Characters / Codex Equus Healing Song

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Prince Healing Song/Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya, the Divine Teacher

Classification: Ethereal/Elemental/Ascendant, Eldritch

Portfolio (Old): Music, Potential, Teaching, Psionics

Portfolio (New): Potential, Teaching, Light, Protection, Fear

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

"I may be blind, but that won't stop me from enjoying music, or helping people I care about." (as Prince Healing Song)

"It's important to keep an open mind, because what you learn and experience will end up staying with you for a very long time." (as Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya)

Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya, born Healing Song (his entries here and here), is the eldritch Alicorn god of Potential, Teaching, Light, Protection, and Fear, and is a member of the Church of the Stars.

Born in Caneighda during the Second Age, Healing Song was given up for adoption by his birth parents, and was shortly raised by a loving couple unable to have able to have a foal of their own. Tragedy struck when Healing Song became infected by retinoblastoma, a rare ocular cancer, during his infancy. The doctors had to remove his infected eyes and replace them with prosthetic ones to save his life, but this ensured that Healing Song would remain blind for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, Healing Song's fortunes would increase after that. At age three, he started playing the guitar by positioning it flat on his lap and playing it like he would a piano. He quickly established himself as a prodigy guitarist and singer, and he would form the Healing String Groove Band with bassist Steel String and drummer Tempo Groove after signing under a Ponylandian record label. Despite his fame and popularity, Healing Song remained humble and kind throughout his music career, eventually attracting the attention of Blue Suede Heartstrings, who would become his friend and mentor. Blue became an important figure in Healing Song's life, and it was under Blue where he discovered his own love for teaching. He would become a mentor for many aspiring musicians himself, with his students rising to greatness thanks to his lessons.

Despite his good life, Healing Song became afflicted with the fear of dying one day, which he kept secret at first. He later caved and confessed his fears to his friends, leading to him meeting Bossa Nova Heartstrings, Blue's older twin brother. Bossa Nova helped Healing Song accept his own mortality, so by the time he became terminally ill with cancer, Healing Song was content with everything he had accomplished and prepared himself for his inevitable death. This led to a rather unexpected turn of events: Instead of dying, Healing Song Ascended to godhood on his deathbed, saving his life and granting him divine immortality.

Healing Song continued playing music and teaching others until the end of the Second Age, during which he would enter a period of mourning from losing everything during the "Void Aeon" event, and gradually outliving almost everyone he cared about. Fortunately, Blue, Bossa Nova, and Healing Song's surviving friends were there to help him, and when the Third Age began, Healing Song would travel the world together with Blue. This continued until the Fourth Age, where Healing Song accepted an offer from Queen Dazzleglow and became a member of the Church of the Stars. He was welcomed warmly by other deities of the Church, who were excited to be joined by an Alicorn who embodied Teaching.

Despite being crippled at a very young age, Healing Song refused to let it affect him negatively, and rose to great heights through his humility and the support of those who loved him.

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# — B

• '80s Hair: In his mortal youth, his mane somewhat resembled a mullet, but he cut it short after he got older and thus couldn't maintain his hair anymore. Ascending to demi-godhood restored it.
• Abstract Apotheosis:
  • In his mortal life, he unexpectedly Ascends to demi-godhood on his deathbed just as Bossa Nova Heartstrings was about to usher him into a Heaven-Realm, likely thanks to a disguised Luminiferous rewarding him for his good deeds. Later, he would Ascend to true godhood under Blue Suede's tutelage. However, his experience in Ascending at the last minute left quite an impact on him, as he originally intended to reunite with Moon Ray Vaughoof, who died in a helicopter accident (before they reunited in the Fourth Age) and later felt burdened by his immortality.
  • During the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', he would transform into an eldritch god thanks to being in close proximity to Caelum Filum for a month. While not as drastic compared to Moon Ray's, the experience changed his portfolio, getting rid of his Music domain entirely while adding new ones, and merging his Psionics domain with his affinity for light magic to create a new Light domain.
• The Ace: Like his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, he is a musical prodigy. Despite being blind since infancy, he managed to learn how to play the guitar like a piano when he was only three years old. Throughout his music career, he had played with both single-necked and double-necked guitars with equal amount of skill (hence his double-necked guitar Cutie Mark), though according to him, he learned to play the trumpet at one point, yet later got rusty due to playing the guitar more often. He is also an accomplished songwriter, writing his own songs with Braille during the Second Age, and possessed a great auditory memory. He was also able to adapt to moving from Blues music to Jazz music despite playing the former for much of his career. This factored into him becoming a "prodigy deity" once he Ascended, as his physical and magical development would be accelerated at abnormal rates compared to "normal" deities.
• Achilles' Heel: For all his divinity, experience, and power, he is still blind. Because of this, he has to rely on both his natural senses and his magic to get around, which makes him vulnerable to things like people with Anti-Magic (like Prince Fanged Paw) and sound-muffling spells. Even after becoming an eldritch Alicorn, he still has this weakness, and though he now has light powers to help him 'see', they can be countered by darkness magic. It's noted that War Rock ruthlessly exploited his blindness in order to torment and psychologically break him, with devastating consequences.
• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • When he heard his fans interpreted him and Steel String as lovers, he took it in stride and laughed, before taking the time to clear things up.
  • He also thought Steel String's posthumous In-Universe depiction as a straight-faced, badass martial artist with godlike supernatural abilities was highly amusing. When he told Steel String about it in the Fourth Age, the latter responded by fainting.
  • He was so amused by the sheer irony of him, a blind Alicorn, being regarded as a better teacher and role model than the likes of High King Irminsul that he burst into laughter. It also causes both Golden Ash and Jade Shell, who were in the middle of a Codex Equus interview, to start laughing as well.
• Afraid of Their Own Strength: Deconstructed. Despite being a "prodigy deity", he became a Martial Pacifist both out of abuse/rape-related PTSD and fear of becoming as bad as those who misused their own power, to the point of repressing his own power for three Ages to ensure he stays "good". This not only had huge consequences on his physical and psychological health, but also nearly led to him dying in a fight because he wasn't fighting at full power. This gets him skunked and chewed out by Nittunak for making a mockery of real pacifists, as real pacifists still try to protect themselves and others out of compassion despite refusing to kill. The skunking forces him to realize his mistake, and with help from his friends, he works on reconciling his desire to help others with the necessity to kill — which he finally does in the "Dark Ages Crisis" when he fought and helped kill War Rock solely to protect others, which both healed him and returned him to full power.
• Animalistic Abomination: Following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', his true divine form became this thanks to prolonged exposure to Caelum Filum. His true form is an eldritch Alicorn whose bottom half has a forest-green pelt made of grass, flowers, and other foliage, while his upper half is made of solidified golden light, with forest-green spots dotting his body to make him appear as a Light Elemental encased in a 'crumbling' earthy shell. His mane and tail are also composed of golden light, but of a lighter hue. His most eldritch trait is his face, which shows mirrored reflections of whoever's looking at him as their best selves. His wings, while relatively staying the same, has feathers made of golden light. His Cutie Mark has mutated further to include a patch of actual flowers on his flank and sun 'rays' that are actually lines illuminating light. His overall appearance shifts depending on his actions — he looks withered and dim, with dying plants and foliage, if he starts reverting back to his old toxic mindsets, but becomes healthy and radiant again once he lets them go. It's noted his appearance is symbolic of how people and their potential can be affected by what they learn and/or believe in.
• Anthropomorphic Personification: He's an Alicorn god who initially embodied Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics. Currently, he embodies Potential, Teaching, Light, Protection, and Fear.
• Arch-Enemy: War Rock is this for him, as War Rock is directly responsible for much of his psychological trauma. However, it's deconstructed as this resulted in him holding a grudge and refusing to forgive War Rock, which contributed to his psychological instability and, eventually, his physical deterioration. Moon Ray helps him forgive War Rock not only so he could heal himself mentally and physically, but also to deny War Rock of any postmortem power/influence. Defying War Rock solely to protect everyone else from being hurt was what allowed him to unleash his full power and complete his recovery.
• Armor-Piercing Question: After a 'Judicial Replacement' asked him if he'll judge them for being a living Golem of the person who tried escaping justice, Healing Song in turn asked him if the 'Judicial Replacement' will judge him for being a blind Alicorn. The 'Judicial Replacement' was notably taken aback and replied with a hesitant "No". It's noted the 'Judicial Replacement' would later become one of Healing Song's Clerics.
  Judicial Replacement: Are you going to judge me for what I am? A living copy of the creature who sought to escape justice?
  Prince Healing Song: Well, before I answer, are you gonna judge me for what I am? An Alicorn who grew up blind and Ascended blind?
  Judicial Replacement: Uh... no.
  Prince Healing Song: Then no, I'm not. I see a lot of potential in you, and it would be stupid of me to judge you just for looking like the flankhole who created you. And before you ask, no, I'm not saying that because I'm blind. I may have not been in the same situation, but I do know what it's like to be judged for things beyond our control.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Averted. He was supposed to have died from cancer in his middle-age years and be ushered into the appropriate Heaven-Realm by Bossa Nova, something that he was fully prepared for. However, Healing Song ended up Ascending to godhood on his deathbed, shocking everyone around him as they were attending what they thought were his last moments. It's unknown how Healing Song managed to Ascend in the first place, but it's heavily implied that a disguised Luminiferous provided the Primordial "Spark" as a reward for his good deeds. Because of this, Healing Song sometimes jokes that he might end up becoming a "super deity" when he dies.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance:
  • As a consequence of repressing his own power, he became a sickly and weak-looking Alicorn with traits like an emaciated body, a dull-colored mane, tail, and coat, and a Cutie Mark depicting a rusted double-necked guitar surrounded by wilted flowers. His mane and tail were also unmoving, something that's treated as unnatural due to Alicorns being generally described as having rippling hair. His appearance served as a representation of how psychologically unstable he was at the time.
  • After defying War Rock during the 'Dark Ages Crisis', he became a much taller Alicorn with toned muscles, a mane and tail composed of golden psionic light, and a large pair of wings with feathers made of golden light. His Cutie Mark was restored to its original 'healthy' state, with the addition of a grassy valley and a bright sun rising up from behind to illuminate everything. This symbolizes letting go of his fears and unleashing his full power to fight his Arch-Enemy.
  • Following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', his true form is now an eldritch Alicorn whose upper half is made of solidified golden light while his bottom half is made of grass, flowers, and other plant foliage, making him look like a Light Elemental encased in a crumbling earthy shell. It's noted his appearance is symbolic of one's inner potential and how it can be affected by one's experiences and beliefs. His face, noted to be his most eldritch trait, even shows mirrored reflections of whoever's looking at him as their best selves.
• Astral Projection: As part of his Psionics domain, he can use astral projection. He was taught this by Crimson Star, but due to his pacifist beliefs, he mostly used it for supportive, mundane purposes, like using his astral form to teach and help more people. He later loses this ability after his Psionics domain merges with his affinity for light magic to create a Light domain.
• Badass Teacher: While all gods and goddesses of the Church have acted as mentors themselves, he takes it further via being a teacher by profession. He's also an ancient Alicorn god who embodies Teaching as a concept, and is very powerful compared to "normal" deities due to being a "prodigy deity", despite being blind. Later, once he overcomes his traumas and flaws, he becomes more powerful, and turns into an eldritch Alicorn following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', increasing his badass credentials.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Following his Eldritch Transformation, he became a god of Fear, giving him abilities that revolve around fear like illusions, fear empowerment, and telepathic/empathic powers. However, he specifically embodies the acknowledgement and overcoming of fear, so he uses his Fear domain for good.
• The Bard: In-Universe, he played as a bard during a session of Ogres & Oubliettes hosted by Spike, which is appropriate since he is a god of Music. This ends up being discussed after his friend, Moon Ray Vaughoof, joined and chose to play as a Necromancer.
  Prince Healing Song: Necromancer... I'm surprised you didn't choose Bard, Moony.
  Moon Ray Vaughoof: Well, that's 'cause yer a Bard. No sense havin' two of 'em in the same team.
  Prince Healing Song: Touché.
• Bear Hug: He gives one to Princess Melody after she comes Back from the Dead as an Alicorn demigoddess. He also gives one each to Blue Suede/Caerulus and Moon Ray/Canticum after they join the Church of the Stars, calling their inclusions the "Best. Day(s). EVER!". It leaves the recipients long-winded due to how strong he is.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: A huge reason why he developed a crush on Moon Ray/Canticum is because the latter helped him out while he recovered from his breakdown. However, this was complicated by the fact that his friend was asexual and already married to Velvet Heart. Moon Ray/Canticum naturally him turned down when he finally gathered the courage to confess, but helped him come to terms with the rejection.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Much like Blue Suede, his mentor, he's a very humble, friendly, and kind person who's suppo to everyone around him, and is very supportive of his friends, students, and loved ones. However, he is an ancient Alicorn god and is capable of fending for himself and others, despite his blindness suggesting otherwise. This becomes more prominent after he recovers from his PTSD, as he becomes powerful enough to force War Rock (who at the time was revived as a Vampire Lord) into a retreat, as well as play a role in War Rock's second defeat and death. Becoming an eldritch Alicorn with the ability to perceive other dimensions via light made him even more dangerous.
• Big Damn Reunion:
  • Healing Song would end up reuniting with Moon Ray in the Fourth Age, which led to him freaking out when he discovered that Moon Ray was not only doing alright after death, but managed to Ascend to godhood as well. Not wanting to see him suffer an emotional breakdown, Moon Ray offers him a Cooldown Hug, which just leads to them both crying into each other's shoulders as they hugged for the first time since Moon Ray's death.
    Prince Healing Song: ...Moony? That you?
    Moon Ray Vaughoof: Yes, Healey, it's me.
    Prince Healing Song: B-By Mag'ne... you died, Moony! You DIED!
    Moon Ray Vaughoof: I know.
    Prince Healing Song: I still remember where you crashed! We walked there one night and the next day, I heard...! You...! YOU...!
    Moon Ray Vaughoof: C'mere, kid.
  • Sometime after reuniting with Moon Ray, Healing Song would encounter his friend and former bassist, Steel String, now returned from the dead as an Angel, while they both protected a town under attack by proto-Tribalists. Despite hearing of Steel String's exploits, Healing Song didn't believe his friend was alive at first because he was there when Steel String died of old age. But once he realized the legends were true, he and Steel String proceeded to have a tearful reunion after the fight, with Healing Song hugging Steel String and bawling in his friend's forelegs.
  • When Melody of the Virtuous Seven came Back from the Dead, Healing Song proceeded to give her a Bear Hug out of joy, leaving her long-winded afterwards.
• Big Eater: He's a "foodie" who loves sampling various cuisines across the world, with many of Codex Equus' cuisine-related entries featuring him going to different restauraunts and trying different food like Dragon's Breath. According to him, "every taste is an experience", which led to comical situations where he ate foods he thought were tasty until he learned what they actually were, or he ate things that he genuinely enjoyed but others are grossed out by. He also kept a blog in the Second Age where he wrote food-related reviews and stories of his adventures.
• Birds of a Feather: Many people have noted In-Universe a huge reason why he befriended and eventually married Celestia is due to them both being flawed, yet genuinely benevolent and wise people who seek to encourage their students' inner potential. They also carried lots of trauma and other emotional baggage that they both needed help in overcoming. Him helping Celestia overcome her guilt caused her to fall in love with him, and after they married, she has taken to helping him with his trauma regarding War Rock, including his rape.
• Bizarre Alien Senses: At first he's reliant on his natural senses, as like many ponies in the Second Age, Healing Song was unaware of his long-dormant magic. Once his Earth pony magic awakens in full under Blue Suede Heartstrings' tutelage, Healing Song gains the ability to sense vibrations in the ground, which helped him walk through busy streets. After Ascending to godhood (on his deathbed!), he would learn how to use pegasi and unicorn magic, which allows him to detect weather hazards while flying and see magic, respectively.
• Blind Musician: Much like Jeff Healey, whom he is based on, he's a blind musician who had his eyes surgically removed and replaced with prosthetics as a baby to protect him from retinoblastoma. This didn't stop him from becoming a musical prodigy at age three, and played the guitar by sitting and playing it flat on his lap like a piano, creating a richer and more fluid sound. He also wrote his own songs in Braille and can play songs completely by memory. His skill in music later influenced his development into a 'prodigy deity' and a god of Music when he Ascended; though he lost his Music domain following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', he never stopped playing and always considered it to be a part of his life.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: After turning into an eldritch Alicorn, he started developing signs of this. He knows about things that would drive others insane, responds to things in ways that can come off as odd or unnerving, and, after gaining the ability to look at other dimensions via light, started getting distracted during work by the things he keeps seeing. He also believes that there are entities living adjacent to the Codexverse but can't be seen, and probably have the same thoughts about us; one incident involved him spotting someone from another dimension recording his interview with Jade Shell, causing them to freak out. While conventionally insane, like Moon Ray/Canticum he remains more or less the same as he was before his Eldritch Transformation, though he has warned people not to think too much about the things he sees.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: In-Universe. After gaining the ability to see the "Light of Dimensions", he starts seeing entities from various dimensions and planes that other people can't. In one incident, he caused one such entity to freak out in terror after he spots them recording his interview with Jade Shell from another dimension.
  As Jade Shell scribbled down everything in her notes, Medela sat in his chair, waiting patiently... when he suddenly became aware of something. He looked up, staring deeply into the light... and saw me.
  
