//------------------------------// // Episode 3: Cottage Full Of Critters // Story: Dragon Ball TX // by MidnightTwister //------------------------------// Ponyville Saga Episode 3: Cottage Full Of Critters *Tweet, tweet, tweet* Cloud’s eyes fluttered open and he saw a brightly colored room lit up by the sun shining through the nearby window. The room was kind of small, but not uncomfortably so. In one corner of the room, by an open window with magenta curtains, was a small oak vanity and a simple little brush. In another end of the room was a bird cage with three small birds of different colors inside. Cloud raised his upper body to enter a sitting position and found he was lying down on a soft bed with white sheets and a blue blanket. Nearby was a nightstand with an open window above it, and on the nightstand was a plate with a sandwich and a cup of water next to it. “Where am I?” Cloud asked, rubbing away the last remaining bits of sleep he had in his eyes and blinking several times afterwards. Before no one in particular could answer him however, his stomach growled loudly, and he grabbed at his stomach in discomfort. “Okay! I’m listening!” Cloud said. Cloud looked at the sandwich and water and immediately grabbed them. In a few Saiyan sized bites he finished the sandwich, and in a few Saiyan sized gulps he finished the water. However, they were not nearly enough for him as his stomach growled again. ‘Guess I’ll have a look around…’ Cloud thought to himself. He hopped off the bed and his feet were met with the feeling of a soft and warm carpet. He looked around and found his white boots by the vanity. Cloud grabbed them, slipped them on, and made his way towards the door. Only, there was no door in the room. Actually, it was just an opening with a staircase leading down. Cloud walked down and was shocked at the sight before him. There was a whole bunch of animals in the room, ranging from the sizeable grizzly bear, to the small mouse. And I mean there was a bunch. Like… A LOT. But Cloud’s hunger was ever greater. His Saiyan appetite added by the number of animals before him, and the sum of that further multiplied by his hunger, equaled drooling. The animals took notice and Cloud immediately leapt for a nearby sheep. The sheep quickly evaded, causing Cloud to crash into a wall. “OW!” Cloud exclaimed. As he got up, a portrait fell on his head. Cloud rubbed his head and quickly turned around to charge for the bear. The bear too dodged, causing Cloud to crash through the window. “OH, IT’S ON NOW!” Cloud exclaimed, jumping through the window to get inside. By now, all of the animals began freaking out, running all over the place, trashing the house. Though Cloud caused most of the damage to be honest. ~ On The Way To Fluttershy’s Cottage ~ “Thanks for coming with me to find out what this critter is, Twilight.” Fluttershy thanked as she trotted beside the lavender unicorn. Both mares had saddlebags on them, each filled with a number of books regarding animals. “No problem, Fluttershy!” Twilight said. “I’m personally excited to help. Who knows, it might even be a never before seen species!” Twilight said, excited to document such a discovery. “Right now, I’ve been able to narrow down what it could be.” Fluttershy said. “I believe it could be some sort of ape. And I took a look at its teeth to find two pairs of canines, so it may be omnivorous.” “Very interesting!” Twilight said, taking out a quill and notebook to write all this down. “Anything else?” “It may be a colt, and maybe only a child.” Fluttershy said. “Oh! And it was wearing clothes, too!” “Clothes?” Twilight asked. “Potentially… intelligent…” Twilight noted down. The two mares came to the bridge to Fluttershy’s cottage, and then finally the door. But from there, they heard something strange like thudding and crashing. They opened the door to find Fluttershy’s cottage a complete and utter wreck. All the animals were gathered around an exhausted and tied up Cloud, catching their own breaths after the intense chase. “What the hay happened here?!” Twilight demanded as Fluttershy hurried to her critter friends. “I… *pant*… was… *pant*… SUPER hungry!” Cloud said exhaustedly. He attempted to wiggle out of the ropes, but to no avail. Twilight and Fluttershy both approached him. Twilight’s horn suddenly glowed in a magenta aura, and the ropes did as well. The rope suddenly began to untie itself, shocking Cloud. “Whoa! How did you do that?!” Cloud asked eagerly as he got to his feet. “I just used magic.” Twilight responded. “That aside, what happened here?” Twilight asked, wanting to know exactly what happened and why. “It’s like I said, I was