Elu lay on his comfortable bed, his chest rising and falling as he breathed deeply, entangled in the web of dreams. Forgetting the reality, he traveled to his subconsciousness as it showed him everything that he is in a way he might never be able to understand completely. Images, sounds, and sensations filled his brain, and a dream came to him.

He stood in the crowd of cheering people, observing them as they watched the fireworks silently exploding in the evening sky. Elu glanced at his body and saw a well-tailored dark-gray suit along with a thin-striped purple and black buttoned shirt underneath. He slightly adjusted it with his hands and straightened the posture.

For a moment, he became aware of the fact that he was dreaming. Holding onto the straw of thought, he looked around. If he was going to explore this dream, he would like to have the help of the Dreamwalker herself — Princess Luna. He began calling out to her as he walked through the crowd.

On a nearby bench, a group of girls was sitting, chatting among themselves. He addressed them, asking where Luna was. They looked at him with weird looks on their faces, and Elu mentally slapped himself. It was his dream, and everyone he met in it was a part of him in one way or another. None of them knew more than he did, and none of them had more power than he did.

Focusing, he changed his direction, continuing his search for Luna. Calling her name, he made his way to a simple asphalt road. On its side, a billboard stood. An ad featuring My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic scrolled through it, showing an image of Princess Luna herself. Elu walked up to the billboard and touched it before the image could disappear.

A low rumble echoed in his head as the image distorted as if it were a disturbed surface of the water. Ripples traveled from where the former human touched it, changing the image to a pure starlit sky. Surprised, Elu took a few steps back, cautiousness appearing in his mind. However, curiosity was stronger, and it pulled him towards the sky. He reached out with his hand and found that he could go right through the billboard as if it were a doorway. Intrigued, he walked into the opening.

On the outside, everything was filled with stars and cosmic dust, slowly traveling across the black canvas. However, that was not all — multiple doors were visible, standing in long, seemingly infinite rows. Each door was different, even if only ever so slightly. The pattern of the wood used, cracks, different shades or styles of paint over the wood, it was infinite variation. Muffled voices and sounds could be heard coming from behind those doors, joining into an omnipresent noise.

Elu looked back at his own door. It resembled the door of his room where he lived as a human: plain thick and heavy wooden door painted green. Heavy and sometimes difficult to open but lacking a proper lock. He remembered how his previous parents used to come in without knocking, and he thought of installing a lock or a deadbolt. He wondered what became of his old room. His bed, his other furniture, his computer, tablet, phone, a decent library comprised mostly of sci-fi and post-apocalyptic books such as Metro 2033 Universe, and a decent collection of Russian and USSR gas masks. Was it all mindlessly dumped, sold to cover the expenses of his funeral, or was it still there, collecting dust?

Guiltily, Elu hung his head in shame. Despite everything that his parents did wrong, they didn't deserve to see him die before they did. As much as he disliked them, there was still a degree of familial love left with him even after his death. Maybe they cared for him but just didn't know how to do it properly. And then, there was his older brother. The two were never exactly close but they weren't enemies either. If anything, his brother didn't deserve to see his younger sibling die.

However, Elu didn't wish to go back in time to prevent what he did. There was only now, and he couldn't change the past even if he wanted to. Now, he had all he could've asked for aside from one small but very important thing. And even then, it would be much easier to achieve that thing in Equestria than on Earth, he was sure of it.

It was no time to wallow in self-pity or thoughts of the past. He could sort out his inner conflict later once everything else was out of the way. And now, he had something interesting to explore. Whether it was part of his dream or not, the Dreamscape seemed like something worth exploring. He never thought about it outside of fiction, and it looked like he was experiencing it for real. One thing disturbed his mind, however — he wasn't a pony. No matter how much he wanted it, he couldn't transform himself into a pony in his dreams. His body was painfully human regardless of what he did.

He focused his mind and managed to summon a tall mirror. He was finally able to take a proper look at his new dream form: a slim human, slimmer than he ever was, he stood at one meter eighty-three centimeters. Shoulder-length dark brown, straight, almost black hair complimented his grayish-green eyes. Surprisingly, this form was more handsome than he probably ever was. He chuckled to himself about this little fact, knowing that being a handsome human was no longer possible or even needed. This, however, reminded him that he would need to keep himself fit even as a pony.

"I'm surprised to see you here," he heard a familiar voice say to his right. He turned his head and saw the only one who could access the Dreamscape.

"Hello, Luna," he greeted her, "I... don't know why I'm here. I was dreaming of stuff, and then... well, things happened, and I'm here."

"I see..." a thoughtful expression flashed on Luna's face, "In any case, you look pretty good. This suit is certainly well-made, and... your all-around looks seem to be better than what I saw last time."

"Probably because I never looked that good when I was still a human," Elu admitted, "I tried getting into exercising, eating healthily, but... Either my willpower is weak, which shouldn't be the case, or I'm just a lazy fat ass," he let out a chuckle, "Not much difference, but you know..."

"Did you not eat healthily because the healthier food was less available, more expensive or because you got addicted to something tasty but unhealthy?" Luna asked with interest and some worry.

"...A mix of both, I suppose," the former human replied, "I'm usually given just enough pocket money to buy a bag of chips or something like that but not enough to buy some chicken and other good food. And... I'm a somewhat picky eater. Not to mention that the majority of what my previous family used to eat wasn't that rich in protein."

"I'm sure the situation can be fixed now," the alicorn smiled encouragingly at him, "I'm not sure about the meat, however... Tell me Elu, do you like fish?"

"Not really," he shook his head, "it's often full of bones, and I guess I was pretty unlucky to get that most of the time. Otherwise, I guess it's... fine?"

