Unicorn Valley

by Rosie Banks

  “This is the Great Apple Tree that Snowmane created,” said Silvertail. “Without it, Unicorn Valley would turn back into a wild and dark place.”

  “It’s amazing!” breathed Ellie.

  “This is where the orchard keepers said they saw something strange,” said Silvertail. “Maybe the thunderbolt is hidden nearby.”

  The girls started looking all over the trunk of the tree. Trixi flew her leaf high up into the branches. But they couldn’t see any sign of Queen Malice’s thunderbolt.

  Suddenly there was a whinny of alarm from the other side of the tree. Trixi gave the girls a worried glance, and they all ran around to see what was the matter.

  Silvertail was there, staring at something stuck deep in the earth between the roots of the Great Apple Tree. It was a hard black shard that glistened horribly — the tip of Queen Malice’s thunderbolt!

  “Oh no!” Silvertail neighed urgently. “Queen Malice’s nasty thunderbolt is stuck in the roots of the Great Apple Tree! If the tree is hurt, its magic will disappear, and the whole valley will go back to being a wasteland!”

  The girls started inspecting the tree’s lower branches to check for damage.

  “I’ll check the fruit,” Littlehorn said. She concentrated hard, and with a wave of her horn an apple floated down from the top of the tree. It landed on the ground in front of her. Littlehorn nudged it with her horn and then froze.

  “What’s wrong?” Summer asked. As she watched, a lump rose on the apple’s rosy skin. Then it burst — and out came the head of a big, purple, black-spotted caterpillar.

  “That’s a slime caterpillar!” Trixi cried. “They usually live on the other side of the kingdom, in the grounds of Queen Malice’s horrible Thunder Castle. The more they eat, the bigger they get!”

  The funny-looking creature nosed around in the warm air and stuck its tongue out at the girls before burrowing back out of sight.

  “Yuck!” gasped Ellie, stepping backward into Littlehorn, who stumbled and knocked over a basketful of apples.

  The fruit spilled out onto the ground, and more caterpillars fell out with it.

  “Ugh, they’re horrible!” said Jasmine, looking at one of the slimy creatures, which was chomping on an apple enthusiastically.

  Summer watched a caterpillar as it swallowed a big chunk of apple and then burped loudly. “They’re just hungry,” she said kindly.

  “Summer, you’d love any animal — no matter how disgusting it is!” Ellie teased her friend.

  “Let’s see if I can get rid of them,” said Trixi, guiding her leaf down next to the nearest caterpillar and tapping it with her ring. She chanted:

  “You greedy things aren’t wanted here.

  This spell will make you disappear!”

  Nothing happened.

  “Queen Malice’s magic is too strong for me.” Trixi sighed.

  The girls exchanged dismayed looks.

  “We’ll have to destroy the thunderbolt,” Silvertail said. “I’ll get my strongest unicorns and we’ll pull it right out of the ground.”

  “It’s no use,” Trixi told her. “In order to get rid of the thunderbolt we’ll have to break Queen Malice’s spell.”

  “What will we do if the caterpillars hurt the tree?” Littlehorn asked. She was standing beneath the Great Apple Tree, gazing unhappily at the caterpillars, who were wriggling about among the spilled apples and chomping happily. A big, sparkling teardrop rolled from one of her eyes. Where it splashed onto the grass, a tiny flower started to grow. “If the valley turns back the way it was, we’ll have nowhere to go.”

  Silvertail looked at her daughter. “Why don’t you go and practice for the race, Littlehorn?” she said kindly. “It’ll take your mind off things. And you girls could all go and watch,” she suggested, turning to Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine. “Maybe you’ll be able to find more clues about what Queen Malice is up to, and how to stop her. My orchard keepers are the best gardeners in the Secret Kingdom. I’m sure they can take care of the caterpillars until we find out how to break Malice’s spell. I’ll stay here to help them.”

  “And I’ll put a holding spell around the tree so that the caterpillars can’t spread to the rest of the orchard,” Trixi told them.

  “Yes, let’s go to the practice area,” Summer said to Littlehorn comfortingly, stroking her hand along the unicorn’s coat. “We’ll probably come up with an idea there.”

  The little unicorn nodded bravely and led the way out of the apple orchards, toward the racetrack. As they walked into the gardens, the girls looked around them anxiously, trying to spot any other signs of Queen Malice’s mischief.

  Summer noticed that Littlehorn was looking down at her hooves as she walked, with a worried expression on her face.

  “Why don’t you tell us about the Golden Games?” Summer asked to distract her.

  The little unicorn looked happier at the thought of the afternoon’s fun.

  “Well, there’s the Great Race, of course,” she said. “And there are lots of other games and sports, and feats of unicorn magic, too.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” Summer smiled as the girls reached the racetrack. It circled a playing field and a small hill, which was already crowded with unicorns watching the others practice. The track was covered with grass that grew in colored lines to show the runners where to go.

  “What game are they playing?” asked Summer, pointing to some unicorns on the big field inside the track, who were leaping up at shining golden hoops that floated magically in the air and catching them on their horns.

  “That’s Unicorn-Horn Hoopla,” said Littlehorn proudly. “And over there, they’re playing a game of Runaway Rounders.”

  The girls watched a team of unicorns who were using their horns to hit a bright red ball. Every time the ball hit the ground it sprouted little legs and tried to run away from the fielders.

  “Look, there’s King Merry!” said Ellie, pointing excitedly. The little king looked very sharp in his royal robes, except that he had bits of paper sticking out of all his pockets, and ink stains on his cloak.

  He was pacing up and down beside the track, scratching his head so hard that his half-moon spectacles were knocked almost off his nose.

  “He looks worried,” said Trixi. “I’d better see if he’s okay.”

  Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine hurried over to the king, who was muttering to himself absentmindedly.

  “Now, let me see,” he said. “It is your honor to address me today… . Dearie me, no, that’s not right. I mean, it is my honor to address you tomorrow… . Oh my goodness, no, that won’t do either.”

  “Is he practicing his welcome speech?” Summer whispered to Trixi.

  “I think he must be,” replied the pixie. “He’s not very good at remembering his lines!”

  The king stopped pacing and patted his pockets as if he was looking for something. Trixi flew forward and conjured up a large spotted hanky, magicking his robes clean and tidy at the same time.

  “Hello!” King Merry said cheerfully. “Girls, how nice to see you again. Are you here for the games?”

  “Not quite,” Ellie explained. “The Magic Box has brought us here. There’s a thunderbolt in the roots of the Great Apple Tree.”

  “And it’s already causing trouble,” said Jasmine. “There are horrible slime caterpillars attacking the tree.”

  “How terrible!” said the king. “Do you have a plan to get rid of the thunderbolt?” He looked at the girls hopefully.

  “Not yet,” Ellie admitted. “But we’re working on it.”

  “Wow, look at her go!” Summer said, pointing at Littlehorn, who was now racing around the colored track with five other young unicorns. “She’s so fast!”

  In spite of her worries, Summer couldn’t help smiling as the beautiful creatures galloped along, urging one another on. “We won’t let the unicorns down,” she promised King Merry.

  But just as the words left her mouth, something dreadful happened!

&nb
sp; Right in front of the racing unicorns, a cluster of long green weeds broke through the surface of the track. The thick stalks immediately began to grow, snaking out across the grass in all directions. The nasty plants slithered out and tangled themselves in the legs of the running unicorns. Four of the runners got so tripped up they fell horn over hoof. Littlehorn only escaped by leaping high into the air as a stalk tried to grab her tail.

  “What on earth are those?” cried Ellie as one of the weeds burst up through the ground at Jasmine’s feet. Ellie and Summer grabbed it and pulled as hard as they could, but the wriggling stem slipped out of their hands and kept on growing.

  “It must be because of the Great Apple Tree!” Trixi cried. “With the caterpillars eating the fruit, the tree must be getting weaker. And since its magic is fading, the horrible weeds are coming back to Unicorn Valley! Quick, head for the hill!”

  Everyone started running up the hill, but new vines began springing up all around them, and they had to dodge the stalks as they ran. The girls and unicorns managed to scramble to the top of the hill quickly, but King Merry lagged behind. He was out of breath, and Trixi had to help push him up the slope. They had almost reached the girls when a weed curled around King Merry’s foot and tripped him.

  Ellie dashed down to help him, but one of the vines wound around her waist. As Summer and Jasmine watched in horror, the vicious vine started pulling her down the hill!

  “Get off my friend!” Jasmine shouted, hitting the stalk that was wound tightly around Ellie.

  “Hold on!” Summer called, grabbing Ellie’s hands.

  Jasmine started tugging at the clinging vine. With both of them working together, the weed’s grip soon started to loosen.

  “It’s working!” exclaimed Ellie. The vine finally lost its grip — and she, Jasmine, and Summer fell over in a big heap on the ground.

  “Whew!” Ellie sighed. “That was close!” The girls struggled back to the top of the hill, where Trixi, King Merry, Littlehorn, and the other unicorns were standing.

  “The weeds are growing out of control!” exclaimed Jasmine, pointing down the hill, where even more yucky plants were popping up.

  “We’ll have to cancel the Golden Games.” King Merry frowned. “There’s no way we can hold them here with all these weeds in the way. Trixi, could you send a glowworm announcement to warn everyone to stay away?”

  Trixi tapped her ring, and it began to shine softly. A few moments later, lots of little lights appeared around them as hundreds of glowworms woke up. The girls looked in amazement at the little lights that shone weakly in the daylight.

  “There are glowworms across the kingdom,” Trixi explained. “They’ll pass our message on to everyone who sees them.”

  Trixi flew over to tell the glowworms the message, but Summer stopped her.

  “Oh, please don’t call off the games yet,” she begged. “If you do, Queen Malice will get her way and all the unicorns will be miserable. Littlehorn and the others won’t be able to get their golden horns, and King Merry won’t get a new messenger. We have to fix this!”

  “But what can we do?” Trixi cried anxiously. “Without the Great Apple Tree’s magic, soon the valley will be completely ruined.”

  “Wait a minute,” Ellie said. “We need to work out how we’re going to break Queen Malice’s thunderbolt. At King Merry’s birthday party, we broke the spell by making sure everyone had fun. So if Queen Malice wants to ruin the Golden Games and the Great Race, then we have to make sure that they go ahead.”

  “But how?” Trixi asked. “We’ll never clear all these weeds away in time, and we can’t have the Great Race without a racetrack.”

  Summer smiled. “I have an idea! There’s always a balance in nature, even if Queen Malice’s magic is involved. We’ve got hungry caterpillars at the Great Apple Tree, and plants that won’t stop growing at the racetrack… . I think we should take the caterpillars to the Golden Games!”

  “The caterpillars won’t enjoy the games!” King Merry spluttered. “They’re very lazy and they don’t like sports.”

  Ellie smiled as she realized what her friend had in mind. “Not to take part in the games!” She laughed. “If we bring the greedy caterpillars here, they’ll eat up all the weeds!”

  “They’ll chomp the racetrack clean!” agreed Jasmine.

  “And then the games can go on!” Summer said, beaming.

  Trixi danced excitedly around on her leaf. “I really think it might work, girls,” she said. “Thank goodness you’re here!”

  “But how are we going to get back to the Great Apple Tree?” Jasmine asked, looking down at the weeds that were snaking all over the racetrack. “We’re stranded!”

  “I can take care of that!” Trixi said cheerfully. “Everyone hold hands — or hooves.”

  “I’ll stay here, Trixi,” King Merry announced. “Someone has to stay with the other unicorns and keep them calm.”

  “He doesn’t like being magicked around,” Trixi whispered to the girls. “It tangles up his beard and makes him dizzy!”

  The girls giggled.

  With Ellie, Summer, Jasmine, and Littlehorn all holding on to one another, Trixi cast a spell:

  “Help us get where we need to be:

  Under the Great Apple Tree!”

  Ellie shut her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again they were all standing in the clearing by the tree. She hadn’t felt a thing!

  “The caterpillars are much bigger now,” Summer said.

  Trixi’s magic spell was keeping the slime caterpillars from spreading, but they were growing quickly as they munched apple after apple and nibbled on the tree trunk.

  One of the orchard-keeper unicorns sighed. “And the larger they get, the more they eat!”

  “That’s a good thing!” Jasmine grinned. “There are lots of horrible weeds growing at the racetrack, and the caterpillars can help us by eating them all up! We just need to get them there… .” Suddenly, she spotted a large apple cart nearby with some fruit in it. “Aha!” she said. “That’ll be perfect! If we load that cart full of the tastiest apples, the caterpillars are sure to jump in there, too.”

  Trixi released her holding spell, and Ellie and Summer set to work heaping armfuls of fruit into the cart. But the caterpillars paid no attention.

  “If only we could get them to understand where we want them to go,” said Summer thoughtfully.

  “How could we do that?” asked Trixi.

  Summer thought for a moment longer. “We need a trail of food to lead the caterpillars all the way to the cart.”

  “That’s an excellent idea!” said Trixi, smiling. “I’ll do it right away.”

  The little pixie tapped her ring. It glowed, then something green unfurled from it and fell to the ground. It was a crisp, fresh cabbage leaf.

  More leaves appeared from her ring, and Trixi arranged them in a line, leading from the Great Apple Tree into the cart.

  One of the caterpillars raised its head, sniffing the air. Then it licked its lips hungrily, crawled forward, and began to nibble at the leaf.

  It wasn’t long before excited caterpillars were following one another toward the cart. One by one they oozed closer and crawled up into the cart, leaving a slimy trail behind them.

  Once all the caterpillars were gathered up, the girls packed more apples and berries around them to make sure they had plenty to eat.

  When everyone was ready, Trixi tapped her ring once more and the whole group was instantly transported back to the hill.

  It was worse than they’d imagined. The racetrack was completely covered with horrible weeds, and King Merry was marooned at the top of the hill next to two sad-looking unicorns.

  “We’ve brought the caterpillars from the Great Apple Tree,” Ellie called up to him from the other side of the track. “They’ll gobble these vines right up!”

  By now, the caterpillars had finished eating the food in the cart. When the girls looked in, there was nothing to be seen except apple
cores and enormous, sleepy caterpillars.

  “What if they’re too full to eat the weeds?” Summer asked anxiously.

  But when the slimy creatures spotted the moving weeds, they woke up at once. They licked their lips and crawled toward them eagerly, making funny little gobbling sounds. They quickly began to chomp their way through the mass of twisty green stalks.

  “Our plan is working!” Trixi said, clapping her hands delightedly and flying her leaf in a figure eight.

  “Good job, Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine!” King Merry called, leading the unicorns down the hill.

  “Soon the racetrack will be clear!” said Jasmine as the girls moved the rest of the caterpillars off the carts. “Nothing’s going to stop us now!”

  Ellie gasped and grabbed her friend’s arm. “Uh-oh, something might,” she said, pointing behind them. “Look back there.”

  The girls turned to look. Not far away, two horrid-looking creatures were flying toward the racetrack on top of thunderclouds. Their spiky fingers were outstretched and their dark eyes gleamed with nastiness.

  “Queen Malice’s Storm Sprites!” said Summer.

  The ugly creatures zoomed closer on their thunderclouds. One of them blew a raspberry at the girls.

  “Give those caterpillars to us!” the other one shouted. “We’re going to spread them everywhere so they eat every single plant, tree, and bush around. Unicorn Valley will become a wasteland, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

  “We can’t let the Storm Sprites take the caterpillars!” Summer cried.

  Just then, Jasmine noticed something by the entrance to the racetrack — a stand full of juicy-looking blue melons.

  “Quick, help me grab some really big caterpillars,” Jasmine said. “No time to explain — just trust me.”

  Ellie and Summer helped Jasmine find three large caterpillars and carry them toward the stall of melons. The caterpillars were so fat now that each girl could lift only one of them, and they were very slimy!