The pitter patter of rain was his only companion as he stepped lightly along the rooftop, his hooves splashing through the rivulets of water that flowed in every direction from their sources.  The wind rushed over him, pelting his nondescript grey coat with even more raindrops that continued to fall without end.  Not that he particularly cared anyway.  He was already too cold to feel it.  His filth-covered tail dragged along behind him, creating a path of mud along the rooftop.  The dark-blue colored mane fared no better as it clung to his forehead, dripping the water that ran down the hairs onto his eyes.

Where are you going, Coal Coat?

He turned to see a mare standing in the rain, looking towards him with sad eyes that begged for him to walk to her.  No, he wouldn’t fall for illusions again.  This time, it was over.  “I’m leaving.”  His voice cracked as he spoke for the first time in what seemed like ages, casting his gaze down and staring deeply at his own reflection.  Normally he’d have somepony to talk to about the desperate light in his eyes, but on this day he didn’t; he didn’t need one regardless, he wouldn’t need anything soon.

Are you coming back?

The question caught him like a hoof in the chest, the air inside of his lungs rushing out as it hit him.  He lifted his eyes and looked towards the mare who he loved.  Despite the bitterness that flowed inside of him like the rain flowed through the cracks in the rooftop’s tile, Coal Coat felt the temptation to run to the pony and pull her in for a hug, one that he needed more than anything.  However, when he stepped forward a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and blinded him.

When his eyes cleared of the jagged black-blue that was imprinted on his vision, the pony was no longer there.  “No.”  He took in a deep breath before turning slowly back to continue what he had come here to do.  “No, I‘m not coming back.”  His grey hooves seemed impossibly heavy as he started to walk forward, each step taking what seemed like hours.  Everything seemed as if it were slowed down as he reached the edge and stared into the abyss below, an abyss that was sure to swallow his life and smother it in the darkness it held.

A darkness that seemed to live inside of him as well.  It was always there, urging him to end everything.  End the suffering, the humiliation, the painful existence of every single moment of life.  Today, he was finally going to give it what it wanted; he was going to be with the blackest kind of darkness:  death.  The edges of his vision were ringed with the wall of falling rain, giving him a straight tunnel-like view into what he was about to enter.  Everything seemed to hang for a moment as he tensed his legs and crouched low to the ground, preparing to leap over the edge and towards his death.

Air rushed into and then out of his body as he took in a steadying breath.  This was it, the end to the tragically hysterical lie of a life that he had led.  Coal Coat shut his eyes tightly as he crouched even lower.  After his hooves left the ground, there was no going back, no reset button or restart switch.  It was just him, the air between him and the ground, and the dirt that would catch his body as well as break it like a ceramic dish that was dropped.  This was it.  No going back.  His muscles pushed, launching his hooves off of the ground and placing him directly over the abyss.  For somepony about to die, Coal Coat felt an overwhelming emotion of serenity.  It was as if he found his destiny at last.

Or so he thought.

When he opened his eyes again, there was nothing but a wall of emerald flames that flickered around him in every direction.  Over the roaring fire came a voice, a cruel hissing that sent chills down his spine and made the hairs on the back of his neck rise up in fear.  “I can give you what you want, my little pony.”

Chapter One: Waking Up

Light flooded in as Coal Coat’s eyes snapped open, causing the stallion to bring up his hooves to shield his eyes from the brightness.  It was then that he noticed a distinct coldness about his blanket, brought forth no doubt by the sweat that he could feel running down his forehead.  Despite the blanket’s warm embrace he shivered with the uneasy feeling that was nestled into the back of his stomach.  He took in a deep breath and let it out before sitting up, stretching his back after he did so.  “Nnnnnng.”  His groan filled the room as a few of the vertebrae in his back popped.

After standing up to shut the curtains, Coal Coat began to gather up his blankets that were now saturated with the scent of sweat and fear.  “That’s the third night in a row.”  He huffed angrily to himself as he tossed the ball of sopping wet cloth into the laundry bin to be done later.  The pile of blankets and sheets had grown to be nearly as high tall as he was something that he would have to resign himself to doing later tonight.  The stench really was getting to be too much for even the strongest of room-sprays, Haybreeze Ultimate, to conceal.

As he trotted out of the room the door swung shut behind him in a desperate attempt to keep the smell from the rest of the house.  It smelled like sweat, but it had some sort of unnerving undertone to it; something that reeked so badly that it burned his nose with its sourness.  Of course, he wasn’t allowed a moment to reflect on the burning in nose as his thoughts were interrupted by the rather loud rumbling of his stomach.