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!”
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.