If waking up the first day in this fictitious world turned real was jarring enough, the second day was even worse. I slept poorly, with no dreams throughout the rest of that day. Near midnight, a soothing presence seemed to fill my mind and I fell into a better sleep. Not perfect, but I wasn't waking up every ten to fifteen minutes in a cold sweat. It was more like every hour or so instead. By the time I was more fully awake, I wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed. The clock on my nightstand said it was just past eleven in the morning.

And I. Was. Famished.

Groaning, I slipped on a bathrobe over my thin pajamas and shuffled out to the kitchen. Peering out of the window, I saw it was a gorgeous spring day, a few clouds floating by overhead. My stomach growled again, so I closed the shades and went to see what kind of food I had left in the fridge. I grabbed some eggs and scrambled them while throwing three slices of bread in the toaster oven. Eventually I had a healthy portion of scrambled eggs and toast on my plate.

Out of habit, I pulled out my phone and looked at the weather app. "Sunny and warm…no chance of rain, huh?" I looked at the location indicator again, then looked at the extended forecast. To my surprise, the forecast for the next seven days was exactly the same, down to the temperature and barometric pressure predicted. "That's…a little creepy," I muttered as I put down the phone and resumed eating.

Once finished, I stood and stretched. "What to do today?" I wondered aloud as I cleaned everything up and put the dirty dishes in my dishwasher. Noting how full it was, I put cleaner in the slot and turned it on. I could hear the water jets spraying already.

I decided next thing to do was air out the house. Back home, it had been midwinter, so the place felt a bit stuffy. However, if the impossible forecast on my phone was any indication, it was gonna be warm today. I connected my iPhone to the speaker system and put on some music. Soon every window is open in my house. A cool breeze from the outdoors blows in.

"Welp, guess it's a bit early, but some spring cleaning is in order," I said with a small smile. If I had been honest with myself at the time, I was trying desperately to distract myself from the predicament I found myself in. And it worked. I spent the day completely organizing everything that had been scattered around my house haphazardly since fall ended and winter began.

The highlight of my day was when I was cleaning under my desk. Looking underneath with a flashlight, I saw a glimmer of something. Just then I remembered the dream I'd had a couple nights earlier. Reaching over, I grabbed a small metallic object and pulled it out. It was my old class ring. I felt my eyes mist up as I held it close to me, a small teary smile forming on my face. Slipping it on, I chuckled when I found it was a bit snugger than I'd remembered, but it still moved around slightly as it had when I received it.

With a bit more of a pep in my step, I ate lunch (two ham and cheese sandwiches), then took my cleaning outside. It was in the light of day I noted some of the fallen trees on all sides of my property line. The time on the phone said it was just passed one in the afternoon. I decided next to do some wood chopping. "Could come in handy whenever winter comes around here, whenever that is," I said to myself as I grabbed the axe and saw from the nearby shed.

Until the sun began setting, I was busily sawing large branches off the tree and chopping them into useable firewood. I had a good amount collected in the shed by the time dinner rolled around. Heading inside, I opened one of the cans of soup and warmed it on the stove for dinner. When I was finished, the stars were out, shining brightly. The moon was rising over the forest and illuminating it with its light. Smiling, I looked up at the sky again. "Welp, you're free now, your Highness," I said, imagining I was talking to Luna. Or rather, perhaps it was more that I was praying to her in a very unconventional way. "I'm glad the Elements of Harmony were able to help you." I looked up at the sky again, and the small smile on my tired face widened a little bit. "Look at that, the sky looks brighter now, more beautiful than before. I hope you make a good life for yourself at your sister's side."

As I looked up, I saw a shooting star flash across the sky. I smiled, nodding at the heavens before I went back to eating. Once I was finished, I went back inside, put the bowl in the sink for tomorrow, shut up everything again, and crawled happily but sleepily into bed.

I found myself standing in a ruined looking room. I was sitting on a throne situated on a dais. In the center of the room in front of me, I saw a large stone structure resembling a tree with five massive limbs. Despite the ruins, it looked to have seen some action recently.

