Solid Strike

Chapters

Gathering
Scorpion
Fatality
Ghosts
Smoked Out
Apologies
Error

Gathering

The sky shone brilliantly under Luna’s moon. Stars glistened like diamonds on a work of art. That’s what it was, really. It was a work of art. Nightblade only had a moment to take the sight in before the sound of Princess Celestia’s voice brought his gaze back to the earth. She was a tall alicorn mare, having both wings and a horn, and had fur as pure and white as the sun that she raised in the morning. Her flank was marked with an icon of that same sun, indicating her purpose over her land. She was a leader, a guide, and she enlightened all who sought enlightenment from her. Her mane and tail were an aura of bright color, swaying about with a mind of their own.

“My little ponies,” she announced to the dozen or so ponies and other various creatures that had gathered, “You have been gathered here today because you are the best warriors that Equestria has to offer.”

To his left, Nightblade saw another contestant eying him curiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out her features. She was a pegasus with light brown fur, and a wispy black mane that gently swayed in the breeze. She wore a headband of blue fabric, and had a metallic object on her back that he couldn’t quite make out.

“You represent either myself,” Celestia continued, “My sister, Luna,” Nightblade looked back to the princess, who stood in front of all of the contestants in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle. The grass at their hooves swayed gently as a breeze passed through, and a gravel path marked where the tournament would be conducted. As she listed off the various other factions entering the tournament this year, he remembered his own motives for entering the tournament. He believed that Celestia and Luna should rule together, instead of being against each other. He had heard tales of the two sisters ruling in harmony at one point, and pushed wherever he could to make it happen again. This tournament was his chance to bring unity to Equestria.

“... And the winner of this tournament, be it those fighting for me, my sister, the Lin Kuei or the Shirai Ryu, shall have the faction they represent rule over Equestria.”

The crowd was silent, not expecting such an extreme outcome. Yes, they had been told that they would be fighting for their side’s dominance in government, but would she really relinquish the power to an outside clan such as the Lin Kuei or the Shirai Ryu? He himself knew little about them, only that they were clans of powerful warriors and assassins that lived outside of Equestria.

“The other clans severely overpower us, but they will give us their allegiance if we defeat them in an organized tournament. They are not groups we want against us. Now, let us begin! Match winners shall be determined by the best two out of three rounds. Do we have any volunteers for our first match?”

One pony stepped forward. It was a grey stallion. His shoulder-cut mane was a cobalt blue, and his body was covered by a dark metal bodysuit. There was a revolver strapped to his left flank, and a metal pipe hanging from his other flank. He looked out across the contestants, and waited for somepony to challenge him.

“Does anypony challenge Nimbus?”

“He doesn’t look so tough,” Somepony said, stepping forward. “I can take him!”

A unicorn pony said this, stepping forward. He wore a dark grey robe, with a mace hanging loosely across the back. His yellow fur was visible through his garments, as was his lightning bolt cutie mark. His face was covered with a grey, muzzle covering mask, but his golden mane swayed elegantly as he moved. It was obvious, he was much younger than his battle worn opponent, but the liveliness in each step he took made him seem a match for Nimbus.

“Very good,” Celestia said, “The first round shall be Lightning Strike versus Nimbus!”

“Alright, get ready to get owned!” Lightning Strike shouted, casting a few warning sparks from his horn.

“Your haste will be your downfall,” Nimbus replied.

“Round 1,” Celestia announced, “Fight!”

Lightning was the first to attack, jumping forward and kicking out with his back hoof. Nimbus’s front hoof came up to block the attack, and returned with a punch. His opponent blocked the counter, and set himself up for another counter.

Nightblade watched on as the seemingly endless chain of counters went on. Why wouldn’t they just start using their weapons already? As if on cue, Lightning Strike removed the mace from its place on his back, swinging the poled spikeball down into Nimbus’s belly. The sudden hit from below knocked him upwards, and he was unable to regain control as a lightning spell was cast in his direction. Nimbus slammed into the ground.

Nimbus picked himself up, and stood ready for Lightning’s next attack. It came, but as Lightning’s hoof connected with Nimbus’s own, he reached for his gun and unleashed the move that he had only used on target dummies before.

“Not so fast!” He shouted, swinging the butt of the revolver into Lightning’s chin. Nightblade could’ve sworn he saw the bones breaking through Lightning’s fur as the scene played out in slow motion. Nimbus propelled himself off the ground and into his airborne target slamming his free hoof into Lightning’s chin again. Time seemed to slow down for Nightblade, and once more he saw the already fractured bones break even more, even a few teeth coming loose.

Nimbus landed, and caught his victim mid fall. He took his revolver, and pressed it into Lightning Strike’s chest. Nightblade watched as three of his ribs snapped apart, and he was cast down onto the floor. He lay still on the floor.

“Nimbus wins!” Celestia announced, and a golden glow washed over the two fighters.

Lightning Strike, who should’ve been dead, stood back up, every bone in his body restored to its original state. Nimbus was healed as well, standing up and taking his place across from his opponent.

“Round two, fight!”

The fight started anew, but Nightblade found his attention being drawn to a young mare beside him, who was looking at him curiously.

“Can I... uhh... Help you?”

“Your eyes are... Interesting!” She said, noting the set of artificial optics crafted for him by a powerful unicorn. They were both regular eyes, but they each glowed a different color. One was blood red, the other crystal blue.

“Yeah... I know.”

“How’d you end up with them?” The mare asked innocently. A bit of her mane fell in front of her face, and she blew it out of the way.

“I don’t talk about that.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I understand.”

An awkward silence followed, interrupted only by the sound of the two fighters before them trading blows.

“My name’s Kunai!” The mare cheerily exclaimed, perking up her ears as she broke the silence. All of the other contestants seemed to all shush her in unison, and her expression broke into a nervous smile. “Whoops...” She whispered, “Sorry. My name’s Kunai.”

“Nightblade,” Came the short reply. He turned to watch the fight, only to see Lightning Strike blocking a punch, and returning with his mace, slamming it directly into Nimbus’s skull. The bones inside cracked, and then he was slammed into the ground as the handle of the mace found itself in Nimbus’s neck, possibly snapping it.

“Lightning Strike wins!” Celestia spoke, healing the two fighters as they righted themselves for the final round.

“Round three, fight!”

Nimbus made the first move this time. He raised his left hoof, and threw a lightning bolt of his own at his opponent. Lightning jumped, sending another lightning spell back at Nimbus. Nimbus lifted his hoof, and created a field of ice around him that shattered as the bolt struck it.

“What is that guy? He has no horn...” Somepony in the crowd murmured loud enough for Nightblade to hear.

After a few more seconds of intense fighting, Nimbus reached for his other weapon, the metal pipe. He swung at Lightning’s legs with it, sweeping them right out from under him. Nimbus reached down and attempted to pull on Lightning’s back leg, but as he did so Lightning lifted his opponent between both of his back legs, twisting them and sending him into the ground as well. He quickly recovered, though, and was ready with his gun before Lighting could hit him while he was down.

Nimbus fired, but the bullet missed. Nightblade could see Princess Celestia reflexively casting a magical barrier to keep the bullet from hitting anypony in the crowd. Tapping his mace against his horn, Lightning Strike cast an electricity spell on his weapon, before proceeding to slam it into his opponent. He fell backwards, and weakly picked himself up. A lightning spell hit him, sending him onto his back. Lightning smiled, this battle was over.

Nimbus jumped to his hooves and hit Lighting over the head with his pipe, putting unexpected force behind it. The followup attack, however, was much weaker, and Lightning simply shoved him off of himself to make him fall onto his belly.

“Finish him!” Celestia commanded, producing an unexpected look from the victor. Nimbus clenched his eyes, expecting death.

“What?”

“He lost, you must kill him!”

“Whoa, whoa, kill him?” Lightning said, taking a step back, “I’m not killing anypony.”

Celestia thought about this for a moment, but only nodded in response. This was the first time in a long time that anypony had spared another in Mortal Kombat. She would not be able to exclude him from the tournament though, as the rules of Mortal Kombat say that a contestant can only be considered defeated through death.

“Very honorable, although you must know that he will not be eliminated from the tournament if he is spared.”

“Sister!” The navy blue Princess behind Celestia took a step forward with a concerned look on her face. Her green eyes were overcome with sudden frustration. “He won! He must kill him!”

“No, Luna," Celestia said sternly, "The winner is not required to take the loser’s life.”

“Yes. I understand,” Lightning said, giving his princesses a respectful bow, and then turning to bow to the defeated Nimbus. He extended a hoof, and helped his opponent up.

“Lightning Strike wins!” Celestia took on her announcer voice again, “Friendship!”

“You...” Nimbus began, regaining his voice as Celestia’s magic healed him. He cleared his throat. “Thank you,” was all he said, before returning to his place in the crowd.

The Princesses, however, were in disarray.

“Sister, you cannot allow a contest to spare his opponent, that’s absurd!” The Night Princess's ethereal mane resembled the night she governed. It looked as if it was the starry night sky itself.

“No, Luna, it is compassion," Celestia corrected, "Perhaps you should study it?"

“Compassion- This is the fate of our land we’re dealing with here! Do you not care who ends up with Equestria?”

“Sister," Her voice became harsh, "I want whoever wins this competition to care for my little ponies, as I do. That is why we fight here, so the others don’t have to.”

“But-”

“That will be all for now. We will continue this conversation in our quarters.”

"Sister!"

"That will be ALL."

Some of the fighters in the crowd were congratulating Lighting, or telling Nimbus that ‘He’d get ‘em next time’. Others, like Nightblade, were silent, observing the finer details of the situation. Luna and Celestia were arguing about something. This wasn’t a good sign, as he generally didn’t like to see authority fighting. Celestia waved her hoof to get the crowd’s attention.

“May I have your attention please?” She asked, clearing her throat, “May I have your attention please?” She repeated, a bit louder. The crowd fell silent. “Thank you. The tournament will continue tomorrow, after I’ve raised the sun. I have an important matter to address with my sister. The rest of you will be lead to your guest rooms here in the castle. The guards should know where they are. Good night.”

The crowd quickly dispersed, and Nightblade made his way back to his private quarters in the castle. Two guards, one of the Sun, wearing golden and white armor, and one of the Moon, wearing purple and teal armor showed him to his room. It was simple, despite its flashy and grand appearance, containing only a small vanity, a dresser, and a Princess sized bed. A door on the furthest wall led to a bathroom. A nice red carpet covered the floor. It had only been a day since he had arrived in Canterlot, and already he was feeling tired. He was a warrior, and adept assassin, why was he at a loss of energy? He looked at himself in the mirror. Nothing was different.

He still had the same dark grey coat, the same multicolored eyes, and the same scar marking where the majority of his ear had once been. Extending his wings, he pulled his feathers back with his teeth to make sure nothing was in them, slowly scraping away his energy without him noticing. There was nothing on his left side, but as he turned to check his right side there was a knock at his door.

Kunai stood on the outside the door, waiting patiently for him to open it. She waited. And waited. And waited. Then, the door opened up, and she nearly leaped into the air with delight.

“Hiya!” She smiled.

“Uhh... Can I help you?”

“I was just coming by to say hi!”

Nightblade said nothing, he just looked around to see if anypony else was around. She was just coming by to say hi... She smiled patiently, waiting for him to say something.

“Uhh... Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yep! Are you okay? You seem really sad.”

Sad? Now that was something new. Most ponies he ran into saw him as a cold hearted killer, given his current occupation. Angry? Maybe. Psychotic? Once in a while. Nopony ever had defined him as sad, though.

“I’m.. uh... I’m alright.”

“Are you sure?” Kunai cooed, tilting her head. “You seem like there’s something you want to talk about.”

“It’s nothing you’d want to know,” Nightblade turned to close the door, but Kunai stopped him.

“How do you know?” Kunai put her hoof on the door, peeking her head through to look him in the eyes.

