"What? The? Fuck?"

It was too dark to see at the moment, so I pulled out my phone and turned on the light. It wasn't too powerful, but it illuminated just enough for me to see my driveway. I walked out farther, until I reached the end of my driveway. The pavement gave way to grass and dirt. I tried using my phone's light to illuminate anything ahead of me, but the light seemed to be swallowed by some sort of unnatural darkness.

I rushed back inside and grabbed the most powerful flashlight I had. Rushing back out I turned it on and shone it around. Shining it to the left, I saw what looked like an ancient stone pathway half buried in moss and twigs from the surrounding forest. From my right I saw a small beacon of light. Frowning, I turned.

And gaped in astonishment.

I was facing a large palace, overgrown with trees and moss and vines of every kind. The light I saw was a larger than normal moon. But the strange thing about it was that there was an unusual pattern on it. It resembled the head of a unicorn. I blinked, but it remained. I stared at it, confused. However, it suddenly vanished with a twinkling of dark purple light.

And then it hit me. I smacked my forehead. "I'm an idiot! I'm still dreaming!" I chuckled and closed my eyes, willing myself to fly. However, when I opened my eyes, I was still standing in the road. Panicking, I tried again, to no avail.

The night seemed to grow darker around me. Whether it was due to my oncoming panic attack or something else, I didn't really know. I felt my breakfast start to come up. Falling onto my hands and knees, my breakfast came up.

It took me a while, but eventually I was done gagging and dry heaving. I tasted bile and my eyes were watering as I shakily stood. I wiped my eyes with my jacket as I stumbled back towards the garage.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting on my couch, staring blankly up at the ceiling. It was still dark, and I wasn't actually seeing anything. Despite having the cathartic release of vomiting to help me calm down even a little bit, I could still hear my heart beating in my ears loudly and fast. I was breathing heavily, trying to keep from throwing up again.

"There's no way…there's absolutely no way this is actually happening!" I said to myself. In fact, I was probably shouting, but I couldn't exactly hear myself due to the shock. "No, this is some kind of dream! A dream I can't control!" I sat up, my heartrate decreasing. "Yeah, that's all. If I pinch myself really hard, I'll wake up!" Pulling up my sleeve, I reached down and pinched as hard as humanly possible. Wincing, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was right back where I was, sitting in the darkened living room.

In my research into dreams, I'd discovered that dream pain was different than real life pain. I knew, of course, that if I pinched myself in a dream, I woke up every time. It never failed. The glow from the window in the kitchen told me I wasn't dreaming. Either that, or the pinching experiment failed. I tried it a couple times, each ending in failure.

Suddenly I felt anger welling up inside me. "What the hell is going on here!? How the ever-loving FUCK did I get here!?" This time I could hear myself screaming. I wanted to hit something, anything. I wanted to scream at the sky and punish whoever or whatever brought me here.

Somehow, common sense prevailed and I didn't hit anything. Nothing except the floor over and over again. I felt the sting of bitter angry tears forming around my eyes. Looking up at the clock, I saw it was nearly five. "No, no no no! Someone please take me back home…you can have all the money in my bank account. You can take all my games…my money…anything…Just please…I…I can't stay here…"

The anger vanished, and I simply lay on the floor, a continuous stream of tears falling down my face. I couldn't help it, wave after wave of despair flowed over me, and the more it did, the more the sudden anger drained from me. Much like the vomiting earlier, it was strangely cathartic.

After a while, I slowly sat up. The living room was still dark, but when I looked at the Blu-Ray player clock, it read as just being past noon. I frowned. "Did I fall asleep?" I looked outside the window, but it was still dark. "Did it really take them this long to pass through the forest?" I wondered aloud. I stood fully; my work suit crumpled now. Another fit of anger came over me and I began pulling off all my clothes until I was in nothing but my boxers and white t-shirt I normally wore to bed. "Won't be needing those, will I?" I growled. I made my way back to bed, throwing the covers over me. The weighted blanket helped me relax and calm down again. Perhaps…perhaps some more sleep'll help me calm down a bit more…

Figuring there wasn't anything much else to do, I closed my eyes…but sleep didn't come. I wasn't really surprised, of course. My mind just wasn't really in it at the moment. That's not to say I didn't try my damndest to fall asleep. I counted sheep, I tensed up my body in increments, hell, I even did a few sit ups and pushups which had normally helped in the past during sleepless nights, but nothing helped tonight.

