Princesses

"So where are we going?" Luffy asked as they stood at the train station. He lifted one hoof, placed it in front of him, and then lifted another in an attempt to take a step.

"Canterlot," Twilight said. "It's where our princess lives."

"Wait. I thought you were the princess," Luffy said.

"I am a princess," Twilight said.

"How many of them are there?" Luffy asked. He moved his back hooves only to trip and land on the ground with a hard thud. "Ouch."

"Currently there are four of us." Twilight looked at Neo's horns and wings. "Well, now five if you include Neo. Princess Celestia is the princess over the sun, Princess Luna watches over the night, Cadence is the princess of the Crystal Kingdom, and I'm the princess of friendship."

"That's crazy. So what is Neo princess of besides the elementals?" Luffy asked.

"I'm not sure," Twilight said. "Remember we've never done anything like this before. I'm not sure if it's possible for her to actually be a princess here since she wasn't born here and isn't really a pony."

"How can she not be a princess?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced in a circle around them all. "She's got a horn and wings. She's an alicorn. And alicorns are princesses."

"I already said I didn't know, Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "Hopefully, Princess Celestial will have some answers or at least some clues."

"So what exactly are your cutie marks? And what do they mean?" Rarity asked. "I've never see anything like them before."

"I'm not sure. But these crystals look exactly like my element and solar crystals," Neo said. "And with what you all have told us about these cutie marks I'm guess my are still related to my crystals."

"And what about his?" Applejack pointed at Luffy.

"Luffy's a rubber man," Neo said. "So his…cutie mark is apparently representing his rubber abilities."

"Rubber man?" the ponies asked.

"What's a man?" Spike added.

"You know, human. Where we walk on two legs and have two hands and arms," Neo said. "We'll I'm not human. I'm an elemental but I still look human." She glanced over their confused expressions. "I take it you've never seen a human before?"

"Certainly not," Rarity said.

"I don't think such creatures exist in this world," Twilight said. "But they do where Sunset Shimmer lives. How could I have forgotten about that? I have seen humans before."

"So how can a man, or whatever, be made of rubber?" Spike asked.

"I ate the gum gum devil fruit," Luffy said.

"Gum gum what now?" Spike asked.

Luffy then broke into a quick definition of the devil fruits, how he got his, and how wonderful he thinks Shanks is and how the red haired man is Neo's godfather.

"That sounds totally awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Sounds barbaric," Rarity said. "Why would anypony want to lose their ability to swim while sailing the ocean? Sound horrible."

"I think it sounds like an old pony's tale," Applejack said.

"Can you still use those abilities here?" Twilight asked.

"I haven't tried," Luffy said. He lifted a hoof and tired to throw it out. "Gum Gum Pistol!"

"Nothing's happening," Pinkie Pie said.

"Would this have something to do with his horn?" Neo asked. "I notice only a few of you have horns while others don't."

"That's right," Rarity said. "Our horns are tied to our cutie marks. They help us preform what we were meant to do."

"Then that must mean Luffy can still use this rubber thing of his only if he's using his magic," Spike said.

"It's possible. We'll test it on the train," Twilight said as the train pulled into the station.

"Wow! What is that?!" Luffy asked.

"It's a train. We're taking it to Canterlot," Twilight said.

"Haven't you seen a train before?" Fluttershy asked.

"No, we haven't," Neo said. "Or I haven't. Luffy, you told me about the sea train before."

"That's right but it runs on tracks that are on the water," Luffy said. "I never knew one could run else where. It's so cool!"

"Let's get on board," Applejack said.

"Think you two can walk now?" Twilight asked. "Or do we still need to carry you?"

"I think so," Neo said taking her first solid step. "I just have to move the right front leg with the back left."

"That's it," Twilight said with a nod.

Neo took another step then another one until she was on the train.

"That's good," Twilight said. "You did really well."

"Thank you," Neo said.

"Wait for me!" Luffy said. He attempted another step but tripped over his hooves again. "This is too hard."

"Come on." Rainbow Dash pushed him into the train. "We don't have all day to wait on you."

