//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: Wake // Story: What is a Tatzlpony? // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// The morning sun rose over the horizon once again. Every time the sun rose like this, it was a sign that Equestria was still overall in safe conditions. If there was a time when it didn’t rise, it was a sign of tragic troubles. So every time ponies saw this sun rising, it would always brighten their day. But this deep in the Everfree Forest, the leaves would block out the morning sun. There were times where it was impossible to see the morning sun rise. Today was not one of those days. Somehow, the morning light shined into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. She had no idea how long she had been sleeping, but feeling that warmth of the sun’s rays stirred her to wake. When Rainbow opened her eyes, she was met with an intense blur of sun that could only be described as seeing directly into a lens flare. It wasn’t bright enough to hurt her eyes, but it took some time, and a few blinks for them to start focusing. Oddly enough, the lens flare was the first thing that vanished while they were focusing, almost like something blocked out the light when she opened her eyes. Soon, Rainbow could make out two blobs in front of her. One was green and the other was purple. As her eyes focused, she could start seeing black in their centers. The colors on those blobs soon focused enough that she could see them as wings, which flapped slowly in anticipation. Then she saw bug eyes, antennas, and many small and short legs. Rainbow blinked one more time as her vision fully focused. These two creatures were both butterflies, and she could see their smiling faces. Were they happy to see her? If so, why? She looked around to get her bearings straight, trying to remember what happened. As she noticed the clearing she was in, it all came rushing back to her. Rainbow gasped, causing the butterflies in front of her to flinch. She picked herself up and looked around the clearing more desperately. But her nerves calmed down when her eyes caught the sight of somepony lying down. They weren’t just lying down though. Something was forcing them in that state. Rainbow released a curious breath as she walked to that pony. The butterflies followed, flying side by side next to her head. It was X. She was lying on her back with her head gazing at the eyes of her captor, gazing at it in a trance. As Rainbow approached closer, she noticed that X’s captor was a red and black rattlesnake which fully wrapped above and underneath her body. It’s eyes were gazing at X’s eyes in a hypnotic manner. What was creepy though was that while X’s head shifted slightly left and right in a slow and simultaneous motion, she wasn’t shaking, wasn’t afraid, not even in tears. X was… smiling. She was in peace. For a pony as jumpy as her, it almost didn’t seem possible. But it looked like even X could find a happy place somewhere in all that fear. As for the snake, it seemed familiar. When Rainbow approached the snake, it started turning its gaze to her. Rainbow’s eyes grew as she recognized the snake. This was the same snake that X was threatening to shoot at them after they drove Strike away. She didn’t know it yet, but the snake was named 'Sly'. Why was it here? X’s eyes stopped mimicking the movements from Sly. When Sly tore its eyes off her, the hypnotic gaze vanished. After a harsh blink, she regained consciousness. Rainbow and the butterflies noticed this. All of them, along with X, yelped harshly, which the butterflies’ yelps came out silent. Rainbow acted immediately. X tried to pick herself up, but Rainbow managed to grab her and push her against a tree, dragging Sly with them. X’s wings and hooves, minus her damaged right one, were flailing in a desperate attempt to escape. Feathers were being flung all over the place. All that happiness X had before, it was gone now. Her fear showed itself full force in this struggle. Without many options, Rainbow grabbed Sly and wrapped it around X and the tree, keeping her tied to it by using Sly’s snake body as a rope. She tied the tail into a knot below its head to where it could still move its head around freely enough. X desperately struggled in an attempt to escape Sly’s grip. But it seemed along with the snake being tied to a knot, it was strengthening its coiling to keep her in place. Sly turned its eyes back to gaze at X again. X was still struggling to free herself, whimpering fearfully. She was in a sitting position with her back against the tree and hind hooves exposed. Both of her front hooves and her wings were binded by Sly’s body. The butterflies flew over to X’s ears to grab her attention. Shivering desperately, X slowly opened her eyes. They now met with Sly’s hypnotic gaze. Looking into those eyes made X’s struggle slow down. Her nerves softened. When she blinked, her eyes revealed the same hypnotic gaze Sly was making, now gazing in