• Published 1st Mar 2012
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Summer Sun, Dawning Chaos - CTVulpin



A Summer of mishaps and mayhem in four Acts, starring the Order-naries

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Act III, Scene 4: Destitution

Darkness. Soundless, even from my own throat as I try to scream. No ground, no sky, no gravity. No sense of up or down.

Is this what death feels like? Am I moving? Spinning? Flying? Stationary? So dizzy…


Spike rose groggily from his uneasy slumber to answer a knock at the door. His eyes were bloodshot and his stance uneasy from vacillating between the demands of sleep and worried waiting throughout the previous night for Twilight to return. His vision was still blurred as he opened the door, so all he saw at first was a blob of pink on the doorstep. “Pinkie Pie?” he said, “Where’ve you been? Twilight was worried. You haven’t seen her have you?”

“No, I haven’t,” the pink blur said in a familiar but decidedly not-Pinkie-Pie’s voice, “Are you ok Spike?” Spike shook his head and rubbed furiously at his eyes until he could see clearly enough to make out the pink alicorn with the purple, rose, and gold mane and purple eyes looking down at him with concern. Behind her was a full squad of Royal Guards, consisting of pegasi and unicorns.

“Princess Cadance?” Spike exclaimed, “What are you… I mean… ahem, I’m afraid you caught me at a bad time your highness.”

“I figured as much,” Cadance said with a wry smirk, “When I heard that Twilight’s friends were going missing, I insisted that Shining Armor let me come down with the guards he was sending to help investigate.” She indicated the armored ponies standing behind her. “Were you saying something about Twilight being gone too?”

“Yeah,” Spike said with a sigh, “Come on in. I’ll tell you everything I know.” He turned around and shuffled off to the kitchen as Cadance and two of the guards – one pegasus and one unicorn – stepped into the library while the remaining guards took up a perimeter around the tree. After a few minutes of scuttling around the kitchen and nearly breaking a few things in the process, Spike emerged with tea, oats, and a big pot of coffee. “Here we go,” he said, setting the tray down on the table, “sorry I’m such a mess.”

“It’s ok Spike,” Cadance said, taking charge of the coffee pot, “Just sit down and explain. How do you take your coffee?”

“I don’t, it’s for them,” Spike answered, pointing to the guards, “Twilight says I’m not old enough for coffee yet. Tea please, nothing in it.” Cadance looked askance, but poured the dragon a cup and set it in front of him. “I think it started the night before last,” he said, “Sometime between going home for the night and sunrise, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went missing. Yesterday, Pinkie disappeared when she went looking for them at Fluttershy’s house, and later Twilight tried to go there and got repelled by a powerful spell.”

“Oh my,” Cadance said, “Knowing Twilight, that can’t have sat well with her.”

“Tell me about it,” Spike said dryly, “She spent the rest of the day trying to find a counter-spell, and according to Owloysius – that’s our owl – something made her go running out around midnight to try getting to Fluttershy’s house again. She hasn’t come home yet…”

Cadance processed the story with a grave expression, and then turned to the pegasus guard and said, “Send somepony - no, half the squad to Fluttershy’s house. Everypony else should either begin investigating around town or securing the remaining two Element Bearers: Rarity and Applejack.” The guards saluted and walked outside to relay the instructions.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Spike said after drinking some of his tea, “Why didn’t Shining come himself?”

“Well, his duty to Canterlot’s defense comes before anything else,” Cadance said, “although if he knew Twilight were missing I don’t doubt he’d be down here in a minute.” She shook her head at Spike’s inquisitive look. “You know the Order-naries have gone missing too,” she said, “You saw them leave Ponyville, so whatever is responsible may be able to reach Canterlot as well as Ponyville.” She stopped and took an unsteady breath, losing her noble poise all of a sudden. “Oh Spike,” she said, “What is going on? It seems like everything’s been deteriorating since Summer began…”

“And Ponyville’s been getting the worst of it,” Spike agreed. The dragon and the young princess fell into a melancholy silence, each wishing they could say something encouraging but unable to find any silver lining on the oncoming storm clouds. The silence was broken a few minutes later as a unicorn guard burst into the library, his face promising more bad news.

“Something is going down around Miss Rarity’s store,” he said, “the entire property has been sealed inside a force field and at least one civilian has been injured trying to get past it.”

“No!” Spike yelled. He bolted for the door, calling out to Rarity, only to find himself hauled back from the threshold and deposited onto Cadance’s back as she galloped outside and took flight.

