Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition)

Chapters

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs The Master
Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Cyberleader
Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Derpy
Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Princess Celestia
Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Discord? +Epilogue
Vinyl Scratch: Prologue
Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Neon Lights
Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Pinkie Pie
Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Octavia
Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Princess Celestia
Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Discord? +Epilogue
Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Colgate
Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Spike
Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Bon Bon
Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Princess Celestia
Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Discord? +Epilogue
Doctor Whooves: Introduction
Lyra Heartstrings: Prologue

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs The Master

Much to his surprise, The Doctor was able to pretty much breeze through the first three rounds. As little hand-to-hand combat experience as he had, it seemed to translate into hoof-to-hoof combat as though it were second-nature.

In simpler terms, it was as though he were born to fight as a pony.

Following the completion of the third round, The Doctor took a quick glance at the tournament ladder to see who his next opponent would be. While searching for where he was, he noticed that Derpy and some of her friends were also in the running and seeming to be faring quite well. Of course, this meant he was more likely to have to face one of them later in the tournament, but for now, he would just have to worry about his next opponent and nopony else. When he finally found who he was facing, he could have sworn he knew the stallion from somewhere, but couldn’t quite place his hoof on it. “Right, then,” The Doctor said to himself, “let’s get this overwith.” He then made his way to the stage.

When he got to where Stage 4 was being held, he noticed that the room he was in was incredibly familiar to him. Almost everywhere he looked, there were many computers, but no one operating them. To his right were a pair of glass chambers, in front of him was a large gate-like structure, and above him was a glass dome rather than a roof. If it weren’t for all the cameras around the room broadcasting the fight to Canterlot, The Doctor would have been sure that he was in the wrong place. “I remember this place,” The Doctor said to himself.

“I would hope you do,” a familiar yet unknown voice said from behind The Doctor. “After all, this is where our paths crossed for the final time.”

The Doctor inhaled to reply, but never turned around. “It doesn’t matter how many voices you have, but they always have the same tone behind them... Master.” The Doctor quickly whirled around to face his old foe. Except he didn’t look like the Master that the Doctor remembered. (Partially because The Master was a pony like The Doctor.) He had a blue coat, a tidy yellow mane, a red bow tie, and like The Doctor, his cutie mark was an hourglass. The only other thing that reminded The Doctor of The Master was that same dark expression he always wore. “I thought you had died getting rid of Rassilon last year in this very room.”

“Oh, of course I died, Doctor,” The Master replied with a laugh. “But you died later that day, didn’t you?” The Doctor’s expression remained unamused. “At least, you were supposed to die, weren’t you? But like me, you didn’t want to go. You still had a long life ahead of you, didn’t you?”

“Enough talk, Master. Tell me why you’re here.”

“Oh, I’d love to do that for you, old friend, but I’m afraid that’s a surprise, and not a very pleasant one, mind you.”

“Tell me what it is, or else.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you... if you can beat me in this stage. After all, you’ll have to advance a little further into this Equestria Battle Tournament if you want to have any hope of stopping it.”

“Well then get ready to start talking, Master, because I’ve proven to be pretty adaptive through the first part of this tournament.”

“Heh. And how do you think I got here? A TARDIS of my own?”

“Fighters, take your positions,” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

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The Master quickly decided to take the pre-emptive strike and began galloping right at The Doctor to attack with a mid-level punch. However, The Doctor saw this attack coming and sidestepped to dodge it. He then quickly turned and bucked The Master hard, sending him flying into one of the nearby computers. “Don’t tell me you’re done already,” The Doctor taunted.

“You never were one for taunting,” The Master said, quickly getting back to his hooves. “Why start now of all times?” The Master then began galloping at The Doctor once again. The Doctor tried to dodge with a sidestep, but The Master saw this coming and quickly turned to throw a powerful kick that The Doctor barely had enough time to even block. However, the bad angle The Master had with his kick did leave him off-balance for a second, and The Doctor wasn’t about to let a single opportunity like this go to waste, especially against The Master. The Doctor threw a high-level punch, hitting The Master square in the stomach. However, much to the surprise of The Doctor and everypony watching from the audience, The Master grabbed The Doctor’s hoof and brought him to the ground. Both landed hard, but neither one was even getting started.

As the fight progressed, both combatants became fairly battered and bruised, but neither one was willing to accept that the other was superior. “30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia called.

“Time for your defeat, Doctor,” The Master said. He then rushed in and tried to start a combo with a low-level punch. However, The Doctor grabbed The Master’s hoof and flipped him onto his side, causing him to hit the ground hard. “Not... bad...” The Master then let his head drop into his hoof as he lay on the floor, utterly defeated.

“K.O.” Princess Celestia called. “The winner of round 1 is Doctor Whooves.” The audience burst into loud cheering as Princess Celestia made the announcement.

As the crowd cheered like crazy, The Doctor trotted over to where The Master lay and offered a hoof to help him up. “You fought a good round,” The Doctor said.

“The next one will be different,” The Master replied, swatting The Doctor’s hoof away and getting up on his own, despite his injuries. “Just you watch.” Princess Celestia then healed both combatants’ injuries and restored their stamina. The Master then returned to his corner of the arena and stood waiting for round 2 to start.

“Well so much for trying to revive an old friendship,” The Doctor said to himself while returning to his corner.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, begin!”

“It’s customary for the winner of the previous round to make the first move,” The Master said.

“You asked for it, Master,” The Doctor said, charging forward. The Master simply stood his ground and waited for The Doctor’s attack. When The Doctor got to The Master and tried to give him a mid-level punch, however, The Master blocked the attack and grabbed The Doctor’s hoof.

“Oh, Doctor,” The Master said, “will you ever stop being so gullible?” The Master then spun The Doctor around by the hoof about twice all the way around before throwing him into another one of the computers. The Doctor quickly recovered, however, and began charging back at The Master. However, instead of punching The Master, The Doctor slid low and gave The Master a sweep kick followed by a strong uppercut.

“Oh, Master,” The Doctor said teasingly, “will you ever stop being so pretentious?” Seeing that The Master had been knocked off balance, The Doctor felt this was the perfect opportunity to wrap the round up with a combo. The Doctor started with a low-level punch, the followed up with a high-level punch, a spin kick, an uppercut, and finally, a strong two-legged buck. The Master was knocked back several feet and now covered in bruises. His stamina was also pretty low. In contrast, The Doctor looked like he could go quite a while longer.

“20 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“20 seconds?” The Master asked, getting up onto shaky legs. “That sounds like plenty of time to finish this.”

“How are you going to finish this?” The Doctor asked. “The round’s pretty much over.”

A wicked smile crept across The Master’s face as he raised his hoof in front of him. “Nothing’s over until I say it’s over, Doctor.” The Master then cast his hoof forward towards The Doctor, unleashing a beam of electricity that hit The Doctor square in the chest. The blast lasted a few seconds and The Doctor tried to endure it until the attack was finished. When The Master finally let up, it was The Doctor’s turn to be standing on shaky legs. He was breathing heavily and looking down at his own legs.

“I knew you were holding back, old friend,” The Doctor said before falling to the ground, completely drained of stamina.

“K.O.” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 2 is The Master.” The audience erupted in a mixture of cheers, groans, and horrified gasps when Celestia made this announcement.

During the intermission between the rounds, The Master trotted over to The Doctor. “Do you surrender, Doctor?” The Master asked.

“You unleashed an attack that took me down despite the fact that you had almost no stamina left and I had very much of it,” The Doctor replied. He then got back onto his hooves. “If you unleashed that attack at full strength, you could take me down in one shot. Still, you know me well enough to know that something like that isn’t nearly enough to discourage me, don’t you?”

“Of course I know that, Doctor. I was simply hoping you’ve gotten soft since you' last regeneration.” Right as The Master said that, both Time Lords felt their wounds being healed and their stamina being restored by Princess Celestia. “Well, best of luck to you, Doctor. I promise I’ll at least give you a false sense of hope before I destroy you.”

“Thanks, Master,” The Doctor replied sarcastically. “That makes me feel so much better.”

“Good. I got that part out of the way rather fast.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Final round, fight!”

I’m gonna have to really think this round through, The Doctor thought to himself. With that attack, The Master could easily take me down in one shot. There’s gotta be some sort of flaw I can exploit.

“Are you just going to stand there, Doctor?” The Master asked. “Because if you are, I’ll be happy to make the first move!” The Master then galloped at top speed toward The Doctor.

Come on, Doctor, think! Before The Doctor could come up with anything, The Master threw a mid-level punch. The Doctor barely had enough time to block the attack before The Master followed up with a swift high-level kick. The Doctor managed to duck and avoid this attack, allowing him to knock The Master back with an uppercut. This caused The Doctor to look up and notice the glass roof. Hm... If I use my Sonic Screwdriver on that roof... I’ve got it!

“What are you doing, Doctor?” The Master asked impatiently.

“What does it look like?” The Doctor asked. “I’m waiting for you to fight back.”

“Oh, I’ll do better than that.” The Master then raised his hoof as he did in the previous round. “DIE, DOCTOR!” The Master then cast his hoof out, sending a beam of lightning towards The Doctor.

“Now’s my chance!” The Doctor said out loud, quickly drawing his Sonic Screwdriver. He then powered on his Sonic Screwdriver, somehow stopping The Master’s attack right in its tracks.

“How is this possible!?” The Master shouted.

“It’s simple,” The Doctor replied, evidently struggling to keep The Master’s attack back. “My Sonic Screwdriver is able to manipulate all types of technology, as well as electricity in general. And do you know what that means? It means I get to do THIS!” The Doctor then quickly angled his Sonic Screwdriver upwards, redirecting the lightning beam upwards into the glass roof immediately above The Master. The impact shattered the glass, causing many glass shards to fall right on The Master.

“Gnah!” The Master shouted as glass rained down upon him, greatly injuring him and dealing a powerful blow to his stamina.

“Alright, that worked,” The Doctor said to himself as The Master fell to the ground.

“K.O.” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 3 and Stage 4 is Doctor Whooves!” The crowd instantly erupted in cheers and applause at this amazing and dramatic victory.

Amid the cheering, The Doctor trotted over to where The Master lay, careful to not step on the broken shards of glass laying all over the ground. “You alright, Master?” The Doctor asked.

“Am I alright?” The Master asked in reply. “You just dropped a glass roof on me and you’re asking if I’m alright?” The Master then looked up, the usual contempt in his eye. He then did something that The Doctor actually didn’t find all that weird. The Master began chuckling to himself. “You’ve foiled my plans enough times to know the answer to that.” As Princess Celestia healed his wounds and restored his stamina, The Master got to his hooves and dusted himself off. “As usual, it’s been a pleasure doing combat with you, even though this has been the first time we’ve done any physical combat. Once again, I do wish you would drop by to see me more often. You’ve been the only worthy opponent I’ve had in my entire life, therefore the closest thing I’ve had to a friend. If you ever wish to come by and just have a cup of tea like a couple of civilized people, I’m kind of living here in Canterlot since Rassilon is trying to hunt me down.”

“Rassilon survived?” The Doctor asked.

“Of course he did, Doctor. You and I both know that he’s a true villain and that he’ll always find a way to rise from the ashes.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Anyway, I look forward to seeing you after the tournament, and I’d better see you as a champion. If you lose, I’ll have no choice but to destroy you on the spot for making me look like a foal.” With that, The Master gave a quick wink and turned to leave.

“Hold on a second!” The Doctor called, galloping after The Master. “Before we began our fight, you said that you were here for a reason, and that said reason was an ‘unpleasant surprise’. You also told me that you’d tell me what it was if I beat you in this stage, so now it’s time to talk.”

“Ah, I did say I’d tell you, didn’t I?” The Master said as he turned to face The Doctor. “Well, as much as this shouldn’t surprise you, I’d get in serious trouble if I told you outright, so I’m going to leave it to a brain teaser: Don’t settle for silver, go for gold.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The Doctor angrily asked.

The Master simply chuckled and turned to leave. “Come now, Doctor, you’re smarter than that. Now you’d better get going. You shouldn’t keep your next opponent waiting.” And with that, The Master was gone.

”Don’t settle for silver, go for gold.” What does that even mean? The Doctor thought to himself. Ah, The Master’s right. I shouldn’t keep my next opponent waiting. Maybe something will come to me in the next round. With that, The Doctor left the room to make his way to Stage 5.

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Cyberleader

Following his victory over The Master, The Doctor was still completely preoccupied by The Master’s riddle. “Don’t settle for silver, go for gold.” Through the two following rounds, those seven words continued to play through The Doctor’s mind. Despite this, he practically mopped the floors with his opponents. After completing stage six, he glanced at the tournament ladder to see who his opponent for stage seven was. As he searched, he noticed that Derpy and one of her friends were still in the running. Great, he thought to himself. I’m gonna have to face one of them in the finals. This thought was quickly pushed aside when he saw who his next opponent was. This can’t be right at all! Despite his disbelief, The Doctor made his way to where Stage 7 was being held.

When The Doctor got to Stage 7, he immediately recognized it from one of his less “fun” adventures. It was a large metal room with many cylinders and crates. Somepony with less experience than The Doctor might have dismissed it as a simple cargo area for a boat or something, but The Doctor knew better. He knew that the arena was a recreation of the heart of a Cyberman ship.

“So we meet again, Doctor,” a familiarly deep and robotic voice said from behind The Doctor.

“I can’t exactly say it’s a pleasure meeting you here like this,” The Doctor replied, turning to face his foe. The pony The Doctor had to face better resembled a robot rather than an actual pony, even though it had an equine build to it. Its eyes and mouth were frozen in an empty, soulless expression, and it had a defining black handlebar-like structure on top of its head. “What are you doing here, Cyberleader? You should know as well as everypony else that the only combatants allowed in the Equestria Battle Tournament are residents of Equestria or... ambassadors for other races.” As The Doctor said that last part of his sentence, his ears drooped as he quickly realized that it was so like the Cybermen (or in this case, apparently, Cyberponies) to take advantage of such a simple loophole. “Let me guess, you’re fighting in representation of the Cyber race?”

“You are smarter than my data log would lead me to believe,” Cyberleader replied. “Truth be told, however, there was no evidence that would have led us to believe that you would be participating in this tournament.”

“Oh, Cyberleader, you should know by now that I’m full of surprises, unlike you, however. Still, for the sake of our ‘friendship’, I’m going to ask you what you’re doing here.”

“I plan on taking down the ruler of this world, Princess Celestia, upgrading her, and then proceeding to upgrade the entire Equestrian race.”

“How did I see that coming?” The Doctor sarcastically said mostly to himself while facehoofing.

“As pitiful as equines are, think of how much the Cyber race could benefit from upgrading pegasi and unicorns. Imagine it for a moment, Doctor. The ability to manipulate the whether of entire planets in order to force other species to surrender. Not to mention the incredible and versatile power of magic. With such power at our disposal-”

“For the love of Celestia, shut up! You actually talk more than Davros does, and he’s the creator of the Daleks in case you didn’t know.” The Doctor then turned to where Princess Celestia was overseeing the battle. “You hear everything he’s saying, don’t you, Princess?”

“Yes, Doctor,” Princess Celestia replied. “However, for the past six rounds, I’ve been unable to disqualify him. He’s followed every single rule of the Equestria Battle Tournament to the letter. Even with extra measures in place that would compensate for his metal body and increased physical strength, he’s managed to beat everypony fair and square.”

“Now that surprises even me,” The Doctor said to himself. “A Cyberman... playing by the rules! I never would have thought it were possible but here it is right in front of my eyes.” The Doctor then began laughing loudly, and though Cyberleader retained his normal, emotionless expression, even he had to be more unamused than what was normal for him. After about a minute of laughing, The Doctor quickly composed himself, only to burst out into laughter again. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop laughing. It’s just... I never thought I’d see the day...” The Doctor continued to laugh for another full minute and neither Princess Celestia nor Cyberleader did a thing to stop him for that full minute. Finally, The Doctor composed himself completely and took a deep breath before brushing his mane out of his face with his hoof and regaining his usual serious attitude. “Okay, I’m done now. Wait... No, never mind, I’m done. Go ahead and start the round, Princess.”

“Alright,” Princess Celestia said. “Fighters, are you ready? Round 1, fight!”

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“I am currently analyzing the data from your previous matches,” Cyberleader said to The Doctor, who was waiting patiently for Cyberleader to finish what he was doing. (Out of what The Doctor would like to call “sheer bloody respect”.) “The only match that gave you any trouble was your fourth match against the other Time Lord, The Master. You had proven to be his superior in the first round, but he executed a powerful attack that took you down in one shot, allowing him to take round 2. Using your wits and your Sonic Screwdriver, however, you were able to pull a surprising round 3 victory. All necessary data has been extracted. Our battle can now begin.”

“Finally,” The Doctor said. He then quickly galloped up to the Cyberleader and tried to give him a mid-level kick. However, Cyberleader easily blocked this attack and replied with a mid-level punch followed by two quick high-level kicks. The Doctor stumbled back, but didn’t take nearly as much damage as he expected. “That didn’t hurt nearly as much as it was supposed to. I don’t mean to look this gift horse in the mouth, but...”

“It is as Princess Celestia said before, Doctor,” Cyberleader said. “Measures have been taken to limit my power so that I don’t K.O. my opponents in one hit, as well as to keep my opponents from hurting themselves when they attack me.”

“I should be relieved,” The Doctor said. “So why aren’t I?” The Doctor got back up on all fours and gave Cyberleader a determined stare. “Doesn’t matter. For once, I might actually be able to beat a Cyberman without blowing up the whole planet, so let’s not waste this opportunity.” The Doctor then galloped back into heated combat with the Cyberleader. Oddly enough, the two were fairly evenly matched. It was as though The Doctor could read Cyberleader’s every move before he made it, but it was the same vice-versa.

Over time, both combatants seemed to be their own versions of near defeat. The Doctor was bruised, battered, and panting heavily, while Cyberleader simply had dents and cracks in his armor. “25 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“You are truly a worthy adversary, Doctor,” Cyberleader said. “However, this match has to have a winner, and I have no intention of losing.”

“And I have no intention of letting you assimilate Equestria,” The Doctor replied. “So it would seem that we’re at an impasse.” The Doctor then rushed up and tried to throw a high-level punch. Cyberleader tried to block this attack, but The Doctor quickly cancelled and switched to a sweep kick. Cyberleader was unable to do anything about this attack and fell to the floor.

“Structural integrity compromised,” Cyberleader said to nopony in particular. “Entering hibernation mode to execute repairs.” With that, Cyberleader seemed to go completely dormant.

“K.O.” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Doctor Whooves!” The crowd instantly went wild with cheers upon this knockout, and The Doctor felt no less proud of himself.

This must be how Ace felt when she took down that Dalek with a baseball bat, The Doctor thought to himself. Then again, I’m the one who took down a Cyberman with my bare hands. Or in this case, I guess, I’m the one who took down a *Cyberpony** with my bare hooves.* Just then, The Doctor felt his wounds being healed and his stamina being restored by Princess Celestia’s magic. At the same time, all of the damage to Cyberleader seemed to repair itself without Celestia’s magic.

“Armor damage repaired,” Cyberleader said once again to nopony in particular. “Re-entering combat mode.” He then rose to his hooves and got into a combat-ready stance as though he had never been KO'd at all.

