Swinging around the corner, the group of six sprinted as fast as their hearts allowed, the mare in front breathlessly yelling directions into the rush of wind attacking her face. Screeching to a halt, she narrowed her eyes for a brief second and stared down the grass-walled hallway. Licking her lips furiously, she dared not even look behind her as she pointed a hoof along the path. With a snarl on her lips and a clenching in her gut, Applejack opened her mouth and roared.

"Go!"

Immediately, as one, she and her group sped down yet another section of the maze, the sounds of the raging storm and rustling black clouds deafening above them. Slowly watching as Apple Bloom began to overtake her, Applejack grit her teeth and turned her head to stare down the dark pathway behind them. Seeing a rather-terrified Wildcat, a pretty-damn-scared Nogla, and a could-give-less-of-a-shit Vanoss, she focused on the gap in between them to find that the killer was still chasing after them, the horrible sounds of his demonic laughter echoing down the green hall.

Swallowing a lump down her throat, Applejack turned around, finding Apple Bloom and Lui now sharing the lead. Increasing her pace, she hoped that the other three behind her were doing the same as well. Not wanting to leave them behind, she gulped a quick breath and aimed her mouth a little to her left to shout over the thunder, "Faster, dangit! We gotta get the hay outta here!"

Hoping that that was enough, Applejack bowed her head and resumed her previous action. Hearing sounds of increasingly pained breathing, she allowed herself an inward smirk that most definitely would have taken a lot out of her in an outward form. Suddenly, a voice called out to her in a vein attempt to mock her.

"Huh, huh, so what?! Huh, you suddenly done cussing?!"

She bore her teeth, turning to face the obvious Wildcat, "Shut the hell up an' move!"

It was Wildcat's turn to look behind them, shouting so he could reach the front leaders, "What the fuck even is that thing?!"

Nogla continued to stare forward as he ran, "Whatever the hell it is, it can run pretty fuckin' fast!"

Vanoss rolled his eyes from underneath his mask, yelling, "That means hurry the fuck up!"

Listening to their Canadian Compañero, the two shut their mouths and increased their speed, sticking closer together to the rest of the group, which was now reduced to nothing but a steady train of hitched breathing. As they took a left and proceeded to enter another long stretch, this was the only sound remaining as the storm above calmed down for a brief minute. Looking around anxiously, Nogla gave a short chuckle and snort, asking, "So."

The others blinked.

"Who wants ta try talkin' to 'im–"

A quick pig shove and a red hindleg later, Nogla suddenly spiraled end over end, screaming swears at a mile a minute as he found himself completely separated from the group that now took a right turn away from him. Having witnessed the act, Applejack—her mouth completely agape—turned toward Vanoss and Wildcat with an utterly shocked look. The two shared a laugh, but cleared their throats once they noticed the mare's glare. Muttering a curse to the Gods with a shake of her head, Applejack stared forward once again.

Realizing that Bloom and Lui were now on either side of her, Applejack sped up to take the lead again, just in time for the group to reach a large crossroads. Her decision already made within five feet from it, she pointed her tail and nodded her head to the right, signaling their next turn. Slowing down a bit to meet his friends, Lui looked up at Wildcat and spoke, "Y'know, when we were playing that Murder Maze shit back in like November, I didn't really expect to be doing it again!"

Wildcat gave him no response other than a split-second glance. Lui, an eyebrow cocked, watched as Wildcat's front hoof twitched. Knowing what was coming, Lui ducked his head and waited. With sudden finesse, Wildcat brought out a heavy pistol and aimed it at Lui's head, who grabbed hold of the offending hoof and wrestled the firearm free. Pressing the magazine release button on the side, Lui placed the gun's slide into his mouth and quickly slammed the ass-end of it on Wildcat's head, dislodging the loaded bullet that now flew into the air and landed in the dirt behind them.

Keeping it in his teeth, Lui began to bludgeon the pig with it, who started to curse like a five year old being poked.

"Goddammit, stop–" Wildcat shouted, trying his hardest to push the small colt away, "you little fucker!"

"Surprise bitch!"

