Summer Sun, Dawning Chaos

by CTVulpin

Act IV, Scene 4: The Final Threshold

“We’ve got signs of Dog activity!” Gold Heart cried out as she flew into smithy Gale and Yu-san had appropriated to modify the Gel Launcher, “Are you finished yet?”

“I think so,” Gale answered, making one last adjustment as she spoke. The Gel Launcher and its ammo pack had been attached to an abused-looking red fashion saddle so that the launcher cannon rested against Gale’s right side and the ammo hung as a counterweight on the left. The trigger had been removed from its original placement and attached to an adjustable bit that Gale could grip in her mouth, and the loading mechanism had been moved onto the ammo pack where she could work it with her hoof. With some clumsy help from Yu-san, Gale slipped into the saddle and worked at the girth straps until the contraption sat tightly but comfortably in place. “Well, what do you think?” the brown earth pony asked, striking a modeling pose.

“It looks a bit… jury-rigged,” Heart said, rocking in place slightly with a distracted look on her face.

“Yeah, well when saddles are more of a fashion statement than a utility…” Gale said, casting a brief askance glance at the battle saddle. She then noticed Heart’s anxiety, walked over to the door to peek outside, and then asked, “Where’s Soul?”

“He’s with the defenders already,” Heart said, prancing in place, “Can we go now please?”

“Of course,” Gale said instantly.

“Wait a second Kara,” Yu-san said, “Aren’t you going to make sure it’s even going to work right before you go charging into battle?”

“I can test it on the way,” Gale said.

“Test it on the way,” Heart said at the same time, and then went outside and took flight, anxious to rejoin her twin. Gale chuckled as she followed at the fastest trot she could manage with her hurt leg.

“Be careful,” Yu-san called after the girls, “and make me proud.” Heart waved a hoof over her shoulder in response while Gale went for something more dramatic: with a show of agility and coordination that surprised Yu-san despite his familiarity with Gale’s skill she angled the Gel Launcher upward, loaded a shot, and fired a blue gel in an arc that ended with a splat against the side of a shop, all without missing a step. Yu-san smiled as he watched the pair vanish down the road. “Some things never change,” he said to himself.

Heart guided Gale to a park near the north side of town, where several units of Royal Guards were lined up in preparation to meet a pack of Diamond Dogs that were crawling to the surface from freshly-made holes. Soul Mage was standing near the center of the line, and when Heart and Gale came up to him he exchanged a quick wordless hug with his sister as they established their spirit link. Then he looked at Gale and her battle saddle and said, “Function beat Form into the ground today, did it?”

“Shut up,” Gale said, “I was in a rush.” She adjusted the angle of the launcher and took in the approaching wave of cave-dogs. “So, what’s the strategy?” she asked.

“We capture as many as we can easily contain,” Sergeant Bastion said, coming over to eye Gale critically, “And then, after we drive off the remainder, we’ll deal with the mind-control spells. Might I ask how you intend to contribute?” In answer, Gale shifted the loading mechanism to Magebane, loaded a gel, and shot the leading Diamond Dog in the chest, knocking him back into his fellows and bringing the charge to a brief halt. After a second he sat back up and looked around blank confusion as the mindless army resumed their charge.

“Magebane,” Gale explained as she reloaded and fired again, “it sucks up magical energy and can destroy all but the largest and most complex of spells. Just keep your unicorns out of my line of sight.”

“Ah, well, carry on then,” Bastion said, and then turned to face the foe as the signal to meet the charge sounded. Guards-ponies galloped and flew out, some wielding weapons that they swept at their enemy’s legs, while others went hoof-to-paw with the canines and spells whipped around through the air. Soul Mage entered the fray as well, knocking Diamond Dogs around with blasts of spirit energy and lassoing any that lost their footing near him to drag them off as prisoners, while Gold Heart stayed near Gale as she launched blobs of Magebane at any target that presented itself. The Diamond Dogs she struck tended to react in one of two ways once the mind control spell deteriorated: some would continue to lash out in a panic at anything that got too close while others, who seemed to possess faster brains than average, would turn around and start attacking their pack mates, tearing off pockets, necklaces, and whatever else stood in the way of throwing away gems until the victim started to come to their senses.