sync. X’s struggles and whimpers came to a stop. Her frown turned back into a smile. Rainbow and the butterflies released a sigh of relief seeing X fall under Sly’s influence again. It seemed that these animals wanted to help. But why? Before, most of the harmless animals were actually fearing her. Why would they want to… Rainbow gasped as she remembered the very reason why she was fighting with X in the first place. Fluttershy! She was still in her belly! Turning away from X, Rainbow quickly rushed to the center of the clearing. The butterflies watched her go and grew concerned. They decided to follow. Rainbow frantically looked around for the flattest part of the clearing she could possibly find. Due to their battle, the clearing was quite a mess and had debris strewn about all over the place. Fortunately, there was a section she could set Fluttershy down. When she found it, she raised her tail and struck it down, digging itself in the ground. The butterflies glanced at each other before looking closely at Rainbow’s actions. Rainbow started breathing in and out harshly, almost sounding as if she was choking on something. She squeezed her eyes as her stomach churned violently. After exhaling all her breath, she took a large inhale with her breath as she pushed her tongues down her throat, reaching down into her stomach. When they reached Fluttershy, they wrapped around her body and started pulling her out. The butterflies could see the lump in her belly expand first and then shrink. That lump started going up her body, expanding her neck to levels they never thought would be possible for any living creature. If their gasps made a sound, Rainbow Dash would be hearing it clearly. Her mouth opened wide with something coming out of it, something pink, yellow, and completely covered in her saliva with her tongues wrapping around it. When it was released, Rainbow carried it in her tongues and gently set it down to the floor. After unwrapping Fluttershy, she had to pant a few times to catch her breath. Thanks to that knot on her tongue, releasing Fluttershy was a lot harder than the first time. She completely forgot that one of her tongues had been tied to a knot to help heal a wound that Clang inflicted on it. This was the only time that knot ever got in the way. “Fluttershy… *pant*,” Rainbow said as her breath caught up to her. She couldn’t tell how Fluttershy’s condition was with all that saliva on her. To fix that, she used her three tongues to lap up the excess saliva that covered Fluttershy’s body. Her tongues had to lick across her face, around her stomach, underneath her wings, and even down to her hind hooves. The butterflies watched as Rainbow continued to lap up the saliva covering Fluttershy’s body. They could see just about every detail of where those three coils went. Rainbow’s tongues started going back up Fluttershy’s body. When they came back to her face, they focused on rubbing the eyes to lap up the rest of the saliva. Rainbow made one final slurp, pushing Fluttershy’s face up as saliva flicked off. All three of her tongues returned back to her mouth. When all the licking had stopped, the butterflies moved in closer to inspect Fluttershy’s body. Rainbow also checked Fluttershy’s body, but she was far more worried. Her body was still covered in the bruises suffered in her battle with X. None of them looked severe, but she hadn’t responded to anything so far, not even the licks. All she did was remain motionless. No twitch, no moan, nothing. A chill ran through Rainbow’s body. She asked herself… what if she was too late? “Fluttershy…” Rainbow forced out. No response. She moved her head down to nudge Fluttershy’s. “Fluttershy…” she repeated. Fluttershy’s head just limped back into place. Still no response. It was now difficult for her to breathe. A moan escaped her as she tried again, this time licking her cheek. Nothing. The butterflies hovered down to latch to Fluttershy’s mane, taking a close look at her. They didn’t find any responses either. Worried expressions and frowns came from them too. “F-F… Flutt-er-shy…” Rainbow started tearing up. She was the one who caused this. If she hadn’t taken Fluttershy’s energy like this… she would still be… All of a sudden, Rainbow bursted out. “FLUTTERSHY!!!” Her head dropped to Fluttershy’s stomach as her tears poured out. It was all her fault, she told herself as she sobbed. She should never have listened to her instincts, she should’ve fought them harder. But she was too weak, doubted herself too much, trusted Fluttershy too much. X, Clang, Strike, she should’ve… Rainbow’s regret train took a halt when she felt something. Did she imagine it? No… She didn’t imagine it... because she felt it again. Thump… Thump… Thump… It was faint and slow, but she could definitely feel it in Fluttershy’s body. Rainbow picked her head off Fluttershy’s body. What she was feeling was her heart beat. “Fluttershy?” Rainbow tried calling out again. But there was still no