“Guide me there Spike,” she said, “I don’t know the way.”


Shouldn’t I be freezing, if there’s no heat? Could I even feel cold if I were?

Getting… hard to think… Unconcsious. Not that different from conscious really… I don’t think I like death.

…………


Spike had seen the Royal Guards on high alert before, most recently at Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding, and the scene at the Carousel Boutique was par for the course. A translucent orange bubble had encased the fashion studio and all of the surrounding yard for several lengths outward and was halfway surrounded by a segmented arc of grey-coated unicorn guards who were apparently trying various methods of piercing the barrier while the white pegasus guards were applying coordinated physical attacks around the apex in search of a weak point. The guards that weren’t actively trying to get inside were keeping the concerned townsponies a safe distance back, and as Cadance and Spike approached a pair of pegasi came up to bar the way. “Sorry your highness,” one of them said, “but since you’re not an actual officer of the Guard, I have to ask you to keep back while we work.”

“But I have to help Rarity!” Spike protested.

“Kid,” the guard said, raising an eyebrow at the little dragon, “we have the situation under control.” A loud electric pop went off from the bubble and a team of unicorn guards were thrown back from their position, soot-faced and armor smoking.

“Nice control,” Spike muttered sarcastically.

“Now Spike,” Cadance chided, coming in for a landing outside the Guard’s perimeter, “We don’t know how dangerous the situation really is, and these good ponies are highly trained.”

“I know, I know,” Spike admitted wearily, sliding of her back onto the ground, “I just… I’m sick of feeling helpless in emergencies like this. I’m a dragon for crying out loud!” Cadance put a leg around his shoulders for comfort as he fought back frustrated tears.

For nearly forty-five minutes the guards continued to try and break through the barrier to no avail and there was no sign of movement or sound from the boutique. The stalemate finally showed signs of ending when a window on the second story opened and an ash-grey unicorn with a fire-like mane stuck his head out, the annoyed orange glow of his eyes and horn visible even at the back of the crowd that had formed. “Persistent little gnats, all of you,” he sneered in a magically amplified voice, “but that’s all you are, little gnats with teeth not even big enough to pop a soap bubble! Feel free to wear yourselves out, but so long as I control that barrier, you’ll never wear it down.”

“Is that Ash?” Spike gasped, utterly shocked.

“It looks like him,” Cadance said with a cold edge to her voice, “but it’s doing a poor job acting like him.” Striding forward with confidence, she stepped out of the crowd and past the guards, horn aglow as she amplified her voice to answer the villain. “Identify yourself and declare your intentions,” she demanded.

“Ah, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Ash replied good-naturedly, his eyes turning green, “It has been a while, hasn’t it? But surely you haven’t forgotten my face in that time, chiticu. Ashen Blaze always left a strong impression on those who claim titles of authority.”

“You are not Ashen Blaze,” Cadance accused, “I know him well enough to know he would never harm Rarity, nor hold her and her home hostage.”

“Truth,” the grey unicorn said, “And hostages aren’t really the style of Meis Thamule either, but I must work with what I have. As to my intentions, well…” He grinned evilly, “It is unwise to reveal your plan to the enemy.”

“If you are indeed Ash, tell me this,” Cadance said, “Why the sudden change of heart? What have these ponies done to earn your hatred?”

“You understand nothing little princess,” Ash spat, eyes flaring red for a second, “There’s no hatred here, only pride and loyalty to the original cause! Feel free to test it with your little love spell, but oh, no,” he laughed sardonically, “That would mean letting you through my defenses. I don’t think so chiticul. There are only two ponies I’d dream of letting in here, and I’ve already got one right where I want her.”

“Two?” Spike muttered, confused. A lightbulb went off in his head and he shoved his way out of the crowd and past the guards and shouted, “What did you do with Twilight and the others?”

“Removed them,” Ash answered simply, prompting a wave of horrified guessing to roll through the crowd. “Tell you what,” Ash said after a moment of thought, “If a certain somepony is out there and thinks they can put me in my place, I might be persuaded to bring them back.” Worried muttering broke out among the crowd, and there was movement near the back as somepony started to shoulder their way through to the front.

“Ya mean me I take it,” Appejack declared as she emerged. She stopped just short of the guards, who looked uncertain about whether or not to allow her closer. The fact that she was wearing a golden necklace with an apple-shaped citrine set in it only seemed to add to their confusion.

“Oh, is that the Element of Honesty I see?” Ash asked, eyes turning blue, “Now what prompted you to bring that AJ?”

