//------------------------------// // Ch 4: Swordsman's Rivals // Story: Equestrian Swordsman // by PrincessMoonzilla //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Swordsman’s Rivals ===[1502 years ago]=== The battlefield had bodies strewn about everywhere, most either unconscious, dead, or dying. Broken weapons and armor littered wherever there wasn't a body. There were only three beings left standing. Zoro stood over the two sisters, blades in his grip. Both of the sisters were ragged and tired beyond words, already on their last reserves of energy. Luna tried standing up, using her weapon to support herself. With a casual flick of his sword, her support was gone and she met the ground. “Sister!” Celestia crawled over to her fallen sibling. She was stopped by a glare from their enemy. She was pathetic. She knew it, and was willing to acknowledge it. She knew it and because of it, the deaths of thousands were in her hands. Celestia stared at her enemy. He was breathing heavy, but that was the worst of it, if you didn’t count the minor scratches, bruises, or burns on his tanned skin. All that were sacrificed, and this was all they had to show for their efforts! Here they were, at the prime of their power, and they couldn't even defeat this one creature, this one Demon! “This could have all been avoided had you not sent your soldiers after me,” he told them, putting away his blades. “This could have been avoided had you listened to my side.” “Your side,” the lunar princess weakly asked. “The minotaurs came to us for help because of what you’ve done! How much of a threat you’ve become!” She erupted into a coughing fit. The older alicorn rushed forward and cradled her sister’s head lightly. “You will learn that there are two sides to every story, every argument,” he stated. “But when I gave you the chance to listen, did you? No! Your xenophobic minds decided to only listen to one side before making your decision! Do you think I wanted all of this blood on my hands!” Zoro covered his face with his hand, facing the heavens. If they didn't know any better, they would have sworn to had seen tears. “Because of you, so many more ended up dead than there was any right to be.” “Its because you-” Celestia started. “NO!” He shouted, still looking up. “I'm done. I'm done with all of the excuses. Especially mine. I don't even have enough energy to yell at you anymore. Just remember, please remember, don't just trust one side.” “Why,” Celestia mumbled, tears forming, thinking of all that were dead because she asked them to come. “Why are you telling us this? Why now?!” “...Because it was the only way you would listen.” With that, he simply walked towards their camp. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I'm taking all of your alcohol in order to try to forget this day.” The only sound heard in that graveyard were the falling tears of a mother for her children and the footsteps of a wanderer. ===[Present: Zoro’s POV]=== I awoke from that dream. No, memory. It wasn't my best moment, in all honesty. Could I have explained my message in a better way? Of course I could. But did I have a choice? That was the hard question. Back then, they were so pig headed, always believing that everything they did was for the betterment of harmony. Well, I hope they got what they wanted, because all I have are nightmares and pools of blood on my hands. I looked down at Wado Ichimonji. ‘Straight Path to Harmony.’ Heh, pretty ironic. A sword named after harmony brought the world to it’s knees… Sighing, I stood up. There was no reason for this kind of philosophical bullshit. From what I’ve heard from my stoning, because we are aware during that time, the count of crime had increased across Equestria and some of the other countries. Why would those interest me? Why because of how they were carried out. Sure, some of them could’ve been from magic, but what kind of magic explains creatures in populated areas to turn into stone or sightings of a giant axolotl? Devil Fruits are becoming more frequent in this world. Don’t get me wrong, they were here before I was stoned, just never heard of their effects being used in this amount. Hell, one of my friends had the Shadow-Shadow Fruit! Well, until I get more leads, I might as well wait around here, maybe try borrowing from a library from the town east of here. Meh, I’ll just figure it out when I get the chance. Now, what to do? Wait, what’s that I feel? Is that…? No. F*CKING! WAY! “Celly, Lulu,” I said, turning to the incoming princesses. “I was beginning to wonder when you’d come after me. Want some jerky?” I held out a small bit of the dried meat. Now, before you go all rage at me, I know for a fact that ponies can eat meat, they’ve just made it so then there are magic plants that offer the same nutrients as meat. Still better than tofu in my opinion. “Stand down, Roronoa Zoro. We don’t want violence, but you will come with us,” Celestia said, pointing her warhammer at me. “Thou