Princess Celestia took a deep breath before slowly trotting through the Royal Gardens. For countless millennia, she never would've thought that she would be speaking with the one that rested deep inside the maze within it.

As she approached the ominous-looking statue of a serpent-like creature with the head of a pony, and the features of several different creatures, she began to slow her pace. Eventually she came to a complete stop once she was a meter away from it.

She closed her eyes and sat down. Her horn glowed a pure golden color before the world around her faded into nothing more than a pitch black void.

One meter in front of her, a wooden throne rested with its back facing her. The lion's paw of the creature before her rested on the right arm of the throne while the eagle-like talon rested on the left.

The figure sitting on the throne gave a light chuckle before turning the throne around, revealing his yellow eyes with mismatched red pupils in the center of each.

"Well, well, well! Little Celly... this is quite a surprise!" he said before producing a glass of water in his claw. As he took a sip of it, however, the glass flowed through his body before he tossed the solid water behind his shoulder, causing it to shatter behind him like glass, and melt into a puddle that vanished into thin air shortly afterwards.

Celestia deadpanned at the nickname he gave her before murmuring, "Discord..."

Discord laughed before snapping his lion's claws, causing the wooden throne to vanish, and be replaced by a red and gold sofa. "Have you finally decided that you just couldn't resist my charms? Or..." he snapped his claws again, replacing the red and gold sofa with a red and gold heart-shaped bed. "Perhaps you need my assistance in your millennium-long estrus period?"

Celestia's cheeks suddenly turned bright red before her horn glowed gold once more. Then, in a flash, the bed disappeared, and Discord fell to the floor, bumping his snout on the transparent ground.

"Ah, roughing it up in the void? I like it!" Discord snickered, only for a golden aura to wrap around his neck and lift him up. He was then dragged closer to Celestia, who glared at him with her cheeks still burning red.

"This is not about you, Discord... not about us! This is a matter between my subjects and that... thing that's been terrorizing them!"

Discord eyed her blankly before a wide grin spread across his face. Then he started to snicker... and finally, he burst into hysterical laughter. His laughter unnerved Celestia to the point of her dropping her spell's grip from his neck, and sending him to the floor. As he landed, though, he only continued to laugh.

Once he was finally able to control his laughter again, he looked at Celestia amused before asking, "And why, pray tell, would you be seeking the human of all things?!"

Celestia regained her composure before replying, "That thing... that human as you called it, is a threat to the kingdom! It must be-"

"He." Discord interrupted.

Celestia groaned before shaking her head. "Whatever... he is a threat to the entire kingdom, and must be stopped, or at the very least, questioned for his-"

Discord quickly stood back up and covered her mouth, causing her eyes to widen and her composure to once again be broken. "Do not even think of going near him, Celly... and do not even ask him why he does what he does... he wouldn't understand, anyways."

She noticed his expression that he was giving her right there. It wasn't anger, and it wasn't humor. It was genuine concern.

"Despite the... dispute we had all those eons ago, do not think that I'm going to allow you to proceed with this charade of yours. What you're doing is beyond foolish... unless you intend on throwing your life away?"

Celestia glared at him before backing away. "You don't understand, do you? These are my subjects that are being threatened, and my intentions are to protect them with my life!"

"The foundations of Tartarus are made up of good intentions... and I of all creatures should know that." Discord retorted before crossing his arms and sitting on his wooden throne again. "But I'll tell you what... I'll let you in on everything that I know about the human... but of course, I would require something from you, first." He grinned wickedly at her before licking his lips.

Celestia's eyes shot open and she backed away even more, only for Discord's tail to stop her in place and pull her closer to him. "And... w-what would that be?" she asked, nervously examining his eyes as his head inched closer to hers.

He placed his lips behind her left ear and sniffed her ethereal mane, before moving his head back, until it was inches from her ear. Then, in a hushed whisper, he replied, "Freedom..."

She tried to break from his grip, but suddenly felt one of his claws slowly trail down her back. "Or... I'd suppose we could try something alternative?"

She closed her eyes, trying her best to find another alternative. Seeing that this was a hopeless battle, considering that she and her sister had to team up to defeat him, she opened her eyes and silently whispered, "Alright... I'll... I'll free you... as long as you don't cause any more trouble to my subjects."

Discord scratched his chin in thought before snickering. "Well, now... whatever happened to finding out more about that human? Oh, very well, then... a deal's a deal! I will wait here until you give the word to your six little weapons. Until then, ta!"

Celestia gasped before asking, "W-wait! What about your end of the bargain?!"

Discord snapped one of his claws, and before another second could pass, Celestia was standing in front of the statue inside the gardens again.

Discord's eyes glowed from within the statue, as his voice echoed, "I gave you my word. I will not cause any more trouble to your subjects, as long as you free me from my present state."

