The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Chapters

Prologue
Ch.1: A Nephilim on a Mission
Ch.2: The Arrival of the Dark Pony
Ch.3: The Embrace of Darkness

Prologue

Darkness sat atop the roof of his home, thinking. Could I have done anything to protect him? Darkness thought. He was thinking about his brother, Light. He died while they were protecting the Abomination Vault. Death was away, so he had to protect it in his place. He was snapped out of his reverie by his friend, Chaos.

"Dark, the Council wishes to see you." Chaos said, her serpentine body snaking its way out of their home near the Abomination Vault. Darkness stood up and motioned for Chaos to lead the way. They walked to the Serpent Hole inside their house and entered it. Inside the Serpent Hole, Darkness and Chaos spoke.

"What do they need of me?" Darkness asked, staring at his left hand corrupted or blessed by darkness. He hasn't decided which yet.

"No idea." Chaos said as she twirled her serpentine body in the air she floated in. Before Darkness could ask another question, they reached the portal and they went on through.

Inside, Darkness knelt before the Charred Council and put his right hand on the hilt of his blade.

"What is it you would have me do, Council?" Darkness asked, not lifting his head.

"The Creator has charged you with a task." The Council said.

"I am honored." Darkness said. Not many are given the high honor of carrying out the Creator's personal will.

"If I may ask, what does the Creator wish me to do?" Darkness asked, still not lifting his head.

"He has charged you with the protection of His project for a peaceful world. One devoid of demons and angels." The Council said. Darkness stood and spoke to the Council.

"It will be done." Darkness said as he reentered the Serpent Hole.

Chaos was a bit confused after their meeting with the Council.

"I don't get it. Why would they need to protect a world that has no demons and angels? It makes no sense." Chaos said as she switched forms to a crow with magma-like cracks on its skin.

"I don't know, but if it's a task issued by the Creator himself, we're in no position to deny it. Come on, I saw a new Serpent Hole." Darkness said as he selected the new Serpent Hole and they went through.

Twilight had just woken up and she walked down the stairs to make herself a daffodil sandwich. As she finished her meal, she found a strange book at the top of a stack of new books she got yesterday. She was tired when she recieved them last night, so she said that she would deal with it in the morning. After she rearranged the books, she grabbed the book that caught her attention. The book was unlike the other books so, naturally, she decided to read it.

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse There are legends about four beings that will bring about the end of Equestria. Their names are War, Death, Strife and Fury. Recently though, there have been whisperings of a fifth Horseman: Darkness." Twilight was confused with some of the words.

"What's a Horseman?" Twilight shrugged it off and continued reading.

"War is accompanied by his Phantom Steed, Ruin. For what follows War, but Ruin? Recently, there have been rumors of War having a strange entity bound to him." Along with these words, came a depiction of War. His blade primed as if to strike at the viewer. He rode a being that looked vaguely like a pony, but far from being one. It was reared on its hind legs and it had magma-like cracks on its skin that looked like runes and flames shooting out of its nostrils and hooves. War cast a steely glare at the viewer with his ice-blue eyes that seemed to bore a hole straight into your soul.

Twilight shuddered at the picture but kept reading.

"Death is accompanied by his Phantom Steed, Despair. For what follows Death, but Despair? Death is also accompanied by a crow named Dust. Dust serves as his guide." Another picture showed a figure that didn't seem to have a mouth riding what looked like the corpse of a pony, except it was alive and it had green flames that served as its mane and tail. The flames also appeared on its hooves.

Another picture showed the same figure that glared at the viewer with reddish-orange eyes, this time with scythes that had skull designs running along the flats of their blades. It wore bone armor on its waist and its arms. On the left scythe sat a crow, its wings flared open.

Twilight shuddered again, but continued reading.

"Not much is known about Strife and Fury, but there is knowledge about Darkness." Twilight read aloud as she turned the page. There wasn't a picture of Darkness, something Twilight was thankful for, but there was a description.

"Darkness is accompanied by his Phantom Steed, Fear. For what follows Darkness, but Fear? Darkness is also accompanied by a shapeshifting being known as Chaos. Darkness has been seen with black feathered wings that seem to be of a much greater length and width than even Princess Celestia." Darkness was described as having a black left arm and his right arm being encased in a golden gauntlet that had a blue jewel in the center of the palm and a Fallen skull pauldron. He wore dark blue and violet leg armor (similar to Death's Crow armor). His signature weapon was a black claymore with runes running along the flat of the blade. His face was often darkened by a hood that obscured most of his face, barring his silvery eyes and a mouth that was often seen with a scowl.

All this information was not known to Twilight, as it wasn't in the book. Twilight closed the book and sighed. She didn't want to think that the things in the book would be able to end Equestria. She trotted to the table and grabbed her saddlebags.

"Spike! I'm going out for a while! Take care of the place while I'm gone okay?" Twilight was responded by a tired groan and she left the library.

Darkness and Chaos exited the Serpent Hole and saw that they were in the remains of a once great castle, now left in ruin.

"Wow. This place looks like its seen better days." Chaos said as she flew onto Darkness' shoulder.

"Yeah. The place actually reminds me of some abandoned castles back on Earth." Darkness said as he walked around the throne room and Chaos flew onto the rafters.

"This place looks like it's been abandoned for years." Chaos said, but Darkness ignored her. He just wanted to go.

"We should go." Darkness said as he motioned for Chaos to come with him.