“Why aren’t I surprised you shrugged that off so easily?” The Doctor asked. “Anyway, I’m assuming that I won’t be able to use the same attacks on you as I did last round because you’ll have upgraded yourself to counter those attacks easiest. Am I correct?”

“You know us too well, Doctor,” Cyberleader replied.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

“97 out of 100 simulations have shown that a preemptive strike would be most effective against you,” Cyberleader said, galloping forward.

“A Cyberman taking the preemptive strike?” The Doctor asked. “Now that’s more like it.” Right as The Doctor finished saying this, Cyberleader leapt up and tried to give The Doctor a flying kick. This actually caught The Doctor off guard, and he was barely able to block the attack, though Cyberleader did manage to knock The Doctor off his hooves. Cyberleader then moved in to stomp The Doctor, but The Doctor managed to roll out of the way and give Cyberleader a sweep kick before getting back on his hooves. The Doctor then picked up Cyberleader before he had a chance to get up and threw him by his hind leg into one of the nearby crates.

“A fairly ametuer move,” Cyberleader said, getting up and shrugging the attack off. “However, it will take more than that to take round 2.”

For the longest time, the fight was a seesaw match. Both fighters went into the tournament with little to no hoof-to-hoof combat experience and now they were giving the audience the best show they could have asked for. Over time, The Doctor became bruised and fatigued while Cyberleader became dented and cracked. “10 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

I need to finish this fight fast, The Doctor thought to himself. Right as he thought this, Cyberleader tried to give him a high-level punch. The Doctor ducked low to avoid this and delivered a low-level punch that seemed to knock Cyberleader off-balance for a moment. Now’s my chance! He then pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and prepared to-

“Time up!” Princess Celestia announced. “This round is a tie, so the winner of Stage 7 is Doctor Whooves.”

“This cannot be,” Cyberleader said as the crowd cheered and applauded loudly. “None of my simulations showed defeat as a possible outcome.”

“Face it, Cyberleader,” The Doctor said, trotting up to his adversary, “you can’t predict everything.” He then put his hoof around Cyberleader’s shoulder and quietly added, “No matter how hard you try, you just aren’t Pinkie Pie.”

Cyberleader quickly sidestepped to get away from The Doctor. “Joke while you can, Doctor. You may have foiled our plans once again, but did you really think we would be done with this world? Did you think I came here without a plan B?”

“Did you come with a plan B?”

Cyberleader was silent for a moment. “Reinforcements were not an affordable or foreseeably necessary risk for this operation. A minor error in calculations. Next time, however, the Cyber race will take Equestria.”

“And next time, I’ll be here to stop you.”

“Until we meet again, Doctor.” Cyberleader then beamed out of the arena to some unknown place far outside of Equestria.

“Well,” The Doctor said to himself after a while, “I suppose my work here is done.”

“You aren’t planning on forfeiting, are you, Doctor?” Princess Celestia asked. “I was starting to look forward to our battle. I know you don’t carry around money, but aren’t you at least interested in the trophy?”

“No thanks, I’m-”

Don’t settle for silver, go for gold.

Without warning, The Master’s riddle played through The Doctor’s mind again. “Hold on a second...” The Doctor said to himself. “‘Don’t settle for silver.’ Silver like a Cyberman’s armor. ‘Go for gold.’ The grand prize of the Equestria Battle Tournament!” Out loud, The Doctor suddenly shouted, “It all makes sense now!”

“I’m sorry?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I take back what I said, Princess. I’m not going to forfeit the tournament. I’m not finished here, yet.”

“That’s the spirit, Doctor. I look forward to seeing you in the final stage.”

Everything had fallen into place for The Doctor. The Cyber invasion wasn’t what he was drawn to the Equestria Battle Tournament for. It was something else. And if he was going to find out what it was, he was probably going to have to fight Princess Celestia for the prize in order to find out. Of course, he still had one more stage before he faced Celestia, but now he had to get there, whatever it took.

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Derpy

The stage was packed with ponies of different colors, types, and gender. Some of the eliminated fighters were mixed in as well, and there was not one seat in the audience that was not filled. This newly constructed stadium in the heart of Canterlot served as the final stage of the tournament.

The loud cheering and thunderous applause was deafening, but it seemed like nothing to Princess Celestia as she addressed the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced, “after seven rounds of intense fighting and pulse pounding action, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our two finalists. In one corner, we have Doctor Whooves, an adventurous stallion with many secrets, including his very name.”

The spotlights turned to the far left area of the stage where The Doctor was standing. He accepted the attention by waving to the audience and even blowing a couple of kisses.

“And in the other corner, we have Derpy Hooves, a kind and friendly mail mare with a pure heart and a kind soul.”

The spotlights turned to the other side of the arena where Derpy stood. At first, she was eating a muffin, but she quickly put it away and smiled at the audience when she realized that the spotlight was on her.

“Only one of these ponies will emerge victorious and earn the right to face me for the prize,” Celestia said. “So, without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!” The audience erupted into applause that was so loud, it could be heard for miles.

“It’s good to see you again, Doctor,” Derpy said to her old friend. “No offence, but I thought these combat tournaments weren’t your kind of thing.”

“They aren’t,” The Doctor gladly replied. “This one just kind of... called me, I guess. Honestly, though, I never expected to make it his far with as little experience as I have.”

“Well I’m glad you made it, Doctor. However, you heard what Princess Celestia said. Only one of us can come out of this victorious.”

“Of course, so let’s find out who it will be.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. But don’t think I’m gonna go easy just because we’re friends. We’ve been on enough adventures together for you to know that I can handle myself well.”

“What would possibly make you think I’ve forgotten that?”

As the two fighters finished their conversation, Princess Celestia addressed the crowd once again. “Now then, a simple coin toss will determine which stage the fighters will battle on.” Celestia then used her magic to launch a coin into the air. She let it come back down and then picked it up to look at it. “It’s tails, so with the help of the tournament officials, Derpy’s stage will be recreated.” She then instructed the unicorns to light up their horns and channel their magic into a special machine.

Within seconds, the background changed from a state-of-the-art stadium with thousands of screaming fans to a location that looked like it was in Cloudsdale. Of course, with the help of a protective spell cast by Princess Celestia, The Doctor did not fall through the clouds as he was initially afraid he would.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia asked the two combatants. Both ponies nodded their heads to indicate that they were ready. “Round 1, fight!”

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Derpy wasted no time using her wings to propel herself forward using her wings to deliver the first strike. The Doctor was barely able to sidestep Derpy’s charge, but Derpy had expected this and quickly flipped around to kick The Doctor in the face. The Doctor was caught completely off-guard and stumbled back from the hit. “Not a bad hit, Derpy,” The Doctor said, rubbing his chin. “But you know as well as I do that-”

“-you’ve come back from worse than that,” Derpy finished. “Don’t think I was never paying any attention just because both eyes weren’t focused.”

“I never thought so.” The Doctor then rushed up and tried to give Derpy a mid-level punch in order to start a combo. However, Derpy blocked this attack, cancelling the combo and leaving The Doctor open for an attack. Derpy rushed in to take her shot, but The Doctor recovered quicker than Derpy anticipated and was able to counter her charge with an uppercut. This attack caught Derpy off-guard and flipped her right onto her back. The Doctor then picked Derpy up and threw her into the magical barrier surrounding the arena. Derpy slowly got up but was far from done with the fight.

The fight went on for a while and both fighters accumulated a decent amount of bumps and bruises. However, strangely enough, both of them had plenty of stamina left in them. “I never thought you’d put up this good of a fight, Doctor,” Derpy said to her friend.

“Same here,” The Doctor replied.

“Of course, we both know who’s going to win here, don’t we?”

“A foal and her money are parted, I believe the saying is.”

“We’ll see about that.” Derpy then flew up into the air and began flinging nearby clouds down at The Doctor. He was able to dodge a couple of them, but he was at a disadvantage against the barrage of projectiles.

“There’s no way I can beat this,” The Doctor said to himself. “Unless...” Quickly dodging another cloud, The Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, kissed it for good luck, and aimed it right at a cloud that was flying his way.

“What the hay?” Derpy shouted as she saw what The Doctor had just done. Somehow, his Sonic Screwdriver was able to manipulate clouds in the same way that pegasi could with their hooves.

“Ooh, clever,” The Doctor said to himself. “I like clever.” He then used his Screwdriver to gather several clouds around him and hurl them right at Derpy. The poor pegasus was unable to block the attack and was quickly pelted with the rain and hailstones contained within the clouds The Doctor had launched. With hardly another word, she fell to the clouds below, defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Doctor Whooves!”

“You alright, Derpy?” The Doctor asked as he galloped up to where Derpy lay.

“I’m fine,” Derpy replied, getting up and shaking off the excess water that had soaked her from The Doctor’s attack. “I didn’t know you could do that with your Sonic Screwdriver.”

“Neither did I,” The Doctor replied. “But you know me. I usually make up my plans as I go along.”

“You’re as resourceful as ever, Doctor, but you won that round by luck. I know that you can manipulate clouds with your Sonic Screwdriver now, and I’ll be ready for your attacks.”

“Fine by me. I feel awful I beat you by luck, anyway.” Just as The Doctor said this, Princess Celestia healed both fighter’s wounds and restored their stamina. “I guess that’s our cue. Whaddaya say, Derpy? Wanna give these ponies the show of their life?”

“Saving worlds from monsters, robots, and now even boredom? Wow, are you one hyperdrive or something?”

“What can I say? This tournament makes me feel like I’ve regenerated, minus the part where the old me dies.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

“Let’s get started,” The Doctor said, charging forward. He then leapt up and tried to give Derpy a flying high-level kick. However, Derpy grabbed The Doctor by the hoof he was trying to use for his kick and threw him into the barrier around the arena.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming, Doctor,” Derpy said as The Doctor got up and shook himself off.

“Of course I saw that coming,” The Doctor said. “It’s all part of my plan. I’m the man with a plan, remember?”

“Funny, because not one minute ago, you said you were playing this by ear.”

“You know I can play something by ear as well as have a plan at the same time.” The Doctor then charged forward once again, using his Sonic Screwdriver to gather a few clouds. Right as he got about five feet from Derpy, he leapt into the air and spun, causing the clouds to follow suit. He then launched the clouds right at Derpy, who was able to dodge the attack and even deflect a couple right back at Derpy. However, The Doctor expected Derpy to fall for this distraction and leapt up to give her a mid-level kick, causing the pegasus to stumble back a little.

The battle was a seesaw match for the longest time, and neither Time Lord nor pegasus seemed to be able to close the gap between each other. Both fighters became bruised and fatigued, but neither one was willing to submit to their injuries, let alone their adversary. “15 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“You aren't a bad fighter, Doctor,” Derpy complemented, panting heavily.

“Neither are you,” The Doctor replied. “But of course, this round is ending in ten seconds or less, so one of us have to finish this.”

“Don’t worry. I have every intention of doing so.” Derpy then used her wings to propel herself forward at a speed that could almost rival Rainbow Dash in order to finish The Doctor with a single powerful blow. However, The Doctor quickly sidestepped and used his Sonic Screwdriver to bring together some clouds to halt Derpy’s charge. The pegasus was unable to stop herself before she hit the clouds and became open to a powerful mule kick from The Doctor. Derpy was knocked far back and slammed hard into the barrier surrounding the arena. She then fell to the ground in defeat.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of this match is Doctor Whooves who has earned the right to face me for the grand prize.” The background then changed from Cloudsdale back to the Canterlot Stadium. The spectators in the crowd were screaming and cheering wildly.

“I can’t believe I lost,” Derpy said while rising to her hooves. “And to the most violence-opposed pony I know, no less.”

“I guess that’s just how things work out,” The Doctor said, shrugging despite a heavily damaged shoulder.

“Well now that you’ve beaten me, you shouldn’t have any excuse for losing to Princess Celestia.”

“Oh come on. How hard could she be?”

“I’m glad you’re confident, Doctor. I’m sure our friends can only add to that confidence.”

“Hay yeah, we can,” Vinyl Scratch said from the stands nearby.

“We believe in you, Doctor,” Octavia said.

“Go for it, Doctor,” Lyra said.

“Just do your best,” Bon Bon said.

“Thanks, everypony,” The Doctor said. “I promise I won’t let any of you down.” Princess Celestia then healed The Doctor’s and Derpy’s wounds.

“I guess that’s my cue,” Derpy said, turning to join her friends in the stands. “Best of luck to you, Doctor.”

“Thanks Derpy,” The Doctor replied. He then turned and prepared himself for what he thought would be his last encounter of this tournament.

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Princess Celestia

“You can do it, Doctor!” Derpy shouted as she took her seat next to her friends.

The excitement of the crowd, meanwhile, had built up to a fever pitch. Everypony was chanting “Doctor Whooves! Doctor Whooves! Doctor Whooves!” over and over again. Truly a sight to behold.

“Well, I never would have expected to see you here at all, let alone make your way to this final round,” Princess Celestia said. “And now you have come all this way and are here to go hoof-to-hoof with me. Tell me, Doctor, how do you feel?”

“To be honest, a little nervous,” The Doctor admitted.

Princess Celestia chuckled a little. “Well, there’s a first time for everything, Doctor. Even for you. Still don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because you’ve saved Equestria on countless occasions.”

“I understand that, Princess,” The Doctor replied.

“Then prepare yourself. I am the final obstacle you must overcome to win this tournament. Beat me, and the trophy and prize money are yours.”

“I don’t care for the prize money. I was just here to take down Cyberleader. I just didn’t have anything to do after I finished, though, so I stayed for fun.”

“Then let us begin. Doctor, are you ready?”

“Have you ever known me to be otherwise?”

“Round 1, fight!”

Youtube Video

Celestia decided to start the battle with a bang. She charged her horn and fired a blast of energy. The Doctor was barely able to dodge it.

The Doctor had to think quickly about how he was going to fight Princess Celestia. He expected a challenge, but that one attack proved that (once again) he had underestimated his opponent. Thinking on his hooves, (as usual) The Doctor charged forward and tried to strike Celestia with a powerful mid-level punch. The Princess, however, simply shrug the attack off.

“I can sense you are nervous,” Celestia said.

“Me? Nervous?” The Doctor asked. “How long have you known me? I never get nervous.”

“When you’re as old as I am, (and you and I both know you are) you can see through even the bravest of faces. Even the faces of a Time Lord.”

“I couldn’t be that obvious, could I?”

“You’re letting your past get to you. If you keep worrying about your fate if you lose, that fate will come true. You have to work with the future rather than in it, for once.” To prove her point, Princess Celestia charged forward and struck The Doctor with a kick.

The Doctor stumbled a little, but quickly recovered and drew his Sonic Screwdriver. Waving it frantically to find something he could use, The Doctor found himself pulling a large amount of gems out of the ground with his Screwdriver and throwing them at Celestia, hitting her with a barrage of jagged and shiny stones.

“THAT’S MY SPELL!” an angry voice shouted from the audience.

“Sorry,” The Doctor called back. “I’m just borrowing it. I promise to give it back when I’m done.”

Princess Celestia recovered from the attack, but was already fairly bruised and fatigued, not unlike The Doctor. “30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia called out.

“You aren’t that bad at this, Doctor,” Celestia complemented, panting heavily. “I never expected you of all ponies or otherwise to give me this good of a battle.”

“Happy to help, Princess,” The Doctor said. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Still, you out of everyone here could be doing better.” Celestia then fired a magic blast that The Doctor was barely able to dodge, though the attack did clip his hind leg.

I gotta heat things up, The Doctor said to himself. There’s only one thing I can use against her at this point. The Doctor planted his hooves firmly on the ground and aimed his gaze directly at Princess Celestia. “Here goes nothing,” he said out loud. He then charged forward at full gallop. Princess Celestia readied herself for anything, but the one thing she didn’t expect was for The Doctor to dive and slide right under her at the last second. Celestia turned around just in time to catch a forehoof to the face which started a powerful combo that she could do nothing about. The combo started with that high-level punch, a mid-level backhoof, two low kicks, a mule kick, a tackle, a rising two-hoof smash, a downward smash, and finally, an overhead throw right into the barrier that surrounded the arena.

“KO,” the defeated Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 1 is Doctor Whooves.” The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Celestia made this announcement, and Derpy and the others were no exceptions to the cheering.

“I knew you could do it, Doctor!” Derpy shouted.

“I don’t think I could have pulled that kind of combo off,” Bon Bon admitted.

“It certainly didn’t lack class,” Octavia complemented.

“THAT WAS WUB-TACULAR!” Vinyl Scratch shouted.

“How did you even pull that off?” Lyra asked.

“That little combo?” The Doctor asked. “Oh, that was something new I whipped up that I like to call the Dalek Buster.”

“The Dalek Buster?” Derpy asked. “That must be your strongest move, then.”

“It is,” The Doctor replied. “It was probably a mistake to pull it out in round 1, though. Oh well, it’s like I always say. I can’t predict the future, I just work there.” Just then, The Doctor felt his wounds being healed and his stamina being restored. “Well, time to get to work, I guess.”

“Good luck, Doctor,” Derpy said as The Doctor turned back to Princess Celestia.

“That was an excellent round, Doctor,” Princess Celestia complemented. “Tell me something. Is this your first experience with melee combat?”

“As a pony, yes,” The Doctor answered. “But a few decades ago, one of my lives brought with it some pretty excellent combat skill. Between when I regenerated out of that form to today, I’ve hardly used that experience at all.”

“You could have fooled me,” Princess Celestia said. “Now then, let’s get started. Round 2, fight!”

Princess Celestia wasted no time using her wings to propel herself forward to give The Doctor a barrage of punches and kicks, but The Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to pull up some gems from the ground and strike Celestia’s underside. This left her open to The Doctor’s Dalek Buster combo. He managed to get the first few hits in, but Celestia was able to block the mule kick with her wings, leaving The Doctor open to an unblockable magic blast, sending him flying into the barrier.

“Don’t give up, Doctor!” Derpy shouted.

“I never said I was,” The Doctor nonchalantly said, shaking himself off. “I’m just getting started. He then charged right at Celestia and leapt into the air to give her a sky kick.

“Don’t think you can beat me using such predictable moves,” Celestia said as she readied herself to block the attack. However, much to her surprise, she found herself getting pelted by gems from behind her, knocking her off balance and completely vulnerable to The Doctor’s kick, which, combined with the two gem attacks, was enough to down Celestia.

“Tsk tsk tsk, Princess,” The Doctor said to the downed alicorn. “You should know by now that I’m never predictable.”

“Good point,” Celestia muttered. “KO. The winner of round 2 and the Equestria Battle Tournament is Doctor Whooves.” The crowd couldn’t have been cheering any louder than they were at that moment if they tried, which they were.

“I knew he could do it!” Derpy shouted while leaping up and down.

“He did it! He did it!” Lyra and Bon Bon shouted in unison, leaping in excitement with each other.

“Oh, now this calls for a party,” Vinyl Scratch shouted.

“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t take part in such uncivilized expressions of joy,” Octavia said, ‘but... I KNEW HE COULD DO IT! WHOO! WHOO! YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

“Excellent work, Doctor,” Princess Celestia said as she healed both her’s and The Doctor’s wounds. “By using your wits, as usual, you were able to overcome the odds and become the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. You must be very proud.”

