Meira is half-human, half-centaur hybrid; she doesn't have the typical equine face other centaurs have, nor does she have manes or fur at the back of her upper torso and neck, her equine ears the only distinctly centaur feature on her upper torso. She was the result of a medical experiment her parents Solnan and Kylestin volunteered for, an experiment that through means of slight genetic manipulation and IVF helps couples of different species to have children of their own. Being the first human-centaur couple to participate in this experiment, all parties involved were very nervous if the experiment would succeed. Kylestin carried Meira's brother Poike, a mostly human boy whose centaur features would appear in his teenage years. But Solnan's biological mother (and thus Meira's grandmother), Sjanti, volunteered to carry Meira, and the researchers used part of her DNA to fill in the genetic gaps for compatibility (the researchers were glad the surrogate mother was someone genetically close to the parents). Poike was born first, but Meira followed six months later. Both were healthy babies, to the relief of the parents and the researchers. They'd monitor them both from time to time to see if their development was normal and didn't cause any medical issues.

While they lived in Posbank, Meira lived a worry-free life. She didn't think much about what it meant to be a centaur, seeing so many other non-humans around her, and being close to her grandparents on her father's side. But when she was thirteen years old, her parents considered moving; the house they lived in was getting to small for the four of them, especially now they had two centaurs living there, and the kids needed to go to middle school, which the town of Posbank was too small to have one. They had found a place in a town called Syseth, which was closer to Amborg where Kylestin worked at the newspaper. For the kids, it was tough to say goodbye to their friends, but they thought they could meet new ones in the new town after they moved. How hard would that be?

To their surprise, Syseth was populated only by humans. It turned out to be once founded by a religious group who once feared prosecution. Even though not everyone followed that religion anymore, the exclusively human population had remained, and their parents had failed to do their research on this aspect of the town (something Kylestin blamed herself severely). When she greeted her neighbours when they moved in, they looked at her in disdain at first and didn't say anything back. She thought this strange reaction was an incident. But when she went to school, she quickly found out this was not the case; most of the other students gave her strange looks, and most teachers didn't know what to do with her, especially the PE teacher, who had to send her out because the exercise program he set up wasn't suitable for her centaur body. And on top of that, she was the target of a group of bullies, mocking her by comparing her to a horse, and ripped her clothing; they did everything to get under her skin. Only her mentor, the history teacher, seemed to be somewhat understanding, but he couldn't see what she had been going through. Even her parents thought she was exaggerating. She cursed her parents that they had chosen her to be a centaur and set her up for failure. With little hope left, she ran away from home, trying to go back to Posbank, the last place she remembered when life was good. But with no route planned, she got lost in the forests. She was found, and her parents were contacted, and her worried father picked her up. He was on the verge of tears when he told her that they had misjudged her situation greatly.

At school her mentor made sure things would improve over there for her. Especially with the PE teacher he made some arrangements that she at least could participate in the class. During one team game in PE, she formed a team her classmates, and although her role in the team was nerfed by some special rules, her team still managed to win, and from this game a friend group would arise; a friend group that included her. She finally had somewhere to belong at school. This friend group helped each other out with homework, and every once in a while they had board game evenings at each other's homes. Though, several parents were not fond to have Meira in their house, though her friends were all willing to defend her.

One day, her mentor took her class on a school trip by bus. She wondered where they would go, but to their surprise, they went to her old home town Posbank. She wondered what possibly could be so historic about this place. Their mentor told that Posbank was one of the few places where non-humans were the majority of the population. This was also the reason why it was a prominent target of a group of human supremacist zealots during an event now known as the Night of the Cleansing. They had attempted to completely destroy this town and everyone within it, but thanks to the investigative efforts of two people, most of the misery had been prevented. He showed them the statue placed near the town's temple, depicting these heroes. To Meira's shock, she recognised the figures: her uncle Meldan, and her very own mother. Their mentor said to her he had taken every class to this place every year since it happened, to remind them what terrible things hate can do and that they shouldn't repeat those mistakes. Most of the class was shaken by the experience, Meira noticed...

When they returned home, they asked their parents what happened during that night. They see their mother getting very emotional over recalling memories of what she described as the worst night of her life, and their father had to fill in some gaps of the story their mother was unable to tell without breaking down. Kylestin confessed that while protecting her family from a corrupt cop, she accidentally killed the attacker, and that memory has haunted her ever since. But it was also that night when she decided she wanted to have kids, to give life back to the world for the one she had taken. They wanted to have two children, one honouring each side of the family: a human, and a centaur. Meira's father says to her that her centaur heritage has a much deeper meaning than she realised. Her mother tells her that if she ever could become a centaur herself, she would, as non-humans had accepted her as she was, unlike her human peers. Her father tells her about when her mother and uncle Meldan met for the first time, there was a lot of friction, but quickly they gained respect for each other. He told her about Meldan's gambit that almost cost him his life and called him one of the bravest people he has ever known. That was the heritage that lives on in her. For the first time in months, she felt good about being a centaur.

She started to feel more comfortable in her body. The rest of the school started to treat her with less animosity, but the adults in town were harder to convince. At the end of the year, several students received the honour to present a speech to all the parents in the auditorium. Meira was among the selection. She held her speech about her experiences in this town, how many had tried to exclude her and pleaded for tolerance. This apparently made quite an impact, as after this day, the adults in town started to treat her more "normally". No longer did she have to be ashamed to be a centaur...

And now, eighteen years old, becoming a young woman, she left that time of shame of what she was behind and embrace her beautiful centaur body. She would later become a medical scientist, hoping to help the medical field that helped her to exist in the first place.

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I've already posted Meira several times, but now I posted her with her life's story. I hope you like it!
This illustration was made by the wonderful  reigohoo Check out the original upload here!