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// Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Pinkie Pie 
// Story: Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition) 
// by Lance Skyes 
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	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!”

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.