"Why? We're in no hurry. Why don't we make this our home base? Besides, I like it here. Gives me that post-apocalyptic vibe." Chaos said as she flew back onto Darkness' shoulder. Darkness took a few moments to consider his options. He really didn't have anywhere to go (not that he needed a home, but it was always nice to have one). He also didn't really want to interact with the dominant race of this world yet. Darkness shrugged and turned to the magma skinned crow sitting on his shoulder.

"Sure. Why not?" Darkness said as they started getting settled in. Darkness could swear he saw Chaos smile, which was impossible, given her form.

"What do you think this world is like?" Chaos asked as she flew in close.

"I don't know. What I do know is that there's gonna be very little fighting." Darkness said as Chaos settled in the corner of the rafter to sleep.

Darkness, being Darkness, couldn't sleep. His wings burst from his back and he flew to the roof of the castle, receded his wings and lay down on its tiled surface. He stared at the moon for a while. Wherever he went, the night sky with its moon always looked beautiful. Before he knew it, he was singing to himself.

"You left my side tonight

And I, I just don't feel right

But I, I can't let you out of sight

Without you I'm nothing, I'm nothing at all."

Darkness snapped out of his musical trance and sat up. He had been singing the human songs ever since he found reasons to. He had to admit, the humans were good musicians. Well, some of them. Most of them were just terrible. He would take the screech of a banshee over a certain singer that everyone seemed to hate, with good reason, any day. He sighed and just decided to wait the day out. He put himself into the meditative state that allowed him to pass time, since he couldn't sleep. In this state, he was hyper-aware and could feel everything around him. Eventually, he could feel the sun rising and he snapped out of his hyper-aware state and looked to the rising sun.

He pulled back his hood to reveal his shaggy black hair. He brought his wings out again and flew down into the window. He flew to the rafter where Chaos slept on last night and found that she wasn't there. He was confused at first, but then he felt a blow to his nape and he crashed to the floor. He sat up and shook the stars out of his eyes to see a a girl with spiked yellow hair, a tank top and fatigues smirking at him from her position on the rafters.

"What the hell, Chaos?" Darkness flew up to the rafters and met Chaos eye to eye. Darkness stared into her azure eyes and Chaos stared into his silver-blue eyes. After a few moments, Darkness' facial expression changed from annoyed to amused. Darkness chuckled, which built up into a laugh and Chaos followed.

"But seriously, what the hell?" Darkness said as he stopped laughing and put on a serious face, which caused Chaos to stop as well.

"We're the only ones here, so I'm a bit lonely. I slept alone last night and I was so sad. What with you flying up to the roof and all. So, I decided to punish you for leaving your girlfriend alone at night." Chaos put on a fake pout and Darkness laughed.

"You never change. Let's just get going." Darkness said as he receded his wings and he dropped to the floor. Chaos shook her head and shifted to her crow form to perch on Darkness' shoulder. He picked up his claymore, Dark Seraph, and they walked out the damaged doors of the castle.

"This'll be fun." Darkness said with a smirk as they ventured onward into the forest.

Ch.1: A Nephilim on a Mission

Darkness called upon his steed, Fear. Fear had a black coat with burning red runes running up his neck and down his legs. He had a black mane and tail that shed darkness in the form of dark flakes rising into the air. His hooves had dark blue cracks and black flames on them.. His eyes burned a bright red and black flames spewed from his nostrils. His saddle was made of some sort of ebony material and Darkness jumped on it. Darkness made a slight motion with his arms and the two sped off as Chaos latched onto the Phantom Horse's saddle.

They rode through the forest and they stopped when they reached the treeline. Darkness banished Fear and he crouched to stay hidden as he spied on the unsuspecting pony. The pony had a yellow coat and a pink mane. He quickly deduced that it was one of the dominant species in this world and he turned to Chaos.

"Okay, I need you to become something like that and spy on the ponies for me." Darkness said to the crow that sat atop a branch.

"Okay." Chaos said as she shifted her form to match a pony. When she fully changed, Darkness almost laughed. She was an orange pegasus with a blonde mane and tail; her mane and tail were a bit shaggy, but not completely unpresentable. She retained her azure eyes, but they were sized to match those of a pony. Darkness couldn't suppress the laughter and he held his hand over his mouth to silence it.

"What's so funny?" Chaos asked as a blush grew onto her face. Darkness removed his hand from his face as his laughter died down.

"Sorry, you just look so cute! It's just not like you!" Darkness suppressed another wave of laughter and Chaos looked away to hide the blush on her face. Darkness wiped a tear away from his eye and he got serious.

"Whoo... Okay, could you go out there and spy on these ponies?" Chaos just gave a hasty nod and she walked out into the open.

Chaos walked out of the forest and started to have second thoughts. She was about to go back to Darkness, but he already returned to the castle. Chaos shook her head and walked towards the town, the yellow pony returning to its home. She approached the town and was amazed at how colorful everything was.

"Darkness would've been knocked over by how bright and colorful this place is." Chaos said to herself as she walked into town. She noticed that all of the ponies were really friendly.

"Darkness wasn't kidding. This place really is peaceful." Chaos said as she wandered through the town.

She eventually reached a tree that had a house built inside it.

"The fuck?" Chaos whispered to herself as she knocked on the door. She was answered by a lavender pony with violet hair and a pink stripe running down the length of her hair.

