//------------------------------//
// Children of the Abyss 
// Story: Rainbow's Quest 
// by Zetriax 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 25- Children of the Abyss
Chaos. That was the only way to describe it. The darkness made it nearly impossible to see the smoky black figures of the Fallen. Bright lights flashed here and there whenever one of them engulfed one of the ponies out in the field. Rainbow watched in dread as her army was drastically outnumbered.
Had she done the right thing? Or had she just led Ponyville into a losing battle? No. There wasn’t time to worry about the consequences now. It was kill or be killed. She turned to face Shadow Flare.
“It’s time,” she said. Shadow nodded.
With a resigned sigh, Rainbow flew high into the shadowy sky. “ATTACK!!!” she commanded the army. Shrieks of terror turned to battle cries as the ponies braced for the attacks against their beloved home. It was too late to turn back. The future of the town rested on killing as many of these monsters as possible.
She wished she could see through the gloom. She swooped back down towards the ground and immediately found herself amongst the warring ponies and Fallen. Something landed on her back heavily, causing her to plummet to the ground a few feet down. The pegasus struggled from under the Fallen and whirled to face it. The piercing blue eyes blazed with cold light. Rainbow lunged forward and kicked it in the face. The creature roared in fury and the clock in its chest began to spin erratically. She rolled away just as the space behind her warped in an illuminating flash.
Then she was face to face with another of the shadowy monsters. She looked all around her, but could find none of her allies. Rainbow launched into the sky, trying to free herself. Three Fallen pursued her on night wings. “Get lost!” she yelled at the creatures. Rainbow flew in a circle as fast as she could until a small whirlwind formed. The Fallen were sucked into her trap, or so she thought, one of the vast monsters burst from the twister at her. Suddenly, an orange pegasus rammed it in the side.
“Scootaloo!” Rainbow called, relieved.
“Come on, Rainbow! We have to work together. Fighting them alone is useless!” The pegasus mare said.
Rainbow acknowledged her with a nod, then taking into account the lighting, said, “Alright. Let’s do this.”
The two pegasi plunged back into the thick of battle. Rainbow lured one of the creatures into the sky, and Scootaloo took a shot at it with her hind legs. She missed but at just that moment a grey coated pegasus tackled the monster. The creature looked bewildered as Derpy pummeled the creature with her front hooves.
Suddenly, another Fallen appeared behind Scootaloo, its horn raised threateningly. “Look out!” Scootaloo whirled and was tackled by the creature. Rainbow lunged forward and dug her teeth into the mane of the monster. The taste of frost bathed her tongue as she heaved against the force of the alicorn-like being. The Fallen let out an unearthly shriek and thrashed in her grasp. Scootaloo turned back to assist with the struggling monster.
 Scootaloo kicked its side and the creature jerked sharply, flinging Rainbow away. She hovered in the air dazed for a second, blood filling her mouth. She spit out some of the crimson fluid and flew forward to continue with the attack. “Watch out!” Scootaloo warned.
Rainbow felt the space mere inches behind her warp with a bursting illumination. She lurched forward into the Fallen she and Scoots were fighting previously. Out of pure frantic chaos, she spun and aimed a blow at its face. She misjudged the shot and hit it squarely in the chest, directly in the clock. Suddenly there was a sound like whirring gears and the creature exploded in a brilliant burst of light.
“What did you do?” Scootaloo asked.
Rainbow took a second to reply. “The clocks in their chests…” She turned to the orange pegasus, “We might be able to fight them off after all.” Rainbow heaved a breath and ascended quickly. “Everypony! Aim for the Fallen’s chests. The clocks are their weakness!” There were a few yowls of acknowledgment, but the war did not cease for her announcement.
Rainbow Dash descended once more to meet her partner. Scootaloo was struggling against a Fallen, trying to land a blow in its chest. Rainbow dived towards the creature, landing on its back with a speed that would kill an ordinary pony. The Fallen plummeted to the ground, landing heavily on its chest. It exploded on the ground under her hooves. After the initial illumination, little sparkles of light drifted lazily to the ground around her. She looked up and saw Shadow Flare fending off three of the creatures on his own.
“Scootaloo! We’ve got to help Shadow!” Rainbow called, charging to the black stallion’s side. Shadow swiped at one then another, but they were steadily overpowering him. He cast a spurt of flame at one, and took the momentary distraction to ram one of the creatures in the chest with his horn, piercing the clock and causing a brilliant explosion.
Rainbow caught up with him and stood by his side, prepared to attack. “Need a hand?” she asked.
“It crossed my mind,” he said lunging at a Fallen that had come to take the place of its defeated comrade. A fire blazed somewhere nearby, illuminating some of the surrounding pandemonium. Ponies struggled against the shadowy creatures everywhere. Some were covered in blood, some disappeared in flashes of light, and some stood ground with a few allies. It was not looking good.
Rainbow turned back to the three Fallen before them. Where was Scootaloo? As if on cue, the orange pegasus tackled on of the Fallen. One of the others dove forward, wings spread, blue eyes blazing. Its horn sliced Rainbows cheek and she reeled back in pain. Shadow cast some sort of magic at it to distract it, but immediately one of the others sprang and pinioned Rainbow to the ground. The clock in its chest whirled as it prepared its spell to cast her into the Void. She tried to swing at it with her hooves but her forelegs were trapped under the Fallen’s immense hooves. Her hind legs were equally pinned.
Time slowed drastically around Rainbow and the Fallen. Scootaloo could be seen in the firelight, diving to her rescue. Shadow turned and gazed at her with fear filled eyes. The Fallen looming above her seemed to crackle with sheer power. Its glowing blue eyes faded to a flame orange. Then the darkness swarmed around her. She couldn’t struggle. She couldn’t move. Icy darkness engulfed all light and any warmth. The sounds of battle faded out of existence. Or rather, it was she who faded out of existence.