by Chloe Ryder
‘We did it,’ she gasped.
‘You did it,’ Pippa corrected her.
‘We!’ Stardust shouted to make her voice heard over Misty’s triumphant cheers. ‘That was teamwork. I could never have done it without your help.’
‘We help each other all the time,’ said Pippa.
‘I know,’ Stardust said happily. ‘It’s what best friends do.’
‘It’s my turn now,’ called Misty.
Stardust turned to watch the little unicorn run at the lava. Her golden horn bobbed up and down as she pounded towards the molten river. There was a determined glint in her eye as she took off. She cleared the lava in one giant leap and her smile was brighter than the morning sun as she landed gracefully.
Pippa and Stardust cheered but there was no time to rest. The three friends continued steadily up the Volcano.
‘How much further?’ Stardust asked.
‘We’re nearly there,’ said Misty.
As the climb became steeper, Stardust and Misty fell silent, saving their energy for the ascent. Sweat trickled from Pippa’s scalp and ran down her forehead into her eyes. Her curls felt limp, like seaweed stranded on the beach. She pushed them back from her face. What would they find at the top of the Volcano? With the hungry, red flames belching skyward it was hard to imagine anything existing up there at all. The path continued to twist until, rounding another bend, Stardust drew up sharply.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s a castle!’ Pippa said, her heart thudding against her ribs.
Ahead of them was the biggest castle she’d ever seen, built into the face of the Volcano. Its turrets loomed above them, with their tall, slit windows staring out like all-seeing eyes. Ebony towers and turrets spiked upward from behind a solid jet wall. A massive drawbridge was drawn up, preventing intruders from crossing a moat of bubbling orange-red lava and reaching an enormous, coal-coloured door.
The whole place had a forbidding look. Even the craggy stone walls seemed to shout, ‘Go away!’
Stardust gave a huge, sad sigh.
‘I don’t believe it. We’ve come all this way and now we can’t get in.’
Chapter 3
Pippa squinted, scanning the Volcano Castle for a way in. She spotted guard ponies peering down over the walls.
‘Look,’ she said, pointing. ‘The guards have seen us. They’re lowering the drawbridge.’
Two stern-faced Night Mares, wearing black sashes encrusted with diamonds, were letting the drawbridge down.
‘Why would they do that straight away,’ Pippa mused, ‘unless they’re expecting us?’
‘You mean it could be a trap?’ Stardust asked, her voice squeaky with fear.
‘Maybe – perhaps Divine guessed that we’d come after her.’
‘We don’t have to go in,’ Misty said, taking dainty steps backward.
‘We do,’ said Pippa. ‘It’s our best chance of finding the last horseshoe.’
As the drawbridge clanged down over the moat, the guard ponies motioned for them to cross it and come up. Stardust stepped forward and, after a hoof beat’s hesitation, Misty followed. The flapping of wings made Pippa look up.
Something soared overhead and was gone in a flash. She gazed at the sky but there was nothing there. She gripped on to Stardust’s mane as the Princess Pony trotted across the rattling drawbridge.
‘Welcome, strangers,’ neighed the guards.
‘Hello,’ Stardust whinnied back. ‘Please can we come in?’
The Night Mares exchanged a grin.
‘Of course,’ said the taller one. ‘It’s a pleasure to have you here. It’s not often that we get to welcome visitors.’
Pippa could feel Stardust quivering beneath her. Taking a deep breath to steady her own trembling hand, she patted Stardust’s neck. Bravely Stardust stepped up into the castle, which appeared to be the home of the Night Mares. Having passed through the enormous door they found themselves in a courtyard.
‘It’s just like the one back home, only there’s no Whispering Wall,’ exclaimed Stardust.
‘There’s no wall at all,’ said Pippa.
The courtyard stretched away and opened out into a long, stone balcony that overhung a huge pool of bubbling lava. Tearing her eyes away from the smouldering pool, Pippa stared upward and glimpsed the blue sky dotted with fluffy, white clouds.
‘This must be the heart of the Volcano,’ she whispered.
