there. Fighting broke out, Twilight and I did most of it though, the other scientists weren't all that combat capable..."

I rubbed my impressive chin in thought, "Huh, so what happened next?"

Twilight took over again, "After the fighting broke out the lab took the most damage, Spike's fire did most of it though..." She trailed off and stared at a sheepishly grinning Spike. She rolled her eyes and continued, "We were about to make our escape but a lucky stun spell from a Marine caught me in my shoulder. A vial of the serum that I had in my grasp smashed on the ground when I fell over, covering me."

She sighed, "We hadn't perfected it, I was just glad all it did was reverse my age."

Spike snorted, "Yeah, lucky you. You got aged down to a foal, and I've taken care of you for the last decade." He looked at me, "She's around thirteen right now if you must know."

I nodded, "I see. So why are you here on this island now then? Surely you left immediately?"

Spike nodded, "Yeah, we did. Stole a boat and traveled around the ocean, avoiding the government whenever we could. We came here after all this time because we figure it'd be the last place they'd ever look."

Ah, that boat must be the nearly sinking deathtrap in the harbor. "So if my math is correct aren't you, Spike, over thirty? Why do you look around sixteen?"

He shrugged, "Dragons age much slower than a lot of the other races."

Fair point. "So if you've been hiding here for a while... why not the both of you join my crew then?" I grinned when they looked at me oddly, "I'd protect you, anyone who joins my crew becomes family to me! You were so aggressive with me earlier because you wanted to protect your remaining family right Spike?"

He slowly nodded, "Yeah, but I don't want to go around raiding villages and stuff. And I'm sure Twilight would agree with me..."

I waved my hand, "Nonono, I don't do stuff like that." I quickly waved that notion off the table. "I just want to go around having adventures. Being Pirate King to me... is having all the freedom in the world, and simply having fun while doing it."

Twilight smiled at me, "I think it sounds fun Spike. I don't believe he's lying, why not give it a try?" She looked at him as she said that. She then raised an eyebrow, "Besides, do you really want to be stuck in this dump for the rest of our lives?"

Spike huffed, crossing his arms, "Hey! I'll have you know I built this with my own two claws!"

Twilight giggled, and Spike started laughing as well. I looked up at the sky and saw how late it was.

"I think we should get some sleep, you can give me your answer in the morning Spike." They agreed it was time to sleep, Twilight came out with a pillow and a blanket. I was sleeping under the stars tonight I guess, I didn't mind all that much. We exchanged goodnights and I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to claim me.
> 9. Breezy Town Arc - Setting Sail
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been a few days since the late night talk I had with Spike and Twilight. In those few days we were gathering supplies for the next voyage, since all three of us were dirt poor it took a while. This has also been a bit of a revelation that I really should get a way to make some money, honestly I'm secretly hoping that a Marine ship attacks. I'd be able to beat them and get some extra supplies for us.

But there were no Marine ships in sight.

So we did it the old fashioned way, luckily water was no problem since we were next to a river. Foraging around the island was partially successful, it seemed that Twilight read a book about survival during her life. Her sharp memory and intellect was a wonderful bonus, as good as Spike being a dragon, and that was awesome.

"So... We have plenty of fruits, roots, and vegetables. Water is well stocked. All of our belongings are packed and ready. And we have enough firewood to last us a month, not that we need that much firewood." She muttered the last part and rolled her eyes at our snickering. "Now, are you sure you don't want help with that Captain?"

By that, I assume she means the many barrels of water I'm carrying. I had them nice and perfectly strapped together with some rope and were resting on my right shoulder, my hand on the topmost barrel to keep it steady.

I shook my head at her, "Nah, I'm good. This isn't as heavy as it looks."

Twilight shrugged and her horn lit up, the bags of food we gathered being lifted with her telekinesis. Spike hefted up all of their belongings and I grabbed my bisento from its resting place on the side of their old home. I twirled it lazily before resting it against my shoulder.

"You all set? Didn't forget anything?" I asked them, just incase they forgot anything.

"Nah, don't think so." Spike said, shrugging easily even with the heavy looking bag on his shoulders. He looked over to his lifelong friend, "Hey Twilight, your checklist all checked out?"

She pushed up on a pair of glasses that I didn't even know she needed. "Yes Spike, its all checked out. We should get moving now, if our Captain picked up the book then there might be a Marine ship heading his way. It might be best to avoid a confrontation right now, if our current boat is a fishing ship of all things..." She trailed off, raising an eyebrow at me.

I waved her off, "Yeah, yeah. A better ship is something that needs to come soon. Do you know where we can get one anyway?"

We started our journey through the forest, thanks to the little... mishap at the tavern a few days ago Twilight suggested we skirt around the edge of town and enter a street closer to the docks. It might be a longer walk, but she said something about a higher statistical chance to avoid conflict. Then rambled on about things I couldn't possible understand with all the jargon she used, Spike seemed used to it, didn't even bat an eye.

"I do. There are two major shipyards in this half of the world. One is in Equestria itself, the headquarters of the Marines and seat of power for the World Government. I doubt that we, as pirates, could get a ship commissioned there." Twilight said, matter of factly.

I couldn't agree more. "So, I'm guessing that since there is one for the Marines... there is also one for pirates as well?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yup. Though I wouldn't know anything about prices for the ships made there. Or have any guarantees about the quality. We should make some money before heading there."

I sighed, "Yeah, we are kinda super poor right now. Anyone G]got any ideas to make some money?"

Spike punched his palm and grinned, "I say we take on some Marines. I still got a grudge against them and it's a hell of a lot better than raiding villagers. Plus, I'm pretty sure each ship has a safe in it, for needed expenditures during each voyage. Pirates also have a lot of stuff on hand."

I carefully stepped over a root and said, "I do like the prospect of a fight... and money."

Twilight rolled her eyes and muttered, "Stallions, always looking for a fight..."

I laughed, "Gurarara! Then its settled! We should make our money from Marines, if we find any, and other pirates too. But before we do any of that we need to get ourselves the most important thing a pirate crew needs."

Twilight and Spike looked at me, I could see the question in their eyes.

"A pirate flag of course! What kind of self respecting pirate doesn't have one? The Jolly Roger is the most important part of a pirate ship." I said, nodding at my own wisdom.

Spike crossed his arms and looked up in thought before nodding. He looked to me and said, "Yeah, I can see why that's an important part. But don't you think we should wait until we get an actual ship? Seems kind of lack luster to put a Jolly Roger on a fishing ship."

He had a good point. Too bad really, I really wanted to make the Whitebeard flag already. But I guess getting an actual ship and a larger crew size would be more important right now. Or at least a larger ship first, a pirate flag second, and a larger crew third.

I sighed, "I suppose."

The conversation then turned to random topics, favorite foods, colors, and the like. The hours were whittled away and our group of three finally got to an entrance to the town. I could see the docks weren't far, I could even make out my tiny fishing ship and Twilight and Spike's beaten up boat, "Practically drift wood now" as described by Spike's own words. We walked out of the forest and entered the street, trying our best to avoid any unwanted attention.

But when you're a huge human amongst anthro ponies, a young pony, and a teenaged dragon you turn a few heads. Most were curious, but I think other's were putting the pieces together. Rumor must have spread from villager to villager about the strange person announcing he was a pirate to the only known dragon in town. I looked one of those villager's in the eye and he ran off, trying to cover his face from my gaze.

