User Name: Veja
Show Name: Wounded Pride
Barn Name: Aglaope
Story:
Dread fueled her forward, through the dense clouds and above the treetops. Each tree was barely more than a stricken bundle of sticks that had given up on reaching toward the sky. Below, ash covered the dead and lifeless earth. They had to be close now. And yet she still could not be sure--her connection to the fair maiden was waning, more and more by the second. A soft woosh of air brought one of her sisters, Peisinoe, beside her. A concerned look flashed over her feathered face as she reminded Aglaope of how little time they had left. "We'll find her," was her only response.
What they thought would only take days turned into weeks, until they were called back. They were confused at first, having not completed their task. Demeter's stony countenance upon their arrival told them all they needed to know, however. In her grief and anger, the goddess cursed the three sisters. No longer beautiful winged maidens, they were now ghastly creatures.
Demeter cast the trio from their home, banishing them to the far reaches of the Earth, where they would spend the rest of their days in solitude. The tiny spit of an island housed only a meadow surrounded by cliffs overlooking the ocean below. For a time, they made do with each other's company, but they soon desired new interactions.
Aglaope spotted a speck on the horizon that slowly grew in size, inching closer. She could not contain her excitement, and her sisters joined her to see what it was. Sunlight glinted off of the object, catching the light and reflecting it back as golden rays. Oddly, it was not a ship floating toward them on the water. Instead, it was a chariot pulled by three white pegasi. Their coats glistened in the afternoon light, and for a moment, Aglaope was entranced by their beauty. They were like her, as she was now, but different. A stern clearing of the throat broke her free, and she turned her head to gaze into the chariot itself.
There stood the queen of the Olympians, Hera. With a somewhat forced smile, she told them of how stories of their beautiful voices had reached her, and how she wished to hear it for herself. Aglaope felt conflicted. She loved to sing and have an attentive audience, but requests by goddesses never seemed to end well. Peisinoe and Thelxiope, however, were thrilled, and jumped at the opportunity to showcase their skills.
Their hauntingly sweet voices trailed off as the song ended. Everything that followed passed by in a blur of color and giddy confusion. Once the mare was able to focus on her surroundings, her heart sank. Fallen leaves were scattered across the dais upon which she and her sisters stood. Dew dusted the ground and the trees, lit up by the soft light emanating from jars filled with lightning bugs, placed delicately upon the ground and hanging from trees. wip
