The Four Horsemen

My Little Pony: The Four Horsemen

Chapter 2: Entombed in Stone

The Fortress of Black Mist was breached. Most of the goblin army are still in the battlefield near Withersham but none of them can't reach their home base in time as the Four Horsemen made their way to the main doors. As for the Spitfire clan, they might have an advantage if they are aware about their allies' turf being invaded. For Black Mist, on the other hand, would rather not care if the Horsemen reach his fortress and takes him in.

Inside the main fortress, a goblin guard frantically scurries up to the top floor to Black Mist's room. Sweat was beating from his face and his heart was racing as he hustles to his master. As he approached the door that belongs to Black Mist, he pounds on the door as he tries to catch his breath from his running. There was no response from the inside. Without seconds thoughts, he opens the door and meets his leader who is standing in front of crystal ball. The goblin watches as the 10ft 5 inch, dark masculine and blood red eyes gargoyle with wings use his black magic to look into the ball. The ball reveals the Four Horsemen approaching the main door with no sign of goblins nor dragons from the Spitfire clan. This infuriates the evil sorcerer as he watches.

The goblin guard spoke. “LORD BLACK MIST!!!...THE FOUR HORSEMEN...THEY BREACHED THE FORTRESS...AND THERE'S NOT ENOUGH OF US TO TA.....AAAAAUUGGGHHH!”

The goblin's statement was ceased as Black Mist grabbed him with his right claw and brought the helpless goblin to his face.

“And why are you not doing anything about it?” Black Mist growled with a sinister, dry, eerie voice. “Have you forgotten on what happens if you fail to obey my orders?”

“BUT LORD! W-WE...WE'RE T-T-TRYING TO STOP THEM...BUT THEY KEEP CO...”

"SILENCE!!!! I am very disappointed in you, guard. My instructions were for you and the rest of the goblins to annihilate every pony within Withersham, including the Four Horsemen. Yet, you dare come into my chamber and gave me an excuse?!?”

“NO SIR! I...GAHHHCKKK!!!”

The goblin guard couldn't speak as he was being squeezed tightly by the gargoyle's hand.

“Guard! I have no more use of your excuses! Now you must suffer...IN THE PIT OF MY EMPTY STOMACH!!!”

The goblin guard panicked. “NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!”

In a flash, the evil sorcerer opened his snout and chomps on the guard's upper body. He began chewing and scarfing the whole body of his former helpless minion but was somehow disgusted on how he tasted as he swallowed.

“BLEH!!!” Black Mist spoke as he cleaned his snake like tongue with his right claw. “Filthy! He could've bathed first before he met his demise. Though, * licks his lips * the taste of his blood is refreshing. Now, to take care of those pesky Horsemen.”

The evil sorcerer walks towards a bookshelf in his chamber where it contains several different spell books. He found a green book and flipped through the pages to find the right spell that may help him to defeat his approaching foes. After a minute of looking, he found one powerful spell that explains how to entomb someone into stone.

“Ahhh!” Black Mist said with a sign of impression. “This would do just fine. Now to practice this spell and be ready once the Horsemen make it into the foyer.”

Outside of the fortress, the Four Horsemen approached the main doors without any sign of a threat or danger around them. Before they proceed to enter, Ares Maverick notices two windows ontop above the doors, one on the left and one on the right. This gives him an idea.

“Piston Ace!” The white stallion called. “Go up to one of those windows and see if the inside is clear!”

“I'm on it!” The fire pegasus replied as he flew to the left window. He took a peak inside and notice the foyer of the fortress completely dark. He took a deep breath and puffed out a small fireball to give him some light. With the fireball on his upper left hoof, he glanced once more through the window and sighed in relief that there's nothing in the foyer except a staircase to the second floor and a balcony.

Piston Ace looks down at his teammates and responds with the good news. “All clear from the inside!”

“Excellent!” Ares grinned. “Silver and Colt, help me open the doors.”

The two unicorns and the blue Earth Pony band together to open the huge doors. At the same time, they got into position and bucked their way through the doors with all their might. Piston, on the other hand, just went through the window and joined alongside with the rest of the Horsemen as they entered the foyer.

Colt ran ahead from the group when suddenly, he slipped on a mysteriously red puddle on the tile and lose his balance.