"Huh, what's up with him?" Asked Spike.

I rolled my eyes but it was Twilight who responded, "Spike, it's barely been a few days since Captain announce he was a pirate in front of a tavern full of ponies. Rumors spread fast, especially if it's about a new creature and a dragon."

Spike thought it over, "I guess... but I mean it's not like we're being threatening or something. We're just walking down the street." None of us had an answer to that and the subject matter was dropped.

I looked at the two beside me, "Oh and by the way, you two don't have to call me Captain you know? You can call me Luke, that's my name after all."

Twilight blinked, "Oh, I thought your name was Whitebeard. But I suppose I could give it a try... just doesn't seem professional to call my superior in this crew by his name and not title."

"Heh, we're pirates now Twilight. There is no professionalism here. Also, I don't want to be your superior, I want to be your friend." I looked at Spike, "How about you?"

He shrugged, "Yeah I'll call you by your name. Besides, calling you Captain all the time would've gotten old real quick." Spike gave me a wry grin and we laughed. Twilight giggled alongside us as we finally got to the pier.

I pointed at my ship, "Well, there it is. We can stuff everything inside it, all the stuff I had gotten from the previous island I was on should be inside too."

Twilight and Spike nodded, jumping onto the deck of the fishing ship. I had to carefully step onto the deck myself, didn't want to fall in the water.

"Well... its certainly better than our ship that's for sure." Spike commented. He sniffed the air, "Hey, is that sea monster I smell?"

"Yeah, one attacked me on the way here. Killed it and ate it before arriving on the island." I said and set the water down. I looked up to see the surprise on Spike's face. "What?" I asked.

He grinned, "Finally! Someone I know that eats meat too!" He whooped for joy, "Do you know what's it's like being the only meat eater, surrounded by ponies that eat only vegetables, grains, and fruit?"

Well I knew some vegetarians back home...

I shook my head, "Nah. But it must've been lonely. We should stop this conversation though, Twilight doesn't look like she's enjoying it."

Spike looked sheepish at Twilight, "Heh, sorry Twi. Just excited."

She smiled at him, "Don't worry about me. I'm going to go organize everything and we can set sail."

Twilight turned and walked into the interior of the ship. Spike and I started loading the water inside, or at least he did. I just untied them and watched him carry them inside. Once our manual labor was finished we lounged on the deck and lazed about. That was how Twilight found us, nearly asleep in the sun.

"Really? You're just going to be lazy? Come on then! You want to leave for the next island right?" Twilight put a hand on her hip and stared down at us with an eyebrow raised.

We nervously laughed and got to work. I pushed us with a foot from the dock and we slowly drifted out of the port. Once we had our ship all nice and moving I took out the map and compass. I chose a random island somewhere close by and turned the steering wheel. There was a comfortable silence as we sailed away from the island. A soft smile on all of our faces.

"I wish we had a sunset..." I said, ruining the mood. I heard the smack of palm and face and smirked in triumph.





"Target has left the island. He and his charge have gone with that huge new creature. I'm sorry... I failed." Said a voice sadly. The owner of the voice was a cloaked pony watching the fishing ship leave the island on top of the roof of a large house. "I will accept any punishment seen fit."

"That won't be necessary. Something new has come up, we feel like you need a new mission." Said the voice from the pocket mirror.

"What do you need me to do?" The hooded pony held the mirror closer to her.

"Simple. Find a way into 'Whitebeards' crew. Observe from the inside until we feel it is necessary to strike. We will talk again soon. Do not fail, I have the upmost confidence in you."

"Your will be done." The hooded pony nodded to the mirror before snapping it closed. The pony looked out in the direction Whitebeard and his crew sail to. Purple eyes narrowed before the cloaked pony jumped off the roof and dashing to the docks.
> 10. Filler - Meeting Iron Man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were drifting through the sea, Twilight was reading a book and sitting on the deck, and Spike was trying to fish using the net that came with the boat. I was simply relaxing, wondering is something interesting might happen today.

“It’s pretty dull today so far.” I said to no one in particular, resting my head on my hands.

“Uh huh.” Said Twilight disinterestedly.

“I suppose.” Said Spike, he seemed more focused on fishing than talking.

I sighed, clearly they were a bit too occupied to indulge me. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and suddenly something smack me in the nose. I cried out in surprise, “What the hell?!”

I looked down at the offending object that dared to smack me in the face. I rubbed my nose and saw that it was a red gear with what looked like an arc reactor. Like, straight from Iron Man and all that jazz. It looked really cool so I picked it up, forgetting entirely about the fact it hit me in the face.

A voice rung in my head, "My name is Jacob, but you may know me better as Iron Man.  I am a prankster, a warrior, an inventor, as well as a pal. If your intentions are good and you hold love in your hearts,  I will be there to help you.  If you need a shoulder to cry on, a partner in a mission, someone to talk to, or an ally in battle, just clutch this gear and call for my aid!"

“Is something up?” Asked Twilight. She was curious now, after my little outburst broke whatever spell that book had on her.

“This thing just played some sort of message in my head after I picked it up. Strange thing though is that it appears to be… Iron Man?” I said, confused as hell.

“Iron Man? Who's that?” Asked Spike, turning around to look at me.

“Just something from where I’m from. Thing is… he wasn’t real, just a comic book hero.” I said.

“You know, you never said where you’re from.” Commented Spike.

“Yeah, I agree. You don’t even seem to know a whole lot about the most common facts about the world.” Said Twilight.

I rubbed the back of my head, “Well… you probably wouldn’t believe me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Try us. I got deaged back to a foal, I’m sure you can’t top that.”

“I’m from, what I expect is, a different Universe.” I said, completely serious. “There is no such thing as magic, and no ponies that look like you.”

Spike and Twilight’s eyes widened in disbelief.

I nodded, continuing, “And that’s not all. I didn’t used to look like this. Don’t know why I do though… still haven’t gotten that part down.” I mumbled that last part to myself.

Twilight rubbed her head, “That… is a lot to take in.”

“I know, but figured you should know about it. Don’t know why I didn’t tell you before.”

Spike shrugged, “It’s cool.”

“Well anyway, what are you going to do with that thing?” Twilight asked.

I rubbed my chin then nodded. “I think I’ll summon the dude. Might be interesting.”

Twilight looked very skeptical, “Look, that might not be a good idea. You don’t know if this ‘Iron Man’ is friendly. What if this guy is hostile?! I don’t recommend this course of action Luke!”

“Don’t worry about it Twilight! The message I heard sounded something a hero, or at least someone with a good disposition would say!” I said cheerfully. I did as the mysterious message said and clutched the gear, I had a flash of… something go through my mind and as fast as I could I pointed the gear out to sea. Twilight groaned in exasperation and Spike all but abandoning his fishing to watch what was going on.

A huge portal opened up in front of the gear, along with a huge ship that came barrelling out of the portal. It sailed over into the sea and started simply floating there, it didn’t look too friendly but I was too amazed by its appearance to worry about it a whole lot.

“Damn, that’s a pretty big ship.” I commented, shading my eyes from the sun as I looked over at it. “I want it so bad…”

Twilight and Spike had a different opinion about the huge monstrosity floating in the water near us. Twilight was nervous, but Spike had a polar expression, he glared at it and said, “It’s big yeah, but I don’t trust someone who comes out with a fully decked out battleship.”

