//------------------------------//
// Healing Broken Hearts 
// Story: Rise of Equestria 2: Cannon Fodder 
// by Israel Yabuki 
//------------------------------//

The castle was as quiet as could be. Both the Elements of Harmony and Elements of Freedom were all resting up for the biggest challenge that lies ahead. They've won the battle to free Spike from his hypnotic trance from the Song of Dragons, but they have yet to win the war against the evil Zoor, whom is probably almost completing her goal to take over Equestria with her entire dragon army. Nothing could be done to stop her, at least not right now, the battle with Spike had all but tired out the group.

Inside one of the guest rooms, Rarity still sat at Spike's bedside, waiting for the young dragon to open up his eyes and hope to see their life-like spark like she did way before he fell prey to Zoor's power. It sickens her to think that such a cruel pony would do something to one of her dearest and closest friends, but it's more heartbreaking to find out she was the one who caused Spike to turn into that giant rampaging dragon.

Throughout all the years, Rarity has always seen Spike as nothing more than a dear friend who's grown up to be every single trait of the Elements of Harmony. He's always so kind to his friends when they need comfort and even nowadays, he does it not to gain anything fancy, but to show he cares. His honesty had also improved, including the time when he saved Rarity from that forbidden spell book. Anytime his friends needed a good laugh, he would tell funny jokes or just act all goofy for absolutely no reason. His loyalty to everyone is only matched by that of Rainbow Dash's, especially after their trip to the Freedom Village where deep down, he was actually worried about his friends and chose to travel along, even though he had no choice.

"Spike, darling. Please wake up. I can't stand to watch you suffer anymore. It's all my fault you ended up turning into that giant rampaging dragon. It should have been me who should be under that spell, at least then, you would have still been in complete control. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can't, please wake up so I can finally tell you how sorry I am!" Rarity begged.

In truth, Spike can only half hear what she's saying. Spike can hear only part of what she's saying as he was watching his own memories up until the point where he warned his friends of the dangerous magical powers that alicorn monster now possesses after absorbing them from Melodia. But up until he warned them, everything in his mind went black. Spike can't remember anything after that. No matter how hard he tries, his mind keeps drawing a blank.

Then, in a blinding light, an alicorn silhouette appears and approaches Spike. For some strange reason, Spike can somehow feel that this figure approaching him is friendly by nature. Spike also approaches the alicorn silhouette, but at a slower pace than its own.

Spike makes out the alicorn to be none other than Princess Luna. Instead of having a happy face, Princess Luna has a more concerned, worried look. Spike feels confused. "It seems you have a lot of questions waiting to be answered, am I not right, dearest Spike?" Luna asks.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on. One minute I'm with the others at the Freedom Village and the next, I lost conciousness and ended up here. So what exactly happened, Princess Luna?" Spike asks.

"My sister told me everything, but I don't think you're ready to hear the news. You must think carefully on whether or not you want to hear it. If you do choose to hear it, then I must warn you, you'll be in denial of the horrendous acts that have occurred while you drifted off into darkness. However, if you choose not to hear it, I will completely understand and refrain from speaking. But that doesn't mean your friends will keep this terrible secret from you. Now, I'll ask you once more, do you wish to hear what happened?" she asks.

"Well, first I want to know if my friends are okay! They're not hurt, are they?" 

"A couple of them did recieve a couple of scratches and bruises, but they're still alive and well. They should all be fine with a little rest, Spike." 

Spike lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia. Okay, I'm ready for you to tell me what happened, and I want to know every single detail."

Luna nods. "Very well, Spike. But keep in mind, I did try to warn you." Luna inhales and lets it all out, "You see, Spike, by the time you lost conciousness, you became hostile and nearly burnt one of your friends alive and it was all because you fell prey to the Song of Dragons. Normally it wouldn't have affected you because you never let your greed take a hold of you, but from what the others told me, there was another reason why the song affected you and in turn, it caused you to be more hostile than other dragons."

Spike backs away, not sure if he wants to hear the news. But he did say he wants to find out every single detail and he's going to see this through to the end. "What happened?"

"The reason why the song affected you, too, was because of your broken heart. You held a strong amount of affection for lady Rarity, and because she never returns your affections, it left you heartbroken to the point where you were vulnerable to the spell, which caused you to gradually transform into a giant rampaging dragon in which not even Zoor could control for long."

Spike felt his heart drop at this shocking news. "N-No, it can't be..." he says in denial.

