Keywords: Transformation, Magic Species: Unicorn The Princess and the Unicorn By Wolphin Natasha had a hectic week and didn't remember her new book until Friday evening. Normally, she would have been out partying but after this week, she just wasn't in the mood. All she wanted to do was stay at home and relax. "What I need is a good book," she thought. Then she thought about the book she had found in Demetri's second-hand shop a few days before. It took her a few moments to remember where she had left it, but then something clicked and she retrieved it from its temporary home on the floor between the chair and the telephone. She turned up the heater and snuggled into the chair to read. The book held great promise. Thick, leather-bound with gold embossing and an ornate seal on the cover. She was amazed it only cost her $12, but she knew Demetri, who owned the store, deliberately mismarked books to try and entice more people into the shop. She randomly flicked through a few pages before opening it to the first story. Unfortunately it wasn't what she had in mind. The first story was about an evil king turned into an ogre. No one of her favourite topics. She skipped to the second story. This one was a rehashed Greek myth about the minotaur. Still not what she has in mind. Natasha idly flipped through the pages, stopping here and there to read a paragraph or two. Still nothing inspired her. As she was turning yet another page, the words "...the Princess swapped hands and delivered a distinctly unlady-like left cross to the would be assassin and felled him with a single blow." This was more like it. She quickly skipped back a few pages to the beginning of the story. It was titled "The Unicorn, the Princess and a Good Left Hook." "This story was definitely written with me in mind," she thought with a grin. Picturing herself practising her black belt on hooded assassins, she settled down to read... Princess Mysteria was bored. She could beat her swordmaster blindfolded while holding off her hand-to-hand combat trainer at the same time. The King's master thief had run out of techniques for her to learn and her etiquette teacher had left, convinced that the Princess was perfect. The king's advisors had run out of advice to give her and she knew the running of the kingdom from boarder to boarder. The Captain of the guard had convinced the King to forbid her from training with them after she disabled almost an entire squad. In short, she had nothing to do. At this point in time, she was attempting to get from one side of the Great Hall to the other without touching the floor. Something she had tried numerous times in the past, but was always disturbed. Today was quiet, with hardly a soul around, much better for solo gymnastics. "It isn't I disliked doing the standard princess things," she thought. "Its just that they're no challenge, I'm too good at them" This was true. She had mastered the art of making tapestries before her eleventh birthday. She was an accomplished lute player on her twelfth and knew everything about the affairs of state by her thirteenth. The King was at a loss what to do with her. He couldn't fault her in anyway, so he encouraged her to tackle new obstacles whenever she could. This partially explained why she was now hanging from a chandelier in the Great Hall. Her first activity was to master the art of hand-to-hand combat. Mysteria thought this was a necessary skill, as most of her forebears had not died in their beds. Within a matter of months she was regularly beating her instructor. She began fencing and improved her horseriding skills. Once those were mastered she took lessons from the King's personal thief, artisans and chefs. Whatever she tried, she conquered in a matter of months. She was now nearing her twenty first year and challenges were looking thin. "What a need is a man," she mused. She had looked at the neighbouring princes, but they didn't have what it took. Prince Alfred almost past out from shock when she showed him how good she was with a cross bow. She smiled as she remembered the look on her face. It was just then she heard the noise. It wasn't a loud noise, it wasn't the sound of anything wrong, it just didn't sound like anything right. Cat-like she dropped from the rope she was holding and lightly landed on the floor. She paused for a moment, playing the noise over in her mind. Suddenly realisation shook her and she ran to one of the doorways. Pausing only to grab a ceremonial sword from a suit of armour she disappeared into the gloom. The passage was full of shadows, but this did not slow Mysteria at all. She knew this passage like she knew all of the castle and was unhesitant as she ran across the stones. Several seconds later she slowed and cautiously slid her head around the nearest corner. It was just as she suspected. A few metres down the hall was the entrance to her father's private office. Three hooded men stood by the entrance and two of his personal guards lay on the floor. As she thought, the sound she heard was the sound of an unconscious body being stealthily lowered to the floor. Within seconds Mysteria had formed a plan