Chapters He was tired.
Now for most men such a statement is common place, but we aren't talking about just ANY man. No we are talking about Edward Newgate, better known worldwide as the pirate Whitebeard.
And who is "Whitebeard" you ask? Only the strongest man in the world of course. A fact made more impressive given that he is well over seventy years of age and suffer's from all the health concerns that come with such a number; I suppose its also worth noting he stands more then three times the size of the average man, but I digress. Now depending on who you ask, several other responses might be given, "a menace," if you ask the general populace, "a monster!" if you ask other pirates and maybe even a few navy-men. But there are some, who when asked would tell you "well he's Pops,"
"Pops? Now who would call such a scary sounding guy Pops??" is what you're probably asking yourself. Well his son's for starters. No, they aren't really his sons, at least not biologically. Son was the name he gave anyone who joined his crew the Whitebeard Pirates.
Yes in Edward's eyes, they were his sons and he was their father,or "pops" if you will. They were his family, which is the one thing he ever really wanted. It wasn't treasure, not reputation ,not even control over the entire world...just a family.
Which makes the fact that he was here at this place, all the more tragic...for you see the man before him whose actions had brought Edward here...was one he had called his son.
Who is this man? He is Marshall D. Teach, also called Blackbeard.
A name many have now come to hate.
Teach as I said was once a member of Whitebeards family, but a lust for power and respect led him to kill one of his fellow crew-members, then flee to parts unknown. And then some time later when another of Whitebeard's sons, one Portgas D Ace confronted him about it beat him down and sold him out to the navy. Edward of course sought to rescue his son and so, gathering his family and his allies from abroad, he sailed on the navy headquaters of marineford.
They had rallied their strongest defenses in preparation for his coming but it wasn't quite enough. Though he had been injured, so much so that one truly had to question how he was still living, his desire to save his son outweighed any idea of self preservation. And holding the level of endurance he held helped too.
Of course he would have acted in the same manner for any of his son's, but Ace was special.
You see Ace was born the son of one of Edwards former rivals .A man who caused him no small amount of trouble (considering who we're talking about,that should be a frightening thought) and was one of the few men in the world who he had genuine respect for.
This man was Gol D. Roger, better known as the pirate king Gold Roger.
Such a title doesn't come lightly I'll have you know, as he was considered to be a worldwide threat and even after his capture and execution when it was discovered that Ace was his son there was hardly a person who thought that he shouldn't be held to the same standard they held Roger.
Edward however held the belief that a child should never be held responsible for the actions of their parents, which was why he was willing to let the son of his enemy join his crew in the first place. So obviously this mission, to save a child from the repercussions of a parents action's, held some grand loftiness in Edward's heart.
He couldn't just stand by and watch as one of his own sons endured a punishment he didn't deserve. And that's why he fought as hard as he did. That's why he utterly decimated anyone fool enough to stand in his way...
I did mean what I said when I told you he was the strongest man in the world. And that's not even taking into consideration his devil fruit status.
Whats a devil fruit?..Well it would take a bit too long to explain in detail, so suffice it that upon consumption in exchange for being able to swim it granted him supernatural abilities. In his case the ability to create and control tremors. And then there's Ace whose devil fruit gave him incredible fire based abilities. There are numerous fruits and each gives their owner such incredible powers.
Whats that? Still not convinced Edwards the strongest man in the world?
What if I told you he once felled a giant(a giant even to him)with only his left arm ? Satisfied? Then allow me to continue.
Where was I...ah yes.
As I said this rescue mission was rather important to Edward. So important that you'd hardly believe me if I told you at the end of the day...it failed. Yes its true, just as they had managed to free Ace from his captors...he met his end at the hand of a certain admiral of the navy. And unfortunately for said admiral...our Edward saw the whole thing before his own tear-filled eye's.
Picture for a moment turning around and seeing an angry bear standing behind you. A bear with the ability to cause the entire island your standing on to topple over on its side. Now picture that bear very very slowly...turns its angry gaze upon you.
Congratulation's, you now feel as the poor admiral did.
Obviously the scene that followed was brutal and though the admiral succeeded in wounding him once, Edward did far worse to him.
After their short tussle Edward called for a full retreat, so as to avoid any further losses..except for himself. He had elected to stay behind to prevent the navy from pursuing his friends and family, they reluctantly complied and Edward stood to face his foe's alone...
And that was just the opening Teach had been waiting for.
The entire battle, Teach had managed to stay just out of sight along with his newly formed crew, just to wait for the prime opportunity to take on Whitebeard himself...when he was thoroughly wounded and exhausted of course.
Teach was and is power hungry and greedy. Not an idiot.
He like many other's sought to take the title of pirate king for himself, so great was his desire that the entire time he sailed with the old man he had a hidden agenda, one that would eventually see him kill Edward so as to take his fame and power for himself, and that eventuality had finally come.
He approached him alone certain that at this point the old man was too weak to put up a decent fight.
HAH.
If you could have seen his face when he realized he was wrong or even better, when Whitebeard turned and began his own assault.
But just before he could land the well deserved finishing blow Teach called for help, and his crew answered with guns spears and swords, and astoundingly once he knew he wasn't fighting alone Teach magically found his courage and personally opened fire on Whitebeard.
Well you know what they say...Friendship is Magic.
All of this normally might not have been enough to slow him down but at this point, Edward...well...
He was tired. So very, very tired.
He had already accepted he wasn't getting out of this alive, so he wasn't entirely upset that he was at his end.
But he still had a few things he needed to say before it was all over, so when Teach and his men stopped to reload and inspect the damage they dealt...He spoke.
He spoke to Teach, telling him how if ever there would be a man to take on Rogers title, it certainly wouldn't be him.
Then, he spoke to the navy and how there fears of another Pirate king one day showing up were justified and would eventually see fruition, and there wouldn't be anything they could do to stop it.
And then...he spoke to his sons, who had been drawn back by the sudden appearance of Teach but sadly found themselves unable to assist.
He spoke to them..He thanked them, for giving him everything he had ever wanted out of life...He remembered the time he spent with them, the adventures they had and the laughs they shared. He knew it was the end for him...but he was happy.
"It...was a good voyage....thank you, my son's"the proud elder pirate stated. And then as he recalled one last time the sound of the ocean beneath him as he sailed on he breathed his last leaving his body behind which, shocking Teach and other witnesses to no end refused to fall even in death
Whitebeard...was dead.
Darkness.
That was all he could see, but unlike the darkness of the inside of a cave that fills you with uncertainty this darkness was comforting. This was the darkness that dreamless sleep brings about.
He was glad for it, sleep had been alluding him lately and when it did finally come around all it brought were unpleasant dreams.
But when a child very much cared for was in danger that was usually the case for any parent.
It started out dreamless at least but slowly he found himself dreaming of when he first met Ace, back when the young man only had a mind to claim Whitebeard's head not only for the respect such an action would garner but also for a more...personal reason.
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"Where's this kid who wants to take my head?"
The Whitebeard Pirate's massive flagship "Moby Dick" made its way through the mists surrounding the bay, their mighty captain standing on the bow of the ship,slowly came into view.
The Spade Pirates of whom Ace was the captain, could hardly believe their eyes.
The Whitebeard pirates the ones who were said to have rivaled the legendary strength of the pirate king himself, the ones they had been searching for were right here in front of them and more importantly...
Their captain had disembarked and was making his way towards them...alone.
"As you wish I'll take you on kid" The massive creature approaching them stated with a literal grin on his face.
As for Ace himself well the past five days straight he had been fighting against one of Whitebeard's allies, whose own strength was quite near legendary trying to get information on Whitebeard's location from him.
Ace was tired but could still put up a fight and that was exactly what he intended to do.
As Whitebeard finally stood before the spade pirates in full view he snorted and let loose a single shock wave of his power which was more then enough to send Ace's crew tumbling through the air.
"You guys!!" Ace shouted as he called on his own fire based power and created a dome of flame around both him and the giant.
"Captain!Captain Ace,what are you doing?!" One of his men shouted from outside the barrier.
"Run you guys!!" Ace shouted.
"ehhh...What?...You gonna run away now..?" Whitebeard asked.
"I'm giving my crew a chance to escape! I stand in their place...I refuse to run!" Ace declared gathering his courage to attack the monster in front of him
"heh...What a cheeky little brat you are," The behemoth mused.
Then all of a sudden Ace leap towards the Old man perhaps hoping to have caught him off guard...which he hadn't.
Whitebeard in one quick motion swung his massive bisento at his young attacker, which made contact in an instant.
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That was all he had the chance to dream of when something awoke him from his sleep.
A low and hungry growl.
As he lay with his eyes still shut he admitted to himself that this surprised him a bit.
He hadn't thought that he would be hearing anything considering he was dead...but then he was wondering why he was able to hold conscious thought or even dream..unless of course that talk of hell turned out to be true. In which case the growling made even more sense, if the stories of demons were true too.
In any case he wouldn't just sit there and wonder, he would confront whatever sounded so very angry with him head on as he did everything else in life.
So he opened his eye's and from his position on the ground was greeted with a peculiar sight.
A large bizarre looking creature with lion like features wings and a scorpion tail slowly stalking towards him.
As he raised his head to get a better look at it he realized he was a little bit under eye level with the thing, which called to his memory that he was much larger then most things causing him to laugh that unique laugh his .
"gurarara...You'd think I remember something that obvious"he said to himself as he leaned on his arm to pick himself up.
Which was when he noticed something even stranger then the beast before him.
His hand..had been replaced by a hoof. One covered in white fur.
As he marveled at the sight with the same disinterested look he wore most of the time he shifted to an awkward sitting position and checked his other arm followed by one leg, then the other.
The result was the same each time, one hoof with white fur.
As he was trying to process this he hadn't notice the mismatched creature had closed the distance between them and was about to pounce on its prey...at least him not noticing was the beasts hope.
When it did attack he easily caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and with hardly a turn of his head swung his arm....leg?..in the creatures direction which, timed along with the beasts actions led to a perfect strike along side the things head.
Well he knew it was a strike, if anyone happened to be watching this they would have sworn he just tapped it.
But regardless of appearances it did the job. The poor unsuspecting creature was sent spinning through the air and finally into a tree and from there fell to the ground.
There it simply laid quietly trying to wrap its mind around how a creature usually fine to prey upon just mare-slapped it into a tree.
He gave the downed but still alive monstrosity a quick stare, and then returned his attention to his new found appendages and he examined them, he gave the rest of his body a slow once over confirming his suspicion that his entire body was different. He saw it was now more...equine.
What caught his attention more predominantly was the mark on his new left and right hind legs.
It was his trademark cross shaped jolly roger, which for the longest time had been a tattoo on his back.
