mysql Seleccionar de Seleccionar

Puede intentar ordenar el conjunto de resultados de la consulta secundaria; algo como:

SELECT
    DATE (a.created_at) AS order_date,
    COUNT(*) AS cnt_order
FROM
    `sales_order_item` AS a
WHERE
    MONTH(a.created_at) = MONTH(now()) - 1
GROUP BY
    order_date
ORDER BY
    cnt_order DESC