will face justice,” Luna stated. Oh yeah, they were both in full armor! Sure, it looked as though Celestia had gained a few pounds, but that didn’t diminish the fact that she could move the f*cking SUN! If I weren’t so overpowered, I’d have been scared. “Sure, face justice,” I said, waving my hands in their direction. “And by that, what you really mean is sending me back into my stone prison where I would be well aware of all of my surroundings for thousands of years with absolutely no way to move. A prisoner in my own body. Truly, justice is beautiful.” Now that visibly made Moony cringe. She was in a similar situation, sort of. Kind of. Was it really? Eh, whatever. “And whatever my past crimes, I believe I’ve done my time, no?” “Be that as it may,” Celestia said. “We can’t let you roam free anymore. You are a threat to all of our little ponies. And as their rulers, we must end that threat.” Hm, something’s off. Wait, picking up six ponies coming in- Oh, OH, OH! Why didn’t I notice this earlier? “Sure, sure,” I told them with the straightest face I could, which was extremely hard mind you. “I mean, you could do that if you had your little rocks, yes?” And that got both of them. I may have bad depth perception, but I am really good at seeing the details. Mixed blessing, my face. “Like I thought. So, Sunny, Moony, I don’t feel like fighting right now, so if you wou-OKAY WE’RE DOING THIS NOW!” Luna just freaking rushed me, scythe slicing down through  the area I was previously sitting in. Oh, goodbye sweet, sweet jerky. Thou shalt be missed. Celestia used my surprise to her advantage, bringing down her weapon while I was caught off guard. So, caught between a scythe and a hammer, I did the only sensible thing. Full body Armament! Or at least the chest area. Hammer was brought down onto my chest, sending me crashing through the floor into an old training area. Fitting. While the sisters were coming down, I turned the haki off and brought out Kitetsu. While this one always made me nervous, it was the first one I grabbed. The reason this specific one made me nervous? It likes blood. No other way I could explain it. Whenever I bring out this cursed sword, I feel a small sense of bloodlust, always increasing whenever I make a deep enough cut, seeing the crimson liquid come out. And by Tao did it felt good. Side slash, overhead strike, feints, I could read their movements easily. If it was easy for me way back when, it was child's play now. I blocked when I needed to, dodged when I could, and stood unflinching. Sparks flashed as our weapons clashed, creating a beautiful scene. I lived for those sparks. It wasn't so much the actual fighting as the symphony of a battle that I simply loved. When I fought, there was no male or female, young or old, peasant or noble. Just two performers in this deadly dance of battle, weapons the instruments. As Luna went on the offensive, the white alicorn stepped back in order to charge up a spell. The six elements will be here in five minutes, give or take. They were just stalling me. They thought that I was the same opponent that met them on that battlefield, being able to only focus on the immediate area. Trust me, I won't be stoned by them a second time. “Solar Flare!” A superheated ball of fire came my way at the speed of a bullet. In the .4 seconds it took to reach me, I had already brought up my haki. That's right baby, I can block magic! Suck on that! Anyway, my haki absorbed most of the blow, which was way more powerful than need be, and sent me skidding back a foot. The cobalt alicorn wasted no time, attacking me with a combination of both her might and magic. “Crescent Slash!” The ice covered blade was brought down over my head, and would’ve heavily injured me had I not been covered or dodged. Honestly, if it weren't for their speed, strength, and durability, they would've been beaten by some random warlord long ago. The disadvantage of two handed weapons was that there were very limited ways one could attack. Sure they pack a punch when being brought down full force, but you couldn't use either of your hands and the momentum of the weapon itself tended to throw you off if you missed, and one tended to against a quicker opponent. Unfortunately for them, I was a very quick man. They continued their onslaught while I dodged, blocked, and gave them the occasional slash. What? I want them to think I'm trying. “Damn, you girls are really trying hard, huh?” Let's see here… yep, they’ll be here in around a minute. Let's see if I'm still as good as before. In the dance of battle, setting up your opponents is key. For example, letting them believe that they’ve made it so then my back is facing the only door in the room. While this would've made little sense to a complete novice, as they would believe that you’ve just given your enemy an escape route. But an experienced warrior might be able to tell that they were planning something. 