Many branches and leaves covered her vision, but she didn’t allow that to slow her down. Every time one came to her vision, she would react and slip through their openings. Panting, she would look behind her every so often, hoping nothing was behind her. She didn’t know why, but flying this fast felt so natural to her.
”Help! Let me out!” Rainbow Dash looked and pressed her hooves to her stomach, feeling more violent struggles within. It was reassuring to her feeling struggling this time. But at the same time, how much panic was in those struggles weren’t reassuring. She had to act fast.
Rainbow Dash soon found her destination. It was deep in the forest where many thorned vines covered the area and its trees. Gasping for breath, she looked behind her, then left and right to make sure she was alone. She sat down and pressed her hooves to her stomach to settle the struggling, making the lump inside give a few violent muffles. Looking up the tree in front of her, she found multiple large green berries coming from its branches, the same one she gave to Fluttershy.
Rainbow sucked her breath in and reached her tongues within her throat. Inside her stomach, Scootaloo was still struggling, pushing her hooves against the walls and trying to climb herself out. Before she got far, tentacles wrapped around her hooves and body. A sudden shift in gravity caused her to yelp. She would have fallen back down had the coils not caught her. Another shift in gravity. It felt like her predator had jumped and landed on something. Then the tentacles started pulling her up.
Rainbow had latched herself high up the tree’s trunk, avoiding contact with the thorns and using her wings to stay up. Positioning her head towards the berries, she opened her mouth and released her held breath, grunting as her neck revealed a visible lump climbing up. When it reached her mouth, Scootaloo’s head was revealed, wrapped around in her many tongues.
“No… Almost t-there… Nnngh!” Scootaloo’s eyes held shut as she tried to slide away from the coils. She constantly opened and bit her teeth together, hoping her mouth would catch something to hold on to. When her body moved position, her teeth grabbed something. Internally gasping, she felt hope. But that hope immediately faded when the coils pulled her back in, snapping the twig of whatever she caught and taking it with her.
Rainbow gave a huge gulp, allowing the bulge in her neck to return to her stomach before letting herself fall from the tree. Both ponies gave a loud grunt when they fell back to their grounds, panting from exhaustion. Rainbow gently put her hooves back to her stomach. It sounded, and felt like the pony inside released a defeated sigh. The struggling had stopped, and movement was minimal. She cringed at the thought of what might’ve happened again.
But then, there was a sound, a very silent sound. It sounded like a chew. Then there was a munch. Suddenly, a moan of delight, followed by more chewing. Her fear was being driven away as she understood what was going on. Scootaloo was eating the berry, and finished with a swallow.
“Oh my gosh! That was delicious!” Scootaloo shouted within her. “Hey, uh… Can I have another one of those?!” Smiling, Rainbow sucked her breath in and reached her tongues inside her again. “Uh oh…” Scootaloo murmured as the tentacles grabbed her again.
Rainbow jumped back up the tree’s trunk and pulled Scootaloo’s head out next to another berry. Opening her eyes, Scootaloo grabbed the nearest berry before being pulled back in. After both ponies landed, Scootaloo enjoyed herself to her second berry, releasing delicious moans before swallowing.
“Wow! I don’t know what these are, but they’re the best things I’ve ever tasted!” Rainbow smiled and patted her stomach while Scootaloo’s expression switched to questioning her predicament. “Wait… These weren’t given to keep me comfortable before my doom, are they?” Her ears dropped, already accepting herself being lunch to this-
“No,” Rainbow responded.
Scootaloo released a small gasp as her ears raised right back. Looking up, she called. “Hold on! You can talk?!” She waited for a response, but Rainbow didn't make one. It made her look back down, not sure how to feel about this creature. “Rainbow Dash… why did you eat me?” There wasn't much of a response other than what sounded like a sad breath being released. “You are Rainbow Dash, aren’t you?” Still no verbal response. “I mean, you looked like her. Just a little different. And it looked like you remembered me. You remember me, don’t you?”
Rainbow shifted herself forwards, lying on her stomach. Though the ground pressed the lump on her stomach, it didn’t provide a tight squeeze. She closed her eyes, gave a small smile, and responded. “Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo inhaled a breath in awe at the response. “That’s right! You do remember!” Though her excitement came, curiosity took over. She took a look around the inner walls of the belly she lay in.
It sure seemed bigger inside this belly than what it seemed on the outside. The inner walls were red, and pressing against them with her hoof felt squishy, wet, and oddly quite sticky. Though it made her coat quite damp, it didn’t feel harmful at all. There wasn’t that much room, but it looked like more ponies could fit in here. She looked up and asked. “U-Um… what exactly… are you?”
Hearing that question again made Rainbow’s mind go in a deep trance. There was that voice again, the voice of a mare. It was more clear this time, but she still couldn’t remember where, when, or how that voice came. When the words quietly spoke in her mind, she tried hard to see if she could recognize it. But it was too hard to make out the tone. The words said:
”Remember this name. ‘Tatzl’. This is what you are.”
Unable to remember more, Rainbow snapped out of her trance and responded. “I’m a… tatzlpony.”
Scootaloo’s eyes grew with curiosity. “A tatzlpony…” she responded in awe. Even though this was the first time witnessing a tatzlpony, she couldn’t help thinking about how cool it could be. Then again, anything to do with Rainbow Dash was cool to her. “What is a tatzlpony?”
Scootaloo suddenly heard a growl, snapping her out of her awes. Quickly looking around the belly, her eyes shrunk. “Tell me that wasn’t your stomach.” Suddenly the weight inside the belly shifted and she was flung out of her sitting position, falling back first against the ground. Another growl, and her fear intensified. “Please tell me that’s not your stomach!” she shouted loudly in a panic.
“I wish it were,” Rainbow responded, fear heavily filled in her voice.
Scootaloo gasped and sat up. She could hear the growling getting louder. Not just one growl was present now. Multiple growls penetrated her ears, scaring her stiff. “W-What’s going on out there?”
And then, Scootaloo’s question was answered. One of the growls raised its pitch high, making a full moon howl in the air. Her eyes shrunk pea size. She could practically see them now.
Rainbow Dash was standing deep in the forest with barely any marking paths. She looked left, she looked right. One, two, three... four… five vicious creatures stood in front of her, releasing their predatory growl as they edged closer to her. One of them howled in the sky.
The moment that howl came, and it all registered, Scootaloo cried. “TIMBERWOLVES!!!”