Author's Note

What's funny is that I was making this before Until Dawn the movie and the remaster game were announced.

Arriving at the Destination

”So your telling me, that Blackwood Mountain is known as a Dead Pony place?”

“That’s right Skye, the place was built as a ski resort but was shut down for quote end quote unsafe trails and unstable ski routes.”

“Hold on Spruce, wasn’t it a mining railroad back before that in the day?”

“Yes, it was until the tragic events known as the “Flesh Mines” had caused them to shut down and abandon all their work. Here’s what happened, they had sent twenty miners down there, and one of the explosions caused a cave-in; trapping them in there with no food or any contact with the real world. When the rescue team finally found them only five were alive. You see they were in there for months so they had to-”

A hoof tapped on Shadow’s shoulder causing him to pause his podcast, unplug his earbuds, and get up from his seat to see who was trying to get his attention.

It was Pipp, the mare had always been trying to get his interest in why he didn’t watch or like to see her streams or podcasts. He was no pipsqueak of her either; he never understood why she cared so much about it. He only knew her as a princess, never really was into social media until not that long ago. She had millions of subscribers, and almost everypony knew or admired her but not Shadow, when he came to Maretime Bay, he didn’t know anypony; not even other Pegasi.

He spent most of his life away from civilization, he explored the world just like his parents did; living from place to place and writing letters to them about his discoveries. He had only come back to Zephyr Heights because of his parents who had been climbing one of the most dangerous mountains and an avalanche occurred and they were pummeled. His parents had found each other with their love of both wanting to be adventurous. They spent most of their lives together exploring and after they had him that’s when they decided to settle down and become a family. His parents didn’t mind and were both excited when he wanted to do the same, when Shadow had left, they decided to get back into it.

When his parents died, Shadow didn’t know what to do so he decided to go live in Maretime Bay, luckily at the time all pony kinds living together were still very new; only a week prior did all pony kinds get their magic back.

“Just wanted to let you know that we’re about to arrive.”

“Oh alright.” Then there was a pause of silence and awkwardness, it happened way too often with the two. Neither knew what to say to start a conversation.

“So you were just staring out the window and listening to some music? Wait don’t tell, was it Fresh, All You Need is Your Beat, or was it the Pony Hip-Hop?”

“Actually I don’t really like listening to that type of music a lot. And I was listening to a podcast about the history of the place we’re heading to.”

“Wait, you don’t like my music either?” Pipp was surprised by what she had just heard.

“Well, I didn’t say that, it’s just not my go-to, you know.”

“But you do like my music, right?”

“Well,”

“Hey guys, we’re here! Zipp announced to everypony on the Mare Stream.” Everyone got ready to exit, grabbed their bags, and ready to leave and get to the lodge where they would spend their weekend.

Hitch was still slightly worried about Sparky staying behind by himself. “Hitch I can assure you that Jasmine knows what she is doing taking care of Sparky, right Pipp? Sunny turned to her hoping for some reassurance.

“Oh yeah, Jas hasn’t been able to fail at anything thrown her way, like when she took care of him and the critters.”

“Your right, thank you guys, now let’s just relax and enjoy our vacation, nothing bad's gonna happen.”

As the Mare Stream was beginning to land all ponies had their stuff ready to go except Misty. She was struggling to use her magic to lift her suitcase because Pipp had put a bunch of her stuff in there. Misty didn’t really have anything except a toothbrush and a mane brush. Pipp had too many things so Misty allowed her to put some of her things to manage, which was a grave mistake.

Misty tried and tried to pick up her suitcase but to no avail. Shadow came over grabbed it and threw it on his back with ease; he was used to carrying heavy and large things on his back. “I gotcha Mist, no problem.”

“Oh thanks but I couldn’t let you do that.” Misty stated with a faint blush and a gracious smile on her face.

“No stress, I do things like this all the time. Plus most of this stuff ain’t yours and I only have this satchel around me with all my things so it doesn’t seem fair. Now come on, we’re about to land.”

When Misty first joined their friend group, Shadow and she hit it off quickly and became really good friends. They had a lot in common because they both got a little anxious when overwhelmed and he would always be there for her as comfort or someone to talk to.

