Jean Jeans opened his eyes to find himself standing back on the lunar surface of his home. That was shocking for two reasons, he clearly remembered falling asleep in his own bed back in Canterlot Castle and in his pony form. Now here he was on the endless barren wasteland of the moon without remembering that he ever traveled back there.
But it also felt different. It was just as lonely and lifeless as he recalled it, but there was also something else. A darkness he never felt before. An ominous and evil energy surrounded him from all sides and it made him more terrified than he ever was.
He tried using his telepathic abilities to locate the source of this evil, but to his horror, he found that they were not working. He became so horrified of both this revelation and the surrounding evil that all he could think about was leaving this cursed land and returning to Equus.
He tried to lift himself off the ground but his flight also wasn't working. He fell back on the surface with an undignified thud as he became fully aware that none of his powers were working at the moment. He looked up to get a glimpse of his adopted homeworld to gain some semblance of reassurance, but his eyes widened when he saw it was not there.
He tried to reassure himself that it was simply because he was on what the ponies referred to as the "dark side of the moon", but that reassurance fell short when he saw that the stars also weren't visible. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but darkness.
'What in the name Luna?!' Jean thought as he frantically got back on his hooves. 'What is going on here?!'
"J'inn." The lunar stallion jumped in fright as he turned to look at who spoke his name. He couldn't believe his eyes. Standing in front of him, was an equine creature that looked exactly like his lunar form. It had no hair on its snow white body and it was staring back at him with two pupil less red eyes. The only difference between them was that the new arrival was a little taller and spoke with a definitive feminine voice.
The two lunar beings stared stoically at each other for a few moments before a warm smile spread across the female's features. She raised one of her forelegs and reached out, as if beckoning the stallion to come over to her. "J'inn, come here! Let me take a look at you!" Jean had never seen this female before, but she had a certain familiar warmth about her that made her easy to recognise.
The stallion felt like an invisible force took control of his body and made him walk forward, right into the female's extended hoof. He walked forward with slow and curious steps like a newborn colt taking his first steps and felt his forelegs lift into the air before wrapping themselves around the mare's neck. They held each other for almost a minute before the mare pulled away and held Jean's face between her hooves as she looked into his eyes lovingly.
"You have grown into just the strong handsome lunar I always imagined you to become." She praised. "Just like your father." Jean's eyes widened upon hearing that word.
"My... My father?" He spoke for the first time since waking up here. The female who could have only been his mother nodded.
"Yes, dear. He is just inside. Come in! He will be just as eager to see you!" Jean raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Inside?" His mother stood aside and revealed a dome shaped house with green walls and a white roof, four circular windows at equal distance from each other and a large red pair of automated doors. Jean's puzzlement only grew upon sighting the building. Was that there before?
His mother took him by the hoof and gently pulled him toward the building. The door opened without a sound as they entered and Jean got a good look at the interior as well. There was a large circular table in the middle, surrounded by four chairs. From left to the door, Jean saw what appeared to be the kitchen area. There was a series of cupboards lining up on the ground along with a stove and a sink.
On the right, there seemed to be what was the living room area with a circular couch sitting on a large carpet decorated by several pillows and pictures on the wall. But what caught Jean's attention the most was the small lunar creature lying on their stomach on the couch. The small creature was humming merrily to themselves and doodling on a piece of paper with a blissful smile on their face. When they looked up and saw Jean approaching, their smile widened into a huge grin as they jumped up from the couch and ran over to Jean, wrapping their tiny hooves around one of his hooves.
"Welcome home brother!" The little creature squealed in an obviously female voice. She let go of Jean's hoof and presented her drawing to him. "I drew this for you! Do you like it?" Jean took the paper and saw a crude drawing of himself soaring across the skies of Equus as the Lunar Hunter, carrying a pony he just saved from a giant monster. As much as he appreciated the gesture, there was something eerie about it.
"It's... It's lovely, sister. Thank you." Jean replied, still trying to wrap his mind around how did his little sister whom he never met before gained such an insight into his life on Equus.
"Oh, I forgot!" His mother gasped as she smacked her head. "I was supposed to make a humongous feast to celebrate your return to us!" She then left towards the kitchen area, leaving Jean alone with his sister. The little girl looked up at Jean with wide adoring eyes as he observed her drawing.
Once he was done, he tried giving it back to her but the girl didn't seem to notice. She just kept staring up at him with curious eyes and a wide grin, completely unmoving. If Jean wanted to be honest, it was rather unnerving. He was about to break the silence but his sister did it for him.
