Molly the Unicorn
by Neoraichu
This story is based on the Movie, the Last Unicorn.
The story proceeds up to this point in the same way as the book, so there's no need to retell the whole thing. Unicorn leaves forest to find others, runs into farmers and butterflies, get caught by Mommy Fortuna and her traveling circus, gets rescued by Schmendrick the Wizard, they run into thieves in the woods, meet Molly Grue, they begin traveling together. I hope I missed nothing important.
...
Amalthea, Molly and Schmendrick travelled through the woods in search of King Haggard's castle.
"Human," said the unicorn, "Why do you call me Amalthea?"
The Wizard looked back as he commented, "Well... we humans like to name things. Why do you call yourself a unicorn?"
"That name... It was given to our kind by... humans."
"When a human names something, it becomes more familiar to them... and everyone else who knows that name," he continued, "We have names for just about everything. Generic names. Categorical names. Personal names. We name our cities and streets to know where we are. We name animals so we know what we're looking at even if we've never seen that animal other than a brief description in a text book."
"It sounds very complicated."
"Basically, it is. It's the nature of humans to be... pretty complicated."
Molly nodded as she listened.
"You are Amalthea. You are a unicorn. You are a quadruped. You are undulate. You are artiodactyla..."
"Stop!" protested the unicorn, "How can all of those names be mine?!"
"That's how humans... organize their world."
"It's too complicated if you ask me," muttered Molly.
Schmendrick shrugged.
"Wait," said Amalthea as she paused to look around, "I smell something... feel something... something that's scaring me..."
The sky itself seemed to turn red, and the very air felt as if it might burst into flames. A huge flaming bull of terrifying proportion stepped forth from the trees.
"What is that thing?!" called Molly.
"A beast not of this world!" retorted the wizard.
The Red Bull seemed to be so confident of itself. It acted as if Molly and Schmendrick were no threat to it at all. Molly stayed back in the woods, and Schmendrick was in no hurry to confront the Red Bull himself. The beast seemed hellbent on approaching the unicorn.
The battle, if you could even call it that, was not going well, all things considered. In fact, the giant flaming monster of a bull was herding the unicorn like some kind of docile horse. For some reason, she had no will to fight it.
Schmendrick couldn't see Molly back in the forest at the moment, but he sure could hear her crying and screaming. "Fight back!" she hollered, "You have to fight back!" He could hear ever ounce of her helplessness and frustration. It wasn't like she had a weapon of her own to use.
He considered casting a spell, but they almost never did what he wanted. Hell, he didn't even try to produce a controllable result with his magic. But on the other hand, he carried no weapon either.
"Schmendrick!" screamed Molly, "Do something! Do something with your magic!"
He decided to cast a spell even if it was just to get Molly to stop screaming at him. Raising his hand high and gesturing pointlessly at the unicorn and the Red Bull, he began the familiar chant, "Magic Magic, do as you will!" A phrase he repeated over and over as he felt the magic well up inside of him. The very air around him distorted as the power built up. He was never quite sure when he had the right amount of magic ready, so he deduced it was always better to overdo it than under-do it. Waves and ripples of energy shot forth from his outstretched hands towards the Red Bull and the unicorn...
...and nothing happened. The Red Bull had knocked down Amalthea and stared down upon her with its burning red eyes, as if they were the embodiment of hatred itself. Schmendrick was crest fallen. It had been so long since he cast a spell and had nothing happen at all...
...until he heard an inhuman snort and something paw at the ground. It was not the Red Bull nor the unicorn. He looked around, and came nearly face to face with... another unicorn? He deduced that he must have summoned another unicorn from wherever they were imprisoned, so he bowed to the beast and introduced himself.
"Greetings gentle unicorn," he said as he tried to make himself seem taller and more statuesque, "You stand before Schmendrick the Great."
Much to his surprise, the other unicorn completely ignored him. It rushed forward and attacked the massive Red Bull. "Mess with the unicorn," it cried, "you get the horn!" The voice sounded oddly familiar for some reason. It was probably the din of battle playing tricks with his ears.
