Author's Note
Many thanks to Sekantti for editing this chapter.
Who's there?
Hi. My name is Jamie. Or at least, that was my name. I have quite an interesting story for you. I'm sure you all know of or have heard about My Little Pony. I am a fan of the fourth generation, Friendship Is Magic. And partly because of that, I am an outsider: loser, gay — you name it.
I didn't really have a lot of friends and I didn't really hang out with anyone, mostly because my closest neighbors, who happened to be my parents, lived 25 miles away. The nearest village was 60 miles away.
Anyway... because I am a brony, I used to get these weird questions whenever someone recognized me. It was a very small town where everyone knew each other.I had grown tired of answering all those questions, but no one really cared and they kept asking.
Luckily, I had two good friends. Unfortunately, one of them lived almost 500 miles away. The other, however, who lived in that village, could be a little random. He was almost like Pinkie Pie. He knew how to make others smile.
One time when I was complaining about the questions, he decided to ask his own:
"What would you do if you walked into your room and on your bed were a pony from MLP?"
"I don't know." I was being fully honest so I asked "What would you do?" to buy some time. Because he was a little random — weird or even crazy — I wasn't expecting anything normal. He had been thinking for maybe 20 seconds before he answered:
"I would call my girlfriend and ask: ‘Would you count sleeping with a pony as cheating?’"
I don't know what I was waiting for, but that made my day. We laughed so hard that I forgot to answer his question. A few years ago I couldn't have answered that question. Now I know exactly what I would do.
Like everyone who really enjoyed Friendship Is Magic, I tried to draw the ponies when I started watching it. After a few years my skills had improved, I had my own account on Deviantart and last time I checked it had 4.498 watchers. I entered the "My Dream Pet" competition with a drawing of one of my OCs.
Her name was and still is Chierc. She is a half-changeling. Her coat is very dark blue, almost black, and her mane is... just blue, I think. She has turquoise eyes. When I drew her, I had already created her personality. Because I drew her with watercolor pens, I framed and hung it over my desk. I didn't win the competition, but drawing her was fun.
Ten days after that competition I got home from my school’s closing ceremony. I had passed ninth grade with fair marks. I didn't know what I wanted to do after school and I still don't know what I would have done. I undressed myself and went to take a shower. I got out fully dried and dressed.
I went to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich but when I got back to my bedroom, I noticed something strange:
the picture I had framed and hung over my desk was empty. Only the title was still there: Chierc the Changeling. Also, someone or something had placed something on my newest painting: there was a shape like a horseshoe on it. I was little upset, of course. Why would someone do this? I had been painting that picture for over a month.
And there right under my bed I could see a pair of small, turquoise eyes looking up at me. Although I could only see those small dots under my bed, I could still see the emotions in them: fear and confusion. As I took a small step closer, the eyes expanded and started heading further under the bed.
"Hey." I was surprised by the softness in my voice. "Are you alright, little fellow?"
"S-stay back!" hissed a small voice under the bed. "I-I'm warning you!"
Her voice was small and yet it carried so well to my ears, I started to worry that my parents were going to hear her. I lay down on my stomach and stared into those turquoise eyes. "It's okay. I won’t hurt you." I tried to sound as friendly as possible. "What's your name?"
She blinked once. "Chierc..." Her voice was a lot calmer than it had been a few seconds ago.
"Nice to meat you, Chierc. My name is Jamie." I offered her my hand but she let out a small shriek and pushed herself against the wall. I withdrew my hand instantly, regretting my action. "It's okay. I told you I won’t hurt you."
She hesitated but took a step forward, then another and another and finally, after a few steps, she emerged with a worried look on her face.
"See? I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm not even going to touch you without your permission," I said as a warm smile made it's way to my face. She looked almost exactly like I had drawn her. The only difference was that she had lots and lots of holes in her legs and body. She looked at me with an odd expression.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"I- y- well... maybe a little," she said, turning to face the trashcan.
I let out a small chuckle. "I assure you, there's no reason to be afraid of me." I lay my head down while still looking at her as she turned around.
She hesitated, but yet again she trotted over to me and sniffed my hair. I closed my eyes as she moved downwards and sniffed my face. I fought the urge to shiver as I felt her warm breath against my nose. Then I felt something warm and soft touch my nose. When I opened my eyes, her own were closed and she was nuzzling my face. She opened her eyes and jumped a little when she saw that I had opened mine.
I think she was a little scared that she had done something wrong, but she relaxed as I started smiling. I lifted my head a little and brought my hand closer to her. I held it near her and waited.
She stared at me, then at my hand and then back at me. She took one step closer to sniff my hand and soon she was nuzzling it. I started scratching her behind her ear and she let out a small sigh and pushed her head against my hand almost like a cat would. After a few minutes she was on her back and I was rubbing her belly. She was enjoying herself more than you might imagine and I really couldn't blame her.
After an hour or so, my chest started to feel numb. "Mind if I sit up? This position isn't very comfortable." She shook her head and I slowly sat up. When I was in a sitting position, she jumped on to my lap and curled up into a ball and yawned.
"Tired?" I whispered and she just nodded, not bothering to open her eyes. I was actually starting to lose my strength and wanted also to curl up on my bed.
"Come on..." she opened her eyes and shrieked as I lifted her up. I quickly lowered her to the floor where she sat and looked up at me again wearing that odd expression. She watched as I took off my jeans and pulled the bed covers off. I sat on my bed and looked down at her. "Do you want something before we go to sleep?"
She shook her head.
"Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded
"Come over here then," I said, gesturing towards myself. She stood up and trotted over to me with slightly wobbly steps. Her eyes widened again as I scooped her up and placed her next to me. I took a slightly more comfortable position and pulled the blanket over us. She snuggled against my chest and closed her eyes. I couldn't help but smile. She looked so cute, curled up next to me like that. "Good night, Chierc."
"Good night, Jamie," is the last thing I remember from that night. And trust me, I had never slept better.
