“Slow down Anne!” Twilight yelled, trying to catch up to Anne.

“We need to hurry Twilight. They are waiting for us!” Anne yelled back. “We’re heading to what we call our ‘secret base’.” Twilight was wondering what she meant by that, but focused on keeping up with her. Anne led Twilight around the rest of the base and Twilight noticed something strange. The part they were in now looked much more run down and old. There also seemed to be fewer people around and seemed to have uninhabitable homes, unlike the part they came from. There were also tons of guards around, so it seemed like there was something else going on. She didn’t get time to question it further.

“Alright, we’re here Twilight.” Anne told her as they slowed down. They came upon a small stairway that went down under the floor. It wasn’t very wide, and the door it led to was just a plain black wooden door. Anne led Twilight down to the door and knocked on the door a series of times; it reminded Twilight of a code, like the one she and her brother had often used when they were young
Tap, tap tap, tap, tap tap tap, tap.

“Oh! It must be Anne and Twilight. Come in!” a voice said. “Anne has someone to show us!”

“Ok Twilight, take it easy. Let me handle things first. My friends can be, well, erhmm...” Anne started.

“Strange?” Twilight said, finishing her sentence.

“Thanks for understanding,” Anne just said, slowly opening the door. When the door opened fully, Twilight was greeted by a new, calm sight, that was very much in contrast to what she had seen in the base so far. The walls were made out of logs and had a table with a couch in the middle. There were two chairs by a table, and had there was a small kitchen in another part. There was a small drawer to the right, and a few cupboards. She saw Baxter, Hamya, and Tank, but also several other people she hasn’t seen before. Some were sitting at a table, there were two in the kitchen, and one was standing in the corner.

“Well, I’m back!” Anne said, smiling. “This here is my friend, Twilight. Let’s just say she isn’t very familiar with our world and we should make her feel as welcome as possible!” Anne told them all.

“Well, what in the world is that... thing?” a black man said, pointing at Twilight. Twilight took a better look at this man: he was a very tall, black-skinned male who was wearing very plain clothing with same colored shirt and jeans. His hair was black and very short. His question made her nervous and annoyed her at the same time. Twilight was about to respond, but a chubby girl spoke first.

“Well, it’s just an animal. Why are you treating it like a human Anne?” she asked. Twilight noticed she was wearing a purple shirt and blue pants. She had a wide, chubby face as well. She was a medium height and had blonde hair. Anne and Twilight both guessed that the others had not told them about Twilight, due to their strange reactions to her. A pale boy decided to speak up. He looked very plain and nothing seemed too special about him. He had brown hair, glasses and his clothes were simple, wearing just a white shirt.
“Well, if it’s a friend of Anne’s I will treat it as a friend—human or not,” he said. This helped Twilight calm down a bit, but she was still annoyed. There was one other person who had not spoken up yet. She was wearing a hood, but from what Twilight could tell, she was a very pale-skinned, short girl. It was hard to make out any features about her.

“I guess you don’t like being called a thing or an it, do you my dear? You should show them how one should act in the presence of a princess,” De Magia suggested in her head.

“But I just can’t simply do that, after all, this isn’t Equestria,” Twilight replied back. Deep in her mind, however, she knew he was right.

“I am not a thing, I am not an it. I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. I come from Equestria, and you need to show me respect!” Twilight yelled towards the group. This caught herself, Anne, and the others off guard. The hooded girl didn’t seem to care.

“Good job, Twilight,” Anne murmured under her breathe.

“Little miss princess thinks she’s so tough, does she? She’s nothing but a stupid horse. I don’t care who you are, I run things around here!” the black man said.

“He’s the boss of our crew, Twilight, also called The Boss. And Boss, please calm down. She is just tired of being called things she isn’t,” Anne explained defensively.

“So, we have a talking unicorn princess? Jeez Anne, what have you got for us. Name’s Barb by the way,” the chubby girl said once more.

“Well, I don’t have much else to say, Anne. I’m Mike,” the pale kid said. This made Twilight freak out, remembering the name of her first captor, but then remembered she wasn’t there anymore.

“I’m Kris,” the hooded girl said, not adding anything else. The group then went back to talking for a bit.

“See Twilight, that wasn’t too bad. They just take some getting used to, is all,” Anne said, looking at her friend. Twilight took a quick look around once more, and sat down.

“Well, it is nice to have some friends. Something doesn’t seem quite right though. Why are they hidden underground like this? Anne is still the only one I can trust, or at least I think. There is something she isn’t telling me. For now, I will play along and see what happens. I might just be overthinking it.”

“Hey Anne, come over here,” the Boss called out. This arose Twilight’s suspicions even more.