Celestia groaned and planted her face in her right hoof, knowing that he managed to trick her again. Infuriated, she turned around and began trotting away, only for Discord's voice to stop her again.

"When the influence of seven has a face, the Vigilante appears from a forgotten race. And should you see him, hope and pray, that you are not who he seeks today."

Celestia stopped before turning towards Discord's statue. Her expression showed her weariness about those words. Not just the message that it brought, but the tone that Discord said it in.

Clearly, he was still hiding something from her... but she knew that he wouldn't tell her. So silently, she nodded her head, turned back towards the entrance of the gardens, and trotted back into the palace.

While she was away, however, Discord continued his chanting.

"And be wary about those who he considers an ally, for they could roam through the land, your home, or the sky."

Fluttershy couldn't tell how long she was running. Whatever the case, though, she feared that the monster was merely toying with her as it continued chasing her through the Everfree Forest. Hummingway was flying ahead of her, guiding her through the ever-growing darkness of the forest, seemingly with a plan already.

As Fluttershy continued to run, the monster's claw steps continued to sound out, revealing it to be a lot closer than she wanted. She was tempted to turn around and see just how close the monster was getting, but had the gut feeling that if she did so, the creature would end it right there.

Despite her attempts at escaping the creature, she eventually started to hear the creature's breath amongst the galloping, the claw steps, and her heavy panting.

What's more, the darkness hid the ground below her, where she failed to notice the fallen branch of a tree.

She gasped as the world began to spin around her. As the pain from the sticks and the stones covered her body, she was able to catch glimpses of the creature dashing her way before her vision began to blur from the tears in her eyes. She then heard a loud crack as an even larger pain flared from her spine; she hit a tree, and she hit it hard.

As her life flashed before her eyes, she let out a silent yelp before noticing Hummingway fly towards the monster from behind her vision.

Hummingway quickly dodged the monster's swing before pecking it in the left eye. It stopped its movement, roared, then began swinging its claws wildly at him.

Despite the creature's size, Hummingway was able to outmaneuver it with his speed and flexibility. He would dodge its swings then fly behind it, taunting it, and enraging it to the point where it practically forgot about Fluttershy, who feebly tried crawling inside a bush.

Eventually, though, the creature noticed her, roared, and began moving towards her once again. Hummingway glared at it before flying towards it once again.

Unfortunately, though, the creature noticed him this time, and swung the back of its right arm after him with great precision, launching the little green hummingbird into a tree, where he fell into a bush.

As the creature let out another clicking noise, it turned towards the timid pegasus, who eyed the bush Hummingway fell into with a teary-eyed expression, and began approaching her once more.

Suddenly a chicken appeared from the bush Fluttershy was near and let out a series of loud chirps. As she did, a swarm of butterflies, moths, locusts, wasps, bees, and multiple other insects began flying in a circular pattern, causing the monster to back away and swing its claws wildly at the bugs. Several of the bugs then landed on the creature and began biting at its flesh, only to be squashed by the creature's claws. Their green blood splattered all over the creature, leaving a foul odor behind.

While the sounds of the bugs' wings flapping filled the air, however, another sound began to echo... a sound that made Fluttershy's fur stand on end... the sound of chains rattling on the ground. She looked up, wincing in pain from her injuries, but managed to notice more bugs flying in a circular pattern about three meters behind the monster. The bugs then scattered away from both the monster and the source of the chains rattling.

The human was there.

The monster turned around and growled as the human dashed towards it, despite the human only standing up to its chest. Despite its awareness, however, the monster was unable to dodge the human as he dashed towards the monster's right side with his right arm outstretched.

When his arm made contact, he quickly curled it around the monster's waist, lifted it up in the air, and slammed it into the ground before raising his left fist in the air and thrusting it towards the monster's skull.

The monster, however, quickly turned its head to the side, dodging the human's fist as it crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater. Then the monster quickly impaled its left claw into the human's stomach and stood back up, lifting the human with it.

Fluttershy stared in horror as the two giants fought over her, but gasped when she saw the human grip onto the monster's arm that impaled him, lifted his feet onto the monster's chest, and kicked both feet out; tearing the monster's left arm off, and causing it to fall to the ground, roaring loudly.

The human then gripped the tip of the dismembered appendage and shoved it through his stomach and out his back. Despite the hole in his body, and the blood spewing out of it, the human didn't appear fazed by it. He gripped onto his mask's disc and twisted it, engulfing his whole body in the green mist. Once the mist cleared from his body, the hole was no longer in his stomach.

The human then quickly lifted the monster's arm and swung it towards the beast, but the monster was able to catch its arm and pull it from the human's grasp. Then it lifted its right foot in the air and kicked the human several meters back, and sending it stumbling to the ground.

The monster then placed its left arm over the spot where it was ripped off, where several tentacle-like appendages from inside its shoulder reconnected the arm to its body. It moved its arm around, seemingly to test its connection, before clicking again, and dashing towards the human.

