//------------------------------//
// Journey Through the Dark - Part 15 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"I was near the throne room," explained Twilight, thinking back on it. "I started to pass out there. There was something, I think it was being close to Nightmare Moon. When I regained consciousness I was here. I think it was an emergency teleportation I managed to pull off in time. Hopefully no one else saw anything, there were no guards nearby when it happened."
"You were just casually walking by the throne room?" said the stallion, while the mare finally got out of the room and rushed down the corridor. "How did you even get inside the castle in the first place?"
"Oh, please." Twilight almost smirked, and cast part of her camouflage spells on herself again. She watched the stallion stare dumbfounded at her without seeing her anymore, and try to use his magic to detect her, then finally reappeared to him. "I'm pretty good with magic. Got through all the security too."
"Must be why I couldn't get a good read on you when I tried to scan you," said the unicorn. "Everything looked fine but I wanted to make sure you were okay. There's some impressive work there. Anyway, I've been near Nightmare Moon myself, never passed out because of it. She makes me nervous, but not magically so. Maybe I'm just used to it."
Twilight nodded. "Some of the words we found aren't really in livable conditions, so since we can't know what things are like on the other side in advance the first time around we've come up with a base set of protections that covers most potential stuff pretty well. It still goes on whenever we go through a portal, for general safety," Twilight explained, while using her magic to conduct a proper scan on her conditions. Everything came up regular. She continued, "Air filters, heat regulation, acid and radiation protection, that kind of things. You never know if it'll drop you in the middle of the ocean or inside a volcano."
While the stallion nodded, the door opened again and the other unicorn walked back in, holding a small pile of papers in her magic. "I made a copy of everything important we have," she said, walking up to Twilight. "It's not pretty, but it should turn out useful."
"Are we really just giving out vital insight into our weapons to the enemy?" the stallion asked, doing absolutely nothing to stop Twilight from grabbing hold of the papers in her own magic and looking over them.
"I've already betrayed orders and done more than enough to deserve a death sentence, Star', and if she knew what I know of her she'd have me vaporised on the spot. So for once, I'm glad I can do something illegal that actually has some sort of impact beyond myself," said the mare.
"That's the spirit," the stallion said. Turning to Twilight, he added, "Need anything else?"
Twilight was frowning, still looking over what she'd been given, but shook herself out of it momentarily. "Maybe. What are your names, by the way?"
"She's Sunlight," said the stallion, leaning his head to the side towards the mare.
The mare in question gave a sharp, almost annoyed exhale. "He's Starburst," she said, sounding weirdly not completely serious to Twilight's years. Like she was telling a joke or taking a jab at the stallion. He didn't react, however.
Twilight blinked. "Huh. Curious," she said to herself.
Starburst tilted his neck. "What is?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Twilight dismissed him, focusing back on what the mare had brought her. "Actually... There might be something else you can do for me. First, though, my end of the deal. Is there anything you want to know?"