Clyde opened his eyes to see a brown hut. As he tried to move, he felt immense pain in his wings. While looking around, he noticed that he could see things clearer than he ever had before. Where was he?
"Oh, you're up! Thank goodness!" A voice from behind him said. As she came in front of him, he noticed something very off. She looked like a regular unicorn with dark red fur and a wavy crimson mane, but something was different. He realized that she had tufts at the end of her ears, she had a slanted horn, and her eyes... Her eyes were slitted, like a bat pony's would be.
"Excuse me, but I have a lot of questions..." He said, unsure. She laughed lightheartedly and answered, "I should hopefully have the answers!"
"Okay," he started. "First of all, are you a bat pony?"
"Yes."
"Where am I?"
"You're in the village of the Lunar Republic."
The lunar republic... Clyde had heard that name before, but where? He then remembered that a few months ago he had read about it. The Lunar Republic was an island not too far from Canterlot, and it had an exceptional detail about it: all the ponies there were bat ponies. For years, the hybrid ponies were outcasted because they were so different from everypony else, so they all moved to an island where they could be left alone. However, when Princess Luna came back from being banished to the moon, she found the bat ponies. Instantly, she accepted them in and thanks to her acceptance, other ponies' hearts were softened as well. Since then the island was named The Lunar Republic and bat ponies were able to live in harmony.
"Wow, the Lunar Republic." He gawked. "How did I get here?"
"Dear, you washed up on the shore two days ago, all scratched and unconscious. I hate to say it, but you almost died! So I got in contact with Princess Luna- I'm her jeweler so she's a good friend of mine- and she helped me save you, but the only way to do that was, well.... To do this to you." She looked at his wings with a sad smile. "But you're okay now, right?"
"Of course! I'm fine, and thank you, but what do you mean this?"
She levitated a mirror over with her magic, giving it to him. As he looked at himself, he was terrified at what he saw: he was a bat pony.
"I'm very sorry, dear... But it was the only way to save you!" The bat pony said to Clyde as she saw his terrified face. As Clyde looked harder, though, he realized that though he had grew bat wings and had a darker coat, he had also gotten a heightened sense of vision and hearing. Taking a deep breath, he decided that this was a good thing, and he owed his life to the bat pony standing in front of him.
"Don't worry, I'll get used to this;" he said, smiling at her. "Thank you for saving me. What's your name?"
"Ruby Moon," she answered. "My husband Cynder and I have lived in this village our entire lives, and trust me, it's an amazing place to live."
At this time, Clyde was able to sit up and spread his new wings which suddenly caused pain down his spine.
"Careful, dear!" Ruby said, using her magic to numb the pain. "You're far too weak to move too much right now. Just stay right there and I can get you anything you need."
"Thank you so much." Clyde answered. "You know, you remind me of my mom. You had kids, right?"
"No dear..." She replied, a sad smile reappearing on her face. "You see, my husband and I found out after we were married that we weren't able to have foals of our own..."
"I'm sorry to have brought that up"
"No, it's okay. It's not your fault." The sadness leaving her face, she said, "Now, do you want something to eat or drink? You must be starving because you were out for a few days."
"I wouldn't want to trouble you." Clyde hesitated.
"Ah, it's no trouble at all!" Ruby replied with a smile. She trotted over to their kitchen, making Clyde a sandwich.
"Thank you for everything." He grinned. "When should I be able to fly back home to tell my family that I'm okay?"
"You're doing really well, so I think you should be able to make the trip in a week."
A week? Although he was very thankful for Ruby Moon and her hospitality, he hoped that his family wasn't worrying too bad...