Renee, the Horse

Once upon a time there was a unicorn called Renee.

Renee was a unique unicorn, in that she didn't have a horn. In fact, she looked exactly like a regular horse. Her parents did not have horns, either, so many people believed that they were nothing but regular horses.

"No!" cried Renee to the cruel masses, "I AM a unicorn! I can prove it!"

She took off in a gallop towards the group of onlookers, who smiled at her spirit. She leapt, high in the sky, and came crashing down upon the doubting humans. They screamed and cried as she stomped on their heads and shattered their bones. With a malicious glint in her eye, and foaming at the mouth, she turned to the sole survivor of her rampage, who cowered in terror. "I'm sorry," he sobbed, "I believe you're a unicorn! Please spare me! I have a wife and children!"

Renee grinned a big, horsey grin at him, before delivering a swift hoof to his face. He crumpled to the ground, brain oozing out his eye socket, and Renee nodded in approval.

Renee is happily trotting away, very pleased with her actions. She swishes her head through the air and imagines the air slicing by her horn.

She hears a soft groan behind her, obviously gas escaping from the now decomposing corpses. She hears another, louder and starting to persist. She stops her trot and turns her shiny blue horse but around. Renee notices that one of the corpses is twitching. “Nerves?” She questions herself. “Surely he is dead… I turned his face to juice!” She’s still staring at the body, no longer really seeing it as she’s contemplating the cause of the movement and noise, so she doesn’t instantly click when the corpse starts to lift itself up.

"UNICORN BRAAAAAAINS"

A deep husky voice breaks through Renee's fog of contemplation, and her knees almost buckle as she notices the sea of shattered faces before her. The reanimated corpses begin ambling towards her slowly, reaching for her with misshapen hands. Heart racing, Renee found herself frozen in terror and unable to flee.

She hears another voice in the distance, "Renee! Zombies! Run for your life!"

She turns her head, and sees her mother whinnying and trotting side to side in panic, "Don't just stand there! Run! Follow me!"

She breaks into a gallop, and Renee soon follows suit. Catching up to her mother, heart in her throat and tears stinging at her big, horsey eyes, "Mummy? What happened to them?"

Flashing her a dark glance, her mother grunts, "Your delusions lead you to murder them in cold blood. Now they want revenge."

Renee gasps in horror, "Is there any hope for me? Will you help protect me?"

Her mother shakes her head, before sticking out one hoof and tripping Renee, who falls head over heels and crashes to the ground, panting. Terror overcomes her as she watches her mother gallop away in the distance.

Groaning in pain, Renee turns her eyes to the overcast sky as she hears the zombies move ever closer. Rain begins to fall, and she is soon soaked to the bone and covered in mud. Renee's heart sinks as she mulls over the cruelty of her mother.

She lifts her head and sees the zombies bearing down on her, albeit very slowly. Brains oozing out of their faces, and detached limbs falling to the ground, panic overcomes Renee as she realises she is about to meet her maker. She sighs, "All I ever wanted was for them to believe I was a unicorn, was that too much to ask?"

She lays her head back on the ground, accepting that her mistakes had lead her to demise. A bright light breaks through the clouds above, and Renee is momentarily blinded. As her eyes adjust, she spies a creature with a massive wingspan descending towards her. Thoroughly confused and head spinning, Renee loses consciousness.

As her eyes flutter open, she sees the ground flying past below. Deafened by the wind, and the flapping of large wings, Renee turns her head in order to ascertain the identity of her saviour. She realises that she is slumped across the back of a Pegasus; a handsome blonde man at the reins.

He notices her stirring, winks at her, and yells over the wind, "Glad to see you're doing okay!"

"Who are you?" Renee yells back.

He flashes her a grin, "I'm Jesse!"

Jesse laughs as he whips his flowing blonde hair in the breeze, "Angered some zombies, did ya?"

Renee doesn't respond. As they fly higher and higher, finally breaking through the clouds, she gasps as the sun catches Jesse's bare, muscular, rain-soaked chest. She is sickened by the sight; further cementing her dislike of humans.

Jesse laughs again, "Don't be silly! I'm no human! I'm a GOD!" The final word seemingly resonates through her body, and a chill runs down Renee's spine. She suddenly realises that Jesse read her thoughts.