"I'm afraid it's true, Spike. Zoor even sent you to destroy all of Canterlot and Ponyville. Eternal Flames was so determined to stop you himself that he ended up getting injured and almost got burned alive, but thanks to Blaze Burn, he saved him from certain death. Twilight and her friends heard of you coming to Canterlot and prepared themselves for a grueling battle. Canterlot had almost burnt to the ground had it not been for young Twilight and her friends, including my sister and Blaze Burn, too."

Spike kneels down on his knees, looking down at the pit of darkness. "S-So... it's my fault, then."

"No, Spike. It was an accident. None of us knew this would happen up until too late when the battle took place, but thanks to Twilight and her friends, including Melodia, they all managed to bring you back to your old, kind and caring self, and now they're all resting up and waiting for you to wake up to them, including the one mare who's captured your heart. In fact, lady Rarity is waiting by your bedside so you'll be able to open up your eyes at this very moment."

Spike lifts up his head and looks straight into Luna's eyes, His own eyes fill up with tears. "How am I suppose to face all of my friends after that whole event? I almost got them killed because of my actions, I'm not even sure if I can look at Rarity the same way I did over the years." he says, depressed.

"Nonsense, Spike. Why did you think your friends risked their lives to save you?" she asks. Spike doesn't answer her, so she answers for him. "It's because deep down, they all still care about you. Think about it, you've been friends with Twilight and the others for a long time ever since you arrived in Ponyville years ago and made yourself lots of great friends. Even if the road got a little bumpy, you and the others never forgot about the strong friendship you've built. They would never even think about leaving you."

Luna's words of encouragement seem to have some effect on Spike. He wipes his tears off of his face and sniffles a little before standing back up on his feet. "Are you sure they'd forgive me?" Spike asks.

"Your actions were not your own, Spike. They would definitely forgive you from the bottom of their hearts, that I can assure you is the truth." Luna nods. Although he hesitates at first, Spike walks up to Luna and hugs her, earning a hug back from the princess of the night. With nothing else to say, she lights up her horn and causes the darkness around Spike to vanish for only a brief moment.

Outside of Spike's unconcious mind, Rarity keeps Spike's claw held in her hooves. Just then, she feels Spike's claws twitching and moving. Rarity's eyes shoot wide open as she then turns towards Spike's eyes. The young dragon begins to stir and rise up from his bed.

Slowly, his eyes open up and show signs of life. The spark in his beautiful emerald eyes has finally returned and best part of it is that Rarity has witnessed it herself. Spike turns to his right, locking his gaze with his lifelong crush and speaks out only one word. "Hi, Rarity." he says, weakly.

Rarity's tears flow out of her eyes like waterfalls, yet she puts on a smile. "Oh, Spike!" she exclaims. Rarity lunges herself at Spike and wraps her hooves around him, catching him off guard. However, he immediately smiles warmly and wraps his arms around Rarity.

"I'm so glad to see you're alright, Rarity. I'm sorry I made you worry." Spike says, softly. Rarity doesn't reply, she just keeps sobbing on Spike's shoulder, letting her mascara run. Spike opens up his wings and wraps them around Rarity, giving her a more comforting hug. Rarity feels the warmth of her favorite dragon and the way it calms her down as she looks directly at Spike with a sad smile on her face.

"No, Spike. It's I who should be sorry. I'm the reason you ended up under that alicorn's spell. I should have paid more attention to your feelings and acknowledge that your love for me was genuine and not just some crush, instead of brushing them off. If anypony is to blame, it's me." Rarity says, rubbing Spike's cheek.

"Rarity..." Spike pauses and places his claw over her hoof, which she placed on his cheek. "I'm not even sure if the others will look at me the same way they did before all of this happened. It's true that I love you, even though you never returned my feelings, but I don't want you to feel like you're completely at fault her, I'm to blame for this just as much, I almost lost you and my friends. If anything were to happen to you and my friends, I just wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Spike..." Rarity says as she climbs on top of the bed, sitting next to Spike. "...you've been there for your friends through thick and thin, and yes, there were times when you caused an accident, but no matter what kind of predicament we're in, we're still friends."

Though, he still feels a hint of guilt for almost bringing havoc and destruction to Canterlot and his friends, Spike can already feel a huge stone fall off his heart. His love and respect for Rarity soon reaches new heights and in turn, he puts on a sad smile for Rarity. Rarity smiles back at him and places her hoof on top of Spike's claw, giving it kind and affectionate rubs and works her hoof up to Spike's shoulder. Spike's face burns up from embarrassment from Rarity's bold move.

"I... I just... I don't know what to say, Rarity." and he was right, Spike cannot find the right words to tell Rarity how he truly feels right now.

