Author's Note

I'm Back Ponies!

An Anthropologist

"Caw Caw!"

"Caw Caw!"

"CAW CAW!"

Fucking crows, if there was one thing I hate about birds, it was those ungodly sounding monsters. Since Pony University was surrounded by a forest, crows would be on top of the buildings 24/7. Philadelphia was, thank Christ, only infested with pigeons, and they only made stupid cooing sounds.

Eh, I shouldn't say that, that was the morning me talking, now the regular nerd me is back. Yesterday night was quite the adventure to say the least, I would tell you about it, but I pretty much "monologued" about it the whole time, so yeah... Anyway, on with the morning.

I woke up feeling refreshed, like the world was just a giant massage, then realized I had classes, and suddenly that vibrating sensation became still and I was back to feeling hatred for those damn crows. But in all honesty, I definitely felt something joyous in me, something warm, something... Friendship like. Now, I did have a few friends that I should probably mention at this point since you people probably think I'm a sad sack of shit, you're not wrong, but hear me out.

First, I have a Bisexual black friend that I nicknamed "Juicer", because he has an obsession with fruit juice. It wasn't the best characteristic to associate with one of the few people I knew as a friend, but hey, what are you going to do. He didn't care about what stuff I liked or any of that shit, he only cared about what I was like on a personal level, which I appreciated. He was also my counselor for when it came to women, though he still hasn't shown me that "meow list" he kept rambling about.

I was kinda surprised when he told me he was in a relationship with the second friend I made, Tommy, or as we both called him, "gay parade stylist". The reason for his nickname was simple, he went to beauty school for hairdressing (and is quite remarkable at it, I must say) and he was so on the opposite side of the fence that nothing could stop his search for a Romeo. Basically, he is the bitchier version of Mr. Slave and Big Gay Al combined squared, or their son, your pick.

My third friend was my only female friend, her name was officially Clementine, but I called her "Crim", as in, "Crimson Rose"... Shut up. I don't know why I called her that, but she didn't mind, or protest for that matter, since she was mute. I liked to associate her with Quiet from "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain", except she had short black hair and small boobs. For whatever reason she decided to hang out with me even thought I was a complete loser, and trust me, I would be one to know.

I wondered as to what they were doing now that I'm out of their lives for a whole year, to which I immediately figured out was quite simple. Juicer was probably sleeping in an alleyway, Tommy was cutting someone's hair, and Crim was "borrowing" one of my manga's, shit, forgot to lock that case.

Anyway, I got up from my bed and started getting changed for the onslaught that was college life. I traded my, well, nothing, for a beige turtleneck and some brown sweat pants, truly embracing the inner "fashion outcast" as Tommy would put it.

I started to head out to the outside world until I saw a pink rectangle on my desk. I went over to see it was a letter, which crudely had "Lloyd" written in black marker. Taking my chances this time, I opened it a safe distance away from my face and began to read the note.

Hiya Lloydy

Yesterday was super duper fun, except for the teachers stopping the fun... oh, and that fight

I hope we can talk again, the others are certainly interested in seeing you again

Ooooooh, maybe we can all hang out after school, won't that be cool‽

From, Pinkie Pie

P.S: there's confetti at the bottom of the envelope!

As I finished reading the letter, the envelope did indeed shoot confetti. I would have cleaned up the mess, but I had a class to get to. I tossed the pink envelope in the waste bin near the door and placed the letter on my desk before I finally made my way out to my first class, Equestrain History.

I had to say, my first class was pretty interesting, getting straight into what this country was like before the monarchy was set in place. I actually bought a small book of Equestrian history back at my local library to get some semblance as to what I was going to be learning about, and I have to say, these anthros history is far more enjoyable than I thought. It's probably attributed to- GAH, no distractions, head to class.

