A Real Shocker!

Chapter 12: Equestrian Relations

(Thoughts)
"Attack Names"

(Man, I fucking hate train rides.) I think as I readjust the way I'm sitting. "So, tell me again why Celestia thought it was a great idea to force me to come to the castle?" I ask one of the four guards she sent to the Library. Apparently, she needs my help with something really big. Once more I'm ignored by the guards as they sit stone-faced.

"Any of you guys need anything?" Someone asks from behind me. I turn and see an attendant standing there with a cart. The entire train car was reserved for the five of us for "security reasons", AKA, they didn't want me fucking with any of the other passengers.

"Do you have any Apple Cider?" She nods. "I'll have one of those and some cookies, please." She smiles and walks away, not before giving the Guards a thinly veiled look of confusion. I turn to the guard sitting to my left and I start poking him. "Fucking do something, I'm bored!" He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes in anger. I slowly leave him alone and I turn back to the group of boring ass people. "I really need to talk to a doctor about my ADHD." I see all four of the Guards nod.

After about an hour of sitting around and fucking with the Guards, someone finally says over the speaker, "Attention all passengers, we are arriving at our destination. Please use this time to grab any and all of your possessions and prepare to depart from the train." I stand up and pop my back before reaching up toward the above head compartment where I grab my bag containing some extra clothing as per request by Celestia herself.

As we leave the train, we're immediately stopped by a large group of guards and the Princess herself. "Arthur, I'm glad you came. I need your assistance with a rising issue in one of Equestria's bordering countries. I've been told by Twilight and Spike that you know your way around a battlefield. Let's get back onto the train and I'll tell you more on the way." Celestia gestures for me to get back onto the train. I turn back around with a groan and I get back onto the train.

As we find our seats, I ask, "So, what's going on and why did you think I want anything to do with it?" We both finally sit down as the train leaves the station. The rest of the guard battalion fill up the remaining seats.

"A war broke out between the Kingdom of the Minotaurs and the king's rebellious Brother. His brother wants to take control of the kingdom to use its might against Equestria, sparking a war between our two kingdoms. I'm sorry to take you so far away from home but after the stories I've heard about your power, I figured that you would be an invaluable ally during this war. I have yet to tell anyone else about this rising issue, not even my own sister knows of the approaching war. As to why I wanted to bring you into the situation, I've heard things not only from Twilight and Spike but I've even heard things from Discord about how strong you truly are." Celestia says.

"So, you mean to tell me that you want me to end the war before it begins?" I ask.

"I doubt you'd be able to end the war quickly but I know you wouldn't mind a good fight," she says as she snaps. One of the nearby guards stands up and grabs a light blue blanket that is wrapped around something. She walks over to us and places the package on my lap. "I used a memory spell to see Twilight's memories about your weapons. I made these swords myself, enchanting them with a powerful spell to make them unbreakable." I unwrap the package and see 3 katana's identical to the ones Zoro used.

I lift them up and find that they're perfectly balanced. "You made these?" I ask. At her nod, I stand up and start placing them around my waist by the strings attached to them. "I guess living a long time gives you enough time to perfect some of your hobbies."

She sighs and rubs her eyes. "I've had to much time to learn many things, Arthur. I just hope that this war will end quickly," she says with a tired tone. "I've tried my best to keep Equestria as far as possible from any form of conflict but sometimes I need to have a firm hand in these things. We should be at the border in a few hours, why don't you take a nap while I try to come up with some strategies."

I shake my head and start walking toward one of the nearby doors. "I'm gonna find an empty car and practice a bit until we get there." She nods and I head through some of the cars until I find myself in an empty boxcar. I tie my Haramaki around my head and start practicing. "About time something happened," I say to myself with a smirk.

(Time-Skip)

"Arthur, are you there?" I hear Celestia ask as she walks into the boxcar where I'm swinging my swords around in a flurry of warm-ups.

I slow down and start sheathing my swords. "Yeah, I'm here. Are we finally getting close to the border?" She nods and gestures for me to follow her. "Anything I should know about the Minotaurs before we get there?"

"I think you would like them quite a bit. They're a Warrior civilization that respects strength above all else. The only thing you shouldn't do around them is to mention eating meat, primarily cows seeing as how they are half cow themselves," Celestia warns. As we depart, I see a large number of soldiers standing around a large brown furred man as he shouts orders to them. "General Steel Grip, we've arrived."

"Finally, we've only now gotten a report on how large their initial invasion force is and I'm not liking our odds. They have about 10,000 soldiers and outnumber us by about 8,000. I have a few carts ready to take you to the Capital so you can convene with the King," The brown haired hornless minotaur says. He turns his gaze to me and I see one of his eyes is missing. "Who is this?"