It lifted the human up then dashed with him in front of it, slamming him through trees, toppling them over, and eventually reaching a boulder, where it leaped into the air and slammed the human into it back-first, and crumbling the boulder into pebbles.

The monster then attempted to claw at the human, but he managed to quickly tap the button of his teleporting device, engulfing himself and the monster in dragon fire.

When they reappeared, they were in the same spot, but several hundred feet in the air. As they were falling, the monster tried slashing at the human's throat, but he managed to block the creature's claws with his right arm and deliver a left jab into the monster's right cheek.

The creature then tried to grip onto the human and use him as a cushion to land on, but the human quickly kicked it back several meters before pressing on the cylinder again, sending himself onto the ground below them instantly.

The monster roared as it continued to fall. The human, however, quickly reached over his left shoulder and gripped onto his machete's handle, waiting for the monster to fall.

Since the monster's back was facing the floor, it was unable to see just how close it was to the ground, until it was too late. The human drew the machete and sliced horizontally across the monster's waist, causing it to land in front of him and behind him.

The monster screeched as its upper half tried crawling away. The human, of course, walked up to it, planted his right boot on the back of the monster's shoulders, and pierced the machete into the top of its scalp, silencing it, and ending its life there.

Unlike normal corpses, however, the machete glowed a blood red color, and the creature's upper and lower halves melted into a black mist that was then absorbed by the machete itself.

The human lifted the machete into the air, swung the excess blood off of the blade, then turned towards Fluttershy.

Finally, he slowly started to approach her.

Luna continued to sit in a fetal position in the corner of a room she produced in the Dreamscape. Tonight, for the first time in history, she was afraid to even enter any dreams. After all, if they were to involve that thing, what if he would see her?!

She continued to breathe heavily, only to stop once an all-too-familiar chuckle echoed through both of her ears.

"D... Discord?!" she stuttered, only to hear his voice fill the Dreamscape, but not too loudly for her to have to cover her ears.

"Not to worry, dear Lulu... I'm not here to pull any fast ones on you. I've merely come to... make a request."

Luna's fear was quickly replaced by annoyance. "Let us guess... you wish to speak with Celestia?"

Discord chuckled again before replying, "No... not really. I've already taken care of that, thank you very much."

Luna's eyes quickly shot open and she stood back up on all fours. "We swear to Mother Nature and Father Time, if thou hast hurt her, we-"

"No, no, of course not! Why ever would we need to get those two involved, anyways?"

Luna snorted before replying, "Because they were able to defeat thee in mere seconds, of course!"

"Well, technically it was just your father, what with him being a true-born god and all."

"Our point exactly! So, unless thou wants us to call upon them, then thou best be leaving!"

Suddenly Discord appeared in front of her with an annoyed expression on his face. He pressed his eyes to where they were mere inches away from Luna's, making her gasp before taking a couple cautious steps back. "If you don't do as I say, your sister will die! Have you any idea that she's searching for the Vigilante?!"

Luna opened her mouth to speak, only to close it and eye him curiously, yet cautiously. "The... who?"

Discord groaned before replying, "The human! The creature that's supposedly killing off your subjects!"

Luna gasped again before glaring at him. "What?! Why... no, how would you know this, exactly?!"

"She told me, of course!" Discord retorted before crossing his arms. "Now, are you willing to listen to what I have to say, or would you rather risk your own sister's life because you didn't listen to her ex?"

Luna stood there silently for a moment before eying him curiously. "Very well, then... We shall listen, but We will decide if thou are telling the truth or not."

Discord nodded his head and smiled. "Good. Now, as you may know, she has a tendency to overthink things... and even you know this, right?"

Luna looked up and rubbed her chin in thought. Sure enough, Celestia did have a tendency to overreact over seemingly trivial matters in the past... and that kind of influence did even rub off on her apprentice. So Luna looked back at him and nodded her head.

"And did you happen to catch the histories of those victims of his?"

Luna nodded her head and replied, "So far, only Changelings and criminals were the victims... why do you ask?"

"Let's take a closer look... what were the criminals charged for the most?"

"Rape, violence, and murder... why?"

Discord snapped one of his claws, revealing seven familiar ghost-like figures... the demons she saw in the Vigilante's memories.

Finally Discord motioned towards the demon figures. "Rape... a sexual assault that is normally caused by built-up Lust, Anger, and Pride. The criminals even displayed traits of Greed by continuing to have their ways with that mare... and they Envied each other once they didn't have a turn with her. They were Gluttonous with domination and power over her weak and frail body... and they were Sloth-like for their laziness when it comes to love. They had no interest in getting to know her... they just wanted to go by their own rules... their own lazy rules... do you not see the patterns here?"

