//------------------------------// // Chapter 45: Return // Story: What is a Tatzlpony? // by Skylight77 //------------------------------// Seconds passed by as both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stared at the now wilted garden. All Fluttershy could feel was regret and worry that they might’ve just lost their only chance to figure out how the Alpine Flowers grow. But Rainbow Dash was feeling very different. Although they promised X that they wouldn’t have anything happen to this garden, she didn’t feel much regret at all. All she felt was suspicion. And for some reason, all that suspicion was being driven towards X. She wasn’t entirely sure why yet, but she knew what they needed to do. “Fluttershy,” Rainbow started. “First thing we’re gonna do is go back to X.” Fluttershy looked at her sadly. “I know…” she said. “We have to break the news to her about what happened to the garden.” Rainbow shook her head. "Not for that. I've got a few things I wanna ask her myself." She looked down at the tatzlwurm in a glaring way as she said that. Fluttershy noticed this. The way Rainbow was expressing herself made Fluttershy worry. "T-That you want to ask?” “Yeah,” Rainbow answered. “It’s like you said. This tatzlwurm didn’t suffer from a natural cause. Somepony did this to him.” Fluttershy gasp. “Are you saying X had something to do with this?” “No,” Rainbow answered with a shake of her head. “But she might’ve known something about it and didn’t tell us. I’m gonna find out what that is.” The way that Rainbow was talking astonished Fluttershy. It made her really believe that Rainbow really did have her memory back. Fluttershy couldn’t decide whether she was truly happy about that or not. After all, she loved seeing Rainbow act like an animal. With her memory back, that little behavior was probably gone now. But... Rainbow was still wearing that collar. She didn’t even give mention or notice at all about her wearing it. If she was no longer like an animal, why did she give no notice to it? Did it have something to do with her still being a tatzlpony? “Fluttershy!” Rainbow’s yell made Fluttershy gasp as she was snapped out of her train of thought. “We don’t have time to waste! Let’s start heading back to X now!” “Okay!” Fluttershy hastily responded. “X… um… let’s see.” She suddenly gasped. “X! We left her back at the clearing with Sly and the butterflies.” Her ears dropped. “Oh but that was so far away. It took us hours of walking to reach this garden after we left. By the time we make it back, the sun will set.” Rainbow nodded. “Which is why we’re gonna need a little transportation.” She tilted her head towards the head of the tatzlwurm, getting her point across as to what she was suggesting. Fluttershy grew nervous after understanding what Rainbow wanted. “Normally this would be no problem. But until my feathers grow back, we’re stuck to just walking unless we have a little help. Whaddya say? After all, this was your idea in the first place.” Seeing Rainbow finish with a grin made Fluttershy giggle nervously. “I-I suppose you’re right.” “Good!” Rainbow responded. She took one look towards the sun, then a quick look at her surroundings. After a short moment, she pointed at one direction that was about seventy degrees to the left of where the tatzlwurm was facing. “That way. Think you can handle that?” Fluttershy didn’t respond. Instead, she looked towards the head of the tatzlwurm, slowly approaching it to talk to him again. It’s not like she was afraid of this thing. Okay, that wasn’t true. Her shaky body told her otherwise, but she didn’t want to admit it. Just like Rainbow Dash was with flying, Fluttershy had a pride of being able to handle all types of animals. She didn’t like admitting that there was an animal she couldn’t tame. And she was sure she tamed this one. But at the same time, she was still quite jumpy from the fact that they were nearly reduced to being lunch for this tatzlwurm. One step at a time, she approached its head, being careful to apply the same massage pressure in her hooves. “E-Excuse me, mr. tatzlwurm,” she started. The tatzlwurm slowly turned its head to her. Fluttershy took a deep breath. “If you’re willing to help us more, I know just what you can do.” Fluttershy flapped her wings. Although she fell back down when she tried jumping into the air. Quickly, she jumped again and flapped harder, still not used to how many feathers her wings had lost. She blushed in embarrassment because she knew Rainbow must’ve witnessed that embarrassing display. In fact, she was probably shaking her head in disappointment right now. But in reality, Rainbow wasn’t doing that at all. Seeing that display made Rainbow look at her own wings, grateful that Fluttershy got off lucky compared to her. Even if flying was her life, she wouldn’t wish this on Fluttershy as opposed to