The sun had set by the time they arrived at the cottage. Fluttershy opened its doors, leading Rainbow inside and following after. The animals in her care whether outside or inside the cottage scurried back into their shelters when they arrived. It seemed they still hadn't gotten used to the presence of a tatzlpony around, and understandably why after today. Their animal instincts made them more aware of what could be potentially dangerous.
As Fluttershy led Rainbow Dash, she tied the leash to a handle hooked in one corner of the room before flying over to her first aid kit. She brought it to Rainbow Dash and started treating her injuries. Clippers were used to remove the thorns, bandages with ointment to cover the scratches, and wipes to clean off the dirt covering her coat.
Rainbow’s eyes appeared to be drooping with her head struggling to stay up while she was being cleaned. She must’ve been exhausted after what just happened in the Everfree Forest. Fortunately, none of her injuries were that severe.
In fact, most of these injuries were nothing new. Rainbow suffered injuries that were far worse than this from her many, many times of flight training One of them even had her in the hospital for a few days. Fluttershy was glad that injuries like that hadn't happen in such a long time. And although these injuries were coming close to that, it still wasn't much to worry about. After being patched up, all she’d need was a good night’s sleep and those injuries would be no more.
But it was too soon to be thinking about sleeping at a time like this.
“So is Rainbow Dash okay?” Scootaloo’s voice muffled from inside of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow opened her mouth to let the voice through. “I still haven’t heard anything from her.”
Fluttershy finished up the scrubs before responding. “She’ll be fine Scootaloo. She just needs to rest for the night.”
Scootaloo sighed a relief. “Good… Sleep sounds awesome right now.” Fluttershy flinched from how comfortable she sounded. “You don’t mind if I sleep over tonight, do you?”
Shocked, Fluttershy responded. “Scootaloo! We have to think about getting you out of there!”
Scootaloo yawned. “Rainbow Dash can do that when she wakes up. Besides, it’s comfortable here. Mmm…”
“But is it safe?!” The only response Fluttershy got was the sound of moaning, followed by snoring. She moved her head closer to the stomach. “Scootaloo?” No response. Only snoring. “Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow already had her eyes closed, followed by her head laying itself down to the floor while her tail curled around her body.
Fluttershy’s breath got heavy seeing both Rainbow and Scootaloo falling asleep like that. Nervous and worried, she brought her ear to Rainbow’s stomach. She listened for the sounds that the stomach made. But all she could hear was their heart beats and their snoring.
Fluttershy’s ears drooped as she retracted her head back, having no idea what this meant. “Is it possible that a tatzlpony’s stomach is really just a sleeping pouch?” Placing a hoof to her chin, she moved toward her couch, pondering Rainbow’s strange behavior. “But… why would Rainbow want to swallow Scootaloo?” She continued to ponder as she climbed on and lied on the couch, looking to Rainbow’s direction. Her eyes turned toward the leash. “Ever since Rainbow Dash became a tatzlpony, she's been very obedient. But this... when she saw Scootaloo..." An odd thought crossed her mind. "When she saw me... She did... Did she really... Is it just a sign of-”
Fluttershy shook her head, realizing she was jumping to conclusions again. At least this time she was jumping to a conclusion that was comforting. She let her head lay down and allowed her eyes to close on that subject. Wanting to believe a tatzlpony wasn’t a monster, her mind continued to think like that. The swallowing of a pony wasn't an act of preying. That’s what it was. It was something else. Something... comforting?
“Mm-mm-m-mm!” But her mind could not maintain ease as it trailed along the lines of the calm before the storm. Her head sprang and she opened her eyes. Putting a hoof to her lips as her voice stuttered, she dropped off her couch and quickly went to Rainbow. She bent down to listen to her stomach. The sloshing sounds made her nervous, but it was just Scootaloo’s movement done by Rainbow’s breathing.