“I’ll be right back, Twilight,” Anne said, heading over to talk to the Boss. Twilight used a spell to hear what they were saying.

“Are you sure she will be willing to help the cause, Anne?” the Boss asked her.

“To be honest, I don’t know. Twilight has been betrayed, captured, lied to, and has seen things I doubt she was used to seeing. I don’t know how she feels,” Anne explained.

“Well, she better, Anne. Or else we will be forced to throw her out,” the Boss said.

“We will not throw her out. She knows nothing about our world. Let’s just give it some time, ok?” Anne explained. Twilight was glad that Anne wanted to help her, but she was curious as to what they meant by helping them.

“Should I go and ask her?” Anne asked.

“Yes, but be careful about it,” the Boss said. Anne then returned to Twilight with a look that Twilight wasn’t able to recognize .

“Soooooo, Twilight,” she started, talking slowly, “I have a question to ask you.”

“Well, what is it, Anne?” Twilight asked.

“Remember how I told you that we were a rebel group? Well, we want to ask for your help,” Anne told her. Twilight knew this was coming, but she had no idea how to answer her question. Twilight herself was a princess and being a rebel means going against the ruling family. She would also have to fight others, which she wasn’t sure she would be able to do.

“Give me some time to think about it, Anne,” was all Twilight could tell her and Anne nodded.

“Anyway, let’s go hang out with the others,” she said, pointing towards the group. Twilight agreed and followed Anne.

“They want you to join this war of theirs, Twilight. You and me alone could easily beat these weak humans and their magic. But, I say join them. I will help you later,” De Magia said to her. Twilight simply ignored him and walked over to the others. When they got there, the others grew silent, until Mike decided to speak up.

“Well Twilight, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?” he asked her. Twilight’s ears perked up and she took him up on his offer.

“Well, I used t o live in a library and I am Princess Celestia's protege. Others have told me I have OCD, though, I call it well organized, and care about my friends. I love to study and read,” Twilight started, but was interrupted by Barb.
“Wait, magic? Magic isn’t real hun,” she said. Twilight’s horn glowed once again and she used a levitation spell on a glass sitting on a table nearby. They all just stood there staring at her in amazement.
“So, you can use magic, so what,” the Boss said, still not pleased with her.
“Guess he’s just that way,” Twilight thought. “What about you guys?” Twilight decided to ask them.
“Well, there isn’t much to me, I am just a very simple person of simple tastes,” Mike said.
“I love food!” Barb said.
“Whatever,” Kris said.
“I love science and learning!” Hamya said.
“Sports for me,” Baxter said.
“I love to work out!” Tank said.
“Why should I tell you,” the Boss told her, annoyed.
“Well then, now that we got to know each other, come sit down for awhile,” Anne said, walking over to a cupboard on the wall, grabbing a small box out of it.

“Alright, so we need to find Starlight Glimmer and Spike. Keep your disguise on at all times!” something that looked like a pony said. There was a group of three all wearing sunglasses and a trench coat. They had entered Ponyville from a small black portal in the Everfree forest.
“We will use them to help us find Twilight Sparkle and De Magia. Avoid Discord at all costs. Go!” the leader of the group said. They split up and began to look for Starlight and Spike.

Starlight and Spike were both in the castle, thinking about everything that was happening.

“What did Discord mean when he told us that? What is going on?” Spike asked.

“I really don’t know, Spike, but I feel like Twilight is in trouble,” Starlight told him.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Glimmer and Spike the dragon?” a shadow pony asked them. He seemed to not belong and something felt off about this pony. He had black fur and a black mane.

“Why yes we are. Can we help you?” Starlight asked.

“Tell us where to find Princess Twilight. We have something important to tell her.”He asked.

“Twilight is out on royal duties for now. Could we help you instead?” Starlight asked,

“Well, maybe you can be useful.” He said, smiling. Before they could react, they were knocked out.

“While I still find your friends hard to get along with, that was a great time for me to relax. Thanks Anne” Twilight said cheerfully.

“I thought that would help. So, will you help us?” Anne asked.

“Wait until tomorrow for me to know, please,” Twilight told her.

“Of course,” Anne said, walking up to the door.

“Welcome back, Anne and Twilight,” the robotic voice said. When they walked in, the room looked like it did on the screen Twilight had seen earlier. The once empty apartement was now full of furniture and other things. Twilight was amazed at how this worked.

“Anyway, we should probably get some sleep now. I will make breakfast in the morning,” Anne said, yawning.

“Good idea, good night, Anne,” Twilight said, walking towards her own bed. For the first time since she got here, she felt like she belonged. She felt like people cared about her, and forgot about getting home, if only for tonight.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the long wait and the short chapter. I have been busy. I will try to update more, but in the mean time, enjoy this chapter!