The rest of the walk wasn't awkward at all; it totally wasn't. At least that was what Twilight kept telling herself. The unicorn felt it was best to just let tensions fade over time; it needed a lot of time. It was very difficult to make Pinkie Pie angry, considering the fact she's the happiest mare in all of Equestria, but somehow Twilight found a way. She blamed it on their so called "adventure" which was mostly just walking and feeding on berries.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. Pinkie tried to make things right, and she almost failed.

"Okay..." Twilight replied, halfway accepting the apology. She wasn't offended at all and felt that she had to make the apology herself. "I'm sorry too."

"For what?" Pinkie asked confused by her friend's apology.

"For being prissy," she paused for a moment, "I kind of had it coming."

"And you know what?" Twilight stopped again to get her next words right. "I think that strengthened our bond. Being stuck with some pony like this isn't so bad."

"Twilight."

"I mean, we're friends. The best of friends."

"Twilight."

"We're like almost sisters now, closer than ever."

"Twi."

"Tied in a bond thicker than blood!"

"Twilight!"

"What!?" Twilight yelled indignantly, half angry that she didn't finish her monologue.

"We're here!" Pinkie Pie pointed out; Twilight then noticed that they were in the middle of a small town, presumably Hollow Shades. She then noticed homes that blended with the trees; yup, definitely Hollow Shades.

"Pinkie?" A cheery voice rang from the area. Pinkie turned instinctively at the sound of her name, only to see a cream white earth pony with a blue and pink mane. The only other chocolatier in Ponyville.

"Bon Bon!" Pinkie said cheerily, running over to her friend.

"Pinkie you look like..." Bon Bon trailed off, finding it hard to place an appropriate word without sounding rude. "A mess." Pinkie only smiled wider.

"I know," Pinkie responded quickly, changing the subject.

"What are you doing in Hollow Shades?" Bon Bon asked, keeping her cheerful attitude. Other than Pinkie Pie, Bon Bon seemed to be a pony who liked to brighten other ponies day.

"We didn't have much of a choice," she answered. "We kind of walked here."

"You did? From where? Are you two okay?" Bon Bon asked in concern for the two.

"Yeah, but I think we said some things we're not to proud of." Twilight answered.

"We're on our way to Choco-con, so we took a scenic route." Pinkie said, putting it lightly.

"You're not kidding, this route sure is pretty, but it'll cost you an extra day on getting to Fillydelphia. Lyra and I usually go through Hollow Shades before we go to Choco-con. I like the peacefulness of this town, but Lyra just loves to rush wherever she wants to go." Bon Bon rambled. The cream white pony looked over to Twilight and waved her over to join the conversation.

"So when are you going to Choco-con?" Twilight inquired, "didn't it start already?" Twilight trotted up next to the two other ponies that talked to each other. Bon Bon smiled wider as if it was a joke.

"Don't you know? Choco-con doesn't start until next week." Bon Bon laughed lightly at the expression that Twilight made. The answers didn't line up; Pinkie Pie said that the were missing the convention, but Bon Bon's answer was almost the exact opposite.

"I'm sorry it's almost as if you said it wasn't until next week." Twilight said, hoping Bon Bon would say something different this time. Its probably the lack of food, or the sun, sea jelly, extensive exercise. She wouldn't lie about the date

"That is what I said," she replied; Twilight's face imitated a melting candle as her naive smile disappeared. She twitched before she brought back an even stranger smile.

"Of course you said that," said Twilight through grit teeth. The unicorn kept her obviously fake grin.

"Pinkie, is this true?" Twilight asked, turning her head to the pink pony slowly. Twilight took to long to look over to her head and the pony she was interrogating disappeared without a trace. She sighed and mumbled to herself that she should have seen that coming. Twilight groaned loudly and trudged angrily to the nearest motel.

"Hey are you okay?" Bon Bon asked; she knocked against the door enough to grab the unicorn's attention. Bon Bon had remembered Twilight from seeing her around Ponyville; she had come in and bought some chocolate and chocolate related products. Twilight kept her conversations either short or nonexistent. Bon Bon had always figured she was shy, or she wasn't much of a social butterfly. Bon Bon had a habit of making sure everyone was okay, and it was a quality that Lyra had always described as, "sweet."