"Is it true that you met Luna?" The youngster asked, not breaking eye contact or even moving while she spoke. The question caught Jean off guard. It was true that the lunar race worshipped the alicorn who moved their home around the planet of Equus. Though he never mentioned this to Luna. Her head was big enough as was. But how did she know about him meeting her?
"Yes, I have." He replied, deciding to ignore his confusion. "She was very nice. She had kept me company while I was alone and lonely, roaming the empty lunar surface. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met her."
"But now you found us!" His sister said to him with the same bright smile. "Now you don't have to go back to her and you can stay with us forever!" Jean slowly backed away from her when she said that. For some reason, he sensed a really threatening undertone to that last sentence. But he quickly shook it off. Why should he feel intimidated by a little girl?
He was about to tell her that he couldn't stay since he was duty bound to Princess Luna, but before he could speak, a male voice interrupted him. "Where is he?! Where is my son?!" Jean turned to see a massive lunar stallion who could have only been the head of the family coming out of one of the backrooms.
"He's right here, daddy!" The filly waved at him. The father turned towards Jean and smiled brightly when he spotted him.
"There you are!" He bellowed merrily as he pulled the younger lunar into his hooves. "My, your mother was right! You've really grown up to be every bit as good looking and strong as your old stallion! Just one look is all I need to tell you've grown up to be every father's pride! I can't wait to hear everything about you over lunch!"
"Did someone say lunch?" The mother asked happily as she came out of the kitchen area, carrying a large pot in her hoof. Jean's father and little sister grinned brightly as they cheered and ran to the dining table.
But Jean couldn't bring himself to share their excitement. Something about this idyllic family scene just felt off. They all felt so happy, as if the great extinction didn't happen at all. As if they've known Jean all his life and he merely came home to a family lunch after a week of working on Equus.
"Come on big brother!" His sister called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Lunch is getting cold and mom's cooking is the best on this side of the moon!" Their mother merely chuckled.
"Oh, well. I try." She said humbly. Despite his suspicions, Jean did join his family at the table as his mother started filling their bowls.
"So tell me, Jean," His father began. "How is your work with Luna going down on the planet?" Jean turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"How do you know about that?" He asked. His father's cheerful expression didn't change.
"We know all about you, son." This was the last straw. Jean's heart rate increased severely as it dawned upon him just how much was wrong with this entire scene. He looked at his mother and sister who were all giving him the exact same wide grin.
"Yeah. We know how Luna took you away from us." The sister spoke, her voice not losing any of its cheer, but its tone changing somewhat. It became more distorted. "Just because she's a goddess she thinks she can take anything she wants. Doesn't she know everyone belongs to their family?"
"Sweetie! That's very rude!" Their mother chided. "But nevertheless true. We are so happy you are back with us, J'inn! And that you'll be staying forever!" There was that claim again. It seemed like the entire family was in on some scheme that Jean wasn't.
"But I cannot stay forever!" He exclaimed. "I will have to return to Equestria! I am duty bound to Princess Luna! My work and friendnship is irreplaceable to her!"
"Don't be silly, son!" His father waved his concerns off. "You cannot go back to Equestria. Your place is here with us. With your family. With the rest of our kind." Jean was beginning to panic at this point.
"The rest of our kind?" He panted. "What are you talking about?!" The family just continued staring at him with wide smiles.
"Oh, big brother, you're such a dummy!" The sister giggled. "Our kind doesn't leave the moon. Ever." Jean couldn't take it anymore. He stood up from the table and frantically backed away.
"Have you all lost your minds?!" He yelled in disbelief at his family's behaviour. "Our kind is dead!" His outburst had no effect on his family's happiness.
"Exactly." They all spoke in unison as they all stood up and began advancing on the frightened Jean. "The dead belong in their graves. This moon is ours."
"Don't be sad, brother." The little girl spoke, her voice growing downright demonic. "You do not belong in the world of ponies anyway. You never did and you never will."
"Exactly, J'inn." The mother continued and as she got closer to Jean, he could see her face beginning to rot away, along with the rest of his family's. "You're the last member of a dead race. How you escaped the same fate that befell us is a mystery, but that mistake will soon be corrected."
And with that, the body of the two female members of the family began to crumble into dust, leaving only his father standing in front of him, but even his body was beginning to fall apart.
"It won't be long, son." He said, his unnerving smile never leaving his face. "Soon our family will be reunited and then the lunar race will be but a distant memory." Jean's eyed widened in fear. Not because of the terrifying scene he was witnessing, but because of what his father's ghost just said, but because it made him remember growing up all alone on the moon.
