//------------------------------// // A Close Call // Story: Rise of Equestria 2: Cannon Fodder // by Israel Yabuki //------------------------------// The princess of the sun laid in her chambers on her bed enjoying a cup of tea while Blaze Burn, her husband, paced the room, trying to come up with the right strategy to put a stop to all this madness. He glares at the floor as he paces room more impatiently as his mind kept drawing a blank. Nothing was really coming up in his mind and neither was anything coming up in the princess', mostly because of the impatient stallion. She feels like if he becomes more impatient, he'll grow angry and probably lash out at somepony. Most likely her. She sighed and got off her bed and approached Blaze Burn without fear. "Please, dear. You need to take a little break or else you'll just end up throwing a temper tantrum and hurt somepony. It doesn't do any good to dig through your own mind in a state of frustration. Take a brake and relax with a nice hot cup of tea, you'll feel better and more focused this way, it's helped me before." she explains. Blaze Burn looks at Celestia for a couple of seconds before sighing in defeat. "I suppose you're right about that, my dear, I have been overworking myself that I'm getting a little stressed. I do apologize if I caused you any worry or anything, it was not my intention." he says sincerely. "No need to apologize, dear. Here, have a drink." Celestia levitated levitated the teapot over one of her cups and poured hot tea inside of it and set the teapot down. She levitates the cup of hot tea to Blaze Burn and he uses his magic to grasp it and brought it to his lips, taking a few sips. "Ahh, thanks dear." he says. Celestia nods with a smile and sits back on her bed. Blaze Burn stays standing and takes a few more sips of his tea. Somehow, the princess was right, Blaze Burn felt like he was able to think more clearly and his body felt less tense afterwards. Whatever tea she gave him, it did the trick, which meant he could now come up with a strategy without overworking his mind. However, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Celestia got out of her bed and walked over to her bedroom door and opened it, revealing Tidal Wave and Melodia, both looking worried. "Princess Celestia, we've got some extremely bad news!" Tidal says. "Come in, you can explain everything to me inside." Celestia says without hesitation. She moves to the side and allows the two of them to enter her chambers before closing the door. She turns around and walks over to the center of her room and looks directly at Tidal and Melodia. Blaze Burn also gave them his full attention, curious about what they found out. "What's the bad news?" she asks. "It's about the Song of Dragons!" Tidal says. "The song has a bit of a darker effect on a small percentage of dragons who have broken hearts! Those who are effected it can barely be under its control before going into an uncontrollable rage! They don't care who gets in their way, they'll just immediately attack without mercy! It may be a long shot, but I think Spike might actually be the 2nd dragon who'll end up giving into his anger and..." Melodia says. "He might come and target the city, or Ponyville! Or quite possibly BOTH!" Tidal says in a panic. The situation sounded very serious and Celestia instantly felt her natural instincts kick in. She marched out of her chambers and right as she stepped outside into the hallway, she teleported out of their sight. Tidal realizes that the other guys are still unaware of what they have discovered. "Quick! To the guest rooms!" he says, running out of the room, but is immediately stopped by Blaze Burn's magic grasp. "Now hold on, Tidal Wave, you've barely arrived here at the Canterlot Castle, I'll take you and Melodia to the guest room and we'll round up the boys." Blaze Burn says. Tidal stops resisting and his let go by the former king before the three of them are teleported to the hall where the guest rooms were. Princess Celestia had apparently beat them to it and all the guys were clueless on what was going on, but they still felt like it whatever it was, it wasn't good news. "Hey, what's with that look on your face, Tidal? You look like something's about to go wrong, Is there something you're not telling us?" Ground Breaker asks. "We've picked up a darker effect about the Song of Dragons!" Tidal Wave says. "Most dragons who are effected by it are usually easy control if they're greedy, but if they're not and they have a broken heart instead, they'll lay havoc an destruction everywhere they go! They'll do even much more damage than those who are prone to greed! And I think Spike is the likely candidate and he might be on his way here right now and we have to stop him before it's too late!" Melodia explains. "WHAT?!" the guys asks in shock. "She's right. We have to get everypony to safety! In the meantime... Blaze Burn!" Celestia says. "Yes, dear?" Blaze replies. "I need you to travel to Ponyville and retrieve Eternal Flames and the girls! We're going to need all the help we can get if he ever does show up!" "Hold on a second! What if Spike ends up going to Ponyville instead?!" Heat Blitz asks. "Heat's right, we can't just leave Ponyville unguarded! Somepony has to look after the town in case Spike