THUMP! THUMP! The sound of somepony pounding against the wall of their stone hut jarred Twilight from her slumber. "Ugh..." she muttered, rising to her feet and stumbling half-awake towards the front opening.
Outside the hut, Twilight found Applejack already awake and preparing for battle by kicking the side of the hut repeatedly with her back legs. "Applejack?" Twilight questioned. "What are you doing out here? Why are you up so early?"
"Early?" Applejack gave Twilight a confused look. "Shoot, it's darn near six o'clock! I'm usually up long before now back home!"
"Oh...right," Twilight realized. "Well...you might want to find a tree to buck, or at least tone down your kicks." She gazed nervously at the small building the group had been given to sleep in. "I don't think Shao Kahn and his goons have ever heard of building codes."
"Good point," Applejack conceded. "I guess I'm still worked up about what Kahn did to Apple Bloom and the fillies. It...it just makes me so mad, I could just buck this whole place over!" As she spoke, she unleashed another vicious kick against the building.
"I'm mad too," Twilight commiserated, "but we've got to keep our heads here. Who knows what sort of tricks Kahn and his fighters might have in store?"
"The unicorn speaks the truth." Applejack and Twilight turned to see Liu Kang standing before them. "Strength without focus or discipline will get you nowhere in this tournament," Liu Kang continued.
"I remember you..." Twilight recollected. "You were the one talking about how to save our friends last night. Liu Kang, was it?"
"Correct," Liu Kang confirmed. "I have fought against the forces of Shao Kahn for many years, and triumphed in many of his tournaments."
"Tournaments? You mean, with an s?" Applejack arched an eyebrow. "Just how often does this guy try to conquer the world, anyway?" she asked.
"Once a quarter, generally," Liu Kang answered. "I must admit, I am happy that he chose to bring the tournament back to his tropical island."
"Where was it before?" Twilight probed.
"Siberia," Liu Kang replied. "Trying to fight while wearing six layers of clothing made things very difficult."
Twilight and Applejack exchanged eye rolls.
"My mentor Raiden foretold of your participation in this tournament," Liu Kang went on. "We have defeated Kahn many times before, and he wished to make sure your presence did not change that."
"Don't you and that Rain fella worry none!" Applejack declared confidently. "I'm gettin' my sister back, no matter what!"
"Your spirit is strong," Liu Kang agreed, "but this is no ordinary tournament. Shao Kahn's warriors are highly-skilled, and command powerful magic. Defeating them in battle will be non-trivial...and if you are defeated, you shall share the fate of Goro."
"We're not worried," Twilight proclaimed confidently, placing a hoof across Applejack's shoulders. "We've defeated for more powerful enemies than Shao Kahn before. With the power of friendship on our side, we can't be stopped."
"Speaking of Goro..." Applejack interrupted, "what exactly happened to him, anyway? It looked like that other rascal just...sucked the life out of him."
"Shang Tsung feeds off of the souls of defeated warriors," Liu Kang explained. "He stole your friends' souls as well."
"Why that lowdown no-good varmint!" Applejack seethed. "He'd better hope he don't face me in this here tournament!"
Liu Kang looked over at Twilight. "My friends and I had hoped to convince you that we could save your friends, and to stay out of the tournament," he admitted. "However, after last night, I know that this would be an impossible request. It was the death of my brother at the hands of Shang Tsung that originally brought me here, and I would never have considered withdrawing had I been asked."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that," Twilight offered.
"I have exacted my vengeance," Liu Kang proclaimed. "Perhaps you will have the chance to do the same. For now, I only wish to warn you about the battles ahead." He gestured towards a large castle-like structure sitting atop the highest peak of the island. "Shao Kahn is a deranged, sadistic man, who will stop at nothing to claim Eathrealm as his own," he emphasized.
"Well, we won't stop either, until we get our friends back!" Applejack declared. "Kahn ain't never seen anypony like us before!"
Liu Kang smiled slightly. "I can certainly believe that." he agreed, turning and beginning to walk away. "Good luck to you," he called back. "Whatever happens here...know that you are not alone."
Applejack and Twilight watched as Liu Kang disappeared among the stone huts. "I don't know about you," Applejack announced, "but I don't care how skilled or magical these people think they are. I'm gettin' Apple Bloom back, no matter what it takes."
"Agreed," Twilight replied. "The only question is...what will it take?"
The morning passed quickly, and soon the time came for the ponies' first match, pitting Rainbow Dash against a yet-to-be-announced opponent. The battle was to be held along the sandy shoreline of the island a short distance from where the group was staying, so the seven friends traveled there as a group to offer support and advice, whether Rainbow Dash wanted it or not.
"Remember, Rainbow," Twilight reminded her pegasus friend, "we have no idea who you're fighting or what they're capable of, so don't be too..."
"And they have no idea who they're dealing with!" Rainbow Dash replied with her typical bravado. "I don't care who steps in the ring - I'll give 'em a this! And a that!" She began shadow-boxing as she flew along. "They won't be able to handle this much awesomeness! I'll have this wrapped up in ten...no, eight seconds flat!"
