First Encounters or The Results Of Drinking A Yellow Ponies Beer.

                                                                      Nervous.

When she flew over ponyville during her training routine and caught sight of the entirety of the city shaking, she was speechless. When she actually got caught in a monumental tremor while inspecting the damages with Twilight, she was caught off guard. When Applejack had asked for her to stay at the orchard and help collect the apples that had been shaken free from their leafy homes, she was more then glad to help. And when Fluttershy came flying towards the two of them shakily retelling of the massive old stallion who had forced his way into her home, she was indignant.

But now? Now when she was staring at the monstrous beast of a pony herself? Now that she saw he not only was more imposing then Celestia herself, but each one of his legs could have passed for a tree trunk? Now Rainbow Dash was nervous, even if just a little.

"That stuff must have been stronger then I thought.." Hearing the stallion speak snapped her out of her stupor and returned the feelings of indignation.

"N-now listen here you.." Applejack started stepping forward which drew the large pony's attention "Ah don't know who you think you are, but ya can't just go around breakin' inta ponies homes like this. S-so if ya'll would kindly just apologize to my friend here,"

"Heh, Why would I do that? I tried to be civil about this.. But no, she had to go and ignore me. Honestly, after what I've been through today, how was I expected to react?" He then focused his attention on Fluttershy, still hiding behind her friends "And by the way, if she had just said 'no' to my earlier question I would have just moved on. She forced my hand in this,"

"...I f-forced your what?" Fluttershy tried to ask.

"Hey bub she did say no! She just can't help the fact that when a big ugly old guy like you pops up out of nowhere that she's too nervous to speak up!" Rainbow Dash spat taking a charging stance. Seeing this clearly amused the giant, for he let out what could only be described as a laugh of some sort.

"Gurararara.. what do you actually think you could take me on?" The stallion grinned.

"HAH Of course I could, I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in equestria! You're just some over-grown geezer with an attitude problem!" Rainbow barked.

Applejack held a hoof up to Dash trying to keep her back "Rainbow take it easy, we don't want to start a fight," Applejack then turned back to the pony giant "...B-but we ain't about to let you pick on our friend there mister,"

The stallion in turn ignored her focusing on Rainbow Dash "You said you're what 'the fastest flyer' or something along those lines.... right?"

"Yeah? Why, you scared? I'll bet you're feeling sorry you messed with Fluttershy now," Rainbow sneered.

"Gurararara... No I just thought you'd want to know who you're dealing with," He sneered right back. Applejack was the one to pipe up "And... and who would that be?" She asked.

"I AM WHITEBEARD!!" He shouted with a slam of his hoof that left a sizable dent in the flooring.

The action be it the sheer volume the oldster was able to put out, or the amount of strength he seemed to command took Applejack aback, sent Fluttershy cowering in a nearby bush and caused Rainbow Dash to charge him. Her attack did seem to surprise the giant, and she managed to slam into him as well.. only to bounce off like a pebble thrown against a brick wall, which left her startled and looking up at the massive pony, getting a better understanding of how small she was in comparison, and of how hard he could hit.

No sooner did she look up but his swinging left hoof sent her spiraling through the air and out the open door. It hurt for certain, but she wouldn't be done that easily, and after hitting the ground was quickly able to recover.

Applejack in the meantime quickly became aware that the monstrous pony was making his way towards her, and once he was close enough she turned, reeled back and bucked him with all her might. For what its worth she did seem to make him twitch, but what little feeling of accomplishment that achieved was forgotten when she was swatted aside and the beast simply ducked through the door and made his was outside, focused on Rainbow Dash.

The second he was clear of the door however, Rainbow again rushed him as fast as she could ramming him once again this time managing to push him back a little but still falling to the ground. She learned from her mistake however and this time quickly flew backwards away from the pony before his hoof could connect, eliciting a growl from the behemoth.

She then had an epiphany. She couldn't hurt him, but he couldn't keep up with her. If she could just wear him down, she might actually be able to do some damage, and if that didn't work a sonic rainboom would surely take him down.

If it didn't he simply wasn't equine.

So she began her new strategy, rather then actually attacking him she flew close and zipped right past then coming around from a different angle. Much to her pleasure it seemed to be working, he found himself swinging at air while she was already coming back for another pass. So she flew up high and began to egg him on.

"Hey, whats wrong? Guess you're even slower then you look huh old guy? Hey do you need a walker, maybe a wheel chair? Come on, better get you back to the nursing home," Rainbow mocked from high above.

At this point Applejack had made her way out side and Fluttershy had peeked out once she realized rainbow was starting to win. Rainbow Dash continued her goading and began laughing at the old stallion.