Her eyes widened as she took in their surroundings. The lava pool was indeed the very centre of the Volcano, with a whole world carved into the rock around it. Pippa saw caves of all sizes linked by walkways of black stone. There were spires decorated with scary, stone pony gargoyles that spat rivers of molten lava into the pit below. There were graceful arches and stone pillars all elaborately carved with the heads of ponies. The lava pool lit the caves, turrets and arches with a soft red glow. Pippa shivered despite the heat.
‘Look how busy everyone is,’ Misty said in wonder.
Ponies bustled about, nodding to each other as they hurried past. Pippa gripped Stardust’s mane as two familiar ponies trotted by.
‘Look!’ she gasped. ‘That’s Nightshade and Eclipse.’
‘Hey, you!’ Stardust shouted. ‘You stole our first horseshoe.’
Several ponies stopped and stared but Stardust ignored them and kept shouting until Nightshade turned around. She trotted over, closely followed by Eclipse.
‘We did not,’ she said indignantly. ‘The Mistress gave us that horseshoe. She said it belonged to her and that we must hide it for a game.’
‘That’s not true,’ Stardust said, shaking her head. ‘The Mistress stole all eight horseshoes from the Royal Family. She took them from our ancient Whispering Wall, where they’ve hung for centuries.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Eclipse. ‘But the Mistress is our loyal protector – she wouldn’t steal anything.’
‘The horseshoes belong here, where they were made,’ Nightshade argued.
‘They were made here,’ agreed Stardust, ‘but they truly belong on the Whispering Wall. It’s written in the ancient scrolls. If you don’t believe me then check.’
‘Ancient scrolls? I’ve never heard of any scrolls,’ Nightshade said. ‘And you shouldn’t go around shouting at ponies that they’re thieves,’ she added crossly. ‘Is that how they teach Royal Ponies to behave at Stableside?’
Pippa could see that the argument was going nowhere and that Nightshade was getting angry.
‘Stardust didn’t mean to call you a thief,’ Pippa said apologetically. ‘We’re just really worried about the horseshoes – the last one must be found before the end of the day. We didn’t know anyone actually lived inside the Volcano. It’s amazing here – I’d love to look around.’
Pippa smiled shyly and Nightshade smiled right back.
‘Thank you. I think it’s beautiful, but our home isn’t to everyone’s taste. I could show you around if you like?’
Pippa’s face lit up.
‘Yes, please!’
Eclipse stepped forward, staring at Pippa through her long, shaggy mane.
‘You’re from Stableside, aren’t you? A right stuck-up lot, they are, down there. They think they’re the only ones with a proper castle. You wait till you see what we have here. Our castle is the best! It doesn’t get much grander or older. This castle was here long before Stableside. It’s the very heart of Chevalia.’
‘Really?’ Pippa frowned. ‘So why would you want to destroy the island?’
Eclipse exchanged a glance with Nightshade, who shrugged.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The horseshoe that you were hiding for a game,’ Pippa said carefully, ‘is definitely one of eight magical horseshoes that should hang on the ancient Whispering Wall. The scientist-magician Nightingale wrote in her scrolls that Chevalia can only survive if the horseshoes’ magic – and the love they capture from pony and horse lovers around the world – is renewed by the rays of the
sun every Midsummer.’
Eclipse’s eyes widened in alarm.
‘What?’ she whispered. ‘Is that really true?’
Pippa nodded.
‘Then the Mistress has misled us.’ Nightshade looked ready to burst into tears. ‘She told us that the horseshoes were symbols of power and that by hiding them, Chevalia would return to its former glory, where the Volcano was the heart of the island and every pony was equal.’
‘Every pony should be equal,’ Pippa agreed, ‘but stealing the horseshoes isn’t going to help. If you read the ancient scrolls you’ll realise that before Nightingale created the horseshoes the island was just a small lump of volcanic rock – there was no former glory!’
‘We must find the eighth missing horseshoe,’ Stardust said urgently. ‘We think it’s here somewhere but we don’t know where to look.’
