Fighting is Magic: Story Mode (Background Six Edition)

by Lance Skyes

Vinyl Scratch: Vinyl Scratch vs Neon Lights

Vinyl Scratch pretty much breezed through the first three rounds of the tournament. She was going to have that prize money before she could finish writing her next song, which she was doing in her head though the first half of the tournament.

“Alright,” Vinyl said to herself, “which pony gets pwned by DJ PON-3 next?” Vinyl took a glance at the tournament ladder, and found that some of her friends were also in the running. She was likely going to have to face one of them later in the tournament, but that wasn’t what concerned her at the present moment. What did concern her was the pony she had to face in the next stage. “Aw, dude. I didn’t know I’d have to take him on.” Vinyl just shrugged to herself, figuring the battle wouldn’t be that bad, and proceeded to the next stage.

The arena set for stage 4 looked similar to a recording studio, only scaled up to fit two fighting ponies and their fight. It wasn’t just any recording studio, though. It was the one Vinyl Scratch worked at when making her songs.

“Good to see you again, Vinyl,” a familiar male voice said from behind Vinyl.

“Glad to see you too, Neon,” Vinyl said as she turned around. The pony behind her was none other than her childhood friend and manager Neon Lights, a blueish unicorn with a black mane. What truly set him apart, however, was his black leather jacket and sunglasses.

“So you decided to enter the Equestria Battle Tournament too?” Neon asked.

“Yeah,” Vinyl replied. “The club’s losing business, so I joined to try to win some money for the club.”

“Well you didn’t expect to see your friend, manager, and teacher in melee combat, did you?”

“Can’t really say I did. But know one thing, Neon. I’m winning that prize money, and the student will surpass the master here.” Vinyl paused and smiled for a moment. “But we’re still friends. Don’t worry about that.”

“‘Course we’re friends. Don’t think that means I’m going to go easy on you, though.”

“Fighters, are you ready?” Princess Celestia announced. “Round 1, fight!”

Neon Lights started the battle by galloping forward and leaping towards Vinyl to give her a strong high punch to the face. Vinyl was barely able to block this attack, but she did manage to counter with a mid-level kick that Neon was unable to avoid. Neon stumbled a little, but he quickly recovered and replied with a blast of magic. Ordinarily, a unicorn couldn’t use magic except for a couple blasts and maybe one special attack. However, the tournament officials were a little more lenient when it came to a duel of unicorns. Vinyl forgot about this rule for a moment, however, and didn’t use her own magic to deflect Neon’s attack. Instead, she dodged the attack and barrel rolled right into Neon’s hoof. Vinyl was vulnerable for a moment, and Neon took advantage of this by starting a combo. Neon got about four hits in before Vinyl recovered, blocked one of Neon’s kicks, and, finally remembering the magic rule, gave Neon a powerful blast of magic right to the face, knocking him back a little.

The fight raged on for a while, and both combatants became bruised and fatigued. “30 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“You’ve been training, haven’t you?” Neon asked Vinyl, panting a little.

“What? You think I just dropped fighting after my music career took off?” Vinyl replied, also panting.

“Well don’t forget one thing, Vinyl. I’m still your teacher!” Neon then leapt forward to finish Vinyl with a mid-level punch, but Vinyl used her magic to adjust Neon’s flight (ever so slightly) and sidestepped herself to give Neon a powerful two-legged kick, sending the stallion flying into a wall.

“And with that, the student has surpassed the master,” Vinyl said as Neon fell.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 1 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Celestia made the announcement.

Meanwhile, Vinyl walked over to her downed friend and helped him up. “You alright, Neon?” Vinyl asked.

“Ah, barely a scrape,” Neon replied. “You got lucky in that round, old friend. Don’t forget I have another round in which I can beat you and then one more to finish you.”

“Well I certainly look forward to that,” Vinyl said with a chuckle as Princess Celestia healed the fighters’ wounds.

“Best of luck to you, Vinyl,” Neon said.

“Same to you, Neon,” Vinyl replied.

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

Neon wasted no time charging forward and delivering a powerful combo that caught Vinyl entirely off-guard. When the seven-hit combo ended, Vinyl recovered as fast as she could and used her magic to blast Neon and put a little distance between the two. Vinyl, now recovered from the combo, then charged forward to take the offensive. She tried to give Neon a low-level punch to knock him off-balance, but Neon blocked the attack and followed up with a mid-level kick. Vinyl was knocked back a little, but her resolve never faltered and she went in to deliver a high-level kick that actually managed to make contact with Neon. Vinyl saw her opportunity and moved in to deliver two more back-to-back mid-level punches and finished by using her magic to throw Neon. However, this seemed to barely damage Neon at all. He got up quickly and moved in to go back on the offensive.

The battle seesawed for the longest time, and it was impossible to tell which musician was going to come out on top as both became covered in bruises and weighed down by fatigue. “20 seconds remaining!” Princess Celestia announced.

“Time to finish this!” Neon shouted. He then charged forward and prepared to give Vinyl a combo that would likely finish the disc jockey.

“Not this time, friend,” Vinyl replied. She then blocked Neon’s low-level kick that would have started the combo and countered with a high-level roundhouse, knocking Neon back. “Now it’s time to finish this.” Vinyl then strained to use her magic to summon what looked like a large black box on wheels.

“What exactly is that?” Neon asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing special,” Vinyl replied. “It’s just my model 14 prototype BASS CANNON!” Vinyl then slammed her hoof on a red button on the top of the box and the front of it split into three sections. Two lower halves moved to either side and the top half moved upward to reveal what looked like a huge blue stereo. The stereo then started glowing brightly before it unleashed a ball of magic energy that seemed to be made out of pure sound. Neon tried to use his magic to defend himself, but the blast was too much and he was knocked hard into the far wall.

“KO!” Princess Celestia announced. “The winner of round 2 is Vinyl Scratch!” The crowd was going wild with cheers and excitement upon this announcement.

Vinyl used her magic to put away her Bass Cannon and then galloped over to where Neon lay. “You alright, dude?” Vinyl asked.

“Like I said, just a scrape,” Neon replied, getting up. “That’s one powerful weapon you have there.”

“Yup,” Vinyl said. “It takes a lot of magic to use once, but at least I know now that it works.”

“You mean this is the first time you’ve actually tested it?” Neon asked, surprised.

“In a non-controlled situation, yeah,” Vinyl replied. “This model is still a prototype, though. Once I get a little more practice with it, however, I’m thinking of upgrading it so that instead of a single ball of wubs, it fires a laser!”

“You wanna know what I think about that?” Neon asked. “I think that’s a spectacular idea! I am totally helping you with that after the tournament.”

“Thanks, Neon,” Vinyl said as Princess Celestia healed the fighters’ wounds. “I hope to see you soon.”

“Same to you, pal,” Neon said. Just before Neon left the arena, though Vinyl stopped him.

“Hay, Neon,” Vinyl called. “Don’t forget one thing. This day, the student truly surpassed the master.”

“Don’t worry, Vinyl,” Neon said with a chuckle. “I won’t.” Neon then left the arena.

“Well,” Vinyl said to herself, “guess I’d better get to the next stage. Gotta keep this concert rollin’.” And with that, Vinyl left the arena and proceeded to the next stage.

Author's Note:

It took a while, but I finally have this chapter finished. The next chapter might come within the next week, but with school and all, I'm not entirely sure.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

The theme I used for Vinyl was The Living Tombstone's Remix of Pony Rock Anthem. Just so you're aware.

[Lance Skyes]

3304819 Oh. Hadn't noticed that.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

3304821 It's okay. I'll link you to it: