by Pip Bird
“You have to go,” Mira said. “You can borrow Dave. I’ll stay here.”
Dave grunted in surprise.
Rani blinked. It looked like she had tears in her eyes. “R-really?”
Both Mira and Rani looked at Madame Shetland.
“It’s an unusual solution,” said the principal. “But it has been an unusual day.” She nodded. “I can allow this.”
“He has to have a bath and get his mane styled before I’ll be seen with him,” said Rani, sounding much more like her old self.
Mira looked at Dave, who shrugged. “Fine,” said Mira.
“And I have one more demand,” said Rani.
Mira sighed. She was getting a little annoyed now—she was only trying to do something nice!
“And what is that, Rani?” said Madame Shetland.
“I won’t go on the quest unless Mira comes, too.”
* * *
Early the next morning, Team Sloth and Team Rhino (minus Angelica), gathered at the entrance to the forest.
Mrs. Fetlock was handing out nets. Mira and Rani had gone to see Angelica in her stall before they left. They didn’t want her to feel too sad. But it turned out that Darcy and Star were also in detention for customizing their rainbow tracksuits (or “ruining them,” according to Madame Shetland), and they were already in her stall and had offered to include her in their girl band. So they thought she’d be okay.
Mrs. Fetlock was explaining that the mystery quest was to collect rainbow light. They’d travel to the amazing Rainbow Hill, where they’d use their special nets to scoop the rainbow light from the sky. Then they’d bring it back to the darkest part of the Fearsome Forest and use it to light the forest lamps. Everyone was VERY excited!
“You’re HOGGING the unicorn, you hog!” grumbled Rani, fidgeting around and shoving Mira in the back.
“No, YOU are!” Mira wriggled backward. “And he’s named Dave, not ‘the unicorn.’”
“I want to go in the front,” said Rani. “I can’t see anything with your big head in the way.”
“He’s MY unicorn so I get to go in the front,” said Mira.
Dave sighed and trotted forward with the rest of the unicorns as they went up the path. They could see the rainbow light glinting over the brow of the hill, creating multicolored, ever-changing patterns in the sky.
Mira and Rani didn’t stop arguing ALL DAY. But they still had the best quest EVER!
Dave and Mira’s story isn’t ending! Everyone’s favorite unicorn best friends will be back in Dave the Unicorn: Dance Party!
Read on for a sneak peek!
CHAPTER ONE
Back to Unicorn School!
It was a cloudy Tuesday afternoon and Mira was dancing around the kitchen with her cat, Pickles. Mira’s older sister, Rani, rolled her eyes as she finished the after-dinner dishwashing (her chore for that week), and flicked water at Mira and Pickles as they twirled past the sink.
“Bleurgh!” spluttered Mira as a soap bubble landed in her mouth.
Rani dried her hands on a dish towel and snatched Pickles off Mira. “My turn! Okay, Pickles, you can be my unicorn,” she said. “I need to practice my moves for the school dance.”
As Rani and Pickles swept past her, Mira had to admit that Rani was an annoyingly good dancer. Rani and her unicorn, Angelica, were annoyingly good at lots of things. The trophy shelf in their living room was full of all Rani’s medals and trophies from winning tons of Unicorn School quests and competitions. Mira had just two medals so far.
Mira and Rani both went to Unicorn School. It was a magical place where students were matched with their Unicorn Best Friend Forever (UBFF) and had all kinds of brilliant quests and adventures!
It was almost time to go back to Unicorn School and Mira was BEYOND EXCITED to see her UBFF, Dave. He wasn’t exactly how she’d imagined her perfect unicorn to be … he could be a little stubborn. And greedy. And he fell asleep in all their lessons. But they had so much fun together. And the school dance was going to be the most fun EVER. She couldn’t imagine anything better in the entire world than spinning around the dance floor with Dave!
* * *
Later that night Mira lay in bed, too excited to sleep. She took out her diary from her bedside table and started thinking about all the awesome things she was going to do with Dave. And with Darcy and Raheem—her two human best friends at Unicorn School.
Thinking about Dave made Mira smile. He always made everything super fun, often in unexpected ways. Sure, he sometimes had to be bribed with snacks to do things. And sometimes he caused a teeny, tiny bit of havoc. And he held the Unicorn School record for most farts in class. But he didn’t mean to misbehave. Dave was Mira’s UBFF, and she loved him.
Mira tucked her diary back in the drawer and fell asleep.
