Boy, girl, and toad made their way through the woods led by the demon cat at the front.

“I can’t believe it,” Priscilla said, unable to hold back the excitement in her voice. “A real life unicorn!”

“Yep,” Mulock replied flatly. “And every unicorn guards a magical box containing the perfect gift for the opener’s beloved. All you have to do is get the item and you can give Frances a present that will impress her enough to never forget you.”

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t just use the fairy love dust,” Wheeler pointed out.

“Because love dust, love spells, or love potions of any kind should never be used under any circumstance ever,” Mulock answered sharply. “Trust me, when those things go wrong, all hell breaks loose.” His expression hardened. “It’s not like it's even worth it, either. Love is just a brief infatuation. Then it inevitably fades and leaves nothing but heartbreak.”

Wheeler let out a small snort of laughter. “Gosh, who hurt you, Mully?”

The cat bristled. “No one hurt me.”

“I don’t know,” Priscilla observed, jumping from stone to stone over the brook they were currently crossing. “That all seemed a little too specific to just be a hypothetical example.”

“You’re both kids, you couldn’t possibly understand,” Mulock muttered. “Right now romance is new and it seems like once you find your true love it will all just be sunshine and rainbows for the rest of your life. And then you’ll learn the truth.”

“Which is?” Wheeler asked, finally leaping from the final stone back onto the path.

“That no matter how in love you think you are, in the end, someone’s going to get hurt.”

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Mister Pumpernickel let out a small croak.

“That’s right,” Wheeler said, “Mister Pumpernickel already knows all about heartbreak. That lovely south Vetarian tree frog ended up picking a horned bullfrog over him. Even though he was the handsomest toad in the whole pond--”

“For the last time, no one wants to hear about Mister Pumpernickel’s romantic life!” Priscilla interrupted.

The underbrush was beginning to thin now, the terrain growing increasingly rocky. Wheeler glanced down, beginning to notice a slight sparkle and shimmer to the stones.

“We’re almost there,” Mulock observed. “You two ready?”

Priscilla’s golden curls bounced as she nodded excitedly. “Of course! I’m a beautiful young maiden! The unicorn is going to love me.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “Maybe it’ll let me ride it! The unicorn will become my best friend and we’ll go on magical adventures together and I’ll name her Glimmer Sparkle Sunshine!”

“Can I ride Glimmer Sparkle Sunshine too?” Wheeler asked eagerly.

“No,” Priscilla snapped. “Stay out of my unicorn fantasy.”

Wheeler’s shoulders sagged. “Oh. Okay.”

They approached a large cave now, its entrance made of glistening purple stones that sparkled in the sunlight.

“Whoa...” Wheeler breathed.

“So...pretty…” Priscilla whispered, her eyes going round as saucers.

Even Mister Pumpernickel let out an awestruck croak.

“Alright kids, off you go,” Mulock said. “Get that magical box. Chop-chop.”

They began to move forward when Wheeler suddenly felt Mulock’s tail brush against his leg, stopping him.

“Wait a minute before going in,” the demon murmured.

“Um...why?” Wheeler asked, confused.

“She’s got to be the one to open the box, remember?” Mulock relied with a wicked grin, winking at Wheeler as Priscilla entered the cave.

“Did you just...wink…?”

“Perhaps.”

“But why would you…?”

And that’s when Priscilla’s screech rang through the air, immediately followed by the frantic thrum of footsteps as she dashed out of the cavern’s entrance.

“HELP,” she shrieked, “THAT THING IS A MONSTER!”

And then the unicorn burst from the cave.

In that moment Wheeler instantly discovered that everything he thought he’d known about unicorns was horribly inaccurate. In place of a cute, shimmering pony was a horrific beast, rising at least nine feet above them. The creature was pitch black, its horn so sharp it looked like it could skewer a man. Anger flared in its red eyes, blazing like burning embers. As it charged towards them orange sparks flew up around its hooves, the creature’s mane a sea of roaring flames.

“What is that thing?!?” Wheeler squealed.

“Exactly what I said it was,” Mulock answered with a smirk, “a unicorn.”

“Why would you bring us to something like that?!?” Wheeler squeaked, beginning to feel rather faint as it continued to charge towards Priscilla.

“Wasn’t the plan to just kill her?”

“NO, THE PLAN WAS NOT TO KILL HER!”

“Oh.” Mulock thought for a moment. “Well in that case I may have made a slight error.”