When they found out about her and Opalne, Shadow understood her reasoning and was more than willing to give her a second chance. As they had landed, no one was as excited as Izzy was.

“Oh, can you believe it, after all that stress of defeating Opaline, we can finally take a break and not have anything to worry about!”

“Well who knows what else is out there, maybe more creatures like Opaline or worse even.” Zipp always had questions about strange occurrences and wanted to analyze those strange things happening in Equestria.

“Ya but c’mon, Zipp even I’m excited to get away from it all.”

“You see Zipp even Shadow is hyped about this trip!” Izzy was surprised because Shadow had barely ever been stoked about anything they did.

When the door of the Mare Stream opened, all of them expected to experience extreme cold due to how much snow there was there. But it was as the reviews said, no need for snow clothes and the temperature felt perfect. But all of them had packed some just in case.

“Wow, this is amazing, I have to stream this!” Pipp pulled out her phone and was ready to film.

“Uh, sis I don’t think you’ll find any bars up here.” Zipp was right but the reviews said that there is power at the lodge.

“Ugh, well I guess I’ll just record our vacation and post it as vlogs.”

“Wow, who knew that a place like this would be so breathtaking.”

“Yeah, but we should get going Sunny, before it gets any later.” Zipp looked at the night sky realising that she never really took time to admire it.

As the group made their way to the cable car that would lead further up the mountain to the cable car. Shadow noticed that Hitch was falling behind because he had something else on his mind. So Shadow started to trail behind to see if he could understand what was up with Hitch.

“Hey Hitch, I’m sure Sparky will be okay, while you away.” Shadow had first met Hitch when he came to Maretime Bay. He had offered Shadow a job as a part-time deputy due to the position having opened up. Though Shadow didn’t know much about the laws and districts, he needed a job so he accepted the offer.

He spent most of his time as a deputy filling out reports and handling complaints, mostly from Posey. He would also from time to time fill in for Hitch when he was away. They became good friends and would make jokes about how a small town with little crime needed police in the first place.

“It’s not just that, it's well we’re both here and no one is at the office-”

“Please Hitch, I think Maretime Bay can go a few days without us. I mean Posey most certainly can go a few days by herself, I know I could.”

“Ha, well ever since you told her that she doesn’t need to always come by to complain about something and how she should mind her business; she seems to have grown a liking to you.”

“If by “liking” you mean by sending me personal complaints about how I should handle certain situations and better my working tactics, then yeah she must like me a lot.” Hitch and Shadow shared a good quick laugh as they reached the cable car with the others.

When they opened the door the cable car was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe it’s on the other side? Sunny hoped that this wouldn’t take too long; it was already past 9 and they didn’t want to just sleep in when they got there.

Shadow noticed that the control panel had buttons, one of them had to control the cable car. “Hey Izzy you see that big red button right there,” Izzy’s hoof immediately hovered over it, hoping she was right on what he was gonna say next. “Press it.” Izzy smiled and slammed down on it as hard as she could.

All of them then heard zipline wires moving and now assumed that they just waiting for the cable car to come. Shadow set Misty’s suitcase down and went over to Hitch who was leaning on the rails, staring at the mountain.

“So you excited?”

“I guess, why do you ask?” Hitch didn’t understand what his question was asking.

“Well think about you, Hitch Trailblazer alone with five mares for a whole weekend, no other ponies for miles.”

“Okay, first off, they’re my friends nothing more. Secondly, I don’t think any of them view me in any other way than just a friend.”

“You sure about that, cause not to be rude or anything, but at first I thought you were gay until I saw how you and they interact.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hitch still didn’t understand what Shadow was getting at.

“Oh cmon, you and Sunny have been friends since foal hood, and then there’s Zipp the detective, you can’t tell me nothing is going on there.”

“The way me and Zipp are is just like the way you and Misty are.”

“No, Misty and I hang out occasionally and I don't view our relationship like that, but how do you know that Zipp, Sunny, or even Pipp do? Shadow couldn’t help but laugh and his question.

“Okay,” Hitch started, “Let’s say one of them does like me, what should I do?

“Just go for it,” Shadow encouraged, “It never hurts to take a chance, does it?” Hitch let his words sink into him until they heard the cable car come to a stop. Shadow went and put Misty's suitcase back on his back.