Neo watched the other ponies carefully as they jumped upon the seats inside of the train. She followed their example, careful not to fall and injure herself or their baby, and made it. With a sigh she rested her head on the wall. Her mind drifted back to Law and how upset he was. Tears pricked the back of her eyes. A dull painful ache settled into her chest. She missed.

"Don't be sad, Neo," Luffy said. "Tra will be back beside you soon."

"I hope so," Neo said. "And don't worry about me. I'm having a bit of a mood swing too."

"Who's Tra?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"He's my husband," Neo said. "And he's really worried about me and our baby. If at all possible we need to bring him here."

"Well, let's just see what Princess Celestia has to say," Twilight said. "We might be able to send you two right back home."

Neo nodded.

"So how does this horn of mine work?" Luffy asked.

"Just feel out for it's magic," Twilight said.

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head.

"You should be able to sense the rubber inside of you now, Luffy," Neo said. "Just focus on your gum gum powers."

"Oh." Luffy closed his eyes

The ponies waited and watched. In a few minutes a glow, a few shades brighter than Luffy's coat, gathered around his horn.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy threw out his hoof. His leg extended from his body, crashing above the door to the next cart. The wall dented in with a crunching whine.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Incredible!" Pinkie Pie said. "I want a devil fruit!"

"Oh, he's strong," Fluttershy said.

"That's nothing," Luffy said. "I was holding back quite a bit. You should see me at my full power."

"Can you show us?" Pinkie Pie said.

"You better not, Luffy," Neo said before he could answer. "We might need you to fight later."

"Right!" Luffy nodded. "You look tired."

"I am," Neo said. She could feel her stress starting to wear her down.

"You should sleep then," Fluttershy said. "We all know it's tough to carry around a foal."

"It's going to take us a while to get to Canterlot anyway," Twilight said. "You should rest while you can."

"Very well." Neo laid down on the bench. She yawned and closed her eyes. She slept. Her mind drifting back to the beach where she knew Law was going crazy with worry. The rest of their friends were there too, all of them frantically calling out hers and Luffy's names. She tried to call for them. But her voice wouldn't come. She couldn't connect her mind to Law at all.

"Neo," Law called out. "Neo! Neo?"

"Huh?" Neo opened her eyes.

"Neo?"

She tilted her eyes to see Luffy staring down at her. She sat up. "What is it?"
"Sorry to wake you but we're here," Luffy said.

"Oh." Neo stepped off the bench.

"You okay?" Luffy asked.

"I was dreaming about the others. They're looking for us. But I'll be fine once we're back with Law," Neo said.

"We will be soon," Luffy said. "Just hold on a little bit longer."

Neo nodded and followed Luffy off the train. Stepping off the train she found the city was bustling with several colorful ponies. Their destination was easy to spot. It towered over the rest of the buildings in this place. But getting there might prove a bit tricky. So many ponies were going wild all over the place thanks to the darkness.

"Goodness," Rarity said. "We were this bad?"

"Neo, can you help them?" Twilight asked.

Neo nodded and summoned her solar crystal. The glow radiated out and engulfed the ponies, turning them back to normal within a few seconds.

"This way," Twilight said.

The group followed her, Neo kept her solar crystal out incase her glow didn't reach someone. Within a few minutes they were entering into the castle, the two large doors were opened by two unicorns in uniform that stood at the side. Neo eyed the guards. They didn't seem concerned about them going into the castle.

"So does your castle look like this?" Luffy asked.

Neo looked around. Several swirly line pillars were along the light grey walls. Red carpet was sprawled down the long hall. The windows were the largest she had ever seen, and the most colorful. They were almost as big as the walls themselves. "No, it's nothing like this. My castle is made up of crystals. They're used in decorations too."

"It must be fun living in a castle," Pinkie Pie said.

"I wouldn't know," Neo replied. "I don't live there."

"What kind of princess doesn't live in a castle?" Rarity asked. She then looked at Twilight. "Oh, right."

"I live on the Polar Tang with Law and our crew," Neo said. "It's where I grew up, in a way."

"What's a Polar Tang? Is it some sort of animal?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's submarine," Neo said.

"A subma what now?" Applejack asked.

"It's a machine that can go underwater," Neo said.

"That sounds amazing," Spike said.

"It sounds scary," Fluttershy said.