“I am,” The Doctor said. It doesn’t make any sense, though, The Doctor thought to himself. According to The Master, something was supposed to happen by now. Ignoring this thought for the time being, The Doctor proceeded to the stage where he would receive his trophy and prize money.

Doctor Whooves: Doctor Whooves vs Discord? +Epilogue

The Doctor never would have expected himself to be standing here, the triumphant champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. He never would have thought he’d wind up in the spotlight for anything for at least another week, but here he was. At least he managed to go the whole tournament without revealing that he was a Time Lord. (Though some of his foes did give subtle hints. Good thing ponies are ignorant.)

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced as she addressed the crowd. “It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Doctor Whooves, please step forward.”

The Doctor stepped forward, beaming with pride, but deep down unsure of what was going to happen next as Princess Celestia levitated the prize money and the trophy that depicted two ponies fighting each other.

“The winner of the Equestria Battle Tournament is-”

“Hold it!” an unfamiliar voice called out. “You call that fighting? I’ve seen Weeping Angels fight better than that. Pun intended. Whatever that was a few minutes ago, it certainly wasn’t a fight. This kind of mistake needs to be corrected.” Suddenly, there were two blinding flashes of light. When they disappeared, the prize money and trophy had followed suit.

“Where’s the trophy?” The Doctor asked. “What did you do with it?”

“Oh, I took it for safekeeping,” the voice said. “Why? You want it?”

Not really, The Doctor thought to himself. Still, whatever this is, it must be what The Master warned me about. “Yes,” The Doctor finally said. “I do want that trophy.”

“Hmm... nope. Sorry. As politely as you asked, I’m afraid you still don’t deserve it. Unless...”

“Unless?” The Doctor asked. He certainly had a bad feeling about where this was going, but he wasn’t going to gamble on this with the fate of Equestria as his chips. “Unless what?”

“Unless you agree to do one thing for me.”

“Name it,” The Doctor said, his voice firm and confident.

“Agree to take me on in my own dimension,” the voice replied. “If you agree to face me in my own dimension and defeat me, I’ll let you have the trophy and money back. The choice is yours, Doctor. Take me up on my offer, or walk away with nothing like the coward we both know you are.”

“Don’t do it, Doctor!” Derpy shouted. “It’s obviously a trap!”

“Derpy’s right,” Lyra said. “You’ve already defeated Princess Celestia. You don’t have to prove anything.”

“You can’t seriously trust this voice,” Bon Bon said. “It’s evil and we all know it.”

“You don’t have to do what he says,” Vinyl Scratch said. “I can still throw you that party if you don’t have the trophy.”

“Doctor, listen to us,” Octavia said. “He’s trying to trick you.”

“I’m sorry,” the voice said, “but did I allow any of you to speak? You need to learn your place, and I know just how to do that.” There was another flash of light and when it faded, all of The Doctor’s friends had duct tape on their mouths.

“Remove that tape this instant!” The Doctor shouted. “Leave them out of this. It’s me you want.”

“Funny you should mention that again,” the voice said. “Agree to face me in my dimension, and I’ll remove the tape.”

“Then so be it,” The Doctor said. “Whatever it takes to stop you from picking on innocent ponies like a coward.”

“Me? A coward?” the voice asked. “You’re sure one to talk. We’ll see who the real coward is when I’m done with you.” There was another flash of light and when it faded, The Doctor was gone.

When The Doctor opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe what he saw. In the distance, he could see the buildings of Ponyville, but they were floating and some of them were upside down. The ground looked like a purple and pink checkerboard, and to top it all off, there were clouds made from cotton candy raining chocolate milk.

“What in god’s name...?” The Doctor asked as he looked around. “How did I get to Ponyville several months in the future?”

“Well, thanks for ruining the surprise,” the voice said. “I’ve had this plan in the works for years. Still, I shouldn’t be surprised bringing a Time Lord to my replica of the future.”

“If this really is a replica of the future I think it is, then I can probably guess who’s behind that voice.”

“I thought you worked in the future, not predicted it. I suppose suspense is redundant now.” Then, in a flash of light, the voice revealed its identity.

“Discord,” The Doctor said. “Spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

“Well, it seems each of us knows the other well,” Discord said. “I’d say it’s good to see you again, Doctor, but I’m the spirit of chaos, not lies. Now, down to business.”

“Alright,” The Doctor said. “What do you have in mind?” Of course, The Doctor already knew the answer.

“I want you to face me in combat,” Discord said. “But we’ll play by my rules. After all, this is my dimension.”

“Name your terms.”

“Instead of a best two out of three match, we will fight only one round, with a time limit, of course. I know how long you’d be willing to drag this out. Beat me, and the trophy and prize money are yours. As well, I shall grant you one request. But if I win, I get to do as I please with you. Do you agree?”

“Yes,” The Doctor firmly said.

“Ha!” Discord laughed. “You foal! You have fallen right into my trap. Prepare to be defeated.”

“We’ll see about that,” The Doctor said. “You know how hard I am to best.”

“Round 1, fight!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_detailpage&v=2ha4Un6hdFU]

The Doctor wanted to waste no time on Discord. He was easily defeated fifteen centuries ago in Equestrian history, so The Doctor thought this was going to take no time at all as he galloped forward and struck Discord with a powerful high-level punch.

“Ouch!” Discord shouted. “That hurt! I think you broke something.”

“Did I?” The Doctor asked. “Or are you still trying to play me for a foal?”

“I can’t get anything past you, can I, Doctor?” Discord asked with a maniacal laugh. “I didn’t even feel that attack!”

“Really?” The Doctor asked. “But I threw all I had into that punch. You should have at least felt something. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, Doctor, what fun is there in making sense?”

The Doctor didn’t answer. He simply pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and tried to find something he could use against Discord.

“Do you really think that will work?” Discord asked. “You’re pathetic if you think I’m going to leave anything laying around for you to use.” Discord then fired a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. It was so fast, The Doctor didn’t even have time to dodge the attack.

The regular confidence The Doctor had rushing into anything was quickly being lowered as he noticed how much damage Discord had dealt in that one attack.

Discord quickly took advantage of The Doctor’s lack of confidence and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks that The Doctor was powerless against. Occasionally, The Doctor tried to hit Discord with a punch or a kick, but Discord seemed entirely unaffected.

“Well, Doctor,” Discord said once The Doctor seemed almost finished, “this has been much more fun than our last encounter. However, this is where our battle ends.”

“I’m not finished yet,” The Doctor said.

“Oh, but you are.” Discord then pulled a glass out of nowhere, filled it with chocolate rain, and threw it at The Doctor.

“Oh no,” The Doctor said. “Is this what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s a chocolate grenade...” Discord started as the glass started to glow.

“Oh god da-!” The Doctor shouted as the glass exploded. As he was caught in the explosion, The Doctor let out a high-pitched scream that he thought he had heard somewhere before, but never out of his own mouth.

“I’m sure you and I both know where we’ve heard that before,” Discord said with another maniacal laugh.

“You... son... of... a... Dalek...” The Doctor weakly said. He then fell to the ground, utterly defeated.

“KO! I win!” Discord shouted. He then materialized a pair of sunglasses and put them on. “Well, Doctor, looks like it’s game over for you. Yeah!”

“I hate you so much, Discord,” The Doctor said. He then rested his head on the ground and exhaled. “I never would have guessed this is where it all ended.”

“Now that’s not the Doctor I know,” a familiar but evil voice said, causing The Doctor’s ears to perk up.

“It can’t be...” The Doctor said. “Master?”

“Yes, it’s me,” The Master’s voice said.

“How is this possible?” The Doctor asked. “Where are you?”

“Well I’m not in this dimension. I’m actually in your TARDIS. Somehow, it’s letting me communicate with you. I don’t know why it’s letting me do this after I stole it like I did, but I’m not looking this gift horse in the mouth.”

“Wait, you stole my TARDIS?”

“Yes. I had originally planned on surprising you with my latest plan for defeating you and conquering the universe, but obviously that isn’t how things worked out. Anyway, I guess next I’m supposed to encourage you to get up and defeat Discord.”

“And how do you plan on doing that, old friend? He’s impossibly powerful.”

“Oh, Doctor, you of all people slash ponies know that nothing is impossible. I have to go, now. Your TARDIS is starting to recognize me.”

“Master, wait!” The Doctor called, trying to reach into the air with his hoof as though to catch The Master. But it was too late. The Master was already gone. However, The Doctor did notice something about his hoof. His injuries were starting to fade away in an orange mist. In that moment, The Doctor knew that, whether he liked it or not, he wasn’t finished with Discord.

“Are you ready to surrender, Doctor?” Discord asked as the Time Lord got back onto his hooves. However, it took Discord another few seconds before he realized that The Doctor had started to glow an orange-ish color. “No. It can’t be.”

“I’m not finished with you yet, Discord,” The Doctor said as the orange glow got more intense. “Well, I am... but the next guy isn’t.” Then, The Doctor erupted in what could be compared to a volcano of Regeneration Energy that was so bright, Discord had to actually shield his eyes.

(Watch this video if you don’t watch Doctor Who, or you’ll be confused in the next part.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_detailpage&v=sVEY5AL5zzk]

After a while, The Doctor’s form actually began to morph while still erupting with Regeneration Energy. As his new form finalized, he let out a scream of pain and the Regeneration Energy disappeared, leaving behind a pony that didn’t look like The Doctor anymore.

“This... can’t be...” Discord tried to say as the pony who took The Doctor’s place examined himself.

“Okay,” The Doctor said as he looked at his legs. “Light brown coat. Not much contrast from before. Still got four legs. That’s good.” The Doctor paused for a moment to kiss one of his forelegs. “Teeth... I may never get used to being an herbivore. Chin... I can’t catch a break on the chin, can I? Mane...” The Doctor’s expression turned to one of horror as he stroked his mane with his hoof. “I’m a mare! No. No, I’m still a stallion. And my mane is still that boring shade of brown. I’m a magical colorful horse for Celestia’s sake!. If I can’t be ginger, can’t I at least have some color on me?” The Doctor then looked behind him to examine the rest of his body. “Cutie mark still doesn’t change. Wings? Ooh, those are new.” The Doctor flapped his wings once to see if he could work them properly. “Those will come in handy. There’s one more thing, though. One more thing I’m forgetting. I’m, I’m, I’m-”

Before The Doctor could finish his thought, Discord teleported right in front of the Time Lord. “You’re about to be defeated,” Discord said.

“No, it’s not that,” The Doctor said. “Give me a second. Every time I regenerate, one thing always happens. Ah, I’ve got it. Can I have a sandwich?”

“A sandwich?” Discord asked with obvious confusion.

“Yeah. A Time Lord is always hungry right after he regenerates. You know what? We can skip the sandwich. I’m gonna need more time than I’ve got to go through the part where I figure out what foods I like and don’t like now. Let’s just get to the battle.”

“Very well,” Discord said. “Round 1, fight!”

“You make the first move, Discord,” The Doctor said. “Or are you afraid?”

“How dare you insult me like that, Doctor,” Discord shouted. “Take this!” Discord then proceeded to fire a ball of concentrated chaos at The Doctor. The Doctor dodged this attack by flying into the air and then proceeded to strike Discord with a flying kick.

“Augh!” Discord shouted. “That actually hurt! I thought you were opposed to violence!”

“I usually am,” The Doctor said. “But you’re pretty much begging for a good thrashing.” The Doctor then struck Discord with an uppercut.

“You asked for this, Doctor!” Discord said, pulling out another glass and filling it with chocolate rain.

“Now’s my chance,” The Doctor said as he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and aimed it at the glass. Before Discord could do anything, The Doctor caused the glass to detonate right in Discord’s paw, overwhelming him and causing him to scream like a little girl.

“Are we finished yet?” The Doctor asked. “Ready to surrender?”

“Actually, I was about to ask you the same question,” Discord said, using magic to pull The Doctor towards him.

“Put me down!” The Doctor shouted. “I haven’t gotten entirely used to being airborne for extended periods of time yet!”

“Oh, poor Doctor still wants to keep his hooves on the ground,” Discord mocked. “If it were anypony else, this would be funny, but it’s pathetic for you, Doctor.”

“What are you planning now?” The Doctor asked as he realized he was within Discord’s grasp.

“For starters, this!” Discord shouted as he began strangling The Doctor. “What’s the matter, Doctor? No clever comments to make this time around?”

The Doctor did his best to escape, but Discord’s grasp remained firm no matter how much he struggled and squirmed.

“I’ve waited an eternity for this moment, and now, not only will I be one of the few creatures in the universe to have defeated you, I’ll be the only creature in existence who will be able to say that I’ve killed The Doctor twice!” Discord said with a maniacal laugh. “It’s all over for you, Doctor!”

“Not... while I’m... still breathing!” The Doctor shouted as he gave Discord a powerful low kick, causing Discord to drop The Doctor.

“Right in the solar plexus,” Discord groaned. As Discord recovered, The Doctor took advantage of the situation and unleashed a combo he called the Flying Dalek Buster, which was pretty much the regular Dalek Buster, but making use of The Doctor’s ability to remain airborne. “This can’t be happening. Not to me.” Discord then fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO!” The Doctor shouted. “I win! Flawless victory!” The Doctor then walked over to where Discord lay. “Alright, Discord. I’ve beaten you. Now give me back the trophy and prize money. And as for my wish... I want you to make it so that Rassilon and the Time Lords stop hunting The Master.”

“You would seek to help one of your greatest foes?” Discord asked.

“He’s not one of my greatest foes. He’s one of my oldest friends.”

“Oh, gag. Spare me.” Discord then snapped his fingers. “There. Rassilon is off The Master’s back. Happy?”

“Very,” The Doctor said. “Now, return the prize money and trophy.”

“Not this time, Doctor,” Discord said, snapping his fingers. This caused all of the events of the tournament to be erased from everypony’s mind. Even The Doctor, who Discord had returned to his previous form, would have thought it was little more than a dream. Discord then began to laugh wickedly. “Just you wait, Equestria. Soon I will show you true chaos. And this time, even The Doctor won’t be able to save you...”

Vinyl Scratch: Prologue

Name: Violet Lynn Scratch

Species: Unicorn

Occupation: Disc Jockey

Vinyl Scratch was an ordinary little filly growing up until the age of 5 when she heard her first song. Surprise big not, it was a dubstep song. Ever since that day, all Vinyl wanted was to be immersed in such music until the day she died. She even enjoyed this music so much, she felt she needed to share it with everypony. This realization actually led to her receiving her cutie mark and later in life opening up a club in Ponyville that she ran herself.

Recently, however, the taxes on Vinyl’s club have become very high. As another kick in the plot, her club has been losing business as well, causing money to become very tight. Thinking that this was the end of the road for her career as a disc jockey, she came across a flyer for the Equestria Battle Tournament. Much to her joy, the prize was 1,000,000 bits. Well over what she needed to pay off the taxes she owed as well as drum up some extra advertising for her club.

With her talents, Vinyl could have easily been a bouncer if she didn’t run the club, so fighting would be pretty easy for her. However, some of her friends have entered the Tournament as well, so she may have to contend with them if she wants the grand prize. And to top it all off, the final round was against Princess Celestia herself. If Vinyl Scratch wants to save her club, she’ll have to give it everything she has to beat her foes and come out on top.

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Neon Lights

Vinyl Scratch pretty much breezed through the first three rounds of the tournament. She was going to have that prize money before she could finish writing her next song, which she was doing in her head though the first half of the tournament.

“Alright,” Vinyl said to herself, “which pony gets pwned by DJ PON-3 next?” Vinyl took a glance at the tournament ladder, and found that some of her friends were also in the running. She was likely going to have to face one of them later in the tournament, but that wasn’t what concerned her at the present moment. What did concern her was the pony she had to face in the next stage. “Aw, dude. I didn’t know I’d have to take him on.” Vinyl just shrugged to herself, figuring the battle wouldn’t be that bad, and proceeded to the next stage.

The arena set for stage 4 looked similar to a recording studio, only scaled up to fit two fighting ponies and their fight. It wasn’t just any recording studio, though. It was the one Vinyl Scratch worked at when making her songs.

“Good to see you again, Vinyl,” a familiar male voice said from behind Vinyl.

“Glad to see you too, Neon,” Vinyl said as she turned around. The pony behind her was none other than her childhood friend and manager Neon Lights, a blueish unicorn with a black mane. What truly set him apart, however, was his black leather jacket and sunglasses.

“So you decided to enter the Equestria Battle Tournament too?” Neon asked.

“Yeah,” Vinyl replied. “The club’s losing business, so I joined to try to win some money for the club.”

“Well you didn’t expect to see your friend, manager, and teacher in melee combat, did you?”

“Can’t really say I did. But know one thing, Neon. I’m winning that prize money, and the student will surpass the master here.” Vinyl paused and smiled for a moment. “But we’re still friends. Don’t worry about that.”

“‘Course we’re friends. Don’t think that means I’m going to go easy on you, though.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

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Neon Lights started the battle by galloping forward and leaping towards Vinyl to give her a strong high punch to the face. Vinyl was barely able to block this attack, but she did manage to counter with a mid-level kick that Neon was unable to avoid. Neon stumbled a little, but he quickly recovered and replied with a blast of magic. Ordinarily, a unicorn couldn’t use magic except for a couple blasts and maybe one special attack. However, the tournament officials were a little more lenient when it came to a duel of unicorns. Vinyl forgot about this rule for a moment, however, and didn’t use her own magic to deflect Neon’s attack. Instead, she dodged the attack and barrel rolled right into Neon’s hoof. Vinyl was vulnerable for a moment, and Neon took advantage of this by starting a combo. Neon got about four hits in before Vinyl recovered, blocked one of Neon’s kicks, and, finally remembering the magic rule, gave Neon a powerful blast of magic right to the face, knocking him back a little.

The fight raged on for a while, and both combatants became bruised and fatigued. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’ve been training, haven’t you?” Neon asked Vinyl, panting a little.

“What? You think I just dropped fighting after my music career took off?” Vinyl replied, also panting.

“Well don’t forget one thing, Vinyl. I’m still your teacher!” Neon then leapt forward to finish Vinyl with a mid-level punch, but Vinyl used her magic to adjust Neon’s flight (ever so slightly) and sidestepped herself to give Neon a powerful two-legged kick, sending the stallion flying into a wall.

“And with that, the student has surpassed the master,” Vinyl said as Neon fell.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Celestia made the announcement.

Meanwhile, Vinyl walked over to her downed friend and helped him up. “You alright, Neon?” Vinyl asked.

“Ah, barely a scrape,” Neon replied. “You got lucky in that round, old friend. Don’t forget I have another round in which I can beat you and then one more to finish you.”

“Well I certainly look forward to that,” Vinyl said with a chuckle as Princess Celestia healed the fighters’ wounds.

“Best of luck to you, Vinyl,” Neon said.

“Same to you, Neon,” Vinyl replied.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

Neon wasted no time charging forward and delivering a powerful combo that caught Vinyl entirely off-guard. When the seven-hit combo ended, Vinyl recovered as fast as she could and used her magic to blast Neon and put a little distance between the two. Vinyl, now recovered from the combo, then charged forward to take the offensive. She tried to give Neon a low-level punch to knock him off-balance, but Neon blocked the attack and followed up with a mid-level kick. Vinyl was knocked back a little, but her resolve never faltered and she went in to deliver a high-level kick that actually managed to make contact with Neon. Vinyl saw her opportunity and moved in to deliver two more back-to-back mid-level punches and finished by using her magic to throw Neon. However, this seemed to barely damage Neon at all. He got up quickly and moved in to go back on the offensive.