  "Hello. You're probably recording this, too, are you?"
  
  And I screamed.
• Broken Pedestal: Through Nittunak, he was forced to acknowledge that his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, was a flawed person who refused to practice what he preached and imparted toxic mindsets onto his students. While he was heartbroken by the revelation, he eventually came to terms with it thanks to Moon Ray, and reconciled with Blue Suede during the latter's recovery. That being said, he vowed to be better for both their sakes so they would never repeat the circumstances that led to Blue Suede's breakdown.
• Brutal Honesty: As a teacher, he is willing to point out people's flaws, but sometimes it can make him Innocently Insensitive, giving him no shortage of embarrassment for himself and others. By his own admission, he has acknowledged this and is still trying to improve on it.
• By the Eyes of the Blind: He's a blind god, and following his Eldritch Transformation, he lost much of his old abilities in exchange for new ones, including the ability to see other dimensions via light. This led to one incident when he spotted an entity from another dimension recording his interview with Jade Shell, causing said entity to freak out.

C — E

• Carry a Big Stick: His Magic Staff, Medela Lux, has a thick, rounded club at the bottom. It is noted to be capable of denting and/or piercing through armor with just a few blows due to being a divinely-made weapon.
• Celebrity Power: He's based on Jeff Healey, and thanks to changes in circumstances and choices in his life, he not only ends up surviving the cancer that killed Jeff Healey, but also Ascends to godhood as an Alicorn. Despite his incredible power, he initially became a Martial Pacifist out of trauma and fear of his own potential for evil, and pushed away anyone who tried helping him. Eventually, after a near-death experience and a much-needed wake-up call makes him realize he had been a toxic person, he overcomes everything that was holding him back, which culminates in him healing when he unleashes his full power to fight those who tormented him in the past. He later transforms into an eldritch Alicorn after being in the presence of an Eldritch Abomination for a month, which gives his existing powers eldritch properties and allows him to perceive alternate dimensions via light.
• Child Prodigy: Like Jeff Healey, he picked up the guitar and started playing it when he was just three years old. He appeared for an interview on a Caneighdian children's programme where he impressed his interviewers with his musical talents at age nine. He would continue from there, and his prodigy status factored into his Ascension as a "prodigy deity", where his physical and magical growth are accelerated at abnormal rates compared to normal deities.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Deconstructed. Despite the torment he endured at War Rock's hooves and everyone telling him to stay out of fighting to protect him, he insisted on helping out anyway because War Rock wouldn't stop his crime spree regardless of what he did. This means he tends to take both real and perceived failures extremely hard. His guilt would be worsened by the burdens of immortality and his trauma from being raped by War Rock, eventually causing him to have a death wish. He does get better thanks to a much-needed wake-up call from Nittunak and support from his loved ones, but the knowledge of how he hurt others with his toxic mindset caused him to feel like he deserved to have everything bad happen to him, including being skunked by Nittunak.
• Close to Home:
  • Being a teacher himself, he is enraged by corrupt teachers who abuse their positions, such as Noble Grace, Professor Bubbling Beaker, and Trench Bull, due to sharing Prince Star Cut's belief that a teacher should always support their students and help them reach their fullest potential. In particular, he was devastated when he learned he (and other Ascendant deities) unwittingly inspired Bubbling Beaker to perform horrific experiments on Pony foals and teenagers, blaming himself for it and wishing he died from cancer instead of Ascending. Fortunately, his friends helped him recover from this discovery.
  • He hates those who demean/patronize/discriminate disabled people, as well as the idea that disabled people have to push themselves beyond their limits to be worth something. Being blind himself, he is very protective of those like him, though initially his hatred of being patronized influenced him to blow off people's genuine attempts to help him, with disastrous consequences. Nowadays, he acknowledges that refusing to accept help from others out of fear of mistreatment is just as bad, and tries to encourage his disabled students not to let their fear and pride push people away as he once did.
  • He hates musicians who behave badly and/or misuse music for evil/amoral ends. War Rock is a prominent example, as despite his musical talent and genius, his ego was such that he saw everyone else as beneath him. Healing Song has stated that his talents are rendered moot if he continues treating people like trash, which eventually came true when his narcissism and quest for immortality got him killed by Melody and Ace.
  • Like Blue Suede, his mentor, he also despises tribalist/racist behavior. This largely stems from not only being literally blind to the differences between sapient races, but also his experience of nearly becoming racist towards the Oceanaiads for their role in the Third Age's end.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Justified. Due to being exposed to Caelum Filum's eldritch presence/influence for a month, he transformed into an eldritch Alicorn himself, which gave him the ability to see dimensions. He believes there are entities that can't be seen by normal people but live adjacent to them in different dimensions, thinking the same things as normal people would about them; notably, he spotted a dimensional entity recording his Codex Equus interview with Jade Shell, freaking out said entity. This leaves him conventionally insane, as he responds to things in ways that can come off as odd or unnerving, and also makes him distracted during work.
• Color Motif:
  • Brown. Brown stands for stability, honesty, and support — Healing Song wears a brown bomber jacket even after Ascending, and his Magic Staff, Medela Lux, is made of brown divine hardwood. His divine regalia is made of bronze. Healing Song can be very honest (sometimes to the point of insensitivity), but is generally Closer to Earth and is very encouraging to his students, disabled or no. He initially served as a Martial Pacifist, supporting his friends through healing and empowerment, until it's revealed his pacifism was based on fear of himself and he was suffering from three Ages' worth of repressed trauma. It's after learning to accept help and wake-up calls from others does he let go of his trauma and overcome his fear, becoming more powerful as a result. His honesty and support was what also helped Celestia, who would later become his wife, overcome her own traumas and flaws in order to become a better person.
  • Yellow. Yellow stands for confidence, good humor, and optimism, but also fear and deceit. Healing Song has a golden mane and tail made of Psionic energy, and his divine regalia is inlaid with yellow imperial topazes. His staff, Medela Lux, is decorated with lines of divinely-enchanted gold, making it appear like it's coursing with liquid golden energy. He's a friendly, cheerful, and good-humored (if a bit sarcastic) person who's willing to joke about himself, and never lets himself be embittered by his blindness. However, he became a Martial Pacifist out of fear of abusing his own power, and like Blue Suede, he hid his trauma from his friends for three Ages and pushed them away whenever they tried to help him. This leads to him nearly dying, and being forced by Nittunak to acknowledge his mistake influences him to overcome his fear in order to become a better person. Fittingly, it turns out he has a natural affinity for light magic, which manifests itself while fighting War Rock instead of simply being limited to his staff. When he became an eldritch Alicorn following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', his upper body became composed of solidified golden light. Yellow is also the color of royalty in China, which fits Healing Song due to being an Alicorn Prince, though he's pretty modest about it.
  • Green. Green stands for growth, balance, and compassion, but also insensitivity and resentment. Healing Song, who has a forest-green pelt, is a friendly and good-humored musician who is protective of disabled people like him, and is a Cool Teacher who helps his students succeed by making them acknowledge their own flaws. However, he suffered from three Ages worth of untreated PTSD and other issues, which not only drove him to push his friends away out of fear of being ridiculed for it, but also led to his physical appearance deteriorating. His near-death experience and getting chewed out (and skunked) by Nittunak for his behavior forces him to realize he had become a toxic person, and makes genuine efforts in bettering himself. Fittingly, he later gains plant traits to reflect his character development and epiphanies, especially after being exposed to Caelum Filum's presence for a month.
• Commonality Connection:
  • After meeting Prince Crimson Star in-person, he would befriend him over being blind Alicorns.
  • He would also befriend Spike, a young dragon, in the Fourth Age over their love for tabletop roleplaying games like Ogres & Oubliettes (which is really the in-universe Spiritual Successor of the Second-Age Castles & Cavaliers that Healing Song played regularly). Princess Twilight/Amicitia both appreciates and approves of their friendship, and in part gave Healing Song Medela Lux to reward him for being a good friend to Spike.
• Condescending Compassion: He was on the receiving end of this by War Rock, who didn't like that Blue Suede Heartstrings took in a "deficient" stallion (i.e. blind) as his student and treated Healing Song like a helpless invalid. This pissed off Healing Song, who snarked right back and threatened War Rock to get out. It also angered Healing Song's bandmates and other musicians who were present at the time, and they would rise to his defense to prevent War Rock from retaliating. War Rock had no choice but to swallow his pride and leave.
• Cool Chair: Subverted. Out of the thrones owned by the gods and goddesses in the Church of the Stars, his "throne" is the most bare-bones of them all, being just a simple musician's folding chair that he used for much of his mortal life. However, he can still relax and play music on it, and for a Humble Hero like him, it's more than enough.
• Cooldown Hug: He receives one from Moon Ray. Upon reuniting with Moon Ray in the Second Age, he feels him over with a hoof to confirm his identity, and then freaks out after discovering that he really is meeting with his old friend, as he still remembers the day Moon Ray died and where he crashed. Moon Ray hugs him with his forelegs, not wanting to see Healing Song break down in front of him. But instead of calming him down, however, it just makes Healing Song to cry harder, and he starts crying, too, once he hugs Healing Song with his wings in addition. It's noted that due to having not seen each other for three Ages since Moon Ray's death, it took a long, long time for both of them to stop crying.
• Cool Teacher: He is a supportive and encouraging teacher to his students, helping them nurture their own talents while also being realistic enough to make them acknowledge their own limits and flaws. He also goes the extra mile by checking up on his students regularly long after they moved on to start their own careers. He's very protective of his disabled students and tries to create positive environments for them, while encouraging them not to let their fear and pride push people away. And as a group of Sparkle Pony Autorists learned the hard way, his protectiveness extends to his non-disabled students as well. Prince Golden Ash, one of his students, sees him as this and actually notes the irony of a blind god knowing more than High King Irminsul, "that hypocritical Deer stag who once called himself [his] 'mentor'."
• Cruel to Be Kind: He brought in the Fae Skunk god Nittunak to help Celestia, as she stubbornly refused to see herself as anything but irredeemable and/or expendable out of guilt for her sins. It worked, as being left horribly stinky for weeks forced Celestia to realize that her attempts to atone made her incredibly selfish and insensitive to the feelings of those around her, and pushed her to actually do better. This eventually paved the way for them falling in love and getting Happily Married.
• Cry into Chest: After reuniting with Moon Ray in the Fourth Age and discovering it's really him he's meeting with, he freaks out and inches closer to an emotional breakdown. Moon Ray, not wanting to see him do that, offers his old friend a Cooldown Hug, resulting in him crying into Moon Ray's shoulders as they both hug each other.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He lost his sight as a baby when he got infected with retinoblastoma (i.e. eye cancer), necessitating his eyes' removal. While he accepted his blindness, growing up in the Second Age where physical and mental weaknesses were treated with contempt led to him becoming a Deadpan Snarker with a Don't You Dare Pity Me! attitude. Then he lost a close friend, Moon Ray Vaughoof, in a helicopter accident, and a disastrous first meeting with War Rock created a series of events that culminated in War Rock kidnapping and raping him. This deeply traumatized him, and because people were contemptuous towards male rape victims at the time, he kept his traumas to himself for three Ages. Even though he had friends who genuinely understood his pain and wanted to help him, for a long time he couldn't bring himself to open up to them because of his fears of being bullied for what he went through.
• Deadpan Snarker: Downplayed; this only comes up whenever someone insults his blindness or treats him condescendingly — when War Rock treats him like an invalid in their first meeting, he snarks that he can't let the former "help" him because he's being too loud. It's deconstructed as War Rock proceeded to abuse and gaslight him to soothe his wounded ego, culminating in him getting kidnapped and raped after War Rock became a Vampire. The sheer trauma from the incident, combined with the Second Age's contemptuous views of "weaknesses", caused him to use snarking as a defense mechanism, pushing his friends away. This leads to him nearly dying when he fights a powerful foe, with his friends helpless because of how he would respond if they tried to help him. After being skunked by Nittunak, he has a Jerkass Realization and starts doing this less in his efforts to become better. However, while he has accepted he does need help at times, he still has a tendency to revert to this whenever he's offended.
