“But the princess… wasn’t in her castle.”
The moment that those words were said, Fluttershy’s panic attack came to a sudden halt. It wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. As the world around her returned to normal, she began to wonder if she even heard that correctly.
“W-What?” she asked as she looked up to X. X had to squeeze her eyes as she repeated herself.
“The princess… She… She wasn’t at her castle. Nopony was.”
Those answers completely changed the perspective of Fluttershy’s questions. All those questions of why Twilight would be involved in any of this, went to questions of ‘if she wasn’t involved at all’. It made her think quickly that X was lying. She rushed to her hooves and began asking.
“Then you didn’t meet the princess at all?!” Fluttershy shouted closely to X, causing her to yelp.
“N-N-No!” X said through her shivers.
“Then why were you trying to hide it?! Why would your client want you to not tell us about that?!”
X was bracing her head harshly against the tree, desperately trying to keep her distance from Fluttershy’s head. “It… It wasn’t requested by our client!” When X said that, Fluttershy’s anger halted out of pure confusion. She backed away to give X her space. Unsure of how to respond to that answer, she asked randomly.
“What… do you mean?”
X had to take a moment to recover. Then she answered. “O-Our meeting with the princess… I-It wasn’t requested by our client. I-It was something… we wanted to do ourselves…”
Fluttershy sat back down in utter disbelief. Her body was boiling, heart pounding in regret. All those things she was accusing Twilight of, she was afraid she made such huge, false, and regretful accusations. Rainbow was looking her over in concern. She didn’t respond to that. But before she could feel even more regretful than she already had, X continued.
“But when we gathered there, nopony was there. We thought it was just really quiet. So… when we were there, we did something... regretful…” Seeing that things had calmed down, the butterflies floated back down to Fluttershy’s mane to rest their wings. X continued to tell her story.
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”What is going on here? No Royal Guards?” Strike asked as he walked up to the front doors of the Crystal Castle, knocking on its doors. “Hello?!” X winced, looking left and right for signs of anypony who was present or watching. None were.
All of a sudden, the door opened. “The door’s not even locked?!” Strike said. He opened the door fully and proceeded to go inside. X’s ears dropped as her heart got heavier than usual. This was not something she wanted to do. But Strike had already gone inside, so she had no choice but to follow.
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“We searched… and searched. N-Nopony was around. We had no idea w-why. The castle was so big… but so… e-empty.”
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X and Strike had separated to check the rooms of the castle for any signs of the princess, her royal guards, or really, just anypony present. They found the guest rooms, the library, and even a kitchen.
“Not even chefs,” Strike commented angrily. “You can’t be serious! What kind of castle is this?!”
Meanwhile, X went to explore the library for something. But with how big the library was, she got easily disoriented. The library shelves were so high and surrounded the entire room. As she looked at all of them, her world began spinning. She could only whimper as her body uncontrollably stumbled into one of the shelves.
X had to brace her head to collect her thoughts. The more she hung around this castle, the heavier her breath got. She had to open her bag and breathe deeply inside it. Sweat started dripping down her face. There was something she had to do. But the thought of doing anything in the princess’s corridors without a princess felt wrong. Even simply looking at these books felt wrong.
“X! We’re leaving!” X gasped upon hearing Strike. Searching quickly through her bag, she pulled out a book she had herself and placed it in one of the shelves of this giant library. With that done, she hastily returned to Strike as they left the castle.
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X had to pause as Fluttershy looked her over curiously from what she said. The question was obvious, but what Fluttershy was really wondering was why X just decided to mention that.
“What was that book that you had?” Fluttershy asked. X looked down and frowned.
“I don’t know…” she said. “I couldn’t understand the language.”
Fluttershy blinked. “Who did you get that book from then?”
“O-Our client,” X answered, which confused Fluttershy.
“But… you just said your client didn’t request for you to visit the princess.” Rainbow had to release a small snort. All this back and forth questioning was making her lose her patience. X answered with a shake of her head.
“They didn’t.”
Fluttershy continued questioning. “Then why did you have to take that book there?”
X closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It took her a few seconds, but she answered. “When I told my client we were gonna visit the princess, they asked if I could do that while I was there…”
Both Rainbow and Fluttershy had to blink as their eyes widened from the reveal. “‘When you told your client’... you mean you two were talking face to face?”
X nodded. “Clang and Strike weren’t here for this, so they don’t know anything about it. This wasn’t part of our mission. It was just a small favor that my client asked me to do.”
‘Just a small favor’, X said. Was that all it was? With the way X revealed that, it seemed to be the case. But Fluttershy couldn’t tell. She tried to think of what that meant. But right now, she wasn’t coming up with anything. After a bit of silence, X continued her story.
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”It’s official. Ponyville is the WORST town I have ever visited! First, a clumsy pony who nearly dropped an entire sofa on us, on us, a crazy old hag who blows up anything that causes too much noise, and now the worst offender, a castle left completely unguarded by a princess or her guards!” X flinched further and further away as Strike was shouting at nopony in particular.