“I have to agree with Spike Luke.” Twilight said.

I ignored them, looked up over the water, cupped my hands over my mouth and yelled, “Hey! You guys enemies?!”

Some sort of life boat started floating towards us, a few individuals were on the little boat. One was on a piano… and trumpets? Another on the drums, and a third on the cello. They started playing Bink’s Sake of all thing! As a fan of One Piece I knew this guy couldn’t be bad if he played that song over anything he could’ve done.

I blinked, then laughed in enjoyment, “Gurarara! I love that song!” I looked over at my two new companions, “This guy aint bad! Stop worrying about it now!” My crewmates didn’t seem to share my enjoyment over the song being played.

“Um, Luke?” Said Spike. “They just played a song, wasn’t even a good one. Why are you so quick to trust them?”

My eye twitched and I lightly karate chopped the top of Spike’s head, “Never say that about Bink’s Sake! Plus, no one who’s an asshole would play that over anything else they could’ve potentially done.”

One of the people onboard the lifeboat said, “Well then, now that it seems that we gained your favor, would you like to climb aboard?  We’d do the same, but I doubt that we would fit.”

I looked over at his crewmates and grinned, “Come on now. It’ll be fun! Trust me!”

My two crewmates seemed to mull it over, eventually Twilight relented. “Ugh, fine. But if this is some kind of trap I am so haunting you!”

I looked over at his first mate, still grinning. Spike sighed, “Only because Twilight is going.”

I fist pumped, “Alright! We’ll be right over!” I yelled and jumped over to the lifeboat. Twilight and Spike simply teleported across the sea. Twilight looked a bit drained from that and nearly fell over, but managed to catch herself in time.

“So, guessing we’re going up to that fancy thing you got?” I asked one of the people.

One of the new people laughed, “You got it, but watch your step in here.  The materials to make these weren’t cheap,and don’t get me started on the process of making these things from scratch.”

I nodded, “Noted, don’t mess with shiny objects.”

The lifeboat we were on started rising up into the air by a pulley system. It stopped near the main deck, there was enough space up here for me to be able to jog around in. The guy that previously talked asked, “So, what did you summon me for? Sea monster? Spy problem? Crew mutiny? The Marine fleet about twenty clicks from here? Angry mothers? Trust me, the last one is the worst one in this list.”

I laughed, “Nah, I just saw something shiny and interesting that talked in my head. Figured I do something with it, seemed like excitement.”

“Wait, what was that about the Marines?” Twilight asked.

I continued on, “Didn’t expect a ship to pop out of nowhere though!”

The guy shrugged, “What can I say? I like to make an entrance.”

I nodded and smiled, “Good man. Theatrics are important. So how did you get here anyway?”

He gave a shrug.  “It’s a little long, so I’ll give you the condensed version.  Judging by the fact that you are human and in an equine based world, I would guess that you have been displaced by a demon called the merchant or some other displacer?”

I scratched my chin, “Hmm, well I bought my amazing mustache off Amazon. Creepy UPS guy gave me the package, suppose he could be the guy you’re talking about. Gave me longevity though, can’t be all that bad. My name’s Luke by the way, what’s yours?”

He then proceeded to bow, “My name is Sir. Dr. Jacob Hyde D. Finch, lord of the robots, mad scientist, father, business man, dimensional traveller, the Crimson Knight, and the guardian of time, PHD.  Or Jacob for short.”

“Let’s go with Jacob,” My crew and I said at the same time.

I chuckled and shook my head, “Anyway, what’s the deal with being… what did you call it? Displaced?”

“Displaced, otherwise known as dimensionally misplaced.  We are beings that were once normal people, but were sent from our world by some asshole and dropped in a version of Equus.  We tend to wake up with the skills and abilities of who we dressed up as.  I was at comic con when I was displaced.  I’ll give you three guesses as to what I was dressed up as.” Jacob said.

“Hmm,” I said, looking down at Jacob. “Princess Peach?”

“Ha ha ha!” deadpanned Jacob, “Nope.”

“The Hulk?”

“No, that would be my little brother.”

I snapped, “So close.” I rolled my eyes, the gig up. “Iron Man right?”

“Yep.” Jacob said. He snapped his fingers and his body flashed for a moment before it dimmed to reveal he was wearing a variant of the Iron Man armor. “You got it.”

I grinned and said, “Awesome. I love Iron Man.” My crewmates, particularly Twilight, looked impressed at his armor.

He grinned back, “I also picked up some tricks in my many years.”

“What kind of tricks?” I asked.

Jacob vanished and appeared in a puff of confetti next to Spike.  “Thanks to some rather tough training from Surprise here.”  Said mare waved. “I am able to distort the laws of physics a bit.  Most of these types of tricks are harmless, but useful.  There is one part of this however, is very dangerous.”

“What’s that?” I asked, curious now.

“Ever heard of SMile HD?” Jacob asked.

“Uh, no? Should I?” I asked, really confused now.

“No, not really. It is basically a form where I can use most of my ki attacks. Wait, have you watched Dragon Ball Z?”

“Of course! Who hasn’t?” I asked, almost insulted.

“Think of super buu in terms of power.” Jacob replied.

I whistled, impressed, “Wow, that’s some power.”

Spike spoke up, “Uh, am I the only one confused here?” Twilight nodded along with him.

“Jarvis, take them to the anime room!” Shouted Jacob.

I looked over and saw one of the other guys that came along with Jacob. “The anime room?” Replied the butler looking guy.

“Yes, the anime room, but don’t show them one piece.  Don’t want to confuse them.  Start them off with Black Butler season one, then go to Dragon ball.  Be sure to bring snacks and to activate the time stop button in the room.”

“Of course sir.”  Jarvis then picked up the two crewmates with minimal effort and carried them to the anime room.

I looked at Jacob, “You got an anime room? Nice.”

“Need it for sanity purposes.” He then clapped his hands, “Now, where was I?”

“Talking about this Smile HD thing and Super Buu power levels.” I replied.

“Thanks.  While it’s true that I have this power and abilities, I can only do a few outside that mode.  Kamehameha, spirit bomb, special beam cannon, kaio ken, flight exceleration and big bang attack.”

“Well, you’re still shooting lasers out of your hands so that’s something.” I said.

“I also am a master swordsman.”  Jacob snapped his fingers, causing his armor to disappear and for three swords to appear.

“Copying Zoro eh?” I chuckled. “Three swords style does look cool.” It really does, Zoro was always one of my favorite Strawhats in the show.

“I only use the third one to honor my old master, Jack.” Jacob mumbled through the sword that was being gripped in his mouth.

“That’s a good reason. So, is there anything else interesting about being displaced or interesting thing you have to show me that I should know about?” I asked.

“Other than what I said, that is about it.  As for the other trick, I want you to swing your bisento at me.” He said.

I rose an eyebrow, unsure, “Uh… alright?” I gripped the large spear in my hands, raised it into the air, and swung it down at Jacob.  The man then jumped through the blade, turned around, picked up the blade with one hand, and flew me and the blade two feet in the air.

I turned around mid flight and landed back on my feet. “Whoa! That’s a neat trick! How’d you do it?”

Jacob took a deep breath and made a ball of ice in his hand. “I met a guy a while back, Jason.  He was displaced as Ben Ten. He spliced my DNA with that of Big Chill’s.”

I rose an eyebrow and asked, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Ben Ten. Who’s that?”