• Death Seeker: A gradual example. It started when, instead of dying of cancer and reuniting with Moon Ray in the Heaven-Realms as he expected to, he quite suddenly Ascends to demi-godhood, restoring him back to health. Then over three Ages, the burdens of immortality would gradually weigh him down; when he learns of Professor Bubbling Beaker's crimes, he wishes he died instead out of guilt for the lives that were taken because of him. It fully manifests after his near-death experience, his breakdown, and Nittunak's skunking and chewing-out, the Trauma Conga Line leaving him depressed to the point where he genuinely wanted to die. Fortunately, Moon Ray successfully convinces him to live instead as he has many opportunities to learn and become better.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Of Don't You Dare Pity Me!. Growing up in a time where disabled people like him were looked down upon, and being kidnapped and raped by War Rock out of spite, caused him to rely on being a Deadpan Snarker as a defense mechanism as he feared being ridiculed for his supposed "weakness". His fears were ultimately unfounded as his friends genuinely wanted to help him, but he was so caught up in his own trauma that he pushed them away, leaving his friends helpless as his physical and psychological health grew worse. This leads to him nealry dying in a fight against a powerful enemy, and he gets skunked and chewed out by Nittunak for his attitude and hypocrisy. From this, he realizes he had become a toxic person who hurt both himself and others around him, and resolves to do better.
  • Of the Deadpan Snarker. While it only came up whenever someone insults his blindness or shows him Condescending Compassion, his kidnapping and rape at War Rock's hooves caused him to use snarking as a defense mechanism, pushing his friends away out of fear of being ridiculed for his "weakness". This partially leads to him nearly dying in a fight later on because his friends couldn't help him without getting snarked at despite them really wanting to, and when they all confront him on the matter, he breaks down. Nittunak skunking him for his hypocrisy forces him to realize that he became a toxic person who hurt both himself and everyone around him, so he resolves to do better.
• Deity of Human Origin: He was born a mortal Earth pony who, despite being blind since infancy, managed to become a famous and talented musician. Years later, to both his and everyone else's shock, he suddenly Ascended to demi-godhood as he was dying from terminal cancer, saving his life and turning him into an Alicorn. It's speculated In-Universe that Luminiferous might have triggered his Ascension, likely to reward him for his good deeds. Under Blue Suede's tutelage, he would Ascend to true godhood sometime after accepting his newfound divinity.
• Defiled Forever: Played for drama. He was kidnapped and raped by War Rock in his mortal youth, which led to him feeling "lesser" of a stallion for it. Worse, social/cultural contempt for male rape victims was very common in his time, and he kept quiet for three Ages out of fear of receiving the same treatment. Unfortunately, he gradually developed a toxic mindset that not only caused him to push his understanding friends away, but also led to him nearly dying in a fight against a powerful foe. After being skunked and chewed out by Nittunak, he realizes he became a toxic person and, with help, works on overcoming it. And while he does get bullied by those who look down on him for being a rape victim, his friends are more than willing to protect him. Shifa' Alhabi Moufette also gave him closure over his rape as she helped him see that being a male victim doesn't make him any more deserving of love or treatment.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: This happens in the Fourth Age. He outright punches War Rock in the face with a light-coated hoof, sending him flying and burning the spot where he punched him. Then he easily counters War Rock's darkness magic with his light magic in the ensuing fight, which not only heals him completely, but also makes him powerful enough to force War Rock into a retreat.
• Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: Deconstructed. While this never occurred with his blindness — having accepted long ago that he'll always be blind even after Ascending to godhood — it turns out he was using the trauma he suffered at War Rock's hooves to justify his attitudes, even unconsciously. The behavior that resulted not only led to his friends putting him at arm's length (because they were snarked at whenever they tried helping him), but also in part led to him nearly dying in a fight against a powerful foe. Eventually, he gets skunked and chewed out by Nittunak, forcing him to realize he needs to overcome his toxic mindset in order to truly heal.
• Disability Superpower: As an Alicorn god, he has many powers to compensate for his blindness besides his natural senses, such as the Earth pony's vibration senses, the Pegasus' weather senses, and the Unicorn's magical senses. Under Prince Crimson Star, he learned how to create Psychic Links in order to "see" through the people he's connected to. However, his entry notes that his senses are far from perfect, and certain things such as Anti-Magic or sound-muffling spells can put him at a major disadvantage, forcing him to rely on his allies. His Martial Pacifist mindset also tends to put a hinder on his combat potential and prevent him from fighting effectively at times, as it stemmed from his fear of becoming like War Rock. Fortunately, he overcame this through sessions with Mentálne and support from friends who assured him that he's nothing like War Rock at all.
• Disabled Deity: He's a blind Alicorn who lost his sight as a baby; he got infected with retinoblastoma, a rare ocular cancer, and doctors had to surgically remove his eyes to prevent spreading. When he Ascended to godhood on his deathbed, he was still blind, but he managed to get around this thanks to his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings. Despite being blind all his life, he refused to let it define or embitter him, and he's quite willing to joke about himself. He does get annoyed and snarky when people insult/patronize him, however. A large reason why he ended up befriending Gagal of the Kaluan Pantheon is due to Gagal admiring him for accepting his blindness, just like how he himself accepted his albinism.
• Disabled Means Helpless: Nope. While a blind Alicorn, he is far from helpless, as he is a "prodigy deity" with some very powerful magic in his arsenal. This does not stop people from treating him like a fragile, helpless stallion, which is a huge source of annoyance for him, but acknowledges that he does need help at times and is grateful when someone genuinely offers it. He also faces discrimination for being blind, but being a Nice Guy, the worst he'll usually do is become rather snarky in response. This public perception of him helped influence his understanding of 'Judicial Repacements', since they're both judged for things that are completely beyond their control.
• Disabled Snarker: Downplayed. He's blind, but due to being a Nice Guy, he doesn't snark at people unless they start patronizing him or insulting his disability.
  • When War Rock insulted him by showing Condescending Compassion upon realizing Blue Suede Heartstrings took in a blind Pony as his students, Healing Song proceeded to insult War Rock right back and threaten him to get out. War Rock was forced to comply, especially after Healing Song's bandmates and friends showed up to protect him.
    War Rock: You look a little... deficient. The music industry can be stressful to deal with at times, especially for someone of your caliber. Why don't you sit back and let someone more capable like me handle things?
    Prince Healing Song: Ah, well, I can't let you do that.
    War Rock: And why not?
    Prince Healing Song: For all I know, you might be a little deficient, too. In fact... hmm, from what I'm hearing, you sound a bit too loud. Why don't you zip it and let someone more quiet handle things, like me?
    War Rock: You DARE insult me?! The greatest musician alive?!
    Prince Healing Song: Yeah. And I got one more thing to say to you, War Rock: You ain't the greatest, and you'll never be at this rate. If you ain't got any respect to show around here, then get out, and take that out-of-tune guitar with you. Otherwise... (lowers voice) you're gonna end up having a bad time.
  • He also snarked at his friend, Steel String, a few times. Steel String was genuinely worried for Healing Song, but initially assumed that being blind was tantamount to helplessness. Steel String eventually changed his way of thinking and learned to trust Healing Song's capabilities, though.
• Discard and Draw: He used to embody Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics, giving him Psychic Powers and Magic Music. After turning into an eldritch god, his portfolio changed to include Light, Protection, and Fear to reflect his character development.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Justified; as a blind stallion, growing up in a time where toxic attitudes like Disabled Means Helpless and those who push themselves are seen as Inspirationally Disadvantaged left quite a mark on him. While he does acknowledge he needs help at times, the attitudes, combined with his trauma from being tormented and raped by War Rock, caused him to become a Deadpan Snarker as a defense mechanism. It's deconstructed as his fears aso caused him to push away anyone who genuinely tried to help him... including his own friends, who were forced to resort to hoping he'd approach them for help instead even as they watched his mental and physical health worsen over time. This culminated in him nearly dying in a fight against a powerful enemy, and the emotional fallout from the event forces him to realize that he became a toxic person whose beliefs hurt both himself and everyone around him. He resolves to actually do better and starts overcoming his trauma, which not only helps him heal even physically, but also turns him into an even more powerful god.
• Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Horribly deconstructed. Being kidnapped and raped by a vampiric War Rock in a moment of vulnerability left him deeply traumatized, even after becoming a god. The Second Age's toxic attitudes towards disabled people and male rape victims such as himself made his situation worse by making him fear that he'll be ridiculed if he talked about it, even to his supportive and understanding friends. Eventually, his fears literally weakened him, transforming him into a sickly, emaciated god to reflect his severe psychological instability. Fortunately, being skunked by Nittunak makes him realize he wasn't doing himself or those around him any favors. With help from Moon Ray Vaughoof and others, he gradually overcomes his trauma and forgives War Rock in order to heal. Also, when a group of self-righteous deities did demean him for being a victim of rape, they attracted a furious Moon Ray Vaughoof who screamed profanities at them for their behavior.
• Due to the Dead: Despite everything War Rock had done to him, he still bothered to visit the former's sparsely-attended "funeral", which got him in a heated argument with the unforgiving Steel String. By his own admission, the other reason why he decided to go at all is because he wanted closure knowing his tormentor and rapist was finally dead.
• Eldritch Transformation: While not as drastic as Moon Ray's, being exposed to Caelum Filum's eldritch presence for a month left him with physical changes that reflect his character development — such as his upper body being made of solidified golden light and his lower body being made of grass, flowers, and other healthy foliage. His Cutie Mark also mutated to include sun 'rays' that are actually lines with light illuminating from them. His overall appearance is affected by his mental state — if he reverts back to his old toxic mindset, he will look withered and dim, but becomes healthy and radiant again if he lets go of it.
• Elvis Lives: Unlike Jeff Healey, who died of terminal cancer in his forties, he was saved by a last-minute Ascension thanks to a disguised Luminiferous providing the "Spark" needed while on his deathbed. Tragically, while being immortal allowed him to do everything he wanted to do, it also means that he would outlive his bandmates and loved ones instead.
• Emerald Power: He has a forest-green pelt, and he's a 'prodigy deity' with powerful Magic Music abilities and Psychic Powers, as well as a talented Blind Musician. After overcoming his flaws and traumas, he fully comes into his own potential that he was previously afraid of and becomes even more powerful than before. Being around Caelum Filum for a month not only changed him into a plant/light-based eldritch god, but also changed his portfolio as well, including giving him a Light domain due to his natural affinity for light magic. He is also good at wielding a Magic Staff, as shown in his Fourth-Age fight with War Rock, where he counters the latter's darkness powers with his staff.
• The Empath: As part of his Psionics domain, one of his abilities is psychic empathy, though he later loses it when his Psionics domain merges with his affinity for light magic to create a Light domain. His Fear domain gives him empathic powers to discern people's worst fears.
• Ermine Cape Effect: Subverted. He has divine bronze regalia/barding inlaid with yellow imperial topaz gemstones, but due to his humility, he usually forgoes it in favor of his brown bomber jacket; he only wears his regalia during formal occasions. Many deities have tried getting him to wear his regalia more so he could look like a respectable and refined Alicorn god, but he always refuses, and his friends have defended him on this many times.
• Eyes Always Shut: Justified; he was blinded when his eyes were infected with retinomblastoma, necessitating their removal by doctors to prevent the cancer from spreading. As a result, though they're replaced with prosthetics, his eyes are often closed.
• Eye Scream: When he was still a baby, he was struck with retinoblastoma, a rare ocular cancer. The doctors had to remove his eyes to prevent the cancer's spread and replaced them with prosthetic eyes. He would remain blind for the rest of his life because of this, even after Ascending to godhood.