As everypony started to get inside the can’t Hitch noticed a caution sign on the station wall. “Hold on everypony, the limit that the cable car can hold is six or less. Which means that one of us has to stay behind and wait.”

“Oh come on Hitch, I don’t think one extra pony will matter that much.” Pipp and everyone else knew how Hitch was about rules and regulations.

“Yeah but I don’t trust it,” Shadow interjected, “This place is old, doesn’t get remodeled anymore, and is opened to everypony.”

“So what should we do, who’s gonna stay behind?” Hitch was asking but if he had to, he was more than willing to.

“I’ll stay back, you and the girls go on ahead.”

“You sure, Shadow?”

“It’s fine Hitch, here take this with you, I’ll be there in no time.” Shadow took Misty’s suitcase off him and gave it to Hitch.

As everypony except Shadow got into the cable car and closed the doors. It started to ascend up the mountain. Shadow waved bye to them knowing he would see them in a few minutes.

“Well now I just wait for them to get there so they can send it back down. And I’m talking to myself, good times.”

***

Misty stared out the window waiting for them to arrive at the top. She felt bad for having left Shadow behind while everyone else went in the cable car. She hated having him feel left out, sure he insisted on staying but he always took all the hits. Like the multiple times when she would get in trouble with town ponies, he would defend her and would pay the price for her doing. She wished there was a way to show how grateful she and everypony else was for his selfishness.

“Wait why didn’t I or Pipp just fly up the mountain so everyone could fit in here, or even better yet, why didn’t Shadow do that?” Zipp had asked out loud to no one in particular.

“You're kidding right,” Hitch had stared Zipp right in the eyes to see if she was bluffing. “Guys you all know why we can’t right, you all listen to my presentation I did right before we left? Everyone started to look away from him, trying not to make eye contact.

Hitch then realized that nopony had listened through his presentation, maybe except Shadow because he had helped explain why each rule was essential to their destination. He then sighed, being ready to once again explain why they couldn’t just fly up the mountain.

“OK, so this mountain has some sort of crazy weather, the winds are so uncontrollable that it’s impossible to fly in.”

“Ha please, I don’t think the winds here could be that bad.” Zipp was always known to be a little cocky when it came to flying. She was pretty good at it, even when they didn’t have the magic back then to do it.

“Look I don’t know if it’s the altitude at this height or something, but it can be very life-risking to try. You see, there were these two pegasi that tried just that Zipp, and let’s just say it didn’t go well for them.” Hitch paused on what he was about to say next, trying to set his voice to a more serious and darker tone. “The winds were so strong that it knocked them off course and they spiraled through the sky with no control. One of them was lucky enough to grab onto a tree top hold his ground and slowly climb down. The other wasn’t as fortunate, they found his body about twenty miles away from where they took off. Clover Stone was his name and he was found impaled from a tree branch, his body was just dangling from the tree. Blood was slowly dripping out to the ground, they just saw the blood circle on the snow and looked up.”

Hitch let his words echo to everyone, now the cable car was dead silent; no one knowing what to say after. “I just hope Shadow was paying attention and doesn’t end up like Clover did.”

“Hitch I’m sure Shadow knows better than to try it, he was probably paying more attention to your presentation than us.”

“Thanks Sunny, you always how to reassure a friend.” The cable car finally came to a halt and the doors slowly opened up. Everyone got out and Izzy wasted no time pushing the button, leading the cable car descending back down the mountain.

“So now we wait for Shadow to come up... or,”

“Or what?” Zipp was curious about what Sunny was suggesting.

“Or we could just go on to the lodge and he could just meet us there.”

“What?!” Misty was shocked by what Sunny had just said.

“Look I know it sounds mean and selfish but we need to look at the facts. The temperature has dropped increasingly and if we stay out for longer; we might get sick.” That was true, when they exited the cable car, the temperature did feel way more like they had expected it to be.

“Sunny come on though, you don’t think that that’s the best option, do you?” Hitch was surprised that this was coming from Sunny but he knew that she was just trying to look out for everyone else.

“Your right, I don’t think it is but the lodge ain’t far from here, and we can make it comfortable in there for all of us including Shadow.”