“I almost want to savage this place just to provide an example. X!” He suddenly shot X a glare. “This visit NEVER happened! If anypony learns we invaded this castle, it’ll look very bad on our record. Don’t speak a word of this to anypony!” As X gritted her teeth, she shakily nodded her head.
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X paused her story to sob out. “A-A-And now the wor-rd is out. O-Our mission was to capture the tatzlp-pony. We would ne-ever go against a prince-e-ess. Mmm…”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to say to that. On one hoof, it sounded like they were afraid of what Twilight would do to them if they ever crossed her path. And on the other hoof, it supported the thought that X really believed what she was doing was a good thing, and that was why she accepted the mission. They didn’t know anything about Twilight, and everything they learned about a tatzlpony was through what the client said.
“When we started our mission…” X continued. “We separated into the two groups that we already had.”
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X and Strike had gathered near the garden where Fluttershy’s place resided. They were hidden within the trees, almost ready to make their move. All they needed to do was make sure everything was ready for the plan to proceed. Strike made the call out to Clang, making sure things were clarified.
“(Our client told us that the tatzlpony is currently here. A special animal caretaker named Fluttershy. We’re at her cottage right now ready to start our plan. You remember how it goes, right?)” X could also hear the conversation that Strike was making. While they conversed, she shakily just stared at the cottage, watching for anypony, or anyone coming out.
“(Yeah, yeah,)” Clang answered. “(X is gonna give her that letter, she’s gonna come to me, then while I’m chit chatting about some random lost animal, you two are gonna find and capture it.)”
Strike smiled and nodded, despite the fact nopony could see him nod. “(Good. Then let’s get this started.)”
“(Alright, but first,)” Clang started with a sudden excitement in his tone. “(You gotta tell me. How did that visit with the princess go?)”
Strike snorted angirly. “(We don’t talk about that! It never happened!)”
“I’m sorry! But I’m busy fixing the mess that YOU caused!” Clang suddenly yelled out.
“(Hey! I did NOT cause that!)” Strike responded.
“(Not you!)” Clang said. “(Anyway, how did that visit go?)”
Strike blinked in disbelief. “(What the… Clang! What are you doing?!)”
“No! If you want me to move out, than come and make me!”
X was wincing her eyes from the back to back yelling that Clang and Strike were doing in her head.
“(Almond Clang! Stop this stupid-)” Strike got interrupted with Clang continuing.
“I don’t care what you blow up! Your baseless threats don’t mean a thing! The next time you come here, I hope you’re-” Strike silenced the connection right then and there, releasing a furious groan.
“That old hag BETTER not be the reason for our failure,” Strike muttered out silently. “X!” he yelled, causing X to yelp and jump, falling onto her back as she stared horrifyingly at Strike. “Proceed with the plan. You know what to do.”
X hesitantly nodded. All she had to do was cover herself up in a robe and deliver that letter to Fluttershy.
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“But as s-soon as I came out of the bushes, a filly came out. We… we weren’t expecting that. O-our client told us it was just you two there.”
A thought came to Fluttershy. This was back after the first day Rainbow Dash turned back into a tatzlpony. When they came back to the cottage, Scootaloo was inside Rainbow’s belly. If anypony was watching them, they would only be seeing two ponies enter her cottage. So did that mean the client spied on them coming home that day?
“That f-filly rushed out and bumped into me in about two seconds. I-I’ve never seen a filly as hyper as that. I… had to change the plan a little.”
Fluttershy shuddered at that. X didn’t know the half of what Scootaloo could cause. When she was with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, the troubles they caused were ten times worse.
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”P-Please… Give this to F-F-Fluttershy… I-It’s about her job. She must k-k-know.” X grasped as she spoke to the filly. Before the filly could respond, she yelped and ran off, not wanting to blow their cover.
“W-Wait!” the filly called out, but she didn’t turn back. She continued running.
“(X! Where are you going?!)” she heard Strike call out, but she didn’t listen to him either. She went to whatever hiding place she could find that was completely away from that cottage.
X eventually found a place to lie low in an alleyway. While there, she panted and gasped for breath, not just from the running, but the anxiety that their plan would not go the way they wanted to. She removed her robe and placed it back into her bag.
Some time had passed. There was no update from Strike during that time. It was both odd and scary. If it was taking this long, then maybe Fluttershy wasn’t gonna leave the cottage. Still, she had to be patient.
“(No! Flying Feathers!)” X yelped when she heard Strike yell such foul language. “(Clang! Fluttershy is heading to where you are now!)”
“(Wait, that’s good right?)” Clang asked.
“(Yes. Except that she’s bring another pony with her under a cloak. It must be the tatzlpony. She’s been hiding it twenty-four seven.)” When she heard this, X desperately looked out from her hiding place to look if she could see Fluttershy and the cloaked tatzlpony.
“(I see. Guess my trap’s gonna have to be sprung on them then. And you said this was a waste of time.)” X could hear Strike growling.
“(Shut it! I need to go find X. She must have her mind closed or something. Remember, that tatzlpony was able to fend off a pack of timberwolves. Expect heavy resistance, but DON’T go overboard! We may be dealing with a deadly creature, but our client requested to bring it back alive!)”