F — I

• Face Death with Dignity: After Bossa Nova helped him overcome his Mortality Phobia, he would accept his fate when he became terminally ill with cancer, fully prepared to die and be ushered into the appropriate Heaven-Realm by Bossa Nova. To his shock and the shock of everyone else who visited him in the hospital, he unexpectedly ended up Ascending to godhood on his deathbed, restoring his youth and making him immortal. It's implied that a disguised Luminiferous was responsible for giving him the Primordial "Spark" that allowed Healing Song to Ascend, wanting to reward him for his good deeds.
• Face Your Fears: Invoked. As a god of Fear, he specifically embodies the acknowledgement and overcoming of fear, so he uses his powers to help people overcome their fears just as he did.
• Fantastic Racism: Defied and averted. Like Blue, he hates tribalism/racism; in his case, his blindness means that he truly sees no difference between sapient races. When a group of Sparkle Pony Autorists tried attacking his students, he took one Autorist down by leaving her embedded in a classroom wall with a single punch and cowed the rest into surrendering.
• Foil:
  • To Tempest Shadow: Both of them were crippled at a very young age, but Tempest Shadow became so embittered by the loss of her horn (and the social stigma she received afterwards) that she became a villain, joining the Storm King in hopes he would restore her horn in return for her loyalty. Healing Song, on the other hand, never let his blindness embitter him and instead continued living as any other person, being cheerful and willing to joke about himself despite his disability.
  • To Blue Suede Heartstrings: Both grew up suffered foalhood tragedies — Healing Song was blinded when doctors removed his eyes to prevent the spread of retinoblastoma, while Blue Suede lost his older twin brother to stillbirth (though Blue Suede wouldn't meet him until much later) and narrowly survived a tornado outbreak. Both are music prodigies, but Blue was too poor to hire a tutor and had to teach himself, while Healing Song had no such problem. They also had different experiences in the music industry — Blue had a corrupt and abusive record manager in "Colonel" Hollow Note, which gave him trauma that went unresolved for three Ages despite freeing himself from his manager. By contrast, Healing Song had less emotional baggage because he had friends who protected him from those who did try to exploit him. Both are humble and kind, but while Blue Suede downplayed his achievements and refused privileges out of humility, Healing Song is willing to be in a divine pantheon and accept royal titles despite being personally uncomfortable with them. Both also have different approaches to combat — Blue Suede is a war veteran and more proactive in combat, while Healing Song is a Martial Pacifist who focuses on healing/support. And unlike Blue Suede, who suppressed his trauma and other 'bad' traits for three Ages out of fear and self-loathing until he snapped, Healing Song is humble enough to seek and accept help from friends when he needs it, which prevented him from becoming like War Rock.
  • To High King Irminsul: Both are ancient gods, except while Irminsul was Adopted into Royalty and eventually became a ruler of his own pantheon, Healing Song started out as a mortal Earth pony musician who Ascended to godhood through his good deeds. Both suffered horrible losses and were profoundly affected by death, but unlike Irminsul, who suffered from numerous issues but is too prideful to admit this or seek help, Healing Song generally never lets his losses get to him, and is humble enough to seek help from his own friends when he needs it. Both are also teachers, but unlike Irminsul, whose toxic mindsets and extreme unpleasantness as a person has caused many of his students to become as bad as he is, Healing Song is far more open-minded and accepting, and is willing to teach his own students things that Irminsul is either unable or unwilling to. As a bonus, Healing Song is physically blind, while Irminsul can see but is 'blind' in that he doesn't want to acknowledge or accept that he has flaws, or that much of the troubles suffered by his family and mortal followers were his fault.
• Forgiveness: He eventually forgave War Rock for his transgressions (including breaking into his house to attack him) after one of his friends, Moon Ray Vaughoof, made him see that to some degree, he was still clinging to War Rock's memory. This allowed him to finally let go of his fear of becoming like War Rock.
• Forced Sleep: As a Music god, he can lull people to sleep via music. He lost it when he exchanged his Music domain for other domains better suited for teaching.
• Freudian Excuse: Much of his worst flaws and behaviors came from being abused and raped by War Rock for extremely petty reasons, as well as growing up in the Second Age where any kind of "weakness" such as physical/mental disabilities, trauma, or anything that didn't fit toxic gender norms were shunned and even outright mistreated. It's deconstructed as despite having numerous friends who understand his pain and genuinely want to help him out, his fears and traumas ended up consuming him to the point of pushing his friends away, with his psychological instability translating to a poor physical appearance. After a near-death experience, he earns the ire of Nittunak, who skunks him for his toxic mindset. This forces him to realize how badly he was behaving and make efforts in improving himself.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Both his entries and various characters in-universe make it very clear that yes, what he went through was horrifying, but it still doesn't justify being a toxic, hypocritical person to others. In particular, Nittunak chews him out for becoming a Martial Pacifist out of fear, as he is essentially making a mockery out of real pacifists who devote everything to protecting others from harm out of compassion despite refusing to kill.
• Gene Hunting: Averted. While he does sympathize with those who never knew their birth parents like Spike, he chooses not to find his own. This is because as far as he's concerned, the childless Pony couple who adopted him and raised him like their own son are his parents. He also dissuaded his student, Shàngtiān Jiùēn, from doing this by pointing out that Shàngtiān's obsession with finding his birth parents (who left him with the monks who abused him as a foal) was making him ignore the adoptive family who still loved him.
• Get Out!: He tells this to War Rock after the latter showed umbrage towards being snarked at, saying that he might as well leave if he doesn't have anything else nice to say. War Rock was forced to comply, especially after Healing Song's bandmates and friends show up to protect him.
  Healing Song: (to War Rock) If you ain't got any respect to show around here, then get out, and take that out-of-tune guitar with you. Otherwise... you're gonna end up having a bad time.
• God in Human Form: Because his true form is unnerving and incomprehensible to many (especially his face), he often chooses to either appear as the mortal Earth Pony he was before Ascending, or as a 'default' Alicorn.
• God Is Flawed: He's a benevolent god, musician, and teacher who loves music and teaching others, and is very protective of people with physical/mental disabilities. He also has accepted his blindness long ago and refuses to be embittered by it. However, he is also a victim of abuse and rape whose trauma went untreated for three Ages, pushed his friends away out of fear of being treated as helpless, and developed toxic mindsets from being around those who preached them, knowingly or not. Thankfully, he gets better with time, support, and therapy, but after turning into an eldritch god during the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', he developed a Blue-and-Orange Morality based on him being able to see things that others can't and will drive them insane if they knew.
• God Is Good: For all his flaws, he is a friendly and good-humored god who is not above joking about himself, and a benevolent teacher who nurtures his students' potential. He's also very protective of disabled students and rape victims, since he went through the stigma of being both, and encourages his students to accept help from others when offered just as he did.
• God of Good: Following his transformation, he embodies the good aspects of teaching, such as nurturing his students' potential, protecting them from predatory groups/individuals, and illuminating their fears so he can help them overcome said fears.
• God of Light: He becomes a god of Light after his Psionics domain merges with his natural affinity for light magic. This makes him unique in that he can wield psionic light, giving him light-based Psychic Powers like teleportation, photo-telekinesis, and telepathy. Following his Eldritch Transformation, his Light domain gains eldritch properties like reality-warping, transmutation, and seeing alternative dimensions via light. He can inflict existential dread and illuminate the worst sides of people when comining his Light domain with his Fear domain.
• Good Counterpart: He's one to War Rock, a fellow musician. War Rock is a sociopathic Narcissist and Attention Whore who ruined many lives to get what he wanted, and refused to learn from his mistakes. Healing Song is a Humble Hero who didn't care about his fame, made sure others were acknowledged for their own talents, and learned from his mistakes after being called out on them. War Rock feared death and tried becoming immortal through wicked means like making deals with an Archdemon, turning himself into a Vampire, and stealing the divinity of another god, while Healing Song accepted his own mortality thanks to Bossa Nova and ended up becoming immortal when he least expected it. Their turning points involved Blue Suede Heartstrings, except War Rock's road to villainy started with Blue Suede, while Healing Song indirectly became a god through his friendship with Blue Suede. While War Rock can see, yet had a Lack of Empathy for anyone but himself, Healing Song is blind, yet had empathy for even disabled people like himself. Fittingly, Healing Song played a role in War Rock's second defeat and death during the 'Dark Age Crisis', and many Second-Age musicians called him "everything War Rock SHOULD have been".
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Of the "Multicolored Wings" variety. Because of his divine "age", his wings have a magical gradient going from green to yellow. Mzazi has stated that this trait is normal for Alicorns, since part of their growth involves becoming more eldritch as they grow "older". Later, his wings become a "Light Wings" example when they gain feathers made of light during his fight with War Rock.
• Grew a Spine: A huge part of his character development revolves around this. Before, as a victim of abuse and rape, he was a Martial Pacifist who hated being worshiped or pitied, which eventually influenced him to push his friends away. He eventually realizes he needed to let go of his toxic behaviors and move on in order to heal, which later empowers him enough to take on War Rock, his abuser and rapist, by himself during the "Dark Ages Crisis". And as a positive consequence, he actually heals physically (having made himself sickly by clinging to his traumas) and grows even more powerful, enough to drive War Rock, who was resurrected by Mistletoe Dreamer as a Vampire Lord, into retreating.
• Guilt Complex: Being skunked by Nittunak forced him to realize his failings so he could become better... but also caused him to develop a guilt complex over how much he screwed up, which made him feel that he deserved to have bad things happen to him.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He's described as having a blond mane and tail, with his mane somewhat resembling a mullet that he later cut short after he got older. After he Ascended to godhood, his hair turned into rippling golden Psionic energy (which he admits surprised him as he was expecting it to be made of sound energy like Blue's hair is). Much like his divine mentor, he's a very humble, compassionate, and friendly stallion who is a talented musical prodigy and a very good teacher to his students. He is also a Big Good for Equus overall due to being a member of the Church of the Stars.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: In his mortal youth, his hair was quite voluminous and somewhat resembled a mullet, only to cut it short when he got older. This symbolizes his eventual acceptance of his own mortality, a contrast to War Rock, who used wigs out of denial towards his advancing age. He later gets his hair restored and turned into rippling golden Psionic energy after Ascending to demi-godhood on his deathbed.
