Three unlikely stories, that have now intertwined.
"What are we going to do?" Jim moans as he paces back and forth in the clearing. Marietta looks around nervously. The familiar woods she knows are gone, and dark, dead trees have taken their place. She shivers, then looked to Ash. They're standing on the edge of the clearing, half in shadows. They're used to this forest by now.
"Well, we need to get help," Marietta says nervously, getting up to stop Jim from pacing. "Prince, please. Now that Uncle Smarmy has taken over the castle, there's no way we can go back. We need other unicorns to help."
"And who would help us?" Jim asked, glaring at her. "My uncle has done quite a good job over the years destroying all our diplomatic ties. We're alone. We can't do anything."
Marietta sighs and turns back to Ash. The anti-social Ghost is still standing in a corner, watching. Watching, with those fire-red, burning, all-seeing eyes. Watching.
She sighes again. "Ash, what do you think we should do?"
The unicorn pauses, looking from Marietta, to the ground, then back to Marietta again. "Well," they begin nervously, uncertainly. "I think that, um, if we can't get any help, we need to be our own help."
"That makes absolutely no sense at all," Jim huffs, turning away. Marietta glares at him.
"Keep going," she encourages them. Ash makes a small noise, comparable to a mouse's squeak.
"I guess I just mean that we should take matters into our own hands. Uncle Smarmy has an army. (haha it rhymes) He has power over the entire miliary force. So, if we take away all his power, we can win." They continued, gathering power and confidence.
"Military forces!" Jim cries, interrupting. "That's it! We'll go north, where the best armies are! The three kingdoms up there, Lord Broonelap, Dutchess Winglewhatsit, and Duke McFace all have the most powerful militaries there are. We'll go to them for help!"
"Well," Ash breaks in nervously. "I was actually thinking that an all-out war would be bad. We should just assassinate Uncle Smarmy. Then he can't command the armies, and there's no needless bloodshed."
"Huh," Marietta says. "But an assassination? That's dangerous. And still, bloodshed. We should go south, where there's Flarphlemont and the kingdom of the Murletoids. They're known for their diplomatic skills. We can use their help to reason with Uncle Smarmy."
"That will never work," Jim says, snorting, a dark look in his eye. "We can't reason with that monster."
"Well, we can still try," Marietta pleades.
"Or we could avoid all of that and just kill him," Ash shrugs.
It's up to you to decide.