"Hello. I've never seen you around before. Are you from around here?" The mare asked. Chaos shook her head.

"No. If you count that forest as 'from here', then yes." Chaos pointed her hoof to the forest.

"You live in the Everfree forest?" The mare asked with a little shock. Chaos just nodded.

"What's your name?" The mare asked.

"Chaos. Yours?" Chaos said as she held out her hoof. Twilight was confused by her strange name, but she ignored it.

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said as she took her hoof in a hoofshake.

Chaos had spent the rest of the day meeting various ponies of the town and she noticed it was getting dark.

"Listen Twilight, I gotta go. I'll see ya tomorrow, alright?" Chaos got a nod from Twilight and she ran off into the forest. As soon as she reached the forest, she switched forms to a crow and flew the rest of the way to the castle.

She reached the castle and flew up to Darkness, who was sitting on the roof.

"So, what happened?" Darkness asked as Chaos perched on his finger.

"These ponies are really nice and trusting. I kind of feel bad that we're spying on them like this." Chaos said.

"Yeah, but we'll have to get used to it. Now, you go to sleep." Chaos complied and flew down to her favorite rafter and fell asleep. Darkness looked to the moon and sighed.

"What is up with this world?" Darkness asked to no one in particular. Darkness crossed his legs and slipped into his 'sleeping' trance.

Celestia could feel a strange hint of dark energy in the air.

"What is this?" Celestia asked as the energy started to fade. She shrugged it off and went to bed. Whatever that was, it's long gone. She decided she would deal with it in the morning.

The next day, Celestia woke up and raised the sun. The minute she finished raising the sun, a huge wave of dark and chaotic energy hit her like a sack of bricks. She looked over to the source of the energy.

"The Everfree Forest..." Celestia said to herself as she called for her elite team.

"What is it, Princess?" the squad leader asked.

"I need you and your team to accompany me to the Everfree, Captain Air Wing." Celestia said, earning her a salute from the captain.

"Lead the way, Princess." Air Wing said, getting a smile in response.

"Let's go." Celestia said as she teleported the team of six and herself to the Everfree.

Darkness broke out of his trance and looked to the rising sun.

"I better go wake up Chaos." Darkness flew down to the rafters and shook the sleeping crow awake.

"Chaos, wake up." Darkness earned himself a sleepy groan from the crow.

"But I wanna sleep in..... Just five more minutes..." Chaos moaned as she turned and fell to the floor.

"Oof!" Chaos woke up from the fall.

"You awake yet?" Darkness asked as he picked up the crow.

"Yes, I am." Chaos snarled.

"Woah, why the hostility?" Darkness asked as Chaos switched to her human form.

"Did you push me?" Chaos asked.

"No. You rolled over and you fell from the rafter." Darkness said. Chaos sighed and walked to the door.

"Well, what do we do now?" Chaos asked. Darkness walked to Chaos.

"You have to go back to that town and keep spying on them." Darkness said.

"What about you? What do you do while I'm gone?" Chaos asked as she turned to face her friend.

"I don't know. I just sit around. I can't do anything beyond that." Darkness said. He was going stir-crazy and he had to do SOMETHING. He flew over to the throne and sat on it.

"Yeah. Okay, I'm going." Chaos said as she headed for the door.

Celestia had spent about an hour trekking through the forest and she came upon the source of the energy.

"The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters... Air Wing, you and your team have to stay close." Celestia said and the team of six understood. They got into a lance formation and the Princess breached the door with a powerful knockback spell. She was surprised at what she saw. She saw two human figures. One was sitting on the throne and the other was standing.

"State your names." Celestia said with authority.

"Why should we give you anything you want?" The one sitting at the throne said as it stood.

"I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I request you come with us silently." Celestia said in a booming voice. The one standing at the throne laughed.

"I'm sorry, but your request is denied." He said as he gripped his blade.

"Then we will have to take you by force." Celestia said as she shot a fireball in his direction. He released his grip on his blade and charged at the lance of pony troops. He grabbed the spear of one of the guards and slammed it into the ground, leaving a pony sized bloodstain on the floor.

He leaped into the air as Celestia fired a lightning spell and was chased by two guards, who were shot down by his gun, Eclipse. He threw his blade down, cleaving one of the guards in half. He fell to the ground and picked up his blade. He looked to the three remaining ponies.

"Just come with us quietly." Celestia said again.

"What reason do we have to do what you say?" He said as he prepared his blade again, but Chaos stopped him.

"Dark! Stop!" Chaos tackled Darkness to prevent him from killing the rest of the ponies.

"Why? She attacked first." Darkness said as he pushed Chaos off of him.

"Let's at least hear her out." Chaos said as she turned to the terrified ponies. Darkness stood up and dusted himself off.

"Sorry about that. I've been itching for a fight since I got here." Darkness said as he sheathed his blade.

"Why did you fight back?" Celestia asked. Darkness gave her a deadpan stare.

"Oh, um, let's see. You barge into our home, demanding us to go with you to God-knows-where when we clearly didn't do anything wrong. Tell me, who's the bad guy here?" Darkness said. Celestia shrunk back when she realized she had just done all that and she asked another question.

"Who are you and why are you in Equestria?" Celestia asked with a bit more confidence. He couldn't have an answer, could he? Wrong. Darkness looked to Chaos and whispered to her.

"Should I tell them?" Darkness asked.

