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11-30-2014, 04:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-30-2014, 04:29 PM by Bucephalus.)
Bucephalus had been walking along the island when the story began, and immediately his attention was snagged. His ears pricked, and he walked towards the tent and sandy pit. Almost the moment he got there, the story sucked him in, and he listened with awe as she spoke. When she was done, he bowed his head low in honor of her tale. "You tell a wonderous story, may i return the favor?" He stepped into the sandy ring, awaiting the pegasus mare's approval before he began. Once long ago, before the gods ever granted the pegasi the wings we bear today, there was a king rich and powerful beyond comprehension. His wealth knew no bounds, his wisdom far beyond his years, and his dance a thing of beauty so grand as to drive even the stones to tears. He created things of beauty, towers of glass and ribbons so silky as to be made of the very air itself. But the gods never bless one without a price. For all the king's riches, he was cursed. No mare could stand to be within his gaze, and fled whenever he came near, filled with a terror and disgust that they could not understand. No female knew what the King looked like, the man's only company being the stallions that created his court and guards. The king, too wise and proud to blame the gods, knowing what he could do was a valuable blessing with a minor downside. But as seasons passed, and foals filled his kingdom and grew older, as mates danced across the desert dunes, the King found himself filled with longing for a mare to stand and rule beside him, to confide in and share in the wonders he held. On the eve of his tenth spring, when he could take no more of the frolic of the couples, the great King traveled to the standing stones across the desert, and knelt before the gods. Days dragged to weeks as he pleaded for forgiveness and for love for even a single season. But the gods would not hear him. One by one they turned away and vanished, leaving the King more desperate than before. For they had given him such blessings far beyond what they had given another, why should he ask more of them? But one did not turn away. The Wild Jester, Lady of All, knelt before the King as he wept, and bid him to return to his castle, and with that she too vanished from sight. In despair, the great stallion accepted his fate, and began the slow, lonely journey back to his glass castle. But his trip had not been in vain, for the Wild One sped from the standing stones to begin her crafting. For a year and a day she toiled, and on the anniversary of the King's journey to the godstones, she descended into his court. At her side was a mare lovely and fair, with a mane of moonlight and skin of white sand. Her eyes were like gems from the heart of the earth itself, and when she smiled it was as if the sun shone bright and the air lightened with the scent of a warm spring breeze. The King was dumbstruck, and the mare and stallion fell into a love as deep as the oceans. The Wild One, pleased with her work, left the couple and returned to her palace in the starless sky. For a year the King and his new Queen ruled in peace, and for a month there was a festival to welcome the new Queen to the desert. The stallion could not be happier, his love was the fairest in the land, and he showed her all the wonders he could create. But not all was well. The Moon Dancer gazed down upon this god-made mare in jealousy and rage. For the Mother of All had created a creature with beauty to surpass even that of the Moon, and the night sky went black as the Moon descended to the glass palace of the King. The King stood before his wife, defiant in the face of a god that threatened to ruin the single-most dear thing to his heart. The Moon Dancer, ever clever, turned to the Queen and spoke only once. "Should the King even Glance at another Female, i bid by Root and Branch, by Stone and Blood, that you return to what you Once were." In a snap of magic, the curse was sealed, and the Moon returned to the sky, watching the couple. The King was not too worried; his own curse still stood strong against other mares, and swiftly he soothed his beloved Queen's fears, and in summer, the couple was blessed with a child. Lovingly the King turned and gazed at his newborn filly...and the Moon Dancer's oath took hold. The King rushed to his mate as she began to unravel, withering as a flower before frost, until he held nothing against him but air. Such a cry tore from the King as never was heard again; a cry of sorrow, despair and loss so keen as to draw the attentions of the gods. The Moon Dancer smiled, the Sun King wept, The Windlord mourned, and the Stone Prince keened, for even the gods had been entranced by the mortal beauty. And none of the gods could even expect what the King did in his grief. Driven mad by the loss of the only mare who could be with him, the King turned to his child and tore her to pieces, gouging with hoof and tooth until nothing remained but mutilated flesh. The Sun King readied himself to smite the forlorn stallion, but the Wild Jester halted him, and told the leader of the gods who had begun this horrible event. The Sun turned to face the grinning Moon, backed by the Stone Prince. The Windlord and Jester remained neutral, but before a fight could begin the Wind stepped forth. "Punish him for his wrongs, not our sister dear. She did naught what one of us would have done in her place." His words held a wisdom that the Sun knew held true; as fickle as Wind could be there was no god more beloved by the people, and none wiser than the eldest of gods. So the Council left the heavens and stood before the King and his dead child. The Sun was first to speak. "By Light i take from you what i gave." The King wept as his wisdom left him. The Moon swayed forth. "By Dark i take what you stole." The stallion fell as his great strength left him. The Earth dipped his head. "By Stone i take what i loaned." The glass castle dissolved into sand, and the King's riches sank back into the earth. The three gods left, their deeds done, leaving the Windlord and Mother of All before the King. The Wind lowered his head. "By Air i give you the power to touch the sky and find your beloved." His words made the man raise his head, as an unbearable agony tore through his spine. With a scream of pain, wings tore from the King's back, broad and great. The King turned to look at them, the pain vanishing the moment his wings finished growing, and was touched by the wonderous gift the Wind had granted. But even this, given by He Most Loved, did little to touch the blackness that threatened to engulf him in despair. So the Fair Lady spoke last, pressing her muzzle to the King's. "By Soul i give you the stars and life beyond life. Chase through the years and find your love once again." The final gods vanished into the sky, and the King's gaze locked on one bright light in the inky blackness of the night. The first star to ever grace the night twinkled down at him, and he knew within his very being that the light was the soul of his beautiful Queen. But the Wind and Jester were not finished yet. Their magic went to work, repairing the King's child and breathing life back into her once-battered body. The King watched in wonder as his child slowly stood on her legs, then grew into a mare as beautiful as her mother had been, with wings of snow gracing her back. Eyes holding the wisdom the King once possessed, she bade him to follow the star, and he named her Queen. That very night the King departed, tasting of the sky for the first time as his daughter spread the gift given to her by the Wild One; gracing every horse with the power of flight. For seven years the old King followed the light of his beloved's star, flying at night and eating at day. His daughter, a Queen as wise and beautiful as both her parents had been, watched as a new star appeared beside that of her mother, and knew in her heart that her father had passed on, but had at last come to rest with his beloved Queen, entrusting the world to their daughter until it was her time to ascend into the heavens, and forever more the offspring of the Ancient King and Queen have been tied to the stars, and on the first day of Spring one can see the Lovers in their cosmic dance as he chases his mate across the night sky.  |
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