‘We’ll help,’ Nightshade said immediately.
Eclipse half reared up and when she spoke her voice was high with excitement.
‘I think I know where it is. Nightingale had a laboratory hidden deep in the Volcano. The Mistress spends all her time there – she locked herself inside it all last night. I bet that’s where she’s hidden the last horseshoe. Follow me and I’ll show you.’
Eclipse took off at a smart trot. In single file Nightshade, Stardust and Misty hurried after her along several twisty, stone walkways and tunnels. The tunnels led to one side of the Volcano’s inner rim and a series of caves.
‘Nightingale’s laboratory is in the last cave,’ Eclipse said, panting slightly as she navigated the puddles of lava and the black boulders littering the ground.
Eventually they came to an archway that was fitted with a stone door and an iron latch. Eclipse expertly flipped the latch up and pushed.
The door opened with a groan. In silence everyone trooped inside and Pippa dismounted from Stardust. Long benches lined the middle of the cave and were covered with glass apparatus that was thick with dust. There were test tubes everywhere, filled with brightly coloured liquids. Pippa’s throat tightened at the acid stench of chemicals. A huge cream scroll tied with a deep pink ribbon lay on top of a wooden desk. Pippa’s eyes were drawn to it. Was that the original ancient scroll or just a copy? Next to it, in a frame made from volcanic rock, was a picture of a stocky-looking pony with bulging eyes.
‘Divine?’ Stardust asked, stepping forward.
‘No, it’s Nightingale,’ Nightshade corrected her. ‘The Mistress is a direct descendant of Nightingale. But, yes, they’re very similar.’
There were further portraits of Nightingale on the walls, hanging in ornate, gold frames. The last picture had a modern frame and was of a smaller pony with eyes that protruded even more.
‘That’s Divine,’ Pippa exclaimed, pointing. Her voice rose suddenly. ‘And hanging above the picture is the last horseshoe!’
‘It is indeed.’
The voice that came from the doorway sent shivers racing along Pippa’s spine. It was Baroness Divine.
‘I’ve been expecting you.’ An evil smile played on Divine’s lips. Throwing back her head, she laughed triumphantly, then she shouted, ‘Guards, seize them!’
Chapter 4
A group of Night Mares, wearing the guards’ uniform of diamond-encrusted black sashes, charged into the laboratory and surrounded Pippa, Stardust and Misty. They marched them outside and into a long, dark tunnel lit by flickering torches. As the tunnel twisted and turned it kept splitting into more passages.
‘Left, right, right, left, left, left,’ Pippa murmured to herself as she tried to memorise the route they were taking.
They were travelling downhill and, after entering a very narrow tunnel, they finally arrived at their destination.
‘The dungeons,’ Stardust whickered, her breath catching.
The guards roughly nudged the trio into the same cell. The door clanged shut and the key scraped in the lock.
Divine’s hoof steps rang out mockingly as she started to trot away.
‘You’ve failed.’ Divine laughed.
‘Wait!’ cried Pippa. ‘Why are you doing this to us?’
Divine swung round to face them. Drawing herself up, she said, ‘Nightingale may be my distant ancestor but she was a fool. When she found magical gold in the Volcano she fashioned it into two sets of symbolic horseshoes, one set each for the King and Queen of the new island of Chevalia that the horseshoes went on to create. The island was a place where all ponies could be equal. But how could that ever be when Nightingale had decreed that there would be a King and Queen? Far better, I say, that the island remains a volcanic rock, led by only one pony. My plan is to destroy the last golden horseshoe so that Chevalia will return to what it was – a simple place with no Royal Court or Princess Ponies. There will be just one leader. Me. I shall rule the new volcanic island.’
Stardust let out a loud sob then bravely swallowed to stop any more from escaping.
‘How are you going to destroy the horseshoe?’ asked Pippa. Her heart hammered in her chest as she played for time.
Divine’s eyes glowed in the torchlight.
‘I plan to throw it into the heart of the Volcano, where the hot lava will melt it.’
