“And no one else is here.” Sunny hadn’t expected nopony to be at the lodge when she, Izzy, and Misty arrived. “It doesn’t make sense, Zipp went off to find Hitch and Pipp, and Shadow should have been here or any second now.”

“You starting to regret leaving our friends behind.” Sunny didn’t want to admit it but Misty was right, she shouldn’t have left anyone behind in the first place. She didn’t know what she was thinking now that she thought about it, it was a rather selfish decision.

“Let’s just get inside, then we can talk about it in there.” The mares nodded in agreement to Izzy’s proposition. When the three mares entered the lodge it seemed as if it had been deserted for months, maybe it even had.

Sunny reached for the nearest light switch to brighten up the dark dim scenery, but nothing happened when she did. “Great, so no power huh?

“Maybe there’s a powerbreaker or a fuse box somewhere.” Izzy, who had seemed to be a quirky, goofball at most times, had surprisingly a lot of knowledge of technical support and engineering; probably due to her interest in craftsmanship.

“Wow, this place is really... Something.” They had now heard Shadow’s voice and multiple hoof steps coming from the entranceway. When they came into view, they could see that Zipp was with him; she had a confrontational and depressed facial expression and maybe a sight of a couple of tears in her eyes. “Oh, looks like you three just got here. Also, what’s up with the power?”

“Oh, well that’s what we’re trying to figure out, Izzy was about to look for a powerbreaker or something.” Sunny didn’t know if Zipp had told Shadow that it was her idea to leave without him. If she had, she knew would sooner or later have to apologize for it, or if she didn’t, she should still probably fess up to it.

“It is most likely in the basement.” Shadow then walked towards Izzy and leaned in to whisper something to her. “Hey, could you bring Zipp down there with you, if you couldn’t see, she’s down right now, and she needs some time to keep her mind off it?”

“Why, what happened?”

“Just... Could you please?”

Izzy nodded and Shadow then walked away from her with a grateful grin towards her. Izzy then turned to Zipp, seeing that she was just standing there, staring out a window from a distance. Izzy broke her trance by asking if she wanted to come down and turn the powerbreaker on with her.

“I guess, I’ve got nothing to do anyway.” As the two mares went downstairs to the basement, it left Sunny, Misty, and Shadow in the main lodge alone.

“Okay, well we should get everything else settled in while we wait for the power to get turned on.” Shadow then turned to Misty and the first thing he noticed was that she didn’t have her suitcase with her. “Hey Misty, what happened to your suitcase, I gave it to Hitch for you.”

“Oh well, Hitch and Pipp split from the rest of the group, and he still has it with him. By the way, did you see them on your way up here?”

“Uh nope didn’t see them, but I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now.” Shadow didn’t want to say that he did see them, and they were getting a little intimate with each other; it wasn’t his business, and also for Zipp. “I saw that message you sprayed on the wall, thanks for that.”

“Oh yeah, no problem, and just to let you know, I was against the whole ‘leaving you behind thing.”

“It’s cool, I got to explore and scared Zipp really good, she probably won’t admit it, but she did scream like a little filly.” Misty liked how Shadow was everything she wanted to be like, some pony who said what was on their mind, a very extroverted pony, and always knew how to lighten a mood and put a smile on.

“Misty, could you help me unpack Izzy and Zipp’s stuff in our room?” Before Misty could answer, the lodge was opened again and a voice announced their presence to everyone in the room.

“Hello, anypony home!” Pipp and Hitch had finally arrived, good thing Zipp was still downstairs. They soon realized that they were the last to get here. Hitch had seen that Shadow was here too, which was surprising because he had headed to the lodge way before; they must’ve taken longer than expected.

“Sorry, we left without telling anypony but Pipp was insistent that we got some footage for her vlogs.” Hitch had set Misty’s suitcase on the carpet in the middle of everypony.

“Glad you’re here, now we should all unpack so we can get to the game that Shadow had planned.” Shadow had told Sunny that the game he had in mind was something that could be fun for friends to grow closer together. Though he never told her the name or how the game works.

“Uhh, where are Zipp and Izzy?”