• Handicapped Badass: Despite being blind since infancy, he still managed to become a musical prodigy and, later, an Alicorn god. It's gradually deconstructed, as for all his strengths and skills, he's still blind, which War Rock ruthlessly exploited to psychologically break him in his mortal youth. The sheer trauma from his kidnapping and rape, combined with the Second Age's attitudes regarding "weaknesses" and male rape victims, caused him to become a Martial Pacifist out of fear. This created a Don't You Dare Pity Me! attitude that influenced him to push even his friends away, in part leading to him nearly dying in a fight. Then it's reconstructed once he receives a huge wake-up call and finally gets the therapy he needed, making realize he became a toxic person and pushing him to better himself. Because he reconciled his desire to protect with the necessity of killing, he became powerful enough to not only confront and fight War Rock by himself, but also force him to retreat. His second entry also notes he played a role in War Rock's second defeat and death.
• Happily Adopted: Like Jeff Healey, he was given up for adoption by his birth parents, and would be later adopted by a loving couple who raised and treated him as their son. Despite not knowing who his birth parents are, he's not too worried about it; as far as he's concerned, his adoptive parents are his family.
• Happily Married: He's currently in a loving marriage with (ex-)Princess Celestia, whom many noted is extremely similar to him in many ways. Due to not having the worshipful devotion for Celestia as her mortal subjects do, Healing Song was willing to be honest with her and call her out on her flaws and mistakes if it'll help her. He even brought in Nittunak when Celestia refused to give up her toxic mindset. However, Healing Song also genuinely loved and supported her throughout her mental recovery, causing Celestia to fall in love with him. They would marry each other following the 'Talon Bàis War', and while they don't have children yet, they have stated they're considering it. For her part, Celestia has been helping him with his PTSD regarding War Rock, having been horrified by all the things War Rock did to him. They also see and treat each other as equals, and are greatly offended by those who see Healing Song as merely a consort of an all-powerful goddess, as that would imply one of them is treating the other as completely subservient to them.
• Hates Being Touched: Due to trauma from being kidnapped and raped by War Rock in his mortal youth, he hated being touched by people he doesn't know.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: As a mortal stallion, he would often wear either a brown bomber jacket with a black fur collar, or a black leather jacket. After Ascending to godhood, he would continue wearing his bomber jacket, now tailored to accommodate his size and wings, instead of his divine Alicorn barding. Many deities have tried getting him to wear his divine barding more so he'll look like a respectable god, but he refuses to listen, and his friends have defended him on this many times.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • When he discovered that he (and other Ascendant deities) unwittingly gave Professor Bubbling Beaker the inspiration to perform his horrific experiments for the Alicorn Ascendancy, he blamed himself and wished he died of cancer in the Second Age instead of Ascending. Fortunately, his friends would help him recover from this and see that he really wasn't to blame for Bubbling Beaker's actions, even though it seemed like he is.
  • He freaks out when, after hearing Moon Ray's voice, he feels him up with a hoof and discovers that the stallion he's reuniting with in the Fourth Age is truly his deceased friend from the Second Age, now a divine member of the Trimortidae. What made it even worse is the fact that he still remembered how Moon Ray died and where for over tens of thousands of years, as he and Moon Ray hung out at the place of his death. Moon Ray offering him a hug leads to both of them crying, as they're finally able to see each other after so long.
• Heroic Build: He becomes much taller than he previously was and gains toned muscles after defying War Rock and unleashing his full power during the 'Dark Ages Crisis'.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite being blind, he sees it as no big deal and is quite willing to make jokes about himself. Even after he became an eldritch god, this hasn't changed at all.
• Heroism Motive Speech: A tragic example. After his Suicidal Pacifism nearly gets him killed in a fight, his friends confront him on it, fed up with him constantly blowing off their attempts to help. This leads to him breaking down and revealing why he became a Martial Pacifist in the first place:
  Prince Healing Song: (to Blue Suede Heartstrings) I can't! I CAN'T! If I use my power to attack creatures instead of helping them, then I'll... then I'll... I'll be no different than those who abused their own power! I'll become just like HIM!
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's this with his bassist, Steel String. Though Healing Song is True Companions with both of his bandmates, Steel String is closest to him because he sees Healing Song as the little brother he always wanted to have. Their closeness is what got people seeing them as a romantic couple, something that amuses Healing Song yet horrifies/annoys Steel String. However, their relationship does get bumpy at times, with a major source of conflict between them often being Steel String's overprotective tendencies. Healing Song was naturally devastated when Steel String died of old age, but nonetheless tried to fulfill his friend's wish for him to keep playing music. When Steel String eventually came back as an Angel, Healing Song's first action upon reuniting with him in the Fourth Age is to hug him while bawling in his friend's forelegs.
• Humble Hero: He is one thanks to influence from his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings. Despite his fame and musical talent, he doesn't let them go to his head, and always makes sure his bandmates and students are given recognition for their own talents. Despite becoming an Alicorn, he acknowledges his own mortality and felt uncomfortable with being treated like royalty, only accepting his title as "Prince" out of obligation. It's deconstructed; due to unresolved trauma and being influenced by Blue Suede's worst flaws, he, too, started practicing an extreme form of humility that contributed to his increasing psychological instability, which eventually leads to him nearly dying in a fight. Then, Nittunak forces him to acknowledge that his mindset is flawed and that his own mentor is a giant hypocrite who imparted toxic beliefs onto others. Afterwards, it's reconstructed; thanks to people like Shifa' Alhabi Moufette and Gagal, he eventually recovers and, while retaining his humility, now accepts himself for all that he is, only working on tempering his flaws. And despite reconciling with Blue Suede, he vows to be better for both their sakes so they wouldn't repeat the toxic behaviors that doomed them.
• I Am What I Am: Despite all the horrible things he went through over the Ages, he has long accepted that he'll always be blind and doesn't let that embitter him. And after overcoming his issues, he still remains a Humble Hero, but like Caerulus, he's humble in the sense that he accepts himself for all that he is and now focuses on tempering his flaws.
• I Ate WHAT?!: Due to his love for sampling different cuisines, he has at times landed in comical situations where he ate foods he thought were tasty until they learned what they actually were. On the flipside, he would eat things he genuinely enjoyed but others were grossed out by, such as the Modern Toilet Restaurant in Formaresa he dined at with Winter Opera in the Second Age.
• Important Haircut: As a mortal, he had a voluminous, mullet-like mane when he was younger, but he cut it short once he got old and couldn't keep it up anymore. It represents his eventual acceptance of his mortality once he got over his Mortality Phobia, and his willingness to die after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Fortunately (and ironically), he ended up Ascending to godhood on his deathbed thanks to a disguised Luminiferous.
• Incompatible Orientation: This is the reason why his first three crushes didn't work out. Winter Opera had come out as asexual and aromantic, Moon Ray/Canticum was also asexual (on top of being already married), and Dissonant Tune was heterosexual.
• Innocently Insensitive: His entry notes that he can be this at times, in the sense in that he is rather blunt and willing to state something as it is. This has caused no shortage of embarrassment for both him and others. By his admission, he has acknowledged this and is still trying to improve on it.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted and deconstructed. Despite being blinded during infancy, he still managed to become a famous and beloved musical prodigy. And against all odds, he Ascended to godhood while on his deathbed, dying from cancer. At the same time, he's flawed like everyone else — while usually a humble Nice Guy, he's willing to joke about himself, and can get rather sarcastic and blunt, especially when people insult and/or patronize him. He also feared dying one day, but his friends helped him accept his mortality. Healing Song himself hates the "Inspirationally Disadvantaged" stereotype because it creates the toxic belief that disabled people who don't push themselves beyond their limits are automatically helpless and lazy. If a disabled person manages to Ascend to godhood like he did, then it happens and is not related to their disability in any way, though it's still an achievement worthy of praise. This motivates Healing Song to teach his students how to succeed while acknowledging their own limits.
• In-Series Nickname: His entry notes that he's often nicknamed "Healey" by friends and family. It's also the last name of Jeff Healey, whom he is based on.
• Intergenerational Friendship:
  • His friend/mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, is vastly older than him by virtue of being born early in the Second Age and a god who Ascended way before him.
  • Played with Moon Ray, another friend of his. Moon Ray is biologically older than Healing Song, but because he Ascended sometime after Healing Song did, he's now "younger" by divine standards. Then Moon Ray re-Ascends as an eldritch god, making him much older than Healing Song physically, though he's still younger chronologically.
  • Then there's Spike, a young Mana Drake and adoptive brother of Princess Twilight/Amicitia. He befriended Spike over their shared love of tabletop roleplaying games such as Ogres & Oubliettes, an in-universe Spiritual Successor of the Second Age's Castles & Cavaliers, which he played regularly.
• Interspecies Friendship: In the Fourth Age, he would befriend Spike, a young dragon, over their shared love of Ogres & Oubliettes, which is actually an in-universe Spiritual Successor of Castles & Cavaliers, which Healing Song once played regularly in the Second Age. This ended up becoming a Karmic Jackpot when Princess Twilight/Amicitia gave him Medela Lux as thanks for being a good friend to Spike.
• It's All My Fault: Due to suffering from Chronic Hero Syndrome times, he tends to blame himself for both real and perceived mistakes. After learning that Professor Bubbling Beaker used both him and other Ascendant deities for inspiration to perform horrific experiments on Pony foals and teenagers, he took it rather hard and blamed himself for the tragedies. He even tells Blue Suede Heartstrings that he wished he died from cancer in the hospital instead of Ascending that fateful day. Fortunately, his friends would help him recover and see he really isn't to blame for Bubbling Beaker's actions, even if it seemed like he is.
  Prince Healing Song: This is my fault, Blue! All my fault! I should've died instead!
  Blue Suede Heartstrings: Healey, that's fool's talk! Ya had nuthin' ta do with that mad-stallion and ya know it!
  Prince Healing Song: But it's true! If I hadn't become an Alicorn in the hospital that day, I wouldn't have inspired that Professor! Now all those young Ponies are crippled or worse because of me!

