A Beam Within The Abyss

I started gaining conciousness, although as strange as it sounds, I wasn't able to move an inch. Essentially, I was paralized. The dizziness quickly faded away and got replaced by a bothersome soreness over my whole body. My wings felt stiff and very awkward, as if something was holding them against my sides. Trying to analyze my current condition, I noticed that I was laying on a soft surface, a bed. Well, it wasn't soft, considering that it was the most unbelievably uncomfortable matress I had ever slept on, at least during my time in Equestria, but much to my relief it certainly wasn't a hole in the ground or a sack filled with rocks.

Why am I here? What is this place?

Then it hit me. The memories of the recent events swarmed my still befuddled mind. There was a pony, he ran away and I was ambushed by fierce beasts. As I struggled to finally solve the puzzle, I realized that my body was, though in a lethergic manner, responding at my will. My eyes slowly opened. Everything was blurry, the only distinguishable component of my obscure surroundings being a dim light, a dark shape obstructing a portion of its faint shimmer. After frantically rubbing both my eyes with my hooves, I was once and for all able to see clearly.

I was inside a cave. The dim light originated from the entrace, and the previously obscured shape was, once again, that mysterious stallion. To my surprise, he was much larger than I thought, actually, he seemed to be even larger than me. His coat was a dull grey, almost black, and his sloppy mane was sheer white. Regarding his behaviour, it was quite intriguing. He just kept staring outside, completely motionless. Something was completely seizing his interest. It looked like he wasn't even breathing.

Eventually the expectation of any reaction from him faded, thus I gradually uprooted my gaze from the unusual fellow and focused on the remaining portion of the apparent shelter.

The first thing that struck me was the writing on the walls. Countless words, letters, expressions and drawings covered almost the entirety of the wall, written using a wide selection of small peddles that were nicely organized across the floor. The words and characters were continuously repeated multiple times, one aside the other. Some of them seemed to be purposed to help to improve, or to maintain a decent grammar, and others looked like mementos of some sort. Next, there were the drawings, these being meticulously depicted over a darker portion of the rock. To my bewilderment, they portrayed several creatures, plants and literal monsters, each one seconded by even more notes that presented various lists of traits, possible uses, among other things of the sort. My gaze kept moving over the long hall of scribbled rock before another conjuction of symbols caught my interest. Hundreds of lines were displayed inside a bordered space to discern them from the rest of the scrawling. The lines were organized in separated groups of four vertical lines crossed by a horizontal one. It didn't take long to realize its purpose, it was a calendar. And judging by the large amount of marks, whoever drew it lived there for a very, very long time.

Being consumed by sheer intrigue, I genuinely considered standing up and counting every little line. Apparently, the mere idea of moving was able to bring back the niggling sore on my back and wings, so I decided, although apprehensively, to check the damage. If my mind wasn't betraying me, the beasts had almost chewed my wings off.

First of all, my regalia was gone. It must've fallen off during the atack. I shifted my gaze over my sides, and to my relief, there were barely any signs of blood, even when the size of the wounds were horribly large if I recalled correctly. All the cuts and bruises they were carefully cleaned and sanitized. Bandages composed of some leaves, herbs and vines, along with a stick to keep the wings stiff in their place covered my whole torso. Also, considering that most of my wounds partially sealed, I concluded that I had slept for a whole day. Celestia's going to shave me for this.... Lowering my gaze I found out that I was laying over a pile of hay held together by a some twigs and sticks tied together to resemble a normal bed.

Once again I shifted my gaze over the stagnant stallion. According to all the hints I could muster and sheer logic it was obvious that he lived there, and that he had for a long time. It was also obvious that it was him who saved me from those beasts before and the one who healed me.

Realizing I was continuously rambling in my thoughts instead of spitting a single word, I forced myself to ignore the pain as best as I could and speak. "Hello." I muttered, half expecting the stallion to be sleeping in his current pose.

He lifted his ears and slowly turned his head, staring at me with a semblance that I could only describe as a mix between fright and sheer surprise. Now having his face turned in my direction, I was able to make out the rest of his features. A unicorn with dark gray coat, white mane, blue eyes and... white marks painted on his face. One over his snout, a rectangle with 3 triangles on top, and another one, a triangle at the side of his eyes. He also had another square shaped one on his chest. It was quite strange. Even after several seconds he still continued with his inquisive look, not sparing a single word.

Soon enough I realized why he was looking at me in such a way, it was because he couldn't see in the dark as well as I. "Apologies." I said with a nod, proceeding by casting a basic light spell. As soon as the emanating shimmer of my horn lightened the cave and my frame became totally visible for him he adopted the expression of someone who'd just seen a ghost.

It wasn't surprising, many ponies are frightened when they're standing in front of royalty, especially when it comes to my sister and I. "Do not fret, we a-"

"T-that's a... B-but you have wings..." He interrupted stammering, his eyes focusing on my gleaming horn. Without any furter ado, he rushed towards the scratched walls, searching high and low among several carved images for something unknown to me.

Minutes passed, and I could sense the simmering rage within the stranger's being. Before the situation could get unstable, I decided to interrupt his fruitless rummage. "Excuse us, bu-"

"ACK! Wings, horn, wings and horn." He was now holding his temples, and sheer frustration tainted his nonsensical rambling. But what truly baffled me, was that he seemed in pain.

"Doth thee feel well?" My words didn't stir any response.

Without apparent reason, a dim, almost skeptical smile found its way on his face. Employing a boulder he traced a line on top of the head of one of the drawings, a pegasus that now resembled an alicorn. He gazed upon his work for a moment, and then turned to face me with eyes of astonishment.

"Alicorn... You're an alicorn." Once again, his hoof panged and placed itself over his forehead. "Princess... Princesses."

I tried to find any hint of a jest on his expression, but I perceived none. "But of couse we art. How is it possible that thou didn't realize before?" I bemusedly questioned whilst trying to raise from the mound of dried grass, only to stumble and start falling face-first to the ground. Unexpectedly, an ethereal force quickly snatched and placed me on the fodder just in time to prevent the smashing of the last wholesome portion of my body.

Even though manipulating a princess would in most cases be considered a crime worthy of a season in the dungeons, just by noticing his horrified grimace I decided to ignore it, giving him a reassuring nod to show that everything was okay.

"Thank thee for helping us, mister...?" I finished gesturing towards him with a hoof to end the sentence.

His name, that's all I asked, and even then his short moment of clarity came to a blunt end. "Name...?"

I didn't question him, but I was indeed flabbergasted by his oblivious behaviour. Regally craning my neck and closing my eyes I answered, hoping for him to follow. "We are the ruler of the night and raiser of the Moon, Princess Luna."

After spending a handful of seconds in pure silence awaiting an answer, I opened one eye to make sure that he was still there. His eyes were locked on the floor and a single hoof was placed on his mouth, hinting that he was deeply musing over something. Both his eyes slowly widened until he let out a brusque gasp.

"Princess Luna... Possessed and banished to the moon and..." He violently shook his head "I don't remember why I know all of this..." He retorted ambiguously, a frightened tone at the end of the sentence.

I didn't understand. I couldnt understand. Every time he spoke the situation turned more and more bizarre. Concealing my awkwardness as finely as possible, I tried to drift him away from his current rambling by repeating my question.

"What's thy name?"

This time, he didn't succumb to a state of frenzy. What I saw there was nothing else but deep, insightful contemplation. "My name..." He sat on the cold floor and took a hoof to his mouth, presumably facing some sort of difficulty to answer such question. As if the entire world were waiting for his response, sheer silence took prominence; not even the faint sighing of the forest could break it.

He halted rubbing his chin as his look turned even more confused than mere seconds ago. "I don't think I have one of those... Should I have one?

What?

"B-but of course thou should! Ugh." I shant lie, I was truly confused at that point, exasperated even. I fell victim of vicious creatures, and then saved by a random stranger who doesn't know what his name is. It couldn't be a simple joke directed towards the amusement of some wicked individual, neither it seemed like the stallion's attitude and reactions were a faux. Was he a lunatic? He didn't seem like one at all, if anything he had the air of a loftily healthy and balanced pony, hence bringing several questions that most certainly I was going to ask at some point. Although to my dispair, it didn't appeared like I was going to receive any proper answers as of then, though rest assured that I tried.

I stood upright, doing my very best to conceal the soreness, and cleared my throat. "It doesn't matter, wouldst thou mind if we asketh a couple of questions?"

He took a step back, concern starting to drift over his face. "W-what kind of questions?"

I went straight to the point. "Why and how long hath thou been living here? This place is far too dangerous for a pony."

Upon hearing those words, his look of concern was instantly replaced with a somber expression. As he started turning back to the entrance of the cave, he opened his mouth. "Is it...?" Tears subtly started forming on his now glazed eyes. Words seemed to get lost in his throat. Gloomily he shook his lowered head, trudging to the same place he was sitting on earlier. Releasing a deep sigh, he leaned his body against the stone wall and locked his gaze upwards.