"No." He muttered as he recalled what it feel like to be the only one of his species, roaming the endless lunar surface aimlessly without any outlook to his future or even his survival. Even the memory of it was so unbearable that he felt the need to get out of there. Once the image of his entire family crumbled away, he finally snapped out of his horrified stupor and ran to the door.
The automated door opened as he got close and ran out, but the sight that greeted him looked like a prefect depiction of how he imagined the lowest pits of Tartarus. Where the barren surface of the moon and a pitch black sky were just ten minutes ago, was now a blood red sky, so bright red that it hurt his eyes. The empty lunar surface was now filled with the same dome shaped houses he just exited from, each one in ruins.
But by far the worst thing was the dead and dying lunars whose bodies that were littered across the ground. They rolled around, moaning in agony as they crumbled into dust just like his family. One of them looked up and upon seeing Jean standing over him, he reached out to him.
"Help me..." The poor creature begged. Jean reached down but the moment his hooves made contact with him, his body also turned to dust. The dust from his body floated up and joined the dust cloud forming from the bodies of the other lunars.
Jean watched in horror as the cloud took the shape of a giant creature with an elongated, pointy head, giant glowing red eyes and razor sharp teeth. The creature stared down at him with barely contained malevolence in its stare before opening its mouth and descending down towards Jean. With his powers stripped from him, the horrified lunar could do nothing but lie down and close his eyes as he awaited his fate. The fate he would share with the rest his kind.
When Jean opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find that he wasn't in the afterlife lunar religion painted for them. Instead, instead, he found himself sitting in his bed and practically swimming in sweat. And instead of the rest of his lunar race greeting him in death, the only pony he could see in the room was his precious friend, Princess Luna.
The princess of the night sat next to his bed with a concerned look on her face. He suddenly realised what just happened. He had a nightmare. A very bad one. Luna's presence made that obvious. But why didn't she intervene was a much bigger mystery.
"What... What time is it?" He asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, though he wasn't sure it was the right question to ask first.
"It's almost two hours past midnight." Luna informed him. "I have sensed the trouble within your dream, but I was powerless to intervene." Jean's eyes sprung wide open.
"How is that possible? You are the princess of dreams!"
"I am quite aware of that, thank you." Luna replied dryly. "But there was something different about this dream. Something... bizarre. I'm not sure how to describe it but it was like there was something pushing me out of your dreams each time I tried to enter. Or someone."
Worry filled Jean's being as he recalled the alarming sensation of being watched yesterday. He had no idea if it was relevant but there were way too many worrying things happening to him lately for all of them to be a coincidence.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Luna asked, making Jean look back at her. "Your dream, I mean. I may not have been able to see it, but if you describe it to me, perhaps I would still be able to help you overcome it." Jean wasn't sure if he should. He trusted Luna's expertise when it came to dream interpretation, but he had trouble of making making sense of it and he didn't even know how to start describing it.
"It's... difficult. I think I saw my family, but... I don't even remember what they looked like. How could I have seen them in my dreams?" Luna narrowed her eyes in thought, but didn't say anything, merely nodded for Jean to continue.
"They were all so... happy. It was like a perfectly idyllic family life. But it just felt so wrong somehow. It felt like they were content in death. Not only that, but they wanted me to join them. In fact, it seemed like..." Jean stopped for a moment and just stared ahead of himself with a horrified expression. Luna noticed this and she felt bad about pushing her friend, but she was eager to hear the rest of the dream.
"Seemed like what?" She asked. Jean's horror didn't leave his face as he spoke. It was clear that whatever he was about to say disturbed him greatly.
"Like they knew I would join them in death. They were not inviting me but outright stating it would happen. Like they were speaking from the future." A thought occurred to him as he turned back to Luna. "Could it be possible that this was a premonition rather than a dream?" To his surprise, Luna nodded without hesitation.
"It is definitely possible. I have seen it on more occasions than I can remember. But the fact that something pushed me out of your dream when I tried to enter troubles me even more than its possible meaning." Jean raised an eyebrow.
"How so?" He inquired. Luna cast her eyes down. It was clear that whatever she had to say would not be pleasant but that only made Jean more eager to hear it. Finally, Luna let out a sigh and continued.
"Jean, I do not wish to alarm you, but I theorise that someone deliberately put that dream into your mind. Someone powerful who wanted you to see those images." Jean's eyes widened.
"Deliberate dream manipulation?! How is that possible? Is that kind of power achievable to anypony other than you?"
"I have never known of any creature who has this power apart from me." Luna replied. "But there are other ways to put images into another creature that wants to see into your head." She said pointedly and Jean quickly realised what she was talking about.