“I kinda agree with Sunny on this, if it were me and I knew the circumstances, I would understand why, and be forgiving of it.”

“Maybe she’s right,” Izzy interjected, “The lodge doesn’t seem that far away and I don’t think anypony wants to feel like they’re holding everyone else back.”

“But we can’t just leave him here by himself, with no way of finding us.” Misty wasn’t too keen on just heading to the lodge and leaving Shadow behind again. She would feel even worse and with all the nice things he did for them time and time again, it wouldn’t seem fair at all.

“Psst, hey Hitch,”

Hitch turned to Pipp (who was trying to get his attention) to see what she wanted to say.

“You wanna go sneak off and take a detour on the way to Lodge to explore? It would help with the Vlogs, to make them less bland and more colorful, plus I promise you’ll have way more fun than just-”

“We can’t just abandon everypony. Wait, why do you want me to come with you.”

“Well you’re the only one not arguing back and forth with each other, you have the map to know where we’re going, plus I need a big and strong stallion to protect me from whatever’s out there.” Pipp was known to use her charm to be very persuasive to get noticed and convince ponies in ways that would benefit her. Either way though, she was going no matter what Hitch’s response was, though she hoped he would tag along.

“Well I don’t think we should just-” Hitch started to think back to the pep talk Shadow had given him back at the other cable car station. “You know what, let’s go.”

Pipp didn’t expect Hitch to agree to go but was psyched that he did. They snuck off heading a different path than the others, leaving them there trying to figure out what the best course of choice was.

Izzy put a hoof on Misty to try and convince her to come along. “We can just leave a trail for him to follow us when he arrives.” Izzy pulled out a spray can gesturing to use it.

“Wait a minute Izzy, why do you have a spray can, do you do graffiti?”

“Oh, no Zipp, I just use it sometimes for... Uh my arts and crafts sometimes.” Izzy let out a nervous chuckle trying to avoid any eye contact with everyone.

“Anyways, what do you think Misty?” Sunny turned her attention to her hoping that Izzy’s gesture had persuaded her.

“Well I guess it’s not that big of a deal to go on ahead... "

“So, is that a yes?” Sunny didn’t want to impose it on her but hoped it was.

“Well it wasn’t a no so, let’s get going!” Izzy again held out her spray can, offering it to Misty.

“Alright I’ll come with, but for the record, I think this is a somewhat reasonable selfish choice.”

“Ok we should get going before it gets any later than it already is.” Zipp was now so worried about getting going that she did not notice that Pipp and Hitch weren't there with them anymore.

“Alright, you girls head on, I’ll catch up in a second, I just need to leave a message on that wall for him to know where we are heading.”

As the others were walking the trail that led to the lodge, Zipp had now noticed that Pipp and Hitch were nowhere in sight. She wondered if they had snuck off or gone on ahead just like they were about to do.

“Hey, has anypony seen Hitch or Pipp?”

“No, maybe they went ahead because they wanted to get there so they could get into the lodge, warm up and relax; we’ll probably meet them there.” Sunny was starting to get annoyed to have to stop and deal with another problem.

“Misty you almost done!?” Izzy shouted way too loud to her.

“Almost done and finished, alright I’m coming Izzy.”

As they started to walk down, heading to the lodge, Izzy turned to Misty and asked her what she had written on the wall.

“Oh, nothing special just directions on where to go.”

***

The cable car had once again made it to the top and when it opened, Shadow had stepped out. “Hey everypony, that car ride up here was so boring that with all the silence, I tell ya if I had gone another minute; I would’ve gone insane. Anyway let’s get going to the lodge, has anypony else noticed it got much colder when we reached the top of the mountain?”

Shadow finally took a second to look around and saw that no one was there. “Uhh, hello, anypony there?” Shadow was looking for any sign of anyone, and then he saw writing on one of the walls.

Misty Was Here
Head to Lodge
Follow our tracks(;

“Well so much for a welcome comity. Well, at least they left a message, thanks Misty.” Shadow had then noticed that there were three trails in front of him; unsure of which one to take. Two of them had hoof tracks on them, the one to the left had multiple imprints, while the one to the right had less but still a decent amount of them.

