Into the Twilight

Luna waited patiently as the four ponies sat down to catch their breath. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were alright for the most part, but Twilight and Starlight were still panting heavily.

"Unicorns, am I right?" Dash gestured to Pinkie, causing her to giggle.

Twilight huffed in annoyance, "Sorry for the rude interruption, Princess Luna."

Princess Luna glanced back at the outpost walls, "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting you back so soon, Twilight. I question your decision to come here immediately."

Twilight stood up and stretched her hind legs, "I had to make sure you were alright Princess. I know it's only been two days, but I wasn't sure if you would wake up after you fell unconscious, I had to come back to make sure you weren't in danger," Twilight looked into Moon Princess's eyes, "After the fall of Canterlot, I couldn't lose you too."

Princess Luna winced, "You are welcome to stay for as long as you need to Twilight. We aren't doing the best on supplies, but we'll manage. I saw Velvet near the back of the camp earlier, you may want to talk to her before you leave at the very least."

Twilight's heart leaped, "Mother?"

Luna gave her a small smile, "Indeed. Go ahead and make yourself feel at home, I doubt you'll stay for long?"

Twilight bit her lip, "I'm afraid not Princess, I only came to make sure you were alright. Although, now that I know where this outpost is, I should be able to teleport from here to Ponyville easily."

Princess Luna walked back towards the gate, "Go ahead and catch up with your family Twilight, and be sure to speak with me before you go, I have a few questions for you."

"Hey mom," Twilight said softly as she embraced her mother.

"Hello sweetheart," Twilight Velvet said, returning the embrace. Her smile disappeared as fast as it came, "Twilight, your father isn't here."

Twilight stopped looking around the tent and gave her a look of bewilderment, "Wh- Where is he?"

Velvet bit her lip, "He, he and I got separated during the evacuation. Before he left though, he asked me to find you while he went to go find Shining Armor, I haven't seen him since then."

Twilight slumped over in anguish, "Why? Why wouldn't the two of you stick together?"

Velvet stared at her daughter in the eyes, "We care more about you than we do ourselves. Your father will be fine Twilight, he knows how to handle himself."

Twilight wanted to believe her mother, but a hint of doubt resided in the back of her mind, "I love you, mom."

Velvet held Twilight in her hooves, "Please Twilight, I know you're probably going to go back to Ponyville, but please, just stay one night?"

Twilight felt herself start to tear up, "O-okay, mom."

Rainbow Dash was bored out of her mind, despite feeling happy that Twilight was reunited with her mother, she herself had no close family in Canterlot, so she had nothing to do. One thing that had intrigued her though, was the project that the royal blacksmith was working on.

Dash's eyes bugged out when she got a closer look at the contraption on the workshop table, "Dude, is that a crossbow?!"

The blacksmith gave her a small smile, "Yup, it sure is. By the looks of it, I assume you've taken an interest in it?"

Dash only nodded her head up and down numbly, causing the blacksmith to chuckle. "Well, you seem quite bored, why don't you go ahead and practice with it? You've got nothing better to do, you might as well practice your aim."

"Mind if I watch you practice?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced up to Dash. Rainbow Dash smiled wide in response, today was going to be a good day.

Starlight wanted answers, Twilight had given her the general gist of what had happened over the past couple of days, but she felt that Princess Luna could clue her in on the details.

"Princess Luna?" Starlight asked as she walked up to the front entrance of the gate, "May I speak with you?"

Luna looked down at Starlight, a neutral expression plastered across her face, "I suppose so. What is it that you need Starlight?"

Starlight wasn't sure where to start off, "W-what exactly happened in Canterlot?"

Luna sighed as she sat down and leaned against one of the wooden walls, "My sister is gone. She didn't have a pulse, she didn't open her eyes, and she didn't move a muscle. I have reason to believe that she died of supernatural occurrences," Luna took a moment to steady her voice, "When she died, the environmental spells protecting Canterlot broke, now the whole city is buried in snow."

"I-is Princess Celestia's body still in the castle?" Starlight asked timidly.

Luna stiffened, and then relaxed after a few seconds, "Y-yes, I assume so. I-I didn't think about that."

Starlight chastised herself internally for grilling the Princess, but she had to know more, "When Princess Celestia died, is that when the Outsiders started showing up?"

Luna chuckled darkly at that, "Outsiders, is that what you call them?" Luna paused for a moment, "I'm afraid that my sister's magic wasn't keeping them at bay, but rather when she died, they felt that they had enough of an advantage to emerge from the darkness."

Luna stared at Starlight deep in the eyes, "Make no mistake, Starlight, these Outsiders you speak of are pure evil, but they are not the worst thing to emerge from the dark."

Starlight didn't know how to respond to that.

After a few seconds of silence, Luna sat up, "Go reacquaint with your friends, Starlight, I have business to attend to."

The rest of that day had passed with little activity. Twilight had spent the rest of the day talking to Princess Luna, explaining to her what adjustments she and her friends had made to Ponyville. Luna winced at the part where Twilight had mentioned recreating a false sun, but commended Twilight on her diligence to maintain stability.

The next morning consisted of Twilight and her three other friends re-supplying and going over final details with Princess Luna. Now that Twilight knew exactly where the outpost was, she could teleport there and back again easily, even dragon fire would now be a possible method of communication.

Before they could leave though, the royal blacksmith had one more thing to add.

"Miss Rainbow Dash," the blacksmith paused for a minute and levitated the crossbow in front of her, "I know that you have taken a liking to the crossbow I made, so I want you to have it. I can make more, and the bolts are pretty easy to make as well."

Rainbow Dash stared at him as she held the crossbow in her hooves, "Dude, you are like, my favorite pony right now."

He smiled at her, "I'm sure you'll put it to good use."

Rainbow Dash smirked at him as she disappeared in front of him in a flash of purple light.