Chapter 1: Strange Happenings
It was a crisp January afternoon in Australia, and I was walking home from school, my backpack full of homework. It felt like an anvil inside my backpack. I didn't mind too much, knowing that the large load of work was due to being a part of a foreign exchange program. Plus, tomorrow was the start of the weekend, so I figured I would be able to work all day on the papers I had.
Upon reaching the house of my host family and opening the door, I was greeted by an abrupt hug from the little bundle of joy that was the host family's daughter and my technical Australian sister.
"Tyler! So glad you're home!" She said, hugging my waist in excitement. She nuzzle my abdomen, giggling. "I missed you so much."
I chuckled and patted her head. "I know you did, Nina. You always say that." I replied. Nina was the happiest six-year-old I ever knew. She never seemed to cry, and she rarely left my side during the weekends, for better or for worse. "Is your mom inside?"
Nina nodded as she pulled me inside the house. "Come on Tyler! Hurry up and get that backpack off." She said excitedly. "MLP is about to come on!"
"Nina dear, I'm sure Tyler has homework to do." Nina's mother called out from the kitchen. She was a nice lady, very accepting and treating me as if I were her actual son. "Besides, you two can watch TV all day tomorrow."
Nina pouted and turned to me. "C'mon Tyler. Just one episode. Please?" She asked, giving me her puppy-eyed look. Of course, I couldn't resist such cuteness, so I agreed. Nina cheered and took my hand as she led me to the couch to watch TV.
It was due to Nina that I discovered a fondness of the silly show known as My Little Pony. I did enjoy the vibrant colors and fun characters, as well as the many interesting ideas they had for episodes. It wasn't the best cartoon, but it give Nina and I a way to bond, though we did tend to argue on who was the best pony, me thinking Lyra. Though I did make sure to keep my love of the show hidden from fellow classmates.
After the episode, I went upstairs to my room and turned on my computer to do my homework. Per custom, I went to YouTube first to put on music while I work, though I saw a rather strange video in my recommendation section. It was titled "Analysis of Lyra Heartstrings," and was created by a channel called MLP: Theory Analysts. I didn't remember clicking on a video like that before. Maybe Nina watched some pony videos while I was gone? Regardless, the video wasn't too long in length, and it did feature my favorite pony, so I decided to give it a quick look.
The video itself wasn't too impressive. In fact, it was rather bad overall: poor graphics, quiet audio, really everything that would make a bad video. I was about to exit until an eerie mint green screen appeared. The screen lasted until the end of the video, and I watched for a few seconds to see if anything would happen. Nothing, not even a screamer or subliminal message. At this point, I decided to skip the Internet and use my music folder.
About an hour later, my left leg felt a bit itchy. When I went to scratch it, I felt something... fuzzy there. Curious, I rolled my socks down and took a look, only to jump a bit in surprise. Minty green fur was there in about a three-inch patch. Confused and a bit scared, I quickly walked to the bathroom and began to shave the offending area, still wondering as to what happened.
"Maybe that video's getting to me." I thought to myself. "I'll just unplug for the night. Hopefully that fur was just my imagination." Before I could think on it more, my mother called out from downstairs saying that dinner was ready. I replied back and, once I removed the remainder of the fur, headed downstairs.
"Hey Nina? Did you go on my computer earlier?" I asked over the dinner of pasta.
Nina shook her head before swallowing her pasta. "No, I didn't." She said honestly. "You have a password lock thingy."
"I didn't give her the password either." Her mother added. "Why do you ask?
"Because I found a weird pony video in my recommendations, and I never watched a pony video on YouTube or checked out the uploader's channel." I said, lifting some pasta on my fork. "I just figured maybe Nina watched something is all."
Her mother shrugged. "Maybe they're just spreading awareness of that channel, or perhaps it became viral." She replied.
"Maybe..." I replied, keeping the video's content and the fur incident a secret. While I probably could have told what the video was, it didn't seem too important besides the screen part. It was probably just a video to test some psychological rule. But why did it say it was about Lyra, or ponies in general?
Once dinner was over and I brushed my teeth, I decided to strum on the guitar Nina's mother gave me. It was a black Gibson Les Paul, rather well kept, and with the name "Richard" signed on the back with a marker. Nina's mother apparently had it hidden, but after finding out about my love of music and my surprising musical ability, she let me use it. Plus, the melody I produced from it usually helped put my mind to ease.
Today, however, the melody didn't seem to soothe me. During the play, I kept thinking about that video and the mint green fur. Maybe it was some viral psychological trick. But if it was viral, why was it so poor quality? It was probably recorded by someone to try and get views, but that wouldn't explain Lyra. Not everyone likes My Little Pony, far from it.
"Ugh, this is making my head hurt!" I groaned, flopping onto my bed. I took a glance at the time on my phone. 10:56 PM. I decided to get some sleep, figuring that it might help me forget about the event. Dressing in a baggy tee and pajama pants, I shut the lights off and fell asleep.
Unbeknownst to me, my whole life would change in my sleep in the most surprising way possible. Not only did the fur return, but it greater troves, covering all parts of my body in fluffy, mint green fur. My male body slendered into a lithe body of a female my age, gaining some modest B-cups and my male organs being replaced. My hair lengthened and changed from a dirty blonde color to a color resembling tooth paste. A tail of an equal color sprouted from above my rear. My eyes grew larger and turned from blue to an amber color. My skull morphed to become more equine, with fitting ears and a horn protruding from my forehead.
That was when I shot awake in pain.
Author's Note
First off, I'm actually making a story! After how long? Luckily, this'll be my only real story, at least for now, since I mainly do art. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?
Second, never before has the Canon of a fan-project been so confusing. With all the random characters being added to the other stories (with think only a maximum of three of the Mane Six being played) and OCS that I think are coming out of nowhere, it's been a bit of a headache. Not to hate on the other authors' works, just trying to let out my opinion. Hence, instead of end-of-existence stuff, I am instead going to focus on the main character of this story, and his struggles and challenges of being anthro Lyra. Should provide for a nice change of pace.
Also, keep in mind that my upload schedule will be quite inconsistent. Why? Well, the main reasons involve life and inspiration, and the next includes the fact that I wish to only add in ponies already involved with the series rather than forcing others who wish to be those characters to stick with pre-assigned roles, especially if one of them happens to be Bon Bon. Plus, I'd like to contact those people to discuss what to do, how to incorporate them, etc.
Regardless, if you'd like to chat or discuss, you can message me here or at tryathelyricist@gmail.com. I hope you all support this series of mine, and I'll be more than happy to make more chapters. Have a good day. 
