Later making love 'a bunch more times' inside the cave, Zipp and Pipp decided to end their date and head back to the Brighthouse. While both were still worn out and wounds in certain places were still healing, they both managed to look composed and normal the whole time they headed home.

By the time they started to close in on the Brighthouse, the sun was already starting to set.

Pipp yawned a little. "O.M. Glitter! We did, like, so many naughty things together I'm just beat!" she expressed.

"Pipp. Careful not to say stuff like that too loud." Zipp stressed. "You never know who might be listening."

"Oh, calm down, nopony else is around. Not even in the sky." Pipp assured her confidently.

The white pegasus sighed. "Yeah… Sorry, guess I'm still on edge."

"More so than usual."

"Probably because of all that love making. I notice you tend to get a little more high-strung than usual after a good round or two."

"I'm not high-strung!"

"Mmm-mmm?"

Once again, Zipp let out a sigh. "Well, it was a good date all in all. Still, it took so long I'm worried everypony's gonna be wondering where we were all day."

"We probably took longer than usual because you held it in so much." Pipp Petals smirked teasingly.

Zipp blushed. "Oh, you're one to talk!" she pointed out in annoyance. She puffed her cheeks as Pipp started giggling. "Jeez."

The pink pegasus giggled even as they approached the doors and stepped inside the Crystal Brighthouse. Her giggling ended when she and her sister/lover froze in place with surprised expressions when they saw their friends gathered together, conversing with each other quietly.

They stopped and turned to the two Pegasi in unison the moment they noticed them. Their expressions were completely unreadable, which made both princesses very tense and unnerved.

A long moment passed before somepony finally said something.

"Uh… hello?" Zipp slowly spoke.

"Hello." Sunny and Hitch both responded.

"Hi!" Izzy waved cheerfully.

"Is… there something wrong?" Pipp wondered. "You all look… totes tense."

"Zipp, Pipp, follow us to the living room." Sunny instructed, hoof gesturing towards the living room.

Zipp briefly glanced toward the living room and raised a brow. "Why?"

"We need to talk." Hitch stated.

"About…?" Zipp asked expectantly.

Izzy moved over very close to them. "Secret stuff!" she whispered. The weirded out sisters scooted away from the unicorn.

"Please you two, we really need to talk. It's important, and it concerns you two." Sunny said with emotion in her voice, emotion that concerned the two pegasi.

"Ok…" Zipp said as he Pipp followed Sunny and the others to the living room.

While the sisters took their seats on the couch, the others each sat on different seats in front of them. While Hitch and Sunny both sat in chairs, Izzy laid on top of a beanbag chair that she clearly made due to how sewed up the cover looked.

The royal sisters glanced at each of their friends, bits of sweat rolled down their faces as they noticed their serious looks. Izzy on the other hand watched them like she was watching a TV drama, even tossing clumps of popcorn from a bucket and into her mouth, chewing loudly in the process.

"So… Is anypony gonna tell us what's going on?" Zipp questioned them.

"Yeah, you're making us feel like we're back in Zephyr Heights…" Pipp noted uncomfortably.

"And waiting for our Mom to tell us what we did wrong and what our punishment is." Zipp continued.

"Sorry. But listen, you two. We're your friends and we care so much about both of you." Sunny began with a gentle tone.

"And it's because we care that we feel we have to speak up." Hitch added solemnly.

"What are you talking about?" Zipp practically demanded.

"You know, I'm not really sure myself. But I think we're talking about how your sparkle's are all glittery and romantic looking." Izzy voiced.

"Huh?" Zipp and Pipp responded, both surprised and confused.

"What Izzy is trying to say is that… Well… We think you two are being… a little too friendly." Sunny admitted.

"Too friendly?" Zipp echoed.

"But we're sisters! Isn't it, like, totally normal for sisters to be close and friendly with each other and stuff?" Pipp pointed out.

"Yes… But like Sunny said, you two are being too friendly with each other." Hitch stated. "More than sisters should I might add."

"Closer than friends should be too!" Izzy added.

Zipp gulped a little and briefly shared a nervous look with Pipp. "W-What do you mean by 'too friendly'?"

"Like… showering together." Sunny listed.

"Feeding each other…" Hitch continued.

"And having a lovey dovey sparkle surrounding you both!" Izzy accuses them.

"Izzy! We don't even know what…?" Pipp started to exclaim.

"Oh, and then there was the time you gave Zipp a spank with your wing." Izzy added casually, making the younger princess squeak and blush. "Still, your sparkle is the biggest clue!"