An owl-masked Earth Pony slid into play, attempting to crash into his smaller tribe member. Said small tribe member, not having any of that, quickly hopped onto the decelerating Wildcat's back, jumping onto Vanoss' with a squeaky grunt of effort. Throwing both forelegs around Vanoss' neck, Lui began the most-likely very short act of strangling him to death. Feeling a biting on his tail, Lui clenched tighter, bringing both Vanoss and Wildcat down with him as they fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. Looking behind them in a panic, they scrambled to their hooves with a very simple spamming of, "Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!"

Lui, now the caboose, spun around and began to sprint backwards. Reeling his head back, he chucked the heavy pistol at their pursuer, who caught it on the head and cried out in pain. Eyes wide—now realizing he'd probably just pissed it off—Lui turned tail as abruptly as a soldier and joined the others, who took an immediate right with no questions asked. Wildcat, who was on his right, spoke up amidst a trio of breaths.

"Can we just fuckin' split up or something?! I'm not gonna deal with this shit anymore!"

"You wanna split up an' die, that's fine by me Sugarcube!"

"Okay–"

"But keep in mind whether you'd rather be shot or stabbed by some crazy damn lunatic in an isolated hedge maze! Y'all still feel pain, don't'cha?!"

Wildcat shut up.

"That's what Ah thought–"

"Surprise motherfucker!"

Jumping out of the bushes to the group's left, Nogla quickly rejoined them with a glare on his brow and a patch of blood on his paper bag. Glaring at Wildcat and Vanoss, he growled, "You guys are fuckin' assholes, ya know that?!" Vanoss and Wildcat looked at one another, presumably grinning underneath their respective masks. Rolling his eyes, Nogla murmured to himself, "For fuck's sake..."

"There! Ah... Ah think Ah can see the exit! Apple Bloom, stay behind me!" Smiling down at her sister, who did as she was told, Applejack glared at the open gate and continued, "Ain't no tellin' what's gonna greet us once we make it out there." Reaching her breaking point, she turned her head to look for the murderer, only to find that he had simply vanished. Even so much as waiting for five seconds showed nothing, the area behind them completely barren of any sign of their pursuer. Smirking ever so slightly, Applejack shifted her sights back ahead of her just in time to witness their escape from the hedge maze.

As the six slowly screeched to a halt, Applejack was the first to completely stop. Wildcat, the first to drop to the floor in a sweat, threw his hooves over his eyes and shouted, "Oh thank God."

As breathless laughter came to her from all around, Applejack took her hat off her head and wiped her brow, replacing the article once she was done. Looking at the rest of her group with a cocky smirk on her lips, she furrowed her brow and spoke heroically, "We sure beat him didn't we? Ah think we're safe guys." Wiping her grimy hooves on her coat, Applejack gave out a loud whistle of satisfaction. This only served one purpose that made itself clear as the bushes adjacent to the gate suddenly rustled, startling the ponies (and pig) who turned to find their chaser running toward them with a machete in his teeth and a war cry in his lungs.

Clip clopping against the stone, he made it about five feet before his cry slowly died down and his steps became less obvious. Stopping on the spot, he blinked rapidly in an attempt to convey Morse code to the group he had been tormenting. The machete still in his mouth, H2O Delirious fiddled with his hooves and stared at his friends, who stared back with increasingly growing frowns. The jet black clouds and the thunderous whirlwind faded away, leaving only a gray sky that matched the color of Delirious' long-forgotten raccoon mask.

He threw his neck forward in an instant response to their questions.

"What the fuck, Delirious?!"

"What the fuck, man?!"

"What the hell, asshole?!"

"Dude are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

"Delirious, what the hay?!"

"What the hell Delirious..."

Stalking in silence away from them, he ignored their pestering as he returned to his rightful place. Waiting for their reaction that he would surely enjoy, Delirious quickened his pace. Though the disbelief continued, they eventually died down as his destination came into view. From the horizon spawned a large, golden throne with a shimmering Jason mask on its back and a red cushion for his tush. Smirking underneath his mask, Delirious felt his head and found that yet another part of his mask had broken, this one being a large part on the top right. Realizing that it was the heavy pistol that had been flung at his head, he growled under his breath and climbed the three shorts steps up to his throne.