of action. With a blood curdling battle cry she stepped round the corner and launched herself at the attackers. Natasha quietly chuckled at the mental picture of Mysteria doing her Braveheart impression. The first two attackers never had chance. One fell to a impressive kick in the groin, the second faired a little better and recovered just enough from her knee in the stomach to pass out from being hit on the back of the head by the sword pommel. The third man managed to draw his sword. Mysteria never hesitated and met his feeble attack with a bone jarring swing of her own. While their swords were locked, the Princess swapped hands and delivered a distinctly unlady-like left cross to the would be assassin and felled him with a single blow. She side-stepped his falling body and moved into the room. A fourth man lunged at her with his sword. She easily parried the blow and used her momentum to execute a high kick to his head. She didn't even see the man fall, but rather headed straight for her Father's desk. A fifth man arose from behind it as she approached and started upon seeing her. She noticed he wasn't dressed like the others. The Princess strode purposefully towards the man, his eyes widened in fear and he muttered something under his breath. Then, with a loud pop he vanished. "Damn magic user," Mysteria thought and quickly moved to the desk. Lying on the floor on the other side was her father, skin pale and eyes glazed over. The acrid smell of spell components still lingered in the air. Mysteria almost cried as she realised there was nothing she could do. For the remainder of the afternoon she operated on automatic. She organised the guards as they arrived - making them conduct a full sweep of the building for any other intruders. She then called for the King's mage, who arrived and confirmed that it was indeed a spell and a powerful one at that. Luxtor, the mage was a close friend of the Princess and quickly deduced she was more deeply affected than the others realised. To help ease her pain he invited her back to his laboratory as he analysed the spell. Mysteria enjoyed Luxtor's lab and regularly visited it. She had often tried to convince him teach her magic, but her refused saying that she was too young to learn. It was one of the few areas where she was not skilled. She sat numbly on a chair as he began consulting thick texts and running tests. She was vaguely aware of him mumbling to himself. "... Um that's interesting, I wonder if...", seemed to be one of his favourites. Along with "Yes, I thought so". Natasha smiled at the thought of the bumbling wizard as it reminded her of the way Demetri behaved when he was searching for an obscure reference in an even more obscure book. Eventually, Luxtor lent back on his stool. "I've got it", he said triumphantly. "But its not good." Mysteria snapped out of her daze. "What?" she said. "I know what the spell is," Luxtor repeater. "And how to counter act it." "How?" "Well, the spell is too complicated for me to lift," he began. "And indeed, I doubt any human could remove it successfully. Who ever this man was, he must of been good." Mysteria listened to him continue to mumble about what the other mage must of done, before interrupting with "But you said you know how to counter it." "Oh, yes. Countering it is not a problem. Quite easy in fact," the mage said. "Well...?" "Well," Luxtor began slowly. "All you need is a unicorn to remove the magic from his body." "What!" "A unicorn." Luxtor explained. "Everyone knows how a unicorn's horn can be used to remove poison. Well, it can also be used to remove certain types of magic. The magic used on your father is similar to a slow acting poison, therefore a unicorn should be able to remove it quite easily." "So," began Mysteria. "You're telling me all I need to do is get a unicorn in here?" "Essentially, yes." "Not a problem," she replied. "Where does one find themselves a unicorn around here." "Hold on my dear," protested Luxtor. "It isn't that simple. Firstly, you do not find a unicorn, it finds you. Secondly you need to be deserving and not motivated by other means. Although, in this case I believe that you and your father are both deserving." "So, where's the problem," she replied. "Um... yes... well," faltered the ageing mage. "I see your point. And I see you have made up your mind and since I know you, I also know that you can not be stopped. You go and rest now and I shall inform the advisors of your decision." The Princess smiled triumphantly, then felt the burden of the day wash over her. She bid Luxtor goodnight and made the way to her bedroom where she was soon asleep. Back in New York, Natasha who by now, was sympathetic to the Princess's cause, bid Mysteria a silent goodnight. When the Princess awoke the castle was alive with activity. The Captain of the Guard offered her his best squad to escort her. She politely declined saying that she could travel faster on her own and he begrudgingly agreed. Her mount, Brutus, was ready and waiting by the castle gate, Luxtor offered her a few words of advice and she urged her horse out of the gate and began her quest. Luxtor