“I don’t, but I really don’t like to talk to ponies I don’t know,” He said, annoyance peppering his voice.

“How are you supposed to get to know anypony if you don’t talk to them?” Kunai asked, still maintaining eye contact.

“I don’t know, I-”

“Well, you’ve obviously got something bothering you, so why don’t you let me help you?”

“Because, I-”

“And don’t say you don’t need anypony’s help! We all need somepony to lean on!” She began to sing a song...

Sometimes in our lives

We all have pains, we all have sorrows

But-

“Please don’t start singing...” Nightblade complained, “Just go away. I was perfectly fine until you showed up here!”

“Nope!” Kunai shouted, “I’m not going anywhere until you feel better!”

“Well I won’t feel any better until you go away!” Nightblade roared, causing the mare to back out of the doorway. She was silent, and just stared at Nightblade. Nightblade looked back, holding his feelings in place.

“Well, I’m.. I’m sorry...” Kunai whimpered, backing away. “I just... I just wanted to help you, cause you looked a little sad... but, I guess you’re.. okay....”

He watched her take a few cautious steps backwards, and then break into a gallop as she ran away from the situation. Nightblade rolled his eyes and shut the door. He didn’t shout like that on a regular basis. That was what really tired him out.

The cure for this fatigue came in the form of a soft mattress, and the fresh scent of freshly cleaned sheets.

Scorpion

Lightning Strike awoke from his bed to the first rays of the morning sun streaming in through his window. He took a deep breath. Ever since he had learned that competitors were often killed in Mortal Kombat, he was deeply worried. This might be his last morning here. He could only hope that the other combatants were as merciful as he was. After preparing himself for the day, he stepped out of his room in the castle and made his way to the dining hall. He needed something to eat.

He was one of the last contestants to arrive. As he entered the long room, he noted almost every other fighter he saw in the crowd the night before was able to sit at the table. It was a big table. Celestia sat at the head of the table, and pointed to his seat.

“You’re a bit late, but it’s okay. You fought well.” Celestia approved, pulling his chair out for him with her magic.

“Thank you, your highness,” Lightning said, taking his seat. A unicorn servant came out with a tray of food for him, which consisted mostly of waffles. There were a few eggs there, but Lightning preferred not to consume other animal’s products. Next to him sat a larger beast, one that resembled a pony with an eagle’s head and front claws. It was a hippogriff. The feathers on his head were a light blue, contrasting the rest of his tan feathers. His beak tore hungrily into a piece of meat, making Lightning feel a bit uncomfortable.

“‘Sup?” He said, glancing over at the smaller pony. “Nice fighting last night.”

“Yeah...” Lightning attempted to eat his food, but his mind was distracted at the thought of the carnivore sitting next to him. Sure, he understood that different creatures had different diets, but something about having a meat-eater right next made him very, very nervous.

“Scorpion?” Celestia’s voice reached to the other end of the table, where a pony wearing a black ninja mask sat, appearing to be contemplating over something. He had a yellow piece over his mouth, and matching yellow and black suit typical to ninjas covering his body.

“What?” The pony replied, breaking from his transfixed state. His tone seemed short, as if he didn’t respect Celestia as a princess.

“Are you going to eat?”

“I am a spirit, my body has no need for food,” Scorpion replied.

“Right, right, well, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask me or any of the guards. You’re a guest here.”

Lightning felt a claw tap his shoulder.

“Hey,” The hippogriff asked, waving his claw at somepony. “You notice something off about that guy?”

“Who, Scorpion?” Lightning tried to follow where the claw was pointing, but he wasn’t quite sure who he was referring to.

“No, not him, the guy next to him. With the glasses.”

Lightning shifted his gaze to the pony in question, a chocolate brown maned pony wearing a grey hoodie. His fur was a lighter brown color, and his world was seen through square glasses. He didn’t speak to anypony, he only sat quietly and ate.

“No, why?”

“Eh, he hasn’t really talked to anypony...”

“Maybe he’s not the talkative type.”

“Maybe not,” The hippogriff shrugged, and took a bite of his food. “Anyway, the name’s Steel Wing. You’re Lightning Strike, right?”

“Yeah,” Lightning replied, “That’s right.”

“Well I look forward to fighting you in this tournament. You seem tough.”

“You know I am."

"Yeah, well, so am I, so you better keep an eye out for me when I'm up there."

This secured Lightning's interest. "Oh really? How do you fight?"

"No tricks up my sleeve, I like to get in close and hit 'em hard. POW! Right in the jaw," Steel flexed his wings, giving Lightning a good look at the muscular flying appendages. "See these babies? I've broken concrete bricks with these before."

"Wow, really? And you haven't hurt them?"

"Well," Steel admitted, "First few times, I tried it on some wood planks, and it messed up my wings pretty good. I learned that it's not about how hard it hit it, it's about where I hit it. Hit anything hard enough in the right spot and it'll split right in two for you! How about you? I saw some pretty sick lightning spells last night."

"Yeah, I like to be quick about things. Not much else to me though."

"Come on..." Steel nudged him in a friendly way, "There's gotta be more of a story to you."

"Well, I gue-"

"Combatants, assemble in the courtyard for the next match of the tournament," Celestia had risen from her seat, and led several of the fighters outside.

"Tell me later," Steel said, "Let's go."

"I didn't get to finish my breakfast..."

“Lightning Strike!” Celestia called, as the fighters assembled in the courtyard once more. The weather was nice, the sun shone brightly on the fighters. The unicorn stepped up.

“Your highness?” He knelt before the princess of the Sun, who was without her sister this time.

“As you have won the last match, you shall face... the Shirai Ryu spectre, Scorpion!”

In a burst of flames, the earth pony seen at the dining table that morning appeared in the courtyard. He now had two swords crossed on his back, and a small spear attached to a rope hung coiled across his flank.

“You will not taste victory!” He declared viciously.

“Cool it, hothead!” Lightning jumped back a bit, stepping into his fighting stance.

“Round one, fight!” Celestia began the fight.

As the fighters in the crowd looked on, one hooded stallion in particular studied the current combatant’s style. The voice in his head that urged him to join the tournament for the Lunar Republic still spoke, watching his every action.

“When will we fight?” The voice hissed, only audible in the stallion’s mind.

“Soon enough,” came the mental reply. The stallion pushed his square glasses up onto his snout as they began to slide off of his face.

Lightning Strike was being dominated by Scorpion. Every attack he sent at him, punches, grabs, even spells were all dodged or blocked, only to be returned with a powerful blow that he couldn’t avoid. Scorpion drew one of his swords, and swung out towards Lightning Strike. He brought his mace up to block the attack, but Scorpion disappeared in a blur the moment the weapons connected.

There was only a brief moment of confusion before Scorpion’s hoof slammed into the back of Lightning’s head. He landed face first on the ground, his blood leaving a trail behind him as he slid several meters. He didn’t move, and Celestia called the match at that.

“Scorpion wins!” She announced, “Flawless victory!”

Her healing glow allowed Lightning to stand back up, and prepare for the next round. Scorpion took a few steps back to ensure a fair distance between them.

“Round 2, fight!”

Lightning Strike wasted no time. He focused on his most powerful lightning spell, and thrust his horn towards Scorpion. The ninja was caught mid charge as the horn pierced his chest, sending a violent wave of electricity through him. The hooded stallion in the crowd saw Scorpions bones flash as the lightning coursed through him, and then his skull being smashed by Lightning Strike’s mace.

Scorpion fell back, but quickly jumped to his feet. He reached for the coiled rope on his flank, and threw the spear attached to it at his opponent.

“Get over here!” He shouted, and the blade embedded itself in Lightning’s foreleg. Scorpion yanked on the rope, and Lightning stumbled forward into a solid swing of his hoof. The attack was followed up with a sword slashing his legs out from under him, and Scorpion tossing him into the air by the rope and yanking the weapon out of him as he fell.

Despite his injuries, Lightning still stood up. He galloped towards Scorpion and put all of his weight into a punch. Scorpion, however, had other plans. He ducked, stopping the attack with his hooves, and then disappeared. Time slowed down, and he reappeared punching Lightning in the side of the mouth, knocking several of his teeth out. He stumbled back on the ground, and landed on his back, before Scorpion lifted his hooves to stomp on his chest. His rib cage cracked, causing Lightning Strike to cry out in pain.

“Finish him!” Celestia shouted, seeing that Lightning Strike could not get up.

“That was a feeble performance!” Scorpion roared, “I will do no such thing! He will live on and suffer from the fact that he lost to me!”

“So be it.” Celestia said, healing Lightning so he could exit the stage. “Scorpion wins.”

“Bring me Sub-Zero!” Scorpion demanded, pointing a hoof at her.

“Sub-Zero is not here right now. He will arrive soon.”

Scorpion growled. He had a burning hatred from the pony called Sub-Zero, for he was the one that killed off the majority of the Shirai Ryu. Some of the clan escaped, and the Mortal Kombat tournament was the only way that they could ever establish a standing as great as they once were.

“So be it,” Scorpion replied, mocking Celestia’s words. “Who do I fight next?”

The hooded stallion stirred slightly.

“Go...” the voice in his head whispered.

“Not yet...”

“Scorpion,” Celestia looked at the impatient warrior, “your next challenger will be Steel Wing.”

The blue and tan hippogriff came forth from the crowd with much swagger.

“Yeah! Let’s see what you got against me!” He taunted. “Bring it!”

Scorpion said nothing. The hippogriff was much larger than he was, but Scorpion knew that size didn’t equal to strength.

“Round one, fight!”

Steel Wing took a defensive posture, waiting for Scorpion to make the first move.

“Playing defense? Come here!” Scorpion threw his spear towards Steel Wing, who caught the weapon in his claw. He yanked on the rope, pulling Scorpion right into his other claw. The claws tightened around him, and Steel Wing threw him into the ground. Scorpion picked himself up and swung outwards with his sword, catching Steel Wing in his left foreleg.

He brought his other sword around and nicked him in the side of the head, scraping off a few of Steel’s feathers. Steel threw a claw forward and took Scorpion around the neck. With a warrior shout, Steel blasted Scorpion into the air in a burst of red magic.

“Woah!” Lightning Strike exclaimed, calling out to him in the crowd, “You can use magic?”

“I get it from my mother,” Steel quickly replied as Scorpion reappeared on the opposite side of him, punching him in the face. His other hoof crossed and struck him in the other direction. To finish the combo, Scorpion removed his mask, revealing a bleach white skull beneath, and spat a jet of flame at his opponent. Steel Wing spread his wings, and gave them a mighty flap. The sudden current of air knocked Scorpion back, as well as put out the fire on his body.

“You can’t keep me down!” Steel shouted. He kicked off with his back legs and straightened his wings out, effectively closelining Scorpion as he stood back up. Scorpion’s neck bone snapped backward as the wing collided with it. Steel Wing pivoted around and dashed forward again, breaking his foe’s spine with his other wing as he passed. Scorpion hit the ground, but couldn’t pop back up like he always had.

“Steel Wing wins!” Celestia announced, healing the two fighters.

“Yeah! How’d you like that?” Steel taunted.

“We’re just getting started!” Scorpion hissed.

“Round two, fight!”

Scorpion jumped forward, thrusting both of his swords under Steel’s body and flipping him onto his back. As Scorpion stood up on his hind legs, he flipped his swords around he could bring them down on Steel. The hippogriff pulled both of his haunches back, and pushed himself off the ground. His back hooves made contact with Scorpion’s chest, and he bucked outward. Steel rolled back onto all fours again, and prepared to counter Scorpion’s next move.

“Get over here!” Steel knew what was coming, but he couldn’t stop it. The spear broke through his chest, and he was pulled into Scorpion’s attack.

In the crowd, the hooded stallion observed Scorpion’s movements.

“Tinker...” The voice in his head addressed him by name.

“Yes, Morukee?” He responded in a similar fashion.