X started whimpering. This was not going according to plan. Their client wanted them to avoid fighting with anypony. That wasn’t gonna be avoided now. Clang was gonna have to fight them. She just knew it. Back when it was just the tatzlpony, it was okay. Nopony would know about that scuffle. Maybe they still wouldn’t know. After all, with all the noise Clang already made, nopony should suspect the fight that was about to break out.
With the plan now taking a turn, X walked around Ponyville, waiting for another update. Without her cloak, she would just be seen as another citizen, so there was no reason to hide anymore. But she did make sure to lurk either near Fluttershy’s cottage, or the place where Clang was, in case anything came up. She would've stuck around where Clang was. Unfortunately, for some reason, that filly she gave the letter to earlier, was there spying in on them. And she was constantly checking her surroundings, probably on edge knowing that that bomb shop was nearby.
As time passed, X heard more details of what had occurred during that visit. They fought like she thought they would. Every second that there was fighting made her whimper. All the details came from Clang though, including the part where he had to smack Fluttershy on the back of her head to get her to move.
And that was when disaster struck. The tatzlpony swallowed him. As he was being taken away, X saw them from a distance. She casually moved in closer to see where they were going. But as she was positioned in that path, she heard two fillies galloping towards her. Gasping, she looked to where they were coming from, then quickly ducked to cover. They weren’t after her, but with how fast they were rushing, they could’ve easily crashed into her by mistake. It looked like they were following another filly, who was following Fluttershy and the tatzlpony.
During all of this, Clang and Strike were yelling at each other over how bad the mission was going.
“(How could she have gotten up after that?)” Strike asked. “(You said you clearly bashed that thing in the back of the head just like Fluttershy!)”
“(I did!)” Clang answered. “(It must be really hard headed or something!)”
“(Where are they taking you?)”
“(I’M IN THIS THING’S STOMACH! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!)”
They continued arguing until Fluttershy and the tatzlpony reached the cottage. The fillies were there too, one that X recognized as the filly she gave the letter to. She went back to the same hiding spot that she and Strike were at before, only Strike was nowhere to be seen.
“(Don’t tell them anything our client requested,)” Strike said. “(X! Where are you?!)” And then suddenly, their client contacted them.
“(What is going on?)” X yelped when she heard the client’s voice. Clang went silent. Strike hesitated to respond back, but he did.
“(A-a-a little set back. The tatzlpony’s captured Clang and we have no idea where they took him. But don’t worry. Once he figures it out, we’ll spring another trap on them.)”
X was breathing harshly, awaiting the response from their client. But for some reason, the response never came. They waited and nothing happened.
“(Hello? Client!)”
“AAAAAHHH!!!” X jumped at that. That was Clang’s screaming. They were torturing him?
“(Clang! What happened?!)” Strike asked, but there was no response. “(X?!)” X remained silent. She wasn’t sure what to say. Horrified by the scream that Clang did, she wanted nothing more than to find out what they were doing to him. But she didn’t want to give away her position. After some time passed, another shout from Clang happened. This time he responded.
“(STUPID BUNNY!!!)” At that point Strike mentioned that he would give anything to figure out what in Equestria was going on in there. Based on Clang’s description, all of his torture wasn’t even coming from Fluttershy or the tatzlpony, but rather, a small white bunny that he could literally just step on. How was that even possible? He wasn’t even tied up and yet this was happening.
Then again, Clang did say that this town was full of crazy ponies. But when he said that, they didn’t expect animals too. While this was all happening, they tried to devise a way to get Fluttershy to leave to another location where they could spring another trap. They just needed to wait for an opportunity to bring it up without sounding suspicious, while at the same time, giving Clang an opportunity to escape. It never came.
Some time later, the three fillies outside the cottage barged in. And after more time passed, they came back out. But they came out with Clang, who was in a cage that somehow had wheels. X was horrified at the sight of that. She had to brace her head at the agony of how bad this mission was going. It was supposed to be simple. Why wasn’t it simple?
Eventually, X saw more activity at the cottage and gasped. Fluttershy and the tatzlpony were heading out. Where were they headed? They were headed towards…
“(The tatzlpony’s heading in the forest!)” X said in her mind while bracing her head. “(The tatzlpony’s heading in the forest!)” she repeated in a higher tone, both of which were desperate.
“(The Everfree?)” Strike asked in shock. X didn’t need to tell him where she was anymore. From just that, both Clang and Strike knew where she was.
“(Not even that forest is gonna be an insulator if it ever croaks...)" Clang silently commented. "(Forget about me! Don’t let that thing get away! Tail them if you have to!)”
Strike groaned. “(Fine! We’ll find a way to bail you out later. Client! Can you hear me?)” There was still no response from their client.
“(And Strike?)” Clang continued. “(That timid one, Fluttershy. She may not look it, but she’s got a lot of bark. And I mean A LOT! Actually... one of the biggest ones I’ve ever had the pleasure of silencing. But compared to that tatzlpony, she has no bite. So don’t let her words control you and just fight!)” Strike just groaned. He would never admit when Clang’s silly little campaign started making relevance. “(Now that X is with you, there should be no trouble in catching that thing.)” And that little remark just made Strike furious.
