Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition)

by Lance Skyes

Lyra Heartstrings: Lyra vs Bon Bon

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 at 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 this corner, we have Lyra Heartstrings, a talented lyrist from Ponyville with musical skills that could tame an Ursa Major.”

The spotlights turned to the far left area of the stage where Lyra was standing. She waved to the crowds, but made no effort to physically bask in their applause.

“And in the other corner, we have Bon Bon Sweetiedrops, an average pony from Ponyville with well above-average combat skill.”

The spotlights turned to the other side of the arena where Bon Bon was standing. Bon Bon waved to the crowd with a smile on her face.

“Only one of these ponies will emerge victorious and earn the right to face me for the prize,” Celestia continued. “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.

“HI there, Bon Bon,” Lyra said to her friend. “I almost forgot that you entered the tournament as well.”

“Same to you,” Bon Bon replied. “Hay, I saw your fight with that dragon Spike.”

“Oh, right,” Lyra said. “Sorry about what I said.”

“It’s okay,” Bon Bon said. “I understand that you needed to tell him about our relationship in order to win. Next time you talk about something that affects the both of us, though, make sure you check with me about it. I’ll forgive you now, but remember that losing a mare friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a male friend.”

“FOREVER!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she poked her head up from under a loose bit of stone between where Lyra and Bon Bon were standing.

“Hay, get out of the arena!” one of the tournament officials shouted as he chased Pinkie out of the arena.

“Uh-huh...” Lyra said as she watched Pinkie gallop out of the arena. She then turned back to Bon Bon. “Let’s pretend that didn’t just happen. Anyway, you heard what Princess Celestia said. Only one of us can win this battle, and I have no intention of losing.”

“Then you’d better step up your game,” Bon Bon said, “because like Princess Celestia said, I’m an above-average fighter. I tore through this tournament like wildfire, and even you aren’t going to stop me.”

“You’re probably right,” Lyra said with a slight smile. “I believe you could kick my flank all the way to the moon. But you know me. Am I really going to let you do that?”

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, then picked it up to look at it. “It’s tails, so with the help of the tournament officials, Bon Bon’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 Ponyville market.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. Both fighters nodded their heads in conformation. “Round 1, fight!”

Bon Bon wasted no time in charging forward and unleashing a devastating volley of attacks on Lyra. Lyra managed to block enough attacks to keep from sustaining substantial damage, but she still couldn’t help but be impressed by the ferocity and raw force behind each of Bon Bon’s blows. Needing to break the powerful chain of attacks as fast as possible, Lyra took her opportunity to strike Bon Bon’s underside with a powerful mid-level punch, knocking the earth pony off-balance and allowing Lyra to move in close and give another mid-level punch that sent Bon Bon back further. The interesting thing was that Bon Bon seemed to make no effort to defend against Lyra’s attack but rather made an effort to attack Lyra while she made her attack. Bon Bon’s effort didn’t succeed, however, but it did catch Lyra’s attention.

“How come you’re not defending?” Lyra asked with a slight chuckle.

“Not part of my style,” Bon Bon replied, shaking the last hit she took from Lyra off. “Wastes too much time. Going in hooves flying is more efficient, and it’s gotten me through the whole tournament as it is.”

“Hmm,” Lyra said to herself.

”This might be a pretty fatal flaw in her technique,” Lyra thought to herself. ”Maybe I can-”

Lyra’s thought was cut short when Bon Bon charged forward and gave Lyra a solid uppercut that knocked the unicorn off her hooves. Lyra landed on her back, and just barely rolled out of the way when Bon Bon tried to stomp her. Lyra spun quickly and sweep kicked Bon Bon off her own hooves, allowing Lyra an opportunity to get back to her own hooves. Bon Bon managed to recover as well, and wasted no time charging back at Lyra. Lyra wasn’t ready to lose, however, and charged back at Bon Bon.

The fighters spent a long time exchanging blows, and both fighters accumulated a number of injuries and lost a lot of stamina. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’re a pretty good fighter, Bon Bon” Lyra complemented through tired pants.

“You’re not too shabby yourself,” Bon Bon replied. “Unfortunately, though, I kind of have to beat you now.” Bon Bon then charged forward and tried to give Lyra a solid high-level punch right to the face. Lyra was able to block this attack, but what she didn’t expect was for Bon Bon to quickly switch to a low kick that knocked Lyra off-balance. Lyra recovered quickly, though, and was able to grab Bon Bon’s hoof just before the earth pony could get another punch in. Lyra then gave Bon Bon an overhead throw right into the ground. Bon Bon landed hard on her back and did her best to get back up, but her efforts were in vain. She was defeated.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Lyra Heartstrings!” The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and applause upon this announcement.

