The Neon Bat Pony

by DeffBwade

Chapter 2: The Forest

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The nameless pony, now guided by his new bird companion Willow, proceeds to head out of the forest.

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"Jeez. How much further do we have to go?" the nameless pony asked in his head as he continued to follow Willow through the forest.

It's been about 20 minutes since he had that nervous breakdown after realizing that he doesn't remember his own identity. Despite still feeling upset at his adversity, he still managed to maintain a face full of confidence to just move on forward, knowing that he wouldn't go anywhere, both figuratively and literally, if he just sat there and cried.

Willow was honestly impressed with the pony's mental attitude. If there was one word it could use to describe him so far, it would probably be "optimistic." After all, if it was the one that was suffering from amnesia, it would've cried and/or panic for a while. But instead, the pony just shrugged it off (well, not completely as it could tell that he was still feeling down), continued to stay positive, and move on.

Willow proceeded to chirp in a singing tone in order to get the happy mood going and pass the time. At the pace they were currently going at, the bird estimated that it would be another 20-30 minutes before they reached the nearest city. Thankfully, the singing seemed to be doing the job of making things cheerful as the pony now had a small smile on his face and was even humming along with the tune.

"Hey Willow? Can I ask you something?" the pony asked out loud, catching the bird's attention, "This may seem like a dumb question, but...what gender are you?"

Willow, in response, chirped in a deadpan tone, asking something along the lines of "are you serious?" At least, that's what the pony believed it was trying to say.

"S-sorry, it's just...I don't really know how to tell the gender of a bird," he stated.

Willow, while a part of it was upset that the pony didn't know its gender, couldn't be mad as it understood where he was coming from. After all, one could only tell the difference between genders through their color palette and patterns, and it's not like all of Equestria knows a lot about birds.

To answer his question, Willow perched on top of a nearby branch and seemed to point at something in his direction.

At first, he was confused on what the bird was trying to communicate, but after a few seconds realized that it was pointing at him. Just to be sure, he pointed a hoof at himself and gave a questioning gaze to the bird, who then nodded in response.

"He's pointing at me? Wha...I don't get it. I don't understand. What do I have to do with...oh...oh!" the pony realized as he finally understood what the bird was saying.

"Oh! Same as me? You're a...male?" he asked to which Willow nodded and chirped in confirmation, before a smirk appeared on the pony's face, "Huh. Funny. I thought for sure you were a female due to how high in pitch your voice is."

Willow, as expected, glared at the pony before going into a bit of a tantrum, flapping his wings like crazy and chirping angrily in the process, causing the pony to giggle.

"Hehehe. Relax. I'm only joking with you dude," he giggled, which calmed his bird friend down.

About a minute later, though, the pony was finally exhausted from walking non-stop (apart from the part where he stopped due to his little breakdown) for almost an hour. He needed to take a break to rest his hooves.

"Phew!" he sighed as he sat down on his haunches against a tree, causing Willow to turn around, "Hey Willow? Is it alright if we rest here for a little bit? My hooves are starting to kill me."

The little birdie, while he didn't want to stop due them being close to reaching the city, had to admit that he too wanted to take a break from all the traveling if the wings that were starting to ache a bit were any indication. Even flying had its limits after all, and he was close to reaching it.

Willow nodded in agreement before perching on top of the pony's head, using his mane as a makeshift nest.

"You know..." the pony started to speak, catching Willow's attention, "...I'm kind of glad that I met you Willow. Without you, I would probably—...actually scratch that...I would totally be lost and just decide to live out here, probably eating bugs and berries that I'm not sure whether or not are poisonous, drinking questionably clean water, and eventually lose my mind due to being alone for months. And luckily none of that happened so I can joke about it and laugh."

Willow, unbeknownst to his companion, was too glad that he met this random pony. While many of the ponies in the nearby town were friendly, he never exactly had a conversation with any of them. It was more like the ponies simply glanced at him for a second before continuing on with their day, or threw him either bread crumbs or bird seeds, although the latter was usually by elders.

No, wait...Willow can recall this one time where he was at the park with a few other birds, and this yellow pegasus mare came and actually communicated with them. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember her name due to being so long ago. He believed it started with the letter "F," but that's pretty much all he knows. Oh, what the little bird would give to see that sweet and caring mare again!