“I figured if somepony was behind mah friends disappearing, I’d need all the help I could get when mah turn came around.”

Ash clapped slowly and then drew his head back into the boutique. “I like your pragmatism farmgirl,” he said, “Be warned though: once you enter my little bubble, you won’t be going back out without facing me.” Applejack snorted and stamped in reply and then started toward the barrier with such a strong look of determination on her face that even the elite Royal Guard didn’t try to stop her. Cadance and Spike did, however, running to bar the earth pony’s path before she got too far.

“Don’t do it AJ,” Spike pleaded.

“I hafta Spike,” Applejack said stoically, “I can’t stand by and let that… whatever he is now get away with assaulting mah friends so long as there’s a chance I can do somethin’ about it. Besides, he’ll be coming for me eventually.”

“You have no reason to think he’ll play fair Applejack,” Cadance said, “You’re the last Element Bearer we have a chance to protect, and my aunts would be most upset if we didn’t try. Come to back Canterlot with me and we’ll keep you safe.”

“Sorry Princess,” AJ said, trying to walk around the alicorn, “No can do. That varmint’s got a lot coming to him and I’m gonna see that he gets it.”

“At least leave the necklace,” Cadance pleaded, “If it fell into his hooves…”

“I wouldn’t worry so much about that,” Applejack replied, “I still remember everythin’ Twilight said about us the night we became the Bearers of th’ Elements. Unless the right pony’s wearing this here necklace fer the right reasons, it’s just a bit of fancy jewelry. Ya can keep an eye on mah hat though,” she said, removing the Stetson and flinging it up onto Cadance’s head, “Don’t want it getting’ damaged.” With that, she pushed past the princess and Spike and walked up to the barrier, passing through it like it wasn’t even there. Spike tried to run after her and rebounded off the barrier. Applejack glanced back once at the ponies gathered around before entering the Carousel Boutique, tensed and wary for any surprises. The door closed, and a few seconds later there was a series of cracks and crashes, and then dead silence before the orange bubble collapsed and faded from existence. Cadance and Spike led the instantaneous charge toward the building and burst inside. The main room was a mess of torn clothes, broken dress-forms, and shattered mirrors. There was no sign of life, save for a quivering Persian cat hiding under the remains of a fainting couch, and in the middle of the room a golden necklace with an orange gem in the shape of an apple lay seemingly abandoned on the floor.



The first thing Twilight became aware of was warmth, and that alone was enough of a shock to pull her to the brink of full consciousness. Her thoughts remained jumbled for a bit, but as the sensations of touch and hearing began to return so did coherency. Ok, she thought, So, I’m dead now? Everything went dark and… Not… but now I’m starting to feel again, so I just had to pass through whatever that dark place was to get to the afterlife. I don’t want to be dead, but I guess now I get to learn which, if any, idea of the afterlife is correct. It’s probably not the Verdant Dream, because I’m still me. Whatever it is, I hope it involves the Princesses being able to get in touch on some level… All of this pondering took place before Twilight began taking stock of her surroundings, and she kept her eyes firmly closed until she was sure it would be a good idea. She felt like she was laying in a bed, under light covers and with a pillow that was more supportive than soft under her head. She could hear voices somewhere nearby but muffled as if they were on the other side of a wall, and it sounded like an argument. Odd, she thought, I wouldn’t think there’d be anything worth arguing about in the afterlife. Erg… or headaches. She winced as the now all-too-familiar feeling of pain in the cranium returned with a vengeance and she clapped a hand to her forehead to rub at the most painful spot. Wait… hand? And why can’t I feel my horn? Her eyes flew open and she sat upright, panic overriding the protests of her head and stomach at the sudden movement long enough for her to get a good look at herself. She was nearly hairless, save for her mane which was tangled up in a typical bedhead, her skin was a pale pinkish-tan, she had five-fingered hands with no apparent claws, and her body structure seemed suited for bipedalism. The sound of movement to her left distracted her and she looked around to see she was in a large room filled with beds, five of which were occupied by creatures similar in appearance to her, each with an oddly familiar hairstyle. One of them, with long purple hair that fell past her shoulders as she sat up, turned to look at her and shrieked in panic. Twilight screamed in response, and their combined voices woke the other four, two of which also joined in the freak-out session while the third simply stared around in shock and the last sat listlessly.

“What’s going on here?” one of the creatures, bearing a short mess of rainbow-striped hair on its head, exclaimed in a familiar-sounding voice.