I had botched up badly. "We ask for thy forgiveness, We didn't know it would bother thee so much." I regretfully alleged.

He shook his head once again. "Don't worry, I don't know why I felt like this all of sudden neither. It's... weird."

Considering my period of banishment, it would be an understatement to say that I wasn't empathetic of his situation. As much as I wanted to know why somepony would be dwelling in a cave inside one of the most hazardous places in Equestria, It was obvious that discussing the matter was extremely despiriting for him. Hence, I tried to leave the topic for a quite trivial query that had been nagging me for a while.

"Don't worry, I shall not press on with the subject." I supported my head on a hoof. "However, if thou don't mind us asking, what were thee doing laying in the grass last night? We thought thou were asleep, but it sems like that was not the case."

Immediately his head raised, energy visibly filling his body at the right words. He turned his head towards me, now with a faint smile on his face. "I was stargazing," the now rejuvenated stallion proudly replied.

I gave out an enthusiastic smile. "Thou dost enjoy stargazing?"

He took another glance at the sky. "I love, I always did. Those little dots... stars, are just too beautiful to ignored." He snorted, growing a full grin. "Or maybe I just like to find funny shapes in them. In either case I'll still take it." Given his sudden nonchalance I couldn't help myself but giggle.

Eagerly, he stepped closer and sat down in front of me. "Princess, would you like to stargaze too? If you want I can help you to walk and then move the straw closer to the entrance for you to rest."

Matter-of-factly, I actually liked the idea. If I was bound to rest over an uneven pile of straw, at least the distracting beauty of the stars would help a lot to pass the time. However, the idea of receiving assistance to step around wasn't something of my liking, but taking in account that my last attempt at walking was futile I didn't complain, or at least not much.

"Is it really necessary to assist us?" I huffed.

Heartily chuckling, he approached and extended a hoof. "I wouldn't like you to smash your face on the ground. I was lucky the first time."

Wincing at the idea, I took hold of his hoof. "Very well then."

He lowered his head and placed my foreleg around his neck. As I clumsily attempted to stand up with his help, Shadow's magic took hold of the straw, smoothly swaying it in the direction of the entrance, neatly placing the hay close to the edge of the cave afterwards. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally rose up at my full height.

Slowly and taking every possible precaution, he walked me over to the entrance and placed me upon the improvised mattress. From our angle we could now see a big portion of the sky. Sighing contentedly, the stranger stretched out over the ground, his gaze locked on the stars.

"Fascinating, aren't they?" He whispered. "Ever since I can remember I spent a good times observing them."

Upon hearing 'every night' something felt a bit off. "What doth thou mean by 'ever since'? Dost thou not sleep enough?"

"Uh?" He shrugged. "I thing I sleep well enough, I'm out as soon as the sun rises." He clarified nonchalantly. "Once I couldn't sleep normally due to a storm, and I assure you that I've never felt worse. When that thing is out I feel a bit drained," he took a glance at his cutie mark "I think this might have something to do with it, I don't even know why it's there."

There was no use in uttering another inquiry. I had neither the volition to pour once again uneasiness into the situation, nor felt the need to. After all, it wasn't astounding to find out that a pony who didn't acquaint with his own name was oblivious of the meaning behind his mark as well. This, however, didn't stopped me from formulating more and more questions.

I stared at him one last time, his mane was dropping over the right side of his face and his blue eyes were completely captivated by the black veil upon us. Smiling at his astonishment, I followed his steps and shifted my gaze over the silent spectacle.

Time passed quickly, and the Moon descended upon the horizon. Thankfully my sister was able to control both astros, for I was too weak to command the Moon that night. As the orange shimmer of the bright sun filled the skies and concealed the stars, the inexorable need to repose slowly invaded me.

"We shall sleep now, have a good rest." I announced as I nuzzled the straw.

Smiling, he replied. "Of course, sleep well Luna." As his words left his mouth he immediatly widened his eyes in apparent apprehension. "I-I mean Princess."

Diverted by his reaction, I decided to just shrug it off. Truth be told, I was elated that someone finally avoided including my title. It felt more personal, more me. Softly shaking my head I assure him that everything was alright. "Fret not, thou may calle us Luna if thou wishes."

Lowering my head, being now curled up against the welcome relative softness of the hay pile, I mused about the recent turn of events. But one thing stood out from everything else, and as the drowsiness invaded my mind, it was the last thought that succumbed to its might.

The thought, the feeling that maybe, just maybe, I had made a friend. An odd one, that is, but a friend nonetheless.