Prologue

Onyx was running, running through a dark, decrepit alleyway. The red moon above would shine down through the cracks between the buildings every so often. His hooves carried him through sharp turns and twisting, unending tight spaces.

His head turned behind him every so often, he was being followed. A dark pony-like figure would slowly come into view only to be cut off as he ran into another alleyway. The puddles below him splashing as his breaths grew heavy, his body fighting him at every turn. Despite being a unicorn, he didn’t dare light up his horn, and give away his position.

Although at this point, the figure would seem to follow him no matter what.

Without warning he felt a sharp searing pain shoot through him as he was sent flying into the air. He landed with a thud into a puddle, looking up in horror. The figure had used the alleys to cut him off, sitting in waiting only to buck the stallion as he ran by.

Onyx tried to get up, but he was unable to move. The figure slowly raised its hooves, only to bring them down, stomping on his side as he yelled in pain. Onyx was subject to an intense beating from the figure, it was bashing its hooves into his body, leaving him bloodied, coughing and breathless each time.

Looking up while being beaten, Onyx saw a broken glass shard. Using his magic, he grabbed the shard, ripping it up to slice the dark figure across the neck. The figure stumbled, as a deep red substance began to leak down its neck, causing it to fall over, flailing on the ground. Onyx, feeling deep inexplicable anger began to stab the figure again, and again, over and over. Each time the figure was stabbed it would twitch, each time it would splatter his coat with the red liquid from its body. He was inexplicably enraged at the sheer existence of this thing, it had brought this on itself.

The only thing that stopped him from battering the figure was a sudden and sharp gasp from behind.

Onyx jolted awake sweating, breathing deeply. A mare slowly arose from the bed next to him, turning on the lamp next to the bed.

“Did you have another nightmare?” her soft voice spoke to Onyx, with an ever present slight hint of British to it. This was Delilah Dusk, she had been Onyx’s marefriend for a quite some time now, and had moved from Canterlot to Ponyville so they could live together quite recently.

They were longtime sweethearts, ever since they were in school. They weren’t married yet, even though he had considered asking her several times. He thought himself lucky that she had stuck with him through these horrifying nightmares he had been having recently. Delilah Dusk was a beautiful mare, like him she was also a unicorn, her green eyes showed genuine concern. Her fur was a deep blue and her mane was made up of white with vibrant golden and light blue streaks down the center.

“Yeah, sorry if I scared you.” he replied to her question. He sat up, rubbing his sleepless blue eyes. He yawned as Delilah had gotten up from the bed, trotting over to the nearby window to open their curtains. The sunshine would help to illuminate their bedroom.

"Well, at least you actually made it till morning this time, love." Indeed, in the past he had woken up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Those nights were never pleasant. "Why don't you go wake yourself up, I'll get some coffee on downstairs!"

Onyx nodded, slowly getting out of the bed and walking over to the bathroom connected to their bedroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, he really did look like a stallion who needed a good nights sleep. His white fur with a red tint to it, at the very least, was well taken care of. A large dark black-blue splotch of fur on his flank, that reaches slightly up his spine. His red mane with maroon stripes in it that had one singular bang sticking out to the front. The rest of his mane spilling down to rest on his shoulders. And the black-blue fur on his hooves that reach up to where his knee bent, with a patch of his main white fur color on the front of his hooves.

Onyx turned on the sink, letting it fill up with cold water. He looked into the mirror once more, pondering over the meaning of the nightmare from last night, before letting it subside in his head. Once the sink had filled, Onyx turned off the faucet. He gripped some of the water with his blue magic, splashing it across his face. He then shook his head, the quick splash of cold suddenly jolted his senses awake. He gave his face one last splash before he brought a towel over to his face with his magic, drying it off. After he did this he looked at himself in the mirror, leaning forward. He ran his hoof over the front of his face for a moment, then stood back from the sink.

Onyx made his way downstairs, as he saw his marefriend sitting at their kitchen table. She was enjoying a cup of coffee, wearing her reading glasses as she read through a newspaper. She looked up to him with a smile, although deep down, Delilah's concern for Onyx never waivered.

Onyx sat at the kitchen table, his magic lifting up the cup of coffee that she had prepared for him. He kissed her on the cheek before he took a sip of the coffee. "Got another busy work day ahead of you?".

"Yes, most likely. But I enjoy doing it so I guess that doesn't bother me." Delilah put down the newspaper, taking another sip of her coffee. Delilah was a librarian at heart, she used to work at Canterlot library before they moved out to Ponyville, now employed at a small little bookstore.

Onyx himself was a seasoned explorer. He spent his time searching for artifacts that museums sent him to collect. It wasn't the most safe kind of work at times, but it was certainly the kind of work he enjoyed. Almost as much a hobby as a profession. This wasn't without its own pitfalls, as at one point Onyx's father had wanted him to be in the royal guard like him, even though Onyx had different aspirations.

"You have another session with your therapist today, so please don't be late." Said Deliliah

Onyx had been seeing a therapist recently, a push from Delilah after he had started having these nightmares. The therapist did help quite a bit, but at the same time the nightmares had still continued to plague him every night. If things didn't get better soon he had considered no longer using their services.

"Don't worry, I remember! I'm going to get ready and head over to their office now." He took the final sip of his coffee. Between it and the cold water, he finally fully felt awake.

"Do you not want any breakfast?"

He shook his head to her question. "No, I'll get something to eat after the session." His marefriend walked over to him, planting a kiss on his lips before she turned to slowly trot upstairs.

