Hey guys! So this story's a bit of a personal one, one I've wanted to write for a while. The basics are that after years of questioning, I'm finally switching fursonas to something that I feel suits me better and will be a lot more fun to write and interact with others... with. John's still gonna be around as a character, but he doesn't really represent me anymore. So say hello to Isaac and tell me what you think. :)

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"Dear diary/journal/whatever,

The therapist said it would be good to write out my thoughts, so here goes nothing, I guess.

...

Crap, this is hard.

I don't know, man. You know when you get that feeling of emptiness, like you just don't know what you're doing anymore? It's not depression, we've already confirmed that, it's just... something's missing. I'm still happy and energetic and all that, just... incomplete, somehow. I guess the therapy might help with that.

Maybe it's the fame and success. It sounds kinda pompous and cocky, but a lot of stars seem to have this feeling, and personally... I never really felt like I earned it. I've always just been BIG, which certainly helps when you're a pro weightlifter. But not just big... cut and defined as well. The kinda stuff people practically give their whole lives to. So... why me? Why so easily?

This isn't anything new. I've been thinking it for years. I suppose I haven't talked about it with too many people, though, so getting it off my chest is... nice, I suppose. I've been reading up on how to improve mood, so maybe I'll start jogging more soon. Or try and learn a new language or something. I'm definitely gonna try and keep journaling, too, but I think I'm out of thoughts for now, except that maybe I'll get Taco Bell later. Either way, thanks for listening... paper...

Signed,

Isaac Zhou"

Isaac folded the relatively tiny journal closed on his lap, sighing as he looked up and glanced out the window. The sun was just starting to set, giving him a marvelous view as bright orange and yellow light streamed directly into his upper floor lounge. He got to see the strong, healthy trees just outside of his house rustle slightly in the wind, altering the streams of light as nature saw fit. It made Isaac smile just a bit; one of the little things you could get out of life.

Said moment was interrupted by a hard, jolting knock on the door to the room, making Isaac's hairs all stand on end for a moment. A somewhat sleazy voice with a hint of an Italian accent called out: "Heeeeey, buddy, you in there?"

Despite the relative roughness of the voice, it made Isaac secure enough to slump his shoulders back down and roll his eyes. "Yeah..." Isaac's voice, though, was quite deep, though not the point of losing its naturally butter smoothness that apparently made him quite easy on the ears. Slowly, he rolled himself off of the large, cushiony chair he was lounging on and stood up on the ground... with a rather large thud.

See, when Isaac described himself as 'BIG'... he wasn't even close to being full of himself. Standing at a looming 6' 10", the man seemed to be muscles incarnate, a level of beef that even the famous Hulk himself would be a bit envious of. His muscles were perfectly balanced - not too thick as to impede his flexibility or movement, but juuuuust beefy enough to squeeze against one another and make it seem like he might be a bit of a walking tank. No better was this evidenced than when he picked up the journal to set down, causing a bicep thick enough to hug to crunch up against two meaty, barrel-like pectorals barely concealed by a thin blue tank top. It was obvious to anyone that this was one hell of a unicorn.

Yes, perhaps the one thing about Isaac more interesting than his body mass was his species. There were only around 1000 unicorns in the entire world, after all, so that was just another thing that made him stand out from the crowd. On top of a brilliant, thick horn that jutted out from his forehead, as was expected, Isaac was also marked by a long mane of rainbow hair, wavy locks of all colors flowing down a little past shoulder length, split partially by bulging trapezius muscles that were engaged in a constant battle for space with his neck. Even his tail was all the colors of the rainbow. That wasn't even a trait shared by many (if any) unicorns, but it sure did get him a lot of obvious jokes thrown his way.