herself. Rainbow watched as Fluttershy started speaking something to the tatzlwurm. Whatever it was, it seemed short. The tatzlwurm turned his head back forwards. Then Fluttershy landed at the top of his head and started speaking again. “Okay, let’s see what you can do. To the left!” Fluttershy tugged on the tatzlwurm’s scales on the left side of his head. The moment she did that, the tatzlwurm’s head flung upwards while its body turned. “Whaaa!” Both Rainbow and Fluttershy yelped as their bodies fell to the tatzlwurm’s scales due to the momentum. The tatzlwurm faced ninety degrees to the left before it darted forwards. “Aaahhh!” They screamed again. Rainbow’s body nearly took off as the momentum forced her onto her hind hooves. She was able to stop herself using her tail while her front hooves flailed about. Using her tail, she pushed her body back forwards so that her front hooves could grab back onto the tatzlwurm’s scales. “Fluttershy! We’re going the wrong way!” Rainbow shouted. Fluttershy was currently holding onto the scales with her front hooves while her hind hooves were flailing in the air. From that angle, it looked like she was practically hanging for her life. Rainbow launched two of her tongues towards Fluttershy’s hind legs, wrapping around them and forcing them to stay attached to the tatzlwurm. Thanks to the help, Fluttershy was able crawl her way back to the top of the tatzlwurm’s head and heave it to slow down. She sighed in relief after that. “Okay, *pant* let’s go a little to the right.” Fluttershy tugged the scales to the right this time and the tatzlwurm complied. They were going about sixty degrees now. One more tug to the left allowed her to get to seventy degrees. “That’s good, Fluttershy!” Rainbow said after returning her tongues back. Fluttershy soon came down to join Rainbow Dash, but breathing rather heavily. “I *pant*, hope we didn’t get too off track,” Fluttershy said. “Yeah. But we’re making good pace.” Rainbow took a look down towards the ground. “This is faster than even I can run on hoof. Ride’s a little rough, but at least there’s no dirt being kicked in our faces.” Fluttershy released two pants before she responded. “I can tell it to slow down a little more if you want.” “Nah.” Rainbow jumped towards the head and looked off into the distance. “The sooner we get to X, the better.” Fluttershy wasn’t gonna deny that. She was finding it difficult to get her breath back. And she was worried that she knew why. This would be the second day that she’s been around Rainbow after eating her first Alpine Flower. On the third day, she would suffer that terrible illness again. It was currently the night of the second day. Fluttershy put a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath. Hopefully they’ll get to X soon. ___ The clearing was silent. Night time had fallen. Peace. A perfect setting for a calm and peaceful slumber. This is where four such creatures were having their peaceful sleep. Even if one of them was put to sleep against their will. It had been just them four for about thirty-six hours now. X was still tied with her back against a tree, sleeping without any fears to drive her awake. What had her tied was a snake named Sly, who willingly allowed himself to be tied around X as a favor to Fluttershy. The two butterflies who were watching over them were snuggled inside X’s mane, providing her whatever she needed. She still had the Alpine Flower in her mouth that Fluttershy left. And her bandaged hoof had healed considerably after the encounter. It was still delicate, but the pain was no longer present on its own. And now it was time for them to be presented with a shocking wake up call. A tremor stirred up. Sly’s eye peeled open. The tremors were growing. Blinking, Sly lifted his head up quickly from the ground. Both butterflies in X’s mane peaked outside. X, who was currently released from her sleep spell, hummed questioningly as she too opened her eyes. The tremors only grew louder and shook harder. All four of them suddenly gasped in surprise, X still keeping the flower stem in her mouth. They all knew that something was coming towards them, and it was something big. “What’s coming?! Whe-ere’s it coming from?!” X panicked as the butterflies flew up to the edge of the clearing, very afraid to find out. The tremors got so loud that before it reached them, the butterflies flew away from it in fear, going straight towards X. A massive crash, followed by a screeching roar presented itself. The roaring blew the butterflies straight towards the ground near X while the clearing walls were torn to shreds as a giant creature emerged. “AAAHHH!!!” X shut her eyes, turned her head away, and screamed. Sly was flailing around in a panic, trying his best to untie himself and get away from X and that monster. In their panic, the butterflies tried and stumbled their