//------------------------------// // You Have To Mean It // Story: My Little Teelo // by Ardwolf //------------------------------// They landed about an hour’s march from the graveyard so Discord wouldn’t see them coming. Twilight went over the plan again and started casting magic. Nothing seemed to happen to the ponies in front of Teagan but the ones behind her vanished. Twilight had warned everyone the spell was extremely limited. It wasn’t true invisibility. It didn’t muffle sound and it only made them invisible from a cone of about ten degrees straight ahead. The further they were from Discord, the better the spell would hide them. Worse, it was only wide enough to mask their bodies and a foot or so to either side, and once they attacked it would vanish, leaving them fully visible. Still, even with all the limitations it should give them the advantage of surprise, at least for their first wave of attacks. Without that they didn’t stand a chance. Even with that it’s gonna be crazy dangerous. Teagan thought nervously, touching Crush for reassurance. She kept hearing Sun Hammer’s voice in her head. But let me lairn ye this, lassie. When you’re standing against him and the fecht runs hot in yer blood, if yer gonna kill him, ye gotta mean it. Ye ken? When pushin’ comes tae shovin’ and you’re stuck all fankle in it it’s too late fer half measures. She shivered as she followed Rarity toward what would certainly be the most dangerous moment of her life. The march was fairly easy, but nerve racking. Twilight choose a path as free of obstructions as she could, she’d stressed how important it was they not make any noise. The only sound was the occasional thud of a careless hoof. Each time it happened everyone flinched. ooOoo Once they reached the graveyard they found Discord lounging on a large monument, seemingly asleep. Rainbow Dash carefully crept behind some trees and quietly took to the air, getting into position. The ponies rearranged themselves as per plan. Teagan retrieved Little Pinkie from Pinkie Pie’s saddle bag and the pink earth pony readied the weapon. Teagan whispered something in her ear and Pinkie flashed the girl a smile. Everyone cleared out from directly behind Pinkie and Twilight’s horn flashed a signal to the nearly invisible dot circling high over head. The dot above ceased circling and started getting rapidly larger. Pinkie grinned a happy grin and the rocket launcher roared three times in a row. Her aim was good, all three shots hit home. The first shot hit Discord in the head and flipped the snoozing Chaos Spirit almost in a circle, he reflexively grabbed the monument. His body sprawled across it, half on and half off. The second shot struck him in the back, half way between his arms and legs, knocking the wind out of him and making his eyes bulge comically. It also knocked him off the monument to land sprawled in front of it. The third shot struck his chest when he reared up after having spotted Pinkie Pie’s upright form. That shot blasted him through the monument, to land twitching some distance beyond. “Everypony down.” Twilight screamed as she watched Rainbow Dash nearly on top of the prone Discord. Even as Teagan threw herself flat there was an almighty boom and the world turned rainbow colored before the ground threw them a foot in the air from the concussion. All Teagan could see was a multicolored mushroom cloud. She stared in disbelief as debris came raining down around them. “She nuked him?” Teagan asked incredulously, her voice lost in the windstorm that followed the blast. The two unicorns were already on the move and Pinkie Pie had recovered Little Pinkie and was aiming at the heart of the cloud. Applejack stood up and got ready to charge. Teagan got on her back, feeling the rock hard body under her. She gripped with her knees, thanking her parents silently for letting let her have year of riding lessons when she was younger. She drew Crush as Applejack started running hard, straight into the rapidly dissipating cloud. Discord was down, twitching. At the sound of charging hooves he shook his head rapidly and stumbled to his feet, blearily trying to pinpoint the still invisible ponies. Suddenly his eyes started glowing and he pawed them desperately, as though something were in them. Rarity leaped at full gallop and spun in mid air, both rear hooves slamming full into Discord’s chest. He went flying backward, to land flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Suddenly his prone body flew twenty feet into the air, paused, and then came slamming back down with considerable force onto a headstone. There was a loud crack and he was suddenly bent backward at an unnatural angle across the headstone. He groaned, only to have Rainbow Dash dive out of the sky and spin at the last moment, both rear hooves slamming him at the juncture where his legs attached to his body. The blow was so massive it drove his lower body to the ground, the leverage of the headstone flipping his upper body upright—only to meet Rainbow Dash’s fore-hooves as she spun around and slammed them into his face, knocking his head back again. There was another crack and his head hung at an unnatural angle. Wasting no time the Pegasus launched herself back into the air in a blur of speed. By this time Applejack was on the scene and running past him. Teagan swung Crush with as much force as she could, feeling the club suddenly turn massive as it slammed into the broken body of the Chaos Spirit. Oddly, all the momentum of Applejack’s run and her swing didn’t throw them helter-skelter as she half expected. Instead Applejack slowed to an instant stop, without as much as rocking Teagan. However, Discord’s body went sailing into the air. At the height of its arc it suddenly changed course and accelerated sharply, smashing back into the monument, which crumpled under the impact. Little Pinkie roared twice more and Discord flew out of the rubble of the monument and tumbled to the ground, where he lay still. “Did we get him?” Teagan asked. “Have we defeated him?” Applejack started to trot over and the other ponies joined her. Teagan hopped off and before anyone could react, swung Crush as hard as she could into Discord’s exposed throat. Again she felt the club turn massive and there was a sickening crunch as it landed. “Teelo!” Twilight shouted in horror. “Best to be sure, Twilight.” The girl answered, panting. “Alas, poor Discord, I knew him well.” A cheerful voice proclaimed from behind them. “I must say that was an absolutely first rate attack. Although I had no idea I pissed all of you off that badly!” They spun to find Discord grinning at them. “Round two?” He asked innocently, his hands starting to glow.