“Big chill is a blue alien with wings that has the unique ability to fly, breath ice, and phase through objects.” Said Jacob, seemingly in lecture mode.

“Interesting.” I said, “Sounds like an awesome creature thing.”

“Hell yeah it is.” Agreed Jacob. “Would you like a tour of the ship?”

I shrugged, “Sure, let’s see what ya got.”

We left to explore the interior of the ship. We first came across a dimly lit room with posters of different animes all over the walls. In the front wall of the room, a movie screen was playing the end credits to the last episode of cowboy bebop.  Both Twilight and Spike were crying their eyes out in individual bean bags. “This is the anime room, you might want to give them some time.” Said Jacob.

“Yeah…” I agreed. I silently laughed when Jacob put in Hellsing Ultimate, that will stop those tears I was sure. We continued to the next room, a kitchen.

“This is a fully stocked kitchen with the best chef that I know in the kitchen. Jarvis was fetching a large white clay container that looked to have some decent sake in it. Five bowls to got with it as well. We were lead to a large table, I think it was oak, that had a large seat that replaced the chairs.

Jacob sat down and said, “Well then, you want some?” Jacob grabbed a bowl and raised it into the air.

 I grinned and said, “Heh, oh hell yeah.” I sat down on the large seat and took a bowl.

“To friendship, to our futures, to our hopes, and to our dreams.” said Jacob.

“Here, here!” I said, lifting my bowl into the air.

“Kampai!” Shouted Surprise.

“I’ll drink to that.” Said Bubbles.

“I only dream of electric sheep.” Said Jarvis. All the cups made a clink as we all took a drink from our bowls.

“Ah! This is good stuff!” I said after a long drink from mine.

“I could give you the recipe.” Said Jarvis while holding a slip of paper. “The fermentation takes a while though.”

“I’d like that. Perhaps when I finally get a cook and a huge ship he can make a ton of that stuff.” I said. The butler gave me the paper and I stuffed it into my pocket.

“Would you like anything to eat with that?” The butler asked me.

I politely shook his head, “No thanks, I killed a sea monster a bit before I summoned you guys. I’m still kinda full.”

“Ah, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.” Jarvis quickly took the bowls from the table and rushed off to the kitchen.

“On to the next room, Captain.” said Jacob.

“Onwards!” I shouted in agreement.

We the party arrived in a medical room. Very clean, sterilized, and had a ton of tools used in the medicine trade. One of them, for some reason, being the medigun. “This is the Doctor’s office. My darling daughter Bubbles tends to work here.”

“Looks nice, very neat like how a medical room should be.” I said to Jacob.

Jacob chuckled a bit, “This reminded me of Surprise’s ability. For morbid reasons. You see, due to eating a flare flare fruit that I found due to the luck I got from Shenron, long story, she obtained the ability to be part fire. This doctor however, could most likely heal a smoldering hole through the chest.”

I snorted in morbid amusement, “Hah! Well here’s to hoping no smoldering holes appear in anyone’s chest then.”

Surprise then walked up, her hand ablaze, “Let’s test that. Fire fist!” 

I jumped out of the way, raising an eyebrow at Surprise. “Is this really necessary?”

“No, just want to see what the medigun can heal.” Replied Surprise with an innocent smile.

“Well test it out on someone else. I’m not too interested in being burned. Besides, it was the magma fist that made the hole.” I grunted out, only a tad annoyed.

The flame died out as well as the sound. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Twilight and Spike came back. “Luke, you won’t believe the shit that we saw!”

I looked at my first mate, “Oh, I think I can imagine. Hellsing Ultimate was a favorite of mine before I came to this world. Have fun I take it?”

Twilight shuddered, “I could’ve done without seeing a lot of that. But… it was entertaining I suppose.” Spike just grinned at me.

“Whitebeard?” asked Jacob. “Do you mind if I give your crewmates a particular gift once we get to the library?”

I shrugged, “I suppose. Don’t see why not.”  

We walked into one of the largest libraries that I have ever seen, trumping any library I ever knew of.  “Welcome to paradise dear Twilight. I just recommend that you read any book that does not have your name as a title.” Said Jacob.

Twilight gaped at all of the books, stars in her eyes, and mumbled, “Paradise indeed…” She immediately started reaching for books with her hands and magic alike.

Spike snorted, “Well, this’ll take a while. You’ll be hard pressed to get her out of here now.”

“I have my ways.” smirked Jacob, “Oh Twilight, I’m afraid that if you stay here, you won’t get to see the lab.  As well as a scientist’s unpublished, handwritten, notes on new scientific discoveries.”

She stopped what she was doing, completely still. Her head slowly turned to look at Jacob, making some odd creaking sound. “What. Did. You. Say?” A crazed grin on her face.

“A laboratory full of a genius’ inventions as well as all of the notes that you can read.” Jacob’s smirk turned into a grin. “Checkmate.”

She turned around and rushed Jacob, grabbing him by the cheeks and pulling him to her level. To me, it was odd to see a fourteen year old anthro pony do that to a grown man. “Take me to it!” She growled.

“Alright, Luke, Surprise, Spike, follow me.  Twilight, follow the smell of book dust, machine grease, ink, and old paper.” Said Jacob.

Twilight sniffed the air and immediately took off down the hallway.We kept close behind as Twilight led us to our next destination. We found ourselves in front of a large metal door that was double barricaded. “For emergency purposes.” Jacob said.

Jacob then scanned his eye to it and it responded with a beep. The large metal door opened to reveal a room Twilight would likely fall in love with. There were gadgets neatly laid out. A metal forge in one corner. A large amount of desks filled with folders and notes. Detailed schematics littered the walls of the room. There was even a toy train that traveled through portals in a loop.

“I recommend that you put some gloves and goggles on, don’t want any contamination.” Jacob said. Pairs were passed out and I got enlarged gloves for myself.

“Hey Luke, wanna see one of my favorite gadgets of all time?”

“Sure, sounds fun.” I replied.

“I am going to need a testing dummy.” Jacob picked up a pink and blue ray gun and fired it at Twilight.  The anthro pony stood up and turned around, much to the surprise of everyone else here, even me.

“What, what are you looking at?  And why do I feel weird?” said a deep voiced Twilight. 

Whitebeard laughed, Spike joined in but was desperately trying to hide it. “Hah! It’s Twiguy!” Whitebeard guffawed.

Twilight looked down at her body and yelled, “Ah! What happened to me?! Why am I a stallion?!”

Jacob chuckled and held up the gun. “I can explain. I rapidly changed your genetic structure to that of a stallion thanks to my patented gender gun. Don’t worry this is reversible, maybe.”

“What?! What do you mean ‘maybe’?!” She yelled, “Change me back this instant!”

“Fine, so long Dusk Shine.” With a few chuckles, Jacob fired the gun and regirled Twilight. A mad Twilight took the gun and fired it at Jacob.

After the gun was fired, Jacob stood up in the form of a woman. He had long, brown hair, green eyes, and a more feminine bone structure for his face. The change however, also destroyed the jacket that he wore. The white shirt that he was wearing was having trouble containing a few… certain assets. This was probably due to the lack of a bra. The pants area didn’t change that much other than looking a bit looser. A couch pulled up right when Jacob laid down. “Oh Twilight, draw me like one of your french mares.”

“Wha?! You’re not even mad?! And what is with those proportions?!” She loudly grumbled.