“They went to the basement cellar to find the power breaker to turn the power on. But until then let’s get everything ready so we can play the game and spend some relaxing time all together.”

Everypony finally got their luggage and headed to their guest rooms. For how big the lodge was, it only had three bedrooms, granted they were pretty big. The biggest one had three single mattresses in it and that’s where Sunny, Izzy, and Misty were going to stay and sleep. The second had only two single mattresses, Hitch and Shadow we’re going to be in that one. The last one was a little different, it instead had one mattress and it was meant for two ponies to share; probably couples who would come here. Fortunately, they were pretty neat beds, all had stands, and from the reviews; extremely comfortable to sleep in. But it was gonna be shared with Pipp and Zipp due to them being sisters, they probably never had to share rooms because they were royalty and they lived in the palace most of their lives.

Shadow and Hitch were now in their room, unpacking all their stuff to make it look more homely. Shadow noticed Hitch was staring at a photo, the certain photo was something he carried everywhere he went. Hitch always carried a picture of him and Sparky together when they were away from each other; which was rarely ever the case.

“You still thinking about Sparky.” Shadow wanted to ask Hitch about earlier about how he and Zipp saw him Pipp through the telescope. He didn’t know how to bring it up without sounding weird. He was also more concerned about how he was feeling right now, though he reminded himself to bring it up later.

Hitch put the picture back in his satchel and got to unpacking. “Yeah, I’m just scared you know? It’s just that I’m all he’s got, I’m the only parent figure he knows, and what if when he’s older, he asks why he’s not like anypony else or doesn’t fit in with everypony else? What do I tell him?” Shadow didn’t know what to say to that, it caught him off guard, so he let Hitch continue. “I don’t know anything about being a dad, let alone a “Dragon Dad”, what if I mess up and do something unforgivable?” Hitch was on the verge of tears, he never let out any of his parental problems he had.

“Look Hitch,” Hitch had now turned to face Shadow, “I don’t know much of how to be a great father, but I do know that little dragon loves you more than anything, as long as you show you care and be there for his most important moments, then you’re doing a great job, that little buddy is fortunate to a have a dad like you.”

“Thanks, I needed to hear that.” Hitch rubbed his tears away to make sure it didn’t look like anything happened.

“Anytime, now let’s get back to unpacking.” As the two finished up in silence, Shadow broke the silence with a question. “You think Sparky ever thinks that any of our friends are his mom?”

***

Izzy and Zipp were now in the basement looking for any form of power box or fuse. “Hey Zipperoni, ever wonder why foals are so scared when going up the stairs? Most say because they think something is behind chasing them, but I thought of it as somepony just wanting a playmate.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Izzy turned to see that Zipp wasn’t really paying attention to what she said, but rather daydreaming, thinking about something else on her mind; probably the same thing that Shadow was referring to earlier.

“Hey Zipp,” Izzy now had a more serious face on, which she rarely ever did but it needed to be done for her friend. “Zipp, I know that somethings been bothering you, it seemed pretty obvious when you first got here, so what’s up, I promised that I won’t tell anypony or judge you for it.” Zipp wasn’t sure if she should say anything, on one hoof she was heartbroken, and having a friend to talk to about it would help. On the other, she wasn’t 100 percent sure if what she saw was actually what was happening. She figured maybe just tell Izzy half the truth.

“Izzy, what do you do if you like somepony but, don’t think they like you back?” Izzy thought about it for a second, trying to think of some good advice that could be useful to her friend. Before Izzy could give it more thought, she saw the fuse box in the distance, in the direction right behind Zipp. “Hold that thought Zipperoni,” Izzy trotted her way towards it with Zipp following behind.

Izzy looked at the fuse box, examining it and trying to map out all the switches and what they do. She then ignited her horn and used the purple aura light to navigate and see what switch or button turned the power on.

As Izzy was working on getting the power fixed, Zipp heard the sound of metal being viciously hit coming from the area of an unknown hallway. At first, she assumed it was just one of the machines causing it. Then it did it again, only this time it sounded more distant. “Hey Izzy, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That loud banging coming from there?” Zipp pointed towards the hallway that looked like any normal hallway but extended right and she first guessed it just led to a dead end, but now was thinking it continued further.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Izzy at the moment was more focused on the fuse box that if there was a noise, she probably wouldn’t hear or be too concerned about it.

