by Julie Sykes
Violet thumped her fists against the door and Twinkle battered it with his hooves, but it held firm. Eventually, they sank back, exhausted. “What are we going to do?” Violet said in despair. “We’ve got to get out of here and warn the others.”
For Mrs MacNish and all at
Kincardine-in-Menteith Primary
Violet and her unicorn, Twinkle, stood very still as the tiger circled them. It looked straight at Violet, a growl rumbling in its throat. Violet knew it was only Pearl, Matilda’s unicorn, using a glamour – an illusion – but it looked just like a real tiger and she couldn’t hold back her shriek as the tiger pounced. But then she heard Matilda’s giggle and just like that the tiger faded, its paws turning into hooves and its stripy tail growing pink and yellow. Violet grinned as the tiger’s last whisker disappeared, leaving Matilda and Pearl in its place.
“Wow! That was brilliant, Matilda! Pearl looked so fierce. I really thought she was going to eat us,” said Violet.
Twinkle nodded, adding, “It was very good, even though I could see bits of Pearl’s mane showing through the glamour at the end.”
Pearl’s face fell. Matilda gave her a hug. “Doing a glamour is really hard. It takes a lot of magic to keep it going. I think you did brilliantly, Pearl.”
“Me too,” said Violet, shooting a look at Twinkle. She knew he didn’t mean to be unkind, but sometimes he just said what he thought without realising how it might sound. She did love him, but she found his bluntness quite embarrassing at times. She was the complete opposite to him – she really hated hurting people’s feelings.
Nearby, the rest of Diamond dorm were practising doing magic, too. Honey was galloping super fast around the frosty garden. Crystal, Rosa’s unicorn, was making a snow twister dance across the lawn, and Whisper, Ariana’s unicorn, was standing under a tree with a family of timid rabbits playing around his hooves.
When the young unicorns and students first arrived at Unicorn Academy, they were put into pairs by the headteacher, Ms Nettles. They lived at the academy and the students attended classes, where they were taught how to care for their unicorns as well as learning all about beautiful Unicorn Island, where they lived. They also had to discover their unicorn’s special magic power and bond with them. While most unicorns and riders achieved this in a year, some needed to stay on for an extra year.
Violet’s hands played in Twinkle’s thick blue and purple mane. When they finally bonded, a strand of her dark hair would turn the same colour. She bent down and hugged him. “I hope we find your magic soon,” she whispered. Violet loved being at the academy, but she didn’t want to be the only one of her friends who stayed on for another year.
“Don’t worry. We will,” Twinkle said confidently. “I bet I’ll have something loads better than Whisper or Crystal’s magic.”
“Shh!” Violet hushed him as her friends came riding over.
“I don’t know about you lot, but I’m ready for hot chocolate,” said Rosa.
“Me too, and the unicorns deserve lots of sky berries,” said Matilda.
The unicorns whickered happily. Doing magic used a lot of strength and energy, and sky berries were really good for helping them recover.
Diamond dorm rode across the grounds. It was a frosty winter’s day and the school buildings were silhouetted against the blue sky, the glass and marble towers sparkling in the pale sunlight.
“It’s so strange to think we won’t be here after graduation at the end of December,” said Ariana.
“Twinkle and I might still be,” said Violet. She gave her friends an anxious look. “You’ll all write to me, won’t you?”
“No,” said Rosa.
Violet’s heart lurched.
Rosa grinned. “We’re not going to write because you’re not going to be here. You and Twinkle will discover his magic and bond very soon. We’re all going to graduate together. It’ll be perfect!”
The others all smiled and Violet’s anxiety faded.
“It would be even more perfect if we could catch the cloaked figure before we graduate,” said Freya.
During their year at the academy, the Diamond dorm girls had encountered a mysterious cloaked woman three times. Back in the spring, they had found out that she was taking magic from the Verdant Falls, and in the summer they had discovered she was draining it from the ancient Heart Tree. A month ago, she had tried to frighten them out of an old barn in the school grounds where they had been planning a secret party. It turned out that the barn hid the entrance to a network of secret tunnels. The mysterious woman had been using the tunnels to move around the school and the grounds unseen, but no one knew why.
