//------------------------------// // The Mysterious Ship // Story: Mortal Kombat: Equestria // by Green Akers //------------------------------// The cheery ringing of a bell signaled the opening of the front door of the Sugar Cube Corner Confectionery shop. Standing in the doorway, however, was not a pony, but a tall, imposing figure, dressed in black leggings and a yellow tunic. A pair of swords was strapped on the man’s back, and his face was covered by a mask that revealed only a pair of glowing, soulless eyes. The figure did a slow scan of the room, finding the shop to be temporarily uninhabited. He quickly strode up to the front counter, ringing the service bell he found there. After receiving no immediate response to his action, the man’s eyes narrowed, and he pounded on the bell a second time. Finally, Pinkie Pie bounded through the swinging doors behind the counter. “Hi!” she called out as she approached the impatient figure. “Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! I’m Pinkie Pie and I’m watching the shop while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are away! What would you like? We’ve got cupcakes and pies and muffins and cookies and…” “I’m here to pick up an order I placed,” the customer stated in a raspy, slightly-demonic voice. “It was under the name ‘Scorpion.’” “That’s right!” Pinkie Pie replied with a smile. “I just finished up your order a few minutes ago!” She turned and bounced back through the swinging doors into the kitchen, emerging moments later with a stack of boxes balanced on her nose. “That’s six chocolate cakes, three dozen gingerbread cookies, a dozen raspberry tarts, six gallons of punch, and twelve dozen cupcakes with strawberry icing and extra sprinkles!” “Correct,” Scorpion confirmed, taking the boxes from the pony. “Gosh,” Pinkie Pie gushed, “you guys must be throwing some party, huh? I mean, why else would you need soooo many cupcakes?” “They are a favorite of Shao Kahn’s,” Scorpion offered in explanation, taking a large bag from his belt and dropping it onto the counter. “This should cover the charges,” he declared. “Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie Pie agreed, looking down at the gold coins in the bag as Scorpion turned and headed for the door. “Have a great one!” The ninja didn’t respond, slamming the door with authority as he left. “Wow…” Pinkie Pie mused to herself. “Twelve dozen cupcakes...that must be one epic party they’re planning…” “Cubed what now?” Apple Bloom stared incredulously at Sweetie Belle. “Cubic zirponium,” Sweetie Belle confirmed sadly. “My sister says it just looks like gold, but isn't as valuable.” Apple Bloom sighed. “So much for bein' prospector ponies...” she pouted. “We might as well face it, Sweetie: At this rate, we'll never earn our cutie marks.” “Don't say that!” Sweetie Belle implored. “We'll think of something, we just have to!” She stopped and thought for a moment. “What about that comedy routine you were working on after the talent show? Didn't you find a good joke book at the library, by one of those funny Mark brothers?” “Yeah...” Apple Bloom admitted, “but I couldn't understand it! I mean, he kept talkin' about capitalism and the prole-something...I didn't think it was funny at all!” She looked down and scuffed at the ground with her hoof. “It's no use,” she sniffled. “I've tried everything I can think of, but...” Suddenly, Scootaloo burst out of a nearby bush. “Apple Bloom!” she shouted. “You've got to see what I...hey, Sweetie Belle! What did Rarity say about that sweet rock we found?” Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Sorry, Scootaloo,” she explained. “She said it wasn't actually valuable.” “Really? Rats,” Scootaloo replied, still smiling despite the bad news. “Anyway, you've got to see what I saw over by the river! Come on!” Scootaloo turned and dashed back through the bushes, with a confused-but-curious Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in pursuit. After cutting through a grove of pine trees and climbing over a stone wall, the group reached the riverbank. “Check it out!” Scootaloo directed, pointing further down the river. “Whoa...” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom uttered in unison at the sight: Anchored along the near bank of the river was a massive wooden boat, its sails billowing in the breeze. “Is that...a pirate ship?” Sweetie Belle wondered out loud. “Yeah!” Scootaloo declared. “Isn't it awesome?” “That's not a pirate ship!” Apple Bloom objected. “It's doesn't have the pirate flag!” “Well, duh!” Scootaloo countered. “Of course they're not flying their pirate flag! If they did, then everypony would know they were pirates!” She gazed out longingly at the vessel. “How cool would it be to sail the high seas on a huge pirate ship?” she asked “Um...I dunno, Scootaloo...” Sweetie Belle offered. “That ship doesn't look very safe to me. I'd rather sail the high seas on something sturdier...and cleaner.” “Sailing the high seas...” Apple Bloom's face suddenly brightened. “Sailing the high seas!” she repeated. “Of course! Why didn't I think of this before?” “Think of what, Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We could get our cutie marks in sailing!” Apple Bloom revealed. “We could be...Cutie Mark Crusader sailors!” “Yeah!” Scootaloo agreed. “We could go adventuring on the ocean!” “Find buried treasure!