//------------------------------//
// Our Solemn Hour 
// Story: Rainbow's Quest 
// by Zetriax 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 23- Our Solemn Hour
The flight to Ponyville lasted only two hours. Rainbow had been too restless to stay sitting so she had flown alongside the chariot half the time. When she caught the first glimpse of Ponyville, she almost fell from the sky. A dark cloud hung over the town and cast a few flashes of lightning. However, the thunder was muted as if it were many leagues away. The weather suggested precipitation of some kind, yet no rain fell from the gloomy heavens.
The temperature was another thing. The still air was deathly cold. Rainbow’s breath bellowed in front of her face in white clouds. When they touched down, the grass crunched with frost underhoof.
“W-what’s going o-on? Isn’t it s-s-summer?” Jade asked, shivering against the cold.
“It is,” said Shadow, “But the Fallen are causing the temperature to drop drastically.”
“B-But, i-it didn’t get this cold on the t-train,” Jade persisted.
“There was only one then,” Shadow replied. The green and pink filly shuddered a little harder and huddled close to Scootaloo, who embraced her with her wings, sharing some of her warmth.
“Where is everypony?” the orange mare asked.
“Well. It’s extremely cold and somewhere around here are huge shadow creatures. I’m willing to bet they’re all inside,” Rainbow replied sarcastically.
“Now isn’t the time, Rainbow. We need to find out what’s going on here and what we can do to fix it,” Shadow Flare reprimanded.
“What do you think you can do?” said an all too familiar voice. The four ponies whipped around to face Chrono. The yellow stallion stood in the middle of the street, his red eyes flashing in the shadows of his helmet. “This place is lost. This town has been overcome with the darkness. You stand no chance against the Fallen!”
Rainbow Dash stepped forward boldly. “What have you done? Why did you bring them here?” she yelled at the unicorn.
“Me? You think I brought them here?” he chortled inharmoniously. “Perish the thought. The one to blame here is you. You are the reason these creatures are here. When you arrived, the Fallen crawled in through the rift you tore in time. It’s because of you that this place is ruined.”
“No! That can’t be the truth! It’s not my fault! You are the one trying to destroy Equestria! You are the one keeping me from going to the past! You even hold the key to make this all end! It is that golden stopwatch around your neck!”
Chrono smirked. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out. Yes, I hold the second Fate Stone. I’ve had it all along. But, the time to use it is not now.”
“We’ll see about that!” Rainbow Dash reared up onto her hind legs spreading her wings. She flew at top speed at Chrono. The yellow unicorn didn’t even move. Suddenly, Rainbow smashed into something. She sprawled back to the ground in agony. For a brief moment a blue orb surrounded Chrono, but within seconds it faded.
“Rainbow!” cried Shadow. He dashed to her side. “Are you alright?” Rainbow tasted blood in her mouth, which she spat out, and climbed to her hooves.
“It’s amazing that so much responsibility rests on the shoulders of one who is so reckless and headstrong. Fate is very ironic is it not?” With that, the yellow stallion disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. When the fog cleared, he was gone.
“That guy drives me crazy! Why does he have to be so cryptic and… and… just frustrating!” Rainbow shouted, stomping her hoof into the frosted dirt.
“Clam down, Rainbow. You’ve been high strung since the train ride. You should rest,” Shadow Flare said, coming to stand beside her. She knew he was right. She let out a sigh and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Thank you,” Rainbow said.
“What for?” the black unicorn asked quizzically.
“For being there for me. I’ve never had to rely on anypony so much for emotional support in all my life. And I know I can be… stubborn at times, but you really are there when I need you most.”
“What are friends for?” Shadow said merrily.
“Come on. Let’s go. I don’t think Jade should stay out in this weather,” Rainbow suggested. Scootaloo and Jade nodded fervently in agreement. Shadow smiled and nodded. The four ponies wandered through the deserted street until they came to the library. Shadow unlocked the door and allowed everypony in.
“Here we are,” he said, closing the door behind his friends.
“So, what are we going to do about this problem?” Scootaloo asked, shaking the cold out of her feathers. “We haven’t exactly seen any of the Fallen since our arrival.”
“I know,” said Shadow. “It won’t be easy, but we have to figure out as much as we can. There’s no point in blindly fighting an enemy we hardly know about. Let alone see.”
Rainbow cocked her head, trying to think of some way to accomplish the task of fighting an unseen enemy. She thought through all she knew about the Fallen, which was practically nothing. They affected the temperature and could send ponies to the Void. They were formed from time distortions and were big and scary. That wasn’t much to go off of. Surely, there was some clue as to how to fight them off. But it had taken Twilight’s advanced magic to hold off just one. What could a novice unicorn, two pegasi, and an earth filly do against enough Fallen to send an entire town to ruin? Rainbow was losing her patience with all this figuring-everything-out nonsense. When she arrived to the future, she had set aside her single-mindedness and put a strong reasoning in its place. Now, her calm reasoning was wearing thin with all the stress that was placed on her. Her reckless nature was showing more often. But maybe that’s what Ponyville needed now: a bunch of ponies that didn’t care what happened to themselves in order to achieve their goal. Perhaps Ponyville needed a bunch of strong willed ponies that would die to protect their home. Ponyville needed an army.
“Forget about the enemy,” Rainbow said, shocking the other three out of their own thoughts. “We just need to fight them, head on. I’m tired of figuring out all these puzzles Chrono has set around this warped time. Let’s just plow through them, find Chrono, and get that Fate Stone so everything can go back to normal. If we can recruit enough ponies that are willing to fight, we can overpower them, right? I’m sick of everypony choosing my fate. This time, I’ll choose my own.” She stood proudly, chest stuck out and confidence stirring in her voice. “We’re going to build an army.”