"Okay, but make them promise not to tell." Chaos whispered back. Darkness pulled away from her ear and he turned his attention to the ponies.

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you will not tell a soul about what you hear. If you tell anybody, you die. That goes double for your guards. Am I clear?" Darkness said and Celestia nodded. Satisfied by her answer, Darkness prepared to tell her.

"Okay. My name is Darkness. I am a Horseman of the Apocalypse." Darkness said to the ponies.

"Horseman of the Apocalypse?" Celestia asked.

"It's not important. I was sent here by the Charred Council under the order of the Creator. My mission is to observe and defend this world. Should I find anything wrong with it, I will report the problem to the Creator and He will call the other Horsemen so that we may ride upon and destroy this world to make room for the Creator to restart this world. This world's history will play out as it has the time before." Darkness said, causing the Princess' face to fall.

"W-What exactly are you l-looking for in this w-world?" Celestia stammered with a horribly panicked tone and Darkness laughed.

"No no. I'm not looking for things like wars and disputes within the government. Those are natural for all worlds. I'm looking for things like demons and angels finding this world and using it as a battleground. Should they find this world and use it as a battleground, I am tasked to stop them by annihilating them." Darkness said and Celestia wiped a few beads of sweat forming on her brow away. Then the realization dawned on her. His mission could annihilate Equestria!

"How do I know that Equestria is safe with you around?" Celestia asked and Darkness gave her a deadpan stare.

"Does this face look like it's lying?" Darkness said as he pointed to his blank face. His eyes were half open, as if bored, and his mouth and brows were incredibly relaxed.

"Besides, what do I get from destroying this world? I'd rather kill myself than defy the Creator." Darkness said matter-of-factly. Celestia was hesitant, but she accepted his explanation. What was she going to do about it, anyway? Chaos stepped forward and began to speak.

"My name is Chaos and my job is to assist my friend, Darkness, in assessing the relative peace of this world. Should it come to the point of battle, I will assist him in that as well." Chaos said. Celestia was relieved that they weren't here to kill them all (sort of). While she thought this, Darkness spoke up.

"When can we walk among you?" Darkness asked, causing Celestia to snap out of her reverie and let her jaw hit the floor. They wanted to walk among the ponies? This is going to be trouble... Celestia thought.

Ch.2: The Arrival of the Dark Pony

Celestia was shaking when Darkness asked when they could walk among the ponies. She looked to the corpses of the guards and shuddered. She bowed her head for a couple of moments in memory of the fallen. They were taken out without much effort on Darkness' part, which is what scared the Princess.

"I know you're afraid of me, but I'm just doing my job. Fear really does follow Darkness..." Darkness said the last part quietly. Celestia didn't say anything and Darkness took this as a sign to continue.

"This would be a lot easier if we could walk among you." Darkness added and he turned away, awaiting Celestia's answer.

Celestia was a bit torn on what to do about this.

On one hoof, she could talk to Luna about this and decide then.

On another, she could banish him to the moon, although given the density of the dark energy surrounding him, that would probably not end well for Equestria.

On another, she could just ignore him and be on her way, but the ponies would eventually get involved, antagonizing him and probably provoking him to kill them. And given his earlier fight, he really wouldn't care if they died.

Celestia decided to go with the first option.

"I'll go talk to my sister about this." Celestia said as she signaled the guards to follow and they teleported out of the ruined castle. Darkness turned to Chaos who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"What did I tell you about 'Ask questions first, fight later'? Chaos asked with a scolding tone and Darkness shrugged it off.

"She attacked first." Was Darkness' simple answer.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere at the moment?" Darkness said as he pointed to the broken skylight, showing the sun in the middle of the sky.

"Crap, you're right. I'm going, but don't do anything stupid while I'm gone!" Chaos said and Darkness gave a crisp salute. She rolled her eyes and ran out the door in her pony form.

Before she reached town, she stopped by Fluttershy's house. I might as well tell them... Chaos thought as she knocked on the door and was answered by Fluttershy.

"Oh, hello Chaos. What brings you here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Fluttershy, you're always the first pony I see when I go to town." Chaos said, causing Fluttershy to smile a bit.

"That's true. So, what did you need?" Fluttershy asked.

"I just wanted to give you girls a heads up. I might have a friend coming over in a while. I'm not sure if he's really coming, but I just wanted you guys to know." Chaos said and Fluttershy smiled.

"I'll be sure to tell them." Fluttershy said and Chaos continued on her way to town.

Later in the day, the Mane 6 bombarded Chaos with questions at their picnic. Chaos attempted to calm them down.

"Okay girls. One at a time." Everypony went silent and Rarity raised her hoof.

"Rarity, you first." Chaos pointed to Rarity.

"If I may, what is this stallion like?" Rarity asked.

"Well, he's a bit cold to ponies he doesn't know. But once you get to know him, he's a great guy." Chaos said.

"He's funny, smart, a bit stupid at times and a little sarcastic. And yet I still care for him." Chaos pointed out everything she thought about him.

"Ah might be wrong, but Ah'd say ya have a crush on this guy." Applejack said.

"What? No! He's not my type..." Chaos' eyes darted around and Applejack raised her hoof at her.

"Woah there, sugarcube. Ah didn't say y'all were gettin' married or anythin'." Applejack said and Chaos calmed down.

"Okay, any more questions?" Chaos was answered by six hooves in the air. She sighed. This is gonna be a long day... Chaos thought as she pointed to Pinkie.

