Summer Sun, Dawning Chaos

by CTVulpin


Act III, Scene 1: Desertion and Disdain

Certain witty jesters among Equestria’s population would have taken one look at the storm that broke over the forest near sundown on the Day of Twisted Desire and quipped that the stubbornly weird and willfully wild woods were feeling left out of the cleansing rain over Ponyville. The pony most likely to have made such a joke, namely Soul Mage, was rather disinclined to do so due to the circumstances he and the Order-naries were in at the time. After the Twisted Desire issue had been sorted out, the Order-naries had spent the remainder of the day helping with a little clean-up around town, celebrating, and making arrangements for the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony to accompany them into the Everfree the next day to hunt down Discord and fix the weakening seal on him once and for all. After their business was concluded, the four out-worlders made their leave by way of Ashen Blaze’s transport spell, with the intention of returning to Canterlot to report to the Princesses and rest up for the next day. However, in the middle of casting his spell, Ash’s eyes had gone blank and he warped the group deep into the Everfree Forest and then began running even deeper at a shambling run, seemingly deaf to the demands for explanation or cries of worry from Gale and Gold Heart respectively. The storm had broken as Gale, Heart, and Soul began chasing down their errant leader.
“This is great,” Soul muttered as the rain began to make the growing darkness of night even harder to see through and literally muddied up the path. He lit up his horn to try and fight back the darkness and then cast a lasso of spirit magic toward Ash, but the ash-grey unicorn stumbled over a fallen log at the last moment and vanished into the undergrowth. The others sped up and hurtled over the log and then began casting about for signs of Ash.
“I found tracks,” Gale reported after a moment, pointing in the direction they led and then taking the lead as the hunt resumed.
“I hope he’s ok,” Heart said, “What could Discord want with him now?”
“We’re sure this is Discord’s fault?” Gale asked.
“Did you see Ash’s eyes?” Soul said curtly, “He’s nowhere near his right state of mind.”
“I still find it hard to believe that Ash the Indomitable has been mind-controlled,” Gale said suspiciously, but when a painful cry and the sounds of a scuffle rose up ahead the group, she was the first to break into a gallop. The sounds faded as the group came to a clearing that was on its way to turning into one giant mud puddle. Soul cast his light forward, revealing the figure of an ash-grey pony with a wild red and orange mane in the trees across the clearing. “Ash!” Gale cried as she and the twins began to charge across the open space. They’d made it less than halfway across when the ground under their hooves suddenly gave way, sending them all sprawling into knee-deep mud that clung to them and tried to drag them deeper into it.
“Ash,” Soul cried out, “help!” He tried to reach out with his magic, but an invisible force wrapped around his throat and choked him until his concentration broke and he nearly blacked out.
“I’m sorry friends,” the figure in the shadows said in a perfect facsimile of Ash’s voice, stepping out to the edge of the sinkhole, his eyes closed, “Ash isn’t here anymore.”
“Who are you?” Gale demanded, struggling valiantly against the mud.
“Depending on how a little experiment of mine goes,” the thing said, “I might be the last thing you three ever see.” He opened his eyes, which glowed wickedly green, and then proceeded to pull the air away from the Order-naries. The last thing they heard before they blacked out was “Sleep.”


Fluttershy was wet, sore, and more than ready to just lay down and go to sleep. From the moment she’d been changed back from a tree into a pony she’d been racing around trying to catch up on all the care her animal tenants still needed while trying to deal with the fact that her bedroom was in shambles from Twilight transplanting her that morning. The room had not only been fully exposed to the looming rainclouds, but thanks to Fluttershy taking root in the floor as a tree there was also a gaping hole in the den ceiling. Ultimately, Fluttershy had removed what she could from the bedroom, covered the hole with a tarp and resigned herself to dealing with any water damage at a later date, preferably at the same time she got the roof fixed. But now, at last, the day was ending, everyone had been fed, the rain wasn’t dripping into the house and was making a comforting drumming sound on the roof (there had been some thunder earlier from the Everfree’s storm, but nothing to be concerned over), and all Fluttershy wanted to do was take a bath and fall asleep on her couch. Before indulging herself, however, had to make sure all her little houseguests were comfortable and accounted for.
