Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE Blaze trembled with excitement. "Oh, Scarlett! It is magic! I can feel it tingling through me." She stared at her hooves. "Did you see the sparks? I was sure I was going to be a flying unicorn but I think I have fire magic instead!" "Fire magic? Are you sure?" For a moment, when they were spinning round so fast in the air, Scarlett had thought that Blaze had taken off and was flying. She felt a rush of disappointment. "Yes!" said Blaze. "I think that's why the

snow is melting under my hooves." "Fire magic!" Billy gave Scarlett and Blaze an envious look. "Lucky! We're hoping for fire magic, aren't we, Lightning?" Lightning nodded vigorously. "My dad does fire magic. It was so much fun when I was little. He used to toast sky berries and make amazing displays of coloured sparks. Show us your flames again, Blaze." "Yes, try again!" urged Scarlett, thinking Billy and Lightning were right– maybe fire magic would be fun. Blaze stamped a front hoof again. There was a loud crack. Tiny red and gold flames flickered up. "You're doing it, Blaze! You're brilliant!" encouraged Scarlett. Blaze stamped again, harder. Sparks flew up from her hooves and little pools of hissing water formed wherever they landed. Lightning looked wistful. "I wish we had

some sky berries to toast." "We could look for toffee nuts in the woods and toast those," said Scarlett eagerly. She pointed to a tall tree on the edge of the forest. "That looks like a toffee tree." Blaze stared at the tree intently then stamped. CRACK! A flame arched from her hoof, speeding towards the toffee nuts hanging

from the branches. POP! It hit the tree. Several nuts flared a warm glowing red then fell to the ground. "Whoa!" Billy's mouth fell open. "Brilliant!" shouted Scarlett, hugging Blaze. She jumped down and took off her scarf to catch another cluster of toasted nuts as they fell from the tree. There was a rich smell of warm toffee. "You're amazing, Blaze!" The nuts glowed brightly, then turned a dull purple in a puff of treacly coloured smoke. They smelled delicious. As Scarlett and Billy stuffed the toasted nuts into their mouths a haughty voice rang out. "Don't you know it's dangerous to play with fire?" No one had heard Valentina approaching on Golden Briar. She halted at the edge of the trees. Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Blaze is doing just fine. Go away." Valentina's face turned sour. "I'll tell. My

parents are governors, you know." "Really, you should have said," Billy muttered, making Scarlett giggle. Valentina urged Golden Briar forward. "Your unicorn shouldn't be playing with fire when she's only just discovered her powers. Stop it right now!" she commanded. Blaze's eyes glinted and she stamped down hard. Fire curled from her hoof, running around Golden Briar in a circle, leaving a trail of melted snow. Golden Briar shied backwards, his hooves slipping and spraying slush everywhere. "Eeek!" Valentina shrieked. "We're getting wet!" "How can fire make you wet?" asked Blaze innocently, conjuring up more flames to blast the snow-covered branches. The melting snow created hissing streams of water that rained down on Valentina and Golden Briar. Valentina was purple with fury. "Stop it at once, you horrible thing."

"I'm trying," said Blaze, blasting more snow. "Help me, Valentina. I can't control my magic." Golden Briar snorted indignantly and dashed away from the trees, sliding in the slushy ice. She didn't stop until she was far in the distance. Scarlett could barely stand up straight for laughing. Each time she managed to stop, Billy and Lightning laughed so hard they set her off again.