J — O

• Karmic Jackpot: Many good things would happen to him because of his good deeds and virtuous character.
  • Despite his musical talents and status as a prodigy, Healing Song was very humble, so much that he made sure to make the public recognize his bandmates for their own talents and contributions. This made him a legend in the music communities of Caneighda and Ponyland, and earned him a lot of friends in many legendary musicians, including Blue Suede Heartstrings, who would become his mentor, and a then-mortal Moon Ray Vaughoof.
  • After discovering his love for teaching under Blue's tutelage, Healing Song would serve as a mentor for many aspiring musicians, who would go on to become famous themselves, and regularly checked up on his students to see how they're doing. As with the above point, this led to many former students becoming his friends. He also became a very popular and beloved teacher in Kerajaan Cahaya for being so approachable and down-to-earth.
  • While he suffered from the same Mortality Phobia as War Rock did at some point, Healing Song eventually gathered the courage to reveal his fears to Blue, which led to him meeting Bossa Nova Heartstrings. Healing Song's entry notes that this saved him from becoming an Immortality Seeker like War Rock, as turning to his friends during a vulnerable period in his life ultimately helped him overcome his fears and accept his mortality. It also led to a rather unexpected moment where, while dying from cancer, Healing Song Ascended to godhood on his deathbed thanks to a disguised Luminiferous, which left him incredibly confused at first but he accepted it nonetheless.
  • After dealing with the end of the Second Age and the "Void Aeon" event, Healing Song would travel all over the world together with Blue, doing more good deeds and teaching more students. This would eventually catch the eye of the reawakened Queen Dazzleglow, who offered him and Blue a place in the Church of the Stars. While Blue refused out of humility, Healing Song accepted, and this led to him becoming a member of one of the most beloved pantheons on Equus, with many friends like Golden Scepter (who treats him like a son due to reminding him of his eighth son, Prince Crimson Star) and Princess-Regent Merula.
  • He ended up receiving his own Magic Staff, Medela Lux, from Princess Twilight/Amicitia in part as thanks for being a good friend for her adoptive brother, Spike the Dragon.
• Kitsch Collection: Like Jeff Healey, he was an avid vintage record collector. As a college student, he hosted a blues and jazz show on the local university radio station, where he would play records from his massive record collection. All the records were preserved with divine magic after he Ascended to godhood, but in the Fourth Age, he donated his entire collection to the Church of the Stars so he can reintroduce early musical technology from the Second Age. The fact that he was willing to give up something so precious to him foreshadows his focus shifting to his passion for teaching, reflected in his portfolio losing the Music domain and replacing it with domains better suited for teaching.
• Light 'em Up: Medela Lux grants him the ability to wield psionic light, which is appropriate given its name. he can create psionic blades of light through his staff to cut through mental barriers and psychic armor. He can also use light to calm agitated people, blind his foes with flashbangs, and heal people with light. In particular, his light-based spells can be used in conjunction with his Music-empowered voice, resulting in spells that both heal and grant peace of mind simultaneously.
• Light Is Good: He's strongly associated with light, with his natural affinity for light magic and his Magic Staff, Medela Lux, giving him light-based Psychic Powers. Following his psychological recovery and Eldritch Transformation, he would gain the domain of Light after his Psionics domain merged with his light affinity. Despite being a very flawed god, he is a benevolent musician and teacher who genuinely loves teaching others, and is very protective and encouraging of his students, disabled or no.
• Like a Son to Me: Golden Scepter is rather fond of him because he reminds him of his eighth son, Prince Crimson Star. Because of this, Golden Scepter has become a father figure for him following his induction in the Church of the Stars.
• Little "No": He utters this during his Fourth-Age confrontation with War Rock, who brings up the night he was kidnapped and raped specifically to torment him.
  War Rock: Do you remember that night, Healing Song? How I wormed my way into your confidence and tasted your sweet, sweet flesh?
  Prince Healing Song: (whispering fearfully) No...
• Lovecraftian Superpower: Following his Eldritch Transformation, his Light domain gains eldritch properties, giving him new abilities such as reality-warping, transmutation, and, notably, seeing other dimensions and planes via light (which he calls the "Light of Dimensions"). His Fear domain, when combined with his Light domain, gives him the ability to inflict existential dread on his opponents and illuminate everything that they fear/hate about themselves.
• Love Hurts: He admits to feeling lonely with so many of his friends getting married or dating someone. His first crushes, Winter Opera and Dissonant Tune, didn't work out so well — Winter Opera came out as asexual/aromantic, while Dissonant Tune didn't "swing that way" (in Dissonant's words). His third crush, Moon Ray/Canticum, didn't go so well either due to the fact that he's already married, and was turned down when he did gather the courage to confess. Fortunately, he would meet, befriend, and later fall in love with Celestia, whom he eventually married.
• Magic Hair: Following his Ascension in the Second Age, his mane and tail became composed of rippling golden Psionic energy. By his own admission, he was surprised that his hair wasn't made of sound energy like Blue Suede's, but he accepted it. The fact that his mane and tail became dull and stopped rippling, however, was a sign of his psychological instability affecting his physical appearance. Following his recovery and Eldritch Transformation, his mane and tail are now composed of golden psionic light, both to reflect his natural affinity for light magic and his new outlook on life.
• Magic Music: Like Blue Suede, he is a god of Music and holds an extremely impressive mastery over music in general due to originating as a mortal music prodigy. His first entry notes he has the same capabilities as Blue, but true to his name, his Martial Pacifist beliefs made him focus on the healing/supportive aspects of his Music domain. He specializes in (and is skilled in) both healing allies and empowering them with music, and he can protect people from spells fueled by fear and/or hatred with music. Later, he loses his Music domain following his psychological recovery and Eldritch Transformation, replacing it with new domains better suited for teaching such as Light, Protection, and Fear.
• Magic Staff: His second staff, Medela Lux, is this. Unlike his first staff, which was a very ordinary staff made of divine wood, Medela Lux was created by Princess Twilight/Amicitia and Princess Magicum Ponyland to match his preferences for healing/support while additionally giving him a few offensive options. It's described as a staff made of ornately-carved wood, rumored In-Universe to have come from the branch of a divine hardwood tree that was crossbred by Prince Stækka, and inlaid with divinely-enchanted gold to give it the appearance of coursing with liquid golden energy. At the top is its focusing crystal, an Imperial Topaz gemstone that enhances healing and protection-based spells, while the bottom is a thick, rounded club that can be used for bludgeoning in a pinch. Medela Lux also amplifies his Psychic Powers and gives him psionic Light 'em Up powers. Its magical core is noted to contain hair cut from his own mane, making Medela Lux "loyal" to him specifically.
• The Magnificent: Known as "the Divine Teacher" due to being an Alicorn god who embodies Teaching, and a really good and popular mentor for his students.
• Make Some Noise: Like Blue Suede, as a god of Music, he can wield sound magic, giving him abilities like sound nullification, Forced Sleep, and unleash powerful sonic screams. Initially, due to being a Martial Pacifist at the time, he only used sound magic for supportive purposes, but he later lost it when he exchanged his Music domain for other domains better suited for teaching.
• Martial Pacifist: Like his fellow Church god, Prince Sparkling Wing, he is one. Despite his great power and status as a "prodigy deity", Healing Song is a supportive person at heart and thus sees himself as support, not a fighter. Because of this, he doesn't believe in using instruments as weapons like Blue does, and only uses his more offensive abilities when absolutely necessary. If he has to fight, he'll try to end things quickly and decisively. And like Sparkling Wing, he uses a staff in a fight so he can still defend and support his allies without cause too much damage. However, it's deconstructed in that his pacifist beliefs and reluctance to go all-out with his powers has prevented him from fighting effectively at times, which are later revealed to be products of his fear of his own power and ultimately, his fear of becoming like War Rock if he doesn't use his power to help people. He later recovered and became more willing to fight offensively after having psychiatric sessions with Mentálne, being assured that he is nothing like War Rock, and forgiving War Rock for his transgressions.
• Master of Illusion: As a god of Fear, he can bring people's worst fears to life via illusions.
• Meaningful Name:
  • He's an Alicorn god named Healing Song, and he can heal (or empower) his allies with music. This becomes more apparent when, thanks to his friends' support, he heals from his PTSD and later helps Celestia do the same with her own issues.
  • Likewise, his staff is called "Medela Lux", which means "healing light" in Latin. True to its name, it has an Imperial Topaz gemstone that enhances healing and protection-based spells, and grants the user additional psychic Light 'em Up powers.
  • Following the "Dark Ages Crisis", he would be renamed "Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya" by the Church of the Stars. Medela Cantor roughly translates to "healing song" in Latin, which is his birth name.
• Meaningful Rename: Invoked with the Judicial Replacements. Both he and the Church of the Stars acknowledged that the golems' collective name indicates their sole purpose as judicial scapegoats for the people who created them to weasel out of due punishments, so they're trying to come up with (in Healing Song's words) a "cooler and more positive group name" for them. They're still working on it.
• Mentor Archetype: Much like Blue Suede Heartstrings and Luminiferous before him, he would become a mentor after discovering his own love for teaching under Blue Suede's tutelage. Being a god of Teaching also makes him a mentor by default, as he has psychic abilities that help him change his teaching styles based on his students' needs.
  • In the Second Age, Healing Song taught many aspiring musicians to develop their talents and careers, though he would also regularly check up his students to see how they're doing. This led to many of his students becoming his friends, and when he Ascended to godhood, his experiences and deeds as a Teacher would factor into him embodying Teaching as a concept.
  • In the Fourth Age, Healing Song would become a mentor for Prince Golden Ash, an ex-Alvslog Deer demigod of Protection, Renewal, and Community, based on a vision Moon Ray had of Golden Ash becoming the King of a racially diverse forest realm. At first, Golden Ash refused Healing Song's tutelage out of fear of becoming as bad as the Elternteil Deer Pantheon... but later changed his mind and accepted after discovering a group of Deer followed him out of the Alvslog Deer Realms out of gratitude and loyalty. Due to being open-minded, Golden Ash sees Healing Song as a far better teacher than the arrogant, toxic Irminsul, who willingly blinds himself to his own flaws and mistakes.
  • He taught Shàngtiān Jiùēn how to use his powers to navigate in compensation for his blindness, just as he himself did under Blue Suede Heartstrings and other deities of the Second Age in his mortal youth.
• Mind over Matter: As part of his Psionics domain, one of his powers is psionic telekinesis. He loses this ability after his Psionics domain merges with his affinity for light magic to create a Light domain, replacing it with photo-telekinesis.
• Mistaken for Gay:
  • Due to his closeness with his best friend, Steel String, many people often either mistook them for a romantic couple or 'shipped' them together. Steel String was horrified, but Healing Song found it hilarious and simply cleared things up with his fans.
    Prince Healing Song: (to a young fan who asked if he and Steel String were dating) Hehe, I love Steel String, I really do... but not in THAT way. See, we're like brothers, and if y'all have any siblings, you'll know that's a different kind of love. That being said, HUGE respect to the stallions out there who love each other like lovers do. Mares, too.
  • Hilariously, this happens again in the Fourth Age after Steel String comes Back from the Dead as an Angel, due to their closeness. Moon Ray isn't too surprised, but it annoys the hell out of Steel String, who only sees Healing Song as his 'little brother'.
    Steel String: Goddammit! Again?!
    Moon Ray Vaughoof: Honestly, with how close you two are, I ain't surprised...
    Steel String: I don't swing that way!
• Mix-and-Match Critters: His true form as an Alicorn contains a mishmash of traits from all mortal Pony tribes, but he chooses not to manifest them because in his words, "I see no difference".
• Modest Royalty: Despite being dubbed an Alicorn "Prince" after Ascending to godhood, he's humble enough that he's uncomfortable with being seen and treated like royalty, opting to wear his brown bomber jacket instead of his own divine barding (except for formal occasions) and having a simple musician's folding chair for a "throne" in the Church. Many deities have tried getting him to wear his divine barding more so he'll look more like a refined and respectable Alicorn god, but he never listens and his friends have defended him many times. He does keep his royal title despite his personal feelings about it, though it's only to avoid disappointing people.
• Moose and Maple Syrup: Averted. Despite being from Caneighda (the Second-Age Codexverse equivalent of Canada, Jeff Healey's birth country), he doesn't show any stereotypes relating to the country or its people, and is a pretty nice guy who has normal interests like music, collecting vintage records, and playing Castles and Cavaliers (now succeeded by its in-universe Spiritual Successor, Ogres & Oubliettes).
• Mortality Phobia: He suffered from one as a mortal. Despite his good life, successes, and plans, Healing Song initially feared dying because he worried over not being able to do everything he wanted to do or how he would be seen by others postmortem. After trying to keep his fears a secret, he eventually caved and confessed his fears to his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings. This led to Blue introducing Healing Song to his older twin brother, Bossa Nova Heartstrings, who taught Healing Song that Death is really nothing to be afraid about, and what truly mattered is how he lived his life, not how long he lived. It's noted that this saved Healing Song from becoming like War Rock, since he was humble and trusting enough to seek help from his friends rather than selfishly becoming an Immortality Seeker. Coincidentally, Healing Song's acceptance of his led to a rather unexpected Karmic Jackpot where he Ascended to godhood on his deathbed for his good deeds, instead of dying from cancer as he expected to.
• Music Soothes the Savage Beast: As a Music god, he had the power to calm agitated listeners via music. He lost it when he exchanged his Music domain for other domains better suited for teaching.
• Nerves of Steel: Possibly because of his blindness, Healing Song is seemingly unfazed by anything no matter how dire things are, which leads to his friends joking he has "nerves of steel".
  • When War Rock tried going after him to hurt Blue Suede Heartstrings through one of his friends, Healing Song refused to back down and calmly gave him a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech that exposed War Rock as just a petty and entitled bully who is nothing without the attention he craves. War Rock was greatly unnerved and angered, but unfortunately for him, he was distracted long enough for an angry Blue to arrive just in time and drive him away. It's later subverted in that Healing Song gained some trauma from the experience (among other things) and feared becoming like War Rock if he used his divine power to attack people instead of helping them, but thankfully his friends would help him recover from it.
• Nice Guy: Like his mentor, Blue Suede, he is one. He's a kind, humble, and friendly stallion who loves interacting with fans and always makes sure his bandmates are recognized for their own musical talents/contributions. To his students, he's a Cool Teacher who encourages their inner potential, yet realistic enough to teach them how to acknowledge their own limits. Despite being blind, he accepted it long ago, and is cheerful and good-humored to the point where he's willing to joke about himself. He's also quite sympathetic and protective towards disabled people, and advocates for them. While he's a flawed person who suffered from three Ages worth of untreated PTSD, there's no denying his kindness and is genuinely willing to change for the sake of his loved ones if called out. Unsurprisingly, this is what ultimately led to him Ascending to demi-godhood on his deathbed.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's based on Jeff Healey, a blind Canadian jazz/blues musician. Like Healey, he was born in Caneighda (the Codexverse's Second-Age equivalent of Canada), adopted by loving parents, and blinded during infancy when doctors removed his eyes to prevent infection by a rare ocular cancer. And like Healey, he was a musical prodigy who played the guitar like one would a piano (though he played the trumpet at one point). The diverging point occurs when he meets and becomes a student of Blue Suede Heartstrings, leading to him Ascending on his deathbed, and things go differently from there.
• The Nose Knows: To compensate for his blindness, he honed his sense of smell. Following his Ascension, his sense of smell was enhanced to a greater degree.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: When he confronts a resurrected War Rock (who abused, gaslit, and raped him as a mortal in the Second Age) during the 'Dark Ages Crisis' to save some hostages (including his friends), he's understandably terrified and is initially frozen in place out of fear while War Rock taunts him. But when War Rock offers to spare him in exchange for becoming one of his "brides", he is roused enough to give a light-coated hoof to War Rock's face, sending his tormentor flying and leaving a burn mark where he hit him. Then, when War Rock calls him a "weak little cripple", he angrily declares that he refuses to be a victim any longer, completely restoring his sickly physical divine form and becoming powerful enough to force War Rock into a retreat.
  Prince Healing Song: (roaring) I am not weak! I am not a cripple! I am PRINCE HEALING SONG! And I won't be your victim ANYMORE!
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • He notes with stern disapproval that both the Alicorn Ascendancy and most of its spinoffs have one thing in common with his students: The tendency to cheat on their "homework". Prince Star Cut agrees with him, but points out there's no rule preventing them from teaching the Ascendancy members not to cheat.
  • A major reason why he became a Martial Pacifist is because if he used his divine power to attack people rather than help them, then he'll become no different from War Rock, who used his magic for evil. His self-enforced martial pacifism is noted to have prevented him from fighting effectively at times since he focuses so much on healing/support to the point where he neglects defending himself and others. Fortunately, both his various friends and other benevolent deities like Blue Suede Heartstrings, Moon Ray Vaughoof, and Mentálne helped him forgive War Rock and see that his own choices and actions defined him, not War Rock's. Princess Twilight/Amicitia giving him Medela Lux as a gift to cheer him up also helped with his recovery.
  • On a lighter note, while he was never made The Scapegoat like 'Judicial Replacements' were, he acknowledges and understands what it's like to be judged for something beyond their control, as people had done with him for being blind.
    Prince Healing Song: (to a Judicial Replacement) I see a lot of potential in you, and it would be stupid of me to judge you just for looking like the flankhole who created you. And before you ask, no, I'm not saying that because I'm blind. I may have not been in the same situation, but I do know what it's like to be judged for things beyond our control.
• Odd Friendship: His entry notes that he would become friends with the studious and well-learned deities of the Church like Princesses Nete and Twilight/Amicitia Sparkle, as well as Princess-Regent Merula, based on being fellow teachers. However, his casual and friendly nature seemingly makes them total opposites.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • By his own admission, meeting Blue Suede Heartstrings for the first time and realizing he's actually meeting the King of Music himself caused him to become incredibly nervous and panicky, as he didn't know how to properly behave in front of a legendary rock god. He eventually got over it and befriended Blue Suede once he learned to look past the latter's divinity and see him as just another fellow musician.
  • Three Ages later, during the 'Dark Ages Crisis', he is terrified after learning War Rock is brought Back from the Dead by Mistletoe Dreamer, because he remembers how War Rock abused, gaslit, and later raped him just to soothe his own wounded ego. Despite his friends' encouragement, he spends much of his confrontation with War Rock frozen in fear while at his Arch-Enemy's mercy. Thankfully, he snaps out of it once it becomes clear what'll happen if he surrenders, and during the ensuing fight, he declares that he won't be War Rock's victim anymore.

