Fluttershy’s eyes were pea-sized from both the burst of that box and the sudden jolt of her body being pulled away from it. The contents inside that box blew high in the air in an explosion of confetti. The explosion’s sound ended in what sounded like a blast from a party cannon.
As the confetti spread in the air, the items rained down. The first was a large mat that spread itself flat on the grass as a landing zone for the rest of the items. The items consisted of baskets full of cupcakes, cookies, punch, flower sandwiches, pizza pies, swirled oats, and many more types of delicious foods. They all rained down separately on the mat, none landing on top of each other or on the grass. And at its center landed a giant cake to top it all off.
Sadly, nopony got to see this display. Fluttershy was covering her eyes with her hooves while shivering harshly in Rainbow’s grip. Before the explosion, Rainbow had wrapped two of her tongues around Fluttershy’s body and pulled her away. They both had their visions covered while the powdered smoke from the blast settled.
Fluttershy slowly withdrew her hooves from her eyes to look at the carnage that just happened. The only carnage she saw was the perfectly laid out party set she saw on that mat, fit with even blue and yellow balloons on its four corners. She sighed with relief while Rainbow released her tongues from Fluttershy, looking at the set in awe. When Fluttershy noticed Rainbow’s expression, she giggled.
“This was a gift from Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy started. “In one of her parties, she said she thought it would be a good idea to give everypony ‘Parties in a Present.’. All you do is undo the bow tie and your party is ready.” Rainbow turned her eyes to Fluttershy, curiously listening. “Everypony else already used theirs. Even you, Rainbow.” Rainbow turned her attention back to the food with a huge smile. Her tongue was even sticking out in delight. “I don’t know how she did it. I also don’t know how she fit it all in a-”
Before Fluttershy could finish, Rainbow’s wings ignited and dashed her straight towards the food. Fluttershy had to cover her face due to the dust kicked up from Rainbow’s wings. She didn’t have to clear her vision to know that Rainbow was already feasting on the party sized buffet of sweets and goodies like a wild animal. Hearing that munching made her giggle.
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Fluttershy grabbed one of the ice cream flower sandwiches and separated its bread. Using a knife, she cut a large green berry in half. It was the one Rainbow tried to give her earlier. After adding it to her sandwich, she put it back together. She watched Rainbow Dash enjoying her feast as she took a bite from her sandwich.
One cupcake after the next, then to a cookie, Rainbow chomped through each one in one bite. She dove for the giant cupcake topped pizza next, buzzing her wings as her mouth chomped through the pizza in a circular motion like it was a swimming pool. The mess on her face was not a factor as her tongues slurped up any bits that she missed. Her eyes turned towards the birthday-sized cake. Two of her tongues lashed towards and wrapped around it. They dragged the cake straight towards her mouth without slowing down.
Fluttershy giggled and took another bite out of her sandwich. The flushing wave of flavors from both the sandwich ingredients and the berry made her moan in delight. But the flavors were not as unbelievable as witnessing Rainbow chomping through an entire birthday cake in one bite. Rainbow’s head was raised high as she chewed the cake in her mouth vigorously, smiling with her eyes closed in delight. Tatzlponies really did have such a huge appetite. Rainbow already had an impressive one, but this level seemed to be putting even Pinkie Pie’s to shame.
Fluttershy’s expression turned worried for a moment. Thinking about it was a delight, and now scary. Tatzlponies were capable of swallowing other ponies whole, and they had appetites like this. It seemed like this would support her worry that if a tatzlpony was hungry enough, it was possible for a pony to really fall prey to them. But there was something Fluttershy noticed that dissipated that worry.
Rainbow chewed. She chewed on the food she ate. If tatzlponies could swallow ponies whole, they wouldn’t need to chew their food to swallow them. But Rainbow never ate any of her food without chewing first, no matter how big or small. When it was ponies, she never chewed.
That must’ve meant something, right? Tatzlponies treated ponies and food very differently. Perhaps they were incapable of actually preying on other ponies like she thought. Rainbow did say that it couldn’t even happen by accident while sleeping. The only question was if that was Rainbow Dash or the tatzlpony in her.
Another thing piqued Fluttershy’s curiosity. Rainbow could talk, even though she was a tatzlpony. Yet for some reason, she hadn’t been talking much at all. She seemed to only speak whenever it was needed. But why would she be so quiet? This wasn’t like Rainbow Dash at all. Was it because tatzlponies couldn’t ordinarily speak, was it because of her memory loss, or was it something else altogether? The thought of her animal-like behavior also came to mind.