“Weird, did they split up or something? Shadow tried to remember what the map (that he and Hitch had studied last night) looked like but only could remember bits and pieces of it. Okay think there was a stupid little song we made up about the map. How’d it go again? Even if you’re lost, cold, and alone, each route will lead you back home. Yeah, that’s it because every trail on this mountain is connected to the lodge. He would have to thank Hitch later for having them come up with the song as a lullaby for Sparky.

“So now which way should I go? He examined all three paths and focused his sight on the unexplored middle trail. “Well since no one has gone this way yet, I might as well. I mean they all sooner or later lead up to the lodge anyway.” As he walked down the trail, Shadow couldn’t help but feel as if someone or something was watching him like when a predator stalks its prey.

***

“Soo Pipp, remind me why we’re here and not with the others at the lodge?”

“Like I said Hitch, I want these vlogs to capture all this mountain has to offer.” Pipp held her phone up facing the camera towards the outlook of the area, pressing record to begin. “Hey Pippsqueks, it’s your girl Pipp here on Blackwood Mountain and I’m with everypony’s favorite sheriff, Hitch.” She faced her camera towards Hitch which caught him off guard. “C’mon Hitch say hi to my followers.”

“Um hi everypony, wait I thought this was being recorded and not being live broadcasted.”

“Well, it isn’t but I wanted to have an intro to it.”

“But I’m not saying it to them in their time though.”

“I mean you’re not wrong,” Pipp sighed but then an idea popped into her head, she switched to the screen camera, faced it between them, and slowly started to walk towards Hitch. “But you are with me, just the two of us, all alone. I mean most stallions would die to be in your position with a royal princess. They love me for my status, my looks, and my curves.” She lightly shook her rump at him as she got closer (luckily the camera didn’t capture the last part on screen).

Hitch was at a loss for words, he tried to form a rebuttal to what she had just said but his words were getting mixed up; his cheeks had a tint of red on them and he was a bit flustered.

Pipp had noticed this and couldn’t help but laugh at how Hitch was reacting. Hitch on the other hand could only let out a chuckle, trying to figure out what was funny. Pipp soon cleared her throat and let out one more little chuckle before speaking.

“Relax Hitch, I just messing with you.” Hitch finally let up and started to relax his tensed-up muscles.

“You should’ve seen how you were acting, you all like 'Well... I... Uh.'" Pipp let out another laugh due to the impersonation of Hitch. “Well we had fun, but I think it’s time to head to the lodge with the others, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yeah, though I guess you were right, I did have fun with you on this little detour.”

“Was that a compliment?” Pipp had a smirk on her face.

“Maybe, we should get going.” As they were getting closer to the lodge, Pipp had an idea in the back of her mind and didn’t know how to bring it up but she needed to now or never.

“Hey Hitch, I have a kinda weird request for you.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Well, you how most ClipTrot videos have those misleading hoofnails.”

“Yeah, they make them like that because it makes ponies click and watch it.”

“So I was thinking of doing it and I was wondering if you could be in it... "

“Okay, that doesn’t seem that weird of a request.”

“Well maybe if you could be in it by having you kiss me."

“I’m sorry, let me get this straight, you want a hoofnail of me and you kissing?” Pipp nodded her head with an awkward smile. “Why?”

“Well this is my first time doing this type vlog on a vacation like this, usually there's service, but I want it to do well, and this one is about what you and I were just doing.”

“Why not just Photoshop it?”

“I don’t like to fake my pictures.”

“But you’re willing to fake your hoofnails?”

“Come Hitch please, you can just say no if you want, I promise I won’t be that upset.”

Hitch thought about saying no but the words of Shadow still echoed in his head. He didn't want to admit but he was right, he needed to take more chances.

“Okay fine, but only on the cheek, nothing more.”

“Okay but can we have one with you kissing me on the cheek and vice-versa?”

“Fine let’s just get it over with.”

“Thank you, Hitch, I promise that I will find a way to repay you for this, and don’t forget to smile.” Hitch forced a grin on his face, though he couldn’t say he wasn’t at all glad. Hitch did find Pipp attractive; he found all his mare friends a little attractive. Though he didn’t know if he ever would ask any of them out, they were his friends after all, and he valued his friendship with them way more than some inner desire.