3… 2… 1… Observation told me that there were six mares directly behind me. The Six Elements. The sister’s slight smiles told me everything. So, I did the most logical thing I could. I jumped out of the way of the Rainbow Death Ray. I can hear you asking, “Why do you think dodging would help you?” Well, because of my old friend Clover. She took notes on the Elements, and at one point shared them with me. All you need to know is that I did a flip out of the way and watched as the laser shot towards two very shocked alicorns. When said laser made it to said sisters, the effect wasn't exactly what you’d expect. A) they weren't stone. B) they weren't suddenly blasting off like Team Rocket. C) I don't have anything for this one. It honestly just looked like they had all of their strength sapped. Lame! On the plus side, Celestia’s mane was no longer the annoyingly three shimmering colors as before. Before the girls could break out of their stupor, I rushed towards them. Before anyone could blink, I was behind the six mares, a certain tiara in my hand. “That wasn't very nice, girls. I wasn't done with those two yet.” “What the- Give that back!” The purple one was angry, obviously. “Do you-” I was face to face with her in a moment, a glare that was usually enough to frighten any animal. Add some haki to it and she was paralyzed with fear. “You six are not warriors. You have no place on a battlefield. Just go home, before you get hurt.” I was not going to start a fight with those who had no idea of what they were doing. What they thought they were prepared for. I was then attacked by a vicious kick from the orange one that was quickly followed up with a punch from Skittles. I dodged but still! “Ya’ll ain’t gonna tell us what we can or can’t do,” the cowgirl (is that what you call them here?) said. “And why would we listen to you, anyway,” Skittles said, voice dripping with hubris. The fall of most warriors. “Very well then,” I muttered. “Be prepared to reap what you sow.” With that, I shot forward. Using the flat end of my blade, I hit the pegasus are enough to shoot her back into a wall. Not enough force to kill, but certainly enough to cause some internal damage. Not wanting to make this go any longer than usual, I leaped in order to give the orange one a similar treatment. I was, predictably, interrupted. The white unicorn was firing diamond shaped projectiles at me. Kind of reminded me of something Luna did way back when. Armament Haki covered all the areas that Observation Haki saw getting hit. The reason I didn't use full body? Because I still have a limit to my abilities and I don't really know what these six can do. Yet. Anyway, dalmatian impressions aside, I ran and firmly grasped her horn. Best way to stop the magic if you can stand the tingliness. I don't know about other universes, but magic here in its raw form has a few properties like lightning. One of the ways is that it seeks out release into the ground, which is a magical sponge. It's absorbed slowly by creatures who are in contact with the ground or are evolved enough that they can forcibly take it from nearly any source. The ways of dispersing the magic is different for every species, but unicorns have the most obvious. It also makes one hell of a turn on. Oh don't you judge me! If anything, judge Clover for giving me Fifty Shades of Hay. I had immediately made it one of my life goals to burn every copy of that filth. Weirdest boner ever… She looked like she was going to melt in my touch before using a focused blast of Conqueror Haki at her. That only seemed to daze her further though. Interesting. I threw her into the orange mare before turning to the other three. The yellow one looked like she was about to piss herself, the purple one was just dumbfounded at what just happened. And the pink- Splat!!! I tried desperately to clear my face of this- “Hold up a moment,” I said. “Was that a freakin pie?” “Yeppers,” the pink one exclaimed. “I baked it with my own two hands!” She then proceeded to pull a perfect chocolate pie out of her hair. She threw it at my face again, but I made no movement to dodge. My brain was just paused. “D-do you have a lemon margarine pie in there would you,” I asked the pink confectionary goddess. “And maybe a fork?” Rooting through her hair, she pulled out the requested items, the former looking like the most beautiful thing in the world. “M-may I,” I asked, hands indicating towards the food. “Of course,” she said merrily. “Not everyday an enemy literally asks for one of my delicious babies!” She placed it in my hand, my eyes hardly believing that this was actually in front of me. Grabbing the fork, I slowly took out a portion of the pie and brought it towards my mouth. But alas, fate was not kind this day. A purple blast of magic fired, hitting the baked good, knocking it out of my hand and being pulled by gravity. Both me and the pink pony stood there, blankly staring at the poor Pie-sama. We fell to our hands and knees, proceeding to anime mourn. 