Chapter 1

UNICORN ACADEMY ...Where magic hanppens! Isla and Buttercup JULIE SYRES illusteated by LUCY TRUMAN

独角兽学院……魔法发生的地方！《艾拉和毛茛》，由露西·杜鲁门绘制

CHAPTER ONE "Oh, wow! That's amazing, Matilda!" said Isla. Matilda from Diamond dorm had covered the back wall of the stable block with paper and was drawing an enormous mural that showed the last year at Unicorn Academy. There were pictures of everyone arriving; being paired with their unicorns; galloping through the grounds and camping in the woods. The other girls from Diamond dorm– Rosa, Freya, Ariana and Violet– were painting the background, while Unibot, the robotic unicorn that Freya had built, was helping the girls by trundling around with pots of paint.

第一章“哦，哇！太神奇了，玛蒂尔达！”艾拉说。 钻石宿舍的玛蒂尔达用纸盖住了马厩的后墙，正在画一幅巨大的壁画，展示了在独角兽学院的最后一年。 有每个人到达的照片；与他们的独角兽配对；在操场上疾驰，在树林里露营。 钻石宿舍的其他女生——罗莎、弗雷娅、阿丽亚娜和维奥莱特——正在画背景，而弗雷娅造的独角兽机器人尤博特则在帮着女孩们拿着颜料罐走来走去。

"It does look good, doesn't it?" said Rosa. Isla nodded. "I bet the parents will love it!" Every student who'd bonded with their unicorn– and discovered its magic power– was about to graduate. In just a few days' time, all the students' and unicorns' parents would come to the academy for the graduation ball. Students who weren't graduating, like Isla, would watch the ceremony, then go home for Christmas and return for a second year in January.

“看起来确实不错，不是吗？”罗莎说。 伊斯拉点点头。“我敢打赌父母会喜欢的！”每一个与独角兽结缘并发现其魔力的学生都即将毕业。 再过几天，所有的学生和独角兽的家长都会来学院参加毕业舞会。 没有毕业的学生，比如艾拉，会观看毕业典礼，然后回家过圣诞节，第二年1月再回来。

Matilda looked round. "Do you want to help us, Isla?" Isla shook her head. "I'd only mess it up." "Don't be silly, I'm no good at painting so I'm just doing the grass," said Violet. "Come and join me!" It looked like fun but Isla didn't want to risk ruining their beautiful mural. "It's OK," she said cheerfully, "the others from my dorm will be here soon. We're making snowflakes to hang from the ceiling." She grinned. "That's about my level when it comes to art!" "Come and sit with us anyway," said Violet, waving Isla over with a paintbrush. Isla smiled again. "Thanks." The Diamond dorm girls were always so friendly to her. She was going to miss them when they all graduated. Her own dorm, Ruby dorm, didn't get on quite as well as Diamond dorm. Molly and Anna were nice but they were best friends who did everything together. The fourth member of Ruby dorm, Valentina, had rich parents who were governors at the school and she often acted as if she was better than everyone else.

玛蒂尔达环顾四周。“你想帮助我们吗，艾拉？”艾拉摇了摇头。 “我只会把事情搞砸。”“别傻了，我不擅长画画，所以我只是在画草，”维奥莱特说。 “来加入我吧！”看起来很有趣，但艾拉不想冒险破坏他们美丽的壁画。 “没关系，”她高兴地说，“我宿舍的其他人很快就会来。” 我们在做雪花挂在天花板上。” 她咧嘴一笑。“这就是我在艺术方面的水平！”“不管怎样，过来和我们坐在一起吧。”维奥莱特说着，用画笔向艾拉招手。 艾拉又笑了。“谢谢。” 戴蒙德宿舍的女生对她总是很友好。 等他们都毕业了，她会想念他们的。 她自己的宿舍，Ruby宿舍，并不像Diamond宿舍那么好。 莫莉和安娜很好，但他们是最好的朋友，做什么都在一起。 鲁比宿舍的第四名成员瓦伦蒂娜（Valentina）的父母很有钱，是学校的校长，她经常表现得好像自己比其他人都好。

