Ch 3 Part 2: A Cottage in the Clouds
Exulus awoke from his slumber in the dead of night. He made his way down and changed into his cat form, then headed out. He figured that the Apple family was most probably well asleep by now, meaning that there’s no particular reason to stay here. He decided to wander off.
This time he strayed from the path and followed a small stream. He knew that if he got lost, he could simply follow the stream back, so there was no danger. He more he followed it, the move animals he seemed to see and hear sleeping, like they were all gathered around a certain area.
He eventually came to a small bridge that passed over the stream as well as a path connected to the bridge. One way lead to ponyville, the other lead to a small cottage. It seemed somepony lived here. Still, it was night time, so whoever they were they were most likely asleep. Exulus looked around the area. There was a fenced-off area and a small house in it. The house was much longer than it was wide and had a ramp going up to the opening. He wondered what could be in there, so he hopped the gate and made his way to the small house. He peeked his head inside the small house and found….chickens. There were many chickens, all sitting in a nest-looking arrangement and sleeping. Exulus scoffed, “Even these mindless beasts have a home to go back to.”
This low mumble, however, was enough to awaken a few chickens, who spotted Exulus and immediately went wild with screams and clucking, which awoke the rest of the chickens who proceeded to do the same. They scrambled around the house and as soon as Exulus backed away from the opening, they rushed out. Exulus hopped the fence and simply stared at the frenzied chickens. He didn’t even do anything but these mindless feathery jerks just keep making noise.
The door to the cottage opened quickly and out came Fluttershy to see what was going on. She saw the chickens scrambling but had a hard time seeing Exulus in the dark. That is, until he turned his head to her and his yellow eyes reflected the light. Fluttershy let off an “Eeek!” and drew back. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted better to the darkness and she saw Exulus’s silhouette. She heaved a sigh of relief and approached him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was you, Kitty Cat. What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Rarity’s?” Fluttershy asked.
Exulus gave no response, no meow or otherwise.
“Did you startle the chickens?” She already guessed it was probably asked, but she didn’t want to falsely accuse him.
To this, Exulus nodded.
“Oh dear. Home on now chickens, it’s alright! Nopony’s going to hurt you! Go back to sleep!” Fluttershy announced, turning her attention to the chickens.
The chickens scrambled about a little longer until they figured they weren’t in any danger and slowly assembled back into the chicken coop.
Fluttershy now looked down at Exulus, “Well, I don’t want you to get hurt in the dark. Why don’t you come inside?”
Exulus looked up at her, then headed for the door with Fluttershy following.
Inside, Exulus took a moment to look about the humble abode, teeming with little nooks here and there where other small animals were peeking their heads from. They stayed cautious of him, but there was one particular animal that wasn’t afraid, but instead, seemed angry. Angel was sitting in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, foot stamping the floor and giving a disapproving glare first at Exulus, then at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy responded, “Now Angel, he’s a friend of Princess Luna! We can let him stay, at least for the night. Then we can give him back to Rarity.”
Angel stomped his foot and pointed to Exulus, then the door. Apparently he didn’t approve of allowing Exulus to stay for any amount of time and wanted him out immediately.
Fluttershy now seemed uncertain, “Angel, be reasonable. He’s a nice kitty and won’t cause any trouble!”
Angel gave Fluttershy and impatient glare and she, in turn, gave an apologetic glance to Exulus.
Exulus, however, had a better idea. He made his way over to Angel, erecting his neck high and straightening his back, raising his tail straight up in the air. He stood only inches from Angel, staring with a piercing and unexpressive stare in attempts to intimidate the bunny with the attitude. Angel stood strong, straightening his own back to make himself look taller, putting his paws on his hips and staring at Exulus eye-to-eye. Fluttershy could only watch in awe at this silent clash of wills.
Exulus reached over with his paw and pushed on Angel’s chest, knocking the bunny on his back and then pinning him down. Exulus moved closer, still pinning the bunny with one paw, then proceeded to slapping the bunny across the face with his other paw. Back and forth, back and forth, bap bap bap bap. It didn’t hurt of course since bother were rather fuzzy and weak animals, but it still showed who was dominating this situation.
Fluttershy stepped in, pushing Exulus off with her hoof and pulling Angel towards her. Angel was now furiously waving his paws and chattering in his bunny language. If we could understand him, we would be sure that he was most probably cursing, maybe even insulting Exulus’s mama. Of course, we can’t understand him though.
Fluttershy said, “Settle down Angel.” She looked at Exulus, “Angel and I will sleep in our room upstairs. You can sleep down here.”
Exulus sat down where he victoriously stood and meowed.
Fluttershy giggled, “Goodnight, Kitty Cat.” She heeded upstairs with a reluctant bunny in tow.