“WOAH! WOAH! WWWWOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!! UFFF!!!

The Horsemen ceased their running and checked on their young member.

“You okay there, chap?” Silver Iron asked

Colt got up from the tile, with his fur covered in red stains. “Yeah, I'm fine. What in the world did I slipped on?”

Piston, who was hovering above the group, inspects the mysterious red puddle. “Hmm, looks like you stepped on red wine before you took your fall, Colt.”

“Really? What kind of idiot drops red wine on the floor? It's not like Black Mist was hosting a party before the battle.”

Upon hearing the fire pegasus' claims, Ares checks the puddle himself and came to a startling discovery, “Uhh...that's not red wine....That's blood!!!”

The young blue Earth Pony's eyes shrank in fear. “Blood?!?.......AAAUUUGGGGGHHHH!!! GETOFFGETOFFGETOFF!!!!!”

“GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MATE!!!” Silver Iron yelled as he held his panic stricken friend down with his front hooves around the Earth Pony's neck.

“Uhh, guys!” Piston Ace interrupted. “You ought to check this out!”

The fire pegasus pointed upwards towards the ceiling where the blood was coming from inside the foyer. Unlike how some foyers are decorated in a more pleasant and peaceful way, Black Mist's foyer is much more sinister and gruesome. Metal hooks hang from the ceiling with some of the hooks stained in blood and a few that had the rotten corpses of Icarus' guards as a warning to anyone who enters the fortress. That explains where the puddle of blood came from that Colt slipped on. The black tile floor and gray walls were littered with dry blood stains everywhere. Besides that, the floor was littered with dismembered body parts from ponies of all types. Very disturbing to witness from the heroes. Along with the body parts were broken spears, swords, and shields of these fallen guards from Withersham. The only guess from the brave stallions was that these guards made it to the fortress but were killed instantly by either the goblins or the evil sorcerer himself. It was a terrible sight to see but there are more important things to handle than mourn the loses of these fallen ponies.

“Buggers!” Silver Iron said. “Looks like I'm having nightmares tonight.”

“Poor guards!” Ares Maverick said. “They gave it all they got and yet, they did not deserve this.”

The Four Horsemen slowly trotted inside the foyer, passing the horrifying sight, to a staircase that leads to the second floor that has a balcony and a huge wooden door. The Horsemen surveyed their surroundings hoping to see if there's any sign of goblins or threats inside the foyer. However, everything was silent and there was no sign of life anywhere.

“Geez, where is everyone?” Colt Daring asked. “This fortress is like a ghost town.”

“Guess them goblins are either at the battlefield or they're hiding in the mountains behind this fortress, lad.” Silver Iron guessed.

“I doubt it!” said Piston Ace, triggering his cocky attitude. “I bet they ran away  and hid because they knew we were coming to whoop their butts!”

Ares Maverick, ignoring his teammates comments, trots to the middle of the foyer before the staircase. “BLACK MIST! IN THE NAME OF KING ICARUS, SHOW YOURSELF AND SURRENDER!”

There was no response. The brave unicorn called once again.

“BLACK MIST!” The stallion replied. “COME ON OUT AND GIVE UP, NOW!!!”

Once again, it was dead quiet.

“Just as I figured.” Piston said breaking the silence. “Black Mist ain't a sorcerer. He's just a giant chicken! BWOCK, BBBBBWOCK!!!”

“What a pathetic use of an insult, Piston Ace! I thought you'll be a lot more cunning than that.”

The Horsemen were a bit jumpy upon hearing a sinister voice that howled throughout the foyer. Then there was the feel of cold wind blowing through and the ground started to rumble. The hooks hanging above started to swing and cling to one another. Suddenly, the foyer began to fill with black smoke as the rumbling and the wind continued in the foyer. The smoke began to take form ontop of the staircase as the heroes looked on and in a poof, the sorcerer appeared in front of them with his eyes glowing red and his wings spread apart. It was Black Mist!

“Hello Horsemen!” the gargoyle spoke to the heroes. “We meet once again. How nice of you to drop into my home after I sent my goblins out there to destroy you and your village. How do you like my decorations that are hanging above?”

“Uhh...terrible?” Colt replied. “Yet...disgusting.”

