Sophie watched the moon-washed fields, her eyes wide and full of wonder. How was it that her family had come into possession of such a magnificent creature? Exactly four horses stood grazing in the field, but the focus of Sophie’s eye was not one of the ordinary, though gorgeous, steeds but was instead the gleaming white mare with a single spiral of crystal sprouting from the middle of its forehead. Funny, Sophie thought, that no one else seemed to see the value of the creature. Even her parents found no value in the mare, and cast her off due to the poor animal's lame leg. As she watched, the mare started to walk forward; the once graceful stride was now slightly rocky on the left foreleg which was once broken and was now healed crookedly. Footsteps sounded out in the hall, making Sophie’s heart jump with nerves. She wasn’t supposed to be up at this time, and footsteps could only mean her parents were heading up, probably into their room for the night. Being as silent as she could, Sophie slid backwards off of the windowsill where she had was seated and onto her bed, slipping effortlessly between the sheets and feigning a steady, slow breathing pattern quite easily.

The creaking of the wood outside hesitated, just for a moment, and she had to fight her urge to hold her breath. The same thing happened very nearly every night, for Sophie rarely went to sleep when she was told. The unicorn captivated her, but nobody else seemed to see it, to Sophie’s disappointment and small relief. It was gratifying to have such a little pleasure that was all her own.

The moment passed and she heard the figure outside tap off down the hall, then a door softly closed. Sophie waited a moment before she quietly sat up once more, crawling over to the window again and peering out. The pure white mare had moved closer to the window now, and Sophie could now see the gold color to the unicorn’s eyes, matching the shade of the animal's mane and tail.

How could no one see the beauty of the mare, even if they refused to see the horn?  For a long time, Sophie simply watched. Then, on a spur, she slipped the latch of the window open and slid outside.

The room was on the second floor, but a tangle of vines had grown up the side of the house and made for easy handholds for a ten-year-old girl. She scrambled down silently, reaching the ground in less time than even she thought she could. She stood completely still at the bottom, listening wearily, but after a moment she moved on, slipping across the yard like a shadow towards the horse pen.

Her feet whispering over the ground caused the horses to glance up, though two of them retunred to grazing a moment later. A stunning, pitch black stallion and the unicorn both stepped towards her, and their coats were such utter opposites of each other that when they stood side-by-side they seemed to accent the other’s pureness. Sophie smiled, and the unicorn came limping forward, but the stallion shook his head and turned his back to her, having lost interest. When the mare reached her, Sophie reached out and stroked the horse’s nose, though she could barely reach over the fence even on her tiptoes. The unicorn kept one of her golden eyes on the girl at all times, and to Sophie the watchfulness seemed to be out of concern on the part of the animal. She certainly could not sense any distrust in the stature of the mare, even as she scrambled up onto the first rut of the fence separating her and the beautiful creature before her. Her hand more easily reached the horse’s silky nose now, and the animal reached forward, nuzzling Sophie’s bare head. Something warm and salty crested the girl’s lips, and she realized that she had begun to cry, quite unintentionally, but she also had no desire to stop. When the unicorn gently nudged her cheek, Sophie wrapped her arms loosely around the mare’s nose, weeping silent tears.

There was a reason why she loved this horse more than anything else in her life. There was a reason why she would stay up all night just to watch the mare stroll the fields. People could not see what the horse was worth, but Sophie could. The adults thought she couldn’t hear them whispering behind her back, thought she would not know that their words were about her. A ten year old could never understand what those looks they gave her, those pitying, hopeless looks meant, meant, could she? They were wrong though.

Sophie knew why she had to go to the terrible treatments that made her hair, her lovely black frills, fall out, she knew why she was treated different, kept at arms length. Just like the horse, she was damaged, and people knew that she was not as good, that she would never amount to much, if she even made it long enough to make any difference at all. Her body constantly ached, and though the adults told her that it would go away soon, she did not believe them anymore. After all, it had only grown worse, and their reassuring more frequent.  But she forgave them, because it was their way of lying, not to her, but themselves and her parents. She had long since given up on hopes of recovering.

The unicorn nickered softly, and Sophie let go, allowing the animal to lift her head away, though she did not move far. Sophie thoughtfully stroked the animal’s nose as she wiped at the last of her tears, wondering what would become of the mare when she was no longer there to defend it.

There it was, out in the open. She knew what happened to people with cancer, despite a lucky few, and she, despite being young, had not tricked herself into imagining that she would be chosen by whatever force decided such things as who lived and who died. Her gift, her consolation prize, was the majestic creature standing before her now, her last comfort as her world fell to pieces around her.

On some sudden urge, Sophie suddenly hopped backwards and scrambled beneath the fence. The unicorn startled, stepping back as she tossed her mane, but she made no noise and did not run. Sophie stepped after her slightly, running her hand across the mare’s neck as she walked around, running her hand down the unicorn’s side as she held her still. The horse shuffled slightly as the girl pushed on the mare’s leg, and as Sophie stepped around, she used the fence to climb onto the unicorn’s back. The horse made a movement of surprise as the girl settled, almost unseating her, but Sophie patted the mare’s shoulder and she calmed, standing silently, awaiting orders. The girl hesitated, but she knew what she wanted. Winding her hands in the unicorn's mane, Sophie knocked her heels into the creature’s ribs, softly, but enough to urge forward motion. The unicorn obliged, starting forward at a walk, but Sophie gently encouraged for more, until the horse fell into an uneven trot. Even then, the girl was not happy, so she clicked her tongue, once, and the sound, to the hardly used horse, was like a gunshot, causing her to shoot forward quite suddenly. Sophie grabbed on tight, her heart jumping to match the speed of the galloping horse as she struggled to stay seated. The unicorn was fast, despite the jerkiness of her stride, and the wind tore across Sophie’s scalp and burned her eyes. She felt almost as if she were flying. Then, the horse stumbled, and Sophie flew forward, tumbling up and over the mare’s head. She felt suspended in the moment even as she saw the ground rushing up under her, her body flying towards it at an incredible speed, headfirst. She managed to turn her head slightly so her eyes locked on the white of the horse, unable to stop, before her eyes flicked up and saw the glistening horn of the animal, reflecting the stars. The last thing she saw was that reflection, blurring the sky into crystal fire.