hungry.” Cloud said. “So I chased the animals. I figured I could at least eat a few of them, but they’re… A LOT tougher than I expected.” Cloud said, scratching the back of his head, slightly embarrassed as the animals gave him the evil eye. “Y-you can’t EAT them!” Fluttershy scolded Cloud. The Saiyan backed away a little in fear. “These critters are my friends!” “O-oh, um, I’m sorry.” Cloud apologized. “I didn’t know they were you’re friends.” Cloud continued. Fluttershy took a second to calm down. “Since you apologized, it’s okay.” Fluttershy said. “Here, let me make you something to eat!” Fluttershy said. At that, Cloud’s stomach growled loudly and he began to drool. The next thing he knew, a napkin enveloped in a magenta aura appeared to wipe off his face, snapping him out of La-La Land. “Unless you have something better to do, I suggest we start cleaning the cottage you wrecked.” Twilight said. ~ After A Few Minutes of Cleaning ~ Cloud and Twilight sat opposite of each other on a small wooden kitchen table. Fluttershy was nearby, cooking some food for all three of them, and her critter friends. Twilight used her magic to levitate a notebook and quill nearby, she had an ink well sitting in front of her, and she had on a pair of glasses. “Okay, so what’s your name? How old are you? Where do you come from?” Twilight asked, starting with the easiest questions. “My name’s Cloud, and I’m… uh…” Cloud started. He brought his hands up to his face and began counting aloud. “I think I’m… 12. And I came from the forest.” Cloud said. “Wait, so you’ve been living in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked, jotting down everything Cloud said. “How long have you been there?” “I dunno.” Cloud said with a shrug. “I’ve been there since I was little.” Cloud answered. “Hmmm…” Twilight said, jotting more notes down. “Do you have a family? Any parents? What about brothers or sisters? What were their names?” “I had a mom and dad.” Cloud began. “But I don’t know where they’re at. I think they left me…” Cloud continued, scratching his temple. “Do you miss them?” Twilight asked. “Are you mad or sad that they’re gone?” “I dunno. Not really, I guess.” Cloud answered in an unsure tone. “But I did have a second mom!” “Really?” Twilight asked. “Yeah! Actually, I was adopted by those wood wolves when I was little!” Cloud said, recalling the pack he was taken into. “But something happened and they left. Now I live by myself. But I’m happy to meet new people after such a long time!” “So you were adopted by timberwolves? That’s strange, they’re typically vicious animals.” Twilight noted. “Last question: What do you like to do for fun?” “That’s easy!” Cloud chirped. “I like swimming, I like running, I like playing… OH! And I REALLY like fighting! I do it all the time! I train back at home with these SUPER heavy weights and I sometimes fight manticores!” “Wait, what?!” Twilight and Fluttershy asked at the same time. “Y-you fight manticores for fun? That’s dangerous!” Twilight said. “No it’s not, I do it all the time!” Cloud cheered. “I’m super strong and fast! Wanna see?” Cloud asked. He didn’t wait for answer. Instead, Cloud got off the chair and went outside. Twilight and Fluttershy followed after him. The two mares saw Cloud standing in front of a large tree just outside the cottage. Cloud grabbed it and began pulling it up. “Grrrrr!” Cloud grunted as is face took on a red tint from the strain. Before the mares could even think about stopping him, Cloud summoned all of his strength, bulking his muscles up. “RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!” Cloud screamed. In a matter of seconds, Cloud ripped the tree out of the ground, roots and all. He held it proudly above his head. “Tada!” Cloud cheered, looking at the girls. Twilight and Fluttershy stood in shock and awe at the sight. Before them, a young 12 year old boy barely taller than them held a tree above his head like it was a toy. “I told ya I was strong!” Cloud said in his normal happy tone. He put the tree down next to his feet and walked to the mares. Then a question popped into his head. “By the way, how did I get here? Last I remember, I was in the Evertea Forest.” Cloud asked. But the mares just stared at the tree. “Heeey! Helloooooo! Are ya asleep?” Cloud asked. He then knocked on Twilight’s noggin. She blinked three times at this and shook her head. “U-uh, w-wha?” Twilight asked. “I asked ya how I got here, but ya didn’t answer, so I said ‘Heeey! Helloooooo! Are ya asleep?’, then I knocked on yer noggin, you blinked a few times, shook yer head and asked-” Cloud blabbered only to be shushed by Twilight. “Y-yeah. You see…” Twilight began. ~ Three Hours Ago ~ The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Heroes charged ever so bravely into the field of battle. Vicious monsters were everywhere but they pressed onward. For there was a helpless being in need of help, and somepony had to answer the call! They leapt, the charged, they somersaulted over and through the monsters and to the child in distress. Swiftly they picked him up and ran! And thus… The day was saved! The monsters were never seen of or heard from again, the boy had a happy ending, and most importantly of all, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had their Cutie Marks, the items they had sought since day one! Everypony lived happily ever after… And their legend went down in history… The end… Let me guess. Not what you were expecting, eh? Well, good, ‘cause that didn’t really happen… “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!” All three fillies screamed at the top of their lungs, startling and confusing the timberwolves. They ran over to the unconscious Cloud, picked him up and ran back where they came from. The alpha timberwolf barked at the three other timberwolves, and they all chased after the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “WHOSE BRILLIANT IDEA WAS IT TO JUST CHARGE IN?!” Scootaloo demanded as a timberwolf neared her. It opened its jaws to bite her but missed and wound up with a buck to the face, slowing it down. “Tah be fair, we didn’t come up with a plan!” Apple Bloom answered. A timberwolf attempted to bite her but missed as well. “SOMEPONY HELP US!!!” Sweetie Belle screamed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders continued to run, but began to slow down due to exhaustion. Apple Bloom was carrying Cloud, so she was slowing down at a quicker rate than Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The alpha timberwolf took this opportunity to speed up. It opened its toothy maw in preparation to bite down on the filly. But then… *CRACK!* The fillies came to a grinding stop and turned around to see that a tree had fallen and shattered all of the timberwolves. And beside the tree, they saw- “APPLEJACK!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders cheered, running up to the orange mare. “Thank goodness Ah found ya’ll, an’ just in the nick of time, too!” Applejack said in her usual country accent, looking back at the smashed remains of the timberwolves. “Jus’ what in the hay are ya’ll even doin’ in the Everfree Forest?! Ya’ll had me worried sick!” “Sorry, sis, we jus’ thought we’d get our Cutie Marks in explorin’ the forest…” Apple Bloom said sadly. “Well, we didn’t exactly get our Cutie Marks like we wanted.” Scootaloo said, embarrassed. “But we did find this!” Sweetie Belle said, pointing with her hoof at the unconscious Saiyan. “What in tarnation is that? Some kinda monkey?” Applejack asked. “We dunno, but he was about to be eaten by those timberwolves! We had to help him!” Sweetie Belle said. “*Sigh* Well, let’s get out of here. We’ll take ‘im to Fluttershy’s. She might know what he is.” Applejack said. “But ya’ll are in BIG trouble!” ~ Present Time ~ “After Applejack brought you here, she and the Crusaders left. The rest you know.” Twilight finished. She and Cloud had sat down at a table outside the cottage while Fluttershy went back inside to finish cooking. “Wait, I know those girls!” Cloud said. “I met them on my way back home! I found them in the bushes and they ran away from me. I guess I scared them by accident…” “Food’s done!” Fluttershy said from inside the cottage. The Pegasus set out on the window sill a plate with fish, meat, and a few vegetables accompanied by a glass of water, and another plate with a hay and lettuce sandwich with a cup of green tea. “Thanks, uh, what’s your name again?” Cloud asked, walking up to the window to retrieve the plate and drink with Twilight. “My name’s Fluttershy.” Fluttershy answered happily. Cloud hurried back to the table with the plate to dig in. Basic Saiyan nature took control and he began eating the fish and meet like an animal. In a matter of seconds, 10 to be precise, Cloud finished both the food and glass of water. Twilight and Fluttershy could only stare in awe. Cloud took the plate and glass back to the window sill. “Can I have some more?” “S-sure! No problem!” Fluttershy said happily. “How much do you want?” Poor mares. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into by asking such a question. At last, Cloud’s left the Everfree Forest to find himself in Ponyville, the town home to many ponies! And his adventure isn’t going to stop there! Don’t miss the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball TX!