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“A-As we followed you two into the forest, we tri-ied to contact our client again. B-But we never could. We ne-ever heard from them again.”
Fluttershy was still carefully listening to X’s story. She noticed that there seemed to be big segments to it that X was skipping. The reason could’ve been because they were segments she already knew about, or there was some information mentioned there that their client didn’t want them talking about. There was one thing she wanted to ask though. To halt the story, Fluttershy raised a hoof.
“What you’re saying about Clang, it sounds like he’s been to Ponyville before. Has he?”
X nodded her head. “Y-Yes… I mean, n-no… Um…” She squeezed her eyes and continued. “B-Before we m-met our client, h-h-he was living in P-Ponyville.” Fluttershy had to blink and raise an eye at that. “It was temporary… l-like all of his visits. While in Ponyville, h-he passed himself off as a construction worker. When we were d-done with this mission, he was g-gonna move again.”
Fluttershy sighed out curiously. So Clang had been living in Ponyville for a few days before he got hired to do this mission. With how many ponies were now living in Ponyville, it was easy to see why she never remembered seeing him. Either way, she decided to drop the subject because it didn’t seem like it was relevant at all. So she told X to continue.
Before she did, X looked away and ended up looking down at the snake that still had her tied up. Sly was looking back at X, slithering his tongue out and drawing it back in. He then turned his head away to lie it down to ground level. With a few more hisses with his tongue, he closed his eyes to rest. This conversation must’ve been going on for a while.
X swallowed harshly, looked back to Fluttershy, and continued. “U-Um… A-After I told them where you were going, I waited for him to come.”
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A harsh stomp behind her snapped X out of her thoughts. It was Strike with a familiar annoyed expression. “Once again, you did NOT have to wait for me!” he said. X didn’t say anything and shrank her head back nervously. “Let’s go before we lose their tracks even further.” They began entering the forest together, attempting to follow the trail of Fluttershy and that tatzlpony.
But their attempt at following their trail was quite in vain. For some reason, there was only one set of tracks they were following when there should’ve been two. The tracks were very difficult to see. And with the numerous amounts of predators inside this forest, following a straight was practically impossible. Many times, they found themselves encountering predators as their roadblock and causing them to move around that and lose their trail.
One instance when they were trying to find the trail again, Strike was attacked by a rattlesnake which he barely had time to react to. In her haste, X grabbed a nearby tree branch to knock it away. She was breathing quite harshly after that.
“Control your breathing or you’ll attract more of them!” was what Strike said after that encounter. X was looking down at the snake with more controlled breathing. This wasn’t part of their plan, but she decided to take the snake with her and placed it in the bag. Snakes like these could be used to fuel their resources for their next mission. But after she placed it, Strike gave her an intimidating grin.
“Let’s head back for now,” he said. “We’ll catch that tatzlpony.” X could only gulp. She didn’t like where this was going. Whenever he talked like that, it meant he had a plan with great risks, but great results if they could pull it off. It had to have something to do with the snake she just bagged.
But right now, there were more pressing concerns. She hadn’t heard her client in a while. In fact, she hadn’t heard from Clang for a little bit either. The last she heard of him was before what sounded like a loud explosion set off in the distance. He was being interrogated by the three fillies who took him away, and their pegasus assistant. According to Clang, he was big, white, had wings the size of a newborn, and a mouth bigger than his muscles. If it wasn’t for his mouth, Clang said he might’ve actually liked this body builder. Now he hates him with a passion.
After that explosion, she stopped hearing from him. But it didn’t make any sense. The explosion she heard wasn’t in the direction of Ponyville. She and Strike swore that it was somewhere deeper in the forest. If it wasn’t for that rattlesnake attacking, they would still be following it.
Now, they headed back to a clearing they passed by a few minutes ago. They used that clearing to prepare a few things.
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X paused her story with a nervous gulp, looking towards Sly. That look told Fluttershy what she needed to know, which made her heart sink a bit.
“The Snake Cannon…” Fluttershy answered for her. X nodded.
“B-But… tha-at wasn’t the only thing we… p-prepared,” X said. Thinking she knew the answer, Fluttershy responded.
“The Twittermite Zapper Device?” X responded with a shake of her head.
“We… a-a-already had that prepared. When we f-found you, that was gonna be-e our first resort. Mm-m-m… Nnngh! N-ngh...” X was starting to squeeze her eyes and jitter. Fluttershy gasped and looked to X’s right forehoof. It looked like she was trying hard not to move it around too much, but it was starting to hurt again. The butterflies noticed this too.
When Fluttershy looked up to them, they flew back to X’s hoof to ease the pain again. Meanwhile X was continuing after taking a few heavy breaths.
“We… m-managed to track you down the next day. B-But… when we found you, you were… a-already affected by the tatzlpony’s t-toxin. We… h-h-had to separate you, before it was too late.”
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”If you know what’s good for you, you will stand down and surrender yourself,” Strike said as they had Fluttershy and the tatzlpony cornered. “You’re not causing any more trouble.”
