What is a Tatzlpony?

by Skylight77

Chapter 18: Energy

The sun’s rays shined brightly across the clearing in the Everfree Forest. It would normally be a shine that would greet them first thing in the morning. Being underground, the sun took a little longer for its rays to shine upon them. With the long day they had, and the deep slumber they succumbed to, it took about noon before the sun managed to wake them.

However, Fluttershy moaned and had to put a hoof over her face when the sun came. That medicine really knocked her out. She was still sleepy, but knew she had to get up. The nuzzling against her face was a definite sign. Opening her eyes, her vision blurred before seeing Rainbow’s smiling face staring at her. All she could do was smile back as her vision focused on those beautiful magenta eyes.

“Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” she said as Rainbow helped her get up. Her head felt like it was swimming in water when she stood. After climbing up from the hole they slept in, she had to brace her head to keep her world from spinning while Rainbow filled the hole. Perhaps the medicine worked too strongly for her. At least her headache was gone, but she still felt a bit loopy. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash helped bring the bag to her so that she could grab what she needed.

But instead, Fluttershy set aside her needs for the moment and grabbed another box. This box looked similar to the box that defied physics and held a party sized amount of food inside. It was orange and had red handles instead. Opening it was like opening a lunch box. Inside it held a few apple fritters, apple sandwiches, sliced apples, apple cakes, just all around everything apples, including apple juice pouches.

“This was from Applejack,” Fluttershy said as she motioned the lunch box towards Rainbow. “It may not be as big as the party gift that came from Pinkie Pie, but I hope it’s enough to help you with that hunger problem.” Rainbow didn’t immediately dig in like she would love to. She was more worried about Fluttershy’s condition and how she was feeling. When Rainbow looked away from the box, Fluttershy tilted her head.

“You don’t want any?” she asked. Rainbow responded by pushing the box with her muzzle towards Fluttershy. She then looked at Fluttershy with a worried expression, making Fluttershy’s ears drop. “O-Okay. If you say so…” Fluttershy reached for the first serving as Rainbow wanted. It wasn’t something she was happy about knowing how hard it was for Rainbow to suppress that hunger, but she couldn’t argue. After all, it was just Rainbow looking after her, just like how she was looking after Rainbow.

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When they finished eating their share, Fluttershy picked up a large canteen of water and took a lot of large gulps from it. The refreshing cold taste really helped to rehydrate her, making her sigh loudly with glee. She was still a bit dizzy, but the water certainly helped.

Rainbow searched the bag for her leash and offered it to Fluttershy. It made Fluttershy giggle. “Oh Rainbow…” she said as she took it in hoof. It was time for them to head out, and Fluttershy knew where they should go next. The only question was…

“Rainbow. Do you… remember where this all started from?” Rainbow tilted her head, confused by the question. “You went here… in the Everfree Forest… to deliver a letter somewhere. Do you remember where that was? Maybe we can find something there.” This time, Rainbow’s ears raised, understanding what Fluttershy meant. She did remember and nodded her head to answer Fluttershy’s question, making her smile. “Okay!”

Rainbow allowed Fluttershy to mount her once again, letting the leash provide balance. After getting comfortable, they headed out with Rainbow making sure the ride wasn’t too rough.

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During the trip, Fluttershy decided to take one more medicine pill as her breath felt a bit heavy from all the traveling. Her headache may have been gone, but she was really hoping she wasn’t catching something else. In case she was, she was taking this medicine to make it go away before it became a problem. At least Rainbow was here to help.

Suddenly, Rainbow stopped walking. Fluttershy was about to ask why, until she heard something slithering around. She softly gasped and looked to where Rainbow was looking. What she saw made her hold her breath, as well as Rainbow Dash.

There were vines that were ever so slightly moving back and forth from the path. They led to a monstrous snap trap that appeared to be sleeping. Three vines splayed down on the path, two closer towards each other than the other.

