The 7th Element

by thunderhawk7865

A Song From the Heart

Chapter 17: A Song From the Heart

Rainbow Dash groaned and shook her head. "Uhhh...what?" Her eyes fluttered open.

Her vision blurry, she could make out the ground below her; her ears ringing from the intenseness of the impact. After shaking her head, she realized she was upon in the canopy of one of the trees. "I didn't crash down? Then what-" "ACE!" She suddenly barked, trying to flap her wings and take off, but she yelped in pain as her right wing gave out and she fell out of the tree with a thud.

"Darn it..." She groaned, rolling over. Slowly getting to her hooves, she turned her head and saw the corpse of the dragon, the burning hole Ace had made still smoking as the dragon lay there, it's eyes still open.

She shuddered and looked around, "ACE!" She yelled, trotting around the dragon's body. "Ace! Where are you!?" She reached the other side of the dragon's corpse and gasped, putting a hoof up to her mouth.

In front of her was a crater. A large crater. And laying in the center of it was a broken, unmoving Ace.

She quickly slid down the dirt incline down to the bottom of the crater and galloped up to the still stallion. "ACE! Oh Celestia no..." She sat down on her hind legs and lifted Ace's head in her arms. Blood was drizzling out of Ace's mouth. He also had several cuts and bruises around his body. But what made Dash start crying was the piece of sharp rock lodged in Ace's chest, near his right shoulder. She quickly moved to remove the sharp piece of shrapnel and she yanked off her royal guard chest piece and used some of the cloth it had on it to attempt to stop the bleeding.

Suddenly, Ace's eyes snapped open and he inhaled deeply, coughing out a few drops of blood before he laid his head back in Dash's hooves. He looked up and coughed, "Dash..."

"Ace..." She managed to say his name through her sobs. "You saved me..."

He smiled weakly. "Yeah... What happened anyway?"

"You did a Shining Rainboom..." She smiled. "You went a little bit less faster than me when I do my Rainboom..."

Dan chuckled, "Shining Rainboom, huh? I like it... Still have to maintain your pride...cough...huh?"

"Duh, you stupid..." She closed her eyes and shook her head to regain her composure, before opening them. "Why didn't I end up in the crater, like you?" She sniffed as more tears began to fall out.

Dan laid his head back again, raising a hoof to his mouth as he coughed out more blood. "I threw you down into the canopy shortly before I hit..." He hacked up a huge gob of blood before continuing. "Because I..." He paused and brushed a strand of her mane out of her tear-stained face. "Because I knew that if we both hit...then we would both die..."

Dash's eyes widened and she nuzzled his face, "No...no Ace, you are not going to die! I'll get you some help! I can-"

"Dashie..." Dan sounded weaker. "It's too late..." He nodded down at the wound on his chest. "I'm not sure what, but..." He grunted as he tried to get a better view of Dash's face. "That rock punctured something important..."

She chuckled at his joke. "How can you still maintain that sense of humor, even when you're about to die?"

Dan smiled weakly and coughed again, "I guess I'm just as crazy as you after all, Dashie..."

Dash and Dan sat for a moment before Dash brushed away a strand of Dan's mane and said, "I thought you hated me..." Dan looked up at her. "Because of what I did..."

Dan coughed again before smiling and brushing Dash's cheek with his hoof. "Dashie... It's because I didn't want to..." He leaned over and coughed out another large amount of blood.

Dash blinked away more tears as Dan rolled back over and stared up at her. "I don't have much longer Dash..." He wrapped a hoof around her shoulder and another grasped her respective hoof. "I need to tell something to you...before..." His eyes closed for a moment, but they fluttered open again quickly. "Before I die..."

Dash nuzzled Dan's face as Dan attempted to clear his throat by coughing out the rest of the blood that was currently in it.

