In the past, before everything had begun, there was the omnipotent being known as the Creator. The Creator was no less than a god of the universe. It was the ruler, the king, the single most powerful and intelligent being in the whole universe. Over the course of a trillion moons, the Creator had realized that it had almost accomplished every little thing there was to accomplish in the said universe. It had traveled though space, distorted time, and even tested the limits of his own powers on himself. In that short amount of time, the Creator had completely understood almost every aspect of what had currently existed at that point in time.
All except one. The concept of life.
The Creator had realized that despite every action it had performed using its unrivaled powers and all-knowing mind, it had not yet performed what it felt was the very essence of its existence: creation. As the Creator pondered on the countless possibilities that could arise from creating life in the lifeless universe it resided in, it began to feel for the first time a certain feeling, a certain... want.
And so began the formation of Equestria, the Land of the Living. The Creator, deciding to further test the possibilities of life, molded and pieced together the very first ponies of Equestria— the Ancients. Powerful beings in the form of demons, dragons, ponies, and other animals who could level mountains and scorch the face of Equestria with a single thought. it was their duty to rule this world however they please. Free will was theirs to command.
*****
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" a terrified farm pony shouted. His voice echoed through the thick walls of his house where he was being held hostage. Sweat covered every inch of his horror-stricken face. His eyes, which had already shrunk to the size of peas desperately tried to avoid the menacing glare of the pony who kept him captive.
The farm pony expended nearly all of his energy trying to break free of the metal cuffs which chained him to the walls of his house, fore leg and hind leg alike. It was complete torture, every moment his captor was even the least bit dissatisfied with his answer, the chains shortened pulled the cuffs along with his limbs closer to the wall in opposite directions. He had already lost the feeling of over half his body due to the pain that surged through his body every second.
"I swear! I don't know!" the farm pony shouted at the top of his voice, "I ain't ever heard of this 'alien' you keep murmuring about!"
Tears rolled from his eyes and mixed with his own sweat before dropping onto the stone floor.
"You say you know nothing about him?" the farm pony's captor asked. His tone was soft yet mature at the same time. It was in an accent the farm pony had never heard of before. Smooth and calm, it sounded like the voice of somepony who had seen the ends of the Equestria from the tip of the highest mountain to the bottom of the deepest trench. However, the most defining feature his voice contained was the natural demand for unwavering obedience and submission to him. The source of the voice however, was unknown as his captor was completely covered in darkness inside the now abandoned barn.
"No..." the farm pony replied, tension had left his body as it submitted to the authority of the pony in front of him.
"Delightful." his captor replied, "you are, as of this moment, worthless to me."
"Do... what you wish..." . with a hollow, dead voice, the farm pony uttered his last words.
"War." the captor said before turning around and slowly walking to the exit. Behind him, a small whirlwind formed and scattered hay around its vicinity as a pony materialized and landed softly on the ground. Its head and body, like the captor, were covered in a veil of shadows provided by the darkness.
The captor, without as much as looking at the pony who transported behind him, made the slightest wave of his hoof towards the soulless farm pony bound by metal chains.
Nodding in response, the newly materialized pony stepped closer to the farm pony and slowly raised its hoof until it was fully stretched above its head. A white gleam of light appeared from the pony's face as it's mouth curved into a devilish smile. It was directed at the helpless farm pony bound by steel chains, who squealed in pain and struggled in pure terror.
The farm pony, who had just regained control over his own body, opened his dreary eyes only to be met by a pair of blazing red eyes staring into the core of his soul. In a split second, fear gripped every inch of his heart as the devilish smile and crimson eyes of the creature standing in front of him overwhelmed what remained of his willpower.
With newfound energy, he lost himself and struggled against the metal chains in vain. Each pull only resulted in the chains retracting and further drawing his limbs away from one another.
The smile of the pony with blazing eyes only grew in size as the farm pony pulled and twisted his body in hopes of escaping. The look of demise on his face, the gritting of his teeth, the strained muscles which were slowly being torn apart as he exceeded his limits. It was... a beautiful sight.
However, enough was enough, and the moment it sensed the farm pony losing his will to live, its eyes burned even brighter than before, emanating a blood-red aura around its covered face. Two black dots which resembled pupils resided in each of its crimson eyes. Immediately after the farm pony ceased to move entirely, it looked towards the direction of its raised hoof.
"N-no!" the farm pony shouted, finding the little bit of energy to do so. "Y-you can't do this! Please! I don—"
Stomp!