Exulus didn’t move. He didn’t know where he’d go even if he did move. He was done with wandering around; the idea seemed boring at this point. He wouldn’t be able to sleep even if he tried, so he simply sat and waited.
What am I doing with myself? Exulus thought, “ I’m wandering around like a stray cat, hopping from owner to owner. Am I really going to keep doing this until the day I die? Perhaps I should just settle down in Rarity’s home and tolerate it all. I could stay until she becomes particularly fond of me, then reveal my true form to her. Would she accept it? Would her friends accept it? What would I even do after that? I don’t have any particular “skills” that I can contribute. Then again, I suppose if everypony knew me and at least tolerated me, I could just wander through town and feed off the love that way, but then what would I do with my time? Perhaps I should see about impersonating one of her guards? No, no, standing around and keeping watch seems like an even WORSE idea. Why must love be such an annoying essence to gather? Hate or fear would be much easier. Maybe I’ll just explore some more of the ponies in this village. Yes, I’ll observe more of them tomorrow and make my decision at the end of the day.
Exulus spent the rest of the night pacing about the living room planning out how he might observe the most ponies in a short window of time. He planned and he waited until the sun rose and Fluttershy came downstairs.
“Good morning everyone!” She said happily as all of the small rodents and birds popped out of their holes for breakfast. She saw Exulus, sitting in the same place as he was last night, staring back at her. She shrugged and got to her morning feeding duties until there came a knock on the door. “I wonder who that could be.” She muttered.
When she opened the door, Rainbow Dash was there to greet her with a grin on her face, “Mornin’ Fluttershy! You busy?”
“Uhm, a little bit. It’s breakfast time and I-“ Fluttershy started.
“No, not right now, I mean later! Are you busy later today?”
“Oh. Well, yes, I do have plans for today. Why do you ask?”
“Me and Twilight were gonna take the train to Canterlot. They’re selling the newest Daring Do book before it goes on sale anywhere else, and the author is there to sign them! I’m inviting everyone to come along!”
“That does sound like fun, but I was going to go shopping today to get some medicine for Mr. Ferret. He’s been very sick and I’m worried about him.”
“Yeah, yeah, alright. Hey, what’s he doing here?” Rainbow Dash said as she directed her hoof and her attention to Exulus, who had crept up to Fluttershy’s side.
“I’m not sure. I just found him last night when he woke the chickens up.”
Rainbow leaned down to look at him, “What, was Rarity gonna dress you up in something ridiculous or something?”
Exulus nodded feverishly.
“Hah! I’d run away too if she tried anything like that to me!”
Fluttershy turned to Exulus, “Maybe he’d like to go with you. What do you think, Kitty Cat?”
Exulus looked at Fluttershy, then at Rainbow Dash, then back to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow Dash again. He stood up and moved towards Rainbow Dash, then hopped up on her back.
“I guess that settles it then!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Have fun, and be careful.” Fluttershy said, waving her hoof.
“Of course! See ya Fluttershy!” With that, Rainbow Dash blasted off into the sky. Exulus desperately wrapped his paws around Rainbow Dash’s neck and clung for dear life.
Rainbow Dash had already visited Applejack to ask her about coming along, who also responded as being busy. Twilight was tasked with asking Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Rainbow eventually landed in front of Twilight’s house and knocked to see if Twilight was done and had returned yet. Spike answered the door.
“What’s up, Dash?” Spike asked.
“Just checking if Twilight is back yet.” She responded.
“I saw her pass by when she left Sugarcube Corner a while ago. She might be at Rarity’s right now, or she might be heading back.”
“Was Pinkie Pie with her?”
“I don’t think I saw Pinkie with her. I guess she must be busy today.”
“Arrgh! Everypony’s busy today! I bet you’re even busy today, aren’t you?”
“Nah, I just don’t wanna go stand in line to get a book. We’ve got plenty of books here already!”
“But what if Rarity is coming along?”
“Then my answer is to be reserved for if or when that happens!”
“Pfft. Come oooon! It’ll be fun!”
“Sorry Rainbow Dash, I’m far too busy today! I simply cannot accompany you. By the way…what’s with the cat?”
Rainbow dash looked over on her back, Exulus was still sitting on her back, fixing his fur since the high speeds had messed it all up. “Oh yeah,” She started, “I forgot I had him. I picked him up at Fluttershy’s. I guess he ran away from Rarity’s accessory rampage.”
“That cat doesn’t know how lucky he is,” pouted Spike.
“Yeah, he’s lucky he escaped!” Rainbow Dash laughed.
Suddenly a call came from a little ways away. Everypony turned to see it was Twilight, lightly prancing her way over to Spike and Rainbow Dash. She approached them and said, “Hey there Rainbow Dash, any luck?”
