The Lost Swordsman

by Star Shadow

Farm Work

The barn door burst open and a loud metal banging caused Zoro; who’d been sleeping in a hay pile, to spring to his hooves and unsheathe Wado with his mouth defensively. “Rise an’ shine partner, it’s time ta get ta work!” hollered Applejack as she came into the barn on her brother’s back while banging on a pot that was on his head with a ladle. “An’ put that darn weapon away before ya poke somepony’s eye out.”

Zoro growled at how loud the young Apple was being and sheathed Wado before he glanced out of the open door. “The sun’s barely even out” growled Zoro even louder as he plopped back down into the hay only to have an orange filly pounce on him.

“Well this is how early we get up ta work on the farm. Now get yer lazy flank up so ah can get ya ta work” ordered the filly before she turned to her brother. “Ya’ll can get goin’ Big Mac, ah got it from here.” The red stallion gave his little sister a nod before turning away and heading out to do his morning choirs.

Once her brother had left Applejack turned back towards their guest with an eager smile; which disappeared when she saw the angry scowl on his face. “Get off” Zoro commanded and the little filly instantly bolted off of him.

“Heh, sorry ‘bout that partner. I fergot that you not exactly the “rearin’ ta go” type, but if ya want us ta help ya meet the princess then ya gotta help out here at the farm” said Applejack defiantly once she saw the green stallion lay back down on the hay again.

Zoro groaned, then opened his eyes his at the stern orange filly before him and started to stand up. “Fine, show me what I have to do so I can get back to sleep.”

Applejack shook her head. “Sorry partner, but we do our chores from dawn till the afternoon.”

“Damn it” growled Zoro; which Applejack apparently didn’t hear him say as she was already heading out of the barn. When Zoro stepped out of the barn he saw that the sun was just barely peeking over the mountains and could feel a cold chill in the air. When he arrived here yesterday with the Apple family grandmother he was honestly impressed with how alive and peaceful the farm was compared to his loud and chaotic his life as a member of the Strawhats. Pulling himself out of his thoughts Zoro trotted after the little stetson wearing filly until she stopped at the base of a nearby apple tree.

“Alright partner this here’s called Apple buckin’” said Applejack proudly as she reared her hind legs up and bucked the tree with only a few apples falling from it but all making it into the bucket. “Now since ah’m only filly ah ain’t strong enough ta buck all of the apples off of the tree but let’s see if you can do it.”

Zoro simply grunted in reply and went towards another apple tree; mirroring the orange pony as he lifted up his hind legs and bucked the try with seemingly no effort. A loud thud echoed through the fields as Applejack stared expectantly at the tree’s apples waiting for them to fall, but her eager expression turned to shock as she watched the entire tree uproot and fall over. “Damn” muttered Zoro, glancing only half concerned at the fallen tree. ‘I’m still getting used to this damn horse body’ he thought. “Sorry about that” he said, before lazily trotting over to the tree, squeezing himself underneath it and then lifting it straight back up without even breaking a sweat from the tree’s weight. After making sure that the tree was straight up again and moving the dirt that had been up rooted back into place he turned back to see that the filly still had her jaw on the ground. “What?”

“H-how in the hay did ya manage ta do that?” asked Applejack.

“I’ve been training to become stronger every day since I was a kid” explained Zoro.

“A kid? Don’t ya mean a colt?” asked the confused filly with a raised eyebrow.

‘Right, horses’ thought Zoro, mentally hitting himself at forgetting that. “Yeah, so what’s next?” he said, hoping to change the subject since he didn’t want to reveal anything until he met their “princess”.

“Well yer obviously to strong fer apple buckin. So let’s try yer hoof at takin’ care of the animals” suggested Applejack.

“Do these one talk too?” asked Zoro.

Applejack laughed. “That there’s pretty funny Zoro! Ya might not have worked on a farm before, but ya know that the animals can’t talk.”

“Right and would you mind not calling me Zoro?” asked the green stallion as the pair reached the pens.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the request. “But that’s yer name ain’t it?”

“No, I got amnesia and saw that name in a book” answered Zoro, lying through his teeth.

Applejack stared at the stallion with narrowed eyes and for a minute Zoro thought that she hadn’t bought his lie but that thought was ended when the filly smiled at him. “Well that would explain why ya miss spoke earlier and why ya,” Applejack paused for a moment to snicker into her hoof. “Thought the farm animals could talk.