"The answer to your issue. Arthur and I will leave immediately while my guards help unload weapons and rations for your soldiers," Celestia informs. He nods and gives me a look that says "What the hell can this small man do?" Celestia gestures for him to lead and he takes us to a cart that takes us over a nearby mountain and into a large city that reminds me of Ba Sing Se from Avatar.

As we approach the castle, we are stopped and searched before they bring us into the main foyer where I can see an old white-furred minotaur shouting at a smaller light grey-furred female minotaur. "You will not be anywhere near the forward camp, understand!?" The man shouts.

"But Father, I can help! You know that I can fight so why won't you let me help!?" The woman cries.

The man turns from his daughter and sees us standing there. "We will not be talking about this again!" He says. His daughter storms off and starts babbling to herself at how unfair life is. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I am King Diamond Horn, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm sorry to drag you into this situation Celestia but I need your help with the coming fight." He gestures for us to follow him and he leads us to a nearby window. "As you can see, their forces have already convened and are already on our doorstep."

I look out of the window and see an extremely large force standing near a distant mountain as they march ever closer to the Capital. I reach out with my Haki and start counting off the number of soldiers that are in the approaching army. Yep, about 10,000 so it shouldn't be too hard for me to take down by myself. "Mind if I go and "meet" their forces?" I ask Celestia.

"Why would you do such a thing by yourself!?" I hear the King shout. I turn to him and see that he's looking at me like I'm insane.

"If you really wish to do so then I doubt that I'd be able to stop you in any way shape or form. With how far they are from the castle you should be able to fight without holding back. Show them the might of the Equestrian Military," Celestia says with a grin.

I break out into a feral grin as I phase through the ground and over to the large army. I make my way out of the ground and I pull my swords out of their respective sheaths as I stand before them. I hear someone shout at the large army and I see them all halt. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing!?" I hear someone yell at me. I look up and see a pure white-furred Minotaur covered in plate mail armor walking out of the crowd.

"I'm here to kill your army before they make their way over to the Capital. I guess you're the man in charge?" I ask.

He breaks out into laughter as he looks me up and down. "You are going to kill my army? By yourself!? You must be insane!" He turns his gaze to one of the platoons and then shoves his head in my direction. Suddenly, a large group of about 30 soldiers charges toward me with their weapons drawn.

I place the last of my swords into my mouth and I cross both of my arms around my chest as I crouch down. "Enbima Yonezu Oni Giri," I calmly say as I cut through every one of the soldiers that charged me. As the fall to the ground, I make my move as I start running toward the large groups. I lift one of my arms as I shout, "Senhachiju Pound Ho!" I quickly bring it down and launch a large blade of air pressure through the large group of soldiers. They go flying as the blade flies through at least 100 of them.

This makes the entire army shout as the charge toward me. I jump high into the air and land in the middle of a large group as I quickly twist my body, "Kokujo: O Tatsu Maki!" I shout as a large tornado appears sucking in anyone close to it, ripping them to shreds. As the tornado picks up speed and it starts moving around, I start slashing through the closest soldiers. One of them throws his spear at me and I slice through it with ease.

Sprinting in that direction, I activate my Observation Haki and I start dodging their attacks as they make them. I point the sword in my right hand at the large group of soldiers and I shout, "Gyuki: Yuzume!" thrusting forward through the large group and breaking their ranks easily.

A solder swings his sword down on my body and I use Armament Haki to stop the blade in its tracks. I turn around and slice through his armor with ease. I look over at the tornado and see that it's taken out a good portion of the army on the right side so this fight should be done in a few more minutes. I fight my way out of the crowd and I turn to them before sticking both of my arms out to my sides with their blades pointed in front of me.

Time to see if this attack works or not. "Kiki Kyutoryu: Asura!" I say as my killing intent manifests itself into two more bodies that come off of mine. I start spinning on the ball of my foot much like Twilight did in the bathroom a few days ago. I slowly become a blur as I jump into the air and point my head toward the large army. "1-Man Pound Ho! I launch a large tornado of air-blades almost as tall as the mountain behind the army toward the group. It swiftly cuts through the rest of the army with ease and it continues into the mountain where it cuts a giant hole through it before continuing through the next two behind it before it finally stops.

I land back on my feet and I rush toward the remaining few thousand soldiers as they try to run from me. I hear the leader of their army shouting at them to keep their ranks and they begrudgingly follow his orders. "He's just one man, if we overpower him he'll fall like the rest!" He shouts. The ones who actually stayed start rushing toward me in an attempt to kill me. I just pop my neck and grin as they approach. I cover my blades in Armament Haki and I meet their charge with my own.