Isaac plodded his way over to the door, throwing it open and moving a few blue strands of hair from in front of his golden eyes to see his company a little better. Standing in the doorway was a hyena, a bit of a doofy look on his face and a scruffy patch of black hair on his head. The hyena, standing around 6' proper, was rather thick himself, the obvious signs of someone who had spent a lot of time bulking themselves up in the past. The main indicator of it not being the case in the present was the big, bulging beer gut he had hanging off him, the central focal point of the thin layer of fat all over his former powerlifter body. All of this was covered up with a suit that lay in the odd space somewhere between ratty and fancy, worn-out and perfect-fitting, as the sleazy nature of the attire seemed to match the calculating brain shown through the creature's eyes. Isaac wouldn't have expected anything different.
"What is it, Serge?" Isaac asked, his voice somewhere between curious and annoyed. Normally he wouldn't be so impolite, but as much as he loved Serge, he wasn't exactly the guy he wanted around when he was on the verge of an introspective breakthrough.

"What, a manager can't visit his top client every once in a while?" the hyena asked rather playfully, chuckling as he practically pushed past Isaac and into the simple, but cozy lounge. Indeed, Sergio DeCosta, former powerlifting great, had been the one to discover Isaac a few years ago and pushed him to start competing in weightlifting events, a push that ended up skyrocketing the unicorn to fame and fortune. Though the two had rather different... demeanors... Isaac couldn't deny that Serge was an amazing businessman who knew how to give people what they wanted and still come out ahead. He was also, Isaac had to admit, pretty fun to hang out with depending on the occasion, which is why he only smirked slightly and rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind the hyena.

"Said manager could try calling first," Isaac suggested in a half-playful manner as he went to go back to his lounge chair... only to find that the hyena was already in it. His face curled up in dismay a little bit as he quietly went to sit in another seat across from him.

"I figured we're close enough that you can afford to be intruded upon every once in a while," Serge replied, ending his statement in a giggle that was now starting to border on that famous hyena cackle. That always got Isaac to grin, at least.

"Sure... I was just... y'know, thinking about-"

"The therapy?" Serge suddenly interjected as he dug into his suit jacket's inner pocket, pulling out a silver flask. That was Serge, alright. "How's that going for you?" The hyena was actually the first one Isaac told about his plans to work out his emotional struggles - in fact, Serge was often the first one Isaac told about most things. They were odd together, but it worked out strangely well as companionship.

Isaac gave a big shrug, and Serge could practically hear the muscles swell up as they all moved in unison to create a minor symphony of beef. "Alright, I guess. It was only one session, it's not like that'll magic away all the problems in my life," the unicorn offered up honestly. "Seems like it'll help in the long run, though."

"Like your therapist?"

"Yeah, she seems pretty nice."

"Is she cute?"

"Serge."

The hyena smirked as he screwed the cap off of his beloved flask. "What? Just an innocent question," he shrugged before taking a big swig of whatever he had in there. "Eh, not like you need it anyways - you've got your pick of furs to screw."

That was definitely true; Isaac got a lot of very... intimate offers from a lot of other anthros, guys and girls. Which was nice for him - he swung both ways. The unicorn wasn't one to put it so... bluntly, though.
"I'm not going to date my therapist, Serge," he said rather sternly and clearly.

Serge smiled as he put up his paws in a faux-defense, even as one still held the flask. "Hey, your choice," he replied simply before taking another drink. "You still up for the weightlifting event in Argentina next weekend?"

"Like I said, Serge, I'm relatively fine. So, yeah, I'm going. It's a world championship qualifier, after all..." the unicorn replied, aimlessly rubbing his horn a little bit. "... Will Caleb O'Reilly be there?"

"When has that big lug of a bull ever missed out on a qualifier?"

"True. Just more of a reason for me to go, then," he smirked.

"It's not like you've ever lost to him. Or... anyone, really. And you don't even go god mode on them..."

Suddenly, the relatively relaxed tone of the conversation was interrupted by a very loud, stern throat-clearing from Isaac that made even the slick hyena flinch a little bit. "... I told you not to talk about that."

After a moment of hesitation, the hyena just rolled his eyes. "What? Afraid someone bugged your house? Besides, I still don't get why you're so secretive about this thing..."

