Solid Strike

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.