The battle seesawed for the longest time, and it was impossible to tell which musician was going to come out on top as both became covered in bruises and weighed down by fatigue. “20 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“Time to finish this!” Neon shouted. He then charged forward and prepared to give Vinyl a combo that would likely finish the disc jockey.

“Not this time, friend,” Vinyl replied. She then blocked Neon’s low-level kick that would have started the combo and countered with a high-level roundhouse, knocking Neon back. “Now it’s time to finish this.” Vinyl then strained to use her magic to summon what looked like a large black box on wheels.

“What exactly is that?” Neon asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing special,” Vinyl replied. “It’s just my model 14 prototype BASS CANNON!” Vinyl then slammed her hoof on a red button on the top of the box and the front of it split into three sections. Two lower halves moved to either side and the top half moved upward to reveal what looked like a huge blue stereo. The stereo then started glowing brightly before it unleashed a ball of magic energy that seemed to be made out of pure sound. Neon tried to use his magic to defend himself, but the blast was too much and he was knocked hard into the far wall.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 2 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd was going wild with cheers and excitement upon this announcement.

Vinyl used her magic to put away her Bass Cannon and then galloped over to where Neon lay. “You alright, dude?” Vinyl asked.

“Like I said, just a scrape,” Neon replied, getting up. “That’s one powerful weapon you have there.”

“Yup,” Vinyl said. “It takes a lot of magic to use once, but at least I know now that it works.”

“You mean this is the first time you’ve actually tested it?” Neon asked, surprised.

“In a non-controlled situation, yeah,” Vinyl replied. “This model is still a prototype, though. Once I get a little more practice with it, however, I’m thinking of upgrading it so that instead of a single ball of wubs, it fires a laser!”

“You wanna know what I think about that?” Neon asked. “I think that’s a spectacular idea! I am totally helping you with that after the tournament.”

“Thanks, Neon,” Vinyl said as Princess Celestia healed the fighters’ wounds. “I hope to see you soon.”

“Same to you, pal,” Neon said. Just before Neon left the arena, though Vinyl stopped him.

“Hay, Neon,” Vinyl called. “Don’t forget one thing. This day, the student truly surpassed the master.”

“Don’t worry, Vinyl,” Neon said with a chuckle. “I won’t.” Neon then left the arena.

“Well,” Vinyl said to herself, “guess I’d better get to the next stage. Gotta keep this concert rollin’.” And with that, Vinyl left the arena and proceeded to the next stage.

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Pinkie Pie

Following her victory over Neon Lights, Vinyl fought harder than ever in the two following rounds with renewed confidence in her skill. There wasn’t a single thing in Equestria that could stop her.

A quick glance at the tournament ladder would put that to the test, however. Aside from the fact that a couple of her friends were still in the running (meaning she’d have to face one of them in the finals), she found herself up against another pony who she knew for this round... and she wasn’t any ordinary pony.

“Well it’ll be good to see her again,” Vinyl said to herself. “I just hope I can beat her and her... strange ways.” With that thought in mind, Vinyl proceeded to where Stage 7 was being held.

When Vinyl got to the arena, she found herself in a very familiar-looking sweets shop. Sugarcube Corner, the place many ponies can go for cupcakes and parties that Vinyl’s were second only to.

“Hiya, Vinyl,” a familiar high-pitched voice said from behind Vinyl.

Vinyl slowly turned around to face her adversary, a pink earth pony with a huge poofy mane and tail. “Well hi to you too, Pinkie Pie,” the disc jockey said. “What brings you to the Equestria Battle Tournament?”

“Well, it turns out that Mrs. Cake is pregnant,” Pinkie replied, “and we can’t afford a foal, so I decided to enter the tournament to win the money needed to keep everything in line.”

“Really?” Vinyl asked. “Well that makes my purpose for entering the tournament sound shallow and insensitive.”

“What are you here for?”

“My club’s losing business, so I wanted to win the money and fix it up. But now that you’re here and I know what you’re fighting for...”

“Hay, don’t worry about it, Vinyl. It doesn’t matter which one of us wins. Just as long as both of us get to have fun. I’ll tell you what. If I beat you, I can throw some kind of fundraiser party to raise money for your club.”

“And I could do the same for you if I win.” Vinyl chuckled to herself before continuing. “You know something, Pinkie Pie? A lot of ponies don’t give you enough credit. And while you may be hard to understand sometimes, you sure do have a way of bringing just about anypony out of the dumps by any means necessary.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Wait, I’m here to win the tournament.” Pinkie laughed to herself before adding, “Silly me.” Pinkie then stopped laughing and turned back to Vinyl. “Sorry, Vinyl, but now comes the part where I beat you.”

“Heh. You can try.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

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Vinyl wasted no time starting the round with a bang. She galloped forward at top speed and threw a high-level punch. This made contact... but it passed right through Pinkie’s mane.

“Silly filly, Vinyl,” Pinkie laughed. “You’re not supposed to hit my mane.” Pinkie then ducked low and head-butted Vinyl away. Vinyl was caught entirely off-guard and was knocked back a few feet. However, she quickly recovered from the attack.

“Noted,” Vinyl replied. She then charged forward and gave Pinkie a low-level kick, now knowing to avoid high-level attacks on account of the fact that Pinkie can duck and cause Vinyl to get her hoof stuck in the cotton candy that was Pinkie’s mane. Vinyl’s attack made contact and knocked Pinkie back a little, but the pink party pony never faltered. That was alright, though, because the white party pony still had plenty of fight left in her as well.

The battle raged on for some time, and both fighters were putting up a fantastic fight, though it was unclear which one would come out on top. “30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“You aren’t a bad fighter,” Vinyl complemented.

“Same to you,” Pinkie replied. “But only one of us can win, and that’s going to be me.” Pinkie then reached behind her and pulled out what looked like a large cannon on wheels. “Say hello to my Party Cannon!” Pinkie then slammed a button on the top of her weapon and a large spray of confetti and balloons were fired at Vinyl.

Vinyl was barely able to dodge the attack, but she recovered fast. “Hay, you have one of those too?” she asked. She then used her magic to summon her Bass Cannon. “Party Cannon, meet Bass Cannon. Any last words?” The Bass Cannon then fired a massive ball of pure sound at Pinkie Pie and her Party Cannon. Pinkie fired once to try to defend against Vinyl’s attack, but this plan failed and Pinkie was overwhelmed by the attack.

“Yeah,” Pinkie replied weakly. “Want me to help you come up with some lyrics for that song?” Pinkie’s legs then gave way and she was defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd immediately erupted in cheers and applause.

Meanwhile, Vinyl cantered up to where Pinkie lay and helped her up. “You alright, Pinkie?”

Pinkie took a second to shake herself off. “I’m fine,” Pinkie happily replied. “That was a pretty good round, Vinyl, and I gotta compliment your equipment. Very impressive.”

“Not as impressive as your’s. You don’t even have magic and you can just summon that cannon out of thin air.”

“You know something? We relied on our weapons a bit much that round. Don’t you think we should stick to hoof-to-hoof combat?”

“Hay, you’re the one who drew your cannon first.” Both ponies chuckled at what Vinyl said as Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina.

“Welp, best of luck to ya, Vinyl.”

“Same to you, Pinkie.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

This time, it was Pinkie’s turn to take a preemptive strike. She bounced forward and struck Vinyl with all fours. Vinyl was able to block this attack, and it didn’t do much damage anyway, but it certainly knocked her off-balance, allowing Pinkie to get in close and deliver a powerful combo. Vinyl was hit by a mid-level backhoof, a low-level kick, an uppercut and and finally, a blast from the Party Cannon. This banged Vinyl up pretty bad, but she was far from done. It was her turn to go on the offensive, and she took this opportunity to deliver the strongest combo she could come up with. It started with a mid-level spin kick, a mid-level jab, a downward smash, and a mule kick as the cherry on top. As Vinyl expected, this damaged Pinkie, but wasn’t even close to beating her.

The battle seesawed for a long time, and both fighters proved to be evenly matched. “30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“Time to finish this,” Vinyl said. She then used her magic to summon her Bass Cannon and prepared to fire at Pinkie. Pinkie replied by drawing her Party Cannon, but she didn’t fire it immediately for some reason. “Sorry, Pinkie, but this battle’s over!” Vinyl then fired her Bass Cannon at Pinkie. Pinkie, fired her Party Cannon but not at the blast from the Bass Cannon, but past it right at Vinyl. For some reason, though, the blast from the Party Cannon wasn’t as damaging as Vinyl expected. Instead, she was simply hit in the face with a present. Wondering what the significance of the box was, Vinyl looked up to find that Pinkie was gone, though her Party Cannon remained where it was. “Where’d she go?”

In answer to Vinyl’s question, the present started... giggling. Vinyl lowered her head to investigate, but this was replied by the box opening, a high-pitched voice shouting “SURPRISE!” and a pink hoof right in Vinyl’s face. Somehow, Pinkie had teleported into the present fired from her Party Cannon and attacked Vinyl from there. Vinyl was caught entirely off-guard and fell onto her back from the force of Pinkie’s punch.

“You know what?” Vinyl groaned while lying on the ground. “I think it’s time for me to join those who have stopped trying to explain you, Pinkie Pie.” She then rested her head on the ground.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 2 is Pinkie Pie!” The crowd was, for the most part, shocked by this turn of events, but they were cheering and applauding anyway.

“You alright, Vinyl?” Pinkie asked.

“I just received a hoof to the face as a present,” Vinyl replied, getting up. “I gotta say, that’s a move I have no choice but to respect. Mostly because you’re the only pony I know who can pull off such a move.”

“Thanks,” Pinkie replied. “That was actually the first time I’ve tried that move in battle, though. Every time I practiced it in my room, I always wound up falling off the ceiling instead of out of the present. Glad I’ve finally mastered it.”

Vinyl laughed at what Pinkie was saying. “Pinkie Pie, I’m sure you get this from a lot of your other friends, but you are so random.” Right as Vinyl said this, Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina. “Well this is going to be an exciting final round, I’m sure.”

“Me too,” Pinkie said.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Final round, fight!”

Vinyl and Pinkie both charged forward the second Princess Celestia started the round, both fighters aiming to make this round count. Pinkie wasted no time giving Vinyl a powerful mid-level punch, but Vinyl dodged the attack and replied with a sweep kick that knocked Pinkie Pie off her hooves. Pinkie quickly bounced back up from the attack, however, and gave Vinyl a roundhouse kick that the unicorn was barely able to block. That attack, however, left Pinkie off-balance for a moment, and Vinyl took advantage of it by drop-kicking Pinkie right in the face. Pinkie stumbled a little from this attack, but being the usual bubbly pony she is, it seemed to pretty much bounce right off of her, doing almost no obvious damage. She still felt it, of course, but... never mind. It’s Pinkie Pie. She gets up from those kinds of attacks and nopony should even try to question why anymore.

The battle raged on for quite some time, and it was quite a sight to see. Both fighers were evenly matched, both fighters were fighting at the top of their game, and both fighters had become covered in bumps and bruises and were weighed down heavily by fatigue. “20 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“I guess we’d better wrap things up,” Pinkie said, pulling out her Party Cannon. She then fired a blast of confetti that Vinyl was barely able to dodge.

“Couldn’t agree more with ya, Pinkie,” Vinyl said, using her magic to summon her Bass Cannon. “Sorry, but it’s the end of the line for you.” Vinyl then fired her Cannon right at Pinkie, who fired her own Cannon at Vinyl. Vinyl expected Pinkie’s attack, however, and used her magic to throw Pinkie’s “present” back into the path of the Bass Cannon. Pinkie had just jumped out of her present just in time to get blasted by the blast of pure sound. The pink pony was completely defenseless against the blast and was quickly defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 3 and Stage 7 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause upon this announcement. They couldn’t have asked for a more exciting battle and it wasn’t even the finals yet.

Vinyl walked over to where Pinkie Pie was laying and helped her up. “You alright, Pinkie?”

“I’m alright,” Pinkie said. “Wow. I think that’s the first time this tournament I’ve had one of my attacks used against me like that.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“No, it was a real eye-opener. You showed me that the randomest things don’t just come from me, but happen around me. Thanks, Vinyl.”

“Heh. No problem. And don’t worry, I’ll get you that money to help the Cakes.”

“Thanks again.” After Pinkie said that, Princess Celestia healed both fighter’s wounds. “Well, I guess I’d better get going. See ya ‘round, Vinyl.” With that, Pinkie happily hopped out of the arena.

“Yup, nopony will ever understand that one.” Vinyl then turned around and cantered out of the arena to proceed to the semi-final stage.

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Octavia

The stage was packed with ponies of different colors, types, and gender. Some of the eliminated fighters were mixed in as well, and there was not a single seat in the audience that wasn’t filled. This newly constructed stadium in the heart of Canterlot served as the final stage of the tournament.

The loud cheering and thunderous applause was deafening, but it seemed like nothing to Princess Celestia as she addressed the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced, “after seven rounds of intense fighting and pulse pounding action, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our two finalists! In one corner, we have Violet Lynn Scratch, a talented disc jockey from the town of Ponyville.”

The spotlights turned to the far left area of the stage where Vinyl Scratch was standing. Used to such attention, Vinyl smiled and waved to the cheering crowd. Just for the hay of it, Vinyl put her hoof to her ear and shouted, “I can’t hear you!” This prompted the crowd to start cheering louder than before.

“And in the other corner, we have Octavia Melody, a cello player from Ponyville with strings more angelic than any music in Equestria.”

The spotlights turned to the other side of the arena where Octavia was standing. Though all the attention in the arena was on her, she remained calm and collected and accepted the attention with grace.

“Tavi!” Vinyl said. “Good to see you again. How have you been?”

“Why has everypony insisted on calling me that today?” Octavia muttered to herself. She then turned back to Vinyl Scratch and said, “I’ve been fine. It’s only been a week since I left for my vacation.”

“Yeah, well, good friends should never be apart for that long without missing each other.”

Octavia laughed a little at this. “Face it, Vinyl. You just miss the quiche I make.”

“Yeah. The quiche aside, it’s time to get down to business. You heard what Princess Celestia said. Only one of can win here, and I have no intention of losing.”

“Well you’d better get one fast, because I’m here to win too, don’t forget.”

As the two fighters finished their conversation, Princess Celestia addressed the crowd once again. “Now then, a simple coin toss will determine which stage the fighters will battle on.” Celestia then used her magic to launch a coin into the air. She let it come back down and then picked it up to look at it. “It’s heads, so with the help of the tournament officials, Octavia’s stage will be recreated.” She then instructed the unicorns to light up their horns and channel their magic into a special machine.

Within seconds, the background changed from a state-of-the-art stadium with thousands of screaming fans to what looked like the dance hall that the Grand Galloping Gala was held in.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. Both fighters nodded their heads in confirmation. “Round 1, fight!”

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Octavia wasted no time charging forward and delivering a mid-level punch. Vinyl Scratch dodged this attack and followed up with a backhoof that Octavia managed to block. However, Vinyl expected Octavia to block this attack, leaving Tavi open for a low level punch that knocked her back a couple feet.

“That wasn’t a bad hit,” Octavia complemented.

“Yeah, well, I try,” Vinyl replied.

“Well you’d better try harder, because I didn’t make it this far off of luck.”

“Pfft. What made you think that was what I thought?” Vinyl Scratch then fired a small blast of magic at Octavia, who easily dodged the attack. Vinyl expected Tavi to dodge the attack and had planned on rushing forward and delivering a mid-level kick that Tavi would have been unable to dodge, but what actually happened was Vinyl taking two hind-hooves to the face, sending her flying backwards and allowing Octavia time to completely recover from her tuck-and-roll maneuver.

“Come on, Vinyl,” Octavia said. “That was an amatuer move and you know it.”

“I suppose I do know that,” Vinyl replied.

The battle raged on for a while and both fighters seemed to be evenly matched as they both accumulated a significant number of bumps and bruises. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“I never took you for a fighter, Tavi, let alone this good of a fighter,” Vinyl complemented through tired pants.

“Same to you, Vinyl,” Octavia replied. “And I’m not even done yet.” Octavia then pulled out her cello.

“Ooh, are you going to start playing?”

“You could say that...” Octavia said with a smile. She then kicked her cello up using her hind leg and hoisted the large instrument up to her shoulder. “Take this!” Octavia then galloped forward and swung her cello at Vinyl Scratch.

“Woah!” Vinyl shouted as the massive instrument came her way. Thinking on her hooves, she used her magic to summon her Bass Cannon and used it in its dormant form to block Octavia’s attack. Surprisingly enough, the Bass Cannon held up rather well against the attack, knocking Octavia off-balance. “You showed me your instrument. Now it’s time to say hello to mine.” Vinyl then activated her Bass Cannon and fired it at Octavia. However, Vinyl’s attack was blocked by Octavia’s cello and almost no damage was dealt.

“Time up!” Princess Celestia announced. “This round is a tie!” The crowd immediately erupted in shocked gasps and cheers upon this announcement.

“A tie?” Octavia asked.

“I guess we’re that evenly matched,” Vinyl said. “And truth be told, you were doing a lot better than I expected you to do.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“I-I was just saying...”

“Oh calm down, Vinyl. Let’s face facts. You had every right to underestimate me. In fact, I was kind of counting on that. I’m the one who underestimated you in that round, however, and now we’re down to a all-or-nothing final round because of that.”

As Octavia finished talking, Princess Celestia healed both fighter’s wounds and restored their stamina. “Well then,” Vinyl said, “whaddya say we get down to said ‘all-or-nothing’ final round?”

“I’d love nothing more.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Final round, fight!”

“Here we go!” Vinyl shouted as she charged forward to give Octavia a mid-level punch. However, Octavia grabbed Vinyl’s hoof before the attack could make contact and threw Vinyl over her shoulder, causing the disc jockey to land hard on her back.

“I’m sorry,” Octavia taunted, “but didn’t you say that we were-” Before Octavia could finish, however, Vinyl spun and sweep kicked Octavia off her hooves, causing her to yelp and land hard on her side. This allowed Vinyl Scratch to get back to her hooves, but Octavia recovered quickly and got to her hooves around the same time Vinyl did. Vinyl proceeded to deliver a low-level punch, but at the exact same time, Octavia gave Vinyl a high-level punch. Both hits made contact at the same time and both fighters stumbled backwards from the damage.

The battle raged on with both fighters matching each other almost literally blow for blow. Even Vinyl’s magic didn’t give herself any sort of leg up against her opponent. The two were truly each other’s equal, and the crowd was going wild beyond belief. “30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced.

“Wow,” Vinyl said while panting. “I understood that you were good, Tavi, but I didn’t think you would be this good once the battle really got rolling.”

“Same to you, Vinyl,” Octavia replied. “However, it’s time for this battle to end, and I plan on taking home a win.” Octavia then pulled out her cello and charged at Vinyl.