"Hmm, I think I know what to say. Spike, your actions earlier today were not your own, if anyone is to blame, it's that alicorn creature for hypnotizing you from a sweet, gentle dragon to a giant rampaging dragon, and as I explained before, it was also my fault for being so cruel to you. Like any true friend, you're always lending a helping hand and in return, I, along with my friends failed to show you how truly grateful we are, so please Spike, cast all of your doubts away and look at yourself as the same kind and loving dragon that your friends know and love... the same dragon... that I love the most."

As much as he tries to deny what she said to him, his ears heard her loud and clear. Rarity leans in a little closer to Spike and soon feels her other hoof being gently grasped by Spike's claw. "R-Rarity..." is the only word he can say at this point.

"Spike..." Rarity replies.

Both the young dragon and the fashionista unicorn feel their faces heat up and lean in close to each other, their lips almost about to touch. Time seems to be moving at a slower pace to them.

Sadly, their little moment ends all too quickly when they hear a knock on the door. Their hearts skipped a beat as their most precious moment is cut short. Spike was about to get up, but Rarity allows him to lay down while she gets off the bed and walks over to the door. She opens it up and sees Princess Celestia and Twilight Sparkle standing right next to her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Twilight said she wanted to see if Spike was okay, may we come in?" Celestia asks.

"I don't see why not, come on in, ladies." Rarity replies, moving aside and opening up the door a little wider, allowing both alicorns to enter the room. The two princesses glance at Spike. Celestia's reaction was a huge gasp, but Twilight's gasp lasted longer as her little dragon brother is wide awake. Twilight's older sibling instincts kick in and she flies onto the bed, wrapping her hooves around Spike.

"SPIKE!!!" Twilight shouted. Spike is caught off-guard when Twilight did that. Twilight soon starts crying and tightens her grip on Spike's neck. There's nothing to hold back the tears. She continues to cry and cry, apologizing to Spike, but she gave no explaination to why she was apologizing.

The commotion from inside the room somehow echoes throughout the hall and the doors to the guest rooms open up as Twilight's friends exit out and follow the sound of their crying friend. One by one, each of her friends enter the room and notice their dragon friend awake and recovering from the fatigue.

"Well, Ah'll be darned, Ah'm so glad to see you're awake, Spike." Applejack says, putting on a sad smile and taking off her hat and placing it towards her chest.

"Spike, are you okay, we were so worried! I hope you're not too hurt after what happened." Fluttershy says like a mother worries for her child.

"It just wasn't the same without you, Spike." Pinkie Pie says.

"Don't you EVER scare us like that again, you hear me?!" Rainbow shouted, trying to fight back the tears.

"Rainbow Dash, Spike wasn't the one at fault here, he was taken from us because we didn't act quick enough to save him from that alicorn tyrant's clutches. If it wasn't for Melodia, Spike would've gotten seriously hurt, or... somepony else, but the point is... we got him back." Sunset says.

Afterwards, Rainbow Dash's ears droop down while she looks at Spike. Soon, Eternal Flames makes his way to Spike, though no one knows what he's planning to do. But then he opens up his mouth and speaks, "Spike, it's good to see you're back to your old self. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we couldn't save you, but now that you're back, I suggest that you take it easy and rest up for a little while." says Eternal.

Without even waiting, "What? No! I want to help you guys take down that creature!"

"Spike, Zoor is far more stronger than you think. She possesses all the magical abilities that she absorbed from Melodia and has an entire dragon army under her command. If you end up becoming a giant rampaging dragon, the results won't end the same as they have before. We'll be outnumbered, fighting impossible odds, it's not wise to go into battle without a carefully planned stradegy. And besides, when Melodia sang the song that reversed the Song of Dragons on you, you could barely stand up."

"I can stand up just fine, watch!" Spike argues, getting out of bed. Sadly, his legs start to wobble and almost falls to the floor, had it not been for Rarity.

"Spike, save your strength, for once, he's telling the truth. You're not in any condition to fight. You have to rest up so you'll have more energy to help us. I know how you feel, Spike, but you mustn't act so rashly, otherwise you'll end up turning into a rampaging dragon again. I want you to stay here and rest, because I'm worried about you and I don't want to see you suffer like before." Rarity explains.

"She's right, Spike. Twilight and her friends risked their lives to save you. If you go out there in the state you're in right now, you'll only hurt yourself even more." Celestia implies.

As much as he hates to admit it, they're right. Spike hangs his head in defeat and climbs back onto the bed and lays himself down on the pillow. "So what's going to happen now?" Spike asks.

"Hmm, let's see." Twilight says, trying to think. "Well, as far we know, Zoor is still out there, attempting to conquer all of Equestria with her dragon army. A direct assault isn't any good."

