The Mane 6, Spike, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kitana were currently on the train to Canterlot. To pass the time, they talked about their worlds, and when Kitana told her story, the other Equestria natives were shocked.
"You're 10,000 years OLD?!" Rainbow Dash cried out in shock.
Kitana chuckled. "Yes, true I look like I am in my twenties, but Edenians don't age like humans do."
"Goodness, I wish we could all go to Edenia to see what it's like," Fluttershy said.
"Oh most certainly! From what Kitana has said, it must be simply divine!" Rarity gushed.
Kitana smiled, she would honestly love to show her new friends her beautiful realm...other than the bloody battlefield that she initially died on.
"Maybe someday, I can take you girls there. But for right now, I feel it important we see your princess."
Feeling the train stop, Flash Sentry stepped up and guided them out of the train before leading them through the streets of Canterlot.
"Right this way, everyone. The Princesses will be in the throne room waiting for you."
Looking around the city, the Earthrealm Protectors saw just how magnificent the city was. Johnny couldn't help but whistle when he saw his reflection in one of the windows and pulled his shades down to wink at himself.
"Amazing..." Kitana breathed as she observed the towers. "The structure is almost similar to that of the Edenian Castle."
"Perhaps Princess Celestia visited your realm?" Rarity suggested.
Kitana laughed playfully. "Your princess? In Edenia? That would have been a sight to see."
"But I doubt she could visit considering it was still under the reign of Shao Kahn at the time..." Liu Kang frowned.
"Well, well, do my eyes deceive me? Is that you, Rarity?"
Rarity frowned and let out a low groan as she turned around to see a handsome Unicorn man with ivory skin, blonde hair, and dressed as a noble.
"Hello, Prince Blueblood..." The Element of Generosity said drolly.
"Okay, who and what now?" Johnny asked.
"That fella is Princess Celestia's nephew, Prince Blueblood," Applejack said, shaking her head. "Don't know how someone as thick-headed and full of air as him is related to her."
"Ah, guess he's a Grade-A Prick, huh?" Johnny guessed, Applejack nodding.
"And who are your new friends?" Blueblood asked, noticing the Earthrealm Warriors. "They don't seem to be Equestrian."
"They're visitors from another world, we were just on our way to bring them to Princess Celestia." Rarity huffed. "Now, good day to you."
"Still, I must ask who in their right mind puts their own name on their chest?" Blueblood asked as he assessed Johnny. "Makes you come across as an arrogant buffoon, doesn't it?"
Johnny lowered his shades to give Blueblood a look before putting them back up as he leaned closer to the arrogant noble.
"The name's Johnny Cage, A-List movie star, daring stunt double, multiple-time defender of Earthrealm...and the guy who's gonna punch you in your fucking BALLS."
"Wha-?"
Before Blueblood could even react, Johnny did the splits and drove his fist straight into his groin. The prince doubled over before falling to his knees, his eyes bugged out as he fell down and curled up into a ball, holding his wounded privates.
"Point taken, good day to you sir...!" Blueblood squeaked out in a falsetto voice as Johnny smirked and did a hand-crank middle finger gesture before following the others to the castle.
"Rather brutish but somepony needed to take him down a peg." Rarity smirked.
Within the Canterlot throne room, Princess Celestia awaited her guests. She smiled when the doors opened and Twilight and her friends arrived, along with the warriors from Earthrealm.
"Twilight, it's good to see you've made it." The Princess of the Sun said as she stood up from her throne and walked down to meet them. "Thank you for escorting them, Flash Sentry."
"No problem, your highness," Flash said humbly with a bow as he took his leave, giving a passing look to Twilight which she returned before approaching her mentor.
"Princess Celestia, I received the letter from Princess Luna last night. We investigated the Everfree Forest this morning and found these three waiting for us."
Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kitana stepped forward, Liu and Kitana both bowing in respect as Johnny looked between the two of them before bowing as well.
"You know, she's actually kinda hot," Johnny smirked as Liu gave his friend a look.
"Shut up, Cage." The Shaolin Monk then stood up. "Your Majesty, it is an honor to finally meet you. I am-"
"Liu Kang, yes." Celestia interrupted with a smile. "You are Raiden's protege."
"You knew Lord Raiden?" Liu Kang asked in shock, Johnny and Kitana looking equally surprised.
"Know him? We've been lifelong friends for over a millennium." Celestia giggled as she turned to the others. "And you must be Princess Kitana of Edenia and Johnny Cage, the infamous movie star."
"To be honest, haven't really been in the movie business since I first joined the tournament," Johnny admitted. "Lot of crazy shit happening and all that."
Celestia gave an amused smile to Johnny before turning to Liu. "Tell me, Liu Kang. What has become of my dear Raiden?"