"Um…" Zipp nervously muttered.

"I have to admit… Now that I look at you two, you both seem to be… glowing." Sunny remarked.

"Uh… Glowing?" Pipp echoed, surprised.

"Oh absolutely! Positively glowing!" Izzy piped up.

"Yeah… You both have this… this warmth… radiating from you. Like a…" Hitch began, trying to find the word.

"A warm, cozy fire?" Izzy guessed.

"Yeah, like that!" Hitch smiled.

"Did something special happen to either of you lately?" Sunny inquired.

Pipp's eyes started to dart around as she smiled nervously. "Oh, no… nothing in particular."

"Yeah, n-nothing at all." Zipp nervously added.

Hitch frowned, eyes half-open. "Hmm-mmm? Yeah… not buying it."

"What…?" Zipp started to say.

The sheriff leaned closer, putting on a pair of sunglasses. "Don't bother making excuses, I know a when I see one."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Izzy sang.

"Easy you guys… We just…" Sunny started.

Zipp scowled in annoyance, put a hood on Hitch's face and lightly moved him back. "What's with the third degree?! We're not lying about anything!"

"Zipp…" Pipp began.

"Your lying right now!" Hitch accused them.

"We're not lying!" Zipp said defensively.

"That's like the liar motto!" Izzy pointed out.

"You're supposed to be our friends, yet you're calling us liars?!" Zipp said, angrily.

"We are your friends!" Sunny insisted. "We just wanna know what's going on."

"Nothing is going on!" Pipp persisted.

"Likely story." Hitch said, unconvinced.

"Hitch, enough." Sunny stated firmly.

Zipp then hopped off the couch. "Your darn right that's enough," she said, clearly fed up. "Come on, Pipp."

As her older sister started to leave, Pipp immediately got up and began following her.

"Pipp! Zipp! Wait! Where are you going?" Sunny called out, distressed.

"Any place where we can be alone and nopony is calling us liars!" Zipp stated, still mad.

"Ooh… Not gonna have a lot of luck finding one of those." Izzy remarked. "I mean, Maretime Bay is super big and full of ponies, so there's not a lot of places where somepony can be alone. Can't say that every pony there will call you liars, not unless they could see your sparkle like I can and…"

"Izzy, not now." Sunny stated, making the unicorn lower her head. The occasional alicorn turned her attention back to her departing friends. "Zipp! Pipp! Wait!"

Sunny almost went after them before Hitch put a hood on her shoulder. "Let them go, Sunny," he advised.

"But…"

"They just need time. Besides, we don't wanna push anymore than we already have."

"Yeah, I know…"

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know Izzy, but like I said; we can't push them." Hitch stated. "If they don't wanna tell us, then they won't."

"But we're their friends! Why wouldn't they wanna tell us?" Sunny wondered, upset.

"If it's what we all think it is… then there's a good reason why they don't want to." The sheriff solemnly said.

Sunny lowered her head, eyes to the floor. "Yeah…"

"Is the thing that we all think it is the two of them being in a super secret forbidden relationship that involves incest?" Izzy piped up.

Hitch sighed as he ran his hoof down his face. "Yes, Izzy, it is," he said.

"I thought so!" Izzy said, pleased. "Wait, do they think we won't be friends anymore if they tell us what we think that it is, really is what we think it is?"

"I-I guess so…" Sunny replied.

"But that's just silly! We're friends! And we'll always be friends, even if we wanna be lovey dovey with a family member! Right, ponies?" Izzy asked, expecting the others to agree with her and frowning when they all gazed down with uncertain expressions. "Right? Ponies?"

"Well…" Sunny muttered.

"I know they're our friends, Izzy. But if they really are in a…" Hitch began before gulping. "Relationship… I might have to do something. I might have to put them in jail."

The girls gasped in horror.

"Hitch!"

"You can't!"

"You'd really arrest your own friends?!"

"It's not like I want to, Sunny! But I'm the Sheriff, I can't show favoritism! Not even to my own friends. It's harsh, but the relationship they're possibly in is against the law."

"I know, but…" Sunny started to say.

"Don't worry, at this point, we don't know anything for sure." Hitch reasoned. "Right now, unless we get solid proof or a confession, we're just guessing. You see what I'm getting at?"

"Of course! Plausible deniability!" Izzy realized with a big smile.

"Exactly!" Hitch smiled back.

"What?" Sunny asked in confusion. "What do you…?"