But before he could give it much thought another revelation made itself known...his cloths were gone. Even his captain's coat was missing.
"mm....That's..heh"
As awkward as this was he couldn't help but laugh a little at the ordeal and beside's if his guess was right he was now stuck in a horses body, and seeing as they never wore cloths he didn't think people would look at him like a lunatic.
....But it still felt off
At the nearest possible convenience he hoped he'd be able to find some replacements. Assuming hell's people had clothing stores, the thought of which made him laugh again.
He then finally stood up off the ground and even in this new strange body he could tell he still was quite tall, although maybe not as immense as he once was.
His height didn't make that much difference to him but it was comforting to know at least something was the same.
Standing on all fours was a little awkward at first but he quickly got over it and then turned his attention to his attacker, who was still laying on the ground but obviously alive.
"You gonna stay down like a good demon?" Edward asked with a wry grin.
Hearing this the creature slowly opened its eyes and stared at the one who struck it, now a bit taller then itself by easy comparison.
The sight of this intimidated it for a moment, but that feeling was quickly consumed by its anger and outrage.
Realizing the beast wasn't satisfied Edward sighed and then had a thought. Looking down at his han...hoof he focused and tried to call on the power of his devil fruit. And much to his satisfaction it worked.
A familiar sound was heard followed by the forming of a white translucent bubble around his hoof.
Smiling he looked up at the beast who was now in an attacking stance.
"gurarararara....You still goin' for it eh? Don't you demons know who I am?" He said as if expecting it to speak back.
The creature having noticed the strange glow around his hoof looked up and met edwards gaze and saw his smile turn to an determined glare.
"I AM WHITEBEARD !! "
With that bellowing statement the pirate leaped towards the monster catching it off guard and brought his tremor charged hoof down on its skull.
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Shortly before, in Ponyville
"So girls you are you ready to give it a go?"Twilight asked having finished setting up the various bits of lab equipment just outside the library, primarily centered around seismographic equipment and the like.
"Yeah! cutie mark crusaders geolo....geali...uhhh..." all three fillies stumbled with the word
"Geologists?" Twilight interjected.
"Yeah! cutie mark crusaders...what ever you just said!" Sweetie belle shouted.
"Ah dunno...maybe we should try sumthin...easier to pronounce?" Applebloom wondered.
"Or maybe something with less...science-y stuff involved...this looks kinda complicated.." Scootaloo said directly to Twilight.
"Oh,its not REALLY all that hard to understand. Here I'll show you lets start over here," Twilight said enthusiastically as she trotted over to her seismograph.
When the crusaders had come to her asking for help with their talent search in an area of science the young alicorn was more then happy to help...in fact she may have even been a bit TOO happy if you were to ask the crusaders themselves.
For almost immediately, she had begun a string of mini lectures about various geological discoveries and of geodes and minerals uncovered in the last one thousand years...in excruciating detail.
"uuuuh...whats this thing called again?" Scootaloo asked in a partially nervous tone for fear of causing another avalanche of learning.
"Its a seismograph. Its used to detect any movements in the earth" Twilight chirped "and then it records them here" pointing out the slowly lengthening stretch of paper with shaky but generally straight lines.
"Records?...so its like a movie?" Sweetie belle asked with a slowly growing tone of interest.
"No it doesn't record like THAT ,you see it-" but before Twilight could finish Applebloom burst in
"OH OH maybe we should try bein' movie directers!" she said to her fellow crusaders.
"YEAH!cutie mark crusader movie directors!!" Sweetie and Scootaloo both shouted gleefully with most of the enthusiasm coming from Scootaloo,they then all three turned and started off on their next adventure.
"Wha-bu....WAIT girls?!" Twilight shouted as the crusaders ran off thanking her for the idea as they ran.
After standing dumbfounded for a moment or two she finally sighed "And here I thought I was reaching them.."
She was about to begin collecting her equipment for storage in her lab, when something on the seismograph caught her eye....it was going wild unlike anything she had ever seen.
Her eyes widened as far as they could and a little bit beyond...and then the panic set in.
"OmigoshomigoshOMIGOSH, an earthquake?! NOW?! But we're not even on a fault line and...look at those READINGS!! WE HAVE TO EVACUATE WE-" but her concern quickly turned to confusion followed by annoyance when she realized the true source of the massive disruption.
"Heya Twilight!I've got some BIIIIIG news!" Pinkie stated from on top of the machine, shaking excitedly for some reason smiling the whole time.
Twilight wasn't sure whether to address the pink mare's presence,or first wonder how she hadn't noticed her sitting on the machine in the first place.
She elected the former with a sigh " Hello Pinkie, thanks for the heart attack" she said as she slowly managed a smile for her friend "So? Whats the big news?"
And upon hearing that her pink friend jumped down and took a deep long breath "Well-I-was-just-talking-with-Berry-punch-you-know-Berry?She's-the-pony-whose-basically-Ponyvilles-resident-punch-enthusiast?Well-I-was-talking-to-her-about-a-punch-flavored-cake-I-mean-they-have-pineapple-upside-down-cake-strawberry-shortcake-and-even-cheesecake!So-why-not-a-punch-cake?or-maybe-we-should-call-it-cupcake-of punch?OR-maybe-even-"
"PINKIE!" The alicorn interrupted. Pinkie stopped suddenly but maintained her cheerful expression
"....The big news?" Twilight reminded with just a hint of annoyance.
"....OH YEAH! Well anyway, while I was talking with Berry my eye started a-flutterin' and my knee started a-knockin! You know what that means?!" Pinkie said getting right up in Twilight's face.
"uhhhhhh.." But before Twilight could properly guess Pinkie spoke again
"It means someone NEW is coming to ponyville! And they'll be here SOON! BUuut thats not all...after that I told berry the good news and went to start planning the new ponies party which was going to be kinda difficult, so I decided instead to start looking for the new pony...and THATS when my knee started getting all pinchy and it felt like a real doozy. Then I saw you standing here and thought I should warn you" Pinkie said surprisingly without her smile.
Twilight thought for a moment before she spoke "...Doesn't that mean..." at that very moment the ground began to shake violently enough to cause some of Twilight's heavier equipment to fall over
"SOMETHING SCARY'S GONNA HAPPEN" Shouted Pinkie as she shook more violently then the ground from her own over excitement.
The entire town was feeling the effects of this tremor.
Ponies throughout were struggling to keep their balance and most were beginning to panic. If this was an earthquake, it was unlike any the little town had ever experienced.
But then just as suddenly as it came the shaking stopped.
All through out town the confused populace were picking themselves up and murmuring amongst themselves while some were nervously looking about.
After taking a few moments to recompose herself Twilight spoke "w-...What in the hoof was THAT?!"
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Edward stood silently for a moment looming over what was once a manticore, or as he thought it was a demon of hell come for his soul.
"....gurararara, May have over done that a bit," Edward mused as the creatures tail, which was the only part of it still solid slumped over with a crack.
"Still though, pretty pathetic for a demon...but then again I may be dead in the afterlife and a horse but I'm still Whitebeard,"
After he said that Edward then wondered just what his new equine face looked like. A quick glance towards his nose had confirmed his wide tusk-like white mustache was still present, but he was still curious.
He had already noticed he was in a forest of some sort, which he didn't let surprise him to much.
He didn't exactly put to much effort into thoughts of the afterlife while alive so hell or wherever he was, quite possibly could have had trees and forests as far as he was concerned. But more importantly if it had those, why not lakes and ponds?
And so he started walking or trotting rather, the hope was he would come across maybe a small body of water to use as a mirror his motivation.
But that mindset produced another thought of curiosity, one which made known verbally.
"hm....I wonder if hell has any good booze."
'This is ridiculous... '
Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate had been walking through this forest for a decent amount of time and in that time he had come across many things. Nothing he could have used to see what his new face looked like unfortunately but instead a good many aggressive demons out to get him.
Some like the lion creature he dealt with previously, while others were all together different. At least the ones he noticed weren't out right too afraid to challenge him and fled from his presence.
He had traveled the world over many times and seen strange beasts of every shape and size imaginable but none of those compared in sheer strangeness to these demons. These new monstrosities could best be described as wolves made out of trees.
They weren't particularly interesting beyond that description but he still felt the need to come up with a name for them to keep some deviation between them and the chimera's. He was exceptionally proud of the name as he felt it was not only very original but even a tad comedic.
He called them "Timber Wolves".
If hell or wherever he was had other people in it a small part of him couldn't wait to tell them the clever moniker he had come up with for the monsters.
The larger part of him on the other han...hoof had other things in mind however.
For instance why would the creatures sent out to deal him his eternal punishment not seem to know just who he was? If they did they would have known to approach more tactfully, which they never did.
It had all been much of the same as you would expect to see from ordinary wolves...but these were demons! Surely they had to have at least partially higher intelligence.
But no they had all been the same. Which is to say stupid aggressive and easily scared off once they realized they were out matched.
The old man gave them some credit though, they never attacked alone.
Always in groups they appeared which made little difference to Edward beyond his opinion of them. But that did them no good as his tremor powers were strong enough to make them to shatter like the twigs they were.
He was a bit uneasy mostly from the sight of it, when he observed that the broken piece's could come together and form a larger more powerful version of the original beasts.
These larger one's did required a little more oomph in his attack, but in spite of that it wasn't much different and down it went.
The idea that the monsters sent out for him were getting stronger had kept him partially interested in his enemies, perhaps the devil or whoever was in charge was finally understanding who they were dealing with?
But that was in the deeper part of the forest he awoke in. Before he came across something that completely shattered any idea of taking the unseen force driving the beasts seriously.
As he made his way forward now a bit slower then when he began for no reason other then he no longer felt like he had to rush or risk letting some grand invincible demonic beast catch him, he took note that some of the flora was beginning to change from the grey twisted foliage into something more vibrant and pleasant. Which told him he was entering something new. And that was when he saw it....
A bear.
Not a bear made of fire not a bear in armor with a sword not even a polar bear. Just a regular old brown bear which being up on its hind legs was about Edwards height.
And it just so happened to have been roaring its loudest in his direction from the moment he laid eye's on it.
'This is ridiculous... ' Thought the beyond annoyed pirate.
Sure hell wasn't supposed to be a fantasy land of wonder and amusement but he had hoped if he found himself there that the creatures dishing out the punishment would have been....creative. This had all been nothing short of boring for the old warrior.
He slowly and grudgingly made his way towards it for he knew by now if it had been sent for him ,it wouldn't just let him walk past with out some resistance.
"Alright brat. lets go,"
Hearing this made the bear stop its noise and look as if it honestly hadn't noticed him. It then proceeded to stare at the approaching being with what Edward could only describe as confusion.