Luna slowly nodded her head. For once, Discord was telling her something direct... this was not like him at all, which must've meant that he was either being dead-serious, or formulating a plan...

And yet, one thing still had her curious.

"What of the Changelings, though? Surely not all of the demons' traits were present from them!"

Discord nodded his head. "That is correct. You see, he doesn't merely play by his own rules, but he still has his codes when it comes to the seven. He doesn't just murder those influenced by the seven... he follows orders from another source, as well."

"Y-you mean... somepony is controlling him?!" Luna gasped.

Discord shook his head. "Not somepony, no..."

Luna blinked before tilting her head confusedly again. "Not a pony? Then... a dragon, perhaps?"

"Nope." Discord shook his head. "In fact... tell you what... may you name the first non-sapient creature that comes to mind?"

Luna blinked again before murmuring, "Um... We beg your pardon?"

Discord sighed before shaking his head again and placing a palm over it. "Oh, come on! Just name a simple animal! Clearly you weren't on the moon that long, were you?"

Luna deadpanned at his comment before finally replying, "Birds, then. What are you-"

"His 'Eyes in the Skies'. Next!"

"W-what?" Luna asked, her expression once again confused, only to receive a deadpanned look from Discord. "Very well, then... roaches?"

"His 'Sounds from the Grounds'."

"Monkeys?"

"His 'Buddies in the Trees'."

"Dogs?"

"His 'Canine Companions'."

"Cats?"

"His 'Feline Friends'."

"P-Phoenixes?"

Discord grinned at that one. "His 'Flaming Friends'."

"Manticores?"

"His 'Crossed Companions'."

"So, wait... are you telling me that-"

Discord cut her off by nodding his head and folding his arms again. "Indeed... he takes orders from the animals themselves!"

Luna lowered her jaw at that statement. Before she could say anything else, however, Discord interrupted her.

"And as it stands, it would seem that he's found another animal lover... oh, this should be quite a laugh!"

Luna blinked before turning her head to the right, only to find a familiar-looking door appear before her... a yellow door with a pink frame and three pink and blue butterflies floating in the center.

"Fluttershy..." Luna muttered. "Y-you mean... s-she's with him?!"

Discord chuckled before shaking his head. "Oh, I wouldn't say she's with him as far as knowledge goes... but who knows? Maybe he's in a peaceful mood?"

Luna glared at him before her horn glowed towards the door. To her shock, however, the door failed to open.

"W-what?!" she asked nopony in particular. "H-how is... how is the door locked?!"

Discord shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Well, maybe it's a memory that she locked away deep inside her mind?"

Luna tilted her head confusedly at the door. "Why would she lock any of her memories inside?"

Discord shrugged his shoulders again.

Luna opened her mouth to speak again, only to be interrupted by the door suddenly opening. "Huh?"

Discord lightly chuckled before clapping his claws together. "Ah, well would you look at that! It looks like something just triggered those memories! Anyways, I'd love to go with you, but I'm not allowed into the dreams of others anymore, what with a simple Covenant I've been forced to make to your father. Anyways, as for the message I wanted you to give to your sister... tell her to stop looking for him, and if it becomes necessary... stop her yourself. She'll only get herself killed otherwise."

He turned to leave, but lightly chuckled as Luna slowly stepped inside the door. "Oh, and by the way, she said I'm to be freed soon!"

Luna's eyes shot open again. She quickly turned towards him and nearly shouted, "Wait, WHAT?!"

Before she could even get a clear response, the door slammed shut.

Author's Note

Grammar be damned, I'll fix it all later and make it look prettier. For now, I've gotta get some sleep before my next shift! I gotta be there at 10:00 PM, and it's 11:30 AM. I've been awake since 3PM yesterday, and gotta get some sleep.

But yeah, expect a backstory in the next chapter, folks! And for those of you wondering about Fluttershy's fate...

Oh, and before I forget, I didn't stutter when I said that I can work fast once I've got internet again. Don't think I've abandoned any of my other stories, either!

Of course, most of them will have to have their next chapters re-written because their drafts were all saved on my laptop, which I've already announced is... um... seemingly broken beyond repair, what with the hard drive being the damaged part. I'd be better off just getting a new one eventually.

But yeah, despite having a job in real life, I also have a job in my virtual one, folks! As always, it's good to hear y'alls voices, My Little Bronies!

Oh, and I may have not mentioned this before, but despite being a dark, gory slasher fic, don't think that this story won't have its cute little "D'AWW" moments in it as well as a slight sense of humor. This is in the "My Little Pony" universe, after all... but yeah, those will be occasional moments, as this is primarily a slasher fic, but with style, story, and actual character development/revelations. Don't like slashers with a bit of comedy in it? Then please do give "Freddy Krueger" a little look-see, and you'll know that comedy and thriller/horror can coexist. Kaythanksbai (and please don't sue me, Wes Craven)!