CHAPTER 1
Princess Evie woke with a start. Wow, everyone must still be asleep, thought Evie. Even Sparkles! Her kitten was usually at the door first thing in the morning waking her up with a noisy miaow, but Starlight Castle was completely silent. Evie snuggled up under her cosy feather duvet and sighed. I’ll have to wake up earlier than this on Monday, she thought to herself. I’ll need plenty of time to feed my ponies before getting ready for the first day at my new school!
Evie loved her beautiful ponies – they weren’t like any other ponies, each one of them was magic. There was a tunnel of trees at Starlight Stables that no one else knew about and whenever Evie rode one of her ponies through the tunnel of trees they were whisked away on a magical adventure in a faraway land. As they galloped out of the tunnel, Evie’s ponies would be magically transformed, their manes and tails glittering and their coats swirling with different colours and Evie would be wearing an exquisite new outfit.
Evie sat up in her four-poster bed and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She smiled as she remembered all of the places that her ponies had taken her and the wonderful people she’d met – forest fairies, cloud sprites and even polar bears! Souvenirs from her adventures were dotted around her room: a wand from Foxwood School of Magic, a silver bracelet with the precious pink pearl from Periwinkle the mermaid, and there on the marble mantelpiece was the snowflake necklace given to her by the ice pixies. Even her purple silk pyjamas were a souvenir from a magical desert sleepover with the seven star princesses!
“How am I ever going to find time to have adventures with my ponies when I’m at school?” Evie wondered out loud, as she jumped down from her bed. She landed softly on her white fluffy rug and shivered. The fire had gone out in the grate and her big bedroom felt chilly. Evie quickly slipped on her coral pink dressing gown and slippers and padded over to the window to open the thick velvet curtains. The sun was beginning to shine, making Starlight Stables sparkle.
I’ve got to make most of my magic ponies before school starts tomorrow, Evie decided. I’m so lucky to have them. While Evie was thinking about her ponies she heard a loud miaow at her bedroom door.
“How are you this morning, Sparkles?” asked Evie, opening her bedroom door.
Sparkles trotted in, his eyes twinkling. He looked wide awake and ready to go!
“Miaow!” said Sparkles, as he began to clean his paws.
“You’re right, Sparkles! It’s time to get washed and dressed. We’ve got a busy morning ahead of us and we haven’t got a second to lose. Now then,” said Evie as she went to her wardrobe, “where’s my pink dress and stripy tights?”
Evie pushed her wardrobe doors open to find the outfit she always wore when she went to the stables. Her wardrobe was bursting with gorgeous pink, purple and silver clothes.
She looked at her flower dresses sewn with silk, her rainbow socks and her fluffy boots.
“I’m going to miss wearing all of these clothes,” said Evie sadly. “From tomorrow I’ll have to wear a uniform.”
Sparkles jumped up onto the windowsill and stepped carefully around the framed photos of Evie’s ponies. He looked at Evie’s uniform and then back at Evie and blinked slowly. Even though he was only a cat, Evie was sure he understood everything.
“You’re right, Sparkles, my new uniform is very smart.”
It was hanging on the wardrobe’s mirrored doors, ready for tomorrow.
“And of course, I’ll still be able to wear all my other clothes on the weekends.” This thought cheered Evie up and soon she was washed, dressed and ready for breakfast.
Evie met Sparkles at the top of the huge staircase that spiralled down to the hall. It was lined with golden framed portraits of Evie’s ancestors. Some of them were on horseback and Evie always wondered whether they rode through the tunnel of trees like she did – the castle was full of ornaments and trinkets from faraway places.
“On your marks, get set, go!”
They raced past the paintings, through the echoing hall and down into the kitchen.
“Sparkles – you won again!” laughed Evie. “You always do!”
The table was set with ruby raspberries, silver birch syrup and delicious homemade jams. Evie tucked into her breakfast and by the time she was spreading her favourite jam onto her crumpets, Sparkles’ bowl was empty and the little kitten was busy licking his paws. Sparkles loved the weekends because he always had kippers for breakfast. What a treat!
“I wish you could come to school with me. I won’t know anyone.” Evie tried to imagine her new classroom and teacher. She felt a little shiver and couldn’t decide whether she was feeling nervous or excited.