Both X and Strike were careful to block the doorway so that the tatzlpony wouldn’t have any way of escaping without a struggle. If it came down to that, they could use the Zapper Device to stop them. Thanks to their position, it looked like they would have this situation locked down.
Unfortunately, the tatzlpony was very observant and did something very unexpected for both of them. By pounding its hooves on the floor, one of the floorboards launched them both into the air, causing them to fly above the tatzlpony as it made its escape with Fluttershy.
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“O-Of course… you already know all of this… don’t you?” X asked. Fluttershy answered with a hesitant nod. She didn’t want to think about that because it was such a painful experience.
“By the end of it all, you were chased away by timberwolves,” Fluttershy continued for her. “You provoked them when Strike tried to attack them, so they focused on you. Though… it almost sounded like one stayed behind. But I guess it never did. I was hidden away underneath the bushes, so I couldn’t tell.”
Rainbow could still remember that moment. For the most part, Fluttershy was right. One timberwolf did stay behind, but it left soon after, looking like it was scared. She still couldn’t figure out why that was, but at least it happened.
“The flower…” Fluttershy continued, bringing Rainbow Dash’s attention back. “I told her to go get the flower. There was a small patch of them we saw earlier, very far away from the shack. But one of those flowers was enough to cure me from the toxin. If we could find more, we wouldn’t have to worry about the toxin, right?”
X just looked at her with a whimpering expression. That little hope that Fluttershy had was starting to waver from that look. It seemed like bad news. But Rainbow… she just narrowed her eyes even sharper towards X.
“Did you… e-e-ever find more?” X asked. Upon that question, Fluttershy’s heart sunk. She gave a sad sigh and answered.
“N-No… I’ve never seen a flower like that until that day. That small patch was the only place I ever saw them. And… from what Rainbow Dash said, they’re gone now…” When she looked to Rainbow, Rainbow looked back at her, giving her a nod to confirm. But she still seemed stern. Nothing X was saying was making that stern expression waver.
“T-The flower doesn’t last fore-ever…” X continued. “E-Even if it can cure you, you’ll… o-o-only be affected again.” Fluttershy brought her attention back to X. “As long as you remain with the tatzlpony, the toxin will affect you again… and again…”
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“Tatzlponies are attracted to those they like or deem friendly.” Strike was telling to Fluttershy. “They respond to that friendliness by feasting on their prey, keeping them trapped in their stomach. Why do they do that? They have a better taste for those they are close to.”
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“A-And they will continue to stay close to you. T-The closer you ar-r-re, the faster you’ll g-get infected.” X sniffed. “Y-Your bond… i-i-it’s very close. W-We’ve seen what that has done befo-ore.”
Fluttershy raised her eyes. “‘Before’?” she asked.
“Ponies find an animal,” X started. “T-They love them. But… they don’t know anything about them,” she shook her head as she said that. “They don’t want to abandon them, even with how dangerous they ar-re. They k-keep them, they h-hide them. They…” Pause. “E-Even after they were told…” Another pause. “The next thing they know... they’re bitten… their loved ones... eaten… t-t-their trust… s-shattered.”
X looked back up to Fluttershy. “That’s why Strike responded the way he did.” Fluttershy blinked, then gasped inside. “Even after it looked like you were convinced… he knew that... you wasn't.”
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Strike was holding Fluttershy against a tree with her neck between a bar handle that wedged against the tree. He was holding the Zapper Device in the air, ready to zap Fluttershy with it. X was whimpering at the sight of this. Clang did warn them that Fluttershy had a bark that was far bigger than anything they would’ve expected, but they have yet to witness that. Either way, it seemed like Strike was no longer taking any chances. She didn’t like it, but it had to be done. When Strike was nearing that device towards Fluttershy’s head, she looked away and winced.
Unfortunately, that was the big mistake that costed them. After she winced away, the tatzlpony began struggling again. Before she could make an attempt to stop the struggle, the tatzlpony pulled on the leash she was holding and grabbed her. With her lack of strength, she was unable to get away. As a result, the tatzlpony twirled her around and threw her straight to Strike, colliding her body with his. The impact made her black out.
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“T-The next thing I knew… Strike was go-one,” X said. “H-He was gone. But you two were still around. I-If I didn’t do s-something… you would get away. S-So I… I-I…”
Fluttershy winced as she looked towards Sly, another terrifying experience she did not want to remember. “The Snake Cannon…” she said. Rainbow had to look at Fluttershy in concern, wondering why Fluttershy was this tensed up.
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X shakily aimed the Snake Cannon towards the duo as the tatzlpony slowly walked towards her. She had the cannon in her hooves, and the Zapper Device underneath her wing. The snake strapped in the cannon continuously shook violently in a desperate attempt to escape. When she launched it, the strap covering its eyes would fly off and the snake would bite the first thing it sees.
X didn’t want to have to use this. But nothing was going their way. She tried calling out to them, but nopony answered. Clang, Strike, their client, she couldn’t hear them anymore. Grab the tatzlpony and get out. That was all she knew on what to do now. If they just cooperated, nopony would have to be hurt. The tatzlpony was almost with her. All this struggle could end soon.
