The Last Unicorn has always been one of my favorite movies. The finale has always been breathtaking for me, and for a long time I've wanted to try writing it in my own way (I have read the book, but that was a while ago).It may not make much sense for someone who hasn't seen the movie. I'll include some quick background.
King Haggard has command over the Red Bull. The bull gathered every unicorn in the world for King Haggard, and kept them trapped in the sea. Only one unicorn escaped the Red Bull's notice. She learns that the rest of her fellows have been taken, and goes on a quest to find them. Schmendrick and Molly accompany her.
Schmendrick is a rather bad magician. But he did manage to turn the last unicorn into a woman, Lady Amalthea, to protect her from the bull. Unicorns don't feel love or regret, but now this one can. And she falls in love with Prince Lir, Haggard's adopted son. This scene takes place as their group discover where to go to rescue the unicorns. Except the Red Bull finds them first.
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Unicorns in the Sea
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Fiery red light flared off the dark walls, making the stone glow as a tunnel of fire. Molly threw up her arms, shielding her face from the scalding heat. "Schmendrick!"
Lir and Alamthea clung to each other as the flames brightened and solidified into a massive bull. He tossed his horns and ground his hoof across the stone floor. A low growl rose from deep in his chest. Saliva dripped from his fangs. They'd tricked him once, but this time he wasn't going to let his quarry escape. Lir stepped in front of Amalthea, shielding her. The bull's bellow sent stone crumbled from the ceiling.
"Molly, he knows!" Schmendrick shouted. "He knows!" Lir grabbed Amalthea's wrist, pulling her down the tunnel. Schmendrick pushed Molly ahead of him, and the four fled, dodging the falling stones that the bull's thundering hoofbeats dislodged.
Amalthea's foot caught on a rock and she fell, her hand pulling out of Lir's. "My ankle! Help!"
Lir spun around. "Amalthea!"
The bull was closing in. Schemndrick pushed Molly to the side as the beast thundered past them without a second glance.
Lir drew his sword, standing between the bull and the woman he loved. "Don't move!"
The bull glared at him. A tongue of flame shot from his blazing fur, engulfing the sword. Lir dropped it, clutching his burnt palm.
"She'll be killed!" Molly cried. Schemndrick held her back as the bull started toward Amalthea again.
"No!" Lir shouted, throwing his arms wide. The bull paused, confused. This was the son of the man he served. Not an enemy. He lashed his tail in frustration.
Schmendrick saw the bull's hesitation as his only chance. He stepped into the middle of the tunnel and held up his arms. The magic words poured from him. In the past they had always tripped up in his mind and played tricks on him. This time was different. This time he felt the true magic he needed to save his friends. Cool wind whipped through the tunnel, answering Schmendrick's call. The bull's flames flickered in the gust of magic.
"Lir," Amalthea said, her voice lost in the gale.
Schmendrick didn't notice Molly pulling at his sleeve. He was wrapped up in the spell of transformation. It surrounded Amalthea in a diaphanous web, carrying her to her feet. Her face lengthened and her hands sank down to the floor, narrowing into delicate cloven hooves. The beautiful young woman was gone, and a shining unicorn stood in her place.
"Amalthea!" Lir shouted.
The bull roared, finally seeing the unicorn he was bound to hunt. He charged. Lir threw himself to the side to avoid the flaming beast. The unicorn turned and fled. Ahead she spotted sky. She galloped for open air, leaving the tunnel behind. The castle loomed overhead, and the ocean stretched across the horizon. Her momentum carried her to the shore, where the bull pinned her against the sea. He grumbled in anticipation. The one unicorn that eluded him all these years was finally within his grasp. Her hoof touched the surf, but she reared and dodged to the side. The bull stayed on her heels.
Lir followed Schmendrick and Molly out onto the open beach. He cradled his burnt arm. "Do something! You have the power!" He advanced on Schmendrick. "I will kill you if you don't do something."
"I cannot. Not all the magic in the world can save her now."