Fluttershy shook her head, which she instantly regretted when her head sparked in pain. She could figure all this stuff about a tatzlpony in due time. Right now there were more important things to learn, and she needed Rainbow to speak if she was gonna learn them.
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When all the party food was finished, Rainbow was instructed by Fluttershy to lay her back on the mat in a comfortable position. She obliged with a smile, and was even given a pillow to rest her head on. Fluttershy had another pillow with her that was large enough to sit comfortably on.
Before they started, Fluttershy drank some pills that would make her headache go away. Now that food was in her stomach, she could take them. It was amazing that even after everything Rainbow just ate, her stomach didn't expand much. Fluttershy would question how that was possible, but there were more important things to learn now.
“Okay Rainbow,” she started. “I know that we’ve been having a wonderful time, but I need to ask some very important questions.” Rainbow’s smile disappeared, but she wasn’t sad, just curious. “Your memory was taken away when you became a tatzlpony, but it seems like you can still remember some stuff. And if you think about it hard enough, you may still remember more. So… I need you to really think and try to remember. What happened when you became a tatzlpony? What were you doing?”
Rainbow listened to her closely and understood. Her eyes turned to the sky and stared for a few seconds. Then they closed.
“Please tell me what you can remember. Speak what comes to mind.”
Fluttershy could see Rainbow’s stomach expanding carefully up and down due to her breathing. She looked so relaxed and calm as she thought. Besides that, it was rather silent. Only Rainbow’s breathing could be heard.
After a few seconds, Rainbow answered. “I was in here… in the Everfree Forest… looking for something.” Rainbow paused every so often as she spoke. “I had a letter… and I delivered.” She opened her eyes as she spoke her next bit. “Somepony was there. I felt… sleepy. I couldn’t see, but I heard somepony talking.”
Fluttershy leaned forwards in her seat curiously. “Do you remember what they said?”
It took a while for Rainbow to respond, but she nodded. She closed her eyes, and spoke the words she heard. “‘Embrace the lives of the lost. Today is forgotten, but tomorrow will discover. A new hope for them blossoms now.’” There was a pause as her eyes opened with curiosity. “‘You will be its messenger… And you will be their new beginning.’”
Fluttershy gasped inside upon hearing that. “‘You will be its messenger?’ Somepony… So somepony did turn you into a tatzlpony. But… they did it so we would learn about them?” It sounded like the answer she could gather from those words, but it left her with more questions. This didn’t seem to answer anything about their current dilemma. But before she jumped to conclusions, there was still more to learn.
“Okay Rainbow. Can you remember anything after that? That must’ve been the moment you turned into a tatzlpony. But how did you escape? What did this pony do to you? What can you remember?”
Seeing this plea in Fluttershy’s eyes made Rainbow really want to recall these memories. For some reason at the same time, there was something about these memories that made her not want to recall them. She didn’t understand why, but It left a very cold chill run through her stomach. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and recalled them.
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Nothing but light. That was the last thing Rainbow saw. All sound had ceased, feelings went numb, and her mind went blank. A considerable time must’ve passed since that happened. When she came to, all her feelings returned full force. Her eyes were hugely open in a panic. She was suffering. Why was she suffering? More importantly, why was it difficult to move?
“No! No no!” A panicking voice came. Somepony had approached her in just as much of a panic as she was in. “Please! Don’t move around too much, or you won’t last!” She couldn’t tell who it was, but it sounded like a female voice. It looked like magic was shining from a horn just above her.
“I need you to clear your mind if you want the suffering to stop. Trust me!” Upon instinct through the suffering, Rainbow immediately trusted this pony. When her mind cleared, the pony activated her spell. There was a quick flash. The suffering had stopped. She could move again, but she couldn’t remember why or how she was suffering. All she could remember was that she was simply suffering. It felt like her body had changed, but she couldn’t recognize how or when. Her attention was purely on this pony.
“Good! Now come on! Let’s get you out!” Rainbow was brought to her hooves by this pony, who she now recognized as a unicorn. The voice and image wasn’t clear though. Yet, she followed this pony to where she led. They must’ve been in some building. When they were out, a loud noise sounded right behind them. For some reason, she didn’t look, and was compelled to keep her eyes on the unicorn she followed. She could see lots of trees in their surroundings, realizing they were in a forest. From what she could remember, it was the Everfree Forest.
