It's Okay to be a Brony
There are plenty of reasons why a guy would want to hide the fact that he is a brony. But one should not have to hide who they are because of what others will think. I came to this realization about a month ago. I am tired of hiding who I am, I'm a brony dammit, and proud of it!
The breath left my body as the fist drove hard into my stomach. My eyes crossed as I took a blow to the face. Now on my knees, I lifted my arms up in an attempt to shield myself from the brutal beating. I would have called for help, but they followed me from school. Why do people get bullied for being different or liking something that someone else doesn't?
“Keep out of our way girly boy,” sneered the larger as he kicked me real hard in the ribs. “We would hate to accidentally hit a girl.”
“What a loser,” the other chimed in. “What kind of guy likes my little pony? I'm totally telling everyone about this,” he chuckled as he snapped a picture of me on his phone.
They left laughing about the girly boy who likes ponies while I just laid there and cried. I expected to get beat up, so I wasn't surprised. Only thing left to do is try to show people that bronies aren't bad.
I told my parents what had happened, they threatened to go to the principal to have the boys expelled, but I told them no. That's not what I was trying to do. I want to make people more tolerant of bronies, not hate us more.
For a little while I was made fun of still, and I got bullied around a bit more. But soon, some people started to give it a chance. After that, it was just a matter of time until the magic of friendship seeped into those around me. I gave each new brony a brohoof and told them “Welcome to the herd!”
Soon, bronies started to pop up all over the place. After a few weeks, the bullying completely subsided. After all, who wanted to mess with a large group of people who believe in real friendship?
I just turned sixteen a few months ago, and had finally, after weeks of trying, talked my parents into letting me get a part time job.
“I hear that Toys R Us in town is looking to hire,” said my dad, trying to avoid my mothers evil gaze. He didn't have a problem with me getting a job, in fact he encouraged it. It was my mom who was actually against it. Since I had gotten beaten up that first time only about two months ago, she was reluctant to have me leave the house. “Maybe you could try there-”
“Or you could just stay home and focus on your schoolwork!” butted in mommy dearest. I knew she had my best interests at heart, but I'm not a kid anymore.
“Mom, I told you, I am perfectly capable of juggling school and work. Please, let me do this.” After a moment or two of silence and soul-crushing eye contact, she nodded her head and slumped in her chair defeated. I turned to my dad, “Thanks Dad, I'll be sure to check there first.”
I thought back on this conversation as I strode down the sidewalk. Eager to make a good first impression, I wore some nice clothes. I had put on my blue button up shirt and a nice pair of jeans. I had done some research a few days before and found out that Toys R Us had a brand new Brony section. That took the cake, I instantly knew where I wanted to work. I had to stay composed for the interview though, I didn't want to seem as though I was only there for the employee discount for cheaper My Little Pony products. I wanted this job so I could help support my family, anything else would just be an added bonus.
I looked up to the multicolored sign above the sliding glass entryway that hopefully was to be my new job. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as I took my first step into the store. Looking around, I was a bit nervous and my hands began to get sweaty, so I wiped them on my jeans. I calmly walked up to the help desk. As I approached, the attendant looked up and turned her monitor ever so slightly.
“Yes, may I help you?” asked the woman.
My voice cracking slightly under the pressure, each new word sounded as if a dog were ripping into a chew toy. “Yes,” I looked at her name tag, “Angeline, I would like to apply for a job here, may I have an application?”
“I can administer the interview right here. First question, you're not one of those bronies right? You're not just some guy trying to get a job here for access to all the new stuff? You wouldn't be the first,” she said rather curtly.
I looked behind her to an open double door. Everything around seemed to fade away into blackness, save for a spot of light. My vision seemed to zoom in on this light, with triumphant musical atmosphere filling my head. The boxes upon boxes of My Little Pony products were so enticing. Realizing I may start to drool soon, I snapped out of it. I'm not sure if it was the pressure of the interview, or the reflexive impulse to hide the fact that I'm a brony when I replied to her.
“No ma'am, I am absolutely not a brony.” As the words exited my mouth, it happened as if on cue, as if destiny itself were out to ruin me. My cellphone rang, blaring the My Little Pony theme song from season two. How could I have forgotten to silence it? Or at least put it on vibrate. I looked up to Angeline to receive a very powerful smirk that read, 'not a brony huh? Seems like it to me'. I held up my finger, the international gesture for her to hold on a moment while I scream at whoever may have just destroyed my chances at working here.