“Rainbow…” Fluttershy tried whispering her name, trying to get her to wake up. But there was no response. She put a hoof to Rainbow’s forehead and tried nudging. Still no response. Just snoring. It made her stutter a gasp. “Scootaloo?” Calling to the stomach also provided no response. When she nudged the bulge with a hoof, a squishing slosh sounded, followed by nothing. Just snoring.
Fluttershy slowly backed away, surprise filled on her face. “They’re both out like a light. They were… that sleepy?” Her breath got heavy, holding two different worries on her mind. “What happened to make them get so tired?”
She moved to the other side of Rainbow’s body, examining her breathing. Seeing everything normal, she moved back to the front to check the stomach. No signs of any danger. The only thing out of the ordinary was her own desperate breathing as her nerves continued to bother her.
Moaning, Fluttershy laid her body next to Rainbow’s with her head close to her stomach. Her eyes tried to close, but her worries kept them open. Extending her wings, she brought the tips to her eyelids to force them closed. After closing her wings, her head laid down. She tried to fall asleep.
Suddenly, a growl happened. Fluttershy’s snapped her eyes opened and loudly gasped, quickly checking Rainbow’s stomach. Nothing was out of the ordinary. There was only sloshing from the movement of Rainbow’s breathing. She knew she heard a growl. Was it from Rainbow?
The growl happened again and Fluttershy yelped, only to realize it was her own stomach. Sweat began forming on her forehead as her own hunger made her nervous. She didn’t even realize after all her worries, she hadn’t been eating. And yet, she continued to worry. Every time her stomach growled, she squeaked and took a closer look at Rainbow’s stomach, getting more nervous every time.
The logical thing to do right now would be to get something to eat so that her growling would stop. But her mind continued to press that thought out. Worrying about Scootaloo's fate not only made her not want to move where she was, but it also made her not want to think about eating in general. Scootaloo wasn't food. No matter how hard she tried, her mind couldn't focus like that. It only came to the conclusion that Scootaloo could potentially be food.
Fluttershy tried pressing her stomach closer to the ground to suppress the growling. Every growl made the thought of Scootaloo’s potential fate drill further into her mind. Her moaning turned into whimpers of fear. The snoring, the sloshing, her growls, it all tormented her. She squeezed her eyes tightly, wanting to let out an awful scream. It would be a scream that would wake them up. Her mouth opened wide, ready to explode.
Then… something was shoved in her mouth, making her scream halt before it started while her eyes snapped open. Angel was standing there with a carrot he was sticking in her mouth. He had a very annoyed and grumpy expression as he forced the rest of the carrot in her mouth, thrusting her head back. He then pulled his ears down and walked away.
Fluttershy sat there with the carrot bulged in her mouth, watching Angel go. It didn’t occur to her that her whining and whimpering was disturbing the animals in her care, much less Angel. Somehow it woke them up, but not Rainbow or Scootaloo.
After Angel was out of view, she started munching the carrot. She didn't dare turn her head as she munched. All she did was look in Angel's last known direction. But when she swallowed, her mind overtook her again. Feeling the carrot slide down her throat instantly brought her the horrifying image of when Rainbow swallowed Scootaloo. Her head turned back to them, teeth gritting out of her own paranoia. Watching the bulge in Rainbow’s stomach move and slosh did not help her mind think about what just happened to that carrot. She wanted to tell herself that the same thing wasn’t happening to Scootaloo, but her mind wouldn’t stop thinking it.
But in the middle of her panic, she started feeling sleepy. Her body's shivering was getting slower, and tired. As her eyes drooped, she thought of one thing.
“Did… Did Angel put those… sleeping pills again?” Her head started wobbling as her mind cleared from her tired form. Now only one thing came to her mind. That was sleep. Her body dropped to the floor while her head gently lied against Rainbow’s stomach where the bulge was. With the sound and motion of Rainbow’s breathing in her mind, her eyes closed. She fell into a deep sleep as instantly as Rainbow and Scootaloo.