*****
"She's... she's having fun." a pony standing outside by the door of the abandoned barn told the pony a few feet away from her. In response to the loud shriek which came from the barnyard, she gently lifted her hoof off the ground and drew small circles in the air. After three circles, her hoof found itself softly pressed against her chest and her eyes closing until only a small slit revealed her gray eyes.
"I can feel his soul travelling to the underworld now." her muzzle opened slightly, muttering a short prayer for the dead. The voice coming out from her mouth was soft, yet at the same time it carried within itself meaning. Every word, every sound that the pony uttered ringed in the ears of others as something not to be taken lightly but invaluable. It was as if the souls of the dead resided in her voice, desperately waiting for a chance to voice out their messages from the beyond.
"Y'know Death, all that chanting and murmuring is creeping the hell outta me. How many times do I have to tell you that sharing them with me isn't necessary at all? For goodness sake tone it down. All that talk about fun and souls and underworld stuff is making me hungry." The pony beside Death said with strained face. "I mean, it's been ages since I've eaten."
"My last meal was four hours ago, you took yours five minutes ago." Death replied with a very soft voice. "If only your mind was as big as your stomach, Famine."
Famine pouted at the unchanging expression of Death, who seemed to be staring blankly at the sky with her deep, gray eyes. Her position, as well as her overall appearance certainly complimented her beauty. Her body was covered with gray fur from head to her wings and to her hind hoof. Her mane and tail where were painted with a pure white streaked with gray lines. In place of a cutie mark in her rear was a patch of gray fur— similar to ponies who had not yet obtained theirs. This was the case because as a Horse of the Apocalypse, their cutie marks were located in a place hidden from many others, their tongues. As such, in Death's tongue had a symbol containing a sword being driven through the skull of a pony.
But despite that, what truly differentiated the Horses of the Apocalypse from regular ponies were their blazing eyes which literally burned with accordance to their respective color. For Death, it was gray. For Famine, the pony beside Death whose fur was pitch black and whose mane and tail were a transparent purple, it was black. For War, the sadistic, bloodthirsty pony whose love of violence and torture could only be complimented by her velvet fur and transparent mane and tail which were simply a darker shade of red, it was red.
"If that were the case, Death, then I'd probably be able to rule the world one way or another with my smartness. Haha I'd be smart enough to trick the other Ancients into giving me their kingdom. And also their rooms, but most of all, their banquets..." Famine sluggishly stared into the sky, sticking her tongue out and fantasizing about the countless food available in other kingdoms. For her, it didn't matter what kind it was or where it came from. As long as it was edible, she would love it.
Death's gray eyes darted over to Famine's half-opened mouth. She imagined a trail of saliva slowly leaking out and dripping onto the floor. Yes, that would be the perfect scene. She brought her hoof below Famine's chin and manually closed her mouth, catching her tongue in between her teeth. Famine didn't seem to realize though as wheat, bananas, berries, and all the like circled around her head in her imagination.
"If you were any smaller, everybody would mistake you for a pig" Death sighed, the air which escaped her mouth formed the figure of a ghost before dissipating into the sky.
"Famine, you seem to be having quite a good time there. Is it perhaps the bananas again?" A voice sounded from the door of the abandoned barn. It was similar to the voice which spoke to the farm pony as it carried within itself unyielding authority and strict obedience along its calm and smooth tone.
At the sound of his voice, Death and Famine immediately straightened themselves and turned around to meet the leader of their pack. They saluted him by respectfully bowing down with using only their heads and refusing to meet his eyes because for them, it was a sign of disrespect.
"C-Conquest!" Famine said in surprise, in a tone much louder than what she had expected. Her eyes darted from left to right, trying to busy themselves with the small pieces of gravel scattered across the floor. Her knees felt wobbly as Conquest's presence drew much closer to her. Over the millions of years that she has traveled with him, she had never gotten used to his aura of command— or rather, she had never developed a resistance against it.
"I see that you have done quite a good job guarding this barnyard whilst I finished my business there with a... friend of mine." Conquest said.
"Of course," Death replied. Even without looking to meet his eyes, Death could tell how Conquest was observing her with his burning white eyes, which, as a matter of fact, were only emphasized by his purely white fur, mane, tail, and wings. He was the leader of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse, and there was no question why he deserved it. Out of them all, he was the smartest and undoubtedly the strongest. Those facts alone were enough to earn him the compliance of the other three Horses. Even if Famine did have a mind as big as her stomach, it wouldn't be enough to outsmart Conquest.
"Rise" Conquest gave the ground a light stomp. "War will be joining us shortly after she has cleaned up the mess."