“R-rainbow?” Twilight stammered in disbelief.

“Twilight?” the rainbow-haired thing replied in kind, “What happened? What are you? What am I?”

Goood morning!” a new, male-sounding voice declared as two creatures similar to what Twilight had apparently turned into entered the room. The one who had spoken was wearing a big, somewhat goofy grin while the other looked concerned. Like Twilight, they were bald except for a matching crop of brown hair on top of their heads – longer in the second one’s case – triangular little noses poking out of otherwise flat-looking faces, and both were wearing clothing that covered all but their heads and lower arms.

“You!” Rainbow exclaimed, “Whatever you are, start ex-” she cut off abruptly as she attempted to jump out of the bed and face-planted onto the wood floor.

“Everyone just calm down,” the no-longer-smiling creature said as its companion ran over to try and help Rainbow up, only to be pushed away distrustfully.

“Calm down?” the purple-haired one exclaimed in Rarity’s hysterical voice, “Why should I calm down? Look at me! I’m hideous and bald!”

“Actually, I’d say your beauty got translated fairly well Rarity,” the speaker’s companion said. Feelings of déjà vu began flooding into Twilight’s head.

“How do you know my name?” Rarity demanded. The two brown-haired creatures shared a glance, took a look around the room at everyone, and then looked at one another again and nodded. Walking to the middle of the room, they clasped hands and closed their eyes. An aura of ethereal blue flames surrounded the pair and then spread out and washed over Twilight and the others. As it did so, Twilight felt her panic and disorientation wash away and in its place came balance and a sense of familiarity with the linked pair. Looking around the room with fresh eyes, she found she recognized all the creatures in the beds – and on the floor in Rainbow Dash’s case – as her friends. And the two brown haired ones were…

“Heart? Soul?” Fluttershy asked in quiet bewilderment.

“Indeed,” Soul Mage said, releasing his sister’s hand and bowing, “Welcome to the Af-”

“No,” Gold Heart said sharply, smacking Soul upside the head, “We just calmed them down Ray; don’t go freaking them out with a bad joke. Go tell Maha that everybody’s awake now.” Soul nodded, looking apologetic, and left the room. “Now,” Heart said, looking around at the transformed ponies, “I’m sure you all have a lot of questions.”

“Yer darn right,” Applejack said, “Where the hay are we? Last thing I recall was bein’ warped into the forest and then magically hogtied alongside Rarity and thrown into something darker than the inside of a timber wolf by Ashen Blaze!”

“Oh,” Rarity said huffily, “don’t you dare mention that name!”

“It can’t have been Ash,” Fluttershy said. Everyone turned to look at her and she pulled the sheets up in front of her face. “I-I mean, it sure looked a lot like him,” he said, “but the way he acted, it was like he was an entirely different pony.”

“I’m not so sure,” Twilight said, “I thought he was under Discord’s influence when I ran into him, but he just laughed at the idea and when I tried to restore his memories I couldn’t find anything but darkness and chaos. He called himself Meis Thamule after that…” Heart frowned deeply at that and glanced toward the floor. “Hold on a second,” Twilight said, looking toward Rarity and Applejack, “You two were still in Ponyville when I ran into… him. How long have we been here?”

“About six days,” Heart murmured, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“What?” Rainbow exclaimed, trying to haul herself to her feet using the bed for support.

“Ahem,” a strong motherly voice said from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Soul standing behind an older-looking woman who was a head shorter than him but filled with matronly authority that made Twilight think of Granny Smith crossed with Mayor Mare. Her white hair was held back in thick braid and she brandished a gnarled wood walking stick at Rainbow Dash reprovingly. “Get yourself back into that bed Miss Rainbow,” she said, “I don’t want any of you girls getting any more hurts before the doctor can get a look at you all. And don’t you two stress them with too much talking either,” she added with a wave of the stick toward Heart and a tap of the forehead to Soul before leaving.

“And that’s Matron Maha,” Soul said as he entered the room properly, “Wonderful woman; I’m glad to see she’s still running things here.” He went over to Rainbow and straightened out the bedclothes as she grumpily slid herself onto the bed.

“And where is here?” Applejack asked.

“Valden,” Soul answered, “Specifically, we’re in the Traveler’s House of Overlook Town – formerly Vladeksfoot – of the Kallu Empire, the second largest nation of the world.”

“This is the world where we fought Tau’rin just prior to going to Equestria,” Heart explained when everyone gave Soul a blank look, “And, at least for the moment, it’s home.”