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 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 he 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 do you have 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!
Mira reached into her pocket. “Dave!” she called. “I’ve got a super-special treat for you!” Mira pulled out a strawberry licorice and waved it in the air.
Up on the straw pile, she was sure she could see Dave’s nostrils twitching. Then he gave a loud snort and sat bolt upright. His ears pricked up, his nose twitched, and he looked down at Mira.
Dave launched himself off the top of the straw pile, bounced off Miss Hind’s head, and landed in a heap just in front of Mira. Miss Hind muttered angrily to herself, but the other teachers just seemed relieved that Dave was finally awake.
Dave swallowed the strawberry licorice and licked Mira’s face. She giggled and pulled another candy string out of her pocket.
Dave slurped up the treat, then farted happily. Just then, the school bell rang, calling the students and unicorns inside. It was time for Unicorn School to begin!
Text copyright © 2019 by Egmont UK Ltd.
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by David O’Connell