...He was going off track at this point.

But yeah. Unlike the others, and besides that mare, this pony actually took the time to get to know him. Well, as much information as Willow was able to convey to him through chirps, head movements, and wing gestures, but still.

There was one thing that Willow wanted to know about the pony, and that was his species. Yes, he knows that he's a pony, but the type of pony he is is what he doesn't know.

To his knowledge, there's three types of ponies that exist. There's the earth ponies who were known for their strength and connection to the earth. The pegasi who could control the weather and fly into the sky due to their wings. And the unicorns who use the horns that sat atop their heads to directly utilize magic and perform spells such as levitation and teleportation.

Willow could probably chalk the pony off as a pegasus, but they normally have bird-like wings with feathers. His companion, however, had leathery, bat-like wings, as well as fangs and tufts of fur on his ears. So in a way, he was technically a pegasus, just with the qualities of a bat.

Could he be a hybrid of some sort? Actually, now that Willow thought about it, he realized that he didn't want to know the exact details that led to the pony being born.

---

About 10 minutes have past and the duo finally felt well rested and ready to continue on with their walk, or flight in Willow's case. The pony stood up on his four hooves and Willow took flight once again. Same as before, the bird took the lead and started to fly towards the city.

The pony was feeling excited at the idea of finally getting out of this wretched forest. He wouldn't say this out loud, but while he enjoyed Willow's company, he really wanted to have an ally that could speak the same language as him. A conversation where one couldn't understand what the other was saying could only do so much in regards to gaining information. Whoever he meets could tell him where he was and maybe even who he was.

He was so much in thought, however, that he didn't notice that he was walking towards a ravine until his front hooves slipped.

"Woah!" he yelped as he leaned into the ravine Luckily, he managed to catch himself on his back hooves and prevent a nasty fall downward. Having a clear view of the bottom, he could tell that a fall from this height could lead to death, or at the very least have all of your bones broken. He backed up and held a hoof to his chest as he took deep breathes in and out, "Holy crap that was close!"

When Willow heard the yelp and turned around to see what was going on, he immediately felt guilty. Being a creature that flies around to travel a great majority of the time, he has no problem getting over obstacles on the ground like ravines, running waters, and dangerous predators. He was meant to be this pony's guide to safety and he almost let him...him...oh wait a minute. This pony has wings. He could fly as well.

He still felt guilty about not warning the pony about the ravine, but not to the point where he had to apologize like crazy.

Actually, now that Willow thought about it some more, this pony has been walking the entire time despite having wings. Why didn't he just opt to fly? Doing so would've made this hike go by so much more quicker. Not to mention easier.

Oh well. What's done is done. The pony probably just wanted time to take in the scenery of the forest. He couldn't blame him. The forest was pretty nice at night, but also scary.

"Now how do I get across this?" the pony asked out loud as he looked to see if he could just go around the 4 meter (about 12 feet) wide ravine, but found that it seemed to stretch on for many, many meters. Willow, in response, chirped in a deadpan tone before perching on the pony's back and gesturing to his wings. The pony folded his wings up before facepalming himself, "Oh duh! I have wings."

Willow gave a deadpan stare before he flew off of the pony's back.

The pony then flapped his wings slowly and then with haste as a means to stretch them, before he folded them back down and began to back up so he could get a running start. Once he was a meter away from the edge, he stopped in tracks and started to sprint forward.

Willow just hovered there waiting for his pony ally to fly across...but that's when he realized something that made his eyes widen. The pony has amnesia. Does he even still remember how to fly?

Once he realized this, he began chirping like mad, trying to get the pony's attention. It was all for naught, however, as he jumped, spread his wings...and started falling to the bottom of the ravine.

"AHHHHHHH!" the pony screamed as he began to panic, flapping his wings like crazy and flailing his hooves in an effort to get him to slow down even just a little bit. Unfortunately, that not exactly how science works so he only continued to fall at an increasing velocity.