"Hold the phone, did you say DEAR Raiden?" Johnny interrupted. "You mean you and he...?"
Celestia gave a playful look as Johnny had to do a double-take with his sunglasses to make sure he was hearing things right before letting out a whistle.
"Wow, Raiden actually having a girlfriend...Seriously! What does he have that I don't?"
"Godlike power?" Liu Kang stated.
"A personality that doesn't feel at all like sanding paper?" Kitana added playfully.
"Jerks..." Johnny grumbled as he looked away with his arms folded.
Liu Kang and Kitana proceeded to explain to Celestia everything that had happened since she last saw Raiden. From Liu Kang's initial death at the hands of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi to the return of Onaga, to Raiden's sacrifice and resurrection as Dark Raiden, to the events of Armageddon.
At the end of it all, Celestia was heartbroken by all that had happened, a tear running down her face as she covered her mouth.
"It cannot be..."
Liu Kang sadly bowed his head. "I am truly sorry, Your Majesty. After what happened, we arrived here, in Equestria. How we are not certain..."
"Yeah, how did you all get here when you already died?" Pinkie asked. "And isn't Liu supposed to be a zombie?"
"RIGHT?!" Johnny voiced in agreement.
Celestia cleaned away her tears as she spoke. "Before your death, Liu Kang, Raiden returned to Equestria to see me after defeating Shinnok. To tell me how he became one of the Elder Gods, it would have meant that he wouldn't be able to see me as often as he could originally. So I made him this..."
Celestia's horn glowed with majestic golden light as she created an astral form of the Amulet of Faust.
"It was a gift so that he would always have a part of me close by. And if anything were to happen to his comrades, he would use this amulet to transport their souls to Equestria, to be reborn and start a new life."
"So that explains it..." Liu Kang said in understanding. "That's why Lord Raiden sent us here so that we may survive."
"But what do you think has happened to him?" Kitana asked worriedly.
"I'm wondering the same thing. If he managed to transport your souls here, it's possible he may still be alive." Twilight suggested. "I mean this Shao Kahn must be keeping him prisoner."
"And if he's keeping him prisoner..." Rainbow Dash said in realization. "Oh man, he's probably gonna force the location of Equestria out of him!"
Right on cue, Flash Sentry rushed back into the throne room in a panic.
"Princess Celestia, strange creatures are attacking Canterlot, the west entrance!"
"These creatures, what do they look like?" Celestia asked worriedly.
"They have sharp fangs and blades coming out of their arms!" Flash explained. "They're also eating ponies left and right!"
"The Tarkatans..." Liu Kang said dangerously, his eyes narrowing.
"Tarka-what-now?" Applejack asked.
"You want the quick and easy version sister, here it is; Big ugly-ass human-like creatures with giant blades coming out of their elbows and a taste for all kinds of meat, even still living flesh," Johnny explained.
"If they've arrived then so has Baraka..." Kitana realized, her eyes widening.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's stop them!" Rainbow said eagerly as she was about to fly off but a rope of purple magic light wrapped around her leg, pulling her back to the ground. "Hey, what gives Twilight?!"
"We've never faced anything like this Rainbow, the only ones who can handle these creatures are Liu Kang and his friends," Twilight explained as she turned to the Earthrealm Warriors. "We'll work on evacuating the civilians, you handle the horde."
Liu Kang nodded as he turned to his friends. "We must hurry."
The Mane 6, Spike, and Flash ran out to help with evacuations while Liu Kang, Johnny, and Kitana split off to stop the Tarkatan Horde.
Within the Canterlot streets, Baraka and his horde attacked everything in sight. Any citizens who dared get in their way were mercilessly slaughtered, painting the once pristine grounds with blood and gore.
"Save me the eyes!" Baraka ordered to his allies as he tore out the brain of a noble pony who had arrogantly tried forcing them to stay down and began gnawing at it.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of bodies hitting the floor and turned to see his comrades falling at the hands of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Kitana. Johnny finished karate chopping a Tarkatan grunt's head in half before taking out one of his old trophies from somewhere and slamming it into the open wound.
"And the award goes to...THIS ASSHOLE!" Johnny laughed as he tipped the corpse over, the trophy making a clang as it hit the ground.
"So you three DID survive..." Baraka snarled as he unsheathed his arm blades and scraped them together.
"And it seems Shao Kahn brought you back as well, Baraka," Kitana said with a narrowed glare as she readied her fan blades.
"Liu, you and Kitana handle the rest of these chumps. I'll take care of Ugly McFuglyson here." Johnny smirked as he took off his shades to wipe the blood off them before putting them back on. "It's Showtime."