But then, Fluttershy gasped. It startled the tatzlpony, which startled X into using the Zapper Device. The tatzlpony screamed out in pain from the zap, flashing the area in a vibrant blue hue.
“NNOOO!” Fluttershy yelled as she started running to her. X noticed this and pointed the cannon back at her.
“St-Stop!” she warned. But Fluttershy wasn’t stopping. Why wasn’t she stopping? If she didn’t stop, X would have no choice but to fire the cannon. She continued to come closer, like the cannon that X was holding wasn’t a threat to her. Was it really not a threat to her? X didn’t have a choice now. Fluttershy wouldn’t stop unless she fired the cannon.
“You’re hurting Rain-” X fired the cannon, silencing Fluttershy. The silence only lasted for about a second before it was replaced with a shrieking scream. Fluttershy had been bitten. The venom from the rattlesnake was already coursing through her body. Just as X opened her eyes to witness the effects caused by her action, Fluttershy collapsed to the floor, twitching violently.
“AAAAAAHHH!!!” X wailed.
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Rainbow Dash had her mouth held wide open with stunned eyes, barely able to contain her breath. Her head hesitantly turned to Fluttershy, who was still wincing from what X just retold. Fluttershy soon noticed the look on Rainbow Dash’s face. When it clicked, she lightly gasped.
That’s right… Rainbow Dash couldn’t have known about this yet. She gave herself up so that this sort of thing could be prevented. But in the end, nothing was prevented. Fluttershy was shot by Sly and Rainbow Dash had given herself up.
Rainbow soon closed her mouth seething up a bottled growl that could explode at any moment. She wanted to burst out at X right now, untie Sly so that he could bite X right back for doing such a thing to Fluttershy. The only reason she was holding herself back was because, well, first, she didn’t want to stoop that low, and second, the lingering question in her mind. How did Fluttershy survive?
The look that Rainbow was giving was making Fluttershy too scared to try and stop whatever she was about to do. Whatever that was couldn’t be good. And the only comfort she had was that Rainbow appeared to be hesitating on it. She looked to X and her nerves halted.
X was jittering, but she wasn’t focused on Rainbow Dash. She was looking at the ground with eyes that looked like she had been traumatized. Thinking about that event must’ve been painful to her as well. But there was something else. It seemed like she was trying to say something, but was having a very hard time figuring out how to go about saying it. Eventually, she did.
“But…” A long pause came. “T-This was why…” Another pause, shorter this time. “This was why… we went back to that clearing.” X looked up to them with that same traumatized expression. “The second thing we prepared…”
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As Fluttershy’s body fell to the ground, X hastily opened her bag to pull something out of it. In a panic, she pulled it out and rushed to Fluttershy, unable to have time to reclose the bag. And as luck would have it, unknown to her, a green aura started emitting from the bag, as well as several other areas around the forest. It was the timberwolves’ aura. They were attempting to pull themselves back together again. Since X’s bag was open, this time they would succeed.
X hastily flew towards Fluttershy with something in hoof, completely unaware of the green aura that was emitting behind her. Fluttershy was still twitching, her eyes barely open. For some reason her body was starting to glow in a deep yellow. The source appeared to be from her Cutie Mark. Despite this glow, the rattlesnake continued to dig its fangs deeper into Fluttershy’s coat, refusing to let go.
X soon reached Fluttershy’s body. First, she smacked the rattlesnake off Fluttershy’s body using the object she had. Then, she popped open the object, revealing a needle. Finally, with a quick thrust, she jabbed the needle into Fluttershy’s back, making her black out instantly.
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Fluttershy gasped. Though it was hard to remember with how blurry everything was during those moments, it met up with everything that X was saying. The last thing she saw was X rushing towards her as Rainbow collapsed, there was a bright glow coming from her body, and the last thing she felt was something stabbing at her back. But…
“T-That needle…” Fluttershy stuttered out. X looked up to her with that regretful expression.
“The o-other thing we prepared,” X answered. “A-A-An antidote… for-r-r the rattlesnake’s venom. I had to i-inject you with it befo-ore it was too late.”
Fluttershy felt like her heart had dropped into the center of her stomach. “O-O-...Oh…” she barely managed to stutter out. “I-I see…” Her ears dropped into a really sad expression. Hearing this news was a lot more disappointing than she expected it to be.
When Fluttershy first woke up that day after being bitten by Sly, one of the things she wondered the most was how she managed to survive and recover from the venom. She thought she came to a wonderful conclusion. Both her and Rainbow’s Cutie Marks appeared to glow at the same time shortly after she got bit. Her conclusion was that their bond must’ve done something to protect them through their magic.
Now it was just a crushed fantasy. The reason she survived was simply that X used an antidote on her, an antidote that was most likely only prepared because their client requested for them not to harm anypony.
“B-But I… still don’t understand how you survived…” Fluttershy raised her head in confusion at that. X continued. “A-After I injected you with that needle, t-t-the timberwolves… I-I noticed them. It was too late.”
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X moved away from Fluttershy’s body as the green aura surrounded the clearing. All the wood that made up the timberwolves were pulling themselves back together. The ones in her bag had already been pulled out.
