It was the afternoon of the day after our meeting at the tavern. Me and my friends, having spend the day together were crossing the open air market towards the west gate, where Doctor Nash, Ivan and Michaela would depart to their homes and I would began my travels in order to find mine.

The salty winds of the sea mixed with the smells coming from several stores and stands, the variety of food it can be found on Malpetrim’s market are only overshadowed by the number of goods available to sell. Malpetrim may be a city of adventurers but, it is also a mercantile city, where merchants from all over Arton come to sell their wares.

We left the city chatting amicably. Doctor Nash and Ivan discussed the best route to travel, I would provide my input following what I saw on my way to the city. Michaela kept telling me to to write more often and invited us to her daughter's birthday in a few months.

Not far from the city, on a crossroads it was time to say our goodbyes. Each of my friend made me promise to come and see them as soon as I could, and with a final hug from Michaela, it was time.

I took a few steps back and with a gesture a circle of light appeared under my feet. Shining with a myriad of colours, several runes rose up from the circle beams of light and magic trailing behind them in an almost rainbow pattern.

The runes swirled around me, leaving behind their trails of light, tracing patterns in the air. When they finally stopped, I was in the center of a dome made of arcane scriptures drawn by the runes. They spined slightly aligning themselves, then they stopped and shone brightly, in a flash the world disappeared to me.

~~*~~

Arton was gone, or at least that was my point of view. Because I know that in reality, I was gone for Arton.

I stared at an endless blackness, dotted by millions of tiny lights like stars in the night sky. except that here, there is no ground. No earth, or sky, no air nor gravity. No points of reference, only the empty blackness.

This was the Void, the Great Chasm, the Place in Between, and a number of others monikers, a list as big as my arm. This was the space inbetween worlds, the only connection of all creations. Each of those tiny light represent a dimension, one of many possibilities created through sheer luck, or the design of something bigger.

And I have visited many of them, a number very small in comparison with all the infinity there is. For I am a Planeswalker, a dimensional traveler, He who walks through alien winds, and another list of monikers as big as my arm.

Traveling between worlds is not an easy feat. It's required a lot of knowledge and power just to travel to the closest of planes, and a lot more to do what I do. And it’s not like I could just pick one of those lights and say “There is where I want to go!”. There is no directions on the Void, no way of telling which world to go next.

It took me a long time to figure out how to travel to worlds I already visited, by assigning them addresses using Arton as a reference point. But to move forward, it’s always a mystery.

The space around me shifted, a tunnel formed around me. It was composed mainly by energy, several golden scriptures written on its ‘walls’ spined gently. The tunel was my guidance to the other dimension, I floated down its length spotting a bright light on its end.

It was so gradual that at first I didn’t notice the vibrations, until I was close to the light. Suddenly there was a surge of energy, the runes on the tunnel gyrated madly, trying to compensate for the large amount of energy flowing into the tunnel.

Before I could react, from the light came another surge impacting me head on. I struggled under the pressure of this foreign force, but another surge washed over the tunnel. My senses were overwhelmed, and my body spasmed, being trashed by the energy within the tunnel.

When I felt a third surge coming from the light, I was surprised to find that it did not brought any pain, but instead a sensation of warmth and comfort. I was dazed by the experience and my consciousness faded. The light became brighter meaning that I was almost reaching my destination but, I was not awake to see it. Before passing out, another wave of energy washed through me, and this time I could almost see it had a pink hue to it.

~~*~~

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, it was difficult to remain aware however, and I was surprised to find that I wanted more to go back to sleep than to get up. I was feeling comfortable and relaxed. Odd considering what happened back in the Void, but it is better than pain, so I’m not one to complain.

I was laying on my belly on the ground, I could feel the blades of grass tickling my stomach. Meaning that I was either unclothed or my shirt have been ripped on my landing. Feeling more awake I opened my eyes. I was in a grove on some kind of forest, it was dark but not much so, meaning it was either very early in the morning or late evening.

I blinked trying to remove the remains of sleep of my eyes, raising my head I started looking around the grove and despite the low light I could see perfectly well. I was surrounded by oak trees in a almost perfect circle, the ground was covered in health looking grass, growing larger in some patches. A few bushes and shrubbery grew under the trees, and wildflowers grew freely, giving the land a variety of colours.