"Alright, we'll figure something out," Luna nodded, "So, as you can see, you stepped outside your dream into the Dreamscape. To be honest, that can sometimes happen to ponies, but I see you're aware of being asleep and dreaming," she walked past him and looked into his dream. A frozen image of a cheering crowd with fireworks in the sky was visible, "What is this dream about?"

"I have no idea," Elu shrugged, "My dreams tend to be random. I remember dreaming of my city, imagining different things in parts of it that I've not visited before. For example, I dreamt of finding a cliff with a lake below. But in reality, it was the continuation of a forest. Nothing unusual."

"You have a rich imagination, it seems. Or, at the very least, you like to dream of interesting things," Luna told him.

"Well, I guess that's why I became a decent writer," he replied, "It's fun to imagine things and write them down. I don't know why, but yeah, it's fun."

"Very well, what would you like to do now? You're in the Dreamscape, Elu. You could take a look at the dreams of others."

"Seems like a breach of privacy to me," he frowned, "I don't really want to do it. What if I look into a dream, and someone is having, uh, a threesome? That'd be awkward."

"You do have a point," Luna chuckled, "Well, how about you accompany me to troublesome dreams? I might need your help."

"My help?" Elu blinked in confusion, "I, uh... Well, I'm not an alicorn with great power and I'm just eighteen. I'm not sure how I'd be able to help you at all."

"You'd be surprised," the alicorn replied vaguely and then turned around, "Now, come with me. There's a pony in trouble, we can't afford to waste time."

Swiftly nodding, the former human followed the trotting princess. His steps made small ripples appear in the night sky below him. Luna quickened her pace, prompting Elu to do the same to be able to catch up with her. Surprisingly, he found it easy to move as quickly as he wanted. Unlike in many of his dreams, he didn't feel like he was trying to walk through water. Nothing was holding him back this time, nothing prevented him from moving at least as quickly as he used to when he was a human.

"Never found this suit comfortable..." Elu said, focusing his mind. His clothes morphed into a long hooded coat made of black fabric, a leather belt wrapped around the waist. His shoes were replaced by black leather high boots, strapped to his legs by small belts. The trousers changed into a pair of pants made out of the same fabric his coat was made of. "Much better now. Always wanted that."

Luna glanced at him but didn't say anything as she continued to rush to the pony in need of help. In a few moments, they reached the needed door, and the alicorn opened it wide. Behind it, a simple rectangular stone corridor could be seen, and a young pony was galloping through it, chased by a skeleton with a sword. The bones and the armor of the skeleton clanked as it breathed heavily, its heavy steps echoing through the corridor. The foal was quick but the skeleton was closing in.

Elu was the first to act, jumping in between the foal and the skeleton. The latter stopped in its tracks, seemingly confused by what had just happened. Soon, the foal stopped as well and looked back. The former human looked at them and saw that they were a colt of roughly five years of age.

"Help..." the colt said fearfully as he folded his ears and crouched.

Elu nodded in response and proceeded to summon a saber into his left hand.

"You know, Luna..." he said to the princess, "If I can help a kid with nightmares while also looking like a badass... Why not?" he grinned, and then dashed at the skeleton. It raised its own sword, but it was obvious it knew no technique. Having a flair for the theatrical, Elu spun, giving the skeleton enough time to block the hit.

His inner child dancing in amusement, Elu proceeded to dance around with the skeleton, treating this encounter more like a fun thing than a serious competition of skill. The colt, mesmerized by this performance, couldn't help but lighten up and smile. Luna was standing aside and watching, a neutral expression on her face. However, it changed to a brighter one as the corners of her lips rose slightly.

Having had his fun, Elu finally dropped the theatrics and chopped off the head of the skeleton. The skeleton collapsed instantly, soon turning to dust. The colt clapped his hooves together, a joyful smile on his face. The former human smiled back and bowed slightly, making his saber disappear.

"Have good dreams," he told the colt before exiting the dream. However, he had to wait for Luna as she said some things to the colt. Once she came out, Elu asked: "So, how did I do?"

"You weren't really fighting, were you?"

"I wasn't," Elu nodded, "This is just a kid's mind. What he imagines, while seemingly scary, is mostly harmless. And I, well... I like theatrical fights. They're fun."

"But from what I can see, you have some actual skill," Luna commented, raising a brow.

"I had some training in swordsmanship," the former human admitted, "It's a fun thing to do. Plus, it's practical. I've not had any practice in probably around half a year. Didn't stop me from getting a third place in the last tournament I took part in. And even then, I didn't get more because the weapons provided, as well as gloves, were not that adequate," before Luna could say anything, he raised his hands to his chest, "I know, I know... Blaming the instrument for the lack of skill is not alright. But seriously... if you were a human and took part in that tournament, you'd see how it was an actual issue."

"Are you bragging right now?" Luna playfully replied.

"Well, no shame in saying what I'm decent at. I earned it, after all," Elu shrugged, "Anyway, how's the colt?"

"He liked you," the alicorn replied with a smile, "He definitely liked your performance, too."

"Always wanted to do stuff like that," the former human grinned in satisfaction, "Anyway, any more nightmares to fix?"

"You've gotten into it, haven't you? But to answer your question, no. I believe this was the last one for the night," Luna started to fade from the Dreamscape, "I'll get some rest, and advise you do the same. Your body might be rested, but your mind needs more. Good night, Elu."

Author's Notes:

Yeah, I sure like doing things like that. Theatrics make a lot of things better, and I've been fond of them ever since I was a kid. If I ever had the opportunity, be it in dreams or reality, I'd do a similar thing for sure.

And yep, I did take part in swordsmanship tournaments. I can't really return to that since it requires plenty of money. Equipment, then fixing the equipment after damaging it, things like that are costly. I still have a longsword lying around, though.