Riftgard was an island full of fjords, mountains, forests, and beaches, ruled by a Pure Ferret named King Agarnu. Agarnu and his two children, Princess Kurda and Prince Blad, were white with pink eyes. They had hundreds of slaves to do their bidding.
Slumping down on the purple cushions of his shell ornamented throne, Agarnu glared out over his gross stomach, which extended right up to his many chins. His false leg, carved from the white bone of some great fish, clicked against the floor, a dreadful reminder of an ill-fated voyage to Mossflower with his father Sarengo. Agarnu had been the only creature to make it back from that trip alive.
The peace of his throne room was shattered when Prince Blad came hurtling in, yelling and wailing, "Dadda, stop Kurda, she come after me vit der sword!"
Blad scrambled behind the throne as Princess Kurda bounded in, swinging her sword.
Agarnu glared at his daughter. "Stop dis fightink, you 'ear me, Kurda. Now, vot you got to say for youself, eh?'
"She was trying to kill me again!" Blad said from behind Agarnu's chair.
"I didn't do nottink to him!" Kurda snapped. "He's just making up tales about me to get me in trouble!"
A rat came in. He was Captain Riftun, head of Agarnu's rat army. Agarnu eyed him curiously. "Yar, Riftun, vot is it?"
The captain saluted with his spear. "Captain Plug Firetail and his Freebooters have returned. They've got a unicorn with them, just like you wanted."
Agarnu said, "Tell der Freebooters to anchor in de bay an' bring de unicorn up here."
A few minutes later, Captain Plug and twenty of his crew members came in, dragging Fahari with them. "Good vork, Plug," said Agarnu. "You can go now, I vant to talk to dis unicorn alone. Ve'll talk 'bout your reward later."
The pirates withdrew. Agarnu heaved himself to his feet and grasped Fahari by the foreleg.
"What do you want with me?" cried the frightened Fahari. Princess Kurda looked at her in sullen hatred. Otherwise, she gave no indication that she saw anything unusual transpiring. It was as though an alicorn were a daily visitor at Riftgard Fortress.
"Come vith me," grunted Agarnu. He pulled Fahari toward a door at the back of the room.
"Wait!" cried Fahari. "If you do not harm me, my mother will reward you fabulously!"
"Silence!" growled the ferret. "Ve haf no need for any rewards. Our hills are filled vit gold. Now come!"
He led her toward the doorway. Within the other room all was dark, but Agarnu moved as one accustomed to the place. At last, he reached the far side of the long chamber. "Here!" he said, and turned on the light.
Fahari found herself staring at a stone statue of a ferret who looked just like King Agarnu. "Who is that?"
"He's mine father," said Agarnu. "King Sarengo. He used to be alive, but he got turned to stone. I vant you to change him back."
"I don't understand," Fahari said.
Agarnu began to explain. "Long time ago, mine father vent on a plunderin' voyage aboard his big ship, der Seafang, crewed by lots o' Ratguards. I was taken along, too. I didn't vant to go, but Father forced me. He had a map vith a plan to raid some place called Redvall, said he slew some corsair vermin to get it. He said it vas a big red castle in de middle of Mossflower Voods, vit many fine tings, magic swords, valuable tapestries an' big bells. Ve vere going to steal everyt'ing ve could find, und make der Redvallers into out slaves. Only trouble vas, ve neffer got dere."
"Thank goodness for that," said Fahari.
Agarnu glared at the interruption, then went on. "Ve vere travelling t'rough Mossflower ven ve vere attacked by a creature dat looked like a snake vit de head of a rooster. Von look at its eyes turned mine father und all our rat soldiers to stone. I myself vas able to avoid being turned to stone, but der creature bit off my leg. Anyvay, I escaped vit my life, und de statue of my father. De odders I had to leave. Dey've probably crumbled to pieces by now. Vell, ven I got back home, I did some research, looking t'rough many of my very old books, trying to find out vot dat monster vas called. And I discovered it vas called a cockatrice, und it was from Equestria, de very same country dat I'm guessing you hail from, since you're a pony."
"But what does all this have to do with me?" Fahari asked.
"De only cure for a creature dat's been turned to stone by a cockatrice is a touch from de horn of an Einhorn."
Fahari knew "Einhorn" was the German word for unicorn. "So, you want me to heal your father?"
"Dat's right," said King Agarnu.
Fahari shook her head. "You know, I don't think I will."
"Vy not?" he cried.
"Because your father sounds like a badbeast. He wanted to plunder Redwall and take the animals there as slaves. I've been to Redwall, and it's a lovely place. The Redwallers are the kindest creatures anywhere. I won't bring your father back so that he can harm them."
Agarnu took her by the shoulders and started shaking her. "You'll do as I say!"
Fahari struggled to get away from him. She jerked her head forward, and her horn pierced his breast.
A single shriek broke from the lips of the king. It was high and shrill.
Again and again, Fahari plunged her horn into his heart, until she knew beyond peradventure of a doubt that her enemy was forevermore powerless to injure her. Then she sank, exhausted and trembling, upon the floor beside the corpse.
"Hey, vot's going on in dere?" Princess Kurda called from the other room. She headed towards the doorway of the room Fahari was in.
Fahari used telekinesis to slam the door and lock it, but not before Kurda had seen her father's body.
With a shriek of rage, Kurda rushed to collect her father's Ratguards. "Mine father has been slain by das Einhorn!" she shouted at the top of her voice.
Fahari looked around the room. There was a window, but it was too small for her to climb through. There was no other way out.
"Well, looks like I'm trapped," she said to herself, "but by George, I intend to go down fighting."