(Time-Skip)

On the way back to the castle with the only remaining member of their army, I readjust my grip on him and I turn my head to him. I melted his armor using "Gloam Paddling" and turned it into a restraint so he could be judged by the King. I figured if anyone should get the right to kill him it should be his own brother... Wow, I just realized how fucked up that sounds.

I'm glad all of my training finally paid off too. I mean seriously, I trained my ass off for a year even after I was as strong as post time-skip Zoro. I'm probably stronger than Mihawk at this point but from what I remember from the training, Zoro never really got to see how strong Mihawk was. (I guess Mihawk has to be strong in order to be a Yonko's rival. I wonder how strong Shanks really is?)

As I approach the main gate of the Capital, I hear people rushing out to meet me. People are cheering and shouting at me, some of them calling me a monster while most call me a hero. "Arthur!" I hear Celestia shout as she approaches me. Her face is in shock at my displays of strength. "I-I knew you were strong but to be that strong? Remind me to never anger you."

I give her a cocky grin as I point out, "I was still holding back, I just wanted to see how far my swordsmanship has come along." Her face seems to pale as she hears that.

"That was only your swordplay?" She asks. I nod and her knees buckle a bit before she catches herself. "I-I'm glad you're on our side then."

I nod as I turn my gaze to my prisoner and I'm reminded that I have him with me. "Oh, right. I brought the King's brother with me, think he has a bounty on his head?"

"You brought Steel Hammer with you? Let's make our way to the castle immediately!" Celestia says.

The nearby soldiers start parting the crowd of people and eventually we make our way into the castle where we hear some more shouting from the king. "You are not going to fight that man! You saw what he did to that army by himself, you'd be killed!"

"But father!" The same woman from before shouts.

"No buts! You're insane if you think I'd ever let you near someone like that!" He turns and sees us standing there. "Ah! You're back! I'm glad to see that you're alright." He notices the Minotaur on my back and he stutters, "I-Is that?"

"Yep, it's your brother. Let's talk about payment, shall we?" I set Steel Hammer against the wall and I lean against him. "How much are you willing to pay me for him?" I jokingly ask as I look at my fingernails.

"Of course! We can talk about your payment over dinner I-"

I cut the King off as I say, "I really don't wanna stay here any longer, I just wanna go home. I don't like being away from my house for too long."

"I insist! Please, let us throw a feast in your honor," he says.

"Well... If you insist, I could stay for a little while longer," I say with a grin. He smiles and leads us to an adjourning room. The room is a giant dining room. "How about we make this feast public, that way the people outside get to throw a party too."

The king smiles and agrees, "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way!"

(Time to throw a party, Straw-Hat Style!)

(Time-Skip)

That party ended up lasting a full week. I learned so many things about the Minotaurs and their love of Alchohol. As it turns out, I can still out drink multiple people without stopping, including the Princess. Hell, they even showed me a thing or two about the way they cook.

Did you know that a flat longsword can be used to cook eggs? I did but I didn't expect them to have a sword dedicated to cooking. They even named the week-long party after the Straw-Hat's as per my demand and now once a year they'll throw a party in my honor.

After about 10 hours on the train, I'm back home and ready to go to sleep. "Twilight, I'm ho-" I'm cut off by a loud roar and I run back out of the Library. In the distance, I see a large Purple and Green dragon running through the town causing havoc. "I just fucking got back!" I shout as I phase into the ground and into the direction of the dragon.

As I approach, I hear Rarity screaming for help. "Help, someone please save me!" I hear her scream. I look up at the dragon and remember this happening in the show. Just as I'm about to use "Kamisori" to get onto his snout, he shrinks down to his original size and he catches Rarity before bringing her to the ground safely.

I walk over to the two as they talk to each other. "Spike, I just have to tell you how absolutely proud I am of you." Rarity says.

"Proud of me?" Spike asks.

"Yes. It was you who stopped... W-well you, from destroying Ponyville. You are my hero, Spike." She leans up and kisses Spike to his lips before she turns and walks away.

The poor boy just stands there with a shocked expression before he grins like a loony. Just as his knees give out, I catch him and put his arm around my shoulder. "You do know that I'm going to triple your training because of this right?"

"Worth it!~" He says with a wavering tone. I grin and start dragging him toward the Library.

"Come on lover-boy, you've got a letter to write," I say as he slowly gets his footing.

As we finally reach the Library, I'm tackled by Twilight as she cries into my chest. "I-I thought you got hurt! Celestia sent me a letter about what happened in Tauros!"

I pick her up and lead her into the bedroom where I set her down on the bed. I rub her back and whisper sweet nothings into her ear until she falls asleep in my arms. I soon follow after and the two of us lie there in each other's arms.