Standing, I looked around, trying to determine where exactly I was. It looked vaguely familiar…

"This is the throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters," a familiar female voice said from beside me. Turning, I saw the Alicorn from the day before flying around in a glowing form. "More specifically, it is where the Elements of Harmony recently defeated Nightmare Moon."

Immediately, I understood. I was dreaming again. I walked around, observing everything closely. "So, this is where it happened, huh?" I said aloud, a small smile crossing my lips. Turning back to Athena, I chuckled. "It looked so much cleaner in the show."

"Well, of course it did," she said, a smile on her face as well. "It was a cartoon, after all."

I ran my hands along the tree in the center of the throne room. The stone was ages old and covered in dust and cobwebs. "Such a shame…" I said quietly.

"What is?" Athena asked, a curious smile on her face now.

"It's a shame that this castle has fallen into such ruin," I said. "It must have been magnificent in its day."

The Alicorn only smiled, but it became wistful. "From what I have seen, yes. It was a beautiful place. But you can fix it up, you know." Her smile became a grin as she flew up, eyes close to him. "Remember what I said? You have powers here that most would kill to gain. Just remember this." She held her hoof off to the side of my vision.

Looking to where she was pointing, my eyes widened when I saw a blue bar stretching across my vision. I peered at it, waving my hands in front of it. I was unable to touch it, though. Turning back to Athena, I raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"I figured you would need to use this so you could get a feel for how much power you have in your astral form," she explained. "It's a Magic Point bar, like in video games."

I facepalmed. "Of course it is…" Reaching out, I used the my dreamlike willpower to lift one of the nearby stones. When I did, I saw a small bit of the MP bar vanish. He dropped it, but unlike in games, it didn't regenerate. At least, not to the naked eye. Turning, I asked, "It doesn't regenerate?"

"No. Not while you're in this state," she explained. "But you can work to expand it."

"Expand it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She flew around and sat lazily on the throne. "Think of your current magical ability in your dream form as a water balloon. The more you fill it with water, the wetter you can get someone when you hit them with it. In the waking world, you can do certain things that expand the amount of magic you have every time you're asleep."

"Like what?"

"Being healthier, for one. Exercise too."

"Well…I think I get it," I began, "but using that analogy, isn't there a point where the balloon pops?"

She giggled and flew up towards me again, putting her wings on my shoulders. "Not in this case," she explained. "The more you do in real life, the stronger your astral dream powers become." She leaned forward, touching his forehead with her horn. "Believe me, you have great potential to be a powerful being, and perhaps an ally of Princess Celestia and all of Equestria."

"An ally, huh…?" I watched as the small bit of magic in that MP meter went back up, then turned away. "I'm not sure…do you think they would accept me? I'm unusual to them."

Her wings turned me back to her. In her eyes was a look I hadn't seen in ten years. The look of motherly love. "You will fare well, I promise you this. You have the blessing of the last naturally born Alicorn with you." She closed her eyes and pressed her horn against my forehead again. "It might not be easy at first, adjusting to a new land and new people, but I encourage you to go out and see the world. Travel to Ponyville. Meet new people. Regain what was lost to you."

With a flash of light, she was gone before I could ask her what she meant. I reached up and touched my forehead, but felt nothing. I heard a dripping sound beside me. Looking down, I saw a small droplet of water. Reaching up slowly, I felt a slight dampness on the side of my cheek.

Her eyes…they reminded me so much of my mother in that moment. I held back my tears as I slowly stood. Wiping my eyes, I clapped my hands, rubbing them together as I looked around the room. "Well then," I grinned, "I think it's time to get some cleaning done!"

Instantly, I was floating above the ruins of the palace. I rolled up my sleeves, raised my hands, and began my symphony of recreations…

It was just past eight o'clock that morning when I woke. Groaning, I sat up and stretched, cracking my back a few times. Thinking back to the dream I had the night before, a wide grin began spreading over my face. "I can't wait to see what I managed to make," I chuckled, rubbing my hands together. Swinging my legs out of bed, I almost didn't see the small scroll on my nightstand. However, my sudden movement caused it to fall onto the floor. Frowning, I reached down and opened the seal around it.

