Chapter 1

Violet and Twinkle JULIE SYKES illustrated by LUCY TRUMAN

《紫与闪》朱莉·赛克斯，露西·杜鲁门插画

CHAPTER ONE 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.

第一章老虎围着维奥莉特和她的独角兽“闪”一动不动地站着。 它直直地看着维奥莱特，喉咙里发出隆隆的咆哮。 维奥莱特知道那只是珍珠，玛蒂尔达的独角兽，用了一种魔力——一种错觉——但它看起来就像一只真正的老虎，当老虎扑过来时，她忍不住尖叫起来。 但就在这时，她听到玛蒂尔达咯咯的笑声，那只老虎就这样消失了，它的爪子变成了蹄子，它的条纹尾巴变成了粉红色和黄色。 老虎的最后一根胡须消失了，留下玛蒂尔达和珠儿留在原地，维奥莱特咧嘴一笑。 “哇!太棒了，玛蒂尔达！珠儿显得那么凶狠。 我真以为她要把我们吃了。”维奥莱特说。

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.

闪烁点了点头，补充道：“这很好，尽管我可以看到珍珠的鬃毛在最后的魅力下露出来。” 珠儿的脸垂了下来。玛蒂尔达给了她一个拥抱。 “做一个有魅力的人真的很难。 需要很多魔法才能让它继续下去。 我认为你干得很出色，珠儿。” “我也是，”维奥莱特说着，看了她一眼。 她知道他并不是有意对她不好，但有时他只是说出了自己的想法，而没有意识到这听起来会是什么样子。 她确实爱他，但有时她觉得他的直率令人尴尬。 她和他完全相反——她真的很讨厌伤害别人的感情。 附近，戴蒙德宿舍的其他同学也在练习魔法。 蜜糖在结霜的花园里飞快地跑着。 罗莎的独角兽克里斯托在草坪上跳着扭雪舞，阿利安娜的独角兽Whisper站在树下，一群胆小的兔子在它的蹄子周围玩耍。

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

当年轻的独角兽和学生们第一次来到独角兽学院时，他们被校长内特尔斯女士分成两组。 他们住在学院里，学生们上课，在那里他们学习如何照顾他们的独角兽，以及了解他们居住的美丽的独角兽岛。 他们还必须发现独角兽的特殊魔力

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

与他们建立联系。虽然大多数独角兽和骑手在一年内实现了这一目标，但有些人需要再坚持一年。 维奥莉特的手拨弄着闪烁深蓝色和紫色的浓密鬃毛。 当他们最终结合在一起时，她的一缕黑发会变成同样的颜色。 她弯下腰拥抱了他。 “我希望我们能很快找到你的魔法。”她低声说。 维奥莱特喜欢待在警校，但她不想成为朋友中唯一一个再待一年的人。 “别担心。我们会的，”小闪自信地说。 “我敢打赌，我会有比Whisper或Crystal的魔法好得多的东西。” “嘘!”当她的朋友们骑马过来时，维奥莱特让他安静下来。 “我不知道你们怎么想，但我已经准备好喝热巧克力了，”罗莎说。 “我也是，独角兽应该得到很多天空浆果。”玛蒂尔达说。 独角兽们高兴地低声叫着。 施魔法需要大量的力量和能量，而天空莓真的能帮助他们恢复。 钻石宿舍骑着马穿过场地。 这是一个寒冷的冬日，学校建筑的剪影映衬在蓝天、玻璃和

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

大理石塔在苍白的阳光下闪闪发光。 “一想到十二月底毕业后我们就不在这儿了，真奇怪。”阿利安娜说。 “闪烁和我可能还在，”维奥莱特说。 她焦急地看了她的朋友们一眼。 “你们都会给我写信的，是吗？”“不，”罗莎说。 维奥莱特的心猛地一跳。罗莎咧嘴一笑。 “我们不打算写信，因为你不会在这里。 你和小闪很快就会发现他的魔力并建立联系。 我们将一起毕业。 会很完美的！”其他人都笑了，维奥莱特的焦虑也消失了。 弗雷亚说：“如果我们能在毕业前抓住隐形人，那就更完美了。” 在学院的一年中，戴蒙德宿舍的女孩们遇到了三次神秘的斗篷女人。 早在春天，他们就发现她从青翠瀑布中汲取魔法，到了夏天，他们又发现她从古老的心树中汲取魔法。 一个月前，她曾试图把他们从学校操场上的一个旧谷仓里吓出来，他们正在那里策划一个秘密聚会。 它