"Are you..." Dash smiled. "Are you gonna sing...to me?" She blinked away even more tears as Dan slowly nodded, not saying anything. He opened his mouth and began singing in a lower tenor voice:

Dash smiled slightly as Dan started his song, but he quickly stopped and started coughing. She moved closer to him and began stroking his mane, and then, to Dan's surprise (so much he stopped coughing) Rainbow Dash sang back to him in that adorable raspy alto voice:

Dan weakly smiled again before starting to cry himself as he started to sing the chorus line with her: (italics means just Dash, bold means just Dan, and bold and italics means they are both singing, Dan doing a lower harmony)

Dan and Dash smiled at each other briefly before embracing in a tight hug. Tears streamed down the faces of both ponies as Dan hacked up more blood.

"I didn't know you...cough...sang so well, Rainbow Dash..." Dan blinked up at her. "Or even knew that song..."

"I'm full of surprises, hun..." Dash chuckled, wiping away another tear.

"Clearly..." Dan tried to laugh but doubled over in pain. He gently smiled at her before continuing in a high tenor voice this time:

Dash started rocking back and forth with Dan in her arms. It was her attempt to ease his passing. It was her wish that he would live. As they cradled each other, Shadow Breeze and Blazing Heartbeat were flying overhead. They stopped, Shadow pointed, and they touched down on the edge of the crater, not speaking as the two ponies in the crater sang the chorus again...

"Dash..." Dan smiled at her. "Do you know...cough cough...what I'm trying to tell you?" He reached up and stroked her cheek.

"I think so...but..." She leaned in closer. "Tell me anyway...

She nodded as more ponies landed to see if Dan was okay. Shadow Breeze and Blazing Heartbeat kept them back, hoping to leave the moment between the two ponies. Mic Bluez poked his way to the front of the group and stopped dead when he saw Ace. "Ace...no..."

Dan smiled as big as he could in his weakened state and laughed. "I can't believe I'm saying this... I've fallen for you Dash...I love you..."

Dash gasped, a sparkle appearing in her eyes. "Ace...I love you too..."

Before Dash could say anything back to him he sat up in her arms and started singing again:

Dan was face to face with Dash at this point, both ponies looking deep into each other's eyes, both weeping. Dan leaned in and sang in a hushed, almost whispered, tone.

And then they kissed.

Dan was the one who leaned in and went for it. Dash readily accepted the kiss, turning it into a much deeper kiss than Dan could manage on his own in his weakened state. Tears streaming from both their faces moved out each other's faces as they kissed.

The group watching was awed by the sight. So much so even the stallionliest of stallionly were weeping. Big Mac was one. He wiped away a tear as Sunset Canvas put a hoof of comfort around the work-horse. Fluttershy, who had given chase to Rainbow Dash after she went to Dan's rescue from the dragon, landed next to Shadow Breeze.

"Oh dear..." She gasped. "Is Ace...?"

Shadow nodded, "Y-yeah..." He sniffed.

Fluttershy's lower lip quivered before she burst out crying and embraced Shadow Breeze tightly, causing the grey stallion to smile slightly and blush. He moved his hoof around her shoulder and hugged her back.

Finally, after what seemed like a never-ending moment, the two broke apart. Dash pulled Dan into a tight embrace, but Dan couldn't move. He was too weak. He just stared up at her. "I've always loved your eyes, Dash... Your violet eyes..."

"Mine are nothing compared to yours..." Dash said back, sniffing sadly.

Dan slowly laid back into Dash's arms and closed his eyes and started singing again:

His breathing started disappearing. Dash shook her head, "No...please Ace...oh Celestia no, Ace..."

His head rolled over to the side and his breathing stopped. For all intensive purposes, the musical pony was gone.

"No..." Dash shook her head slowly, before starting to wail. She buried her head in Ace's broken torso and began screaming into it. "No no no noooooo!"

The group of ponies watching bowed their heads in respect, Mic Bluez removing his cap with his right hoof and putting it over his chest, bowing his head also.

"Well, that certainly wasn't the way I expected to go out... Mom...Dad...Dashie... I'll miss you all so much..."

"Dan..."

"What? Ugh...what happened?"

"Dan, it's Luna. The Princess..."

"Am I...am I dead?"

"Dan, listen very carefully. Celestia and I are being held prisoner in the throne room. You must gather the elements and stop Discord and his guard!"

"But...I'm dead...how can I?"

"Haha! Dan? Don't you realize what you have done? You unlocked the 7th Element!"

