Princess Ponies 2 (4 page)

‘Thank you.’ Blossom’s eyes sparkled happily. ‘And one more thing, now that we’re all best friends – can Pippa ride me in the Equestriathon? Pleeeeeaase! You know how much I’ve always wanted to carry a girl.’

‘That’s a brilliant idea, isn’t it, Pippa?’ said Stardust.

Pippa hesitated. ‘Won’t you run faster without me, though?’ she asked.

Blossom’s bottom lip quivered.

Pippa couldn’t bear seeing her upset again, so she quickly added, ‘How about I just ride you to the start line?’

‘That would be wonderful! Thank you, Pippa. We’d better get going. I need to warm up on the practice gallops.’

As Blossom and Stardust trotted back up the beach, Pippa trailed behind, kicking up lumps of seaweed and checking behind rocks for the missing horseshoes.

When they reached the path towards the Plateau, she turned back for one last look. Something caught her eye away in the distance. Pippa squinted out to sea and her heart missed a beat. It was Rosella and
Triton, the two giant seahorses who had brought her to Chevalia. She wondered if they would be able to help. Pippa ran straight back to the water’s edge, waving to get their attention. Gracefully, the seahorses changed direction and swam towards her.

‘Hello, Pippa,’ Rosella called.

‘Is there a problem?’ asked Triton, a green seahorse with dark freckles.

‘Yes,’ Pippa said breathlessly. ‘Princess Stardust and I have only found one of the golden horseshoes.’

‘Only one?’ exclaimed Rosella. Pippa noticed that the seahorses gave each other disappointed looks.

‘We brought you here, Pippa, because you are the girl who loves ponies the most,’ said
Triton. ‘We hoped you could save Chevalia.’

Pippa felt awful. ‘I won’t let you down,’ she promised, ‘but I could use your help.’

‘What help do you need?’ asked Rosella.

‘Could you swim around the island and look at the places we can’t see or reach from the land, like the rocks?’

‘If there are horseshoes on the cliffs or in the rocks under water, we’ll find them,’ said Triton.

‘Thank you,’ Pippa said gratefully.

Proudly dipping their heads, they swam back out to sea.

Pippa raced to catch up with Stardust and Blossom. The two ponies were so busy talking about how Blossom should compete in the Equestriathon that they hadn’t even noticed she’d been gone.

While Blossom warmed up for the race on the practice gallops, Pippa searched the scrubby ground either side of the race track for horseshoes. She wasn’t surprised when she didn’t find them, though – it was too open and flat to hide anything there.

At last it was time to ride Blossom over to the Equestriathon start line on the beach. A long blue ribbon marked the start of the race and a huge crowd had gathered all along the track. As Blossom approached it, proudly carrying Pippa on her back, the ponies began to whisper and stare. Pippa’s face burned with embarrassment when she realised they were talking about her.

‘Carrying a girl is cheating,’ said a large pony with a narrow face.

‘It’s not fair on the others,’ agreed an elderly black and white pony.

Pippa was very glad when Blossom reached her position on the start line. Sliding from her back, she stood close to Stardust, hoping the Princess Pony could protect her from the hostile looks. Once she was off
Blossom’s back, though, everyone returned their attention to the competitors.

‘Good luck, Blossom!’ Stardust shouted, earning herself a cross glare from Mrs Steeplechase, who was also in the crowd. ‘Once you’ve started we’ll go to the headland to watch the rest of the race.’

‘Thank you,’ Blossom said, looking pleased. ‘I couldn’t do this alone.’

King Firestar stepped forward. ‘One hoof, two hooves, GO!’ he called, striking a horseshoe-shaped gong.

The blue start-line ribbon fell to the ground. In a thunder of hooves and flying turf, the competitors galloped away. Blossom kept pace with even the biggest and most powerful of the racing ponies.

‘Quick, Pippa,’ said Stardust. ‘Jump on my back so we can get to the headland faster. It’s the best place to watch from because you can see at least half of the race from there.’

As soon as Pippa had swung herself on to Stardust’s back, the pony set off at a gallop across the Plateau. The wind blew in Pippa’s face, catching her curly hair so that it streamed out behind her. She felt her anxieties slowly melt away. This was exhilarating – the most fantastic ride in her whole life. She wanted to gallop for ever. Leaning forward, she sunk her hands deep in Stardust’s soft, white mane.

‘Faster,’ she cried.

Stardust snorted. ‘Hold on tight then,’ she called, thrusting onward.

Pippa could tell that Stardust was enjoying the ride too. Her ears were pricked forward and she galloped with a joyous spring in her stride.

Pippa was so happy she almost shouted out loud. She felt so alive – and confident that everything would work out. Blossom would win the race, she was sure of it.

Chapter 4

They reached the headland quickly and Stardust stopped a safe distance from the cliff edge, her sides heaving as she caught her breath.

Pippa looked around. From this point, over half the island’s white beaches were spread out below her. The island was ringed by deep-blue sea that sparkled like thousands of tiny jewels. It was so quiet up here that she could hear the soft hiss as the waves crept up the shore. But the beaches were a long way down and it gave her a sudden shiver to be up so high. She clung on to Stardust’s mane and Stardust gently moved back two steps from the edge, sensing Pippa’s nervousness.

‘That’s much better,’ said Pippa. ‘Chevalia’s the most beautiful island ever, but it’s very, very high up in places!’

Pippa looked down the stretch of beach to watch the ponies racing across the sand. Even though they were so tiny from this height, it was still possible to pick them out. White sand sprayed from their hooves as they thundered along. The stocky chestnut in the lead was Blossom. In second place, and a long way behind, was a skewbald pony, his neck stretched and steam rising from his body as he struggled to catch up. Next there was a tight cluster of four ponies who were bumping and jostling each other as they fought to overtake. The rest of the racers were spread out behind, with a group of stragglers bringing up the rear.

‘Look – Blossom’s so far ahead of the pack!’ said Pippa.

‘No one can catch her now,’ Stardust whinnied. ‘I’m sure she’ll win.’

Excitement fizzed in Pippa’s stomach. She couldn’t wait to see Cinders’s face when Blossom won the Equestriathon trophy. And what would
Blossom’s parents say? They might be
show ponies but Pippa felt sure they’d be thrilled and proud of their daughter.

‘You can do it, Blossom!’ Pippa called.

Stardust joined in, chanting, ‘Blossom, Blossom, Blossom!’

She trotted on the spot, bouncing Pippa up and down. It was so much fun that at first Pippa didn’t notice that something was moving out at sea. Faster and faster, two shapes were swimming towards the shore, where they started dancing in the water. That got Pippa’s attention. She put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun.

‘The seahorses are back,’ she gasped.

But what were they doing? Suddenly, Pippa realised that they must want to speak to her.

‘Who are you waving at?’ Stardust asked, as Pippa threw both arms in the air.

‘Rosella and
Triton,’ Pippa answered, sliding from Stardust’s back. ‘They’re calling me.’

‘I’ll take you down to the path to the beach,’ said Stardust.

Pippa hesitated. Riding Stardust would be much quicker than going by foot, but what about Blossom? They had promised to watch her race.

‘Thanks, but you’d better stay here. If Blossom gallops past when we’re on our way down the cliff path, she won’t see you cheering her on and she’ll be so disappointed.’

‘You’re right,’ Stardust said with a big sigh. ‘Why does being a best friend have to be so difficult sometimes?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Pippa. She climbed down from Stardust’s back and, stroking her softly on the nose, added, ‘But it’s worth it.’

‘Definitely,’ Stardust agreed, nudging Pippa’s hand.

‘I won’t be long. With any luck, I’ll be back for the end of the race.’