“Let us out of here now!”
“Scootaloo, stop it. They won’t let us out!” Apple Bloom exclaimed in annoyance.
“At least I’m trying to do something! I don’t see you looking for a way to escape!” the orange Pegasus angrily said.
“There is no way out! We're just three fillies and a foal trapped inside a stone room with a wooden door that we can't see through! While you're wastin' your time, I’m busy tryin’ to keep Trotting Paradise from cryin'!”
“Why are you so negative?!”
“Ah’m not negative, Ah’m realistic! There’s nothin’ we can do.” The farmer filly turned and approached Trotting Paradise, who smiled at her. Apple Bloom held the foal comfortingly until she'd fallen asleep, unaware of the danger she was in. Scootaloo turned with a sigh of impatience and trotted over to Aurora, who was silent in a corner.
“And you! What are you thinking about?!” The orange filly demanded.
“All my bad memories from when I was at the orphanage are coming back... Trapped inside with nothing to do and all the orphans fighting. I thought I would never live through those days again, that I would be happy forever, but I was wrong…” The blue Unicorn turned to see her friend’s face. Aurora was crying. “I-I don’t want to live like that again! I want us to be friends… I want my parents…” Her vision was blurred with tears. She began crying once more. Scootaloo's expression switched from anger to pity in the span of a second. She hugged her sad friend comfortingly. Aurora returned the hug. “I… I've lost count of the days we've been trapped here. I just want to go home…”
“We all want that, Aurora… I miss the farm, Rainbow Dash, Applejack… I want to see them again. I wonder what they're doing now.” Scootaloo said.
“I hope they find us soon. I don’t even know where we are…” she sobbed out and hugged her friend tighter. “Thanks, Scoots… I needed that…” Aurora smiled a bit.
“Anytime, Aurora…” Scootaloo said as she wiped her friend’s tears away. She then stood up and went to where Apple Bloom was playing with Trotting Paradise. “Listen, Apple Bloom… I wanted to say that... I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m tired of being here. I didn’t want to yell at you…” Apple Bloom turned back around. She looked sad. The earth pony was holding the yellow foal to her chest with one of her hooves. She was still asleep.
“Ah’m tired of being here too. Ah just want to go home… But all we can do now is wait and be optimistic… Ah understand you just lost your patience; Ah’m not mad at you. Apology accepted.” Scootaloo smiled and looked at Trotting Paradise.
“It must be hard on her. I don’t know how you got her to go to sleep…”
“Ah have mah secrets…” Apple Bloom said as she watched the foal closely. Then, she carefully put her on her back before looking at Aurora, who was now approaching them.
“Hey, Aurora. How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling better now…” the blue Unicorn said, her smile directed at Scootaloo. “Thanks.” Scootaloo smiled back. In that moment, they heard a voice coming from outside.
“Take a break. I’ll watch them for a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir!” They heard hoofsteps fading into the distance. The door opened after a few moments. A hooded pony entered and closed the door behind him. He brought food for the fillies and milk for the foal.
“I brought you some lunch. I hope they're not treating you too badly.” the hooded pony said.
“Thanks, and no…” Aurora replied warily. “Why are you so nice to us…?”
“I never agreed to ponynap innocent fillies, but it’s not easy to leave the order."
“Can’t you tell us your name? Where we are? Or help us to escape?” Scootaloo questioned persistently. The hooded pony removed his hood. Underneath it, he was a blue Unicorn with a darker blue mane.
“My name is Night Light, second in command of this order. First would be my wife, Twilight Velvet."
“She has the same name of my mom…” Aurora said.
“Not surprising in the least. We're her parents.”
“What?!” the fillies suddenly exclaimed, almost waking Trotting Paradise up.
“You… Didn’t know, huh? That's no surprise, either. Why would she mention us after what we did to her…?”
“I've never heard of you, sir. What did you do?” Aurora inquired with a sympathetic tone.
“Something I've regretted since the day my wife came up with the idea of ponynapping foals of same-sex couples. Taking a happy filly or colt from a home full of love to offer them isn’t right. I saw that when I met a pony whose parents were both stallions. Their foal seemed to be happy, a happy family… But my wife didn’t care. She ordered the foal to be taken away from them. I will never forget their faces when she did it…” Tears streamed down from Night Light’s eyes. Aurora approached him and lay a hoof on his shoulder.