I looked up beyond the canopy of trees, the deep blue sky was covered in stars, forming constellations that I didn’t recognise. Puffy clouds floated above, a golden hue tinged their form adding contrast to the already beautiful sky. It was morning then, all the better, it would be easier to explore this world by day.

I closed my eyes, stretching my arms outwards. I noticed that moment that I couldn't feel my hands. I opened my eyes in order to inspect my arms, but I found myself staring at two completely strange limbs. The appendages in front of me, where my arms supposed to be, were covered in light gray fur and ended in some kind of bony stub.

I turned one of them around, marveling in its mobility similar to my arms and yet their different appearances, looking closer at the stub that made the end of this new appendage I realised it looked much like a hoof.

I sat there a bit dumbstruck by what I was seeing, it was weird to think of that hoof as my own. I moved it around and it responded to my commands, and at some extend it mirrored the movement of my normal arm.

A small breeze rolled through the grove, it brought with it a muffled sensation to my body. I tried to look at myself, craning my neck back as much as I could, which surprisingly was much more that I ever could before. I noticed that I was indeed unclothed, but that was only an afterthought.

My body was gone, at least gone as it used to be. I found myself looking at a small furred body, the same dark gray fur covering it entirely, with proportions similar to a small horse or a pony, my still leathery wings were neatly folded at my sides, though their spaw seemed to be smaller, more fitting to my smaller frame. Briefly, I tried to move them, and they obeyed just the same as the ones my human self would had.

My wings spread wide, I gave them a small flap to make sure they were okay. Both of them responded flawlessly giving me a sense of relief and satisfaction, and making something flicker at the corner of my eye. I focused on something just behind my rear, it flickered again revealing itself to be a tail. Even in the low light I could discern its colour, a dark blue tail, with stripes of a lighter blue coursing through it.

I watched in fascination this new appendage, I managed to move it with a little effort, making it sway from one side to the other and flicking it so it was draped across my back. I realized then I was still laid down on the ground. Using my fore hooves I pushed myself to a sitting position, my new forelegs were a bit unstable, but they managed to hold my weight.

The sun's light grew brighter in that few moments and the world around me began to awake. The grove was filled with the sound of birds singing, and I could hear a few bushes rustling as small creatures passed by them. I took one more moment to inspect myself, this time bringing a hoof to my face, feeling around my new muzzle and tuffy ears, but what surprised me was what I assumed to be a pair of fangs poking out of my mouth.

Using the morning light I searched for my equipment. I was not wearing my clothes, they could be either lost or destroyed, I was not sure, but I was more concerned with my sword and my STATS.

Looking around, it was fairly easy to find the STATS, it was sitting beneath a tree not very far away from where I was. I tried to get up, pushing my hind legs so I was standing in all fours, but I was unsteady and wobbly. I extended my wings in order to help me keep balance, with this new pony body, comes a new center of gravity, one that I was not used with and unconsciously tried to correct.

I took a deep breath, and tried to relax. Letting my body re-assert itself, I was able to stand properly. I looked again at my STATS, it couldn’t be more than three or four meters away and yet, the distance appeared to be far greater in my circumstances.

Slowly I placed my right foreleg ahead, followed by left hind one. One step, it was progress. I placed my left foreleg forward, then my right hind one. Careful as I could I alternated this two movements, learning the pattern and committing them to memory. It wasn’t long that I could fold my wings, not needing them to keep balance anymore, and I was trotting through the grove.

It was a bit clumsy, but I couldn’t complain. I was practicing for only ten minutes.

I made my way to the STATS. It was a small device, made to fit around my arm, but was extremely useful. It served me as a personal computer able to interact to several kinds of technologies, it displayed the conditions of my body and health, and had the capabilities to digitalize other equipment or objects that I needed.

I picked the STATS up in between my hooves. Normally it should have responded to touch, but it remain silent. I frowned at it, this wasn’t expected. It was a very resilient machine, it was very difficult to damage it and yet despite my best attempts to activate it, it remained unresponsive.

Had I been a human I could dismantle the STATS to see what was the problem and fix it. I brought a hoof to my face, inspecting it. There is no way I could safely fix the STATS with hooves, at least not without the proper tools.