“Black Mist, in the name of Withersham and King Icarus.” Ares said with a voice of justice. “Surrender now or be destroyed!”

“Or in other words,” Piston said. “Dead or alive!”

“Yeah,” Colt Daring added. “You don't want to mess with us Horsemen!”

“Or you gonna get your bloody wings crippled.” Silver Iron taunted.

The sorcerer laughed at the Horsemen's word. “Dead or alive?!? Wings crippled?!? Heheheheh, how am I so scared by your words, Horsemen? They sound so...terrifying...yet...hilarious! If I had a choice between dead and alive, I choose for me to be alive and you to be the ones that are dead!”

“That's when you're wrong Black Mist.” Ares spoke. “Because with us Four Horsemen, we got these to stop you.”

Ares held up his golden necklace with his left hoof revealing his white gemstone. The rest of the Horsemen decided to do the same thing and held up their necklaces to Black Mist, hoping to strike fear to the gargoyle. However, the evil sorcerer was not amused on what he is looking at.

“May I ask what is that you're holding?” Questioned Black Mist.

“These are the Gems of Peace!” Ares said. “These things will end your reign of terror once and for all, sorcerer.”

The sorcerer yawned in boredom on what he just heard. “And let me guess, that fool King Icarus and his imbecile wizard Star Dust made those did they?”

“That is correct!” Ares Maverick answered. “HORSEMEN, LETS USE THE POWERS OF THE GEMS!”

The Horsemen stood in formation with Silver Iron on the left, Ares Maverick in the middle, Colt Daring on the right, and Piston Ace hovering behind. Ares Maverick's began to glow as he used his magic to activate all four gemstones. As he did, the Horsemen felt the power within the stones and all four of them began to focus and channel this power inside to combine it into one powerful attack on their adversary. Streaks of electricity and orbs of light surrounded the stallions' bodies as they reached their full potential power with the use of the gems.

Black Mist, on the other end, looks on baffled as to know what is going on. He sees the horsemen engulfed in a ball of electricity and light but is still not impressed over the fact that the gems were created by his former master King Icarus. He has hunch that these so called Gems of Peace are nothing but an absolute joke and will not work against him.

Suddenly, all four gems fire a streak of light at the same time and all four of them combined together to form one, huge powerful stream at the dark gargoyle. The sorcerer stood there with a face of fear and no time to react as the powerful stream struck him right through the chest.

Black Mist let out a shriek of pain as his body began explode with rays of light shooting out of him.“NNNNOOOO....CURSE...YOU...HHHHHOOORRRRSSSEEEMMMEEENNN!!!!”

KABLOOM! The sorcerer was no more. Nothing was left of him except a scorch mark on the wall of the balcony that came from the streak of light. The Horsemen stare in awe at the aftermath. They just defeated Black Mist with their Gems of Peace and saved Withersham from sheer destruction. The fight is over...or is it?

“Whoa!” Piston Ace said surprised. “What just happened? Did we...did...we...won?”

“Looks like it, mate.” Silver Iron answered. “That evil wanker got obliterated by the power of the gems. By George, these things do work and I actually misdoubted them.”

“I've got to say that was pretty easy.” Colt Daring added. “Right, Ares?”

Ares did not respond to Colt's question. He trots to the staircase where the charred wall is and investigates the surrounding. He knows something was not right about what just happened seconds ago: Black Mist, the evil sorcerer that vows to kill all ponykind and rule the universe,  did not defend himself and allowed a powerful ray from the Gems of Peace struck him? This doesn't make any sense!

“Uh Ares?” Colt asked worried. “Is everything okay? I mean, what are you doing?”

“Hmmm...” Ares pondered. “Horsemen, did you all notice something...odd...about Black Mist?”

Silver, Piston, and Colt all stared at each other with confusion on what Ares just said.

“What are you talking about, Ares?” Piston questioned. “What's so odd about Black Mist? We just blew up that ugly buffoon with one blast of these powerful gems and he deserved it. HAHAHA, heck! Like I said earlier, he was just a giant chicken! *imitating Black Mist* 'BWOCK, BWOCK, BWOCK! I'mma Black Mist and I'mma coward and a big chicken. BWOCK!'”

Not impressed with the fire pegasus' bad impersonation of the sorcerer, Ares continued, “Coward yes but again, did anypony noticed odd about him being one?”