Jumping into it and turning around, he pawed at the bottom like a domestic canine and reclined on the right armrest. Muddling up his cheek, he sighed into the air as his friends stood before him, glares on their faces and obvious intent of murder in their hooves. Tapping his armrest twice, he heard a small fwoosh sound and felt the crown fall atop his head. Looking down at his friends for their impressions, he watched as they, in perfect synchronization, rolled their eyes and crossed their forelegs with a falling to their respective rumps. Still maintaining their body language, they looked at one another with looks of oddity.

Applejack, who sat in the center of the group, looked toward the sky and shouted.

"Discord! Get yer butt out here! Ah know you're behind all this!"

"Discord isn't comin', Applejack!" Delirious said, "He doesn't have ta listen ta you!"

To his disbelief, the Draconequus appeared, his head slowly rising from a swirling, blue-ringed portal in the ground. Looking up at Applejack, who jumped when she noticed, he spoke with a toothy grin, "There you are, Applejack! I was wondering when you'd come."

Getting off the floor, Applejack puffed out her chest and frowned, "Discord, this 's gone too far. Y'all need ta put it back the way it was." She stamped her hoof on the ground. "Now."

From the throne came Delirious' voice, which told her, "That's not gonna work! He ain't listenin' to you Applejack! Y'all can't just tell him what ta–"

A snapping of his fingers and a crossing of his arms, Discord pouted out his lower lip and spat, "Fine..."

With the blink of an eye, the weather became sunny, the birds began singing, the flowers began blooming, kids like you were burning in hell, and the landscape of Ponyville reverted back to normal. Delirious, previously sitting on his throne about a few feet off the ground, found his crown and said throne disappear in a flash. Falling with a shout to the ground, he landed on his ass and felt something break. Sucking on his teeth, he winced in pain and felt his rear with a shaky hoof.

Walking over to him with an annoyed look on her face, Applejack grabbed his hoof with hers and began to drag him away from the scene, simply and discreetly mocking him, "Now that that's over, Ah'm gonna take ya to the Foal's Frolic ta get yer ass checked out." Listening to him fuss, she shook her hoof aggressively and hissed, "C'mon now ya lazy varmint."

The other five, pointing and laughing at the fallen king, joined them as they headed into town. Feeling through his scalp with his lion's paw, Discord watched them go, a flat-lipped expression on his face as he listened to the sounds of ponies leaving the safeties of their homes. Breathing in and out of his nostrils, he looked up at the sky and watched the sun beat down on him from above. Narrowing his eyes, he heard a voice speak to him from behind. Turning to it, he found a light yellow mare glaring at him with a scrunched frown.

"You're in big trouble, Mister."

Discord turned once more, looking back at the escaping group of friends. His eyes flitted from one to the other, and as he landed on one individual in particular, he placed his paw in the air toward Fluttershy to give her a silent moment of recluse. Hearing her harumph, he assumed that he had been given permission and opened his wings. Gliding toward the group's rear, he gave a sly smile and lifted his bird's claw, tapping the small colt on the flank. As he had been standing in the back, nobody noticed as he turned around to stare the literal God of Chaos in the face.

Lui Calibre blinked, cocking his head.

"Uh, hi," he squeaked.

"Hello there, Mr. Calibre."

Feeling Discord's arm drape over his shoulder as he was led away, Lui cocked an eyebrow, "You know my name?"

The Draconequus blew a raspberry, "Pfft, of course I know who you are! I wouldn't trust anypony else for this, believe me!" Craning his neck down, he looked into the colt's masked face and grinned, stabbing him with his claw, "Now you, you've got a fire in you, I can see it. So what say you and I... how do I put this.. talk for awhile? I've got a good idea in mind for you that I'd like you to hear."

Walking with the God of Chaos, Lui's face brightened up as he squealed, "Oh! Can we have Cheerios?!"

Discord chuckled as he began to walk in Fluttershy's direction, sticking his right arm out to wave across the skyline inspiringly.

"Of course, of course! You can have all the Cheerios you could ever want after you and I are done, kiddo."

Author's Notes:

About a few chapters more and we'll reach the halfway point, guys! I'd say, eh, maybe three more until then. Hope you enjoyed!