Looking over at the clock, I was astonished to see it was nearly three in the afternoon. Outside, the sky was still dark, the moon in the exact same place it had been before. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I could see some more of the moonlit landscape. And a particular structure spanning a large canyon. "What the…"

If I didn't feel completely awake now, I certainly did at this point. I threw on a pair of sweatpants, a hoodie, a facemask and a long black hooded overcoat. If I'm seen, I reasoned, at least I can hide my face.

Throwing on some sturdy shoes that I normally kept by my front door, I threw my hood over my head and rushed out into the still cool night air. I left my property line again and turned right, heading towards the canyon that separated me from the ruins of the castle I'd seen earlier, first in my dreams and now in real life. But that wasn't the target of my investigation.

"Oh…my…God…" was all I could say when I saw the stone bridge spanning the chasm between me and the ruins. It was the same one I'd created in the dream I had. I shone my flashlight around, taking in the construction before me. The stone bridge, just as in my dream, looked to be newly constructed.

Curiously, I stepped on the edge. When nothing happened, I stepped off and looked around. Finding a large rock nearby, I picked it up and threw it towards the bridge. All I heard was stone impacting stone as the rock bounced a few times before stopping halfway down the new bridge.

"Welp, here goes nothing," I said, gingerly stepping on the bridge again. Feeling it stand firm, I walked tentatively across it. It took me about five or so minutes to cross, but when I did, the bridge was still in place. I didn't even hear anything falling into the canyon below. Feeling emboldened now, I strode at a faster pace across the bridge. When there was still no effect, I walked to the center of the bridge and began jumping on it slightly. I was impressed when nothing happened. "Since when did I become a master craftsman?" I wondered aloud as I walked back to my house.

Sitting down on the plastic chair on the walkway up to my front door, I leaned back and looked up at the stars. Unlike back home, the stars in the night sky here shone with a brilliance that rivaled even the heavens from rural areas back on Earth. But, to my shock, they looked identical to the ones from back home. I could even identify certain constellations. The moon, larger than Earth's own, shone its brilliance on the scene before me now that my eyes were fully adjusted.

"It's a real shame there, isn't it Luna," I muttered aloud to no one in particular. "The night is my favorite part of any full day. The stars go on forever and ever where I'm from…" In the back of my head, I wondered why I was actually saying these things, but I kept on going. "I get that you were jealous of your sister, but honestly there was no need to be. I'm sure there were pe…well, ponies, I suppose…who enjoyed the night. Especially the moon. It's extremely romantic…" I trailed off, remembering her again. I swallowed the thought, not wanting to bring back painful memories. "Honestly, princess or not, I wish I was able to hug you and reassure you…"

"…it is!" I heard a distinct female voice shout out from my left. I stopped talking and went prone. "The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony." I saw a few familiar ponies walking out of the forest to my left. "We made it!"

As soon as Twilight rushed out towards the stone bridge, Applejack shouted after her, "Twilight, wait for us!" The other five rushed after her.

"We're almost there!" Twilight grinned, reaching the new stone bridge. And just like that, the world changed. She didn't even fall this time, merely galloped across the bridge as if it was nothing. They vanished into the newly risen fog on the other side.

"Should I head over there?" I wondered aloud. After a while, I stood and brushed myself off. "No, I really think I shouldn't. I've changed enough as it is, apparently."

I turned and walked back inside, closing and locking the front door. Removing my coat, I threw it on the couch, collapsing on top of it. The house itself was quiet and dark, save for the lights from the Blu-Ray player.

Reaching over to the small endtable next to the couch, I grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Opening up Netflix, I paused, a sudden realization growing in me. "God, I'm an idiot!" I said as the Netflix loading screen remained there. I was about to turn it off when the menu loaded up again. "What…? But how?!" I paused, my mind going blank as more realizations came to me. "Electricity…the water…God, I am such a moron!"

I reached over and turned on the light next to me. It came on just as it normally would. Pulling out my phone, I opened the weather app and refreshed it. "Clear skies…with a twenty percent chance of eternal night…what the…?" it was then that I really noticed the location on the app. "Location: Ponyville?"

Groaning, I closed my eyes and leaned back against the couch. "This is just…too much…"

Utter exhaustion overcame me at that moment, and I passed out.