“Can you defeat this one?”

“I can. But I may not need to...”

“Why are you so sure?"

"He shouts 'get over here' whenever he is about to throw his spear. It's very predictable," Tinker observed.

"Mmm... That much is true."

Steel held out his claw and grabbed Scorpion by his hindleg using magic. The red glow flipped him head over hooves, giving Steel the opportunity to punch him in the back with the same claw. As Scorpion’s body ragdolled, there was a moment of silence before Celestia began to speak.

“Fin-” She was cut off as Scorpion tossed his spear at Steel in a last attempt to be the victor. Steel caught the weapon, and pulled Scorpion in on it. He began stomping on his body, forcing every last bit of strength from him.

“Finish him!” Celestia said again, waiting another moment to make sure he wouldn’t try anything else.

“Chump,” Steel laughed, grabbing Scorpion’s spear rope. He tied one end of it around Scorpion’s neck, and held him up for the crowd to see. Scorpion struggled, his physical body being denied air. He weakly beat his hooves against Steel’s side, but with each strike he got weaker and weaker. Celestia sighed internally.

Lightning Strike looked on at the suffering pony before him. Steel cruelly laughed at his feeble efforts to resist. This was wrong.

“Stop!” Lightning shouted, “Don’t kill him!”

“Pfft,” Steel said, dropping the limp pony and pulling the rope off of him. “I see, you want to get him back yourself. Alright, I can get with that.”

“Steel Wing wins!” Celestia had an approving tone, and healed him.

Morukee spoke again to Tinker.

"What do you make of this?"

"It is his choice," Tinker said.

“Who else wants to get their ass whooped?” Steel challenged the crowd, flexing his wings proudly.

As she turned her head to cast her healing spell on Scorpion, a wild Princess Luna appeared. Everypony looking on was startled by her sudden appearance.

“We shall not stand for this!” She roared, in her traditional Royal Canterlot voice.

“Sister, what is the matter?” Celestia approached her furious sibling. Steel took a step back, and knelt before the two Princesses before quickly joining the crowd.

“Do you not see this?” She gestured to the unconscious form of Scorpion, who was just barely breathing.

“Yes, the winner showed mercy,” Celestia stated.

“No, he was going to kill him! He stopped because another contestant asked him to!”

“Luna-”

“Listen here, Tia,” Luna barked, using her older sister’s pet name, “I’ve been gone for a thousand years, and a lot has changed...” Her voice softened for a moment, before coming harsh again. “But you can’t possibly say that you’re allowing the fundamental principle of Mortal Kombat to be ignored?! The whole point of this tournament is to shed blood, so our entire nation doesn’t have to!”

“And blood has been shed. That doesn’t mean that lives have to be claimed.”

“You-”

“The contest will be postponed until further notice...” Celestia addressed the crowd. She had the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. She cast her healing spell on Scorpion, and then was gone with her sister in a flash of light. Scorpion slashed at the ground with his sword, opening a portal to another realm. He jumped in, and the portal closed behind him.

Everypony was silent. It was still only midday.

“So, I guess we just go back inside?” Steel asked after a few long minutes.

“How are will we ever finish this contest if everypony keeps sparing one another?” Luna questioned her sister, stomping her hoof into the floor.

“It’s the choice of the winner. The rules say that he may kill his opponent if he chooses to do so. For whatever reason, might I add,” Celestia stood in her bedroom with Luna.

“We always have to play by the rules, don’t we Tia?” Luna scoffed, lifting her hoof from the floor. She huffed at the impression she left in it.

“Yes, and the rules say a contestant may not be eliminated from the tournament unless they are killed.”

“Then how are we going to have a champion if nopony is eliminated?”

“You are forgetting, dear sister,” Celestia said, “The champion is not determined by elimination, he is determined by defeating the required number of opponents in a row. If nopony can defeat him or dares to challenge him, he will be announced the champion.”

Luna sighed. The rules were the rules, and there was nothing even somepony as powerful as Luna could do about it. She would just have to hope that this tournament would serve its intended purpose.

Fatality

Princess Luna stood in the courtyard, waiting for the contestants to give her their attention. It was early in the afternoon, and Celestia had to begin lowering the sun, so Luna had to monitor the matches. It was time to announce the first match.

“Our next fighter,” Luna declared, remembering to lower the volume of her voice like a certain somepony had shown her, “Will be Tinker Tock.”

The requested pony stepped onto the gravel road that served as the stage. He threw back his hood, adjusted his square glasses, and pressed a button on a device on his left forehoof.

“Does anypony challenge him?” Luna asked.

“Oooh, me! Pick me!” Came the excited reply. A light brown hoof was waving frantically above the crowd.

“Umm... Okay, step forward. What is your name?”

A pegasus pony emerged from the crowd. Her fur was, much like the raised hoof, a light brown color, and her mane was black. A large kunai was slung across her back. She had a blue headband on her forehead and a smile on her face.

“I’m Kunai!” She announced. Surprisingly, her cutie mark matched her name.

“Well then,” Luna said, looking over both fighters as they took their positions. “The next match shall be between Kunai and Tinker Tock.”

“You chose poorly, headband,” Tinker said, addressing his opponent by her defining article of clothing.

“Let’s see what you’ve got then!” Kunai taunted, removing the weapon of her namesake from her back, twirling it a few times, and then returning it to its place.

“Round one, fight!”

Tinker Tock did not seem to have any equipment on him, save the device on his foreleg. Thus Kunai was surprised when he expertly opened a butterfly knife and thrust it in her direction. She sidestepped the attack, and move to jab her opponent. He pressed a button on his device, and disappeared, only to reappear behind her and bring the butterfly knife down on her back. She stumbled forward, and turned herself around, preparing her next attack.

Despite the knife in her back, she was able to remove her own weapon and swing it at her opponent. He ducked the attack, but Kunai took a step back and tossed the weapon at him. As it nailed him in the right foreleg, Kunai had already began lunging forward and struck Tinker in the face. The hit knocked off his glasses and they shattered on the floor. Shoving Kunai back, he quickly teleported away from her, producing two more weapons from his hoodie.

Two small metal items glistened in his hooves. Each was symmetrical in shape, resembling an eight-pointed star. Each point was sharpened to lethal perfection. Kunai had dove for her fallen weapon, as it no longer was inside of the pony that had warped away, but she was cut off as two shurikens hit her in the chest, slicing through her flesh and bloodying her body even further. She looked up, and saw Tinker holding a crossbow in both hooves. A metal tipped bolt quickly joined the two ninja stars in her chest, and Kunai fell onto her side, defeated.

“Tinker Tock wins!” Luna announced.

Tinker only huffed as he teleported to his fallen opponent, and gathered up his weapons from her. Their weight and physical size seemed to be nullified as he stowed each one in his hoodie. He teleported a fair distance away from her, and Luna restored them both. Kunai righted herself, feeling better than ever.

“I was just going easy on you!” Kunai said.

“It won’t make a difference,” Tinker replied, reaching into his hoodie and producing another pair of glasses to put on his face.

“You have not won yet... Don’t get cocky...” Morukee’s voice whispered in Tinker’s head.

“Round two, fight!”

Nightblade watched as Kunai fought Tinker. He was beginning to feel bad about his previous actions towards her. She was only wanting to help him, and it was true that he wasn’t feeling his best. He decided that he would talk to her after the match, and apologize for what he had said. Maybe they could be friends. Nightblade hadn't had a good friend to talk to in quite some time. His job didn't really support it.

Kunai blocked several of Tinker’s attacks, noting that he wasn’t very physically powerful, but where he lacked strength, he more than made up for with powerful gadgets. His right hoof brought down a knife, which was quickly knocked out of his hand. He thrust his left hoof forward, and fired a laser beam from the device mounted there. The right hoof went back into his hoodie, quickly producing a Colt nine-millimeter pistol and firing it off in her face. The bullet, being designed to pass through targets, passed through her cheekbone, fracturing it, but it missed any vital organs.

“Sit down!” Kunai growled, using her frustration to power her attack. She brought a hoof down on Tinker’s head, and extended her right wing. From beneath it, she produced a red cylinder, with a grey string hanging down from it’s top. White letters on it’s side identified the item as: dynamite. Scraping her weapon on the ground, she got a spark to light the fuse with. She shoved her kunai into Tinker’s jaw, shattering it and cracking the bones in the roof of his mouth. Then, she knocked him onto his back, rolling the dynamite under him. An explosion sent him into the air, and Kunai flew up to him, and threw him back into the ground. His skull fractured is his face met the ground.

“Kunai wins!” Luna said, restoring both fighters once more and allowing them to situate themselves for the final round.

“You’re slipping...” Morukee told Tinker Tock.

“I can do this...” He assured her.

“Round three, fight!”

Kunai took the initiative, taking advantage of Tinker’s physical weakness. She rolled forward, and launched him into the air with an uppercut. Throwing her kunai, she caught him in the air, and launched him higher up. With a flap of her wings, she was next to him, brutally unleashing hit after hit mid strike.

“What are you doing?” Morukee shouted, her will overcoming his own.

“I’m- I- I- ah!” Tinker couldn’t focus long enough to reply as Kunai pummeled him.

“Assuming direct control...” Mourkee said, and purple mist began to envelope Tinker.

Kunai pulled her weapon from him, and prepared to slam him into the ground. As the weapon left him though, his eyes began to glow a bright purple. With a sudden burst of strength, he grabbed Kunai’s foreleg and threw her into the ground. He landed on her, forcing all of his weight into breaking her back. The bones snapped, and she coughed up blood. Lifting her off the ground, he slammed his head into hers, cracking her skull and knocking out half of her teeth.

“C-c-c-combo breaker!” Luna shouted excitedly.

The mist faded, and his eyes returned to normal. Nightblade knew something was off about him. That wasn’t his fighting style. He normally would’ve attacked using a weapon, but he had lifted her off the ground after not being able to even block a punch from her. Was he just bluffing? It didn’t seem likely, but what was likely was his victory. This turn of events caused Nightblade great worry. What would happen if Kunai lost? How would she take his apology?

Tinker teleported behind the recovering Kunai, and struck her with his knife again. He fired a laser beam into her, and shot her with his gun as she fell forward. She was weak, and wobbled from side to side as she stood back up. Luna knew she wouldn’t be fighting any more.

“Finish her!” Luna demanded, with a bit more excitement than expected.

“No!” Nightblade shouted, perhaps he could get him to spare her. If she died before he could apologize, he'd never forgive himself.

“Do it...” Came Morukee’s voice.

Tinker lifted his hoof, blasting Kunai in her forelegs with his laser. She fell forward, her forelegs not able to hold her body’s weight. He pressed another button on his laser device, and a violent whirring noise came from within it. A small sphere of energy formed at the tip of his hoof, projecting from the laser’s emitter. It soon erupted into a blinding beam of light that shot forward, melting the front half of Kunai’s body until it was nothing but charred bone. Blood dripped from her still intact back half, which fell into a puddle of her own melted flesh.

The sight disgusted him.

“Tinker Tock wins!” Luna announced, finally happy that the tournament’s goal was being fulfilled.

The sight enraged him.

“Fatality!”

She had been nice to him, something that took a lot of effort. He wanted revenge, for the friendship that they never had.

“Tinker Tock!” Nightblade cried, leaping forward from the crowd, “I challenge you to Mortal Kombat!”

“Another challenger!” Luna watched as Nightblade entered the stage. She cast her healing spell on Tinker Tock, and teleported Kunai’s dead body out of the way. Nightblade looked down at the only remnants of the cheery mare, a ripped piece of her blue headband coated in blood. He picked it up, and wrapped it around his right hoof. They had only met the night before, but he saw the bright smile on her face whenever he thought of her.

“The next match is between Nightblade and Tinker Tock!”

“I am weak...” Morukee’s voice echoed throughout Nightblade’s mind, “I cannot take control of your body again..”