He then noticed after a couple of seconds of falling that there was a protrusion of rocks hanging on the side of the ravine that he could grab onto. He reoriented his trajectory so that he would fall towards the rocks, and when he was finally within reach he grabbed onto them. For a second, his hoof slipped, but with the adrenaline rush he managed to keep his grip and hang on.

"Woah!" the pony yelped before he glanced downwards and saw that he only fell about a quarter way down. He continued to catch his breathe from all the adrenaline before he let out a sigh of relief. He looked back up and was relived that the side of the ravine was formed in a way that he could climb up it. With all his strength, he began to climb up one step at a time, making sure to be careful of which rock each hoof was gonna grip lest he wanted to slip again. It was a bit of a struggle, but once he finally reached the top, he sat on his haunches and started to catch his breathe once again.

Willow flew in front of the pony's face and started to make chirping noises that had a tone of both relief and concern. He felt guilty about not voicing his thoughts before the pony jumped, despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to do so in the first place.

"Just...just give me a minute Willow. I'll be fine," the pony reassured before he spread out his wings and looked at them.

To him, it was nothing but a miracle that that protrusion was there, otherwise he wouldn't be alive. What was that just now? He should've flew to this side of the ravine, not plummet down like a rock. He had wings, so he should've been able to fly.

...Right?

The pony sighed before he hung in head in shame and folded his wings back.

"Great. Just great. Not only do I not know who I am, but I also don't know how to fly," he lamented. He opened his eyes and lifted his head back up to see Willow looking at him with an apologetic expression. He then let out a small smile, "You don't have to be sorry Willow. I just have to...learn how to fly again. Now come on. Let's get out of here."

Willow was once again in admiration of his optimistic attitude. Being a species that flies a lot, he simply felt...vulnerable whenever one of his wings were broken. Yet once again, his companion just shrugs it off and moves on.

Just who was this pony?

---

After another 25 minutes of walking, the duo was able to finally see the edge of the forest.

"Sweet. We're finally getting out of here," the pony thought with a smile before he decided to just run on ahead, this time making sure to be careful of any ravines that he could fall down again. Once he ran past the rest of the trees, he looked shook off any leaves that got in his mane...and gasped with awe at the sight that beheld.

He was overlooking a huge and colorful metropolitan city that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. He could see huge buildings, neighborhood houses, and even a beautiful harbor. He has never seen such an amazing view in his entire life.

...Well, at least he doesn't remember seeing one.

Willow caught up to the pony and chirped with delight as he saw his awed expression. He can remember how he felt the first time he visited this city. All the pretty lights, the activity that goes on both day and night, and the food. By the stars, all the tasty food that he may or may not have swooped in and stolen from unsuspecting ponies.

Either that or from trash cans. The food was half-eaten anyway, so he didn't feel that disgusted from eating them.

"Well Willow..." the pony said with a bit of a sad expression, "...I guess this is where we part ways. I mean, you must have a life to live in the forest, and...I wouldn't want to keep you from that. So...thank you...you know, for helping me and whatnot. I really appreciate it."

As the pony turned and started to walk away, Willow chirped and flew to him. The pony was surprised when he felt the familiar feeling of his birdy companion perching on top of his head. He looked up and saw the bird looking at him.

"Willow?" he asked with confusion. He should be flying back home to his home as his parents must be worried sick. So what is he doing on his he—...Once the realization of what he was trying to convey, the pony's eyes widened in even more surprise, "You...wish to go with me?"

Willow nodded at his question. While was happy that the pony didn't want to keep him away from his friends and family, he was never one to just stay in one place. Rather, he was a bird of action and adventure. He preferred to go out and explore the world. And his friends and family knew of this and how much he especially liked the city, so they wouldn't mind if he stayed away from home for a while.

And besides, he knew this pony was one he could trust, so it wasn't like he was in immediate danger.

The pony smiled at his companion's response of wanting to stick by his side.

"Well if that's the case..." he said before pointing a hoof forward in a triumphant way, "...To the city we go!.....That sounded a lot cooler in my head."

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Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Why did you make this a comedy?

[DeffBwade]

11332097
im going to start adding comedic elements soon

[DeffBwade]

11332097
nvm, i took off the comedy tag and replaced it with adventure

[Luckyfanisaac]

While he was happy that the pony didn't want to keep