Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO After a delicious breakfast of hot rolls and fresh fruit, Ariana was feeling better. She walked to the stables with the others, half-listening to their chatter, her hands buried in the pockets of her snuggly purple hoodie. She really did love Unicorn Academy. The spring sun was edging upwards in the forget-me-not-blue sky, its rays making the marble towers and domed glass roof of the academy sparkle and shine. Ariana breathed a happy sigh as she thought about Whisper, the unicorn she had been paired with. He had big brown eyes and long eyelashes, his

white coat was patterned with trailing pink and blue flowers and his dark pink mane was streaked with strands of a lighter pink and purple. Ariana thought him the sweetest, most beautiful unicorn on the whole of Unicorn Island. Like all the other girls and boys at Unicorn Academy, Ariana had joined the school in the January after she turned ten years old. Pupils usually stayed for a year, but if their unicorns hadn't yet discovered their unique magic and bonded with them, then they stayed for longer. Ariana couldn't wait for a lock of her hair to turn the same colours as Whisper's pink and purple mane. This would show that they'd bonded, which was the highest form of friendship. Everyone at the academy was training to become guardians of Unicorn Island. Guardians protected everything on the island, especially the magical water that flowed from Sparkle

Lake around the land and kept all its animals healthy. Usually, the island was very peaceful, but the year before, a group of students had foiled various wicked plans by Ms Primrose, the school's old headteacher, who had wanted to shut the academy down and take control of Sparkle Lake. Ms Primrose had been caught and imprisoned, but the teachers knew she'd been working with an unknown person who'd still not been found. Ariana hoped there wasn't going to be any more trouble while she was at the academy. Ahead of her, Rosa was chatting to Matilda and Violet. Freya was lost in her own thoughts. "I can't wait until we go out on the cross- country course again," Rosa was saying. "I love cross-country jumping." "Me too!" said Matilda. "Though I always get lost when Ms Tulip makes us do a course. Do you remember last time we went out? Pearl

and I ended up stuck in the middle of a bog." Violet grinned. "You looked like a mud monster afterwards!" Ariana shuddered at the memory. Matilda and Pearl had been covered from head to tail in thick, gloopy mud. It was the sort of thing she had nightmares about, but Matilda and the others had thought it was really funny. Just then, two mice scurried out from behind a rose bush and dashed across the path, vanishing into the shadows beside some trees. Ariana jumped back in alarm– she'd never seen mice at the academy before. She was about to tell the others when she remembered Freya laughing at her for being scared of spiders. Better not to say anything in case they teased her. Ariana hurried into the stable block. It was a modern, airy building, beautifully clean and shiny, and she loved it. Each unicorn had their own stall inside and there were troughs that

filled up with water from the lake to keep the unicorns' magic strong. Remote-controlled trolleys trundled around carrying hay and buckets of sky berries– the unicorns' favourite food. As the girls entered the stables, Ariana wrinkled her nose. The air smelled strongly of stinky socks. "Ariana! Watch out!" said Matilda suddenly.

"There's a spider on you!" "What? Where?" gasped Ariana, brushing her clothes frantically. Matilda giggled. "Only joking!" Rosa chuckled too. "Ignore them," Violet told Ariana. "You are so mean," she said, shaking her head at Matilda, but there was a smile on her face. Ariana stomped into Whisper's stable. She hated being teased. It's not my fault I'm scared of spiders, she thought crossly. Whisper looked up from the hay net he was picking at and whinnied, his dark eyes lighting up. "Hello, Ariana," he said, coming over and nuzzling her face. "Hello back," said Ariana, her crossness fading away as she stroked his cheek. She hugged him and then sniffed. "Poo, what is that awful smell?"