The extent of the setting sun's light encompassed the entirety of the sky, bringing to Canterlot yet another dusk to experience before the night arrived with its stars, its moons, its lights, and its dreams. Though the panic of rushing pegasi moving clouds was present, it did not do much to detract from the sunset's elegance over a royal city, a royal capital.
Ponies with wealth strutted along on the sidewalks with their heads raised and their eyes closed—well, some of them, certainly not all of them. Displays of conspicuous opulence—towering hats, exquisite jewelry, posh suits, styled manes all on display for the tourist ponies—identified by their casual shirts and their cameras—to feel envious for as could be seen by the souring of their faces.
The streets had that smell of a mixed fragrance—an assortment of unique perfumes and colognes wafting into the air, coalescing into a combination that one pony caught a whiff of, opened his eyes wide, raised a hoof in the air, and went to full-tilt gallop, shouting "I have the greatest idea, yet! Just wait 'till they listen! I must go get my smell jar to catch it, first!"
At other streets, though, this grand fragrance encountered the culinary aromas of the various restaurants. The savory smells of flat noodle soup, grilled vegetables, baked goods, steaming pizza, hot spaghetti—among others—brought about a scent that permeated the air with a delicious beckoning to come inside and eat, which more than a few ponies were more than willing to go for as they went off their path towards the entrances of those buildings.
Then, right in front of an enormous white and gold and purple castle—with its many protrusions of towers and of large rooms—there were the steps that led to the only obstacle that stood between the common pony and royalty: doors. If one could get past not just the stairs but also the guards with their expressions of fierce stone, the reward would be being just a step closer to the land's leaders.
Of course, with the castle being so big, one would have to first know where those leaders were. A collection, a vast array, of hallways—carpeted with red, decorated with lavender, spacious in size—didn't help matters. It was nice that one of the guards, armored in yellow just like the rest of his friends, held a castle map with a hoof, smiling at the few ponies who do manage to get inside and waving the map in front of them.
"Uh, sirs and ma'ams?" the guard called.
The group of four stopped, smiling back at him as all of them stood inside the massive hallways whose ceilings reached high up with their columns reaching so.
"You might get lost here," the guard said, "so, here's a map."
He hoofed the stallion in front the map.
"Thanks, kind sir!" the stallion said in return—mustached, wearing a visor and a shirt with pictures of leaves on it, and holding a camera.
He looked at his friends behind him: an Earth pony stallion with a hat, a bandana around his neck, and a half-baked apple for a cutie mark; a pegasus mare with curly and curly tail, both red, and perhaps a liking for strawberries as could be seen on her strawberry cutie mark; and, a unicorn mare with a curious stare that moved around at her surroundings—she had pink mane and pink tail, both curly as well.
"Now, we're gonna accompany Half Baked Apple and Strawberry Sunrise here," the mustached pony went on, "on the tour, Twinkleshine. Just as we planned it, alright?"
"Just don't go ahead of yourself, Globe Trotter," Twinkleshine said. "I know that you're prone to going on lots of speeches about various places, so, keep it down, OK?"
"Heh."
Then, the group went on past the guard, with Globe Trotter slinging his camera around his neck and holding up the map.
"It's been some time since I've been here," Globe Trotter said. "Maybe they added some new locations here. Well, it's going to be up to the moment, then."
The guard watched the group leave his sight.
He sighed.
And, he looked out one of the tall windows that stretched from top to bottom.
He saw, once again, that orange sunset sky.
The two alicorns—one white, one blue—stood at the balcony, held off by only a short yet thick marble railing.
The view that the two commanded was a sweeping one: exhibitions of royal, old-time architecture—spires, rooks, and slanted towers accompanying the houses and the stores—coupled with modern-day lights even at an hour too early for nighttime; shows of simple greenery in the range of bushes, of flowers, of other plants that adorned the streets, the sidewalks, the windows, giving off that natural perfume that may or may not be better than the ones manufactured by ponykind; splendors of the mountainous landscape that surrounded the Canterlot that wasn't surrounded by no land at all, shielding Equestria from the conventional, easy attack.
The two looked upon what was in front of them.
