What is a Tatzlpony?

by Skylight77

Chapter 50: Choice

Rainbow stood there staring at her gut like she was a statue. The way to save Fluttershy was right in front of her face. But at what cost? How long had X been exposed to her toxin? As much as she just wanted to ask X, that wasn’t an option. They weren’t on speaking terms right now. And in her current condition, she was too injured to stop X if she tried to escape after being released.

The only option Rainbow Dash had was taking the flower while X was still asleep inside. But then, how long would X last? Probably longer than Fluttershy. She had to think. Assuming the toxin would have the same effect on X, how long had X been around her?

Rainbow was in the process of reaching down her throat with one of her tongues, but hesitated as she thought. Day Six was the first day they even encountered X. But it wasn’t until Day Seven when she had long exposures to the toxin. In fact, unlike Fluttershy, X had spent days Seven and Eight with her the whole time. That was already two days. Unless X ate an Alpine Flower in between those days…

Rainbow’s tongue froze once it made contact with the flower in X’s mouth. “No… I, c-can’t take it…” She wanted to take it, but every fiber in her stomach was telling her not to. “X could be just as infected as Fluttershy is right now. But if I don’t take it, then…”

Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes and shook her head. “Ahh!” she grunted when a sharp pain returned to her forehead due to the bump that was still bandaged. “Why should I care about X? She’s the reason we are in this mess in the first place! If she didn’t accept that job-” Her head shook again, softer this time. “What am I saying?! She didn’t want this! She only wanted to bring us back unharmed. It was Strike who-”

“R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy’s pained voice could be heard from the distance. “Rainbow… What’s h-happening?” It sounded like she was hearing the dilemma Rainbow was going through. And she sounded very worried. But Rainbow was too caught up in her anxiety to notice.

“Gah! Come on Rainbow! Fluttershy needs this!” Rainbow tried reaching for it again. “But we need X! Without her, we’ll never figure out who the Client is!” She turned her head. “This isn’t about needing her! We took her flowers and she needs one to survive!” Her head turned again. “But Fluttershy needs it right now! What do I do?! Gah!”

Rainbow smacked her hooves to her head, making her scream in pain and squeeze her eyes harshly. “Don’t make me choose like this! Please! There has to be another way!”

Fluttershy could hear Rainbow’s continuous cries of pain and agony. The more she listened, the more it pained her. And the pain was not something she could handle right now. Every beat her heart was making felt like something was punching it. Her face felt as if the fires in the forest were still going. She tried saying something, anything that would make Rainbow stop hurting herself. But she could only make out painful moans.

Those moans fell deaf to Rainbow’s ears over her own pain and agony. She calmed her breathing, praying that there was a way out of this decision she had to make. Sweat dripped along her face as her head throbbed. The Client’s words continued to torment her mind, taunting her that she would make the decision she would regret.

”Some ponies would gladly see others in pain.”

“No…” Rainbow said softly. But the words kept coming.

”Some ponies would gladly sacrifice others just to save themselves. Are you one of them?”

Rainbow slowly removed her hooves from the bandages and stood herself up, opening her eyes to the distant skies. Her vision was a little blurry, but she could see something rising off in the distance. It was a light, the brightest light in all of Equestria. In that moment, the pain on her head went away. She felt calm.

“Celestia…” she said out loud. Fluttershy could hear her clearly that time. It made her gasp despite the pain. And she managed to ask.

“Cel-estia…? S-She’s here?”

Rainbow heard Fluttershy, but she didn’t respond right away. The light that Rainbow saw was the morning sun rising. A light that repelled the darkness shrouding this forest. Thanks to this light, she saw the one thing that would answer her prayers. When it all processed, she finally responded to Fluttershy.

“Yeah… You could say that.” Rainbow started walking towards said item. The item was located underneath a rock formation that appeared to be carved out, outside of the sections that were burned in the fire. Lots of thorns were covering the entrance to the carved out rock. Behind the thorns, there was an opened bag. It didn’t look like their bag, but the item next to it was all she cared about.

