//------------------------------//
// Journey Through the Dark - Part 7 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

The other end of the corridor did, indeed, lead to an exit, a more clearly visible one even. The staircase led to a wooden door which led to a small courtyard, overlooked by guards, which then led outside of the castle walls. She had been a little hesitant to open the door at first, hearing some sounds from outside, but she'd judged them to be far enough for them not to notice the illusion spell she used to make it look like the door was still closed. Not something she could pull off in the laboratory, with two ponies right there. 
So she was back to waiting for one of them to open the door. She wouldn't wait forever of course, but she had some time she could afford to spend there.
To her luck, it didn't take too long before the door did open. She stood up and prepared as she heard steps approaching it, and as the stallion opened it she quickly scanned the inside and teleported in. She breathed a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut again.
The room was wide and long, and cluttered despite the organisation of its clutter. Cupboards lined the walls except for the places where doors were, one on each side, and on top of them was a mess of what Twilight could only roughly describe as lab stuff. Beakers, books, microscopes, folders, clipboards, quills, half eaten food. It was a lot like what her own research would have led to if she hadn't forced organisation upon herself. The centre of the room was taken up by two tables, separated, messy in just the same manner but with a few more cups and mugs and taller piles of paper sheets on them. Then were a few plain chairs.
And a unicorn mare, lazily spinning around the back of a teaspoon in her mug while looking at the wall. Twilight couldn't help it, be it her own nature or natural instincts. She looked at the pony, taking a step closer.
She looked sad, for one. For two, there was something familiar about her. Something odd Twilight couldn't place at a first glance. An unrolled scroll sat beside her, and Twilight stepped closer still to look at it.
Orders, signed by Nightmare Moon herself. For the production of more weapons. Twilight had a decent idea of what that may refer to if it was there.
The door opened, and closed again. "Took you long enough," said the mare, still looking at the wall.
Twilight hadn't had a chance to get a good look at the stallion, before. Doing so, she felt the same odd sensation of familiarity she'd felt with the mare. "You say that just because you missed me," he replied.
"Missed the only other intelligent lifeform I'm legally allowed to interact with while I'm stuck here? How could I ever." The mare put down her teaspoon and drank from her mug.
"Well, I'm still stuck here, so I don't know if intelligent is the right word," the stallion said. He looked at the scroll Twilight had been reading, and his expression darkened. "How long before they start sending them in?"