“Hello?”
“Hey it's Sam! What's up man?”
“Now's not the best time.”
“I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over for the My Little Pony season premiere”
I looked up to see Angeline sneering at me. My phones volume was too loud and she could hear the conversation.
“No Sam, I absolutely do not want to watch that!” I turned around and finished in a hushed tone, “Text me the date.” I abruptly turned back to the counter and cleared my throat.
As our eyes met, I could tell she had absolutely no doubt that I was a brony.
“Not a brony huh?” she asked smugly. I thought about this for a moment. As I did, I started to get a little angry. I'm not going to let all the work I've done go to waste, people need to learn to love and tolerate.
“So what if I am a brony? There's nothing wrong with it. We're proud people who have done nothing wrong.”
“Look I'm sorry, but current managerial policy is we are not to accept bronies. As far as we know, you just want discounts for you and your friends and leave soon after. We have no reason to want to hire you.”
“That's ridiculous! I just want a job! I'm a hard worker!”
“Look I just work here, take it up with the chief. It's not my decision, I just follow the rules.” I became infuriated with this.
“Fine whatever!” I screamed as I stormed out of the store.
That night, I sat at my computer, browsing the My Little Pony forums. I had posted what happened earlier, to see if people had some advice. Most of the replies were angry ones that stated they would never go to that store again. A few said in all caps for me to do something about it. But what can I do? I'm one person. My vision of the computer screen began to blur, and my eyelids began to droop. My head hurt a bit, so I decided it was time to get in bed. I turned off my computer and lay down. As I drifted off to sleep, one thought raced over and over again in my mind. Take it up with the chief...
My eyes shot open to a bright summer morning, I knew what had to be done. I got dressed and quickly ate breakfast. I told my parents I was going out and ran out the door. I could barely contain myself, I half ran all the way back down to Toys R Us. In front of the store, I stopped and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. Once again, I took a deep breath and let it out as I walked through the doors. I walked over to the help desk wearing a very determine look. Apparently I must have seemed a little menacing because Angeline picked up the phone and started talking into it.
“Security, we have a pro-”
“Whoa whoa, I'm not here to cause trouble, I would just like to talk with your manager.”
She pondered this for a moment, and decided I was true to my word. She spoke a few more words into the phone and proceeded to hang it up.
“Alright then, follow me.”
She wound me around to the back of the store. As we walked, I started to look at a few things. I noticed the games, the legos, and some My Little Pony trading cards. As luck would have it, Miss Angeline turned to see if I was still behind her the very instant I looked to the cards. She shook her head and continued walking. My face became hot to the point where, had this been a cartoon, I would have been steaming.
We came to a halt in front of a large, lovely polished wooden door. As nice as it was, it was very foreboding, and not so inviting at all. Angeline knocked as she slowly opened the door.
“Mr. Sykes, that brony I was telling you about yesterday is back.” She turned to me. “Go on in.”
I slowly walked in and examined the room. There wasn't much to it, blue walls, a large desk, and his personal amenities. The manager sat in his chair and read the newspaper, not even acknowledging my existence. I cleared my throat to get his attention. His eyes drew up at me and he sighed.
“You're back huh?” he said in an exasperated tone. “Why exactly?”
I looked at him for a good long time, letting his appearance sink in. He had dark brown hair that fell just above his ears and a thick beard that covered most of his face. He wore a long sleeved Toys R Us shirt, ever so lightly spotted with a few coffee stains here and there. He was not a large man, but seemed quite menacing nonetheless. Our eyes met and I refused to back down.
“I would like a job here.”
“Look son, I reserve the right to choose who I do and who I don't hire. And I'm choosing not to hire you, end of story.” He leaned back in his chair a bit.
“Why, because I'm a brony?”
“Yes.” he said with a stern look on his face as he shifted his body back toward me.
“What's wrong with being a brony! I don't see the damn problem-”
He put his hand up to stop me, and set his paper down, and placed his hands on his desk with his fingers interlaced.
“Look kid, I'm sure you've got good intentions, but your little group is...how can I say this nicely? Creepy and a little obsessive. We've got priorities here, and we aren't just going to hire some fanatic who just want's to use their employee discount to buy stuff and then leave when they have what they want.”
“So you're judging me personally based on how you think a group of people act with no evidence?”
“Well when you put it like that it just makes it sound-”
“And I love a children's show, you sell children's toys, where's the problem? Obviously I would be good at selling them. What other priorities could you possibly have?”