told her she probably would not need to go far, not to take any risks and that finding the unicorn would mean being in the right place at the right time. With this in mind, she directed Brutus off the path and into the forest. The first day they travelled away from civilisation, not worrying about a final location. Just before nightfall they came across a slight clearing, with a small stream trickling along one side. "This looks like as good a place as any," said Mysteria to Brutus. "We'll camp here." With the light fading, she quickly established a small camp and had started a small fire going. She tethered Brutus to a nearby tree and settled down to a meal and then prepared her bed for the night. Sometime after midnight she suddenly awoke. Something was not right. Wide awake now, she stared around the dimly lit clearing wondering what she hear. Then without warning there was a terrible roar. Brutus gave a whinny of terror and fell to the ground. With a shock Mysteria realised some beast was attacking. In her living room Natasha give a sudden yelp as a cramp struck her leg. With a start, she realised she had been sitting in the same position for over an hour and her body was complaining. Laying the book on the table, she stiffly stood up and began massaging her leg. Things were not going well for the Princess. The beast had delivered the horse an almost certain blow and was now heading for the princess. She tried to take up a defensive position, but the beast was enraged and powered through her sword play. Natasha feverishly read through the lines of text detailing the ensuing battle. The princess was quick and skilled, but the beast had the stamina and strength, eventually the princess began to falter. Mentally skipping ahead, Natasha began to wonder when the unicorn would show up. There wasn't much of the story left and things were looking grim. At the same time, she continued to massage the cramp. It had slackened off somewhat, but was still quite noticeable. In fact, not her other calf muscle was also beginning to hurt. She pulled up her training pants to have a close look. Everything looked fine, but it was really hurting now. Not painful, but very noticeable. She continued to massage the area. Then, with a shock she realised her wrists and fingers were beginning to stiffen. She held up her hands for a closer inspection and as she watched, her fingers fused together into two distinct halves. Somewhat alarmed by this, she looked at herself in the mirror on the wall. On her forehead there was a noticeable white lump forming. As she watched in silence, it grew and twisted into a single, white straight horn. Once the horn stopped growing, other changes ran through her body. Her hands finished forming into cloven hooves as did her feet. Her legs reshaped themselves and she fell forward onto her newly formed front legs. Her neck and stomach grew, then her face pushed itself forward , moving her eyes to the sides. Her ears slid up her head and a tail grew from her rapidly reforming back. Finally, a fine layer of white hair grew all over her new body and it was complete. For a few moments a somewhat bewildered unicorn stood in a New York apartment. Then one of the walls shimmered and faded away, revealing a darkened forest. Without hesitating, the unicorn stepped forward into its realm. Nearby, the sounds of a dying battle could be heard. Somehow the unicorn knew that someone was in need of its assistance. Mysteria has almost given up all hope. Her head was bleeding from repeated blows and her body felt as if a tree had fallen on it. The beast was also bleeding, but continued to fight with inhuman strength. Suddenly, and without warning, the sound of a horse's battle cry rang out. The beast stopped in its attack of the Princess and turned around. Behind it was the most beautify thing Mysteria had ever seen. On a slight ridge over looking the camp site, a unicorn was rearing and pawing the air. Its horn radiated a brilliant white, illuminating the clearing. The beast took one look and ran off in the opposite direction. The unicorn dropped onto all fours and pranced into the clearing. The light from its horn dimmed, but did not go out. It first approach Brutus and dipped its horn to his forehead, as Mysteria watched, his wounds closed and healed, not even leaving a scar. The unicorn the approached the Princess. Standing in front of her, it paused for a moment, then slowly it dipped its horn to her forehead. Mysteria gasped as the healing magic flowed through her body. Her wounds closed and the bruises disappeared. She felt incredibly calm and relaxed, but invigorated at the same time. The unicorn let Mysteria sit for a moment, then spoke directly into the Princess's mind. "Come child, I believe your father needs my assistance." With that it turned and with Mysteria following, began to walk to the castle. Back in New York, the scene of the forest faded as the unicorn left the clearing and slowly solidified back into a solid wall. The open book on the table suddenly flipped shut and the seal on the cover began to glow. With a soft pop and a small flash of light it disappeared...