//------------------------------// // new greeting and new meetings part 2 // Story: The Hidden Element of Courage // by posponer //------------------------------// "Hey Fluttershy where do I put these fish?" "Oh. Under the bridge there just give them to Mr. and Mrs. –" Ash cut her off by saying "roger." while Fluttershy was feeding the birds. "Thank you again Ash, for helping me even after you helped me with what happened yesterday." She told him but Ash noticed something else. "Hey it's no problem at all… anything for a friend, but I must say, the feather really do looks nice on you." He smiled as he complimented her. "Thank you." She hung her head down feeling a blush coming to her face. Ash took a while to look around and saw a lot of wildlife and wondered something "Hey Fluttershy lots of animals make sounds different from one another right?" She nodded "Well I know what most animal sounds make but… what does a fox say?" He asked her and she laughed at this she was going to answer but she heard Angel Bunny coughing and went his side Ash followed suit thinking 'I guess I'll never know'. "Angel Bunny, are you okay?" The bunny continued to cough as she asked more questions Ash however was still looking around when he saw a trail of eerie black smoke and called out to her. "Fluttershy, look up." He said and she did what was told and said "Oh my. We need to get some help." Ash nodded and told her "You go get some help I'll see what I can do about it" She nodded and they both went on their separate ways. *Scene Break* "Zecora! Are you here?" Ash slammed the door open calling out the zebra's name. "What in the world are you doing?! Slamming the door and yelling." She was somewhat a little disheveled which Ash remembered that this was mostly the time when she takes a nap. "Oh. You were napping. Right… sorry but there's a problem!" "Yes. Yes. You've said that already, now tell me what could this problem be?" she yawned showing her drowsiness. "Something is causing smoke in the mountains nearby, if any signs of danger approaches, I advice you caution and safety." "Sadly this is no problem I can be of help to, but for your straight and humble warnings, I thank you." "It's nothing. Sorry for disturbing you and thanks." He smiled at her and even at her drowsiness she smiled back Ash was going back to Ponyville but stopped at the door and said "Have a nice sleep" and left. *Scene Break* Ash was walking along the riverbank towards Ponyville when he spotted some pony he knew it was Fluttershy trying and failing at grabbing every ponies' attention he decided to cheer her up as he went to her and yelled out "Every pony Listen up!" as he got all the attention he wanted and Rainbow Dash's annoyance too. "What's the big deal Ash? Now I have to start all over again." Ash just rolled his eyes and told her "Me and Fluttershy have urgent news. Tell them." "Oh. Umm, Well there's this big clo—" She was cut off when Twilight yelled out and told the situation herself "It's not coming from a fire." Sigh of relieves were heard until she told them "It's coming from a dragon" and panic then soon took over again as gasps of fright was heard including from Fluttershy herself. "We need to further discuss this for the sake of the safety of Ponyville." the others nodded in agreement as their group of friends then decided to go to the library to talk about the current events. [/hr] "You see girls the dragon is sleeping." Twilight said earning an 'I don't seem to understand' faces from the ones listening so she continued "According to Princess Celestia he's taking a nap. His snoring is what's causing all this smoke" she explained. 'Of course. Dragons are able to breath fire and thus smoke is also another possibility.' Ash thought but was interrupted from this thought when he heard Pinkie Pie say... "He should really see a doctor, That doesn't sound healthy at all!" Ash just laughed at her silliness. Sometimes… well most of the times that pony was just too random and it always did make Ash wonder, be amazed and laugh. The talk continued at what the ponies were meant to do when Rainbow Dash told them they were meant to fight the dragon but was quickly told by Twilight that they were supposed to 'Talk' to him to sleep somewhere else. The decision was decided getting ayes and a neigh… but no one noticed the neigh sayer and went on Ash however followed suit and once they were at the cottage Ash spoke up. "Tell me." "Eep." She yelped in surprise not knowing she was being followed "Ash, thank goodness it's only you" She sighed in relief but Ash repeated "Tell me." In a gentler voice this time. "Eh? W-what do you mean Ash?" she hesitated and Ash picked this up and told her. "I told you before Fluttershy. You can trust me, now please tell me." "But… okay." She hung her head down and gave up knowing he wouldn't stand down "You see Ash I'm scared of