“It’s fine. I’ll take this guy.”

Nightblade stood on his back hooves, and spread his wings out. His fighting style seemed odd, but he was able to balance himself perfectly with his wings. This did, however, limit his flight capabilities.

“I hope you don’t miss her too much, you’ll be joining her in the afterlife soon,” Tinker said, just a hint of Morukee’s voice overlaying his own.

“You’re going to choke on your own sharp tongue!” He snarled back.

“Round one, fight!”

Nightblade sprung forward, his back legs pushing him much further than they would if he was on all fours. He knew that Tinker would try to get distance between them, so closing the distance was vital. Tinker Tock readied his knife and slashed at his legs. His opponent leaped over his extended foreleg, pulling his hind legs up to his chest. Nightblade stomped down, and sprung into a backflip off of Tinker’s head. The hit shattered his glasses again, but he was too busy getting back up to notice.

A wing promptly hit him in the back of the head, knocking him down again. Nightblade positioned his hoof to catch Tinker’s head in an uppercut. As he came back towards the earth, Nightblade turned around, allowing his wings to beat into him. Nightblade spun around again, and ended the combo with a punch. Tinker slammed into the ground, but quickly recovered and collected his thoughts. He’d have to do something about those wings...

Tinker Tock quickly stuck his knife into Nightblade’s chest, and teleported behind him. As he drew his gun, he fired it, sending Nightblade face first into the ground. Both the bullet and the knife dug into his body, but he managed to pick himself back up. The only thing he received for doing so was the back end of Tinker’s crossbow entering his mouth, hitting his stomach, and then being impaled with its sharp bolt.

“Tinker Tock wins!”

“Too easy,” He commented, recovering his weapons from Nightblade’s body, and producing yet another pair of identical, square glasses. Luna’s magic restored them, and once more they prepared for battle. Nightblade stood up on his hind legs again, breathing angrily as he waited for Luna to start the next round.

“Round two, fight!”

Tinker went for his shurikens again as Nightblade rushed him. Nightblade jumped over the first one, but the second one caught him in the wing, disabling it. It would be harder for him to keep his balance on two hooves, but he kept his charge anyway. As he reached Tinker, he put both of his hooves on his opponent’s head, grabbing it and balancing himself upside down on it. Time slowed down in his controlled fury, and he twisted both of his hooves in opposite directions, snapping Tinker’s neck to the side. He pushed himself up, and flipped onto his back legs, driving Tinker’s head into the ground. His collarbone snapped under the weight of his crushed skull.

Tinker let out a breath of purple mist, and a grey mist followed. It was Morukee’s pure form. Nightblade paid no attention to it as he went to hit Tinker again.

Tinker threw the pegasus off of him, reaching for his gun. With a single, precise bullet, he disabled Nightblade’s other wing. Nightblade fell forward onto his hooves, and growled in frustration. He had to win, for Kunai, but Tinker had been beating him at every step. Now, the hooded earth pony just looked at him, like he had been released from a spell. His square glasses were still on his face, but their lenses had long since shattered.

“I’m...” Tinker coughed, “I’m free...”

“I’ll kill you!” Nightblade shouted, taking advantage of the moment. He leapt forward on all fours, attempting to tackle his still opponent. Tinker swiftly let himself fall onto his back, and Nightblade flew right over him.

“Listen to me!”

Nightblade's eyes glowed with a bright purple light. The pegasus only growled, his mind clouded, making him Hell-bent on killing him. Morukee had a new host now. Nightblade thrust both of his hooves forward, but Tinker caught both of them. They both stood on their hind legs, struggling to push the other to the ground with locked hooves.

“Don’t let her influence you...” Tinker breathed through clenched teeth.

“You will join the one that you murdered!” Came the response. Although Nightblade’s mouth moved, it wasn’t his voice that came out. Morukee’s snakelike hiss was trying to put the death of Kunai on him...

“No, you killed her, Morukee, and you will join her!” Tinker pushed himself out of Nightwing’s grip, and tapped a button on his device. He was behind his opponent now, and he brought his pistol down on the back of Nightblade’s skull. A shout of pain was heard, and Nightblade coughed forth a purple mist as his skull fractured. Tinker warped in front of him, and fired his laser into his neck. The painful shout grew louder, and then fell silent as the muscles in Nightblade’s throat burned out, now visible through his charred, chipping flesh.

A ghastly grey mist exited his body, floating upwards toward the sky. Tinker was not able to catch it, but he was glad that it was gone.

“Finish him!” Tinker almost didn’t hear the Princess of the Night call out the signature phrase of Mortal Kombat.

“No,” Tinker replied, taking a step away from his opponent.

Luna huffed, and healed both of them. At least she had gotten to see one kill that day.

Nightblade stood up.

“That... thing... That’s what killed Kunai?”

Tinker nodded. Although he had entered the tournament on his own accord, the spirit construct Morukee had entered his body and had influenced his actions since. He would’ve executed Kunai anyway, but Nightblade didn’t need to know that.

“She used my body, much like she did yours.”

“She’s... there’s nothing I can do, then, is there?” Nightblade looked at the blue cloth around his hoof. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I’m afraid not,” Tinker removed his shattered glasses, and replaced them with a better pair.

“That was impressive, Tinker Tock, I honestly did not think that you’d win two fights in a row.” Luna had walked up behind the two fighters, and congratulated them. “If you don’t mind, I’ll need you two to exit the stage, we have many more fights to go through.”

“Princess Luna,” Tinker began, but she only raised a hoof to his request.

“I will give you an audience later. Now, rejoin the crowd.”

“I-”

“Now.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Ghosts

Sol Star stood in front of the door to the Princess’s throne room. The silver furred unicorn sighed through his helmet, which was modified to cover his face completely. His gold plated armor clattered lightly as he shifted his stance. Although the armor was actually made from bronze, it had been plated with a golden metal for purely aesthetic reasons. This guard was the current Captain of the Solar Guard, the youngest in fact, promoted at age 25. The loyalist had served Princess Celestia all of his life, despising the infidels that followed her rebel sister, Luna. He glared at the earth pony guard that stood on the opposite side of the door; one of said infidels. It was ludicrous that both members of the Solar Empire and the Lunar Republic be allowed place in the Canterlot Castle, the structure so rightfully entitled to Celestia.

“You got a problem?” The Lunar guard caught his gaze. His purple armor covered portions his grey fur, and his long white mane hung down through his helmet. That was against regulations in the Solar Guard.

“The only problem I see is your kind dirtying these halls with your moondust hoofsteps!”

“Yeah? Maybe I’ve got a problem with your stuck-up sun-kissing attitude, but I keep my trap shut.”

“Watch your speech to a superior, grunt!”

“I’m a Major, thank you very much,” the Lunar officer snapped, “And I think I’d deserve a bit more Luna-damned respected from somepony like you.”

“What?” Sol was taken by surprise not only at the stallion’s rank, but also his insane request. He, a proud, upstanding member of the Solar Guard, respect some dirty, insignificant Lunar rat? “Why should I respect anything you’ve done?”

“Perhaps,” he began, his voice low and annoyed, “taking the time that I normally use for throwing knives at portraits of Empire scum such as yourself to, oh, I don’t know... guard your Princess’s throne room while she does her job for this world?”

Sol Star was quiet, not knowing what to say. He couldn’t allow himself to be bested by this rebellious scoundrel.

“And,” The stallion continued, growing louder with each word, “not beating you over the head the moment I laid eyes on you for the atrocities committed by others in the Empire you represent!”

This was all it took to spark Sol’s anger. All of his life he had been taught that the Lunar Republic was a group of thieves and manipulative types, and this one right here seemed to be just that. As the Lunar Guard shook his head in disgust, Sol swung his armored hoof around, catching his unruly victim in the side of the head. The extra plating in his foreleg armor transferred extra weight into his target, denting his armor and sending him to the ground.

“Oof!” The stallion coughed, picking himself up, “What the hay was that all about?”

“You shall pay for your crimes against the Empire!” Sol breathed, his face-covering helmet causing his voice to come out as a raspy echo.

“You need to get your head on straight,” The Lunar guard only received another hoof to the face. He grunted. “Or maybe I could straighten it for you...”

Nightblade set down the hallway of the Castle at a brisk pace, before he heard Tinker Tock call out to him.

“Hey, save your energy. Do you even know where you’re going?”

He stopped, looking around the long chamber and realizing, every wooden door, every smooth white wall, and every supporting pillar all looked the same to him. Tinker caught up with him, and pointed a hoof at the the first hallway branching off from their current one.

“Celestia’s throne room should be down that hallway,” Tinker said.

“How do you know?” Nightblade shot him a confused look. Tinker simply raised his hoof a little, and was now pointing at a banner displaying an intricately designed sun and an arrow, pointing down said hall. “Oh...”

As they turned to walk down the hallway, Nightblade caught a noise with his good ear. It sounded almost like... metal banging together? That couldn’t be good. Tinker looked over at him. Without saying a word, they both rushed down to the end of the hallway to find the source of the noise. They were surprised to find two Royal Guards engaged in hoovesticuffs in front of the doors to the throne room of Princess Celestia. They didn’t seem to notice the two contestants approaching.

One of them was apparently a Lunar Guard. The other, a unicorn, wore armor typical of the Solar Guard, with the exception of the full on face-covering helmet. Sure, they had their differences, but had they really stooped to fighting in the hallway? This foalish behaviour is why Nightblade wanted Equestria to be unified instead of divided...

“I don’t suppose it’s a bad time to ask an audience of Princess Celestia?” Tinker asked, stepping forward and getting the two guard’s attention. The two guards looked over at the same time, seemingly forgetting that it was their job to keep Her Royal Privacy secure.

“I cannot allow that.” They both said in unison, and glared at each other.

“Why not?” Nightblade queried.

“Because,” The Solar Guard replied, in a much more collected tone than before, “We were told not to let anypony in unless it’s urgent.”

“Well, this is urgent, so let us talk to her,” Tinker took a step forward.

“Who’re you to decide what’s urgent or not?” The Lunar Guard scoffed, taking a stance to back the Solar Guard.

“You stay out of this,” The unicorn dismissed the other guard, “This is a matter concerning my Princess, not yours!”

“I’m just trying to help...”

“We’re contestants in the Mortal Kombat tournament,” Nightblade replied to the Lunar Guard’s question, much to the other guard’s dismay.

“Princess Luna is holding the tournament in the courtyard,” The Solar Guard told them, putting a disgusted emphasis on Luna’s name. The Lunar Guard stared not daggers, but a full sized battle axe at him. He sighed, brushing a bit of his white mane out of his golden eyes and back under his helmet.

“This is something that we need to talk to Celestia about,” Tinker said, “We can’t bother Luna with this, she’s holding the tournament.”

“What, is she too important to interrupt? Surely whatever Celestia is doing is far more important than what that rebel is doing.”

“Hey,” Nightblade interrupted, taking an assertive step forward, “What gives you the right to speak about the Princess like that?”

“What, are you taking her side now?” The Solar Guard taunted.

“No, I’m just not sure how much you respect your own Princess if you’ve got the guts to talk about her sister like that, right in front of her throne room!” Nightblade had now pushed his head against the Solar Guard’s helmet, looking straight into his eyes. His left eye was covered by an eyepatch, something that he didn’t notice from a distance.

“How dare you challenge my loyalty to Princess Celestia! I am Sol Star, Captain of the Solar Guard!” Sol swung his hoof to slap Nightblade, but the dark grey pegasus extended his wings and quickly jumped back. Nightblade landed on his back hooves, balancing perfectly as his raised his front hooves to challenge Sol Star.

“You do not want to start a fight with me, pal,” Nightblade warned darkly.

Sol turned and motioned for the Lunar Guard to join him. “You! Help me out here!”

“What? This is... You know what? Fine.” The grey stallion trotted up next to his fellow guardspony. “And my name is Delta, just so you know.”