“It's like I said earlier, I'm sure you have good intentions, but shouldn't a kid like you be into, I don't know, the Avengers or something? Video games maybe?”
“Oh I get it! It's got something to do with my sexuality doesn't it? You're worried about that?” I yelled.
“I didn't say that!”
“I knew it, everyone who sees a male brony just assumes they're a homosexual because they like a kid's show. Well let me tell you something! The pony fandom is a proud group of people. We've even started a charity, we try to help the world! We give and expect nothing back. Lots of people support us. All we do is wanna have fun. Why can't people like you let us do that? I can't tell you how many times I've been beaten up in the past few months because of people like you!” I practically screamed. My voice was strained as I tried to hold back tears of frustration.
“Look, I didn't mean it like that at all. My son is a brony, I find it very creepy, but I know he isn't like you said, and I don't think you are either.” he stammered.
My anger subsided a little as I heard this.
“Wait, your son is a brony?”
“Yeah, don't mention it, ever. Ever since he found the show, he has been obsessed with these ponies. I always hear nonstop, Pinkie Sparkle this and Rainbow Jack that. A couple weeks ago, I wanted to talk to him about maybe getting a job here, but no, all he wants to do is sit in his room and draw ponies!”
“So you're taking your anger from your son out on other bronies? That's not fair! You can't do that!”
“I can do whatever I want, I'm the manager here, not you,” he huffed, returning to his previous state.
“Why don't you just let your kid enjoy what he wants to enjoy? You shouldn't try stop him from liking my little pony if he wants to. When he wants to open up let him, don't try to force him into stuff. And-wow, is that a drawing that he did?”
Mr. Sykes turned to where I was pointing. On the wall directly behind him was a drawing of a man. This man stood atop a hill with his foot raised on a rock, holding a sword in the air. The sky was a mixed color of black and red, a terrible storm. Lightning met the end of the sword, but the man seemed to be unfazed. Bright yellow letters on the hill read “Super Father”, it was then that I realized the man in the picture did resemble Mr. Sykes, only the muscles were a little exaggerated.
“Oh, yeah, he did draw that. He gave it to me about a year ago.”
As Mr. Sykes rambled on about how good of an artist his son is and how proud he is of him aside from him being a brony, I started to think. That may have been the first time I saw that picture, but I had seen that art style before. I rummaged around in my brain for a moment, and then it hit me as hard as a buck from Apple Jack.
“Mr. Sykes, do you know if your son happens to have a Deviant Art account?”
Mr. Sykes rested his head on his hands.
“Don't even get me started with how much time he spends on that site.”
“No, Mr. Sykes, this is a good thing! Your son is amazing! He has millions of fans and frequently participates in Bronies For Good!” I exclaimed.
“Bronies For Good?”
“Yes! It's this charity organization that a group of bronies have put together. They raise money to donate to people all over the world like Uganda, to help buy children food and medical supplies.”
“Oh...really?”
“Yeah they raise tons of money, and your son contributes a lot, he is pretty famous in the brony community.”
“That's pretty impressive,” he paused to think, “I-I had no idea.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge. And realize that just because you don't completely agree with something, doesn't mean it doesn't belong.”
“Maybe I was a little too harsh on him about the whole thing, and you.” he lowered his head.
“Don't beat yourself up about it. Just try to be more tolerant and understanding. You could try supporting him. Tell him it's okay to be a brony”
He stood up so fast he almost flipped his chair.
“You're right! Maybe I was wrong about you and your group. You're all right kid. You know what? How about you come back tomorrow, and I will personally administer an interview for a fair chance at a job?”
My cheeks began to tighten as the corners of my mouth practically touched my eyes.
“Sure thing Mr. Sykes, you won't regret this!”
I turned and left the office. My head was swimming. In a short amount of time, I had managed to turn someone who was completely against bronies, into a potential brony. Welcome to the herd Mr. Sykes, I thought as I smiled even more. On my way out, I passed the help desk. That was when I noticed something. Angeline was too immersed in her computer to see me come up. When I looked at her computer, I found that she was reading a My Little Pony comic on Deviant Art.
“My, my, what do we have here?” I asked playfully.
“Nothing!” she quickly jerked her monitor away, “It's none of your business!”
I looked at her and just chuckled. Being a brony seemed to be spreading quickly around here. I turned around and began walking toward the doors. On my way, I called back to her.
“Welcome to the herd my friend.”
Welcome to the herd.
