Suddenly, Ernest skipped into the ballroom in his tuxedo, which now had tails instead of kale. And right behind him filed in more different creatures than Cressida could count, all wearing tuxedos and ball gowns. There were dragons, foxes, rabbits, gnomes, elves, mini-dragons, fairies, cats, butterflies, wolves, turtles, and birds. Cressida even noticed a red bird with messy feathers in the brightest, reddest ball gown she could imagine.
Cressida heard Ringo counting out loud, just the way he had in the hollow tree, and then the raccoons began to play the song they had played for Moon and Cressida. At first, all the unicorn princesses except Moon froze, unsure of how to dance.
Moon trotted up to her sisters and said, “Magic Princess Cressida taught me that this is a kind of music that you can dance to in any way you want. There are no rules or steps or right ways or wrong ways. Just close your eyes and move in whatever way feels best.”
Sunbeam and Prism grinned, closed their eyes, and immediately began to twirl, jump, and spin. Bloom and Flash watched for several seconds, shrugged, and shut their eyes. At first they just swayed to the beat, but soon they were doing what looked like a square dance. Breeze and Firefly stood stiffly, looking uncomfortable. Moon smiled reassuringly and said, “I think I felt exactly the same way you do now when I first tried to dance to this song. Just close your eyes and give it a try!”
“Do you promise not to laugh at us?” Breeze asked.
“Absolutely,” Moon said. “I promise.”
Breeze and Firefly closed their eyes. They shuffled back and forth for several seconds. And then they began to tap their hooves. “That’s right,” Cressida said encouragingly. She tapped her unicorn sneakers along with them.
Next, Breeze began to swish her tail and shake her head. And Firefly nodded with the beat and shuffled her front feet. “Excellent,” Moon said.
And then, to Cressida’s delight, Breeze and Firefly began to dance along with everyone else. Soon, Cressida, Flash, Sunbeam, Bloom, Prism, Breeze, and Firefly were leaping, kicking, spinning, swaying, shimmying, and twirling.
At the end of the song, Moon, breathless from dancing, exclaimed, “This is the best Starlight Ball we’ve ever had! Thank you, Magic Princess Cressida!”
“Yes,” agreed Breeze and Firefly. “Thank you.”
Before Cressida could respond, the raccoons launched into a traditional unicorn song. Again, all the unicorns began to dance. The song reminded Cressida of the music for her dance recital that weekend, and she used some of the steps she had been practicing at home that afternoon.
Cressida and the unicorns danced to song after song, until Ringo announced, “This will be our last song!”
Cressida felt disappointed—she could have danced for at least two more hours—but she was also hungry and thirsty. As the band started to play one of their new songs, the unicorns rushed over to Cressida and formed a circle around her.
“Thank you so much for saving the Starlight Ball,” Flash said.
“We’re going to name this the Magic Princess Cressida Ballroom in honor of you,” Moon said.
“I’m so glad I could help,” Cressida said.
As the raccoons played the final notes of the last song, Cressida said, “Thank you for inviting me to your ball. I’ve had a wonderful time, but I think I’d better return to the human world now.”
“See you soon!” Moon said.
“We had so much fun dancing with you!” Sunbeam said.
“We can’t wait for your next visit!” Flash said.
Bloom, Prism, and Breeze said, “Goodbye, Magic Princess Cressida!”
And Firefly nodded and winked.
Cressida pulled her key from her pocket. She wrapped both hands around the crystal-ball handle and closed her eyes. “Take me home, please,” she said.
Immediately, the ballroom began to spin into a pink blur, and then everything went pitch black. Cressida felt as though she were lifting off from the ground and soaring through the sky. And then she landed on something wet. At first, all she could see was a swirl of gray, green, and brown. But soon the woods stopped spinning, and she found herself sitting on the soggy ground, right beneath the giant oak tree.
Next to her, the yellow-and-black-striped umbrella leaned against the tree trunk. She was wearing her rainbow leggings, her T-shirt with the star design, her green raccoon sweatshirt, and her silver unicorn sneakers. She touched her head, hoping her crown might still somehow be there. She felt her hair, tangled from Breeze’s gust of wind and all her enthusiastic dancing. Though the crown was gone, she felt something small and metal in her hair. She pulled it out to discover a gold barrette dotted with pink sapphires. Cressida grinned and put it back in her hair. She picked up and opened the umbrella. And then she skipped home as her unicorn sneakers blinked.
In the top tower of Spiral Palace, Ernest, a wizard-lizard, sat at his desk. He adjusted his pointy purple hat. He straightened his cloak. And then he picked up a large black book with the title Spells for Fruitmobiles: From Grape Go-Carts to Mango Motorcycles. He flipped to the last page, where he found a spell that began, “Extremely Advanced (Only for Very Experienced and Very Skilled Wizard-Lizards): Transforming Household Hooks into Plum Cars.” Next to the spell was a picture of a grinning wizard-lizard speeding along in a six-wheeled sports car made out of three giant plums.
“Well,” he said to himself, “Mother Lizard did always encourage me to challenge myself.”
He studied the spell, whispering the words, “Vroomity Proomity Verity Prive! Make these Hooks into Plums that Drive!” over and over again. Then, he pulled a screwdriver from his desk drawer and marched across the room to where three
