Darling Charming and the Horse of a Different Color, Page 2

  The horse was lost.

  He hung his head, heavy with sadness. With a sigh, he sank to the forest floor.

  How much time passed, he wasn’t certain, but a little buzzing sound woke him from his daze. A small creature flew around his head, leaving a trail of blue-and-green glitter in the air. Wings flitted wildly as the insect zipped round and round. The horse had been stung by a bee once and he didn’t want to repeat that incident, so he scrambled to his feet, ready to bolt deeper into the forest.

  “What are you doing here?” The insect hovered in front of the horse’s face. He cocked his head in wonder. The creature wasn’t a bee after all, but a very small person with wings. She held a little mop in one hand and a tiny bucket in the other. “Shouldn’t you be with the rest of the creatures? The ceremony is going to begin very soon.”

  What was she talking about? What other creatures? His ears flattened.

  “Oh, don’t be scared. How rude of me. My name is Viola. I’m a cleaning fairy. I work at the school.” She pointed in the opposite direction. “It’s a very nice place. You’ll be very happy there, I promise. You’ll have a stable to sleep in, and lots of good food to eat.”

  His ears perked up.

  “You’re a very pretty horse. One of the students is sure to love and adore you. Come on or you’ll be late.” She turned and flew out of the grove. “Follow me,” she called.

  The horse followed the cleaning fairy to a meadow, where a crowd of creatures had gathered. “This is where I’ll leave you,” the fairy whispered in the horse’s ear. “Wait for your instructions, and you’ll soon be at the school.” Specks of glitter fell onto the horse’s nose as the fairy flew away. He sneezed. Some of the other creatures turned and looked at him. A small snow fox, who looked nothing like the wicked Mr. Fox, motioned for him to join her. So he did.

  “Attention! Attention!” a voice commanded. Another fairy, this one much larger than the last, stood on a log and waved her arms. “Welcome to the Enchanted Forest. Not far from here, several students at Ever After High have gathered to receive their companion creatures. Each of you will be selected for a particular student. Your job will be to aid that student in the quest to fulfill his or her fairytale destiny.” As she cleared her throat, a little puff of glitter floated from her mouth. “The ceremony will begin soon, and I need to make sure everyone is in attendance. Please make a sound when I call your name.” She began to read from a clipboard. “Snow fox.” The white fox tapped her paw on the ground. “Pegasus.” A winged horse snorted. “Peacock.” A bird stepped onto the log and began to strut around. Then his tail feathers opened into a glorious blue-and-green fan. The other animals applauded.

  “Dragon,” the fairy said. Branches cracked, and the forest floor trembled as a beast with scales stepped into the clearing. With eyes like red flames and smoke drifting from her nostrils, she was the most terrifying creature the horse had ever seen. With a shriek, he darted behind a tree.

  I must hide, he thought.

  “My, my, my,” the fairy said as she flew over to the tree. “What have we here?” She hovered a few feet off the ground and spoke gently to the horse. “First of all, you have nothing to be afraid of. The dragon will not harm you. And second of all, are you aware that you are camouflaged?” She pointed to his leg.

  The horse frowned. What was she talking about? He peered down at his front leg. It looked just like tree bark. His other leg did, too. His ears flattened again. What had happened to him?

  “A horse who can change colors is very special and very rare indeed.” She looked at her clipboard. “I don’t see your name on the list, but I’m sure we’ll find a match. There’s bound to be a student who needs the ability to hide.” She returned to her log.

  Change colors? The horse couldn’t believe it. Is that why the fox and cat hadn’t been able to see him even though they’d shined their flashlights right at him? He’d wanted to hide, so he’d changed colors to blend in with the forest. Amazing! He stuck his front leg into a clump of tall daisies and thought about hiding. Sure enough, his leg turned green, with little white spots that looked exactly like the flowers. He neighed with delight. No one had ever called him special before.

  “Excuse me.” The fairy waved. “But we have business to attend to.” Happy about his new discovery, the horse pranced back to the little snow fox. She smiled at him.

  “Here’s how the ceremony works,” the fairy explained. “Each student has been given a popper that contains a magical spell. The spell will connect the student to his or her special creature. When the student pulls the popper, we will hear a snapping sound, and a bright light will appear in the sky. This means that the spell has been activated and that one of you will be magically drawn to that student. It’s as simple as that!” She flew above their heads. “Good luck, everyone.”

  To think that he’d been running for his life from two villains, had lost his way, and was about to meet a boy or a girl who would love and take care of him! The horse stomped in anticipation.