response. Her breath suddenly got very heavy. It wasn’t too late yet, but she didn’t know what to do. She tried nudging Fluttershy’s head again. Nothing. Now her own heart beat was pounding. Rainbow quickly looked around the area. She had to wake Fluttershy up. But how was she going to do that? Nothing she did made Fluttershy respond. If this kept up, she would never wake up. There had to be something. Rainbow gasped harshly as her sight went to X’s bag. There was something she could do. But… she didn’t like it one bit. Terrible memories started rushing through her mind, something from both her present, and her past memories. That something was the Twittermite Zapper Device. The electric shock that those twittermites could send… Strike tried to use it on Fluttershy earlier. He said that Fluttershy would live through the shock, but it would leave her out cold for hours. Instead Rainbow was the one who suffered it. And indeed, such a device put her to sleep for hours. But… it could also work in reverse. She slowly walked towards the bag as she thought about it. The right amount of shock could also shock a pony awake from a deep slumber or coma. Could she do that? What if she messed up though? If she messed it up, it could potentially damage Fluttershy even further. The butterflies curiously watched as Rainbow moved away from Fluttershy. Sly wanted to see what was going on, but it knew it had to hold its gaze on X, or more trouble would brew. Rainbow couldn’t stop moaning as she battled her decision of whether she should go through with this or not. She reached the bag and she wanted so much to look away from it. What instincts was she following? Was she following her tatzlpony instincts, or her instincts from her past memories before being a tatzlpony? There was no way to tell for her. Rainbow closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she reached for the bag with a hoof. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Her head turned away when she touched the bag, wanting so much to let go. When she peaked an eye open, she saw Fluttershy’s body again. If she didn’t do this, Fluttershy could stay like that forever. One of the butterflies flew up to her expressing their curious, yet worried expression. It seemed they cared for Fluttershy too. Gulping, she opened the bag and took a look inside. And then… Rainbow Dash released a long and extended gasp. She saw something inside X’s bag. The Zapper Device was inside there, but there was something else that caught her eye. That something… it was… Rainbow’s body began shaking. Her eyes pulsated and shook as well. The emotion that she was building up, it forced her teeth to clench together. All she felt… was pure… unbridled… rage… A furious growl escaped Rainbow Dash as her eyes turned to X. All that hatred she was building up was aimed straight at her, and everypony else she was working with. Clang, Strike, the client, all of them held a volcanic fire of hatred through her mind. If there was ever a time to believe every word they told her was nothing but lies, it was now. The butterfly near Rainbow Dash started backing away in fear. It had no idea why Rainbow Dash was suddenly getting so furious. Rainbow Dash snapped her head back to the bag. She quickly grabbed the Zapper Device, closed the bag, and ran straight for Fluttershy. Her decision had been made to follow her instincts no matter which ones they were. All that hatred for X could wait. Once Fluttershy was awake, she would show her when the time came. Rainbow approached Fluttershy with the Zapper Device, causing the other butterfly to back away in fear. After she turned it on, she hesitated for a moment, taking heavy breaths. Where should she jam the device? For some reason, her instincts were leading her to a very vital area. But it wasn’t just instincts telling her this. It was a memory, a memory of past experience. After expelling a large breath, she thrusted the device. It jammed to the side of Fluttershy’s chest area, giving her a good shock. Her entire body jumped and flashed brightly, causing her eyes to fling open while the butterflies flinched in fear. Rainbow forced herself to keep the device in place until a full second passed. She then quickly removed the device with a loud yelp and tossed it away. If the butterflies could scream, they would’ve done it then when they flew away from the device. The device smashed onto the ground, causing it to crack open, releasing the twittermites. In a swarm, they started leaving the area, releasing many crackles of lightning in their wake which came close to the butterflies, but thankfully didn’t make contact. Rainbow Dash was panting from the tough decision she made. She did what she had to do, but did it work? Was it enough? Her eyes slowly opened to check for the answer. Then they widened. With a close look to Fluttershy’s stomach, she saw that it was moving. Fluttershy was breathing. And then she heard a moan. Fluttershy’s eyes were