//------------------------------// // Select Your Fighter! // Story: The Red Cyclone // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Celestia let the rays of the rising sun fall on her face as she walked out onto the balcony, letting out a sigh of relief as another quiet night passed in her kingdom. Luna grunted her 'goodnight' to Celestia while the two sisters traded places, allowing Celestia to fully lift the sun into the sky. "And so begins another beautiful day," she said with a smile as her eyes looked upon the city below, where the ponies under her protection slowly began to awaken. "And I am glad for such a peaceful day to be added to the list of peaceful days that we have had here. No invading forces, no awakened evils. Finally, everything is peaceful." "Sister, I am glad that you are happy, but please shut up so I can sleep," Luna grumbled in the darkness of her room from beneath a pillow. Celestia let out a small giggle at her sister before she spread her wings and ascended into the skies, letting the warm morning air carry her above her city. She landed in the streets with grace, folding her wings back in again as she began her morning walk through the streets, nodding in response to the early birds who waved at her. "Another lovely sunrise, Princess Celestia," a pony with a broom said from outside his store as he brushed away the dust, bowing to Celestia as she passed. "How do you manage to make them so beautiful each morning?" "Centuries of practice, Mr. Cliff," Celestia responded with a smile. She continued her walk until she reached her favorite part of Canterlot, a large park that rested on the edge of the city and allowed her to look out across most of the land, accompanied by the comforting sounds of the birds and insects. Celestia breathed in the fresh air as her majestic mane flowed behind her, a slight breeze letting it flow in all of its glory. "I can already tell that today is going to be a great day," she said to herself as she sat down on the bench that overlooked Equestria, closing her eyes and allowing herself to be lost in the sounds of the morning. Yet, when she heard the sounds of hooves running towards her, she kicked herself for jinxing the day with those words, opening her eyes to see her advisor standing beside her. "Alright Willow, what is it now? A fire in Manehatten? A plague of locus? Twilight having another meltdown?" "Actually, my Princess, this might be the best news that you're going to hear today," Willow said with a laugh that shook his gray beard as mirth shone in his eyes. He reached into his pouch on his back and pulled out a large letter that Celestia recognized as the type sent by the dragons. She quickly snatched it from him and tore it open, scanning the lines quickly with an ever growing smile. "Yes, my Princess, it seems that the dragons have signed the peace treaty that you sent to them as well. That means that we are now at peace with the zebras, griffons, deer and now dragons. Truly, this is a glorious day." "Indeed it is Willow, indeed it is," Celestia smiled as she folded up the letter and hoofed it back to him, unable to keep herself from smiling like a lunatic at the news. "That means that we are nearly at peace with all of the nations now. Can this day get any better?" "It could. Imagine if we could get the changelings to agree to a peace treaty," Willow suggested, but his words caused Celestia to groan as she sat back down on the bench with a huff. "And here I was in such a great mood, and you just had to go and say that," Celestia grumbled as she rested her chin on her hooves, scrunching up her nose while she thought about the last time she tried to make nice with the changelings. "From our talks last time, it seems that the only way Chrysalis will ever consider peace with us, is if we make her a co-ruler of Equestria...and we both know how that would end for both our nations." "Maybe we just need to wait a bit more?" Willow suggested as he sat down next to the princess, the sun making even his gray coat seem colorful. "Our spies have shown that her nation is not fairing well, and neither are the changelings. We may not even need to force the issue since in another few months she might come crawling to us for aid." "Let us hope it does not come to that, I'd hate to see any ponies placed into such a state," Celestia muttered with a shake of her head. She stood up and stretched her back, followed by her wings as she turned back to her town. "Thank you for reminding me that to keep my nation from falling into such a state, I must continue to work, even if I wish to relax." "Well if your sister stopped sleeping during the day, then she might be able to take on some of your immense workload," Willow muttered with a chuckle as he looked down at the activities that Celestia had to attend to that day. "For example, she could handle the dispute between those two ponies who are trying to decide who is responsible for that tree that is constantly shedding needles is on each others' property." "Father help me, that's today, isn't it?" Celestia fearfully asked, groaning when Willow nodded his head in response. "Well, nopony said that this job would be easy. Time for me to be a ruler." )LARIAT( On an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that wasn't supposed to exist (at least according to the governments), sat a laboratory. The battle that raged within the secret laboratory clearly did exist, a battle between those who sought to protect the world and those of the forces of Shadaloo. The fighters unleashed their skills upon in each other in the center of a large room that served as the main center of the facility, and in the middle of the room sat a large machine that roared with unholy dark energy. All around the machine scientists and workers ran as they tried to avoid the two fighting sides, with limited success. "It ends today, Bison! SonicBOOM!" a man with a strange flattop and camo clothes roared as he slammed his arm forwards at incredible speeds, sending a shockwave flying towards his foe. The shockwave was swatted away by a purple energy-powered fist, the fist belonging to a man in all red with silver boots and shoulder pads, who smirked at the pathetic attempt to hurt him. "Is that all you can muster, Guile?" M. Bison berated with a large smile as he launched forward with his psycho-powered fist, grabbing Guile by the throat and hoisting him into the air. "At least provide me with a challenge before I tear your soul from your body, if you can." Guile was saved from soul destroying in the form of a kick from behind, that