Twilight sighed. "You didn't happen to bring your Mare-Do-Well costume with you, did you?" she asked Rarity.
"Of course not!" Rarity replied, gesturing to the fancy, flowery hat she was wearing. "I needed room for this."
"Um...Rarity?" Applejack interjected. "We're goin' to a fight, not an evenin' social."
"Well," Rarity huffed, "I've never been to a fight before, and I refuse to be caught underdressed at such an important occasion...and you should talk! You're wearing a pink scarf I've never seen you wear before!"
"It's not a scarf," Applejack corrected Rarity. "It's Fluttershy's tail. It's the only way we could get her to go."
Rarity looked back to see Fluttershy, who had assumed her 'fainting goat' pose, being dragged along behind Applejack. "Oh," she commented.
Twilight rolled her eyes, and looked over at Pinkie Pie. "Er...Pinkie?" she asked. "What's that paper in your mouth!"
"Thih?" Pinkie Pie spit the paper out onto the ground. "It's my resume!" she answered cheerfully. "I'm going to apply to be the announcer!"
"Whoa! Really?" Spike asked. "If you get the job...could I be your co-announcer?"
"Focus, people!" Twilight demanded. "This is not a cocktail party...or a job fair!"
"Aw, loosen up, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash encouraged, flexing in front of an imaginary mirror. "With me in the ring...we've got this one in the bag!"
"I hope you're right," Twilight answered, thinking back to Liu Kang's warning from earlier.
Only a few people had gathered at the battle site by the time the ponies arrived. The ring itself had already been marked in the sand, and a small contingent of ninjas stood in a line along the far side of the circle.
Twilight gulped nervously at the sight of Shang Tsung standing nearby. "Rainbow...just be careful, okay?" she counseled her friend.
"No worries, gang!" Rainbow Dash announced, immediately flying into the center of the ring. "All right, you!" she shouted in the direction of the ninjas. "Bring it on! I ain't scared!"
Suddenly, the shrill blast of a whistle cut through the air, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain. "Your attention, please!" a voice called out.
Everyone turned to see a man dressed like an NFL referee step up to the circle. "Your attention, please!" the man repeated. "The match is about to begin! In this corner..." The referee pointed towards the blue pegasus. "Ms. Rainbow Dash!"
"That's right!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed. "I'm here to kick butts and take names!"
"And in this corner..." the referee continued, pointing towards the group of ninjas, "Scorpion!"
The line of ninjas parted, and Shao Kahn's soulless servant stepped up from behind them to take his place in the circle. "Prepare yourself for the great beyond," Scorpion growled.
"Hmm..." Pinkie Pie scratched her head. "That guy seems awfully familiar..." After a few moments, a lightbulb lit up in her head. "I know! He was at our book club meeting last month!"
Twilight and Spike exchanged "Pinkie's being Pinkie again" looks.
"Combatants ready?" the referee asked.
"Can pegasi walk on clouds?" Rainbow Dash answered rhetorically.
"Since the day I was killed," Scorpion declared.
"Very well, then," the ref concluded. "FIGHT!"
Scorpion began dancing around the circle like a prizefighter, with his hands up and eyes narrowed. "You think you can defeat me, pony?" he taunted. "I shall grind your bones into dust and mount your head on my wall!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Rainbow Dash replied, watching Scorpion as he circled her.
After doing a complete lap around the ring, Scorpion made his move, charging towards the bored-looking pony. Rainbow Dash, however, simply leaped into the air, leaving Scorpion alone on the ground. "Hah! Too slow!" Rainbow Dash mocked, blowing a raspberry at the fighter below her. "You move slower than Granny Smith!"
"Hey!" Applejack objected. "Leave Granny Smith out of this!"
Scorpion said nothing, simply staring at Rainbow Dash with his piercing eyes.
"Whatsa matter?" Rainbow Dash mocked. "Come on up here and fight! Oh wait...that's right: you can't!" She laughed at her own bad joke.
Scorpion still did not respond, but Twilight could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. "Rainbow!" she called out to her friend. "Don't just sit there - do something!"
"Don't rush me!" Rainbow Dash shouted back. "Now then..." she muttered to herself as she scratched her chin, "should I give this guy my 'Karate Kibosh'? Maybe a 'Tae Kwon Do Tornado'? Ooh, or maybe the 'Buccaneer Blaze' I was practicing for the Wonderbolts..."
Scorpion slowly raised his hand towards Rainbow Dash. "Get over here!" he shouted.
"Yeah...I'm thinking no on that..." Rainbow Dash stopped in mid-sentence as a spear shot out from Scorpion's hand in her direction. "Whoa!" she shouted, juking to her right and dodging the spear just in time. "Where did that come from?" she demanded.
The spear, however, wasn't done yet: After narrowly missing its target, it suddenly spun around to (quite literally) take another stab at its target. "Look out behind you!" Twilight screamed.
"Yipes!" Rainbow Dash spun out of the way of the spear's return shot. "Hey!" she shouted down at Scorpion. "What's your deal here?"