Rainbow would try and find a safer way to traverse, but if she strayed from the path too much, she would lose her way. And with the branches and leaves this close to the ground, flying was not an option, else waking it would be inevitable. Before she decided, she looked to Fluttershy. Gulping, Fluttershy tightened her grip on the leash. Her feathers shuddered on her sides as she nodded.

With careful steps, Rainbow proceeded to walk through the path. Fluttershy ducked her head and kept her face close to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow could feel the nervousness of Fluttershy’s breath breathing down her neck. it encouraged her to be careful. She stepped over the first vine with her right hoof, and Fluttershy’s breath stuttered. Her left hoof stepped closer to the next vine while her right hind hoof stepped close to the first.

The next two vines were closer together while they were still moving. Twisting her tongues, Rainbow carefully wedged her right hoof to step between the vines without touching them. Fluttershy was staring carefully at the motion of Rainbow’s hooves, nearly yelping with the ever so slight sounds of Rainbow’s hooves crunching on leaves and twigs. There were gargles coming from the plant. It would've made Fluttershy freeze from the spot, and in fact did. But since Rainbow was the one walking, they didn’t stop moving.

With her left hoof passing above both vines, her right hoof exited while her left hind hoof entered. She didn’t look to the monster and only paid attention to her own steps. To Fluttershy, it felt like each step took hours to do.

When Rainbow’s last hind hoof passed the vines, a huge wave of relief chilled across Fluttershy’s beating heart. They were able to move further away from the plant without waking it up. Fluttershy was panting and sweating. She found herself being drained and out of breath despite Rainbow being the one walking. This experience served as a grim reminder of just how fast danger could approach if they strayed off the path. Rainbow was relieved that she was capable of keeping Fluttershy safe.

Fluttershy looked behind her towards the plant. She didn’t look away until it came out of view. Only then was she able to relax herself as the trip continued. Now that it was safe, she thought it would be a good time to talk again.

“Rainbow?” she started, making Rainbow’s ears raise. “Can you tell me more about this hunger you feel?” There was a delay before Rainbow turned her head towards Fluttershy curiously. She didn’t say anything though. The look she gave made it look like she didn’t know what to say.

“Well…” Now Fluttershy had to look away, trying to get an idea of what Rainbow should talk about. “Does it feel like you… need it? Or… do you need it like you need food?” There was another pause before Rainbow looked away. Her face was staring at the ground as she took her steps. Seeing Rainbow’s expression, Fluttershy was about to apologize for bringing it up. But Rainbow answered.

“I… I don’t know… but it helped me find you.” Fluttershy had to look over to the side of Rainbow’s face.

“What do you mean?” she asked. Rainbow’s walking seemed to slow down.

“I was alone,” Rainbow continued. “I felt empty. No taste. Lost.” There was a pause, and then she turned her head. “When I saw you, I could feel something. Remember something. It felt awesome. And… delicious…”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at that remark. “W-What?” She almost repeated it, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Rainbow continued though.

“You being in me made me comfortable, and took away that empty feeling. I felt so full of energy, and then... sleepy. You… and Scootaloo…” Rainbow seemed to trail off from what looked like delight thinking all that.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to think. It sounded like Rainbow could sense the nature of a pony’s compassion through her taste, but a taste that linked with that strange hunger. It sound like it was much like a smell.

Rainbow suddenly started frowning. “Scootaloo… when she was in me… it was the most comfortable sleep I ever had.” Her head dropped lower as well as her ears. “But… what I did to her… what I did…”

Fluttershy's breath got heavy again and her heart raced. The idea of Rainbow sleeping better with somepony inside her boggled her mind. It made her wonder what a tatzlpony would do if they went too long without that sort of comfort. She thought back to how guilty Rainbow looked that day.

“Rainbow, I forgive you for what you did to Scootaloo,” Fluttershy said. “And I’m sure she forgives you too. You couldn’t control yourself when you took her to the Everfree Forest. But you did-”

“That’s not what I mean,” Rainbow interrupted. “When I had her with me… I…”

“Hmm?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure if she wanted to be curious about this. “What did you do?”

