Long Shot woke up to find Shadow missing. He wasn't in bed or in the bathroom and his scarf and saddle bags were missing. Long Shot sat up and looked at a not posted to the door of the room. It read "Went down stairs to get breakfast. If I'm not there, check the pool. With love -Shadow Strike"
Long Shot got up and tied her mane back up in her signature ponytail. She grabbed her saddle bags and her sunglasses and headed downstairs. Shadow wasn't in the dining area, but Long Shot was starving, so she decided to help her self to some chocolate chip waffles. After she was done with her breakfast she went to the pool to continue the search for Shadow Strike.
As promised, Shadow was relaxing in the far end of the pool, gently bobbing up and down with the waves.
"I thought bugs hated the water." Long Shot teased.
Shadow looked opened his eyes and looked at his fillyfriend. "Well it's a good thing I'm a pony at the moment and not a bug." The sword slinger retorted.
Long Shot cantered to the edge of the pool and dipped a hoof in to test the temperature. It was perfect, nice and warm. The sniper backed off and went towards the changing room to don her swimsuit.
She walked out from the changing room in a lime-colored one-piece. She walked into the pool and paddled over to her coltfriend. Long Shot pressed her back against the edge of the pool where the two were floating and stretched. She turned to Shadow Strike and asked "We have four days of vacation left. What do you want to do with 'em?"
Shadow considered the inquiry for a few seconds before answering, "How about the Museum of Equestrian Natural History?"
"Didn't know you were into fossils. Sure, a museum sounds fun." the yellowish mare responded.
The couple stayed in the pool for about half an hour before getting out, drying off, and changing back into there normal attire. The two walked out of the hotel and towards the direction of the Museum of Equestrian Natural History.
The museum was about a twenty minute walk from the hotel. After arriving, the two bounty hunters had to wait in line another ten to gain entrance.
"Forty bits for two adult tickets. Pah. That's highway robbery." Long Shot said irritated.
Shadow nodded and walked into the museum's lobby. In the center was "Stu", the largest and most complete dragon fossil ever discovered. It was posed with all four of it's legs gripping the fake rock it rested upon. It's skeletal wings outstretched and it's jaws opened wide as if the long dead creature was trying to roar from beyond it's grave. The pair stared at the fossilized behemoth in awe, but both for different reasons. Shadow shuddered to think how differently the battle of horn valley would have gone had Stu been backing the dragons, while Long Shot was simply admiring the awe and majesty of the specimen.
"Man... Look at the size of those fangs. It's pretty hard to those things were only used for chomping through gems, huh?" The sniper observed.
"Not just gems... I've seen teeth just like those crunch through charred changeling soldiers..." The sword-slinger whispered, to avoid letting the crowd hear. The dark words weren't spoken with a voice of fear or anger, but more of nostalgia and exhilaration. "Oh, the memories of my sword sliding into their scales, ramming into their eyes, clipping their wings and splitting their skulls. We made the dragons pay for there greed and arrogance that day."
Long Shot whispered back, "Hey, Shadow, not in public."
Shadow's eyes widened. "Was that out loud?"
"Eeyup"
The silver unicorn's cheeks grew red. "Nopony heard me, right?"
"Nope. I'm the only one."
"Phew. I Didn't last ten years in Equestria only to have my cover blown now!" The sword-slinger whispered.
The two continued the tour entering the hall dedicated to the museum's fossil collection.
While Shadow was staring at a couple fossilized eggs, he heard Long Shot call him over. "Hey Shadow. Check this beast out!"
The disguised changeling walked to the exhibit in question. A massive serpent skeleton was placed behind a rope, but the unusual thing about the specimen was that it had wings, not like those of the dragons it was surrounded by but more like the wings of a bird or pegasus.
Shadow looked at the plaque near the fossil's exhibit and read it aloud. "Quetzalcoatl. The largest known species of drake, a group of dragon like animals long extinct. The quetzalcoatl is considered by many to be the missing genetic link between pegasi and dragons due to it's bird-like wing structure." Shadow backed up from the plaque and spoke once more "huh. Neat."
Shadow Strike and Long Shot spent a good portion of their time in the museum with the fossils, occasionally leaving them to look at some crystals or ancient zebra tools. At the end of their tour Shadow stopped Long Shot. "I'm gonna swing by the gift shop and pick something out for Pu-I mean, Hope Ember"He said correcting himself and using the name Pupa's disguise name.
"Sure", the sniper said, "I'll wait here."
"Great. Be right back."
Long Shot also had bought a souvenir earlier in the trip, but not for Pupa. Long Shot had waited six months for the release of "Discord-erlands the Pre-Sequel", and now a copy from the Game Stable back in Canterlot rested in her saddle bag.
Shadow Strike returned with a green dragon plush and stuffed it inside his saddle bag. Afterwards he asked "How about we go get some dinner then head back to the hotel?"
Long Shot hadn't realized just how hungry she was until Shadow brought it up. "Yeah, that sound awesome" she said.
Together they walked out of the museum and looked for a nice place to eat.