The train pulls up into the station with a loud toot of a horn.

"We have arrived at Canterlot station!" The conductor yells from the front of the train. "All those wishing to depart, do so now!" The doors open as mobs of bustling ponies make their ways off the train and onto the platform, and all disperse to go about their activities. Lyra and Bon-Bon are among them.

"We're here!" Lyra says, excitedly. At the same time however, she was nervous. Being this close to the princesses mean they can keep an eye on me. What if they intentionally hid this information? What if they'll come after me?

"You're being paranoid." Bon-Bon says as she walks past, seemingly having read Lyra's mind. Lyra didn't realize she had stopped moving, and trotted to reach Bon-Bon before slowing to walking pace. "The princesses wouldn't hide any information, and even if they did they wouldn't hunt you down if you were searching for it — unless you were, like, a threat to Equestrian security. Seeing as you probably aren't, there's no need to be worried."

On the train ride over, Lyra had told Bon-Bon of her worry. The first time she mentioned it, Bon-Bon had said something along the lines of "they wouldn't hide information on something that didn't exist." That hadn't helped Lyra, of course. This time, Bon-Bon had taken a different approach.

The two ponies step off the station platform and begin to amble around the city, before they realized they had no idea where they intended to go. Lyra was a Canterlot born pony, but even so that doesn't mean she's good at thinking ahead. She knew she had to go to the Canterlot archives, but what of lodging? They might be here awhile.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Lyra asks Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon looks back with an eyebrow raised and a confused expression on.

"What? I imagined you'd gallop straight for the archives." She questions as they continue trotting down the cobblestone street.

"Yeah," Lyra responds, "but this'll throw them off my trail." Bon-Bon rolls her eyes.

"Why do I even try?" Bon-Bon murmurs to herself, looking back at the road ahead of them.

"Besides," Lyra continues, "Night'll fall soon. It'd be nice to get some lodging beforehoof." Bon-Bon nods as they walk through the city. The moon quickly rises and the other ponies on the street begin to disappear until they are the only ponies on the street, and the clopping of their hooves is the only sound echoing down the cold street.

"Geez." Bon-Bon says after a long moment of silence. "How hard is it to find an inn or a hotel?"

"Are you looking for lodging?' The two ponies hear from behind them. They both jump with a start and turn around. A cloaked pony approaches them. It stands there for a few moment in silence before taking off its hood. A white earth pony stallion with yellow hair is shown. He smiles, "I'm staying in an inn not far from here. It's not much, but it's affordable. I can take you there if you'd like!" Bon-Bon smiles in response and takes a step forward, but is quickly blocked by Lyra's hoof.

"Wait... what are you doing out here at night?" Lyra says, eying the stallion suspiciously. Bon-Bon facehoofs and the stallion smiles nervously and backs up.

"Look... I may seems suspicious, but I'm not a bad pony!" The stallion smiles warmly again and reaches into his cloak, pulling out a journal. "My name is Night Watcher. I like drawing pictures of scenery, particularly at night. I... do any time, but I especially love the night."

"Really? Can I see one of these drawings?" Lyra says, accusingly. The stallion once again looks nervous.

"Sorry, I'm... a bit self-conscious about my drawings. I don't really like ponies except for close friends seeing them." Lyra walks closer to him as the stallion retreats.

"Really? Isn't that a coincide-?"

"LYRA!!!" Bon-Bon yells, halting Lyra. She walks up to Lyra and pushes her away, before smiling apologetically to the stallion. "I'm sorry, my friend is a bit of a conspiracy nut."

"I understand," The stallion says, nodding. "It can be hard to trust strange ponies, especially at night. But my offer of the inn is still up in the air."

"Good thing I don't need to be a pegasus to catch it then," Bon-Bon replies, earning a chuckle from the two. Bon-Bon manages to convince Lyra, and they walk to the inn. When they finally get there, Bon-Bon thanks the stallion (Lyra just watches him) and they check into a room. As they unpack, Bon-Bon sighs.