* * *
Mom usually took Mira and Rani to the Magic Portal where they could travel to Unicorn School— but today Dad was driving them, and they had to explain everything to him. He even nearly forgot to take them to the supermarket to buy treats for their unicorns! (Most unicorns liked carrots and hay, but Dave liked doughnuts best of all.)
“Stop, Dad!” yelled Mira. They were about to drive right past the Magic Portal in the rec center parking lot! Dad made an emergency stop as Mira hung out of the car, waving to her friend Raheem.
Rani refused to be seen dead (her words) with Mira at Unicorn School, so Mira had arranged to go through the portal with Raheem. He was just finishing the “Rules of Keeping Safe” song with his dad, but did wave back.
Dad was under strict instruction to take a picture of them before they went through the portal. Rani would only pose for a fraction of a second, but the photo of the back of her head would have to do.
“Bye, Dad!” Mira blew him a kiss through the car window and made sure she had her bag of unicorn treats. “Ready, Raheem? Why have you got your eyes closed?”
“I always feel sick going through the portal,” Raheem said. “So I’m doing my calming breathing.”
Mira grabbed his hand and pulled them both through the bushes. No matter how many times she went through the portal, it never stopped being absolutely, completely magical.
First, her toes started to tingle, then her legs and arms, and then rainbow light burst all around them and they were WHOOSHING through the air before landing with a soft thump on the Landing Haystack in the middle of the Grand Paddock at Unicorn School.
“Wow,” breathed Mira as she looked around. It was autumn, and all the leaves in the Fearsome Forest were turning gorgeous shades of red and gold. Children were arriving in a steady stream on the Landing Haystack and running to find their UBFFs. The unicorns were grazing and playing in the paddocks and fields around Unicorn School. Mira could see their breath puffing in the chilly air as she searched for Dave.
“Ta-daaaa!” a voice sang out behind them on the haystack. Their friend Darcy launched off the haystack and did a spectacular spin in her wheelchair, with her arms in the air. “Did you miss me?”
Mira laughed and ran over for a hug. “Of course I missed you. That was awesome!”
Darcy flicked her fluffy blond hair back over her shoulder. “I know,” she said. “I’ve been practicing my moves for the school dance. I started a feet-and-wheels dance troupe at my other school, because I was kicked off the murderball team. They said I was too aggressive or something. Anyway, dance is WAY more my thing.”
“What’s murderball?” asked Raheem cautiously.
“It’s like rugby but in wheelchairs. And more dangerous,” Darcy replied, looking around for her unicorn, Star.
Raheem looked a little bit lost for words. “Shall we go find our unicorns?” he said.
Star and Brave were grazing in the Grand Paddock and cantered over as soon as they spotted Darcy and Raheem. Mira couldn’t see Dave.
“Is that him?” asked Darcy, pointing to a giant pile of straw by the side of the fence. Some of the Unicorn School teachers were standing around it, poking something
on the top of the straw pile with a stick. Mira looked closer and saw that it was a small unicorn curled up, fast asleep.
“Wake up!” yelled the PE teacher, Miss Hind.
“How is he still asleep?” muttered another teacher, shaking his head.
“He’s been up there for sixteen hours!” said their class teacher, Miss Glitterhorn.
Dave farted loudly in his sleep.
Mira gave a huge smile. There was her UBFF. And she knew JUST how to wake him up!
That’s all we have room for, but Dave the Unicorn: Dance Party keeps going after that—we promise!
And keep an eye out for the fourth book in the series, Dave the Unicorn: Field Trip!
About the Author
Pip Bird is a children’s author living in London. When she’s not writing magical stories, she dreams of going to Unicorn School and having her own unicorn best friend. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter One: Back to Unicorn School
Chapter Two: Team Sloth!
Chapter Three: Bungee Wrestling
Chapter Four: The Egg-and-Spoonicorn Race
Chapter Five: Sabotage…?
Chapter Six: The Serious Sports Events
Chapter Seven: Sneaker Stealing!
Chapter Eight: Into the Forest …
Chapter Nine: Unicorns Pointing North
Chapter Ten: The Mystery Quest
Excerpt: Dave the Unicorn
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2019 by Egmont UK Ltd. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by David O’Connell.
A part of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
mackids.com
All rights reserved
HALT
If you dare harm this book
You will lose
All team spirit
And never win a game again
Even Monopoly
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019948847
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at [email protected].
Special thanks to Liz Bankes and Rebecca Lewis-Oakes
Imprint logo designed by Amanda Spielman
Originally published in Great Britain by Egmont UK Limited in 2019
First American hardcover edition, 2020
eBook edition, June 2020
eISBN 9781250256379