“Nah,” Rainbow replied, “Everyone’s busy. How about you?”
“Same,” Twilight replied, “By the way, why is Kitty Cat with you?”
“I found him at Fluttershy’s place, he wanted to tag along.”
“I bet he wants to see the princesses again. At least someone’s willing to tag along! Now let’s get going, the train leaves in twenty minutes!”
The two ponies and cat made off to the train station and over to Canterlot. Exulus looked out the window and watched the world rush by. This was even more different than the chariot. No wind, the whole ground was rumbling, and the sound of the train’s engine. It was all very new to him.
In Canterlot, Twilight and Rainbow Dash made their way to the bookstore right away, however there was already a long line.
“Aw man! We’re gonna be waiting here forever!” Rainbow Dash complained.
“No worries,” Twilight said confidently, using magic to open her bag, “I brought reading material!” She pulled out two books she brought along, a couple Daring Do books for the two of them to read while waiting in line.
Exulus, not willing to wait in line, scurried off towards the palace. Although it didn’t occur to him at first, he actually did want to go see the princesses. He ran into an alleyway and changed into a crow. He flew over the wall and around the palace, looking for any open windows. It seems they weren’t so careless today as there were no open windows. However, amongst all of the white blotches painting the palace grounds, one had a rainbow-colored mane with it. Exulus could tell this was Princess Celestia, who was taking some time to tour her gardens.
Exulus swooped down into a nearby tree, changed into a cat, then hopped down, immediately scurrying over to Celestia and letting off a “meow.”
Celestia looked, then turned herself to Exulus with an expression of surprise and pleasure, “Well if it isn’t Mr. Cat. What brings you back here?”
“Meow.” Exulus responded. At this point, he could probably guess who would interpret the meows to mean something.
“You came to see us? That’s kind of you. Unfortunately my sister is asleep right now. Will you be staying for the night?”
“Meow.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. Are you here with somepony then?”
“Meow.”
“Twilight and her friend are here? I see. I’m glad you’ve made friends with them as well!”
“Meow.”
“Then, shall you be spending your time with me until then?”
“Meow.”
“Yes, you’re probably right. Shall we wait for them?”
“Meow.”
Princess Celestia and Exulus headed back into the castle where they spent the next few hours. Twilight and Rainbow Dash eventually would come to the castle to visit the Princess. To their surprise, they would find both her and Exulus.
“I figured Kitty Cat would come back to you, Princess!” Twilight said happily as she and Rainbow Dash approached.
“Yes, he wanted to come say hello to my sister and I while he waited for you and Rainbow Dash.” Princess Celestia replied with a smile.
“Waited for us?”
“Yes. He wants to go back to Ponyville with you, but he didn’t want to wait in line.”
“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said, “How did you know we were in line?”
“Mr. Cat told me, of course.” Celestia chuckled, realizing how silly it sounds.
“He TOLD you? Since when did you speak cat?”
“I don’t speak cat, but I can guess what he’s trying to say.” She smiled fondly at Exulus, who simply twitched his ears.
“Well, the train is leaving soon, we should probably get going.” Twilight stated.
“Oh please Twilight, why don’t you and your friend stay for supper, then take the chariot back to Ponyville?”
“Can we really!?” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. She could easily fly herself back, but this was a rare chance to ride in Celestia’s very own personal chariot. Rainbow Dash had always wondered what it would be like.
“Yes, of course you can! Now please, make yourselves comfortable until supper time.” Celestia assured.
That afternoon, Celestia, Twilight, Rainbow, and even Exulus all sat at the dining table and ate and shared stories and enjoyed each other’s’ company. Once supper was done, Celestia saw them off as they were whisked away in her chariot. Rainbow was excitedly looking over the edge, as if it was something new to be flying through the sky. She also tried to make the chariot-pullers go faster, just to see how fast they could go. They didn’t.
In the evening, Rainbow Dash and Exulus spent the night at Twilight’s home. Twilight and Rainbow stayed up for most of the night; they were reading the signed Daring Do books that they had bought and went to sleep much later. Exulus tried to sleep, but he had told himself last night that he was to make a decision.
Visiting Princess Celestia and spending this time with these ponies didn’t make the decision any easier. It was so difficult that he couldn’t decide at all. This indecisiveness was an issue itself. Normally he had no problems with making any decision, no matter what it was. Now he wasn’t sure. All this peace and love, he felt, maybe, he was turning soft? Even if he was, is it a bad thing?
Was there a need for him to be tough anymore? What could possibly go wrong in such a nice, peaceful town?
Exulus shut his eyes as his mind wandered off to sleep.