01-27-2025, 07:38 PM
Running. Sprinting. Fleeing.
The forests were on fire. The branches whined and cracked above him as he ran through the flames. The embers on the forest floor threatening ever step to be his last. He reared; pointing his horn with his head in wild instinct as a tree fell before him and crashed into the earth. It was devastation. Their wood, a sacred wood, which had stood for likely thousands of years, was now being ruined and torn apart.
While his family and other members of the herd ran together, or ran sometimes back into the flames to save the common animal- Devereux did no such thing. He didn't even think twice about running ahead and leaving the fairies behind. The same fairies that would braid his mane and groom his coat. He would sit for long hours and allow them to preen him, a task that they both mutually enjoyed.
If he was to live, which he was sure he must, Devereux had to flee. He was still young, only a spry stallion of 6 years. A life of glory ahead of him- one that might fit him a King sooner than he thought should his father not survive the flames.
These were not thoughts on his mind, though. Only running, jumping, fleeing from the flaming wood. He would worry about the kingdom of unicorns when he made it out alive.
He halted, the fiery depth of the trees roaring to block his path. The unicorn skidded on his hooves, sliding slightly as they tried to make a decent enough purchase into the ground. His long tail whipped around in frustration and fear. He turned to try and run around, but the trees cried out an eerie and nerve-wracking sound. Like the wood itself was screaming out in pain.
The Prince looked up, gazed at the flaming tree falling down on him and moved to avoid it.
There was a slam.
And then there was darkness.
When Devereux opened his eyes, the familiar sounds of the glen tickling his ears. A strange thing, to die in one's own dream but, at first, he thought it the only explanation. The stallion raised his head from the tall grass and peered over it. Tiny white wildflowers made his nose twitch in frustration. The prince batted at them with his head before pushing them down with a well placed hoof.
He snorted as a pain shot through his lungs. A stinging pain, something that made it hard to breath for just a moment. The beast couldn't help but offer a smell at himself, a brief look-over to make sure he was alright. Ash still clung to his coat. Was this smoke in his lungs?
There was a deep, sinking feeling in his chest- one that only grew upon further inspection of the field he woke up in. This wasn't anywhere close to home. Though he was in no cage, nor in the care of any magical beings- so how exactly had it made it here? Devereux couldn't at all remember and any attempt to seek it out of his mind only made his head hurt.
As he tried to stand, he noticed quickly that there wasn't any feathering on his legs anymore. It was like he had been shaved or trimmed. His face immediately soured- absolutely appalled that someone would mess with his perfect beauty in any way. The unicorn snorted in anger, his tail swishing in response- causing him to feel the long hair that would have been much further down.
He turned his body into a circle to look at his shortened tail- a surprised and distressed whinny announcing himself onto the glade.
“MY WORD...!” He called out, his voice, thankfully to him, remaining the same as it was.
WHO in god's name would maim the perfection that was the natural form of his kind!?
He tried to inspect his tail for any sign that it had been chopped up or damaged, yet it looked... strangely like a normal horse tail.
There was a silence. A small stilling of his nerves as the realization slowly crept into his brain. The world almost stilled for a moment in preparation before he-
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-
He whinnied loudly, emotions flooding his body. Surely it wasn't true, right?
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