“Are you sure this is a good idea Gale?” Heart asked, wincing as a unicorn guard went down under the weight of a liberated but berserk Diamond Dog, “It seems like you might be doing as much harm as good with the Magebane. Maybe you should the shock gel instead and save the ‘bane for the captured Dogs.”

“Shock gel’s formulated for humans,” Gale replied without breaking her firing rhythm, “I don’t know how that voltage will affect Dogs, or ponies for that matter. The caustic gel’s not even up for consideration of course.”

“Of course,” Heart said with a sigh, and then yelped as a mind-controlled Diamond Dog broke out of the melee and leapt toward her and Gale. Gale was the middle of reloading and didn’t have time to adjust her aim, so Heart moved into the dog’s path and braced to meet it with spirit-charged hooves, only for an orange lance of magic to beat her to the punch from behind. The Diamond Dog’s momentum was halted mid-jump and it landed hard on its face several feet shy of its mark. Heart and Gale stole a quick glance back to see Ash breathing heavily, a sense of urgency evident in his stance.

“Heart,” he said, “get your brother. The Thamule situation’s taken a bad turn and we need to respond immediately.”

“We’re in the middle of something here Ash,” Gale said in blatant understatement, “This better be good.”

“How does Princess Celestia beaten within an inch of her life and Luna kidnapped for some likely unpleasant purpose suit you?” Ash deadpanned. The girls stared at him in dumbfounded silence, and he raised an eyebrow in response, silently daring them to call him a liar.

Heart snapped out of her shock after a moment and turned to yell over the din of battle, “Soul Mage! Royal emergency! Move your rear!” Soul glanced over, and then lifted the Diamond Dog he was engaging off the ground and threw him toward the far side of the field before trotting over.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Ash said before the golden-yellow unicorn could ask, “Come on, to the Everfree.” He spun around and galloped off, his teammates not far behind.

Ash recounted the events in Canterlot as he guided the Order-naries to the edge of the Everfree, where Twilight and her friends were waiting for them. “It seems that when Thamule left with Luna, he took whatever spells or barriers were preventing everyone from getting into the castle with him,” the ash-grey unicorn said as he neared the end of the story, “Because within a few minutes the place was swamped with guards and other concerned castle staff. We managed to stabilize Celestia’s condition, although I don’t know if she’s going to wake up any time soon. Shining Armor’s taken charge of keeping things organized, but he wants Cadance to join him ASAP. I don’t think we can spare the time to track her down though.” They arrived at the rendezvous point to find the pink alicorn listening to Twilight recount her Canterlot experience through barely-withheld tears. “Or she could be here,” Ash muttered with a smirk. Cadance took notice of the Order-naries’s approach and trotted up to them.

“Ash, is it true?” she asked, “Is Celestia…?”

“Alive, but just barely,” Ash answered gravely, “And Luna is in the hands of the enemy. Madonna, you should return to Canterlot, rejoin your husband, and take up emergency regency. Hopefully you won’t have to hold it for very long, but we’d best play it safe.”

“Of course,” Cadance said, “I have to ask though, why? Why would Thamule spare Celestia?”

“I’m not sure,” Ash said, “I can guess why he went after the Princesses in the first place though: when entities with power over something as fundamental as night and day exist, you can’t truly say you control the world unless you control or replace them. It could be Thamule wanted to be sure Celestia can’t act against him, but fears what might happen if the solar alicorn dies before he can take control.”

“That doesn’t make much sense,” Twilight said, joining the conversation, “The sun and moon aren’t tied to a particular pony. Any individual or group with enough power can do the job. That’s why Celestia was able to rule alone for the Nightmare’s thousand-year exile, and why there’s even a line of emergency regents in the first place. I know you know about that Ash, so why wouldn’t Thamule?”

“Thamule isn’t me,” Ash said with a shrug, “He’s a copy of my worst attributes mixed with Discord’s power. I don’t know what he knows, and it’s becoming clear I can’t predict him as easily as I thought. We’re wasting time here, let’s move. Madonna Cadance, good luck with Canterlot and we’ll see you when this is over.”

