//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Courage Will Pull Us Through // by Cloudy Serrano //------------------------------// ~Chapter 12~         Exiting the large tree, I looked around at my surroundings. It looked just like any other part of the forest, with there being no obvious way to distinguish it from the regular parts. It would be almost impossible to find my way back here, unless...         My horn lit up, and I allowed the magic to flow through my body, and out the tip of my horn. The spell caused a brief glow to surround the tree leading to Mew’s cave, and then it ended. I grinned at my work, having successfully cast the magnetic pull spell. It was a bit of a misnomer, really, as it didn’t actually have a magnetic field to exert force, but it did place a sort of marker that the caster could find wherever they were.         Satisfied that I would be able to find my way back, I then cast the four point spell, allowing my body to be gently pulled right, until I was facing North. I released the spell then, and began the walk to the cliff, my hoofsteps crunching on the various fallen dead leaves and twigs.         As I walked, I looked all around me, taking in as much of the forest as I could. Occasionally I’d see the flash of a tail, paw, head, or other body part from a various Pokemon, and at first I was hurrying towards it to catch a better look at it’s owner; however, after the first several times I did this, each time ending the same, with me just a tiny bit more tired, and the Pokemon dashing off as fast as it could, always staying just beyond my sight, I stopped chasing them. I don’t know why, but for some reason, none of the Pokemon I glimpsed ever stayed put long enough for me to talk to them.         Occasionally, I’d recast the four point spell, making sure I was always stayed on course. I never was more than a few degrees off course, but it never hurts to make sure.         Within about thirty minutes or so, I could just barely begin to see the top of what looked like a small, tan mountain, and within another ten minutes I was at the base of it. It looked to be somewhere around two, maybe three, kilometers in height. I couldn’t gauge the length, however, as I was unable to see all the way around the mountain.         Unfortunately for me, the small path that led up the mountain was a dark red, and it was covered in small, loose rocks. And, to make matters worse, the path was looking as though it wasn’t built to create a fast way up, but instead to do as little harm to the environment as possible, weaving in and around all the various brush.         Closing my eyes, I took a moment to steady my breathing, and prepare myself for the long climb. It wouldn’t be the hardest, except it would take a bit of time to walk.         I began my rather short lived trek up the mountain, as, only about ten minutes into it I glimpsed what appeared to be a large, green condor with white wings standing upright about one hundred meters up and to the right of me, away from any sort of path. There were black and red bands around the tips of its wings, and several other areas of color on its body.         Smiling at my luck, I readied my spell, and with a pop! teleported right in front of it. When I appeared, it didn’t seem startled in the slightest. In fact, it didn’t even flinch, or make a move to look at me. Instead, all it did was say, “Hello,” in a mare’s voice, and continue to stare off into the distance.         Fidgeting my hooves, I glanced around quickly, biting my lip. Speaking softly, I managed to ask, “A-Are you Xatu?”         “Yes.” She only spoke a single word, her mouth barely moving.         I fidgeted a bit more, before diving in and asking, “Err, I was wondering if you could tell me something about my future.”         “I can.”         I waited for her to continue, before saying, “So, um, are you looking, or…”         “Why?”         It was an innocent enough question, although the context was lost to me. “What do you mean why?”         “Why do you wish to know?”         I cocked my head to the side slightly, trying to think of a reason to tell her. Deciding on something vague, yet still truthful, I said, “Because I don’t want to make the same mistakes as I was going to make.”         Almost imperceptibly, her head drooped. “Is that not what everyone’s reason is?”          Laughing nervously, I said, “Well, I kinda do need to know my future. It’s mainly because, well…” I paused here, considering my options. If this Xatu really could see the future, then that meant that they could see just about anything to do with me if they really wanted to. If I wanted to know my future, I needed to be honest, and that meant telling her the truth.         I opened my mouth, and was about to speak, when, just before I could, Xatu said, “Please, you can refrain from doing so. I can see why you would want to know your future."         “You can?”         “Yes, I can. You traveled backwards through time, in order to warn yourself not to continue following your current path. That’s enough to warrant anyone a decent look into their future.”         I blinked. She knew about me meeting my future self? “How do you know I met myself?”         “All Xatu possess the innate ability to see both into the future, and into the past. We can focus it on an individual, on an event, or on a place. It matters not how far into the future it is, or how far back it is. All we require to see exceptionally far is more of us.”         “Y-You can see into the future and the past?!” I stuttered out.         “When we look with our right eye, we see all that can be. When we look with our left eye, we see all that was.”         Mouth gaping, I realized the implications of this. If she could see all possible futures, then that meant that she potentially see the path that would get me back to Equestria the quickest.         “And, before you ask, no, I cannot simply seek out how to return you to where you came; those threads are gone.”         Confused, I asked, “Wait, what do you mean, gone?”         “All possible ways to see those threads has been blocked off, and I alone am no where near strong enough to break through the seals that cover them.”         My face fell. She couldn’t tell me how to get home. Turning, I was about to thank her for her help anyways, when she continued, “Of course, that isn’t to say that all the threads are blocked. Only most of them.”         “Of those that aren’t blocked off, there is one that I can see clearly, one that is completely unguarded whatsoever. In it, you simply become the champion, and then disappear.”         I stood there, waiting for her to keep going, but, once I realized that she wasn’t going to, I said, “That’s it? I just disappear?”         “Yes. After that, your connection to this world burns out.”         “So then that’s the only route you can see that has the possibility to take me back to Equestria?”         “Yes.”         I sighed. Of course. The only way she sees me returning to Equestria is through playing Discord’s game. “Well, thank you for the information, Xatu. I’ll be sure to use it as best I can.”         I turned back around to leave, and was again stopped by Xatu. “Before you leave, you may want to know something about your friend, the Zorua. His species possesses the keen ability to manipulate light waves, and create illusions at a whim. You may want to learn more about that.”         My eyes widened. Maybe this visit wasn’t that much of a waste after all. “He can bend light? Th-thank you, Xatu! I’ll get right on learning more about that ability!”         My horn lighting up, I teleported myself all the way to the bottom of the cliff, giddy with excitement. However, just as I disappeared, I could have sworn I saw the Xatu move for the first time,turning her head so her large, yellow eyes could pass over my body, the red irises glinting in the sunlight. <~>         Jogging basically the entire way, I made the trip in around twenty minutes, occasionally stopping to check to make sure I was still on the right path. There wasn’t really much for me to correct, however, as this time I never once purposely veered off course to examine Pokemon.         When I arrived at the Travel Tree, I walked through the entrance, and immediately launched myself downwards, landing on top of one of the bubbles traveling downwards. In the thirty seconds or so it took for the bubble to reach the bottom, I took the time to catch my breath, sweat slowly dripping down my body.         I hopped off the bubble when I reached the ground, and, checking the room to make sure there was nothing dangerous for me to teleport into, cast my teleportation spell. Popping back into existence right next to the napping Mew, I smiled and attempted to greet both him and Zorua, who was busying himself with spinning a top, but instead only succeeded in wheezing out a half-hearted, “Hey, guys."         Mew ignored me completely, electing to instead to proceed with his sleeping. Zori, however, answered with a, quiet, “Hi, Twilight. Did you find any of the Xatu?” He batted at the top once, to keep it spinning. “Oh, and there’s some water in somewhere around Mew’s empty food room, if you needed any."         “Thank you, Zori,” I gasped out, before blinking, and adding, “Wait, where’s Mew’s food room?"         Looking up momentarily from his top, he motioned his head towards a small, wooden trapdoor in the floor in the far side of the room, in between the alcove up and the door leading into the other areas of the cave. I walked over to the door, and, using my magic, pulled open the door.         Inside, there was what appeared to be a drop of about four meters, and no discernible way to light the room. Deciding that, since I didn’t exactly have any other choice, I needed to go inside, I hopped down, landing with a quiet thud! on my hooves.         My horn illuminated, I looked around the empty room, which looked to be about the same size as the one above. There were shelves up against the walls, which were bare, and, in the center of the room, there was yet another trap door, although this one was far smaller than the last.         I walked over to the next trapdoor, as it seemed the only place where there could be water, and, once I opened it with my magic, sure enough there was a small stream running along the bottom of it.         I concentrated forming my magic into a small, hollow hemisphere, and used it to scoop out water, raising it greedily up to my lips. I repeated this several times, always making sure to take water from the middle of the stream.         After drinking enough water to provide for a small country, I sighed, and began making my way over to the place where I’d dropped down from. Looking up, I cast the teleportation spell once more, reappearing next to the trap door.         Shutting the door, I turned back towards Zori, who was still busy with his top. Smiling, I said aloud, “So, Zori, I heard you can make illusions."         Not looking up from his top, he answered, “Yup, I sure can."         I waited a bit, before continuing. “Would you care to show me some of these illusions of yours?” I added a bit of a sweet tint to my voice, doing my best to try to get him to show me his illusion abilities.         In response, Zori abruptly disappeared, then reappeared several feet away. His top, however, stayed in the same spot. Eyes wide, I walked slowly over to the new Zori, who looked exactly the same as the last. The only difference was that he was attempting to spin a top that was not there, although that didn’t stop the top from continuing its spinning. Reaching out a hoof, I tried prodding at the illusion, before gasping as my hoof just phased through it. Zorua gave no visible indication of my having touched his illusion, although that was most likely due to him being invisible.         My horn lighting, I summoned an unused set of leaves, and more of the berries and quills. Preparing myself, I began to write down everything I was witnessing, from the near-perfect illusion in front of me, to the fact that Zori was able to hold it for so long.         It was going to be a long evening, but a fruitful one as well.