So I'm walking out of the dorm when I see, and somehow this becomes all too familiar, a mint Unicorn hiding in a bush. Now, back home, I was the cautious guy who didn't want to take chances, but I have this sense of change in me now that I'm at this anthro college. I walked up to the bush and just stared, not nearly willing to change enough that I would actually speak to the mare, I may want to try to be more outgoing, but I still am a pussy as of now. My staring only made it worse, however, as now I saw a single gamboge colored eye staring right back at me. I sensed no discomfort from this eye, barely any form of negative emotions, while I, a sad loser, was practically pouring with vexation.

It felt like an eternity was passing as I stared at this mare's eye, like nothing in the world was more important than seeing which one of us, either some random mare or a nerd, would blink. I should have been heading over to my class, this mare should have too, but a great disturbance in the force would have been felt if one of us had not won.

Or, in simpler terms, I was stalling.

However, without any notice, I was now face to face with this mare in the bush. I thought she was covered in the bush leaves, but quickly put together that her coat was a light green. Her gamboge eyes were a lot larger up close and I nearly had to move my head back because of the horn sticking out of her forehead. The mane was nice as well, a combination of light mint green and white was actually a beautiful contrast.

I was able to get a good look at her body through my peripheral vision, because I'm a smart pervert, and it was essentially the now expected build, like a super model. I don't particularly understand as to why the mares in this world are met to the standards that human photoshop makes, but damn. I can only imagine what the reason is, maybe their bodies function differently, perhaps evolution has made their bodies more presentable for mating, or the plastic surgery in this world is far superior to us humans‽

Or they were once innocent creatures that have been warped by the sick perversions of higher beings that watch over them.

"Hello?" I was snapped out of my daze by the mare that has been stalking me since I arrived here. I blinked at her sudden speaking and she merely blinked back. "You've been staring at me for the past minute now."

"only a minute... I mean, so have you." I pointed out as we continued are staring game.

"I've seen you around here." she continued.

"And I you, at the bus, and in English, and probably at that party."

"Yeah, quite the coincidence."

"I notice that you were staring at me those times as well."

"Eheh, sorry." The mare broke that stare and looked at the ground with her hand behind her head. Now, I was encouraged to ask her why she was sorry, but I had to take a moment to reflect on this one crowning achievement.

'I won.'

"Why?" I finally pressed the issue after my victory was well absorbed.

"Well, I mean, ugh," She was trying to find the right words to say here, a bead of sweat was trickling down her forehead. "It's just, I've never really seen a human before, and I've become very interested in your culture, I just have an odd way of presenting my interests." The mare finally ended her statement with a small blush of embarrassment on her face.

"It's fine, I understand what you're saying, let's just try to interact, you know, normally." I held out my hand, watching her eye it with curiosity. "My name is Lloyd Hannigan, what is yours?"

The mare slowly took my hand and shoke it "I'm Lyra Heartstrings, It's nice to finally talk to you hu- I mean, Lloyd." She stammered a little.

"So Lyra, since your interested, what do you want to know about humans." I inquired.

"Oh, well," Lyra finally stepped out of the bush and brushed herself off. "I'm actually interested to know if you know this, so, do you... Like manga?"

... Huh?

"Huh?" I blurted out. I wasn't prepared to know that anthros knew about manga, and possibly to an extent, anime. This was sudden, this was shocking, this, was, AMAZING!

"You know, manga, I think it's available in English speaking countries." Lyra continued like what she just mentioned wasn't one of the things that I obsess over.

"No! I mean, yeah, I've read one or two. Well, more like a lot, but hey, I get bored."

"R-Really‽ That's great! I have so many questions too! I hope I won't bother."

"Not at all. Before you do, though, how much time until next period starts?"

Lyra proceded to check her pocket watch, "4 minutes."

"Oh..." I turned directly to the school building and was preparing for a sprint, but I didn't want to leave this new mare hanging. "Hey, what class do you have?"

She was actually doing the same thing that I was, and was now looking at her schedule, "Um, Equestrian History, you?"

"Same, wanna make a run!" I suggested. She nodded excitedly and we began to dash. So, I met a bookworm, made some friends with her mutual friends, and now I'm apparently going to have a conversation with a mare who has an interest in manga.

'Thank you Author for finally getting off your ass, god bless you.'