I sighed placing the device back down. I could see much clearer now. The sun was shining higher in the sky, its rays slipping through the canopy of the trees. A cool breeze rolled through the grove, bringing with it the smell of morning dew. It was setting for a perfect day, and despite all that was happened I could help to relish in its peace.

Yet, one thing was missing from the picturesque morning, one that would not be there had I not come to this world, but one that the simple fact that it was missing from my view was worrisome. My sword was nowhere to be found.

I gingerly picked my STATS in my mouth, holding it between my teeth, and started to search around the grove for my missing sword. I searched in the bushes and looked up to the tree branches. I searched, giving the entire grove a once over, but in spite my efforts my sword was nowhere in the immediate area.

It was very difficult to have missed a 140 centimeters¹ golden sword while looking through a mildly dense woods. The only explanation I could come up with, was that I must have been separated from my sword while still on the Void, but chances are that I’m not too far from where it fell. That being the case there was only one way to find its location.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I concentrated on my inner magic, trying to bring it to the surface like I have done many times before. However, my magic seemed strange, not really different, but I felt a sort of dissonance between it and something around me. Ignoring it for the moment I focussed on my task, expanding my senses, letting me feel this world magic flow.

To say that I was shocked might be an understatement.

The world around me seemed to have acquired a strange gleam, similar as to how light refracts on a crystal, displaying a myriad of colours. This world magic permeates the land, flowing freely and unobstructed through the air, coursing through the trees and its leaves. It shone through the soil, and was embedded in every living thing I could see.

I was shocked. I was amazed. Mesmerized by the softly glow that the world had attained. Never before had I found a world with such amount of raw magic. I extended a bit of my own magic in order to feel this world’s better, but I found the dissonance that I had felt before, coming from between the two energies, so I retracted my own.

In my experience, magic works differently from each world. Sometimes the reason is found in the source of magic, or the frequency that it operates. The amount of magic also changes in each world. Although I admit, that was the first time I saw a world that seemed to be flooded with it.

Observing the magic flowing around me, I started to notice a certain familiarity to it. Something about its gentle and almost soothing glow it gave the grove, reminded me of the energy I encountered while approaching this dimension. Except that the magic around me is much more raw than the energy on the Void, less focused and more disperse.

If it was this world magic that I came across in the Void, perhaps is that the cause of my transformation? That is a question that I cannot answer right now, but one thing is clear, due to the dissonance between my magic and this world’s, I won’t be able to sense my sword magic aura.

At that thought a frown settled on my face. The dissonance itself shouldn't be a problem, with time as I stay in this world and slowly absorb more its magic into myself both magical energies should harmonise naturally. The real worry was just letting my sword laying around, although its safeguards will prevent any how come across it to even lift it, if someone would be more forceful the sword would repel the person, quite aggressively at times.

I sat there, the same frown on my face, in deep contemplation. I must have stayed very still and quiet for some time, for I was stirred from my thoughts by a bird that decided to land on top of my head. I dumbly tried moving my head to look at it, only for the little thing to fly away chirping. One of its feathers fell away, floating down in small loops until it landed on top of my nose. I crossed my eyes to look at it, then with an itch on my nose, I sneezed it away.

I couldn't help but laugh. In the middle of all this weirdness it's good to have something, however small, to bring the spirits up. In a strange way it made me feel better.

The situation was not as dire as it looked. Yes, my lack of functioning equipment may be a problem in the long run, but it not a unsolvable problem. The transformation although a nuisance, already feel more natural and I feel it won’t be a disability for long. Not only that but this world, or at least the surrounding area is not hostile, which is more that I can say to other worlds that I have visited.

With newfound determination, I decided to brave this world, at least to the point I recover my sword. Looking at the sun I noticed that it was rising higher in the sky. Using its position on my right as east, it would help me navigate through the land. But before I set out in a journey that could take days, maybe I could try one more thing.

One of my most immediate problems is the lack of carrying space for supplies due to the transformation and my broken STATS. I have learned many thing on my travels between worlds, and one of them is no matter where you are you should always keep a steady supply of essentials with you. Things like rations and water are priorities in any situations.