Her mane wrapped up in a towel to keep the rainwater in it from dripping on the floor, she made her way around the den checking on each birdhouse, squirrel den, and mouse hole, bidding a good night to their occupants by name and coaxing the critters who were still moving about into the empty ones. After a cycle, she stopped at the couch and frowned slightly, finding her count to be slightly off. “That’s curious,” she said in a low tone, “who’s missing?” She circled the room a second time, quickly listing off animals as she passed by their sleeping areas, came back to the couch, and then smiled and rolled her eyes. “Angel Bunny,” she exclaimed quietly, “Where’d he wander off to?” From the lack of response, nothing in the room seemed to know. “Maybe he’s drawing my bath for me,” Fluttershy suggested to herself as she headed up the stairs, “He’s been such a considerate little bunny lately, I should do something extra nice for him. Maybe make a little hat for him, or try to get everything for that big salad he keeps requesting or…” she trailed off as she reached the bathroom and found it empty and as clean as could be expected considering the recent chaos. She went back downstairs and checked in the kitchen, under all her tables, and even inside the coat closet without finding even a hair of the white rabbit. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy said, worried, “Where is he? He always stays inside during rain unless he’s mad at me. Did I do something to upset him? I don’t think so, but I should apologize anyway. Once I find him that is. Sorry,” she concluded in a whisper as a few squirrels poked their heads out to glare at her for making too much noise. She dug back into the coat closet for an umbrella saddle in preparation to check Angel’s hutch in the yard, but as she started to slip into it, the top half of her front door was flung open and a white lump flew in, landing hard on the floor and uncurling into the form of a badly beaten Angel. Fluttershy gasped and went to bundle him into her front legs, but stopped herself when she saw that his back legs had been broken, on top of a black eye, numerous bleeding wounds, and an ear that had been nearly torn to shreds. He was delirious with pain, but seemed to recognize Fluttershy as she hovered over him, his eyes pleading for help.
“Hold on Angel,” the pegasus said, fighting down her panic to focus solely on healing him. She rushed away and returned with her medical supplies and wash cloths in record breaking time and then set to work cleaning and bandaging Angel’s wounds. She wrapped his torn ear completely in bandages and a splint, although she wasn’t sure if it would ever heal properly, and then turned her attention to the broken legs. The pain he felt as Fluttershy felt out the extent of the damage snapped the bunny out of his delirium for a moment and he did his best to put on a brave face. “Your left leg has one simple break,” Fluttershy explained soothingly when she saw he was coherent, “but the right one’s broken in at least three. I’m going to set the bones now; are you ready?” Angel nodded and braced himself, letting out sharp squeaks of pain as Fluttershy pulled and twisted his legs into their proper orientation. As Fluttershy splinted the breaks, she asked, “What in Equestria did this to you? Are the outdoor animals ok?” Angel just pointed to the door, a look of pain and fright on his normally kind and confident face. “Oh my. Oh dear…” She tied off the last splint and stood up, gazing at the open door and the dark, rain-obscured yard beyond. She walked up to the door, stuck her head outside, and looked around with trepidation. Her natural timidity warred with her protective instinct, but the latter eventually won enough ground for her to open the lower half of the door and step outside. “H-hello?” she called out weakly, “E-excuse me, uh, whatever’s out here, would you… no.” She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. “You hurt somepony very important to me,” she said in a slightly stronger voice, “So come explain yourself and apologize!” She flinched as a deep, slow laugh came out of the darkness.
A pair of orange lights appeared in the distance, near Fluttershy’s chicken coop and from the same direction a voice said, “Ah Fluttershy, the motherly she-wolf in the body of a weak and timid little pony. I must admit your little pet surprised me; I’ve never met a rabbit with such tenacity.”
“Who are you?” Fluttershy asked, “Why did you hurt Angel?”
