‘Well?’ Willow demanded.
‘It was actually OK!’ Troy burst out. ‘There were a few questions that I couldn’t do but all the others were fine!’
‘Phew!’ Sapphire said, tossing her mane with relief.
‘That’s brilliant!’ said Storm.
‘I’m just glad it’s over,’ said Troy. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here and go outside!’ They cantered happily out to the meadows. The sun was shining and the other unicorns in the school were all out enjoying themselves.
‘Have you heard the news?’ Oriel, a Year Three unicorn, came racing over to them. ‘The Tricorn has just announced that there’ll be a big party in the Assembly Fields after the exam results this afternoon.
There’s going to be a feast and music and the teachers are going to do a magic show!’
‘Cool!’ Troy exclaimed.
Willow grinned at him. ‘Looks like we haven’t missed all the fun stuff after all!’
As soon as lunch was over, the unicorns went to the Great Hall to get their exam results. Each desk had a name tag and a blank piece of paper on it. Willow’s heart thudded as she found the desk with her name on. This was it! The moment they would find out how they had done. She glanced at Troy standing at the desk beside her.
‘Good luck,’ he whispered.
‘You too,’ replied Willow.
The Tricorn was waiting at the front of the hall. The chief elf stood beside him. As the last few unicorns found their desks, the Tricorn stamped his front left hoof on the ground. Absolute silence fell.
‘It is now time for you to discover the results of your examinations,’ the Tricorn told the waiting unicorns. ‘When the horn is blown, you must touch your horn to the piece of paper in front of you. Count to three and, when you raise your heads, the paper will reveal your results.’
The chief elf raised the horn to his lips. The Tricorn nodded and a long note sounded. Taking a deep breath, Willow touched her horn to the paper. A small purple spark burst from the end of it. One, two, three, Willow counted, then raised her head. Purple writing had appeared.
Willow – Year One
Examination Results
Charms… Grade A (excellent)
Flying… Grade B (good)
Transformation… Grade B (good)
Weather Magic… Grade A (excellent)
Healing… Grade B (good)
History… Grade A (excellent)
Willow felt a whoosh of delight. She had passed all her exams and got a good or an excellent grade in every one! How amazing was that?
She swung round to find her friends. As she did so, the Tricorn’s voice boomed out, ‘When you have read your exam results, you may leave the hall.’
The unicorns immediately raced around the hall, all asking the same questions of their friends. ‘What did you get? What grades?’
‘Well?’ Willow demanded as she, Storm, Sapphire and Troy met up. They were all smiling.
‘I got As in transformation and weather magic and Bs in everything else, apart from flying, which I got a C in!’ Storm burst out. ‘But at least I passed it!’
‘I got As in healing, weather magic and rose-quartz gazing, a B in charms and flying and a C in transformation,’ said Sapphire, beaming.
Willow gabbled out her own results and then they all looked at Troy.
‘I got an A in flying, healing, weather magic and charms,’ he said slowly, ‘a B in transformation. And in history…’ He paused.
‘Yes?’ Willow demanded, hardly daring to breathe.
‘I got a B!’ Troy exclaimed. Willow, Sapphire and Storm whinnied in delight.
‘You passed!’ exclaimed Storm.
‘You didn’t just pass, you got a B!’ said Sapphire.
‘That’s great, Troy!’ Willow said.
Troy grinned round at them all. ‘I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you!’ Willow didn’t think she’d ever felt happier.
Oriel came over. ‘Are you lot coming to the party in the Assembly Fields?’ he asked.
Willow bucked joyfully. ‘You bet!’ she said.
The end-of-term party was great fun. There was a feast of fresh shamrock and all sorts of games and things to do – apple bobbing, a lucky dip, pin the tail on the paper unicorn, musical statues, flying races and guess the pixie’s name. After the feast the teachers put on a magic show. Atlas and Fabian, the flying teachers, had everyone gasping as they flew four loop-the-loops one after the other, and on the final loop shot silver stars out of their horns. Tor turned a chair into a giant iced cake and made strings of mini unicorns to decorate the trees. Solaris, the weather magic teacher, made a glass of water change to ten different colours, first one after the other and then all together so the glass had multicoloured layers and looked like a rainbow. And the Tricorn demonstrated some of the most difficult unicorn magic by making himself invisible and reappearing behind trees and bushes in a silver flash. It was a brilliant display and at the end everyone cheered.
‘This is just the best day ever!’ said Willow happily.
As she spoke, an elf came over to Troy and gave him a piece of paper. ‘It’s a message from my parents,’ Troy said, looking at the royal crown on the front. He opened it out and read what it said. ‘Oh, wow! Listen to this:
Dear Troy,
Your mother and I have just heard from the Tricorn about your excellent exam results. We are delighted with how well you have done in your first year. Your mother tells me that in your last letter you asked if your friends Willow, Sapphire and Storm could come to stay with us at the palace for a week in the holidays. We would be delighted to have them come to visit…’
Willow, Storm and Sapphire gasped. Troy broke off and grinned at them. ‘So, will you come to the palace?’ he asked eagerly.
‘Oh, yes!’ they all whinnied.
Willow’s mind raced. A trip to the palace and a chance to spend a whole week of the holidays with Storm and Sapphire and Troy. It sounded brilliant!
‘We’ll be able to do loads of things,’ Troy went on. ‘There are sugar-coated apples growing on the trees, magic birds who sing whatever songs you want to hear, butterflies who perch on your back, and lots of secret passages in the castle to explore and play hide and seek in.’
‘Wow!’ said Sapphire.
‘It’ll be amazing,’ said Willow.
‘And best of all we’ll be together,’ Storm put in happily.
Willow grinned. ‘No, what’s really best of all is that after such a cool summer holiday we’ll all be coming back here for another year!’
‘And this time we’ll be in Year Two,’ Sapphire pointed out.
‘I wonder what that will be like,’ said Troy.
‘One thing’s for sure,’ said Willow, tossing her mane excitedly. ‘It’s going to be fun!’
Unicorn School Page 4
