“I suppose a little rain never hurt anyone,” her mother said. “Have fun!”
Cressida hopped out the door, opened the umbrella, jogged across her soggy backyard, and found the trail that led through the woods to the oak tree with the magic keyhole. She couldn’t wait to see her unicorn friends: yellow Princess Sunbeam, silver Princess Flash, green Princess Bloom, purple Princess Prism, blue Princess Breeze, black Princess Moon, and orange Princess Firefly.
When she got to the oak tree, she leaned her umbrella against the trunk so it would be waiting for her when she returned to the human world. She smiled for a moment at the feeling of the rain on her face and hands. And then she kneeled, pulled the key from her sweatshirt pocket, and pushed it into the tiny hole in the tree’s base. The forest began to spin, until all she could see was a blur of blue, green, and brown. Then the forest turned pitch black, and Cressida felt as though she were tumbling through space. After several seconds, she landed on something soft.
At first, all Cressida could see was a swirl of silver, white, pink, and purple. But when the room stopped spinning, she found herself sitting on a pink velvet couch. Glittering chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Pink and purple curtains fluttered in the air. Cressida smiled. She knew exactly where she was—in the front hall of Spiral Palace, the unicorn princesses’ sparkling white, horn-shaped home.
Across the room, a raccoon with lime-green stripes played a harp with his front paws and a drum with his tail as all seven unicorn princesses—wearing capes and glittering crowns that matched their magic gemstone necklaces—danced. Sunbeam twirled in a yellow sapphire crown and a gold cape dotted with sun-shaped sequins. Flash, wearing a diamond crown and a gauzy silver cape decorated with copper lightning bolts, did perfect pirouettes. Bloom, in an emerald crown and a mint-green cape with a glittery flower design, sashayed and pranced. Prism wore an amethyst crown and a purple taffeta cape with rainbow trim as she leaped and spun. Breeze, in an aquamarine crown and a blue cape embroidered with white swirls, and Firefly, in a citrine tiara and a shiny orange cape, swayed together to the beat. Moon, in an opal crown and a black silk cape with bronze stars, leaped and spun in circles as she swished her tail.
For a few seconds, Cressida smiled as she watched her friends. Then, she stood up and sang out, “Hello there!” as she skipped toward them.
“My human girl is back!” Sunbeam called out, jumping straight up into the air and clicking her hooves together three times before she landed with a clatter on the marble floor.
“Welcome!” Flash said, rearing up.
“We’re so happy to see you!” Bloom and Prism said as they shimmied toward Cressida.
“We’re excited you could come,” Breeze and Firefly said, grinning.
“Cressida! I’m thrilled you’re here!” Moon exclaimed, racing over to Cressida and trotting in circles around her. “We were just practicing our dance moves for the Starlight Ball this afternoon. How did we look?”
“Amazing,” Cressida said. She couldn’t wait to hear more about the Starlight Ball. And she thought it was neat that, without even knowing it, she and the unicorns had been dancing that afternoon at exactly the same time.
Moon and her sisters blushed. “Well, thank you,” Moon said, flicking strands of her silky black mane out of her eyes. The opals on her golden-yellow ribbon necklace and her crown twinkled. She turned to the raccoon, who had stopped playing music. “Cressida, this is Ringo. He and the other raccoons in my domain, the Night Forest, play traditional unicorn music every year for the ball. And this year, for the first time, the raccoons might even play some new music they wrote themselves.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you,” Cressida said. “I love your music.”
“Why, thank you,” Ringo said, tucking the harp under his arm and wrapping his long, striped tail around the drum. “I’m sorry to dash off, but I have to head back to the Night Forest for a practice session with the other raccoons.” He waved and scurried away carrying his instruments.
“I have a question for you,” Moon said, twirling on her shiny black hooves. “How would you like to be the first human girl to attend the Starlight Ball? It’s a spectacular dance I host every year in the Night Forest’s very own ballroom.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Cressida said, jumping with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to go to a ball!”
“You’ve never been to a ball?” Flash and Sunbeam asked, looking surprised.
Cressida shook her head.
“Not even one?” asked Firefly.
“Not even one!” Cressida said, amused.
“But if you’ve never been to a ball, when do you wear your crown?” Bloom blurted out.
Cressida giggled. “I don’t have a crown,” she said.
“You don’t have a crown?” Flash, Sunbeam, and Bloom said at once, eyes wide.
“Nope!” Cressida said, laughing even harder.
“The human world is such a strange place,” Prism said, winking at Cressida.
“Now that I know you’ve never been to a ball, I’m even more excited you’re here for the Starlight Ball,” Moon gushed. “How would you like to come with me to help finish decorating the ballroom? Breeze and Firefly said they’d meet us there a little before the ball to help, too. If we go soon, we might even have time to listen to the raccoons’ final practice session.”
“I’d love that,” Cressida said.
Just then, Ernest skipped into the room wearing a glittery silver tuxedo, matching wingtips, and a sequined purple top hat.
“I’ve been practicing this tuxedo spell all week,” Ernest announced with a wide grin. “How do I look?”
He spun around, and as he turned, Cressida noticed that instead of tails on the back of Ernest’s tuxedo coat, there hung two long, dark-green leaves.
Sunbeam, Bloom, and