ever goes on a rampage over there!" Spark Burst says. "I'll do it!" Blaze Burn says, determined. "Honey, are you sure you can handle this on your own? A fight with a full-grown dragon prone to greed isn't like any other fight you might have experienced. You could en up getting hurt." Celestia says, worried. "It's alright. As long as the other ponies don't get hurt, that's all that matters." Blaze Burn says. "I can't just sit around and watch from the sidelines, that's not who I am, this place is no different than the village, this kingdom is my home just as much as it is your home." Celestia didn't want him to get hurt, but the look in his eyes just couldn't be argued with. She nods and approaches Blaze Burn face-to-face. "Just promise me that no matter what, you'll keep everypony safe in Ponyville and return home safely, okay dear?" she asks. Blaze Burn nods and hugs Celestia before he runs down the hallway and disappears from hers and the other ponies sights. "So what are we suppose to do, princess?" Spark Burst asks. "You and the others will stay with me here in Canterlot and defend the city. In the meantime, I'll have all of the royal guards in the castle evacuate the citizens to safety and keep them under protection. But be warned, boys, there could be a chance that Spike has already reached his monsterous dragon form, and if he has, you'd do well to be careful since you might not have faced a full-grown dragon before. Can I place my trust in you all to work together and help me defend this city?" the princess asks. "Psh, you don't have to ask us twice, Princess. I don't care if I have a choice or not, I'll defend this city even if it costs this stallion's life." Shadow says confidentally. "The same goes for all of us. This might not be the Freedom Village, but it still holds meaning the ponies who live and grew up here." Hurricane Breeze says, determined. "Yeah!" Ground Breaker exclaimed. "Good, when all is said and done, I'll make sure you boys and Twilight and her friends are rewarded for your bravery and that's a promise." Celestia says wholeheartedly. Without another word, Celestia walked down the hall with Melodia and the boys all following her close behind. The group walked through each different parts of the castle until they eventually came to the royal throne room. But as soon as Celestia arrived there, she felt an uneasy feeling in her heart, like something was wrong. And something told her that it involved her son's safety. All Celestia can do right now is to pray for her son to make it back to her unharmed, but unknown to her, coming back unharmed wasn't the case. Out in the wide open grasslands, Spike was almost out of Eternal Flames' sight, but if it was not been for the young injured stallion's bold words, the rampaging dragon would be long gone. "What's the matter, Spike, can't stop and fight me for one more round?!" he shouted. Though he wa pretty far, he quickly turned himself around and came flying towards Eternal Flames with his jaws wide open. The rampaging dragon blasted another stream of fire at Eternal. The burnt stallion rolled out of the way, which proved to be a very bad idea, what with his burnt injury. He grunted in pain and struggled to stand up and looked up into the sky, staring at the dragon cirling around him. His fierce opponent growled at him, snorting out smoke from his nose and looking at him with those slitted green eyes of his. "Just... gotta keep him here a little longer." he panted. Eternal knew he can never match up to Spike in his current state and thought he might not make it out of there alive. Spike flew down towards him and shot another stream of green fire at him, Eternal dodged, but his left hinde leg was burnt. He wasn't sure how long he could keep him distracted much longer. Then, to his surprise, Spike came down closer and right at the last minute, he moved out of the way and swung his tail at Eternal, sending him about 50 feet away from the dragon with an audible thud. Spike took to the sky again and roared victoriously and viciously before getting back to his mission and flew off to Canterlot. Eternal used up the last bit of his strength to stand up, beaten and bruised and grabbed the tip of Spike's tail. Eternal held onto him Spike for dear life, grunting in pain from the bruises and burns on his body. But with the fate of all Equestria at hoof, letting go of Spike was not an option. Soon, Eternal decided to grab hold of the green spines that lead from Spike's tail to his head. He steadily kept his grip on Spike and kept moving up towards him until he finally grabbed a hold of the largest spike on his head. Thankfully, Spike was too focused on his rage to even think about who was on his head. To Eternal's horror, Spike's flight speed was guiding them to Canterlot a bit too fast. Eternal gasped, getting Spike's attention, and not in the good kind, that's for sure. Spike stopped in mid-air and tried shaking off the stubborn, injured stallion off of him, but Eternal kept holding on for dear life. The giant, purple dragon was growing angry very quickly and reached up to grab the young stallion off of his head and roared at him. "Guess... this is it." he said to himself. But when he thought he was gonna eat him, Spike flew off to Ponyville and held the injured stallion tightly in