“I’m glad the teachers put protection spells on all the entrances to the tunnels so that only teachers and students can use them now,” said Violet. Knowing that had made her feel much safer.
“I just wish we could work out who the cloaked figure is,” said Freya.
“We’ve got lots of clues.” Rosa started counting them off on her fingers. “One, she’s been gathering magic power. Two, she knows a great deal about the school and its hidden tunnels. Three, her unicorn is tall and fast, has a long golden mane, and can cast glamours.”
“And four, she wears shoes with a diamond pattern on the soles,” added Violet, remembering some footprints they had found when exploring the secret tunnels.
“Could it be Ms Bramble?” suggested Matilda. “Her knife was found beside the Heart Tree when its magic was being drained. She told us she didn’t know how it got there, but she could have been lying.”
“Ms Bramble is quite grumpy, but she really seems to care about the island and all the plants in it. I can’t imagine her doing anything bad,” said Ariana.
“And she doesn’t have a unicorn that looks like the cloaked figure’s unicorn,” Freya pointed out. “None of the teachers do.”
“So, it can’t be a teacher then,” said Violet, feeling relieved. She hated the thought of any of the academy teachers being evil.
“Whoever the cloaked figure is, I bet we haven’t seen the last of her,” said Rosa. “We must keep our eyes and ears open. Agreed?”
“Agreed!” they all said in unison.
At the stable block, they were dismounting when Ms Willow, the school nurse, came walking across the grass from the school. She was young and friendly, and the girls really liked her.
“Have you had a nice ride?” she said, smiling.
“A frosty one!” said Violet, her breath coming out in little white puffs.
“Well, don’t hang around here too long. You don’t want to catch colds.” Ms Willow smiled. “Though if you do, I’ve just brewed a big bottle of special cold-cure medicine, so come and see me! Now, it’s time for Daffodil to have some of her health tonic, and I’ve got some lovely new ribbons to plait into her mane.” Ms Willow adored her unicorn, Daffodil, and was always pampering her.
Diamond dorm took their unicorns inside and set about making sure they had thick warm beds of straw to lie on and bulging hay nets to eat.
As Violet fetched Twinkle some sky berries, she caught sight of Ms Willow braiding Daffodil’s pink and yellow mane. The little unicorn’s eyes were half closed. Violet felt a pang of envy. She wished Twinkle would let her fuss over him like that, but he didn’t like being brushed or having his mane played with. As Ms Willow turned away to fetch some scissors, Daffodil lifted her head and looked at Violet. It was a strange, intense look, almost like she wanted to tell her something. Ms Willow turned back. Seeing Daffodil staring, she glanced round and caught sight of Violet. “Can I help you, dear?”
Violet blushed, feeling like she’d been caught spying on them. “I was just getting some sky berries,” she muttered. She hurried on, but the odd expression in Daffodi
l’s eyes stayed with her as she filled Twinkle’s bucket in the feed room. She glanced back. Ms Willow was now feeding Daffodil a tonic and murmuring in her ear. Daffodil’s eyes were half shut again. Violet shook her head. She must have imagined the strange look. She headed back to Twinkle’s stable.
“Sky berries!” Twinkle whinnied in delight, plunging his head into the bucket.
“Wait a moment, greedy guts!” Violet laughed. “Let me put them in the manger first.”
She emptied them into the manger and he started to gobble them up. “Yum! Thank you!”
Violet sidled closer, wondering if she dared to put an arm round his neck and cuddle him, when he raised his head. “Listen, Violet,” he declared, through a mouthful of berries. “We really need to find my magic and bond as soon as possible. I think we should spend more time together.”
Violet’s heart lifted. “Yes, I could come to the stable more and brush you and plait ribbons in your mane and—”
“Boring!” Twinkle snorted. “No, I was thinking we could go on some night-time rides, galloping under the stars. Just you and me.” He looked eagerly at her. “It’s a great idea, isn’t it?”