“Grandpa…”
“Please…” the blue stallion began as he took a few steps away from the fillies. “I don’t deserve your compassion. Someday I’ll tell you why… If I can. Right now, I must go back. I’m not allowed to leave the castle or spend too much time away from my wife. I can’t help you to escape, but I can tell you where we are… Damashooves.”
“Damashooves?” Apple Bloom questioned.
“I know where we are!” Aurora suddenly exclaimed. “I found this place when I was reading one of my mom’s books! But... we're very far from Ponyville.”
“Yes.” Night Light spoke again. “I don’t know anypony outside who could help me rescue you, and I can’t do it alone. I've heard that there’s a group fighting the order, but I could never leave the castle long enough to contact them.“
"At least we know now that not everypony here is bad… And there are ponies outside who want to help us. Thank you, sir…” Apple Bloom said.
“I’ll be back when I can.”
“Bye!” The filles said as the stallion left.
“...At least he talked this time.” the orange filly commented. “Before, he would just leave us the food and leave…”
“And we know where we are now,” the farmer filly added.
“And we know that there are ponies trying to fight this order, and that I have family here.” the blue Unicorn said as she smiled.
“We may see our families again!”
***
Outside the Castle: Day of the Attack
Twilight and Applejack were ready. They'd spent the week training and knew the plan perfectly. They'd inspected the castle from every angle, and thanks to their new robes, they weren’t recognized. Sometimes when they were walking through the city, a poor pony would step in front of them and ask for bits, but they were never carrying any. They also occasionally came across drunken and crazy ponies who would push them if they got too near. Both of them felt bad for these ponies, but there was only one way to help them: take the castle and get rid of the F.R.O.
They were now having a reunion with the Brotherhoof in their hideout. “You remember the plan, right?” a member of the Brotherhoof asked them.
“We do.” Applejack said seriously. “Twilight and Ah will be enterin’ from the roof. We are to wait until the rest of the Brotherhoof attacks from the sides and front. While the Order is still confused, two Pegasi will take us inside and to the roof. We rescue the foals and help them escape through the very same roof before helping you with the siege.”
“Good. It won’t be easy, but if it works, the F.R.O. will be history!” the member of the Brotherhoof exclaimed passionately. Iron Strong approached them.
“You have memorized the map of the castle, and you know how to get to the cells. Be quick, release all the foals and go back to the roof! They must be reunited with their families again.”
“We will, Iron Strong. You can trust us!” Twilight said, also serious.
“I trust you. Now go! You will know when to advance when you see the castle under siege.” Both Twilight and Applejack nodded and left the room. Two robed pegasi followed them. They galloped to the indicated place and sat, waiting for the signal.
“No turning back, Twilight… Are you ready?”
“Scared… But I won’t abandon them. I’m ready, Applejack… As long as we follow the plan and aren't seen, we'll be fine…”
“We’ll need all the luck in Equestria to get through this… Just wait a little bit longer, girls…”
Meanwhile in the cells...
Everypony was asleep when the door was suddenly thrust open to reveal two guards entering the cell. Then, Twilight Velvet herself entered, her face covered with a hood.
“Which of you is Aurora?!” Her voice dripped with hatred. After several moments of silence passed, she spoke again. “Who is Aurora?! If you don’t answer, you'll all be punished!” The blue filly slowly walked in front of her friends.
“It’s… It’s me… Please don’t hurt them.”
“Take her!” The guards obeyed their leader and took Aurora away.
“Don’t be so hard!” Aurora cried out in pain.
“Silence! I’ll take you to a special cell where you’ll be all alone!” The fillies could hear Twilight Velvet say before she closed the door, waking Trotting Paradise up and making her cry.
“Shh… It’s okay, Paradise. Try to get back to sleep…” Apple Bloom tried to calm the foal down as she carried her.
“Why would they take Aurora like that?” Scootaloo asked worriedly.
“Ah… Ah don’t know... But Ah hope she's okay..." Apple Bloom sadly replied.