Is that… a unicorn?

Well, it does have a horn centered on its brow, and it’s… horse-like, but that’s about where the similarities end. It has gray, bulbous eyes that protrude from either side of its long, narrow face.

Bony protrusions run along its jaw and brow. The cheeks are so sunken, you could fit a lemon in each hollow.

The skin is hairless and dingy, with patches of mottled pink scattered across it. One ear is half bent, the other is nearly chopped off entirely.

The eyes are bloodshot. Tiny red veins pop out of each schlera.

The teeth protrude in a hungry grimace. And, oh, it looks hungry.

A branch snaps somewhere closeby my tent. I whip my head around. Suddenly, a shadow looms near my tent.

All I can see is a vaguely equestrian silhouette. I think about those teeth, smiling in pain. I think about the horn, red near the tip.

Pink teeth. Blood on each incisor.

The shadow outside my tent stiffens.

Then it thrusts its horn forward, and I scream.