After all the others had left, I decided to stay in the library and look through the books for a while. Very close to sundown, Celestia came back into the room to speak to me.
"I must leave for the night, but a guard will be waiting for you outside the door. When you're redy, he'll show you to your room."
"Wait, I'll be staying here?"
"Well, I can't have you outside at night. But don't worry; the guest room is very comfortable."
"Oh. Well, that's all well and good, but what do you mean 'leave?'"
I wondered what would make a powerful and Princess with such responsibilities such as her leave her kingdom.
"I suppose you could say my shift's over. My sister is coming over in my stead until sunrise."
I remembered that when one princess is done holding either the sun or the moon in the sky, the other takes over and holds the opposite in the sky. The cycle would then repeat over and over and over again until who-knows-when. When one is on duty, the other would be resting in a different castle somewhere in the mountains.
"Oh, well, good night, Princess."
"And good night to you, Nobody," she said before leaving the room.
A few minutes later, I went to look out the window to give my eyes a break from reading. When the horizon fully covered the sun, I saw Celestia flying away from the castle and towards the mountains in the distance. She passed another Omni Being that was flying towards the castle, Luna. After I watched them both reach their destination, I got back to reading.
When the clock struck ten, I marked my place in the book I was currently using, grabbed my own spellbook, along with a few others, and exited the library. The guard outside looked the same as the others, and when I greeted him, he replied with, "Follow me, sir."
He led me down the halls to my room, and I quickly realized how easily Rainbow Dash could've gotten lost. I was yet again awestruck by the architecture of the castle. As we walked, I took in all of the beautiful artwork on the walls; colorful depictions of the princesses performing wonderful feats, Yin-Yang symbols cleverly using the sun and moon, and some famous explorers and writers and things of that sort.
As we turned a corner, I saw a woman near the end of the hall conversing with two more guards, only these guards looked different from all the others. Their armor was a dark blue; almost black, as opposed to the typical gold, and, being air beings, their wings looked more bat-like than bird-like, and their eyes were a bright yellow and their skin looked grayish.
When we were closer, the odd guards left and I saw that the woman was an Omni Being, therefore she must have been Princess Luna.
She looked much younger than her sister. She had a small, black, reflective tiara and a sparkly dark blue dress with a silver crescent-shaped pendant on her neck. Her light blue hair hung just below her shoulders.
She saw us approaching, and I found myself staring into her dark, sparkling eyes. They looked like space was trapped behind two glass windows.
"Oh, hello. And who might you be?"
Her question snapped me out of my stupor. I was more hypnotized by her odd eyes than I thought. I had a strange feeling; her eyes looked... familiar, somehow.
"Hm? Oh, I'm Nobody."
"Surely you must have a name."
"No, that's just what everybody here calls me. I can't remember my own name since... Never mind. It's a long story."
She had some odd accent that made her sound old-timey. She spoke clearly and didn't use contractions.
"Wait," she said, tilting her head and looking thoughtfully at me, "I believe I read about you in the Equestria Daily. You were in the article about the... Oh."
It was obvious that the people here couldn't talk about death as easily as on earth. It felt like a taboo subject. I didn't want to make her feel too uncomfortable, so I decided to change the topic.
"You're Princess Luna, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. And forgive my asking, but why are you in Canterlot Castle?"
"Well, after the incident with the... you know, Celestia asked that I be transferred here. Apparently, I'm also supposed to stay here for the night."
"Ah. Well, if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to- What is that?" She was referring to my spellbook in my hand."
"Oh, it's just my spellbook."
"Your spellbook? You mean you practice magic?"
"Yes, I know I don't look it, but I do practice magic. And believe me, you're not the first to ask that."
She merely raised an eyebrow at this, but asked no further questions.
"Well, I'll be on my way now. Good night, Nobody."
"I hope so..." I said under my breath. She seemed to hear it, but said nothing more.
We both waved each other off, and I caught myself staring at her as she walked away from me down the hall. I knew I shouldn't have been staring, but half of me was hoping she would turn around so I could see her eyes again and try to place that familiar feeling. The other half wanted to watch as her hips swayed side to side with each step. What's the saying? "I hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave?"
I tore myself away from the sight, and my escort led me a little farther down the hall before stopping at my room.
"We're here, sir."
"Thank you," I said as I stuck out my hand for a handshake, but was met with a military salute, and after several awkward seconds, I opened the door to my room, and was shocked to find myself in a luxury suite.
The main room itself was better than most of my house. There was a king-size bed with curtains on it, a large work desk, a wide dresser, and generously-sized bookcase all packed into one spacious room.
I sat on the bed to test it, and it felt like one of those high-class memory foam mattresses. I figured I could get a little more reading in before going to sleep. I turned on the bedside lamp and lay down on top of the covers with the book above my face. I wasn't so much reading as I was scanning the pages of text and not taking anything in. As I "read," I felt myself sinking into the mattress, and my eyelids get heavier. I didn't bother fighting it; I just put the book on my chest, and let the feeling of sleep wash over me and take me for a few short hours.