***

Zipp was now getting a little concerned about having not seen any sight of Hitch or her sister. She was sure that if they had gone ahead, they would’ve caught up to them already. Zipp then saw that the path had diverged and while the sign had shown to keep straight to the lodge, Zipp needed to find where Hitch and Pipp were. “Hey, I think Imma head on this trail to see if maybe the others are nearby.”

“But we’re almost at the lodge, they’re probably there waiting for us.”

“I don’t think so Sunny, because if you hadn’t noticed there are no other hoof tracks than ours, meaning that nopony else has come this way.”

“Maybe they took another route, I recall Hitch saying something about multiple routes to the lodge.”

“I’m just a little worried that maybe Pipp and the others got lost and don’t know where to go.”

“Well Shadow must know because I left a message and he should have seen our tracks.” Misty injected trying to side with not having Zipp leave in seek of the others.

“Yet, I don’t see no sign of Shadow coming this way. If Pipp and Hitch went a different way, he could have gotten confused due to so many tracks on two different trails.”

“I think Zipp should go look for the others, we don’t want any pony getting lost out here and if Zipp finds them, she can lead them back here to the lodge.”

“You’re right Izzy, Zipp go on ahead, just be safe and we’ll see you at the lodge hopefully with the others.”

As Zipp waved bye to them and departed out in search of the others, she had a feeling that something didn’t feel right about being alone out here. She now was feeling terrible for abandoning Shadow back at the cable car.

As she walked down this unknown path she noticed that it had now merged with a different one-shot long trail. Okay this must’ve led me into one of the other three main entrance trails and no tracks or any sign of any pony. I don’t want to head back, that would make this whole thing pointless. I’m just gonna head up to lodge on this path; maybe I’ll bump into some pony on the way.

As Zipp went on, every few moments she would hear on every side of her, hoofsteps as if someone was stalking her. She would turn around but wouldn’t see any pony there, she then took a quick scan of her surrounding area to make sure, and she did this every time she got suspicious.

This continued and it was starting to get to her until she snapped. Zipp did a full 180 and then shouted to whatever it was to make itself known. As the sounds continued, Zipp was standing still only turning when she would face the direction the noises were coming from; she was like that for almost a minute continuously turning like a carousel. It wasn’t til she got a glimpse of a shadowing black fur figure, moving quickly around her in circles that she became frightened for her safety.

She started to slowly move backward, heading in the direction of the lodge. Her eyes darted at the mysterious figure which picked up its pace and seemed to at any moment charge at her. Zipp knew she needed to get out of there and fast, so when the time was right she would book it to the lodge.

When the time revealed itself she turned back around and was ready to run for it when the figure jumped in front of her. Zipp fell back to the ground and let out a helpless loud yelp; she used her hooves to shield her face, preparing for whatever came next.

She was shocked when she heard laughter coming from the familiar voice of the figure. She took a peek through her hooves and was able to see that it was Shadow who was just messing with her. As he continued to laugh, she got up with a furious look on her face.

“What the fuck Shadow, you scared me half to death!”

“Ha, oh my hoof, that was too good, you were all scared thinking that I was something that was stalking you.”

“I thought you were going to kill me!”

“You gotta admit, that was a little funny.”

Zipp did think it was a little funny but it also was a little too far, and she’d be damned if she ever was going to admit it.

“Come on, if it was the other way around, I tell ya I would’ve screamed like a little filly, but I would still find it funny.”

She tried to hide it but a slight grin escaped her.

“See, look I’m sorry if it was a little too much maybe I did go too far and I apologize for that.”

“How’d you end up on this trail anyway?”

“Well after I got up the mountain to see that nopony was there, I decided to explore and see what’s out here. Anyway, why are you out here by yourself?”

“Well I was looking for Hitch and Pipp, have you seen them?”

“Wait, did you come from the left route?”

“Umm, yeah.”

“No I haven’t seen them but I’m pretty sure they went on the right side path because both of those trails had hoofprints on them.”

“How could I not have seen that, I’m a detective and miss clues like that.” Zip let out a frustrated and doubtful sigh.

“Hey don’t beat yourself up about it, I’m sure there’s something- wait I just remembered something. Remember that presentation Hitch did about this place?”

