whatâs happening.â
âNo!â Stardust dug her hooves into the ground. âYou canât go into the Cloud Forest. Itâs far too scary.â
âIâm not scared,â Honey said stubbornly.
âWait!â Pippa said, as Stardust started to trot away. âIf most ponies are too afraid to enter the Cloud Forest, doesnât that make it a perfect place to hide a horseshoe?â
Stardust stopped and stared at Pippa. âYouâre right,â she agreed.
âLetâs go then,â Pippa said bravely. âWe can look for horseshoes and singing unicorns at the same time.â
Chapter 2
Stardust hesitated, but Pippa and Honey were already stepping toward the line of trees that marked the entrance to the Cloud Forest. A thick mist swirled around the trees, making it impossible to see more than a tailâs length ahead. Pippa took tiny steps, squinting to try to see her way.
âWatch out,â Honey called, tossing her red-brown mane.
Pippa stopped. A thick green bundle of vines, coarse like old rope, wound down from an enormous tree and blocked their way.
âAre they poisonous?â she asked.
âNo, just heavy,â Honey said, pushing them back with her nose as Pippa and Stardust joined her. âThe first time I came here, the vines took me by surprise and I walked straight into them. You should have seen the bruise I gotâit hurt for days.â
âTheyâre very easy to miss in this mist,â said Pippa.
Pippa walked past the vines, holding them out of the way, then let them go when Stardust and Honey were clear.
âVines like that could knock out an elephant,â Pippa giggled, watching them swing back across the path like a giant pendulum.
âWhatâs an elephant?â Honey and Stardust asked together.
âWell,â Pippa began, searching for the right words. âElephants are much bigger than ponies, and have thick gray skin. They have long trunks that extend from their faces that they use to drink water.â
âNow
that
sounds like a creature for a bedtime story!â said Honey.
âNot if you want a good nightâs sleep!â Stardust laughed. âThey sound scary.â
As they walked farther into the forest, the mist closed in behind them and seemed to swallow them up. Pippa stared around nervously, half expecting a dinosaur to lumber out of the oversized trees. The ground was springy with a thick carpet of leaves. A huge, green plant grew everywhere, with leaves like airplane wings and vibrant red flowers.
âItâs like an ancient forest,â she whispered.
âIt is an ancient forest,â Honey whispered back.
âIt smells wonderful.â Stardust stopped to take a deep breath.
âListen.â Pippa tilted her head to one side. She could still hear voices singing in the distance, but now there was a new, burbling noise competing with them. âWhat is that?â she asked.
The sound was familiar but she couldnât figure out what it was.
Stardust tossed her head. âI can hear it too.â
âItâs a stream,â said Honey. âThe forest has lots of brooks and ponds. Theyâre partly why everything grows so well here.â
The ground became spongier as they followed the sound of the beautiful voices. Water oozed through Pippaâs sandals, making her toes wet. Stardust daintily flicked her hooves, showering Pippaâs legs with sparkling droplets of moisture. Pippa couldnât help giggling. The noise sounded out of place in the impressive forest, like laughing out loud in a library.
âThat was cold!â she said.
âSorry.â Stardust hung back so that she didnât splash Pippa anymore.
The ground grew boggier until, finally, they reached a brook. It was small enough to jump. Honey went first, clearing it easily, then turned back and called for the others to join her.
Before Pippa could go anywhere though,