//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Caged // Story: What is a Tatzlpony? // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash had reached the cottage with Fluttershy in tow. Clang’s struggling inside Rainbow had ceased after a time. A large bear was pulling something out of the closet as Fluttershy instructed. Meanwhile Angel had dragged in a first aid kit in concern for the wound on the back of Fluttershy’s head. Rainbow inspected the cage curiously after the bear stopped dragging it. “This cage is used to keep wild animals inside so that they can’t hurt anypony outside,” Fluttershy started as Angel hopped to her shoulder with some ointment and bandages. Pushing apart the mane, he caught sight of Fluttershy’s injury as she spoke. The bump on Fluttershy’s head was not a pleasant one, and Angel feared touching it in fear that it would harm Fluttershy. Nevertheless, he approached, carefully. “Applejack gave me this cage a long time ago when I first moved to Ponyville. It was something to help me with the-” she flinched when the sting of the ointment came. “-a-animals around here. B-But I never used it. I wouldn’t like to see my animal friends locked up. But knowing her, it should work.” Rainbow went to the front of the cage where the door was. With a stomp of her front hooves, she spun around and swung at the cage with her back hooves. A loud clang sounded and echoed across the cottage. With the clinging of hooves against metal, all the animals in the cottage, including the bear, were frightened and fled the cottage. The sound caused Fluttershy to flinch with widened eyes, causing Angel to be thrown off her head. Ointment dropped and splattered all over his body as he fell. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes and roughly pressed her hooves to her ears. She wished her poor ears would have a few hours to stop ringing. Her head couldn’t take anymore loud noises. Rainbow inspected the cage once again after she tested it with her kick. Her assault didn’t even make a dent. It was perfect. Annoyed, Angel went back to the first aid kit for the bandages. He wanted to put more ointment, but that wasn’t happening now. So instead, he got the bandage and hopped back to Fluttershy’s shoulder, who was still cringing from the clang. After her ears stopped ringing, Fluttershy saw Rainbow give her the okay for the cage. While Angel was placing the bandage on, Fluttershy took out her key to unlock the cage. Meanwhile, Rainbow reached her tongues inside her stomach. The moment she touched Clang, the struggles continued. She was able to seize the struggling with her grip. After her stomach poked out a few times, the bulge quickly compressed, going up her neck, then towards her mouth. Fluttershy opened the cage. Rainbow pulled Clang quickly out of her mouth and threw him inside the cage. There was an irritated grunt from Clang, and what sounded like a disgusting groan from Rainbow Dash. She shut the cage, spitting out her saliva in the opposite direction just as Clang recovered and got up. But before he could turn around and escape, Fluttershy locked the door, making his bang on the cage only cause a rattle. “You can’t keep me in here forever! You’ll regr-” Clang was silenced when Rainbow slapped duct tape over his mouth, using one of her tongues to reach inside the cage. An irritated mumble could be heard from Clang. Using his hooves, he reached for the tape and ripped it off his mouth quickly. “AH!” Doing so caused a sharp pain to spread across his mouth. After he rubbed it, he continued. “Don’t you dare si-” He was silenced again by another strip of duct tape being slapped over his mouth. Narrowing his eyes, he ripped it off again. But before he could recover from the sharp pain, another one was placed. Fluttershy ripped another strip of duct tape from her roll and Rainbow took it using her tongue. She and Fluttershy watched for Clang to try and rip off the tape again. Seeing Fluttershy’s hooves readying to rip off another strip while Rainbow held her strip in the air, Clang realized they could do this all day, and all he’d get out of it was more pain every time he ripped it off. With a defeated and irritated groan, he sat down and slumped like the caged animal he was. After winning his obedience, Fluttershy put away her tape roll while Rainbow stuck her strip to the table. She grunted as a sharp pain came from inside her mouth. After retracting her tongue, she rubbed her cheek a little to ease the pain inside. Meanwhile Angel had finished applying the bandage over the bump on the back of Fluttershy’s head. A large and soft cloth was applied under the bandage so it would cushion whatever touched it and ease Fluttershy’s pain while the tape of the bandage kept it in place. Angel smiled and gave it a few rubs to test it. Seeing that Fluttershy didn’t wince or flinch from the touch, he hopped off. “Rainbow, I need to ask you something,” Fluttershy started. Rainbow looked to her as she asked. “What Clang said about you… Is it true?” Rainbow didn’t exactly respond. A look of confusion was written on her face as she looked to Clang, then back to Fluttershy. “O-Oh... “ Fluttershy stuttered as she remembered. “You must’ve still been unconscious when he told me… um…” Afraid to bring that subject up, she tried a different approach. “Rainbow, when you ea-... um… swallow ponies… a-and keep them in your stomach, how well can you… um…” She was having a hard time describing it, but Rainbow stayed quiet and listened. “How well can you… keep them in there… without being food?” Rainbow’s eyes opened up a bit. Her eyes turned down to her stomach and then to Clang again. “I-I mean… you know when you swallowed Scootaloo yesterday, a-and she slept inside of you. Is it really safe that way? H-How easy is it to keep her from being…” Fear kept making Fluttershy’s words be thrown apart. But when Rainbow looked back to her, it looked like she was understanding where Fluttershy was getting at. Rainbow responded. “As easy as it is to breathe in my sleep.” Fluttershy gave a questioning cringe. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Meanwhile Clang was just slumping down in his cage with an irritated sigh. He could not believe how weak Fluttershy’s heart was acting right now. It didn’t help his pride knowing that these were the kind of ponies that managed to capture him. And unknowingly to everypony, Angel had snatched the roll of duct tape. He was making his way behind Clang with it. A big grin was on his face. “Do you… have any trouble breathing in your sleep?” Rainbow craned her head after Fluttershy asked. It was an odd question, and Fluttershy felt she was overthinking things. In fact, now she was sure she was after thinking back to how easily Rainbow and Scootaloo fell asleep that one day. There was no trouble with Rainbow’s breathing at all. “Nevermind…” Fluttershy said as she shook her head. Angel tiptoed inside the cage and behind Clang with a strip of duct tape. He stayed as quiet as possible, making sure to not attract anypony’s attention. “So there’s no way you could cause that to... the ponies you swallow… there’s no way that could happen by accident?” Fluttershy’s question was vague, but Rainbow understood what she meant. Rainbow shook her head, giving Fluttershy some relief. “Okay. But do you remember doing that to anypony? Before I found you, do you remember something like that?” Rainbow Dash was silent for a few seconds. It gave Fluttershy some fear, but Rainbow’s face didn’t look guilty. She seemed to just be in a deep thought. A murmur escaped her mouth. But after some time, her eyes went wide. Those eyes showed guilt, making Fluttershy worry. "Sc-Scootaloo..." Rainbow responded with a terrified voice. "Scootaloo?" Fluttershy asked. "B-But... she was fine, wasn't she?" Rainbow Dash just looked down as her mind went back to that forest. She remembered what she did to Scootaloo back there. But she didn't know everything that that could do. "Rainbow?" Fluttershy tried calling with a worried expression. She was wondering why was Rainbow Dash being so tense right now. Suddenly, Fluttershy gasped loudly as it hit her like that iron hoof that smacked the back of her head. Her previous worries about why Rainbow would swallow Scootaloo so suddenly came rushing back. There was a reason why Rainbow's memories were taken away. Was this why? *RIP!* Clang started releasing a painful moan just as soon as Fluttershy gasped. The pain that Clang felt was on his left flank. He turned to see a white bunny with a strip of tape, holding a few hairs from his coat where his Cutie Mark laid. Angry, he dove straight for that bunny. But the bunny fled the cage as soon as it ripped that tape off, causing his head to plink on the metal bars that held him captive. All it did was bring him more pain. Fluttershy winced when she heard the loud plink. When she and Rainbow looked to Clang, they saw his face planted between the bars with outstretched hooves reaching out. He was attempting to grab Angel, who was pointing and laughing, lying on his back. His other paw still held the strip of duct tape, which Fluttershy recognized had a bit of hair from Clang’s coat. “Angel!” Fluttershy shouted. “That is no way to treat our p-” she halted herself when she realized what she was saying. Angel only laughed more. “I mean… That’s no way to treat our… our…” Fluttershy’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment from not knowing how to call Clang to Angel. Shutting her eyes tightly, her mouth moaned trying to find a polite way of describing Clang after what they put him in. “Mmrrr! Just leave Clang alo-” When Fluttershy opened her eyes, Angel was already gone. She had no idea where he went. But she saw Clang staring at her with disbelief in his eyes. Then they closed, and he shook his head with a disappointing groan. Fluttershy’s body heated up in utter embarrassment. Her body slumped to the floor while her eyes hid behind her mane. She had no idea how to handle this situation, and she was already screwing it up before it even started. Most ponies would laugh at a display like this. But Rainbow Dash was not one of those ponies. Only bullies would laugh at the misery of somepony’s embarrassment or failure. She moved her head to Fluttershy’s face and nuzzled her mane. When Fluttershy felt the nuzzle, she looked to Rainbow Dash. They both exchanged eye contact, and Fluttershy’s heart raced. The look of comfort in Rainbow’s eyes, it was much like how her animals would comfort her whenever she was down. But this one felt stronger for some reason. It felt like the combination of her animals comforting her, and a close friend in the Rainbow Dash that defended her from bullies. She was right there, and she still was. Fluttershy’s expression turned serious as all her worries faded. Rainbow Dash was a tatzlpony, but she was still Rainbow Dash. Therefore she should have the same faith that she would put on Rainbow Dash, even if Rainbow wasn’t sure herself. This was why Rainbow needed her right now. They had the opportunity to figure this out now. To see if a tatzlpony really was dangerous. And to put an end to Rainbow's fear of her form. “Okay Clang,” Fluttershy started as she turned to him. Rainbow Dash did the same. “I need to ask you a few questions, and I need you to answer.” Clang just narrowed his eyes, even with Rainbow Dash stepping closer. “Rainbow Dash needs your help, and I need your help. If you can help us, we can let you go.” Rainbow stuck out one of her tongues and held it in the air. Clang just stared at the ponies with lazy dumbfound eyes. His eyes went to Rainbow, they went to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow. There was a large sigh released from his nose as his muscles released tension. Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy, and she gave the okay with a nod. Rainbow reached her tongue inside the cage. Clang didn’t move as the tongue reached the tape on his mouth. ______________________________________________________________________________ Unknown to everypony, there was a silhouette watching them from the front windows. They did nothing and said nothing. All they did was watch the exchange. There was a rip, followed by a yell. The silhouette flinched.