I opened my eyes slowly, only to find myself lying flat on my back in the middle of my living room. I slowly sat up and stretched, looking around. The room looked in order, save for a figure slumped over on the couch. I rushed over, and on closer inspection, saw it was a sleeping me. I tapped the sleeping figure cheek, only to feel someone tapping mine at the exact same spot. I tapped the figure's forehead, and felt the same touch on my own. "So…not quite a dream."

"It would seem you finally realize what has happened here," a silky-smooth feminine voice said from directly next to me.

I jumped out of my spot, whirling onto the source of the voice. Sitting calmly on my couch was a winged unicorn, but to my surprise it wasn't Princess Celestia or Luna. Instead, the being I saw before me had a sky-blue coat with a curly yellow mane and tail. She looked like she was wearing Greek robes and had a circlet of gold-encrusted leaves around her head. The expression on her face turned from serene to faintly amused as she began to giggle. "Oh my. You should see the look on your face. Quite the amusing one indeed."

I stared at her with as hard an expression as I could muster. Frustratingly, this only elicited further giggles from the Greek looking pony. "Ahaha! AHAHA! Ooooh…Ooooh…Jethro Bethridge, you're quite amusing when you try and appear menacing."

Sighing, I dropped the glare and looked more closely at her. She was taller than I was by about a foot. Her eyes were a silvery blue and full of mirth. "Alright, you caught me, I'm not exactly the most threatening human in the world, big whoop," I sighed, throwing my hands in the air.

The winged unicorn rolled over and landed on the floor. Standing on all fours, she smiled up at me. "Oh, but you…you…AHAHA!" She burst out laughing again, tears of amusement streaming down her face. Wiping her eyes with one of her front hooves, she looked up at me with the kindest smile I'd seen in a long time. "I apologize, but even for somepony like me, I find your attempt at threatening me amusing."

I raised an eyebrow immediately at that. Given my unfamiliarity with the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic franchise, I knew next to nothing about the characters that might have appeared in later episodes, so I merely assumed she was one who'd show up later. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Her smile became one of amusement now. "Please, sit. I imagine you have much more to ask me than just that."

Irked at having been told to sit in my own home, I nevertheless did as she said and sat next to my sleeping physical form. She walked over in front of me and, to my surprise, sat on her haunches on the floor in front of me. She cleared her throat. "To begin, I'm known by many names. Here, I am known as Obsidian Star. On Earth, though, I was known as Athena."

"The Greek goddess of wisdom?" I asked curiously.

"And handicrafts and personal reason. And war," she added, although her face appeared to fall at that. Perhaps she wasn't particularly proud of that last title. "But yes, I'm the very same."

I shook my head. After the day I'd already had, I wasn't entirely sure I could believe her. "Impossible. They're just a myth. A story invented by early humans to explain the natural world around them."

She frowned, but slowly nodded. "Not exactly. While it's true we of the pantheon were powerful, we were by no means deities. No, we were banished Equestrian alicorns."

"Alicorns?" I tilted my head curiously.

She nodded. "An alicorn is what I am, and what Princesses Celestia and Luna are." She extended her wings briefly, then pointed at her horn with one wing before putting her wings away. "We passed through to another world, yours," she continued. "The legends and stories of the Greek gods came from us. More specifically, Zeus."

She inhaled deeply, then sighed. "We did indeed rule over the Greek humans for a number of years. We found a way to feed our magic through the magic of worship instead of friendship. We weren't as powerful as we had been back in Equestria, but we were amongst magicless humans. What could they do to stop us?"

Her ears fell as she lowered her head. "I admit, I thought that way at one time too, but I started spending time with humans. I admit, while your species is more chaotic and brutal than us ponies, you had the same wants and desires as us. So…I began appreciating your kind more and more. I defended you to the others of my kind more and more. Until…that day. The day where I broke the most important rule among our kind."

I listened closely. I wasn't entirely sure why she was being so upfront with me, but I knew better than to interrupt her story. She took my silence as acknowledgment to go on. "I…I killed them all."

My jaw went agape, and I couldn't help but speak up now. "Why…?"

She looked aside, clearly ashamed of her actions. "There…there is a reason why we were banished to your world. Our minds had been tainted by an ancient chaotic being from this world." She sighed. "We caused so much chaos that we were banished to Earth. Even then, our thirst for chaos defined us. I would have followed the same path had my curiosity about your kind not grown to such a place where I interacted with your kind in disguise. The chaotic thoughts in my head slowly vanished over time. But…not for…"

"The others," I finished, frowning.