“Sorry, Tavi,” Vinyl said as she sidestepped Octavia’s attack. “But this tournament’s mine!” Vinyl then ducked low and gave Octavia a powerful uppercut which was followed a buck that sent Octavia right into the huge alicorn statute in the background of the arena, causing the statute to fall. (Though not on Octavia.)

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of this match is Vinyl Scratch who has earned the right to face me for the grand prize.” The background then changed from the Gala hall back to Canterlot Stadium. The spectators in the crowd were screaming and cheering wildly.

“I can’t believe I lost,” Octavia said, getting up. “And by such a stupid mistake, too.”

“What do you mean by that?” Vinyl Scratch asked.

“What else could I mean? I underestimated you. But now that I know what kind of power you truly have, you have no excuse for losing to Princess Celestia.”

“You’re right. I have no excuse now that I’ve beaten you of all ponies.”

“I’m glad you’re as confident in your skills as I am, and I’m sure our friends can add to that confidence.”

“No way you can lose now,” Derpy said from the nearby stands.

“Really should be me down there,” Doctor Whooves said, “but if it’s anypony else, I’m glad it’s somepony with true skill.”

“Good luck, Vinyl,” Lyra said.

“Do your best,” Bon Bon said.

“Thanks, everypony,” Vinyl said. “I won’t let any of you down. And once the tournament’s over, you guys know where the party will be.”

As Vinyl said this, Princess Celestia healed the wounds of both the combatants. “Good luck, Vinyl,” Octavia said. “I believe in you.”

“Thanks, Tavi,” Vinyl replied. Octavia gave a slightly annoyed huff at being called “Tavi” for the umpteenth time today, but smiled anyway as she made her way to the stands to join her friends. Vinyl then turned and got ready for the final round of the tournament.

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Princess Celestia

“Best of luck to you, Vinyl,” Octavia called as she took her seat among her friends.

The excitement of the crowd, meanwhile, had built up to a fever pitch. Everypony was chanting “Vinyl Scratch! Vinyl Scratch! Vinyl Scratch!” over and over again. Truly a sight to behold.

“Well this is quite the surprise,” Princess Celestia said to Vinyl Scratch. “Who would have guessed a pony as simple as yourself would have made it this far? No offense. And now here you are, standing ready to fight me. Tell me, Vinyl Scratch, how do you feel?”

“How else would I feel?” Vinyl asked in reply. “I’m pumped!”

Princess Celestia chuckled a little at this. “Well I’m glad you’re confident. However, I hope you’re aware that it will take much more than confidence to defeat me.”

“Did you think I got through this whole tournament off of confidence?” Vinyl asked with a laugh.

“I did not,” Princess Celestia remarked. “Now prepare yourself. I am the final obstacle you must overcome to win this tournament. Beat me, and the trophy and prize money are yours.”

“I’m just waiting on you.”

“Then let us begin. Violet Lynn Scratch, are you ready?”

“Let’s get this party started!”

“Round 1, fight!”

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Celestia decided to start the round off with a bang. She charged her horn and fired a blast of energy. Vinyl was barely able to dodge this attack.

”This might be a little harder than I thought,” Vinyl thought to herself. ”I think I underestimated Princess Celestia a little.” Thinking on her hooves, Vinyl charged forward and struck Celestia with a mid-level punch. The Princess, however, simply shrugged the attack off.

“I can sense you’re nervous,” Princess Celestia said.

“Now why the hay would I be nervous?” Vinyl asked.

“Because you’re worried about what will become of your club, as well as Pinkie Pie and the Cakes, if you lose.”

“Well... I guess I am a little nervous about that...”

“You don’t need to be afraid of upsetting your friends if you lose. I’m not going to hold back on you, but I’d have no reason to with what I’ve seen from you throughout this tournament. However, that doesn’t mean you can slack off, either.” To prove her point, Celestia rushed forward and struck Vinyl with a kick.

Vinyl stumbled a little from the force of the attack, but she quickly recovered. ”I really shouldn’t use my Bass Cannon so early in the round,” Vinyl thought to herself. ”Things are heating up kind of fast, though. I’m gonna have to get creative if I want to win.” Vinyl then began charging forward while at the same time charging her horn with energy. ”I really hope this works.” Vinyl leapt up and gave a Princess Celestia a solid sky kick, but the alicorn was able to block the attack with her wing. Unbeknownst to Celestia, however, Vinyl had summoned her Bass Cannon right behind Celestia. The disc jockey flipped right over Celestia and landed perfectly behind her Bass Cannon. “Oh please work like I need you to, Bass Cannon.” Vinyl kissed her Cannon for good luck and then fired it right at Princess Celestia. The Princess was hit directly and sustained quite a lot of damage, but she wasn’t KO'd.

“That’s a very impressive attack you have there, Vinyl,” Celestia complemented. “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to defeat me, though. 30 seconds remaining!”

"This isn’t going so well,” Vinyl Scratch thought to herself. ”Still, halfway through the battle and she’s already this badly damaged. I can probably handle this.” Vinyl then charged forward and tried to attack Celestia with a high kick, but Celestia blocked the attack and countered with a powerful punch that sent Vinyl flying into a wall. ”Okay, that plan was a bust,” Vinyl thought to herself while getting up slowly. ”Let’s mix things up, why don’t we?” Vinyl then charged her horn and fired a bolt of magic that Celestia easily blocked with her wings, but that left her literally blind to the fact that Vinyl had rushed forward and given her a powerful sweep kick that felled the sun goddess.

“KO,” Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 1 is Vinyl Scratch.” Sure the crowd could have asked for a more climactic victory than that, but that didn’t mean they were cheering any quieter. (That is to say, most of them were still cheering at the top of their lungs.) Vinyl’s friends were no exception.

“I knew you could do it!” Octavia shouted.

“Very impressive use of magic,” Lyra complemented.

“Couldn’t have pulled it off better myself,” Doctor Whooves admitted.

“Very awesome,” Derpy said.

“The battle’s not over, don’t forget,” Bon Bon said.

“Why do you have to be the negative one?” Lyra asked her friend.

“Because Doctor Whooves is taking a break from that role.”

“I am,” Doctor Whooves said.

“Thanks anyway, everypony,” Vinyl said. As she said that, she felt her wounds being healed and her stamina being restored by Princess Celestia. “Wish me luck in the next round.”

“Good luck,” the others said in unison as Vinyl turned to face Celestia once again.

“That wasn’t a bad round, Vinyl,” Celestia complemented. “I gotta say, I never thought you could be so creative.”

“Really?” Vinyl asked. “I’m a musician. It’s my job to be creative.”

“Oh, right,” Celestia said with a chuckled. “Must have completely slipped my mind. Now let’s get this next round started. Round 2, fight!”

Princess Celestia wasted no time using her wings to propel herself forward and unleash a volley of punches and kicks upon Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl wasn’t able to block many of them, but she did manage to use her magic to give Celestia a quick blast and put a little distance between the two. “My turn,” Vinyl said. She then charged forward and delivered a combo that consisted of a low-level punch, a low-level kick, a frontflip (that wasn’t meant to damage Celestia), and finally a downward smash. Princess Celestia recovered from the volley of strikes faster than Vinyl anticipated, however, and used her magic to throw Vinyl into the barrier surrounding the arena.

“Ooh,” Lyra said. “That’s gotta hurt.”

“You alright, Vinyl?” Octavia asked.

“I’m fine,” Vinyl said as she got up and dusted herself off. “Looks like she’s pulling out all the stops for this round. Gotta shake things up.” Vinyl then galloped forward to give Celestia a mid-level punch. Celesta blocked this attack, but Vinyl expected this, grabbed Celestia’s hoof, and hammer-threw her into the barrier. While the sun goddess was stunned, Vinyl summoned her Bass Cannon and fired at Celestia. The Princess was unable to recover fast enough to block the attack and was hit head-on.

“That wasn’t bad,” Celestia muttered. “KO. The winner of round 2 and the Equestria Battle Tournament is Vinyl Scratch.” The crowd couldn’t possibly be cheering any louder than they were at that moment if they had tried, and believe me when I say, they were trying.

“Woo hoo!” Doctor Whooves shouted. “I never doubted you, Vinyl.”

“Knew you could pull it off,” Bon Bon said.

“Not a thing I could have done better,” Lyra said.

“That was pretty cool,” Derpy said.

“I gotta say, Vinyl,” Octavia said, “there were a couple parts there where I didn’t think you were going to pull it off. But now, I’m happy to say you’ve proven me wrong.”

“Thanks, everypony,” Vinyl said. “I don’t think I’d be standing here if it weren’t for you guys.”

“Excellent match, Vinyl Scratch,” Celestia said as she healed both hers and Vinyl’s wounds. “By using your natural creativity, (and a fairly large stereo system), you were able to overcome the odds and become the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. You must be very proud.”

“Hay yeah, I am!” Vinyl said. ”Heh, I never doubted myself for a second,” Vinyl thought to herself. She then breathed a sigh of relief before proceeding to the stage where she would be awarded her trophy and prize money.

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Discord? +Epilogue

Sure Vinyl Scratch was confident in her combat abilities, but she never thought she’d find herself here, the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. Forget the prize money. Just being here, the pony who defeated Princess Celestia in combat, would drum up more business for her club than any advertisement money could by ever could. Of course, that just meant more money to give to Pinkie Pie and the Cakes.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced as she addressed the crowd. “It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Violet Lynn Scratch, please step forward.”

Vinyl Scratch stepped forward with a grin on her face. At last, the moment she’d been striving so long to achieve. Her excitement was very nearly too much to contain as Princess Celestia levitated the prize money and trophy that depicted two ponies fighting each other.

“The winner of the Equestria Battle Tournament is-”

“Hold it!” an unfamiliar voice called out. “You call that fighting? That was almost as bad as Scootaloo’s singing!”

“HAY!” Scootaloo shouted from somewhere in the crowd. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”

“As I was saying,” the voice continued, “that was the sorriest excuse for a fight I’ve ever seen. This kind of mistake needs to be corrected.” Suddenly, there were two flashes of white light. Whey they faded, both the trophy and the prize money had vanished.

“The prize money!” Vinyl shouted. “What have you done with it?”

“Oh, I’m just hanging onto it for safekeeping. Why? You want it back?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Vinyl replied in a voice that sounded like it was responding to a stupid question.

“Hmm... I’m afraid that’s not gonna happen. Unless...”

“Unless?” Vinyl asked. This is a trap. This is a trap. This is a trap. Vinyl’s subconscious kept trying to repeat. Vinyl wasn’t listening, though. “Unless what?”

“Unless you agree to do one thing for me.”

“Name it.” For Celestia’s sake, this is a trap!

Why don’t you shut up? Vinyl imagined herself shouting at her subconscious.

“Agree to fight me on my own turf,” the voice replied. “Face me in my own dimension, and if you defeat me, I’ll return the trophy and prize money. The choice is yours, Violet.” That was below the belt, alright. Nopony called Vinyl “Violet.”

“Don’t do it, Vinyl!” Octavia shouted. “It’s a trap!”

“He’s trying to bait you,” Lyra said.

“Don’t fall for what he’s saying,” Bon Bon shouted.

“You don’t have to prove anything, Vinyl,” Derpy said. “You’ve already defeated Princess Celestia.”

“Vinyl, if you walk away, I’m sure I can find some other way to resolve this,” Doctor Whooves said.

“My sincere apologies,” the voice said, “but did I authorize any of you to speak?” Just then, there were several flashes of light. When they faded, all of Vinyl’s friends had duct tape over their mouths.

“Not cool, dude!” Vinyl shouted. “Remove that duct tape right now!”

“How about no?” the voice replied. “Unless you want to take me up on my offer, however.”

“Alright,” Vinyl said. “Game on!”

“Foal! This party has come to an end!” There was another flash of light, and when it faded, Vinyl was gone.

When Vinyl Scratch opened her eyes once again, she couldn’t believe what she saw. In the distance were what looked like the buildings of Ponyville, but they were floating and some of them were upside down. The ground looked like a purple and pink checkerboard, and to top it all off, there were clouds made from cotton candy raining chocolate milk all over the place.

“Woah,” Vinyl said to herself. “This looks like all the stuff I see when I have one of those kinds of parties.”

“I assure you, this is no party,” the voice from before said. “Though you could still call it my personal playground.”

“Alright, enough games. Show yourself so we can have a proper fight.”

“Your funeral, Violet.” In a flash of light, the voice revealed its identity as it stood tall and let out an evil laugh.

“What the hay are you?” Vinyl asked as she stepped back in shock.

“Nice to meet you, too,” the creature before Vinyl replied. “I am Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

“Chaos and disharmony? That must make you evil.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s what makes me evil. More like ‘Chaotic Neutral.’ I will admit, though, playing the bad guy from time to time does put a nice spin on life.”

“Your life, maybe, but I for one don’t appreciate evil. I mean, I tried it once, but I just never saw the point.”

“Ha. You obviously didn’t try hard enough then.”

“Forget about me. Let’s just get down to why you brought me here.”

“Hmph. And here I thought you liked a little fun, Violet.”

“And stop calling me that! I hate that name!”

“Oh fine. Anyway, let’s get down to the fight. Rules are simple. Instead of a best two out of three fight, we’ll fight only one round with a time limit. Beat me under those conditions, and the trophy and prize money are yours. As well, I’ll grant you one request within my power, which is quite limitless, might I mention. However, if I win, I get to keep you here and do as I please with you. Sound good?”

Ignoring the psychotic grin on Discord’s face, Vinyl Scratch sternly replied, “Yes.”

“Foal! You know not your own folly! Prepare to lose!”

“Then cut the chit-chat, load that turntable, and let’s get this party started!”

“Arrogant much? Round 1, fight!”

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Vinyl was pumped for this fight. Nopony made fun of her and her friends and got away with it. Besides, this guy acted a lot like a coward, so this battle was going to be no trouble at all.

Right?

Vinyl galloped forward and delivered a solid punch right to Discord’s chest that she was sure would be enough to bring him down.

“Oh the pain!” Discord howled as she clutched his chest where Vinyl punched him. “No more! Mercy!”

“We have a saying in Ponyville,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “That saying is, ‘That’s what you get.’”

“Well it’s a bad saying. And poorly timed, no less.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I didn’t feel that punch at all.” Discord then began cackling madly.

“But I threw everything I had into that punch. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, dear Violet, what fun is there in making sense?”

Vinyl didn’t answer that. She simply used her magic to summon her Bass Cannon. “See if you feel this!” Vinyl then fired her Bass Cannon, scoring a direct hit on Discord.

“Ha!” Discord laughed as he shrugged the attack off with ease. “You call that wubs? I’ve heard better music from a Justin Bieber concert.”

“THAT WAS SO UNCALLED FOR, YOU FLYING PIECE OF PUDDING!” Vinyl shouted in pure rage. “HOW DARE YOU COMPARE ME TO SUCH A TERRIBLE SINGER!”

“I dare as I please, little pony.” Discord then fired a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. The attack was so fast, Vinyl had no time to dodge it before she was hit square in the face.

Whatever confidence Vinyl had going into this battle, it had faded in practically a flash of light as she realized just how much damage she took from that one attack.

Discord quickly took advantage of Vinyl’s lack of confidence and rushed forward to deliver a merciless volley of punches and kicks. Vinyl was entirely powerless against the attacks. She tried once or twice to give Discord her own attacks, but he seemed entirely unaffected.

“Well, Violet,” Discord said once Vinyl seemed almost finished, “I must say, this has been quite the party. However, I’m afraid the party’s over.”

“The party isn’t over until I say it’s over,” Vinyl said.

“Unless, of course, I say it’s over.” Discord then materialized a glass, filled it with chocolate rain, and threw it at Vinyl.

“A drink? You’re too kind.”

“So I’ve been accused.” Just then, the glass started to glow.

“Not cool, bro!” Vinyl shouted as the glass exploded. As she was caught in the explosion, she let out a high-pitched scream that sounded nothing like her normal voice.

“Hm. I wonder where I’ve heard that before,” Discord said with a maniacal laugh.

“You’re... gonna... pay...” Vinyl said weakly. She then fell to the ground, utterly defeated.

“KO! I win!” Discord shouted. “Well, Violet, for you, it looks like it’s...” Discord paused for a moment, materialized a pair of sunglasses, and put them on. “Game over! Yeah!”

“I can’t let you get away with this,” Vinyl said weakly, almost inaudibly. She then rested her head on the ground and let out a long exhale. “I just can’t.”

“Well what’s keeping you from keeping him from getting away with it?” a familiar voice asked from nowhere.

“I must be hearing things,” Vinyl said as her ears perked up. “Pinkie Pie?”

“Yes indeedy! How’re ya doin’, old pal?”

“Let’s see. Between getting the hay beaten out of me, letting you down, being exploded by a glass of chocolate milk, and getting compared to Justin Bieber... not well.”

“Oh, right. Sorry about all that.”

“What are you apologizing for, Pinkie? None of this is your fault.”

“But it is. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have gone after the prize money and I wouldn’t have felt like such a big old meanie-pants for you getting hurt like this.”

“Hay, aren’t you supposed to give me some kind of pep talk or something?”

“Oh, right. Silly me. This is kind of tough to say rather than sing, but you need to forget about me and beat show this bigger meanie-pants his place.”

“But how? He’s too strong. Nothing he does makes sense.”

“Nothing he does makes sense, huh? Is that your only excuse? Because that didn’t seem to stop you from beating me. I gotta go, now. Whatever was letting me talk to you is starting to fade.”

“Pinkie, wait!” But it was too late. The pink pony’s voice was long gone, and Vinyl was alone once again.

“Well isn’t that cute?” Discord asked while laughing. “Your little friend just gave you a pep talk. Too bad she’s just trying to use you to get the prize money for herself. She’s taking advantage of you so you bring the prize money back for her. I bet that Mrs. Cake she’s talking about isn’t even pregnant.”

“Liar!” Vinyl shouted as she rose to her hooves. Through her sudden courage, she felt her wounds being healed and her stamina being restored. “Pinkie is a true friend. She’d never take advantage of any of her friends. Even if she can seem like a creature of chaos like you at times, she’s always lawful chaos, unlike you.”

“Lawful chaos, eh? HA! There’s no such thing!”

“Well maybe there isn’t, but there is such a thing as friendship, and I trust its power to help me beat you.”

“Well then why don’t you come over here and show me how powerful your precious ‘friendship’ is.”

“Careful what you wish for, Discord. You just might get it one day.”

“You little... Round 1, fight!”

“Why don’t you make the first move?” Vinyl asked. “Or are you afraid?”

“Afraid!?” Discord asked. “You are truly testing your luck, little pony! Take this!” Discord then fired a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. Vinyl swerved out of the way of this attack, charged forward, and struck Discord with a flying kick.

“Hay! That actually hurt!” Discord shouted. “Take it easy, will ya?”

“Take it easy?” Vinyl asked. “How dare you cause so much pain and then beg for mercy!” Vinyl then struck Discord with an uppercut, followed by a quick blast of magic.

“That’s it,” Discord said in a rage. “You asked for this, Violet!” Discord then pulled out another glass, filled it with chocolate rain, and flung it at Vinyl Scratch.

“I told you...” Vinyl said, charging her horn and grabbing the glass in her magic. “Don’t call me that!” Vinyl then flung the glass at Discord, who screamed like a little girl as he got caught up in the explosion. “Not so tough now, are you? Wanna throw in the towel?”

