Chapter 7: The Hidden Harmony
"There!" Twilight said, donning her tiara. "Now let's go beat Discord so we can get this over with and never have to see each other again!"
"We can't," Taro said, stopping her.
"Not you too!"
"No, I mean we can't do it. We need Rainbow Dash. She's gone."
Twilight thought, then hovered the necklace into Taro's hands. "There, YOU do it for her."
"What! I can't! I don't even know what I'm DOING with this!"
Discord walked in front of them. "Well, well, well. Looks like you found the elements. Congratulations."
"That's right, now we can defeat you!" Twilight said back.
"Well, go right ahead. I'm waiting."
Taro stood there as the others started to glow and rise into the air. The other elements started to glow, but Taro's remained a red lightning bolt. They fell to the ground and Discord laughed once again. "Looks like they didn't work. Well, I've got to get back to my chaos! I'll see you later!"
"I don't understand. Why didn't it work?" Twilight wondered aloud.
"Mine's workin'. Must be somethin' wrong with YOUR'S." Apple Jack said.
"Quiet!" Twilight ordered.
"I'm out of here!" Pinkie Pie said, throwing her element on the ground.
"Me too!" Apple Jack copied.
Rarity quickly gathered both of them and ran off.
"I'm leaving too!" Fluttershy said, throwing hers at Taro.
"That's it... they're all gone," Taro pointed out.
"Fine! Who needs you! With friends like you, who needs... enemies..." Twilight looked down in shame.
"Come on, Twilight, you can't give up." Taro knelt down, dropping the Element of Loyalty. "We have to stop him."
"What's the point?" Twilight walked away.
Taro watched as she left. "She's gone too." he said to himself.
Discord appeared right next to him. "Aww, so sad. Looks like your team of hero's has disbanded. You're ALL on your own."
"It doesn't matter. I don't need the Elements of Harmony to kick your ASS!" Taro drew his sword and thrust it toward Discord.
"Language, Dragon Rider," Discord said, putting his hands slightly up.
"You got rid of my friends, ruined their personalities, made them give up, and turned them into complete jerks! I have no reason to even LISTEN to what you say! You even corrupted my girlfriend! I have NO sympathy for what happens to you! I am so pissed off, I want to beat you up and heal you, JUST so I can do it again!"
"Temper, Taro. That's not very heroic of you, killing for your own pleasure."
"What are saying!?"
"Don't you understand? I've turned all of your friends, except one."
"Twilight HAS turned."
"Not her... you. You see, you are also an element. When the original five Elements of Harmony are brought together, a spark ignites, creating the sixth one, who was Twilight. YOU however, are the hidden, and FINAL element. The element that binds all the other elements together. The Element of Heroism. This element isn't even known to Celestia, it's so hidden."
"Then how do you know about it?"
"I love riddles." Discord said with a grin. "In the labyrinth, I sent forces to deny all of the elements their natural powers. I sent the fake Isron to you. You were supposed to go with, then he would tell you of how your world is falling at the hand of the new Dragon Rider. You would've gone back to it, corrupting yourself. But now, I have to result to doing it myself."
"Even still, it's not just for me, it's for Equestria!" Taro slashed Kveykva toward Discord, only to have it hit an invisible force-field. It was as if he had hit a brick wall instead. "What!?"
"Ooh, isn't THAT disappointing. My chaotic magic is too strong to be broken by any blade, magic or not. The only thing that can hurt me and turn me back to stone are the Elements of Harmony."
"Then I will get them back. I'll get all of them back. We'll break that barrier and incase you in stone again. I can't just let you get away with it." Taro turned and walked away. As soon as he took his first steps to library to get Spike, a flash of light appeared around his neck. He didn't even acknowledge it. It disappeared and left a green sword dangling at the bottom of a necklace.
"Spike?" Taro called. He was met with a groan. Spike was upstairs, burping out letters and scrolls every second.
"The Princess has been sending them non-stop!" he groaned in agony.
Taro bent down and picked one up. "What is it?"
"Twilight's lessons on friendship..." He burped out another letter.
"All of them?" Spike burped out yet another letter. "Can't you just breathe it out?"
"No!" He belched again. "Make it stop!"
"I got an idea!" Taro grabbed an armful of letters and searched with his mind for Twilight's energy.
Twilight walked passed Sugar Cube Corner, looking down. "Twilight!" Taro landed next to her, dropping a few scrolls.
"Hi Taro..." she said, disappointed.
"Twilight, look. It's your letters. To the princess. Celestia! These are YOUR friends! Discord changed them, and he tried changing me too, and now he succeeded at you!" Taro dumped the scrolls at Twilight's feet.
"But, you don't even have an element." She looked up and saw Taro's pendant. "What! A seventh element! How is that even possible?"
"The seventh element, the Element of Heroism, is what binds the other six. There's still hope! I'm still left, and we can still defeat Discord. I can't do it alone. I need EVERYONE'S help. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Apple Jack. Everyone."
Twilight lifted up a letter and began to read. "Why would the princess send these back?" Twilight's face started to light up. "I know how we can defeat Discord! There's a spell I know that can return their memories and bring them back!"
"Great! I'll see if I can do the same. We'll split up. You go for Apple Jack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, I'll get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash!"
"Why them?"
"Can you fly? I didn't think so. Can they fly? That's what I thought." Taro immediately took off.