way to the back of X where they would untie Sly and free X from this danger. But before they could, a familiar voice spoke out. “Whoa, big boy! Whoa!” It was Rainbow Dash. She kept hold of the tatzlwurm with her tail as Fluttershy was pulling back on his scales to halt his advance. “Phew…” Fluttershy panted. “Okay little guy. We need to do a little talking, so rest here for now.” Rainbow hopped off the tatzlwurm, ignoring the fact that Fluttershy just called this thing ‘little’. Their presence made the butterflies stop themselves from trying to untie X. But due to the tatzlwurm’s presence, they were too scared to stick around. As Rainbow landed, the butterflies left the clearing in the opposite direction from the tatzlwurm. “Alright X, we need-” *Pomph!* As Rainbow tried to speak, she heard something crash on the floor pretty hard. When she took a look behind her, she saw that it was Fluttershy. She was on the ground, trying to pick herself up, and struggling. “Uh… You okay, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy panted heavily as she picked herself up. “I-I’m okay, *pant*. I… I just dropped a little too hard.” A few more pants followed after she spoke. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at that. It sounded a little odd, but she decided to chalk that up on Fluttershy’s missing feathers again. “X, we need to talk,” Rainbow said as she turned to face her. But X wasn’t looking at her. She was staring at the massive beast behind them, hyperventilating at the sight of it. The tatzlwurm had laid himself down into a docile state, showing no signs that it would be aggravated into attacking again. Yet, X was looking at him like she was seeing something she couldn't believe. No yelling was coming from her. Just stunned silence with very deep gasps, somehow keeping the flower in her mouth while her mouth stayed open so wide. “X,” Rainbow called. But there was no response. “X!” she tried again, raising her voice. “What…” X started. “W-What… Where did… Nnngh…” Her voice could barely come out from looking at it. Rainbow turned only her eyes to it for a brief moment before responding. “We found it at the garden that you told us about. It tried to eat us.” She stepped closer to bring her face very close to X’s. As she glared, X’s head pulled back while shivering. “It did, eat us.” Rainbow’s tone was so cold. X could barely even let out her whimpers, until Rainbow pulled her head back. It left X nearly out of breath, panting and moaning. Her eyes slowly turned towards the tatzlwurm just as Fluttershy was able to join them. “What… W-What happened to the garde-en?” X asked. Talking with the flower in her mouth seemed to cause no issue. “Gone,” Rainbow stated bluntly. It caused X to flinch as her ears dropped. “We didn’t do anything though,” Fluttershy interjected. “By the time we got there, the garden was already wilted.” A light gasp came from X as she turned her attention to Fluttershy. “Before we knew it, we were attacked,” Rainbow continued as she pointed. “That tatzlwurm took whatever was left of it. None of it survived.” Strong exhales escaped X’s breaths. Her eyes turned to Rainbow, then to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow. “No… N-N-No… T-That can’t be right. T-They were wilted?!” Rainbow just blinked at that while Fluttershy responded. “Yes,” she said. “But… t-t-that can’t be right. The garden…” X looked to the left as her body jerked. “I-If the garden was…” She looked to the right, full of panic. “The flowers! The Alpines! T-Then that means-” A sudden gasp escaped X. And then a yelp as she suddenly tried struggling to break free of Sly’s grip again. Meanwhile, Sly was busy trying to hide his face from that terrifying tatzlwurm, despite the fact that it was just sleeping. With the butterflies fleeing the clearing, nothing was gonna be setting him free anymore. Nothing but either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash anyway. Watching this struggle caused Fluttershy to put a hoof to her mouth in concern. As much as she wanted to release Sly, they couldn’t release X just yet. And Rainbow was just raising her eyes, wondering what X was babbling about. “Do you know something?” Rainbow demanded. X excessively panted as she stopped struggling. “Our… O-Our client…” A painful sounding moan came from X. “We have to go to her! Go to her now! P-Please!” Fluttershy blinked, moving a little closer to X. What she said, did she really mean to let that out all of a sudden? Rainbow certainly noticed. “‘She’ huh?” Rainbow said. Up until now, X and her gang had been keeping the gender of their client vague. Now she just let it out like it wasn’t an issue anymore. “Without those flowers… s-s-she’s the only one who can put a stop to this!” Rainbow snorted and lifted her head back. “If going to your client is so important to ya, why don’t you tell us