“You have insulted me for the last time!” Discord shouted in rage. He then used magic to pull Vinyl closer to him.

“Put me down! This is beyond uncool!”

“Oh, you’ve gone back to calling me uncool?” Discord asked. “Sad.”

“What are you going to do?” Vinyl asked just before she realized she was within Discord’s reach.

“For starters, I’m gonna do this!” Discord then reached up and grabbed Vinyl by the throat and began strangling her. “What’s the matter? Draconequus got your tongue?”

No matter how hard Vinyl struggled, she couldn’t break free from Discord’s grasp. His grip was firm, and the disc jockey was powerless against it.

“I’ve waited an eternity for a moment like this,” Discord laughed. “It’s all over for you, Violet.”

“Stop... calling... me... that!” Vinyl shouted as she charged her horn with magic. She then fired a powerful blast of magic right to Discord’s face, causing him to drop her.

“How dare you!” Discord shouted. “That attack singed a few of my hairs! Do you have any idea how long it takes to groom this beautiful head of hair of mine?”

“I honestly don’t care,” Vinyl replied. She then charged forward and unleashed a powerful volley of attacks that Discord was powerless against.

“This cannot be!” Discord shouted. “I can’t be defeated! This doesn’t make any sense!” He then fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO!” Vinyl shouted. “I win! Flawless victory!” Vinyl then walked over to where Discord lay. “Alright, Discord, I’ve beaten you fair and square. Now return the trophy and prize money this instant.”

“Grr. Very well. And your wish?”

“My wish? At first, I probably would have wished for my club to be back in business.”

“Alright. So it shall be-”

“Wait. A club can be replaced. However, friendship can’t be replaced. I want you to make sure Pinkie Pie and the Cakes will be alright after Mrs. Cake’s foal.”

“Ugh. You ponies and your friendship. It makes me want to hurl.” Discord then snapped his fingers. “There. Pinkie and the Cakes will be fine. Happy?”

“Very much so. Now, if you would be so kind as to return the money and trophy?”

“Hmm. That’s gonna have to be a barrel full of NOPE!” With a snap of Discord’s fingers, he reversed the events of the tournament and erased the memories from everypony’s minds. They would all assume that it was all little more than a dream. A fantasy no stranger than one of Pinkie Pie’s. Of course, Discord was a creature of his word, so he didn’t leave Equestria be without fulfilling Vinyl’s wish. The Cakes would be just fine, but Discord let a little bit of chaos energy leak into Cup Cake. “Oops,” Discord thought to himself as he realized he did that. “No matter. That will be fun to watch for the time being, but soon, my master plan will be set in motion.” He then let out a maniacal laugh. “Equestria will be mine, once again!”

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Colgate

Oddly enough, Lyra proved to be a rather competent fighter. She pretty much breezed through the first three stages of the tournament, and she was sure nothing would be able to stop her from achieving her goal.

At least until she took a look at the tournament ladder to see who she was fighting in stage 4. “Oh no,” Lyra thought out loud. “I didn’t think I’d have to face her in the tournament.” The truth of the matter was that Lyra was prepared to have to face her friends... but she didn’t think she’d have to face one of her sisters. Bearing this thought in mind, Lyra proceeded uneasily to stage 4.

The arena for stage 4 was a bit unusual. Not the kind of place you’d expect to have two ponies fighting. Rather, a location that would strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest members of Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard.

The stage resembled a dentist’s office, and that could only mean one thing for Lyra.

“Well, it’s good to see you again, little sis,” a familiar voice said from behind Lyra.

“Nice to see you, too,” Lyra replied as she turned to face her opponent, her own sister, Colgate. “What brings you to the Equestria Battle Tournament?”

“Oh, I just came by to get some money that I can put towards my dental office.”

Lyra simply raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you aren’t just here as part of your eternal search for that ‘Doctor’ character?”

“Come on, sis,” Colgate replied. “I’ve met The Doctor when I was a filly. If he’s out there, he’s here at this tournament. And even if he doesn’t exist, even if he was just some weird dream I had as a filly, a crazy time-traveling pony with a blue box is just as ridiculous as your humans.”

“It’s entirely possible that humans could exist,” Lyra retorted. “Time travel, on the other hoof-”

“Lyra, please,” Colgate said, raising her hoof to quiet her sister, “we’re sisters. We shouldn’t be fighting like this. Especially not over two things which could easily make other ponies think we’re crazy.” Colgate then indicated the huge screen in the distance that would be projecting their battle in Canterlot Stadium. “That, on the other hoof, is what we should be fighting about. For the entertainment of others.”

“Okay,” Lyra said. “But don’t think I’m going easy on you just because you’re my sister.”

“And why would I do any different with you?” Colgate asked in reply.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

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Colgate wasted no time galloping forward to deliver the preemptive strike. She tried to attack Lyra with a mid-level punch, but Lyra was quick to block the attack and counter with a low-level kick that knocked Colgate back a couple paces.

“That wasn’t a bad shot for somepony who hasn’t had much combat experience before today,” Colgate complemented.

“Same to you,” Lyra replied.

“Don’t think I’m finished, though,” Colgate said as she rushed forward and fired a small blast of magic at Lyra. Lyra ducked to avoid the attack, but she didn’t see Colgate leap up and come down to strike Lyra hard from above. Lyra hit the ground hard from Colgate’s attack, but she recovered faster than Colgate anticipated and gave her a solid punch to the underside. Colgate was knocked backwards, allowing Lyra to get back to her hooves.

The battle raged on for a long time, and both Lyra and Colgate accumulated a significant amount of bumps and bruises. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“I honestly didn’t think you’d be able to fight this well,” Lyra complemented, panting.

“Really?” Colgate asked in reply. “I’m a dentist. Do you have any idea how often I have to fight my patients to get them to hold still?”

Lyra chuckled a little at this, but got serious once again. “In that case, remind me to not come by your dentistry.” Lyra then charged forward and tried to sweep-kick Colgate. Colgate jumped to avoid the attack, but Lyra front flipped and struck Colgate with her hind legs, knocking the dentist down hard against the ground.

“None of my patients fight quite like that,” Colgate said before she let her head hit the ground in defeat.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of Round 1 is Lyra Heartstrings!” The crowd instantly erupted into cheers and applause upon this announcement. While this was going on, Lyra jumped off of her sister whom she was still standing on top of and help Colgate up.

“You alright?” Lyra asked. “No broken teeth?”

Colgate chuckled a little at this. “Nope, not yet,” Colgate replied. “Still, that was a good round. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony move as fluidly as you do.”

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” Lyra said. “There’s more to me than just my belief in humans. Besides you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to finally settle our little grudge.”

“What are you talking about Lyra?” Colgate asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me, sis!” Lyra snapped. “You know all too well that our parents always loved you more than they did me or Shoeshine.”

“That’s not true,” Colgate said, rising to her hooves. “You were always jealous of me, but our parents loved us all the same.”

“Oh really?” Lyra asked. “Then why did mom and dad get so excited when you got your cutie mark? And yet when me and Shoeshine got our cutie marks we got nothing but faint praise? You can’t explain that!”

Colgate knew Lyra was right. All this time she had been convinced that her sisters were only jealous of her because she had a more successful career. All this time she had blinded to the truth. And now she realized that this had cost her the one thing she had wanted more then anything else. A loving bond with her family. Swallowing her pride, Colgate said, “Lyra, I’m sorry I didn’t realize until now what was going on. I know that nothing I say or do can make up for it. But at the least I hope that it’s not too late for us to patch things up and start over.”

“We’ll see,” Lyra said sternly. “For right now I’m focused on winning this tournament. And I’m not letting you or anypony else stop me from doing just that! So I’m sorry but this is where it ends for you.”

“You won’t beat me that easily,” Colgate said. “Round 2 will be a different story.”

“Indeed it will be,” Lyra said as both fighters took up their positions after Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina.

“Fighters are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. Both fighters nodded. “Round 2, Fight!” The heat was on.

“Prepare to lose sis!” Colgate shouted, starting off the round with a charged magic blast. Lyra took it head on and shrugged it off.

“Is that the best you can do?” Lyra teased.

“What?!” Colgate asked.

“Let me show you what a real attack is supposed to feel like.” Lyra said, using Colgate’s state of shock to attack her with a high level punch. Colgate was surprised at how far back the punch sent her. Lyra seemed to have developed a newfound power, and was channeling it into her attacks. But Colgate wasn’t just going to lay down and accept defeat.

“I just was warming up,” Colgate said “Now the real fight begins.” To prove her point she raced forward and struck Lyra with a sweeping kick. Lyra very nearly collapsed.

“Now that’s what I want to see!” Lyra said. “Hit me with everything you’ve got. It’ll make it all the more satisfying when I beat you.”

The sibling grudge match seesawed back and forth as time passed. Neither sister seemed able to gain a clear advantage. Combos were impossible as both sisters seemed capable of reading each others minds, and dodged or recovered before combos could begin.

“30 seconds remaining,” Princess Celestia announced. Both unicorns had built up quite the collections of bumps, bruises, and scorch marks. Both of them were panting heavily, staring each other down as if daring the other to blink. The audience meanwhile was hanging on the edge of their seats. It was anypony’s guess as to what would happen.

“Well this has been fun sister,” Lyra said. “But I’m afraid the time has come for me to end this.” She promptly raced forward, preparing to hit Colgate with an uppercut.

Then to the shock of everyone Colgate fired off a charged magic blast, just as Lyra’s attack hit her. Both sisters promptly fell to the ground as they muttered, “Nice attack.”

“Double K.O.!” Princess Celestia announced. “This round is a tie. But the winner of this match is Lyra Heartstrings who will move on to the next round of the tournament.”

“That was an impressive last move,” Lyra said, rising to her hooves. “You’ve got some skill.”

“I’m surprised at how strong your hooves are.” Colgate said. “I mean for me it makes sense, but for somepony like you it’s very unusual.”

“Well when you’ve been playing the lyre for as long as I have your hooves tend to get a good workout,” Lyra explained.

“Well that explains a lot,” Colgate said. “Sorry for taking so long to realize what was going on at home.”

“That’s alright,” Lyra said. “I’m not one to hold a grudge. At least you finally opened your eyes to the truth.”

“So I take it we can start over and make up right?” Colgate asked.

“Of course sister,” Lyra replied. “Besides I can’t stay mad at you for long.” Both sisters then gave each other a hug as Princess Celestia restored their stamina and healed their wounds.

“Best of luck in the tournament,” Colgate said. “I know you have what it takes to win it all.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” Lyra said. “I hope I’ll see you and Shoeshine at the final, cheering me on.”

“You can count on it.” Colgate said. The two ponies then left the arena in opposite directions. Colgate on her way to the stands so that she could watch the rest of the tournament, and Lyra on her way to Stage 5.

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Spike

Proceeding her battle with her sister Colgate, Lyra fought through the next two rounds of the tournament with a renewed spirit, knowing that Colgate (and possibly Shoeshine if she already got beat) were rooting for her from somewhere in the audience. As well, she was glad she had finally gotten an apology from Colgate. This lifted a weight off of Lyra’s shoulders that she didn’t even know she had.

Upon her stage 6 victory, Lyra was sure the tournament was in the bag for her. However, one glance at the tournament ladder would change that.

“What?” Lyra exclaimed to herself. “But how could he be in the tournament?” Doing her best to hide her blush from the crowd, she quickly made her way where stage 7 was being held.

The arena was a location just outside of Golden Oaks Library, where the most well-known pony in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, lived and worked as the librarian, along with her companion who Lyra knew rather well.

“Hello, Lyra,” a young male voice said from behind Lyra.

Lyra turned around slowly to face her challenger. It was none other Twilight Sparkle’s baby dragon companion, Spike. Lyra did her best not to blush at the sight of Spike. She did kind of like him, but she’d be too embarrassed to tell anypony about it. A pony and a dragon? Just plain weird. Sure Spike’s crush on Rarity was okay, but she had a decent reputation among ponies as it was. If anypony were to find out that a pony as simple as Lyra had a crush on Spike or any creature other than another pony...

“Um, Lyra?” Spike asked. “Are you okay?”

Lyra was so lost in her thoughts, that she had totally forgotten that she was here to fight Spike, not stand there and stare at him. She hadn’t even noticed that she completely spaced out in front of the entire crowd.

“Oh, right,” Lyra finally said, doing her best to compose herself. “Hello, Spike. Uh, how are you today?”

Spike raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I’m fine?” he said more like a question than an actual reply. “Did you forget why we’re here?”

“No!” Lyra thought she said but accidentally shouted. “I mean, uh, I know why I’m here. I was just wondering why someone like you would be here. Someone who seems to have no place in combat, I mean.”

“Oh, I just joined the tournament to see Rar- I mean, a friend of Twilight’s,” Spike said. Lyra just rolled her eyes with a smile.

”I guess he doesn’t know that just about everypony in Ponyville already knows about his crush on Rarity,” she thought to herself.

“Anything else?” Lyra asked out loud.

“Well, I was planning on using the money to help out the above mentioned friend of Twilight’s,” Spike replied. “Also, how cool would it be to be a dragon who won a tournament for ponies?”

“That would be cool,” Lyra said. “If I were to allow such a thing, that is. Sorry little Spike, but I’m here to win the tournament too, don’t forget.”

“That’s fine,” Spike replied, pretending to roll up the sleeves of his non-existent shirt. “I didn’t get this far off of just charm, after all.”

”There’s a shocker,” Lyra thought to herself. ”He certainly has plenty of charm to fell the average mare. Darnit! I really need to stop thinking about how attractive he is if I want to win!”

“Well don’t think I got through by luck either,” Lyra finally replied, taking an offensive stance.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

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Lyra wasted no time before charging forward to attack Spike with a low-level punch. (Given the fact that he was so short, low-level attacks might have been the only way Lyra would be able to fight this time around.) However, much to Lyra’s surprise, Spike sidestepped the attack and replied by leaping upwards and delivering a high-level punch right to Lyra’s face. This caught Lyra off-guard a little, but her resolve never faltered.

“That wasn’t a bad attack,” Lyra complemented, rubbing her forehead where Spike made contact.

“Thanks,” Spike replied. “A lot of ponies don’t give me much credit because I’m so small. Them underestimating me usually leads to their defeat.”

“Well in that case, I know not to underestimate you now,” Lyra said. She then rushed forward once again to try to give Spike a sweep kick. Spike jumped to avoid this attack, but Lyra expected this to happen and proceeded to give Spike a mid-level punch that made contact and sent the baby dragon flying into the barrier around the arena. Spike recovered quickly from this attack, much to Lyra’s surprise, and charged at her faster than she expected him to on just two legs. She expected him to leap up and try to attack her face again, but much to her surprise, he slid and sweep-kicked her. This attack made contact with her left foreleg and she stumbled a little, but she was able to recover. What she wasn’t able to do, however, was recover fast enough to defend against a strong flip kick that dealt quite a bit of damage. She was able to recover from this attack quickly, however, and replied with a powerful blast of magic that sent Spike flying. He landed on his feet easily, though, and he still had plenty of fight left in him. Lyra was no different, though. She wasn’t even close to the end of her fight.

The battle between pony and dragon seesawed for the longest time, and both fighters accumulated a significant number of bumps and bruises. While nopony in the crowd seemed to be able to tell who would win, Lyra herself knew that she wasn’t fighting at her best. She was still letting her feelings for Spike get the best of her, and it was by sheer luck Spike hadn’t picked up on this and taken advantage of it yet. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’re turning out to be a better fighter than I thought you’d be,” Lyra complemented through heavy pants.

“You’re not too bad, yourself,” Spike replied, also panting. “I’m not done, though.” Spike then charged forward and tried to give Lyra a solid kick right to her chest. Lyra took the hit, then replied by blasting Spike with her magic to knock him to the ground, then picked him up and threw him into the barrier. However, Spike flipped in mid-air, hit the wall with his feet, then used his momentum to leap off the wall and propel himself right at Lyra, punching her square in the face and knocking her backwards right onto her back.

“I probably should have seen that coming,” Lyra said, resting her head on the ground.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Spike!” The crowd was going wild at this announcement, but Lyra was anything but happy.

”Can’t believe I let that happen,” Lyra thought to herself. ”One simple mistake, and I’m the one who gets KO'd.”

While Lyra was thinking about this, Spike walked over and offered his hand to help her up. “You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Lyra replied as Spike helped her up. “I honestly never would have thought you were that good of a fighter.”

“Yeah, well...” Spike said with a grin. “I do have some talents aside from handwriting.”

“Well don’t think you’ll get so lucky in the next round,” Lyra said with a smile.

“Uh, Lyra?” Spike asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to let go of my hand sometime before the next round starts?”

It took all of Lyra’s might to keep her face from erupting into a sea of blush as she quickly realized that she was still holding Spike’s hand in her hoof. ”Ah!” she thought to herself as she pulled her hoof away. ”Darnit! How am I supposed to expect to beat Spike if I can barely control my feelings for him?”

“Are you okay?” Spike asked.

“I’m fine,” Lyra replied out loud. “I was just... thinking about the next round. I figure since my last strategy for beating you failed and I have no more margin for error, I gotta do all I can to beat you.” Right as Lyra said this, Princess Celestia healed both hers and Spike’s wounds.

“Well good luck with that new strategy,” Spike said. “It would be a real shame if I beat you without much of a fight.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about me not putting up enough of a fight,” Lyra said, giving an obviously fake laugh.

”Okay...” Lyra thought to herself. ”Strategies? Anypony? Didn’t think so.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

Spike wasted no time rushing forward to start a combo on Lyra. However, Lyra managed to block the first attack, allowing her an opening to deliver a solid mid-level punch right to Spike’s face. Lyra then proceeded to give Spike her own combo, which consisted of the above-mentioned punch, a low kick, a mid-level backhoof, and finally, a mule kick. Spike was damaged considerably, but he was nowhere near done. To prove it, he quickly got up and sweep-kicked Lyra. She fell forward a little, but caught herself with the other hoof Spike didn’t hit. She then turned and blasted Spike with a blast of magic. Spike was stunned for a moment, but he didn’t recover fast enough to keep Lyra from punching him right in the face, knocking him right onto his back. Lyra charged forward and tried to grab Spike to throw him, but Spike rolled back onto his feet and stopped Lyra with an uppercut. She stumbled backwards, but she was still in the fight.

The battle raged on for a long time, and both fighters became bruised and fatigued. Lyra was certainly on shaky legs, but she came too far to go down now.

So what was keeping her from kicking Spike’s scaly flank already?

“30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“Looks like your game’s finished,” Spike said while panting.

“Not yet, it isn’t,” Lyra replied, also panting.

”Actually, he might be right,” Lyra thought to herself. Something’s still holding me back, but what?”