"Interesting," Jesse mutters, as they start losing speed and descending towards a nearby cloudbank, "So, are you a unicorn or just a delusional horse?"

Renee would have shrugged if she was a person, "What does it matter? I don't know what to believe anymore."

Jesse smiles at her and runs his hand through her mane, as the majestic black Pegasus comes to rest upon the clouds, "Well, if you're a unicorn you'll be able to walk on these clouds. If you're a horse, you'll fall straight through to your death," his eyes turn black, "Punishment for being a liar."

Renee's breath catches in her throat as she realises the implication. What if she's not really a unicorn? She would surely die. Facing death twice in the same day was too much for Renee to handle, but she had no choice. Heart thumping, terror took over as Jesse lifted her off the back of Pegasus with his incredible strength, and lowered her towards the clouds.

Renee closes her eyes. Everything is moving in slow motion.

She doesn't really want to die. What if she's not really a unicorn and just a delusional horse? She killed so many people. It was justified if she was a unicorn, because they were doubting and mean. If she was a unicorn, however, it would be her wildest dreams come true. But why didn't she have a horn?

So many questions were spinning through her mind, and her heartbeat was deafening in her ears.

Her stomach dropped as she felt her hind hooves touch down on the clouds. Though Jesse was still propping her front half up, she could feel the clouds beneath her hooves. She was overcome with joy. She really was a unicorn! "Let me go!" She cried to Jesse, "It's okay! I really am a unicorn!"

He nodded and released her, and her stomach dropped as her front hooves passed straight through the clouds. Overcome with terror again, time slowed even further as she realised she was falling. Her head passed through the clouds, and her life flashed before her eyes.

She wanted to scream, but she couldn't make a sound.

Suddenly, she wasn't falling. Her lower half was caught on something. She twisted to look, and realised that her lower half was still in the clouds.

Confusion took over as the blood rushed to her head. The ground was spinning far below.

She heard a large thump of what she assumed to be the wings of the Pegasus above her. The enormous black creature soon burst through the nearby clouds, Jesse still at the reins.

He cocked his eyebrow as he looked at Renee, now struggling to find some way back up onto the cloud bank.

"Help me!" She cried, and Jesse laughed as he realised what had happened.

"Congratulations, you're a half-blood."

Not long later, Renee's upper half is propped up on the Pegasus, her lower half still standing on the clouds.

"This won't last forever!" She yells at Jesse, "I need to do something! Take me home!"

Jesse snaps his fingers and leaps off the Pegasus, "I've got an idea! Wait right here, I won't be long."

He sprouts gigantic silver wings from his back, and launches himself into the air, flying off into the distance.

Renee is dumbfounded. What use would a winged god have for a flying horse?

"It's purely for effect", Pegasus says slyly, scaring the living daylights out of Renee.

"Since when have you been able to talk?!" Renee shoots back, "I would have appreciated the conversation!"

Pegasus laughs at her, "I could smell you weren't a full-blood. I don't associate with mixed-blood magical creatures. I'm a pure-breed, you see..."

Renee scoffs at him, "Then why am I leaning on you?"

He turns his head to her, "You don't smell very good, but that doesn't mean you aren't pretty."

Renee goes wide-eyed, and is shocked into silence. What had just happened? Did the majestic Pegasus really find her pretty?

Glowing inside, she sees Jesse returning, and is thankful for the distraction.

"What's the news?" She asks Jesse, who touched down on the clouds, grinning widely.

"Well," he begins, "I'm going to take you to the unicorn king. He's going to give you a horn!"

Jesse helps Renee back onto Pegasus, and the three are soon soaring across the clouds, heading towards what appears to be an enormous castle. Renee whinnies in delight as they touch down, and she realises that there is stone at her feet. She struggles off Pegasus, and trots around excitedly before Jesse calms her and motions for her to follow him.

Renee nods, and the two leave Pegasus behind as they enter a large, wooden door into the Castle. They walk through winding hallways, and up many flights of stairs, before finally finding themselves standing in front of a magnificent white unicorn, a glimmering golden crown atop his horn.

