Author's Note

And straight into the action! I won't always cover everyone's POVs from here on out; some of them see more action than others, and in different chapters.

Equestria: Chaos Spreading

The first thing Tony wanted to do was experience flight. Of course he'd flown in the suit before, but it just wasn't the same. And even he knew that memories were one thing and the real experience of flight was another entirely.

He stepped out the door and spread his wings. Don't focus too much on how you're doing it; it's just instinctual. Just like how if you focus too much on walking, you can't. Just do it. Don't think.

Telling the obsessive genius not to think about something. Great plan.

He forced thoughts out of his mind, and before he could second-guess himself, flapped his wings, taking off. He angled upwards, gaining altitude quickly. With hardly a flick of a feather, he turned right, then left, laughing out loud. This was amazing!

He swooped downwards, and pulled up just in time to avoid hitting his house, but close enough to skim the roof. He rolled, combining it with another short dive. Then he regained the altitude he'd lost. He rolled again, pausing in the middle of it to glide with his wings spread upside-down for a few seconds before righting himself. It was so exhilarating, he almost didn't notice the pink cloud he whooshed past.

Almost.

He whirled around to look at it as it floated past. He couldn't remember working with a single pink cloud in the weather factory or as Ponyville's weather manager; even in Equestria, this wasn't common.

But wait, sometimes weather over a lot of sand or reddish dirt will pick some of it up, and you'll end up getting pink clouds. That happens, even on earth, it's jut rare. That's all this is, just dusty clouds.

But shouldn't it be staying put, instead of moving on its own?

All Rainbow's experience was telling him that clouds should stay exactly where they were placed, but Tony himself had never actually see them to that, and weather shouldn't work that way. It didn't make any sense. So maybe Rainbow Dash was wrong. All her experience in weather management and cloud control was mistaken. That was it.

He followed the cloud anyway.

Steve Rogers had gotten straight to work. Even if he wasn't really Applejack and he needed to find a way to get home as soon as possible, there was a lot to be done around the farm. Right now, he was picking a crop of corn. It wasn't a large part of their profits, but it helped supplement. As he worked, rain clouds began to roll in, but he didn't even look up. He and Applejack were both used to working in the rain.

Neither of them were used to working in chocolate milk.

Corn popping abruptly was also not a common occurrence in Equestria, as far as either he or Applejack knew. Maybe it was a prank of Rainbow's. Could she have gotten Spike to help? Did he breathe actual fire, or only send letters?

Wait, there was Rainbow now! Maybe it was a prank and she was watching the reaction. "Rainbow!" he hollered, as loudly as he could. "What's goin' on?"

"I think it's dust in the air!" she called back. "It's turning the clouds pink and the rain brown!"

"Well, that would make sense, if the rain weren't chocolate milk!"

"It's what?" She ducked under a cloud and drank some. "Woah. That is weird. Lemme guess, the clouds are cotton candy?"

"How should I know? You're the one up there!"

Rainbow Dash sighed, scooped up a ball of cloud, and licked it. "What, seriously? THAT WAS A JOKE! A JOKE!"

You already knew you could act like Rarity, Natasha, she told herself. That shouldn't change just because everything is nonsense now.

"Hello, Applejack!" Natasha trilled. "I heard about your troubles and I'm here to help in any way I can! ...As long as it doesn't involve me getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella."

Applejack gave her an annoyed look, but not a suspicious one. See? That was exactly what Rarity would say. She breathed a mental sigh of relief.

Pinkie Pie ran past, shouting, "What wonder is this? Chocolate milk rains from the heavens!"

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said, but Pinkie was already gone.

Clint had a feeling something weird was going on. Call it a hunch, call it a vibe, call it chocolate milk raining from pink clouds; whatever you called it, things were strange. And Sweet Apple Acres, fields covered in popcorn and giant apples weighing heavily on the trees, was the epicenter of the oddity.

Some of Fluttershy's animals were eating the giant apples off the trees. Clint approached them. Gentle and polite. That almost always does the trick.

Pinkie Pie whizzed past him, marveling loudly at the chocolate milk. She appeared to be making laps of the orchard. He ignored her and moved towards the animals.

He leaned towards a bunny and a squirrel. "Excuse me," he said softly, but firmly, "Applejack and I would both appreciate it if you left those apples alone. She really needs those, to get enough money to get by. Can you do that? For me?"

To his delight, they nodded and hopped off the tree. "Come on," he instructed. "Let's go stop the other animals, then find you all something better to eat."

But by then it was too late. Not only they, but every other animal who'd been eating the apples, grew long, deer-like legs and began running around. "Wh- what? What?" For once, he was completely at a loss.

Bruce Banner had to do something. He was the leader of this group now, and something was happening. The others would need him.

But I'm not a leader! he objected. I have no clue what I'm even doing!

But you have her memories, he argued. You've got all the experience. And you don't have to have the solution by yourself, just a way to combine the talents of your friends to work around the problems facing you.

Ugh, fiiiine.

Not quite what I was looking for, but I'll take it.

He got to his hooves, took a deep breath, and trotted out the door, towards the center of the chaos.