P — S

• Palette Swap: An In-Universe example that's played for laughs. Both he and Princess Magicum discover that they share the same green and yellow color scheme, but it's reversed for each of them. This made their first meeting a little awkward.
  Princess Magicum Ponyland: "..."
  Prince Healing Song: "..."
  Princess Magicum Ponyland: ...Well, this is awkward.
• Papa Wolf: As a teacher, he is very protective of his students, disabled or no. When a group of Sparkle Pony Autorists tried attacking his young students, he initially tried to resolve the situation peacefully as to not scare his students. It's only after an Autorist insulted him did he take action, and left the mare embedded in a classroom wall after a single punch. The rest were cowed into surrendering themselves after this.
• Parental Abandonment: His birth parents gave him up for adoption. Fortunately, he was adopted by loving parents, and though he doesn't know who his birth parents are, he's not too worried about it. As far as he's concerned, his adoptive parents are his family.
• Personality Powers:
  • His original portfolio (Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics) reflected both his love for music and teaching, and his passion for encouraging his students' inner potential as musicians. His Psionics domain seems to be the odd one out, however, as it manifested as a way for him to compensate for his blindness.
  • His new portfolio (Potential, Teaching, Light, Protection, and Fear) reflects the illuminating aspects of potential and teaching, as well as fear since he specifically embodies the acknowledgement and overcoming of fear. His domain of Protection also refers to his desire to protect his students and loved ones from anything, including toxic behaviors/beliefs and predatory individuals who want to abuse them physically, mentally, and/or sexually like what War Rock did to him.
• Physical God: He is one due to being an Alicorn god from the Second Age. Like Blue Suede Heartstrings, his mentor, Healing Song has an incredible mastery over music, which manifested as the Music domain when he Ascended to godhood. Unlike Blue, though, he is skilled in using its healing/empowering aspects and mostly chooses to do that over using music to attack people. His Potential domain gives Healing Song potent precognitive abilities and the ability to empower allies with their future potential, and his Teaching domain gives Healing Song a psychic intuition that allows him to adapt to his students' needs and learning developments. His Psionics domain gives him great psychic abilities like telepathy and psionic telekinesis, and coming under the tutelage of Emperor Golden Scepter and his son, Prince Crimson Star, has given Healing Song new psychic abilities and made him even more powerful. Being a "prodigy deity" also makes him stronger compared to "normal" deities in overall power and growth. However, because of his pacifistic beliefs, Healing Song mostly chooses to serve a healing/support role and only uses his offensive abilities when necessary, though this has prevented him from fighting effectively at times.
• Planimal: His true divine form has elements of this. The bottom half of his body has a forest-green pelt made of grass, flowers, and other healthy foliage, while the upper half of his body is made is solidified golden light. His body is also dotted with forest-green spots that make him look like a Light Elemental encased in a crumbling, earthy shell.
• Point of Divergence: While he still got afflicted with terminal cancer like Jeff Healey did, he was saved on his deathbed by a last-minute Ascension thanks to a disguised Luminiferous providing the "Spark" needed to do so, restoring his youth and vitality.
• Potty Emergency: Prior to his Ascension, he ate with a then-mortal Winter Opera at a restaurant in Hindia during the Second Age. Unfortunately, Healing Song experienced stomach problems after eating some vegetable curry and had to rush to the bathroom. Fortunately, his Ascension made future incidents less likely to happen.
  Winter Opera: You okay, Healey?
  Healing Song: Urgh... I think I ate something...
  Winter Opera: What was the last thing you ate?
  Healing Song: Um... maybe that vegetable curry?
  Winter Opera: ...Probably the vegetable curry, then.
• The Power of Friendship: His kind and humble personality gave him a lot of friends, even in deities like Blue Suede Heartstrings. His friendships would play a direct role in not only ensuring War Rock's first death (as his rape caused many superheroes of the Age to agree that War Rock must die to protect more potential victims), but also his psychological recovery once his PTSD and other issues became clear.
• The Power of the Sun: His Light domain manifesting itself for the first time not only burned War Rock (who at the time was a Vampire Lord), but also caused the latter to think he has solar magic based on recollections of how Melody and Ace killed him the first time. It's subverted as he only has ordinary light magic that was made effective against Vampires by his divinity, and let War Rock think he wielded sunlight (though he admitted he, too, was surprised to discover he had a light affinity at all).
• Psychic Powers:
  • His domains of Potential gives him precognition, while his Teaching domain gives him a psychic intuition revolving around countering bad teachings and teaching his students effectively. He can also sense the morality of his students.
  • As a god of Psionics, he has great psychic powers like telepathy, psionic telekinesis, and empathy, but he is dwarfed in power and experience by the likes of both Emperor Golden Scepter and Prince Crimson Star. While gaining abilities like Astral Projection and psionic lightning under their tutelage, he either used them for mundane purposes or avoided them altogether due to his Martial Pacifist beliefs. It's believed In-Universe that his Psionics domain was the result of his innate psychic potential going unused for years, and then manifesting as a domain when he Ascended.
  • Following his breakdown, recovery, and Eldritch Transformation, his Psionics domain merged with his natural affinity for light magic, giving him a Light domain and allowing him to wield psionic light. This comes with abilities like telepathically blinding enemies, teleporting through light, using photo-telekinesis to manipulate his surroundings, and forging psychic links via telepathic 'ropes' made of light. His Fear domain also gives him telepathic and empathic abilities to discern people's worst fears.
• Punched Across the Room:
  • One of the Autorists who tried attacking his students was a Sparkle Pony mare. He left her embedded in a classroom wall with a single punch after she refused to accept his peaceful offer to surrender without incident and insulted his blindness.
  • In the 'Dark Ages Crisis', during their confrontation, he also punched War Rock in the face with a light-covered hoof as his way of refusing the latter's offer of being spared in exchange for becoming one of his "brides", sending War Rock flying and burning his face where he was punched.
• Rape and Revenge: His kidnapping and rape was, by their own admission, what motivated Melody and Ace to go kill War Rock, besides needing to cure Melody's vampirism and protect more innocents from getting hurt/killed. They succeed by exploiting War Rock's weakness to sunlight.
• Rape as Backstory: In his mortal years, he was kidnapped and raped by War Rock himself while investigating the high body count created by the latter's rampage with a group of friends. The sheer trauma of the incident, combined with War Rock's prior abuse and gaslighting as well as the Second Age's unsympathetic attitudes towards "weaknesses" (including male rape victims), gradually influenced him to develop a Don't You Dare Pity Me! attitude that caused him to push away anyone who genuinely tried to help him.
• Rape Leads to Insanity: War Rock kidnapping and raping him for extremely petty reasons left him with intense PTSD that was worsened by prior abuse and Gaslighting, also on War Rock's part, leaving him reluctant to open up about his problems, uncomfortable with being touched by people he doesn't know, and unable to differentiate truth from lies. His rape also left him feeling "lesser" of a stallion, and thanks to the Second Age's unsympathetic attitudes towards "weaknesses" and mistreatment of male rape victims, he gradually developed a Don't You Dare Pity Me! attitude that caused him to push away even his closest friends whenever they tried to help him. His toxic mindset at the time and general psychological instability not only caused his physical appearance to deteriorate, but also led to him nearly dying in a fight against a great enemy. It's after receiving much-needed therapy and being chewed out for his actions by Nittunak that he actively makes efforts in getting better.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He would calmly give War Rock a scathing dressing-down after the latter tried pulling a Revenge by Proxy on him to hurt Blue Suede Heartstrings, exposing War Rock as a petty and entitled bully who is really nothing without the attention he craves. This distracted War Rock long enough for Blue Suede Heartstrings to arrive and drive him away.
  War Rock: Got any last words before I end your pathetic life, cripple?
  Healing Song: Yeah: YOU. SUCK.
  War Rock: What?!
  Healing Song: You heard me. You're not some great musician to be praised and adored; you're just a petty, entitled bully who hogs the spotlight and hurts any-Pony who will outshine you. And now, you're in my house uninvited, attacking a blind Pony for saying things you didn't like. If you're that desperate for attention, then you don't deserve to be a musician! All you'll ever be is a lonely grave, unmourned and forgotten!
• Repression Never Ends Well: Repressing his own traumas and divine power for three Ages (i.e. tens of thousands of years) not only left him psychologically unstable, but also physically unhealthy as his mental state translated to his appearance becoming dull-colored and sickly. His friends were unable to help him due to being pushed away whenever they tried, leading to him almost dying while fighting a great foe. He later gets skunked by Nittunak because of his toxic mindset and hypocrisies in practicing pacifism out of fear, and thus is undeserving of Nittunak's respect. Thanks to this wake-up call, he realizes he was wrong to act the way he did and makes efforts in both overcoming his trauma and reconciling with his friends. He becomes completely healthy again while fighting War Rock during the "Dark Ages Crisis", with his form restored and gaining new powers.
• Revenge by Proxy: Part of the reason why he was frequently attacked and tormented by War Rock is because the latter wanted to hurt Blue Suede Heartstrings through one of his beloved students. It culminates in War Rock outright kidnapping and raping him during a vulnerable moment, leaving him with terrible scars that would not be healed until well into the Fourth Age. This in part influenced Melody and Ace's decision to go and deal with War Rock permanently.
• Rock Trio: He, Steel String, and Tempo Groove form one as the Healing String Groove Band, which is based on the Jeff Healey Band — while Steel String plays bass and Tempo Groove plays drums, Healing Song is the band's guitarist/lead singer. They became friends after Healing Song made sure his bandmates were recognized for their own talents, and stayed True Companions until Steel String and Temple Groove died of old age, leaving Healing Song the Sole Survivor... until the former two decide to come back to life as Angels and reunite with him in the mortal planes.
• Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Under Crimson Star's tutelage, he learned how to create Psychic Links so he could "see" through other people. However, he avoided this in favor of using telepathy to make long-range communications, having recognized the potential dangers of such a technique. After gaining a Light domain, he gained a similar ability in forging psychic links with telepathic 'ropes' made of light.
• A Shared Suffering:
  • He befriended Queen Fluttershy/Gaia Posey I over their shared struggles with low self-esteem and unwillingness to fight enemies at their full strength. He also sympathized with her initiall attempts to become assertive in her mortal youth going horribly wrong, as he similarly attempted to be a Martial Pacifist to separate himself from those who abused their own power, but ended up making a mockery of true pacifism and nearly dying as a result.
  • During the 'Big Comeback Tour', he sympathized with the revived celebrities' desire to live, something that he experienced as a mortal. However, he acknowledged that many of them took it too far, as shown with the 'Applewood Rescue' (despite not participating in the event).
  • Despite seeing the Pony couple who adopted him in the Second Age as his true family, he ends up sympathizing with Spike over not knowing their respective birth parents' identities. Thus, he is enraged when Sludge, a lazy con-Dragon, tried exploiting Spike by posing as his long-lost father so he can live a life of luxury.
  • He bonds with Princess Magicum Ponyland over being talented individuals who were heavily traumatized by the abuse they suffered at the hooves at others, and letting their respective traumas rule them for years.
  • A huge reason why he is very protective of those with physical/mental disabilities is because as a blind person, he sympathizes with the struggles they go through, including being treated as "helpless" and/or "inferior" by those who look down on them. Following his breakdown and recovery, he advocates for awareness of those with disabilities, yet encouraging disabled people be more trusting of those who genuinely want to help them and not let their fear and pride push them away.
  • He and Prince Golden Ash would end up bonding as mentor and student, respectively, over their shared experience of fearing their own power and the potential of what they could become due to being influenced by individuals who were extremely unpleasant and/or imparted their toxic beliefs onto them.
• Shock and Awe: One of the abilities he learned from Crimson Star is wielding psychic lightning. Due to being a Martial Pacifist, however, he only uses this power when necessary. He presumably lost this ability when his Psionics domain merged with his affinity for light magic and mutated into a Light domain.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Deconstructed. His trauma from being abused and raped by War Rock influenced him to distrust the latter's (many) illegitimate children, even heroic ones like Princess Winter Opera. With help from Prince Crystal Clear, he realizes he was wrong to judge them for being related to their wicked father, and notably became friends with Winter Opera and even her (constructive) evil half-brother, Prince Dissonant Tune. In relation, he advocates for protection for children born of rape as he sees them as completely innocent of their sires' crimes, which got him opposed by judicial extremists who believe that evil is hereditary.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Following the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', he and Moon Ray/Canticum would rip on each other's respective Eldritch Transformations (though in a good-natured way).
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: It's a good thing I didn’t get antlers when I transformed, 'cause that would mean I could've gotten... hornier.
  Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya: oH, hAr HaR. aT lEaSt Ah dOn'T lOoK lIkE a BuCkIn' night-light.
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: Says the one who can't decide what his powers should be.
  Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya: hEy! Ah hAvE a reason fEr ThAt.
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: And what is that?
  Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya: aH rE-aScEnDeD aFtEr rEaLiZiN' tHe WoRlD's PoWeReD bY cYcLeS. tHaT's WhY aH cHaNgE pOwErS iN a NeVeR-eNdIn' CyClE.
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: Does this mean we should break the cycle, then?
  Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya: "..."
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: "..."
  Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya: ...sHuT uP, hEaLeY.
• Sole Survivor: After he Ascended to godhood, his divine immortality ensured that he would end up outliving his own bandmates, including bassist Steel String and drummer Tempo Groove of the Healing String Groove Band, turning him into the sole survivor of the many bands he co-founded with them. Understandably, this left him devastated due to being close friends with them. Fortunately, his divine friends like Blue Suede, Bossa Nova, and the Virtusidae would help him cope with his grief. He would also reunite with Tempo Groove and Steel String in the Fourth Age following the latter two's transformations into Angels.
• Super-Empowering: As a god of Music, he can empower his allies with Magic Music, though he lost this ability when he lost his Music domain. As a god of Potential, he can not only empower people with their future potential (even temporary Ascending them like Luminiferous does), but also empower inanimate objects and weapons with their full potential.
• Super-Hearing: He possesses this. Initially it was downplayed as without magic, he was forced to hone his hearing so he could compensate for his blindness. While not super-equine, his hearing was enhanced to a degree that allowed him to navigate through daily life. Ascending to godhood gave him the Music domain, enhancing his natural hearing to phenomenal degrees compared to normal deities, though thankfully it also gives him the natural resistance to protect himself from going deaf.
• Super-Scream: As a god of Music, he can unleash powerful, disorienting screams. He has done this to his enemies on occasion when the situation required it. He later lost this ability when he lost his Music domain.
• Supernatural Fear Inducer: As a god of Fear, he is literally this. He has telepathic and empathic powers to discern people's worst fears, bring said fears to life via illusions, empower himself with the presence of fear, and project an aura that induces fear. When combined with his Light domain, his Fear domain allows him to induce existential dread and illuminate the worst sides of people that they fear/hate about themselves. However, he's a case of Bad Powers, Good People as he embodies the acknowledgement and overcoming of fear, so he uses his Fear domain for good.
• Supernatural Floating Hair: As an Alicorn, he developed a rippling mane and tail as one of many eldritch traits he would develop over time as he got 'older'. The fact that they stopped rippling was a sign of how physically and mentally unwell he became as a consequence of repressing his own divine power. After he let go of everything that was holding him back, his mane and tail started rippling again to show his recovery.
• Super-Senses: Due to being blind, he honed his hearing, smell, touch, and taste to compensate for it, which was super helpful during his time as an unawakened Earth Pony in the Second Age. Following his Ascension, his senses were enhanced to a greater degree. Despite this, his senses don't help him much against more powerful and experienced opponents without magic aiding him, and thus is heavily reliant on his allies to detect threats for him.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: He admitted to being surprised he had a natural affinity for light magic when it manifested itself, and let War Rock think he can wield sunlight (which War Rock is weak to).
  Prince Medela Cantor Cahaya: I never told War Rock I don't actually use sunlight. I just let him think I did.