The noise continued to go on and grow, and with Izzy not being too weary about it, Zipp decided to investigate the strange noise sounds occurring.

As Zipp went down and turned right, she was surprised to see that there was an old door that continued the path in. She had no idea where it led to, the thought of exploring felt kinda scary, but at the same time, it also felt intriguing to have a little adventure in. The noise was for sure coming from here, the sound now becoming rhythm-like, two bangs, then three and back to two, and it repeats. Zipp reluctantly reached for the handle and when she had a grip on it, the sound began to go repeatedly like as if it knew what was about to happen.

Before Zipp could turn the knob to open the mysterious door, Izzy shouted out in excitement and the sound of the boiler working could now be heard. “Hey Zipp, I got the lights and water working.” Izzy came into view on the other side where they both used to be. Izzy came to Zipp who was still near the door. “What are you doing over here?”

“I heard that noise from earlier coming through here.”

Izzy perked her ears up trying to hear what Zipp had heard. “I don’t hear anything, Zipp.”

Zipp had just realized that the noise had now stopped and nothing could be heard through the shut door. ”That’s weird, it stopped as soon as the power was on. Maybe whatever was causing it, got spooked?”

“We should get back upstairs, the others are probably here now and we don’t want to keep everypony waiting.” As the two mares head upstairs, Izzy stops before walking on the steps and turns Zipp.

“Tell them how you feel.”

“What?” Zipp was caught off guard by the response that was just given to her.

“You should tell them how you feel about them. Trust me, once it’s off your chest if rejected, it will be easier to move on.”

Zipp was shocked to hear something like this from Izzy. Though she had asked her for some advice, but this seemed to be the perfect type of response. “Wow Izzy, that-that’s a really good idea, you know what, I’m gonna do exactly actually that, thanks, Izz.”

“No problem Zipperoni, now let’s head back upstairs, this place doesn’t seem fun at all to be in.”

***

“Thanks for helping me unpack Misty, I know I may have went a little overboard on packing.” Pipp hadn’t expected there to be so much stuff to carry, she had only brought the essentials. Though to most ponies her perception of the “essentials” was bringing her whole house with her. She was certain that she brought the bare minimum. It was a short list, she could name everything she had. There was her toothbrush, a few pairs of sunglasses, some outfits, manebrush, hoof clippers, eyelash curlers, a few colors of mane dyes, mane dryer, mascara, face blush, face masks, a few wash cloths, (maybe she did bring her whole house with her) lipstick and lip balm, and last but certainly not least, a couple of towels.

“It’s no trouble, I unpacked in less than a minute and was bored, so I figured instead of waiting for everypony else, I could help since Izzy and Zipp are downstairs fixing the power.”

“Thanks Misty, I kinda feel bad though due to having put the stuff that didn’t fit in my suitcase, into yours.”

“It’s really no problem Pipp, I accepted the offer.” Misty was really hoping that this trip would bring everypony closer and make some good memories to look back on. A part of her was also hoping that this trip would have time for everypony to get to know her, the real her. The “her” that didn’t lie and betray them all in hopes that it would give her the one thing she desired the most at the time. But after all that has happened, even if she hadn’t gotten her cutie mark after, she preferred to keep her friends with keeping no more secrets between them.

“Anyway, soo you have any plans on how we are gonna spend our weekend here?” Pipp looked so over the top enthusiastic when she said that, that Misty was worried if Pipp had an alter motive to why they were here.

“Not much I guess, I thought we were just going to play games and have stories to tell.”

“Well ya, we will do that l, but I’m asking if You have any other plans.” Pipp went to the side of Misty and put her hoof around. Having a smirk on her face trying to get the point across for the meag of her question.

“Should I’ve?” Misty seemed a little worried if she had missed the whole point of the vacation.

Pipp relaxed her posture and went back to face to face with her. “What I’m trying is, do have any ideas on having fun with certain ponies or pony?”

“Umm no, no I didn’t plan anything like that.””I should have done that though.” Misty thought to herself and pondered the idea.