"You what?" Luna asked, hoping her sister would just break down laughing and tell her that she should've seen her face. But alas, it was not meant to be.

"I think it would be better if I showed you." Celestia said and she teleported her sister and herself to the castle.

At the castle, Darkness sat upon the throne, waiting. Eventually, a bright flash went off in the center of the throne room. Where the flash went off, stood Celestia and another alicorn. The other alicorn was a midnight blue and it was shorter.

"So, this must be your sister." Darkness said and he walked up to the alicorns. The blue one took a step back.

"Tia, what is this?" She asked with a hushed tone.

"I'll let him explain." Celestia said and Darkness crossed his arms.

"Fine. I'll tell you." Darkness retold his story.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I want to get straight to business. When can I walk among you ponies?" Darkness repeated his question. The Princesses had turned their backs to Darkness and were discussing what to do.

"Tia, what do we do?" Luna asked with a slight tremble in her voice. She quickly snapped her neck upwards and she stared straight at her sister. She could feel Darkness boring a hole in the back of their heads with his eyes. She was sweating a bit and Celestia whispered to her sister.

"I don't know. If we let him loose amongst the ponies, we have no idea what will happen. If we ignore him, the ponies are bound to get involved sooner or later." Celestia said to her sister and Darkness sat on the throne.

"Could you hurry it up? I'm getting really bored." Darkness yawned and Celestia broke out in a cold sweat. He was getting impatient and she knew what he could do if there was any hindrance to his mission.

"Luna, we have to let him through." Celestia whispered to her sister.

"What!? Why?" Luna asked quietly.

"You know what will happen if his mission drags on any longer than it has to." Celestia said and Luna nodded. Celestia turned to the Horseman sitting on the throne.

"Well? Have you come to a decision?" Darkness asked as he stood from the throne and walked to the sisters.

"Yes. We have decided to let you walk among the ponies. Under two conditions." Celestia said.

"And what conditions would they be, Princess?" Darkness asked.

"You have to become a pony." Celestia said to Darkness.

"No problem." Darkness said as he shifted forms to that of a pony. He had a black mane and tail, along with a dark gray coat. He retained his silver eyes and his dark wings, which were sized to fit his new form.

"What's the second?" Darkness asked.

"You must keep your identity hidden." Celestia said and Darkness began to laugh. After a few moments, his laughter died down and he put on a serious face.

"You really had to tell me? Really?" Darkness asked and Celestia blushed at the obviousness of the answer. He had traveled to many worlds; of course he knew how to hide his identity.

"Well, this has been a pleasure and an experience. You may now go fuck your respective selves." Darkness said as he flew out the broken skylight, leaving two shocked alicorns alone in the ruined castle.

"I hope you made the right choice, sister." Luna said, staring at the skylight that Darkness flew out of.

"I hope so too..." Celestia said as she motioned for her sister to teleport back to the castle.

Darkness could see the town in the distance and he hovered down to the forest floor.

"I'd better not scare the locals." Darkness said to himself as he trotted to the treeline. As he walked, he could feel the dark energy that permeated the air in the forest. It wasn't very thick, but it was enough to be felt.

"Yep. I feel at home already." Darkness said as he inhaled the thick air of the forest. He exhaled and continued on his way.

Eventually, he reached the treeline and pushed past the thick underbrush. The moment he exited the forest, he was knocked back in. He wasn't attacked by anything, but he was attacked by the brightness of the world. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes and tried to get back out. He did so and was nearly pushed back a second time by the bright colors everywhere. It's like some kind of human kid's show... Darkness thought as he slowly opened his eyes. He could see green grass everywhere, butterflies flitting about, flowers swaying in the breeze and he could hear birds chirping as they flew around. He groaned.

"My eyes... They burn..." Darkness snarled as he pushed back the pain in his eyes and he walked down the path. He knew he would eventually get used to the bright colors everywhere. He just didn't know when. And that's what scared him. He eventually got used to the brightness and opened his eyes fully. His eyes were finally immune to the assault that the world had carried out on them.

"Well, that sucked." Darkness mumbled as he reached the technicolor town with all of its miniature technicolor horses that were known as ponies. He looked around the town from the outside and he saw Chaos in the park with some other ponies. They looked like they were having a picnic, so Darkness decided to go and say hi. After all, who can say no to good food (Even if you don't need it)?

"Hey Chaos." Darkness said casually from behind the group and Chaos jumped. She whirled and faced Darkness. She tackled the equine Horseman to the ground and whispered to him.

"Dark, what the hell are you doing here!?" Chaos asked and Darkness smirked.

"What, you don't want me to be here with you?" Darkness said and Chaos looked away.

"It's not like that. It was just really sudden, that's all." Chaos said quietly. Chaos didn't take into account the ponies that were with her the whole time when she tackled Darkness.

"So, I take it this is the stallion you were talking about?" Rarity asked and Chaos nodded as she crawled off of Darkness.

"Do you mind telling us your name, darling?" Rarity asked the stallion getting off the ground.

"Not at all. Name's Darkness, but you can call me Dark." Darkness said as he dusted himself off.

"How about you? You got any names?" Darkness asked.

"Where are my manners? My name is Rarity." Rarity said. Exudes high class. Will put further study in the matter. Darkness thought. Soon after Rarity introduced herself, Darkness' vision was full of pink.