"Do you even know what I am?" Baraka snarled.
"Cannibal humanoid under-dweller?" Johnny sarcastically responded.
"I am DEATH, you IMP!"
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had just finished getting the civilians in their area to safety when they saw Johnny about to fight Baraka. Wanting to see just how skilled the former actor was, Rainbow quickly hid to see the action.
"Rainbow, what's going on?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, but my Awesome Sense is tingling!" Rainbow grinned.
The two Pegasus girls watched as Baraka lunged at Johnny, going for a strike but the actor blocked the attack and ducked under the blades before glowing with Shadow energy and delivering a powerful flip kick to the Tarkatan Warrior's jaw, sending him reeling back.
After recovering, Baraka scraped his blades together, firing a fast-moving spark of pure friction at Johnny, who ducked in a split before throwing a High Forceball that hit Baraka in the face, sending him staggering, giving Johnny the opening he needed to rush in and deliver an elbow to Baraka's nose, breaking it.
In pain and anger, Baraka slashed his blades wildly at Johnny, who skillfully dodged them before making a "Come on." gesture to the Tarkatan, who took the bait and lunged furiously, only for Johnny to duck under the blade strike and hit him in the groin three times in quick succession.
"Oooooh! That had to hurt!" Rainbow winced as Fluttershy covered her eyes.
As Baraka doubled over in pain, vomiting up blood, Johnny leaped into the air and struck him in the back with his elbow, fracturing his spine. The Tarkatan Chief shrieked as he stumbled back, trying to regain his bearings as he glared at Johnny.
"I make this look easy!" The actor cockily said as he hopped in place, gesturing for Baraka to try again.
"Your skin will make fine leather, Cage!"
Johnny just smirked. "It better. I paid enough for it."
"I'll enjoy wearing you!"
Baraka extended his blades and charged forward with his teeth bared but Johnny simply kicked a large rock straight into his mouth, getting it stuck as Baraka stumbled, only for the movie actor to close the distance between them and deliver a back spin kick, breaking the rock and knocking out a few of Baraka's teeth in the process.
"Awww, the tooth fairy has gotta love this guy!" Rainbow laughed before noticing a Tarkatan Grunt trying to jump Johnny from behind and quickly flew down to punch it in the face, sending it flying into a nearby building.
"Hey, I had that handled, Skittles!" Johnny complained as Rainbow smirked playfully at him.
"Didn't look like it from where I was standing."
Baraka slowly got up, covering his bloodied mouth as he retreated with the rest of his horde through a malevolent green portal that formed from nowhere. No doubt it was taking them back to Outworld as the portal closed once the last Tarkatan jumped through.
"There were some fatalities, but only a few." Liu Kang said as he and the others approached. "Thankfully the living greatly outweighs the dead."
"You guys were amazing! The way you fought those monsters, you were like WAH! And you were like HIYAH! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life!" Pinkie Pie said, striking some kung-fu poses as she did so.
"I doubt this is all over..." Twilight said worriedly. "Because if Shao Kahn found Equestria, it's likely he'll stop at nothing until he's conquered everything."
"Twilight is absolutely correct." Celestia said as she appeared before everyone. "This attack may only be a warning of battles yet to come. Equestria needs defenders that know how to face the threat we're facing. I know that I may be asking much of you, but will you help protect my realm, and all who live in it?"
Liu Kang bowed. "We would be honored to, Your Majesty. For Lord Raiden's sake and for the sake of all realms, we will fight."
"But we can't do it alone. No doubt the rest of our comrades are here, scattered through the lands." Kitana noted as she looked out the borders of Equestria.
"We can help you. We know Equestria like the back of our hands." Twilight said with a smile.
"You got that right. Those varmints won't know what hit 'em!" Applejack added, tipping her hat.
"Yeah, we're awesome." Rainbow smugly said.
"Yay..." Fluttershy quietly cheered.
Nodding to the Mane Six, the Earthrealm Warriors looked out to the land of Equestria, knowing that they will be in for the journey of a lifetime. But questions still remained in their hearts, will they find their remaining comrades? And will they be able to save Raiden from the evil Emperor?
"HOLD ON A SECOND!" Pinkie suddenly cried. "I HAVEN'T PREPARED A 'WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA' PARTY FOR YOU ALL YET!"
"We're gonna have to put that on hold for the next chapter, Pinkie Pie." Rarity sighed, shaking her head.
Hope you liked this action-packed chapter! In the next one, we'll see more of Earthrealm's Heroes arrive in Equestria as well as a few more epic fights.
Also, did you see the new Mortal Kombat 1 trailer? Rain, Smoke, Cyrax, and Sektor are back! Oh, and Frost is there too, I guess...
