1 Pegasus Trips Up Hi, I'm Pegasus . I'm a horse, of course. And I'm a Creature, too--a mythical being. See this trail I'm climbing? It goes almost to the top of Mount Olympus . I've been invited to the School for Magical Monsters up there. Tomorrow's my first day. It's gonna be great! At my old school I didn't really fit in. I was the only Creature there. But I've heard that lots of Creatures go to my new school. I can't wait to meet them! Flap! Flap! Yikes! A big pair of sparkly white wings swoops down from the sky. The wings aren't attached to anything. Not to a bird, a dragon, or a fairy! Whoosh! Those wings zoom straight at me. Their feathers almost get tangled in my mane! I shake myself all over till they fly away. Eek! They dive-bomb me again! I whirl. I twirl. But I'm a little clumsy . This time I stumble. I trip over a rock and land on my belly. KERPLUNK! Okay, it's true. I'm a lot clumsy! But the wings fly skyward again. Guess I showed them. Ha! "Hey, you! Fancy-dancy pants!" a voice booms. "I'm trying to catch those wings. Stop scaring them away!" I leap up to see a boy with black hair. "Why do you want them?" I ask. The boy rolls his eyes. "Duh? Because they have magic." "Awesome!" I say. "I'm gonna get my own magic soon. I don't know what it'll be yet, but at my new school everyone finds a special power sooner or later. When I finally get mine I guess I could call it my... er... horse-power ." I laugh at my silly joke. Snort! Snort! "Lucky you," says the boy. "I could use some magic myself. Wing magic!" "What for, though?" I ask. The boy doesn't say. Instead, he looks me over. "Hey! You're a Creature, right?" he says. "That's cool." Cool? I'm not used to such respect. At my old school, I got teased for being different and clumsy. So I smile at him. "Mmm-hmm." Flap! Flap! The wings are back! "Woo-hoo!" shouts the boy. He chases after them. "See ya!" he calls over his shoulder. "I need those wings. They're my only hope!" " Wait! I'm Pegasus. Who are you?" I call. " Zeus !" the boy replies. Then he disappears over a hill. Uh-oh! The sun's going down. It'll be dark soon. I gallop up the mountain lickety-split. When I arrive at a signpost, I'm huffing and puffing. The sign reads SCHOOL FOR MAGICAL MONSTERS. Two arrows below the sign point in opposite directions. The one pointing left says CREATURES. The one pointing right says BEASTS. Um... what? Beasts also go to my new school? This is terrible news! They're monsters too, of course. But they're mean! They don't like us Creatures. At least that's what I've heard. To tell the truth, I've never actually met a Beast. Did my family know there would be Beasts here? Maybe not. Or they might not have let me come! I'm glad I've already made one new friend on Mount Olympus--Zeus! I hope we meet again. For now I follow the CREATURES arrow and hurry-worry my way to school. Clip-clop! Excerpted from Rise of Pegasus: A QUIX Book by Joan Holub, Suzanne Williams All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
