A Friend In The Dark
Black Sky felt as if a bus had fallen on him, then driven over him and, just for kicks, body slammed him. He'd been fighting a group of rebels when a second group had flanked his squad. His comrades had managed to get away, but he wasn't so lucky. While preoccupied with the atacking pegasi, a unicorn managed to get a lucky shot, hitting Black Sky right between the wings, sending him groundward, leaving a trail of smoke from his burning fur.
He was genuinely suprised he was still alive, and at that, that he could still move. He had hit numerous branches on his way down, and his wings were an absolute mess, and though he could move, it hurt terribly to do so, and so he stumbled whenever he tried to get up.
Unable to get up, Black Sky decided to check his surroundings. He was in a chasm of some kind, and he was still deep in the Everfree Forest. And now, he was going to die. As he was about to accept this sad truth, the sound of a rock being scraped echoed through the chasm. Frantic, Black Sky scanned the shadows until his eyes fell upon the slumped shape of...an alicorn?
Nearby, hunched against a wall, sat an alicorn. The alicorn was looking right at him, but at the same time, it felt like it wasnt.
"No pony should die alone in the darkness, don't you agree, Black Sky?"
"Wait," Black sputtered out as he tried to move, sending another wave of pain surging through his body, "Who...are...you, and how do you know...my......name?"
The alicorn quickly came from the shadows of the cave and laid beside him. She wore a set of heavily dented armor similar to that of the Canterlot Royal Guard, and had unremarkable silver fur, a golden mane and tail, and her eyes were...blind?
"My name is Glimmer, but that's not really important. What is important is that you remain still." She grabbed Black Sky's medical kit and began applying bandages and antiseptic to his wounds, making Black Sky weary, and his eyelids heavy.
"NO," she said, slapping Black on the snout, "If you fall asleep in here, you will die just like I did."
"Ow, okay, wait, WHAT?" It took Black a moment to fully understand what Glimmer had just said. "Are you telling me that you're a bucking Thestral?!"
Glimmer nodded as the guise of a young healthy alicorn dropped to that of a half decomposed one. Her fur and skin had long ago rotted away, as had most of her organs. Her eyes were also gone, leaving two black voids for Black to stare into.
"GYAH," Black yelped at the sight before Glimmer restored the illusion. "Get away from me, you filthy mosnter!" All thought of pain disappeared as Black backed away from Glimmer until he slammed into the cavern wall, all the pain returning in a instant.
"Please, d..don't call me that," Glimmer said, her tone soft and saddened. "It make me feel...I don't know, like I am a monster. But why me? All I did was good, and then I fell down here. I broke a wing and cracked my horn, so I could escape. Nopony knew were I...was. I just sat down here and d...d...died, died all alone down here in the d...d...dark." Glimmer began to cry, her sobs echoing through the chasm.
Black had been sprwled on the stony floor, listening to Glimmer. No he sat up and, feeling sorry for her, carfully madehis way to her, so as not to cause himself any more pain. "I though you needed to be cursed to become a Thestral, or something like that."
"I...I thought so, too," said Glimmer. "I felt all my life leave my body, then I felt it come back. I didn't understand it at the time, but now I think it was the magic that had been pouring from my horn."
"So you cursed yourself?"
"That's the idea," Glimmer said as she raised a hoof to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I only wanted to meet Celestia, but I end up down here, all alone in the dark."
"It's okay," said Black sympathetically, "You're not alone anymore."
Glimmer wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, but you can't stay here forever, you'll die."
Black considered this for a moment. "Fine, I'll come visit."
"That sounds better," Glimmer said with a smile, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," said Black, returning her smile. "If I may ask, how did you end up down here, anyway?"
"Oh," said Glimmer, "Coincidentally, I am, or was, a leading professor in the study of Thestrals. I was studying them here when they attacked me. The rest is what you see."
"Oh," said Black, "I knew your name sounded familliar."
Though it had been gradual, Black finally noticed that the light was fading. The sun was going down, and soon he and Glimmer would be in total darkness...
Glimmer's guise fell away as she fired a ball of bright magic into the air. It stopped after a few feet and just sat there, hovering above them.
"What is that?"
"Magic Flare," said Glimmer. "When you're alone for a long time, you tend to find hobbies. One of mine is Spell Weaving."
The duo chatted with each other well into the night, Glimmer making sure that Black never fell asleep. Black was no longer afraid of her in her normal form, and was actually quite comfortable with it. When she asked what Equestria was like nowadays, Black told her about Nightmare Moon's return, The Changeling Invasion, The return of The Crystal Empire, the Ascension of Twilight Sparkle and the defeat of Tirek.
Oddly, Glimmer knew nothing of any of this, though Ponyville was a familliar term. She explained that in her time, Celestia had only just sent Luna to the moon, and had defeated Discord a few years earlier. In essence, Glimmer had been sitting alone in that chasm for well over one thousand years!
Eventually, the darkness began to fade as the sun came up, and the sound of wingbeats could be heard approaching above.
"Thank you, for everything," said Black.
"As I said, nopony should have to die alone in the dark. I was just keeping you from the same fate as I."
Black nodded. "I'll see you again soon."
Glimmer returned the nod before disappearing into the shadows of the cave.
When the rescue team found Captain Black Sky, he was quite calm and collected, and also very responsive. When they asked about his bandages, he simply said he'd applied them to himself. Not seeing any reason to argue, they loaded him onto a stretcher and began flying out of the Chasm. Just before they cleared the top, Black Sky looked back to see his new friend, standing and waving at him with a friendly smile on her face. In later years he would return, and would do so unil the day he died, but he made sure that she would never be alone again. In his will, a certain map was enclosed within a certain envelope, and his will stated that the odd envelope would go it somepony important, somepony regal...
...somepony like Princess Celestia.