//------------------------------// // Different Visits Pt.1 // Story: The Hidden Element of Courage // by posponer //------------------------------// 'Everything in this realm… in this place looks familiar' He thought 'Why? Why do I know this place?' He asked himself once more. 'Wait…I remember. This is the Ponyville Square… Yeah.' He remembered and reassured himself of the place but something was wrong 'Why is it so eerie… the ambiance dark… I don't understand…' Something was definitely wrong here and as soon as he saw someone familiar he called out. "Dash! What happened?!" But his question fell on to deaf ears as Rainbow Dash ignored him "Huh?" He questioned himself, this never happened before and somepony else that he knew showed up. "Rarity! Something's wrong… Dash wouldn't tell me so I thought I'd ask you..." but once again the pony in question just went past him without even looking at him 'What is wrong with everyone?!' He was losing wit at the events unfolding in front of him he tried to talk to any pony he knew. Dr. Whooves ignored him, Derpy Ignored him, The Cutie Mark Crusaders ignored him, Pinkie wasn't the same today, Octavia was… regretful? And sad, Scratch was nowhere to be found in the vicinity nothing he did garnered the attention of anyone around… And then he noticed the ponies in the front… crying their eyes out in front of a… coffin… He put two and two together and thought 'Octavia is sad, Scratch is nowhere to be found…it can't be… NO!' He wanted to run straight to the coffin and see if his idea was true but he didn't… he couldn't he was too scared to see if he lost someone again… And his attention came back to the ponies near the coffin… they consisted of his teacher Twilight Sparkle, The Princesses of Canterlot Princess Celestia and Princess Luna or how he called them 'Celes' and 'Lulu' , Applejack who was hugging and crying the pony near her who is Fluttershy… he wanted to offer words of comfort to them… to his friends so he decided to get near but he heard what Applejack was saying. "Ah Didn't even get a chance darn it… There was no chance for me…" And Applejack suddenly burst into tears. "We should've paid attention… Now there really is no more chance…" Twilight hung her head low to not show any pony her tears and Celestia offered her wing as a hug of sorts to comfort the sad Unicorn. "You Idiot! You said you'd be my friend! You said we'd be Best Friends Forever! Why aren't you here?!" Luna was crying in front of everyone… Ash was amazed that she showed herself to the people of the land but also saddened that something like this would happen to her and he really wanted to get near but as soon as he took a step… Lucario walked to the coffin holding a bottle and on his side was Zecora showing herself to the others… Lucario walked limply as if he had no energy left or as if any sign of energy from him was suddenly drained and as soon he got to the side of the coffin he looked so hard at the coffin that he was almost glaring at it but then he broke into tears… he dropped the bottle and dropped to his knees crying. Zecora however said to Lucario "The potion was too late… he was already knocking on death's gate…" She tried her best to keep herself strong but the others heard what she said. "You're that Witch Doctor from Everfree forest… What do you mean by potion?" Twilight even amidst all the emotion she was feeling asked her with all her might. Zecora was about to answer when Lucario stopped her and decided to tell the story instead. "He told me not to tell anyone… he needed an antidote fast… Poison in his body was seeping through slowly eating away his body…" He told them via telepathy. "Wait… it can't be…" Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He told me he'd hate to make his friends worry for him… he even tried to keep it a secret from me… but I noticed his aura weakening… and he told me his dilemma… I wanted to tell everyone here but… promises are sacred for us and my promise to him is very important so I decided to take the risk he was taking… it was all my fault…" He finished and broke down in sobs. Not one pony in the vicinity could mutter a word… at the new revelation they just heard… not one had the strength to ask… not even Ash himself… until Applejack decided to speak up. "Why didn't he tell us?!" She yelled not even looking at Lucario. "He didn't want anyone to blame themselves… He got poisoned by the Manticore… the very same Manticore when he first met you all…" "Are you saying this is my fault?!" Rainbow Dash couldn't hold in the emotions after hearing those words but Lucario shook his head "It's all my fault… mine alone." "You can't be serious right?" He took a step towards the coffin "This is all just a well-planned joke right?!" Ash was now yelling as he ran straight to the coffin and what he saw was… Himself… Laying down, Eyes shut and completely still and suddenly he yelled out loud and… "Thank the gods… it was all a dream…" He was huffing, he was puffing, he was sweating and he was tired… Lucario went back to the Tent and asked worriedly what the matter was and He told him the story. "It's either I opened up the pre-cognition ability of the Aura Powers… Or I just had a terrible nightmare… Please tell me it's a nightmare…" He pleaded to his friend Lucario but he just shook his head… "Ash… The pre-cognition abilities of the aura only opens up when the user has only a week, a month at most to live… knowing you have the dragon armor then it's safe to say you have a month to live… we need that antidote fast!" "You're right… But we can't do anything until Zecora is finished… luckily she's almost finished with it…" Lucario thought otherwise. "But in your pre-cognition she was too late!" But Ash bantered back. "Lucario Pre-cognitions are Future Sights! We can still change the future!" Lucario saw the logic in that and nodded but before all else he told him "You should stop doing any more harm to yourself… it may be the reason why it happened!" Lucario thought. "You're right… I'll try to avoid any trouble. I need to go… my job is going to start soon…" He said as he got ready and limped to school. ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ The school went on normally most of the day and school skipped to a close without anything noteworthy happening and so Ash decided to visit the princesses for now as he hurried on to fly to Canterlot and as soon as he arrived at the palace's gate. "Hey Flash I see you're in guard duty again." He smiled at him and Sentry smiled back and asked "I presume this visit is about Princess Luna?" Ash shrugged. "Pretty Much… Little Ol' me is here to brighten up her day." and they awkwardly stared at each other for three seconds before bursting into laughter "okay that was weird for me." Ash admitted as he went through the Palace's door. Ash walked inside or more likely ventured inside as it was too big for a pony like him "Sheesh… this palace can put our previous castle to shame." he thought and decided to walk again when he heard two ponies talking… in the kitchen. "Come on! Just let me bake some cookies and I'll be out on my way." Princess Luna bargained to the kitchen staff. "No no Princess… This is highly dangerous to you and we fear something may happen!" The head chef told her while the other staff nodded. "Just let me do this one thing please? I just want to bake Ash some cookies… It's always him who does it for me!" "But Monsieur Ash is also not supposed to cook! Just leave it to us chefs no?" "But.. But!" She tried to fight back but she felt a hoof on her head and the pony next to her suddenly talked. "No buts Lulu, let's just leave them to their jobs." He smiled at her and she gasped and smiled as she tackled him to the ground. "Ash!" She yelled out. "Careful, My hoof still hurts a little." He told her but all she said was "Huh?" as she looked at the said hoof and jumped away saying "Sorry! Are you okay?!" "Nah it's okay, this is entirely my fault, I didn't want to come here until I was healed but…" he stopped just to get her attention. "but what?" She wondered. "But I just couldn't let Lulu be lonely in the castle now could I?" He chuckled as he looked at her. "I… I wasn't lonely! A Princess has many duties to attend to. To keep oneself busy." she bluffed. "Oh really? Like baking cookies?" He grinned at her which elicited a surprised. "Ho- How did you… you got here earlier didn't you?" "Yup." was his only answer as he was still smiling at her and she blushed beet red from both embarrassment and affection. She decided that she wanted to change the subject so she asked the thing that was always on her mind. "Hey Ash… Will you promise to be my Best Friend forever?" Ash suddenly remembered his pre-cognition but decided to shake it off his mind for today. "Of course." he smiled again "Now let's prank your sister!" His smile went from caring to a Cheshire grin in seconds but Luna also wanted to help. And at the outside throne room they decided to start with the most simplest scare tactics and as they were peeking they didn't notice the one standing behind them as it suddenly yelled out. "BOO!" Of course this caused both Luna and Ash to yelp out in surprise and turn to their adversary only to know it was none other than Celestia herself. "Trying to prank me I presume?" She chuckled lightly at the disheveled duo as they tried to hide the truth from her. "What? Prank you? You must be Joking Celes! I just wanted to uh… to not bother you while you were working that's all." He looked away and this made Luna Facehoof and Celes to laugh. "I must say, you really are bad at lying whenever it's not important, Nice try Ash, Luna, but better luck next time." She decided to go on to the throne room but before she closed the door she called out to Ash. "Oh and thank you for visiting my Sister on her lonesome day." She Chuckled Again before finally closing the door, Luna however was hanging her head down to avoid being seen blushing by the colt in question. ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ "How does she always know?" "Well If you were a little better at lying." She retaliated. "I didn't see you trying to cover up you know?" "I don't need to! You're my cover remember?" She looked at him and he looked back until they laughed together for a good couple of minutes. "I'm feeling hungry… Ash…" But before she could even say anything. "Already on it!" He said as they headed for the kitchen. "Monsieur Ash! I thought we had an agreement?!" "Yeah, Luna shouldn't get near danger right?" He said while he was mixing the cookie dough. "NO! well.. yes but still!" the chef tried to fight back but Ash would have none of it. "Relax Chef, I'm a professional at cooking my own food, especially sweets and treats." He soon finished up all he needed as he put them in a tray and put them in the oven. "Yes Yes, now you are finished... out! Out I say! We will deliver it to you once it