While Lyra was thinking about this, Spike rushed forward and tried to start a combo that he was sure would finish the round. Lyra didn’t have time to defend herself, but she was able to counter right after Spike delivered the first blow. Spike stumbled backwards from the force of Lyra’s counter, allowing Lyra an opportunity to charge forward and get at least one or two attacks in on the baby dragon. She managed a mid-level punch and a bycicle kick. Lyra was damaged from the fall she took thanks to her faulty bycicle kick, but Spike was a little more damaged, given the fact that he just took a hoof to the forehead followed immediately followed by a floor to the face. He tried to get up, but Lyra recovered faster than he did and summoned what little strength she could muster to give Spike a powerful magic blast that sent him flying. He hit the ground hard and tried to get up as fast as he could, but his legs gave out and he fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of Round 2 is Lyra Heartstrings!” The crowd was shocked at this upset, given they all expected Spike to win after his Round 1 performance. This only caused them to cheer louder, however, as their excitement was about peaked.

Lyra, on the other hoof, didn’t feel like celebrating. It took all her strength to finish that round, and after waiting a few seconds after Princess Celestia’s announcement, she finally allowed herself to stumble to her knees and catch her breath.

”Can’t believe I actually pulled that off,” Lyra thought to herself. ”Will I be so lucky next round, though?”

Lyra was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice when Spike walked over and offered to help her up. “You okay?” Spike asked. “You look like you took a heavier beating than me.”

Lyra looked up into his dark green eyes. She could have stared into them for eternity if she didn’t have an epiphany right there. She knew what was holding her back in the last two rounds, and she had to do something about it.

“Spike,” Lyra said as she took his hand and got up, “there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay,” Spike said.

Lyra took a deep breath before continuing. ”I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” she thought to herself.

“When you first came to Ponyville, I was hitting a rough spot with my, uh, friend Bon Bon,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I saw you.” Spike’s eyes widened in shock and possible fear as he found that he might have known where Lyra was going with this. “I mean, I knew you were friends with Princess Celestia’s prize pupil and all, and you liked that pony Rarity, but...”

“Lyra,” Spike said, “do you... like me?”

Her face now a sea of blush, Lyra looked down as she nodded her head. This generated many shocked gasps from the audience and some applause and whistles from a couple of stallions.

“Wow...” Spike said. “I’m sorry, Lyra, but-”

“Don’t bother,” Lyra quickly said, trying to compose herself. “I used to like you, but Bon Bon and I have made our decision. We’re together now, so you can go ahead and keep going after Rarity.” Lyra then put her hoof to Spike’s cheek. “But don’t worry. We can always be friends.”

Right as Lyra said this, Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina. “Well, friend,” Spike said, “whaddya say we finish this battle?”

“Great idea,” Lyra replied with a smile. The two combatants then took their positions on opposite sides of the arena.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Final round, fight!”

Lyra charged forward at full gallop, the burden of her unrequited love for Spike now lifted from her shoulders. She gave Spike a powerful mid-level punch that knocked him back a little, but his feet never left the ground. He recovered his balance quickly and gave Lyra a roundhouse kick right to the face. Lyra managed to shrug this attack off and reply with a blast of magic that hit Spike square in the midsection. Spike stumbled back a little from this attack, allowing Lyra to move in close and deliver a powerful five-hit combo comprised of a low-level punch with her right hoof, a mid-level punch with her left hoof, a cyclone kick from the left in which she struck Spike with both legs, and a powerful right mid-level backhoof as the cherry on top. Spike recovered from this combo faster than Lyra expected and replied with a combo of his own which involved two quick mid-level punches, a flip kick, a tackle, and finally, an overhead throw. As Lyra hit the wall thanks to Spike’s throw, she couldn’t help but notice how strong he was so throw a full-size mare with his tiny stature.

”I guess that’s why I used to like the kid,” Lyra thought to herself with a smile as she got up and charged back into the battle.

The fight seesawed for a long time, and both fighters were significantly injured. However, neither one was willing to give up. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“Looks like this fight’s come to a close,” Spike said to Lyra.

“Looks so,” Lyra replied. She then smiled slightly. “For you, at least.” Lyra then charged forward, aiming to finish the round as fast as she could. Spike charged forward as well, bearing a similar aim in mind. Spike slid low and aimed to finish Lyra with a sweep kick, but Lyra expected this, leapt out of the way, landed behind where Spike was, and in a single spinning motion, grabbed Spike and threw him into the barrier. He impacted hard and fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 3 and stage 7 is Lyra Heartstrings!” The crowd instantly erupted into cheers and applause upon this announcement.

Meanwhile, Lyra cantered over to where Spike was and helped him up. “You okay, Spike?” she asked.

“I’ll live,” Spike said, dusting himself off. “You know, you can fight pretty well when you don’t have a secret crush on your opponent.”

Lyra chuckled a little at this. “Well it’s a good thing I saved you from having to fight Rarity, then.”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “So much for getting that prize money to impress her and help keep Sweetie Belle in Ponyville.”

“Wait, what?” Lyra asked.

“Rarity entered the tournament so she could win money and cover the cost of school for Sweetie Belle,” Spike explained. “She’d have to move away if Rarity doesn’t come up with the money.”

Lyra thought about this for a moment. “You know what?” she finally said. “If I win the tournament, I’ll give some of the money to you so you can present it to Rarity.”

“Really?” Spike asked.

“Sure,” Lyra replied. “After all, what are friends for?”

Spike smiled as Princess Celestia healed the wounds of both fighters. “Well, I guess I’ll see you after the tournament,” Spike said.

“I guess so,” Lyra said. Spike then turned and walked off, but Lyra stopped him just before he left.

“Spike,” she said. “I forgot to mention one thing.”

“Yeah?” Spike asked.

“I just wanted to say that it was because of you that I became fascinated by humans,” Lyra said. “I watch you hold that quill, and I wonder if there are other creatures with your talent.”

Spike laughed a little at this. “Well, I’m glad I inspired you’re life’s work,” he said.

“What?!” Lyra shouted as Spike walked off. “WHY DOES EVERYPONY THINK THAT’S ALL I CARE ABOUT!?” Grumbling to herself, she made her way to the next stage.

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Bon Bon

The stage was packed with ponies of different colors, types, and gender. Some of the eliminated fighters were mixed in as well, and there was not a single seat in the audience that wasn’t filled. This newly constructed stadium at the heart of Canterlot served as the final stage of the tournament.

The loud cheering and thunderous applause was deafening, but it seemed like nothing to Princess Celestia as she addressed the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced, “after seven rounds of intense fighting and pulse pounding action, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our two finalists! In this corner, we have Lyra Heartstrings, a talented lyrist from Ponyville with musical skills that could tame an Ursa Major.”

The spotlights turned to the far left area of the stage where Lyra was standing. She waved to the crowds, but made no effort to physically bask in their applause.

“And in the other corner, we have Bon Bon Sweetiedrops, an average pony from Ponyville with well above-average combat skill.”

The spotlights turned to the other side of the arena where Bon Bon was standing. Bon Bon waved to the crowd with a smile on her face.

“Only one of these ponies will emerge victorious and earn the right to face me for the prize,” Celestia continued. “So, without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!” The audience erupted into applause that was so loud, it could be heard for miles.

“HI there, Bon Bon,” Lyra said to her friend. “I almost forgot that you entered the tournament as well.”

“Same to you,” Bon Bon replied. “Hay, I saw your fight with that dragon Spike.”

“Oh, right,” Lyra said. “Sorry about what I said.”

“It’s okay,” Bon Bon said. “I understand that you needed to tell him about our relationship in order to win. Next time you talk about something that affects the both of us, though, make sure you check with me about it. I’ll forgive you now, but remember that losing a mare friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a male friend.”

“FOREVER!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she poked her head up from under a loose bit of stone between where Lyra and Bon Bon were standing.

“Hay, get out of the arena!” one of the tournament officials shouted as he chased Pinkie out of the arena.

“Uh-huh...” Lyra said as she watched Pinkie gallop out of the arena. She then turned back to Bon Bon. “Let’s pretend that didn’t just happen. Anyway, you heard what Princess Celestia said. Only one of us can win this battle, and I have no intention of losing.”

“Then you’d better step up your game,” Bon Bon said, “because like Princess Celestia said, I’m an above-average fighter. I tore through this tournament like wildfire, and even you aren’t going to stop me.”

“You’re probably right,” Lyra said with a slight smile. “I believe you could kick my flank all the way to the moon. But you know me. Am I really going to let you do that?”

As the two fighters finished their conversation, Princess Celestia addressed the crowd once again. “Now then, a simple coin toss will determine which stage the fighters will battle on.” Celestia then used her magic to launch a coin into the air. She let it come back down, then picked it up to look at it. “It’s tails, so with the help of the tournament officials, Bon Bon’s stage will be recreated.” She then instructed the unicorns to light up their horns and channel their magic into a special machine.

Within seconds, the background changed from a state-of-the-art stadium with thousands of screaming fans to what looked like the Ponyville market.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. Both fighters nodded their heads in conformation. “Round 1, fight!”

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Bon Bon wasted no time in charging forward and unleashing a devastating volley of attacks on Lyra. Lyra managed to block enough attacks to keep from sustaining substantial damage, but she still couldn’t help but be impressed by the ferocity and raw force behind each of Bon Bon’s blows. Needing to break the powerful chain of attacks as fast as possible, Lyra took her opportunity to strike Bon Bon’s underside with a powerful mid-level punch, knocking the earth pony off-balance and allowing Lyra to move in close and give another mid-level punch that sent Bon Bon back further. The interesting thing was that Bon Bon seemed to make no effort to defend against Lyra’s attack but rather made an effort to attack Lyra while she made her attack. Bon Bon’s effort didn’t succeed, however, but it did catch Lyra’s attention.

“How come you’re not defending?” Lyra asked with a slight chuckle.

“Not part of my style,” Bon Bon replied, shaking the last hit she took from Lyra off. “Wastes too much time. Going in hooves flying is more efficient, and it’s gotten me through the whole tournament as it is.”

“Hmm,” Lyra said to herself.

”This might be a pretty fatal flaw in her technique,” Lyra thought to herself. ”Maybe I can-”

Lyra’s thought was cut short when Bon Bon charged forward and gave Lyra a solid uppercut that knocked the unicorn off her hooves. Lyra landed on her back, and just barely rolled out of the way when Bon Bon tried to stomp her. Lyra spun quickly and sweep kicked Bon Bon off her own hooves, allowing Lyra an opportunity to get back to her own hooves. Bon Bon managed to recover as well, and wasted no time charging back at Lyra. Lyra wasn’t ready to lose, however, and charged back at Bon Bon.

The fighters spent a long time exchanging blows, and both fighters accumulated a number of injuries and lost a lot of stamina. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’re a pretty good fighter, Bon Bon” Lyra complemented through tired pants.

“You’re not too shabby yourself,” Bon Bon replied. “Unfortunately, though, I kind of have to beat you now.” Bon Bon then charged forward and tried to give Lyra a solid high-level punch right to the face. Lyra was able to block this attack, but what she didn’t expect was for Bon Bon to quickly switch to a low kick that knocked Lyra off-balance. Lyra recovered quickly, though, and was able to grab Bon Bon’s hoof just before the earth pony could get another punch in. Lyra then gave Bon Bon an overhead throw right into the ground. Bon Bon landed hard on her back and did her best to get back up, but her efforts were in vain. She was defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Lyra Heartstrings!” The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause upon this announcement.

Meanwhile, Lyra turned around and helped Bon Bon up off the ground. “You alright?” Lyra asked.

“Pretty sure I’ll live,” Bon Bon replied as she got back to her hooves. “That wasn’t a bad round.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Lyra said. “However, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“What is it?” Bon Bon asked.

“You’re fighting style,” Lyra replied. “It’s good to have rage behind the way you fight. Sometimes that’s the only way you’re going to fight effectively. However, you fight with too much rage.”

“What are you talking about?” Bon Bon asked, slightly offended. “This fighting style has gotten me through the whole tournament.”

“But by what margin?” Lyra asked. “How many times did you come close to defeat because you weren’t defending at all?” Bon Bon was silent at this question. “Look, I want to win, you want to win, everypony in this whole tournament wanted to win. The thing is, however, that everypony was using a well-balanced technique. That means both attack and defence. If you do nothing but attack, you aren’t going to win by a very comfortable margin if you manage a win at all.”

“But...” Bon Bon tried to say. However, Lyra stopped her by putting her hoof on Bon Bon’s shoulder.

“Just trust me,” Lyra said. “If you try defending a little here and there, I promise you’ll have a better shot at beating me.”

Bon Bon was silent for a moment before finally saying, “Okay. I’ll try your ‘defending’ thing.”

As the two ponies finished their conversation, Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina. “Best of luck to you, Bon Bon,” Lyra said.

“Same to you,” Bon Bon replied.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

Neither fighter wasted time with any witty banter or anything. Both Lyra and Bon Bon charged into battle as fast as they could. Lyra was the one to give the first strike, a high-level punch right to Bon Bon’s face. However, much to Lyra’s surprise, Bon Bon blocked this attack and countered with a backhoof that knocked Lyra back a bit.

“Nice counter,” Lyra complemented.

“Thanks,” Bon Bon replied. She then charged forward at Lyra and threw a powerful mid-level punch. Lyra managed to block this attack and counter with a low kick. Bon Bon took this attack, but quickly countered with a headbutt. As Lyra stumbled, Bon Bon charged forward and gave Lyra a three-hit combo that consisted of a mid-level punch, an uppercut, and a mule kick. Lyra was knocked backwards, but she quickly got back to her hooves and charged forward at Bon Bon once again.

The fight raged on for some time, and while both fighters were significantly damaged, it seemed like Bon Bon had the upper-hoof this time around. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’ve improved since the last round,” Lyra said. “Maybe it was a mistake on my part to point out your errors.”

“Maybe it was,” Bon Bon said with a smile. She then charged forward and tried to give Lyra a high-level kick. However, Lyra stopped Bon Bon in her tracks with a well-placed blast of magic. Lyra then charged forward to try to attack the stunned Bon Bon with a low-level punch. Bon Bon was able to block this attack, however, and she countered Lyra’s attack with a roundhouse kick.

What Bon Bon didn’t anticipate, however, was for Lyra to quickly turn around, grab her hind leg, and hammer throw Bon Bon into the barrier around the arena.

“Should have seen that coming,” Bon Bon said as she fell to the ground in defeat.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of this match is Lyra Heartstrings, who has earned the right to face me for the grand prize!” The background then turned back to Canterlot Stadium, where the crowd was going wild with cheers and applause.

“Well that loss kind of stings,” Bon Bon said as Lyra helped her up. “Can’t believe just one hole in my defense was enough for you to finish me.”

“Hay, don’t feel so bad about it,” Lyra said. “You just didn’t have enough time to get accustomed to the new fighting style I recomended for you.”

“So you threw my game off on purpose?” Bon Bon asked.

“Not on purpose,” Lyra defended. “I just thought it might be a good idea for you to try something new for that fight.”

“Well, I guess that turned out to be my last fight because of that,” Bon Bon said. “Eh, either way, you must have had a lot of skill to beat me, so now you should have no excuse to lose to Princess Celestia. All I can do now is wish you luck, and our friends can certainly do the same.”

“Excellent performance,” Octavia said from the stands nearby.

“That was awesome!” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Not a thing I would have done differently,” Doctor Whooves said.

“You can finish this!” Derpy said.

“Thanks everypony,” Lyra said as Princess Celestia healed hers and Bon Bon’s wounds.

“Best of luck to you, Lyra,” Bon Bon said.

“Thanks,” Lyra replied. Bon Bon then turned and took her seat next to her friends while Lyra turned to face Princess Celestia.

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Princess Celestia

“Good luck, Lyra,” Bon Bon called as she took her seat among her friends.

The excitement of the crowd, meanwhile, had built up to a fever pitch. Everypony was chanting “Lyra! Lyra Lyra!” over and over again. Truly a sight to behold.

“Well this is a quite the surprise,” Princess Celestia said to Lyra, “I’m not sure if very many ponies would have placed their bets on you at the start of the tournament. No offense. Now here you stand, ready to fight me for the grand prize. Tell me, Lyra, how do you feel right now?”

“A little nervous, to be honest,” Lyra admitted. “But I didn’t come to stand around and be nervous. I came to fight, and I came to win!”

“That’s the spirit,” Princess Celestia said. “Being ready to fight me despite your nerves is an important trait to possess. However, it will take much more than courage to defeat me.”

“I understand that, Princess,” Lyra said.

“That’s good,” Princess Celestia said. “Now prepare yourself, Lyra. I am the final obstacle you must overcome to win this tournament. Beat me, and the trophy and prize money are yours.”

“Then let’s get the ball rolling, why don’t we?”

“In that case, we shall begin. Lyra Heartstrings, are you ready?”

“Ready and waiting.”

“Round 1, fight!”

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Celestia started the round off with a bang. She charged her horn and fired a blast of energy. Lyra just barely managed to avoid this attack.

Lyra did her best to recover and gave Princess Celestia a solid punch. However, Princess Celestia just seemed to shrug this attack off.

“I can sense you’re nervous,” Princess Celestia said.

“Me? Nervous?” Lyra laughed. “Why would I be nervous? I’m certainly not stressing over the fact that my very reputation could depend on whether or not I beat you if that’s what you’re talking about.”

“Lyra, you don’t need to worry about your reputation,” Princess Celestia said. “Look around you. All these ponies know your name not because you’re strange, but because you’ve made a good name for yourself. Even if you do loose against me, you’ll still trot away as the pony who made it all the way to the final stage of the Equestria Battle Tournament.”

Lyra thought about this for a moment. However, while Lyra was thinking, Princess Celestia took the opportunity to charge forward and attack Lyra with a kick. Lyra stumbled a little from the attack, but she recovered quickly.

”Princess Celestia’s right, Lyra thought to herself. ”If I stress about the battle, I’ll do poorly and likely lose. But what is there to worry about? My reputation’s clear enough as it is, so all I have to worry about now is winning the tournament for the prize.” This thought in mind, Lyra came back to reality and charged forward to give Princess Celestia a 4-hit combo that consisted of a right haymaker (no pun intended), a left uppercut, a flip kick, and a blast of magic to top it all off. Princess Celestia was damaged by this combo, but she wasn’t near KO.

“Very impressive, Lyra,” Princess Celestia complemented. “I’m glad I could get you back in fighting shape. 30 seconds remaining!”

”Time to heat things up,” Lyra thought to herself. She then charged forward, charging her horn with energy. While she was doing this, she attacked Princess Celestia with a mid-level kick. The Princess managed to block this attack, but Lyra counted on this and fired a blast of magic at the defenceless Celestia from point-blank range. Princess Celestia stumbled back a bit, allowing Lyra to get in close and deliver a mid-level punch that was meant to start a combo. However, Princess Celestia blocked this attack and countered with a roundhouse kick that sent Lyra back into the barrier surrounding the arena.

“Ooh, that had to hurt a little,” Bon Bon said from her position in the stands.

The hit Lyra took did, indeed, hurt, but Lyra got up and shook herself off despite the damage she took. She then charged forward and attacked Princess Celestia with a combo that started with a blast of magic to stun the Princess, then a mid-level punch followed by a quick high-level jab, then a sweep kick to down Celestia.

“KO,” Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 1 is Lyra Heartstrings.” The crowd was cheering and applauding wildly upon this announcement, and Lyra’s friends were no exceptions to this rule.

“Awesome finish!” Bon Bon shouted.

“Couldn’t have done better myself,” Doctor Whooves said.

“That was a pretty good recovery,” Derpy said. “And I speak from experience.”

“A truly graceful win,” Octavia said.