“You want to go, too? Come on...”

“On second thought...” Delta said, taking a few steps back, “Just uhh, tag me in if you need me?”

“Last chance... let me through...” Nightblade demanded.

“I don’t take kindly to demands like that...” Sol Star leaped forward, and thrust his foreleg towards the standing pegasus. He couldn’t possibly balance himself on two legs, right?

Nightblade pushed himself up into the air, and brought his hoof down on Sol’s head. His armor took the impact as he hit the ground, and he picked himself back up to tackle his slippery opponent. He was now on top of him, and had him pinned down. His heavy armored hooves struck his face in rapid succession, until he felt a sharp pain in his chest. A cold piece of metal spun into his body, slipping right through the slit in his chestplate. Sol readjusted his stance to take on the brown, hooded stallion that accompanied this rowdy pegasus, but his focus was broken again by a buck to the jaw.

“Let me take him,” Tinker called, as Nightblade went in for a combo. Before he even got close, his body caught fire, courtesy of a fire spell from Sol. Nightblade rolled back, allowing Tinker Tock to leap over his burning form and teleport behind the Solar Guard. As he prepared to fire his lazer, Sol too had suddenly teleported behind him, and bucked his hind legs straight into his back. Tinker felt his body bend in an unnatural way, as well as the bones in his spine cracking and breaking.

As he tried to readjust his body, Tinker felt something cold go through his back, a small sword, breaking his rib cage and crushing his spine even further on its way out. Blood gushed profusely from the wound, but a searing pain in his back quickly stopped that as Sol lit him up with a fire spell. Tinker lifted himself up, and fumbled in his hoodie. Nightblade, who had extinguished the fire on himself, jumped back into the fight. Sol Star had already rolled out of the way though, allowing the purple armored Delta to join the battle.

Delta quickly delivered three quick jabs to Nightblade’s exposed belly, but didn’t expect him to swing his wings around. The feathered appendages were well trained, held stiff as a wooden board, and threw Delta back a bit as they collided with his head. Hearing hoofsteps behind him, he ducked. Sol stood behind him, and threw his head forward. A white-hot fireball jump from his horn and into Nightblade, setting him ablaze.

While they fought, Tinker had found what he was looking for in his hoodie. The smooth black surface of his pistol. Taking aim at the unicorn, he pulled the trigger.

“This... spirit, you say, is around Canterlot Castle?” Celestia wanted to make sure she understood the situation. A strange giraffe by the name of Malaki had requested her audience, saying that he had sensed a disturbing presence about one of the contestants. She now sat on her throne, hearing his claim.

“Yes, her presence is bothering me... ” Malaki answered, his accent reflecting his heritage from the Giraffe Empire of Kameelperd, just south of Equestria. His naturally long neck allowed him to speak to her at an even level. He wore a white robe over his sand colored fur, typical of the land he hailed from. Gold spots were common in his family, and covered most of his body from head to hoof. His muscles indicated that he had trained well in the strength department, a trait not commonly seen amongst giraffes. Most of them were faster, but this was not the case with Malaki.

“I do remember my sister creating something very similar to what you described when she first rebelled, but I don’t know of their exact purpose, or how to deal with them. All I can tell you is that this one is very old, and probably wishes the same things that Nightmare Moon did.”

“May I speak with your sister?” Malaki asked, keeping a respectful tone.

“I will speak with her myself, right now I-” Celestia was cut off by a thunderlike crash that sounded off just outside of her throne room. The entrance was enchanted with a sound reduction spell; there wasn’t anything Celestia could think of- outside of her sister’s traditional Canterlot Voice- that she could hear through those doors. The spell ensured complete tranquility within her chamber.

“What was that?” Malaki turned, lowering his gaze to inspect the door’s locks. Celestia, taken aback, caught herself mid-gasp and approached the doors. She swung them open with her magic, and scanned the hallway outside to see what caused such a sound. The first thing she sensed was the smell of smoke.

Of course, it had to be a firearm. The unconventional weapons made more noise than a pack of manticores, or a single Luna. She looked on, unamused with the two ponies, two contestants in the tournament, fighting Sol Star, one of her most loyal guards, and Delta Zulu, the Lunar guard who had so graciously offered to help keep her throne room secure. A wounded, brown, hooded stallion held the gun, and Delta was in a heap on the floor. The usually grey pegasus had been charred black, and Sol Star simply stood, unsure of what to say to his absolute ruler.

“What’s going on out here?” She looked directly into Sol’s eyes, through his empty eye socket, and into his soul.

“This... These two ruffians attempted to stronghoof their way through us to you,” He said, his words shaking and faltering.

“I see. For what purpose did they feel they needed to do so?”

“What?”

“Did they tell you why they needed to get to me?”

“They... they said they had an urgent matter to speak to you about.”

“Oh?” Celestia sarcastically asked, “And did you ask them what it was?”

“Uhm... Not exactly... Delta got offended, you see, and-”

“Might it have occurred to you that there actually was something urgent that they had to tell me?”

“Well... no.” Sol slapped himself internally. Delta had gotten him riled up, and he lost his cool. This was all his fault. “I apologize, I won’t-”

“I don’t want you sorry, Captain,” Celestia said, casting a restoration spell on the wounded. “Let’s not have this happen again.” She sighed.

A tall sandy colored giraffe appeared behind her. “Is everything okay, your highness?”

“Yes, Malaki, there was just a... a misunderstanding...”

Nightblade, having recovered completely from the Princess’s spell, knelt before her before presenting his issue.

“I apologize for beating up your guards,” he began, warranting an annoyed look from Sol Star. Celestia rolled her eyes, but gently smiled and nodded for him to continue, “But there’s a spirit around the castle, it’s a danger to all of us contestants.”

Celestia nodded again, a grim look on her face. “Yes, I just had been informed about this particular issue from Malaki. It’s nice to see that other contestants have noticed, though. Captain Sol,” She called to the gold plated guard, “Go and alert your guards to keep an eye on the contestants. Don’t let anypony in on the details, we don’t want to cause a panic.”

A spirit, huh? Sol Star nodded, rather aggressively pushing past Nightblade. He was normally polite, but that particular pegasus had rubbed him the wrong way.

“What’s his problem?” Nightblade asked nopony in particular, watching Sol turn down the hallway.

“Sol Star is a bit... rough,” Celestia sighed, “He’s stuck in the old mentality of my sister is evil. His father was the same way, and his grandfather... His family has never been open to change... That aside, we need to make sure this spirit doesn’t possess anypony else. Major Delta,” She turned, addressing the Lunar Guard still standing at attention.

“Your majesty?” He replied.

“Alert your guard as well, same idea, we don’t want a panic.”

“As you wish,” He turned and trotted away.

“He’s rather formal with you,” Nightblade noticed, “He’s not a part of your guard, is he?”

“No, but he’s always shown an utmost respect for me and my guard, even though we’ve had a rough history,” Celesta frowned for a moment, as if realizing something. The look vanished though, adjusting back into her standard serious face. “Now, do you two have any information on the spirit?”

“Yes,” Tinker said, having recently recovered from the fight as well, “The spirit’s name is Morukee. I was her first host as the tournament began, or at least that’s what she told me.”

“Odd,” Celestia mused, “I didn’t sense any strange presence within you when I first saw to the contestants.”

“I didn’t know what she wanted of my body, but she jumped over to Nightblade here during our last match.” Tinker continued, “I believe that her possession is achieved through the weakening of one’s perception, through an emotion such as anger. I was frustrated myself when she first took influence of my mind.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Nightblade added, “She jumped from you to me after I got mad when you... well...”

“Yeah,” Tinker cut him off, “but she didn’t just jump from me to you, she was ejected from my body after you hit me hard enough, and the same happened when I hit you. She looses her grip on her victim if they receive physical trauma.”

“But she also made you stronger...”

“It seems we have an adequate amount of information between the two of you,” Celestia said, “And Malaki here took notice of her as well. All I can tell you is to continue the tournament, and keep an eye out.”

“Yes,” Malaki stepped in front of the Princess, “I believe it is time for us to return to our place.”

“I agree,” Celestia conceited, “I will be out shortly.”

Smoked Out

From the top of one of Canterlot Castle’s many roofs, a bone white earth pony sat perfectly balanced. His body was covered in a grey suit, designed similarly to the Shirai Ryu warrior known as Scorpion. A grey mask covered his muzzle, releasing puffs of smoke as he breathed in, and out. A gentle breeze shifted his snow white mane. This pony watched the fighting going on below. One was an off-pearl color mare, twirling about, striking her opponent with blades extending from her wings. The other one, gender not clear, seemed to be heavily armored, wearing a full navy green face mask and a brown, body covering trench coat.

He watched this fight with disinterest, adjusting his view to find his target. The Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan had sent him, Smoke, to find and deactivate a rogue cypone. It had been followed to the Canterlot Castle in Equestria, so that’s where Smoke had to follow it. This fusion of pony and automaton he was after was a dangerous individual, possessing both free will and extensive equipment for stealth missions. His body was metal, but his mind was still free, meaning that there was little that could stop him if he decided to perform a destructive act, especially in the peaceful nation of Equestria.

Smoke let his mind drift, allowing his body to fade into his namesake, and be caught in the winds angled towards the Castle Grounds. The target wouldn’t be visible from a distance, so it was time to get up close.

Time...

Luna watched as the defeated pearl pegasus trotted off the stage, just recently having her broken wings magically restored. Her victor wore a trench coat and a gas mask, and worked with high powered weapons. Luna couldn’t tell if this one was a stallion or a mare, only that the name was “Gilded Gears”. Also, this Gilded Gears was a changeling, or that was as far as Luna could observe. Thin, membranous, wing tips poked from the neck of the trench coat, and a mass of membranous fibers hung from where a mane should be. A sharp, thin horn, unlike a pony’s, emerged from above her mask. Across the chest was a thick piece of metal, chest armor, that had seen much wear and tear from time.

Although she couldn’t tell for sure, Luna assumed that it was a female underneath the clothing and armor, only because of the pitch of the few exhales she took when struck. Gilded Gears slung a shotgun across her back- Luna was simply going by an assumption for her gender- and took a step away from the Princess, as if she was feared.

“Malaki,” Tinker Tock nudged the tall giraffe, who watched the tournament from the back of the crowd.

“What is it?” He replied, looking down upon the smaller pony.

“What are you going to do to find where Morukee is?”

“I simply wait for her to appear again.”

Celestia approached her sister, whispering something into her ear. Luna’s eyes widened as Celestia’s message reached her. She promptly galloped into the castle, seeming to forget about her duties to the tournament.

“Don’t worry,” Celestia assured the concerned crowd, “We will continue the tournament, but we must conduct our battles elsewhere for the time being. Please follow me to the guard barracks.”

The Royal Guard barracks housed both the Solar and Lunar Guards that would stand watch over the castle. The barracks themselves were just another wing of the castle, providing a place for the guards to store their armor, rest and maintain themselves in the castle, and keep themselves in condition for their job. Both Solar and Lunar guards assembled in the training hall as the Princess announced the next rounds of the Mortal Kombat tournament would be held there.

The training hall was an open, expansive room, with walls resistant to magic, durable against physical attacks, and even having some bulletproof properties against certain types of bullets. Hopefully nopony was packing too much heat. Several target dummies were moved into the corners to allow more space for the fight. Celestia calmed the much larger crowd of ponies, now almost doubled from it’s original dozen or so number.

“Now, our next match shall be between Gilded Gears and Malaki.”

The two fighters stepped forward. The giraffe faced his masked opponent, and straightened out his long neck. Just because this one was smaller than him, didn’t mean that he didn’t have to be reckless. Gears had taken down the Blade girl who had seemed so much faster than he. Or she. Malaki couldn’t quite tell. He needed to be fast, though, for those weapons would put him out of the game quickly.

“Round 1, fight!”