“He was in my way,” the voice said, “he’s lucky I’m not here for him, or I would have done much worse to him. I have to admit though, he proved rather useful. What better to lure out the beast buried in Kindness than a malicious and undeserved beating?”
A wave of cold rippled through Fluttershy, driving out the last of her fear and leaving only righteous indignation coursing through her veins and freezing her eyes into the dreaded Stare. “You… horrible creature,” she growled, kicking at the dirt in preparation to charge, “You don’t harm innocent little creatures, do you hear me? Apologize!” With a furious snort, she charged toward the lights. As she drew closer, she saw that the lights were actually the eyes of a unicorn wrapped in shadows and she faltered for a split second as fear started to creep back into her thoughts. The unicorn tilted his head to the side nonchalantly and Fluttershy was suddenly hoisted off the ground with her wings pinned to her side, the momentum she’d built up continuing to carry her forward. The magic glow of the unicorn’s horn was dimly visible through his shadowy disguise as he brought her to a stop in front of him. He smiled and his eyes changed color from orange to a deep blue as cold as his smile. Fluttershy’s resolve was shaken by the transition, letting terror return to her in full force.
“As I thought,” the unicorn said, “an easy victory. Discord took the wrong approach with you, appealing to a pride that’s almost nonexistent. I could break you, but I don’t have the time and I can’t risk you making a surprising escape to warn the others, so I’m afraid you’ll have to go.” Fluttershy could only whimper as the unicorn’s horn grew brighter, cutting through the shadows and gradually revealing his features. The yellow pegasus saw ash-grey fur and locks of fiery red and orange before a sharp thunderous crack drew her gaze involuntarily upwards. High in the air above the chicken enclosure was a jagged hole, blacker than anything Fluttershy had ever seen and rimmed in an eldritch blue glow. “Hm,” the unicorn said, flecks of yellow appearing in his eyes, “Higher than I thought. Ah well, in you go Fluttershy.” Fluttershy struggled helplessly as the magic bound her tighter and she began floating up toward the hole. She managed to get enough air in her lungs to let out one small shriek before she crossed the threshold of darkness and the hole snapped shut with another clap of thunder. “That makes four,” the unicorn said, eyes shifting to green.


Rainbow Dash tossed and turned in her bed, unable to find a comfortable position, which was exceptionally frustrating considering her penchant for napping on tree branches. Something was gnawing at the corner of her mind, a feeling that something wasn’t quite right with her world all of a sudden. Grumbling, she kicked off the covers and rolled onto her back, staring up at the clouds forming the ceiling of her bedroom as she tried to locate the reason for her anxiety. She was absolutely positive that Zecora’s cure had removed all traces of cloud-ness from her body, making her one hundred percent flesh, blood, bone, wicked awesome speed, and awe-inspiring agility. The plan to rain cure-laden water upon Ponyville had gone off perfectly, as had the follow-up rainstorm that was now currently washing away the disgusting smell of the used-up cure mixture. A wild rainstorm had broken over the Everfree around the same time as the second storm had been started, but Cloud Kicker had claimed it was nothing to worry about. “Probably just part of the forest trying to straighten itself out after the crazy winds yesterday,” she had said. A trio of pegasi had kept an eye on the wild clouds for a bit and hadn’t noticed anything odd about them.
But considering all the craziness that’s come out of those woods lately… Rainbow thought, and then sat up and blinked in realization. Is that it? she wondered, Yeah, I just don’t trust that crazy place to keep to itself while Discord’s pulling strings. The sooner we can find him and shut him up, the better. I won’t be any good to the others if I can’t any sleep now though… Deciding to go check out the Everfree rain herself and face her doubts head-on, she climbed out her bedroom window and dove down to the ground. Just before she hit the blanket of rain clouds, which she’d moved her house above as a matter of course, her wings snapped open and she pulled up into a glide heading toward the Everfree Forest.