"gurararara...What? You act like you've never seen a talking horse before," If he absolutely had to deal with this he would at least make it fun.
To his surprise and partial relief, the beast got down out of its stance and simply walked away looking back at him every now and again as it slowly vanished from view.
"....heh well at least I ain't gotta deal with you," He said once the creature was gone from eye sight.
Turning forward he caught sight of something comforting, a small cottage a short distance away.
And so with thoughts of perhaps having someone to talk to who wasn't out to kill him ,and more importantly of a particular beverage he had been deprived of for longer then he would have liked possibly being present, reinvigorating him he strode forward in its direction.
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Earthquakes had been ravaging the entirety of Ponyville for a greater deal of the day.
"There there little critters, everything's gonna be alright," Fluttershy said trying to calm down a few still distressed squirrels in one of the shelters outside her cottage.
Most of the animals she cared for had been thrown into a panic from the very start, and the tremors that followed did little to help their mood. So she had been hard at work all day trying to calm them all in any way she could and be it through singing promising treats or everything in between she had managed to get a just about all of them to settle down by this time.
Twilight had shown up with Rainbow Dash just a short time ago to make sure Fluttershy was okay which other then some of her nicer things being broken and the emotionally distraught state of the animals she was fine.
After her friends helped her clean up the mess and secure the remainder of her possessions with magic, they all sat down over tea and there she was informed that these tremors flowing through out town were a combination of too violent and too frequent, that meant they couldn't be natural. Which perhaps meant magic was at work.
Well Twilight informed. Rainbow on the other hand simply boasted that if a unicorn or some other user of magic was doing this intentionally she'd take them down. They chatted for short while longer before the alicorn and pegasus left to check on the rest of their friend's.
After a few minutes had passed and Fluttershy had managed to repress any thoughts of a demon unicorn out to destroy Equestria, another quake hit. This one far worse then the other's
Fortunately, the spells in place kept her things from being knocked out of place. Unfortunately the animals had no calming down spell about them. So once that had passed she began the task of tending to the upset little creatures, and much to her and their delight, the last quake seemed to have been just that.
The last.
Off in the distance she could hear Henry the bear practicing his roar as he always did this time of day. Hearing this was pleasing to her, knowing that even with all this earthquake business going on Henry wasn't too upset he really was one of the nicer and more laid back bears in the woods she thought. He had once even told Fluttershy that he would never attack a pony. Even if they were being mean to him, he'd just walk away.
She was glad such a kindly creature wasn't troubled by all the tremor's. Then a thought hit her.
"There did you hear that? Henry's not worried about the earthquakes and he's a big softy," The pegasus stated sweetly
the squirrels chittered in response before looking in the direction of the noise. Their reaction was one of deep concern, in fact they looked positively petrified.
"hm? Whats wrong? Its only Hen-" But turning around to look back she was greeted with the sight that had them so upset and left her speechless.
A massive white stallion, even bigger then Celestia with the largest crescent shaped mustache she had ever seen was just a few feet away making his way towards her.
"Hoy....got any booze?" The large pony asked her.
"EEep...." Fluttershy whimpered in response as she slowly crept down to the ground and there began shaking nervously.
"Ehh....I just heard you talking to those animals...so don't act like your a mute. Well? Answer the question" the stallion was now right in front of her staring her down with tired yet commanding eyes.
"uhm...no? I'm sorry but....who are you???" She responded too quietly to be properly heard. She swore she could hear him growl which didn't exactly help her terror.
"Try again," He said this time leaning in close and locking eyes with her.
At this point the animals around her had taken notice of the visitor and in response gone into hiding.
"I'm sorry...no...who are you?" She said this time a little bit louder....which clearly wasn't loud enough evident from the behemoth of a pony sighing before he retracted himself from his leaning position.
"Never mind...I'll go check myself if your gonna be that way about it," And with that the massive individual simply walked right by her with big stomping hoof-steps towards her closed door.
"w-wait! what are you doing?...I-if you dont mind my asking" She said in protest. But the stallion if he heard her simply ignored her and made his way to her door and then just stared at it, then at his hoof, then at the door.
He seemed to be in deep genuine thought about something. Maybe he didn't know how to open a door? No that's just silly she thought. After a moment he raised a hoof and placing it gently on the door handle managed to get it open after a moment of fumbling.
He then smiled as if he had accomplished some great feat and simply walked in like he owned the place.
"Oh....my...." Squeaked the still distraught pegasus.
She couldn't just this giant pony do who knows what in her home it was obvious he made the animals uncomfortable and the fact that he was fine with just going right into somepony else's house without permission made her worry that he wasn't exactly the nicest pony out there either.
But what could she do? She had a feeling he wouldn't just leave if she asked at this point and she knew on her own she could never take on such a huge stallion. She really didn't want to leave the animals alone with this giant but she didn't have much choice.
So taking one final look back at her cottage then at some of the animals that were slowly peeking out from their hiding place's she took to the air and made for ponyville to get help.
"Be careful babies.." she whispered as she flew.
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Meeting a talking horse ordinarily might not have surprised him what with all the different types of devil fruits the world had to offer, but now all the encounter did was confirm his suspicion that when you die you turn into a horse for some idiotic divine reasoning. Whether it was an all around rule or just for those in hell he didn't know or really care.
What did surprise him however was the fact this one had a house and various bits of furnishing to boot such as books a sofa tables and even some fruit left out on said table ,which reassured him that food and drink were accessible here .
After giving it some thought he just figured that once you lived out your degree of punishment which may not have been quite so eternal, your allowed to live in various degree's of luxury. Perhaps the forest he found himself in was in fact the place where all the divine retribution took place?
If so the fact that he made it out by that reasoning meant he had earned a few comforts, and the little air head who lived here wasn't going to keep him from them. He was after all Whitebeard the pirate.
From what he saw inside this was obviously the home of some kind of animal breeder or something and he did notice various smaller rodents and birds scampering about trying to avoid his seeing them. He just ignored them.
Instead he focused on the task at hand ,and searched throughout the homestead until he saw it, and with a wide grin made his way towards what was obviously the residents food storage.
He stood staring at the door for a moment the handle was much to small for him to slip one of his massive hooves through. He thought he might have to use his teeth, but quickly abandoned the thought of such a demeaning action for another more respectable one.
"Screw it,"
Reeling back his right hoof a bit further then he thought he'd be able in his knew body he aimed right for the center of the metal boxes door then struck resulting in the satisfying sound of metal scraping and buckling. He stepped back and watched the whole thing fall off its hinges landing with a loud clatter at his feet, then set his sights on the treasure with in.
Most of the contents there in were more green then he expected, with hardly a speck of meat to be seen.
"Honestly, if you want to be health nut while alive that's fine....but your dead now, I don't think it matter's..And come on, why else would hell have all these animals if not for food??" He said as if the smaller soul was next to him at that moment.
As he with one hoof rummaged about looking for his prize he didn't notice or perhaps didn't pay any attention to the small white rabbit standing in the door way of the kitchen giving him such a scowl.
If its presence had gone unnoticed, it was quickly picked up on when the thing rushed towards Edward and leaped up delivered what it must have thought was a kick to the side of his head impressive given he was much much higher off the ground then it.
But much to the bunny's chagrin, it didn't even seem to register with Edward. Of course he had felt something bump him from the side, but given how soft and light it was he didn't pay the action any mind. He did however watch this tiny poof ball out of the corner of his eye.
The vermin watched him for a moment with its arms folded before it stuck out its chest and repeated the action
Edward however had just set his sight on his prize and he didn't feel like being bothered as he collected it, so just before the creature's attack he flexed his arm releasing an air born shock wave. It didn't cause an earthquake but one wasn't needed as the small white rat was sent flying back the way it came. After a moment a small clatter could be hear on the other side of the cottage.
Not considering anything about the creature other then its bravery even worth noting he returned his sights forward and there they were. A handful of bottles in the back filled with a familiar brown liquid inside. Though he personally preferred his beer sake and any other drink he was having straight from the barrel which before today were usually the only things large enough for him, he wasn't complaining.
The labels on them read cider which for a brief moment made his heart sink, as whether or not it was hard or soft wasn't listed.
"Only one way to find out," The old man said with an arched eyebrow.
And so reaching out with his hoof....he paused and widened his eyes slightly then stood completely motionless, time itself seeming to slow down as the realization set in.
Though he had been brought so close to victory, he had no hands to grip it with.
"This place really is hell...." he said as he allowed his outstretched leg to return to his side is expression slowly returned to how he usually wore his face.
After a few moments he had an idea.
He reached his head in and gripping one of the bottles with his teeth slowly and carefully lifted it out and pulled it away before setting it down on nearby table, then raising his head directly over the bottle grabbed it and lifted it straight up allowing the contents to pour into his mouth.
It was different then what he expected. It was far sweeter and didn't taste like it had much alcohol in it but he finished it off all the same. Even if it wasn't what he was hoping for, he had to admit it was delicious.
He thought about grabbing another as he tossed the bottle to the side with a satisfied exhale, but that thought let his mind when he spied a mirror in the main lobby of the cottage.
He was still curious what he looked like so he made his way over to it and got a good look at his new face.
As he already knew his wide mustache was present. As for the rest of his features, his eyes while much larger now were still the golden yellow they always were, his jaw was still long and wide and there were still the signs of great age on his face. The biggest difference was it was now all covered in white fur as well as being contorted to hold a muzzle.
What drew his attention lastly was the short blonde mane on the top of his head. He almost forgot he had blonde hair considering he almost always wore a black bandana.
This called to mind he still had no clothes, perhaps he could find some replacements in this cottage?
Well replacements were a bit too much to hope for especially considering from what he over heard while she was talking to those animals, the resident was probably a woman. So instead he hoped to at least confirm the notion of hell's denizens having clothes.
That was the thought anyway before he saw movement in the mirror towards the main door which he had left open followed by voice's.
"Whoa! Look at him!" said one "Ya'll wern't kiddin'. He IS huge!" said the other.
Edward turned about and was greeted with the sight of the smaller horse he tried to speak to earlier hiding behind two other horses of similar size.
One had azure colored fur with a literal rainbow colored main who was staring at him both expectantly and with a bit of wonder.
The other was orange with freckles and a blonde mane under a type of hat he had seen in some parts of the world but couldn't quite identify at the moment, who was staring at him both with concern and a hint of indignation.
But rather then their looks, he was much more caught up in the realization of how truly odd their color schemes were. Even the one he met earlier he now realized was a strange color for a horse, even if it was just the form the dead took.
At first he thought their fur color was designated by maybe whatever their favorite color was in life or something, when a much more logical solution was presented in his mind.
He looked at the empty and cracked bottle on the floor.