T — Z

• Telepathy:
  • As part of his Psionics domain, one of his powers is telepathy. Under Crimson Star's tutelage, he learned how to create Psychic Links so he could "see" through other people. But due to his pacifist beliefs, he mostly uses his telepathic abilities for supportive, mundane purposes, like long-range communication.
  • Later, after having his Psionics domain merge with his affinity for light magic to create a Light domain, he gains light-based telepathy, allowing him to telepathically blind his enemies and forge Psychic Links via telepathic 'ropes' made of light. His Fear domain also gives him telepathy to discern people's worst fears.
• Together in Death: A huge reason why he chose to die after being diagnosed with terminal cancer is the possibility of being reunited with his friend, Moon Ray, who died suddenly in a helicopter crash. It didn't happen because he unexpectedly Ascended to demi-godhood on his deathbed, though he ended up reuniting with Moon Ray anyway three Ages later.
• Token Minority: He's the only Alicorn and deity in the Church of the Stars who is afflicted with a physical disability — in his case, it's blindness.
• Took a Level in Badass: He starts off as an unawakened Earth Pony who eventually awakens his magic under Blue Suede's tutelage. Then he unexpectedly becomes an Alicorn demigod on his deathbed, and later Ascends to true godhood thanks to Blue Suede, but represses his own power by using it for supportive, defensive, and even mundane applications, with massive consequences. After letting go of everything that held him back, including his PTSD, he reaches his full potential, not only healing himself but becoming powerful enough to drive War Rock, who was resurrected in the Fourth Age as a Vampire Lord, into a retreat. During the 'Cosmic Prophet Debacle', he transforms into an eldritch Alicorn with light and plant-based traits as a result of being exposed to Caelum Filum's eldritch presence (among other things). His portfolio also changes to reflect his growth, going from Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics, to Potential, Teaching, Light, Protection, and Fear.
• Touché: He responds this way after expressing surprise over Moon Ray choosing to be a Necromancer instead of The Bard for an Ogres & Oubliettes session, only for Moon Ray to point out it wouldn't make any sense if their adventuring party had two members of the same class.
• Transmutation: After becoming an eldritch Alicorn, he gained the ability to transmute objects via light magic.
• True Companions: He and his bandmates were this when many of them were alive, especially Steel String and Tempo Groove. Because he treated all of them kindly and always made sure they got public recognition for their own talents and contributions, his bandmates became close friends with him well into their old age. They were extremely willing to protect him as well; when War Rock treated Healing Song like a helpless invalid, Steel String, Tempo Groove, and other musicians present at the time rose up to defend him, forcing War Rock to leave.
• Trust Password: He established this with Dissonant Tune to account for his blindness and Dissonant's vocal similarities to his birth father, War Rock. Because he was frequently tormented and later raped by War Rock in his mortal youth, he initially mistook Dissonant as War Rock returned and distrusted him for it. While they became friends over time, they kept the password, though by the present Age it became a normal ritual for them.
  Prince Healing Song: Hey Dissy! How many chips did you eat today?
  Prince Dissonant Tune: Uh, about five bags worth.
  Prince Healing Song: You eat too many damn chips.
  Prince Dissonant Tune: Better than having a chip on my shoulder.
  Prince Healing Song: Eyyyyy!
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His Ascension in the Second Age would later inspire Professor Bubbling Beaker to perform cruel experiments on both foals and non-sapient creatures to unlock the secrets of Ascension. He blamed himself upon learning of this, to the point where he wished he died in the Second Age instead of Ascending, though thankfully, his friends would help him recover from it and see he really wasn't to blame for Bubbling Beaker's actions.
• Walking the Earth: After the Second Age and the "Void Aeon" event ended, he would travel all over Equus together with Blue, doing more good deeds up until the Fourth Age, where their exploits would catch the attention of Queen Dazzleglow. When Dazzleglow offered a place for them in the Church of the Stars, Blue refused, not wanting to be treated differently from everyone else, but Healing Song accepted, wanting to meet more teachers like him.
• Weapon-Based Characterization:
  • Like Prince Sparkling Wing, he used a simple staff made of divine wood so he can defend and protect his allies without causing too much damage. This represented both his Martial Pacifist mindset and his fears of his own divine strength that motivated his attitude.
  • Later, he eschews his first staff in favor of the more powerful Medela Lux, made by Magicum and given to him by Twilight/Amicitia as a gift to cheer him up. Medela Lux not only has a clubbed bottom for melee attacks, but also grants him light-based psychic abilities. This represented his acceptance of the need to actually harm in order to properly protect his friends, and the newfoudn power he gained from letting go of his traumas.
• What the Hell, Hero?: On the giving and receiving ends.
  • He called out several Virtusidae for mistreating Shamrock over his grief towards the Fallen Stitching Time, bluntly pointing out that they would also feel hurt if someone did the same thing to them for grieving the deaths of their own mortal family members and friends. This, combined with the news of Shamrock's attempted suicide, caused them to regret their actions and apologize to Shamrock.
    Prince Healing Song: I guess you wouldn't like it if I told you that your dead families weren't worth crying over, would you?
  • His friends would confront him after he nearly died fighting a powerful enemy, having grown fed up with him constantly blowing off their attempts to help him, which leads to him breaking down. Sometime after this, he would be skunked unconscious and left stinking horribly for weeks by Nittunak, who was disgusted with him for making a mockery of actual pacifists who defend others out of compassion with his fear-based pacifism. Though he was initially left depressed to the point of wanting to die, eventually he acknowledges that he had been a toxic person thanks to therapy and his friends' support, and made genuine efforts in improving himself.
  • Following his Eldritch Transformation, he would call out Celestia for constantly treating herself as expendable without caring how her family might think, having noticed she was displaying the same flaws that led to Blue Suede's breakdown. When Celestia stubbornly refused to let go of her toxic mindset, he resorted to bringing in Nittunak to make her come to her senses. True to form, being left horribly stinky for weeks like he was forced Celestia to acknowledge her actions were doing more harm than good and actually work on improving herself. This would later lead to both of them falling in love and marrying each other.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: In a rather tragic irony, instead of dying from cancer and reuniting with his friend Moon Ray like he expected to, he would end up outliving his adoptive parents, his friends, and many of his bandmates after he Ascended to godhood on his deathbed. Understandably, this left him devastated, and he would spend some time recovering from his losses after the Second Age ended. Fortunately, he would have emotional support in people like Blue Suede Heartstrings, Bossa Nova Heartstrings, and the Virtusidae, all who suffered heavy losses over time themselves and deeply empathized with his pain.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: On the receiving end. As a form of Gaslighting, War Rock would attack him and then guilt-trip him for 'making' him attack him, all to torment him and destroy his self-worth. It worked, as even three Ages later, he had trouble differentiating true from lies as a direct consequence of War Rock's abuse.
• Winged Unicorn: He unexpectedly Ascended to godhood while he was dying from cancer, turning him into an Alicorn with a rippling mane and tail composed of golden Psionic energy, and a magical gradient going from forest-green to yellow. He's also a "prodigy deity", giving him abnormally accelarated physical and magical growth rates. After his Eldritch Transformation, he became an eldritch Alicorn who, according to his second entry, resembles a Light Elemental encased in a crumbling earthy shell, with traits like a body covered in plant foliage, a Cutie Mark with real flowers, and a face reflecting a person's best self when looked at.
• Would Hit a Girl: He didn't hesitate to leave a female Sparkle Pony Autorist embedded in a classroom wall with a single punch after she first attacked his students, then pressed his Berserk Button by insulting his blindness.

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