"And so I'm sending you to Baltimare to supervise the preparations for this year's Summer Sun celebration. I wahhn hu tmmmph mmh mmhmph."
Did you know that if you pack air at just the right density in just the right places, you can mute a princess?
"Ssnhseh Shhmer."
It's common knowledge, but this is my first time trying it out.
"..."
Eight spots. One large one a hoof and a half in front of me, five behind me near the wall, and two against the ceiling. Celestia is looking at the one in front of me. She looks mad.
"And by the way, Sunset Shimmer, I'm cancelling your lessons for the next week." Her voice rang through my ears, as if she were shouting from both sides of me. My concentration shatters, and all of the air pockets dissolve. I shake my head and am only a little annoyed. I'm such a pushover.
"Oh please, I'll be done and back within a day. Nopony will even know I'm gone." Because I'm just that good.
"And that's precisely the problem. I've noticed that in your two years here in the castle you've put very little effort into meeting other ponies." Is she really going to lecture me on my social habits? "There's more to a young pony's life than studying, and so I'm sending you to Baltimare with," wait, the celebration is in four days, she must have something else for me to do, "a second task."
I can see where this is going. I appreciate the trust, Princess, but high class gatherings really aren't for me. I start to form the eight air pockets again, plus two for my ears.
"I want you..." Why is she getting louder?
"To make..." She's somehow turning my mufflers into amplifiers.
"Some friends."
...
Pause, one, two, three, four... five, six. Is she stuck? I might as well ask.
"What am I making them do?"
Calm, collected Sunset. I'm still glaring at the Princess as she's walking away.
Her mask slipped, and now she's not answering my questions. She's up to something big, and she's not telling me what. And now she probably regrets having that conversation face-to-face. I bet she's thinking that she should have just sent a letter instead.
The Princess is leaving for a meeting, meaning I have at least half an hour to leave for Baltimare. It also means that I have at most half an hour to safely do anything that the Princess might disapprove of. As soon as the door closes behind her, I'll start racing towards the Sculpture Garden. There's a certain statue there that I need to see.
Before I came to the castle, and right after I had gotten my cutie mark, I received a lot of attention for diverting a steel frame during a construction accident and saving somepony's life. I felt guilty and more than a little frustrated for getting praise I didn't think I deserved, so I snuck out of my home to wander around. I didn't know where to go, but I knew that I wanted to be away from everypony. I settled on spending some time in the Sculpture Garden.
Some time during my stroll, I heard a voice.
"That's quite a rare talent you've developed." Or something like that.
I was annoyed at having to deal with somepony, but I habitually spun around to thank whoever said that. Midway through, I realized that nopony should have been able to recognize me in my cloak (by the way, I was wearing a cloak). Another midway through, I realized that nopony was around. I decided that if nopony was around, then nopony was around to see me going crazy, so I might as well respond.
"Thanks?" I felt more than a little awkward talking to nopony.
I started looking around again. I still don't know how, but when my eyes came to the draconequus statue off the path in front of me, I knew that it was the source of this voice.
He introduced himself as Discord. We spent an hour or so talking after that. He knew that when I saved that construction pony's life, I had put another's in danger, and that it was luck that saved the other's life. He also knew that I knew exactly what I was doing, and that it wasn't a display of magical power that led to my cutie mark. Discord was the only one I felt I could trust with knowing that, though it's not like I had a choice with him. He seemed to know everything.
I kept meeting Discord daily, or at least weekly, until the Princess took me in as her student. I was careful not to let her or anypony else find out that I could talk to a statue. Although I hadn't experienced it by that time, I knew how I would be treated in Canterlot if anypony thought I was crazy, and I knew that talking to statues would make me seem crazy. Still, Princess Celestia didn't seem to like the fact that I was visiting the garden alone so often. When it became obvious that she was scheduling things just to keep me from going there, I obliged. That is, I obliged as far as she knew. When you meet somepony like Discord, it's hard to let go. I still visited him, but our daily meetings had become monthly meetings at best, and the next one was overdue.
"Muhuhahahaha! MUhuhahhaha!" That's him. Normally, I would let him continue for a few more seconds, but I'm in a rush today.
"Hey, Discord." Keeping up my brisk trot the whole way had been a mistake. I must have sounded more anxious than I intended.