"RENEE," the unicorn bellows, "I AM THE KING OF ALL UNICORNS! WHAT BRINGS YOU TO MY CHAMBERS?"

Genuflecting, Renee scrambles for words, "Your majesty, I am a mere half-blood unicorn. I wish to be able to gallop across the cloudbanks, and I believe you may have the power to grant me a horn and make me a fully-fledged unicorn."

"YOU ARE CORRECT," his voice echoes all around, "BUT FIRST, YOU MUST COMPLETE ONE SIMPLE TASK."

Renee stands up straight again, and looks at the King, "What task, your majesty? I will do anything."

Jesse goes wide-eyed as he reads the kings mind and realises what Renee must do. He attempts to make for the door, but the king sends out a bolt of electricity and Jesse screams as he is turned to ash.

Renee's heart begins pounding again, as she looks to the King.

"DO YOU SEE THAT?" The king asks her loudly, "ONLY UNICORNS MAY ENTER THIS CASTLE. THERE IS A PEGASUS THAT ARRIVED WITH YOU. KILL HIM, AND I WILL REWARD YOU WITH A HORN. FAIL, OR REFUSE TO DO MY BIDDING, AND I WILL KILL YOU BOTH MYSELF."

Renee nods, and exits the chamber, head reeling, knees on the verge of buckling. How many times would she face death today?

She took a deep breath and trotted back the way they had come, trying to keep her thoughts clear so that Pegasus may not read her mind and escape. She found him standing where they had left him, and as she looked him in the eye, she realised he knew what was coming.

He nodded, "Do what you must, but understand that the King of the Unicorns is a tyrant. I give you permission to kill me if becoming a unicorn means that much to you, but together we could also bring him down."

Renee nodded.

"He already killed Jesse, let's go make the bastard pay."

Pegasus nods and kneels, "Climb aboard, I have a plan."

Before long, they are soaring high above the castle, but Renee finds herself struck by a sudden fear, "Wait - the king isn't telepathic is he?" Pegasus shakes his head, "Not at all, he can sense the presence of other beings, but he can't pinpoint their location or their thoughts. As long as we stay within close proximity of the castle, he'll never know."

Renee, relieved, instead began pondering the plan of attack, "So," she began, "How do you propose we do this?"

Pegasus winked, "Element of surprise, of course!"

He came to a sudden halt in the air, and Renee went flying over his head towards the castle. Crashing through a wall, she found herself plummeting towards the Unicorn king in the middle of the room, and soon landed on top of him. He grunted in pain, and slumped to the floor beneath Renee. Pegasus flew in the newly-formed hole in the wall and landed nearby, "Renee? Finish him off!"

She winced as she got back to her feet, and looked at the pathetic, crumpled creature on the floor. She looked back at Pegasus, her conscience suddenly kicking in.

Pegasus urged her to go for it, "When he's dead you can steal his horn, and you will be the Queen of the Unicorns! Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Renee hesitated for a moment, saddened at having to take the King's life.

She soon realised, however, that Pegasus was absolutely right, and she stomped on the King's head, crushing his skull.

She took his horn, crown and all, in her teeth, and tore it off flesh and bone, before tossing it in the air, and feeling the rush of power as it connected with her skull, and became hers. The body of the king turned brown and grey, before turning to dust, and Renee swept around excitedly to look at Pegasus, who's eyes were gleaming as he watched Renee transform into a beautiful, white unicorn.

She walked towards him, and caught her reflection in his big, horsey eyes. She was amazed at how amazing she looked, "I should kill people more often! Today has been AWESOME!"

Pegasus nodded, and Renee looked at him longingly, "So where does this leave us? I can't thank you enough."

Pegasus laughed, "You aren't a filthy half-blood anymore! You are fit to be my bride!"

Realising that was the most misogynistic thing said to her all day, Renee would have normally been offended, but she was beautiful now, so she didn't care anymore. She threw all her morals out the window, and took Pegasus as her husband. They wedded in a beautiful cloud-top ceremony, and on their wedding night, after Pegasus had implanted her with his seed, they descended upon on the human realm below to exact revenge on Renee's mother for her betrayal, before wreaking havoc and destruction upon the humans.

And so, Renee, Pegasus, and their crazy winged unicorn spawn lived happily ever after.

THE END.