AN: And now…the fight begins!

Chapter 25: Primeval Discord

Whoever these new Rangers were, they were relentless.

Gilda had been taken out of the battle before she had even left the starting gate; blown back into the Everfree by a powerful fireball that seemed to have come out of nowhere. His master was attacking the bipedal Blue Ranger and was holding his own nicely. Ursaw and Firetank were fighting the remaining four Rangers and the Centaurs were…not doing much of anything, really. Ducking under two vicious swings, he guessed that they were keeping the fight nicely contained or were trying to not engage the new Rangers.

Spinning away from the energy-covered fists of the two in front of him, his mind raced to come up with a new strategy. Head on fighting wasn't going to work so maybe if he…yes, they wouldn't be expecting that. Jerking away from a kick, he spread his wings wide, noting the two Rangers backing away in apparent fear. Bending his knees, he leapt into the air and soared over the battlefield. Unsheathing his sword, he grinned wickedly as he reached the apex of his ascent. As he angled his body down, he was dimly aware of a light coming up at him. Twisting his body away at the last second, he hissed in pain as the beam grazed his left hoof. Squinting through the pain, he could just see the Orange Ranger firing up some sort of device at him while the Purple Ranger ran off to help the others. Fancy device or not, if the Ranger thought he could take him on without backup, he was sorely mistaken.

Speeding down while dodging the beams of light, he pulled his right arm back in preparation of the killing blow through the helmet visor. Closing his eyes against the rushing winds, he inhaled slowly and prepared to lash out…a split second before his mind recalled what had happened to him last time. It was too late for him to bank up and try again so he stayed on his course. A Ranger wouldn't be as brutal as Zedd had been…right? A few seconds later, he bellowed in pain as two fiery beams lanced into his outstretched arm. Crashing to the ground, he looked up to see the Ranger holstering his device and slowly walking towards his aching body. His mind raced a second time as he scrambled for another effective…yes that was the one he was looking for. Unlike the previous strategy, there was no way this could be predicted. He would have to buy some time…

"I command you to stay away from me!"

Weihan stopped in his tracks and stared at the humanoid pony creature in front of him. Princess Celestia had informed him about what Discord was and what he could theoretically do. He was surprised the former alicorn hadn't flown from the get-go; but he guessed Discord had been caught off guard after seeing his comrade be blasted away fairly quickly. Inwardly smiling, he let his arms go slack and adopted the stereotypical 'mindless zombie' slouch. One look at Discord showed that the first part of his plan was working perfectly. The only problem was that it was the only part he had figured out.

From the way the former alicorn gleefully sprang off the ground and skipped around him, it was obvious he thought his mind control power was back…but scrubbing out the image of a bipedal alicorn skipping would take a while. A faint explosion behind him signalled one of the monsters had been destroyed. Which one had blown up was a mystery unless he moved his head and broke the illusion. To make matter worse, his nose started to itch. Taking even and steady breaths, he waited for the alicorn humanoid to jump for joy…and then he struck out.

"Raptor Sabre!"

Discord only had enough time to process the first few syllables before his body exploded in pain. He tried to move his eyes to assess the damage being done to him, but could only see flashes of metal and fire. A nick at the back of his knees made him crash to the ground yet again, while a searing pain in his wings told his overwhelmed brain that both wings were fractured. He opened his mouth to scream out again only to have the sound cut off by a flaming fist. A stab at the same time caused him to lose all feeling from his left elbow down, while a hard whack to the side of his head caused his half-helmet to scrape the top layer of skin away from his eyes. Bleeding from various wounds, Discord fell back and looked in fear at the Ranger in front of him.

"Leave now."

Discord blinked, unable to process what he was hearing. The Ranger that had ravaged him was telling him to leave? Sure, he was bleeding pretty heavily and couldn't grip his sword anymore but he could still fight. Why would he be encouraging his escape? As if hearing his thoughts, the Orange Ranger turned his opaque visor towards the downed warrior.

"You're heavily wounded and in pain. I'm no expert on alicorn biology but I'm guessing you're almost down for the count. Do the smart thing and leave now."

Discord nodded but balled his right fist and attempted to take a swing at the Ranger that had disrespected his fighting strength. The Ranger muttered something under his breath that caused his armour to sparkle in the light, ducked under the poorly aimed blow and struck his chest with an open palm. Instantly, Discord flew back in a world of pain. He could hear the audible snaps of bone as his ribcage collapsed and he knew he was done for. As his vision darkened, he let out a pathetic whimper of protest.

And the darkness took him.

TBC…

AN: No, he's not dead…yet.