(more album arc!!) poor Elspeth! maybe Richard should come and try to help her out / during the flashback?
It had only been a couple hours.
She had only left for a couple hours.
And a few weeks after, they had to bury her brother.
The police had asked her so many questions. The cars and ambulance out in front of the house nearly gave her a heart attack, and the body bag being wheeled away tore through her heart.
Her father scolded her tears at te funeral - a lady doesn't make a scene; a lady doesn't cry; a lady is presentable; a lady does everything to look perfect.
And at the funeral, a colt she barely knew sat next to her.
"I'm sorry if this seems rash," he said quietly. "But would you like to come talk outside?"
They talked. They walked. Elspeth tried to stay strong, but a few tears spilt out. And Richard was stood beside her.
Little did she know of the planning that went on behind the scenes.
They were the perfect couple to the public; a gentlecolt with perfect manners and a graceful little filly on his hoof.
So, the announcement of their marriage was only natural to Hartwig.
Well, it was less a marriage and more a business deal.
She didn't want to be a wife.
She didn't want to be married.
She didn't want to have a husband so young.
But Richard was more than happy to play the part he needed to.
"Your pearls, Elsa," Linore said blankly.
The pegasus held the jewels on her hoof. Elspeth was dressed in her wedding dress; her engagement ring sat on her horn.
She lifted the necklace and clasped it around her neck. With every breath she took, they tightened. Tightened.
Tightened.
The beads were clasping around her throat like a rope.
Oh, God. There was no escape from it now.
Her eyes began to well up with tears, and her horn began to glow with magic. It erupted and cast the room in a golden light.
Finally, she sat down and panted; she cried and cried and cried until there were no more tears left in her eyes.
Linore lifted the makeup brush with her mouth and redid her daughter's face.
"There. The vision of a bride."
Walking down the aisle with her father felt less like the happiest moment of her life, and more like she was headed to her execution.
Her veil covered her eyes, and so everyone around her was covered in a cloud of white mesh.
Finally, she met up with her groom, and he slowly lifted her veil up. He smiled at her gently, and she tried to return the gaze, but so much had welled up inside of her that she couldn't say anything.
There were no objections, and their vows were exchanged perfectly.
Finally, the rings were slid onto their horns, and the ceremony was complete. Well, almost.
"You may now kiss the bride."
His lips felt so... strange against hers. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Love wasn't supposed to be like this.
But it was how it was going to be.
And not three months after their honeymoon, a doctor confirmed that she was now eternally bound to Richard's side.
It was a warm summer evening in Procksy Bay. The day was at its end, and the sun had slowly started its descent over the horizon.
And in town, just a small walk away from HarborChallace House, was the fair.
Elspeth adored going every year.
And this year, at the age of sixteen, she was more excited than ever.
Over the four years, she had grown and matured into her femininity. Her hair was long and curled; her clothes were prim and perfect. Every pearl on her necklace was exactly where it was meant to be sat.
All that she needed was for her brother to go along with her.
"Come on, Elliot," she pleaded. "Just head down to town with me. Right there and back. It'll take one hour, two tops."
Elliot put his thick homework down and looked at his sister.
"I can't," he said plainly. "I have homework."
"But it's the summer!"
"And?" He asked. "Not all of us can keep up in Advanced magic, Elspeth."
"So then, just ask the teachers to move you down a class."
"I can't!" Elliot argued.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because dad wants me taking advanced magic. Advanced potions. Advanced everything!" Elliot snapped. "Elspeth, it's like the weight of the world is on my shoulders! Everything is toppling down, and I can't keep lifting it."
His ears drooped, and his tail fell.
"I can't go to the fair with you. I have to do this."
"Fine." Elspeth said coolly. "I'll see you after the fair then."
With that, the older twin left, never to see her little brother again.
Elspeth and Elliot sat nervously in the hospital waiting room. They didn't quite know how to settle; their nerves grew more tense with every passing doctor, every announcement over the speakers, every nurse on their break.
A ring of pearls hung around the filly's neck. She lifted each bead nervously and looked it over before going onto the next. This little ritual kept her sane as she tried to pass the time in the hallway.
Finally, the silence was cut by their father walking out of a bedroom. Hartwig looked between his two children. Elspeth's gaze averted to the floor, whilst Elliot cast his eyes to a poster on health and diet.
"Your mother is up, if you want to see her," he said coolly, ignoring the fear in his children's eyes.