Scorpion said - and did - nothing, but the spear decided the third time was the charm, and came charging back at its target. "What the...Shoo! Go away! Scram!" Rainbow Dash shouted, dashing off through the air with the spear in hot pursuit.
As the crowd looked on, Rainbow Dash took started flying around the ring, executing flips, loops, and barrel rolls in an attempt to lose the spear. When this failed, she made a mad dash through the nearby forest, darting and diving around rocks, roots, and leaves to tangle the spear up in the foliage. When this failed, she tried using altitude, flying high up into the sky to go beyond the reach of the spear's rope. "Oh, come on!" she shouted at the spear, as it extended limitlessly up to reach her.
From the ground, Scorpion smiled behind his mask and pulled out an e-reader from his pocket. "She shall not escape," he declared coldly, as he pulled up a Danielle Steele novel to peruse while waiting.
Scorpion's prediction came true within minutes: After a series of advanced evasive maneuvers, a tired and desperate Rainbow Dash tried escaping the spear by hiding within a cloud. The spear wasn't fooled, however, and simply wrapped itself around the cloud several times, then squeezed until the rope tightened around Rainbow Dash's body, pinning her wings and rendering her unable to fly.
"Lemme go!" Rainbow Dash demanded, struggling to free herself from the rope.
Sensing tension on the line, Scorpion put away his tablet and began retracting his spear rope. "Come here!" he dictated.
Helpless to resist, Rainbow Dash was summarily yanked out of her hiding place and began plummeting to the ground. "Oh no!" Twilight shouted. "From that distance, she'll never survive the fall!"
From up above, Rainbow Dash continued struggling with the rope. After a few harrowing seconds, she managed to get her wings loose from its wraps. "Hah! I'm not finished yet!" she announced. She tried to resist the pull of the rope, but it was too strong, and she was unable to slow her descent.
"She can't get away!" Rarity noted from the ground. "Whatever shall we do?"
"Quick!" Twilight shouted, using her magic to pluck a large leaf from a nearby palm tree. "We have to catch her!"
"No!" the referee interrupted. "No one else can interfere with the battle. It must be fought between the combatants and the combatants alone."
"But what can she do?" Applejack wondered. "She's can't even slow that rope thing down!"
A thought suddenly burst into Twilight's mind. "That's it!" she realized. "Rainbow! Fall faster!"
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash shouted back. "What are you talking about?"
"Applejack has a shed for you to destroy!" Twilight went on. "Remember?"
The pilot light in Rainbow Dash's brain lit up. "Hey, yeah!" she remembered. Flashing a devious smile, she turned herself around and started flying towards Scorpion for all she was worth.
Scorpion scowled at the incoming pegasus. "What sort of trickery is this?" he growled.
"Prepare to TASTE THE RAINBOW, big boy!" Rainbow Dash screamed, as she rocketed down towards her foe.
BOOM! The impact generated a huge rainbow-colored cloud of smoke over the battle arena, and sent both sand and spectators flying in every direction. After shaking the stars from her eyes, Twilight found herself upside down at the base of the tree she had just plucked a leaf from. "What...happened..." she muttered.
"Wheeeeee!" Pinkie Pie burst from a pile of sand, her head wedged illogically inside a glass bottle. "That was fun! Let's do it again!" she squealed.
"AIEEEE!!" Rarity screamed. "Dirt! Awful, disgusting dirt!" She started brushing herself off frantically. "Antidote! I need an antidote! Somepony get me an antidote!" she demanded.
Twilight's mind suddenly kicked back into gear. "The fight!" she remembered, looking back over to where the battle ring had been.
As the smoke cleared, it revealed a large crater nearly fifteen feet deep. At the bottom stood a stunned and stumbling Rainbow Dash, with her eyes crossed and her mane singed. In contrast, there was no sign of Scorpion - instead, scraps and shreds of yellow tunic were scattered around the impact site.
"Did I...win?" Rainbow Dash slurred.
The referee hurried over to the side of the crater, looking a bit disoriented (and now sporting Rarity's crumpled hat). "The match is over!" he declared. "Rainbow Dash wins!" He hesitated for a few moments, then looked over at Shang Tsung. "What do I call this?" he asked. "A Fatality? A Brutality? A Rainbow-tality?"
Shang Tsung looked up at the cloud still hovering in the sky. "I think I'd call it a violation of the Kyoto Protocol," he replied.
"You did it!" Twilight shouted, as she and her friends jumped down into the crater and wrapped Rainbow Dash in a group hug.
"Did...what?" Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes still rattling around in their sockets.
As the ponies celebrated, one of the ninjas in Scorpion's entourage approached Shang Tsung. "Shao Kahn shall not be pleased," he commented.
"Meh," Shang Tsung said with a shrug. "It's just as well. Scorpion's contract was almost up, and he was eligible for arbitration this year. I heard the salary negotiations weren't going well."
"These ponies are more formidable than they appear," the ninja remarked.
"Patience, my friend," Shang Tsung advised. "This is only the first battle." He looked over to where Rainbow Dash was giving a half-coherent interview to ESPN. "Shao Kahn has big plans for them," he stated ominously.