Best Friends For Ever! Read Free Page B

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