Solid Strike

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.