“When you finish this tournament, I am so throwing a party for you back home,” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Thanks everypony,” Lyra said. “But I’m not finished yet. I’ve still got one more round to beat Princess Celestia in, so I can’t celebrate just yet.” Right as Lyra said this, she felt her wounds being healed and her stamina restored by Princess Celestia. “Wish me luck, everypony.”

“Good luck,” the others shouted as Lyra turned back to Princess Celestia.

“That was an impressive round, Lyra,” Princess Celestia complemented. “I must say, I never expected you to be this good of a fighter.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot more to me than what most ponies think,” Lyra replied with a smirk.

“I never had a doubt about that,” Princess Celestia said. “Now, come vanquish any doubts anypony in here has left about you. Round 2, fight!”

Princess Celestia wasted no time using her wings to propel herself forward and unleash a volley of punches and kicks upon Lyra. Lyra was able to block and dodge a couple attacks, but she was taking quite a beating on the whole. Fortunately, Lyra found an opening to give Princess Celestia a quick blast of magic which knocked the Princess off-balance just long enough for Lyra to recover and charge forward with her own attacks. She struck Celestia with a quick mid-level punch, an uppercut, a roundhouse kick, a sky buck, and a blast of magic that struck Princess Celestia in mid-air. The Princess was falling a little, but she quickly recovered and used her wings to land safely on all-fours. Celestia then fired a blast of magic that caught Lyra off guard, sending her flying into the barrier surrounding the area.

“You okay, Lyra?” Bon Bon asked.

“I’m fine,” Lyra replied, getting up and dusting herself off. “I’m still in this fight.” Lyra then charged forward and tried to give Princess Celestia a high-level punch. Celestia managed to block this attack, but it opened her to a low kick from Lyra. Seizing the opportunity, Lyra gave the stunned sun goddess a roundhouse kicked that knocked Celestia back a little. Lyra then charge forward once again, grabbed Celestia, and threw her into the barrier. The Princess then fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO,” Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 2 and the Equestria Battle Tournament is Lyra Heartstrings.” The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause upon this announcement, and Lyra’s friends were no different.

“Alright!” Vinyl Scratch shouted. “Awesome job!”

“Well done,” Octavia said, “I’m impressed.”

“Excellent work,” Doctor Whooves said. “I think I almost envied you for a second there.”

“That was awesome!” Derpy shouted.

“Can’t say I’m not impressed,” Bon Bon said. “Great job.”

“Thanks, everypony,” Lyra said. “Couldn’t have done it without your support.”

“Excellent match, Lyra,” Princess Celestia said as she healed hers and Lyra’s wounds. “By using your creativity and dexterity, you were able to defeat me and become the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. You must be very proud.”

“Yes, yes I am proud,” Lyra said. She wasn’t really paying attention to Princess Celestia, though. She was busy basking in the cheers and applause from the audience. At last, they all knew her name not because she was some weirdo who believed in humans, but because she was the pony who defeated Princess Celestia in combat and won the Equestria Battle Tournament. It wasn’t long, however, before Lyra realized that she had to make her way to the stage and claim the trophy and prize money.

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Discord? +Epilogue

Lyra never thought of herself as a very good fighter. Though here she was now, the pony who defeated Princess Celestia in combat and became the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. Simply because of this, it was safe to assume that everypony in the crowd had forgotten what defined Lyra in the past. No more was she just a weirdo. She was now a champion.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, foals of all ages,” Princess Celestia announced as she addressed the crowd. “It’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Lyra Heartstrings, please step forward.”

Lyra stepped forward while smiling and waving to the crowd. Her reputation was already saved, so now all she had to do was work the crowd just a little more as she accepted her prize. A bag of 1,000,000 bits and a trophy that depicted two ponies fighting each other, both of which Princess Celestia levitated with her magic.

“The winner of the Equestria Battle Tournament is-”

“Hold it!” an unfamiliar voice called out. “You call that fighting? A foal could fight better than that with their forelegs tied behind their back. This kind of mistake needs to be corrected.” Suddenly, there were two flashes of white light. When they faded, the trophy and prize money were both gone.

“The trophy!” Lyra shouted. “What have you done with it?”

“I just thought I’d hold onto it to make sure it stayed safe,” the voice replied. “Why? You want it back?”

“Well, it would be nice if I were to be the one to keep it, seeing as I was the one who won it,” Lyra replied.

“You do bring up a fair point... NOT! You’re not getting this trophy back. Unless...”

“Unless?” Lyra asked.

“Unless you agree to do one thing for me.”

“I’m listening,” Lyra said skeptically. Only at that moment did it click that whoever this voice was, he was trying to lure Lyra into a trap.

“Agree to face me in my own dimension,” the voice replied. “Fight me on my own turf, and if you win, the trophy and prize money are yours. The choice is yours, you human-loving foal.” Right as the voice said this, Lyra noticed some of the audience members begin murmuring amongst each other and chuckling softly at Lyra. So much for them forgetting that she believed in humans.

“Don’t do it Lyra!” Bon Bon shouted. “He’s trying to lure you into a trap!”

“You can’t trust him,” Octavia said.

“I can still throw you that party without the money,” Vinyl said.

“You already beat Princess Celestia,” Doctor Whooves said. “You’ve nothing left to prove.”

“Lyra, you’re cool to us,” Derpy said. “You don’t have to prove yourself to everypony else anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” the voice said, “but I don’t appreciate when somepony speaks without being spoken to. It’s downright disrespectful.” Just then, there were several flashes of light. When they faded, all of Lyra’s friends had duct tape over their mouths.

“What was that for?” Lyra shouted. “They have nothing to do with this!”

“Do I hear you implying that you accept my challenge?” the voice asked.

“Yes,” Lyra replied firmly. “I accept your challenge.”

“Excellent!” the voice said. Just then, there was one more flash of light. When it faded, Lyra was gone.

When Lyra opened her eyes, the sight she saw shocked her. It looked kind of like Ponyville, only the buildings were floating and upside down, the ground was a pink and purple checkerboard, and there were clouds made of cotton candy raining chocolate milk all over the place.

“Woah,” Lyra said to herself as she looked around. “What kind of craziness is this?”

“It is not craziness,” the voice from before shouted. “I prefer the term ‘chaotic’. It has a better ring to it.”

“Okay, fine,” Lyra replied. “Hay, didn’t you bring me here for a fight or something?”

“Well, they certainly make much cockier ponies nowadays,” the voice said. Then, in a flash of light, the source of the voice revealed himself.

“Holy hay bales!” Lyra shouted. “What in Celestia’s name are you?”

“I’m Discord,” the creature replied. “Your friendly neighborhood spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

“Chaos and disharmony?” Lyra asked. “Does that mean you’re friends with Pinkie Pie?”

“Oh, I’d love to be friends with her,” Discord replied. “She is one of my favorite ponies, after all. If only she would use her chaos to add a little more spice to life like I do.”

“Enough about Pinkie Pie,” Lyra suddenly said. “You brought me here for a battle, and I plan on defeating you in that battle.”

“Oh, alright,” Discord said with a huff. “But we’re going to do this a little differently than what you’re used to. Instead of best two out of three, we’ll only fight one round with a time limit. Beat me under those conditions, and the trophy and prize money are yours. Also, since I’m in a good mood today, I’ll grant you one wish within my power. However, if I win, I get to keep you here and do as I please with you for eternity. Do I make a good deal or do I make a good deal?”

Lyra could tell Discord was making a bet he was confident he could win. However, Lyra was also confident in her own combat skills, so she accepted the deal with a silent but serious nod. “Bring it on.”

“Prepare yourself for defeat, Lyra Heartstrings! Round 1, fight!”

(Pretend Zalgojack is an extension of Discord’s power here. Besides, I didn’t really think the old battle theme was boss-worthy.)

Youtube Video

Lyra was more than willing to get this fight over with. She had a reputation to maintain and some friends to fight for, so she was going all out on this creep. She galloped forward and gave Discord a solid punch to the chest that she was sure would deal significant damage.

“Ooh, ow!” Discord shouted as he clutched his chest. “I think you broke some ribs!”

“Ready to throw in the towel then?” Lyra asked.

“No, I think I’ll hang onto my towel for now,” Discord replied, “given the fact that that punch did nothing, after all!” He then began cackling wildly.

“But my hooves have been trained for years with my lyre,” Lyra said. “With how strong they are, that punch should have done something!”

“Well playing instruments aren’t everything when it comes to combat,” Discord replied with a smile.

Lyra didn’t reply to this. If hooves failed her, her next line of defence was magic. She charged her horn and fired a powerful blast of magic that Discord took head-on.

“Well that was pathetic,” Discord said as he shrugged the attack off. “The punch actually did more damage than that. Let me show you what a real projectile attack is supposed to do!” With that, Discord fired a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. The attack came at Lyra so fast, she had no time to dodge before she was hit square in the face and knocked backwards.

That one hit did quite a lot of damage to Lyra, but the damage to her body was nothing compared to the damage to her confidence. She quickly realized that she was probably in a losing battle once she realized how heavy of a hit she had taken.

Discord was not one to pass up an opportunity of any sort, so he took advantage of Lyra’s faltering confidence and charged forward to unleash an unrelenting volley of punches and kicks. Lyra did her best to defend against and counter the attacks, but she was for the most part defenceless as all of her efforts failed.

“I must say, Lyra, you put up quite a fight,” Discord said as he finally gave the battered and bruised Lyra a chance to breathe. “However, I fear this battle is over.”

“I’m not finished with you!” Lyra shouted despite her injuries.

“I’m afraid you are, actually,” Discord replied. He then materialized a glass, filled it with chocolate rain, and threw it at Lyra.

“Hang on,” Lyra said. “I’m lactose-intolerant!”

“In that case, you’re gonna really hate milk after this,” Discord said with a chuckle as the glass began to glow.

“Oh, that’s so much worse,” Lyra said as she realized what was about to happen. Just then, the glass exploded, sending Lyra flying backwards. As she was caught in the explosion, she let out a high-pitched yell in a voice that wasn’t her own.

“Hmm,” Discord said to himself. “I can’t put my finger on where, but I know I’ve heard that before.” He then began cackling madly.

“I... can’t... let... you...” Lyra started to say. However, her stamina was completely drained and she was unable to finish her sentence before she fell to the ground in defeat. “...beat... me...”

“KO! I win!” Discord shouted. “Well, Lyra, looks like it’s...” Discord paused for a moment to put on a pair of sunglasses. “Game over! Yeah!”

“There has to be some way to beat you...” Lyra said mostly to herself as she rested her head on the ground in defeat. “Only there isn’t.”

“Now that doesn’t sound like the Lyra Heartstrings I know,” a strangely familiar voice said from nowhere.

“What the hay?” Lyra said to herself as her ears perked up. “Either I’m hearing things or that was my own voice who just said that.”

“It’s not just your voice saying this,” the voice replied. “It’s you from a parallel universe. But not just any parallel universe...”

“Wait...” Lyra thought to herself. “Are you...?”

“Yes, Lyra,” the voice replied. “I’ve the version of you from the human universe.”

“What?” Lyra asked in shock. “You mean... all these years... and such a world exists?”

“That’s correct, Lyra,” human Lyra replied. “I’m here to tell you that you shouldn’t give up on this fight.”

“But Discord’s too strong,” pony Lyra replied. “Is there some way you can help me?”

“I can only do one thing for you, Lyra,” human Lyra replied. “All I can do is tell you to forget about your reputation with all the other ponies and be your true self. Who knows? If you win this battle and use that wish, you might be able to see my world and I could possibly see yours.”

“You’re right,” pony Lyra said as she rose to her hooves. “I need to fight for myself and not for everypony else.”

“That’s the spirit,” human Lyra replied. “Now get back in the ring with that guy, and I’ll be right there with you every step of the way.”

“Understood,” pony Lyra said as she felt her wounds being healed.

“Hmm?” Discord asked. “Are you ready for a second beating?”

“No, Discord,” Lyra said. “I’m going to defeat you, and I’m no longer fighting because of what others think of me.” Lyra then lowered the front half of her body as if doing a pushup before pushing her whole body upwards to where she was standing on two legs. She wobbled a little, but she quickly regained her balance and raised her forehooves as though they were fists. “I’m going to beat you as myself.”

“Ha!” Discord laughed. “I’ve never seen anypony embarrass themselves to quite this degree in my life, and I’ve lived quite a long time.”

“It’s not about my image anymore,” Lyra said. “It’s about beating you. Now come at me!”

“Your choice, weirdo. Round 1, FIGHT!”

Discord was standing ready for Lyra’s attack, but instead of attack him, she motioned with her hoof for him to come at her. “How dare you!” Discord shouted. “I’ll show you the price you pay for overconfidence!” He then fired a blast of concentrated chaos from his paw. Lyra leapt over this attack and did a perfect front flip before landing perfectly on her hind legs and giving Discord a solid jab that knocked him backwards.

“Hay!” Discord shouted. “That actually hurt! You’re going to pay for that!” He then tried to strike Lyra with a punch of his own, but Lyra blocked the attack and followed up with a powerful knockback attack that sent him skidding backwards.

“This is the price you pay for underestimating me,” Lyra said with a smirk.

“And this is the price you pay for using my taunts!” Discord shouted. He then pulled out another glass, filled it with chocolate rain, and flung it at Lyra.

“Too predictable,” Lyra said to herself. She then leapt up, reached out with her hoof, and used her magic to materialize a magic field that looked similar to a hand to grab the glass. Lyra then threw the glass at Discord, who screamed like a little girl as he was caught in the explosion. “Ready to give up yet, Discord?”

“Hardly,” Discord replied. He then used magic to pull Lyra closer to him.

“Put me down!” Lyra shouted. “How is this a fair fight if my hooves aren’t even on the ground?”

“Oh, this left the realm of a fair fight a long time ago,” Discord said with rage in his voice.

“Well then what’s your next move, huh?” Lyra asked as she realized that she was within Discord’s reach.

“Oh, there’s a pretty long list,” Discord replied. “First thing on the list, THIS!” Discord then reached up and grabbed Lyra by the throat, strangling her. “What’s the matter, Lyra? I thought you liked hands.”

No matter how hard Lyra struggled, she couldn’t break free from Discord’s grasp. His grip was firm, and the lyrist was powerless against his might.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for a moment like this, Lyra Heartstrings,” Discord said. “It’s all over for you.”

“No... it’s... not!” Lyra shouted as she charged her horn with magic. She then unleashed the most powerful blast she could manage right in Discord’s face. Lyra took the opportunity to break free from Discord’s grasp, but not before she gave him a flip kick right to his jaw that knocked him back further.

“Now that was just playing cheap!” Discord shouted.

“Oh, so now there’s such a thing as cheap shots, huh?” Lyra asked as she rose to her hind legs again. She then charged forward and unleashed a blinding flurry of punches and kicks that Discord was powerless against.

“How can this be?” Discord shouted as he was near defeat. “I wasn’t supposed to lose this battle, you were!” He then fell to the ground, defeated.

“KO! I win! Flawless victory!” Lyra shouted. She then got back on all fours and cantered over to where Discord lay. “Alright, Discord. You set up your own bet, so pay up. Return the trophy and prize money at once.”

“Fine,” Discord said angrily. “And your wish?”

“My wish?” Lyra asked. “I wish to be able to see the human world with my own eyes and thank my counterpart in that world for helping me beat you just now.”

“Actually, Lyra, there’s something you should probably know,” Discord said. “That wish is already cooking, and I can’t make it go any faster, so that would be a wasted wish.”

“Really?” Lyra asked. “Well in that case, make it so that ponies don’t think of me as some kind of weirdo for believing in humans anymore. I know I won the tournament and all, but you kind of set things back for me.”

“A wise wish,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers. “After all, the ponies won’t remember a thing you did in that tournament anyway.”

Before Lyra could respond, Discord snapped his fingers once again, sending Lyra back home and erasing all of the events of the Equestria Battle Tournament from everypony’s memories. However, since Discord was a creature of his word, all the ponies would also forget about Lyra’s obsession with humans, so she’d be back to being a regular background pony. Discord then cackled evilly to himself. “They have no idea what’s coming to them,” Discord said to himself as he laughed. “Soon, all of Equestria will be mine!”

Doctor Whooves: Introduction

Name: Unknown (Prefers “The Doctor”)

Species: Time Lord

Occupation: Time traveling hero

The Doctor is the last surviving member of his race, the Time Lords. Since he’s practically immortal, he travels through time in his ship, the TARDIS, (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) and saves many worlds from many monsters and such. While on a trip to Earth, the TARDIS brings the Doctor instead to Equestria. As per usual, he’s initially frustrated by his ship’s faulty navigation controls. But this time around, something in the air bugs the Doctor. Something isn’t quite right here in Equestria.

While in Ponyville to catch up with his old companion, Derpy Hooves, and some of her other friends, the Doctor hears news of the Equestria Battle Tournament. After a few minutes of pondering, the Doctor realizes that this might be what’s been bugging him ever since he got to to Equestria. Something bad is going to go down and it’s going to go down at this Equestria Battle Tournament thing. Generally, the Doctor is rather opposed to violence. However, since such a thing is unavoidable this time around, his limited experience with hand-to-hand combat in the past should serve him well.

However, he hasn't had as much training as far as hoof-to-hoof combat. After all, only recently has he stumbled upon this world, and he’s still getting used to the very idea of being an equine rather than a humanoid being. If the Doctor hopes to survive, he’s going to have to learn what he needs to know very fast. And even then, could it prepare him for an encounter with a couple of old rivals... or even a new, unfamiliar foe?

Lyra Heartstrings: Prologue

Name: Lyra Heartstrings

Species: Unicorn

Occupation: Musician

Lyra Heartstrings was born with a gift for playing the harp. She never dared play in public, but her abilities were far more impressive than she believed them to be. Everypony could tell by her cutie mark that she played the harp, but only her best friends knew she was actually good, and even then, only her closest friend Bon Bon knew of her singing that she’d sometimes do as she played her harp.

Even still, a lot of ponies wouldn’t know about Lyra’s harp skills. Usually what would happen is a pony would see Lyra walking by and think, “Hay, it’s that pony who believes in humans.” Lyra wouldn’t deny that she did have a fascination with these strange, albeit mythical bipedal creatures who had hands rather than hooves. However, Lyra had recently noticed that everypony is starting to think she was completely obsessed with humans. Even Bon Bon was starting to think this, in fact. This wasn’t true though. Lyra cared just as much about many other things as ponies think she cares about humans.

Not long after realizing this, Lyra received word of the Equestria Battle Tournament. Lyra wasn’t much of a fighter, but this looked like the perfect opportunity for her. She’d enter the tournament, show her skills, and become the pony who defeated Princess Celestia in combat rather than that weirdo who believes in humans. Besides, the prize was 1,000,000 bits, so that money could probably be used to help Bon Bon’s sweets shop.

To kill two birds with one stone like this; save her reputation and help her friend. This was an opportunity that Lyra just plain couldn’t pass up. It was settled. She would enter the tournament, win it, and become famous for all the right reasons for once. However, if she wants to win, she’ll have to face some pretty tough competition, not to mention possibly having to fight her friends. That was a risk Lyra was willing to take, though. If it meant proving to her friends and to Equestria that she was something more than a weirdo, then so be it.