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “Discover new worlds!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Oh, man,” Scootaloo exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement, “being a sailor would be so amazing!” “Well...what are we waiting for?” Apple Bloom declared, rushing towards the ship. “Come on, girls!” she shouted. “Er...I still don't know if this is such a good idea!” Sweetie Belle cautioned, as she and Scootaloo hurried after their friend. The three ponies ran over to where the boat was moored. “Hello? Is anypony here?” Apple Bloom called out, as she ran up the gangplank and onto the deck. From the looks of the deck, the ship appeared to be completely deserted. “Darn,” Scootaloo muttered. “They must all be out doing pirate stuff.” “Um...maybe we should go back now,” Sweetie Belle suggested. “I don’t think they’d be happy if they found us messing with their boat.” Suddenly, the creak of rusty hinges could be heard nearby. As the three ponies turned to look, a deck hatch opened and a man emerged, looking much like the ninja Pinkie Pie had met earlier, but sporting a green tunic and a set of green, piercing eyes. “Who isss here?” the man demanded. “Ssshow yourssselvesss...” “Eep!” Sweetie Belle ducked behind a nearby barrel. “What is that?” she asked her friends. “Maybe it's the pirate captain,” Scootaloo offered. “It can't be!” Apple Bloom disagreed, as the green ninja continued glancing all around looking for the intruders. “You have to wear the special hat to be the captain!” “Aw, who cares?” Scootaloo decided. “Maybe he can tell us how we can be part of the crew!” With that, Scootaloo ran over to where the ninja stood. The man looked down at the small pegasus that appeared before him. “Who are you?” he demanded. “Arrrrrr, matey!” Scootaloo replied in her best pirate accent. “We be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, ready to set sail across the blue waters of the world!” “We're looking for the ship's captain, to see if we join the crew and go sailing with y'all!” Apple Bloom explained, walking up beside Scootaloo. “Ssso you are...” the man responded, a smile forming behind his mask. “Of courssse you may join usss...new blood isss alwaysss welcome.” He gestured towards the hatch he had emerged from. “Pleassse come in,” he insisted. “You may wait in the hold until we ssset sssail.” “Cool beans!” Scootaloo shouted, exchanging a high-hoof with Apple Bloom. “The Cutie Mark Crusader Sailors are ready for action!” Apple Bloom agreed, following Scootaloo into the ship's hold. “Come on, Sweetie Belle!” she called out over her shoulder. Sweetie Belle gulped nervously. “Right...behind you,” she answered, hurrying past the creepy-looking ninja and jumping through the hatch. The green ninja watched the ponies disappear into the ship, then turned to face the sound of yet another person boarding the ship. “You have returned,” the man spoke, as Scorpion stepped onto the ship's deck. “You have the goodsss, I take it?” “Yes,” Scorpion replied, holding out the boxes of baked goods he had purchased at Sugar Cube Corner. “Good...Ssshao Khan ssshall be very pleasssed,” the green ninja declared. “He ssshall have his cupcakesss, and I have found three new combatantsss for the tournament.” “Well done,” Scorpion congratulated his counterpart. “Alert the crew to prepare for departure—we shall set sail for the island at once.” “Of courssse,” the green ninja agreed. Within a matter of minutes, the gangplank with withdrawn, the anchor was raised, and the ship began sailing down the river to the ocean, and its ultimate destination across the sea. Deep within the basement of the Ponyville library, Twilight Sparkle, sporting a lab coat and a set of safety goggles, sat reading a science textbook, surrounded by beakers full of various colored liquids. “Perfect,” she said, looking at one such beaker situated above a Bunsen burner with a thermometer sticking out of the top. “Solution heated to exactly 355º Kelvin,” she narrated, writing down the statement in a nearby journal. “Now to add the concentrated hydronitric acid.” Using her magic, Twilight uncorked a nearby test tube and prepared to pour the solution into the heated beaker. “We have to be careful to add just the right amount,” she reminded herself, carefully tipping the test tube. “Adding too much would react to the heated solution and cause it