“N-No!... No! No!... N-N-Nooo!” X panically shouted as she watched them all float to a single spot. There was no way to stop them from reforming. She looked to the tatzlpony, then she looked to Fluttershy. Both of them had no way to defend themselves now. If she didn’t get them out of there, the timberwolves would feast on their bodies.
But how could she get both of them out? It was impossible. Her strength wouldn’t allow her to carry both of them. In fact, if it wasn’t for her wings, she wouldn’t be able to carry just one of them. As she rushed to the tatzlpony’s body, she squeezed her eyes and tried calling out again.
“(Somepony!)” she said in her mind. “(Anypony! Please answer!)” The reforming process had begun. Their legs had fully taken shape. Now their bodies were forming. “I can’t hear them! I c-can’t hear them! Where are they?! (HEEEELLLPP!!!)” But nopony would answer. Not Clang, not Strike, not even their client. She was all alone with the tatzlpony, trapped deep inside this forest with hungry predators at every turn.
The timberwolves’ bodies had been complete. All that was left was their heads. X was out of time. With all her strength in her legs and her wings, she carried the tatzlpony out of there. Nopony was gonna save Fluttershy. Her body would easily be a meal to the timberwolves.
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“But… t-they didn’t…” X looked at Fluttershy in a pleading way. “I… d-don’t understand. You w-weren’t moving at all. Why didn’t they? I-I thought you were… t-thought you wer-r-re…”
Still in disappointment, Fluttershy thought about X’s question. She had thought about that question when she woke up that day too. Again, she had the same conclusion when it came to Sly’s venom. Thinking about it again, she hesitantly gasped as another conclusion came.
“O-O-Oh…” Fluttershy said in disappointment. “I know why they left my body alone. Oh, it’s so obvious…” Her fantasies continued getting crushed further and further as logical reality kept forcing its way through her mind. X’s whimpering halted as she looked at Fluttershy curiously.
“The timberwolves…” Fluttershy started slowly. “They left my body alone… because I was poisoned.” X responded with a few blinks. “With the venom inside me… if they tried to eat me, they would be infected too. They knew this. That’s why they left me alone…”
X sighed out in awe from that. Ever since Fluttershy showed up, so much confusion had been filling her mind. It felt like such a relief to have it cleared up. But she looked back down in depression again. That was only one relief she could get.
Rainbow was looking at Fluttershy on edge with her wings flared. The thought that she was that close to losing Fluttershy forever was very painful to her mind. She was still lost as to who she was and why she felt so attached to Fluttershy. More and more memories came to her the longer she was with Fluttershy. If she ever lost Fluttershy, she felt her life would utterly collapse.
“T-The past… two days… now three…” X continued. “I had been hiding here… thinking I had just… that I left you to be eaten by them. I… I didn’t know what to do. O-Our client told us not to harm anypony. I-I thought I…” She squeezed her eyes and winced. “N-N-Now... I can’t hear them! I can’t! Why can’t I hear them?!” Her voice was grasping again. “F-First our client, then Clang, n-now Strike! I-I can’t hear a-any of them anymore! I’m all alone! All alo-o-one!”
Fluttershy grew concerned. She recalled X mentioning something that suggested that she was the leader of their group. But with the way she was acting, she certainly didn’t seem like one. This behavior was supporting her theory that X didn’t see herself as a leader, but the others did for some reason. Or at least, Clang did. Strike sounded like he had a grudge against X.
Fluttershy pondered something for a moment. It seemed one of the initial questions she had was finally answered. But just to be sure…
“The ring that Strike wears on his horn,” Fluttershy started, bringing X’s attention back. “Can you tell me a little more about that?” X didn’t seem reluctant to answer, but she remained silently curious. “You say you can’t hear them. From what Clang said, it sounded like the way you can hear them is through that ring.”
A few seconds later, X nodded. “I-It increases the focus of his horn, a-allowing him to cast more concentrated magic. The one he needs it for... is connecting our minds together. We can talk to each other through our thoughts miles apart.” X paused to breathe in and out a few times. “I-I-If I close my mind, then I won’t hear the others, and they won’t hear me. B-But that’s o-only temporary. If we keep our thoughts connected, s-somepony with enough magic c-can easily track a-all our positions through that link. W-We can remove our thoughts from the ring at a-any time to prevent that. But if we do that, we have to go back to Strike to reconnect them…”
X grasped her breaths again. “S-Something must've happened to them! I can’t hear any of them! Ahh!” She squeezed her eyes. It sounded like another moment of pain. “Our client stopped talking to us! Clang was captured. We stopped hearing from him! I got separated from Strike! Now I can’t hear him either! Where are they?! What happened to them?! Why can’t I hear them?! Hnnnnngh!”
Fluttershy had to put a hoof to her mouth in concern. It was just as she thought, but the situation seemed a lot more dire to X. While she didn’t have an answer to why Clang or their client stopped talking to them, she did know why Strike was unable to contact her.
“That ring… is gone,” Fluttershy said.
“H-H-Huh?” X responded, halting her grasping.
