“I love your hat, but your tuxedo …” Flash began.
“You look ready to dance, except …” Moon started.
“What’s wrong?” Ernest asked, his grin folding into a worried frown. “You don’t like my tuxedo?”
“Your tuxedo looks great,” Firefly said. “It’s just that, well, I think something might have gone wrong with the back of your jacket.”
Ernest blushed and grimaced. “Oh dear,” he said. “Did I say ‘mail’ instead of ‘tail’ again? There are already stacks and stacks of envelopes all over my room.”
“I think,” Cressida said, recognizing the leaves from a vegetable dish her father often made for dinner, “you might have said ‘kale.’ ”
“Oh dear!” Ernest said. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay,” Moon said. “You still have time to work on your tuxedo spell before the Starlight Ball. And if you can’t get it right, there’s nothing wrong with wearing leafy green vegetables on your coat.”
“The worst-case scenario is you’ll have an emergency snack on your jacket,” Bloom added, winking at Ernest.
Ernest laughed. “I guess I’d better keep practicing,” he said. “But first, I want to make a ball gown for Cressida! I already made one without a glitch—well, almost without a glitch—for another friend this morning.”
“Uh oh,” Moon whispered to Cressida. “The next thing you know, you’ll be wearing a spinach tutu!”
“I heard that!” Ernest said.
“I’d love a ball gown,” Cressida said, jumping with excitement. “Do you think there’s any chance you could make one with pockets? I like to have somewhere to put things.”
“Of course!” Ernest said. He cleared his throat. He pulled his wand out from under his top hat. And he waved it at Cressida as he chanted, “Formally Normally Dancily Dockets! Make a Small Town with Two Big Rockets!”
Suddenly, at Cressida’s feet there appeared a bustling miniature town, complete with roads, houses, train tracks, a hospital, a movie theater, and a school. In the center, right next to the school, were two rockets with bright red noses pointed toward the sky. Four tiny astronauts pushed a ladder against the side of one of the rockets, just below the door, and began to climb up. When Cressida bent over to examine the rockets more closely, she noticed little cars, trucks, and buses driving over the toes of her unicorn sneakers.
“Oh dear!” Ernest said. “Hold on! I can do it right this time!” He held up his wand and chanted, “Snickety Snackety Snippety Snockets! Away with the Small Town and Two Large Rockets! Next Make a Ball Gown with Two Big Pockets!”
A bright pink light swirled around Cressida. She blinked and shut her eyes. When she opened them, she looked down to see she was wearing a ball gown with a gold and pink sequined top and a gauzy pink skirt covered in gold glitter. Best of all, the gown had two enormous pink pockets. Cressida beamed. “I love it!” she said, and she plunged her hands into the pockets. Inside one, she felt her magic key. She smiled, glad to have it with her. Then, she spun and twirled in her new dress.
“What do you think?” Cressida asked.
“What a fabulous gown!” Moon exclaimed. “You look ready to go to a ball!”
“I knew I could do it!” Ernest said. “And now I’d better go work on a new tuxedo jacket.”
“Before you go,” Moon said, “I wonder if I could ask you for one more magical favor.”
“Of course,” Ernest said. “Anything at all.”
Moon leaned over and whispered in Ernest’s ear. He nodded as she spoke.
“Excellent idea,” Ernest said. “I should have thought of that myself.”
“Do you want to go check in one of your spell books before you try it?” Moon asked. “We most certainly don’t mind waiting.”
“No need,” Ernest said. “I’ve got just the spell.”
“But I really do think—” Moon began.
Before she could say another word, Ernest lifted his wand and chanted, “Darkily Markily Mightily Sight! Please Make Cressida Glasses for Night!”
Wind swirled around Cressida. Suddenly, in her right hand, she held a pair of glasses with pink frames dotted with opals that matched Moon’s gemstone.
For a moment, Ernest stared at the glasses. He blinked as his mouth hung open. And then he sang out, “I did it! I did it! I did it on the first try! That’s never happened before!”
Cressida giggled and clapped. The unicorn princesses cheered. Ernest bowed several times. And then he tap-danced across the room and down the hall, singing, “I did it! And now to get this kale off my tuxedo!”
After Ernest disappeared down the hall, dancing and singing, Cressida looked again at her new glasses. “Should I put these on now?” she asked.
“Not yet,” Moon said. “But I’m pretty sure you’ll need them once we get to the Night Forest.”
Cressida nodded and slid the glasses into her empty pocket. When she looked up, she noticed that Breeze and Firefly were frowning, whispering, and glancing at Moon.
“Is something wrong?” Moon asked. “If you don’t have time to meet Cressida and me at the ballroom to help finish decorating, I completely understand.”
“It’s not that,” Breeze said, looking worried.
“It’s just that—” Firefly began. She sighed, furrowed her brow, and continued, “We heard you mention that Ringo and the other raccoons might play their new music at the ball.”
“And we wanted to ask if we could stick to the traditional unicorn music,” Breeze said.
“Why?” Moon asked, looking surprised.
“We don’t know how to dance to the new music,” Breeze explained. “And the one time I tried, I tripped and fell over.”
Moon giggled. “That’s because at the same time you were dancing you were also blindfolded and trying to break a piñata with your horn.”
Breeze blushed. “Well, I guess that’s true,” she said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know how to dance to it. And I’m afraid I’ll look silly and feel awkward if I try again. The ball is supposed to be fun, and the new music will completely ruin it.”
Firefly nodded. “I already have enough trouble dancing to the traditional unicorn