“Well think about, mares up here just wanting to have fun, but not just mares, two very charmastic stallions to mess around with.”

Misty was going to interject but she didn’t want to oppose the assumption onto her, unless she knew for certain that was what Pipp was really talking about.

“I mean think about the views and hooftaps it will get, you should’ve seen how I messed with Hitch; it was really entertaining and he even admitted it. But in your case, you should invite somepony to go explore the trails around this mountain. I heard that around this time, the scenery here is really breathtaking, and by somepony I mean Shadow.”

Misty now knew what this was all about. “Me and Shadow are friends, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t see me like that.”

“But do you see him as potentially something more?”

Misty was gonna respond with no but something seemed to stopping her, so she stood there quiet.

“C’mon Misty, you can’t tell that you don’t find him hot at all, even I think he’s hot, or are dragon dad’s more your thing?”

“I don’t... I’ve never been,”

“Listen, if not that for that reason, then do it for yourself and as a friend. It would be a great bonding experience for the both of you.”

Misty thought about Pipp’s proposal as she finished unpacking Zipp’s stuff and as if right on cue, multiple lights around the lodge flickered on meaning that the power been fixed.

“Right on time, c’mon Misty, let’s head to the living room and start our first group activity. Shadow said he’s got some interesting games in store.”

* * *

Almost everypony was now in the living room and they were just waiting for Misty and Pipp, so they could commence with the fun. “We should all take a seat on one of the sofas.” Sunny had observed the time before that there were three sofas to sit on near the electric heater. The middle one was a three seater while the other two were on each of it and vertically across from each other; they had only two spots on them. As they started to make their way to the living room, Pipp and Misty got downstairs, saw where everypony else was heading, and followed.

Shadow sat on the farthest one from the entrance and Hitch took the middle spot of the biggest couch. Izzy was next to sit down and she took a spot on one side of Hitch, closer to the entrance of the living room. Pipp flew over to the other side of Hitch and gestured to Misty to take the spot next to Shadow, so she could be between her and him. Zipp took the couch that no pony was occupied on and sat vertically across from Shadow. She had saw where her sister sat and she felt jealousy and envy. She knew she would have to talk to her about what she saw Hitch and her doing, if she ever wanted to ask Hitch out or confess her feelings for him.

Misty had saw Pipp’s gesture, but she needed time to think about her relationship with Shadow, and she didn’t want to be more confused than she already was by sitting in an awkward position, so she took the spot next to Zipp. Sunny had been the last one to take seat, she went to sit on the sofa with only one other pony on it, that being next to Shadow.

When she sat down, she felt like there was some uncomfortable tension between the two. It wasn’t because of whole ordeal they had when they got here, but more due to how the two felt about each other. They had met through friends of Hitch obviously, but they never shared anything in common with one another. Most conversations they had always ended up with one on the opposing side, and this would be when they would agree to disagree and leave it at that. They still tolerated each other, neither one had something bad to say about the other; they just made sure to keep distance from each other.

That was probably one of reasons why Sunny wanted to head the lodge without him. Though she one day hoped to put their differences aside and maybe become good friends. Sunny knew that there had to be something to bond over; maybe this trip could be it.

“Okay, so I got the best game we could do as a “Getting to know more about Everypony” game. Truth or Dare.” Shadow waited to see how everypony would respond to the idea.

“I think that’s a great idea, it would be perfect for my vlogs.” Pipp then went to find a place to set up her phone to record the game’s events. When she came back, Shadow continued.

“Alright, everypony knows the rules, so I guess I’ll start us off.” He looked around the room, scanning everpony in there, deciding on who he would ask the daring question. His first instinct was asking Hitch, but wanting to expand his knowledge on everypony, he chose not to. He then glanced at Misty, but he worried she might feel under pressured to do or answer, so he needed to pick somepony besides those two. He then relealized Sunny was the perfect to ask and start the game off with. “Sunny,” She was shocked that he had picked her to pick a Truth or Dare. She may have also felt a little put on the spot because she didn’t know which choice would lead to a better outcome. “Truth or Dare?”

“Umm, Truth.”

“Ok so, what’s something that you’ve never told any of your friends or family?”

