"Your highness?" I ask Discord. He turns back at me in surprise.
"While that is kind of you, I assure you that I'm not royalty. I'm just a lackey to Princess Celestia." Discord responds, slightly annoyed at my question and keeps on walking.
"Where am I living exactly?" I ask, seeing as I've had no information about where I'll be staying throughout this ordeal. Discord sighed. He seems to be getting tired of my questions.
"Ponyville pet center." Discord responded. "I've been told you like turtles, and this place has turtles." Discord rolled his eyes. The thing I have with turtles is, I love turtles. I've never been allowed to own one as a pet. I've read about turtles and I know just about everything there is to know- about turtles.
"Will I be there alone?" I probably shouldn't have asked this question, considering that this whole expedition is about making friends. Discord looked back at me smirking.
"Unless you invite your friends over." He said mockingly. "Although I assure you it is not a hard place to run and take care of, you'll do fine." I find Discord's reassurance hypocritical, considering he mocks me just about every chance he gets. I stay behind him as we enter the residential corner of ponyville. I mostly just see identical houses lined up in oddly symmetrical fashion. But, out of the corner of my eye I see a two story building, with one window on the second floor and two on the first. The building is purple, my favorite color, and the roof is yellow. There's a sign at the front that says 'Ponyville Pet Center - Under New Management.', so this is where I'll be staying. I like it, I smile and walk proudly up to it. I buck the door open. Discord yelps in surprise.
"You know, I had a key." He says irritated, levitating a key with his powers.
"Sorry." I laugh nervously. "I just got a little excited." And excited I was, and my excitement certainly did not die down once I saw the turtle section. I squealed in delighted as I counted them. 8 turtles. The other animals I will tolerate. I like animals, but caring for them is not my talent.
"Now, I have one more turtle that you can use to send me your friendship reports." Discord explains. He conjures a turtle with his powers. "This one, Mercury, is who you will give your letters. And he will send them to me."
"Yes, sir. Discord." The turtle gives Discord a military salute. I stand in awe as the turtle speaks.
"So he can-?" I stutter. Discord rolls his eyes again expectantly.
"Yes he can talk." He growls. "A talking turtle is your dream isn't it?" I nod, my mouth ajar. "However, this messager turtle will NOT count as one of your friends. You need to find pony friends. Walk around in ponyville, take sometime to meet somepony." I nod again sheepishly. I guess I have no choice. At least this is for my greater good. I turn my head to the other side of the pet center, and then Discord is gone with a flash. I growl angrily for a moment, before trotting out into the world. I try and keep my head up, but it's more difficult than I realize. Suddenly I am interrupted by a gasping pink mare, pointing at me and then running away. I try and think what that was about, but I shrug it off. At least things can't get any worse than they were.
After an hour or so of awkwardly lurking around ponies and failing to speak to anypony my confidence is fairly shaken. I turn on the lights at the pet center, although nothing could prepare me for what I heard next.
"SURPRISE!" Screamed hundreds of ponies in unison. How did they get in my house? My eyes are wide in amazement.
"Howdy." Pinkie Pie smiles and shakes my hand. "I saw you today and that means I've never saw you before and if I've never saw you before that means you're new and if you're new that means you don't have any friends so I threw a party to help you make as many friends as possible." She smiled at me.
"I've lived here my entire life." I grumble, annoyed.
"Really?" Pinkie Pie says in suspense, getting closer to my face than I feel comfortable with. "You really should get out more." I glance around the room. I see many smiling ponies waving around me. I see streamers, pets wearing party hats, and food. Well, I guess I could try some of the food. I cautiously make my way to the snack table, only postponing the inevitable.
"Hi." An earth pony with a green coat, a shaggy orange mane and cyan eyes walks up to greet me. I stare at him as he speaks. "I'm Prairie Grass." He smiles. "You're Monotone I reckon"
"Yeah I'm Monotone." I respond sluggishly. I really should give this conversation a try, I just don't know what else to say. I start to walk away.
"What's got you down, my friend?" He says, looking in my eyes with genuine concern and stopping me. I sigh.
"I just want to be alone." I say to him, looking downward, with a tear in my eye. He puts his hoof on my back. I cringe a little.
"You know, sometimes it's nice to be alone, but not all the time." He continues. "It takes courage to make friends but having friends is better than no friends." His advice is very simple, but makes perfect since. I nod, wiping the tear from my eye.
"I have one question." Prairie Grass nods in understanding. "When you said, 'My Friend' did you mean it?" He smiles at me reassuringly.
"Of course." He says. "I'll stick around. But keep making more friends. Branch out, you'll feel a lot happier if you do."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."