The Limestone City Bat

by Seeking Dusk

Snapshots 2: Family

Robin hummed to himself, idly rapping his hooves against the steering wheel, trying to match the beat in the song that issued from his headphones. Eventually, he sighed in frustration and slumped against his chair.

“Yep…” he declared to the empty vehicle. “I’m bored!”

What followed next was him trying to find patterns in the roof lining, humming tuneless song to himself as he did. “I should have brought a book or something… I could have been reading those wiring manuals… or get back to figuring out the chemical processes I need to make soap and get… right… still need to set up the printers to run off the wiki pages… that’s gonna take forever… maybe I should set a specific day aside for that. Printing Day…”

He distractedly scratched at the rapidly recovering wounds on his wings. “Actually… I need to get refreshed on anatomy… Get us both refreshed. And check out the pet hospitals…” he groaned and slumped forward this time, banging his head on the wheel. Wincing, he rubbed the area before redoing the action, though with a bit more caution on the second attempt. After a few more minutes of sweet nothing, he fumbled for his phone, plucking it from the cup holder in his mouth before loading up the voice recorder.

Hey Ellen,

How have you been? This message is mainly for you. I’m not sure if I’ll be putting this entry into Cellie or not considering I found out that Jade had read some of my previous entries when I was out of it and I don’t want her reading this. Right, Ellen, don’t drink. Seriously. Lord no… I mean, I might know the theory of how to, sorta, but heavens and stars… I don’t mind letting that be lost. Mighty not even put it into Darcy either. Well, maybe, just to keep your memory from getting clogged.

Anyway, I’m back in Odessa.

No, I’m not stalking her house or anything like that, jeeze. Is that what you think about me, Ellen? I’m wounded…

But no, I’m waiting for Jade. I brought her back so she could… I guess say goodbye—

No! Not goodbye… It’s more… say, ‘I’ll see you in a bit.’

*dull thump*

I helped her write up a note. Mostly, I set her up with her computer and the printer and left her alone with it. I figured the privacy to write what she wanted without me hanging over her shoulder and judging it would be better.

I did offer to stay, but she said it was fine.

So yeah, I don’t know what’s on that letter. We printed off a few copies, laminated some, put others in ziplocks, and them tupperwares and one metal cash box with the code scratched into the lid. I wrote my own note to them, letting them know I was taking care of her for them.

Either way, I’m letting her have her moment, however long it may need to be.

….

…

…

To be honest, Ellen… I probably should too. I should let my folks know I’m fine. That I’m not, that I haven’t given up. Their place is up in Ottawa, but it’s not that far away. And for all I know, they might be here, just like I am, but not able to travel or get in touch for whatever reason. Seriously, Ellen. I can think of so many reasons.

But I should leave them a note. I should at least do that much. To show that I remember them.

Wherever they are.

*soft sigh*

Whatever they are. I wonder if they have feathers like Jade or more like mine? I still think it’s a boy girl thing. Girls get feathers, guys don’t. Maybe mom’s all fluffy. My wings are bigger than Jade’s, so mom’s would be too…

…

…

…

Anyway! I… I should get plans in place. Organized. Ottawa is not even three hours drive from here. Hell, I should take the trailer and see if I can find some good supplies.

Speaking of supplies! I started clearing out the meat section of Walmart. It is starting to go bad, and since we kinda need the store…

Actually… Walmart has that photo studio… I should take some pictures. Damn, if I thought about it I would have taken them before… No matter. I can work on it later and then come back to drop them off so they can know what she, we look like. And I can hang up new pictures in the house. This is why I need to sit down and think things through more often and not just go spur of the moment…

At least… I… I lost my train of thought… Ugh…

Okay… okay… um… Stawberry milk shakes…

Okay, that made no sense…

Ellen, you think I’d be a good brother? I got no experience with it, from either side. I was a loner. God knows I can be eccentric. I even leave her alone half the time and let her play video games… I’ve got to both be a brother and a parent…

Hell, I’m pretty sure I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. New fangs or not.

Heavens! I spent the first night drunk, and the second night hung over. I’ve been dreaming about her though. No, not in a creepy way. Ew. Just ew. Yeugh… Ugh… she’s my sister! Dammit brain! But she’s been having bad dreams for a while now, but for the last few nights I’ve just been dreaming about being there for her. Just keeping her company. Maybe I should rework my sleep schedule again… So I can keep her company mor-

Crap! She’s coming out!

Pause, pause, pause, pause!

No,wait! No! Stop recording! Not pause! Damn this is hard to do with hoo- WINGS! Right! I have wings!

*rattle-BANG*

Oh Damn! Ellen, you okay!? Of course I’d drop you! Frig- *thump* Ow… that’s the steering wheel… hitting your head isn’t good Night Win- Great… now she’s got me doing it… Aha! Phone! Success!

Night Wing? What are y-

“-ou doing?” Jade asked with a bemused expression. Considering Robin was half twisted on the seat, legs in the air as he fumbled about around the pedal extensions he installed with a leg and wing, it was a reasonable reaction.

“Phone fell! That’s all!” Robin chuckled nervously as he tried to right himself, once again banging his head and muttering. “Ow… What is it with me and knocking my head today?”

“Okay…” Jade said slowly, climbing into the vehicle. Robin ignored the streaks tears left in her fur.

“So, ready to head back?” he asked, mindful of the words chosen.

“Yeah, ” Jade said, smiling weakly, foreleg twitching as she tried not to rub at her face. “Let’s go home.”

Robin grinned. “Yeah, let’s…”

The touching moment was ruined a bit as Jade started panicking as he backed up. “Wait! Let me get my seatbelt on!”

“For the last time: I don’t drive like a maniac!”  

Comments

[Celefin]

Ohhh... sweet little update!

So Nightwing (don't fight it, you'll lose anyway) let Jade say goodbye. Good thing... and he really should do it himself. Nice little detail that he doesn't know that there is a larger range of options than pegasus and bat. Also, leaving a picture of their new form is a very good idea, haven't seen that one before.

I really like his audio recordings where you give a sense of the actual situation he's in and what's going on in the surroundings.

[Greatazuredragon]

Hehe nice update, good work.

[Seeking Dusk]

6694130 When all you've seen/been transformed into are winged ponies, your margin of bizarre is still surprisingly limited in scope. Besides, the gap between winged ponies and not winged is far greater to a biologist than the one between horned and hornless. And it's meta if he expects it

It does make the recordings more interesting, doesn't it? I should make more like those.

[Flash_Magnus]

The touching moment was ruined a bit as Jade started panicking as he backed up. “Wait! Let me get my seatbelt on!”

“For the last time: I don’t drive like a maniac!”

Maybe I should get in a car with you and see if it's true or not fellow bat pony!