Sunny had to think for a moment, she had never really kept secrets from her friends and if she did, she would console in her father about it. “Umm well, when I was little I always wanted to fly like the pegasi and made cardboard wings. I climbed up a tree and jumped off, hoping to safely glided down. I sprained my hoof bad, my father took me into the house, cheered me up, and even got me my favorite ice cream.” Sunny reminiscing a memory about her father had brought a little sadness to her tone. She missed him, she wished he could be here now and see how all pony kinds are together and closer than ever; he would be proud to see their dream come to fruition.

“That’s a really heartwarming story, Sunny.”

Shadow waited for her to regain her composure so they could continue the game. “Alright now you ask somepony.”

Sunny looked at eyes darted around to everypony until her eyes locked onto her target. “Izzy, Truth or Dare?”

“Dare, c’mon give me what ya got.”

“I dare you to rank all of us as friends.”

“Oh gosh, that’s hard but I guess it would go you, then Zipp and Pipp. Then it be Misty, next would be Hitch, and last but certainly not least, Shadow. I kinda based it off on how long I’ve known each pony.” For Izzy, she saw all her friends as equals, and would consider them all her best friends. “Misty, your turn.”

“Oh um well,” Misty didn’t know which one to pick, she wanted to pick truth because Izzy would probably pick an embarrassing dare, but maybe having a truth would be even worse. “Truth, I guess.”

“What was your favorite part of Maretime Bay?”

“That would be all of you, I never had any friends, so when you seemed to care so much about me, it felt like I was important for once. I didn’t feel like I was just someponys servant.” Misty was getting really sentimental, but it felt good to be able to open her emotions to everypony and be vulnerable, she wasn’t being judged or being called weak for it. “Alright, Hitch, Truth or Dare?”

“I’m gonna go with truth.”

Misty was glad he picked truth, she probably wouldn’t be able to come up with a dare that would be anything from good. This way she could find more about them and be able to be good and trusting friends. “Have you ever broke the law?”

“Uh well, once,” This was surprising to hear from Hitch, a pony who always enforced and followed the law. “It was a long time ago though.”

“But you still were a sheriff at the time,” Shadow had added, “It was what, your first year of sheriff?” Shadow had heard this story before and he wanted to sure it was told right.

“Yeah anyways, I was on duty, and I had received a theft of some stolen fruit. I tracked down the suspect, which turned out to be a mare who had only stole to feed her filly. I couldn’t arrest her for that, so I decided to let it slide. It happened again and again until I offered her a place to stay for while so she could back on her hooves. I lied to everyone that I never had found the thief and let it go.” Hitch had went against the law and chose his morals instead. If anyone ever found out about it, he would be facing a criminal charge himself of corruption.

“That is one of my favorite things about you Hitch, even you have heart and chose your better judgment over the law. I mean sure, you could be in trouble for it, but still did it regardless.”

“Thanks Shadow, it made me feel better to get off my chest.” Hitch now had to choose who would go next, his first instinct was Zipp because him and her had a strong bond. She would always help Hitch out with cases that he thought would have stayed unsolved forever. They both had common interests and occupations, if it came down to it, he knew he would always be there to help or support her. “Zipp, Truth or Dare?”

Zipp was caught off guard by his question, she was more focused on her inner thoughts than the game they were playing. “Umm, Truth.”

“What was your favorite part of coming to Maretime Bay?”

Zipp had thought about, and it was mostly for her friends. A part of her was also excited to get to know Hitch more, and maybe one day have something more than just friends. That was on hold right now though, she first needed to clear up what she had seen through the telescope. It didn’t stop her from crushing on him. Oh how she hated the way her heart made her feel. “I guess it would all of you ponies. Ever since I got here, you all have been nothing but kind and friendly. Smart and resourceful. Observant and charming. When I first met you, it seemed as if all my problems and responsibilities floated away. I don’t think I could imagine a life without you,” Zipp had stopped herself, realized she had got off track in her own thinking. “You all in my life. Anyway, Pipp your next.” Her tangent didn’t go unnoticed by the others, but Shadow knew exactly where she was heading with it.

“Gimme a Dare.”

