Christmas sighs within the chill air, as laughter drifts on the icy breeze. Gemstone Glade fairies arrive for their favourite day of the year: the arrival of the Gemstone Glade Christmas Tree.

Excitement lights up the glade with fairy fun. Five large glowing angels arrive, holding the ropes that guide a magical tree to earth, blessed by celestial beings, every pine needle oozing with quiet mystery.

The tree shines with the joy of Christmas, emitting happy energy like a New Age air freshener. Tiny angel ornaments glisten in the light of the moon. Then they fly free, whizzing around the glade, miniature wings fluttering in a frenzy. The angels are each a different colour of the rainbow. The fairies know that they will have a mission, as do most of the beings in Gemstone Glade. They will find out soon what it is.

A black and gleaming star sits atop the tree like a king on a throne. A soft neighing fills the glade. It is Ryan, one of the teenage unicorns. He is one of the few local unicorns with wings. Ryan’s eyes twinkle, reflecting the light of the tree. He is a children’s unicorn, flying many times in to the night to help unhappy little ones all over Planet Earth. His work is never done.

Ryan stares at the top of the tree, mesmerised, magic all around him. The star grows bigger, flying slowly towards Ryan. The fairies watch, their cold breath stuck in their throats in anxious anticipation.

The star is now large enough for a unicorn to slip through. And that is exactly what Ryan does, wings dancing as he flies through the dark star and is gone. A collective intake of breath breaks the silence. The fairies are in happy shock; magic is as usual alive in the glade.

Ryan sails through clouds and then lands on soft grass, purple crystals rising from the ground like the teeth of gods.

“Welcome.” Ryan looks up. It is a black unicorn. He has not met one before, everyone at Gemstone Glade is white. He has heard that the blacks possess deep magical powers.

“I am Melodian. You have come to our land from afar?”

Ryan walks with Melodian and learns about his unicorn race. Another unicorn joins them, Moonlight.

“There is a prophecy that one day a white unicorn will visit this land. We are in a kind of Unicorn Heaven. We heal sick unicorns here. We also visit other worlds, mending with magic wherever we can. You have arrived for a reason. The star on your Christmas Tree is an interdimensional portal, and it will send you where you need to go. We may have something for you to take back. It is very precious. Come … this way.”

The unicorns enter a large hollow crystal. Melodian points to a stone tablet on the floor. “When you rub your horn against this tablet, it will reveal secrets to you. Take it with you. It will fly next to you if you ask it. Then bury it in your world until the right time. I suspect that time will be Christmas Day, a remarkable day of the year when love cradles the Earth like an angelic mother. Take the tablet, with our blessing. Good luck, my friend.”

The star reappears. Ryan flies swiftly back, the tablet rising before him. He will bury it in the glade. Christmas Day will be like no other this year.