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

第二章吃了一顿美味的早餐，有热面包卷和新鲜水果，阿利安娜感觉好多了。 她和其他人一起走向马厩，半听半听地听着他们的闲聊，双手插在舒适的紫色连帽衫口袋里。 她真的很喜欢独角兽学院。 春天的太阳在勿忘我的蓝天上缓缓升起，它的光芒使学院的大理石塔楼和圆顶玻璃屋顶闪闪发光。 阿利安娜想起和她配对的独角兽Whisper，高兴地叹了口气。 他有棕色的大眼睛和长长的睫毛，他的

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

白色的皮毛上点缀着粉红色和蓝色的花朵，深粉色的鬃毛上点缀着浅粉色和紫色的条纹。 阿利安娜认为它是整个独角兽岛上最可爱、最美丽的独角兽。 像独角兽学院的其他男女同学一样，阿利安娜是在1月份满10岁后入学的。 学生们通常会待上一年，但如果他们的独角兽还没有发现它们独特的魔力并与它们产生联系，他们就会待得更久。 阿利安娜迫不及待地想让她的一绺头发变成和Whisper的粉色和紫色鬃毛一样的颜色。 这表明他们已经建立了联系，这是友谊的最高形式。 学院里的每个人都在训练成为独角兽岛的守护者。 守卫者保护着岛上的一切，尤其是从闪闪流出的神奇的水

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

湖泊环绕着土地，使所有的动物都保持健康。 通常，这个岛是非常平静的，但在前一年，一群学生挫败了学校的老校长樱草花女士的各种邪恶计划，她想关闭学院，控制火花湖。 Primrose女士被抓了起来并被关进了监狱，但是老师们知道她一直在和一个至今未被找到的不知名的人合作。 阿利安娜希望她在学院期间不会再有什么麻烦。 在她前面，罗莎正和玛蒂尔达和维奥莱特聊天。 弗雷娅沉浸在自己的思绪中。 “我迫不及待地想再去参加越野比赛，”罗莎说。 “我喜欢越野跳跃。” “我也是！”玛蒂尔达说。“虽然当Tulip老师让我们上课时，我总是迷路。 你还记得我们上次出去吗？ 珍珠

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

结果我被困在沼泽里了。” 紫笑了。“你后来看起来像个泥怪！”阿利安娜一想起这事就发抖。 玛蒂尔达和珠儿从头到尾都沾满了粘稠的泥浆。 这是她的噩梦，但玛蒂尔达和其他人认为这真的很有趣。 就在这时，两只老鼠从玫瑰丛后面跑出来，穿过小路，消失在一些树的阴影里。 阿利安娜惊恐地向后跳了跳——她以前从来没有在学院里见过老鼠。 她正要告诉其他人，忽然想起弗雷娅嘲笑她怕蜘蛛。 最好什么也别说，免得他们取笑她。 阿利安娜匆匆走进马厩。 那是一栋现代化、通风良好的建筑，干净整洁，光彩照人，她很喜欢。 每只独角兽都有自己的隔间，里面有水槽

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.

装满了湖中的水，以保持独角兽的魔力强大。 遥控小车载着干草和一桶一桶的天空莓——独角兽最喜欢的食物。 当女孩们走进马厩时，阿利安娜皱起了鼻子。 空气中有一股强烈的臭袜子味。 “阿!小心！”玛蒂尔达突然说。

"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?"

“你身上有只蜘蛛！”“什么? 哪里？”阿利安娜喘着气说，一边疯狂地刷着衣服。 玛蒂尔达咯咯笑了。“只在开玩笑!”罗莎也笑了。 “别理他们。”维奥莱特对阿利安娜说。 “你真卑鄙，”她说着，朝玛蒂尔达摇了摇头，但脸上却带着微笑。 阿利安娜大步走进Whisper的马厩。 她讨厌别人取笑她。我怕蜘蛛又不是我的错，她生气地想。 Whisper从他正在捡的干草网中抬起头来，呜呜地叫了一声，他的黑眼睛闪闪发光。 “你好，阿利安娜。”他说着走过去，用鼻子蹭她的脸。 “你好。”阿利安娜说，抚摸着他的脸颊，她的愤怒渐渐消失了。 她拥抱了他，然后闻了闻。 “呸，这是什么难闻的味道？”