A/N: Sorry for the absence, guys... I've been really busy as of late.

I woke up in a pitch-dark room. The first thing I heard were evil, scary voices.

“When shall we wake them up? The sleeping spell is sure to wear off soon…”

“Soon, Lord Discord. None of them should be awake yet…”

I felt a stirring سے طرف کی my side. I heard a yawn I had heard many times, through sleepovers and simply during the day.

“AJ?” I whispered tentatively.

applejack کی, اپپلیجاک opened her eyes, and the bright green emitted a soft glow. “Yeah, sugarcube. Where are—“

The memories came back to her. Her eyes widened and she began to take a deep breath to call for help, but I shushed her.

“Applejack… apparently they cast a sleeping spell on us. We’re not supposed to have waken up yet…”

I heard two مزید ponies stir. It sounded like قوس قزح and Rarity.

“What did I mi—“ قوس قزح remembered all of a sudden, and let out a rage-filled scream before applejack کی, اپپلیجاک یا I could stop her. I felt her wings stir around the as as they began to beat. I heard her hooves pounding on the wall. “LET US OUT!” she bellowed.

I heard a murmur of surprise from outside the door, and light spilled in as an iron door was wrenched open.

Discord stood there, fury and shock in his face. “Why… are you… awake?”

قوس قزح calmed herself down enough to say, “Surprised, Discord? And I thought آپ were smart. Nothing can stop قوس قزح Dash!”

Discord growled. “This makes no sense!”

“What fun is there in making sense?” mocked Rainbow. We all remembered his words when we had first encountered him.

Discord spun to look at her. “Hmph.” He grunted, and walked away, shutting the door after him. I winced as darkness filled the room once again.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie woke up, yawning. Pinkie immediately stared crying again, and I rushed over to her. “Oh, Pinkie…” I began to feel the fear and despair, and my tears began to flow down my face.

“Oh, darlings, don’t cry… We’ll get out of this horrid predicament, you’ll see.” But I could see Rarity fighting back tears even in the darkness.

I heard a muffled teary whimper. To my surprise and shock, it was Rainbow. I had never seen her cry, not even when she had injured her wing.

Twilight was silent. We figured she was just holding in her tears, but soon she managed a light spell. I saw tears shining in all of our eyes as I looked from one loved face to the other.

applejack کی, اپپلیجاک was trying to be strong, I could see, but I heard small cries from her throat. Rarity was silently bawling, tears pouring down her face.

Pinkie was sobbing. Huge, racking sobs that shook our world. Her دل was broken, and we had to be there for her, even if it was she who had brought this trouble to us.

I saw Rarity trot over to Pinkie and rest her head on her back. Twilight gently took her hoof. applejack کی, اپپلیجاک sat in front of her and soothed her with kind, soft words. I stroked her mane, and smiled weakly.

We all looked at Rainbow. She was crying openly now, and she rushed over to Pinkie and tackled her in a hug. We all joined the heap.

I felt Rarity’s mane, now rather messy, tickle my back and Rainbow’s warm breath in my ear. Twilight’s nose was an inch away from my eyes, and Applejack’s tears dripped onto my face. Pinkie had calmed down enough now to smile meekly at us, and we all laughed softly.

These were the ponies I cared for most. Above all. I would do anything to help them.

We all clambered off of Pinkie. We sat in a tight دائرے, حلقہ with our hooves resting on each other’s, and began to think.

“Twi? Do آپ have your bag with ya?” applejack کی, اپپلیجاک asked, her green eyes tinted گلابی from the tears.

“Oh, darn… they must have taken it. And it had the Elements!”

“Okay, Plan B. One of us escapes, finds the Elements, and brings ‘em back to us. We hide them until we get an opportunity to escape and confront Discord and Solar Eclipse. I elect myself.” قوس قزح was back to normal, at least.

Twilight had tried casting small break-through spells at the walls, but it looked like they were spell-proof, at least on our side.

“Shhh.” Twilight shushed us, glancing around nervously. “They may have this room bugged.”

“Twilight, darling, I doubt they thought we were strong enough to talk, let alone make plans.”

I spoke up. “Um… there’s also the matter of how we woke up too early…”

Everypony looked at me like the answer was obvious. “Oh, Fluttershy. آپ must have figured out سے طرف کی now that the spirits of the Elements always have some resistance to spells,” Twilight pointed out.

I thought about that. “But… wouldn’t Solar Eclipse and Discord know that? Why would Discord be so angry about us waking up?”

“I’ll tell آپ why.” قوس قزح shot into the air, her eyes slits of anger. “They’re doing something they don’t want us to get in the way of.” She grinned devilishly. “But I will.”

The rest of us exchanged looks. Finally, Twilight gave a sigh of submission. “Okay, Rainbow. First, let’s plan…”