"That stuff must have been stronger then I thought..."
The three young mare's stared up at the giant before them. It was Fluttershy who broke the silence, "W-whitebeard? Your name is... Whitebeard?"
"Ah, well.. that's what everyone calls me; I'll have you know, that name has quite a bit of power behind it. But in truth, my birth name is Edward Newgate" the old stallion responded, meeting her eyes.
"..Newgate?" Rainbow mimicked, starting to recover from the bizarre attack she'd endured. "heh, what kinda goofy name is 'Newgate'?"
"Tch, cheeky brat.. and after what you've just experienced no less.. got quite a mouth on you, don't ya?" He grinned.
Rainbow smirked back "Oh, you don't think I was bothered by that weirdo air thingy you did do ya? HA puh-lease," she said, moving to stand on her own four legs.
"Easy there Dash," Applejack admonished, making sure her friend was stable before letting go "Fella just got calmed down, don't need neither'a ya'll gettin' riled up," Rainbow only muttered in response. Applejack then turned to the Old Stallion. "So uh.. Mr.. Newgate? What exactly brings ya to Ponyville? I hope ya ain't here to start no trouble.." She said with a twinge of unease.
" 'Ponyville'?.. The hell's that?" he asked.
"Ain't ya never heard of it?" silence and a tired stare was all she got in response. "Well, it's that little town over yonder." she pointed a hoof to direct his gaze in its direction "Right nice place, with respectable ponies.. and peaceful.. for the most part"
"Mm, well unless the whole place is filled with brats like her, I doubt you'll have to worry" he said motioning to Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy and Applejack both felt a sigh of relief escape them, Rainbow however glared at Newgate.
"..Then again" he started catching all three's attention "I suppose if more of those demons from that forest come after me.. heh, things might get a bit exciting" That statement put them all on edge. "Demons"? What on earth is this old pony talking about? Before any of them got the chance to ask however, they became aware of his departure.
"Hey, hold on a second! What'd ya mean by that? Wait!" Applejack called starting after him.
"Why should I? If they really are after me, I don't feel like wasting time standing around chatting with little kids" he called back, never once looking back, nor slowing down. Though he was only walking, his longer legs propelled him across the grassy expanse quickly, and Applejack had to run to catch up to him. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash however remained behind.
"Man, what a jerk. Just let him try and cause some trouble, now that I know he can do.. whatever that was, he won't catch me off guard again! Next time I'll really let him have it!" Rainbow Dash boasted while throwing a few jabs in the air.
"Do you think its okay to let Applejack go after him alone?" Fluttershy questioned
"mm, yeah I guess I'd better fly after them. Though, if you want to stay that's fine. You're probably worried about your animals right?" Rainbow turned towards the yellow pegasus who did seem to have an air of concern about her.
"oh.. w-well.. I should probably.. I mean.. you both might need help and.." she tried to respond, unable to deny how on point her friend was.
"Ha, no offence Fluttershy, but I don't think you'd be too much help. Especially not if you're mind is focused on your pets." Rainbow placed a hoof on Flutter's shoulder "Look it'll be fine, Applejack and I can handle it." She said with a sincere and confident smile.
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before returning a smile of her own. By the time she had made it back to her door, Rainbow Dash was already gone.
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"How in the hay.. One second he's right in front of me tellin' me off, the next he's gone.."
Applejack currently paced through Ponyville's street's looking for the old giant.
Despite her pursuit and attempts to sit him down to talk, the old stallion had continued on to Ponyville's outskirts. It was here that she took her eyes off him to survey the town. Due to the earthquakes, the streets seemed mostly empty; there were a few clean up crew's here and there, but most ponies had returned to their homes to tend to their houses personally.
"well, at least if he does start somethin', nopony'd get caught up in it.." she had thought. However upon looking back to where Newgate had once been, she discovered he had vanished. A quick survey, and a spin revealed that he was nowhere to be seen.
"wuh.. I.. GAH!!" she grunted, before running through the town, hoping to find him before any trouble was caused.
Nearby however, hidden just out of sight on the side of a house, Whitebeard couldn't help but snicker. "Hmph, I snuck right up behind that bastard admiral.. what makes you think I couldn't escape you, little brat? Treating me like a lost child.." he whispered. The sound of a window opening caught his attention. He turned and met the gaze of a young light tan pony, with a dark blue and pink mane, quite obviously surprised by the enormous pony right out side her window.
"....." she exclaimed.
"....." he responded.
Her expression changed to one of unamusment as she shut her window, and closed the curtains. Newgate continued to stare for only a moment, then he turned away and began walking down the first road he saw.
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"Bucking geese.. I don't care what Fluttershy says, they're spawns of tartarus" Despite the speed with which she took off, a run in with a rather irritable group of water fowl led to Rainbow Dash getting slowed down, if only for a minute or two.
She was now hovering in the air just above Ponyville, and was scanning the area bellow for Applejack and the big white jerk. She spotted Applejack speedily trotting through the streets, but there was something amiss. No giant pony.
"What? Did he escape? Jeez, guess I'd better find him.. " While he may have claimed he wouldn't cause trouble, Rainbow didn't trust him as far as she could throw him.. which admittedly wasn't very far, which only strengthens her point.
"Okay.. so" she began to think as she soar through the sky above trying to locate the large pony. "Plan A: fly down and regroup with Applejack to find him.. no, I can see things better from up here.." She flew a bit lower, just below the clouds.
"Plan B: fly down and ask around if anypony's seen him.. but it doesn't look like there are too many ponies out right now besides the workers.. and even if there were, it'd take too long to ask every single pony.."
Still scanning, she caught sight of the library, and Twilight levitating a bunch of books around her, while checking some weird machine. "Plan C: have Twilight teleport him to us.. wait.. can she do that?" Rainbow paused where she was to ponder this. "I mean, she's done it with Discord a couple times.. it'd probably work with him.. maybe.." she shook her head and discarded that plan, and looking down saw Pinkie suddenly spring up next to Twilight, nearly giving her a heart attack.
"heh.. oh, plan D: have Pinkie find him. She can probably sniff him out with that sense of hers.. though, that would just lead to her wanting to throw a party for the jerk.." thinking for a moment, she discarded that plan as well before taking off again to continue searching. "dang.. plan E is.. eh.."
"WHOA HO HO! Look at YOU!" an amused cry suddenly came from down below.
"Huh?" Looking down she saw a starry eyed worker pony, and two other ponies staring at Newgate, who looked none too pleased. She stared for a moment "Plan E: Rush down there at full speed, ram that jerk and knock him out."
Down below Newgate forcefully pushed the gawking pony out of the way, to which she grinned
"Plan E, it is."
In the highest tower of Canterlot Castle, Princess Luna of the royal sisters, sat in her personal library, enthralled by the contents of a grey spooky looking book.
"My my.. Enthralled , bringing out the BIG FANCY literary nonsense eh? Certainly too much for anyone who holds an interest in anything you write to understand" Spoke a voice from nowhere in particular that had best keep its mouth shut if it wishes to have a future role in this story, as I do not take well to taunts.
"I got it, I got it.. YEESH"
Good, then do your role.
"Right right, AHEM. PRINCESS LU-"
"What is it Discord?" Spoke the ethereal maned royal. "And who is your friend?"
"SHE'S ON TO US! RUN FOR IT!" The spirit of chaos shrieked as he attempted to flee, only to be barred by a wall of clear blue magic.
"Otherworldly voice's aside, I assume you had something important to discuss when you decided to interrupt my reading. You know I do not like being disturbed over nonsensical things" She said with a glare.
Discord, having been running continuously into the wall to no avail, stopped and met the princess's gaze "Ah well I was.. eh.. LINE!"
The book, you dolt.
"AH YES! I noticed you were ENTHRALLED with the contents of that book, and decided to ask what you find so ENTHRALLING about it?" He said in earnest which doesn't change the fact that I'm writing him out of future chapters.
Despite knowing him to be a nuisance, the princess was eager to talk about her latest literary escapade "Ah, well as you know-"
"cough, which means, I'm going to be speaking to the audience for the next few minutes cough cough" Interrupted Discord, whose character had suddenly been replaced with a nameless royal guard for this scene.
"Oh you're no fun! I'm going home" Said the spirit as he left from wherever I sent him.
Silence filled the library for a few moments before the aforementioned royal guard spoke up. "Uh.. Anyway, what were you saying Princess?"
"Hm? Oh yes, well as I was saying, being the Princess of the Night, I've developed a sort of interest for things of a darker nature." She said levitating the book for the guard to see "This particular tome, is on the subject of spirits, ghosts and the sort."
"Ghosts , your majesty?" The guard asked after looking over the book a few times.
"Yes ghosts" Said the royal waving her hooves in an attempt to appear spooky "According to this book, ghosts can be classified into two categories, 'vengeful phantoms', and 'lingering spirits'" The guards blank stare beckoned her to continue
"Well you see, vengeful phantoms are found when a given individual dies in a manner they find less than preferable. This lead to their spirit becoming indignant and in some cases, they manage to return to this plane of existence, with a burning desire to avenge themselves in any way possible." She brought her book back and opened it back to where she was previously.
"Hm, I see.." He lied, wishing to hurry this conversation that he wasn't sure how he got involved in without being rude "... And, what about the.. uh OTHER type your majesty?"
"Lingering spirits? Well you see, should a pony die and feel they've failed in horrendously one way or another in life, the powers that be may find it acceptable to.. give them a second chance as it were" She explained with a roll of her hoof.
"Ah, I.. see" He responded awkwardly.
"No you don't, you need not lie" She said with a smile. "Never the less, thank you for listening, I do enjoy being able to share my interests with others. You are dismissed" The guard bowed and began making his way to the door, which flung open and smashed him in to the wall, another higher ranking guard standing in the opening.
"Your majesty! Princess Celestia requested I inform you that she is preparing to depart for Ponyville" He announced with a salute.
"Hm? Whatever for?" Asked the princess as she approached the guard
"Her prodigy, Princess Twilight Sparkle recently turned in some troubling reports regarding an unnatural series of earthquakes in the area." He said standing at ease "Though the report indicated she had already requested the civilians remain in doors, your sister wished to investigate personally. She and her personal guard have already departed via chariot"
"Ah, and I'm sure it had nothing at all to do with the fact that day court was about to begin, how very convenient for her..." Luna said to herself "I suppose she also asked that I take her place in the court for today?"
The guard saluted "You are correct your highness"
"Well then let us be off" she said making her was through the door, followed not far behind by the guard. The doors magically shut behind them, allowing the previous nameless guard to fall from the indentation he had formed.
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High above the streets of Ponyville, a certain azure pegasus was currently doing stretches in preparation for her aerial assault.
