In his nightmarish dream, Elu propped himself against the wall as he closed his eyes and let out a deep and weary sigh. Despite having told Luna to go, he stopped, sudden weakness overtaking his slumbering body. He breathed deeply, searching for the energy to continue moving. Luna was standing behind him, a worried expression on her face, and yet she remained silent for now, uncertain of what to do.

"Feelings in the dream... are weird," the human said quietly. "It is like..." he looked up in thought. "I know what I should feel when I do something. I know what I should hear when something should make a sound. But I don't feel any of it," he paused, turning to Luna. "I... I don't know how to describe it well," he admitted. "It's just... real but it's not real at the same time."

"I understand what you mean," the alicorn nodded. "It's a very subtle thing, one that goes unnoticed by most. Or, at the very least, barely anyone can explain it," she looked away for a moment, a curious expression on her face. "I've seen many dreams and yet I don't know everything about them. I doubt I ever will," she pushed one of the doors, revealing what looked like cosmos. Many other doors of different shape and color were visible from ELu's position. "The Dreamscape existed before I was born and will be there forever," Luna said and closed the door, returning to the human. "Tell me more about your dreams if you want to, Elu. I see that you're very interested in dreams as a whole, and perhaps I can explain something you don't understand just yet."

For a moment, Elu was silent, contemplating his decision. Dreams were something very private, something that he thought no one else could see. He had talked about them with his friends from time to time but here and now, he didn't know what to do. On one hand, telling Luna about his dreams would help her understand him. On the other hand, she might find something that would push her away from him.

"I... don't really know what to say or ask or, uh, anything," Elu shrugged nervously. "I've seen... a lot of dreams. Surprisingly, I remember most of them."

"Oh?" Luna raised her brow in surprise. "That's pretty interesting. A lot of ponies don't remember many of their dreams."

"I just find them interesting in a certain way," the human explained. "Sometimes, I try to analyze them to figure out what caused them, maybe even find out what I can do to change them or bring lucid dreams," he paused. "I've never had a fully lucid dream where I could control everything."

"You can learn it if you want," Luna assured him. "But now... What do you think about this very dream?" she looked around, her eyes going from the dusty floor to the broken furniture and windows that showed the ruined town. "Can you understand what caused it and why?"

"I, uh... I probably can," Elu said with uncertainty, shifting from one foot to the other. "Well... this is my school," he shook his head slightly and then corrected himself: "Not really my school, actually. It's still relatively similar in some ways, I suppose," he cleared his throat. "Anyway... My school. Right," he looked away for a moment. "Honestly, not the nicest place I've been to," he said slowly and stopped, thinking of what to say next. But before he could continue, Luna spoke up.

"You were bullied, weren't you?" she asked. Elu winced, painful memories appearing in his head. Luna noticed the reaction and added: "Sorry, it must be a sensitive topic."

"It is..." the human said quietly. "So..." he shook his head slightly to get rid of the negative thoughts and clear his mind. "Frankly... I, uh..." he winced again, finding it difficult to find the needed words or to say anything at all in the first place. "Sorry, it's just hard to talk about," he apologized awkwardly.

"I understand. I've seen many cases of it before," Luna frowned at her memories. "Bullying is hard to get rid of, and its consequences might be lifelong."

"Yeah..." Elu agreed, still looking away. "So, uh, dream interpretation..." he awkwardly returned to the original topic. "I did want to see the school burn... I know it's a terrible thing to think about and, uh, want to do and such, but..." he was burning in shame, trying not to look at the alicorn, fearing what her reaction to his words might be. "So, yeah..."

"There is a lot of frustration inside you," Luna said firmly. "A lot of anger, even hatred. It's dangerous to your wellbeing. Earlier, you said that you wanted the whole world to be destroyed, Elu," her voice was stern and yet on the soft side. "It must be fixed or else you will never be able to be happy," her voice became softer when she spoke the next words. "You must understand that this way of thinking is destructive to you and those around you."

"I understand it, I really do!" the human looked at Luna, raising his voice. "But... well..." his voice lowered once he realized that he almost shouted at the alicorn. "I don't know how to get rid of it. I feel like... No, I know what will help me, but getting it..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry, Luna. I must be frustrating to deal with." he looked away in shame.

"But you understand what is wrong. That's a good starting point, Elu, trust me," she smiled invitingly at the human. "Now... we should continue. There are more things to discover about you, maybe even something you don't even know exists inside you," she paused, looking outside the window. "Dreams are very interesting indeed. And so, we should see what this one has to show."

Nodding, Elu unslung the rifle and took it in his hands. First and foremost, just to be safe, he checked if there was a round in the chamber. Pulling the charging handle with his gloved hand, he saw that the logic of real life was working, and so the round was in its place, ready to be used. Letting go of the handle, he made the bolt carrier slam against the receiver with a satisfying metallic click.

Cautiously, he continued to move through the school, looking out for danger, making sure that the dream didn't have any nasty surprises. Luna followed close behind, keeping her eyes on the surroundings as well, her hooves not making any noise whatsoever no matter what she stepped on. The military boots the human was wearing made quiet steps as he made his way through the hall, stepping carefully and avoiding broken wood and glass, as well as crunchy piles of whitening. His breath was calm, his grip on the weapon was firm, his body tense and ready to jump into action.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and shift under his feet and above his head. Elu jumped back just in time to avoid the ceiling collapsing on top of where he had just been. Breaking the floor and separating the human and the pony from the end of the hall, concrete fell down, raising clouds of dust. Elu fell but managed to land relatively well, the rifle still in his hands.

"It'd be a good idea to get out of here for sure..." he muttered mostly to himself, looking at the hole in the floor. As the dust began to settle and the tremble ceased, he stood up and instinctively dusted himself off, making sure that the visor of his mask was clear.