dragons..." She whispered at the last part. "Come again?" "I said I'm afraid of dragons..." She whispered once more only this time a little louder. "I seem to have misheard that." "I'M SCARED OF DRAGONS!" she finally yelled out what she wanted to say. "what? But you went head to head with that Manticore from before! Also how about Spike? He's a dragon and you're not scared of him." But she rebutted all of what the Ash said and told her reasons Ash simply nodded and said... "I understand. I'll help you. I'm your friend after all" He smiled at her making Fluttershy's nervousness and anxiety somehow disappear she then noticed he was calling out to her in front of her door "Come on Fluttershy, we still need to get you ready right?" she nodded and so it went. Every pony was getting ready. Rainbow Dash smothered her face with the rainbow water from her home, Gilda was nowhere to be seen it seemed she went somewhere but this just saves more time. Rainbow Dash doesn't want her friend to be put in danger once more because of her and as she got ready so did the others. Applejack brought supplies like food and other necessities with her helped by her family, Rarity being the fashionista that she is decided to choose flair over bland and Pinkie? Well she was being herself… what did you expect? She brought a party hat, shades and balloons with her and last but not the least Fluttershy. "Aren't you too careful?" Ash asked since she was wearing a sport mask and sport vest but she shook her head and said to him "You can never be too careful Ash, Especially when it's a dragon." Once again pointing out her fear of the scaly fire breathing lizards. Ash smiled to her and said... "Don't worry if anything happens I'll protect you and everyone else" he decided not to let the cast in his leg get in his way in protecting his friends but he was starting to get use at moving with the casted leg and walked normally as if his leg wasn't even broken in the first place... They were then standing in a straight row as they were being briefed about this 'mission' by Twilight herself of course there were silliness about these and those and this and that but Ash was more focused on his friend beside him, in his vision he saw her uncertainty and fear he decided to put his hoof in it and told her "Remember my words Fluttershy," and looked back at the mountain. The road towards it was rough to say the least since Fluttershy's paranoia and fear started getting to her time after time after time earning glares from Rainbow Dash herself sure there were fun times like when... Rarity was talking about the jewels in a dragon's nest and how Ash and Pinkie decided to speak in a growling like voice and said things about caves and stuff which made the others laugh but was then reprimanded by Twilight. Ash never liked it when his joked was cut in half and told her "Sheesh. Relax Twilight I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm here after all." He stood up tall showing his 'might' to the others making some of them roll their eyes and Rainbow Dash even told him... "Tell that to your front leg oh dear Prince." She then stuck her tongue out at him earning a glare from Ash. "Pfft. Yeah and like a little rainbow will scare the dragon away." he rolled his eyes and shrugged earning him a glare from Rainbow Dash as she said "Oh yeah?" Ash Countered "Yeah." And this went on for quite a while as they were bantering back and forth the others had to admit that the prince acting like a little colt was funny but it was starting to get annoying since it continued until Twilight once again reprimanded the two saying "Would you two stop it?! Seriously acting like little foals… We still have quite a ways to go just so you two know." And they went on their way… well at least tried to… Fluttershy or at least her body refused to listen to her and wouldn't budge and would faint every time the dragon snores Ash face hoofed and took the map from Twilight earning a glare. "I'm going to need this. If she won't climb then she'll have to get there some other way." The others wanted to argue but found this as the most probable solution and went on their way. As they were now walking to their destination Ash spoke up once more "Fluttershy I know you're scared. I am too. I mean seriously that's a dragon we're going to be up against. But you need to have a little courage to stand up for yourself. And if you don't have that courage then worry not." He stopped and stood in front of her and faced her and continued "Because I will be your courage and protect you." "D-do you promise?" she was hesitating. "I swear on my honor as a prince." She knew Ash hated the strict life of royalty and had never used his standing for anything more than a joke but he used it this time and he was serious. Dead serious which made her feel more at ease and she nodded and said... "Okay. I'll believe