"HAHAHA I LOVE Plan E! Hope you've said a prayer or two, cause here." Rainbow Dash took a stance "I-" Before she could finish her spiel, the rainbow maned speedster's ears were suddenly filled with the overwhelming sound of honking.
"ow.. What?" Rubbing her ears, she was now face to face with a very, VERY perturbed flock of geese. A particularly indignant, and old looking one flew up right in front of her.
"Honk hak ha hak HONK!" the thing bellowed.
"Buh.. HEY hold on a second! Your buddies started it! I was just minding my own business, when BAM! They ran right into me! They got the whooping they deserved!" Rainbow Dash spat out crossing her forehooves
"HAK honk ha ho ho HONK!" It screeched and flailed it wings, causing Dash to recoil.
"Uh.. Assault charges???.. Hey hey now.. There's no reason to get the authorities involved in this." She said nervously, floating back away.
Before she could get far however, she was barred by two exceptionally large geese in police uniforms. The two each wrapped one wing around her given wings and, not even reacting to her struggling, flew off with her in a way many would argue to be impossible. The rest of the flock followed.
"HEY hold on! I have to.. I.. but Plan E!!!" she sighed. "I get one phone call right?"
Down on the street's below, the small group of worker ponies were continuously crowding Whitebeard, attempting to ask him all manner of questions such as "how much can you bench" and "can you spot me?". The only answer they received was a violent shove, not enough to injure but enough to get the point of "screw off" across. After muttering a few obscenities his way, they returned to their work allowing Newgate to leave.
"Noisy brats wasting my time, at least they know when to call it quits. I guess that blue punk is unique here.." He said to himself as he continued down the road.
Though it was a very clean looking town, the presence of a few piles of debris, and the group of what appeared to be clean up workers told him that this town had recently endured some damage.
'Hm.. I guess I did that. Ah well, when you live next to a demon infested forest in hell, you'd better expect a few disasters now and again.. Mm, I don't think this is the best place for me to hold out in.. If it's close enough that those light attacks reached it, its too close for my taste' he thought to himself.
As he walked he noticed signs depicting various things such as fruits, vegetables, books and clothes, as well a few empty stalls here and there. From what he could gather, he had found the shopping district of this little village. Though it was vacant now, he decided to search it over.
"Gurararara, with any luck, I might be able to find something to wear, maybe even some actual booze." He mused.
He lifted a few carts here and there to see if any merchants had left anything behind or under them, and more than a couple found themselves falling and breaking afterwards, as he still wasn't completely used to not having hands. How a society could function like this was beyond him, but placing such thoughts in the back of his head, he continued his search.
"Geh, all the sales folk I know of wouldn't let something like a few earthquakes scare them off.. hell, they'd take it as an opportunity to get into the emergency supply business." He grumbled, quickly becoming frustrated. It was then that he something truly bizarre. A large circular building, which could pass for a circus tent. Obviously whoever lived here had a peculiar sense of taste he thought as he approached.
"MY WORD!" An obviously feminine voice echoed from above.
Looking up, he caught sight of a white furred pony with a purple mane done up in a odd curly style, looking down on him with awe. "You are a large one, aren't you?" She said.
"Compared to you I suppose" He replied. If she lived in this area, maybe she was a merchant, and maybe just maybe, she'd be able to help him find the items he had in mind.
"Hohoh yes I suppose so. Hm tell me, what brings somepony such as yourself to Ponyville?" She questioned.
"Clothes and booze" He said plainly
"Hm.. While I'm not sure I could help much with the latter, in regards to the former, you've certainly come to the right place my dear sir." She said with a wide grin "In fact, I was just about to ask if you'd object to letting me create something for you to wear. I've never had a customer your size, and simply couldn't let such an opportunity pass me by"
He smiled back "Well since you're offering.. I'll have you know though, I'm a bit short on money.."
"Oh no trouble at all, really! I'll consider the rare chance of making something for Ponyville's first giant gentlecolt to be payment enough" She smiled sincerely
"Heh, how generous of you... a bit too generous though, but I won't complain. Say whats your name?" He asked
"I am Rarity, Ponyville's resident fashonista, owner of the carousel boutique and expert in all things FABULOUS" She declared.
"Heh, I am Whitebeard, though Newgate will work as well" he replied.
"Well then Mr.Whitebeard, it's a pleasure to work with you." She said with a slight bow "Here, my front door might be a bit uncomfortable for one of your size to fit through, so if you'd please make your way around the back. There's a larger entrance for large shipments of fabrics and other materials. I'll go unlock it for you" And with that, she disappeared inside.
"Heh, bout time I got some respect" He chuckled, making his way around the building.
****************************************************************************************************************
Inside the boutique was all manner of material perfect for clothes making. Fabrics, fine silks, buttons, you name it. Though some of it was still laying about, no doubt from the quakes, the fact that nothing seemed too far out of place, made it easy to tell the owner of this establishment had a knack for up keep.
"Now then, lets see about your measurement's" Rarity said levitating a measuring tape. As she approached Newgate however, she examined him, then the tape, then him again, before levitating several more measuring instruments to her side.
'Must have been a devil fruit user in life.. now that I think about it, that blue brat from before was flying wasn't she..' Newgate thought to himself, as the young dress maker began taking his measurements.
"So tell me Mr.Whitebeard.." She said as she worked "Where do you come from? I've not heard of anypony your size in Equestria before."
'Equestria.. heh, do they name hell's territories then?' He thought "The sea would the place I called home."
"Oooh you're a sailor then?" A slight nod was the answer she received. She smiled as she continued her work "Oh it must have been lovely, traveling about, seeing the world.. Did you have your own ship?"
"Ah.. I did. The Moby Dick..." Memories of seeing his own ship blown apart and burned before his very eyes flooded his mind "It's gone now though" He said sadly.
"Oh I see.. I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard, I've heard captains see their ship as if it were a member of their crew.."
"That's right. She carried us through many a storm and battle... and in the end I let her down" He said quietly. A small white hoof came up to his shoulder. He turned and was greeted with an sympathetic smile.
"You really mustn't blame yourself Captain. I may have never sailed myself, but I know clothing better than any pony, and though inevitably when a dress or suit has reached the end of its life, what truly matters is not how it met its end, but whether or not it spent its life by making its owner look fabulous!" She thought for a moment "I suppose in a ships case what would matter is whether or not it carried you across the sea to the end of its days right?" Silence filled the room.
"Yeah, I guess that's true.." He chuckled. Rarity smiled in response.
"... IDEA~!" She suddenly blurted out.
"Hm? What are you talking about" He asked
"You used to be a sailor, a CAPTAIN right? Well, I've thought of something that I think you'll absolutely love!" She proclaimed clapping her front hooves together. She quickly finished her measuring, before rushing to some back room. Within moments the sound of cutting and stitching could be heard.
Newgate simply sat down, and lost himself in thoughts about the past... That was before the feeling of something approaching caught his attention. He turned and
"HI!!" his vision was suddenly filled with pink. Stepping back, he found that the source of this was another pony, completely pink from her mane to her fur. "My names Pinkie Pie, and I've been looking for you all day!"
"Where did you.." He started only for a gasp from the other side of the room to interrupt him.
"Pinkie Pie? Honestly, I know how you are with meeting new ponies, but please don't harass my customers." She requested making her way over to the two.
"I wasn't harassing him! I was saying hello!" she defended "Hi!" She waved to Newgate who only stared in response.
"No offense dear but at times with you.. It can be hard to tell." Rarity said.
"Well either way, you know its my duty as Ponyville's number one super duper party planner to throw Mr.Giant here a 'Welcome to Ponyville party'!!"
"Yes yes I know, but I'm sure Captain Whitebeard here being an older gentlecolt has more important-"
"Party eh? Will there be booze?" He interrupted.
"Yepper!" The pink mare said with a smile.
"Heh then I'm in" He said with a wide smile.
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Sensing power is.. hard to explain.
In fact, explaining it to those who are unable to do so, would be like describing sight to the blind. What can be described however, is that some creatures are naturally more sensitive to things like, magical or physical might in others. Ponies are, more often than not, able to get a general feel for such things. Though a more accurate name for this is "instinct". Like a gazelle feels the threat of being stalked by a lion, similarly, ponies can tell when something truly dangerous and truly powerful is nearby, even if it means no harm.
It would be peculiar therefore, to have a creature as strong as Edward Newgate be able to walk about as he pleased and even meeting a few of locals, with out generating a reaction from the entire populace of such a close knit town. This however, can be explained.
If, for instance, a dragon was on a rampage in your city while you were present, you would easily be able to tell being near it is a fatal mistake. At the same time if you were to look in the exact direction a dragon was rampaging, from several dozen kilometers away, even if the creature was aware of your presence and was planning to attack you next, you wouldn't feel threatened.
For the gap between you and the beast is far too great, that you could not even perceive the imminent threat. The same can be said for sensing power, if the gap in strength is too great, nothing will be felt.
Due to being more physically powerful than most, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were able to feel out the threat of Newgate even if only slightly. In a general sense however, most ponies are unable to perceive just how close to death they really are with Newgate nearby. Compare how Discord is able to wander as he pleases lately, and not send the entire land into a frenzy. Though he is far more powerful, a mixture of restraint on his part, and the presence of this gap keeps the world in a state of peaceful ignorance. This is also the reason why the creatures of the Everfree repeatedly attacked Newgate, despite the clear difference in strength, they felt no threat from preying on him.
As an alicorn with supernatural senses and being powerful in her own right as Celestia is, however, that gap, that place's Newgate far beyond any other beings sight.. is more like a mere stones throws worth of distance. Especially now that she is only at the half way point between her home in Canterlot and Ponyville.
Needless to say, if her personal guard knew this, just how great a threat Ponyville and possibly even Equestria as a whole might be facing, they would not currently be objecting to her sudden leap from her chariot and blindingly fast flight towards the unsuspecting town.
Strength and Grace: Act 1
'Damn. This girl's pretty fast' thought Newgate as he surveyed the scene before him.
The level of detail that was put into the festive event couldn't possibly have been done in the time he watched it happen. The very second he agreed, he found himself surprisingly, practically being dragged to some little shop in the town. It seemed like some kind of sweet's shop from what he could tell.
Again there didn't seem to be too many folks about, nor did it seem like it was prepared for any sort of party. That was until the little pink pony suddenly burst through the building's front door, despite the fact Newgate was certain she was standing next to him, a tall stack of boxes over flowing with nonsense upon her back.
"I've been saving all of this stuff all day!" She said giddily, and with that she was off.