his grip. "N...NO!" Eternal grunted. Back in the Castle of Friendship, Sunset was still rocking her friend, Twilight, back and forth, trying to ease her pain and was still very mad at the way Eternal Flames acted towards her. She could understand why he was trying to make his point, but that didn't excuse him to go off on Twilight and put the young alicorn princess down like that and discredit her as a sibling. However, casting that aside, Twilight's sobbing didn't seem to stop, but Sunset didn't mind, she just keeps on rocking her friend back and forth. "Just let it all out, Twilight." Sunset says quietly and genuinely. With Sunset's help, Twilight's tears finally stopped and her breathing returned to normal. She looks up at Sunset who was smiling at her. A smiled formed on Twilight's face shortly after that. "Thanks, Sunset. But still, Eternal was right. If I had made the right choices back then, Spike wouldn't have felt left out or been left out of anything. I'm not even sure whether or not I can call myself a sister after all the times I treated him unfairly. I guess I deserve this." Twilight says, feeling down again. "Twilight, don't go doubting yourself like this!" Sunset says, a bit irritated. Twilight was startled. "Now you listen to me, you're a great sister to Spike. You hatched him from an egg, right? And you gave him a home and raised him with the help of Princess Celestia at first, right?" Sunset earns a nod from Twilight. "Well, if Spike ever felt like something was troubling him, he'd come to you for advice, right?" "Not after that one time when he thought I was replacing him with Owlolicious." "Well then, you can still make up for that by being there for him now. Because right now, he's under the control of that evil alicorn and it's our job to bring your dragon friend back home where he belongs. So don't beat yourself up too much just because some stallion said you didn't do your part." Sunset's words of wisdom somehow made Twilight feel a little bit more relaxed and calm. "How'd you learn to be so strong-hearted?" Twilight asks with a smile. "I learned from my mistakes, too, Twilight. And I have you to thank for that." with nothing else to say, Twilight and Sunset gave each other one last hug. But it didn't last long as they heard multiple knocks coming from the front door downstairs. Twilight teleported her and Sunset to the front entrance and opened up the door, revealing Blaze Burn and the girls all standing behind him. "Y-Your highness, what's going on?" Twilight asks, a bit worried. "Celestia has sent me here to let you all know that she needs you back at the Canterlot Castle! There's a high probability of your friend, Spike, coming to destroy the city, or possibly even this town!" Blaze Burn says. Twilight and Sunset both felt their bodies stiffen from the shocking news. "Girls, quick! We've gotta get to the train station, and fast!" Twilight told her friends, a little panicked. "No! You'll never make it in time! I've prepared a few chariots for you all." Blaze Burn points to his right, showing three of Celestia's chariots. "You can use them to fly over to the castle faster than taking the train, now hurry and go, we don't have much time!" "Your highness, before we go, you have to know that Eternal went off to the Dragon Kingdom to get Spike! He could be in serious danger!" Sunset says, nearly panicking. Blaze Burn felt like a stone had dropped onto his heart when he heard that. "WHAT?!" He shouted. He closed his eyes and growled in frustration. "That foolish boy! Alright! All of you take the chariots to Canterlot while I go look for my son! Now GO! GO!!" he ordered. Twilight and her friends all hitched a ride on each of the chariots and held on tight as the royal guards carried them all back to the rich city, meanwhile, Blaze Burn took to the sky, flying off in the direction of the dragon kingdom in search of Spike and his son, Eternal Flames, worried for his son's safety. A lot of questions filled his mind like "is he going to be alright," "why did he have to act so hastily," and even the biggest question every parent fears: "what if it's too late and he's already been killed?" That last question almost caused him to lose his sanity. Just the thought of his son dying like that worried him. And yet, somehow, he knows that even though Eternal is rash and reckless sometimes, there's no denying that Eternal is strong enough to hold off against any foe, maybe even a full grown dragon. The only problem with that is that he's never faced off against a full-grown dragon. And if Spike is his first dragon to fight against, he only hopes he's still alive. Blaze Burn flew faster into the distance, but then heard the sound of a loud roar coming from his left. Blaze closed his eyes and gathered all of his focus into his hearing so he'd find out what was coming his way. The sounds of large wingbeats filled his eardrums, causing the stallion to open his eyes and look into the direction of where he heard the sound. In the distance, he sees a strange purple dot coming towards him almost too quickly. Upon closer inspection, he sees that it was Spike. As he got closer, Blaze Burn's eyes shrunk from the sight he didn't want to see, but it wasn't the fact that Spike had become so big and terrifying. It was the fact that he had