Solid Strike

“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!”