Once everypony was comfortable, he continued.  "When I first met you, you were one of the few ponies who didn't see me as some goofy little colt who was weird.  You looked past a lot of the things on the surface and saw me for me, and for that I'm grateful.  You were my first real friend, along with AB and Scootaloo, but you more so than either of them.  We had a lot of common interests, and it was nice to have somepony to share them with for a change."