“Excuse me” said a cow who had been standing on the other side of one of the fences.

“Right, sorry ‘bout that. Except fer the cows ‘course” stated a grinning Applejack.

Zoro sweat dropped at how strange this world was. ‘And I live with a rubber man, a talking reindeer, a pant less cyborg and a talking skeleton.’

“Alright then, let’s get ya started on gettin’ some eggs from the chickens” said Applejack as she led the stallion over to the coup.

- 5 minutes later

“They wouldn’t give me the eggs” growled a feather covered Zoro.

“Well ya didn’t have ta demand the eggs from ‘em. Ya gotta ask ‘em kindly fer the eggs” scolded Applejack as she brushed off the feathers that Zoro couldn’t reach.

“Well I’m not an animal person so what else do you have to do?” asked Zoro, still a little pissed at how the chicken had pecked and scratched at him. He had to really restrain himself from slicing up those feathered pests with Wado.

“Well there’s always plowin’ the fields. Ah guess ya could try yer hoof at that” stated Applejack as she led the now feather-free stallion to the fields.

When the pair reached the crop field, Zoro immediately went over to the plow and effortlessly flipped it over to examine the blade with a stern eye.

Applejack looked towards the ground a bit ashamed. “Ah know it’s dull. We’re supposed ta take it into town next week ta get it sharpened. Ah’m sure that you could still.”

The earth pony cut herself off though when she saw that Zoro had already strapped the harness on and was halfway done with his third row, pulling the plow quickly with ease and managing to create perfect rows with the dull blade. When Zoro reached the side that he’d left her on after his fourth row, Zoro saw her shocked face and smirked. ‘This little filly, ugh girl, reminds me of Chopper. Why the hell did I say filly?’ thought the green stallion before he decided to answer her unspoken question. “A blade is only as dull as its master’s mind.”

“Woo wee, that’s some sayin’ partner! Ah’ll have ta remember that one” hollered Applejack.

Zoro smirked. ‘Just like Usopp and Chopper’ he thought before he turned the plow around to start pulling it down the next row. “I can handle the fields for now. You can go do your chores for now and I’ll come find you when I’m done” said the stallion as he started to pull away only to pause when the filly spoke up.

“Actually, since ah’m still too small fer apple buckin’, too weak fer pullin’ the plow, and the critters er still spooked, then all ah got left is ta plant the seed in ta the rows. So ah’m gonna be workin’ with you today” stated Applejack happily, lifting her head up to show a happy grin only to have her oversized stetson fall over her face.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Sorry for the longish wait and shortish chapter but I've been REALLY busy lately. I could use a little help though if anyone is interested. I need an mlp name that Zoro can use next chapter because I don't really want him to be trotting around the world with a name that makes him stick out like Rarity whenever royalty visits the town (ep. 22 referance, lol!) So if anyone has any ideas then I'd really appreciate it and the next chapter would come out much quicker. Thx and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Comments

[fasterninja]

i like the name Cutlass it's a pirate sword and his eye has been cut but i have never been good at naming

[buster_Bro]

Three-swords his cutie mark is three swords and he has wado with him it would make since

[The Library]

What about Tri Blade? a bit of a spinoff with 'Tri Gun' but I found it rather fitting for our swordsman.

[LadyFacepalm]

Ahem.....
SHIP HIM WITH FLUTTERSHY!!!fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/045/4/a/fluttershy___sorry_by_daieny-d4prmu5.png
More please!

[DragonKing]

Sword Slash, I like the name Sword Slash

[Boss_Hoss1]

Bright Blades, or Swift Blades?

[Phoenix Archangel]

Sharp Steel.

[ancientofstone]

hermmmmmmmmm...............
wait
three swords....
and I just got out of a league of legends match...
USE THIS AS HIS CUTIE MARK PLEASEEEEEEE
I BEG YOU!!!!!
Q^Q

[Texus]

“Now since ah’m only filly ah ain’t strong enough ta buck all of the apples off of the tree but let’s see if you can do it.”

she didn´t needed to speak about it, but okay.

sorry if i am confused, but i started the fanfcition after a while again, and continued at the third chapter, that means i hav a question.
,,how old is applejack right now, and is Zorro in the past?" I don´t remember it.