“Stop!” the mare said as she halted her running. Rainbow obliged. She seemed to be looking all over the place in a panic. "They'll find us..." She seemed to whisper and then looked to Rainbow. “It looks like the spell hasn’t taken full effect yet.” The mare lit her horn towards Rainbow’s forehead. It blinked a few times, and each blink made her eyes more focused towards the mare’s attention.
“Your memory will be unstable, but I need you to listen to these words.” The mare brought her muzzle closer to Rainbow’s ear. She said 'these words', but only spoke a single word. The word echoed in Rainbow's mind as if the pony was saying it multiple times. As she said this word, her horn lit brighter again. All sound seemed silent except for that word. ‘Tatzl’ was the word. It was the only word that came to her ears.
“Remember this name. ‘Tatzl’. This is what you are. You must remember it so your instincts will carry you through. You must-” The words stopped for some reason and the light went away. Rainbow was in a trance for a few seconds. Her visions, feelings, and hearings soon came back, but still hard to remember or focus. What she saw though made her gasp. Something big had grabbed the mare. She was struggling in its grasp. Upon instinct, Rainbow moved in to save her.
“No!” the mare shouted and fired something from her horn. It shot towards Rainbow’s forehead and made contact. For some reason, it made her stop on her own. “Your actions will only draw more attention! You must go before the spell- Ahh!” She could hear a roar as whatever monster had grasped the mare seemed to pull her further. Instead of wanting to help the mare, her mind wouldn’t make her limbs move closer.
“Go now!” The mare shot two more beams to Rainbow’s forehead, making her oblige even further. "Follow your instincts! Don't fight them! Go!" Without hesitation, she left the mare to her demise and didn’t look back.
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Rainbow Dash was gritting her teeth, surprised as she recalled that memory. But her surprise wasn’t nearly as intense as Fluttershy’s. Her eyes were hugely opened wide, trying desperately to control her breathing. It was very hard to believe what she heard. She was shaking.
“D-Does… Does that m-mean…” Fluttershy could barely speak. So many questions flowed through her mind. That memory… of all the things she wanted answered, she never thought this would be its result.
“O-o-oh… Dear Celestia...” Fluttershy shivered as she thought about that pony’s fate.
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Meanwhile, somewhere deep in a different part of the Everfree Forest, two ponies were walking together searching for something. One of the ponies stood tall, fully observant about his surroundings. He had to keep an eye out for any dangers lurking in this forest.
The other pony was much less confident about her surroundings. Every step she took, her body shivered intensely. She kept her head low, staying as close to the other pony as possible, while also desperately avoiding contact. Her head turned one way, then turned the other with her eyes growing and shrinking with each new sight.
“They must be here somewhere.” When the stallion spoke, the mare froze from her spot. The stallion had to stop and turn to her, wondering why she had stopped. “Come on!” he said in an annoyed tone.
The mare didn’t respond. Her ears twitched as if it was responding to sounds. Each twitch rustled her feathers. The stallion's annoyance turned to caution when he noticed the sounds too.
Suddenly, the mare yelped. Something shot from one of the trees. The stallion immediately reacted and caught what had lashed out towards them. It was a rattle snake. Gritting his teeth, he desperately kept the snake as far apart from his face as he could while the snake kept snapping at him, attempting to be removed from his grip. He was about to grab something from his bag to deal with this snake, but the mare responded first. She grabbed a stick, flew towards the snake in a hurry, and smacked it over its head. The impact caused the snake to stop struggling and go limp, allowing the stallion to drop it.
Heavy desperate breaths escaped the mare’s mouth as she stared at the unconscious snake with shrunken eyes. Her wings kept her balanced on her hind hooves while her forehooves shakily kept the stick ready to strike the snake again, fearing it would move again. But her breathing was very loud and almost sounded like she was suffocating.
“Control your breathing or you’ll attract more of them!” the stallion yelled at her, causing her to flinch. She managed to settle her breathing by closing her mouth, but she was still shaking while her eyes stayed on that snake. When she was sure it wouldn’t move, she relaxed her wings, dropped the stick, and went to carefully pick the snake up, poking it once before proceeding. With heavy breaths trying to be contained, she opened her bag and set the snake inside, making sure no part of it was revealed outside. Her pulsating eyes turned to the stallion.
The stallion just stared at the shivering mare for a few seconds, his expression emotionless. Suddenly, his eyes grew, and a huge grin formed on his mouth. He slowly brought his head closer to the mare.
“Let’s return back for now,” he said coldly. “We’ll catch that tatzlpony.”
The mare gulped.