No sooner had Celestia announced the start of the match had Gears reached for the gun. It was a bullpup shotgun, with a short stock, and slide beneath its barrel, indicating it was pump action. The weapon was only slightly longer than the wielder’s foreleg, but it was manipulated with skill and experience as it was thrust in Maliki's direction. Celestia’s head tilted to catch the slug that exploded from the weapon’s barrel as Malaki weaved his body around the projectile.

Malaki swung his hoof around to strike, but Gilded Gears blocked the motion with a hoof, beating him in chest with the butt of the shotgun as it was caught by the slide and allowing a fresh shell to enter the chamber. Malaki felt a shoulder crash into his lower neck, pushing him back and allowing Gears room to jump backwards and line up another shot. He leapt forward and slammed his hoof down on the weapon’s barrel, causing it to be fired into the ground. The floor cracked as the slug tore a hole through it.

Just as soon as he moved to attack, Gears was already jumping to escape. A barrier spell stopped his hoof and Malaki braced himself for a counter. Nothing came though. The barrier faded, and he only saw Gears standing there, unmoving. It faded into the mist in another second, but by that time Malaki could do nothing. The sound of metal sliding out of a sheath reached his ears, but he couldn't turn around fast enough to keep the knife from entering his back. His white robe became stained with his blood as he cried out in pain.

There was a moment before the knife was removed and he was kicked to the ground. A quick recovery followed by a reach into his robes put him in a kneeling position, holding a curved sword that his family trained him to use in his youth. Stepping towards his opponent, he thrust the weapon forward in an attempt to plunge it straight into the chest. A loud scraping sound was heard as the blade was rejected from Gilded Gears’s body, and a hardened steel breastplate was revealed behind the trench coat.

“Come on...” Malaki muttered, striking out again. The blade caught Gilded Gears’s mask, cutting it horizontally across the center and revealing the eyes of the changeling mare. She pulled the other half of her mask off, revealing her muzzle, and jammed her knife into Malaki’s foreleg as he raised his sword. His wrap on the sword loosened, and the weapon clattered to the floor. Putting all of his anger and focus into a single, round ending attack, Malaki swung his other hoof around.

Gears, seeing this attack coming, sidestepped and caught Malaki’s attack in one hoof. Shifting his momentum through her body, she redirected his force through her other hoof, directly into his chest. As he was pushed back, she thrust her horn forward, and cast a fire spell in his direction. Green flames burned at his body, but were quickly extinguished as the spell expired. Such was the nature of changeling fire, it required a source of magic to burn effectively.

Malaki growled, picking up his weapon and slashing vertically at his foe. A barrier spell stopped that attack, and an uppercut kept him back. He maintained his aggressive stance, but Gears was able to either block or dodge all of his attacks.

“10 seconds remaining...” Celestia actually had to call the time to prevent the match from going on too long.

Malaki was tough enough to take a few hits, but he hadn’t been able to scratch Gilded Gears in the slightest. He put all he had into attack, but only came out hurt.

“Time over!” Celestia declared. “Gilded Gears wins by receiving no damage.”

Malaki picked himself back up as Celestia’s restoration spell worked its magic on him. Gears reached into her trench coat and replaced the broken mask with a new one, an exact replica of the old one. He needed to rethink his strategy...

Sol Star walked down the hallway to the Castle armory. Somepony had reported that he had heard some strange noises or something there, and were too scared to go check it out. Typical grunts. As he pushed on the reinforced steel door, he became alarmed. He smelled smoke. Searching the room for a fire, he found nothing. Only the metal shelves and racks holding various weapons used by the Royal Guard. The door to the firing range next door suddenly burst open, and a bone white pony wearing a grey ninja suit similar to Scorpion’s tumbled through. Wisps of smoke emitted from several places in his body, visible as he stood up and audibly caught his breath.

“Hey, who are you? What are you doing in the-” Sol began, not noticing the green metal stallion walk through the same door. It moved like a machine, but at the same time, it moved like a pony. From its hoof came a razor sharp saw blade, shooting out toward the ground in front of the white pony.

“Protecting your castle!” The ninja pony shouted, pushing himself to his hooves and slamming his body into the cypone as his saw carved through the ground beneath him. Sol Star followed the two into the firing range, trading his standard guard gladius for a much larger single-hoof sword.

Sol’s armor rattled as an explosion shook the firing range. It was designed for the low caliber firearms permitted by the Princess, not full powered warheads. One of said warheads emerged from the green robot pony’s chest, straight for the ninja in front of him. Sol watched, perplexed, as the ninja seemed to disappear in a cloud of smoke, allowing the rocket to fly straight through him- and into Sol Star. His armor took the brunt of the hit, but his helmet was knocked off. His dirty blonde mane fell over his eye as he hit the floor.

For the first time in a long time, he felt his eyepatch over his face. Normally, the impediment seemed to disappear under his helmet, but now, it was gone...

“Apologies!” The smoke pony reappeared in front of him, facing the robot that he had apparently been fighting for a while now. Sol stood up and shook himself off. His helmet was mangled, unable to fit his head, so he had to do without it for now. Taking his sword he jumped at the robot and slashed at him with it. As he finished his combo, he cast a fire spell on his sword, imbuing it with more burning power. He cast the same spell on his hoof as he threw a punch, chaining it to another slash of the sword. All of the attacks connected, but they seemed to do nothing against the automaton. As Sol burnt the machine with another fire spell, it made its move.

His limbs, simply being accessories for the core, detached themselves from the main body of the robot. They suddenly reassembled themselves on the other side of Sol, body and all. He heard a saw blade spinning, but couldn’t turn to block in time. However, the smoke pony had moved to help. Sweeping his back hooves around, he tripped the robot and slammed his forehoof into its chest. It became still, a few lights on it going out.

“That should do it. Thanks for the save there, I thought I was done for.”

Sol Star turned around, and looked down on the disabled robot.

“You’re one of the Lin Kuei clan,” Sol noted the insignia on the ninja’s suit, as well as the same one on the robot, “Having some machine troubles?”

“I’m called Smoke,” he replied, “And this cypone was malfunctioning. I apologize for his presence here.”

“Just out of curiousity, have you sent any representatives to fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament?”

“Yes,” Smoke replied, “I was to fight, as well as the Grandmaster himself. After he detected this cypone here, however, he decided to not participate in favor of making sure none of the other units were... rogue.”

“Respectable. Are you still going to participate after this... Dilemma?”

“Yes, allow me a moment to deal with this bot.”

“Very well, I will alert the Princess of your arrival.”

Gilded Gears skidded across the mangled wooden floor. Malaki had finally beaten her- again.

“Finish her!”

Malaki placed his bloodied sword in its sheath, hidden inside of his robes. He simply nodded as a sign of mercy. Gears saw Celestia move her head towards her, but she held her forehooves out in a defensive position. She was... scared? She appeared to be a heartless soldier. Why was she scared?

“No, no!” Malaki heard her voice for the first time.

“You are hurt,” Celestia took a step closer, causing Gears to slide away from her on her back. Malaki thought he heard a slight whimper from beneath her mask as the golden aura engulfed Celestia’s horn. She instinctively reached for her weapon, forgetting it had been flung across the room during the fight.

“Don’t... Don’t touch me!” She warned, her back bumping against the wall.

“I understand you are afraid, but you’re bleeding... Don’t-”

“No!” Gilded Gears had to do something, anything. Her mind raced. Magic encompassed her horn, and she disappeared from the room. Everypony was quiet, until another flash of light encompassed her shotgun. It too vanished.

“Is she okay?” Malaki looked to the Princess of the Sun for answers.

“She has a fear of my kind, for some unknown reason...”

“I see... That is unfortunate. Will she be okay?”

“I’m not sure, she used some sort of healing spell on herself during the first round, so her wounds shouldn’t be a problem. Her mental state, however... That is a different story.”

Malaki had no response, so Celestia made the next tournament announcement.

“The next match shall be between Malaki and Maxim Nexus.”

“Excuse me Princess,” Malaki lowered his head to put a hoof to it, “But I am unable to focus on the tournament. Please allow me some time to recollect myself.”

“Of course,” Celestia nodded as he exited the room. “The next match shall be between Steel Wing and Maxim Nexus.”

The courtyard was quiet. A changeling suddenly appeared in the center of a green magical vortex. Gilded Gears adjusted her mask, straightening it out so she could breathe properly. The natural folds behind her breastplate were wide open, and dripping with water. It was a changeling’s natural method of cooling itself, but her pony half caused her to ventilate out of fear. She felt her heart slowing from it’s rush. The Alicorn had almost taken a hold of her in that insidious magic. Never trust an Alicorn, never. It didn’t matter how hurt she was, she was never going to let one of them touch her ever again.

It had been drilled into her head ever since her foalhood, and was the first thing she had told when joining the AAF military. Alicorns were bad. That was generally understood by everypony who stood under the Anti-Alicorn Federation flag. Hell, the name would tell anypony who could read what the Federation stood for; the preservation of other races. She curled herself into a ball on the ground and shivered. Every Alicorn she had ever came in contact with nearly killed her, which was only once before discovered this ‘Equestria’.

She had arrived in this strange world shortly after working to repair a large electromagical generator for her hometown. The United Alicorn Empire, a group that wanted all beings to ascend to Alicornhood, attacked the town, destroying the generator. As it went into an unstable meltdown, much like she was now, she remembered her father’s last words to her.

“Gilda, move, I’ll do what I can to slow the meltdown!”

It was too late, though. 15 years of waging war against the United Alicorn Empire, and she would be killed by an exploding generator. This would not be her fate, because as she began concentrating to teleport her father away from what would be the center of an explosion, she found herself in the center of a crater. There was no pain, there was no explosion, just cold ground beneath her. Instead of her town being reduced to ashes, like she had initially thought, she was in a completely different world. This world had no conflict between Alicorns and ‘impurities’, it was a world of peace. Peaceful except for the fighting tournaments held regularly to solve political issues.

She missed her home, though, she never did well doing civil jobs. Mortal Kombat was her only option. She might never get home, but at least she’d have the only thing she had ever wanted: An enemy to fight.

Apologies

“Major Delta,” The officer was approached by a Solar guard as he searched the perimeter of the courtyard for clues about the spirit Morukee. His armor reflected the moon’s light as it began its ascent.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I’m to tell you that Captain Sol Star wishes to speak with you.”

“Is it about the current crisis?”

The guard paused, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t told what it was that he wanted to discuss.”

“Alright, thank you.” Delta walked past the guard, giving him a nod of respect.

“Umm, sir? He said something about meeting you in the armory.”

Delta looked back, surprised. “The armory? Okay.”

The armory was a mess. Gear had been knocked from their shelves, and weapon racks were laying on their sides. Sol Star was calmly cleaning the mess, making sure everything was restored to its proper position.

“Didn’t realize that you were on janitor duty,” Delta said.

Sol Star turned his head back, an unamused look on his face. His face. Delta didn’t see that too often. Sol just sighed as he continued his work.

“I’m doing this voluntarily.”

“Oh,” Delta felt a bit awkward. He cleared his throat. “So uh, what caused this? I think I missed the mandatory ‘throw a hoof grenade into the armory’ meeting.”

“A rogue Lin Kuei robot was found in here, fighting one of their agents. I stepped in, and we took the bot down.”

“The Lin Kuei, huh? Where are they now?”

“Well,” Sol Star remembered what Smoke had done during their encounter. “He took the bot back to their Grandmaster. Said he’d be back to participate in the tournament in a day or so.”

The Grandmaster watched as Smoke approached him. They planned to meet in the Everfree Forest, where the Lin Kuei operations in Equestria originated. The white ninja threw the body he dragged behind him on the ground before the Grandmaster.

“I found him where you said he’d be,” Smoke said.

The Grandmaster nodded. “Very good. Now, I require you for another assignment... My apologies.”

“Of course,” Smoke knelt, “No need for apologies. I serve.”