Bison was forced to block with his left hand, forcing him to release Guile to block the attack. "Ah, Chun-Li, I wondered how long until you foolishly came to strike me down again," Bison taunted as he drove his fist at her, Chun-Li dodging out of the way and rolling next to Guile, where she helped him to his feet. "Come to complain some more about how I slayed your father again, or have you found something else to hate me for?" "Oh, I believe there is plenty I hate you for," she snarled before leaping back into the battle, with Guile backing her up. "Like that doomsday machine that you plan to unleash upon the nations of the world! I'm bringing you down!" Below where the two battled, a number of other fights raged around and through the computers that made up most of the floor. A man in a white gi narrowly avoided punches from a boxer whose blows could barely be seen, keeping his foe back. Another battle consisted of a young lady in a green leotard battling a man with a mask and claw, the lady bleeding from a number of cuts on her legs. But the strangest battle took place near the doomsday machine, where a massive seven foot Russian battled it out with a yellow-haired man in a red gi. "Hadoken!" Ken yelled as he thrust both of his hands forward, sending a burst of energy towards the mountain of a man. "Enough with the hadokens!" Zangief roared in rage as he slammed the back if his hand into the fireball, slapping it out of the air with his green hand. With the projectile gone Zangief rushed forward, both arms stretched to the side in anticipation of whichever way Ken tried to move. "Fine. Try this!" Ken yelled as he leapt over Zangief's head, dodging his grab and landing right behind the Russian wrestler. Zangief turned around to receive a punch to the gut that stunned him for a moment, but a moment was all Ken needed as he drove his fist into Zangief's chin, taking them both into the air while he yelled, "SHORYUKEN!" Ken landed on his feet while Zangief slammed into the metal floor face first, giving Ken a moment to look at the doomsday machine. "Gotta destroy this thing before it can reach its full power. If I don't, then..." Ken's words were cut off as two massive arms wrapped themselves around his midsection and the next thing he knew he was upside down and looking straight at the floor. "TOO LATE!" Zangief yelled as he drove Ken Masters head first into the ground, rolling out of the suplex and to his feet, placing his massive arms onto his hips while he threw his head back and laughed at the man on the ground. "Your puny muscles will not allow you to defeat me, even if you do have that infernal hadoken! By defeating you and your comrades, I will prove Mother Russia's superiority!" "Well, I'm trying to save Mother Russia, along with the rest of the world!" Ken yelled at Zangief as he forced himself up, his words cutting off Zangief mid-laugh. "What?" Zangief asked with confusion as he looked down at Ken. "That is a DOOMSDAY, one that will wipe whatever it hits out of reality! Meaning: that Bison is going to use it to destroy the world!" Ken screamed at Zangief. Zangief looked from the fighter to the machine, the wheels slowly turning in his Russian skull. "It will destroy the world?" Zangief asked again as he looked at the machine for a moment. Then his eyes went wide and he clasped his hands to his head while he screamed, "Then we have to destroy it!" "THAT'S WHAT I WAS DOING!" Zangief and Ken both rushed forward towards the doomsday machine and both threw themselves at it, striking it with kicks, punches and lariats. Straining his mighty muscles of Russia, Zangief managed to tear a chunk off the side off of the machine, which he then threw at the top of the doomsday machine. But to both his and Ken's horror, the machine began to glow and the ground began to rumble with power. "You worms are too late!" M. Bison laughed as he slammed his hands together, sending out a wave of psycho energy that knocked his two foes back. He then turned towards the machine as it reached its full power, holding out both of his hands while his psychotic laughter filled the air. Then, his face fell slightly as the machine began to blink, appearing and disappearing within seconds of each other. "Do not worry comrade, I am destroying the machine from the inside!" Zangief yelled over to Ken while he reached his hands that could crush bears into the heart of the machine, tearing it apart from the inside out. "No machine is a match for the might of Zangief!" "Enough, you pathetic excuse of fodder!" Bison roared as he flew down from the catwalk, landing and hurling himself towards Zangief, but he was knocked out of the air by a flaming kick to the side, followed up with a... "Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!" Bison snarled as he landed on his feet, narrowing his eyes at the white clad warrior in front of him. "Ryu, are you so foolish that you believe yourself able to defeat a god?" "You are no god--and I shall defeat you," Ryu replied as he took up his fighting stance, both fighters sizing each other up before a massive explosion went off from the top of the doomsday machine, causing warning sirens to sound as Bison turned towards the machine. "No, the extensive damage has caused it to begin to flux in and out of reality!" M. Bison snarled before he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and teleported himself out of the way of another flying kick. "The machine is a failure. All it will do now is vanish from reality! This fight is over Ryu, but we will meet again!" Bison vanished in a flash of psycho energy as he said this, leaving the others to look towards the machine while it began to vanish into thin air. "Get away from the machine! It's about to go off!" Guile yelled from the catwalk. The fighters all backed away as the machine began to vanish and reappear incredibly fast, shaking the entire base as it did so. "That is right you weak machine, vanish into nothingness to hide your shame!" Zangief laughed as he threw his head back again, letting his victorious laugh loose. Then, he stopped laughing when he felt something pull at his leg, and he looked down to see that a wire from the machine was still wrapped around it. He then slowly looked from the wire to the machine that was about to completely vanish, realizing what was about to happen just fast enough for him to say, "Oh Borscht." A flash of white light went off and blinded all of the fighters in the room who were still up. When the light died down, they all saw to their relief that the doomsday machine was gone...along with Zangief.