All four harbingers glided over to the platform, they landed softly and silently stared at their handiwork. They were all were covered in blood and gore, save Famine, whose curse prevented him from getting soiled from the attack. After a few moments of silence, they all walked to the center and closed their eyes, pushing into the magical seal embedded in the platform below them. In their minds, it was a large, rotary lock, that spun this way and that as they prodded it to try to find the right combination. They scanned the seal and noticed the spell that had to be used.
“Ah! A more recent incarnation of the teleportation spell.” Said Famine, withdrawing his magical search and looking around at his brothers.
“Recent to us, but it must be ancient for this age.” Said War, withdrawing his spell also.
“It must be a precaution, so the only one that can crack it will be Celestia.” Pestilence felt Death’s presence still there as he magically backed out of the seal. “Do you think you can solve it Death?” He asked, Death smiled, his sockets tightening slightly.
“Of course I can, just give me a moment...” He felt around for a while and found the core of the seal, prodding it and applying a few spells to weaken it. “All right, prepare yourselves, this is going to be quite a trip...” He mentally unlatched the seal and cast the spell.
The angels felt reality temporarily melt around them, swirling and spinning through time and space. The process took so much longer then even a complex, long-distance teleportation spell that they started to worry it wasn’t going to work. After a few seconds of pregnant silence, they all found themselves on a large, flat-topped boulder on the surface. Stunned by the sudden brightness of the sun they had missed for so long, they flinched. They all stepped off the boulder and onto the clear, clean grass, not rushing to open their eyes as they felt the wind on their faces.
Famine was grinning so widely he thought his face would split, he had forgotten the subtle joys he could still cherish, even though he could never again touch water, he could still feel the golden, warm liquid sun pouring on his face.
Pestilence actually smiled, a funny, content grin, his rotten visage wasn’t pleasant, but it was easy to look past it when he grinned. He curled his toes on the rough ground and smooth grass, enjoying the feeling of the loose soil shifting around his feet.
War felt calm, the gentle, warm breeze that blew through the field calmed him more then anything else ever had. His angry, pained grimace was replace by a reflective, neutral mask. The pain had left, it no longer existed for just a moment, War reveled in this and took a deep breath in and held it, enjoying the swirling fresh air bouncing through his lungs. Peace was not an emotion he experienced often, but now he could think of no better term.
Death felt the same emptiness, without touch, smell or color, he couldn’t enjoy any of the freedoms the others could, but he remembered them. He stared out on the vast expanse around him, he forgot how much it felt like the surface felt like it went on forever. He recognized everything, it came back to him and even though this was no different to him from the hell below, it was still changed in an inexplicable way.
This went on until all the brothers felt they could stay this way forever, they opened their eyes and stared at the rolling green hills. They all looked down at their feet to see the familiar ground...and the spell broke.
Pestilence’s ground was covered in sickness, the grass looked unwell and was a wrong shads of green. Large, fat maggots swarmed around, slowly lurched over his feet and started ascending his leg. Swarms of flies now buzzed around his head, clotting out the other sounds. He trembled in annoyance as he remembered his disgusting disease he could only spread.
Famine’s patch of ground was brown, he had rendered the soil completely infertile, the plants all seemed to starve in fast motion, they turned light brown and curled up. The insects around him grew thinner and thinner and eventually crumpled up. Famine stared around and remembered the gnawing hunger that could only grow.
War’s presence charred and burned the dirt, the plants all caught ember and shriveled, burning down to nothing. War felt the pain coming back, he had a rising sensation in his throat and coughed, sending out a large splatter of blood that tainted the ground around him. He reminded himself he was a warrior, and warriors didn’t sit and stare at the sun all day. He remembered the growing rage in him that could only continue to burn
Death saw himself mirrored in the earth, the ground turned rotting and black, the grass turned a similar shade and withered, everything completely dead, just as was planned for him. Death knew the hollow emptiness well, and when it returned he sobered and stared down at his own little patch of sorrow and lifelessness. A butterfly fluttered along the path, Death reached out and touched it, willing a familiar spell down the length of his bony arm. As soon as he made contact with the butterfly, the life drained out of it, it’s flutters slowed and it collapsed to the ground, dead. And Death was reminded of his emptiness that he could only continue to feel forever.
The four horsemen stared around at each other, solemnly reminded that they only had themselves and each other, and that was all they would ever have.
“Where to now?” Asked Pestilence, the others pondered this for a moment.
“All of Equestria lies out before us,” said Death, “do we need to wonder? Let us act!” His rousing false enthusiasm shook the others out of their stupor, they all turned to each other and said their goodbyes.
And with that, the harbingers of the apocalypse spread their wings and flew off to perform their sole purpose, to bring chaos eternal to Equestria.