My Dearest Jethro,

I forgot to mention this last night, however I have given your body some much needed adjustments to this world. Not only will you be able to fully digest most food here safely, but you also now will have the ability to read, speak and understand other languages in this world, the ones that do not look like English. Any allergies your body also once had have now been purged and your immune system will have adapted to any diseases in this world. I apologize for not being able to speak to you about this last night, but you were having so much fun I didn't want to interrupt.

I also wished to inform you that due to our connection, we will be able to see each other briefly each night in your dreams. I wish it could be longer, but your magical abilities are currently limited. The more you expand your magical reservoir, the longer I will be able to stay.

See you soon, my dear.

Obsidian Star/Athena

I rolled the scroll back up, silently thanking her for the much-needed help. My body did feel a lot better than it had the day before when I had been working outside. I threw on a bathrobe, got into some slippers, then walked out into the cold morning air where the smell of dew on grass filled my nostrils as I walked down the walkway towards the edge of my driveway. Grinning, I looked at what I'd accomplished overnight.

A small portion of the palace had been restored already. Unfortunately, I had to remove the stones in place on the bridge in order to do it, but I'd quickly rebuilt the bridge by carving out some stones from the river below. Instead of the white stones, the bridge was made of a mixture of gray and dark orange stones, glued together by some clay I'd found which was hardened instantly through the use of my dream control.

Around the time I'd woken, I had run out of MP and was thrust back into my body. I grinned wider as I admired the work I'd done the night before. It would take a while, but I was sure I could recreate the palace as it had been in the distant past.

And was it a magnificent palace! I found ancient looking books that, to my surprise, were actually still useful. Not that I could read them at the time, but with the adjustments I'd gotten from Athena, I was sure I could read them now.

Heading back inside, I whipped up breakfast for myself once again, feeling just as famished as I had the day before. The weather forecast, still the same as before, didn't really surprise me anymore. What did surprise me, though, was the sudden sound of rain outside as I was putting dishes away. Peering out the window, I noticed it had gotten dark all of a sudden. The rain was pouring down now, really hard. Looking at the weather app on my phone, it still showed that it was a sunny day currently.

I opened up the locations on the weather app, then began typing in EVERFREE FOREST. An option appeared for that location, and I selected it. Using it for my main location, I refreshed and looked at the weather again. I smiled when it looked more normal, with various temperature highs and lows as well as different forecasts for each day. Putting my phone down, I got up and placed the dishes in the sink before I began emptying the dishwasher.

When that had been taken care of, I put dirty dishes inside, grabbed the glass of orange juice I'd poured earlier, and stepped outside to look at the rain after changing into my daytime clothes. I was underneath the awning of my walkway, keeping well protected from the rain itself. Thankfully it wasn't too windy, so the rain stuck to the grass.

I wasn't about to go out exploring the forest that day, so I turned to head in when I froze. Something had moved on the road nearby. Quietly turning back, I tried getting a good look, but saw nothing. I stood there for about a minute, just waiting. When I heard nothing else, I began turning back when I heard something else. It was a combination of something falling onto a wet road and a sound of a pained female grunt.

I rushed to the edge of my property line and peered out, making sure not to pass the camouflage line. I saw some kind of creature in the distance. It might have been a Pony but it was hard to tell because some sort of cloth lay on its head. It had some kind of pack on its back.

That wasn't all I saw, however. Three unusual creatures were approaching the fallen being. Large creatures with green glowing eyes were slowly stalking up towards the fallen creature. I saw the smaller being try to crawl away, the larger monsters breathing out dark green mist from their noses. From where I was, I couldn't tell what they were made of, but they looked like they were made of wood.

I saw the smaller being lift its head. In a weak but distinct female voice, it called out, "If any near can hear my cry, please assist me before I die." Her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed.