Even Newgate's eyes could barely follow her movements, she didn't even appear to be stopping, rather it looked to him like she was simply running to and fro allowing the contents of her boxes to drop everywhere. Yet some how this worked, as in a time almost too short to be called a heartbeat, the dull lifeless area had transformed into a huge event. Table's lined with food, and drinks, balloons, streamers, all in abundance. Yet as he looked over everything, he could tell something was off.
"Oi, where's the-" he was cut off by a pink hoof suddenly appearing before him presenting a bottle perfect for one his size. The scent eagerly betrayed its contents. The old pirate grinned wider then he had his entire time since coming to this place. He didn't even bother to ask how she was holding the thing, he simply grabbed it with his teeth similar to how he managed before, and drank up.
"Now all's I gotta do is invite everypony! I'll be back!" and with that the pink mare was gone, leaving Whitebeard alone, not that he noticed. Rarity had stayed behind to finish her project which she claimed she would present to him by day's end. He let out a satisfied sigh as he set the still filled bottle back down.
"Gurararara, to hell with the forest and demons, if that kid's got more of these to share, I'll gladly endure living this close," He sat down where he was and, closing his eyes, allowed a feeling of contentment to wash over him. This may have been the most relaxed he's been since coming here.. not that anything that challenged him thus far asked much of him, but still.
A sudden rush of power from some unknown source, followed by the sound of a light impact nearby told him that may change soon.
"Then again.." He said as he opened his eyes and looked towards the interloper "If there's more folks like you running around, I supposed I'd have to go without anyway,"
The two locked eyes, allowing a grim silence to fill the air. She was almost as tall as he was, if a great deal thinner, and beyond daintier; all of which hid away some serious strength from what he could tell.
Princess Celestia of the Royal Sisters, and Whitebeard the Pirate Emperor. Neither moved an inch, for neither wished to be the one to instigate a fight, as a clash between these two would be troublesome for either party. For Celestia, she had her ponies to worry about, and for Newgate, while he had considerably less to lose, it was more about being bothered as he wasn't interested in meaningless fights.
Then again.. beating respect into some brat's skull was a pretty decent reason in his eyes.
'Good, he's right where I told them to meet me,' She thought.
"Who the hell are you," He suddenly demanded
"Princess Celestia of Equestria. I would have a word with you," She responded after a moment.
"Gurarara, is that so? Did you bring any good booze?" He said with a wry grin
"No," Her eyes never left his.
"Then piss off," He said narrowing his gaze. A tremor just small enough to shake the tables and their contents, and certainly enough to dissuade those of weak constitution, was felt through the area. "Its been a long day, I'm not in the mood for upstart nobles,"
"A fight is not my reason for coming here." She declared, not even slightly harassed by the show of force. "I need to know that you are not a threat to my little ponies,"
"Ah? Well... I've had a conversation like this already, but I don't mind repeating myself.. So long as they don't start anything, neither will I. That goes for you too, Princess ," He said placing emphasis on her title.
"I see," Her demeanor not lessening "And should somepony offend you, what of those who have not part in it?"
His own expression held strong "Hmph, it's not my problem if some idiot gets caught up in-"
"I assure you, it WILL be your problem," She said having suddenly cleared the distance between them, her expression visibly fiercer. Such an expression would have forced any normal pony to relent.
Whitebeard is no pony.
He grimaced, as if she had told a terrible joke and expected him to laugh, and leaned back, clearly to relax rather then out of shock or surprise.
"Bah, what do you think you're scary or something? A kid like you?" he huffed and leaned down to meet her gaze dead on "Don't make me laugh. Just because you're a bit bigger and stronger than the rest of the brats I've seen, you think you can hold a candle to me? You're a hundred years too early, little girl," Meeting his gaze while he's annoyed on its own would cause any normal man to faint outright.
Princess Celestia is no man.
"I am no court jester, nor am I a foal. I am this lands ruler. I will not be intimidated, nor bullied." she pushed forward, nearly touching snouts with him "And I will not allow you to harm my ponies," The silence that followed, which lasted longer than either of them realized, would overwhelm any mere pony or man present, though there is nothing mere about either of these two.
Of course the same could be argued about the one who suddenly burst in between them.
"HIYA PRINCESS!! I heard you'd be here! Great to see you! Have you met Mr.Whitebeard?" Pinkie Pie burst in. The two of them looked past her, as if she wasn't even here.
'That's one.. I just have to hold his focus a little longer,' The Princess thought.
"Princess??" The pink pony questioned, oblivious to what was occurring. She backed away a bit and looked them both over, then noticed their locked gaze "oooh I get it.. Princess you're a bit old for him though, aren't you?"
Again, she was completely ignored. Her ears folded back and she began to ponder what to say next.
"Pinkie Pie?! Where is he?!" A country laced voice ringed out, which caused Pinkies ear's to rise again.
'Damn, finally found me, eh?' Whitebeard thought.
"Oh! HI APPLEJACK!" She said waving her friend over, who upon seeing Whitebeard and the Princess glaring at each other seemed to loose a few shades of color.
"Princess Celestia?" Another voice called out.
"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted back.
"Twilight!" Celestia called out looking towards her student.
"Who's this now?" Whitebeard said noticing the attention drawing new arrival.
*****************************************************************************
Shortly before...
"Spike? Have any more letters come through?!" Twilight shouted as she gathered the Elements of Harmony.
"No, just the one you read," A young draconian voice responded "What do you thinks going on?"
"I don't know, all Princess Celestia wrote was 'gather the elements and meet me at Sugar Cube Corner' " She quoted as she made for the door "Whats more her penmanship was off.. as if she was in a hurry when she wrote it! Something must be really wrong.. I hope Discord isn't acting up," She made her way through the door, followed not far behind by her dragon assistant.
"Alright, you know what you're to do, right?" She asked eager to head out.
"Go to Fluttershy, tell her to find Rainbow Dash and have them head to Sugar Cube Corner. Tell the same to Applejack and Pinkie if I see them," He said with a salute.
"That's right. Pinkie's probably already at Sugarcube Corner, but I haven't seen Applejack in a little while.. Oh, right I'd better stop and get Rarity on my way," She said as she turned to leave.
Hearing that name caught the young dragon's attention immediately "OH uh, I could go find her for you, you know. Don't worry about it," he said with a hopeful smile.
"Sorry Spike, but I need you to focus on finding Fluttershy. She lives the farthest away," She said sympathetically, placing a hoof on his shoulder.
"Oh.. yeah, I get it," He sighed dejectedly.
"Great. See you soon!" After a brief hug, they both began their hurried gait towards their given destination. Twilight, after a few minute of walking, however found herself stopped just short of the Carousel Boutique.
"HI TWILIGHT!" Her pink friend said suddenly popping up in front of her
"GAH.. oh Pinkie, hello. Sorry, I'd love to stay talk, but I have to hurry and find Rarity. Look, just head to Sugar Cube Corner. Princess Celestia's there an-"
She was interrupted by a drawn out gasp "Princess Celestia came to the party?! WOWIE WOW! Mr.Whitebeard must be really popular! I already found and invited Applejack, but what about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy??" She said as she began bouncing with excitement.
"Oh I sent Spike to collect them.. wait, party? Whitebeard? What are you-"
"AWESOME! Alright see you there!" She then vanished as quickly as she came.
"Wait Pinkie!.. ugh.. well at least she and Applejack will be there.. Alright, on to Rarity's,"
**********************************************************************************************************
In the present...
"Twilight dear? Where did you.. oh there you are," Rarity said trudging up along side Twilight. "Now.. what was this about.. Oh! Princess Celestia!" She quickly bowed. "An.. And Captain Whitebeard? What's going on?"
"Twilight! Where are the others?" Celestia asked turning away from Whitebeard, who had taken an interest in the new arrivals.
"I sent Spike to find them.. Princess.. who is that?" She said motioning towards the large pony behind her who appeared to simply be observing at the moment.
"He.. He's uh.. Ahem.. He's Mr.Newgate.. an' last I recall, he said he wouldn't be causin' no trouble.." Applejack said nervously looking up at Whitebeard.
"And I wouldn't have, had this bitch not decided to act up" Whitebeard said with a snort "To be honest, she reminds me of that blue friend of yours. Neither of them seem know their place, and if she insists, I'll gladly give her the same treatment,"
"What is that supposed to mean," Celestia demanded rather than asked, eyeing Whitebeard for a moment, then facing Applejack.
"Uh.. well.. Ya see.." Applejack shuffled nervously, not wanting to throw wood on the fire.
" 'That blue brat got what was coming to her' is what she's trying to say, Gurarara.." Whitebeard chuckled. "Maybe next time she'll think before picking fights with her superiors,"
Something changed. Though it couldn't be seen nor heard, it could be felt. Something about the way the Princess turned to meet Whitebeard's eyes was off. Twilight and her friends, even those who didn't have a full grasp of what was happening with this old stallion, knew it.
"Twilight listen to me. You need to leave here. Find and regroup with the other Elements before finding me again." Celestia called out.
"P-princess?" Twilight spoke trying to get a better understanding of things.
"Don't ask questions just do as I say! NOW!" She called out again this time with considerably more authority.
"uh.. Alright, come on girls lets-"
Whitebeard was having none of this. An intense stare in the girls direction caused something to flow forth, right through Celestia. Before any of them had a chance to register it, they were all unconscious. The only ones standing, a over sized old pony, and a Princess trying her best to contain her emotions.
"What have you done," She said quietly as she observed her student and friends lying on the ground.
"Hmph, I didn't like the way you spoke to her. It sounded like you might have been planning something." He grinned and stood up, almost like he was taking some sort of stance "As if I'd just let you do as you please against me,"
Celestia did not face him. She remained quiet for a few moments, and Whitebeard could swear she was glowing.
"I issued you a warning. I would not allow harm to come to my ponies, by your hoof, or any others," She said softly at last.
"Gurararara.. and I probably should have warned you to protect them properly,"
What happened next was far too fast to be fully relayed. One moment Whitebeard looked upwards and saw the Princess suddenly the air, wings flared out with an overwhelming light with a sound like thunder, and the next they were both gone. A singed ring on the ground, and residual magic in the air were all that remained.
Strength and Grace: Act 2
"Twilight?" It was quiet, but she heard it. Somepony was calling her name.
"Twilight, please wake up!" She managed to open her eyes. She wasn't in pain, just a little drowsy.
"Huh.. Who.. ?" She looked around and saw Spike leaning over her. "Spike.. ?"
"TWILIGHT!" The young dragon wrapped his arms round her neck. She looked around and saw Pinkie trying to wake Rarity, Applejack meanwhile was already sitting up and holding her head trying to focus
"Spike.. what happened?" She said after a moment.
"I don't know. I came to tell you Fluttershy wasn't home when.. You all were just.. laying there.. I.. I thought you were.." Tears began to fill the young dragons eyes.