"Of course. You are quite aware of my psychic abilities after we've been in connection for such a long time. And in an age where new superpowered individuals appear in Equestria on a weekly basis, it would be easy to attribute this to another one of them. But one question still remains. Why would they target me?" To that, Luna had no answer.
"That eludes me as well." She replied with a shrug. "Are you absolutely certain nopony else knows about your lunar heritage?"
"The only one who knows apart from you is Twilight Sparkle. I figured she would be the perfect candidate to help me get into their new union of heroes. But I made her promise she will not reveal it to her colleagues until I was ready." Needless to say, Luna did not share her friend's faith in the Batmare.
"And you think she would honor such an agreement?" She asked doubtfully. But Jean nodded firmly.
"Even if I did not fully trust my judgement of character, I am not naive, Luna. I have read her thoughts and I assure you, she doesn't plan to reveal it to anypony without my consent. Besides, even if somepony did know my true identity, they couldn't possibly know of what happened to my race."
"Unless they took a peak inside of your head. This is a creature with powerful psychic abilities we're talking about." Luna suggested, but the stallion was skeptical of that theory.
"I am quite an advanced psychic myself, Luna. And the chances of somepony invading my mind without me noticing it are slim to none." He said confidently before letting out a sigh. "I don't know what to do. This whole situation makes no sense."
"Would you like me to cast a nightmare protection spell on you?" Luna suggested. "I developed it myself and made sure it was impenetrable by any counter spell. There is literally no possibility of anything getting through it."
"I appreciate the offer, my friend, but I'm not sure if I will be able to sleep a wink after what just happened to me." Jean replied, shaking his head. "And as I recall, we will be doing a royal inspection of the industrial district tomorrow to see how much damage has been done to it during the invasion." Luna groaned.
"Don't remind me. That is not a task I'm looking forward to." She shuddered, thinking of all the work that awaited her tomorrow.
"Neither do I, but it has to be done. I think I will go to your study and make preparations if that is alright with you." Luna nodded in the affirmative.
"You know you don't have to ask. I gave you free access to the whole castle with the exception of my sister's quarters, of course."
"Noted." Jean remarked dryly. "Well then, I think I have kept you away from your dream walking duties long enough. I bid you goodnight, my friend." Jean said before leaving the room.
Luna watched him go with a sad expression. She could tell that his dream disturbed him far more than he let on. She looked at his bed. He left in such a hurry that he didn't even make it before leaving. Even at two in the morning, that was not like him. She used her magic to quickly remedy that problem before resuming to her own room to continue her patrol of the dreamscape. But on her way, she said a quick prayer for the safety of her friend.
"Be safe, Jean. I need you by my side."
Despite waking up at two in the morning, Jean felt surprisingly refreshed. But just to be sure, he took a quick stop in a bathroom to splash some cool water on his face. More likely than not, he will not be able to fall asleep after what he just experienced so he might as well make the most of it.
He sat down behind Luna's desk and took out a map of Canterlot's industrial district as well as several damage report papers to determine which would be the best course through the area tomorrow. Apart from making himself useful, it would also distract his thoughts from that horrible nightmare.
"What's the point?" The lunar stallion found himself asking after a few minutes of work. He and Luna both knew that it was more than just a simple nightmare. If it was a premonition like he first suspected, then it would come true no matter what he did. But if Luna's theory was correct and there was some psychic supervillan out there trying to get him, distracting his thoughts would only give his foe the advantage of catching him off guard.
He really didn't know why he didn't tell Luna about his feeling of being watched yesterday. If she was right and he was being targeted by a villain that would obviously be important. But then again, he couldn't sense anypony or other creature around with intentions of harming him.
He shook his head and went back to looking over the documents, until suddenly, he felt the exact same threatening feeling returning with a vengeance. He turned around and used his telepathic senses in search of any threatening individuals and unlike yesterday, this time, he did feel a presence nearby.
But it wasn't just lurking around, waiting to strike. It felt like this presence was beckoning him to come to it. It knew that Jean knew it was there and it wanted him to know that as well. It was close. Very close in fact. In his immediate surroundings. It was calling out to him. It wanted him to get out there and go looking for it. Jean decided to humor this mysterious observer.
He walked over to the door and opened only to find himself staring into two giant, glowing red eyes staring at him, oozing with malevolence. And something else. Jean felt all of his strength leaving his body as something strange and alien invade his body as he collapsed onto the ground and began coughing heavily.
He looked up at the mysterious assailant and saw beneath his glowing eyes what appeared to be a set of teeth curled up into a cruel grin. Jean immediately thought of the creature that devoured him in his nightmare and all he could do was pray that this was simply its continuation and when he opened his eyes, he did not wake up on the floor, feeling like he was about to die.