A Brony's Guide to Equestria

As I walked through the hallways of the School of Friendship, I wondered what I should do now. I looked around as students walked around me, some of them stopped in their paths to stare at me in either wonder or skepticism, before continuing to walk. I didn't really mind it, I mean, if some random creature showed up at my school, I would probably stare at it as well.

It was then I remembered Starlight, who worked here as a guidance counselor, she had always seemed like the kind of pony I would want to talk to, so I looked around for her office, which was harder than I thought since pretty much all the doors here looked the same. Just when I was about to guess where it was, I suddenly saw a student walk out of a nearby room, followed by Starlight's voice calling out.

"Thanks for seeing me, Azure Moon. My door is always open!"

As the student walked away, I approached the doors and looked inside the room, where I saw Starlight herself behind her desk, looking up at me as I entered.

"Uh, hey Starlight." I said nervously. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"Oh, hey Lukas." Starlight replied, waving at me. "No, I just got done with another student, what's up?"

I sat down on the green couch in front of her desk, feeling a bit nervous to be so close to her. "Uh, I just, wanted to come in here and, talk with you."

"Oh, well, sure." Starlight said as she cleared her throat. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Well." I began, feeling a slight lump in my throat. "It's just that..."

Before I could get my sentence out, there was a knock at the door, which sounded urgent.

"Hold that thought, Lukas." Starlight told me, before calling out. "Come in!"

Just then, the doors swung open to reveal Trixie, with a rather worried look on her face as she ran into the room and approached Starlight, completely ignoring me sitting there.

"Starlight, come quick, I need you for something of the utmost importance!" Trixie exclaimed.

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Trixie, if this is another one of your "emergency picnics."

"What?" Trixie asked in an over-exaggerated way. "No, of course not."

But judging from the look on her face, she was lying, and Starlight could see right through it. "Trixie, you know I love our picnics, if you would've just asked me, I would've gone with you."

"But I thought if I made it sound urgent, you would come quicker." Trixie protested as Starlight sighed before getting out of her desk.

"Alright Trix, let's have this picnic." She said reluctantly. "I'm sure I could get someone to cover for me while we're gone."

"Yay!" Trixie squealed in excitement.

I couldn't help but smile at this. I always enjoyed the two's dynamic in the show, even though I wasn't much of a shipper, I had to admit that these two had a certain charm whenever they were together.

"Actually Trix." Starlight said, as if she had just remembered something. "Before we go, I want to introduce you to a new friend of mine."

Taking that as my cue, I got off of the couch and approached Starlight as she gestured to me. "Trixie, I'd like you to meet Lukas."

"Hi Trixie." I said politely, extending out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Trixie, however, gave me a rather condescending look as she stared at my hand, then at me, then at Starlight.

"You're friends... with that?" She asked.

"Trixie! Be nice!" Starlight scolded. "Lukas is a human, he's new here in Equestria and will be staying here for a while."

"Fine." Trixie rolled her eyes, before she extended out her hoof, which I shook. "Hello Lukas, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"You too, Trixie." I replied. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

"I'm not surprised." Trixie chuckled. "I am The Great and Powerful Trixie after all."

"Alright Trix, let's head to the picnic." Starlight exclaimed.

As the two of them walked out, I got their attention. "Wait!" I called out as they turned to face me. "Uh, could I come?"

"Oh, of course Lukas." Starlight replied with a smile.

"What?!" Trixie gasped in disbelief. "But Starlight, this is supposed to be our picnic and..."

Trixie couldn't even finish her sentence before Starlight quickly covered her mouth with her hoof and looked back at me with a sheepish smile.

"We'd love to have you." Starlight then turned to Trixie. "Right, Trixie?" She asked through clenched teeth.

Trixie just nodded in response.

I followed Starlight and Trixie out of the school and through Ponyville, and as the two of them conversed with each other, I looked around at some of the ponies nearby, hoping that they would at least give me a friendly smile, but instead, I was met with a lot of unsure glances, it seemed like the ponies were still trying to get used to me, but I thought it wouldn't take them too long to accept me as a citizen here for the time being.

"I just love our weekly picnics, Starlight." Trixie sighed with content.

"Me too, Trix." Starlight said in agreement.

Soon enough, we had reached the picnic around the outskirts of Ponyville, which was filled with the usual picnic items, a red checkered blanket, baskets of food, teacups and teapots, and a few flowers spread around the blanket.

"Ta-da!" Trixie proclaimed grandly.

"Wow Trixie." Starlight gasped. "This is amazing, you've really outdone yourself this time."