I knew that he wouldn't be upset at my increasingly-infrequent visits. Discord never gets upset. Plus, I don't think he recognizes the passage of time. I don't know, he's a hard one to read.
"Sunset Shimmer, my star pupil! MUAhaha? It's been so long I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me." Or not.
I walk around and feign interest in a statue not far from the draconequus. The grass is a bit wet and cold, and I can't say it feels good. "Fireflank hasn't forgotten you."
It's a habit of mine to look around at different statues in case anypony is watching. I realize that, to an outsider, I would still look odd doing this even if they didn't catch on to exactly what I was doing. I decided a while ago that I would just play it off as me having some sentimental attachment to this place, and with that I would be able to get away with almost anything.
This statue is of an earth pony mare holding a book. Knowledge.
I don't know what to ask Discord, so I would have just let the conversation hang there. Luckily he's better at this than I am. "I suppose Celestia has some dreadful task for you for her celebration." He really holds out that eh. Dreeeaaaadful. I should note that this is the first time the Princess has asked me to do anything for the occasion.
"She wants me to make friends in Baltimare." Discord slowly grins at this as I prepare to roll my eyes.
"That does sound dreadful." Dreeeaaaadful. Eye-rolling initiated, and pause for effect. I never realized how life-like the Knowledge statue looked.
"This is the strangest task she's given me yet."
"And you don't know what she's planning or what you're expected to do. Tell me, my little pony," it hits me just how tiny I must look to him, "have you considered trying to make friends there?"
Have I considered trying to make friends there? What does that even mean? How do I respond to that?
"What? You mean like a golem?" Great idea, Sunset. Race to this garden for advice, then waste your time with jokes. I let my head hang a little.
"Now now, there's no need to be glum. This place is gray enough without that." This gets a raised eyebrow from me, as do all of his bad jokes. "Let's walk through this. You take a step into Baltimare, and you're on a mission to make a friend. Where do you go?"
I take a second to think about different city locations. I suppose any place where ponies are expecting to meet strangers and pass time would qualify as a good starting point. "The park. Any park."
"And compete with all the other ponies trying to make friends? Of course not! You go to the dungeons first."
I lose myself and just stare at him dumbfounded. I'm starting to wonder why I thought it would be a good idea to ask a statue for advice on making friends. I do tend to lose my sanity when stressed. Maybe it's worse than I thought.
He starts talking again, "Honestly, you make it seem as if lives depend on you making friends. You act more and more like Celestia every time we meet."
What is this warm feeling in my heart? Is it pride? Yes, it's pride.
Thank you, Discord, and yes, I understand. "You're right. Even if I don't make any friends there, what's the worst that could happen? I fail my mission, and the Princess banishes me to the Everfree?" I joke, but I'm not ruling it out.
"Sunset Shimmer, I won't stand for my prized student putting herself down. I'm sure you're more than capable of doing worse than failing. Perhaps you can bring about some desolation and strife in everypony's lives, or cause at least a little bit of widespread starvation." He sounds so motherly. If there's one thing Discord exceeds at, besides making bad jokes, it's lightening the mood and making me step back to see just how silly I'm being.
I lean back and land on my haunches. I get a small shock at the cold grass, but I can't help but smile a little as I let it take the rest of me while I roll onto my back and tilt my head upwards to face the sky. There are still a few poofy clouds in the sky, and it's not hard to imagine myself lying down on one of them. "I suppose I could become a tyrant and lead the city into a war."
I can feel pride emanating from the statue. "And I won't hide my disappointment if I don't hear news of fires, flash floods, and a dragon," I instinctively turn my head, "terrorizing ponies. Or of you making friends for a week."
I get back onto my hooves. It was nice for the few seconds it lasted, but now the moment's gone.
"I should head back. I'll see you when I get back from Baltimare." I've already started walking away.
"Ciao!" He takes a deep breath, "MUA HAhahahaha!"
I have only vague memories of the walk back, thinking about dragons, my conversations with Discord and the Princess, and the Princess's spell that amplified her voice, but I do distinctly remember realizing one thing just as my hooves passed the castle gates.
Or of you making friends for a week.
I never told Discord how long I would be gone.