“Umm...no.” Colt Daring responded. “I didn't see nothing wrong about him.”

Silver Iron added, “Besides, guv'nor, like Piston said: that blasted wally is brown bread! Talk about King Icarus assigning a doodle task to care of, wouldn't you say? It's like grabbing a goblin's goolies with your hooves and giving him a good buck to the face.”

“That's not the point!” Ares Maverick stomped. “Coward?!? Chicken?!? Way too easy to kill?!? Nothing wrong?!? Doesn't that sound weird?!? This isn't the Black Mist that we knew. This is actu...”

“Ares!” Silver Iron interrupted. “We've been battling Black Mist for a yonk and he must've given up on fighting. Stop being such a Joey and lets go home.”

“Hey wait a sec!” Colt Daring said. “What about them goblins out there? Not to mention those Spitfires?”

“SPITFIRES?!?” Silver Iron snorted as he withdrew his crossbow with his magic. “I HATE SPITFIRES!!!”

“Don't we all?” Piston Ace commented. “Now come on, if we leave right now, we can make it back to the battlefield and kill a few of them and the goblins and then, we can go to Withersham for some rest and relaxation. Now Ares, I don't know about you or your worries but I'm getting out of here. Black Mist is dead! Deal with it! Now let's leave right now! I'm getting bored of this!”

“Yes, enough of this rubbish!” Silver Iron added.

The fire pegasus flew towards the main doors while the blacksmith unicorn followed behind. However, the brave Ares tries to stop them from exiting the fortress.

“WAIT PISTON! DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!” The white unicorn warned.

Piston Ace, however, ignored the warning and opens the main doors slowly, “What Ares? What could be so scary behind the door that ha...ha...HA..HA...HHHHAAAAAHHHH!!!!”

The fire pegasus screamed in horror to what was standing in front of him. The rest of the Horsemen were also terrified as well. Standing right in front of the doorway was an unexpected figure that they thought was gone but somehow survived...or rather yet...not been scathed by the Gems of Peace's powerful attack. He stood there breathing heavily and chuckling to the reactions of his foes as they stood there with fear. It was Black Mist...alive and well!

The evil dark, gargoyle took a step forward to Piston Ace.“MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! What's wrong, Piston Ace? Are you...CHICKEN?!?

“AHH..AHH...how did you survive?!?” Piston asked. “We killed you!”

The sorcerer chuckled. “Hmmhmmhmmhmmm. Killed me, yes! However, really killed me? Not so likely. For you see, the one that stood on the balcony that the four of you blew up was not me. It was a decoy I created! A clone to be more specific while the real me  was watching in the shadows. Now you're wandering, 'How exactly did you, Black Mist, was able to do that?!?”

Black Mist reaches behind and his back and reveals to the stallions a blue book.

“Behold!” He continued. “My own book of spells and one of them I used was to create a clone version of myself...except...he was only defenseless and poses no possible threat to fight against you. Therefore, my shadow clone, as I call it, took the bait of getting destroyed by your Gems of Peace and I stood back observing how powerful these things that good for nothing fool King Icarus made for all of you.”

“So that explains why you were a coward...except the one we killed...was...a fake?” Colt asked.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Black Mist threatened.

“Enough of this, Black Mist!” Ares stood his guard. “We destroyed your clone with our gems and we'll do it again!”

“Oh, I'm petrified, Ares!” Black Mist said faking his fear. “But not for long as I unveil my next new trick.”

Suddenly, Black Mist's blood red eyes shot a red laser at Piston Ace. The fire pegasus was unable to dodge it as he didn't have time to react as it struck him in the chest. Then, the flying stallion witness his body began to harden from his hooves as he felt cold cement started to grow from below and rise all the way to the top of his body. He spreads his wings to fly away but it was no use as they too became harden. The Horsemen stood in horror as they witness in front of their eyes that their fellow teammate is being turned into stone.

The young blue Earth Pony shrieked. “No!...PISTON!!!!!”

“Oye, the gargoyle turned him into a statue!” Silver Iron screamed.

The sorcerer laughed. “UHHHAHAHAHAHA! A fine piece of art I should say myself and this is only part 1 for my...collection!”

“Coll...col...collection?” Colt Daring gulped.

