Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX When the girls went to give the unicorns their evening feeds, Sienna whispered their plan to Sparkle. "Yay!" Sparkle said, stamping his hoof. "We're going hunting for—" "Sssh!" Sienna said hastily. "Solomon might hear, remember!" Sparkle nodded hard, his mouth pressed tightly shut, his eyes shining. He looked so cute that Sienna hugged him. She really was lucky to have him even if he hadn't found his magic yet. And I'm lucky to have my friends, she thought as they all trooped back to the school arm In arm. None of them made me feel bad about going to the maze, not even Evie, and if we'd listened to her in the first place, we might have found the diamond by now. She was starting to feel more and more unsure about her plan to get to the diamond first. She didn't want to upset her friends. But I really do want to graduate, she thought, feeling torn. Later, when the academy was quiet, the girls crept down the stairs. They ran across the frosty grass to get their unicorns, then rode them back to the hall. The force field was humming softly as they approached it. The girls

swapped looks. "Do you think it's going to let us use it?" Evie said. Sienna took a deep breath. "Only one way to find out!" She rode towards the invisible barrier and the humming grew louder. "Please," Sienna said softly. "Please let us past, magic map. I know I got it wrong before." The buzzing faded slightly and she felt encouraged. "Help us get to the mound at the centre of the island. We think the Unicorn's Diamond is there and we don't want Dr Briar to find it first." The buzzing stopped completely. Sienna held her breath as she reached out a hand. The barrier had gone! "We're through!" Turning, she saw the delight on her friends' faces and was relieved she'd abandoned her original plan of finding the diamond on her own. This was much more fun! Everyone crowded round the map and the girls joined hands. With her free hand Sienna reached for the little hill at the centre of the island and touched its top. "Please take us to the labyrinth." A wind sprang up, whirling Sienna's hair around her face. Sparkle's rainbow mane flew up too, and the room began to spin faster and faster. The next moment, Sienna felt herself being whisked away. The magic spun her and Sparkle around in the air and then they landed with a soft thud on springy turf. Sienna put out her hand just in time to catch a tiny model of Unicorn Academy. It had happened before when they'd used the map and she knew it would provide the fastest way of returning to school. Putting it safely in her coat pocket, she looked around. They were standing next to a small grassy mound with a rectangular monument on top. It was engraved with names and had pictures of unicorns carved into the top. "It's a monument to all the great unicorns who have lived on the island," said Evie, examining it in the moonlight. Sienna looked round. A little way off was a huddle of trees. For a moment she thought she saw a pale shape move in the shadows between the tree trunks, but a second later there was just darkness. She must have imagined it.

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"Let's look for an entrance to the labyrinth," said Lyra, jumping off Misty. They circled the monument, searching for a way In, running their hands over the stone and looking for secret buttons. Sienna dropped to her hands and knees and crawled round the base of the plinth, her fingers searching the stone until they discovered a gap. Her heart leapt as she probed it. "Lyra, can I borrow a torch?" "Sure." Lyra rummaged for one in her explorer's bag. Sienna shone the torch in the hole. The cavity was empty but the torch beam illuminated a stone circle at the back with a tiny picture of a unicorn crying a tear of joy. She gasped. "I've found a button with Daybreak on!" "Press it!" urged Lyra. Heart beating fast, Sienna pushed it. What would happen? From deep inside the earth a rumbling started and the ground began to gently shake. Stone grated against stone and then slowly but surely the whole of the grassy mound sank into the ground, taking them all with it!