Isaac found himself absentmindedly feeling around to the current source of conversation, that being an odd tribal symbol that took up a good portion of his valley range of a back, the only thing standing out among his perfect kept white coat. Most just thought it was an intricate tattoo or something... but the reality was much more intense than that.

Isaac was already a pretty amazing specimen strength-wise, to a level that far blew anyone else on the planet out of the water and labeled by many as something right out of a superhero comic. But little did they know it could get much, much more intense. Ever since puberty, when Isaac focused enough and made that thing glow, the unicorn grew even bigger, manlier, and far, FAR stronger. He had scarcely even explored this intense transformation, but when he had... he knew that the power was infinite. In a multitude of different ways. He had no idea why the mark was there, how he got it, whether it was because he was a unicorn... but no matter what, he knew it was a level of power on a godly scale.

"Because... it makes things complicated. I don't want people thinking I'm some sort of freak, questioning me on something I don't even know all about myself," the unicorn explained to Serge for what felt like the billionth time. "Besides, it feels... odd. I'm fine with how I am right now."

The hyena just rolled his eyes. Even he knew how many times he had heard this. "Fine, fine, whatever. Just keep using it for 'emergencies' or whatever crap you keep talking about... just know that you could be doing a lot more with it," Serge said, groaning as he started to push up off his chair.

"I'm already a world-famous champion weightlifter with a house bordering on a manor and money bordering on a million. I... think I'm fine."

"Whatever. Your loss," Serge shrugged as he finally completed the process of standing up, his gut jiggling a little from the effort.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah... just meant to stop in for a little while anyways," he grunted as he stretched out his thick arms. "Wife wants me to go to some... barbecue or something."

Isaac started to stand up as well, his thighs flexing out a couple inches involuntarily from just the minor action. "You should probably pay more attention to what she asks from you, you know. She's very nice and does a lot for you."

Serge let out a little demeaning snort. "You sound a lot like her. Get in a relationship yourself and see how it feels. Anyways, see you later." And just like that, Serge was headed out, his big body lumbering down the wood-floored hallway that was luckily made for someone even bigger than him anyways. He was never one for very good entrances OR exits.

Isaac just watched him go, slowly shutting the door after he was out of sight and sighing. Serge was such a handful sometimes... but he couldn't imagine having anyone else around. Except, y'know, maybe some romance wouldn't actually be that bad for him...

The burly unicorn noticed his full-body mirror out of the corner of his eye, and he found himself aimlessly drawn toward it. Before he knew it, he found himself turning about and giving a nice flex of his glutes, cocking his head back a little to see the results. As some red and yellow strands of hair fell out of his line of sight, he was greeted with a vision of his two round, defined cheeks, completely outlined by his pair of tight black running shorts, bulging outwards many inches, surrounding muscles getting the same treatment out of necessity. It was small, but the rush of energy he felt throughout his whole lower body was... significant, as well as familiar. He couldn't imagine anything different... even as he could see that strange marking peeking out from under his tank top.

Isaac dropped the flex, moving back over to his comfortable lounge chair. Suddenly, he felt like he was on stage, moving over to his big lifts like he usually was. Chin held high, rainbow hair flowing behind him, chest puffed out... walking like a true man, as some would say. He may not have always felt like that, but he sure could look the part. He had to chuckle at that; he supposed it helped a little.

The unicorn plopped back down into his favorite chair, listening to it creak under his weight as he stared out the window once more. The orange sun had dipped further below the horizon, no longer illuminating the room quite as brightly. The serenity of the moment was enough for him, though. Time was moving forward, and he wasn't going to get himself down thinking about the past. He just had to improve his future.

Isaac huffed, suddenly feeling the need to stand up again. Maybe jogging would be a good idea... followed by a couple hour workout, maybe. His muscles may have ballooned up naturally with little effort on his part, but if he was going to be so lucky... maybe he could at least make it worth his while.