Seeing this, Twilight pulled him close "It's alright spike. We're alright" After he seemed to calm down, Twilight spoke again. "Did you see Princess Celestia anywhere?"
Spike shook his head "No, was really she here?"
"Yes, but now.." Twilight looked over and noticed Applejack seemed to have cleared her head. "Spike go help Pinkie with Rarity" Surprisingly, Spike hesitated, by after a moment did as he was told. Twilight made her way to Applejack.
"Applejack?" She started.
"...Y-yeah?" She responded after a moment, head hanging low.
"...Who.. Who was that pony?" Twilight asked attempting to get her friend to look her in the eyes.
****************************************************************************************************************
Some time before Twilight's reawakening, a field on the opposite side of the mountain range west of Ponyville, found itself hosting two unannounced guests.
'This was as far as I could take him in one trip. I doubt I'll be able to get close enough to teleport both of us again,' Thought Celestia, guest number one. As for guest number two a far larger and older looking pony he stood looking around, blinking periodically.
".. Oi, what the hell did you do?" He said after surveying the suddenly changed landscape.
"I told you, I won't allow you to harm my ponies. We're far away from them now," She responded from a good distance away.
"Ah? But that doesn't answer my question, does it?" He said narrowing his eyes.
"I'm afraid it is the only answer you'll be receiving," Still keeping her distance, she began snapping her wings out periodically, as if preparing to take flight.
"Gurarara, you think its wise to keep secrets from me?" she didn't answer "You must not know who I am.." She stood perfectly still, not reacting in the slightest.
"I AM-" before he could announce himself, his vision was cut of by a white light, and a high pitched sound was made behind him. A solid leap to the left, and he was able to observe a sizable beam of white energy scream through the air he previously occupied, and right up to.. where he thought the princess was standing, where now only a few glittery particles remained. A single glance behind him revealed the Princess hovering a few meters away, horn alight.
The very moment he landed, he threw his front right leg forward, pivoted back and slammed his hoof in her direction the air cracked and a shock wave was sent her way.
She snapped her wings down and was carried upwards, causing the wave to trail off for a distance before reducing a tree to mere splinters and leaves. He looked up at her and noticed she wasn't paying attention, rather, she was eyeing the shock wave as it traveled.
'Speedy bitch,' He thought to himself.
Allowing the momentum of his backward swing to turn him fully, he landed facing her direction, and then after a brief crouch, jumped up to where she was, left hoof already drawn back. She met his gaze as he ascended to her height; in her eyes was no fear, nor confusion... in fact her eyes were empty, as though she was hollow.
'A fake? You've got some experience... but that alone won't save you from me' He thought. He punched to his left, and narrowly missed her as she suddenly appeared, then vanished again just before the wave connected causing this one too, to trail off.
Again, he struck with his right leg backwards, however rather than simply avoid it this time she flew around it in a spiraling path at a high speed, and was above him in an instant at an angle, horn ablaze with light.
"Damn" He muttered. He braced as another beam was fired, this time hitting him dead on, sending him to the ground producing a large vision obscuring cloud of dust. The princess herself followed after a moment, gracefully landing a good distance away.
She watched where he had landed, occasionally snapping her wings as before.
"Gurararara, not bad kid." Upon hearing his voice she took three steps back. Moments later the entire mass of air born particles was dispersed in a spiral, revealing a completely unscathed giant pony.
"Letting me throw all of those so you could get an idea of their size and range..Ha ha.. Not bad. Most aren't sharp enough to be able to notice such things.. You've got some skill," He grinned. "Just don't count on what you think you know, getting you out of this alive," Celestia backed a few more steps away, eyes wide, though again, no fear was found in her gaze.
"Let me ask you," With a mighty grunt Whitebeard leaned back and brought his front right leg across "When did I say that was the largest quake I could throw?!"
With a roar, he swung his leg in her direction, only for it to stop short held in place by some unseen force. As he looked down to figure out what went wrong, he realized the Princess was charging another attack.
"Let me ask you," She said as she slowly ascended, horn alight "When did I the size of the attack was all I was studying?"
Another beam was fired and charged through the air, set to strike him dead on. Whitebeard didn't flinch, instead he focused on the speed it traveled and just before it's impact let the power he held in his hoof flow through his whole body. The result was an omni-directional shock wave, which easily dispersed the oncoming attack and began its trek through the air in all directions.
"LEARN YOUR PLACE YOU BRAT" He yelled as Celestia hastily erected a barrier around herself.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Thanks for helping me out there Shy, sorry for pulling you away from your animals" Said a certain rainbow maned pegasus as she and her yellow friend were leisurely flying back to Ponyville.
"Oh its alright. They seemed just fine when I left," Fluttershy said before taking a more solemn expression " You really shouldn't be fighting with animals Rainbow Dash.."
"Ugh.. I told you they bumped into me, I only retaliated," Rainbow huffed.
"Well even still, you see that just going around fighting can get you in trouble" Fluttershy said as she looked over the landscape. "After all they dragged you pretty far.. We're still a little ways from Ponyville,"
"Yeah and you still say they aren't insane. You really should-" The sound of a deep roar in the distance followed by a rumbling in the air around them caught their attention.
"WHOA! What was that?!" Rainbow shouted.
"Oh my.." Fluttershy peeped hiding behind her friend.
Staring at where it seemed to come from, Rainbow Dash's expression changed as if she had figured out the source of the event "C'mon, lets go check it out!" Dash said before flying of in the direction of the chaos.
"W-wait! Maybe we.. shouldn't??" Fluttershy tried to suggest, but Rainbow Dash was already gone. Not wishing to be left alone, she sighed and followed after her.
****************************************************************************************************************
Celestia's barrier was already cracking from the initial burst of power, she knew she couldn't hold it up under the current barrage this old stallion was unleashing. She counted herself lucky her shield was shock resistant.
"Hmph, you just going to hide in there all day?" Whitebeard mocked as he struck the shield dead on causing it to crack further. "You know this won't hold up much longer, not against this assault. Just give up, make it easy on yourself,"
In truth she was only half listening. She was searching for something, an opening, anything that would allow her the chance to put some distance between them. At this range, he proved too quick with his strange ability for her to properly cast any effective spells, and she most likely lacked the physical capacity to take one of his strikes dead on.
She winced. Another strike, much stronger than the previous ones landed. His patience was wearing out, she had to hurry.
"I've had enough, get lost," Whitebeard growled. He stood up on his hind legs and raised his front legs in preparation for a downward attack; which was the opening she was looking for.
A quick cast and she was gone, teleporting a few dozen meters away. Whitebeard allowed himself to comeback to the ground without any tremors, taking a moment to try and relocate her. Right as he set eyes on her however, a spear sailed through the air and pinned itself to the ground right between his forelegs.
"PROTECT THE PRINCESS!" A gruff voice shouted. With in seconds a team of six armored ponies appeared, four with wings and two with horns.
As the four winged ones formed up around him he was reminded that Rainbow Dash had wings, and that at least two other ponies he saw had horns.
'Devil fruits.. or something else.. Oh well, doesn't matter either way,' He thought.
"Princess Celestia, are you well?" Said one of the two horned ponies who stood at her side.
"Oh its you.. I apologize for abandoning you mid-flight like that but.. Well I think you can imagine" She said refocusing on Whitebeard. "I'm sorry commander, but I don't think your squad will be of much help here. Rather I need you to return to Ponyville and tend to Twilight and the other Elements"
"The Elements, your majesty?" The other guard questioned.
"Oi, these toy soldiers belong to you?" Whitebeard called out to Celestia.
The guard to his left spoke up "How dare you! We are the personal guard of Princess Celestia herself! You should learn to-"
The guard was cut off when his eyes were suddenly aligned with the gaze of the towering pony before him "I don't remember asking you for your thoughts on the matter,"
Before he could express his offense, the guard was sent flying through the air with a sizable dent in his chest plate. He sailed for a few meters before landing on the ground, alive but unable to stand. This signaled the remaining three guards to pounce, but before they could even make contact Whitebeard released another omni-directional tremor, blowing them through the air. In response to this, Celestia was preparing another teleport to attack Whitebeard, but she stopped when she noticed he was again on his hind legs.
"I'm done with you and your gang of fools, little girl," He said before he pulled his legs down, and appeared to drag the very air with them. As the Princess and her still conscious guards marveled at the spectacle, they became very aware that the earth they stood upon was violently shaking.
"Collect the wounded and get behind me!!" The Princess shouted to her guards. They did as commanded and gathered their comrades. Celestia remained where she stood, as if preparing something. The ground was starting to crack and fragments of earth were being shaken to the point of rising out of place.
"Princess!" One of her guards shouted over the now deafening rumble.
Glancing behind her, all six of her guard were present. Her horn lit up and an indignant glare at Whitebeard was her only her only farewell as she and her group vanished from sight. Had they remained but a moment more, they would have seen the old stallion violently thrust his legs and the air they dragged straight to the ground.
****************************************************************************************************************
"Applejack?" Twilight asked again.
"He.. he just sorta.. showed up.. I was trying to keep an eye on him but he.. got away.. Ah'm sorry.." Applejack lowered her head further. Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"No, Applejack it's not-" She was cut off by the sound of a teleportation spell going off.
Looking to where the sound came from she saw the Princess, and six guards had suddenly appeared. "Princess Celestia?" She ran to her teacher who wore a expression of worry, and anger.
Celestia looked down at her student "Twilight, have the other Elements arrived yet? We have to-" A violent tremor through the entire area which shook even the Princess herself, cut her off.
"Impossible," The Princess whispered.
"Ah'm so sorry," Applejack cried.
All of Ponyville began violently shaking. Any animals on its outskirts fled shrieking cries of terror as they ran. As Twilight and her friends tried to keep their balance, the Princess surveyed the area as a few smaller structures began to topple. A great many ponies came running out of there homes, and even greater was the screams of terror heard through out the town.
"He can't," The Princess whispered again.
The tremor's violence increased, and many buildings began to appear as though they were about to topple over.
"He wouldn't," She said at a volume nopony could hear over the rumbling.
Her guards attempted to lead the civilians to safety, but they themselves were being thrown off balance. Only thanks to the pegasus guards were at least a hoof full of the citizens saved. Then all of a sudden, every structure in the town appeared to be falling over, without actually falling, a number of them cracking apart and collapsing. At the same time, the force of gravity shifted causing most ponies, including the Elements and her nonpegasus guards to slide across the ground. As the Princess tried to process what was occurring, she came to a grim epiphany.
"No," She took off into the sky. Once she was high enough she hovered in place to survey the scene and her fears were realized.
