The Element of Empathy: Season 2

~Eleanor's POV~
*Dream*

*Dream End*

I woke up with a gasp and sat up to catch my breath from the horrifying nightmare I just had. Chaos, madness and destruction rained upon Ponyville like someone's magic has gone array and turned Ponyville into their own version of their personal playground.

Cotton candy clouds. Chocolate milk rain. Over-sized apples. Crazy popcorn fields. Giraffe-legged bunnies.

"Ellie?" Twilight called my name, shaking my shoulder, "Ellie, wake up. You've gotta see this."

I got out of bed, joined Twilight at the window and looked outside. To my shock, all of Ponyville was surrounded by cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk. Just like in my dream.

Who could've done this?

I turned to Twilight, "We've gotta help out."

Twilight looked at me and nodded. We got dressed out of our pajamas, into our casual attire. Twilight grabbed a book from the library. I woke up Spike. We exit the library and made our way to Sweet Apple Acres.

Once at Sweet Apple Acres, everything from my dream has turned to reality. Giraffe-legged bunnies were eating over-sized apples from the trees, including Angel Bunny. Popcorn covered the entire field. And the sky was surround by cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk.

Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack looked dumbfounded of what was going on. Pinkie Pie was drinking the chocolate milk rain. And Rainbow Dash was trying to keep the clouds under control, but to no avail.

"Don't worry, everyone." Twilight told everyone, making our presence known, "I've learned a new spell that'll fix everything."

She gave me the book and her horn lit up with her magical aura. There was an explosion of magic and once it faded... Nothing happened. Nothing returned to normal or anything. I rubbed my chin in thought. Whatever's doing this has some very powerful magic. Stronger that Twilight's magic.

"My fail-safe spell... Failed." Twilight gasped, dumbfounded. Then she turned to me and Spike, "What do we do?"

Spike rubbed his chin in thought, "Uh, give up?"

"Spike, Twilight will come up with something." Rarity assured, as she handed Twilight her umbrella.

Twilight rubbed her chin, thinking of a better way to calm everything down. I thought for a moment, then a light-bulb went off in my head.

I smiled, "I think I know what to do." I called to Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow, can you corral all those clouds in one corner of the sky?"

Rainbow recollected herself and saluted with a smile. She took off to the sky and herd the cotton candy clouds into one corner of the sky with ease. The clouds merged together into one large storm cloud.

I turned to Applejack, "Applejack, I need you to bring those high-strung storm clouds down to Earth."

Applejack nodded and grabbed her lasso from her belt. She used her lasso to grab the large cloud and pulled it down to the ground.

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie frowned, as the cloud moved away from her, "What happened?"

I walked over to Fluttershy and whispered to her what I wanted her to say, to lure the enchanted animals to the cloud.

Fluttershy nodded her head and spoke, "Oh dear. I hope none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton candy clouds. I'd hate to have to share them."

Pinkie Pie smiled, eating from the cotton candy cloud, "You and me both, sister!" Suddenly, the enchanted animals rushed toward the cloud, pushing Pinkie out of the way, "Hey!"

"And when y'all are done with that, feel free to have some popcorn for dessert." Applejack offered, as everything started to calm down.

Twilight looked at me and smiled, "Good thinking, Ellie. You're starting to think like a Pony." I gave her a bashful smile, as Twilight turned to Spike, "You see, Spike? You should never give up. There's nothing we can't overcome if we all work together."

Suddenly, Spike burped a letter from Princess Celestia. Twilight picked up the letter and read it. She gasped and turned to the rest of us, "Come on, girls. Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!"

The Girls and I looked at each other in concern.

*Later, Inside Canterlot Castle...*

"Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could!" Twilight told Princess Celestia, as we arrived at the main foyer of Canterlot Castle.

"Thank you, Twilight." Princess Celestia thanked, "Thank you, all."

"Is this about the weather?" Twilight asked, then bombarded with many other questions, "And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there–"

Princess Celestia raised her hand to silence Twilight and instructed, "Follow me."

She lead us to a hallway, covered in multiple stain-glass windows, "I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned."

Fluttershy turned to a stain-glass window which depicted a picture of a mismatched creature causing disharmony upon Ponykind. The creature had a long serpentine body, a tail of a dragon, head of a Pony, right paw of a lion and left claw of an eagle. Left leg of a goat and right leg of a lizard. Deer antler and goat horn on top of his head and red eyes.

"His name... Is Discord." Princess Celestia continued.