Just then, Sunset gets an idea. "Melodia." she says.

"Hmm?" Melodia asks, keeping her sassy expression the way it always is.

"This is very, very important. Is it possible to take control of the dragons by singing the Song of Dragons?" she asks, earning a deadpanned expression from the pony/dragon hybrid. "Just hear me out. We already know that Zoor has the entire dragon kingdom at the tip of her hoof, but is it possible to use your Song of Dragon to turn them against her and bring them over to our side?" Sunset asks.

Melodia stares up, stroking her chin with her claw. "I'm not sure. I never tried it out. No pony's ever tried singing the Song of Dragons in the way you described it. But I am willing to give it a try." she says, smirking.

"Then, why don't we test it out right now?" Rainbow asks.

"Because, it might be too dangerous. We can't afford to risk anymore ponies getting hurt if this theory were to be proven a success, we have to move to a more secluded area." Tidal explains.

"I believe he has a point. Now, Twilight, Sunset." Celestia says. "Take the others with you and head straight for the far outskirts until you can't see the town and one other thing: If you ever want to succeed in defeating Zoor, you're going to need the Elements of Harmony for this. I fear that the Elements of Freedom won't be powerful enough to stop Zoor from taking over Equestria. Can I count on you to do this task?"

"Of course, princess." Twilight says, determined.

"What about Spike? Is he going to be alright?" Sunset asks.

"There's no need to worry. I'll watch after Spike until he's all rested up and ready to go." Celestia reassures.

"I-I think I should stay here and help you look after Spike." Rarity is hesitant at first, but also feels like she this is something she has to do.

"Rarity, without the Element of Generosity, the rest of the Elements of Harmony won't work. "Your friends need your help right now. Like I said, Spike'll be fine." Celestia insists.

"B-But, Spike was put under that spell because of me. I can't leave him!" Rarity persists.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Melodia says, rolling her eyes.

"Rarity, don't worry about me." Spike says. "The others are right, they need you more than I do right now and it's probably going to take every ounce of strength you all have to beat Zoor. She's a lot more powerful than you think, so please, I ask you as a friend to go on and help them out."

"A-Are you sure you'll be okay?" Rarity asks.

"I'm positive. If I recover quick enough, I'll join up with you guys as soon as I can. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." he Pinkie promises. There's no talking her way out of this. Rarity now understands this more than anyone, so she accepts Spike's decision and gives him one last hug before following her friends out of the room and walk down the hall, where suddenly, Eternal gets curious.

"Excuse me, Twilight, I'm still curious, though. What are these "Elements of Harmony?" Are they sort of like the Elements of Freedom, or do they work differently?" Eternal asks.

"The Elements of Harmony are almost like your Elements of Freedom, but they work differently. The Elements of Harmony were used to protect Equestria from any evil that threatened to take over our land. Back when Celestia and Luna ruled the land, they used the elements to turn Discord into stone. Discord was the former evil lord of chaos and disharmony, but now he's reformed. A little over a thousand years ago, the Elements of Harmony were also used to banish Princess Celestia's sister to the moon." Twilight explains.

"Why would the princess send her own sister to the moon? Isn't that a little too extreme?" Heat Blitz asks.

"It was because Princess Luna grew jealous when the ponies all slept through her beautiful night. Fueled by her anger and jealousy for Princess Celestia, Luna turned into what she calls "Nightmare Moon." Princess Celestia tried to reason with her, but it was no use. She was left with no other choice but to send her sister to the moon for a thousand years." Twilight says, looking down.

"Gee, I can't even imagine the guilt the princess had to live with for a thousand years." Hurricane Breeze says, placing his wing tip over his heart.

"I'm sure that deep down, she wished there was something more she could have done to prevent all of this while she still thought of whether or not Luna was okay." Ground Breaker says.

"So then, what happened next?" Heat Blitz asks.

"After a thousand years passed, Nightmare Moon returned. My friends and I worked together to stop her, thanks to the Elements of Harmony. Only when we used them, they expelled the dark magic from within Princess Luna and reverted her back to her normal self. We also used them to turn Discord back into stone when he escaped his stone prison when he was still the bad guy."

"How did he reform himself?" Tidal asks.

"Oh, that was all because of me." Fluttershy says. "I volunteered to help Discord turn over a new leaf and we've been best friends ever since."

"That's pretty impressive." Ground Breaker says.

"I was impressed by it, too. Although, I don't think anypony else could have done it better than Fluttershy, being that she's the Element of Kindness." Twilight says, making Fluttershy blush happily.

"Oh, so the elements have names just like ours?" Eternal asks.