Fortunately, the hole led to the first floor where the main entrance was or at the very least was supposed to be. Elu carefully climbed down the concrete, keeping his eyes peeled. Sliding down the rest of the way, he finally jumped down, landing on the floor. He straightened himself and looked around, making sure that there was no imminent danger, scanning the surroundings with his eyes. Luna glided down, landing near him and taking a look as well.

Like the hall above, the first floor was devoid of life or ghosts. Different clothes were lying around, torn and dusty, as well as ruined textbooks and some broken laptops and other pieces of personal electronics. Most of the room was filled with plastic tables and chairs, and there were broken plates scattered among the plastic furniture.

"Ah, this is the cafeteria," Elu commented. "Just as I remember it..." he carefully stepped over a broken table, almost slipping on a small puddle of juice on the floor. "Okay, the exit should be near," he turned to one of the doors. Unhinged, a half of it was lying nearby, bent and broken. The human worked his way to the door, keeping his hands on the gun. Despite not seeing any obvious danger or signs that would signal its nearing appearance, he was still extremely cautious and wary of his surroundings.

Once he was in the doorway, he took a peek into what lay beyond. The main hall was empty just like the previous rooms, only trash and broken furniture lying around. No bodies, no students, no teachers, even the security guards were absent. The main hall was completely silent too, allowing Elu to hear his own breath and the thumping of his heart. However, it didn't relieve the worries Elu had. Instead, he kept his gun shouldered, ready to shoot if anything went wrong. His finger was almost touching the trigger, trembling ever so slightly.

Suddenly, someone ran from around the corner. Elu turned to face it and saw a guy holding a knife who was rushing to him. The crazed eyes were looking at Elu with a thirst for blood, hunger for violence.

Without a moment to think, Elu pressed the trigger, filling the unknown human with bullets. Falling down, it wheezed, only to be silenced as the last bullet went through the head, spraying brains and gore all over the floor. Soon, a small puddle of blood began to form under the body, releasing a scent of iron into the air.

His hands twitching and yet feeling as if they were frozen, Elu could barely lower his gun, his heart racing in his chest, threatening to jump out of it, its beat resonating inside his head like a drum. He let out a loud and shaky sigh as he detached the magazine, placed it in one of the pockets of his hoodie, and then summoned another magazine out of thin air, loading it into the rifle, refilling it, all of it done instinctively to the point that he barely even noticed it.

Luna was frozen in place, watching the scene silently, her eyes wide, her ears flat against her skull, ringing from the sound of the shots. To her, they were as real as if both she and the human were in reality and not this strange dream. Her eyes switched from Elu to the body on the floor, her mouth opening and closing, and yet no words came out.

Slowly, Elu approached the body and looked at it. Its face was blurry but he could swear he saw something familiar in it, something that made his blood boil. But one thing was unmistakable — the body belonged to one of his classmates, one of those he hated with all his inner being. Fighting the urge to stomp on it for good measure, the human subdued his negative feelings, forcing them down, and stepped back, away from the corpse.

"So, this is what your Ay Key seventy-four Em is..." Luna commented on the weapon, finally breaking the uneasy silence. "And... did you feel any hesitation?"

"...Maybe I did," Elu replied, still coming to his senses after shooting the rifle. "I... didn't have much time to think," he glanced at the body again. "And... it's not the first time I kill someone in my dreams," he let out a shaky sigh. "I fear that... that it makes me accustomed to it," he looked at his hands, afraid to see them covered in blood. "I... Each time it happens, I feel less and less regret," he turned to Luna. "I don't know what to do about it..."

"Elu, I can help you," the alicorn assured him, stepping closer. "Remember, this is just a dream. It's not reality. We can work to fix everything, trust me."

Silence fell once again as the human thought about what Luna had just said. He knew he wasn't right, he knew he needed to be fixed in more than one way. Probably, the best course of action would be to trust Luna completely. After all, what option did he have? He could, of course, push her away, ignore her attempts to help, and never ask for it ever again. It would be simpler but it wouldn't help him in the slightest, he realized. After all, problems must be solved, not ignored. There it was, his perfect chance to make things work, to solve the problems he had. He was offered help. No obligations, nothing to hinder him, nothing to make him stay away from her and the help she offered. He had nothing but his personal fears of outside influence, fear of how things could go very wrong.

One way or another, a decision must be made, and it would influence him for the rest of his stay in Equestria, and he hoped it would be a very long time. Something needed to change, and the most important change at the moment was he himself.

"I trust you," Elu finally said, letting go of the rifle to hand it by the strap around his neck, freeing his hands. "I... I accept your help," he hesitantly raised his hands and then placed them on the mask. "And if I trust you... I should show myself to you. How I was," he pulled the gas mask up, making the hood fall as well, revealing his face bit by bit. "So..." his voice became clear as his eyes looked at Luna without plexiglass between them. "This is... me," he said awkwardly, trying to smile. His face was pale, highlighting bags under his grayish-green eyes. His face was mostly narrow and plain with some chub underneath the jaw. A few birthmarks could be seen, forming a triangle on his face. His short hair formed a sharp and noticeable widow's peak on his head, making his high forehead even more pronounced. His ears were normal, almost flat against his skull.

"You look... rather interesting," Luna commented, looking him in the eyes and then examining his other facial features. "So that's how you humans look..."

And with those words heard by Elu, he finally woke up, back in his new equine body. He opened his eyes and saw the room and the walls of the crib he was in. He blinked a few times, the memory of the dream fresh in his mind. He lay there for a very long time, contemplating what had just happened to him while he slept.

Perhaps, it was a wise choice. He couldn't do anything but wait and see where it would lead anyway.

He closed his eyes. Waiting would take plenty of time, and the best choice, for now, was going back to sleep.