Silent lightning flashed through the clear sky that evening. A trembling energy formed on a hill a mile outside of Ponyville, shaking the very air with its presence. Just as quickly as it had entered, the unknown power dissipated, leaving behind the unconscious form of a dark brown unicorn stallion and a large impression upon the earth.
His journey had been relatively short, yet left him more drained than he had ever felt. He had used considerable amounts of his power to stay in between existence and the nothingness he had begun to call home. He did so for a few reasons, both to protect himself and the world he was about to enter. True, he could just waltz into this new world, laws be damned, but he had learned long ago the destructiveness of such a choice.
He had encountered such worlds as this before. Worlds whose life was populated by entirely different standards. He had long had in place precautions to allow himself to be transformed to fit the new dimensional form. The problems that arose with this transformation were unique however. Upon entrance, his form was remade, but he could not use the new body as it was naturally granted. He became an Alicorn, with devastating powers that could be sensed even by the thickest of beings, regardless of their use. His cutie mark, something that beings in this world received upon discovering their greatest talents, had the entirety of reality within it. Needless to say, this made him far more conspicuous than would be prudent. Thus he held back, staying outside of existence while within the folds of reality. He worked quickly, forming a simpler unicorn type body, working in spells to keep his nature more than a secret.
The second problem he faced was more complex. In the core of this new world, a deep magic was set for travelers such as him. To enter, one must allow the harmony of the world to be untainted by their presence. The slightest concept out of place, and slowly the foundations would crumble and be corrupted. In order to maintain the pristine state, one had to give up their tainting memories and thoughts. He could not comply, there was still much to do. He found a simple solution however, that satisfied the requirements while allowing him to retain his mind. In his created form, he imposed the restrictions, and left in the knowledge of how to return to both his more powerful and unchanged bodies.
He lay there for the rest of the day, and most of the following night, recovering his strength. As the sun began to rise again, he awoke, his mind racing, his vibrant green eyes unfocussed. Where am I? What... am I? I... At this point, he attempted to remember. While many fragments of his former life glimmered in his mind, he was aware of a very large gap, a cloud of swirling debris where his memories used to lie. One thought remained absolutely clear: This was necessary. You know how to return when the time comes. He lay there still dazed, eventually deciding to get up. This posed a new problem.
Where he used to have hands, legs and an erect spine, he was in new territory. He shifted his weight, and managed to roll onto his legs. That's one small step for man he chuckled to himself. Slowly, he tested each leg, and found controlling them difficult but not impossible. His tail, on the other hand, had no point of reference, and seemed to twitch and flutter of its own accord. He paid little attention to this though.
He finally managed to stand, and to his surprise, it was simpler and more comfortable on four legs than two. He shook out his coat, spraying morning dew everywhere and stretched his body out into to its limits, feeling each new sensation. His dark brown fur coat itched slightly. The pitch black mane that drooped into his face made him feel like... something. The thought escaped into the swirling cloud of fragments in his mind, and he decided that it wasn't important enough to look into. He twitched his snout and huffed. The much more powerful lungs sent a bigger gust than he was expecting out of his nostrils. Right, bigger lungs... He flopped his ears around for his amusement. Even while human, he always had excellent control of his ear muscles, which made him a hit at parties. He focused all his attention on his tail, and over the next few minutes learned which muscles did what.
He yawned and stretched again, and surveyed the world around him.