Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO 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