Transitioning Life

The night was dark and quiet. Few of the light of stars above made it past the cloudy sky and even fewer got past the trees. Barely audible were the sounds of trotting made by an earth pony trotting along this path. This pony was carrying a stick with a lit lantern at the end. From the light, it could be seen that this pony was a stallion with a dull citric yellow coat, his long mane and tail a pale yellow color and he appeared to be wearing a lemon green tunic that matched the color of his eyes. His eyes told of melancholy. Up ahead there was a bridge connecting both ends of a gorge. His gaze was lowered as the bridge was coming into view but he kept trotting along the path. Finally he had reached the bridge and had crossed it up to about halfway. He then turned his attention along the gorge and beheld how this chasm separates two sides of the forest between the city of Tall Tale and the Smokey Mountain.  The dark night made it impossible to see the bottom of the chasm. The pony then blew out the lantern, welcoming darkness’ embrace. Shortly after, sniffling could be heard, followed by brief, random but dulled howls. Minutes pass before these sounds cease. A brief gust made the forest give a heavy and turbulent hiss and it kept on for about a minute.

   “I guess that’s that,” the citrus-colored pony uttered.

Out of nowhere a twinkle came from further ahead into the forest. All was quiet; no creaking of the wood of the bridge, no rustling leaves from the trees. A sigh was uttered in the darkness. An unknown voice pierced the silence. "Hello? Is anypony there?"

Silence resumed. "Who's there...?" said the citrus colored pony in a despaired voice. Suddenly a light shone on the citrus pony, overwhelming his eyes.

"I-I don't know what you are but if you want to eat me... I won't stop you..." the earth pony said.

"What are you talking about?" the other voice responded. As the light got closer to the earth pony and his eyes started to adjust to the light, it could be seen that this other entity was a unicorn. This unicorn was a stallion that had a pale violet coat with a blue but scruffy mane and tail with eyes to match. His cutie mark were two fishes swinning in opposite directions with water appearing to ripple between them.

   "You're... not a monster..." the earth pony let out sorrowfully.

   "Last I checked I wasn't," responded the unicorn and continued; "but more importantly, what are you doing here and what were you planning to do?" he asked confrontationally. The earth pony began to sob which made it impossible for him to speak. He attempted to run off but the unicorn used his magic to lift him up just slightly into the air, making it impossible for the earth pony to run off. "I'm not letting you off until I get an answer. Just calm yourself down and I'll listen," the unicorn said.

After some time, the earth pony began to settle down just enough for him to speak. "I-I want to d-die. I-I d-don't want to l-live an-anymore."

   "But why?!" he asked baffled but very concerned. His tone made the earth pony cringe. "You barely look old enough to be an adult. Just how old are you?"

   "N-nineteen..." the earth pony answered.

   "Nineteen... Why cut your life so short? There is so much more to life than anypony your age could not possibly have experienced!"

The earth pony went silent and could not respond. He was let out of the lifting spell and gently brought to the ground.

   "Listen," said the unicorn in a candid voice, "It's going to rain soon and we better find shelter. Did you feel the droplets too? Please come with me," he asked. The earth pony nodded in response and followed the unicorn.

By a cul de sac somewhere in the forest stood a cabin. It was really pouring down. Inside were

the two ponies with their lanterns lighting the inside of the cabin. The unicorn was drying himself off with a piece of cloth. He then started; "how impolite of me to not introduce myself. My name is Snow Perch. I live in these woods as a hermit. What's your name, friend?"

The earth pony looked at the unicorn bemusedly yet sad. Friend?

   "Um... My name is Morning Solitude but most ponies call me Sully," he answered.

   "Morning Solitude. It's a beautiful name that makes me think of pleasant things," said Snow Perch. "Sully," he addressed, "you should take that tunic off. It's soaked," he advised.

   "I, uh, don't need to. Yeah, it's alright, it isn't so bad. I'm sure it'll be dry by the time it's morning," he answered and then smiled nervously. Snow Perch, looking unamused clearly saw through that obvious lie.

   "You're going to get sick if you don't take that off," said Snow Perch.

   "I, uh... I don't take my clothes off to strangers," replied Sully nervously.

Snow Perch facehoofed when he heard that. "Of all the desperate answers... Look, I don't know what is it you're hiding but come on, just what are you so afraid of?"