"Listen Sunny, if they don't wanna tell us exactly what they're doing, then should the worst happen, we won't have to lie about it." Hitch explained.

"Yeah, we see nothing! We have plausible deniability!" Izzy said in a hushed tone while partially hiding her face behind her forearms.

"So… If they really are doing something taboo… we're just supposed to turn away if or when it happens?" Sunny asked.

"Yes! Exactly!" Hitch confirmed.

"It's definitely better than sending our friends to jail, especially when you compare the jails here to the ones in Zephyr Heights!" Izzy pointed out.

"Jails aren't meant for comfort. I still don't get why Queen Haven insists on making her dungeons feel more like hotel suites or spas." Hitch muttered, shaking his head.

"Speaking of Queen Haven, do you think she knows about it?" Sunny Flare wondered.

"Think she knows about what?" Izzy inquired.

"You know…" Sunny reminded her.

"No, what?" Hitch asked, sounding just as stumped.

"About Zipp and…" Sunny began before she noticed the smiles on her friends' faces and understood. "Oh! Right. Plausible deniability. Gotcha."

"Great! Not that I know what you're talking about, but I'm glad we're on the same page!" Izzy said, pleased.

"Yeah… I just wish Zipp and Pipp were back here. So we can apologize to them and…" Sunny sadly muttered.

"They'll come back, Sunny." Hitch assured her. "Like I said, they just need time."

"Yeah, alone time." Izzy said suggestively while wiggling both her brows. Sunny and Hitch just stared at her with weirded out expressions. "What? Oh! Right! We're not supposed to talk or think about… that thing."

"Exactly." Hitch nodded.

"Especially the um… really unmentionable stuff." Sunny stated with rosy cheeks.

"I have no idea what either of you are talking about." Hitch claimed as he started to walk away. "I see nothing, I hear nothing, I have plausible deniability."

"Yeah! Plausible deniability." Izzy repeated with a smile as she also left.

Sunny started to leave also before looking back towards the front doors that Pipp and Zipp left though with knitted brows. Guilt and sadness filled her mind, as well as the urge to find them. But deep down she knew Hitch was right and that they needed their space, and while she knew she shouldn't talk about it, she wished that she could so that she could tell them that they have her utmost support.

Meanwhile, Zipp and Pipp were flying through the air high above Maretime Bay, with Zipp always flying just a little bit faster. Pipp tried her best to keep up and get Zipp's attention, but her sister/lover kept her narrowed gaze focused on the view ahead.

Still, it wasn't a total loss. She smirked at the view ahead of her before regaining her focus. "Zipp? Zipp!" Pipp spoke up.

Zipp finally snapped out of it. "Huh? What? What's up?"

"I could ask you the same question." Pipp remarked. "I mean, not that I don't love the view…"

Pipp smirked again as she gazed at the sight of her sister's derrière ahead of her. With her tail fluttering in the wind, it was easy to catch a glimpse of Zipp's uncovered rear and all her naughty bits.

Zipp blushed when she realized this and started flying a little slower so she and Pipp could fly side by side.

"Pipp…" The older sister muttered in embarrassment.

"But you've been, like, really tense since the Brighthouse." Pipp continued.

Zipp sighed. "Sorry… I just… What happened with Sunny and the others really freaked me out," she admitted, "And they went and called us liars."

"But we are liars." Pipp pointed out. "Face it, sis, we've been sloppy, and now our friends are totally onto us."

"I know, I know… And my little outburst back there probably didn't help much…" Zipp admitted in shame. "It's just… this thing between us is just so special. It makes me so happy, and if somepony were to get in the way… if they tried to separate us. Tell us we couldn't be together anymore… I don't know what I'd do… I don't know…"

Pipp felt great sadness and sympathy for Zipp, and when she saw tears forming in her sister's eyes her heart felt like it was breaking.

"Oh, Zipp!" The younger sister expressed sympathy, tears forming in her eyes as well. She flew over to get in front of Zipp and placed her hoofs on her shoulder before hugging her. "I don't wanna lose you either. I won't! No matter what happens, even if somepony does find out and tries to separate us, I will never leave you."

The teary eyed Zipp hugged her sister back. "Thanks, sis."

After five long seconds had passed, the two sisters pulled away a little before quickly getting lost in each other's eyes and giving each other a loving kiss. Another five seconds passed before they finally ended the kiss.

Zipp's look of adoration then turned to an interested smirk. "So… You were ogling my butt, huh?"

Pipp blushed. "Well… you're always looking at mine!" she said both defensively and embarrassed.

