The Overvoid: a great white expanse.
Her mane frenetically lashed against her snout as she shot through the Overvoid in a dramatic arc. The huge magic comet around her was the only thing keeping her from being erased outright. The Overvoid ate at her magic. If she let her guard down for even a moment, she would die.
She tore violently through nonexistence. Leaving her multiverse had been a stupid idea.
She roared—pure destructive magic, no restraint—because holding back wouldn't save her here. She reached out with her senses, feeling for anything across the great unknown. Anything.
Was there only her multiverse?
A hard sting struck her left hindleg; her coat burned easily there. Her wings beat at supersonic speeds to keep her moving. Magic flared and clashed around her, dramatic and desperate. She roared again as she reached speeds that would have been impossible if resistance existed at all.
Then her royal purple magic caught sight of something across the expanse: a small mistake. A dot on the white canvas.
Overjoyed that something existed, she rocketed toward it like a falling star. Relief flooded her system as she barreled forward—now she had a destination, now she could pace herself. The problem wasn't endurance anymore. It was not colliding with the dot.
But as she drew closer, what had been a dot became bigger and bigger—until a wall emerged, vast and bulky, rising out of the emptiness.
She faked the signal of nonexistence and slipped through the wall.
The rest was a blur she filed away for later. She could research this new cosmology later.
A universe sat near the center of the round cosmic bowl. She lowered herself toward it—slowly and carefully, as slow as a comet could manage. The universe unfolded around her. She flapped her wings and poured magic into deceleration, desperate to bleed off speed.
Stars flew past.
Mach 46.
A blue-and-green planet came into view.
Mach 32.
Aim for the great expanse of water near the second-largest landmass.
Mach 14.
BOOM.
She crashed.
Moments later, she woke.
She pushed herself up slowly. Pain raked through her body as she got her bearings. Nearby stood a rusty, barn-like structure made of metal. A gravel road led to a wider concrete one. She lay in a crater. Beyond the barn, a city sat on the horizon. Grassy farmland surrounded her on all other sides. A rusted car rested on the gravel road, like it had been abandoned mid-thought.
She checked herself: a smoking purple coat, burnt wings, and a mane that looked absolutely wrecked. She sighed.
"So much for a gentle landing."
She stumbled to a rusty shed and leaned her good shoulder against it. Her horn sparkled from overuse. She let herself relax for a long moment, breathing through the ache.
"Let's see what this new world has to offer," she said, adjusting her saddlebags. Then she started toward the city.
The road was long. She was too weak to fly—and she rarely did without reason anyway. Her hooves clacked against the concrete, a satisfying sound in the quiet.
"First order of business…" she muttered aloud.
[Teleportation]
She teleported several feet ahead. A small smile appeared.
"Good. Not defenseless."
She used telekinesis to pull the dull Elements of Harmony from her bag and inspected them. Good—they still held magic.
Next step: human form.
She focused on transforming her body. She'd practiced it a thousand times. She dove into the tall grass beside the road and began with her wings. They faded into her body in violet light. Then her tail and mane. Then her forelegs.
She closed her eyes, unwilling to witness any horrific sight as she lay there, focusing only on the feel of magic reshaping her.
She moved on to the forearms. Soon she was, briefly, a literal potato with a head in the grass. Then, slowly, she manipulated her body into a humanoid shape.
It was painful and slow. A lot of time probably passed. But she was confident she'd gotten all the arms, legs, and genitals correct.
Next was her head—easy, compared to the rest. She shrank the snout, rounded the face. Perfect.
Then the horn. She shrank it down until it was gone.
She rose unsteadily. Her human form was complete.
Prepared for this human world, she started walking toward the city.