Fellow Travelers

by ChillyKitty

Lost

Barter didn’t have to travel for long before she started to hear the distant mumbles and hoofsteps of a busy village of ponies. Her ears perked and she grinned as she picked up speed. She hoped this village had a market or at least another pony who’d wish to trade.

Perhaps they’d have an inn for her to spend the day in, she’d never seen an inn before but they were in plenty of her books, and she was getting quite tired.

The chorus of ponies got louder, causing her to pick up her pace, she would've galloped if galloping wasn't so hard under the weight of her saddlebags. With a burst of energy, she broke away from the trees. Leaving the jungle behind her, she lifted one side off her blindfold to see a town not far away, just behind some mountains. Mountains that would've stopped most ponies, but not Barter, without thinking twice she spread her wings. She raced to village, landing just in front of the mountains and trotting as fast as she could.

She stopped and looked around, there was a large statue of a pegasus and several triangular buildings. The ponies around her walked at a steady pass, stopping to talk to one another. They hardly seemed to be celebrating, but she did notice a few piles of snow and several wreaths, signifying that they were at least going to celebrate Hearth’s Warming. The thought of spending Hearth’s Warming with diurnals brought a smile to her muzzle.

Her smile was cut short when she heard something, “Okay, how about a pie for those earrings?”

She whipped her head around to see a unicorn mare who had set up shop on a blanket, bartering with a stallion.

“A pie? Sir, these are crafted from pure gold.”

“Two pies?”

“Now that’s more reasonable, you’re lucky I'm hungry.”

As the stallion trotted away and the mare tucked the earrings into a satchel, likely saving them for when the stallion brought the pies, Barter stepped towards her.

"Um," she said, her heart beating out of her chest. She was talking to a diurnal! Though she forced herself to stay calm, "Excuse me, Miss."

The pale pink mare looked up at Barter.

Barter smiled, "Well, hello I-"

"What's wrong with your eye?!" The fear on the mare's face was obvious.

Barter took a step back, she hadn’t thought about ponies who’d never seen batponies before. They hadn’t been in hiding for that long, she just assumed that the diurnals would know what slit eyes meant. She relaxed, preparing to explain her species to this unknown pony, “Oh I’m a bat-”

“Why’s her wings like that?”

Barter turned to see a young colt point at her with a small, feathery wing. His mother spoke up before even looking at Barter, “Sweetie, it’s impolite to-” When her eyes locked with Barter she almost jumped out of her feathers, “What is that?!”

Barter furrowed her eyebrows, “I’m a batpony.” she turned.

“It has fangs!” Was all the foal said, bringing the attention of the nearby villagers.

“Yes, because I’m a batpony.” she turned to the colt.

The pink mare gasped, “It’s wings are made of leather!” As she turned, she must’ve given the perfect view of her wings to the merchant.

“They’re made of skin,” She whipped her head back around. Seeing the horror that showed on the diurnal’s face, she realized her mistake, “My own skin, it’s just like pegasus feathers.”

“That’s nothing like my wings!” An offended pegasus declared from the crowd.

Barter scoffed, she turned back to the merchant, “Look, I was just asking for directions. Do you have an inn?”

“Why would I tell you, Monster?”

Barter took a step back again, reeling from what she heard. Monster? How could any pony call another pony a monster? She wasn’t a dragon or a griffon. “I’m a pony.”

“Ponies don’t have fangs.” One voice shouted, Barter’s ear swiveled to listen to it instinctively, “Fangs are for eating meat.”

“They’re for hunting bugs.” Barter defended as tears began stinging her eyes, “And drinking from fruits.”

“Ponies don’t eat bugs.”

“Do you think it eats ponies?”

“It must suck blood like a bat sucks fruit.”

“I would never-” Barter gasped only to be cut off again by a cacophony of voices she only wished she couldn’t hear. Why did her ears have to detect every little insult that came her way?

“Go away Monster!”

“You should have never came!”

“Kill it before it hurts somepony!”

Everything from loudest of screams to quietest ‘tch’ made its way to Barter. She shook her head and backed away, pushing against the crowd as they closed in on her. She feebly shoved ponies out of her way as she tried to force herself out of town and back to the jungle, at least there it was quiet.

“Make it show it’s face!”

Somepony called out a command and a nearby diurnal was more than happy to oblige. The stallion ripped of her sash, exposing her other eye to the harsh light of day.

