Never in the span of time he remembered had he ever heard such arguing. Cloud stood by a tree while Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity all stood yelling at one another. Twilight suggested that they search specific areas as a group, Applejack wanted to split up and look for any signs, and Rarity wanted to split into groups of 2's (not including Cloud of course, whom she really didn't care about). It seemed that they didn't care about Cloud, or the element, or it's purpose... All they wanted is to win the argument. Sheepishly Fluttershy walked over to Cloud.
"Hey Fluttershy! Gosh, they really can argue, can't they? Said Cloud.
"Yeah..." Said Fluttershy, who looked rather pale.
"What's wrong? You look pale." Asked Cloud.
"Well, I really am afraid of the Everfree Forest, and now that Discord Is on the loose..." Said Fluttershy, on the brink of crying.
"Hey now, everything will be fine" Cloud out his hoof around her shoulder and she blushed. She looked up at him, and saw that he looked straight into her eyes with a look of confidence. She smiled and agreed, calming herself down. It seemed whenever she was around him, there was always a comforting look in his eyes. She liked that.
"You know what? If these people won't help us find the solution, I'll look for it myself." Said Cloud.
"Oh, please don't... I don't want you to get hurt." Said Fluttershy.
"Thanks for your concern, but I'd like to make progress they're not making." Said Cloud. He walked away without looking back and headed into the heart of the forest.
Cloud walked aimlessly through the forest. It felt like hours he had been there and he had made no progress. As he felt like he was about to fall down out of his own tiredness, he heard a voice.
"Wow, I can't believe it. The one pony they needed to find the solution wanders off on his own. What do they call you now? Cloud? I can't believe someone like you would end up here with me." Said Discord, snickering "Someone as important as you I mean. You were so great before."
"Who are you? What do you know about who I was?" Asked Cloud.
"Oh you? Well that doesn't matter now does it? Let's talk about you now. Alone, abandoned by your so called "friends". They don't care about you. You're just another pony to them. All they want is your element. You're left all alone in the middle of the forest and they don't even care!" Said Discord.
"That's... That isn't true." Said Cloud "It just can't be...".
"Really? What makes you say so? They just met you! It's not like they really care. Here, let me make you a deal. I give you you're memory..." Said Dischord, with the most wicked of smiles on his face "For the element. What do you say?"
Cloud sat there. That was all he did, sat there. He couldn't bring himself to say it, but he thought... That maybe he was right. These people couldn't be his friends, they just want his element.
"Deal." Said Cloud. He grabbed the necklace from his neck and took it off. This was the first time he'd gotten a good look at it. It looked like a shield kind of shape, with some object printed in the middle. He didn't care though, he was going to give I away anyway.
"Here, take it." Said Cloud grimly. He extended his arm as if to give it to him, but something hit him. He had a vision of Fluttershy, telling him not to go. She cared. He saw Rarity, fixing him his nice robe. She cared. He saw the little fillies that might not be able to live the rest of their lives normally if he went through with this. They cared. And now, He did too.
"No... NO!" Shouted Cloud "I won't give it to you! My friends do care! I'm willing to do anything to protect them!".
"A sad mistake, you almost knew. Oh well, i guess I'll just have to take it." Said Discord. He reached for the necklace, but Cloud pulled it away. Dischord charged at him, but Cloud evaded him. Cloud picked up a fallen branch and hit Discord with it. It felt natural, so he swung again, using it like a sword. Eventually he got one perfect crack at his head, and that set him off.
"FINE, you keep the element! You'll never figure out how to use it anyway!" Said Discord.
"I think we already have!" Said a voice coming from the side. Twilight and her friends emerged from the bush.
"After that scene, we already know what he is! Courageous!" Said Twilight. The necklace around Clouds neck started to glow. It shined so bright and started to lift him up! His eyes glowed glowed a beautiful red and the necklace shot a bright red laser right at Discord. It hit the necklace Discord was wearing himself which was what Twilight assumed was the anti-element. The anti-element around his neck burst into tiny pieces.
"NO! MY ANTI-ELEMENT!" Shouted Discord. All the other elements lit up and dragged the others around Cloud. All of their combined elements shot an array of colors right at Discord. He exploded in a flash of light and color, and was gone, leaving only a pile of ash. The seven dropped to the ground and stared at one another. Then, all at once' they looked at at Cloud.
"Cloud! You did it! You found your element!" Said Twilight.
"I... I did? Oh I see..." Said Cloud. He then did something no pony expected. He laughed. He laughed aloud and was smiling ear to ear. Naturally Pinkie joined him, being the element of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Asked Rarity.
"Nothing, I'm just so glad I have friends like you! I just can't believe we did it!" Said Cloud, still smiling.
"Look! On his flank!" Shout RainbowDash. On Clouds flank appeared a cutie mark. It was a grayish blue shield with a heart in the middle, tied with with two red ribbons.
"I guess this means I'm normal now. So what do we do now?" Asked Cloud.
"Let's go see Celestia!" Said Twilight.