Fluttershy squeaked in fright and dashed to hide beside me.

"Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony." Princess Celestia resumed explaining, "Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness."

Another light-bulb went off in my head as my eyes widen, "Of course. He was the one responsible for the disappearance of the humans in Equestria."

Princess Celestia nodded, "Yes. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone."

"All right, Princess!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever, but since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken." Princess Celestia continued explaining, as we walked down the hallway.

"No longer connected?" Twilight raised a brow.

"This is Canterlot Tower, where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them." Princess Celestia explained, as we stopped front of large double doors, "I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos."

"But why us?" Twilight asked, "Why don't you-"

"Hey, look!" Pinkie spoke up, pointing to another stain-glass window, which told the story of how we defeated Nightmare Moon, "We're famous!"

Princess Celestia nodded again, "You seven showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe. Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!"

The Girls and I looked at each other in uncertainty. Twilight turned to the Princess of the Day, "Princess Celestia, you can count on–"

However, Pinkie cut Twilight off by raising her hand, "Hold on a second! Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!"

I shook my head, "Chocolate rain may be a benefit, Pinkie." Then I pointed out, "But Eternal Chaos also comes with over-sized apples, giraffe-legged rabbits, abstract houses, everyone acting or looking the opposite and who-knows-what else."

Pinkie thought for a second, then nodded with a smile, "I see your point."

Twilight nodded and returned to Princess Celestia, "We'd be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again."

Princess Celestia nodded with a smile and walked over to the double doors. She placed her hand over the sun symbol in the center of the doors and lit up her horn with a magical aura. The door glowed in the magical light and opened to reveal a small, jewel-encrusted case.

Rarity smiled in star-struck, "Ooh. You can keep the Elements. I'll take that case!"

Princess Celestia picked up the case and turned to us with a smile, "Have no fear, Ponies. I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord with these!"

She opened the case and the case revealed to be empty. Twilight and the Girls gasped in shock. Celestia saw the empty case and gasped in shock and horror, dropping the case on the floor.

Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, well." Then she started skipping how way outside, "If anyone needs me, I'll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw."

I acted quickly and grabbed Pinkie by her right wrist, "Oh no, you don't."

"The Elements!" Twilight gasped, "They're gone!"

"That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break!" Princess Celestia frowned, as she paced across the hallway, "This doesn't make sense!"

Suddenly, I gasped, as I felt a powerful presence within the room. Then a laugh was heard around us and echoed in the hallway, "Make sense?" The voice asked, "Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"

"Discord... Show yourself!" Princess Celestia shouted into the hallway.

There was another laugh, until the voice asked, "Did you miss me, Celestia?" The creature from the stain-glass window started moving and spoke, "I missed you." It flew over to the next stain-glass window, "It's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone."

"Enough!" Celestia shouted, "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." The creature answered. He snapped his fingers and the Elements of Harmony within the window vanished. Which indicated that he took them.

"You'll never get away with this, Discord!" Celestia growled at the creature.

The creature sighed and lounged on the center of the window, "Oh, I'd forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia. It's really quite boring."

The did Rainbow's temper, "Hey! Nopony insults the Princess!"

She charged toward the window, but the creature disappeared. Rainbow rammed into the window and crashed into it. She pulled herself off the window and recovered from the crash.

The creature reappeared and looked at Rainbow Dash, "Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "That's right! I'll always be loyal to the Princess!"

The creature disappeared once again, "We'll see about that."

Rarity shook her head, "I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window."

The creature reappeared int the window closest to the white Unicorn, "The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of Generosity, if I'm not mistaken?"

Applejack rolled her eyes, "So you know who we are, big deal."

The creature looked at Applejack and grew to take over the entire window, "Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack."

"You seem to know our strengths too." Twilight noticed.

The creature nodded, and teleported to another window, "Yes, Twilight Sparkle, and yours is the elusive Element, Magic. Fluttershy's is Kindness." Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Young Eleanor's is the Hidden Element; Empathy." I folded my arms and glared, "And Pinkie Pie's is a personal favorite of mine - Laughter."

Twilight turned to Pinkie, who was struggling to keep her laughter, "Pinkie!"

Pinkie burst into laughter and pointed at the window, "He's standing on your head!"

Twilight and I looked at saw that Pinkie Pie wasn't lying. The creature was doing a goofy dance on top of window's Twilight's head.

I couldn't help but smile in humor, "That is pretty funny."

