Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE 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. If Ms Willow captures them, it'll be all our fault." She threw her arms around his neck. Twinkle nuzzled her. "I'm sorry, Violet. I got us into this mess. I shouldn't have insisted on meeting Daffodil." Violet shook her head. "I agreed to go with you. But I wonder why she asked you to meet her. It sounds like she wouldn't have been able to tell you anything about Ms Willow's plans anyway."

"I don't know," said Twinkle. "She just said she wanted to meet me somewhere outside in the starlight to tell me something important, but that doesn't matter now. We need to try and get out of here." He pawed at the earth with a front hoof. "Maybe we could dig our way out." The sudden sound of voices and whinnies outside the hut made Violet shudder. "Twinkle, we're too late!" she gasped. "Where are we? Why have you brought us here?" she heard Rosa shout angrily. "Let us go!" exclaimed Matilda. "So you can ruin my plans, you annoying girls? Never!" Ms Willow sneered. "I warned you about snooping around the school at night. You should have stayed in your dorm!" "We were looking for Violet. She's missing." Ariana sounded close to tears. "I'm in here, with Twinkle!" Violet yelled, hammering on the door. "Violet!" yelled Freya. "Help me, everyone. Let's get her out!" "CHARGE!" Rosa shouted. Violet's heart leapt as she heard the thunder of hooves. Ms Willow shrieked, and suddenly the bolts of the hut door grated and it swung open.

Violet could hardly believe her eyes. Rosa, Matilda and Ariana, riding their unicorns, had clearly charged at Ms Willow, cornering her at the edge of the frozen lagoon. She was lying on the ground. Meanwhile, Freya must have used Honey's superspeed to reach the hut and pull the bolts back. "We're free!" gasped Twinkle, as he cantered out. Violet saw Ms Willow raise her hands. "Watch out!" she cried, guessing what she was about to do. Three fiery bolts of green magic shot at Crystal, Whisper and Pearl's legs, sending them and the girls tumbling on to the ice. In the chaos of shouts and whinnies, Ms Willow scrambled to her feet and sent another two bolts of magic flying towards Freya and Violet. Honey used her superspeed to get Freya to safety. Violet smelt a faint scent of burnt sugar but the next moment she felt Twinkle barrelling into her, knocking her to the ground. The green bolts of magic flashed past her head, burning through the ends of his mane. They hit the back wall of the hut, exploding in a shower of sparks that stung like needles as they hit Violet's face. There was no time to waste. Leaping up, Violet threw herself on to Twinkle's back. Freya and Honey were already at

the lagoon, slithering on to the ice to help the others get to their feet. Twinkle raced to join them. Ms Willow hurled more firebolts at the girls and their unicorns. Hissing and spitting, the magical bolts cut through the ice like a laser, melting a circle around them. "We're going to fall in!" cried Ariana, as the circle of ice they were standing on began to sink. "We're not– Crystal can save us," gasped Rosa. "Use your freezing powers, Crystal!" A cloud of pink sparks swirled around Crystal as she refroze the ice around them as fast as it melted. "No, you don't!" Ms Willow aimed a firebolt straight at Crystal's head. "Crystal!" screamed Rosa. "Pearl– help her!" The next second, a swirling tornado of snow rose up around Crystal, hiding her from sight. With a frustrated cry, Ms Willow threw the firebolt blindly at the snowstorm, where it flew harmlessly past Rosa and Crystal.

Fast and furious, Ms Willow threw more firebolts, but Pearl made the snow twister illusion bigger until all the girls and their unicorns were

hidden behind it. The firebolts flashed by, exploding with ferocious bangs far behind them. Meanwhile, Whisper started to use his magic. Skating to the edge of the snowstorm, he focused his attention on Daffodil until the little unicorn began to relax and sway. "Pull yourself together, you stupid thing!" screamed Ms Willow as Daffodil rocked on her hooves beneath her. "Whisper! That's brilliant! Don't stop!" said Ariana as Whisper kept using his soothing magic on Daffodil. The little unicorn's eyes started to close and her knees began to give way. For a moment, it looked like she was about to fall asleep completely, but then Whisper began to tire. Doing magic used up a lot of energy. Ms Willow kicked Daffodil's sides viciously. "Get back on your feet this instant!" she snarled. With Whisper's magic fading, Daffodil obeyed Ms Willow's command, raising her head and straightening her neck. "Matilda!" Pearl gasped, breathing heavily. "I can't hold the glamour. I'm… I'm too tired." The snow twister faded, revealing everyone to Ms Willow. She stood before them, her eyes wild and her hair crackling with magic. Triumph lit up