“Yes!” Black Mist responded. “With my brand new stone spell that I learned from my book, I will turn all of you...and the rest of the ponies of Withersham...INTO STONE! Once I'm done with that, I'll add all of you ponies into 'my collection' and rule this planet via turning it into PURE DARKNESS FOR A 1,000 years!!!”

“Not if we stop you first!” Ares Maverick roared. “Silver Iron and Colt Daring, stand together and grabbed that book. We got to turn Piston back to normal!”

“Definitely!” Colt Daring said.

“Right-o!” Silver Iron added.

Ares Maverick jumps off the balcony and joins the last three of his teammates on the ground floor. “HORSEMEN!!! ATTA...WOAH!!!”

Before the Horsemen made their movie and before Ares was finish talking, Black Mist shot his red laser again and aimed it at the unprepared Colt Daring. The young blue Earth Pony began to harden and was unable to move as he suffers the same fate as his friend Piston Ace.

“COLT!!!!” Ares screamed in horror.

“ARES...” Colt cried. “TELL MY GRANDMA...IIII LLLOOVVEEE HHHEEE...”

Colt could not say his last words as he turned into stone.

“NNNNNOOOO!!!!” Silver Iron yelled. “DAMN YOU, BLACK MIST!”

Silver Iron charged with his horn glowing and armed his crossbow. He fires all his arrows and reloads as much as he can as he lets his rage out on the gargoyle. Ares tries to stop the rampaging unicorn by yelling at him to stop but his pleas were ignored as his remaining friend and teammate attacked the sorcerer. With every crossbow fired, none of them were any match to Black Mist as he blocks the arrows with one of right wing, leaving only minor cuts on his dark skin. The gargoyle attacks with his left arm and swings at Silver Iron, sending the unicorn to a wall. With the silver unicorn, Black Mist directed his attention to Ares Maverick, who is still standing there holding his ground. The sorcerer smirks and fires his red laser again. However, Ares dodges the attack and charges towards Black Mist. The evil gargoyle fires again and again but the white stallion continuously avoids the beams. As he gallops, he notices a few weapons on the bloody floor where the dead bodies of the guards from earlier, including a few swords and spears next to them.  He uses his magic and levitates all the remaining spears and swords from the floor and aimed them at Black Mist. The sorcerer raises an eyebrow as to know what this stallion is doing but yet he anticipates the unicorn to make his move.

With Black Mist distracted, Silver Iron slowly gets up from the floor and notices Ares using his magic to attack Black Mist. The best choice would've been to join his friend and help but unfortunately, he rather just sit this out and let Ares do what he has to do. Question is: will Ares' attack be enough?

“THIS IS FOR COLT, PISTON, AND FOR EVERYPONY THAT HAS LOST THEIR LIVES ON THIS DAY!!!” Ares yelled at Black Mist and fires the spears and swords.

Black Mist tries to block some of the spears and swords but gets struck by one spear that pierced his hand that held his spell book. The sorcerer felt the pain and dropped the book on the floor. When Ares saw this, he galloped towards it and used his magic to grab it. With the book in hand, he tries run to safety and goes up to the staircase where they fought the fake Black Mist. Once he was safe, the unicorn desperately flips through the pages to find the spell to reverse the process of turning into stone. Black Mist recovers from his minor injury and growls in anger.

“RRRR YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT STALLION!” He roared.

He shot his red laser at Ares, who is not aware of the beam approaching as his back was turned and still reading the spell book. Silver Iron gasped and gallops at top speed towards Ares.

“WATCH OUT, ARES!” Silver Iron warned as he jumped into the air and threw his body in front of the approaching laser, shielding Ares.

Ares Maverick turns his head away from the book and was shocked to see his friend get struck from the incoming laser. He was unable to react as the silver stallion began to turn into stone like Colt and Piston and was horrified that Silver Iron made a foolish decision to sacrifice himself in order to protect his leader.

“SILVER IRON!!!!!!” Ares said in horror. “NNNNOOOOO!!!”

The evil sorcerer laughed once again at the remaining Horsemen. “Muhahahahahaha. That only leaves you left, Ares Maverick. Are you ready...TO DIE?!?

A/N: What will Ares Maverick do? Will he survive or become a statue like his fallen friends/teammates. Stay tune.