"We're here," Twilight said.

Neo brought her eyes to two more large doors. These were already open. They walked along the red carpet that led to a throne. And sitting there on the throne at the top of a set of stairs was a white pony with a horn and wings. Her long main and tail were pastel colors of the rainbow and waving seemingly under its own power or magic. The pony was beautiful. Neo had never seen such a wonder.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said. "We're here."

"Yes, I welcome you all," Celestial said. Her eyes drifted to the two new ponies. "Friends of yours, Twilight?"

"Sort of," Twilight said before quickly explaining to the princess what had happened and about Neo and Luffy.

"I see," Celestia said. "So that's what happened."

"I'm so sorry, Princess," Twilight said bowing her head. "If I knew I never would have read that spell."

"What's done is done, Twilight," Celestia said walking down the stairs. She lifted Twilight's head with her hoof. "Now we must focus on putting a stop to it."

"I'm not so sure we can do that," Twilight said.

"You have to. It's happening all over Equestria, sister." The ponies turned to the new voice in the room.

Neo found this pony to be just as beautiful as Celestia. Only her coat was a dark blue, her mane and tail also blue with the edges see through. Her mane moved just like Celestia's mane.

"Princess Luna," Twilight said.

"I heard what you said Princess Twilight," Luna said.

Neo swallowed when the dark colored pony looked at her.

"Then you must be the key to putting a stop to this," Luna said.

"I would like to but I can't unless we can find the darkness crystal," Neo said. "Though I have no idea why one would be here in the first place."

"I might have the answer to that," Celestia said gaining everyone's attention. "Since the beginning of Equestria there has been a story going around about ponies who's cutie marks were all the same but for the color of them. They all wore there crystal cutie marks and lived in their own kingdom separated from everypony else."

"Like the one Neo's wear," Twilight said.

Neo looked back at her flank.

"They are similar to that," Celestia said.

"They must know something then," Twilight said. "We have go find them."

"Slow down," Neo said. "If this darkness is the same as the one that took control of my people then these elemental ponies will also be turned to the darkness. That means we'll have to fight an entire kingdom."

"Oh! Do you think that's where the darkness crystal went?" Rarity asked.

"It might be a safe guess," Neo said.

"Then we have to go there!" Twilight said.

"It's not that easy," Luna said. "The location of this place has been as mysterious as the elemental ponies themselves. Assuming the stories are true, of course."

"Don't you have a general idea of where they might be?" Applejack asked.

"In a thick forest several miles northeast of here," Celestia said. "The forest is called the forest of light. But it won't be easy to find."

"Assuming the kingdom is actually real," Luna said.

"It has to be real. And we're going to find it," Twilight said. "Come on, girls. Let's get back to Ponyville and figure out where we need to go to get there."

"Well, that was a short visit," Luffy said while walking out of the throne room.

"Things often move fast around these parts," Applejack said.

"At least you're staying on your hooves now," Spike said.

"I guess I am," Luffy said looking down at his hooves.

"Do you think you can get us to this kingdom, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I have to look at my maps first," Twilight said. "I'll know more after that."

"If these ponies are similar to my people then I should be able to sense them once we're close enough," Neo said.

"Will you be all right to travel long distances?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'll be fine," Neo said. "As long as we can get Law here."

"Do you think he can come here too?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We have to try," Neo said.

"How?" Rarity asked.

"If that book brought us here then it should be able to bring Law and the others here too," Neo said. "Or I hope it can."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Twilight said. "We need to get to this kingdom and stop the darkness crystal before it's too late."

"Our crews can help us," Neo said. "Besides I can't stay away from Law for too long."

"Why not?" Twilight asked.

"Because I'm bonded to him," Neo said. "And he…he saved my life."

"What?" Everyone looked at her.

"The truth is," Neo said, "I've tried to kill myself several times in my life."

The ponies gasped.

"It wasn't until Law found me and took me in that I stopped doing that," Neo said.