“Oh please, I have been hit with so many of those ray guns that this hardly affects me. On a side note, you should have seen your face!” Jacob then started laughing at her expense.

“Oh you know what?! Just forget it!” Twilight chucked the ray gun back to Jacob. She turned around and stormed back to what she was doing before, “If you need me I’m doing some alone studying!”

Jacob then turned to face me. “You think that I should go apologize or leave her be?”

“You should ask Spike, he’s the one who’s known her for over thirty years.” I shrugged and thumbed at Spike.

“Spike?” asked the Iron… Woman.

He looked over, “Yeah?”

“Any advice for how to deal with an upset Twilight?”

He shrugged, “Just let her simmer down, all those interesting things you’ve got will let her forgive you. She’s not really the type to stay mad at anyone.”

“Alright. Let’s go to the next room.”

I nodded, “Ok, you want to leave Twilight here?”

“Yeah, as Spike said, she needs to simmer down.”  He picked up the gender gun and fired.  “Now!” said a newly male Jacob, “Let’s get to the next room!”

“I’ll stay here with Twilight,” Spike said.

I gave him a thumbs up and turned to Jacob, “Alright. Lead the way Jacob.”

The next room was a dark room with games all over the place, arcade and console. “This is the game room, nuff said.” Said Jacob.

“Very nice. My ship has a brazier.” I said. “Still find it odd that was on my ship though.”

“Interesting.” Said Jacob. We walked to an elevator. It brought us to a room that had a large, bright blue pillar in the center. “This, is the main power core. Shielded through many layers of defence and an infinitely running arc reactor. This is what powers the entire vessel.”

“Very fancy. I like the glow.” I said.

We entered what was probably the final room. It looked to be a command center full of holographic screens, one of which seemed to show some Marine Battleships firing at Jacob’s ship.

“This is the control room,  from here, the captain can control the ship and all of it’s weapons and secrets.” Jacob said.

“The holograms are a nice touch. Brings the room a more futuristic look.” I said. “Also, there looks to be people firing on you.”

Jacob smiled and took out his swords. “Want to play a little game called pest control?” He threw a couple of jet packs to me. “You’re gonna need these.” Jacob opened up the nearest window and jumped. Surprise followed afterwards.

I shrugged off my captain’s coat and strapped the jetpacks on. I then jumped out of the window and pushed a switch I saw, activating the jetpack and making me fly off to join Jacob and the others. I came to a stop in the air next to Jacob.

“This is kinda fun!” I shouted.

“Hey Whitebeard! If you can commandeer one of these, I’ll supe it up as well as replace that flag!” Jacob shouted back.

I shook his head, “Nah man! I want to do it the old fashioned way! Everything with my own power and my crew!”

“I can respect that.” Jacob then sliced a cannon ball in two before it interrupted them. “Alright there is three of us and six battleships. That leaves each of us with two battleships a person.” 

“I could probably destroy them all right now,” I said, casually smacking a cannonball away with my bisento. “But that probably wouldn’t be any fun for you.”

“Aw.” said Jacob before slicing a ship in two. “How thoughtful.”

“What can I say? I’m a considerate person.” I said and reared back a fist, it glowed with power and I punched the air in the direction of a battleship. The shockwave blasted forward until the ship was crushed in half under the power.

“Will you two ladies start fighting for real?” said Surprise while she was burning a ship with a move that looks like a burning arrow, or rather millions of arrows made out of fire and being flung at the ships at high speeds.

“Oh fine.” I said. “Suck all the fun out of it why don’t you.” I gathered power in my fist once again and sent another shockwave to the second ship, breaking its front this time.

“Put the fun in camps why don’t you.” Said Jacob as he froze the last of his ships. This left Surprise pouting on the last burning battleship. There were hundreds of marines now leaving in life rafts.

“Now what?” I asked to Jacob. This was when I realized I was way too overpowered for simple things like this. “Nothing left now.”

“No idea,” He replied.

I shrugged and flew the jetpack back down to the deck of Jacob’s ship.

We made it back to the lab, after making sure to grab my captain’s jacket, where we ended up all huddled up by the door, Jacob probably hoping that Twilight would not be too mad. Jacob hesitantly opened the door and took a peek in. The lab was much more organized this time, much to his dismay. “Nooooo!  I had a system.” He seemed distressed.

“I don’t know what system you were working off of, but this one makes much more sense!” Twilight proudly said, “You’ll find everything within easily understood placements!”

“Where’s the fun with making sense?!” Jacob shouted.  He searched around until he found some sort of small vial full of white powder. It looked like cocaine. “Thank goodness. It’s still here.” He said.

“Huh? What’s that?” Twilight asked curiously while she eyed the vial Jacob was holding.

“To an uneducated man, this looks like crack or something of that variety. But it is actually a new element, discovered by and named after me. It is Jaconium!” My eye twitched unnoticeably at the unknown jab.

“Pfft.” Spike was trying to hold in his laughter. “What a weird name for an element!”

“Spike!” Admonished Twilight. She looked at Jacob and said, “Sorry about that. It’s interesting, so what is it used for?”

Jacob pulled out a random block of steel. I had no idea where he was keeping it. “As you can see Twilight, this is a normal block of steel, correct?”

“Yup!” She chirped happily.

“Good, now watch as I add the element to it.”  Jacob lightly sprinkled one grain of the crack-cocaine wannabe onto the surface. Energy seemed to flow across the metal as it began to change.The metal looked lighter and was probably many times stronger if this was science. “This, my dear Twilight, is now a block of vibranium, a metal that can absorb all of the shock that is being put on it, as well as be a great armor against energy and physical based attacks.”

Oh, cool. Marvel stuff. Makes sense since he is Iron Man and all.

“Ooh, I can see the uses of that kind of metal.” Twilight said, as she carefully examined the vibranium in Jacob’s hand.

“The problem with this element is that it is random.” Jacob went off and pulled in a cart with six different blocks of metal. He picked up the first one. “This is adamantium. It is a metal that can cut through anything except vibranium with great precision. It is also very hard to break. One makes a good shield, the other makes a good sword.” 

He picked up the next metal. This one obviously had some weight to it. “This is Nth metal. It scrambles magical frequencies.” He quickly put that away from Twilight. The next metal was dark and had a large amount of weight. “This is Mandalorian Iron, the only metal that can block a lightsaber. It is also five hundred times heavier than titanium.

 He then pulled out a metal that was reddish and shiny. “This is gundanium. It is nearly immune to temperature or the effects of space. It is also a great conductor. The fifth metal was shining brightly and seem majestic. “This is blessed metal. It is the only metal holy enough to kill the undead for good.” 

The final metal that he tried to pull out seemed to spark a bit. “This is Uru. This metal gives you control over storms, but will only go to those that are worthy of it. Those that are not are unable to pick it up. A suit of this will instantly crush the unworthy.” Jacob then turned to Twilight who now had a notepad out.

“Fascinating, I never knew there were so many different types of metal! And so diverse as well!” She furiously scribbled away on the notepad, nearly causing the poor thing to burst into flames.

Jacob calmly said, “When you create, you have to know what you are working with, how it reacts to other metals and substances, and how to avoid the mistake. Also I would not be much of an Iron Man if I did not know anything about the metals I use.”

Twilight nodded, “Oh I agree, you should always know what you’re working with.” She then mumbled quietly off to the side, “Sometimes who is a different story though.”

