The Special Secret (6 page)

“That's a brilliant idea,” Pippa agreed.

Stardust waited for the Night Mares to get totally out of sight so they wouldn't guess her plan. Once they'd disappeared, she headed into a nearby grove of trees. Pippa had to keep ducking her head to avoid being dragged off by low-hanging branches. Bushes and twigs snagged her legs as they hammered along the narrow path and jumped the fallen logs blocking their way. It was almost fun, but Pippa thought it didn't seem right to be enjoying the ride when there was so much at stake.

“Nearly there,” Stardust called. “I just hope we've made it in time.”

“Me too,” said Pippa.

They burst out of the woods and into a clearing, where Trojan and a group of ponies were lifting the newly harvested rectangular bales of grass from an open-topped cart and arranging them into an enormous haystack. There were snorts of alarm as Stardust pulled up, and work stopped immediately.

“What is going on?” A proud voice cut across the commotion.

“Crystal!” cried Stardust. Lowering her voice so that only Pippa could hear, she added, “I never thought I'd be so pleased to see her.”

“Princess Stardust, why aren't you out in the fields picking up grass?” Crystal glared at her little sister and then at Pippa.

Stardust quickly explained how they had found two of the golden horseshoes and then how the Night Mares had stolen one back.

“I see,” said Crystal. She took charge at once. “If the Night Mares see us here they'll run away, so everyone must hide in the trees. I'll wait behind this haystack and challenge them when they arrive. As next in line to the throne of Chevalia, I'm sure they'll give me the horseshoe when I ask for it back—”

“But I thought—” interrupted Stardust.

Crystal gave her a steely glare. “Don't argue. I'm older than you.”

“That's so typical of Crystal. We do all the hard work and she takes the glory,” Stardust grumbled as she went to hide with the other ponies.

“It's very brave of her to challenge the Night Mares on her own,” Pippa pointed out.

“Or stupid,” Stardust said angrily. “Sometimes Crystal doesn't think things through. What happens if the Night Mares refuse to give her the horseshoe?”

“Then we're here to help,” Pippa replied, running a comforting hand down Stardust's neck. “She didn't tell
us
to stay hidden, did she?”

Stardust whinnied with laughter, then instantly fell silent as Trojan sent her a stern look and said, “Ssssh.”

Pippa and Stardust hid in the trees a little distance from Trojan and waited. When the Night Mares didn't arrive, Pippa wondered if Stardust had been mistaken and they'd gone another way. She tried not to think about the three days left until Mid-summer. If only the magic time bubble could stop time in Chevalia too! She'd stop it right now and only start it again when they'd found all the missing horseshoes.

Suddenly Stardust threw up her head. Her ears twitched, then swiveled to the right.

“Night Mares,” she whispered softly.

In the distance Pippa could hear the drumming of hooves. She shivered with excitement. This was their chance to grab the golden horseshoe. They couldn't mess it up.

As the Night Mares ran closer, Pippa saw that they were being chased by a swarm of angry horseflies.

“You tricked ussss,” buzzed the horseflies. “Now give the golden horseshoe back to usss.”

The Night Mares were scared. Their eyes were wild and their nostrils flared as they approached the clearing.

“Where's Crystal?” said Stardust. “She's supposed to challenge them. If she doesn't hurry up, it'll be too late.”

“There she is.” Pippa pointed as Crystal's head cautiously appeared around the side of the haystack, then quickly disappeared as she pulled back again.

“Oh no!” gasped Stardust. “I get it now. Crystal is scared of horseflies.”

“Then it's up to us,” Pippa replied.

Up close the Night Mares were frightening to look at, with wild eyes, straggly manes and tails, and bodies covered in gray volcanic ash. Stardust shook for just a moment before bravely stepping out of the woods and into their path.

“Stop!” she commanded. “Give the golden horseshoe back to us.”

“Never!” the Night Mares shrieked, rearing up.

Stardust stood her ground as the Night Mares came closer, still pursued by the angry horseflies. Pippa was terrified that she and Stardust were about to be run down, and her knuckles whitened as she clutched Stardust's mane. The Night Mares were so close that she could see the whites of their eyes and feel their hot breath flecked with spit. Her eyes watered at the bad smell that wafted toward her.

At the last moment the Night Mares neighed angrily, then changed course. In their hurry, one of them backed into Stardust, hitting Pippa's leg. Pippa winced but there was no time to examine the damage. The Night Mare with the horseshoe in its mouth was close enough for her to touch. Pippa reached out and grabbed it.

“No, it's mine,” the Night Mare grunted, trying to tug it out of Pippa's grasp.

Pippa refused to let go, twisting her body so that she could keep hold of the horseshoe as Stardust turned around to kick into the air to scare the other Night Mare away. Pippa could feel herself slipping, but she held on tightly to the horseshoe, blinking back tears when a tail flicked in her eye. The Night Mares shoved Stardust sideways. Pippa was dimly aware of Stardust grunting as she pushed them back and Crystal whinnying for everyone to stop. Stardust was barely holding her ground, until together the two Night Mares forced her toward the haystack. The horseflies buzzed angrily overhead.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Pippa felt as if she was watching herself in a film as the haystack loomed right in front of her. There was an ominous creak, and then it was raining bales of hay. Pippa covered her head with her hands and gritted her teeth as she willed the avalanche to stop. But a hay bale whacked into Pippa and knocked her off Stardust. The next thing Pippa knew, she was being flung through the air.

Chapter 7

Pippa was lucky that she only fell onto a pile of hay rather than a hay bale. She lay on her back, grateful for such a soft landing, listening to the thundering hooves of the retreating Night Mares as the horseflies chased them away. A tall wall of rectangular hay bales towered above her—the only part of the haystack that remained. The rest of it littered the ground in messy clumps. She looked down at her hand and saw that she was still clutching the horseshoe.

“Look! I've still got the horseshoe,” Pippa said, struggling up.

“Well done.” Stardust had managed to stay upright, but she looked slightly dazed.

“Just look at the mess!” said Crystal, who had narrowly missed being hit by the avalanche of hay. “We've been working on this haystack all day.”

Pippa started to laugh—trust Crystal to worry about the mess when they'd just managed to rescue a horseshoe! She wrapped her arms around Stardust's hot neck.

“You were fantastic,” Pippa said, hugging her.

“So were you,” Stardust said proudly. “Mom and Dad are never going to believe us when we tell them what happened.”

“They'll be absolutely thrilled!” said Pippa.

The ponies filed out of the woods led by Trojan. When they saw Pippa holding the golden horseshoe, their eyes widened and they whinnied excitedly.

“Are you all right?” Jet asked.

“What happened?” asked Comet.

“Pippa snatched it back from a Night Mare,” boasted Stardust.

“Stardust and Crystal helped,” Pippa said quickly.

Trojan sent Crystal such a look of admiration that it made her blush.

“Actually, I didn't do anything,” she said. “It was all Stardust and Pippa's work.”

Trojan was even more impressed that Crystal had been honest and not taken any of the credit, especially when it was offered to her. He softly brushed his nose against hers. Crystal blushed so deeply that even the blaze on her apricot-colored face turned red. She shyly rubbed her nose against Trojan's, causing him to blush too.

“Aw! Sweet,” Stardust whispered to her friend.

“Stop staring.” Pippa giggled, pulling her around. Every single one of Pippa's muscles ached, but she didn't care.