Author's Note

Warning: This chapter contains Gore/death.

Behold A Pale Horse

In order to conserve water the troops were forced to share their daily baths. The stallions and mares were still segregated, but only a thin curtain separated a mostly open bathing area, one which would often be removed. Today it was Fleur who removed the flimsy cloth with a titter, studying the well-toned stallions who washed themselves in basins, or stood around to await their turn. She cantered over to their side.

While the mares would often tease the stallions who looked over, posing, touching, and washing each other to rile them up, only she'd ever been so bold as to cross the line between both sides. Of course she practically considered herself one of the stallions already and had picked up many of their dirtiest habits. She went down the line, spanking, groping, and otherwise molesting all the muscular buttocks on display; but whenever they tried to touch her back she swatted them with her tail, or in the case they were more aggressive she tossed them aside with a blast of her potent magic.

She snickered as some of their dicks rose to attention. They studied her hungrily in sheer frustration. "You could always fuck each other. I'd watch." She winked.

"You're a cruel one Fleur," said Flash Sentry.

"They have to prove they're a real stud before I'll let them so much as touch me. Let alone take me to bed." He shivered pleasantly as she draped herself on him and he nearly wilted under the venomous looks his fellow soldiers shot him.

"Damn. You should've told us you had such a sweet piece of ass!"

Fleur lit up her horn and yanked the stallion's balls so hard he yelped and crumpled into a heap, his hooves clasped tight around him as the others laughed. "Watch how you speak to your betters wretch," she warned with a toss of her partially wet mane.

"She truly does have it all," another troop said.

"Yeah, all but a heart. She never used to be this cold," mumbled Flash who lamented how much they'd all been forced to adapt to this new world. It had made most of them harder, colder, crueler. After the death of the Princesses and the loss of Fancy Pants she had become exactly as distant and imperious as some once mistakenly perceived her. And the time she'd spent with the soldiers had only made that even worse.

At the least he had to admit she was a hell of a warrior. Her constant need to prove she was worthy to fight alongside them had pushed her to ceaselessly surpass her supposed limits. Sadly as a result she was begrudgingly respected but not particularly well-liked beyond a superficial level. Once they dismissed her as a mere trophy wife or courtesan. Now she was the Queen bitch of Equestria. Long live the Queen!

She wandered back to to the mares, wolf-whistled, and started to feel them up too, whether or not they wanted it. She kissed and nibbled on them, lathered up their slippery curves, sometimes even brushed a hoof over her nuzzled their most private places.

Flash Sentry cursed as his stallionhood unsheathed and almost fully stiffened. He resisted the base urge to simply jerk off right there, knowing she'd be content to wind them up. In truth he was almost pent up enough to fuck one of the stallions nearby.

They were interrupted when another soldier arrived and cleared her throat. "Somepony's broken into the vault. Worse than that, the Necronomicon has been stolen." They all snapped to attention at that. "Our leader is about to call an assembly."

"Shit. Guess that means our chance at an easy day are off," he said.

Fleur squeezed the water from her mane and tail. "Oh well. Who knows? Prove yourselves worthy today and I may take one of you to bed. Do well and I may even let you mount me," she teased, her posterior presented and her tail raised to entice them.

Heat built in his loins to the point where he desperately wanted to take her then-and-there. But he shook his head and reminded himself they had a mission to focus on. This was serious. The Necronomicon already ruined Equestria once. He dreaded whatever it could do now as the very laws of reality seemed to slowly break down by the day.

*****

Dawn had barely started to break when a mandatory meeting was called at the camp. Most of the soldiers were already at the ready for such an event, however many of the civilians stumbled wearily from their tents, tired of being constantly on the move.

An armored-up Shining Armor took a megaphone passed to him, cleared his throat, and then spoke into it. "Somepony has broken into the vault and stolen some of its contents." He dared not admit the existence of the Necronomicon to the average pony, knowing it would only further stir them up. "If anypony here knows what happened, I implore you to step forward. I promise on my honor there will be no reprisals, even if you are the thief." His eyes swept over the mobs collected from all over.

Sunset and Trixie waited at each side of him. Fleur and Flash Sentry looked to each other. Applejack's face hardened as if she was ready to tear the perpetrator apart, while Rainbow Dash hovered nearby with a cocky grin. Fluttershy stood with her head slightly bowed and her mane falling over most of her face. Tree Hugger chewed on a joint and appeared to be off in her own little world. On this occasion even Pinkamena had been allowed out from her cell, still locked in a straight-jacket and bound to a gurney, which Nurse Redheart and her assistants kept close watch over at all times.

He looked through the rest of the crowds, saw lots of faces he recognized, while others were vaguely familiar at best, and tried to make certain everypony was accounted for. He paused and turned from the megaphone to whisper, "Wait a moment. Where is Starlight Glimmer? Have you seen her lately, Sunset?"