“Agreed” said Jacob, seeming to have keen ears as well. “You try doing lab work with your Ursa Minor daughter while she was a toddler.” Jacob shuddered. “I still smell the fire.”

Twilight giggled, “Sounds like quite the experience. Reminds me of Spike when he was young.” The said dragon blushed. I smirked at him, he glared back and huffed.

Jacob smiled, “Now that you are in a better mood, I would like to show you one of my more secret parts of the ship, along with one of my greatest inventions.”

“It’s not a sex dungeon is it?” I asked, cautiously but also slightly kidding.

Jacob gave me a glare that even Garp would piss himself at. “What kinda perv do you take me for? Besides, the only three girls here are my sister, my daughter, and Twilight, and she has the body of a preteen!”

I held up a hand, “Relax dude, just a joke. Though I do question your lack of questions concerning Twilight’s deagedness. You don’t seem surprised and know about her.”

Jacob gave a smile as he started to gain an orange aura that only I apparently could see, no one else reacted to it. “Simple, do you remember the last thing in my long title?”

“PHD?” I asked, it really was the last thing. But I figured what came just before it was what he meant.

“No, Guardian of Time. I literally guard the time stone, a personification of all time. As such, I can also see time’s effects on people. Time just ignores you and it is trying to catch up with Twilight.”

“Ah, I think I get it.” I nodded. I continued, “Off to your secret room then?”

“Yes!” The glow around him vanished. “Let’s go to the library.” 

Our trek through the halls of the ship was boring, until get got to the library. We walked over to a bookcase with an oddly shaped book labeled, ‘Switches, keys, and hidden passages.’ Jacob turned to me, he passed me, Spike, and Twilight, a pair of sunglasses. 

“You’ll need this.” Jacob pulled the book and some stairs formed in place of the bookshelf. It was an honest to God secret passage behind a bookcase. “Well, come along then.”

“A secret room hidden behind a bookcase in a library seems kinda cliche don’t ya think?” I asked him as I and the rest of the group followed him.

Jacob turned back to look at me. “I have a respect for the classics.” We then reached another door. “Put the shades on.” Jacob instructed us.

We put the sunglasses on and waited for Jacob to do his thing.

Jacob turned a knob to reveal a room that looked like a kaleidoscope of sand. Each of the grains fused together to make a glass panel that showed whomever was looking at it to see a random memory. “This, is my invention. I call it, The sands of time.”

“It’s pretty awesome, but you better watch out… Ubisoft might sue ya.” I said, only have serious. I asked, “So what does it do exactly?”

“Originally, this was to help those with alzheimer's, but it was known to induce headaches, thus the shades were used.” Jacob explained, “Personally, I like it because it helps me remember the past.” One of the panels formed to show a much younger and more energetic Jacob teaching in a lecture hall. He walked on desks, hopped around, and tried to be as enthusiastic as possible. 

“This was my old job, long, long ago.” He said.

“Must’ve been at this for a while then. I’ve barely been in this world a week or two.” I replied.

Jacob chuckled, “Try one thousand and twelve years.”

“Wow, you’re older than the real Whitebeard. Makes me wonder why I look like an old fart and not you.” I said, surprised by  his apparent age.

“One thousand years of being petrified as a statue, being forced to watch time fly by without you being able to do or say anything might help. Then again, it wouldn’t have been so bad if a certain Phoenix didn’t crap all over you after a completely rigged trial that mocked your sister’s and your good names to protect the citizen’s sense of security.” Jacob then took a deep breath. “It’s okay Jacob, you can roast that phoenix later, or run some experiments on it.”

I whistled, “Wow, you were petrified? I can’t imagine how much that must have sucked. But I gotta admit that from what I’ve heard about this Princess, from both our worlds so far, doesn’t lead me to like her.”

Jacob grinned at me. “Don’t worry, I took the issue to court and exposed the truth.  I made sure that they would pay me, and they did.” 

I grinned back, “Well, it's good you got your vengeance then.”

Twilight bit her lip, joining the conversation now, “So… Princess Celestia isn’t that good in your world either?”

Jacob rubbed his chin, “I wouldn’t say that she was evil. I’d just say that she is inconsiderate to those of her subjects that are not ponies. Civic racism if you will.”

“Eh, that’s basically what goes on in this world.” Deadpanned Spike. I really need to learn what goes on in this world, can’t keep half assing this.

“Hey Whitebeard?” said Jacob.

“Hmm?” I looked at Jacob with a eyebrow raised.

“When you amass a large enough crew, do me a favor and give a nice hard punch to Celestia’s smug muzzle, would ya?” 

I rubbed my chin as i thought about it before saying, “Well, if she really pisses me off then yeah, you got it. Just going around and causing a big fight like that would be irresponsible though. But a good deck in the schnoz would do her wonders I bet.”

Jacob laughed heartily “Good man!  Now for why I came here.” We walked through a tunnel of sand. At the end of the tunnel of sand, there was a safe. Jacob imputed a code and took out a fruit that had a large amount of spirals on it. It was something any One Piece fan would find familiar. “Here, you guys should have it.”

I raised an eyebrow, “A devil fruit eh? Which is it?”

“No idea!” said Jacob. “But it would be fun to test out.”

“Well I obviously can’t do it…” I said before looking at Twilight and Spike. “You two want to eat it? Remember you can’t swim afterwards.”

Spike and Twilight looked at each other. Spike seemed to shake his head and said, “I kinda want to be able to swim, you can have it if you want Twi.” I could respect that, I kinda want to be able to swim as well.

Twilight looked at the fruit before saying, “Well… chances are sometimes a good thing. I better not get anything weird from this Mr.” She glared at Jacob and took the fruit. She fumbled around with it in her hands before tentatively taking a large bite from it’s side.

She gagged and nearly puked, “Ugh! This tastes like shit!” I nearly choked in laughter, Twilight looked adorable and see that adorable girl curse like that was really funny. She forced herself to finish the rest of the fruit, nearly puking with each bite. Too bad she didn’t actually have to eat the whole thing.

Jacob raised a hand, “Now to test it. I have an idea on what the fruit is though. Cross your arms and say, “Dos Fleur.” Oh sweet, Nico Robin’s abilities.

Twilight looked at him oddly, “Well… alright then.” She crossed her arms and said, “Dos Fleur!” An arm sprouted from Jacob’s shoulders, Twilight gaped at it for a moment then narrowed her eyes. “I said, no weird fruit powers!” The hand smacked Jacob in the face, it was hilarious.

“Ow that hurt.” said Jacob. He then whispered to me, “Let’s hope that she doesn’t learn Armament Haki.”

“Agreed.” I whispered back, eyeing Twilight carefully.

She looked over at them and glared, “What are you two whispering about over there?”

“We were talking about you getting these arms off me.” said Jacob.

One arm grabbed him by the nose and pulled, “I don’t know. This is growing on me.” She smirked at Jacob.

“Ow ow ow!  You’re worse than my Grandma!” A random panel appeared behind them showing a little old woman pulling a nine year old Jacob by the ear for ten miles.

The arm let go and his head snapped back a bit, Twilight concentrated on her arms and they disappeared. “Hmm… I can think of a few practical uses for this power. Lab work would be much easier now.” She looked down at her arms. At least she looked like she was enjoying the powers now.

