The Void
A lone draconequus was drifting in the void on a nest of cotton candy. Despite being a god of chaos, he found his actions were becoming predictable. He could feel his magic slowly drain away as each move became more ordered than its predecessor. It was getting to the point where ponies were setting up blinds and selling tickets in advance.
"There has to be something I can do for fun without upsetting old Sunbutt." He casually flipped a basketball that rocketed away before it vanished in the event horizon. He sighed. "Does it matter? No matter what I do, my world will end in absolute order. Everything will be utterly still. Everyone will be utterly dead."
"I suppose I could play with the Elements of Harmony, but what's the point? That'd be good for a laugh, at most. Besides, Sunbutt's the only pony who knows they even exist."
A giant rubber mallet materialized and struck him from behind. He looked up to see a tsunami cresting over him. After the wall of water receded, he found a life preserver around his neck. "S.S. Minnow? Are you trying to tell me something, little buddy?"
He snapped his claws, and travel brochures for the United Kingdom appeared in front of him. "Maybe I could send a future element bearer or three on vacation. I'm sure they'd appreciate a whole new world." He drummed his talons against his chin. "Of course, if they don't survive, then Moonbutt wins."
"Maybe I should bring a few humans here. I mean, no one is going to miss a few out of four billion." He shivered. "After a quick pick-me-up." He summoned a bowl of chicken noodle soup and slurped down the molten glass that the bowl became.
With his lion's paw, he cleaned a window that let him look Earthward. "It looks like there is three somebody who is about to become somebody." With a snap of his claws, he exchanged the tree for figures made of taffy. On Earth, a blast of fieldfare reduced them to ash.
Looking at the humans suspended in stasis before him, he pointed as he spoke. "You are now a thestral. You are now a pegasus. You are now a kirin. Teach your children well. The fate of Equestria depends on it."
With another snap of his claws, he sent them on their ways.
"Let the fun begin!"
Cloudsdale, Equestria
Solomon opened his eyes slowly. He was in a sea of white. If he was in heaven, why did it hurt so much? White gave way to blue skies and puffy white clouds . . . with buildings on top of them? Were those liquid rainbows? What was that funny sensation? He was falling!
Instinctively, his hand flew to his side. He frowned when he noticed there was no robe to impede his progress. He growled when he found his wand was gone. He blushed when he noticed a distinct lack of pants. He felt something sticking out from the base of his spine. Looking over, he saw a horse's tail in a dark shade of purple protruding from a body covered in mint-green fur. What was confusing was that the hairs were not pointing down. That's right! He was falling! He screamed.
A cyan filly flying in lazy circles turned to the sound of the scream. She saw a young colt in freefall, with wings buffeted about by the wind. She sighed. "Looks like the playground monitor is sleeping again." With a sharp snap of her wings, she rocketed toward the hapless thestral.
Solomon could swear he heard something over his screams. "Open your wings! Open your wings!"
Rainbow Dash looked in horror as she approached. Cuts and bruises on the colt's body looked fresh and painful. The colt's wings were not flightworthy. Carefully, she moved to match his speed before reaching out and holding him close. Angling her wings, she went into a gentle climb.
Solomon could feel his ears pop as he gained altitude. He looked down to see that cyan-furred arms held him. He screamed, "Don't drop me!"
A scratchy voice replied, "Chillax. Let's get you to the hospital. What happened to you?"
"There were so many of them. They jumped us."
Rainbow growled. "Show me when you're better. I'll teach them a lesson."
Solomon tried not to scream as the two crashed through the emergency room door hooves first. He staggered against the admitting desk when he was released. He turned to find that his savior was a rainbow-hued filly who eyed him with concern.
The filly said, "Dude, the docs take care of you." She studied him critically. "Y'know, you have the eyes of a griffon."
"What happened?" asked a pegasus nurse.
"Someone beat him up and dropped him to die," said Rainbow.
The nurse gestured, and two orderlies took Solomon away on a gurney.
A clock chimed the hour. "Oh my gosh! I'm late!" Rainbow Dash flew out in a chromatic blur.
Rainbow zipped over to the academy, scanning the athletic field. As she expected, a pink-maned pegasus filly was waiting in the stands. Gently, Rainbow touched down next to her. "Hey, 'Shy. Sorry, I'm late. I had to take some colt to the hospital."
Softly, Fluttershy said, "I hope he's all right."
Rainbow Dash gave an uneasy smile as she trembled slightly. Fluttershy drew her into a warm hug. "What's wrong, Rainbow?"
"That colt. If I hadn't seen him, that colt would have died."
"That's terrible! Can we go see him?"
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Race you there!"
Ponyvillie
The orange-furred filly galloped down the streets of Ponyville, screaming, "Timberwolves! Timberwolves! Help! Help!"
A flash of light drew her eyes skyward. She stopped to watch as a bright streak headed directly for Sweet Apple Acres.
Angel frowned. Nothing she did change her course; she had gone ballistic. In her path, she saw a couple besieged by what looked like giant wolves made of broken branches. She reached for her sleeve. It was gone, along with her wand, along with her clothes. In her mind's eye, she visualized her mana flow coalescing around the wolves. She cried, "Bombarda!"
The smaller wolves disintegrated into clouds of splinters. The alpha looked on in surprise as the streak of light entered its body. It then exploded, joining the rest of its pack.
Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter both gasped in surprise as their attackers disappeared in clouds of splinters. Pear Butter grabbed her husband and began dragging him toward the barn. Bright Mac shouted, "Wait!" He galloped out to collect a pegasus filly whom he saw lying in the debris. With that, they raced toward safety.
Thirty minutes later, Applejack returned with a contingent of guards. The splinters had formed into twigs. The twigs were on their way to creating branches when the guards sprayed them with kerosene and reduced them to ash. The guards then left to make sure there were no more of the beasts lurking about.
Applejack yelled, "Ma? Pa?"
The barn door opened. "Over here," said Pear Butter.
"Who's the pegasus filly?" asked Applejack.
"I don't know," said Bright Mac. "She saved our lives."
Canterlot
Aetherdal was starting to feel claustrophobic after being trapped in a sea of green for what felt like hours. This had to be the most confounding hedge maze he'd ever seen. He shivered as he watched the sunset. He was naked and all alone.
A girl's voice said, "Ow!"
As he turned to face forward, Aetherdal said, "Sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going." He reached down to help the purple-maned filly to her hooves.
The unicorn filly replied, "That's all right; accidents happen. I'm Twilight Sparkle of the House of Stars."
Aetherdal brought her hand to his lips. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Aetherdal Godric Terrian. Everyone calls me 'Aetherdal.'"
"Nice to meet you. I was wondering why you are in the restricted part of the gardens," said Twilight with a hint of worry.
"To be honest, I just woke up here. Would you be so kind as to get me out of this maze?" begged Aetherdal.
"Sure, just follow me," said Twilight.
The two chatted, trying to get to know each other better as they exited the garden. Aetherdal stopped when he felt the presence of another. He looked up to find a tall mare glaring down at him.