  Snap! A flash of light filled the sky, followed by another snap and another light. “Oooh, those are the first two spell poppers,” the fairy said. And right before their eyes, the snow fox and the peacock disappeared. The fairy clapped her hands. “This is so hexciting.”

  More snapping and more flashes, and one by one, a woodpecker, a direwolf pup, and a baby bear disappeared. Next went the unicorn, the Pegasus, and the jackalope. The dragon was the last to disappear, leaving the horse alone in the clearing.

  “Oh dear, have you been forgotten?” the fairy wondered. “Well, your name wasn’t on the list, after all. Perhaps you’re not meant to be here. Maybe if you come back next year, there will be a match for you.”

  The horse hung his head. He’d come so close to having a real home. He turned away from the fairy so she couldn’t see the tears pooling in his eyes.

  Snap! The sky illuminated. And the ground gave way beneath the horse’s hooves.

  He was standing in a different part of the forest. Girls and boys were laughing. A girl with thick curls was holding the baby bear. A boy with black-framed glasses was holding the jackalope. The dragon was being led away by a girl with jet-black hair and a shimmering black dress.

  The horse perked up his ears. He’d made it. He’d been chosen. But for whom?

  He looked around. Every creature had found a student. The peacock was walking next to a boy who wore a golden crown. And the snow fox had curled herself around the neck of a girl who also wore a crown.

  And then he saw her, standing alone. Her hair as pale as moonlight, and her smile the sweetest he’d ever seen. “Hello,” she said, holding out her palm. He sniffed her. Then he bowed his head. She ran her fingers through his mane. “My name’s Darling Charming. I guess you’re my horse now.” She scratched his chin. “I wonder why you were chosen for me.”

  “I’ll tell you why.” The boy with the peacock walked up to them. He put an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “He was chosen for you because he’s on the small side. Mom and Dad wouldn’t want you to ride a big horse. They’d be worried you might get hurt. This horse looks nice and safe.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. Then he and the peacock strutted away.

  Darling rolled her eyes. “Safe,” she grumbled. “I’m never allowed to do anything dangerous. Or hexciting.” She cupped a hand around her mouth and whispered in the horse’s ear. “But I have some secrets. I’m not exactly as I appear.” She winked. “What about you?”

  He immediately turned the color of her blue-and-silver dress. She laughed. “I guess you’re not exactly as you appear, either.” While the other students left the clearing, Darling walked around the horse. “It’s true what my brother said. My parents only want me riding gentle horses. And they prefer that I ride sidesaddle and wear a helmet.” Then, even though no one else was around, she whispered in his ear again. “But what they don’t know is that I love to go fast. Can you gallop?”

  Could he gallop? Like the wind! he wanted to
say. But instead, he nodded and stomped his front hoof.

  “Really?” Darling looked around. Then, with a graceful jump, she pulled herself onto his back. Her fingers gripping his mane, she said, “They’ve all gone back to campus. No one will see us. Show me what you’ve got!”

  And as they galloped out of the clearing and through the nearby field, Darling Charming laughed with delight. “You can gallop!” she said.

  After an exhilarating ride, Darling slid off the horse’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you. That was the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.” The horse felt the same way. His life thus far had been such a rocky journey, short on joy and long on sorrow. But as Darling led him toward the shiny Ever After High stables, he knew in his heart that his story had changed.

  “I hope you don’t mind if, on occasion, I ask you to use your camouflage skills.” She giggled. “Just so we can have a fun adventure now and then.” He nodded. She stopped walking and looked into his eyes. “And, because you’re the horse of a princess, I think you should have the perfect knightly name. I shall hereby call you Sir Gallopad.” She kissed both his cheeks, then bowed.

  He smiled and bowed in return.

  And his story began.

  For more great reads and free samplers, visit LBYRDigitalDeals.com

  About the Author

  Suzanne Selfors feels like a Royal on some days and a Rebel on others. She’s written many books for kids, including the Smells Like Dog series and the Imaginary Veterinary series.

  She has two charming children and lives in a magical island kingdom, where she hopes it is her destiny to write stories forever after.

  Look for other digital original stories from Ever After High!

  Don’t miss all the Ever After High novels!

  Books by Suzanne Selfors:

  Next Top Villain

  Kiss and Spell

  A Semi-Charming Kind of Life

  Books by Shannon Hale:

  The Storybook of Legends

  The Unfairest of Them All

  A Wonderlandiful World

  Once Upon a Time: A Story Collection

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Begin Reading

  About the Author

  Look for other digital original stories from Ever After High!

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Mattel, Inc.

  Cover © 2015 Mattel, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

  lb-kids.com

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: August 2015

  ISBN 978-0-316-28299-4

  E3