where she is?” she responded more in demand than asking. “I… c-c-can’t do tha-at!” X replied while squeezing her eyes. “And why not!” Rainbow yelled with a stomp of a hoof. “M-M-My cli-ient's order-r-rs!” X stammered. “She said you ha-a-ad to be restrained!” A loud growl started from Rainbow Dash. “Restrained so that you... *Gasp*!” X ducked and shut her eyes tightly as she found Rainbow’s hind legs suddenly kicking straight for her head. Fluttershy also winced. Rainbow's hooves smashed harshly against the tree, causing dirt to violently thrust in the air. A visible crack was left against the trunk. Any harder and Rainbow might’ve just smashed right through it. The distance between her hooves and X’s head was just mere inches. But Rainbow intentionally missed. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR EXCUSES!” The sound of Rainbow’s yelling boomed in Fluttershy’s ears. She could only keep one eye open while she covered her ears with her hooves. “It’s always this and that for you isn’t it?! You’re always saying that I have to go with you or something bad will happen, but all I see is you trying to capture me by force! Are you sure your client’s not trying to do something else?!” X was just keeping her eyes closed, cowering in fear like she was always doing. She wasn’t giving an answer, and it didn’t look like she was gonna give one. Rainbow snorted. To think that she actually believed what they were saying at one point. But when that thought crossed her mind, another thought suddenly popped up. After taking a deep breath without closing her eyes or opening her mouth, she continued her questions at a different angle. “Why do you even trust your client?” When Rainbow asked that question, X’s shivering suddenly stopped. Her eyes flung open, and she slowly looked directly towards Rainbow Dash. No answer came still, so Rainbow continued. “More importantly, why do you even trust your team? Huh?!” A wince came from X. Fluttershy’s wasn’t sure what to make of this topic yet, but she was carefully listening. “The way I see it, they don’t seem to care about you at all. If you really are their leader, they sure aren’t treating ya like one.” X just continued shivering. She wasn’t responding at all. If she was going to deny how she was being treated, there didn’t seem to be any signs of that. Fluttershy however was on the same page as Rainbow. Thinking back to X’s stories, both Clang and Strike really didn’t treat her like their leader, despite Clang claiming that she was indeed their leader. Still no signs of a response. Rainbow decided to continue. “If you really are their leader, then how come they wouldn’t hesitate to throw you at the wolves?!” The only response this got from X was wincing and looking away with her teeth clenched. Fluttershy however was confused. “Rainbow, you really think they would do that?” Fluttershy asked as she stepped forward. “I don’t think,” Rainbow responded. “I saw it.” A questioning hum escaped Fluttershy. “You weren’t there for that because it was after I left when you got sick because of me.” She turned back to X and glared. “When you and Strike were being chased by timberwolves, they had you cornered. And then your so called partner thought it was a good idea to throw you at them, because then he could save his own tail while they were distracted by you!” After hearing that, Fluttershy placed both hooves over her mouth and gasped loudly. "That really happened?!" she asked. Rainbow nodded. Fluttershy was about to look off in horror, but then something else crossed her mind. “But wait... If that happened when you said you did, how do you still remember that?” Rainbow blinked in an unamused fashion. “Fluttershy… my memories may have been lost at the time, but I still remember everything that went on, and everything we’ve been through since then.” Fluttershy stumbled back and gulped. “E… E-Everything?” she asked very hesitantly. Her stomach felt like it just evaporated into thin air. The look on Rainbow’s face was the only confirmation she needed. “E-Even…” A certain memory just came up. It was an image of herself quickly and happily rubbing Rainbow’s belly while Rainbow was kicking, panting happily, and just letting it happen without a care at all. “Who’s a good tatzlpony? You are Dashie! Yes you are!” The words she used echoed in her mind. Another image came. It was when they were at Fluttershy's house, and she was tossing food in the air for Rainbow Dash to catch and eat. Then there was an image with Scootaloo, an image of their first encounter in the forest, many moments of how she treated Rainbow. Her face ended up turning red as she shivered. Thinking about all those activities that they did together, she really remembered all of that? “Can we talk about this later?!” Rainbow shouted, snapping Fluttershy out of those embarrassing thoughts. She turned back