Night had fallen in the land of Equestria. Everypony was sleeping soundly, tired from their daily work in their busy lives.

Luna stood on her bedroom's balcony. As the Mistress of the Night, her duty was to watch over everypony's dreams, as well as raise and lower the moon. Roughly one thousand years ago, her sister, Celestia, had banished her to the moon for trying to take the power of the throne for herself, but it wasn't Luna that tried to take it. It was her dark side, Nightmare Moon, that tried to take the throne.

It had only been a few years since she returned to Equestria, but when the spell broke, she returned as Nightmare Moon and not herself. She once again struck fear into the hearts of Equestria's citizens. If it weren't for Twilight and her friends, she wouldn't be standing as Luna once again.

Luna was staring at the night sky, looking for anything out of the ordinary, any information the sky had to offer. All of sudden, she noticed a bright flash that came from behind her. What in Equestria was that? Luna wondered.

She turned around and her eyes widened in shock. Above the Everfree Forest, a ball of lightning and flame hovered, crackling and giving off pulses of white light. As she continued to gaze at this abnormality, the sphere started to spin until it was nothing more than a glowing ball of blue fire.

Fearing for the worst, she prepared to take off to encounter this strange threat, but an explosion from the orb suddenly shattered the silence of the night. The orb had begun falling towards the Everfree Forest, gaining momentum.

The explosion had dazed Luna and she slumped to the ground. Before she closed her eyes, she witnessed something inside the orb, but couldn't quite make it out and she fell unconscious. The orb continued to make its descent and disappeared into the depths of the Everfree Forest.

Another pony happened to had witnessed the event, and it was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

The stranger... The stranger has arrived at last, she thought.

---

When Tavin opened his eyes, he only saw the murky darkness of treetops. They appeared to be looming over him. Watching him.

"Ohhh ow, my head…" Tavin said, a small groan followed shortly after. He could feel the damp ground beneath him, his clothes were already thoroughly soaked from the mist covering the ground.

As his eyes started to adjust, he started to get a clearer view of his surroundings. It looked like a swamp, or forest of sorts, but something felt… off. He felt like he was being watched by someone or something.

Hrm, it looks like I'm in some sort of small clearing, but where is here? Tavin thought, First things first, I should check for any injuries. As he raised his arm to feel his head, he expected his fingers to run through his hair, but he felt nothing more than a blunt smoothness.

"Wh-what!? Where are my h-hands? Where are m-my fingers!? Why does it feel like I'm touching my head with a…" he lowered his arm, and couldn't believe what he saw. "A hoof!?" Tavin cried. He immediately tried to jump up, but ended up just crashing to the ground.

"My l-legs! They aren't hu-human! What's going on!? Where am I? WHAT am I!?" He tried to run, but simply ended up in a tangled heap on the ground.

Okay, okay, deep breaths, in, out, in, out… he thought. Finally, after much difficulty, he stood on all four legs. He tried walking, well, more like stumbling about.

Tavin finally came across a pool of water, and suddenly realized that he was quite thirsty. He tried using his hoof to scoop water, but to no avail. "Guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way." he said, and shoved his head into the water.

Many gulps later, he let the water become calm and got a good look at himself. He first noticed that he was definitely not human anymore, not even a hybrid. He was a stallion, and a rather… familiar style of stallion to be exact, but Tavin couldn't place it.

I've seen this type of equine before, but where? I guess I must have hit my head rather hard. he thought.

There were some features though he recognized immediately, such as his eye colour and hair-now-coat colour. Ocean blue and chestnut brown, exactly as he remembered it. His mane was cobalt blue with streaks of white and gold, and it looked oddly like fire that was blowing in the wind. A horn also poked outside of his mane.

Woah! I have a horn! Tavin thought. He decided to take a closer look. That means that I must be a... a unicorn! Argh! I know that I've seen something like this before, but where!? He began to feel a small pain in his head, all of this thinking was creating a headache.

There were some new marks that he saw as well. What definitely looked like a lightning bolt streaked across his right eye, and he noticed something on his neck as well.

"The orb!" Tavin exclaimed. It caused this mess… yet I feel that it is important somehow. Can I remove it? he thought. Tavin tried to knock it off, but the orb wasn't going anywhere, in fact, the orb was now a centerpiece of a beautifully carved necklace. I'll leave it for now then, I shall discover its purpose no matter what! he swore to himself.

"Since I'm definitely not human anymore, I might as well remove these clothes." Tavin said. He easily stepped out of them, and being curious as he was, decided to look at the rest of his new form. He noticed something on his new flank, and on it was a symbol, but he couldn't quite make it out because of how dark it was.

"I've got to find a way out of here, and fast!" he exclaimed. He noticed an overgrown path leading away from the clearing, and headed towards it.

Well, it's better than nothing, how old is this place? Where am I? Tavin asked himself in his mind again and again as he trotted down the path.

---

A couple of hours, or what felt like hours pass and Tavin was still on the path.

Blast it! This is getting me nowhere! Why do I feel like I've been wandering in circles? This forest, this place, wherever here is, it's driving me crazy! he thought as he snorted in frustration, Did I just snort? Haha, that's great…

He heard a faint rustling sound from somewhere in the depths of the trees and his ears pricked up. Being a stallion had heightened his senses greatly, far exceeding human quality.

"Who goes there?" Tavin asked as he swung his head towards the direction of the sound, "I warn you, I'm a force to be reckoned with! I think!"

There wasn't a response, so he continued onwards, more cautiously and even more determined to get out of this creepy place. Tavin was quickly becoming exhausted, due to lack of food and not stopping to take a break.

I must continue… I must! he thought. Suddenly, he heard the mysterious voice again. Stranger, you must listen to me, I've been trying to communicate with you but have been failing to do so. There is probably too much interference between you and I. Where are you? the voice asked.

Realizing that this was probably his only hope for salvation, he quickly replied with his own thoughts.

I'm in some kind of forest I think, I've been wandering for hours… I think I'm lost, but I'll keep on going, I need to survive! There was a small pause, and then the voice spoke again. Wait! Stay right where you are. You are in the Everfree Forest, a dangerous place. I'll help you as best as I can. the voice replied. Oh sweet relief! Thank you whoever you are! Tavin thought with glee. He started to bounce with joy! Then there was a sharp pain on the back of his head, Tavin saw stars, and everything went dark.