The Red Bull was completely taken aback by the second unicorn and it's aggressive stance. Where it was dominant and pushy before, it was now falling back before the second unicorn's furious assault. It weaved and sidestepped to avoid the stabbing attacks of the second unicorn's horn.
He turned to the woods and shouted, "Molly! Molly! See what my nighty magics have done!" She was no where to be seen. Perhaps the poor waif fled in terror from the horrid beast and the spell he had just cast. He would not blame her if she did. He was sure she would come back when things had calmed down. Sometimes his magic was so mighty that he intimidated himself.
Turning back to the battle, he watched as the Red Bull actually retreating. The second unicorn did not pursue the horrid beast, but instead went to Amalthea to nuzzle her and get her back on her feet.
Now that the battle was over, he saw the oddities in the second unicorn: The blood red mane, the piercing blue eyes and the golden horn. He was pretty sure that wasn't what he thought they were supposed to look like. On the other hand, he had never seen a real unicorn before Amalthea, and he was sure that every unicorn did not look the same.
He confidently strode across the field as he prepared to introduce himself for the second time.
"I am the Great..." he started.
"Oh shut it," snapped the second unicorn, "I heard you blow your own horn the first time!"
It suddenly dawned upon him like a gold brick wrapped in lemon peel smacking him in the side of the head. With a sudden gasp, it dawned upon him as he asked "Molly? Is that you?"
"Well," she snorted back, "I'm not the Queen of England!"
"Holy..." he said, not daring to finish the phrase. "It is you! I turned you into a unicorn... No, the Magic turned you into a unicorn!"
"You fought for me," interrupted Amalthea, "You fought because you still have the courage and spirit you held as a human. Thank you so much. I will always be in your debt."
He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Molly blush at the praise. Could a unicorn blush?
"It was nothing," said Molly, "nothing at all. I just couldn't stand by and do nothing. I just couldn't. I'm just so happy that you are all right."
"You may have driven away the Red Bull for now," warned Schmendrick, "but I'm sure it will come back again tomorrow."
"I'll fight it off again tomorrow!" snorted Molly, "I don't care how long it takes! Maybe I'll get lucky and wound it bad enough that it won't come around again!"
"Oh Molly," sighed Amalthea, "you are my hero. My champion."
Now he was sure that Molly blushed.
"Don''t get cocky," sighed Schmendrick, "I'm sure that there's a lot more we have to do before we can find the other unicorns and save them from the Red Bull."
"I still don't care," said Molly, "this is the first time I've got a cause to fight for. I have more than a passing interest in this matter now. I've always wanted to see a unicorn... and now I am a unicorn! I will do whatever it takes to protect Amalthea and save the other unicorns! This I swear by the power of this horn!"
"Oh Molly," sighed Amalthea, "I can not ask you to do this. You have done so much for me already, yet you hardly even know me. We are practically strangers who met by chance. Why risk so much on my behalf?"
"Because there is no animal, no beast, no creature in the world more beautiful than a unicorn," blurted out Molly. "They are pure and untainted by the rest of the world. The world is so dark and gloomy without unicorns like you in it. Even if every reason I have is selfish, I must help you save the rest of the unicorns in the world even if it's just to see all of their beauty with my own eyes."
"All the unicorns in the world are not as beautiful as the kindness in your heart, Molly Grue, and don't you ever forget that." An awkward silence befell the three of them as Amalthea and Molly looked deeply into each others eyes.
"Well," interrupted Schmendrick, "If the love fest is over, can we get on with business?" The way the two unicorns suddenly glared at him, he wondered if looks really could kill. "Hey," said Schmendrick quickly, "I kid you. I'm such a kidder. Really. Please don't kill me."
"Oh I have no intention of killing you," said Molly, "we still might need that magic of yours for something."
"Great," he replied, "I feel so much better now." He hoped that didn't come off sounding like sarcasm.