Even Rainbow wasn’t exactly sure. All she knew was, when they felt cornered, Rainbow did something to Scootaloo that felt like it was stealing her energy, and using it herself. The end result was that it made them both really sleepy. It made her moan sadly just thinking about it. What could a tatzlpony potentially do with that?

Fluttershy was about to ask again until she caught something in the corner of her eye. Looking deeper in the forest, she noticed something lurking around. Fortunately, it was moving in the opposite direction they were heading, but it still made her nervous that they were getting close to dangerous territory. As long as they stayed on the path, they would be mostly safe.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy concluded as she patted Rainbow’s mane. “You don’t have to tell me right away. If you want-” She got interrupted when Rainbow suddenly stopped walking and sprung her head up high. The sudden movement made her heart drop. “W-What is it?” Rainbow was looking at something in front of her. Nervously, Fluttershy tilted herself off the side to see what it was. Her worries relieved a bit.

Up ahead was a small clearing where the center of it held a patch of flowers. Rainbow moved to the clearing so they could have a closer look. These flowers… Fluttershy had never seen them before, but it looked like Rainbow was very curious towards them. It was like she had seen them before. The flowers were purple with a light yellow floral disc. A thought came to Fluttershy’s mind.

”A few weeks ago, a special type of flower was discovered in the Everfree Forest. A very dangerous creature appeared soon after this flower was discovered.”

This must’ve been the flower, which meant they must be in the right place. But it was odd. There was a path in those flowers that subtly stood out, like somepony dragged their hooves through them. In the center of the clearing was a hole that was clearing up. It looked like the size had been able to fit a sign or something.

Rainbow looked off to a different direction. Fluttershy followed her line of sight, but she couldn’t see anything that stood out. It seemed like Rainbow could recognize the area. She started walking towards that direction.

As they were going, Fluttershy had to take another look at those flowers. For some reason looking at them made her adrenaline pump wildly through her body. She couldn’t understand why. As she looked away from them, her body shivered, her hind legs pressed against Rainbow’s sides, and her forehooves tightened their grip on Rainbow’s leash. It was like those flowers symbolized a bad omen. Her heart was beating roughly at this, and her breath forced itself out like it was slightly suffocating.

And yet… Rainbow had no response to this.

Author's Note:

Had to end this chapter sooner than I originally planned. Oh well. Next chapter will provide more backstory.

Thank you to everyone who comments. They keep me encouraged to continue writing this.

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Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Comments

[prism heart]

love this story... keep it up friend

[Morphy]

So we learn a new tidbit of Tazlpony trivia; like changelings, Tazlponies drain energy from ponies, but instead of the emotion of love, it's... a more general purpose "energy"? Stamina? Constitution? ...Life force?

[Skylight77]

8130252 It also makes both parties very sleepy afterwards.

Something that I wanted to explore was a lore as to why they both, 'swallow ponies', and, 'have the ability to swallow ponies'. The only lore I remember from the original makings of a Tatzlpony is that it has to do with affection. I do wish to hear other possible reasons for why, or explore it. There doesn't have to be another reason in my eyes, but it would be interesting nonetheless.

I just hope that if something is wrong with the direction I'm taking, people will explain why. Still gonna be a bit before the story explains it all. But I don't wanna miss anything.

[Morphy]

8131885

Considering they're as unknown as changelings, you can make up any kind of lore you want for your world, heh. Shoot, they could do it just because they like to? Maybe it's some instinct to carry young like a kangaroo? Maybe Tazls were a sleeping bag in a previous life? (Ok, that last one is silly but you get the idea)

[Skylight77]

8132142 Heh. At this point, I'm turning them into pets that let other ponies ride them, while swallowing other ponies as their, 'carrot' juice. Wow, why did I bring up Zelda?

Anyway, are they really as unknown as Changelings right now?

[Morphy]

8132278

There's really no canon as far as I know, just shared lore.