She Fell From Grace

I

A stream of sparkling silver light broke through the angered storm clouds, and shone its light on Pegasus. There she flew, her strong, milk-white wings flapping elegantly at her sides, as her tears fell off her snout and free-falled into the darkened oblivion below. Her rump still stung from where the gadfly had pierced her delicate skin. The very gadfly that the temperamental Zeus had sent to force Pegasus into killing the great Greek hero, Bellerophon.

The golden bridle still hung loosely around her head, smugly looking down the pit to see if Bellerophon's corpse was still within view. Pegasus, on the other hand, wasn't quite as joyous. A small, choked whinny came out of her lips as two more glowing tears dripped off her snout, like rainwater from a railing. The sky above was dark with sorrow and resentment, the dark clouds rolling by, threatening to spill a storm that could make even the bravest god run for cover. Pegasus slowly flapped herself away from the pit, and flew slowly back in the direction of Olympus. Her big, sky blue eyes steadied on the road ahead of her, a whimper on the tip of her tongue as Olympus came into view.

Maybe if she told Asclepius about Bellerophon's involuntary manslaughter, the great God of Medicine might be able to provide her with some assistance. She continued her lonely path to Olympus with that dreaded golden bridle hanging loosely from her face as small raindrops began to slowly drip down from the dark cotton clouds. Pegasus had always been a good mare, granting many of the gods and goddesses passages to places that they could not dream of travelling to on foot or by winged sandal. But, despite her giving herself very good advice, she always failed to follow it. For instance, she had willed herself to not fall for that temping golden bridle, but she had failed to turn her snout in the other direction.

And now, all because of her foolish actions, she had murdered one of the most famous Greek heroes of her time.

Bred by the blood of Medusa, maybe she had always been destined to be a killer. These solemn thoughts filled her brain as she flew slowly closer to Olympus, her droopy eyes scanning all of the gods and goddesses as they sauntered peacefully through the delicate rain, completely unaware of the tragedy that had just occurred. It sparked a flame deep inside the helium heart of Pegasus as she scowled down at their smiling faces, their glistening eyes, their bright auras. It wasn't fair to her that while she was up in the sky suffering, all of the others were given the pleasure of being happy and carefree. It wasn't like she wanted to kill Bellerophon, but when the gadfly pierced her rump, it sent her bucking her rider off in a reflex. But now she wondered...

Was it really just a reflex, or more like a killing instinct?

"Pegasus!" The sudden call of her name sent her jarring to the left, before straightening out and whipping her blue mane out of her eyes to see who had called for her. There before her, flew Hermes, the son of Zeus, with his winged sandals flapping beneath him. He appeared to be slightly out of breath, as his eyes were filled with what Pegasus could only recall as fear. She snorted, pausing to tread mid-air in front of him. Her blue orbs looked him up and down, the flame only growing deep inside her.

"What do you want?" She snapped, pushing her hoof out before her to point at Olympus in the near distance. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Hermes messed with his caduceus as he attempted to avoid her eyes, a slight blush creeping upon his cheeks. "Zeus sent me. He commanded that you see him; it's about Bellerophon."

Pegasus's eyes widened in terror as she glanced at Olympus and back at Hermes flustered figure. The anger that she had felt only moments before had now been replaced with guilt and panic. "A-Are you sure?" She stuttered, her tail swatting the air, nervously. "W-Why would he need to see me about Bellerophon? Is it because of the bridle?" She suddenly remembered that the dreaded thing was still hanging around her neck, and quickly raised her hoof, hooking it through the dangling loop and tugging roughly on it in an attempt to rip it off. Tears began to form in her eyes as her attempts to rid the bridle failed.