“Try not to go too crazy there.” Jacob reached further into the safe and showed me a broken compass. “Tell me Whitebeard, what is it that you want most in this world?”

“Easy! To be King of the Pirates!” Really now, too easy of a question.

“Happy hunting!” he tossed me the compass. “This will lead you to what you seek. But be warned, it can lead to trouble.” 

I grinned when I looked down at it, finally realizing what it was, “Heh, Jack Sparrow’s compass? Nice, and it fits with the pirate theme!” I looked back at Jacob, “And I wouldn’t worry about trouble, it’ll find me anyway. With or without this compass.”

“When you travel the multiverse, you tend to pick up some weird stuff.” Jacob haphazardly replied. “I also have a gift for Spike and Twilight in the library.” Curious, we walked back to the library and Jacob smiled, “Twilight, Spike. A trip at sea can be boring at times, so I would appreciate it if you both pick out one book series to take with you.”

Generous of him, hell it would keep us all busy.

Spike and Twilight looked around the library for something that catches their interest. Spike picked up one of the books and showed it to the rest of the group. “How about this one? I don’t know what a ‘man’ is, but ‘One Punch Man’ looks great.”

I gave him a thumbs up, “Yeah dude. It’s really great, you’ll love it.” It really was a great manga. That seemed to settle it for him and he walked back to the group. Twilight seemed lost over in her corner.

“Jaaacob,” She turned around, two books in hand.

“Why do I get the feeling that I am being manipulated for a stupid reason?” Replied Jacob.

Twilight sniffed, “But it’s not a stupid reason.” She looked him in the eye, full throttle puppy eyes directed at him and held out the two books in her hands. “How can I choose between ‘The Manga guide to Calculus’ and these ‘Twilight’ ones? They have my name in them!”

“The answer is simple Twilight, tear up the books with your names in them, and set them on fire. Afterwards, go pick out a different series.” Good man, he knows what to do with evil grimoires like those.

She looked shocked he would suggest something like that about a book, “I would never harm a book like that! You monster! Fine! I’ll go get a different series.” She grumbled.

“How about this, read through the first chapter of the book with your name on it.” Jacob suggested. He then mumbled something about being too drunk to think when writing that.

Twilight opened the book and started to read it, I bent over and mumbled to Jacob, “Dude, you trying to punish her or something? This is cruel.”

“I just need her to see my point.” said Jacob, “Not all books are good.”

We heard a shriek and a book flew past our faces. Jacob and I looked over and saw Twilight was breathing hard. Her arm still outstretched from that book throwing.

“I think that she took it well.” said Jacob.

“Yeah, me too.” We watched as she gradually calmed down and straightened herself back up before starting to walk around the library once more. She scanned each book cover and after a few minutes she finally stopped at one.

“I’ll take this one, ‘One Piece’, it’s not as bad as the... other book I take it?” She said, she’s got good taste.

“Trust me, I was completely sober when making these.” said Jacob.

“Uh… alright?” Twilight looked confused, Spike and I were curious too. “You made all these?”

“Time control, remember?” Reminded Jacob. “I just stopped time and got to work. I had to age myself back a few times to stop me from being an old man.”

“Oh. Well thanks for the books!” She smiled at Jacob.

“You only picked up the first ‘One Piece’ Manga. Jacob then dragged a large crate over. “Here is the rest.” I snorted quietly at Twilight’s expression.

She gaped at the crate, “All… of those are a part of this one series?”

“Yep, did not know when to quit. I think it was book 1,111.” He said.

“I have so much catching up to do…” She mumbled, staring off into space at the crate of One Piece manga.

Jacob leaned into Luke. “Don’t tell her this, but I made up novels 718 through 1,111. Each book follows an episode.”

I gave Jacob a thumbs up, “Gotcha. No telling Twilight. Might even read it myself.”

Jacob laughed, “If you could pry them from her, be my guest.”

I laughed too, “Well, she does have over seven hundred to wade through. I think I have time.”

We walked back out of the ship and we moved to the edge of the lifeboat we used to get on. “Oh yes, I almost forgot about tokens.” Jacob said, catching my interest.

“Tokens? What are those?” I asked.

“The thing that you used to bring me here.” Jacob answered.

“Oh, so what about them?”

“You can make your own.” said Jacob.

I imagined I looked interested as I looked at Jacob, “And how do I do that?”

“Take something that symbolises you, and what you stand for, then pump your own energy or willpower into it.”

I scratched my chin, “I see.” I started to think a few things over in my head until I snapped and said, “I got it! Hey Twilight, you got a spell or something that can copy my mustache?”

She looked at me oddly, “I suppose...” She narrowed her eyes at me, “Oh, I see. You really want to do that?”

I grinned and laughed, “Yup!”

Twilight sighed and gathered magic in her horn, grunting in strain and when the spell reached its peak it shot out and struck my glorious mustache. The mustache glowed and an exact duplicate appeared in the air next to me. Twilight looked a bit drained but held on.

I quickly grabbed it out of the air and looked at Jacob. “So I also need some sort of speech right? Like how I heard yours?”

“Correct, you might want to also give instructions on what to do to summon you and your crew to avoid accidental summons.”

I nodded and looked down at the mustache, “Heh, this brings back a week or two old memory.” 

I shook his head and said to the mustache, “I am Whitebeard! If you want to summon me then hold the mustache over your lips and laugh a good Gurarararara! If you want me and some of my crew just say ‘Whitebeard and Crew’ before you laugh! Guararara!” The mustache disappeared into some sort of void only for a copy of it to fall into Jacob’s hands.

“I will treasure this, Captain.” He said.

“Good! That mustache looks good on anyone… within reason. So, guess this is goodbye then?”

“Not necessarily,” Jacob gave me a stack of gears. “For each crewmember you get.” he smiled. “It’s just gonna be goodbye till next time.”

“Heh, yeah. You’re right. Till next time then Jacob.” I gave him a two finger salute before grabbing the crate of books and jumped back onto my little ship. Spike jumped with me, and Twilight decided to try out her new powers and made herself a small ladder to climb back down with. I looked back up and waved back at Jacob. His ship then disappeared with the familiar grinding noise of the Tardis.

I looked over at my crew, “Well you see? That was fun and educational don’t you agree?”

Spike snorted, “Yeah yeah. I can admit I had a fun time, Twilight probably had a blast.”

An arm sprouted from the back of his head and pulled one of his fins, “Ouch!” He said while giving a good natured glare over at his lifelong friend. Twilight simply giggled and went to work getting things reorganized. I handed the gears over to her for storage and tied the new compass I got around my sash.

“Well, you guys ready for another adventure?!” I yelled.

“Yeah!” They shouted with me, laughing, grinning, and having a generally good time.

> 11. Filler - That's a Nice Ship Ya Got There...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My tiny fishing ship drifted across the sea, I looked over and saw that my first mate was doing pushups. I didn't question his sanity while he worked out in this horrid hundred degree weather, he was a dragon so he had to have some sort of resistance to heat. But the longer I stared at him, the more that stupid ball of fire above us made me sweat. I put a hand above my eyes and stood up, my head nearly bonking into the cross of the only mast of the ship.

"Careful captain, that's our only mast." Said Twilight sitting in the crow's nest, absentmindedly flipping a page of a book.

"I know, I know." I said and stretched my arms, being careful to not destroy anything delicate. "I'm just so bored."