you. I'm sorry. I'll try not to be too much of a burden." He nodded and smiled and continued on their path and soon they saw their fellow ponies waiting bored as they were Ash looked at the site and noticed tic-tac-toe scattered around the ground and heard... "Woo hoo! I win again!" A voice yelled out. "Ugh. That's thirty five games in a row… best of seventy one?" And another voice asked... "Really Rarity? You lost thirty five times in a row?" Ash spoke up earning a glare from the embarrassed pony "Why don't you fight her then? You'll see how easily you'll lose" She retaliated and went somewhere else. They went on and soon saw a cliff the others easily jumped over it and Ash and Fluttershy was the only ponies left that hasn't jumped yet. "You can do it Fluttershy I believe in you." He whispered at her ear before jumping to the other side mistakenly stepping hardly on his cast making him yell out in pain and talk to his leg saying "Why do you hurt so much?!" the others sighed and giggled at his silly antics and Rainbow Dash decided to anger him by saying "Hah! That's what you get for trying to act cool." Ash didn't say anything since he was in pain and she was sort of right in what she said but they were still in a hurry since Fluttershy won't jump to the other side… or at least they thought she wouldn't but when they looked back she was already on their side of the cliff tending to the pained pony. "Why didn't you just fly here?" Ash only rolled his eyes as he said "Same to you." And they both laughed. The others wondered 'When did they get so close?' but decided to ignore it. Problems also arose here and there. Add to the fact that every time the dragon snores Fluttershy would always do something that would endanger the group like let's say when the time leaves landed on her flank and she yelled 'Avalanche' out of sheer fright earning scared and surprised looks at her when they tried to silence her. Sure yelling Avalanche wasn't bad… but yelling in an avalanche zone was luckily nothing note-worthy happened and all six who stopped Fluttershy from yelling sighed in relief… and the avalanche happened. "Are you kidding me?! A yell didn't do anything and sighs of relief did?" Ash yelled out and dodged rock after rock after rock "Rainbow Dash get every pony away from the avalanche as fast as you can" they were maneuvering away from the falling rocks but he noticed a big rock heading straight to his Magic teacher and he yelled out "Twilight out of the way!" He sonic boomed towards her location and knocked her away but he hurt his legs once more in the process once they were out of danger Ash yelled as loud as he could and followed up. "Doc will surely hate me when he sees this." His now healing leg was bruised all over again and he noticed the looks he was getting and he didn't like it one bit so he decided to tell them "We have a dragon to persuade we have to go now… I'm okay I promise… look!" He pranced around like a little colt on a picnic and endured the pain he was feeling so to make the others believe and thankfully they did believe him "Well… we've got quite a predicament now don't we?" Ash told them as they saw the blockage in their way "I could blow it away with my aura?" he suggested but was told no as Twilight said "You've done enough Ash. Also if you destroyed something here something else might give in… the only way is to go over it." Grunts of displeasure was heard from the others and Rainbow Dash was starting to get more annoyed at Fluttershy. As they were beginning to climb down Ash noticed Fluttershy slipped and dodged to the side… or at least he tried as his leg was in too much pain for sudden movements and was then pushed down straight to the bottom and was under Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack. 'The Pain!' Ash swallowed the words that almost came out of his mouth and said "Girls… if you would kindly remove yourselves from me… I can't move." While it's true that he can't move. It's also true that he feels so much pain in a certain leg. "My apologies Ash." Rarity told him as she tried to get up but Rainbow told her "Not your fault." As she glared at Fluttershy. At least even with all the troubles and hardships they were finally at the cave of the dragon Twilight then decided to usher out commands. "Rainbow Dash, you'll use your wings to clear the smoke." And Rainbow Dash went to fly up to the smoke. "Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you'll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there." They nodded in agreement as Pinkie held a rubber chicken and flailed it around making the others wonder what she was trying to do exactly. "Applejack, you're ready with the apples in case he decides to attack." Applejack displayed her technique with the apples "Ash… you get some rest." Ash nodded and thanked her from the deepest of his heart "But it shouldn't