The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

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.