“Yes, good luck to you as well, all of you,” Cadance said, giving Twilight a quick hug and looking around at the Element Bearers and Order-naries. She trotted off for a distance before spreading her wings and taking flight.

“All right,” Ash said, sprinting into the Everfree Forest, “Making up for lost time now; let’s move!”

“And where, exactly, are we going?” Rainbow asked as she flew up alongside Ash and matched his pace, “You said you were able to figure out Thamule’s destination when he teleported away, but you haven’t said where that is yet.”

“Fortress,” Ash replied, “The spot where I found the Twisted Desire, and probably not coincidently the location of one of the inter-dimensional portals. Discord’s got himself a nice little headquarters of chaos there, and that’s where Thamule’s set up shop. I’d teleport us in, but…”

“That would be jumping into the heart of the enemy stronghold more or less blind,” Soul said, “So we beat down the door and storm the castle instead?”

“Precisely,” Ash said.

“Works fer me,” Applejack said, “Let’s show ‘em what we’re made of. Yee-haw!”

With Ash in the lead, the ten ponies raced through the forest, their numbers and sheer determination causing even Fluttershy to forget the eerie and wild atmosphere of the place. At one point a trio of timber wolves appeared on the path ahead and wisely backed away into the underbrush at the sight of the multi-colored equine stampede, and Soul figured that was only the most obvious case of the wildlife giving them a berth.

When they neared the Twisted Desire clearing, Ash brought the group down to a slow, cautious approach, keeping an eye out for trouble from the shadows. “I’ve had a tendency for being attacked around here,” he whispered, “be careful.”

“What tendency?” Soul whispered back, “How many times have you been out here besides tracking down the Twisted Desire?”

“Well, I think we were close to here when Thamule jumped us,” Ash replied, “The last thing I remember seeing before waking up in Valden was a glimpse of the fortress.”

“Just what is this fortress like anyway?” Rainbow asked, creeping ahead of the group and up to the edge of the clearing to get a better look. “Whoa,” she said as she got a good look at the impossibly cobbled-together stone building that stood at least three stories above its dying garden of yellow Twisted Desire plants.

“How does that manage to stay together?” Gale asked, “I can’t count the number of points that should be falling apart due to weight or inadequate supports. I mean, the two buttresses I can see aren’t even in the right place to do their job.”

“Easy there Gale,” Ash said, “Discord’s statue-prison is in there, and his will is probably all it needs. Focus on something besides the imperfections.”

“But there are so many,” Gale protested, “This is why I hate chaos.”

“I’m more concerned about how and why Discord did this,” Twilight said, “Sitting back and working through proxies, only pulling a few tricks at a time, and all without breaking free of his petrification. That’s not like him.”

“Methinks he doesn’t have much a of a choice,” Soul responded, “He’s stuck in a position where he can exercise a little direct influence on his surroundings, but not nearly enough to create the external chaos he needs to break the seal. Once he found a way into Ash’s mind though, he had himself an unwilling agent capable of escalating things bit by bit to wear the seal down by stages.”

“More or less, yeah,” Ash said sourly, “I think he had me drag him out here so he could set up that fortress, the Twisted Desire, and a few other nasty surprises to keep the Elements of Harmony away until he can break loose. And considering what Thamule has done, that time is probably getting very close. Come on, let’s go.”

“Wait,” AJ said, “What kinda ‘other nasty things’ are we talkin’ about here?”

“Some kind of living shadow attacked the last time I was here,” Soul said, “Beyond that, well, if we knew what they were they wouldn’t be surprises, would they?” AJ and Twilight each gave him a flat look while Heart whapped him upside the head. Ash snorted and stepped out into the clearing, horn aglow and ready for trouble. The Order-naries fell into step behind him, but when Twilight tried to follow suit her nose bumped into an invisible wall, causing her to stumble back and knock her friends down in a domino-like manner. The Order-naries stopped and looked back in confusion as Twilight got back up and tried to walk to them again, bumping up against the invisible barrier again in a somewhat comical nose-squishing manner. Pinkie Pie was the next to regain her footing and likewise found herself unable to get more than few inches into the clearing.

