A donkey grazed in the northern field of Path. He leaned down and took a bite of what looked like rather tasty grass. The blades turned sour and fishy and he spat them out angrily. Crabgrass. He thought and proceeded to the next patch of grass with extreme caution.
It was a lonely life in the Crap Field. All his life he'd been the only donkey on this grassy plane. He didn't even know if there were any other donkeys around. Maybe they were all dead.
He contemplated this thought as a commotion broke out to the east at the border of the Forest of Idde. Several strange looking creatures seemed to be trying to reproduce. The donkey snorted. Some animals must have very aggressive mating rituals, they were covered in blood and sweat. Was this the same for all animals? Did he have to mortally wound his mate to produce an heir to his pathetic legacy? Perhaps so, though the question still remained of where he would find a mate. Then it hit him. He can't reproduce. Well that's the end of that.
The two creatures were still going at it. The donkey squinted. They both looked to be male, or perhaps it's just a very ugly female. Why were they standing on their hind legs? Is that how it's done?
There was a final cry (the climax he guessed) and one of the creatures collapsed to the ground and didn't get up. The donkey snorted again and resumed eating.
He had all but destroyed a nice patch of greens when there was a yank on his tail.
"Heehaw!" He cried and saw the other creature crawling closer. What did this man think he was doing? Pulling tails was not respectable around these parts...he would assume.
"Ass." The creature touched his forehead. "I am dying, you must take my power."
What? He didn't want that. He wanted to eat and think about mating.
"You must! Someone is coming to our world soon and you must help them!"
A warmth spread throughout his body. No! Get out of here!
But it was too late. He felt his limbs popping out of place as his body shifted into that of the creature. He let out another 'heehaw' but it sounded like 'owe!'
He found he could articulate his thoughts now. "Stop it!" He cried. "I don't want to be a-" he fumbled for a word. What was he now? A-a human? No, those don't exist. He was a king. That's it. "I don't want to be a king!" The hair covering his body shrank back and the hair on his head grew longer. He was tall, he could now see everything. Hey! He realized now that he could see a donkey off in the distance. Thank you height. He was no longer on all fours, but he was still naked and that gave him a small degree of comfort.
"You must help her..." The man collapsed and the donkey-man realized it wasn't from mating, but from fighting.
Ohhhh. That makes so much more sense. He thought and returned to his normal position, munching happily on a patch of grass.