"And here we are!" Dessic exclaimed as the three ponies rounded the corner. He said it with such aplomb and bravado that Later and Cotton were expecting some sort of hulking behemoth in the middle of the block; yet because there were so many ponies and other creatures filling the street ahead of them, they could barely see in front of them. It didn't help that Later was shorter than your average pony, so she really couldn't see over anypony's heads.

"Is there actually anything there, or is this another false alarm?" Later hissed towards Cotton.

In response, the brown mare stretched her neck up so she could at least see over most of the heads. She caught sight of a tall, circular building ahead of them with what appeared to be metallic discs protruding from the centre, straddling its height. Then, she had to lower her head once more. "There's some sort of large building there, alright." Cotton shrugged. "But who's to say if it's actually the observatory... we've already passed a whole lot of large buildings."

"And that, right there, is the observatory!" Dessic declared, hoof outstretched in the direction Cotton had looked. The brown mare sighed, while Later smiled wryly. "Just gotta... get through these ponies..."

"Ugh, I'm really not big on crowds," Later complained, looking around at the ponies surrounding them. One or two looked a little offended. "I swear, if I can avoid it, I'm going to steer way clear of 'em."

"Meh, they're alright," Cotton replied. "Though the ones in Umberlight are usually... much smaller."

"I thought you were from Ferretfall?" Dessic looked at her, confused.

"Oh, erm... I used to live in Umberlight for a time," Cotton said, trying to shrug it off. "The crowds weren't bad, but... eugh, the underground air is so stale."

"Mmm, yeah, I feel ya."