"Afraid not. She usually locks herself in her lab ever since Sunburst was lost. From what I saw of her diagrams, she was trying to perfect that time-travel spell, but I told her it was too dangerous. Even if she could set all this right it could rip apart the fabric of reality in the process. Do you think she...? No, she wouldn't, not after..." Sunset pursed her lips. "She never learns. Still trying to take shortcuts wherever she can!"

Trixie kept her distance from the rabble who still distrusted or outright loathed her. Thankfully none of them dared make a move on her while she was under the protection of the leaders here. "That may be true, but I know she means well. Maybe I can find and talk to her? I'm certain she'll listen to one of her closest friends!"

"That depends on whether we can even locate her in time," he said with a sigh and took up the megaphone again. "Everypony, ready up. It will be time to move out soon. Fleur, Flash, I want you to organize some search parties." He'd explain more when they were in private. Hopefully their thief hadn't run off too far in such a short time-frame, but with her ability to teleport at will, she could be any number of places by now.

Fluttershy stepped forward. "Um...I..."

"We'll help too," cut in Applejack who carried her lasso at her hip. "I reckon' will need every hoof we can find for this one. That damned book is behind all this, and whenever we find who's responsible, I'll tan their filthy hide myself!"

Rainbow Dash floated beside her with a grin, smacking one hoof into the other. "You said it, AJ! That punk will wish they were never born after we're done!"

Fluttershy swallowed. "Um...I'd like to come, too."

"Well lick my cute little cunt, I might as well come, too." Tree Hugger popped a hoof's worth of pills in attempt to keep her half-fried brain centered. "Whoa man, havin' flashbacks to the day Equestria started to fall. Hope it's not a bad omen, you know?"

Shortly after the assembly was called to an end, the attendees dispersed to carry out their assigned duties. Grumbles sounded at the idea they'd have to ship out so soon, but they couldn't afford to stay in one place for too long. Too many other pockets of resistance had already made that mistake and been wiped out to the last as a result. It was unknown how many other rebels still held out to carry Equestria's dying torch.

Troops lined up before Rarity and her slew of attendants who passed out the enchanted weapons, costume-like armor that was easy to maneuver in, and other various items that they had painstakingly crafted over months. With what limited materials were available they not only had to constantly improvise, but there proved a rather limited number to offer. As a result those who took to the battlefield were provided first dibs. Heraldry inscribed into each item carried mystical power placed by their wizards.

They were now on constant alert. Guards took positions around key areas where the enemy could potentially penetrate the dense forestation that enshrouded the camp. Some ponies started to hastily pack up their tents and caravans.

Unbeknownst to them a dark shadow watched the area from a distance. It perched atop a tree silhouetted by a full moon behind it. War had finally come for the survivors.

*****

Hooves trembled over the stitched up flesh-and-faces which made up the Necronomicon's ebony cover. each turn of the page seemed the ultimate taboo. However it was too late to turn back now even if she wanted to. She'd made her choice. They would understand. Eventually. It had called to her. Told her she could unlock its secrets and complete a spell to travel back in time and save Equestria.

Not that she believed it per say. However she was convinced she could outsmart the tome, bend it to her own ends, use it as it sought to use her. Everypony who'd died so senselessly could be revived. And most importantly to her she could save Sunburst from his terrible fate and make it clear much earlier in life how much she truly loved him.

"You always were an idiot," said Starlight with watery eyes. She wasn't certain whether she was talking about him or herself. She'd teleported pretty deep into the Everfree Forest in case they came looking for her anytime soon. She'd need some privacy to begin unlocking all the secrets buried within. She plopped her rump on an overturned log, turned to a seemingly random section, and started to read the alien words aloud.

So absorbed was she in the moment that the shadow that stalked her almost went unnoticed. Her ears twitched at a sudden unnatural cold which descended over the area and made her bowels turn to water. She clasped the book to her. "No...it can't be!"

The figure that floated in the distance wore a tattered black hood and cloak that fluttered about it. Within the dark shroud she could see the skeleton of a pale unicorn, the hollow sockets of its skull alight with a pair of purple orbs. Despite what little remained of her former appearance, she recognized the countenance of this world's Twilight, or at least what remained of the undead monstrosity, raised by necromancy to become Death.

Bone wings that were no more than intimidating decorations arose from her back, and she pointed at her, the bony horn alight as she readied a spell to strike her down. Rumors claimed she had murdered thousands. Not that any creature had ever survived a direct encounter with the most powerful of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.

"Fuck this," cried Starlight who attempted to teleport away, only for her magic to fizzle out mysteriously in a bunch of colorful sparks around her horn. "What the-" She raised the Necronomicon in reflex to cower behind it when a blast of energy was hurled her way that could easily vaporize even the toughest pony. She shook under the impact.

The barraged bounced off the supposedly indestructible book which unintentionally protected its new would-be host, reflected back on Death, who silently hurled back as the create barely raised an invisible barrier in time to defend itself.

Starlight immediately rushed deeper into the maze of trees with the book held between her teeth. She ran and ran and repeatedly tried to blink away, but still her spells failed her, and she realized this monster could somehow neutralize her magic with its mere presence. She skidded to a stop as Death materialized noiselessly before her.

