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.
“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.
“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!”
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.