After the "go" signal, Famine immediately brought her head up to meet Conquest's eyes with food written all over her face. "Can we go get something to eat? Some stacks of hay? A field of grass? Maybe even a berry or two!"
"There will be no need for that—" Conquest sternly replied.
"—B-but I'm hungry..." Famine pleaded, rubbing her belly.
Conquest didn't seem shaken with the sudden interruption, as it was within Famine's character to be insensitive at certain times. His face displayed no anger or displeasure whatsoever. "—ehem, I was going to offer another proposition."
Realizing her mistake, Famine retracted her head and apologetically drew circles across the ground, "hehe, my bad."
Conquest nodded, accepting the apology with cold eyes. "As you can see here, we are currently positioned in the middle of an abandoned village. Feel free to ravage every crop you find and feed on every fruit that reaches your hooves. The other two and I will be patiently waiting for you right here by this barnyard."
Famine's eyes burned even brighter after hearing Conquest's proposition. "Sounds Great!" she shouted before quickly disappearing in a blink of an eye in front of the two ponies.
"This village, it isn't abandoned" Death murmured to herself whilst she scanned the area around her.
Surrounding Conquest and Death were dozens of houses lined up against one another until they reached the border of the village. Hot, red, fire engulfed every house in their vicinity. The houses were all burning to ashes with uncontrollable fire wrapped around every inch of their walls, roofs, and insides. Some had already been eaten by the fire and remained as a pile of ashes on the ground. This however, did not stop the flame which ate it from further consuming its ashes. The aim of the fire was to completely disintegrate every house in the village, big and small alike, until there was nothing left— even their ashes.
However, a more terrifying scene presented itself to Death which in itself was much more destructive than the fires engulfing the houses. Bodies of ponies, all bloodied and charred, were scattered across the streets of the former village. Some were dismembered, some were left intact but with their insides clearly making their way onto the pavement. The number of dead ponies scattered around the village equaled its previous population. The ponies which weren't present in the streets were most likely burned to death inside their own homes.
"I can feel the souls of this village travelling to the underworld. The Creator will be proud." Death chanted a small prayer while closely holding her hoof to her chest and peeping through a thin line created by her apathetic eyes. "Famine is either a complete idiot who's own brain may as well be made up of "food," or she could be crazy enough to not make sense of anything other than the reality which Conquest has given her." Again, she murmured to herself.
"Death, is something boggling your mind?" Conquest asked, noticing a bit of uneasiness in the small prayers she chanted.
Death shook her head ever so slightly, "None."
Conquest nodded, then looked at the barnyard door, "War should be joining us soon, it is for the best that we prepare for our next task."
"And Famine?" Death asked.
"Based on the measurements I took as we scoured the area for survivors to eliminate, including farms, livestock and crops. Famine should be back in about... one sec—"
"—All done!" Famine announced as her hooves landed gently on the ground. She began tracing her hoof across the soft gravel to draw all the food she had consumed in her journey. "Yup... this should last me about a couple more minute."
"Why bother?" Death sighed, like before, the air which escaped her muzzle formed a ghost before dissipating into the open sky. With a large portion of her eyes closed, and her hooves planted firmly on the ground, she turned towards Conquest, "ANd our next objective is?"
"From what I have heard, a species which has never been seen before has made its appearance in Canterlot. Apparently, it goes by the name of August Winters."
"Sho if it like edifle?" Famine, afraid the cob of corn inside her mouth would fall, spoke though her teeth.
Ignoring Famine's unnecessary comment, Conquest continued on with his talk. "It seems the alien is capable of using magic unseen in our world before. Something like this can only lead to a disparity in the magical world and ultimately end in chaos."
"Do I get to kill it?" A loud yet sly voice, similar to that of a snake's, sounded from the barnyard. Suddenly, the door behind them burst open and from it emerged a bloodstained pony with velvet fur blotched by dark-red blood stains. Plastered onto her face was an evil smile which reached the corners of her muzzle and blazing red eyes which burned with excitement.
"Ah! War, perfect timing." Conquest eyed the mare drenched in blood. "And judging by the stains in your coat, I assume you have finished the job? Although, you did take rather long— it was just a single pony compared to the other's you've killed in the past few hours."
"I got too excited," War gave an evil laugh, "his screams, and his tortured expression was just too... mmh!" her whole body shuddered at the petrified expression of the farm pony as his body was ripped to pieces.
"I see," Conquest said.
"So do I get to kill it?" War repeated her question over her bloody smile.
"Yes." Conquest replied, "you most certainly can."