"Stop stalling, Discord!" Princess Celestia shouted, ruining the mood, "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"

The creature sighed and rolled his eyes, "Oh, so boring, Celestia. Really? Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way." He disappeared from the window and moved around the other windows, "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began."

With that, he returned to his original window and the presence vanished, with everything returning to normal.

"Can we go home now?" Fluttershy asked, taking hold of my hand and gripping it tightly.

"What do you reckon he meant?" Applejack asked, "Twists and turns and ending back where we started?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, "Twists and turns... Twists and turns..." She walked over to a clear window, which looked over the palace labyrinth. She smiled, "Twists and turns! That's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!"

Princess Celestia nodded, "Good luck, my little ponies." She bowed her head to us, "The fate of Equestria is in your hands."

Twilight nodded with a confident smile, "Thanks, Princess. We won't let you down."

With that, Twilight, the Girls and I dashed out of Canterlot Castle and toward the palace backyard, where the labyrinth stood in the center.

"W-We have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked, trembling in fear.

"Nope!" Rainbow answered with a confident smile, "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She flapped her wings, "I'll just do a quick flyover and we'll have the Elements in no time."

She took off into the air, making her way to the top of the labyrinth. Suddenly, I sensed the powerful presence again and it was really strong this time.

"Rainbow, wait!" I called, reaching toward the blue Pegasus.

However, within a flash of magic, Rainbow's wings vanished from sight. Rainbow fell on her back and she gasped, "My wings!"

The same happened to Fluttershy's wings. Fluttershy looked at her back and screamed.

Then Twilight Sparkle and Rarity's horns vanished in the same fashion, "Your horn! My horn! Ahhh!"

Suddenly, there was an orb of magic forming in front of us. Emerging from the magic was an older version of the creature from the stain-glass windows. My guess this was the source of the presence I've been feeling. The creature from my dreams. This was Discord.

Discord laughed and smiled at us, "You–You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!"

"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight demanded angrily.

"You'll get them back in good time." Discord answered, as he teleported to Applejack, "I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating." Then he slithered past the rest of us, "You see, this is the first rule of our game: No flying, and no magic."

"The first rule?" Rainbow Dash repeated with a raised a brow.

"The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over, and I win." Discord smiled, "Good luck, everypony!"

He laughed, then vanished with a flash of magic. With that, the presence was gone.

"Never fear, girls. We have each other!" Twilight assured.

Rainbow regained her smile, "Yeah! Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!"

We walked to the entrance of the labyrinth. "All right, girls, let's do this!" Twilight encouraged.

We took our first step into the labyrinth, "Together!"

Suddenly, large hedges rose from the ground and separated us from each other. The Girls gasped and screamed.

"Stay calm, girls!" Twilight spoke up, "Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!"

"Moving out!" Rainbow Dash called.

"See you in the center." Rarity nodded.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack cheered.

"You got it." I agreed.

"See you guys there!" Pinkie smiled.

With that, we ran down our chosen paths to find a way to the center of the labyrinth.

*A Little Bit Later, Deeper in the Labyrinth...*

I followed the maze, on my own, taking the necessary turns I felt were right. As I did, I thought about Discord's riddle,
"'Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began'."

That was when I came across three mint leaves floating in the wind. I calmly approached the leaves, and they floated down a straight path. I followed the leaves and came into an open clearing, where there were numerous bushes and trees, shaking and whispering to each other. I looked around in curiosity, but then something hit me like lightning.

With my voice loud and clear, I concluded, "The Elements aren't here, are they, Discord?"

As a reply, I felt the powerful presence surround me and then there was clapping around me. Like a small applause. Then Discord appeared in front of me, clapping his paw and claw.

"Bravo. My, my. You certainly have a good head on your shoulders, Bright Eyes. You've solved my riddle before Twilight Sparkle. You surely are smarter than you look." He praised me, patting my head.

I waved his paw away from my head and cleared my throat, "I'm also not that easily fooled either. Why are you doing all of this?"

Discord looked at me and smiled, "To have some fun. Chaos is a wonderful thing, after all."

I shook my head, "No. Why are you really doing this? I've seen this behavior before. And this is just gonna make things worse." I put my hand over my chest, "I've been there. I know how you're feeling, Discord."

Discord's eyes widen and he glared at me, "Oh, really? And how do you think I feel?"

I looked at the Draconequus dead in the eye, "You're alone... Angry... Resentful. Someponies have treated you unfairly and you feel like you need to lash out at them." I gave him a small smile, "But you don't have to anymore. Things have changed from a thousand years ago. Let me help you, Discord." I extended my hand to him, "Don't let hatred and loneliness take over your life."