Quickly, I grabbed the axe I'd left outside and rushed out into the road. Holding it up menacingly, I screamed at them with the most animalistic cry I could muster. I had three eyes on me in an instant and all three wooden monsters growled at me. "Well…shit." I barred my teeth at them and growled back. "Time to…COME AND GET SOME, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

At that, all three of them charged. I ran towards the bridge, then turned when I reached the other side, holding up my axe in a defensive position. To my relief, I saw that they were too big to cross the bridge at the same time.

The first one approached me, and I saw that it was, indeed, made of wood. Then again, I was too terrified to even be surprised. I held up my axe, growling to try and make myself more menacing, but all it did was make me feel stupid. The wooden monster opened its mouth and roared at me louder than I ever could. I nearly shit my pants in terror. In that moment, I froze. And that was a big mistake.

The wooden creature lifted its paw and swiped at me. Its paw hit me and threw me back a few feet. I landed heavily on my back. Having the wind knocked out of me, I had no breath to scream in pain. Looking down, the shirt I was wearing was now torn open, the exposed skin bleeding now. So much for this being a kid's type world, I thought as I groaned and tried to sit up. However, I was pinned down by the approaching monster, which immediately roared in my face.

"Well, what large teeth you have," I managed to gasp out as I stared up into its gaping maw. I looked around as fast as I could, and saw the axe lying a few feet from me. Doing my best to ignore the pain in my chest, I reached out as best as I could. However, it was out of reach. I spared a quick glance upwards. The wooden monster was opening its jaws wider now, as if it was savoring the moment. I winced as I made a last-ditch effort to grab the axe. Fortunately, this time I managed to grab it. With as loud a roar as I could muster, I slammed the axe directly into the creature's head. It made a screaming noise, then, to my astonishment, fell apart with the exception of the bit of wood which the axe was embedded in.

The other two wood monsters, which had been circling me in anticipation, stopped and barred their wooden fangs at me. The adrenaline pumping thick through me now, I got back to my feet and held the axe up in my hands, staring down the two monsters. In the open air, I saw they resembled some form of wolf.

One to the left of me leapt at me. I swung at it, embedding the axe in its head which caused it to disintegrate. However, the other had taken the opportunity to leap at me. Its jaws dug into my shoulder. I screamed in agony as I felt wooden teeth dig deeper and deeper inside my skin. Enraged, I brought the axe up once again and buried it into the creature's back. With a howl of pain, the creature disintegrated into pieces of wood. I fell back onto the ground, panting heavily.

After a while, the pain began to return even stronger as the adrenaline wore off. Wincing, I used the axe to get to my feet. I felt weakened by my fight, but I needed to get back to my house.

Weakly, I stumbled across the bridge, the rain falling harder now all around me. As I did so, I saw the Pony from before, only it, or rather she, was now standing. And she wasn't a Pony. She was a Zebra. She had four golden necklaces around her neck and two large circlet earrings hanging from her ears. Her mane looked more like a mohawk than a normal horse mane. She saw me and her dark blue eyes widened. In a somewhat African sounding accent, she spoke. "Oh my, you're hurt, I see. Did you distract them to protect me?"

I leaned against the axe, using it as a crutch. "Yeah, well…when someone cries out for help near my new home, it's…rude to ignore it, don't you think?"

The Zebra galloped up to me in a hurry and looked over my wounds. "Quickly, we must find a place that's dry," she began, "My house is not far, in fact it's close by."

"Mine is closer," I croaked out.

The Zebra looked around, a confused look on her face. "Where? I see no house nearby." I couldn't help but notice the look of shock on her face. One of her hooves went to her mouth.

"Follow me," I grunted as I used the axe as support.

The Zebra came up beside me, looking up at me with a determined look in her eyes. "Lead me to your house, if you please. You need some serious treatment. And lean on me."

The look in the Zebra's eyes told me not to argue. I put a hand on her to steady myself on the other side. "Towards that thicket there," I said weakly. I could feel myself slipping away slowly, but I couldn't do it right now. Not when I was so close to my house.

The moment we passed through the barrier, the Zebra beside me gaped. "Oh my…a house hidden away like this? Are you a-? Whoa!"

I stumbled and fell to my knees. "Just gonna…sleep here…" I said as I fell face first into the wet grass, passing out immediately.