come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up, and between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is every pony ready?" this was the time when Fluttershy decided to come clean and admit her fear of the dragon saying how it was a 'huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown up dragon' They all tried to get her up as Applejack told her that all of them were scared of the dragon as Rainbow said "I'm not" earning a glare from the others. They tried to get her up excluding Ash as he was trying to rest his leg but Fluttershy just wouldn't budge so decided to go with the plan without Fluttershy's help The plan then soon went into motion as Twilight started going inside the cave and she asked "He just probably just doesn't realize what he's doing right?" and the others was trying to reassure her… keyword was 'TRYING' Ash then said "Real smooth girls" as he laughed, minutes later and she was covered in soot as she went out of the cave. "You look a little… 'dark'" Ash decided to make fun of her as he was told to do nothing which annoyed her as she told him "Why don't you 'negotiate' with the dragon then?" He shrugged and said "Not my job" as he put out his tongue at her direction earning the look he wanted to see… the angry look of a teacher. Rarity was the next one to go inside. She was almost perfect at her persuasion if not for her greed though since she was scared away from the nest since the dragon saw her taking some of the jewels, the others shook their head and Ash said "You totally forgot about the mission didn't you?" She did forget about it as she looked away with her face tinted red in embarrassment. Pinkie was next as she tried to make the dragon laugh… two words… not working… Rainbow couldn't take it anymore and decided to go and teach the dragon a lesson as she kicked its face making it mad and roaring at her so strong that it made her flew all the way back out of the cave and to the unsuspecting four in front of the cave as she hit and went past the four Ash yelled out "STRIKE!" With a hoof held up like a pose and was earning glares from the five "What? I just had to say that." He shrugged The dragon then soon went out of its cave and saw the five of them huddled together Ash saw the dragon getting ready to breath out whatever its going to breath out and saw the five as an easy target and decided to make his move. Painful as it was he used the sonic boom to push the others out of the way and when he was going to dodge himself his leg gave a very painful throb showing how overworked it was and he knelt in pain fully taking the impact of the smoke breath as he was blown away straight to a giant rock. The sheer force itself was strong enough to shatter the rock and behind that rock was a cowering Fluttershy. "Ash!" the five that were pushed away called out. He was worse for wear at the moment. He was cradling his injured leg and he was covered in cuts and bruises. His body was hurled to a rock so strong it shattered the rock. It must have hurt more than he let on but he decided to not make them worry by hiding it Fluttershy saw the dragon closing in and was scared for her life but then she heard a voice calling out to her saying "Flutter…shy… Hurry… get away… I'll be fine… I'll protect you… I promise…" She looked at where the voice was coming from and saw the horror that was Ash's pained body huffing as he tried to stand and looked at the dragon 'I can't utilize my whole power because of the poison… this might just be it… but I'll protect my friends whatever it takes!' Ash was determined to do what he must and wanted as he stood up focusing his Aura on his whole body but his battered and beaten couldn't handle the surge of power as he flopped down on the ground the dragon was closing in and Ash yelled "Get away Fluttershy!" but Fluttershy… was angry. "How dare you." She said. "How dare you?!" She then repeated this time yelling at the dragon. The sudden outburst from the normally quiet and shy pony got all the attention from every pony present. Fluttershy then flew at the dragon's nose landed and continued to yell at the dragon "Listen here mister! Just because you're big doesn't mean get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breath fire. But you do not! I repeat.. You do not! HURT! MY FRIENDS! You got that?!" her sudden anger was really out of place and out of character but it did help in making the gigantic dragon cower in fear. "Well?!" "But that Rainbow one kicked me." It pointed out and at its defense she nodded. "And I am very sorry about that. But you're bigger than her and you should know better. Look at what happened. You injured my friend who did nothing to neither hurt nor ridicule you. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures." The dragon tried to rebut but was stopped by Fluttershy saying... "What do you have to say for yourself?" No response. "I said what do you have to say for yourself?" She repeated and made the dragon cry. "there, there no need to cry. You're not a bad dragon, you just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. You just need to find a new place to sleep in that's all." She consulted the dragon as it nodded and said... "I'm sorry… I'll try help your friend as an apology." He took a scale out of his body and covered the stallion using the scale as he started to breath fire straight to the scale and it melted into a body armor for Ash "This is a dragon Armor. It should regenerate his wounds a little… I'm really sorry." It bowed its head down and went on its way They congratulated her and showered her with praises until they heard Ash say "I need medical transportation here." And they hurried towards the Ponyville hospital… removing the armor was quite a pain since it was quite the perfect fit but needless to say it was removed. "I'm quite surprised at how many times you go to this hospital… you go here in a daily basis and I might charge you with a discount." the doctor laughed heartily but Ash only laughed half-heartedly as he said "Let's not wish that true…" the doctor nodded and said "Well your leg was healing… but now it needs to be casted once more… you really need to take care of yourself more…" the doctor got serious and Ash could only nod the doctor then grinned as he pushed him away and said "well you should go now… I have more patients after all shoo shoo.." the doctor said the grin never leaving his face as Ash decided to wear the armor and go to the library. "Twilight Ya gotta come see this!" Ash heard Applejack yell out "She's just five away from a new pony record!" others were crowding towards Rainbow Dash including Gilda herself somewhat Anxious if her friend could do it. But before she could make a new record a roar was yelled and Rainbow Dash's concentration as she yelled "DRAGON!" And laid down pretending to be dead Ash saw the spectacle and laughed as well as he saw that it was Pinkie herself who 'roared' Rainbow Dash tried to pretend that Pinkie destroyed her concentration and that she wasn't scared of anything. Fluttershy then talked to her and said "It's okay Rainbow Dash. Not every pony can be as brave as me." She gloated but Ash decided to have a little fun as he said. "BOO!" scaring both ponies as they proceeded to yell and hug one another and Gilda from the sidelines laughed as hard as she could. "Really now Dash? Scared of a little noise? Hahahahaha." She continued to laugh as she decided to get back home to Rainbow's house where she currently resides. "Hey I wasn't scared! G! Get back here! Grrr…" she growled at her friend but heard Fluttershy speak up. "That wasn't funny and it was totally not necessary Ash Ketchum!" Ash laughed she somehow reminded her of his mother that whenever they're angry at him they would call them by that name or his full name of course the longer the name he was called the angrier the person was. "It was funny so hey… It was necessary. " He shrugged and smiled as he laughed at his friends' embarrassment. "Ash…." Ominous voices were heard… he then saw the two Pegasus ponies ready to charge him. "Uh oh." He then saw Twilight from her balcony as she told him. "you better run Ash." She grinned and Ash nodded as he ran as fast as he could… with his leg like that though? Not too fast so the two were gaining distance and so he decided to fly like they did but remembered the armor didn't have holes for his wings… "Oh boy…" he muttered as he was tackled down to the ground. "I'm Sorry! Please forgive me!" he held his hooves in front of him as if saying an apology. "Hmmm… What should we do Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash Looked at Fluttershy and she looked back. "Hmmm… how about we…" she whispered to her and Rainbow Dash grinned as it showed she liked the idea. "I don't know what you two are talking about but I don't want to find out…. Let me go!" He was struggling but even so… removing the armor so he could fly will take a while and even if he ran his leg wouldn't let him run fast so that too was also out of the question. Unbeknownst to them they were being watched by none other Octavia Melody. "I knew he couldn't be trusted. Playing with women's hearts and two timing like that. He is an enemy of women and I'll be damned before I let him near Vinyl." She saw one side of the spectacle but decided not to learn of the other. She saw the wrong side of things without trying to find the right side and so he was easily branded by her as an 'Enemy'. "I should've known better than to trust stallions like him. He may be able to produce good music but I'm sure he is not producing pure music… Hmph" She then walked away. She decided not to tell her friend of her findings for it may crush her heart but she made sure that their destinies