"Hiya! My name's Pinkie Pie, But you can just call me Pinkie!" The pink mare shouted in Darkness' face. He recoiled at the volume of the mare's voice, but he quickly recovered. Damn, she's loud. I'd better not get into an extended conversation with her. Darkness thought

"Okay then. How about you?" Darkness pointed to the yellow mare who was hiding behind the orange one.

"Oh, um.... I'm Fluttershy....." The yellow mare said, her voice barely a whisper. Exact opposite of the pink one. I'll be sure to talk to her more. Darkness thought.

"Ah'm Applejack. Nice ta meet y'all!" The orange mare said with a Southern drawl as she shook Darkness' hoof. She's got.... What did the humans call it? Southern hospitality. Will make sure to talk to her. Darkness thought as Applejack let go of his hoof.

"Name's Rainbow Dash. Best Flier in Equestria!" The cyan mare with a rainbow mane boasted. Incredibly boastful with no clear evidence she can back it up. Bound to get killed if attitude is not dropped at the right time. Darkness thought.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to finally meet you, Darkness." The lavender one said as she took Darkness' hoof in a hoofshake. Intelligent and polite. She is brimming with magic. Not as much as other magic users I've seen, but substantial nonetheless. Will have to study this one closer. Darkness thought. He had analyzed each pony and he prepared for the questions he knew were going to come.

"How do you know Chaos?" Twilight asked.

"Well, at the moment, we live together." Darkness said and Chaos smiled.

"Where do you live?" Twilight asked and Darkness' expression changed to an annoyed one for half a second, then it returned to its neutral state.

"We live in the castle in that forest." Darkness pointed his hoof at the Everfree.

"The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters? Isn't that trespassing?" Twilight asked.

"It's not trespassing if it wasn't formally shut down. And from what I've seen in there, they just straight up abandoned it." Darkness said and Twilight understood.

"You still didn't answer my question. How do you know her?" Twilight asked again.

"Let's just say that we're really old friends." Darkness said as he looked to Chaos with a grin and she returned the gesture. Before they could ask any more questions, they noticed the sun going down.

"Hm. We better get back before it gets too dark. We'll see you tomorrow." Darkness said as he and Chaos headed into the forest.

"They really did that?" Chaos said as she settled in the rafters to sleep.

"Yeah, they let me go." Darkness, who was now in his original form, said as he began to climb the walls to get to the roof.

"So you're going with me to observe?" Chaos said as Darkness reached the roof.

"Yeah. Take some of the load off. Also, I'm insanely bored here." Darkness said as he settled on the roof.

"Anyway, get your sleep. We're going back every day." Darkness said as he looked to the night sky. He stared at nothing in particular, but the moon always caught his eye. The moon reminded him of him and his brother. The moon representing his brother, while the night represented him. He always thought he would see his brother again, he just didn't know when. A Horseman's soul isn't something the Council would throw away, right? He thought he would be resurrected for the next Apocalypse.

"I hope I see you again, brother..." Darkness said as he slipped into his trance.

Ch.3: The Embrace of Darkness

Darkness snapped out of his trance and flew down to the room to find Luna and Celestia standing with Chaos.

"Hello ponies. What brings you here?" Darkness asked as he landed next to Chaos.

"We feel that we need to discuss the terms of your stay here a bit more." Celestia said. Darkness chuckled. Every single world he went to always wanted to make sure that its people were completely safe.

"Sure. Let's discuss it, then." Darkness said.

"We think we should discuss this in Canterlot." Luna said with her voice quivering so slightly, Darkness almost couldn't hear it. Almost. He chuckled again.

"Okay. How about you, Chaos? You coming?" Darkness asked.

"Do you think I want to leave you alone?" Chaos retorted.

"Alright, let's go." Darkness said and they teleported to Canterlot.

The two Nephilim opened their eyes and found themselves in some sort of garden and the alicorns nowhere to be seen.

"Real fancy." Darkness said. Darkness never really cared for things that were fancy. He thought that fancy things inspired greed, but he knew that these ponies were above that.

"Yeah." Chaos said as she leaned on a statue that depicted a creature that seemed to be made up of different animals. As she crossed her hind legs and put her hoof on the statue, it fell over and shattered into several pieces.

"Ah! Dammit!" Chaos swore as she quickly got up to her hind legs and crossed her forelegs. A reddish-orange glow emitted from her hooves as the pieces were surrounded in the same glow and began reconnecting themselves. A substance that looked like magma bound the pieces together disappeared a few seconds after application. She stopped and looked to the stallion that was laughing behind her.

"I didn't do anything." Chaos said quickly as she turned away.

"Yeah yeah. Let's go find those ponies." Darkness said and they entered the door to their right and into the hallway.

As the two walked down the hall, the statue Chaos had fixed began cracking. Streams of light poured from the cracks as they multiplied. Three. Ten. Thirty. Fifty. Ninety. The cracks multiplied until the stony shell broke off to reveal a creature that was made up of different animals.

"It feels so good to be back." The creature said as it flew into the air, stretching its abnormally small wings. It stopped and sniffed the air.

"Ah, the sweet scent of chaos.... I wonder where it's coming from?" The creature asked to no one and it phased into the walls of the castle to find the source of the chaotic energy. Eventually, it found the source of the energy. There were two ponies walking down the hallway. A dark gray stallion and an orange mare. The mare had her nose up high in a pout while she walked, the stallion all the while snickering behind her. The mare had an extremely thick field of chaos surrounding her.