Seconds of silence passed between the two, their gazes fixed and focused on the fascination.
Then, Princess Celestia looked at her sister.
Princess Luna responded with a look at her sister.
They looked at each other.
Luna nodded.
Celestia nodded.
Then, Celestia looked at the setting sun.
Her horn glowed yellow.
The sun went down behind the mountains.
Sunset became twilight. Then, twilight became night.
The city became darker. More lights turned on.
Then, Luna looked at the sky.
Her horn glowed blue.
The moon went up over the mountains.
Stars twinkled in view. Then, the moon shone in all its brilliance.
The city became a little brighter. The subtle glimmer of the moon could be seen on the roofs.
Then, both sisters' horns stopped glowing as they both took a sigh of relief.
They looked at each other's faces again and smiled.
The alicorns hugged.
A few seconds of loving silence passed.
"That's impressive," a gruff voice said, punctuating the moment. "I know that you raise the sun and the moon everyday, but, seeing you two do it this close? Ugh, Now, I sound more sappy than usual!"
The two let go of each other.
"It's understandable," Celestia said as she approached the dragon. "It amazes even us after all this time. You don't need to hide your amazement of it."
"I have a standard to keep up, Princess," the dragon said, maintaining a serious look on her face. "It wouldn't be right for the Dragon Lord to let her guard down even if it's just for a moment or two."
"What's wrong with being a little awed by the rising of the sun or of the moon?" Celestia asked, pacing the circular bedroom with its single yet huge bed and the windows that enclosed the bed with moonlight, that soft glow.
Celestia then let off a short chuckle.
Luna eyed her sister, smiling.
"Anyway, I hope that your stay here in Canterlot was a pleasing one. Are you sure that you haven't missed anything? Any landmarks, or maybe a park that you might want to visit one last time before you leave?"
"It's alright," the Dragon Lord said. "I've already sneezed more than enough times because of all the things going on in the air. I still have to get used to the fact that you ponies like decorating everything in pretty, even the air."
"I could offer you a spell that will mitigate that for you," Celestia said.
"No, no, I'm fine!" she replied, holding up a hand to block Celestia as if in self-defence. "I'm totally OK. I'll just make a quick dash out of here to avoid the smells."
The two alicorns nodded.
"Thank you for your time here, Ember," Celestia said.
"And, I thank you, too," Luna quipped.
Ember, in the middle of hurrying to the balcony, looked back. A smile crept up her face. "Thank you, too."
The dragon took off into the night sky with its many stars and its prominent moon.
They both looked off to that distance where the dragon was flying. Soon, she disappeared in the night.
Celestia turned around to face Luna. "So, anything you want to say before I go to bed, sister?"
A tense face on her.
Silence.
"Luna?"
"I have been meaning to tell you this for quite some time now," Luna began.
"What is it, then?" Celestia prodded, smiling. "There's nothing to worry about."
"There is something strange, something off, about a certain place."
"You want to investigate it?" Celestia's smile went away, but her kind voice was still there. "What about putting it off until a later date? There are still plenty of ponies' dreams to be watching over tonight."
Luna trembled a little, glancing at the sky for a brief moment. "If I do put it off, then when shall I perform the investigation?"
"Is it that urgent?" Celestia asked. "Tell me, Luna: what makes you suspicious about it? A mysterious pony or two? A villain hiding out there? Or, is it just a hidden treasure that you suspect?"
"Nothing precise, sister," Luna answered, her trembling halting. "All I know is that there is an unusual thing about Winsome Falls."
"Hmm." Celestia placed a hoof on her chin as she looked at the sky, wondering and thinking. "I can see reason as to why there might be something out-of-the-ordinary there. Nobody visits it often. Closest pony settlements are a few stray cottages here and there in the forests nearby." Then, taking a step forward and toward her sister, she said, "Even if you have nothing specific in your head, what do you think that the thing you're looking for is?"
"It is unclear," Luna responded, facing her sister and without even the slightest turning of her head. "What I want may end up being more about the clarifying and the solving of the mystery than the mystery itself."
Celestia walked to the bed, looking upon it. Turning her head to Luna, she said, "I don't know, Luna. We usually send investigators there to solve a mystery, not either of us. As pressing as the matter may be to you—" She placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder "—I'm sure that it will be solved with little hassle by our experts in the field."