will not cross… but Fate had other plans… *Scene Break* In front of Rarity's home were one tied up and blind-folded pony and two others who were 'guarding' him and when the door opened Rarity saw the sight and said "Oh my. Whatever are you three doing?" Ash's ears perked up as he heard a familiar voice and called out to her "Rarity! Don't listen to a word they say. I Beg of you!" Ash was tried to be as normal as he could and was rarely 'Princely' polite anymore but there were instances when he becomes polite again and one of those instances is when he's in danger one way or the other so she said to the two "Explain" while crossing her hooves. They explained everything that happened and what their plan of revenge was and boy did that get Rarity's Imagination spark… new ideas for new outfits and everything in between and she whole heartedly agreed as she said "What do you need?" Ash however frowned and yelled. "Rarity you traitor! Have mercy on a pained pony!" but his pleas fell into deaf ears as Rarity told him... "Ash deary, forgive me but, I'm on the side of fashion. Now, I repeat, what do you need?" she smiled as Rainbow told her "The most Fru-Fru dress as it can get." Rarity nodded and went on her way to get something and as she did they decided to remove Ash's blindfold to let him see of what horrors will befall him. Minutes later Rarity came back with a cute frilly dress that could pass as a noble's dress and the two Pegasus were smiling and nodding. Ash did not like this one bit. He felt he was going to love hating this and would also love to forget this but apparently… it wont. "No… Please… Girls… Anything but that… Girls… GIRLS! NO!" He yelled out but nothing helped him from his fate and soon he was being put on the dress… easier said than done though as the Armor was hard to remove as it is "This armor is a perfect fit for his physique and it's very hard to remove!" Rarity said "Then let's just put it over the armor then!" Rainbow Dash told the two and they nodded Ash's victorious smile turned into a horrific frown as he was flailing from where he sat but nothing he did was of any help and soon… it was over and he was shown in front of a whole body mirror and it showed him… with make-up… wearing heels in the non-injured hooves… wearing a tiara and what's worse of all… he was… in… a… DRESS! "What sort of Treachery is this?! I demand an explanation Girls!" He was more than a little furious at what happened to him but when he faced the three a snap was heard indicating that a picture was taken. "Well don't you look cute in that dress..? Ashlyn." The three snickered at Rainbow Dash's comment as more snaps were heard… after half an hour of teasing he was removed from the female clothing and the bindings and he removed the armor and carried it with his mouth and flew away as fast as he could not murmuring even a sound. "Ash looked so cute did he not?" Rarity was still laughing and so did the other two but then an idea went to her mind "Should we tell Ash that we really only took one picture?" "Nah. It's more fun to see him squirm after what he did. Also speaking of the picture… Let's show it to Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie and everyone else in Ponyville!" "Umm.. I agree with showing Applejack, Pinkie and Twilight the picture but I don't want Ash to actually hate me if I showed it to the Village." The other two thought about it and was right. His hard earned respect from the other ponies might get crushed because of a silly picture and while Ash may not hate them for it. He'll surely never let this go and they decided to just show it to the other ones that were close to him. "Then it's settled. I'll show this to Gilda. And tomorrow we'll show it to the other three. Don't worry G can be trusted." The two were hesitating but nodded hoping she was right *Scene Break* In Ash's camp. Ash dove straight in to his sleeping bag surprising the Mammal "Prince. What's the matter?" "It's nothing Lucario." But then he felt a sudden surge of aura and heard a laugh "You read my Mind!" "I did not." He was still laughing showing that he did read his Prince's mind. "Ah whatever I'm going to sleep! Good night!" He went to sleep and closed his eyes when he heard. "Have a good night and sleep. Ashlyn." followed by a snicker. Ash wanted to stay mad for what they did. For all that embarrassment he received, but somehow he just couldn't stay mad. Something inside him told him that even if they were to embarrass him to the whole world as long as they stick with him to the very end then he shall always cherish them and be with them for as long as he lived. He smiled at his thought as he was drifting to sleep… he suddenly thought… what if the other three learned of this… I hope not… as he fell to sleep hoping for whatever nightmare he thought of not to happen… tough luck prince… It's happening as you sleep.