Although the stallion had said something about it taking half an hour to get into the CDK, the crowd seemed to be moving slightly quicker that day; Later wasn't counting, but she was pretty sure no more than fifteen minutes went by before they were rescued from the sun, whose rays had begun to brim with heat. And, once they reached that lip of the dome, where the otherwise-uninterrupted plastic and metal were interrupted to form a large yawning entrance, they felt a cool rush of air from ahead.

"It's actually really warm down there," the stallion explained through a shiver. "They've just got this magical field there in the entrance, to trick you into thinking it's cooler."

"How come they don't just use magic to make it cooler?" Cotton asked. "That's what we... erm, I mean, that's what I've heard they do in other cities like Umberlight."

The stallion laughed. "Umberlight? That place is tiny, and easy to cool because of it. How would that work here, though? Not nearly enough unicorns to cast a spell, and the heat discharge if batteries were used would have to go somewhere. Nah, most ponies learn to live with it."

"Another reason why you don't want to live down there, I assume?" Cotton asked with a knowing smile.

"Heh... hadn't quite thought of it like that, but definitely." The stallion nodded, and then went on to say something about living aboveground in Chalance, something to do about the effects of weather on houses.

Later was only sort of listening to their conversation; her head, however, was slowly turning between the guards on the raised podiums on either side. She was trying to get a good look at them, making sure they weren't too focused on her and Cotton Fluff... and yet she didn't want to make it look like she was too focused on them, either.

"Oh, hey, Stout!" she heard the stallion call from next to her. Before Later quite knew what was going on, he was already pushing past her, making his way towards one of the guards, who was looking straight at him with a grin.

"Let's just blend back into the crowd," Later hissed to Cotton. "We can—"

"You should see these ponies I met!" the stallion continued, pointing a hoof towards Later and Cotton. Later could see the guard's eyes on them, and she was also very aware of several ponies in the crowd who had slowed and were staring.

Cotton Fluff turned to Later. "Um... what do?"

Later sighed, rubbing her temples. "Let's just follow the guy. It'll be fine." she murmured. Then, she turned back towards the stallion and, with a grunt, pushed her way towards him through the crowd, easily washing through the ponies like they were water. It took some effort to keep up with the white stallion, who was already ahead of them, but by the time he was on the left shoulder of the path, Later and Cotton were right behind him. Both of them took deep breaths as they emerged from the crowd, savouring the cooler, drier air around the guard's post.

"It's been a long time, Dessic," the guard said as he trotted down the few stairs. He reached out and put a grey hoof around the white stallion.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Dessic asked.

"Shift got changed, man. Just got this one back after no end of finagling." The guard paused to scratch his friend's head affectionately and then stepped back, taking on a somewhat confused expression as he looked Cotton Fluff and Even Later over. "So, who are the friends?" he asked. "Or... well... actually, nah, that was never your thing."

Dessic laughed. "Stout, you know I'm a married stallion." He coughed, clearing his throat. "Nah, these are just some ladies I ran into on my way to work here. We were just having a chat."

The guard raised an eyebrow. "A chat, eh? Sounds mighty enthralling, if you ask me. Enrapturing, even." He flashed a grin. "You ladies ever been enraptured before?"

Cotton facehoofed; Later merely shuffled her hooves uncomfortably. Dessic laughed again. "Pardon my friend, here; he can be kind of ridiculous. Helpful, though."

"Aw, do I gotta be helpful?" Stout mock-complained. "Nah, I kid. I'll escort you ponies through the guard tunnel, 'cause who wants to be crammed up against the stinkin' proles, amirite?"

Everypony just kind of ignored that comment as they followed the grey guardspony up the stairs, where they came upon the entrance to a small tunnel that would easily fit two or three ponies side-by-side—basically a small road leading into the CDK. With a last look at the rest of the crowd shuffling by at a snail's pace, they trotted into the tunnel. Later fell into the front alongside Stout, with Cotton and Dessic bringing up the rear.

"So..." Stout said once they were a few metres into the tunnel and the noise had died down considerably. "Have I seen you before?"

Later raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so, sir. I don't know where you would have seen me."

"Are you from one of the northern provinces?" he asked. "'Cause I was born and raised up there."

"Nope, southern," Later replied curtly. She wanted the conversation to end as soon as possible. Luckily for her, Stout seemed to have nothing more to say, so she merely listened to Dessic and Cotton chat about banking or something as Stout led them through the darkened tunnel.