"Aw shucks, it's nothing much." Trixie said modestly.

As Starlight. Trixie and I sat down on the blanket, the two ponies quickly helped themselves to some sandwiches and tea. Trixie then floated the teapot over to me using her magic.

"Care for a cup of tea, Lukas?" She asked, with a flicker of her eyelashes.

Even though I wasn't much of a tea enthusiast, I couldn't help but wonder what Equestrian tea tasted like. I picked up a nearby cup and held it out. "Sure." I replied.

Trixie wasted no time pouring the tea into my cup as I smelt it, the flavours instantly hitting my nose. Eventually, I took a small, almost hesitant sip, I could taste all kinds of different herbs and flavours as I savoured every droplet of the tea.

"So Trix, any plans for your next performance?" Starlight asked her friend.

"Hmm." Trixie pondered, putting a hoof on her chin. "Well, now that you've mentioned it, I have been practising some new magic tricks that I'd be more than happy to demonstrate."

Trixie then ran off towards her wagon, which was parked nearby. When she was inside, I heard a lot of things being moved around, suddenly, one of her smoke bombs went off, causing smoke to come out of an open window as I could hear Trixie coughing, before she stuck her head out the window.

"Note-to-self." She said weakly, before she coughed again. "Never use smoke bombs as alarm clocks."

While Trixie was getting herself organized, Starlight turned to me. "So Lukas, how are you enjoying Equestria so far."

"Oh, it's been great." I replied. "I've made some new friends, explored the school, and Pinkie's throwing me a Welcome to Ponyville party, so that's exciting."

Starlight chuckled. "Well, sounds like you've been enjoying it here so far."

Just then, Trixie emerged from the wagon, now donning her magician's outfit.

"Fillies and gentlecolts." She announced with a flourish of her mane. "Watch in awe, as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs her newest, jaw-dropping magic tricks."

With that introduction, Trixie then proceeded to perform one magic trick after another. Some of them were standard, like making a bouquet of flowers from a magic wand, and the classic handkerchief trick, while others seemed more advanced, like when she made a bird appear out of thin air, before she transformed it into a bunny, then back into a bird right before my eyes.

Needless to say, I was impressed. Sure Trixie could be a bit of a show-off at times, but she still remains one of my favourite characters from the show. Although now that I'm actually here in Equestria, I shouldn't be referring to them as characters now.

As she continued with her magic show, I turned to Starlight, who was watching intently. "How long does she usually do this for?"

"Not sure." Starlight replied with a knowing smile. "But she might be here for a while."

Starlight then levitated a plate of tea cakes towards me, they looked like the tea cakes she was baking in the episode All Bottled Up. "Tea cake?" She asked me.

"Sure." I replied, before grabbing one of the tea cakes as I began eating it.

Finally, with one last magic trick, Trixie turned towards us with a smug smile.

"Goodnight, fillies and gentlecolts!" She exclaimed.

She then pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it on the ground, causing a big puff of smoke to appear. When the smoke cleared, she was nowhere to be seen, but then I looked over and saw Trixie struggling to open her wagon door, she turned to us and gave us a sheepish grin.

"Wow Trixie, that was so cool." I said excitedly.

"Cool? It was more than just "cool." One could say that it was great and powerful." Trixie proclaimed.

Starlight rolled her eyes as she chuckled. "Alright Trix, no need to show off in front of Lukas."

"Well, you know it's true." Trixie defended, and I couldn't help but agree.

Then suddenly, a familiar voice called out. "Lukas!"

I looked over and saw Pinkie running straight towards us, or more specifically, me. She ran up in front of me with a mix of excitement and nervousness on her face. (nervous-cited?)

"Lukas, there you are. I need your help!" Pinkie exclaimed, a matter of urgency in her tone.

"Oh, sure Pinkie, what's up?" I asked, slightly taken aback by her sudden appearance.

"Ya see, I was baking for your Welcome to Ponyville party soon, when I suddenly realized something, I have no idea what kind of cupcakes you like, so I need you to come with me to Sugarcube Corner and help me because I want the party to be filled of your favourite treats and..."

"Alright, alright Pinkie, I get it." I said to her, I guess I should be used to Pinkie's fast-paced talking by now. "Sure, I'll come help you out."

"Great, now come on, we have no time to lose."

Before I could even reply, Pinkie suddenly grabbed my arm and rushed off, practically dragging me behind her. At least I had time to say bye to Starlight and Trixie before I left abruptly.

To Be Continued...