The unicorn wheeled around, cornered against a cliff. The bull followed, not hurrying. He knew his prey couldn't escape.
"Then what is magic for?" Molly demanded. "What is the use of wizardry if it cannot even save a unicorn?"
Schmendrick met Lir's eyes. "That's what heroes are for."
Lir turned to see the bull bearing down, horns coming even with the fleeing unicorn. "Of course. That is exactly what heroes are for." He pushed Schmendrick aside and strode straight into the path of the unicorn and the bull. The unicorn swerved and Lir threw his arms wide, facing the stampeding bull.
"Nooo!" Molly cried, turning away in horror. Lir fell to the sand. His body made one reflexive move to rise, then lay still.
Overhead, King Haggard stared down from the balcony. He watched wordlessly as the son he'd raised fell dead to the sand.
No unicorn in the world had ever felt love. Until this one. She saw the man she loved, fallen as he tried to protect her. A fierce anger rose in her beautiful soul. Her horn glowed with a sharp, intense light and she reared, letting out a crystalline battle cry. She did what no other unicorn had ever been strong enough to do. Love and fury sent her charging forward, driving her horn toward the beast that had killed her prince. The red bull lowed in surprise, taking a step backward. He was a bully, and like all bullies, he didn't know what to do when someone stood up to him.
"She's attacking!" Schemdrick said, full of relief.
"She's fighting back!" Hope started to rise in Molly.
The bull backed away, driven by the unicorn. Their shadows crossed over the fallen form of Lir. The bull's hind hoof fell in the water, and he stood facing his delicate white adversary.
"Molly!" Schmendrick gasped, grabbing her shoulder and pointing to the sea.
At first Molly didn't see it. The waves rose and fell, foam gathering at their peaks and crashing back into the water. But was it foam? It seemed almost solid. And it looked like it had shape.
The bull's resolve crumpled. Frightened and confused, he turned and retreated into the sea. A wave crashed over him. And now it was clear that the waves weren't capped in foam, but in unicorns. Hundreds of them. As they saw their captor defeated, they rose up, riding the crests of the waves until the sea was thick with shining white fur and glistening horns. And as the red bull disappeared into the water, the unicorns broke onto the land. Finally, joyously free.
Molly and Schmendrick ran to Lir, and as the unicorns galloped to freedom, they parted around the humans. Molly threw herself over the prince. But though the shore was white with unicorns in every direction, none of them came near. They flew up the cliffside, hooves resonating in the stone, making it shiver and come apart. On the crag above, the castle started to quiver and shake. King Haggard watched aghast as his shining prisoners poured out of their watery prison. Stones fell from the parapets, and then the foundation began to crumble.
"The Last!" King Haggard bellowed. "I knew you were the last!" The tower cracked beneath his feet and he pitched down into the sea. The river of unicorns flowed past the castle, and the last of its walls broke from the cliffs and into the waves. The unicorns faded into the distance, dispersing back into the world they had so long been kept from.
Except for one unicorn. She stepped across the sand to where Schmendrick stood, his hat clutched in his hands. Molly knelt beside Lir, tears streaming down her face. The unicorn nuzzled Molly's cheek.
"Oh, you stayed," Molly sighed, turning to stroke the soft fur. "You stayed."
The unicorn looked down at her prince, sorrow filling her heart. She bowed her head and touched the tip of her horn to Lir's lips, her final kiss. Then she turned and stepped away.
Lir's eyes flickered open. "Father?" He asked, as though he was a child once more. Molly and Schmendrick watched, wonder and relief filling them as they saw their friend rise up.
"Father, I had that same dream." Then Lir gasped and put his hands to his head. "No, I was dead." Molly and Schmendrick helped him to his feet.
On the cliff above stood the unicorn. "I remember you. I remember." Lir looked up and the unicorn's eyes lingered on his. Then she turned and bounded away. Sorrow tore at her heart. She felt as no other unicorn had ever felt. It was a burden she would carry through her immortal life. Along with the knowledge that the unicorns were free, and the love for a kind, brave prince.