"What are you-"

A golden flash of light enveloped Dan's corpse, causing everypony that was mourning on the edge of the crater to shield their eyes.

Dash looked up from her crying and gasped as the golden light enveloped her as well.

"What the hay?" Blazing Heartbeat grunted, putting on some sunglasses.

"What the buck is goin' on?" Mic Bluez shouted above all the chatter.

Captain Sixer galloped into the area with his guard. "Celestia above..." He muttered, staring at the light.

Rainbow Dash and Dan's corpse were lifted up into the air. The light got so bright, nopony could see the two.

There was thunderous boom and the light disappeared as quickly as it came.

The group gasped.

Standing in the crater was Rainbow Dash, with her elements necklace, the red lightning bolt. But this time with an added gem next to it:

A blue music note with a pink-hearted background.

But what really caught everypony's attention was Dan. Dash gasped when she looked out to the side and saw Dan standing with his eyes closed, but clad in a dark blue and black armor with a blue note etched on the flank-guard. Sheathed on either side of Dan's body were two swords; scimitars with golden hilts and the same symbol Dash had on her new gem etched on the center of the hilts. He wore no helmet.

Dan opened his eyes and the onlookers held their breath as Dan looked around. His now brightly glowing eyes scanned over the group of onlookers; the Captain, Mic Bluez, Blazing Heartbeat, and Shadow Breeze with a hoof around Fluttershy, who was sniffing and staring at Dan.

He eventually turned and looked at Rainbow Dash. Dash was in awe. Dan seemed to be taller in this new suit of armor the 7th Element had given him.

He gazed at her, his face unwavering with no emotion, and then he smiled. "Hey Dashie..."

She couldn't contain herself any longer. She leaped up into Dan's arms, kissing him as hard as she could, only this time, Dan had the strength to kiss back.

The group cheered as they spun around in each others arms, lips still locked.

Mic Bluez tossed his hat in the air and shouted, "Yeehah! Atta colt, Ace!"

The two parted and they stared at each other. "Is this...?" Dan looked over himself and poked the new gems on Dash's necklace.

She nodded, "The 7th Element we've been looking for..." She smiled evilly. "Ready to kick some Discord hind end?"

Dan looked down at her broken wing. "I am... But you're not."

"I'm coming with you, big boy. Like asked in your song, I'll be there..." She looked up at him.

Dan opened his mouth in shock that she remembered the song, and then smiled warmly. "And so will I..."

The guard pony's horn started glowing and DJ Skully's voice echoed through to the Captain, who was smiling at observing the tender moment before him.

"Captain? It's Skully. We're outside the stain-glass room. We're waiting on your Pegasai unit to open the doors for us from the inside... What's going on?"

The Captain laughed.

"What?" The DJ sounded confused. "What happened? Did you guys win the fight outside?"

"Not only that, Skully..." The Captain chuckled warmly. "It seems Ace and Rainbow Dash have discovered the Element of Love."

On the other end of the line, Pinkie Pie, upon hearing the captain say this, bounced so high in the air it she broke through their invisibility cover. It was a good thing no enemies were in the room, as they would've seen, and heard, the hyperactive party pony.

"AHHHHHH! That's! SOOOO! CUUUUTE!" She shouted, falling back into the shroud.

Twilight smiled, "Looks like we stand a chance now, everypony..."

"It's about time the two confessed..." Rarity groaned. "The tension between them was overwhelming..." She put a hoof on her forehead in distress.

Applejack looked at the ground in disappointment. "Pony feathers..."

"What was that, AJ?" Twilight asked.

"Oh uh...pony feathers because... If they don't hurry soon we could get caught."

"Right..." Twilight said. "Skully, are they on their way?"

The DJ turned and nodded, his skull mask seeming like it was smiling again. "Wait til you see what they're bringing..."

OCs:

Shadow Breeze (c) AnonJ31

Sunset Canvas (c) SallyandMcQueenfan95

Mic Bluez (c) Don'tDriveAngry7

DJ Skully (c) Malfatto the Doctor

Blazing Heartbeat (c) MilesProwerFan100

Song: Will You Be There?, Skillet