The Sunset Pirates

Hey Twi.... it’s me, Sunset.

If you somehow find this letter, then perhaps there’s some hope of getting back home after all. But if not.... well, I’ve exhausted every option there is, and I honestly believe it’s impossible to get back home. In other words, I'm forever trapped in this alternate dimension... Anyways, I really miss all of you. I know that... well before I disappeared, I screwed things up. Things were finally going right after that Everfree field trip, and I messed it all up with my stress and paranoia. I made the girls turn on me... I made you turn on me...I’m so sorry for that. Twi, I want you to know that you mean everything to me, and how I handled that whole incident with you and Timber was wrong, it was immature, and I breached the trust of our friendship. I let my jealousy over you take control, and I’m so sorry for that.... it’s only been seven months, but my God does it feel like an eternity. I wonder if time works the same way here that it does over there. Have I been missing for seven months? Has it been years? Weeks? Or have you even noticed I’ve been missing period? I don’t know, I stopped caring a while ago. To be honest, I stopped thinking of you and the girls a while back too. The one photo I had of all of us was lost or destroyed, I can’t even remember. This world... this world is something else Twi, something far beyond even Equestria. I can’t access the magic here. The magic of friendship... it doesn’t exist here. This world changes you...I’ve changed. I think I’ve changed so much that I don’t even know if you’ll recognize me if I ever see you again. I feel dirty, as if all the progress I made back home has been washed away. This world is breathtaking, but it’s hell at the same time. I...I don’t know what I’m going to do, I’m surprised I’m even still alive. I don’t even know why I’m writing this to be honest. It's just that after the war...well.... never mind. I don’t even know where to begin, it’s such a long story....

As the pounding of waves crashed against the side of the yellow ship like submarine, Sunset Shimmer sat on the subs deck, her back against the railing as she stared down at the paper and pen in her hand, re-reading the words over and over again. The words that were met for a friend that was slowly fading from her mind. Putting the paper and pen down, she stared at herself for a moment, analyzing the dirty and bloodied prison uniform that she was wearing. The ends of the sleeves and pant legs were shredded, and her bare feet rested on the wooden deck. She stared at her trembling hands, fighting the urge to breakdown as the memories of what just happened today shot through her mind.

When she said she didn’t know how she was still alive, it wasn’t an understatement. She had just survived the war of the best. The Paramount War. Right in the heart of it. The death and destruction she witnessed, the sheer power and ferocity that made her feel as small as an ant. It was overwhelming, her whole time here was really. As she was lost in the nightmare that replayed in her mind, she failed to hear the footsteps that were slowly approaching her. Eventually, the slight nudge of the end of a sword sheath against her leg snapped her back into reality. She looked up at the sword's owner, cowering under the shadow of the man that stood over her. The captain of this yellow vessel.

“Oh...sorry, I didn’t hear you. Law, was it? Trafalgar Law? That’s what the guys in the white jumpsuits called you,” Sunset said, trying her best to force a sheepish smile, but the man named Trafalgar Law stared down at her with a stone-cold look past the brim of his hat, observing her shaking hands. After a tense moment of silence, Sunset spoke again. “How’s Luffy?” Law sighed, and leaned against the railing, staring out into the bright sea.

“Bad. We’re heading to an island nearby that Jinbei told us to go. He’s in complete shock,” explained Law. Sunset looked down to the floor, grimacing as the images of his dead brother lying face down in the ice crossed her mind. Before Sunset could say anything, Law spoke up again. “I was going to throw you off this ship, but Jinbei talked me out of it. What’s your relation to Straw hat?” Sunset looked up at the captain, blinking a bit as she was remembering the events that led her here. That led her to that God awful war.

“Well, it’s not like I know him well or anything. I just met him today. At Impel down. I was in a cell there, Luffy busted me out and I joined their little prison outbreak. We escaped the warden, hijacked a navy ship and next thing I know we’re falling down into that shit show back there. That’s really it,” explained Sunset.

“If that’s the case, you must have made quite an impression for the First Son of the Sea to let you tag along. Why were you imprisoned in Impel Down?” asked Law. Sunset stared out across the deck, the memories of her entire journey since she got here flashed in her mind. The hell she’s been through, the friends she’s made...she had to get back to her band of misfits.

“It’s a long story... look, I’ll get off the ship, no problem. I just need to land at a port town or city. I have to regroup with my own crew,” said Sunset.

“So, you’re a pirate?”

“Well... something like that I guess.” Truthfully, the young girl didn’t quite feel comfortable with the label of outlaw. But the bounty on her head said otherwise. Law looked over to her for a moment, before sighing and turning away.

“We’re landing on an Island called Amazon Lilly. Figure out what you’re going to do once we land there, because that’s as far as I’m taking you.” Sunset gritted her teeth as she watched the man enter the ship, disappearing from her sights and leaving her alone on the deck. Sighing to herself, she wrapped her arms around her knees and brought them closer to her chest, contemplating what she was going to do now.

“Crimson...guys, I have to get back to y’all, we still have to sail out to find it... to find the One Piece,” Sunset said to herself. She picked up the pen and paper again, re-reading the note yet again, before putting the pen back to where she left off. Taking one last breath, Sunset began to write.

Like I said, it’s a long story... but I’ll start from the beginning...... wealth, fame, power. Gold Roger the King of the Pirates achieved this and everything else life had to offer... and his dying words drove countless souls to the seas.