Cadence and Sweetie made their way back to the food court, the others were waiting at a table for them eating. Cadence walked over and sat next to Twilight, Sweetie next to Spike who she gave a quick kiss on the cheek to making him smile.
“So? You two have fun on the nature walk?” Twilight asked with a smile, Cadence and Sweetie nodded but then Cadence’s expression changed to one of concern.
“So, has every pony been enjoying themselves? Nothing strange or unusual while you were having fun right?” Cadence asked. They all looked at one another for a moment before turning back to Cadence.
“What do you mean Cadence? Did something happen on the nature trail?” Celestia asked before taking a sip of her iced tea. Cadence wasn’t sure how much she should tell her family right now she didn’t want to get them worried when the possibility that she just misunderstood a situation was still there.
“Sort of, I just saw Sour Sweet arguing with another pony it just had me concerned is all. It was probably just a mistake one of them made is all.” Cadence replied. Every pony ate their dinner with a smile, the food court having a rather large all you can eat buffet to choose from.
“So what’s every pony going to be doing on day two of our little vacation?” Celestia asked. Twilight held a booklet with all the resorts activities listed in it, and pointed to what she was planning to do tomorrow.
“There’s a river rafting course that Sunset and I were thinking about doing tomorrow, Each raft holds four if any pony else wants to join in.” she explained.
“That sounds like fun, mind if Spike and I join in? We were just gonna go to the arcade tomorrow but this sounds a lot more fun.” Shining asked. Sunset and Twilight both nodded in agreement when they asked to join, Spike looked over at Sweetie curious about her plans as well.
“What about you Sweetie? You just gonna spend time with Cadence some more tomorrow? Or are you gonna go with Mom or Aunt Luna?” he asked. Sweetie sat thinking for a moment,
but then Cadence spoke up. “We can spend more time together tomorrow Sweetie, I don’t mind.” Sweetie eagerly agreed when Cadence invited her.
“Well Celestia and I decided to book an appointment at the spa and sauna tomorrow. Its been ages since either one of us got a chance to be pampered like that, and I’m certainly looking forward to it.” Luna said before taking a sip of her drink,
Tia smiled at her sister and then nudged her grinning and saying. “That’s fine, but then we get to do something more exciting the next day. I want some adventure that doesn’t involve some evil plot to help me unwind this vacation.” The two older mares giggled at one another and every pony finished eating their dinner before returning to their rooms to sleep for the night. All their luggage was in their rooms waiting and they unpacked what they’d brought to better help relax. Cadence sat at the window looking outside at the night sky, the sky was crystal clear tonight and every star was out tonight which made Cadence smile. But at the back of her mind she still couldn’t help but wonder about the conversation she’d heard earlier in the day. She looked back at Sweetie Belle peacefully sleeping in her bed, curled up in the bedsheets. Cadence decided she would put it at the back of her mind for now and climbed into her bed to get some sleep.
The next morning Cadence woke to a gentle nudging, she looked over her shoulder to see Sweetie Belle was awake and eager to start the day.
“Come on Cadence! Every pony else is up already! Let’s go get some breakfast and then have some fun!” Sweetie begged, Cadence sat up slowly rubbing the sleep from her eyes and then climbed out of bed.
“Alright Sweetie, let’s go get something to eat.” she replied. Sweetie led the way as the two made their way back to the food court to get something to eat. Cadence looked at each of the rooms where the rest of her family was staying and sure enough each one of them had already gotten and left, the realization that she’d slept in made Cadence a little embarrassed but she didn’t let her slow her down any.
Twilight and the others finished putting on their life vests and strapping themselves into the raft. A blue mare named Sunny Flare who worked at the resort smiled at them as they finished getting ready to start their rafting venture.
“Okay every pony, remember to keep your legs and hooves inside the raft and don’t deviate from the course alright? Most importantly, have fun!” she said with a smile. A moment later the raft began to move down the river at a brisk pace,
“Woo-Hoo! This is gonna be so much fun!” Sunset shouted as they began. Twilight and Spike sat at the back of the raft while Sunset and Shining sat in front. The raft bounced along the river moving left and right, the three ponies and dragon doing their best to steer the raft as it splashed around. The river water was nice and cold and felt great under the hot sun as it splashed onto them, Twilight and Spike steered the raft from the back as best they could trying to keep pace with Sunset and Shining’s paddling the two trying to make the raft go as fast as they could down the river. The river curved around like a snake and the group shouted with glee as they bounced from occasional dip and drop in the river.
“This was a great idea! Next time we should bring Cadence and the princesses too!” Sunset shouted. They finally reached a calm stretch of the river and slowed the raft to a steady pace as they looked at the tropical forest along both sides of the river. Twilight being the nerd she was called out all the animals and rare flora that they passed by and coasted along the river. Then a rustling sound came from trees above gaining Shining’s attention,
“What was that? It was too big to be a bird. Maybe a monkey?” he asked. The others looked around at the canopy of the trees above them trying to see what it was Shining had heard. Then trees began to rustle again a few shadowy figures seen moving through the tree tops above them,
“Something’s following us!” Spike shouted. The four began to paddle their raft a little faster hoping to outrun whatever creatures were chasing after them now but just as they reached the next bend of the river they all turned to see a large sticky green web drop down from above.
Cadence and Sweetie Belle left the food court with full bellies, Sweetie noticed that Cadence seemed distracted though and walked alongside her.
“Cadence, are you okay? Is there something wrong?” Sweetie asked. Cadence looked down and smiled back at her trying to make her feel better and put her mind at ease.
“Oh no, its just...I was thinking about yesterday is all Sweetie. I can’t help but shake this bad feeling I’ve got right now. Maybe...maybe, I should go ask Mrs. Cinch about it? She might know something about what happened. Do you mind if we stop by the office to ask her Sweetie?” Cadence replied. Sweetie nodded in agreement and followed Cadence to the main office building of the resort, Cadence saw a young stallion and approached him asking where she might get directions.
“Oh, the directory to every pony’s office is right over their on the wall. Hope that helps Princess.” he said as he walked away to continue to his job.
“Thank you that is a big help, have a nice day.” Cadence replied as she walked over to the directory she held up her hoof and glanced over the names most of which she recognized. Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, when Cadence reached the end of the list though she noticed that head of the resort was listed as “Sugarcoat” though.
“That’s odd...I thought Mrs. Cinch was the head of the resort, why would Sugarcoat be listed as the head instead?” Cadence asked scratching her chin curiously.
“Maybe, maybe she just got promoted and they haven’t changed the names on the board yet?” Sweetie replied. Cadence wasn’t convinced though, the conversation from yesterday and now this was beginning to make her wonder about what was going on without their knowledge.
“Come on Sweetie...I think it’s time we go talk to Auntie about all this...”