Needless to say, she began to loathe the pun after its first use.

"I'm just great," the unicorn had purposefully kept herself shut in and kept away from civilization. Why would she need to be immersed with the social world, if she had spent three days without it? Twilight wasn't sure if the fatigue had finally had gotten to her, or if the true problem was Pinkie's lie. Did Pinkie Pie do this on purpose? She dismissed the theory immediately since Pinkie Pie did try to drag her back onto the train.

Twilight opened the door telekinetically and allowed the earth pony to enter the cheaply decorated room. There was a large sulking lump in the corner. Bon Bon instinctively trotted over to the quivering unicorn. On closer inspection, she noticed that the unicorn began carving tally marks onto the walls. Bon Bon turned around and finally saw the other tally marks that adorned the room.

"Four thousand-two hundred." Twilight said quietly, admiring her work for a second. Her voice as dull as the cheap paint in the room. Bon Bon began to fear for the unicorn's mental health.

"Huh?" Bon Bon was confused by Twilight Sparkle's statement.

"Minutes I have spent with Pinkamena Diane Pie." Twilight clarified her voice continued to stay monotonous.

"I don't think the owners are going to like this," she commented, chuckling nervously at her own joke.

"And I intend not to carve anymore." Twilight finished.

"That's not a nice thing to say." Bon Bon reasoned; Twilight's tone began to unnerve the earth pony.

"Have you found Pinkie?" Twilight asked, keeping her head fixed towards the engraved tally marks.

"No, but I think I might know where she is." Bon Bon answered. Twilight's ears instantly perked up as Bon Bon now proved usefull.

"Where is she?" Twilight asked, turning to Bon Bon with an interested look.

"Next door. This inn only has like, two rooms."

~~

"Oh hey... Sister." Pinkie said, trying her best to appeal to Twilight. The pink pony was sure that bringing up the earlier monologue would help in her case, but she was sadly mistaken. Twilight Sparkle didn't want to hear whatever Pinkie Pie had as an excuse. Twilight inched closer to Pinkie, and the earth pony backed away as far as she could until she came in contact with the wall behind her. Pinkie muttered soft curses and looked towards her angry friend.

"You lied." Twilight accused; her voice no longer seeming indignant, but she did have a quiet, disappointed tone. The sudden disappearence of Twilight's anger sending a chill down everypony in the room's spine.

"I just wanted you to let loose. Go on an adventure. Get you out of your library." Pinkie continued to sputter out reasons why she could have lied. Pinkie finally ran out of excuses before she said, "It was for your own good."

"My own good? What 'good' comes from days of walking!?" Twilight snarled at her friend; the angering Twilight began to flare back up from its dormant state. "I was perfectly fine keeping to my schedule, but some maniac of a pony had to invite me to a convention that was a week away!"

"But you could have said no." Pinkie reminded, looking up at her friend with watery eyes. Twilight turned away from her friend and tried to ignore the upcoming waterworks. Twilight knew she was in the right and had every right to be angry, but Pinkie's expected sobbing always found away to penetrate her cold, calculating mind. "I still don't know why you came with me." Pinkie sniffles a bit after she spoke, obviously hamming up the tears for the unicorn.

"Well I came with you because... You're my friend." Twilight lied, keeping her real intention of gorging on chocolate at the convention a secret. "And friends... Stick together no matter what." Pinkie's ears twitched and lifted itself upright. Pinkie Pie ceased her sniffling sounds and turned to her friend.

"Friends?" Pinkie Pie's tears had faded away almost instantly. Just as Twilight had expected.

"Friends. Now let's go get something to eat." Twilight suggested, extending her hoof to lift up her now completely cheerful friend.

Author's Note

I didn't find any fics mentioning the town of Hollow Shades. Out of all cities it seems like an interesting place; secluded in the woods, sounds sort of... Serial killer-ey.