She instinctively called upon the book's power, recalled a spell that she'd looked over earlier, and the Necronomicon reacted, a portal opening behind Death, tentacles shooting out in droves and binding the freak into place. She realized that even the Four Horses of the Apocalypse couldn't nullify its almost limitless potential.

Death writhed and failed to teleport from the coils that bound it as Starlight broke into a mad dash once more. Her heart thudded as she galloped onward aimlessly for what seemed like well over a mile, before her attempts at another spell finally kicked in, and she vanished from the Everfree Forest, to some random area far, far away.

Spears immediately surrounded her as she appeared in what seemed to be another encampment. Guards were immediately on alert from the sudden intrusion, the hideout of one of the last collection of survivors discovered. Her first instinct was to simply blink away once more and take her chances back with the demon that hunted her.

But she couldn't run forever. Not when the enemy was out for blood. Plus the sight of somepony she believed dead made her pause. "Fancy Pants...?"

The debonair unicorn trotted up and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Indeed. Stand down, soldiers. She's one of us." He'd helped evacuate the ponies in Canterlot and had been believed lost when the enemy attacked. Thousands had been torn apart in the bloodbath that ensued and thus he was presumed dead like so many others when he failed to turn up later. She hardly knew him but Rarity always spoke well of him.

He cocked an eyebrow at the Necronomicon. "Gruesome work of art, isn't it? Well, I suppose it's none of my business," he admitted, unaware like the others of what it was. "Follow me. We can catch up in a moment. Consider this your new sanctuary."

"Thank you," she said and trotted beside him. She'd have plenty of time to delve into its secrets later. She was more convinced than ever she'd made the correct choice.

*****

War tossed off his black cloak and descended upon the settlement. His titanic bulk was layered in heavy armor that conformed to red musculature. His nostrils flared as he snorted and dragged a hoof on the dirt, ready to charge in and crush his puny adversaries. His eyes glowed red and fiery smoke billowed from his nose. Metal plates on his back and his helmet were lined in thick spines to skewer those he rushed down.

The earth shook underneath shock waves when he rushed in, and the guards that first spotted him screamed at the monstrous beast that bounded on them, smashing them to a put beneath his hooves when he landed. The beast of prey perked his ears at the sounds of bone cracking, the warm rush of blood that splattered him, the rush of adrenaline as his enemies scattered in sheer terror all he required.

While he considered himself a one-pony army, he knew their numbers would require more than even his might alone, and so he reluctantly accepted assistance from the other Four Horses of the Apocalypse who scoured the land with them, knowing there would be plenty for him to fuck and eat and kill at his leisure.

Famine hovered overhead. The lithe pegasus wore a form-fitting costume under her dark cloak and searched the area with her supernaturally enhanced senses; ever since her eyes had been removed she now hid them under a thick blindfold. Her focus was supposed to be the Necronomicon, and while she'd never directly disobey the mistress, the desire to find Rainbow Dash and prove she was her better overwhelmed her.

Her wings were like a plume made of cold steel razors that shined under the light, her black cape cut in such a way that she could easily expand them from her bareback. Of all the Four Horses she'd maintained her former personality most of all, however twisted it had now become as a result. Sheer egotistical will also made her far more talkative than the rest. "Just wait, stupid bitch. Your sweet little ass will finally be mine!"

Some claimed she overcompensated; most of them died the most terrible deaths she could dish out. She was known to be the most vicious of them all, as even War couldn't match her calculated sadism. She needed to prove to the mistress she was the best!

And on the outskirts waited Pestilence who preferred not to directly tackle the enemy. He was a cowered at heart and he knew it. However he was also quite intelligent and aware of his limitations. Most of the unicorn's body was wrapped up in a mummified manner under his black cloak and he wore a wide-brimmed hat and beak-shaped mask.

He'd lined the sewn-in pockets of his attire with chemicals stored in vials, and likewise potions lined a pair of heavy belts around his waist, materials he used to work his alchemy. He'd finally become the powerful wizard he'd once claimed to be. Starlight would have been proud, if only she could understand what he'd become. He'd surpassed the limits of his supposed potential. He'd let the others do the heavy lifting. In the meantime he'd lay traps and collect the corpses they left for his experiments.

He didn't want to kill Starlight Glimmer, as he loved her even now, much as his warped heart was still able to. He'd prove to the mistress she could be turned to their side. Perhaps she could even replace Famine after this; he detested how base she was anyhow. Maybe he'd set up an accident to finally remove his unwanted rival...

An alarm sounded across the settlement to rally the troops. Screams sounded across the area. A few dozen soldiers and civilians alike laid broken and bloodied into pulp by the time the commanders were able to respond and mount a proper resistance.

Shining Armor stood in his white armor, his two-sided pallid sword and shield marked by heraldry at the read. He inhaled so deeply his muscles puffed up and he met Sunset Shimmer's snout in a passionate kiss. "Cadance, watch over us all."