'Twas a sad day. “N-no… Pie-sama was so young,” I mumbled. “Nopie deserves this kind of fate,” she agreed, her mane having gone flat. “Oh come on,” the unicorn shouted. “All of this over a pie? Aren't you two overreacting?” “You try going fifteen hundred plus years not being able to eat your favorite food and tell me how you react,” I shot back. She visibly cringed at the thought. “Pie is a very serious matter, Twilight,” the pink one told the now identified Twilight. “After all, it is in my name.” For some reason, she started cradling my head. Not going to lie, it was kind of soothing. “Don't worry, Zorry, we can get you another one later.” “You sure?” “Absolutely!” Oh hey, poofy hair is back! “No come back up and let's get back into the swing of things!” Standing back up, I glanced at the crime scene. “You shall be avenged, oh delicious one.” “Seriou-WHOA!” I grabbed Twilight’s horn. I know what your thinking, but unicorns relied on mostly magic when it comes to fighting, which is total bullshit if you ask me. Now, if one has the literal Element of Magic as a cutie mark (ugh, I fell less masculine whenever I say that) you can bet your virginity I'm taking her magic out of the equation. I would’ve sent in some good old CH if I didn't know any better. This one had a strong spirit, so all I would do to her was intimidate the unicorn. Trying out the same trick twice, I threw her at the pink one, and both crashed into a wall. I turned to the last one, who was shivering at the sight of me. Poor girl, probably had a serious case of anxiety. That and a heaping dose of fear. “Are you going to try anything,” I asked the yellow pegasus. “Because if not, then take care of your friends.” “W-why?” Oh for the love of taijutu this was getting to be an old question. “Have you provoked me?” Head shake. “Are you planning on attacking me?” Another. “Then you’ve got nothing to fear.” She nodded meekly and ran over to her four- … where was Skittles? BOOM!!! I looked up to see the sky literally exploded into a rainbow! It would've been amazing to look at had it not been for the rainbow missile of a body headed straight for me at mach 3! Oh sweet cheesus I hope I can do this idea that may or may not be ultimately retarded. Wait, wasn’t that most of my plans? Eh, whatever. I raised my arm into the air, coating it with Armament and focused on the pegasus with Observation. I needed to time this perfectly. As she neared the castle, I was tightly strung, any moment about to give. She burst through at a blinding speed. I brought down my arm. So you guys know how Luffy beat Bellamy? Well, I just did that. And I feel so badass right now! Just the feeling of the wind was almost enough to knock me down, but I managed to make a crater with the now unconscious equine just twitching as her cheek sported a fancy imprint of my fist. All the while I was looking like a baller! Today was a good day. Kind of. “I-i-is s-she okay or…?” “No worries, Butters,” I said. “Wasn’t enough force to kill. Brain damage though? Most likely.” “My name’s fluttershy…” “What was that?” “F-Fluttershy.” “Cute name, kid. Now, do you want to take care of them or…?” She squeaked and proceeded to do first aid to her friends. Turning over to the two alicorns, I realized that they had enough time to recharge. Now, lesson two about magic: If one could identify magic in the area, they could absorb it. Granted, if they absorb too much then they’ll be re enacting that once scene from Scanners. And you all know what I’m talking about when I say that that isn’t a good outcome. And considering the amount the two sisters can hold, well, they took a long time getting charged up. Right now, they were probably acting on 50%. “Thou hast hurt our little ponies for the last time, Demon,” Luna said. “Isn’t that what you usually say before you attack me,” I asked her. Oh the blush was spectacular. “That matters not,” the elder one said. Wait, why were they acting so calm? Were they…? Holding hands, they both started to glow. Oh shit this was not good! I mean, I could handle it just fine but this usually led to a shit ton of collateral damage. And we were on a ruined castle that was a stone’s throw away from a canyon that ended with a massive river. And there were six civilians in the area. In layman's terms: Shit be wack, yo! “FUSION MAGIC: FA-” I rushed over as fast as I could, grabbed their head, literally ripped them apart from each other, and proceeded to slam the two of them into the ground. “Great idea,” I sarcastically said. “No really, bringing out your heavy hitter while in a disaster zone that could potentially get those six murdered. Killer plan, you two.” Both of their eyes went wide as they just realized their mistakes. Honestly, their train of thought was like that of a stampede; Run this direction and stop for nothing! Logic be damned it seemed. “I have a great idea instead of all this fighting. “Let’s try talking out our feelings.” I got a mumbled ‘huh’ out of both of them.