The two got up from their seats and followed him into their mother's hospital room. It was small and cramped and reminded her too much of the closets back home.
In bed, with bandages wrapped around her skull, sat Linore Windroe - the most gorgeous pegasus in the world.
Usually, Elspeth loved to see her mother, but on such a day, it felt like being at a funeral.
"Hello, love," she stretched a hoof out to Hartwig. "Where are we?"
"The hospital, Linny," he reminded her. "You needed that… operation."
"I did?" She asked shakily. "Did it go well?"
"Swimmingly."
Elspeth and Elliot quickly exchanged nervous glances.
Linore's wings flapped absentmindedly. Hartwig shot her a glare and she immediately stopped the action.
"Remember, my love, the doctor says that you can't fly again."
"I can't?" Linore asked. "Why?"
"The surgery to help your brain be happy again messed with your motor skills," Hartwig said, condescendingly. "You could hurt yourself."
Linore nodded and mumbled an "I remember" under her breath. Then, she turned to Elliot and Elspeth.
"Who've you brought with you?"
"You remember our darling children, don't you?"
"Of course, our little Elsa, and my darling Ezra. My eldest, my pride and joy."
Elliot froze.
"It's Elliot, my dear," Hartwig chided. "You remember what happened a few years back… Ezekiel passed away. He was very ill."
"Oh, he did?" She asked shakily. "Well, at least I have my dearest little Elsa here, don't I?"
Elspeth tensed and swung her tail nervously.
"Her name is Elspeth, Linny," Hartwig explained. "Not Elsa."
"Oh my, simple mistake to make."
"Indeed." Elspeth fidgeted with her pearls.
"What remarkable jewels," Linore stared blankly at her daughter. "You'll wear them a lot, I imagine."
"Honestly?" She asked. "No, I'm really scared... I mean, what if mother doesn't recognise us... what if she doesn't remember anything? What if she can't do anything for herself?"
She found herself getting incredibly wound up. Then, she went back to fidgeting with her pearls.
(It's a new arc I'm using to sort of have an ongoing story between asks. That way, they feel a little more connected. It's just a flashback to Elspeth's youth).
(It's a new arc I'm using to sort of have an ongoing story between asks. That way, they feel a little more connected. It's just a flashback to Elspeth's youth).
Elspeth wandered through her personal library. There were books upon books upon books. Her eyes scanned every spine, when she saw one that stood out to her like a sore thumb.
It was one that she hadn't seen in years, and one that she had tried to lock away in her memory.
Yet, feeling drawn to the album, she stepped closer. Her horn lit up with silvery magic and levitated it off of the shelf. It then sat down on the table, and was open to a page that she remembered well - the day that she started to lose her mother.
In an instant, the mare's eyes fluttered open, and she was sat beside a rather frail looking unicorn colt in a hospital. His tired eyes switched from her to the floor and back again constantly.
She was reliving one of her worst memories and going through it all over again.
"You okay there, Elsy?" He asked timidly.
"Of course," she sat herself up straight. "Why wouldn't I be, Elliot?"
"Well, I can do various levitation spells..." She lifted several dense books. "I can do some minor elemental manipulation charms, a couple transfiguration spells, and I've also done some alchemy before, you know? Turned lead into gold. All that stuff."
"I can-I can make stuff float! And, and turn an apple into an orange!" Ciero excitedly said. He then lifted up a rock that looked as if it had a bite taken out of it. "And I turned this into an apple. Octavian took a bite out of it, though..."
Octavian rubbed his lower jaw. "Warn a colt next time!"
"As for me, well..." Elspeth's horn lit up and a vast array of sparks flew from her horn. It looked like a fireworks display, without the danger or smoke.
:0 what kind of magic can Zephyr and Octavian do? ‘cuz they’re in the big boy advanced classes! •̀.̫•́✧ *smug*
Octavian burst out laughing. "I can't do magic. I'm in Advanced flying."
To emphasise his point, he flapped his wings.
"We usually do pretty advanced maneuvers. Stuff like Pugachev's Cobra, Kulbit, and the Herbst Maneuver," He listed. "And I've heard, in the final exam, we can attempt to break the sound barrier."
Zephyr lifted three separate heavy books.
"As for my advanced classes, we cast complex transfiguration spells, elemental manipulation, and even begin to develop skills in the mental areas - that's right, telepathy and being able to sense emotional auras," Zephyr smiled proudly. "Also, there are some small necromancy spells that I have been working on for my final project. It's a study on a spell we have not been taught in class."
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