to...” “Hey, Twilight!” Suddenly, the door at the top of the stairs flew open with a loud slam, and Spike stuck his head in the doorway. “Are you down here?” he yelled out. “AAH!” The noise startled Twilight and broke her concentration, which caused her to drop the entire test tube into the beaker. The reaction of the liquids triggered a huge explosion, sending books and test tubes everywhere and filling the basement with a thick cloud of smoke. “I guess that's a yes,” SPike decided. After a few moments, a slightly-singed Twilight emerged from the basement, coughing up a lung from the smoke. “Honestly, Spike!” she chided the dragon. “You can't just barge into a room like that while somepony is performing a delicate scientific experiment!” “Sorry, Twilight,” Spike apologized, “but Applejack just came by looking for you, and she sounded kind of frantic. She's waiting by the front door.” “Oh?” Twilight grew a little concerned. “I'd better go see what she wants—Applejack's not one to worry unnecessarily about things.” Twilight and Spike hurried to the front door, where Applejack was pacing restlessly back and forth. “Applejack, what's wrong?” Twilight inquired. “I'm mighty sorry to bother you, Twilight,” Applejack apologized, “but I was wonderin' if you'd seen Apple Bloom around today. She hasn't been around the farm at all, and when she missed dinner, well, I got worried.” “Sorry,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “I haven't seen Apple Bloom since she checked out that Marx book a few days ago.” “Das Kapital, to be exact,” Spike elaborated, suppressing a snicker. “Maybe she's trying to see if her special talent is communism.” “Have you talked to Rarity?” Twilight probed. “Maybe she spent the day with Sweetie Belle.” “Not yet,” Applejack admitted, “but I'm headin' that way next.” “I'll go with you,” Twilight volunteered. “Me too!” Spike announced, jumping onto Twilight's back. The trio raced out of the library and through the streets of Ponyville, as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon. Halfway there, however, the group cut a corner too quickly and ran smack dab into Rarity, causing a pony pileup in the middle of the street. “Rarity?” Twilight gasped. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, Twilight, Applejack, thank goodness I found you!” Rarity exclaimed. “Sweetie Belle hasn't come back yet, and I was wondering if she was over at Sweet Apples Acres.” Applejack and Twilight exchanged surprised looks. “We were just on our way to your place to see if Apple Bloom was there!” Applejack explained. “Oh dear!” Rarity responded. “I just came from Sugar Cube Corner – Pinkie Pie said she hadn't seen them either!” “This doesn't look good,” Twilight concluded. “What could have happened to those girls?” Suddenly, Spike's cheeks bulged out, and he belched out a scroll in a ball of green flame. “A letter from Princess Celestia? Now?” Twilight unrolled the scroll using her magic. “What could this be about?” she wondered. Halfway through reading the scroll, Twilight's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Twilight? What is it?” Rarity asked. “The Princess wants to see us in Canterlot right away!” Twilight informed her friends. “It's about the girls!” “Land sakes!” Applejack shouted. “What happened?” “It doesn't say,” Twilight noted, “but we'd better get over to the palace, and fast!” She rolled the scroll back up, grabbed Spike's tail with her teeth, and flipped him head-over-heels onto her back. “Applejack,” she instructed, “you run over to Sugar Cube Corner and grab Pinkie Pie. Rarity, you go get Fluttershy. Spike and I will track down Rainbow Dash. We'll meet out in front of the library in thirty minutes, and leave from there to go to Canterlot! Got it?” “You betcha!” Applejack acknowledged. “Understood!” Rarity declared. “Then let's go!” Twilight ordered, as the three ponies parted ways and went to collect their friends. After gathering at the library and setting off for Canterlot at a brisk pace, the six ponies (with Spike in tow) arrived at the castle of Princess Celestia. Wasting no time, the group hurried though the castle gates and made their way through the castle to the throne room, where the princess awaited them. “We came as soon as we got your letter!” Twilight called out as she approached. “What happened? Where are the girls?” “I'm afraid your friends are in grave danger,” the princess declared in a somber voice. “They have been captured by the forces of an old enemy of Equestria: Shao Kahn.” “Golly!” Applejack exclaimed. “Who's this Kahn fella?” “Khan is the emperor of Outworld, a land of sorrow and suffering that resides in another dimension,” Celestia narrated. “He has long desired to claim our world for his own, but by law, he can only do so by defeating this realm's greatest heroes in a tournament consisting of death matches.” “A d-d-death match?” Fluttershy