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// Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Discord? +Epilogue 
// Story: Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition) 
// by Lance Skyes 
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	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!”

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!”