“I dare you to turn off your phone for the rest of the game.” Pipp was taken aback with Zipp’s purposul.

“Zipp you can’t do that, you know I need my phone for the vlogs.”

“It’s fine if you don’t do it, just know that your out of the game.” This was Zipps way of getting even eith her. She would still confront her about it later but, right now, this is payback.

Pipp didn’t want to turn off her phone but she couldn’t lose the dare. If she did then, she couldn’t ask or give someone a dare or truth, and she needed to because she already planned on picking the pony. “Alright, as much as I don’t want to, I’ll do it.” She walked over to where her phone was set up recording, saved the video, and turned it off. When she got back to her seat, she already was turning to the next pony to go next. “Shadow, Truth or Dare?”

“I’m picking Dare.”

“I dare you to say who would you go on a date with in this living room.”

“What?! That sounds more like a truth than a dare.”

“A dare is a dare, unless you want to lose.” In truth, she wanted him to pick truth, but she would work her around it if he picked dare.

“Okay, gimme a sec,” Shadow sat there thinking for about few seconds, until he answered. “I would pick Misty, only because I know her the most, beside Hitch. Everypony in the room knew that wasn’t true because when they met Misty, Shadow already knew the others.

“Huh, so you would go on a date with Misty?” Pipp had turned her eyes onto Misty, who was noticeably blushing of embarrassment.

“We’re just gonna move on with the game. Sunny, you haven’t gone yet?”

“Umm, Truth. "

“Do you have any other family out there?”

“No, for as long as I can remember, it was just me and my dad.”

“Must’ve been tough, losing him.”

“Yeah, but I proved to everyone that we can all live together whilst bringing back magic.” There was silence for almost a minute straight, until Sunny spoke up again. “Pipp, Truth or Dare?”
“Gimme me a really hard Dare you can come up with.”

“Okay, I got a good one. I dare you to kiss either Hitch or Shadow.” Hitch and Shadow both interjected to the idea.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, maybe we should end it here, and do something else.”
“I think this game has gone far enough, I have other games we can play.”

“Well I’m not backing down from a Dare soo...” Shadow made eye contact with Zipp, and then both were concerned on who Pipp would pick. He then turned his attention to Hitch who seemed a bit nervous. Shadow didn’t want Pipp to pick him, but if she didn’t then, Zipp would be furious and he’d admit it; he would be scared of her and what she would do. “I choose Hitch.”

As Pipp got up and walked infront of Hitch, Shadow was waiting for Zipp to get up and attack her; but she didn’t. Pipp had then leaned in and Hitch only could let it happen. The kiss itself hadn’t lasted that long but it cause a lot of damage every second it went on. Shadow had thought he could see Pipp using her tongue and he could only imagine what Zipp was thinking.”Alright guys, Enough!” Pipp had let up and departed her lips from Hitch.

Zipp got up without a work and went out of the living room and out of the lodge, slamming the door behind. “What happened to her, maybe I should go go after her” Pipp was oblivious to what she just instigated.

“I think you’ve done enough,” Shadow then turned to Hitch. “You should probably go after her, you studied this place more than I did, you can make sure she doesn’t get lost.” Hitch only nodded and went in search for Zipp. He then turned to Sunny who had seemed to have some guilt for what happened. “You just know how to make things more interesting, don’t you.” Sunny saw that Shadow had a disapproving look on his face.

“Yknow what, I’m gonna take a walk as well to clear my head from all this.”

“Mind if I come with?” Shadow was surprised by Misty’s offer.

“Sure, come on I know the perfect trail.” With that, only Sunny, Pipp, and Izzy were left in the lodge.

“Anypony up for charades?” They looked at Izzy to see if she was trying to lighten the mood at the wrong time. “What?”

Author's Note

Okay, here's the deal, I initially wanted these 2 chapters to be out by late March, and now it's mid-May. I wanted to release 2 chapters about every 4 months and that's kinda still the deal. Instead, I want to release every chapter separately. It should take about 2 and a half months but I want to be quicker than that, so my goal is to have 2 more chapters done by the end of August. I want this to be about 7 or 8 chapters long. This doesn't mean if I get done early I'll stop, we'll just wait and see.