He looked so pleased with himself that Violet didn’t have the heart to tell him that she would really rather spend time in the stable, cuddling him and talking. She nodded. “OK, let’s.”
“I knew you’d love my idea,” Twinkle declared happily. “I’m sure it’ll help us bond. Shall we go tonight?”
“I can’t. There’s an inter-dorm quiz tonight,” said Violet. “But we could go tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow it is then!” Twinkle gave her a quick nuzzle before plunging his nose into the manger again.
Violet gave a little sigh. She loved the fact that Twinkle was full of ideas, but she wished he would occasionally listen to what she wanted to do. Still, maybe going on night-time rides really would help them to bond. Oh, I hope so, Violet thought. I really want to be able to graduate with our friends!
The quiz was great fun but very competitive. At the last question, Diamond and Ruby dorms were tying for the lead. Ms Rosemary smiled round at the sea of tense faces as she asked, “Which bird has yellow, orange and red feathers? Isla?” she added, as Isla from Ruby dorm stuck her hand in the air.
“The sun carrot!” shouted Isla. “Noooooo! I mean the sun…”
“Wrong!” said Ms Rosemary, barely making her voice heard over the howls of laughter. “Sorry, Isla, I have to take your first answer. Anyone else?”
“The sun parrot,” said Matilda. “Yay! Diamond girls win!” She fell on her friends, pulling them in for a group hug. But when Ms Rosemary gave Diamond dorm their prize – a huge bag of sweets – Matilda shared them out with the girls from Ruby dorm, saying, “Because Isla helped us to win and made us laugh.”
Munching her sweets and looking around at all the laughing, chattering students, Violet felt a tingly rush of happiness. She was so lucky to be at Unicorn Academy. If she could just bond with Twinkle and find out his magic, everything really would be perfect!
The following morning, everyone crowded into the stable block for a lesson on bonding taught by Ms Rosemary, the Care of Unicorns teacher. It was a cold day and Violet was glad of her thick woolly socks and snuggly blue Unicorn Academy hoodie. She listened eagerly to Ms Rosemary, wanting to learn all she could.
“Any questions?” Ms Rosemary finally asked, when she had finished her talk.
Violet hesitated. She had something to ask, but what if her question was silly? She started to raise her hand, but then changed her mind. However, Ms Rosemary had noticed.
“Violet, you look like you have a question,” she said with a smile. “Don’t worry. You can ask anything.”
“Er, I just wondered if there’s ever been a rider and their unicorn who haven’t bonded?” Violet’s face warmed as all eyes turned her way.
“Well, that’s so rare it almost never happens. Riders and their unicorns nearly always bond within two years.”
Violet felt relieved.
Isla put up her hand. “Can someone force a unicorn to bond with them? Last year, a unicorn was stolen from near my home. My mum said she didn’t understand why someone would do that because no unicorn would work with someone else when they’d already bonded. But what if the stolen unicorn was forced to bond again?”
“That would be awful!” said Matilda, stroking Pearl’s nose.
“I couldn’t bear it,” said Rosa, hugging Crystal.
“I’ve never heard of any unicorn being stolen,” said Valentina, who was also from Ruby dorm. She gave Isla a scornful look. “I bet it’s just a rumour that someone started to scare people.”
“Actually, Valentina, it’s not a rumour – it’s true,” said Ms Rosemary. “It was a unicorn called Prancer and it was a terrible business.” She shook her head. “I knew Prancer well. Her partner, Lacey, was at the school here when I was a pupil and we were friends. Prancer was a splendid unicorn with quite the longest mane I’ve ever seen. It was pure gold. She was very powerful too, a spell weaver – that’s a unicorn who can put their magic into any spell.”
“She can’t have been very powerful if she allowed herself to be stolen,” said Twinkle, with an unimpressed snort. “No one could steal me away from Violet. I wouldn’t let them.”
Violet blushed at his rudeness.