I wonder who'll be in my dorm next year, Isla thought as she settled down to work on her snowflake. She wasn't sure how she felt about returning to the academy on her own and was glad that Buttercup, her confident, energetic little unicorn, would be with her. "We've been trying to think of where Ms Willow could be hiding out," said Violet, including Isla in the conversation. "What do you think?" Pretty, friendly Ms Willow had been the school nurse, until Diamond dorm had discovered that she'd been draining magic from around the island as part of an evil plan to take it over! A month ago, Ms Willow had kidnapped Violet and her unicorn Twinkle, and had taken them to the Frozen Lagoon where she was storing all the magic in the water under the ice. Thanks to a tip- off from Isla, the Diamond dorm girls had gone to Violet and Twinkle's rescue, and they'd all escaped. Now Ms Willow had vanished without a trace. "She might have gone back to the Frozen Lagoon," said Isla. Her face reddened as

我不知道明年谁会住在我的宿舍里，艾拉一边想一边静下心来做雪花。 她不确定自己一个人回到学院是什么感觉，她很高兴毛茛，她自信，充满活力的小独角兽，会和她在一起。 维奥莱特说：“我们一直在想威洛小姐可能躲在哪里。”伊斯拉也在谈话中。 “你觉得怎么样？”漂亮、友好的威洛小姐一直是学校的护士，直到钻石宿舍发现她一直在吸取岛上的魔法，作为占领整个岛的邪恶计划的一部分！一个月前，威罗女士绑架了维奥莱特和她的独角兽闪烁，并把它们带到冰冻泻湖，在那里她把所有的魔法都储存在冰下的水里。 多亏了艾拉的密报，钻石宿舍的女生们去救维奥莱特和闪闪，她们都逃了出来。 现在威洛小姐消失得无影无踪了。 “她可能已经回到冰湖去了，”艾拉说。 她的脸变红了

everyone turned to look at her. She hadn't meant to voice that thought aloud. Would they all think it was a stupid idea? "Of course! That's a brilliant thought!" said Violet. "You clever thing, Isla," said Matilda. Isla, who found it embarrassing when anyone complimented her, turned even redder. "I don't know. I bet everyone else has better ideas." Rosa grinned at her, "You shouldn't always put yourself down. It's obvious when you think about it. Ms Willow is bound to be hiding at the Frozen Lagoon, she's got lots of magic stored there– the magic she has stolen from around the island– and it's a secret place that no one else knows how to get to." "So, how do we catch her if she's there?" said Freya. Just then Molly, Anna and Valentina arrived carrying paper and scissors. "Ooh, I like your snowflake, Isla!" said Molly. Anna nodded. "Can you show me how you made it and I'll do another one just the same?" Isla felt a sudden tingle of happiness but it was

大家都转过身来看着她。 她并不想把这个想法说出来。 他们会认为这是个愚蠢的主意吗？ “当然!这是个绝妙的主意！”维奥莱特说。 “你真聪明，艾拉。”玛蒂尔达说。 艾拉一听到别人恭维她就觉得难为情，脸变得更红了。 “我不知道。我敢打赌其他人都有更好的主意。” 罗莎对她咧嘴一笑，“你不应该总是贬低自己。 仔细想想就知道了。 威洛女士一定藏在冰湖里，她在那里储存了很多魔法——她从岛上偷来的魔法——那是一个秘密的地方，没有人知道怎么去。” “那么，如果她在那里，我们怎么抓住她呢？”弗雷娅说。 就在这时，莫莉、安娜和瓦伦蒂娜拿着剪刀和布来了。 “哦，我喜欢你的雪花，艾拉！”莫莉说。 安娜点了点头。“你能告诉我你是怎么做的吗？我再做一个一样的。”艾拉突然感到一阵幸福的刺痛