closed, but they were starting to twitch. Her entire body followed. Slowly, they opened up. Fluttershy was greeted with a morning flare, and a shadow blocking that flare enough so it didn’t hurt her eyes. She recognized the shadow as a pony’s head. Somepony was looking down at her. When her vision started focusing, she started making the face out. It was somepony she recognized. “...R-Rainbow?” When she said that name, her vision focused fully. It was Rainbow Dash, and she was smiling brightly. “Rainbow Dash… i-it’s you… Am I d-dreaming?” Upon that question, Rainbow just closed her eyes and licked Fluttershy across the cheek. She licked her with the tongue that was still tied to a knot. Feeling the affection made Fluttershy giggle as she put her hooves around Rainbow’s mane. “Oh Rainbow! You must’ve saved me!” Rainbow continued licking Fluttershy across the cheek while Fluttershy brushed Rainbow’s mane affectionately. They were both so happy right now and couldn’t stop giggling. “You’re a good tatzlpony, Rainbow Dash! A really good tatzlpony!” If the butterflies could make sounds, they would be in ‘awe’ right now. Seeing the way these two interacted with each other, they wished that they could be treated in the same way. Everything Sly mentioned about her seemed pretty spot on. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy soon halted their affections to breathe a sigh of bliss. They were back together again, no pony tied up or in any kind of trouble. At least, that’s how it was for right now. It may not be for good yet, but they wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Now that they did, Rainbow helped Fluttershy back to her hooves. Her cheek was quite smothered in Rainbow's saliva, but Fluttershy wasn't bothered by it at all. In fact, she didn't wipe it off, and just let it dry naturally. But she did grunt and put a hoof to her stomach as she came up. There was still some soreness on her stomach. She remembered where it came from. So she started questioning. “What happened to…” Before she could finish the question, her eyes caught the sight of X. Not just X though. She also saw that X was smiling, tied up, and that a couple of butterflies were hovering nearby. Her eyes kept shifting from one to another, to X, to Rainbow, to the butterflies, and even a random direction around the clearing, trying to understand what occurred while she was unconscious. While she did this, she started walking towards X with Rainbow Dash following. Seeing the clearing in the state it was, she could tell that she definitely missed out on a lot. The clearing was no longer how she remembered it. What was once a very flat land crowded in a huge circle of piled up leaves and bushes, was now a jumbled mess of holes, skid marks, leaves and branches lying about, damaged terrain, and many open spaces in that circle wall surrounding the clearing. It looked like now that wall wasn't gonna keep anything out. There was also that destroyed cage that trapped Rainbow Dash earlier, now lying like a pile of garbage. Considering how weak that cage was, she could already guess as to how Rainbow Dash was able to escape. When Fluttershy got closer to X, she bobbed her head back. She noticed that what was used to tie up X was a snake which she recognized. “Sly?” she asked as she walked a little faster to it. Rainbow heard the name that Fluttershy used. That answered one question she had. The reason that snake came had to be because of Fluttershy. And then Fluttershy covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. She noticed X’s right hoof and how damaged it was. The top edge of the outer rim had been cracked. To most animals, that would simulate as a really bad claw/nail snap further than where it’s supposed to. It made her cringe at the thought of how painful that must’ve been. And yet, X was smiling, following Sly’s movements as her eyes continued spanning glowing rings of multiple colors in the same style that Sly’s was doing. It must’ve been the hypnotic gaze that Sly did on her before. It also seemed like Sly was not bothered with being tied up in order to keep X in place. Right now though, Fluttershy was most concerned about that hoof. X may have tried to hurt them, or rather, tried to separate them, but she felt that even X shouldn’t deserve a pain like that without treatment. Even the butterflies agreed. From her looking at X’s hoof, the butterflies hovered down to it. They started rubbing on it with their antennas, doing what they could to soothe the pain. For now, that seemed to be the best way to go. Fluttershy took a glance to Rainbow, and Rainbow did the same. They both knew what they had to do. Though Rainbow seemed to respond with a glare that said there was much more to it. Regardless, it still meant what it meant. It was time to question X and get her to tell them what she knew. Maybe X wouldn’t tell them about her client, but maybe they could get her to tell them some other things that might help.