The whole of Ponyville, a large section of the Everfree and the northern forests, as well as a great deal of the fields surrounding the town, including the one she identified as where she and Whitebeard had battled even the mountain range itself, were being torn from the rest of the continent, and tilting as if to fall over.
She could only look on in abject horror as the screams of her ponies rang out through the air. After a few moments small portions of the landmass began to break off and fall to where they had been originally, causing the destruction of anything built upon them. After what seemed like an eternity to her, she watched as the entire mass fell back into place, causing nearly anything still standing to crumble under its own weight. As the dust settled she was able to fully take in the devastation dealt before her.
Ponyville was in ruins, its railway was destroyed. Its residents either injured or in absolute panic.
As she clumsily flew back down to the town, over her own heavy breathing a single statement from their conversation rung out with perfectly clarity in her ears.
'That goes for you too, Princess '
Amidst the upturned landscape and endless clouds of dust, in a certain field north of Ponyville, stood a lone gigantic male pony, his tired eyes scanning the landscape.
"Where the hell'd they go.. Bah, I doubt they managed to get out of that unscathed." He continued his search for a moment. "Dumb bitch. The first taste of booze I've had all day, and she just has to go and throw a friggen hissy fit. And NOW she just up and runs away." Still not certain his adversaries had left him alone, he felt the need to search the sky above.
"...Eh? Who's this now.." He caught sight of a pair of hovering figures. One of which he could swear he'd seen before.
"... Son of a bitch. Doesn't she know when to give up?" He grumbled as the familiar blue creature descended before him, the second yellow creature lagging behind.
*******************************************************************************************************
Ponyville. While most would simply see it as a plain little town with very simple citizens, those who knew recent history would know that it held a much loftier position. It was the home of the newest princess of Equestria, and the Elements of Harmony. Being so close to Canterlot, it was often a target for Celestia's investigations into the lives of her citizens. And over all, the peace it held for so long was nothing less than a standard by which all of Equestria could be held to. Perhaps this is why Discord was so determined to make it his capital during his rampage?
In any case, it is quite understandable that when a place of such importance has been utterly ravaged, Princess Celestia would be speechless. She mindlessly surveyed the scene before her. No matter where she looked, beyond the airborne dirt and debris, she saw nothing but destruction and ponies frantically running every which way. The air was filled with the booming rumble of further damage being done by the buildings that were still collapsing. How many of her subjects had been injured in this chaos? How many had met a far bleaker fate? Such thoughts crowded her mind as she scanned the ruined landscape.
"Your majesty!"
Hearing her guard call out roused her from her stupor. She know became aware of the group that had gathered at her feet: the elements of harmony, at least most of them, and her personal guard, as well as a hoof full of Ponyville's residents. All that were present wore the same terrified expression, and were waiting for her to speak.
But that was the issue wasn't it? Though the brunt of the destruction was done by this newcomer, she couldn't shirk all of the blame.
'If I had simply bode my time and waited for the Elements to fully gather.. could we have been spared this fate?' The crash of a nearby home caving in followed by a half dozen shrieks momentarily disrupted her thoughts. Closing her eyes and taking a cleansing breathe, she shook her head. 'No.. I took that risk once and everypony knows how that turned out. There were too many variables with this.. Whitebeard.'
"Your majesty!" Her guard called again. "What are your orders?!"
She did not regard him. "Gather any trained in medical aid, and search the collapsed structures for injured. Twilight, I wish for you and the Elements to lead those still capable to Ponyville's outskirts. I will be waiting there." She then turned to the few civilians that were present, "Please, follow me." Having spoke, she turned and began to leave, the small group of ponies not far behind behind.
"What are you going to do, Princess?" Twilight said as the guards began carrying out her orders.
"I plan to contact the full Royal Guard. The team we have here is simply not enough," she said without stopping.
Twilight hesitated for a moment before she left with the elements, and spike to do as she had asked.
**********************************************************************************************************
"What do you want, kid? I'm in a less than happy mood right now." Whitebeard grumbled.
"R-r-r-rainbow? Please, can't we just.. Leave him alone?" Fluttershy begged on the verge of tears.
"NO WAY! You saw what he did! This old jerk is dangerous! We HAVE to deal with him! We're the Elements of Harmony!"
"Gurarararara! Elements again? That bitch was saying something about that to some brat and her friends.. So I guess you're with them, eh?" Whitebeard laughed as he sat down. "As if a group of brats like you can harm me."
"Watch your mouth gramps! You don't know who you're-" Before Rainbow could continue her chastisement, she was nearly thrown off her hooves by a tremor.
"I know damn good and well who I'm dealing with: a group of kids that some idiot convinced were actually worth something in a fight." He said, now visibly annoyed. "But I tell you this much girl, you and the other one you brought to fight earlier are stronger than the rest of them, and you know how well that went. Don't push your luck."
Rainbow didn't back down. "When we're together we're invincible! A tired old pony like you wouldn't stand a chance! But none of that matters, because I'm taking you down right now!" She immediately rocketed off into the sky.
"Rainbow Dash WAIT!" Fluttershy beckoned.
"Have it your way." Whitebeard grumbled standing back up.
After climbing for a minute or two, Rainbow rocketed towards Whitebeard at thunderous speed, a rainbow trail burned brightly in her wake.
The distance between them shortened with every moment, until finally he waved his right hoof at her sending a shock wave barreling upwards.
'HAH, like I knew you would!' She thought to herself. With a slight change in her posture, she managed to quickly glide to her left and out of the way of the attack loosing only a little speed.
Whitebeard in turn now violently slammed his extended hoof in her direction causing the air to crack, alerting Rainbow a much heavier attack was coming. Her response was to arch upwards and allowing her speed to propel her into the air, before beating her wings to continue her assent.
Her plan had worked. With her belly in the air she looked down to see the air she previously inhabited vibrate and crack for a good distance.
'HA! Thought you had me didn't- HUH?!' As she made her mental boast she scanned where she had left Whitebeard only to find him gone.
A bone chilling growl from above revealed him to her.
Before she could do more then look upwards and get a full view of him, she felt one of his fore hooves embed itself in her stomach. No tremor, no magic. He simply punched her, hard in the gut.
She squeaked, closed her eyes, and braced as best she could as she speedily was sent to the ground.
"RAINBOW DASH!!" Fluttershy shrieked as she saw her friend crash. She made an attempt to rush to her aid, but stopped when she heard a rush of air and a yell from above where Rainbow lay.
Looking up she saw Whitebeard descending rear left hoof first, and whats more said hoof was alight and surrounded by a strange white ball.
"N... NO, STOP! PLEASE!!" She cried, but to no avail. The giant crashed into the ground and unleashed an immense burst of power through the area. Fluttershy was shaken off her hooves and was unable to regain her balance. Tears filled her eyes as she lay being violently rocketed by the blast.
When the shaking stopped she opened her eyes, surveyed the scene. Whitebeard was still standing, though surrounded by a great cloud of dirt and dust, and Rainbow was..
A violent cough from nearby drew her attention. Looking for the source, she saw a rainbow maned heap lying a good distance from Whitebeard. It seemed that the giant had simply thrown her with the wave, rather than crush her.
"I ain't pissed enough at you to kill you just yet kid. Gurararara, but if you try this again, you'd best believe this will keep happening," Whitebeard called out.
Rainbow didn't answer, or rather she couldn't. Fluttershy raced to her side, this time making the full trip.
"R-rainbow Dash! Are you.. Do you.. I.. " Fluttershy tried to find the proper words, but given the circumstance was unable.
"Oh it's you again, I didn't notice you before. You really have a knack for being unnoticeable, don't you? Especially around loud mouths like her, eh? Gurararara,"
She didn't dare to look, as the voice had come from right behind her. She merely shook in place, hoping he would go away. As she did she was forced to observe Rainbow Dash, her friend's collapsed and wheezing form.
"Now.. now you listen here, buster," it started off quiet. "I don't care how big, and bad you think you are. NOPONY has the right to go around beating up other ponies like this!" But started to grow.
"Eh? Hah, don't start with me, she's been picking fights with me since I met her. She got what was coming to her." Whitebeard responded.
"In case you've forgotten you broke into my house and practically chased me out! Then when you were confronted with what you did, you started shouting at us!" Her conviction to protect her friend carried her well beyond sense, as she hovered above Whitebeard and stared him down. "She was protecting me from who she thought was a dangerous pony, and based on what I've seen you do so far, she was absolutely right!"
"Hmph, of course I'm dangerous. Don't you know? I'm a pirate, I do as I please and if you don't like it" Fluttershy's eyes were suddenly locked with his. "Then man up and do something about it. Though I have to know.. Are you prepared to die for that fool?"
"I am!" She continued against her better judgement. "I can't fight you, but I won't just back down when my friends are in danger! And one thing I sure can do is tell you, that you"
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes.
"Are are a big! DUMB! MEANIE !!" Her voice echoed across the landscape and time itself seemed to halt as she furiously glared into Whitebeard's eyes.
Seconds turned to minutes, and nothing but a quiet wind, and the sound of Fluttershy's wings filled the air. Slowly though, another lower sound began to introduce itself.
"Ha" The large pony before her exhaled. "Ha ha"
'Wha-? What?' Fluttershy thought.
"GURARARARARA-RA-RA-RA-AAHAHAHA!!!" His laughter sounded like thunder to her ears, and as close as she was it shook her to the point she fell to the ground. "Hahaha, oi oi, you can't just go yelling things like that at people, you know?"
"Huh?" She squeaked.
He leaned in close. "You might hurt someone's feelings." He said with a grin.
Hearing this caused Fluttershy's heart to stop for a moment. She fell to her haunches in complete disbelief. After taking a few moments to breathe, she looked back up at the smiling old pony.
"This city of yours is too noisy for my taste. I'm leaving to find some place where folks aren't so easily riled up." He huffed and walked past where Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash lay.
"You're.. leaving?" She whispered to herself with a sigh of relief.
"Ah by the way.." He said causing her to look back at him. "It's important. You'd better hang on to it."
Unsure at his words she looked around trying to find what he meant before staring at him again.
"That bond." He smiled back at her. "It's got a strength to it no single soul can hope to topple, I know from experience." His expression became more solemn and he took a moment before speaking again. "..And I also know from experience... it ain't something you'll ever be prepared to lose."
Having said that he turned again and made his way across the land, leaving the shocked young mare and her injured friend in the middle of the ruined field.
Fluttershy watched as the old pony began to shrink from sight. "Our.. bond?" She turned towards Rainbow Dash. ".. I'll get you some help Rainbow. I'll be right back!" She then spread her wings and flew towards one of the few forests that wasn't completely upturned.
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First Encounters or The Results Of Drinking A Yellow Ponies Beer.
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.
*******************************************************************************************************************
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,"
