//------------------------------//
// Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Princess Celestia 
// Story: Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition) 
// by Lance Skyes 
//------------------------------//

	“Good luck, Lyra,” Bon Bon called as she took her seat among her friends.
The excitement of the crowd, meanwhile, had built up to a fever pitch. Everypony was chanting “Lyra! Lyra Lyra!” over and over again. Truly a sight to behold.
“Well this is a quite the surprise,” Princess Celestia said to Lyra, “I’m not sure if very many ponies would have placed their bets on you at the start of the tournament. No offense. Now here you stand, ready to fight me for the grand prize. Tell me, Lyra, how do you feel right now?”
“A little nervous, to be honest,” Lyra admitted. “But I didn’t come to stand around and be nervous. I came to fight, and I came to win!”
“That’s the spirit,” Princess Celestia said. “Being ready to fight me despite your nerves is an important trait to possess. However, it will take much more than courage to defeat me.”
“I understand that, Princess,” Lyra said.
“That’s good,” Princess Celestia said. “Now prepare yourself, Lyra. I am the final obstacle you must overcome to win this tournament. Beat me, and the trophy and prize money are yours.”
“Then let’s get the ball rolling, why don’t we?”
“In that case, we shall begin. Lyra Heartstrings, are you ready?”
“Ready and waiting.”
“Round 1, fight!”

Celestia started the round off with a bang. She charged her horn and fired a blast of energy. Lyra just barely managed to avoid this attack.
Lyra did her best to recover and gave Princess Celestia a solid punch. However, Princess Celestia just seemed to shrug this attack off.
“I can sense you’re nervous,” Princess Celestia said.
“Me? Nervous?” Lyra laughed. “Why would I be nervous? I’m certainly not stressing over the fact that my very reputation could depend on whether or not I beat you if that’s what you’re talking about.”
“Lyra, you don’t need to worry about your reputation,” Princess Celestia said. “Look around you. All these ponies know your name not because you’re strange, but because you’ve made a good name for yourself. Even if you do loose against me, you’ll still trot away as the pony who made it all the way to the final stage of the Equestria Battle Tournament.”
Lyra thought about this for a moment. However, while Lyra was thinking, Princess Celestia took the opportunity to charge forward and attack Lyra with a kick. Lyra stumbled a little from the attack, but she recovered quickly.
”Princess Celestia’s right, Lyra thought to herself. ”If I stress about the battle, I’ll do poorly and likely lose. But what is there to worry about? My reputation’s clear enough as it is, so all I have to worry about now is winning the tournament for the prize.” This thought in mind, Lyra came back to reality and charged forward to give Princess Celestia a 4-hit combo that consisted of a right haymaker (no pun intended), a left uppercut, a flip kick, and a blast of magic to top it all off. Princess Celestia was damaged by this combo, but she wasn’t near KO.
“Very impressive, Lyra,” Princess Celestia complemented. “I’m glad I could get you back in fighting shape. 30 seconds remaining!”
”Time to heat things up,” Lyra thought to herself. She then charged forward, charging her horn with energy. While she was doing this, she attacked Princess Celestia with a mid-level kick. The Princess managed to block this attack, but Lyra counted on this and fired a blast of magic at the defenceless Celestia from point-blank range. Princess Celestia stumbled back a bit, allowing Lyra to get in close and deliver a mid-level punch that was meant to start a combo. However, Princess Celestia blocked this attack and countered with a roundhouse kick that sent Lyra back into the barrier surrounding the arena.
“Ooh, that had to hurt a little,” Bon Bon said from her position in the stands.
The hit Lyra took did, indeed, hurt, but Lyra got up and shook herself off despite the damage she took. She then charged forward and attacked Princess Celestia with a combo that started with a blast of magic to stun the Princess, then a mid-level punch followed by a quick high-level jab, then a sweep kick to down Celestia.
“KO,” Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 1 is Lyra Heartstrings.” The crowd was cheering and applauding wildly upon this announcement, and Lyra’s friends were no exceptions to this rule.
“Awesome finish!” Bon Bon shouted.
“Couldn’t have done better myself,” Doctor Whooves said.
“That was a pretty good recovery,” Derpy said. “And I speak from experience.”
“A truly graceful win,” Octavia said.
“When you finish this tournament, I am so throwing a party for you back home,” Vinyl Scratch said.
“Thanks everypony,” Lyra said. “But I’m not finished yet. I’ve still got one more round to beat Princess Celestia in, so I can’t celebrate just yet.” Right as Lyra said this, she felt her wounds being healed and her stamina restored by Princess Celestia. “Wish me luck, everypony.”
“Good luck,” the others shouted as Lyra turned back to Princess Celestia.
“That was an impressive round, Lyra,” Princess Celestia complemented. “I must say, I never expected you to be this good of a fighter.”
“Yeah, well, there’s a lot more to me than what most ponies think,” Lyra replied with a smirk.
“I never had a doubt about that,” Princess Celestia said. “Now, come vanquish any doubts anypony in here has left about you. Round 2, fight!”
Princess Celestia wasted no time using her wings to propel herself forward and unleash a volley of punches and kicks upon Lyra. Lyra was able to block and dodge a couple attacks, but she was taking quite a beating on the whole. Fortunately, Lyra found an opening to give Princess Celestia a quick blast of magic which knocked the Princess off-balance just long enough for Lyra to recover and charge forward with her own attacks. She struck Celestia with a quick mid-level punch, an uppercut, a roundhouse kick, a sky buck, and a blast of magic that struck Princess Celestia in mid-air. The Princess was falling a little, but she quickly recovered and used her wings to land safely on all-fours. Celestia then fired a blast of magic that caught Lyra off guard, sending her flying into the barrier surrounding the area.
“You okay, Lyra?” Bon Bon asked.
“I’m fine,” Lyra replied, getting up and dusting herself off. “I’m still in this fight.” Lyra then charged forward and tried to give Princess Celestia a high-level punch. Celestia managed to block this attack, but it opened her to a low kick from Lyra. Seizing the opportunity, Lyra gave the stunned sun goddess a roundhouse kicked that knocked Celestia back a little. Lyra then charge forward once again, grabbed Celestia, and threw her into the barrier. The Princess then fell to the ground, defeated.
“KO,” Princess Celestia muttered. “The winner of round 2 and the Equestria Battle Tournament is Lyra Heartstrings.” The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause upon this announcement, and Lyra’s friends were no different.
“Alright!” Vinyl Scratch shouted. “Awesome job!”
“Well done,” Octavia said, “I’m impressed.”
“Excellent work,” Doctor Whooves said. “I think I almost envied you for a second there.”
“That was awesome!” Derpy shouted.
“Can’t say I’m not impressed,” Bon Bon said. “Great job.”
“Thanks, everypony,” Lyra said. “Couldn’t have done it without your support.”
“Excellent match, Lyra,” Princess Celestia said as she healed hers and Lyra’s wounds. “By using your creativity and dexterity, you were able to defeat me and become the champion of the Equestria Battle Tournament. You must be very proud.”
“Yes, yes I am proud,” Lyra said. She wasn’t really paying attention to Princess Celestia, though. She was busy basking in the cheers and applause from the audience. At last, they all knew her name not because she was some weirdo who believed in humans, but because she was the pony who defeated Princess Celestia in combat and won the Equestria Battle Tournament. It wasn’t long, however, before Lyra realized that she had to make her way to the stage and claim the trophy and prize money.