I had come here for peace. This is where lovers were, and that meant it had to be peaceful. You would never bring your lover somewhere loud and obnoxious, right? I wouldn't have ever done that. Yet, I was quite surprised to see a lone stallion. He was cute enough, but I had a track record of not going for paints. It wasn't me being racist or anything, they just weren't all that attractive. And as of now, I really wasn't in any sort of mood to flirt. I watched him play with the branches, wondering when something bad was going to happen. On doesn't simply play with leave and branches and not expect something to happen.

And then it happened.

The branch slipped from his grip and then slapped him. I cocked my had to the side slightly amused by this. The amusement was shortlived, and only offered a brief vacation from my depression. He glared at the tree before turning around. I quietly came out of the shadows and walked towards him. "I heard the plants only attack the strong." I was being sarcastic, but my voice was calm and steady, only hinting at the fact that I was in fact just kidding. She lets out a laugh, but it's not a normal laugh. It's a laugh of a defeated mare that has lost hope, and hat mare would be me.

I had been struggling with depression for a few days now, but it didn't seem to horribly bad today, yet it was still there. It haunted me, slowly encompassing my brain in it's dark clutch. I couldn't escape it, I tried to fight it, but now I just tried to live wit it-- as if it was some sort of part of me. This idea made me sad. I didn't want to have depression as a part of me, yet no matter how hard I fought... it always stuck around. Even though today may be slightly better, the dark thoughts were still there: suicide, death, pain, sadness. At first, I thought I was weak. I thought I was just being sad for myself, but it was more than that. Even though I see that now, I still don't know how to fight this everyday nightmare.

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He turns to face me. He seems embarrassed, feathers fluffing, and an excuse thrown into the air. He claims the simple willow started it and I cock my head. "Do tell, how did this willow start it?" I was tempted to poke and prod a little further, but I did not. My wish was to no longer make enemies, and this would be no exception. He admits that he was hoping no one had witnessed the tree-smacking event that had just happened. As my head straightened once more, I nodded my head softly. I wouldn't want anyone to see my mistakes, yet for some reason... I only make mistakes in public. My mistakes are made when everyone is watching, and in the worst spots possible. I wish I could go back in time and not make my mistakes until I am sure I am alone.. then again, I wish I could undo my mistakes completely.

He announced his name as Gull. Does he have long wings much like the birds he has been called after? Are his calls loud and obnoxious? Well met. I am known as Aurelia. How did you come to be called Gull?" She had seen shapeshifters, was he one of the few? Was it easier to fly as a bird than a horse? Though my bones are hallow, they are far from light. My muscle, though lean, adds weight. The ability to fly is an amazing one, but many seem awkward in the air. I guess my way oversized wings grant me the ability of a more effortless flight? Honestly, I've seen a few pegasi that look like turkeys in the sky. Fat and ugly. Then there are the eagle pegasi, those that are very precise when flying. They are slow and graceful, no flaws. Yet, I'm more of a falcon. Fast and furious, but I do make mistakes and I'm not as precise. I'm assuming there are advantages and disadvantages to all of them, and I continue to wonder which category this lad falls in.

Then, the mood changes. He grows more focused, shakes his had. Is something bothering him? Is there something in his eye? Quickly, he announces there must be something wrong, because he can't take his eyes off of me. Now, I've never been one for paints-- just not my type. And Gull is no exception. Not to mention, I have a mate. "Gull, Gull, Gull.." I shake my head condescendingly. "I like women." I grin widely. It's not entirely true. I am bisexual, I'm into both genders. Yet, I will enjoy his confusion. "And I have a mate." He really doesn't know how to choose them, does he?

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He is upset. Well not really upset. But upset in a playful kind of flirtatious manner that I had once possessed myself. Oh, the days when life was about finding a prince that will sweep me off my hooves for a mere night. I dreamt every night about the graceful Titan that would twirl and dance with me under the starlit sky. I wanted to feel the warmth of a strangers breath caress my flank as gentle lips massage my spine in a tender love. Then, we would dare to go further. Our bodies would collide in passion and warmth, feeding my body with an unmatched electricity. Then, once we finished our dance, a cool breeze would wipe away the heat from moments before and we could bundle up in some small cave and talk in murmurs and whispers until we fall into a deep sleep. I dreamt this moment over and over again, and a sort of childlike glee would devour me every time this mysterious charmer came into my mind. Yet, no prince ever came for me. I guess for some my night would have induced a sort of horror, and in a way it did, but I cannot continue to blame two stallions for the night that I wanted to be so differently. I hadn't waited for the perfect stranger, I had gone for the first stallions I saw. I had never said no when the bat-winged wraith had taken me as his for just a moment and I had never said no when two stallions drinking a weird liquid had come to me. Admittedly, I don't remember my first time to well, and I've tried hard to forget the second time. It's memories like these that plague my mind today. What could I have done differently? I don't truly know. A lot of things. Maybe if I had just stayed with Africa.