Discord looked at my hand, then at his claw. I could see conflict in his eyes, until he finally took hold of my hand and shook it. I gave him a friendly smile, until I noticed my arm was starting to grew soft, pale green fur. I let go of Discord's claw, but Discord still had a good grip on my hand.

Then other things about me began to change. My feet stretched and my toes fused together to resemble hooves. The green fur covered my entire body. My ears grew and moved to the sides of my crown. The lower half of my face stretched out and molded into a muzzle. My teeth sharpened.

I looked at Discord, he was just smirking at me, "Discord, what are you... Doing to me?"

Discord darkly chuckled, "Like I said. Everypony must play, or the game is over." Then he growled and glared at me, "Don't you ever dare think that you know me. You don't know anything about me." His eyes began swirling hypnotically, "Never will!"

I stared into his eyes, as I grew a long ginger-red tail with rusty red streaks and ombre, completing my transformation. As I stared, I felt something come into clarity. Discord was right. I don't know him at all. How can I know him? I don't even know myself. But what was the point? There's no purpose to this game anymore. There's no purpose in anything.

Nothing matters anymore...

With that, the bushes and trees vanished and Discord was nowhere to be seen. I stood up and tried to stand on my new hooves, but I ended up losing my balance and fell into the dirt.

"Ellie? Is that you?" A familiar voice asked from behind me.

I sighed and turned to the lavender Unicorn with a deadpan look, "Does it matter who I am?"

I picked myself up again and was able to take five steps forward. However, I was about to fall again. Before I hit the ground, Twilight caught me and gave me a small smile. I glanced at her, pushed myself up-right and continued down the path.

Does it matter what I say to Twilight? No. It doesn't.

Following Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and I walked down the maze, taking each turn and corner as they came. Twilight would always ask me which path to take.

Why ask me? My answers don't matter.

We came across a dead-end, until the wall lowered into the ground, and found Fluttershy.

Twilight smiled and ran toward the wingless Pegasus, "Fluttershy! I'm so glad to see a friendly face. This awful labyrinth is getting to everypony."

Twilight turned to the rest of us. Pinkie Pie blew a raspberry. Applejack growled. And I just looked away with a long sigh.

"Aw, boo-hoo-hoo!" Fluttershy snapped at Twilight, as she picked herself up, "Why don't you wave your magic little horn and make everything all right?"

"Uh..." Twilight stuttered, looking away in uncertainty.

"Oh, that's right, you can't." Fluttershy smirked cruelly, "You don't have one."

She walked away from Twilight, whipping her tail in the Unicorn's face.

"What is happening to my friends?" Twilight wondered, as Fluttershy passed Pinkie Pie and pushed her into a nearby bush.

Applejack laughed at Pinkie Pie's misfortune, and Pinkie Pie glared at the grey Earth Pony, "And what are you laughing at?"

"Chocolate milk." Applejack answered, looking away and scrunching her muzzle.

"Little help here!" Rarity shouted, as she struggled to handle the huge boulder she's been carrying.

Twilight and I looked at each other. I said nothing and walked over to join Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Twilight sighed and helped Rarity pick up the boulder.

"Thanks, Twilight." Rarity smiled.

"You're welcome–" Twilight smiled, but Rarity cut her off with a glare, "But don't get any ideas about my gem! I know where you live."

Twilight gave Rarity an uneasy look, and they walked down the maze to catch up with the rest of us. As we traveled down the maze, Rarity thought to make her point clear, she gave Twilight the whole boulder.

"Must... find... Rainbow Dash." Twilight struggled under the weight of the boulder, "As a team... we're unstoppable. Rainbow Dash won't let us down."

Applejack looked up and smiled, "Well, looky there. Rainbow Dash is flying away. She's abandonin' us."

Twilight sighed and dropped the boulder, "Now I know that's a lie." She and the rest of us looked up and saw Rainbow Dash flying off. Twilight gasped in shock, "How can it be?"

Suddenly, storm clouds surrounded the sky and the ground started to rumble as the entire maze shrunk into the ground, like it never existed.

From the dust, Discord appeared, "Well, well, well. Somepony broke the 'No Wings, No Magic' rule."

He snapped his fingers and Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy got their horns and wings back.

"Game's over, my little ponies. You didn't find your precious Elements." Discord smiled, then summoned an umbrella, and opened it inside-out, "Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos!"

To Be Continued...