Eternal Flames in his grasp and he was bruised and burnt pretty badly. Blaze Burn was filled with sorrow that his own son was badly injured and even angry that Spike showed no mercy. Blaze Burn flew over to the giant purple dragon at the same speed as Spike. In a fit of anger, Spike roared and shot his green flames at the alicorn stallion, but Blaze Burn breezed past him by using his magic to conjure up a shield to protect him from the blast. He swoops over to one of the claws and shoots a magic beam at it, in which causes Spike to roar out loud and lose his grip on Eternal. Blaze Burn grabbed his son and carried him off to safety, but Spike wasn't ready to let Blaze off the hook. Spike chased after him, shooting his green flames at the former king, but every time he breathed his mighty flames, Blaze Burn dodged them and flapped his wings faster in an attempt to escape his rampaging foe. Spike wasn't going to let him get away that easily. The giant purple dragon flapped his giant wings faster, catching up to the alicorn stallion and opened up his jaws once again. Blaze looked back and gasped, seeing how Spike caught up with him. Spike was getting ready to breathe out more of his green flames, but it he was too close to dodge it. In order to protect him and his son, he lit up his horn and casted a shield around them just before Spike shot out his flames. The impact of the attack surprisingly coated the shield in a green fire stream, giving Blaze Burn the chance to teleport him and Eternal Flames back to the Canterlot Castle safe and sound. Eternal Flames was then placed on his father's back and carried into the castle. It was then that he opened his eyes and saw his mother coming out from one of the corridors. Just as Princess Celestia caught sight of Eternal's condition, she stopped dead in her tracks, gasping at what happened to him. She ran to her son and levitated him onto her back as the princess conversed with Blaze Burn. "It's just as Tidal Wave and Melodia predicted, isn't it?" she asks, worried. Eternal began to stir. He grunted in pain from the brutal beating he took from Spike. Princess Celestia looked behind her and noticed Eternal waking up, leaving her relieved and heartbroken at the same time. "Don't move, son! You have to rest! Just what in the name of all creations made you think you could stand against a dragon?! He could've destroyed you at anytime and yet you act so recklessly!" Celestia scolds him. "I... wanted... t-to... stall for time." Eternal struggles to say. "I... I know I wasn't strong enough. But I... I only wanted to ensure the... the safety of... the ponies!" he grunted. "I... I'm sorry... mother." Celestia teared up and nuzzled her injured son. "Let's just get you all patched and rested up. Blaze Burn, see to it that the others stay on guard outside the castle! We can't allow Spike to do anymore damage." Celestia ordered, earning a nod from Blaze Burn. Celestia teleported out of sight and right on cue, the others arrive from one of the corridors and ran up to Blaze with concern. "Hey, what's going on?! Where's my brother? Is he alright?" Heat Blitz asks. "He's been badly wounded in his fight with Spike." Blaze Burn replied. Heat Blitz took a few steps back and slumped down on his hinde legs, feeling his heart break in two. "Don't worry. Your brother has fought in countless battles time and again. All he needs is a little healing and rest." "I tried to warn him not to act so reckless, but does he listen? No!" Melodia. "Jeez, why is it that boys are so thick in the head and never think clearly?" "HEY!" the guys shouted. "Oops, did I say that out loud?" Melodia asks, chuckling. "That'll be enough, young lady." Blaze Burn scolded. Melodia scoffed. "Excuse me, but I happen to be older than you." "And yet you still rant on like a little filly. Now pay attention, all of you! Eternal has been injured and we've only got a short amount of time before Spike arrives." "Spike?! Our Spikey-Wikey is coming back?!" Rarity asks, nearly jumping with tears of joy. "Yes, but not as you know him. He's grown incredibly big and he's considered to be highly dangerous. I need you all to stay focused and make sure that Spike is stopped. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes sir, but I have one quick question." Twilight asks "Go on ahead, but make it snappy." Blaze Burn replies. "Does this mean that... we... have to hurt Spike?" ". . .You must do whatever it takes to stop him." Those words made her gasp. "Wait, dad! Isn't that a bit too harsh?! Spike's been around with the girls for so long! Are you suggesting that they should have him... k..." Heat Blitz couldn't say that one word that always made his heart ache. But luckily, he didn't have to say it as Blaze Burn finished his sentence. "No son. I don't mean it by that at all. To make it more clear, do whatever it takes to stop him... and bring him back to us in his original form." "That's easier said than done, in your dragon friend's case." Melodia says. "W-What do you mean?" Rarity asks, worried. "How about you let her explain it on the way outside instead of standing around." Shadow says, impatiently. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with him. We can hear the details on the way outside." Sunset adds. The entire gang walked to the exit of the castle closely behind Blaze Burn. All the while, Rarity was still curious of what Melodia was talking about earlier when she said getting Spike back to normal was "easier said than done." "Melodia, deary. What did you mean? Is it not as easy as it sounds getting Spike back?" Rarity asks. "Yes. You see, there is a more devastating effect to the Song of Dragons that caught Spike." Melodia replies. Rarity nods, wanting to understand what she's talking about. "In truth, almost the entire dragon race easily falls for the Song of Dragons due to the pure greediness in their hearts. But in Spike's case, it's much worse, because it's not his greed that the song took advantage of, but his broken heart. And when a dragon with a broken heart falls under the Song of Dragons, they are blinded by rage." "W-What?! B-But if that's true--" "Then it'll be impossible to reach out to him in his present state. Mostly due to the fact that he was never given the chance to prove to the one he loves that he could offer her so much more. Even if his crush were there to help him out right now, it wouldn't matter anymore." Melodia didn't even know that Rarity was the one Spike's in love with, but Rarity felt an even heavier stone fall upon her heart feeling like it was all her fault. She looked down and started sniffling. Melodia looks at Rarity, widening her eyes a little bit and figured out exactly why the fashionista was upset. Back in Celestia's chambers, she concentrated her magic and coated Eternal Flames in a glowing yellow light, in an attempt to heal his wounds with a healing spell. Her son grunted slightly, bearing the pain for as long as he could until they slowly went away. The burns and bruises on Eternal's body were slowly disappearing, and the young stallion slowly started to open his eyes. Once the yellow light around him faded, he gasped and sat up, looking all around him to see where he was. Celestia gentley hugged him into her soft fur, shushing him in an attempt to try to calm him down. "It's okay son, I'm here. You're safe now." Celestia says, comforting him. She could feel her son about to go into full panic mode, but she wouldn't let that happen. She kept rocking her son left and right in a warm hug using a combination of her hooves and wings. "You're okay." Eternal's heavy panting was slowly growing lighter and more steady. "T-Thanks mother." he says, calmly. "But now I have to go back out there and help the others out." He climbed off the bed and walked over to exit out the front door, but Celestia teleported in front of him, blocking his way. "Mother, this is a serious matter, I have to go and help my pals, or they won't stand a chance!" "You will be doing no such thing!" Celestia said, sternly. "You were barely able to survive when you had recklessly wandered off to try and stop Spike on your own! I will not have my son act so rashly like that again, you are to rest up and save your strength until further notice." "Mother, I'm not a little colt! I can't just sit here and rest while I watch from the blasted sidelines! He might have gotten my buns toasted, but you have to understand that--" Eternal was stopped by his mother placing her hoof on his muzzle, telling him to be quiet. Celestia kept looking at Eternal with her stern glare. Her glare seemed so powerful, she sent chills down her son's spine. "Rest... Now!" she said in a low, yet calm, angry tone. Eternal backed away and glared as he leaped back onto the bed, his pride shot out the window. Celestia walked over to him and laid down on the bed, hugging her son warmly. "I don't get why you want me to do this, mother, I mean, this kingdom means a lot to me as much as you." he said, not making eye contact, "And yet, for reasons I'm not aware of, you insist on keeping me here and not let me do my part. So I ask you: why can't I help you protect this entire kingdom alongside with you?" he looks up at Celestia. "Because... you're my son. I may be a princess and the ruler of Equestria, but I'm a mother first. Your father risked his life out there to save you and brought you home in one piece. I know you're an adult, and that you're a fighter for peace, but I can't allow you to go into battle all on your own!" She explained, trying her best in holding back the tears. His mother's words touched his heart deeply. Yet for some reason, Eternal couldn't feel any tears swelling up in his eyes, but he still felt his heart grow heavy. However, he did return his mother's love for him by hugging her, earning a hug from her in return. Her body started shaking. He could hear her sniffling. Eternal didn't like hearing his own mother cry. But he knew it was his fault because he now realized that his actions nearly costed his life and this left Celestia heartbroken from the thought off losing him. "I'm very sorry mother." He said quietly. Celestia sobbed quietly. "It wasn't right for me to worry you like that, so if you want me to rest up, then so be it." "Y... You and your brothers are my whole world, Eternal." Celestia says, choked up and hugging him tightly. "And I will always love you." In addition to hugging him with her hooves, her wings wrapped around him again and this time, Eternal wasn't gonna break free from her warm embrace. ". . . I'll always love you, too. . . mom." Eternal says, genuinely.