Another thing I've learned is that is always useful to have someplace to store anything that you might need later. And maybe I can do something that might solve both of these needs.

I concentrated on my magic again, I could still feel the ever present dissonance, and hoped it wouldn’t be a issue for what I was about to do. I focussed my magic on my mind, running through the several runes and words that made the spell, the preparations were complete in seconds. “Chest!” I said, directing my magic outwards, casting the spell.

At my word a dark wood ark appeared from what seemed thin air. Its silver trim shone in the sun light, and engraved in gold were arcane runes running alongside its bottom just above its trim. Runes of translocation, preservation and holding all meticulously draw onto the wood in order to it to be summoned with a spell.

For a moment the sight of the well crafted ark made me smile, but it was just a moment for I felt an immense force pressing down on me from all sides.

The pressure made me fell on the ground, holding my head on my hooves. The sensation was very similar to dive into deep ocean and having the enormous sea pressure all around you, accompanied by the drowning that came with the lack of required diving equipment. It didn’t last long, but the experience left me gasping for air on the ground struggling to breathe, and a mild migraine.

Getting up was a bit of a chore, as I gasped for air with burning lungs and a throbbing headache. I never thought that a disharmony between two magical energies would result in such severe backlash. I was half expecting the spell to fail altogether, but not… this.

Slowly, I made my way to my summoned ark. Despite the functionality of the STATS in digital storage, it have two great defects. One: it can’t digitize items bigger than what I could carry on my hands in its limited storage space, so weapons, some specialized equipment and normal supplies like food and water are okay.

And two: it can’t store magical items. Magic and digital storage technology simply don’t mix. Hence the reason I have a, normally, easy summoned chest with some things I couldn’t keep on my person all the time. But because of how this disharmony between magics can affect me, I will need to keep spell use on the down low for some time.

Opening the ark, I examined its contents. There wasn’t much left inside, but I did kept there my old backpack which I could use. At least that was the plan. But looking at it now, I don’t know if it will do. My forelegs seems to possess the same range of motion as my arms, so the problem wasn’t that it wouldn’t fit, but it would be very difficult to keep its contents from spilling all over.

From the corner of my eye, behind the backpack I spotted something familiar. Getting some stuff out of the way I found an old saddlebag that I must have stored here ages ago. This was a saddlebag given to me as a gift from a horse breeder after I helped protect his animals from a predator.

I stared at it for a minute, it was made of a very sturdy material of deep purple color, three silver arrows heads joined by a blue gem made its clasps. I must have placed it there about a year ago, forgotten mostly because there was never need of it, I rarely ride horses because I can always fly or use others means of transportation. And it just sat there, waiting.

I tried to hold it on my fore hooves, but it escaped my almost non existent grasp. I pondered on how to pick it up, then I reached down and picked it by its strap with my mouth. Craning my neck back I dropped the saddlebag between my flanks. It sat snugly on my body giving me a sense of satisfaction that made me smile.

Satisfied and with nothing else useful to pick up from the chest, I promptly closed it. No soon the ark was closed it faded to the ether from whence it came. With the ark gone, and a suitable means for carrying supplies, I gently slipped the STATS into my saddlebags. Maybe, once I find some shelter and once I can use my magic again I could fix it.

I took another look at the woods around me. It was still a bit early in the morning, so I still had the whole day to explore. But as for right now I decided to head south, if there is any kind of civilization in this world I would have better chances on finding any villages going south than any other direction. I could fly, but I have no idea if a flying pony like me was going to be a welcome sight in this world, besides I need to practice walking more.

A small breeze blew through the trees, and the morning sun shone brightly on my back. I finally set out to explore this brand new world. A world that seems so similar to any other but that possess more magic than any. And here I was, stranded with no magic or equipment, in a body very different from my own. In all I was very excited.

It was high time to see what awaited me beyond the horizon.

Author's Note

¹140cm = 55,11in

And here it is, chapter 2.
To be honest it was a bit of a headache to write this one. I felt that I needed to explain a lot of things and the character was stuck on the fase of "access your situation" the entire time.

I will try to make the next chapter more enjoyable.

Updates will not be very consistent, I'm a very slow writer, but I will try my best.