is done." The Chef said as he pushed them away from the kitchen. "Sheesh, He's such a worrywart." "I Agree." They erupt in Laughter once more as they wait for their treats to finish and as soon as it was the Head chef himself delivered it and quickly closed the doors as if to say 'No Entry' "Well we got what we want let's go somewhere else Lulu." She nodded but her mind was somewhere else and Ash took notice of this too. "Lulu you okay?" he sounds worried but for some reason it angered her a little as she said. "How about you Ash? Are YOU okay?" she told him and the voice she used made Ash cringed. "Uh.. Yeah of course I am." He smiled but she didn't stop with the questions as she asked once more. "You're not hiding anything from me right?" A little calmer and sadder she asked him it made Ash sad to see her like this but decided to not say anything except. "Of course not." He Lied… to protect… Luna didn't seem to accept his answer but decided to forget about this… for now. "Well if you're really alright then I suppose I'll stop here." 'She definitely knows something.' He sighed and smiled at her as he said "Thanks." She just weakly smiled back and said. "No problem." The events of the day became a little… tense but Ash didn't like things like this so he levitated Luna and ran outside to the palace Garden, Of course his Action garnered a surprised reaction from the Princess as she said. "Hey! What're you doing?!" "Just come with me." He smiled to her as he flew towards the garden. "I can Walk on my own!" She tried to protest but Ash just laughed and told her "Just stay there quietly Lulu." still she tried to protest even when they got to the garden. At the garden Ash decided to finally let her down slowly and she was pouting at him asking him. "What was that for?!" "I just wanted to remove the awkwardness between us." She stared at him intently but he only smiled at her and she sighed. "Okay, What are we doing here exactly?" "Well… it's just me actually… I just want you to listen." he told her as he once again made a Leaf Whistle and his act lasted about a minute or two and as he finished he saw that she had her eyes closed listening intently to the music he did. "Liked it?" He smiled at her and she opened her eyes and smiled back. "That was beautiful…" "I can teach you so you have something to do instead of just mope around whenever I'm not here." He grinned at her and she pouted. "I Do not mope around! I still have my job of raising and lowering the moon." she told him still pouting and it made him laugh. "Yes, Yes you're right I'm sorry, Stop pouting it doesn't suit your cute face, smile!" He showed her the smile he wanted her to show him but the words instead got her blushing. "Well that works too." He laughed as he said this. "Shut up and just teach me already." She looked away still embarrassed but Ash decided to teach her anyway and they spent the day trying to teach Luna how to do the Leaf Whistle. "Well you've got the basics already… And I think it's about time you raise the moon so I'll be heading back now." Luna immediately frowned. "Sorry Lulu, But I promise to come back soon." She immediately smiled back and nodded. "See you later Lulu!" She waved back as Ash went away but then Princess Celestia came out from somewhere and asked her sister, "Did you learn something?" all she got was a no from her sister. "He's still keeping secrets…" Luna looked down and defeated. "I see…" Celestia tried to comfort her sister. ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ "Hey Lucario I'm back…." But no one was there to greet him back. "He must be disturbing Zecora again." after he said this he suddenly felt a stinging pain on his head as he saw Lucario hit him. "HEY THAT HURT!" "Being rude has it's downsides Ash." "I was just stating a fact." Ash Stuck his tongue at him and went to sleep. "Running away?" Lucario tried to provoke but he soon felt Ash was fast asleep… 'He tires fast these days… the poison must be dealt with fast…' ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ 'This looks really familiar… Oh no… this pre-cognition again but something's different.' "This doesn't feel right... It's the same dream but all different at the same time." "That's it... There's this music in the background... What is happening?!" Once he got closer he saw Octavia, Pinkie, Scratch and Luna all making music in the back... Notably Pinkie and Luna were doing the leaf trick he taught them. "But I just taught that to Lulu!" "I changed part of the future but this isn't what I wanted at all!" having a music band on his own funeral was a very sarcastic change as if the world is taunting him by telling him nothing will change. "I refuse to give up... There's a way... there must be a way!" the dream has then suddenly and abruptly ended as he woke up inside his tent. "How is it prince? Did the vision change?" Ash nodded. "What happened?!" "I had a background music..." Ash would have laughed... if only it wasn't so grim... "How should I say it... this is quite Ironic." Ash only facehoofed and groaned. "I... I need to get some fresh air and remove this vision from my mind." ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ Ash was just staring blankly to the sky as he laid on a grassy field, nothing on his mind until he noticed that he wasn't really thinking about anything and sighed and as his mind wandered he failed to notice someone getting nearer. "Hey Ash! How's it hangin?" It was Vinyl Scratch and unexpectedly Octavia was nowhere to be found. "Oh, Hey Scratch... just fine... I'm just a little tired these days..." and he did look tired as his face showed fatigue. "Ouch... did you get any rest or sleep these days?" She asked him worried for his safety. "No worries... Just a little rest and I'll be... one hundred percent better." "Well I hope so." "Thanks for worrying though." He smiled at her as she smiled back and said "Of course!" "well got to go, Octavia invited me to one of her Operas... Might as well go... Oh right! I this ticket is good for two so uhh, wanna come with?" she ushered but he only shook his head and thanked her but before she went away. "Before I forget, try not to evade Octavia... she'll find you and she'd make whatever punishment she has in mind for you even worse." She chuckled at the thought but Ash only grimaced as he said. "You just had to remind me." and they soon went away to wherever they plan to go to Ash in particular had nowhere in plan until he noticed he was near the apple farm so he thought "Why not?" and went there. "Hey Ash! What're you doin' here?" The one who greeted him was Apple Bloom. "Oh hey Apple Bloom... I was just around the corner so I decided to pay you ponies a visit." He explained as Apple Bloom only grinned at him which made him a little nervous. "Okay... what're you grinning about?" "Sorry, Teacher it's a secret!" She said still grinning like before. "Oh? Are you really going to go there Apple Bloom?" he adorned his own Cheshire grin. "Actually Never mind... Ah was just happy you were visitin!" She told him but Ash knew how mischievous the Cutie Mark Crusaders are so he continued to eye her and soon enough she cracked under pressure. " An' maybe Ah was thinking you were here ta visit mah sister?" She continued Ash wondered what she meant. "Well I was going to visit the farm so isn't visiting AJ one of the reason as well?" Apple Bloom however saw this as a reason to grin once more before running away Ash only chuckled and shook his head. "Kids will be kids... or in this case fillies? Yeah I guess so?" As soon as he got to the Apple farm he already saw Apple Jack at the entrance waving to Ash and he waved back and as he got near her he suddenly asked out. "Apple Bloom?" In which she answered. "Eeyup." "Copying Big Macinthosh?" "Nnope." Ash chuckled again. "You definitely are." but Apple Jack only shook her head as she said. "Ah was impersonating him, How'd Ah do?" "Hmm.. Seven point five out of ten... " She wondered about the scoring. "Why only that? Ah though Ah did better than expected?" Ash shook his head as he told his reason. "Well reason number one your voice and tone was off, also reason number two is your facial expression... You're brother is kind of expressionless right?" he joked but Apple Jack didn't laugh... "weird that was a funny joke." but his thoughts were cut short when he heard. "Nnope, I have expression too." A low voice that he knows... Ash decided not to look back and just spoke. "I... uhh... Eeyup?" "two out ten." Big Macinthosh told him and Apple Jack was agreeing and for two to three awkward seconds they erupted in laughter and as soon as the laughter died down Apple Jack had to ask. "So what're ya doin' here Ash? Apple Bloom told me ya didn't show up at yer job today." "Yeah, I don't feel good today so I decided to relax... I should say sorry to Miss Cheerilee for suddenly going absent on her." "anyways I was just around the corner so I thought I'd just drop by and see you." He smiled at her. "Thanks Ash but are you fine now?" "Still a little groggy actually... I should go see the doc now... I'll see you some other time then AJ" He went away leaving the two siblings as they see him off. "He dropped by just to see you... how'd you feel Apple Jack?" Apple Jack just blushed and told him. "Just put a sock in it and let's get back to work." Big Mac was still laughing but he conceded as he told her. "Eeyup." "ten out of ten." Apple Jack said and Big Mac laughed at their little inside joke. "Of course. I'm the Original." ~ (\_/) ~ ~ \_/ ~ Ash then went to the doctor's place and went inside calling out "Hello? Doctor, You here?" but received no answer and decided to search for said doctor. "Hm? Never saw this here before... maybe he just installed this..." He saw a door in the clinic that didn't exist there on his previous visit and decided to snoop a little and as soon as he opened the door all he saw was a small blue box that was at least seven to eight feet tall but as he was about to touch it. "Snooping around some pony's home Ash?" Doctor Whooves appeared out of nowhere. "WOAH!" and obviously it scared him "Don't do that doc! I think you just shaved off a piece of my life." "Do forgive me but you are trespassing right now. but if you have anything else I'd gladly talk about it with you... My fee for therapy however is quite high." He smiled. "Woah woah woah doc... let's not go there! I just wanted to say hi. So now that I have.. I bid you farewell." and he hurried away from there and the doc just chuckled at him and entered the blue box. "I really don't feel well today... I should just get some rest... yeah... Please don't mess with my dream..." He wished so hard for the dream not to be the same repetitive yet ironically changing visions... as he went home and lied down and closed his eyes to sleep... Unknowingly in the same position as the 'Him' on the casket... And done. Have fun.