“You paid attention to the whole thing?”

“Yeah, didn’t you?”

“No, nopony did.”

“Seriously, there were some important things to know like the incident with not flying on or to the mountain-”

"Yeah yeah, Hitch went over it again in the cable car, how is this helping?’

“I’m sorry it’s not, but the point is Hitch said that this place was set so that you could view any area around with telescopes. Maybe if there’s one ahead we could see if they are in the area.”

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s get going.” Zipp immediately went on with Shadow trailing behind.

* * *

The two walked the trail in silence, both keeping an eye out for any telescope nearby. “You sure there is one near?”

“Yeah I’m positive, just have a little patience with it, it will probably turn up near the lodge.”

“There better be one close by, who knows where Hitch is by now... and also Pipp!” Zipp didn't know why she had said that louder than it needed to be.

“You know, you seem to be very ambitious to find them, why not just wait at the lodge for them?”

“What if they’re lost and don’t know where the lodge is?”

“But Hitch also had the map with him right, also every time you mention them, you say Hitch’s name first even though Pipp’s your sister.”

“I don’t see how that's important right now.”

“What I’m saying is that you seem worried more about Hitch than your sister, which doesn’t make sense, unless... "

Zipp turned to Shadow before answering, “Unless what?”

“Unless there’s some tension between you and Hitch.”

“Like what?” Zipp had a concern and a little hint of nervous showing on her face.

“Like some romantic tension, wait a minute, don’t tell me, do you have a crush on Hitch?”

“What, haha, no... Me and Hitch... It’s not... I’m not,” Zipp’s face was now noticeably a blush of red.

“Oh my stars, you do, don’t know?” Zipp stayed silenced, her face growing more red now. “I knew it, it all makes sense now, that’s why you like stopping by the office so much. I should have guessed since you both share an interest in the criminal justice system.”

“You got it wrong, I don’t like Hitch,”

“You’re right, you love him and your face right now, if you could see yourself, you would doubt what you're saying too.”

Zipp knew she couldn’t deny it anymore, she figured it would be useless to lie now. “Okay, you’re right, I do have a crush on Hitch, but you can’t tell him or anypony, please keep it between us.”

“Look I don’t gossip or spill most secrets when it’s something really important. But I think you should confess to him about it, I mean I bet he probably feels the same.”

“Yeah right, do you see how most mares look at him, do you see how our friends look at him, do you see how Sunny looks at him.” Zipp’s mood then changed from embarrassed to gloomy and doubtful.

“Alright first off, Hitch has never had a marefriend and he’s stated that he isn’t in any hurry to get one. Secondly, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have romantic interests in any of his friends. Izzy’s just well Izzy, Misty is not really into love interests, she’s still warming up to the idea of having true trusting friends, Pipp seems more caring about her image and ego to even think about things like that, and Sunny well her and Hitch are foalhood friends and he has told me they both see each other as that and nothing more.”

“Wait what was that about Pipp?”

Before the two could get into any of that, Shadow saw a glimpse of what he knew was a telescope ahead.

“Look, see I knew there was at least one on each trail.” Shadow ran over to it and didn’t take a second to look into it. “Okay looking for a pegasus and a stallion.” As Shadow was looking he noticed the trail seemed to be below them, meaning that they could have already gone up onto the lodge. Then he saw them... But they were doing something that Shadow would never believe unless he saw.

Hitch had kissed Pipp on the cheek and she was taking multiple pictures of it.”You see them?” Zipp had startled Shadow and he began to panic on what to say.

“Oh... Nope, I don’t see them but I’ll keep looking.” He then went back to the telescope trying to stall for as long as he could.

“Let me see.” Zipp moved Shadow out with some resistance from him. When she looked through it, she did not see what Shadow saw but saw Pipp, giving Hitch pecks on his cheek while taking pictures. Zipp backed away from the view with a look of heartbreak and anger on her face.

“Hey, maybe it’s not what it looks like, maybe it’s just for one of Pipp’s posts.” Zipp didn’t respond and she continued to walk the trail to the lodge. “Ugh, Hitch, what are doing?” Shadow then saw that Zipp was still walking and not waiting for nopony else to follow. “Hey Zipp wait up."