"You really are a naughty filly." Zipp remarked in amusement.

Pipp lightly shoved Zipp. "Oh, hush!" she said, struggling not to smile. "Now, are you ready to head back to the Brighthouse and apologize?"

The white Pegasus sighed. "Yeah… I think I feel a little better," she admitted. "I'm still a little nervous about the others finding out though…"

"Look, we know they've noticed a few slip ups, but so far all they've accused us of being is too friendly." Pipp reasoned.

"Not to mention liars."

"Which we technically are."

"Ok, maybe a little…"

"More like a lot."

"Even so, that doesn't mean we should tell them! You know how much of a rule follower Hitch is, he'll totally put us behind bars if he knew for sure!" Zipp reminded her sister/lover.

"Maybe he won't?" Pipp suggested hopefully.

"Pipp." Zipp responded flatly.

"Ok, maybe he would." Pipp admitted. "But it's not like he accused us of anything totally obscene back there. He just sounded worried, as all."

"True." The older sister nodded.

"And neither did Izzy or Sunny." Pipp added. "Well… aside from Izzy pointing out that our sparkle's seemed 'romantic looking'. But that's just Izzy being Izzy, nothing to worry about!"

"Yeah, maybe…" Zipp muttered, uncertain.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Pipp stated. "And whatever it is, we'll face it together. And if they really do know, if they really are our friends, they'll support us no matter what. But if they don't, then there's nothing to worry about. Right?"

"Right. Come on, let's head back to the Brighthouse." Zipp said.

"Gladly." Pipp smiled before they both turned and started flying back the way they came. Along the way, Pipp purposefully flew a little slower while Zipp flew ahead.

It only took a little while before Zipp realized that her sister was lagging behind and turned to her.

"Hey, what's up?" she inquired. "Are you feeling tired?"

"Huh? Oh! No, I just… wanted to let you go in ahead so that I can make sure you don't turn around and fly off. You know… second thoughts and all that." Pipp claimed while briefly glancing away.

Zipp raised a brow, then smirked again. "Oh, I get it, you just wanna stare at my butt again, don't you?" she asked playfully.

Pipp blushed bright red. "What?! That's not…?!" she started to deny before she saw the knowing look in her sister's eyes and realized that it was pointless. "Ok, find, maybe. But I also wanna make sure you don't change your mind and fly off. We may or may not have to tell the truth, you know."

"Please, you just wanna stare at this." Zipp smirked as she wiggled her fanny. "We may be opposites, sis, but we have one thing in common at least; we both enjoy a good view."

"Are you accusing me of being just as obsessed with your butt as you are with mine?"

"Maybe…" Zipp said, still sounding playful, with an equally playful smile on her face to boot.

Before anything else could be said, she promptly zoomed ahead.

"Yeah, you better fly away!" Pipp said as she flew after her sister and girlfriend.

"Oh boy!" Zipp commented before she started flying faster.

"Come back here, Zipp!" Pipp called out as she chased Zipp all over the sky.

"Never!" Zipp yelled back with a laugh.

The two sisters flew through the sky as fast as each of them could. They went over, under and around multiple clouds in their paths. Zipp snickered as she tried to hide behind a cloud, only for Pipp to sneak up behind her and wrap her front hooves around her. The two laughed as they spun around in the air before finally stopping and smiling at each other.

"Gotcha!" Pipp declared.

"Oh no, you got me." Zipp playfully rolled her eyes before adopting a more seductive tone. "Now what are you gonna do with me?"

Pipp flirtatiously smiled. "Take a guess."

The younger sister kissed her older sister and released her from her hug. The two pressed their hooves together as they made out in mid-air, completely confident that nothing and nopony was around to see them. Pipp moved her lips from Zipp's to Zipp's neck, proceeding to give her a small hickey and a nibble, making the white pegasus moan.

They were so into their mid-air love fest, that they had no idea of two Pegasi flying in the direction. Two Pegasi named Zoom and Thunder to be exact, royal guards that worked for Queen Haven herself.

The two Pegasi guards also had no idea the royal sisters were in the air until they got close enough to see them, at which point their jaws dropped and their eyes became close to popping out of their heads. Both had to close the other's jaws and fly backwards before either of the Princess' saw them. They stopped when they were both out of earshot.

"We have to tell the Queen!" Zoom whispered in a panic.

Thunder nodded quickly before turning and quickly flying off with Zoom, leaving the royal sister's alone again and unaware they had been caught red hoofed.