She is practically bleeding chaos! She could be a good friend. The abomination thought as the ponies rounded the corner.

Darkness and Chaos reached the throne room shortly after rounding the corner and they approached the thrones where Luna and Celestia sat. The alicorns were speaking to a white unicorn. Celestia had an understanding air around her, while Luna had an extremely annoyed one. Celestia looked behind the unicorn and saw Darkness and Chaos approaching.

"Blueblood, we will talk to you later." Celestia said to the unicorn, who held his nose high in the air and walked off.

"Wow. I don't know him and I already think I have the undeniable right to send him to hell." Darkness said as he approached the sisters.

"We feel the same." Luna snarled. Celestia decided to just get it over with.

"Now that both of you are here, we can start." Celestia said and they sat down to discuss the terms of living in Equestria.

At the end of the day, Darkness and Chaos boarded the train back to Ponyville.

"Okay. They gave us a couple of rules.

Don't kill unless absolutely necessary.

2.Don't use dark magic, cause the ponies will notice that." Chaos said sleepily as the train sped off.

"Yeah, alright. I got it. Restrict everything I love to do." Darkness sarcastically remarked. Chaos leaned on her lifetime companion.

"Oh, come on. You know they just want to protect themselves." Chaos yawned as she rested her head on Darkness' shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right. I-" Darkness looked to Chaos, who was already fast asleep with her head on his shoulder. Darkness chuckled.

"Get your rest. We're staying here for a while." Darkness said quietly as the full moon rose to the middle of the sky and the stars shone like the lights of the White City. Darkness watched as some of the passengers fell asleep and others just stared vacantly out the windows. Darkness returned to his thoughts and settled in for the two hour ride back to Ponyville.

Darkness could see the town growing closer and he nudged Chaos awake.

"Chaos, get up. We're close to town." Darkness said with a well-practiced voice that was as smooth as smoke. He learned a long time ago that Chaos was very grumpy when she was woken up from a deep sleep very abruptly. And when Chaos is grumpy, you're in for one hell of a beating. It never really mattered to Darkness, seeing as he could regenerate very easily, but he found it very annoying. There were moments where she would just get up and rub her eyes, but that only happened in the morning.

"..... Just a few more minutes...." Chaos mumbled quietly and Darkness sighed.

"Oh, sure. Make me do all the work." Darkness remarked as the train stopped at the station. He got off of the seat and moved Chaos onto his back. He carried her outside and set her down to pick her up with his forelegs. He flapped his wings and rose into the air. He flew from the station all the way back to the castle.

When they reached the castle, Darkness set Chaos down on the throne to let her continue her sleep. Darkness then began his nightly routine of flying up to the roof and 'sleeping' there. The next morning, Darkness woke up and flew down to Chaos, who was still sleeping. Darkness chuckled and decided to leave her to sleep. He left the castle and made his way to Ponyville.

As he entered the town, he could see that all the ponies were in a panic.

"Woah. Where's the fire?" Darkness asked Twilight, who was standing outside her home.

"There." Twilight said as she pointed to a smoking peak. Darkness looked and had a confused look on his face.

How did I not notice that before? Darkness thought to himself.

"What do you think it is?" Darkness asked.

"I think it's a dragon again. We'll go talk to it." Twilight said, but Darkness stopped her.

"I'll go. I can't have a lady doing something like this." Darkness said, causing Twilight to blush.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Twilight asked.

"I wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't sure of it." Darkness said and he flew off to the peak of the mountain, leaving Twilight alone in the panicked town. Twilight immediately worried for her new friend and she gathered the Elements to follow.

(I used this song for inspiration)

Youtube Video

Darkness dropped to the side of the mountain, opting to continue on foot. When he reached the cave, he entered and called out to the dragon.

"Hey, dragon!" Darkness shouted, waking up the dragon. The dragon yawned and looked to Darkness.

"You dare enter my home?" The dragon said.

"I was just wondering if you could live somewhere else. You're causing a lot of problems for the ponies." Darkness said as politely as possible, remembering the rules laid out by the alicorns.

"Who are you to tell me what to do, mortal?" The dragon asked, getting annoyed. Darkness knew that the dragon wouldn't listen to reason.

"If you don't heed my words and leave, dragon, I will be forced to kill you." Darkness threatened and the dragon laughed.

"You think you can kill me, equine scum? Not a single pony has killed a dragon before. I will burn you alive and feast on your corpse." The dragon bellowed. Darkness didn't pay attention to the dragon's threat.

"Last chance. Leave, or you will die." Darkness said and the dragon laughed.

"Just try to hurt me." The dragon growled.

"Fine. If you are too stupid to listen to reason, I will speak in a language even you can understand. Just remember that you brought this upon yourself." Darkness said as he got into a fighting stance.

"I will enjoy watching you burn." The dragon growled and unleashed a torrent of fire where Darkness was standing.

The flames melted the rock. The dragon stopped breathing fire and found that Darkness wasn't there. The dragon then felt a slight pressure on his tail. He looked and saw Darkness sitting on his tail.

"A bit slow on the offensive, friend." Darkness taunted.