"That's right. The Elements of Harmony are known as Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty and Magic, and all of us are the chosen wielders. Now back on the task at hoof, we have to go and get the Elements of Harmony as fast as we possibly can."

"Twilight's right, there's not much time left before Zoor takes of Equestria with her dragon army!" Sunset agrees, as she runs ahead of the group. The rest of the group runs with her out of the castle.

"Where are the Elements of Harmony right now?" Heat Blitz asks.

"They'e being kept safe in the Tree of Harmony, I'll explain the rest later until we get there!" Twilight says





It has taken quite some time, but Twilight and her friends progress onward after they had reached Ponyville, but as of now, they are traveling on hoof the rest of the way to reach the Tree of Harmony. But, walking down the path in the Everfree Forest doesn't bode well ease their worries.

"Is it always like this in this forest?" Eternal asks, checking his surroundings.

"Afraid so. The Everfree Forest is always dangerous to other ponies. It's even far more dangerous when night falls because of all the nocturnal predators that are hunting here. But we don't have any other choice, this is the safest path in the forest that'll lead us to the Tree of Harmony." Twilight says.

"I'm surprised your cottage is so close to this scary place, Fluttershy." Hurricane says with concern.

"The forest always makes me feel scared, but it's still like a backyard to me. It's never easy for me to go in there anytime my animals run off. I always have to force myself to run into the forest just to bring back my animals, most it's my chickens who run into the forest." Fluttershy explains.

"I don't know, this forest doesn't feel all that intimidating." Melodia shrugs. "I mean, if I were attacked by any predators in here, I can easily fight or scare them off."

"Melodia, as believable as that sounds, this is no time to be gloating. We get that you're probably the stronge pony/dragon hybrid in all of Equestria, but you don't have to act all high and mighty." Tidal says.

"Do ya ever think about anypony but yerself?" AJ asks.

"If there was ever a meaning to the word "modesty," I highly doubt the little princess would understand it, let alone take it into consideration." Eternal sasses. He ends up getting kicked by Melodia's hind legs. He gets sent so flying out in front of the group, almost out of sight.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt the wittle pwince?" Melodia asks, giggling.

"Dear sweet Celestia, you have to control that temper of yours, Melodia! You could have killed him!" Tidal says, staring at Melodia all frustrated. Sunset runs up ahead to check up on Eternal. "And I know it might have hurt you in some way, but you can't let your hubris overtake you like that. When all of this is said and done, I'm going to have to teach you a little thing called "self-control."

"You're overreacting, Tidal. I barely even tapped him with my double kick." Melodia replies.

"Then learn to control your powers. You might think he's alright from your little assault, but what if he ended up landing in some kind of spiked chasm?" Tidal persists.

"Ugh, alright fine. You don't have to chew me out, sweetie." Melodia retorts. She brushes her tail against Tidal's chin while she moves ahead of him.

"Everypony, over here! We found it!" Sunset calls out. The group runs/flies in the direction of where Sunset and Eternal are and come across a pathway leading into this cave.

"Okay, everypony follow me and no pushing." Twilight says. She and her friends walk down into the cave before the guys and stumble upon this amazing crystal tree that seems to be emitting strong amounts of magical energy from within it.

"So, this is the Tree of Harmony you mentioned earlier." Eternal says. "I cannot even begin to describe what kind of secrets it holds. But it doesn't seem to give off the same kind of dangerous vibe our Elements of Freedom possess, it feels warmer and more inviting."

"That's because we use the Elements of Harmony for healing magic." Pinkie Pie says. "I bet if our paths were different, you would be the wielder of the Element of Magic."

"Uhh... I think I'd rather stick with my Element of Courage." Eternal replies as he backs away from Pinkie.

"I'm so ready to kick some dragon butt!" Rainbow says.

"I'm still shocked that we have to use the Elements of Harmony after all these years. But, due to the situation at hoof, I'd say it's all for a good cause. Are you ready, girls?" Twilight asks.

"You betcha!" Applejack says, confidentally.

"Ready and waiting!" Rainbow says, grinning.

"Yup Yup!" Pinkie says, all chipper.

"I will not tolerate what that evil witch put us through!" Rarity says, clenching her hoof.

"I suppose." Fluttershy says, unsure.

"Alright girls, here we go." Twilight lets out a sigh and lights up her horn. A magic beam connects with the center of the Tree of Harmony. The tree emits a bright glow and bring out six different colored jewels. Each jewel was shaped to look like part of Twilight and her friends' cutie marks. Five necklaces wrapped around Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, while a crown with a pink star in the middle placed itself on Twilight's head before the tree's light finally dims.

"This is it, everypony. Let's go." Twilight says