Fluttershy was focusing on breathing carefully to endure the pain she was feeling. She wanted so much to ask what Rainbow meant. Fortunately, she didn’t have to. Rainbow walked up to her and held something out to her. Slowly, she opened her eyes. And at that moment, she could see why Rainbow said that. The morning light allowed her to see exactly what Rainbow was holding out to her.

It was the flower vase, with both Alpines still stored inside. The sun’s light must’ve been what allowed her to find it. Tears of happiness welled up in Fluttershy’s good eye as she smiled, extremely grateful that Rainbow stayed. She no longer cared about the pain she was feeling. When Rainbow motioned the vase forwards, Fluttershy gladly took one of them in her mouth, immediately eating it. This torment could’ve been avoided had she eaten one before this attack occurred. But at least they could breathe now.

After some chewing, Fluttershy swallowed and released a pleasant sigh. Rainbow sighed in relief as well. She returned the flower vase back into the bag. Nothing else mattered now. Fluttershy could now find the comfort to rest. It was gonna be odd sleeping right after the morning sun rose. But after what they just went through, it was the best thing they could do right now.

Rainbow decided to lay right next to Fluttershy, also against the tatzlwurm. As she lied down, she no longer needed to compress X’s weight inside her stomach. So her stomach re-expanded herself, giving X more space inside. It was more comfortable this way for both of them.

Rainbow took one last look at the rising sun. It was hard to believe that after everything they went through, Equestria was still at peace. But it was thanks to that peace that they were able to get the help they needed. Glancing to Fluttershy, she extended a wing out and scooped it underneath Fluttershy’s head. Due to all her lost feathers, her wing probably wouldn’t provide as much comfort as it could, but it was better than nothing. With that, she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Fluttershy felt the wing and noticed Rainbow lying right next to her. At first, she felt flushed, but then took notice of the large bulge in Rainbow’s stomach. She wasn’t able to make out exactly why Rainbow was in so much agony earlier. But she did understand that it had to have something to do with herself and X. Whatever it was, she knew that Rainbow must’ve solved it herself.

Now if only she could solve the worries she keeps having with other ponies being inside Rainbow’s stomach. With all the issues they’ve been running into, she could only imagine just how outcasted the tatzlponies must’ve been treated if they were around earlier. The fear of being swallowed whole was bad enough. But the toxin that they spread would continue to keep them outcasted unless they found a way to grow the Alpines. To think that trying to ration them out as long as she could would lead to this much trouble. She really thought at the time that rationing them out was the best thing to do. Now... she just wasn't sure anymore.

Fluttershy moved closer to Rainbow Dash. It didn’t matter whether Rainbow was a tatzlpony or not. She didn’t like to make Rainbow feel outcasted just because of her toxin, or even because of her ability to swallow ponies whole. So she did what she had to do to help her get used to that fear.

Fluttershy laid her head against Rainbow’s stomach, listening in to the squirming and slish-sloshy sounds of X’s movements inside. It made her whimper silently. But soon after she moved, Rainbow’s wing re-adjusted itself and wrapped around her. The wing felt so warm around her and comforted her nerves. She could also feel the pain in her heart easing up, though that was probably because of the Alpine. With her ears against Rainbow’s stomach, she tried falling asleep. Holding one hoof to her eye wasn’t very comfortable, but she had to keep it there so that her leaf bandage wouldn’t fall off.

“Please sister. Don’t.” X’s muffled muttering could be heard inside Rainbow’s stomach. Fluttershy listened in as she tried to fall asleep. “I’m not worth it. I’m too scared, sister.” The words were desperate. "It's not too late. Go back, please."

“Don’t… save… me…”

Author's Note:

Sorry to those who were probably expecting a certain something else to happen in this chapter. Next chapter, I'm really hoping to start bringing out some answers to the many questions that this story has been bringing up. I'll try and get it out soon, but no promises.

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Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

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

Comments

[Detsella Morningdew]

Great as usual.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Another intriguing chapter. As always, your dramatic flair is impeccable. I'm hoping that the answers we receive in the next chapter are as good.

Who is X's "sister"?

Who is their boss?

Why are they after Rainbow?

And what's Twilight's role in all of this?

To trust or not to trust...