She cried out in pain as the light of noon hit both eyes at once. She shrunk away from the sky, letting out uncontrollable sobbing. She still shoved her way through, pushing against ponies and eventually spreading her leathery wings to help boost her past the crowd.

However her wings worked a little too well and cause nearly every diurnal to gasp and back away. Before Barter had even realized that her wings had scared them, she galloped. Actually galloped, despite the weight on her back. Her eyes shut tight against cruel daylight.

The shade of the jungle was helpful but not nearly enough to allow her to open her eyes, perhaps it only felt so helpful because of the mountains she'd had to blindly fly back over to get there. She could barely feel herself breath, though she definitely felt her heart beat out of her chest, and not in a good way.

She ran and ran, narrowly avoiding hitting most trees head on, though plenty of roots snagged at her hooves and tough bark slammed into her half spread wings. The the foliage she trampled got pushed into the dirt with how hard she galloped, but she could barely feel her hooves even touching the ground.

She wanted to go home, back to the caves, to be cradled and scolded by her family. She wanted to promise that she’d never do anything so stupid again, she’d be fine with being tormented by her peers for the rest of life if she never lived this down. She just wanted to go back to the darkness and not be called a monster. Her head stung as she turned and opened her eyes for half a second. She couldn’t tell where she was or where the cave was. He ears swiveled around as she ran, trying to detect a distant echo that could’ve been coming from her home. She took step after step until there was no other step left to take.

And she, in her rush, accidentally shot herself forward and opened her eyes as she fell into the trees below. She'd barely registered that she was falling off a cliff before a branch came rushing towards her.

She slammed into that branch which knocked the air out of her. She gasped, falling further before quickly hitting another branch which broke under the weight of her.

She tossed and turned for a few terrifying moments but eventually found herself on the ground, sore all over and covered in vines and sticks. She looked up for a split second and concluded that her bags had ripped and her things fell everywhere, she slammed her eyes shut again. It was too painful to keep them open. It was too painful to move at all.

So she stayed exactly where she was and she cried. It was an unbearably ugly cry mixed with wails and sobs. Hot tears stained her coat and her shaking breaths between her cries could’ve been heard by a batpony a mile away.

Why did they call her a monster? She wasn’t that different. She should have known how ponies reacted to those who were different though, she read the books on the founding of Equestria.

She was stupid. So utterly stupid. “I’m an idiot.” she wept. She should’ve never left her caves. She should’ve never seen that sunrise.

She wasn’t sure how long she laid there before she heard something stir.

“Hello?” She called, still unable to move. She feared the worse, what if it was wild cat ready to eat her? Well, being eaten would be easier than trying to find her cave at this moment.

“What have we here? It’s an injured pony, I fear.”

A deep, heavily accented voice spoke in rhyme. Barter flashed her eyes open, but the stranger had not walked close enough for her to see.

“I have lived in this land for quite some time but never have I heard such a dreadful cry.” the stranger continued stepping closer.

Barter looked again, she saw a vaguely pony shaped thing, but it had stripes like she’d never seen. “What are you?” she mumbled.

“What am I? Well I am me. The only zebra I assume you’ve ever seen?”

Barter looked again and successfully kept one eye painfully open. “Zebra?” The non-pony nodded, “What are you doing here? It’s sounds like we’re pretty deep in the forest.” she swerved her ears and failed to hear any shouts of the outside world.

“Oh yes we are, the nearest ponies are quite far. I heard a friend call for my help, the bird pointed me towards your yelp.” he said.

“The parrot?” She asked, gratitude swelled in her heart.

“Indeed she is and she awaits, my home is not far and it’s getting late. Come with me, young filly.”

Barter raised an eyebrow, “It’s midday.”

“It’s lunchtime for me and rest time for you, I may not be a pony but I know a thing or two.” he winked.

Barter’s glee must’ve shown on her face, a creature who knew she was a batpony and not a monster! She struggled but got up at once, her muscles screamed at her to stop but she didn’t listen.

“Leave your things for now, they will be safe. First we heal your wounds at my place.” The zebra said, helping her stay up by allowing her to lean on him as he lead her further into the jungle. She let her eyes shut, she trusted him, she didn’t know if she should but she did. And even if he was about to sacrifice her in a pot of stew, or something absurd like that, she was in no position to escape, so why worry? Though he didn’t seem like a pony who’d do that. Or zebra, rather.

Author's Note:

aa idk this chap might feel rushed but im to tired to do anything more than spellcheck good night yall

Edit from the next morning: oh god so many typos