"Well, today went well. We couldn't find anything to do, and wandered around lost all day." Bon-Bon looks over at Lyra, who was sitting in a thinking position on the bed. "Lyra, you were really mean to that nice stallion."

"Look, there was something wrong about him! I don't trust him." Lyra snaps. Bon-Bon shakes her head.

"Look, let's just forget about this. I agreed to meet him tomorrow-."

"What! Bon-Bon, why?"

"He's nice, and he offered to show us some nice places. I know you lived here, but since you'll be busy at the archives I wanted someone to be with, and he offered! Now, I'd like it if you came with us, just for tommorow before you become absorbed in your research." Lyra tries to protest, but knows it's pointless and eventually resigns. They then agree to go to sleep, before they realize something.

There's only one bed.

Night Watcher smiles at the two as they walk into their room before his smile turns into a frown. He looks in his journal and pulls out a piece of paper, before pulling out a jar of green fire and dropping the paper in it.

"Lyra Heartstrings... we have our eye on you."

Theresa and Janet's plane touches down and they exit onto the terminal. After waiting for their luggage to come around on that conveyor thing, they leave and hitch a bus to a nearby hotel. Theresa almost screws up and books a room with one bed, but Janet corrects her and gets a room with two beds. What kind of idiot ACCIDENTALLY orders a one bed room?

Their hotel room is nothing special. It is two rooms. One room had two simple beds with a tv on the wall. A sink rested on the left of the room, next to a kitchen set (Who actually uses those?) The other room is a simple bathroom. One thing the hotel room DID have was nice bed sheets. They stay in their hotel room for a few hours doing anything and everything to keep them occupied — TV, reading, playing, the like — until Janet decides to speak up.

"Theresa... why are we here?" Janet asks, not looking up from the magazine she was casually reading.

"It’s one of life’s great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don’t know, but it keeps me up at night." Theresa finishes with a shrug. They sit in silence for a bit until Janet fully comprehends what she said.

"No, I mean why are we here if you aren't actually gonna do anything?"

"Oh." Theresa says, her eyes going wide.

"What was all that God stuff?"

"Nothing..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." A moment of silence reigns.

"But really, aren't you gonna go searching for the apocalypse?" Janet asks, breaking the silence. She turns to look at Theresa and Theresa flops back on her bed with a sigh.

"I don't know where to go. If I went anywhere, it would be a complete shot in the dark. I need to wait for another vision." Theresa closes her eyes and hums as Janet stares wide eyed at her.

"That's your entire plan?! To wait for more vision. The apocalypse is supposedly supposed to happen in a week, and in your eyes the world's only hope is that you get lucky and have another vision?" Theresa nods and Janet groans and falls back on her own bed. This is bound to be a long trip.

Night falls and Janet and Theresa go to dinner. It's a simple affair, not much to talk about. On their way home though, something strange happens.

Janet and Theresa walk out of the restaurant and breath in the cool air, the waning moon in the sky hovering over the earth as the clock reads 8:30. Janet looks up at the sky and sighs. She lives in a... not so big town, so the stars always illuminate the sky. Now... the sky looks so empty.

They continue walking, and after five minutes they turn a corner and a strange man approaches, setting off all of Theresa's warning flags. One, he was wearing shades at night. Two, he was wearing a coat with a strange icon on it. And Three, he is getting too close for comfort. Bottom line, he's bad news.

"Hello," he says, "I would like to ask you two ladies if you've seen anything strange lately?" The two eye him warily and Janet tries to leave, but Theresa stays.

"Aside from my visions of the impending apocalypse, no." Theresa says, before leaving with Janet. The man watches them turn another corner before pulling out his phone.

"Someone seems to be onto us potentially. She seems to have visions of an 'impending apocalypse.' I think that might be related to recent events. I took a picture of her with my camera. I'd recommend having someone following her at all times." The man eyes the corner they turned around and then disappears into the night.

Author's Note

And the plot thickens!

Hello everypony! It's been awhile since my last update, but I feel good to finally get the plot rolling! I have two, maybe three more chapters planned, but I'll try to get some filler in to make it last longer!

Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying! And trust nopony.