Athena nodded. "Correct. They reached the point of utter madness. They were going to try and create an empire on Earth and subject the human race to their whims. I couldn't allow that, so…" she trailed off.

"I think I get the picture," I said, swallowing.

"Every single one of them…" A tear fell onto the carpet in front of me. "All dead by my hand."

I didn't know what to do. Here was a goddess in my living room, sharing her innermost turmoil to me, and I had no idea how to react. Part of me wished I could comfort her somehow, because her crying reminded me of…her. Her last words to me before…before she left. But on the other hand, I barely knew her, so being so forward seemed wrong to me. She raised her hoof and wiped her eyes. "I'm…I'm sorry. But when you possess all the magic of those you killed, it tends to get to you. That, and I have been alone for generations due to my appearance."

"Yes…about that…" I began, but stopped. "No, never mind…it's not my business."

She smiled forlornly at me. "Don't apologize, I don't mind explaining." Her smile vanished slowly as she continued. "After I'd…stopped…my former companions, I discovered that I'd taken all of the magic from them. It's one reason why this is the way it is." She turned and lifted her dress, revealing one of her flanks. I nearly looked away, but a tattoo I saw startled me. It had the appearance of a black hole. She lowered her dress after a few seconds and faced me. "My cutie mark changed to that."

I frowned in confusion. I remembered someone in the show had mentioned a cutie mark, but had forgotten what it meant. She must have sensed my confusion, because she chuckled softly. "I forget, you haven't been exposed to this world long. A cutie mark appears on the flank of every pony when they discover their purpose in life. Mine used to be different, but when I…committed that one act, it changed to what you just saw."

I nodded. "I see, I think." The more I learned about this world, the more I realized how alien it was to my own human sensibilities.

"After that, I searched for a way home. I was lonely. I wandered your world for thousands of years. Until a few days ago."

My eyes widened. "When I was brought here," I said.

She nodded. "Yes. I felt the magic of Equestria reaching out. I followed it and saw it envelop you. I didn't even stop to think, and followed you through, while at the same time using the magic I had left to force your entire property through the vortex. As for how you have all your modern amenities, I'm afraid that would take more time to explain than I have. Please forgive me." She sighed and looked down.

"So…um…" I started, but paused. The burning questions in my mind begged for release, but after the display of emotion from this being known as Athena, I felt it wasn't right to ask at the present time.

Athena smiled, some mirth returning to her eyes. "I know…and I apologize, but I haven't spoken to another living soul in many thousands of years, and I suppose my emotions got the best of me." Standing, she moved and sat on the couch next to me, a bit too close for my comfort, but it was an abnormal situation anyway, and I was more distracted by the events of the day anyway. She sat in a somewhat human manner, too. "As I said, I'm not the one who brought you here, but I am the one who brought your house along with you, allowed for all the amenities, and gave you Midnight Breeze's abilities."

"Midnight Breeze?" I asked curiously.

"On Earth, he was known as Morpheus, Greek god of sleep and dreams," she explained. "You've already somewhat seen the effects firsthand, haven't you?"

"The bridge and the camouflage…"

"Exactly." She nodded. "Whenever you dream, like you are now, your astral form temporarily leaves your body and you gain the powers of a god. But you only have a limited portion of power that you can use per dream."

"Limited?" I asked.

"If this was a game, think of it as a certain amount of MP you have with you during each dream," she explained. "It's still a great deal of power, but depending on how much you use, that limited pot of magic drains and doesn't refill unless you woke up and went back to sleep."

I thought back on all that I'd done during my two latest dreams. I didn't really feel like anything was being drained from me, and I wasn't sure why this pony goddess would lie to me. Then again, I began to realize there wasn't really a reason for me to trust her completely. Which began to beg the question: Why should I believe what she's saying? She could easily be an enemy for all I know.

"…ridge…? Mr. Bethridge? Are you well?"

Athena's words woke me from my stupor. "Huh? I'm sorry, I spaced out, and-"

"You were thinking about if you could trust me, couldn't you?" Athena's tone was somber. "I don't blame you. And I won't tell you otherwise. I will do my best to earn your trust, which is one reason why I am maintaining some of your connections to your old life as well as giving you a certain magical power. Is there more you wish to ask me?"