“No, my apologies are for the deception...” The Grandmaster sighed, “You have been a very loyal member to the Lin Kuei, but see, the machine that you recovered was not rogue...”

“What?”

“He was assigned to do what needed to be done, but since he failed, I have no choice... I am truly sorry it had to be this way.”

Eight cypones quickly surrounded Smoke. They were all identical to the one on the ground, except in color. Instead of a green shell, these ones were all a stone grey. Smoke knew that this day would come, but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon. He knew about the Grandmaster systematically transforming all of their best assassins into machines, but wanted to think that he was too valuable for that. He had only a few moments to think, and if he didn’t act soon, they would be his last moments to think.

Smoke took a deep breath, and held it. A burning feeling spread across his lungs, smoke filling them. The cypones were standing in a circle around him, and were preparing to capture him in whatever devices they used. Before they could, Smoke let the heat in his body loose out of his open mouth, leaping into the air as he did so. A jet of smoke propelled him into the air, knocking over the cypones and leaving charred shrubbery on the ground.

“Do not resist me,” The Grandmaster warned, “You make yourself an enemy of the entire Lin Kuei clan.”

“I will not submit to becoming a mindless machine.”

Smoke lunged at the Grandmaster, but instead of hitting him, he simply disappeared into his gaseous form. The Grandmaster stood, unsure of what to do. Nine of his super assassins lay defeated to Smoke. If only he would accept the enhancements, he could be so much more...

Nightblade said nothing. The changeling was crying, so he said nothing. Her sobs echoed through her mask, but the distress was clearly visible. Maybe she just needed somepony. He laid himself down next to her. She seemed to notice him, but didn’t make any motions to acknowledge him. For a long time they sat like that, but after a while, she stopped crying. She righted herself from her curled up position on the ground. She lay on the ground next to him. She lay with him. Nightblade didn’t speak, because his voice only made things worse. That’s why he didn’t like talking. Actions can convey so much more meaning than words.

She removed her mask, wiping away her liquid sorrow, and looked over at Nightblade. She didn’t even know him, but yet he came to comfort her. Something about his presence seemed to calm her. However, as he watched him gaze off into the distance, she felt like something was off about him, like he was troubled. Was he hiding from something? He appeared to be coldhearted and viscous, but here he was, giving comfort. He turned his head to look at her, and she noticed his eyes. They were multicolored; one crimson red, and the other crystal blue...

“... Your eyes...” She whispered. He looked away instantly. Instead of apologizing, she simply diverted her gaze from him, focusing on the darkening sky. It was the first time she had felt comfortable with somepony for the longest time. Everypony seemed to avoid her, or ridicule her, but this one... he was different. The changeling half of her could sense his sincerity. It wasn’t quite consumable love, but it was something.

“No, no, no!” Princess Luna slammed her hoof down on the desk, accentuating each exclamation. This tournament was all wrong! There weren’t nearly enough fatalities being performed. She opened the glass doors to the balcony of her room with her magic, and took a deep breath. Maybe she just needed to step outside for a moment, get some fresh air. It was almost time for her to raise the moon anyway.

She looked over her messy scribbling on the paper in front of her. She had several names written down, most of which were crossed out. Each crossed out name had an explanation next to it. Trixie, too old. Tundra, assumed dead. Traxus Dash, unreachable. Terramorphous, no. As she looked down the list further, she came across the next unmarked one. Time Turner. She scratched his name out, knowing that he probably wouldn’t kill anypony just for the sake of killing them. Once more her eyes scanned the page, and she noticed she missed a name, it was all the way in the ‘E’ section of the paper. Error Macro. The spirit warrior Celestia had created for unknown reasons.

She thought about Ermac’s whereabouts, remembering something about the sorcerer Shang Tsung, in the Outworld. Tomorrow, she’d ask her sister to write a letter....

But now, she had a moon to raise. The sun slowly dipped down onto the horizon, and Luna rose from her desk and took a step outside. The fresh air was nice.

Steel Wing popped his neck as he left the training room for the main castle. Lightning Strike walked beside him, the two had become very acquainted in their short time together. Following them was another friend, Maxim Nexus. Steel Wing had only met him from few previous fights, but his fighting style had driven Steel to initiate a conversation with him.

Lightning looked at the new pony, he had a very light brown, almost sand colored coat, and a short, spiky brown mane. His eyes were bright and blue, and his cutie mark was a compass. He had no wings or horn, but on his left forehoof was a strange device. It was not operational, but Nexus was very nervous when the subject came up. He would fidget with a loose bolt on it sometimes, but never would he say what it was or why it was attached to him.

They walked along the gravel path that led to the castle’s main entrance, watching the moon slowly rise.

“Hey,” Steel Wing stopped. The griffon looked at the two ponies to either side of him. “It just now occurred to me that we’re not all fighting on the same team here.”

Lighting turned his head, “Yeah, so? Our matches are set up so that two people representing the same side don’t fight each other unless challenged, right?”

“Yeah, but we’re not gonna, you know, stop chillin like this just cause one of us wins, right?”

“Of course not,” Lightning adjusted the mace slung across his back. “We’re friends now, right?”

“Yeah, I guess...” Steel continued to walk, the other two following.

“If you don’t mind,” Nexus asked, “Who are you guys representing?”

“I’m fighting for Celestia,” Lightning stated.

“I’m representing the Lunar Republic!” Came Steel’s proud announcement.

“What about you?”

“I’m supporting the Solar Empire. Celestia is my one ticket home, no disrespect to Luna, I’d just prefer she stay in charge for now.”

“Huh?” Lightning Strike cocked his head, “What do you mean she’s your ‘one ticket home’?”

“I... I uhh...” Nexus looked away in an attempt to avoid the topic of home. Steel Wing brushed it off.

“Hey, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s cool,” He looked to Lightning, “Right?”

“Yeah, it’s just... are you okay, Maxim?”

The pony in question cringed at the name. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just... call me Nexus.”

“Alright, I guess...”

“Hey,” Steel suddenly changed the topic, “Did you guys notice something weird about that Nimbus guy? He shot ice and lightning from his hooves!”

Lightning nodded. “I know, that surprised me when I fought him...”

“Think it runs in his family?”

“Nah, probably not, he’s probably cursed or something.”

“Actually,” Nexus added, “It seemed almost as if the energy was coming from him. If I’m correct, a unicorn’s horn can only manipulate energy in the world around him?”

Lightning Strike confirmed this with a nod of his head. “There’s usually a glow when magic is used.”

“Yeah, even my claws light up when I’m using magic.” Steel Wing made a subtle gesture with his claws for emphasis.

“Yes, it seems like he’s actually creating this energy in his body. Very odd... I’ll be sure to speak with him about it some time.”

They neared the front entrance of the castle. The two large doors were atop a small staircase connecting to the courtyard. In the courtyard, there were two ponies, laying asleep in the grass. It was Nightblade and the changeling warrior from before. They passed quietly, as to not wake them, but still Nightblade stirred as they passed.

Gilded Gears’s eyes opened. She was on her side, resting in the cool morning grass. She felt her trenchcoat, moist from droplets of dew and clinging to her side. As her eyes fully adjusted, she realized that the dark grey pony that had came to comfort her had left. Her mask still was still on the ground next to her, it’s lenses having fogged up.

She stood up, but felt something press down on her. It was wet, and it was warm, but it didn’t halt her movement. It was a cloud. More specifically, it was fog. For the first time, the changeling noticed a thick fog surrounding the large structures that made up Canterlot. The castle itself was barely visible, a large part of it only visible as a blurred silhouette. She placed her mask on her face, wiping the lenses clean. Her weapon, still on the gravel path from her sudden teleportation spell, was slung back into its proper place as she made her way into the castle.

Gears walked through the entrance through the dining hall, finding that it was completely empty. The lenses of her mask stayed clear, but the fog seemed to be drifting into castle somehow. Weather problems maybe? The pegasi were supposed to stay on top of that. Also, there was nopony occupying this place. Guards were normally supposed to be standing watch everywhere, right? Everything started to feel very wrong.

After a few minutes of trying to find somepony, she finally saw the figure of a pony through the fog. The pony slowly cantered around a corner. She said nothing, knowing that whoever it was probably wouldn’t hear her, but she did follow the figure. Through hallways, around corners, and into rooms she pursued, gradually increasing her speed until she caught herself galloping, and had to slow herself down. When the figure stopped, she found that she actually knew where she was. This wasn’t anywhere she wanted to be. It was Celestia’s throne room.

She gulped nervously, not knowing what to expect. The Princess of the Sun didn’t seem to be present, but whatever this thing was, it knew it was being followed. Gears felt her spine tingle as a voice slithered through the air.

“Come...” It beckoned, the figure turning around to face the masked warrior.

“What?” Gears breathed. Something felt wrong.

“Come closer... and you will see...”

She thought about running, but when she looked back, the doors to the throne room slammed shut. Looking forward again, she took a deep breath.

“Come...”

Gilded Gears obeyed. As she neared the figure, the fog only became thicker, like she was walking towards the source of the fog. She couldn’t even see her hooves in front of her when the face of a mare, a light brown mare, suddenly filled her vision. Her mane was a wispy grey, resembling the thick fog that she was the center of. She stood a little shorter than Gilded Gears, and wore a torn, blue headband.

“Hi!” The mare blurted out. Her voice was eerily cheery, like she hadn’t seen a single pony for an eternity.

“Umm... Hello...” Gears took a step back, but was only met with this strange mare coming closer to her. Her eyes were a dull grey color, and were currently all Gears could see.

“Don’t go! Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure what’s going on...”

“Morukee said that you’d be okay... Is she okay?” The mare suddenly had a blank stare come over her, as if looking at something in the background.

“Yes...” The voice from before whispered. “This one... will be fine...”

Gilded Gears watched as the fog cleared the room, only now seeing that the entire world had been drained of color. Only she and the strange mare across from her radiated with the vibrant colors of the world she knew, the rest was a grayscale wasteland. Her legs were suddenly moved against her will, and she was forced to kneel. The borders of her vision started to fade into a purple.

“What... No!” Gears struggled against the force manipulating her, eventually gaining control of her head and mouth. Whatever this was, she was beating it in a game of will. She had control over her forelegs, then her torso, then her hind legs. She twisted her body, confirming she had control. Her mouth opened, and a sickly grey cloud was released out of her mask’s filters. It seemed to hiss at her with frustration.

“What are you?” It questioned.

“What are you?” Gears returned with the same question.

“I? I am a spiritual construct... how dare you eject me from your body!”

“I don’t take kindly to others things taking control of me...”

“Be that way... If you won’t submit on a spiritual level, perhaps you will on a physical level...”

The pony standing in front of Gears shoved her back. Gears returned the shove, finding that she could push back even harder. The changeling fell to the ground, not expecting such force. She picked herself up and took a fighting stance. The pony spread out two wings, and tightened her mangled headband.

“I didn’t catch your name, headband.” She taunted.

“My name’s Kunai!”

Error

To my Dearest Sister,

I request that you send your spiritual guardian, Error Macro, to speak with me about matters regarding my Republic. I would get her myself, but I am not aware of Ermac’s whereabouts. Perhaps you might be?

Your sister,

Luna

Luna thought about the letter as she awaited the collection of spirits known as ‘Error Macro’, or Ermac. The scroll had simply been placed upon Celestia’s nightstand, a common form of communication the two sisters had practiced since foalhood. The next morning, Luna found her reply, confirming Ermac’s arrival. Instead of her throne room, Luna asked for their meeting to take place in her private quarters. There was a knock on her door, and Luna looked up from her desk.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open, allowing a dark green mare to enter. She was about the same size as a regular pony, but possessed both wings and a horn. Her mane was a cloud of fluorescent green, flowing eerily along with her tail. Her eyes glowed with the same green, scanning the room for the Princess who summoned her.