“After you were knocked out from Rainbow throwing you, Strike attacked her. During the fight, Rainbow did what she could to stop him from attacking. She knocked away the Zapper out of his hoof. But more importantly...” Fluttershy paused for a moment to think. “We thought that ring was the source of his powerful magic. So Rainbow… kicked that off of him, thinking it would stop him from being able to attack us. We have no idea what happened to that ring. But if what you said is true, it’s impossible for you to hear them now.“
Another sigh of awe released from X. It seemed like she was more curious than she was surprised, which was an odd reaction. Even though she had been agonizing it over the past… few days, she seemed oddly calm about learning one truth behind it. Or maybe something else was on her mind, because she suddenly responded.
“C-Can I… a-ask you something.” Fluttershy blinked curiously. Now X was the one asking the questions. “The t-tatzlpony… you c-call her ‘Rainbow Dash’. S-She… wasn’t always a tatzlpony… was she?”
Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to sigh in awe. She had mentioned that a few times before, but this was the first time any of them have ever considered that fact. “T-That’s right,” Fluttershy answered. But it left X frowning in response.
“T-Then why…” she started, causing Fluttershy to hum questioningly. “Why have you been hiding her?” Fluttershy hummed questioningly again, this time silent. “If she’s not a tatzlpony… then can’t she be changed back? If you can change her back, why haven’t you? Why have you been hiding her instead, hiding her while her toxin continues to spread. Do you… want to change her back?”
All these questions, Fluttershy had to repeat them in her mind. She wanted to answer, but as the thoughts came to her, it made her heart ache. Could Rainbow be changed back? If anypony could change Rainbow back, it would be Twilight. But for some reason, she couldn’t.
“O-Oh…” Fluttershy looked to Rainbow who looked curiously back at her. Did she even want Rainbow to change back? At first, she thought she did. But thinking back to that visit with Twilight, was something that made her think otherwise. When Twilight was casting that spell, it was very subtle, but Fluttershy was indeed hoping that the spell would not work. Why did she want Rainbow to stay a tatzlpony? Because of the way Rainbow acted, that’s why…
Fluttershy found herself sitting down, frowning. She took a glance at Rainbow, more specifically, at the collar that she was still wearing. The times she spent with Rainbow as a tatzlpony was some of the most enjoyable experience she’s ever had with her. Rainbow became not just a great friend, but a great pet as well. Those two things combined gave her very special feelings towards Rainbow that she didn’t want to give up. Maybe that was why...
Fluttershy sadly sighed and looked away. Maybe that was the real reason why she never thought to go back to Twilight again. She wanted to spend all the time she could with Rainbow as a tatzlpony. Now… she learned that tatzlponies were toxic, that keeping her like this wouldn’t just be harmful to her, but harmful to everypony else around her.
The worst part of it all, if Rainbow couldn’t be changed back, then what could they do? It’s not like they could get Rainbow to stop breathing. And Fluttershy didn’t want to keep Rainbow locked up in her home forever. All this thinking left Fluttershy in a depressed state. X was looking away in regret. Both ponies were quite depressed from their responses.
However, Rainbow was still not quite so. She was looking to X and Fluttershy, checking between them quickly with fast breaths. Her eyes focused on X, screaming out a big ‘no’ in her mind. This was all wrong. Clang did a similar thing to Fluttershy before. He would spout all this nonsense, getting Fluttershy to believe them and thinking she’s in the wrong for what she is doing.
But Rainbow knew that was far from being true. Nothing Fluttershy did was in the wrong at all. Everything she did was purely for the care of Rainbow Dash herself. There was absolutely nothing wrong about that. She would even let herself be put in danger just so Rainbow could be safe with her.
No… X was lying. Somewhere, someway, X was lying. And she knew it. She knew the proof. It was time to show Fluttershy that proof.
“Oomph!” Fluttershy suddenly felt Rainbow shove her shoulder rather harshly to get her attention. If it was this harshly, it had to be something important. She looked to Rainbow, about to ask what this was about. But Rainbow was holding a very serious expression, pointing her wing tip out to something. When she looked to its direction, she noticed that it appeared to be pointing to X’s bag. Looking back, Rainbow nodded in confirmation without turning her gaze. Whatever this was about, Rainbow was very, VERY serious about it.
Fluttershy picked herself up and started walking. It brought X’s attention back. But when she noticed where Fluttershy was going, her eyes widened immensely. Intense panic filled her mind.
“No!... No Noo!!!... NOOOOO!!!” X began struggling violently again. Both butterflies were startled and flew away from X. All of X’s struggling woke Sly from his slumber. Fluttershy was quite surprised by this reaction. She glanced back to Rainbow who only nodded again. If X was acting this way, and Rainbow kept edging her to check it out, it definitely had to be important.
Fluttershy was quite scared to find out. Her heart was beating quite aggressively. What could be in X’s bag that could cause such a reaction? She was about to find out. Upon reaching X’s bag, X looked away and winced, not daring to look back. Slowly, Fluttershy lifted her hoof to the bag, taking a deep breath before she proceeded.
This was it. What could be inside?