Meanwhile, Lyra turned around and helped Bon Bon up off the ground. “You alright?” Lyra asked.

“Pretty sure I’ll live,” Bon Bon replied as she got back to her hooves. “That wasn’t a bad round.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Lyra said. “However, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“What is it?” Bon Bon asked.

“You’re fighting style,” Lyra replied. “It’s good to have rage behind the way you fight. Sometimes that’s the only way you’re going to fight effectively. However, you fight with too much rage.”

“What are you talking about?” Bon Bon asked, slightly offended. “This fighting style has gotten me through the whole tournament.”

“But by what margin?” Lyra asked. “How many times did you come close to defeat because you weren’t defending at all?” Bon Bon was silent at this question. “Look, I want to win, you want to win, everypony in this whole tournament wanted to win. The thing is, however, that everypony was using a well-balanced technique. That means both attack and defence. If you do nothing but attack, you aren’t going to win by a very comfortable margin if you manage a win at all.”

“But...” Bon Bon tried to say. However, Lyra stopped her by putting her hoof on Bon Bon’s shoulder.

“Just trust me,” Lyra said. “If you try defending a little here and there, I promise you’ll have a better shot at beating me.”

Bon Bon was silent for a moment before finally saying, “Okay. I’ll try your ‘defending’ thing.”

As the two ponies finished their conversation, Princess Celestia healed their wounds and restored their stamina. “Best of luck to you, Bon Bon,” Lyra said.

“Same to you,” Bon Bon replied.

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 2, fight!”

Neither fighter wasted time with any witty banter or anything. Both Lyra and Bon Bon charged into battle as fast as they could. Lyra was the one to give the first strike, a high-level punch right to Bon Bon’s face. However, much to Lyra’s surprise, Bon Bon blocked this attack and countered with a backhoof that knocked Lyra back a bit.

“Nice counter,” Lyra complemented.

“Thanks,” Bon Bon replied. She then charged forward at Lyra and threw a powerful mid-level punch. Lyra managed to block this attack and counter with a low kick. Bon Bon took this attack, but quickly countered with a headbutt. As Lyra stumbled, Bon Bon charged forward and gave Lyra a three-hit combo that consisted of a mid-level punch, an uppercut, and a mule kick. Lyra was knocked backwards, but she quickly got back to her hooves and charged forward at Bon Bon once again.

The fight raged on for some time, and while both fighters were significantly damaged, it seemed like Bon Bon had the upper-hoof this time around. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’ve improved since the last round,” Lyra said. “Maybe it was a mistake on my part to point out your errors.”

“Maybe it was,” Bon Bon said with a smile. She then charged forward and tried to give Lyra a high-level kick. However, Lyra stopped Bon Bon in her tracks with a well-placed blast of magic. Lyra then charged forward to try to attack the stunned Bon Bon with a low-level punch. Bon Bon was able to block this attack, however, and she countered Lyra’s attack with a roundhouse kick.

What Bon Bon didn’t anticipate, however, was for Lyra to quickly turn around, grab her hind leg, and hammer throw Bon Bon into the barrier around the arena.

“Should have seen that coming,” Bon Bon said as she fell to the ground in defeat.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of this match is Lyra Heartstrings, who has earned the right to face me for the grand prize!” The background then turned back to Canterlot Stadium, where the crowd was going wild with cheers and applause.

“Well that loss kind of stings,” Bon Bon said as Lyra helped her up. “Can’t believe just one hole in my defense was enough for you to finish me.”

“Hay, don’t feel so bad about it,” Lyra said. “You just didn’t have enough time to get accustomed to the new fighting style I recomended for you.”

“So you threw my game off on purpose?” Bon Bon asked.

“Not on purpose,” Lyra defended. “I just thought it might be a good idea for you to try something new for that fight.”

“Well, I guess that turned out to be my last fight because of that,” Bon Bon said. “Eh, either way, you must have had a lot of skill to beat me, so now you should have no excuse to lose to Princess Celestia. All I can do now is wish you luck, and our friends can certainly do the same.”

“Excellent performance,” Octavia said from the stands nearby.

“That was awesome!” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Not a thing I would have done differently,” Doctor Whooves said.

“You can finish this!” Derpy said.

“Thanks everypony,” Lyra said as Princess Celestia healed hers and Bon Bon’s wounds.

“Best of luck to you, Lyra,” Bon Bon said.

“Thanks,” Lyra replied. Bon Bon then turned and took her seat next to her friends while Lyra turned to face Princess Celestia.

Author's Note:

The only cannon shipping aside from Shining Armor x Princess Cadence and Twilight x Flash Sentry. (But who cares about those two?) Up next is the final stage where Lyra fights Princess Celestia. This will be exciting.