Sully sighed and whimpered. Snow Perch looked at Sully puzzled.

Sully raised his voice and said "fine! It's not like I haven't been through this before!" He turned to his side and lifted the tunic to expose his flank. Snow Perch had a look of realization in his eyes.

   "A blank flank," he said in a bewildered voice. "I see now... Is that why you wanted to end your life?" he asked.

   "If only that was the most of my problems," Sully answered.

   "It's okay," said Snow Perch, approaching Sully and placed his hoof on Sully's shoulder. "I promise to listen to whatever you have to say. Is it alright?" asked Snow Perch in a reassuring manner.

Morning Solitude nodded his head. "Mhm," he let out.

   "But first you need to take that tunic off," Snow Perch responded cheekily.

   "I am the youngest of three siblings. My father is chief engineer at the local wine production facility so he's quite respected. My mother works as a manager at that same plant. Considering the corporate hierarchy they're placed in, I'd say I'm born in a privileged family..." Sully started.

   "I see. Please continue," Snow Perch replied.

   "Well... At first, it seemed like I excelled in whatever it is I tried my hooves in. Fencing, archery, various other sports, science and math... Teachers and trainers have commented on how quickly I learn, how gifted I am and my parents were always proud of me when they hear about it. But seemingly no matter how good I get, my cutie mark never showed up and when it really matters, I always fall just short. It's like I'm always second best at everything."

   "So, you were in a lot of competitions then."

   "That's right."

   "But you said your parents are proud of you, right?"

   "Were proud of me... At first, all those silver medals and trophies seemed like I did have something in me but that it was never quite enough. I know this is going to sound selfish but I just feel so overshadowed every time I got beaten AND my opponent gets their cutie mark. If it was just me coming in second I would have been fine with it. The thing is, there'd be a grand celebration for my opponent winning first place and getting his cutie mark and all but it just seems like people forget that I exist. It's happened more than once," said Sully with his head low.

   "Actually, that's understandable," rebutted Snow Perch. "As social creatures, we do have a need to feel acknowledged so please don't feel ashamed to talk about these sorts of things."

Sully scratched his head and got his head back up. "Of course, there's also the thing with me being a blank flank. Everypony thinks less of me because of it. Especially at my age. Most ponies get their cutie marks before or at the latest, just when hitting puberty. But what really got to me was how my parents have been acting around me recently. They don't pay as much attention to me like they used to and I'm too afraid to talk about it," explained Sully.

   "If you ask me, I think it'd be a good idea to bring this up to them. Let them know how you are feeling," commented Snow Perch.

   "If only that had worked..." said Sully in a dreadful tone.

   "Oh... But what happened?" asked Snow Perch.

   "Whenever I brought this up to either of my parents, they would outright dismiss it as me just being paranoid or imagining things and to just get over it. My mom would lecture me on how I'm not lesser to anyone and my father would just joke about it. When I called out my mother on her example not matching her words, she got pretty furious at me. After that I figured that nobody wants to hear about what I feel."

   "But don't you have any close friends, Sully?"

   "Firends...?" he asked sarcastically. "Just like with my parents, they pretty much lost interest in me. I guess having a blank flank around them just seemed to cramp their style," he said very cynically.

   "Well, you do have a good understanding of what's upsetting you, at least," said Snow Perch.

   "If only I knew what to do about it though. That's the thing... I'm just trapped..." Sully said, lowering his head again in despair. He raised it back up when Snow Perch began to talk.

   "Don't fret. We can talk some more in the morning and I'm sure your parents will be worried about you," said Snow Perch optimistically.

Sully lowered his head again, looking cynical. "Yeah. You never know you had something until you lost it."

   "Please," responded Snow Perch. "You can't go on thinking like that. You shouldn't. Things may seem bleak now but if you give up, if you stop trying, that's the surest way to stay stuck!"

   "I guess," sully replied non-chalantly.

   "Tell you what, I'll accompany you on your way back home and we could perhaps spend some time at your place," suggested Snow Perch.

   "I don't know," responded Sully. "You look rather unkempt. I mean... you really do look like a hermit."

   "I'll be sure to wash up better at the spring then. Problem solved,” he answered confidently.

   "If you say so..." remarked Sully with doubt in his eyes.