“Well, I’m sure you’d put up a good fight, Twinkle,” said Ms Rosemary kindly. “But if a unicorn as powerful as Prancer was taken, then no unicorn is safe. However, here at Unicorn Academy, you will be fine, so please don’t worry. And, in answer to your original question, Isla – no, no one can force a unicorn to bond with them. It simply isn’t possible. A unicorn might be forced to work for someone through dark magic, but not to bond. Bonding only happens when the time is right and a rider and their unicorn become true friends.” Ms Rosemary beamed at the class. “Right then, let’s finish off here and go out for a ride!”
“That was a really interesting lesson,” Violet said to Freya, as they headed to their unicorns’ stables.
“Hmm?” Freya looked miles away.
“What’s up?” asked Violet.
“It’s just the name of that unicorn who was stolen – Prancer – I’m sure I’ve heard it before,” said Freya.
“Me too!” exclaimed Matilda, overhearing.
“I haven’t,” said Violet, puzzled.
“So, where did we hear it?” said Freya, frowning at Matilda.
Matilda shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I thought Ms Rosemary would never stop talking,” said Twinkle to Violet, when she went into his stable. “She went on and on, didn’t she?”
Violet had enjoyed the lesson but she didn’t want to disagree with him. “She did a bit.”
“It’ll be fun going out now with everyone, but we are still going out for a ride on our own tonight, aren’t we?” Twinkle nudged her with his nose.
Violet nodded. “I’ll come here straight after dinner.”
Twinkle snorted happily. “Yay! I can’t wait!”
All day, Violet kept thinking about everything Ms Rosemary had told them. Bonding happened when a rider and their unicorn became true friends, so why hadn’t she and Twinkle bonded yet? She was sure they were already true friends. They loved each other and they never argued – she always just let him have his way. It didn’t make sense.
“Is anyone up for a game of Hungry Unicorns?” Ariana asked before dinner. Amidst a chorus of yeses, Ariana went to the cupboard to get the board game out. But as she opened the door, a pile of drawings fell out. “Matilda!” she said in exasperation. “Are these yours?”
“Yep. Sorry. I chucked them in there the other day when we had to tidy the dorm, and then forgot about them,” said Matilda, who loved to draw and paint.
“What a surprise!” Ariana rolled her eyes. She was super neat and tidy and Matilda’s messiness drove her crazy. She helped Matilda to gather up the drawings.
Suddenly Matilda stopped, her mo
uth falling open as she held up a sketch. “Prancer! I thought I knew the name!” She swung round to Freya. “There’s a picture of a unicorn called Prancer hanging in the secret tower room above our dorm. I copied it when we were up there working on your unicorn robot before the party!”
“Let me see.” Rosa took the paper from Matilda as everyone gathered around. It was a drawing of a magnificent unicorn with a long golden mane.
“Do you think it’s the same Prancer who was stolen?” asked Freya.
“It could be,” said Ariana. “It looks just like the unicorn Ms Rosemary described.”
“Let’s go and see the picture,” said Rosa.
Everyone rushed for the door, with Rosa leading the way up the spiral staircase, past their dormitory and on to the secret room. They hadn’t been there since the party a month ago.
Reaching the small landing with the huge cupboard, Rosa beckoned Freya forward. “It’s your room really, Freya. You discovered it, so you open the door.”
Hidden on the back wall of the cupboard was a lever. Freya pulled it and, with a muffled creak, the whole wall spun round. Violet and the others followed Freya through the cupboard and into the secret room beyond.
Shelves lined the curved walls and there was a large desk to one side, but the girls headed straight for a painting hanging on the wall over the fireplace. It was a picture of a tall unicorn with a flowing golden mane. The name “Prancer” was written beneath it.
Matilda caught her breath. “You know something? She looks just like the unicorn the mysterious woman rides. Do you think that woman stole her?”
Freya nodded. “I bet she did. The cloaked figure’s unicorn can gallop fast, appear and disappear and cast glamours – all things a spell weaver can do.”
Rosa paced around the tower room. “I wonder why there’s a picture of her in here.”
“Maybe the cloaked figure put it in this room for some reason?” Matilda suggested. “She tried to scare Freya and me away from here by making ghostly sounds when we were working on the robot. Maybe she did that because there was something she wanted to use the room for.”