Not only have I dreamt of passion, but power also. I thought I would be a lead. I wanted to rule with the power and efficiency of some sort of Gaucho, Alysanne, and Deimos combination. Truly, I could never amount to such greatness. I was only a mediocre fighter, if that. My efficiency is lackluster at best, and I'm almost sure I'd crash and burn within the first joyful moments of leadership. I am that type of leader. the type everyone avoids.

With these complex thoughts in my mind, I urge myself to reply. "Not all can defeat, but all can be defeated." I said softly, my voice a rough whisper. I had never taken a lesson of this magnitude to heart, but I felt this truly applied to me. I would only be able to defeat some, but those I can't defeat, someone can. Everyone is knocked off their pedestal at some point. his comments are of my cover, but what is inside is far from beautiful. "pPleasire to meet you too, laddy." I found his name was unsuited to him, thus, he has earned a simple nickname.

In turn, he gives me a nickname. Reli? No one calls me that. Like relish? I'm not relish. I'm AURelia. Not Reli, but I'll late it pass today. I don't have the energy for a fight, not another one. After calling me Reli and refusing to divulge the juicy (probably) story of how his name came to be Gull, I slant my head slightly. My ivory tassels slide off the bridge of my nose and hang lazily over a golden eye with an inverted pupil. Perplexed by his refusal to tell me a backstory, my lips part and words flutter into the air. "If it makes you feel better, my name is not truly Aurelia. I have many names, but my first was Kha." My head straightens for a moment before I look to my right, exposing the Aurelian tattoo on my left cheek. The tattoo is strange, surely he could not know what it means. No one else had known. Could he truly be the unique one that does know? I stay with my head turned for just a moment more before my gaze returns to his. "This weird lettering on my cheek means Kha, but that is not the weird part. Kha means kill." There was a short backstory on my name. Would he feel comfortable enough to share his story? Or perhaps I'll get his original name.

I giggle at his remark about luck with ladies. I've had good luck with ladies.... If I've managed to rope down a mare as beautiful and eccentric as my mate, clearly I'm doing something right. She's delicate, and broken in most of the same places I am. We are similar, yet different. She's the ebony to my ivory. I'm the light to her dark. She's the shock of electricity that keeps my heart pumping and my brains working. Without her I'd certainly be a walking corpse. I'd be further gone than a horse like Resplendence. I wouldn't be able to protect myself, not think for myself, nor attempt to be scary or brave. At least that is how I remember the girl-- shaking in her own boots by a simple nightmare. Now she was a crazy one. I didn't buy that sweet girl outside. I'll like her once she actually shows some sort of emotion other than happy. So yes, without Destry, I'd be Resplendence. "I think you've got this all wrong, Gull-y boy. Mares here, we don't look for one night stands with a stallion that will vanish in the morning. Those are the dreams of children. Most mares want some sort of love, a relationship where both contribute. Love is laborless, yet hard, at the same time. Love is a lot of pretty things. It's something you can't fake with gentle words." Love is the only real thing other than time. I then considered his next question. He inquires if his "game is off". Perhaps he will understand that love is not a game, now that I've just poured my definition of love into the air. Am I approaching this stallion too seriously? If I am, sorry, but there is not injecting a squirt peppy into my strain of seriousness. Not now, not ever. I'll always be serious in some way.

"Once you find the one you're willing to die for, you won't need to be on your game. You can mess up over and over again, but if you've truly found your other half, you'll always be able to mend wounds that are cut deeper than skin and fur." Love can heal the scars on a lonely, fragile, heart. Now I wonder, will this golden-tongues man dare to step into the world of sappy words and warm kisses? I've entered this world. SPOILER: This world is so much better than traveling a lonely path.

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