A Stranger's Love
Chapter 1
Night time. It's the only time that I can truly fly without anypony pointing and yelling, or running away in fear. I can't really blame them; my appearance does not suggest that I am friendly. I'm a black furred Pegasus stallion with red streaks in my mane and tail, but that is not why ponies are struck with fright when they see me. I was born with abnormally large and strangely shaped wings. I have been told they look menacing when fully extended, not that I try to be. While they are feathered like any other Pegasus's, they are shaped like a fusion of dragon and bat wings. They are big enough to cover two ponies each if they were standing next to me with enough extra to stick a filly under there as well. It is because of this that I have been chased out of most of the places I have lived. Canterlot, Manehattan, and my birthplace, Cloudsdale; all have shunned me or shut me out. Even Apploosa, which was known for its hospitality kicked me out; although they did do it graciously and discretely. Since then I have been flying from forest to cave searching for a place to stay. Recently I had come across a few wilderness explorer ponies that said that Ponyville was a nice place, and that the town harbored a few strange ponies already. Feeling a hope I had not felt in ages I decided right then to go there and see if they would accept me.
As I made my way through the night sky for the third day in a row I saw lights in the distance. I took a deep breath of the crisp night air and lowered myself so I was flying over the tips of the trees of the forest below me. The closer I got to the town, the fewer trees there were between me and the ground, so I decided to skim the forest floor; careful not to hit any trees. Once at the edge of town I folded my wings so that they looked somewhat normal sized and walked towards what looked like an inn of some sort. I walked inside and went up to the counter, ringing a small bell on it as I did. A friendly looking mare unicorn trotted out from an office behind the counter and smiled at me.
"Hello there sir, how may I help you?" she said in a tired but cheerful voice.
"Um, hi," I said dumbly, not used to anypony being friendly towards me. "I would like to stay here for a while. Is there any room?"
"Let me check," replied the mare as she used her magic to flip through a book on the counter. "Aha, here we go. There is a room available on the second floor."
"That would be great," I said honestly. "How much for a night?"
"30 bits for the first night and 20 for each additional night," she answered. I winced slightly at the price; I only had 50 bits on me.
"Ok, I'll go ahead and pay the first night then," I said as I clinked 30 of my hard earned bits onto the counter.
"Splendid!" said the mare. "Your room number is 27, here is your key." She levitated a key off of a hook behind her and placed it in my saddlebag. "Have a good night." I thanked her and went up to my room. As I lay my bag down and turned on the light I thought about what I would do the next day. 'I should probably talk with the town mayor,' I thought to myself. 'It's the least I should do before I reveal myself to anypony here.' As I laid my tired body down I thought of what else I should do, but when my head touched the soft pillow I fell asleep almost instantly.