The stallion at this point was clearly annoyed, and he slowly shot a glare up at Dash. "Noisy BRAT!" He swung his right leg left, then slammed it upwards at Rainbow. A distinct and strange sound was heard, followed by the sight of the air cracking outward from where his hoof rested.

The three mares, especially Rainbow Dash, could only stare dumbfounded at the display, which left the poor azure pegasus wide open. There was a gush of air, followed by intense pressure from bellow and then.. the cracked air shattered.

All she heard was a high pitched ring, all she saw was blurred beyond recognition, all she knew was she was falling and all she felt, was pain. Then the knowledge that she had hit the ground resonated, not that she really reacted.

"what did ya'll do to er?!" Was that Applejack? She couldn't tell, sound itself seemed lost to her for the moment.

Her sight slowly returned and she made out the sight of four white hooves making their way towards her, and beyond them a pair of shapes one maybe orange the other..yellow? She couldn't be sure but they look terrified. Then everything went black. But why? She was in pain yes, but she was still conscious. Then it clicked, she strained her eyes to look upwards and saw a dark figure with glowing white eyes casting its shadow over her.

Was he gloating? Yeah he got in a pretty good.. whatever he just did, but she wasn't done yet. At least she thought she wasn't, she first had to try and get back on her own four hooves before she could show this guy whose boss. But standing was slowly proving to be a bit difficult, her vision and hearing were back but her head was swimming.

"Gurarara... you still trying to stand up?" Whitebeard laughed. He had to admit, this little blue soul had some serious durability to take that hit. Even if it wasn't a point blank dead on quake bubble, it was still a serious affair.

She was just barely able to keep herself from falling on her side and was having some difficulty standing up on her own. This all seemed very familiar and, after watching this for a moment, he remembered why. This realization made his eyes slowly widen.

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It was quiet. The sky had long since grown dark, any animals nearby had returned to their homes and the spade pirates had vanished for the time being.

All of them except for their captain.

He had elected to remain behind to continue his challenge of the old man, determined to carve a name for himself out of his hide. And the old pirate obliged him, countering his attacks at every turn, but now it was quiet. The rookie pirate Portgas D. Ace was lying possibly unconscious before Whitebeard. Not so much as twitching.

Whitebeard gazed on, waiting to see if the kid would give up, or keep trying his luck. And to his surprise and amusement the the boy chose the latter. Slowly but surely the young pirate braced himself on his arm and pushed off the ground.

"This... this is the man whose strength rivaled his..." He whispered as he tried to get up.

"Gurarara, you still tryin' to stand up?" Saying that gained a glare from the rookie, Whitebeard in turn only smiled. "I'd hate to see you die here, kid."

"W-wha.." mumbled Ace.

"If you still want to fight.. then take my name and roam the seas wild and free!" Whitebeard stated.

Ace simply looked away grumbling, but his attention was again captured when he saw an outstretched hand before him.

"Become my son!" Whitebeard pleaded right before the rookie.

Wide eyed and dumbfounded Ace finally responded after a brief moment.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" then he passed out.

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                                                 He was honestly speechless.

For the first time in his life, he legitimately wasn't sure what to say. This little blue creature, was exactly like..

"Ace..." Whitebeard sighed.

His heart felt heavy. As if an enormous weight had suddenly been dropped right on his shoulders, one that he couldn't possibly bear. He looked down at the slowly recovering figure before him, then back at the ones she seemed to be close to.

And then he stepped forward. Rainbow flinched almost trying to take a stance at his approach, as a result she was blindsided by what happened next.

He extended a hoof offering to help her up with what even to her appeared to be remorseful eyes. She looked between his face and his hoof a few times before slowly and cautiously accepting his offer. Once she was standing, Applejack and Fluttershy came running to their friends side.

"Y-you alright there sugercube?" Applejack said standing close enough to ensure she could catch her friend if she stumbled.

"Y-yeah... just a little... dizzy.. But that's clearing up... kinda," Rainbow said blinking her eyes a couple times and held a hoof to her head.

Fluttershy was standing on Rainbow's other side looking on with concern when "You,". Looking up she saw the stallion staring right at her.

"ee... uhm.. y..y...yes?" she finally managed to say.

He didn't exactly hear her but spoke anyway. "...I'm sorry. That may have been a bit uncalled for... but you should really learn to speak up," He said directly to her.

Hearing him suddenly apologize caught the attention of all three mares, who looked up at him, then at each other, each with equal amounts of surprise.

"uhm... T-thank you?" Fluttershy squeaked. In response he sighed and look off into the distance. Applejack looked him up and down suspiciously a few times.

"Say uh.." Hearing Applejack brought his attention back, "W-who did you say you were again?" The three of them all look up with the same expectant stare.

He grinned and said "I am Whitebeard,"