In most cases when a scheduled rain shower in town happened to coincide with rain in the Everfree forest, the two fronts were allowed to mingle along the boundaries, and despite Rainbow’s misgivings tonight was no exception. Although the edges of the clouds merged together, Rainbow’s trained eye was able to discern where tame, pony-made clouds ended and wild, origin-unknown clouds began. She landed near the border and began walking slowly along it, eyeing the Everfree clouds like a drill sergeant sizing up new recruits, looking for any signs of nonconformity or insubordination. Eventually, she was forced to admit that nothing was out of the ordinary and, with a sense of relief, she turned around to head home. Just as she spread her wings for take-off, however, she heard a small, familiar shriek from below. “Fluttershy?” Rainbow inquired. She quickly made a hole in the clouds and stuck her head through it in time to see Fluttershy struggling against invisible bonds as she was swallowed up into a hole in the air. The hole closed with a bang that left Rainbow’s ears ringing, and then she saw a dark figure on the ground looking up at the spot where Fluttershy had vanished, it eyes glowing green with malicious satisfaction. Without a second thought, Rainbow widened the hole in the clouds and dove through it, swooping down to tackle the figure, sending them both tumbling a good three yards before sliding to a stop with the cyan pegasus on top and fuming with anger. “What did you do to Fluttershy?” she demanded, front hooves putting light but threatening pressure on the other’s throat. The pony stared back with glowing yellow eyes and a bewildered expression as the shadows fell away from him, causing Rainbow to gasp in disbelief as she recognized him.
“Rainbow Dash,” Ashen Blaze said, his expression hardening and his eyes turning red, “How unexpected.”
“What did you do to Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, angry and confused, “Bring her back!”
“That won’t be possible,” Ash said, horn flaring as he kicked Rainbow off, the magic launching her skyward, “You’ll likely be joining her soon anyway.” Rainbow recovered control and hung in a stupefied hover for a second before shooting up above the clouds.
What’s going on? she thought frantically, Fluttershy… Why would Ash..? Or is it Discord? Either way, I better get help. She started to wing her way toward Sugar Cube Corner, the closest of her friends’s homes, but stopped short as a black, winged equine shape burst up through the clouds and blocked her path, his eyes blue-green and amused.
“Ah ah ah,” Ash said chidingly, “Did I say you could leave?”
“What… how?” Dash exclaimed, “You’re a unicorn! You can’t fly!”
“Not a unicorn,” Ash replied with a slow shake of his head, “Have you forgotten? I’m not of this world.” He landed on the cloud and walked slowly toward the cyan pegasus, who backed away under the influence of some inexplicable fear. “Rainbow Dash, loyal but cocky, brash, and quick to act,” the winged unicorn said, “Discord hardly had to try with you; just a little confusing double-talk and he had you. I’ll give it to you straight: change your loyalties and give them to me, and I promise you greatness. Everypony will know and adore you, the great Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow stared in silence at him for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. “You must be kidding,” she scoffed, “Nightmare Moon tried that one on me, and she did it better.” She reared back and then charged the ash-grey pony.
“Well, now that the formalities are over,” Ash said with a casual shrug. His horn lit up, and with a wave of his hoof he formed the clouds into a giant hand that grabbed Rainbow and stopped her short.
“Wha… seriously?” Dash said incredulously, “You’re trying to hold a pegasus with a cloud?” Lashing out in all directions with her legs and wings, she broke the hand apart and then made to charge at Ash again.
“Point,” Ash said, nodding, and then met Rainbow’s charge by grabbing one of her outstretched legs and throwing her past him into an off-balance landing on the clouds. “How about something more elemental?” he asked. A spark jumped off his horn and snaked through the clouds toward Rainbow, growing in power as it went until it reached her and exploded into lightning. The pegasus’s face contorted into a silent scream as the lightning struck again, and then she collapsed into a heap. “You’d put up a good fight, if I let you,” Ash said, eyes turning red as he levitated her over to him and started clearing away the clouds nearby. He held Rainbow over the hole as his horn flared brightly and the hole in reality split open again below. “To be honest,” he said, “It’s good you didn’t accept my offer. There’s nothing less trustworthy than a turn-coat after all. Ta-ta.” He released Rainbow Dash, who fell helplessly into the blue-rimmed void.