‘Won’t that be dangerous?’ Pippa asked. ‘What about the magic locked inside the horseshoe?’
‘Enough!’ roared Divine. ‘My plan is nearly complete. I don’t have time to waste talking to a silly little girl.’
The Baroness clattered away, the guards following, their hooves echoing on the rough floor.
Stardust huddled in the corner of the cell and began to cry. Pippa wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck. She buried her face in Stardust’s silky mane, breathing in her sweet pony smell.
‘Don’t cry,’ she said gently. ‘It’s not over yet.’
‘But it is,’ Stardust wept. ‘How can we ever escape from here? Divine will destroy the eighth horseshoe and Chevalia will disappear. I’m never going to see my family again.’ Her voice rose to a wail.
Pippa continued to hug her. She wanted to say something wise and comforting but the words wouldn’t come. At last she pulled away from Stardust to examine the dungeon bars. They ran from floor to ceiling and were as solid as a mountain. They didn’t even rattle when Pippa tried to shake them.
‘We’re well and truly stuck,’ she said as Misty came to stand beside her. ‘Unless . . .’ An idea popped into Pippa’s head. With mounting excitement she said, ‘Misty, could you use your unicorn magic to freeze the bars?’
Misty stared at her for a moment then a slow smile spread over her face. As Stardust realised what Pippa intended, she came to stand beside her.
‘I think so,’ said Misty.
As the unicorn bent her head forward, Pippa was struck by how delicate her spiralled horn looked against the thick prison bar. Could something so tiny and beautiful overcome the strength of the iron?
‘Yes,’ Pippa said softly.
She clenched her hands into fists. It was like good and evil. Good always won in the end if people had the courage to stand together and fight the bad.
A cracking noise reverberated around the prison cell as, slowly, the bars began to freeze. Pippa could feel the cold radiating from them.
‘It’s your turn now, Stardust,’ said Pippa. ‘Can you kick the bars out?’
Stardust shook back her long, white mane. There was a look of determination in her brown eyes.
‘Easy!’ she said.
Turning her back on the bars, Stardust lashed out with her hind hooves and there was an ear-splitting crack. Stardust kicked again and again. Suddenly the bars clanged to the floor.
‘Hooray!’ cheered Pippa.
She scrambled up on Stardust’s back.
‘Now we go after Divine.’
At a fast trot Stardust and Misty fled the dungeon into the dark tunnel. Many of the flickering torches had been snuffed out. Pippa squinted as they flew along, but the passageway didn’t look familiar.
‘Left,’ she
said uncertainly, as they reached the first branch of the underground labyrinth.
Pippa clung on to Stardust’s back, ducking her head in the places where the ceiling was low. Stardust and Misty’s breathing came in noisy rasps. They continued for ages, until they reached a crossroad of four paths. Pippa hesitated.
‘Which way?’ Stardust asked, pulling up.
Fear gripped Pippa’s insides. She didn’t remember this part of the tunnel at all. There was a buzzing noise in her ears. Pippa shook her head in irritation.
‘Watch out!’ cried a tiny voice. ‘It’s meee. Your good friend Zzzimb.’
‘Zimb!’ Pippa’s spirits soared as her horsefly friend flew in front of her face and landed on her nose. Pippa giggled and crossed her eyes as she tried to focus on him.
Zimb chuckled too then flew away to perch on Stardust’s ear.
‘A little losssssst, are we? Let Zimb help.’
There was a faint buzz and suddenly the tunnel glowed with a thousand pinpricks of light.
‘Fireflies!’ Pippa said, staring around in delight.
‘Weee ssssaw you enter the Volcano,’ said Zimb. ‘No Royal Pony has ever ventured here before. Weee guesssssed you might need help.’
‘Thank you,’ said Stardust.
Quickly Pippa, Stardust and Misty told Zimb why they were in the Volcano.
‘Baronesssss Divine hassss assembled everyone in the castle courtyard,’ said Zimb. ‘Weeee sssssaw her on our way in. Hurry!’