“I take it this is one of the surprises,” Twilight deadpanned, backing up a step and poking at where the barrier seemed to be. Her hoof crossed over the line without resistance, but when she tried to walk forward her face impacted, leaving her briefly dazed.

“Hmmm,” Pinkie said, sitting back and rubbing her chin for a few moments. She then took off her Element necklace, tossed it to Fluttershy, and jumped across the invisible line without hindrance. “Ah ha!” she declared excitedly, bouncing back and forth to demonstrate her point, “It’s the Elements that can’t get closer! See?” She reclaimed her necklace and tried to throw it to Soul, only for it to stop short and fall to the ground.

“What?” Ash said, confused, “That doesn’t…” Squinting his eyes, he paced along the line of a barrier, marked out with Twilight’s assistance, occasionally sniffing at something. “There’s no spell at work here,” he eventually declared incredulously, “I can’t sense anything except the latent magic of the Twisted Desire… Sketchte Discord. There’s nothing I can do, and time’s wasting…”

“Go on ahead,” Twilight said as she put the Element of Laughter back around Pinkie’s neck, “Rescue Princess Luna while we try to get through this, and we’ll find Discord.”

“All right then,” Ash said, “See you in a bit girls. Good luck. Come on team.” He turned and trotted toward the building. When he reached the edge of the flowers field, he stopped to scratch a spell-weave into the dirt and released his magic into the ground. “Stand back,” he warned as the ground began to rise up and split, uprooting a wide swath of Twisted Desire and burying it beneath the dirt, creating a clear path to the fortress door. After waiting for the pollen thrown up in the process to settle, the Order-naries charged forward.

“You sure the four of us are up to this?” Heart asked as they came up to the imposing metal-bound wood door, “The three of us are able to handle you Ash, but if Thamule has the strength to defeat both Celestia and Luna…”

“Yeah,” Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m counting on him having a limit to how much power he can utilize in a short time, and that fighting the Princesses has taken a lot of it out of him. Still,” he smiled at Gale, “He is basically a magic construct based on me, so Magebane should have an even more dramatic effect on him. Ultimately though, we’ll probably just need to buy time for them.” He gestured back at the Elements of Harmony, which were currently enveloped in the glow of charging up. As the Order-naries watched, the rainbow beam fired up and arced down to splash against an invisible dome covering the clearing. The energy flowed around without seeming to accomplish anything. “Probably have to buy a lot of time,” Ash amended darkly. He sighed and turned back to the door. After taking a moment to consider his approach, he raised a hoof and knocked. The door swung open in a slow and dramatic fashion, but pivoting on the side opposite the apparent hinges and emitting a long mournful French horn tone as it moved. Soul bit his lip in a vain attempt to hold back an amused smile at the effect. The room inside was dark save for the light flowing in from the doorway. “All right,” Ash said, “The heart of Discord’s domain. Stick together and be prepared for anything.”

“Right,” Heart, Soul, and Gale said, drawing close together and the twins activating their spirit link. As one, the quartet stepped through the door and began walking through the entry hall, using the ethereal blue glow of the spirit link to light their way. When they made it about a quarter of the way down the hall, which seemed far longer than it had a right to be and lacked any obvious exits, the door slammed shut and darkness fell around Ash, snuffing even the twin’s powers. Nobody screamed or made even a small sound of surprise, which worried the ash-grey unicorn more than anything else. “Guys?” he said, feeling around for his companions, “Are we sticking together? Anyone?” He focused his magic and cast out a ball of orange light that illuminated the entire room and revealed that there was nothing in it except him. “Skvetch.”

Comments

[djthomp]

Ponies with mounted weaponry? Sounds good to me!

Have fun storming the castle!

I can't wait for Thamule to take some magebane right in the face.

[UseFistNotMouth]

Excellent. I look forward to the eventual continuation, however long that might be.

[RTStephens]

Even the Elements have counters, it seems. That's not fair!

Ugh. Every time I think the next part is going to start the big confrontation, you add yet another obstacle to overcome. The suspense is killing me!