[My head...]

Darkness. Nice, sweet, comforting darkness. Keeps me from focusing on the pain ripping through my skull.
Did I mention that my head feels like it's exploding?
Probably didn't.
Well, my head feels like it's exploding. I'd come up with a better term for the pain, but - as I said before - my head feels like it's exploding.

[Tavi...]

I lay in silence for what seems like an eternity.

[Tavi, are you all right?]

No answer.
I open my eyes, light piercing my head like daggers, and get to my feet, ignoring the pain that seems to be contained in every fiber of my being.
Yes, feet.
Great.
I take a few seconds to look myself over.
Guess I've been transformed into... something. The name of my new form lingers on the edge of my brain, a thought half-remembered.
Whatever it is, it's wearing a white T-shirt with my cutie mark emblazoned on it, jeans, and sandals. There's a pair of headphones around my neck, with no visible cord.
The pain slowly starts to fade, and I sigh in relief.

[Gotta find Tavi.]

I look around me. Purple grass, purple stone with giant chasms dotting the landscape, withered trees with purple leaves...
I sigh again.

[Corruption, huh? Well, looks like we're in Terra Firma.]

I sigh again, seeing a greyish-black monster rise out of a nearby chasm.
I find this oddly funny.

[Figures It'd try to kill me from the get-go...] I say, laughing mirthlessly.

That makes me pause.

[What would try to kill me?]

I try to think back to the arcade, and what came after...
I can't remember anything after the world went white, but a looming sense of evil overtakes me.
Something brought us here.
Something malevolent.

Geez, did I seriously just use the word 'malevolent' and mean it?

I make a mental list of all the things I know:
1. Tavi and I have been sucked into a video game.
2. I'm a strange thing; the same character you play as in Terra Firma.
3. Something - I don't know what - is out to get Tavi and I.

My thoughts are interrupted by the monster as it barrels into me and knocks me to the ground, its fangs digging into me for a second before it rebounds away, coming in for another attack.

I feel like I'm on fire, but I stand back up anyway, opening up my inventory.

4. I have no sword.

The monster tries to come back for round two, but I'm ready for him.

5. I have an axe.

The thing's more suited for chopping trees than heads, but it's light, and it keeps the monster at bay.

[This thing must be Forceful. There's no way it could do this otherwise.] I say, thinking aloud. [Guess I'm not completely out of luck.]

[What!?]

The monster falls back, its single eye open in shock.

I look around, trying to find the source of the other voice.
There's nopony around except the monster.
I turn to it, my mind working. It flies closer to me, its eye narrowed in confusion.

[Are you sentient?]
[Are you sentient?]

Both the monster and I speak at the same time, and we both recoil in shock.

[You are!] I say.

[The prophecy!] The monster says, flying away, back into the chasm. [The others must know!]

I stand there in shocked silence for a few minutes.

[So that happened.]

Slowly, I walk to the nearest group of trees, trying to process that bundle of oddness, and prepare to start chopping.

Before long, where the trees were, there's now a mess of saplings and a single workbench.
Using it, I craft a sword and a hammer out of wood - and by 'craft', I mean the wood disappears and the hammer and sword appear - and pick up the workbench.

[It's a really, REALLY long shot, but if I can find at least one exposed Shadow Orb...] I begin, thinking aloud again as I walk over to one of the pits. [I can break it, and get something that'd help me find Tavi. Anything would help.]

[The problem is,] I say. [How do I get down into that chasm without dying of fall damage or getting my limbs torn off by monsters?]

[That isn't very nice!]

I jump, turning around to find the monster from before floating behind me.

[You look strange to me, but I don't go around calling you a 'monster'!] the thing says.

I just stare at it in stunned silence.

[Was I only imagining that you could talk earlier?] it asks, flying up to me and studying my face with its single eye.

[N-No...] I say, getting over the initial shock. [You just startled me.]

The thing makes a noise that I assume is laughter. There isn't much mirth in it, and its eye stays the same, looking at me evenly.

[The others don't believe me.] It says. [It's been so long since the prophecy was made that they won't believe you exist...]

At this, its eye grows sad, and I reach out a hand to touch it. There's something oddly cute about the thing; I want to comfort it for some reason.

[Well, if they're as understanding as you, you could bring them up.] I say.

The thing recoils.

[Our King would never allow it!]

King?
As far as I knew, none of the creatures in Terra Firma ever had a king. Then again, none of them could talk...

[Who is this king?] I ask. [I might wanna go talk to him. Maybe he's found my friend.]

[We do not speak his name.] the creature says, fear in its voice. [He is the Great Devourer of All Things, the worm that sleeps under the earth.]

The Eater of Worlds.
That complicates things...

[Is there any way I could talk to your people down where you come from?] I ask. [I'll need all the help I can get in finding my friend.]

The creature hovers near my knee and looks up at me.

[I might not have the strength,] it says. [But I will carry you anywhere you wish.]

As I sit down on the creature, I ask it a question that's been on my mind ever since I started talking to it.

[Why aren't you trying to kill me right now?] I ask.

[Because you are one of the Heroes.] it replies. [The Regicide, whatever that means.]

Welp. That explains the deferential treatment.
Ugh. 'Deferential'? Geez, I'm starting to sound like somepony out of one of Tavi's books.

As I contemplate the task that's evidently been set for me, the creature and I descend into the darkness.