"I will eat you alive, insolent whelp!" The dragon roared and shook his tail, causing Darkness to jump off and land on the ground in front of the dragon. The dragon growled as he reared his claw back and swung at Darkness. Darkness anticipated this and ran toward the claw. At the last possible moment, he dived through the gap in the claws. The dragon followed up with a stomp, which Darkness dodged by flipping backwards. Darkness ran up its leg and delivered a spinning axe kick on the dragon's head, stunning it. Just as Darkness landed, the dragon swung its tail into Darkness. He blocked with his forelegs and gripped the tail. Using his supernatural strength, he twisted his body and slammed the massive beast in and through the wall.

The beast crashed into the forest below, flattening the trees and clearing a path outside of the forest.

"What's wrong? Never been beat by a 'mortal' before?" Darkness taunted.

"You will pay for that!" The dragon roared and Darkness flew down to it.

"I was thinking you would." Darkness said as he landed and the dragon attacked yet again. The beast snapped its jaws at the spot where Darkness was standing mere moments ago. The dragon soon found himself trading blows with Darkness. Darkness dodged as a claw descended upon him, intent on crushing him. Darkness countered by kicking a rock at the claw that was imbedded in the ground, causing the dragon to roar in pain and to yank the claw out of the ground. The dragon responded with a fireball that was roughly the size of a legion soldier. Darkness rolled to the side and charged at the dragon, closing the distance very quickly and delivering a blow that broke its horn.

"You will die!" the dragon said as its horn broke off.

"I'm not so sure about that." Darkness taunted as he picked up its horn. Darkness hurled the horn at one of the dragon's fingers, removing it and causing the beast to roar in agony. The dragon didn't say anything and immediately took to the skies. Darkness followed and they began an aerial skirmish. Darkness flew in and performed an aerial charge at the beast's torso. The attack connected and they began to chase each other around in the sky. Darkness dodged a barrage of fireballs with a series of barrel rolls and flips. Darkness managed to get caught in the beast's jaws. As soon as the dragon's jaws closed around him, he held them open with his hooves. He kicked out a tooth, causing the beast to flinch and fall a few feet downwards before opening its wings to fly. Darkness jumped out of its mouth and began dodging the fireballs coming his way.

The fireball that missed him was roughly the size of a legion soldier, as were the rest. With every fireball that missed, another would come at him much more accurate than the last. He was dodging fireballs left and right, skirting a 500 meter radius around the grounded dragon. When a small break in the attack came, Darkness took his chance and charged on his hind legs at the dragon. The dragon immediately opened fire with fireballs that fired around him in a cone. The closer he got, the tighter the cone became. When he got within 100 meters of the beast, a fireball was headed straight for him. He raised his left foreleg, in hopes that it would be enough to withstand the blast. As his hoof connected with the fireball, he pushed it forward and the ball dissipated in a flash of sparks and flames.

Darkness smirked as he sped up and began charging dark energy into his hooves, the fireballs all the while missing him by inches. As he approached the dragon, he opened his wings to assist his legs in propelling himself skywards. His right hoof connected with the dragon's jaw in an explosively powerful strike, breaking it and causing it to fall over. Darkness landed squarely on the dragon's sternum and the beast moved to stare at him.

"I'm a really nice guy and I will give you one last chance. Leave or die. Your choice." Darkness said as he stared into the dragon's eyes with no expression. The dragon pondered what he said. If he left, nothing would have to happen and no one would know. If he didn't leave, this small creature definitely had the capacity and the intention to kill him right there.

"I will leave. You have my respect, little one." The dragon said as he flew away and Darkness landed on the scorched ground.

"Mission accomplished." Darkness said as he began the flight back to town, only to see the Mane Six staring him down as they rounded the corner of the cliff face.

I think I might have some explaining to do... Darkness thought as he approached the ponies.

Chaos eventually woke up. She yawned and stretched as began to head out, but was stopped by a wave of chaotic energy. This wasn't the chaotic energy she was used to. It was a lot more calm and it held no murderous intent. She whirled and came to face a strange creature sitting on the throne.

"Hello." The creature said.

"Where in the nine hells did you come from, abomination?" Chaos asked the abomination.

"I, my dear, am Discord. Spirit of Chaos and disharmony, by what these ponies call me." The creature now known as Discord said and Chaos chuckled.

"Civilizations always make something up to help them understand what they don't. You are just a product of their fear. I am true chaos." Chaos said and Discord gripped his chest in mock pain.

"Agh... I'm hurt." Discord said as a grave somehow dug itself behind him and he fell in. The dirt piled on top of him and a gravestone that said: "Here lies Discord." came out of the grave.

"Why am I the only one who attracts all the weirdos?" Chaos mumbled as Discord's head popped out of the ground.

"On to business, then! I was wondering if we could do something when you're free. You know, make it rain chocolate, cotton candy clouds, changing behavior of ponies..." Discord asked Chaos. Chaos was shocked and horrified. This unholy spawn of insanity was hitting on her? This abomination wanted to go out with her? This affront to the Creator wanted to have a fucking relationship with her?

Chaos sighed and spoke what she wanted to say. She stared at him straight in the eyes.

"You do know that your very existence is an affront to the Creator, right? I could kill you with the divine right to do so. Leave this place, unholy abomination." Chaos said as the chaos permeated the air in anticipation of conflict.

"Okay, have it your way." Discord said as he disappeared in a bright flash. Chaos sighed.

"Am I some sort of weirdo magnet?" Chaos asked to no one as she went out the door and made her way to town.