Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX That afternoon Sapphire dorm heard shouts coming from the lake. They cantered over. Valentina and Golden Briar were standing on the grassy banks of the lake with Delia and Jacinta. A strong breeze was swirling around, making the decorations that Sapphire dorm had hung in the trees– the lanterns, the strings of glittery stars and rainbows, the banners and the streamers– all toss about and twirl wildly. "Wind magic!" Valentina was shrieking. "Golden Briar has wind magic! Look!" Jacinta and Delia cheered.

"Golden Briar might have found his magic," Layla whispered to Olivia, "but they still haven't bonded!" Layla was right. There was no streak of gold in Valentina's hair. "Watch this!" commanded Valentina. "Make a stronger wind, Golden Briar. I know– make a dust devil!" Golden Briar hesitated. "I'm not sure I should. I've only just found my magic." Valentina poked Golden Briar. "Do it!" "It's not a good idea, Valentina!" called out Scarlett. "When your unicorn first discovers magic it can easily get out of control. Like

Blaze's did." "I'm not you, and Golden Briar isn't Blaze. We can do this easy-peasy!" declared Valentina. "Come on, Golden Briar. Do as I say!" Looking anxious, Golden Briar stamped his hoof three times. A miniature tornado swirled up from the ground, churning up fallen leaves and dust. It moved across the banks of the lake towards the trees, spinning quickly. "See!" Valentina oozed smugness. "Faster, Golden Briar. Make it go higher!" Golden Briar stamped harder and the dust devil doubled, then tripled in size. The leaves blurred as they spun. "Be careful, Valentina!" cried Olivia in alarm. "Slow it down!" said Valentina. "I can't!" whinnied Golden Briar. The whirlwind slammed into a tree, ripping it up by the roots and twirling it round. Everyone started to shout and yell at Golden

Briar to stop. But Golden Briar was powerless. He

pounded his hoof on the ground but the dust devil seemed to have a life of its own. It ripped through a line of trees, uprooting them and wrecking all the decorations. "What are we going to do?!" cried Sophia. "We need rain," said Layla. "That will stop it." "I can help!" whinnied Cloud. Isabel and Cloud galloped towards the whirling funnel of wind. Isabel's curly hair was blown back and she had to cling tightly to Cloud's neck to stop herself being swept off his back. Snowflake pawed the ground as another tree was swept into the air and a flying branch narrowly missed Cloud. "What if they get hurt?" she said. For a moment, Olivia was sure she saw a gold spark fly up and she caught a whiff of burnt sugar. Just for a second the dust devil almost seemed to freeze. The other unicorns

looked round sharply at Snowflake but then Cloud reached the whirlwind. He stamped both front feet down on the ground. Blue sparks flew up into the air above him and Isabel, and rain clouds formed right over the dust devil. It wobbled and teetered as it was bombarded with fat raindrops. "It's shrinking," whooped Sophia as the dust devil collapsed like a deflating balloon, first to a brisk wind, then a breeze, until the air finally stilled. There was a long moment of silence as everyone looked round at the ripped-up trees, the leaves everywhere and the broken branches tangled up with smashed decorations. Olivia's eyes filled with tears as she remembered the hours she and the others had spent making those decorations but she blinked them back. At least no one had been hurt. Isabel galloped furiously over to Valentina. "Valentina! That's why you don't show off with magic! Look at what you've done. You've