Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition)

by Lance Skyes

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!”

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.

Author's Note:

Yes, it totally makes sense that Lyra, Colgate, and Shoeshine are sisters. They look a lot alike, after all. Besides, sibling rivalry is best rivalry, am I right? Thanks to SPB12 himself for helping me write this chapter.

Also, sorry about the tabs. Something went wrong with them, and to be honest... I just don't know what went wrong.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Yeah I noticed that problem on google documents.

Still I'm happy to help. If you ever need more I'll always try to set aside time to do so.

Next up should be Lyra v.s. Spike if I'm not mistaken. Let's see how much fight Spike's got in him.

[Lance Skyes]

3441066 I expect him to put up a bit more of a fight than Lyra first expects. Also, can you PM me a suggestion for his arena? The best I've got is Twilight's library and I'm not sure if that will work too well.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

3451645 How about outside of the library rather then inside it?

[Lance Skyes]

3452038 That sounds good. Thanks.