"Why would you want to hurt yourself like that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because I wasn't normal like everyone else," Neo said. "I might be an elemental but I grew up around humans. Everyone feared and hated me because I was different from them. They could sense that I was different, but they didn't really know it. The pain was just too much for me to handle. But my crystals kept me alive despite my desire to die. Then Law found me. And somehow through my magic I bonded with him three times. We can sense where the other is, we can speak to each other through our minds, and we can feel each other's pain. Despite all of that I still didn't feel whole. I only learned about who I really was a couple years ago, Princess to the Elementals. That's when I finally felt complete in who I was. Believe me it was a shock to find out that I was a princess. And because of my past I suffer from nightmares. Only Law can calm me down if I have one."

"That sounds awful," Rainbow Dash said. Her limbs hung low as her wings kept her airborne.

"It was," Neo said. "I didn't know how to do anything. Law and his crew taught me everything. They're my family."

"Surely we could spare a little time to bring her family here," Fluttershy said.

"It might help having as many ponies here as we can," Spike said. "We have no idea what we're going to get ourselves into when we go to this mysterious kingdom. At least the pirates know more than we do even if it is different."

Twilight sighed. "I guess you have a point. All right then, we'll go back to that book and see if we can do something to bring them here."

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle," Neo said.

"Just call me Twilight." Twilight smiled. "Come on. Let's get back to Ponyville now."

The group ran towards the door. They boarded the train again and set off for their destination.

Neo's heart raced at the thought of having Law by her side again. The whole trip back she wanted to pace around, but refused to let herself do that. She wanted to sleep but the thought of having Law beside her again kept her awake. And it made the trip back to Ponyville even longer. But finally they arrived. Once out of the train they headed for the broken down castle.

"There it is," Twilight said as they exited the forest.

Neo nodded.

They all rushed inside of the castle, down the hall, into the library, down the stairs, and finally into the room with the book.

"That's it?" Rarity asked.

"That's it," Twilight said.

"It's positively lovely," Rarity said walking around the book. "I wonder how it was made."

"I knew she's like it," Spike said. "You have such wonderful taste, Rarity."

"Indeed," Rarity said.

Neo walked up to the book and took a close look.

"What is it, Neo?" Twilight asked.

"I can sense darkness inside of this book," Neo said. "It's small but it is there."

"That shouldn't be surprising considering the darkness came out of the book in the first place," Pinkie Pie said.

"What should we do with it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Neo, can you purify it?" Twilight asked.

"What about Law and the others?" Neo asked.

"Right." Twilight engulfed her horn and looked through the book. "Oh, no. This can't be right."

"What is it?" Apple Jack asked.

"The spell is gone," Twilight said. "There's nothing written on these pages at all."

"No," Neo said. She looked at the pages. They were blank. Her heart raced with panic, causing her stomach to turn violently. Tears leaked from her eyes. "Does that mean we're trapped here? I'll never see Law again?"
"I don't know," Twilight said. "I'm so sorry, Neo. This is all my fault."

"Don't worry about it," Luffy said standing beside his friend. "All Neo needs to do is purify it and then you can bring Tra here."

"I'm not sure that will work, Luffy," Neo said.

"Of course it will," Luffy said. "Just try it. You'll see."

Neo took a deep breath. "Maybe. It's not like we have any other choice."

"Then go for it." Twilight stepped back from the book.

"Well, here it goes," Neo said. She summoned her solar crystal and radiated its glow over the book.

"So pretty," Pinkie Pie said reaching for the glow.

Twilight pushed her hoof back and shook her head.

"Is it working?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It is," Neo said. "The darkness is fading away from the book."

"But it's not becoming lighter," Pinkie Pie said.

"That might be the book's natural color," Twilight said.

"There," Neo said her glow faded. "It's done."

"Let's see." Twilight walked back up to the book and looked through it again. "It worked! There are other spells in this book."

"Can you bring our friends here now?" Luffy asked.

"Maybe," Twilight said flipping to the next page. "A lot of these spells are different types of transportation. I just need to fine one that will bring your friends here. Ah ha! Found one! Let's just hope it works." She ran her eyes over the page. "Divided by space. Lost in time. Bring those we seek to reunite. Release!"

A blue swirl flew around the room before disappearing, a few seconds later it reappeared in the room. It remained near the ceiling, swirling around and around.

"Did it work?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I can't tell."

"Neo, can you sense Tra?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, I can. He's coming," Neo said. "I can feel him."