A kirin sat alone underneath the great mass of branches that was the trees in winter. His mind was slow, clouded almost completely, dominated by his self-made spectres. His body was offered little warmth by the breeze, and self-immolation would require much more fury than could be presently mustered. "With such little spirit, and such little strength, what hope have I to come up with a means of unchaining myself?" He thought, looking back - half expecting to see an iron chain attaching himself to the tree.
Though this chain was imagined, and largely self-imposed, it was as binding as any other. It weighed heavily on the kirin's body and mind, as if it were made out of interlocking anvils. To move would be impossible, not until he had answered his question: why is he worth less? And so, there he sat - chained to the tree with no company beside himself.
An hour passed, yet he was no closer to his answer than before. His mind was too clouded to be coherent, and with the few birds not having gone southwards preoccupying themselves with chirping at him. He could not see or hear anything approach, only the birds, the breeze, and the earth beneath him. His state being interrupted only by a voice coming from behind him.
"The sunset is pretty this time of year, huh?" The voice said, as hooves trotted behind him, getting closer as it spoke.
"I guess so, but it is a sunset like any other. It is only obvious because there is nothing blocking it." The kirin responded, looking behind him to see who the voice belonged to.
At a glance, it belonged to an orange pegasus mare, with a shield-like cutie mark. This mare was a celebrity of sorts, being one of three to start a movement he could not presently remember. Her name eluded him, but upon seeing her magenta hair, she was immediately recognisable to him. She spoke with a soft, yet somewhat excitable, tone, sitting beside him underneath the tree. Whatever her name was, she was likely to stay, and so he did not move.
"I don't think I've seen you around Ponyville before. What's your name?" The pegasus asked, trying to make eye contact with the kirin.
"White Lotus." The kirin said. "White Lotus is my name. I come from Perilous Peaks, leaving the once silent village a year ago." He continued, still gazing at the sunset.
"Nice to meet you, White Lotus. My name is Scootaloo, if you didn't already know." The pegasus said smiling.
"I knew you were somepony important, but I never knew your name. Why is somepony as important as you spending your time talking to me? It is not as if I serve you." White Lotus asked, his eyes finally meeting with Scootaloo's.
Scootaloo chuckled, before answering with "I have spent most of my life helping others find their purpose in life, their meaning. You looked lost, and so I wondered if you didn't know what you wanted to do."
"Then what is my purpose, Scootaloo?" White Lotus asked.
"That's not something I can answer for you. All I can do is guide you, but, even then, I don't know where it's going to lead us." Scootaloo answered, before pointing at a bird flying in front of them. "You see that bird, there?" She asked.
"I do. What I wouldn't give to be like that bird..." White Lotus confirmed.
"I did too. I wanted to fly more than anything." Scootaloo said. "But, I couldn't. My wings just couldn't work like everypony else's. But you know what? I don't care anymore." She continued.
"Why? Do you not wish you were like most pegasi?" White Lotus asked, his head tilted.
"Why would I want something I know I can't have? No matter how much I desire flight, I cannot achieve it, not without a hot air balloon or a helicopter. Even that is fleeting." Scootaloo answered, sitting back. "Are you like me now, or when I was younger?" She asked.
"I..." White Lotus answered, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "What I want, more than anything else in the world, is to be normal. All my life, I have seen things differently. I cannot see what other see, and their ways are foreign to me. I cannot fight when I want, I cannot even be forced to fight, and yet, as the adage goes: it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. My ears cause me pain when subjected to too much noise, and my mind is as overwhelmed as easily as an infant's." He continued, now crying as he spoke.
"You cannot fight? Why does that matter to you? Leave that to those better suited for the role. Do you think I could join the Wonderbolts?" Scootaloo asked, her tone gentle and her eyes kind.
"Well no, if you cannot fly, you certainly can't do stunt flying." White Lotus answered, almost amused by how obvious the question was.
"Then why do you act as if you can become a warrior? Whilst yes, the adage you said is true, do you think the gardener is worse than the warrior?" Scootaloo asked, her hoof touching White Lotus's.
"Well no, not generally. But, what is your point? I should be the gardener, and thus be unsuitable for conflict?" White Lotus answered, his tone unsure.
"Would you ask a warrior to grow you a nice flower?" Scootaloo asked, still smiling.
"Why would I?" White Lotus asked in response, his voice almost interrupted by his desire to chuckle.
"That's basically what you're doing, isn't it? You are asking yourself to be something you just simply aren't. I can't fly, so I am not a Wonderbolt. But, do you know what I am, instead?" Scootaloo replied, clearly aware of White Lotus's obliviousness to his own demands.
"A guide." White Lotus answered, his mind on the cusp of realisation.
"Yes." Scootaloo said. "Though that may not be your purpose. Do what you can do best, and focus on that." She continued, her eyes now looking off into the orange sky.
"Then I am to search for my own purpose, however long it will take!" White Lotus exclaimed, his voice excited and his chain shattered.
"Good luck, White Lotus. Princess Twilight always told me that, so long as you stick to doing what is right, you cannot go wrong." Scootaloo responded, getting up to leave.
"Must you leave me? I want to learn more from you!" White Lotus asked, getting up himself.
"I have other creatures I will need to help. Bye, White Lotus!" Scootaloo answered, beginning to head towards the nearby town of Ponyville.
And so, there White Lotus stood, knowing what he must do - starting tomorrow. Whatever fate has in store for him, he head will be forever high. With his mental chain now gone, he is free to journey across Equestria, and beyond, to find out how he is to spend the rest of his life, if he does not perish on the way to his enlightenment. He turned towards the Everfree forest, and trotted into it, leaving nothing more than the sound of his hoofsteps behind.