Chapter 1

Layla and Dancer JULIE SYKES illustrated by LUCY TRUMAN

蕾拉和舞者朱莉·赛克斯由露西·杜鲁门绘制

CHAPTER ONE The sun shone on the marble towers of Unicorn Academy as Layla ran to the stable block. She couldn't wait to show her beautiful unicorn, Dancer, the new sparkly hoof polish that had arrived from her parents. She planned to brush his velvety coat and then paint his hooves. Layla had loved unicorns for as long she could remember. It had been a dream come true when, just after her tenth birthday, she'd travelled with her parents across Unicorn Island to become a student at Unicorn Academy. On their first day at the academy, students were

第一章太阳照在独角兽学院的大理石塔楼上，蕾拉跑向马厩。 她迫不及待地给她漂亮的独角兽跳舞，这是她父母给她的闪闪发光的新蹄油。 她打算给他刷天鹅绒般的外套，然后给他的蹄子上漆。 蕾拉从记事起就喜欢独角兽。 十岁生日刚过，她就和父母一起穿越了独角兽岛，成为了独角兽学院的一名学生。 在学校的第一天，学生们

paired with their very own unicorn. Each pair spent the next year working together and learning to trust each other so that they could bond and graduate to become guardians of Unicorn Island. Layla had been delighted when Ms Primrose, the wise headteacher, had paired her with Dancer. He was very handsome and his snow- white coat had pink, yellow and indigo patterns that matched the colour of his mane and tail. But Layla loved him most for his kind, thoughtful nature. He was perfect! I'm so lucky, she thought as she reached the stable block. Being at Unicorn Academy was amazing. It wasn't just because she had a unicorn of her own, she also loved the lessons and, although she'd felt quite shy at first, she'd made firm friends with the five other girls in Sapphire dorm. The stable block's shiny automatic trolleys full of hay trundled down the aisle in front of

还有他们自己的独角兽。 在接下来的一年里，每一对都在一起工作，学习相互信任，这样他们就可以建立联系，毕业后成为独角兽岛的守护者。 当聪明的校长樱草花女士把莱拉和丹瑟配对时，莱拉非常高兴。 他非常英俊，雪白的皮毛上有粉红色、黄色和靛蓝的图案，与他的鬃毛和尾巴的颜色很相配。 但蕾拉最爱他的是他善良体贴的天性。 他是完美的！“我真幸运，”她走到马厩边想。 在独角兽学院的日子太棒了。 这不仅仅是因为她有了自己的独角兽，她也喜欢上了这些课程，尽管一开始她感到很害羞，但她已经和蓝宝石宿舍的其他五个女孩成为了坚定的朋友。 马厩里闪闪发光的自动手推车载满了干草，沿着前面的过道缓缓驶来

her as she walked in. Layla called out, "Good morning!" but there was no reply. The stalls that the Sapphire dorm unicorns slept in were empty. As it was such a lovely morning, Layla decided the unicorns must have gone out to play. She hurried back outside and found them gathered beside a rainbow-coloured stream that ran through the meadow. All the streams and rivers in the land contained water that flowed from Sparkle Lake, the huge magical lake in the school grounds. The water was very important because it nourished the people and the land, and strengthened the unicorns' magic. Layla paused. All the Sapphire dorm unicorns– Dancer, Blaze, Rainbow, Star, Cloud and Snowflake– were standing on one bank of the wide stream. "I bet you can do it, Dancer!" said Rainbow, tossing his brightly coloured mane. "You're the best at jumping," said Star. "Go, Dancer! Go!" chanted Blaze, stamping

她走了进来。蕾拉喊道：“早上好！”但是没有人回答。 蓝宝石宿舍独角兽们睡的隔间空无一人。 这是一个如此可爱的早晨，蕾拉断定独角兽们一定是出去玩了。 她急忙跑到外面，发现他们聚集在一条穿过草地的彩虹色小溪旁。 这片土地上所有的小溪和河流都有来自闪光湖的水，闪光湖是学校操场上的一个巨大的魔法湖。 水是非常重要的，因为它滋养了人和土地，增强了独角兽的魔力。 蕾拉停了下来。蓝宝石宿舍里所有的独角兽——舞者、火焰、彩虹、星星、云和雪花——都站在宽阔的小溪的一边。 “我打赌你能做到，舞者！”彩虹说着，甩了甩他那鲜艳的鬃毛。 “你是跳得最好的，”星星说。 “去,舞者!快跑！”火焰边跺着脚边喊

her front hooves, her fire magic making sparks fly into the air. Each unicorn had their own magic power that they discovered while they were at the academy. Dancer still hadn't found his magic yet. Layla hoped it would be something like healing magic. It would be lovely to be able to make people well again. She definitely wouldn't want him to have something scary like fire magic! She watched as Dancer reared up on his hind legs. He balanced for a moment and then rushed forward. Galloping towards the stream, he leapt into the air, soaring across the water with the grace of an eagle. He landed safely on the far side of the bank and the other unicorns all whinnied. "You're so good at jumping!" called Cloud admiringly.

她的前蹄，她的火焰魔法让火花飞向空中。 每只独角兽都有自己的魔力，他们在学院里发现了这些魔力。 丹瑟还没有找到他的魔力。 蕾拉希望这是一种治愈魔法。 如果能让人们再次康复，那就太好了。 她绝对不希望他拥有像火魔法这样可怕的东西！她看着小舞用后腿直立起来。 他平衡了一下，然后向前冲去。 他奔向小溪，一跃而起，像老鹰一样优雅地飞过水面。 他安全降落在河岸的另一边，其他的独角兽都发出了呜呜声。 “你跳得真好！”云羡慕地叫道。

Dancer's eyes shone with the praise and Layla's heart sank. Dancer was brilliant at jumping and Layla knew how much he enjoyed it, but she hated galloping fast and jumping and avoided both at all costs. "The rest of us will never be able to jump that far," said Star. Rainbow's eyes sparkled. "Then I guess we'll have to use magic to get across!" He tossed his mane and multicoloured light shone from the centre of his forehead. It arched across the stream, forming a rainbow bridge.

丹瑟的眼睛里闪烁着赞美的光芒，蕾拉的心一沉。 丹瑟跳得很好，蕾拉知道他有多喜欢跳，但她讨厌疾驰和跳跃，所以不惜一切代价避免这两件事。 “我们其余的人永远也跳不了那么远，”星星说。 彩虹的眼睛闪闪发光。“那么，我想我们必须使用魔法才能过去！”他甩了甩鬃毛，五彩的光从前额正中照了出来。 它在小溪上呈拱形，形成一座彩虹桥。