Twilight hummed in apparent disinterest and flipped her book once more. I sighed and was about to sit down until Twilight said, "Oh, by the way, there is a ship following us. Has been for the past hour actually."

That little reveal made Spike, who was now doing handstand pushups, lose his balance and fall down. I just gaped at her, "W-Why didn't you say something?!"

"Because they haven't done anything yet." Twilight simply said.

I just sighed and looked at the ship that decided to follow us. I looked at Spike and said, "Raise the sails Spike, let's meet up with our new friends."

Spike nodded and went to work.





The ship finally decided to pick up the pace and come and face us. Why they were waiting I had absolutely no idea, a tiny fishing ship was not something you needed to stop and plan an attack before hand. But we finally got ourselves a good look at the ship, it was a pirate ship, the first pirate ship I have seen so far in this world.

You could guess that I was pretty stoked about it. The jolly roger was the usual skull and crossbones but had something extra on it. A saber that stabbed through the middle of the skull vertically. I'll admit it looked kinda cool, but it could've used a bit of work. The ship itself looked like it was around a corvette class, with a large building-esque thing in the back, a building that I could easily fit into. Other than that there was nothing special about the ship, no decorations, no nothing.

But it was a nice ship, a nice ship that I'd be able to actually sleep inside of for once.

"I want it." I said to my crew mates.

Spike laughed, "I'd bet. You're probably tired of sleeping outside."

"You have no idea..." I grumbled. "Sleeping outside has been killer on my back. It'll be nice to get a bed or something."

"They're here." Said Twilight, interrupting our tiny conversation. Spike and I looked up to see the ship right next to us. A number of people-ponies at the railing of their ship. One, much more fancily dressed with a nice hat, appeared.

"Well hello there!" He said.

"An awfully cheery guy." I thought to myself. Shrugging I replied, "Hello to you too. What can we do for you?"

The fancy man chuckled and lightly tugged on his chin beard, "Oh not much. You see we were just passing through when we see a lone, little fishing ship just drifting through our waters. A ship that hasn't even paid its toll for using those waters mind you. What kind of business man would I be if I didn't collect?"

"A pretty poor one I'd say." I replied.

The man nodded, "Exactly! Now, the toll is at least ten thousand bits. Please hand it over and your lives will be spared."

I hummed to myself and stroked my mustache. I shrugged and said, "There is one problem though."

The fancy man rose and eyebrow, "Oh? Do tell me how there could possibly be a problem here?"

"You're currently standing on my ship. It's a nice ship, and I don't want you on it."

The man blinked as he looked down at us on our smaller ship. "I don't understand... I'm on this ship," He pointed at the one he was currently occupying, "not that one." He said, pointing at my tiny fishing boat.

"Exactly." I replied.

He looked a little confused for a second, his face scrunching up. Then something seemed to click in his head and he started laughing like a mad man. "Oh! Hahahaaa! Now, that is a good one! Just for that little joke the toll is decreased to twenty thousand bits!" He slapped a hand on his knee as he and his crew nearly doubled over in laughter.

"Don't you mean increased?" Spike asked.

"I know what I said!" The man said, still laughing his ass off.

"There is also another problem." I said, cracking my knuckles with Spike doing the same and Twilight crossing her arms in front of her. I decided to put my bisento aside for this one. I continued, "We don't exactly have any money over here. So, how about we cook you up some nice, refreshing, knuckle sandwiches. Family recipe."

The man and his crew stopped laughing and glared at us, "Then I'm afraid everything, including your lives, are forfeit to us." He unsheathed a saber, his crew doing the same.

I rolled my eyes and said, "I highly doubt that."

Spike and I jumped onto the opposing ship with our fists cocked back, Twilight's arms were already forming on the shoulders of some of our new enemies. I even saw a few sprout on the legs, her fists aiming for... Oh dear.





I sat down on the deck of my new ship, breathing in the fresh scent of new ship smell. "Aaahh! Look at all of this space you two!" I happily said, spreading my arms wide.

"We actually have some leg room to work with now," Said Spike as he jogged around.

"Yes, yes. We actually have a ship that's not a tiny fishing boat. Now how about you two make yourselves useful and go get our stuff from our other ship?" Twilight said, not even looking up, while using a pen to write things down on a piece of paper. She seemed to be organizing things and looking for anything of value around our new ship.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at Spike, "Since you're smaller how about you get the stuff inside the boat. I'll move all of the other tied up pirates onto our old boat."

Spike nodded in confirmation and jumped down to the fishing boat. I picked up a group of five tied up pirates with one hand and gently tossed them down to the other boat. I did that a few more times until all but the captain and all of their weapons remained. They didn't need the weapons anymore. Spike returned out of the fishing boat with all of our stuff, he looked hilariously ridiculous with all of that stuff on his back.

"Toss me my bisento while you're at it!" I called down to him. A moment later my weapon was flung upwards and I deftly caught it with my left hand. "Thanks!" I called down again.

"How about you catch some of this stuff?! I don't want to risk losing anything by jumping!" Spike called back.

I shrugged, put my weapon down, and held my hands out. "Alright! Ready!" A barrel of water was chucked upwards, I quickly caught it and set it down. I did the same for another, and another, and so forth. Soon, all of out stuff was brought onboard our new ship. "You got everything right?" I asked Spike as he jumped back on our new ship.

"Yeah, I triple checked every place we put stuff in." Spike said to me.

"We got any paint?" I asked randomly.

Spike looked at me oddly, eyebrow raised, "I.... think so? Why?"

I looked at the barren, white sails of the fishing ship. "Because, I want to draw my jolly roger on those sails, with the words 'Whitebeard, the King of the Pirates, has a present for the Marines' on it. This guy is suppose to be wanted right? I figured we could send them off to a nearby Marine base, I might even get a bounty myself." I pointed at the pirate captain lying unconscious on the ground at our feet.

"Yeah, I think he has a five million bit bounty on his head. But I'll see what I can find. You know what you want the jolly roger to look like right?" He asked me.

I took my coat off and turned around, I thumbed at the large tattoo on my back. "It should look like this, two bones in a cross, and a smiling skull with my mustache on it."

Spike looked at it, imprinting the image in his mind. He nodded and said, "Alright. I'll go see if we have anything. I'll even check to see if we have any blank sails to replace the ones that have this guy's roger on it." Spike nudged the captain with a clawed foot and headed inside of the ship. I kept a lookout after chucking the other pirate captain over onto the fishing boat.

Twilight came walking back to me. She stopped in front of me and seemed to read from her list, "Well, we have plenty of money now. At least three million, not counting anything fancy that we don't need and can sell. We also have a large collection of gems, but I recommend we don't sell those. Spike needs to keep up his gem consumption, so that his scales don't start to become soft. Other than that we have plenty of food and water, and if we bring those fishing nets with us we won't need to worry about finding meat for you two."

"That's good." I said, "Mind using your arms to grab the nets? Spike brought the fishing rods and bait already." Twilight nodded and looked over the edge of the railing with her arms crossed. Purple arms sprouted from the fishing ship, untying the nets. Arms sprouted from the railing of our new ship now, a new arm popping out of the palm of the previous arm until the final arms grabbed the net and pulled it over.

"There we go captain, now the only thing lefts is whatever Spike is going to do with some paint, and replacing those sails." Twilight smiled, I couldn't help a grin either.

"Things are looking up, eh, Twilight?" I said and laughed at our newfound fortune, with Twilight joining in.