I rubbed my chin and considered. "Well…you're right, I shouldn't fully trust you. We did just meet, after all. I don't know how friendship works in this world, but from what little I've seen, it's made too easily."

"I understand that," she replied, but before she could explain further, I felt the ground start to rumble beneath me.

Quickly rushing to the window, I saw a bright white light emanating from the ruined castle. It bathed the landscape around it with its glow. When the light touched me, a sensation I hadn't felt in ages washed itself over me. Yelping in terror, I closed the blinds, closing off the feelings the light had bestowed upon me. In an instant, Athena was by my side, her hoof on my shoulder and a tender look in her eyes. "You felt it, didn't you?" she asked.

"I…I don't know what I felt," I lied. I wasn't sure why, but I just didn't want to tell her.

She smiled. "It's not polite to lie, you know," she said with an amused admonishing tone, "but I am the goddess of wisdom for a reason." She began to glow just then, her body hovering slowly and becoming more transparent. "I'm afraid I must leave, but just as the young Twilight Sparkle has done, if you need to reach out to me in any way, write a letter and then set it ablaze. I will receive it wherever I am."

"What about all the questions?" I asked, watching in awe as she turned more and more invisible.

"I will answer them in time, of that you can be reassured," the distant echoing voice of the goddess replied. "For now, farewell, and try and regain what was lost."

"What do you mean?" I called out, but I was alone once again. The only light now was from my lamp, but that didn't last for long either. Sunlight immediately poured in through the disturbed shades in the living room. Looking back at my body, I saw the light hitting my eyes. The world around me began to fade…

I woke immediately to the sight of the curtain falling back into place. Groaning, I sat up, only to hear distant voices coming from outside. Getting up, I rushed over to the window and looked out. From behind the ruins, I saw the rising of a glorious looking sun. It was a bit odd to see its size, but its warmth was similar to the sun I knew.

I suddenly felt extremely exhausted. Looking at the clock, it was nearly four in the afternoon, at least that was what my internal clock was telling me. However, as I watched, the clock blinked. The time was now exactly seven now. Blinking, I looked at another clock on the wall. It was moving backwards at an alarming rate, the second hand stuck at the twelve. When it stopped on seven, the second hand began moving again.

Frowning, I went to the window and peered out as stealthily as I could to figure out the source of the voices. With the sunlight back, it was easier to see the road beyond my property line. Eight pony-shaped figures were walking down the road, most being all smiles and joy, save for one smaller dark blue alicorn princess. She walked behind her older sister, not exactly looking happy. She paused, looking around at the landscape around her.

Celestia, seeing this, paused and turned to her younger sister. Despite the distance, I was still able to hear their voices through the partially opened window. "Dear sister, is something wrong?"

The other ponies, hearing this, turned to look at Luna. The dark blue princess looked back at the bridge. She said, "We know we hath been away for many years, but wast there always such a bridge to the palace?"

Celestia looked at the stone bridge with curiosity. "Hmm…I do believe you're right."

"Princess Celestia? Is something wrong?" Twilight Sparkle asked, approaching her mentor.

"I'm not sure," she said. "The bridge to the palace was made of rope and wood the last time I checked." She approached, tapping it experimentally.

Luna looked at her sister. "What could this mean?" she asked in her booming voice.

Celestia shook her head. I was surprised that they hadn't turned towards my house yet before I remembered the dream illusion spell I'd cast. Feeling a bit bolder, I readjusted myself so I could get a better view. I saw the two princesses and the new Elements of Harmony looking around. Some looked in my direction, which unnerved me and caused me to hide, but to my relief, none of them seemed to actually notice me. After a while, Princess Celestia straightened. "Well, I sense no magic here. It's possible the palace was once inhabited by some group who built this, but for the time being, we should head back."

"Ah'm sure Ponyville's resident party planner is anxious tuh get tuh work on a party, ain't ya?" Applejack chuckled as the eight ponies walked away, laughing at the little joke.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, collapsing back to the floor and gazing up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure whether I should be panicking right then or sleeping. I lay there for a while before I realized I was beginning to fall asleep. Not wanting to wake up stiff, I crawled towards bed, removing my jacked and hoodie before snuggling up in the sheets. My eyes shut, and welcome blackness overcame me.