“You summoned us, Princess?” Ermac’s voice rang, as if several ponies were speaking in unison.

“Yes, have a seat anywhere you like.”

Ermac did not sit, she simply entered the room and stood across from Luna’s desk.

“We prefer to stand. What is required of us?”

Luna nodded, giving all of her attention to the mare across from her. “I need you to enter the Mortal Kombat tournament.”

“Us?” Ermac’s mane seemed to flicker as her curiosity peaked.

“Yes, you are the most powerful entity created by my sister and I, are you not?”

Ermac’s response was almost robotic. “We are the strongest force, the most powerful magician, the fastest flyer. We are Legion, for we are many. We serve.”

“Good,” Luna said, “You will join the tournament for the New Lunar Republic. I want there to be blood.”

“Yes.” Ermac turned to leave, but she looked back at Luna. “Shall we wear our traditional robes?”

“Yes, and be sure to cover your mane, tail and wings. Some of the contestants... don’t appreciate alicorns.”

“We understand.”

Nightblade’s eyes opened as the first rays of sunlight reached them. He had fallen asleep in the grass, giving comfort to the changeling who fled the tournament. When he looked over, he saw her, leaning against him with her head on his middle. His hoof prodded at her, attempting to wake her up. She didn’t stir, so he shook her a bit. Nothing. Leaning in, Nightblade whispered into her ear.

“Wake up.”

Gears did not wake, though. He repeated the command, a bit louder, but still, she didn’t wake. Was she just a heavy sleeper? Nightblade felt around for her heart, and, underneath the plate of armor, he found it. It was... beating quickly, much like it would if she was afraid. Her forelegs extended, and she began to murmur in her sleep.

“No... Kunai...”

It clicked in his mind. Gilded Gears was having a nightmare. About Kunai? He forcibly shoved her off of him, and she jolted awake. Her words came between deep breaths.

“What... what happened?” She panted. The morning dew was cool against her exoskeleton, and her chest suddenly became much colder as she regained consciousness. She was ventilating. Her vision became clear, and she realized that she wasn’t in the castle anymore. Everything had its color returned to it, and the fog was gone. It must’ve been a dream.

“You were having a nightmare, I guess...” Nightblade told her. About what, he couldn’t say. Gears stretched her legs and neck, releasing the tightness in her muscles. Her head nestled itself into what she had been using as a pillow, but she realized what exactly that was.

“Oh, sorry,” She apologized. Nightblade just smiled and stood up, looking towards the rising sun for a time reference. It hadn’t been fully raised yet, so they weren’t late for the next match of the tournament. Gears stood up as well, watching the sunrise, and doing her best to forget about that dream. Nightblade set off for the dining hall, finding himself particularly hungry, but for some reason Gilded Gears didn’t seem to feel hungry herself.

Changelings were a type of creature that fed on the affections of others. Most of her life, she had consumed physical food, the pony half of her allowing her to do so. She didn’t always consume love, but when she did, it always seemed to be forced from its vessel, and it never seemed to be enough to silence her natural hunger. Right now, she had the salty aftertaste of compassion in her mouth, but couldn’t remember at any point holding a victim down and sucking it out of him. And unlike when a victim was drained, she felt full, as if she had just had a Hearth’s Warming feast not long ago.

There wasn’t much point in questioning this. She collected her weapon, put her mask on, and began to follow Nightblade to the dining hall. She’d be able to fight today, but she couldn’t mess up again.

Smoke galloped down the hallway leading to Celestia’s chambers. His life was on the line here. Resisting the Grandmaster meant putting a target on his head, and his only escape was to officially enter the Mortal Kombat tournament. Celestia would give him her protection until the tournament ended... He had to reach her before-

A green vortex appeared on the ground, and a hoof promptly slammed into Smoke’s jaw. As he fell back, he got a glimpse of his attacker. A cypone, with a red exoskeleton accented with silver on the head and chest. It was Sektor, one of the Grandmaster’s first assassins made machine. Sektor willingly went through with the transformation, not realizing his individuality would be gone. The only thing he had left that resembled his former self were the loose wires protruding from the back of his head, made to resemble the braided ponytail he had in life. Smoke could only pity him now, for he was completely lost.

Sektor reached forward with a hoof, and a burst of fire came forth from the appendage. Smoke was already gone though, reappearing behind Sektor and forcing a cloud of heated air into the machine’s back. The cypone fell forward, but caught himself in a roll. He was now on his hooves, facing away from the fight. His synthetic senses picked up the sound of Smoke’s hooves leaving the ground, most likely jumping towards him. In response, Sektor simply fell onto his back, and allowed a warhead to be fired from his chest.

He could see the targeting systems locking on to Smoke as the pony passed over him, and the missile adjusted its course to follow him. This threat allowed Sektor time to pick himself up and watch as Smoke ran. Smoke darted back and forth, narrowly dodging the homing projectile. He ran behind a pillar, but it followed him, just missing the other surfaces. An idea suddenly popped into his head.

Sektor saw Smoke approaching, and prepared to catch him in a punch, but before his hoof was able to connect, Smoke was behind him. Sektor silently cursed himself for not seeing that move through, a sliver of free thought escaping from his brain. As soon as it did, though, the implants in his mind countered the pulse that the thought created. He flinched as this happened. His visual receptors refreshed for a split second, but Smoke was already behind him, and he couldn’t stop what was coming.

Smoke pulled back on Sektor’s forelegs, jabbing him in the back as he did so. The strike ripped at the metal spine within Sektor’s casing. An explosion rattled said casing as the missile had returned to deliver its payload, but into the firer instead. Smoke heard the breaking of the metal ribs in Sektor’s underside. After the blast, Smoke lifted his silicon shield over his shoulder, and dropped onto his back, slamming Sektor’s head into the ground as he did so. Sektor’s ‘jawbone’, connecting his main speaker system to his head, cracked open as his neck snapped.

“System ErErErEr-” Sektor’s automated message was cut short as he corrected his issue.

“What are you doing here, Sektor?”

“You are required to assimilate. Sumbit.”

“I’m not becoming a machine, Sektor. Have you forgotten what it’s like to have free will?”

“Your query is irrelevant, as is your choice.”

“Who else did the Grandmaster send?”

Sektor twitched on the ground before replying. “I will not answer your-” He was cut short when Smoke stomped his head into the ground with a hoof.

“Answer the question or I’ll rip out your hard drive and look myself.”

The bot was quiet, as if thinking. “Loss of vital data is unacceptable. Complying. The Grandmaster sent three others to assimilate you, code names; Cyrax, Machina, and Tundra.”

Smoke crushed Sektor’s head with both forehooves, making sure he wouldn’t be able to get back up. Not wasting any time, Smoke entered Celestia’s throne room.

The Princess wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting, she had only been writing a letter. She looked up as the white ninja pony entered, noticing the urgency in his gallop. It was clear that he was of the Lin Kuei clan.

“Princess Celestia,” he said, “I’ve come to enter the Mortal Kombat tournament.”

“Ah,” She replied, “You are the Lin Kuei representative, correct?”

“No. I’ve been separated from the Lin Kuei, marked as a traitor for unwillingness to accept the cypone transformation. Please, grant me your protection from the Lin Kuei, and in return I will represent you in the tournament.

Celestia thought about this. He was an outcast? Most likely the other members of the clan would come after him. She understood what he was going through, wanting to retain his individuality, so she nodded her head.

“Very well. What is your name?”

“I am Tomas Vrbada, codename, Smoke.”

“Of course. Well, Smoke, I need to finish writing this letter and raising the sun. Wait for me in the dining hall, and I’ll announce your entrance of the competition there.”

“Your majesty.” Smoke bowed politely before making his way out of Celestia’s throne room. He shut the door behind him, and saw that Sektor’s body was gone. Somepony must’ve dragged him off, which meant that same somepony was probably looking for him.

Celestia wrote the last few words of her letter.

... and I hereby give Error Macro permission to enter the Mortal Kombat tournament for the New Lunar Republic. I hope she fights well.

Your Sister,

Tia.

She stood up, and walked to the door. She was headed to Luna’s chambers.

Tinker Tock scanned the dining hall. Everypony he had seen from the night before was there, as well as two new arrivals. They were both ninja ponies, one identified by the Lin Kuei emblem. His outfit was grey, and seemed to release smoke in some places. He sat at the table, simply waiting for the tournament to begin. A mask covered his muzzle, but it seemed that every time he breathed out, a wisp of smoke leaked through it. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea for him to take it off.

The other ninja, a mare, was completely covered. Her outfit was a very dark shade of green, and even included wraps around her face and legs. The only visible part of her was a pair of glowing green orbs, allowing her to see, and her nose, allowing her to breathe. Even the horn that protruded from her head was tightly wrapped. Where her mane would’ve been, there was no bulge in the wraps. It was smooth all the way up her neck, and between her ears. She wore black robes over her body, but Tinker would’ve bet money she was wrapped beneath the clothing.

Further adding to the oddity, this mare was standing near the entrance of the room, reading a book. It was obvious that her wraps prohibited eating, but it was common courtesy to take a seat provided by a host. Tinker adjusted his glasses and pushed his empty plate forward. When he took a breath, he felt something brush against his back, but when he turned, nothing was there. Odd. He rescanned the room, noticing everything was in it’s proper place...

Malaki caught his attention, and the giraffe motioned for him to meet with him outside. Certainly nopony would mind if they stepped out for a moment? As he neared the door that lead out into the courtyard from the dining hall, Malaki began to speak in a low voice.

“Tinker Tock, what information have you found regarding the spirit?”

“Only that she’s taking her time before making her next move. She will need a host if she wants to continue her plan, but there’s no telling who she’ll take next.”

Malaki sighed. He was growing restless. “Our only option is to wait then.”

Shortly after they entered the castle, Princess Celestia came forth with new of two new entrants to the tournament- Smoke and Ermac. Smoke, oddly enough, was not representing the Lin Kuei, but instead was representing the Solar Empire. Ermac, Tinker supposed to balance this new addition, was representing the Lunar Republic. They assembled in the courtyard once more, as the sky was clearer that day. Tinker kept a watchful eye on the contestants as they were called up to fight, noting how each one fought. After the third match, Celestia called upon Smoke.

“Does anypony challenge Smoke?” Celestia called, expecting nopony to respond. To her surprise, a mechanical voice rang out from behind her. In the entrance of the courtyard, four metal stallions stood side by side.

“We.” They said in unison. “We are the representatives of the Lin Kuei clan.”

“The Grandmaster said nothing of cypones,” Celestia told them, knowing fully well what they came for.

“Plans have changed.” The red cypone said, “I am Sektor. With me are Cyrax, Tundra, and Machina.” He pointed to the yellow, blue, and green cypones respectively. “We challenge the one known as Smoke to Mortal Kombat.”

Princess Celestia nodded. There was nothing she could do about them fighting Smoke, but she would be able to keep them from taking him away... if they spared him. She hoped that Smoke could defeat them all. She could help him in one way, at least.

“You may only fight him two at a time. Who will go first?”

The cypones looked at each other, as if silently discussing their thoughts. The green and the blue ones stepped forward. Machina and Tundra. He knew Machina would’ve learned from their previous encounter. Machina stepped forward and got into his fighting position. Smoke looked back, and stood ready.

“Round one, fight!”

Morukee sat, well, sat as much as a spiritual construct could, in the depths of the spirit realm, focusing her energy into one point.

“Is it ready yet?” The annoying voice pulsed through Morukee, irritating her.

“Almost... Be patient.”

“Okay...”

If her encounter with Gilded Gears told her anything, Morukee knew that she had a weakness. She was her prime target for a host, because of her reclusive personality. Since Nightblade had been with her, though, Morukee was only able to harass her in her sleep. That wouldn’t suffice. She needed to get the stallion out of the picture somehow, and she was ready with a plan. If she couldn’t get Gears, she’d have to choose somepony else.

Her plan would come together yet.