Luna eyed the caring hoof on her shoulder.
Their manes flowed ethereal, both sparkling under the glimmer of the moon.
Then, the hoof retracted, catching a yawn.
"Well, if it can be resolved quite swiftly, then I shall delegate it to those who are duly prepared for it," Luna said, the smile coming back to her face though only a little.
Celestia nodded, her eyes now half-open and slightly baggy. "Now, take care of everyone in their sleep, Luna," Celestia said, heading her way to the doors inside the room, farther inside the building; she was looking at her sister all the way. "I know that you will do a great job tonight." Then, another yawn to catch and cover with a hoof.
Luna chuckled a little.
Celestia replied with a little chuckle of her own. "Now, I'm really going to bed."
The doors opened, glowing that magical yellow. Celestia went past them.
She turned her head around, getting one last glimpse of her sister.
They were both smiling.
The doors gently closed.
Luna was alone. Though the sounds of scattered talk and spread out carriages occupied Canterlot, they were muted—perhaps subdued—from where she was standing.
That sweeping view was now hers and hers only for the moment. Canterlot, in this nightly hour, was awash in both gas and electrical light, in contrast to the star's and the moon's, and brightening the city against natural darkness. The rush of wind that the occasional pegasus produced could be both seen and heard. Laughter accompanying the muffled jokes, cheers following celebrations unknown, discussions inspired by fuzzy thoughts—these filled the air in sound.
Luna was smiling.
Her horn glowed blue, she closed her eyes.
Then, she disappeared.
A rugged stallion—unicorn, since his hat didn't cover his horn,—loafed around in the grand hallway.
The hallway, though in the middle of the morning hours that weren't exactly morning, exuded still that noble grace; maybe, the solace of the room—with only that stallion and a few guards whose eyes weren't failing or slipping in the slightest—coupled with the soft and gentle touch of moonlight gave the hallway a better visage than its daytime counterpart.
Tall windows of stained glass, each depicting a theme. Over there, a mainly yellow and orange one displaying the sun with a smiling face. Moons or planets touching curved lines while stars adorned the entire thing. Beside that window, there was a primarily blue pattern going on. A sun, also, but the focus was more on the round planet near the bottom of the window and close to the polished (even reflective) white floor.
Columns of simple design served to spruce up the place, while the red carpet that rolled from the throne near the end of the hallway—itself held up by several levels of gold platforms—all the way to the big double doors at the other side.
It was a broad, roomy place.
It was also quiet. Awfully quiet. Except for the hoofsteps of the guards.
The stallion sighed as he forewent standing on all four hooves and sat on the floor.
The guards took notice of this action. With those fierce stone faces, they quickly looked away from him and went back to periodically scanning the room. Two guards walked from their posts and went on their patrolling routes throughout all of the room.
The stallion merely eyed each of the guards in succession. Though the guard looked back sometimes, there was no conversation. Only eye contact. Then, that contact was broken just as soon as it was made.
He grumbled.
A guard looked at him. He looked away.
"This is what I get for being early," he finally mumbled. "The Princess of the Night herself says, 'Come here at three o' clock in the morning.' I thought I would get the reward for being early by finishing my business early. Turns out, I'm the one who's valuing this whole 'get-up-early' thing too much!"
"Would you please quiet it down?" one of the guards spoke up in his deep baritone voice. "We must have it as quiet as possible in order to catch any possible intruder."
The stallion groaned. "Fine. Have it your way."
"Sir, you know that this is not just for your good, but it's for the good of all Equestria. What happens if somepony kidnaps the Princesses? Somehow? Again?"
"You have yourselves to blame for that, not me," the stallion replied, cracking a smile.
The guard sighed.
"Nothing to answer me back with, huh?" the stallion asked. "I hope the Princesses at least brought you up under some low-level rank. I mean, there's not much to steal here. Maybe the better guards are in the more valuable places."
"Just keep quiet so we can do our job, Watts Onion."
Then, Watts Onion groaned again, resigning to just sitting on the floor, waiting for Princess Luna.