to X. “As I was saying, Strike couldn’t do anything about those timberwolves, so he decided to throw you at them so he could make his escape. But he didn’t get that chance because that was when I caught up and saved you both. Right?!” X’s shivering came with heavy breathing through her nose and clenched teeth. Her eyes weren’t turning away though. It seemed like she wasn’t gonna deny Rainbow’s claim. In fact, she finally responded. “H-He…” No more came after that for quite a while. Rainbow was starting to think she wasn’t gonna say anymore. But then she did. “He’s always… done that.” A strange silence filled the air. Rainbow wasn’t sure how to follow up with that, not sure if she should feel angry, or be feeling something else right now. “It wasn’t the first time he did something like that. A-And I know… it wasn’t gonna be the last…” Now Rainbow knew how she should be feeling. Angry. But who exactly was she angry at? And Fluttershy, who was still embarrassed by those previous thoughts, was now more concerned about X's answer. She stepped in to ask. “But why? If you know he’s trying to get rid of you, why do you allow him to? Why won’t you say anything to him about it?” Was it really that simple? Was X just allowing them to use her like a puppet? “M-My… client…” X answered. “E-Everything I do… is for the-em…” Rainbow snorted harshly. “You mean your client told you to let yourself get bullied by your partners and let yourself get left behind just so you can succeed in your mission?!” X gasped. “No-o-o!” It was quite a fast response. “No! She knows nothi-ing about what they do to me!” As much as Rainbow wanted to deny that, she decided to let it go so long as X continued to talk. It seemed like it was getting more and more difficult to get responses out of her. “All she wanted was for us to capture you… s-s-so that nopony could fall to your toxin. Restrained… bu-ut alive. A-A-And nopony else must be hurt if po-ossible. That was all she wa-anted from us.” “And the bullying?” Rainbow decided to interrupt. “The forced sacrifice?!” X hesitated to respond. “T-They…” A long pause followed. She turned her head down. “Didn’t want to do this mission…” Fluttershy gasped, and Rainbow’s tension suddenly dropped considerably. Of all the responses she was expecting to hear, that certainly wasn’t one of them. For Fluttershy, it pretty much confirmed her thought that X and the Client did communicate on a more personal level. So… she just had to ask. “But… if they didn’t want to do this mission, why did they?” Once again, no answer came. X just turned her head away with her fearful frown. For some reason, she just refused to give a clear answer as to whether she really was their group’s leader or not. Rainbow snorted. “Why did you want to do this mission then?” she asked. X turned forward. But before she could answer, Rainbow continued. “I know it’s because you think you’re doing good by making sure nopony else gets affected by my toxin.” Rainbow started shoving her face very close to X, who was cowering in fear again. “And you believe your Client is the only one who can stop it from spreading. But how do you know what she's saying is true?! What if she’s just lying to you and plans to do something else?!” The more loud Rainbow’s voice got, the more desperate X’s breathing became. It turned into hyperventilation just before she started shaking her head. “N-No… No s-she isn-n’t…” “TELL ME THE TRUTH!!!” Rainbow yelled directly in her face. Such a sight made Fluttershy wince. “Do you really think she has nothing else planned?!” More desperate breaths came from X. If she wasn’t always shaking, it would seem like Rainbow backed her into a corner she couldn’t escape from. But no. All that was gonna happen was just her being silent again and refusing to talk. Rainbow couldn’t have that happen. Not this time. She took a glance behind her. What she said next made Fluttershy’s heart drop to in a bottomless pit. “Fluttershy, look away.” ___ Meanwhile, somewhere miles away from the clearing in the Everfree Forest, a lone twittermite glowed its zapping lights in the darkness, flying whichever way the path led it. Twittermites usually never travel alone, but this one somehow found itself doing so. But before it could get far, something snatched it. Suddenly, it was trapped. The twittermite tried to zap its way free. But it proved futile in this glass. Something was breathing harshly behind it. It sounded angry. Turning its light to the one that captured it, all it saw was the face of something disheveled and beyond angry. There was something it was holding, which shined a far brighter light that the twittermite was shining. But that was because, the object it was holding had many, many other twittermites held captive. Whatever it was, this twittermite was joining that cage as well, a cage formed by this angry, angry beast.