"I need to get ready for work myself." She said. Onyx turned and got ready to head outside before he was stopped by a voice from behind. "We'll get to the bottom of this Onyx...Just stay strong ok?".

Onyx smiled. "I know, love you.."

"love you too.." Delilah smiled, before walking upstairs and out of view, leading onyx to finally exit their house and into Ponyville.

A lot of ponies were bustling around the town, as they went about their daily business. Everything was so peaceful in Ponyville. It was a small town so everypony knew everypony, but he and Delilah were currently the odd ones out given their new arrival. He mostly kept to himself, waving back if anypony even bothered to wave at him first.

Onyx entered the therapists, walking up to a desk with a window in it. A white coated, blue maned mare was behind the counter. "Hello, do you have an appointment?" she asked, smiling.

"Yes, I'm here for another appointment with Violet Rain." he said, looking around the waiting room.

The mare behind the desk left for a brief moment, leaving Onyx standing alone in the waiting room. Luckily it didn't take long for her to return. "She'll be ready for you in a moment, she is with another client." Onyx nodded.

"Thank you." He was the only pony in the waiting room, and time seemed to tick by incredibly slowly.

Onyx began to reflect on his past nightmares. In one nightmare he felt like this caged monster, slicing up ponies with little remorse. Turning them into red paste as he silently lumbered through town. Each time he had one of these nightmares it was so real. Last night he could almost feel the searing pain of being beaten down by that dark figure. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt a feeling of Deja'vu. In this moment, Delilah's words rang in his head. 'We'll get to the bottom of this Onyx...Just stay strong ok?'. A small smile formed across his face.

The door opened, and his head lifted as two mares would walk from the back area. Onyx could not recognize one of the mares. But one of them was certainly his therapist, Violet Rain. The two mares seemed to be on the tail end of a conversation. "Thank you, Ms. Rain." Said the unidentified mare, turning to face Violet.

"Of course dear, just remember to schedule another appointment." the therapist mare spoke, she wore small framed glasses. She had a pastel purple coat with a dark purple mane that was curled off to one side. Her amber orange eyes turned to the stallion sitting in the waiting room. "Onyx Shield, another restless few nights I presume?"

He chuckled at her remark half heartedly. "Unfortunately, yeah..."

"Right this way then." She ushered him back with a hoof. He stood up, trotting his way into the back. It seemed business' was slow today, because they seemed to be the only ones in the office. Or at the very least that Ms. Violet Rain was the only one that currently had clients. The green and dark green stripped wallpaper here was easing on the eyes, with a dark wood finish at the bottom of the walls.

When they reach her office, Violet closed the door behind her. She then sat in her chair, using her horn to levitate a clipboard over to herself. "So, what was the nightmare tonight then?"

Onyx sat up on the couch Violet had in her office for the patients. He began to retell the story of the alleyway chase. He explained every detail, the figure, the red moon, and his inexplicable rage during the confrontation. Violet began to write some things down on the clipboard, before she sank a little in her chair.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Onyx. Your case has continued to elicit these incredibly disturbing dreams. For weeks you have seen me, and for weeks we have tried different methodology. But each time the nightmares continue."

Onyx had nervously shuffled in his seat. "That's just it, I have no idea what's causing these. I never had these nightmares until recently, and they're getting worse." Violet used her magic to remove her small glasses, setting them on her desk.

"There is one sure fire way to cure you of these nightmares. There is a spell, a special spell. It has a 100% recovery rate in all it is used on."

Onyx blinked, looking at her. "Really!?"

Violet nodded. "Yes, its called the 'Mind Delve'."

Onyx seemed to think for a moment in response to what she had said. "I don't think I've ever heard of a spell with that name."

Violet then turned the notes on her clipboard, as if she was reading something she had penned down before this session, something just for this occasion.

She began to read. "The Mind Delve spell is used in cases where the nightmare or psychological problems are not so easily discernable. Long story short, the problem is repressed within your own mind. Normally this would take a incredibly long time for us to treat, but this spell helps us by doing it in mere moments."

He began to think over what she had said, before he spoke up. "So you are going into my head to fish around for answers?"

Violet nodded. "Something like that yes, although I do not know what you will see once you go in. There is still alot to learn about this spell, but it has never failed. Are you willing to give it a try?"

Onyx thought for a moment, putting a hoof to his chin. He currently had a lot to loose if this went wrong. What thing would be causing these horrifying nightmares? And would he even be able to come to terms with what he found? But he had come this far, he was losing sleep to whatever this was. It would be better to face it head on than keep running and suffering for it. "Alright. I'll go through with the Mind Delve."

"Excellent.~"

"What was that?" Onyx looked up at Violet, who quickly cleared her throat.

"I said 'Excellent', this will help you I am sure of it! Just lay back on the couch and I will begin to cast the spell."

Onyx would lay down on the couch, with his back down to face upwards. He had to admit he was starting to already feel a bit nervous, he was dipping into the unknown. Violets horn would begin to glow as it gathered the energy. Her eyes would glow a vibrant white as she tapped her horn to Onyx's head.

In that moment Onyx felt his mind flip, like someone had ripped the rug from under him. He felt the wind rush past him as his heart was beating like crazy. He was falling in what felt like a endless void, but he could still clearly see himself. Fearing an impact he would close his eyes, hoping to not see the bottom approaching him. Only for him to feel his hooves on solid ground.