stuttered. “You mean, like...they fight...until one of them...?” “I'm afraid so,” the princess confirmed. Fluttereshy yelped and cowered behind Applejack, drawing a groan and a facehoof from Rainbow Dash. “For many years,” Celestia continued, “the great heroes of our world have managed to win these tournaments and keep Kahn's forces at bay...but it seems that we are on the eve of another such tournament, and Kahn's champions have scoured the globe issuing their challenge and collecting any willing combatants.” “Oh no!” Twilight shrieked. “The girls must have joined the tournament thinking they might earn their cutie marks!” “Ugh!” Rarity recoiled more at this comment than any previous one. “How crude! I can't imagine what a fighting cutie mark would look like.” “Besides,” Rainbow pointed out, “we already tried that.” “Your friends are being held on the island where the tournament will take place,” Celestia concluded. “You must travel across the ocean to this island, and rescue them from Kahn and his fighters. Can I count on you for this mission?” “Of course,” Twilight answered. “We'll move out at once!” “Excellent,” Celestia proclaimed. “I've arranged for a vehicle for you to travel to the island. Follow me.” Princess Celestia led the group to the castle courtyard, where a pink hot air balloon was tied down. “I've marked the location of the island on this map,” the princess declared, using her magic to hand off the map to Twilight. “This will be a grueling trip that may take several days...are you prepared for this journey?” “No problem!” Pinkie Pie declared, holding up a gigantic picnic basket. “I brought cake for everypony! ...Oh, and a few gems for Spike.” “Very well, then,” Celestia decided, as the ponies (and Spike) boarded the balloon. “I wish you all the best of luck on your quest.” Twilight pulled up the stake holding the balloon down, and tossed the end of the rope to Rainbow Dash. “All right, Rainbow,” she instructed, looking at the map, “we haven't a moment to lose! Set a west-south-westerly course at 117.4°!” “Thay wha?” Rainbow Dash gave Twilight a puzzled look, her speech muffled by the rope in her mouth. “Er...I mean, go that way!” Twilight corrected, pointing off towards the horizon. “Goh et!” Rainbow nodded and began flying in the specified direction, dragging the balloon with her. Princess Celestia watched for a moment as the balloon flew away, and then turned to return to the castle. Suddenly, a loud boom echoed through the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground just a few feet in front of the princess. Celestia turned her head and shielded her eyes from the flash, but when she looked again, a man stood before her in a flowing white robe and wide-brimmed hat. The princess immediately recognized the man before her as the elder god of thunder. “Why, Raiden!” Celestia exclaimed. “How nice it is to see you again! What brings you to our fair land?” Raiden sighed and folded his arms. “Princess, princess, princess...” he muttered. “What's your game here, anyway?” “Why, whatever do you mean?” Celestia gave Raiden an innocent smile. “You just sent six untrained fillies and a baby dragon to compete in Shao Kahn's tournament, which they will have to do to save their friends,” Raiden informed the princess. “I know,” Celestia confirmed, flashing a slight smile. “You do realize my warriors are highly-trained martial artists that have been preparing for this tourney for months,” Raiden went on. “They're more than capable of defeating the Outworld forces and rescuing your subjects.” Celsetia snickered a little. “I know,” she repeated. “Then why did you send those ponies off to fight?” Raiden demanded. “They are untrained, uniformed naifs that will just get in the way and make things complicated for my team! Nothing good will come of their participation—they will only make things worse!” The princess could restrain herself no longer, and she burst out laughing. “I know!” she declared, rolling on the ground. “Do you have idea how much havoc those foals are going to wreak? This is gonna be hilarious!” Raiden could only shake his head at Celestia's response. “If Kahn wins the tourney and takes over Earthrealm, I'm blaming you,” he stated flatly. “Oh, don't be such an old stick-in-the-mud!” Celestia chided the elder god. “Lighten up for a change!” She motioned to the castle. “I'm gonna go fill out my 'Mortal Madness' bracket—wanna come in and watch the fights?” “Um...I kinda have to go to the island and offer sage advice to my fighters...you know, like any wise, non-trolling mentor would do,” Raiden remarked. “I'll have Luna make us popcorn...” Celestia offered. “You don't even care, do you?” An exasperated Raiden threw up his hands. “I might as well come in — you're probably just going to screw with any plans we come up with anyway.” “That's the spirit!” Celestia proclaimed, leading Raiden into the castle.