“Ta da!” Cressida said.
“I’m glad there’s now at least a ballroom,” Moon said, “but what about the floor? Do we have to dance in the mud?”
“I hope not,” Cressida said, though she had to admit dancing in the mud might be at least a little bit fun. She looked at Breeze and asked, “Do you think you could send a giant gust of wind to bring all of Moon’s Midnight Stars to the new ballroom?”
“Excellent idea!” Breeze said. The aquamarine on her ribbon necklace shimmered and blue glittery light shot out from her horn. Then a comet-shaped gust of wind appeared. It danced in circles above the wall of pink vines and then bolted away toward the thick part of the forest where the Midnight Stars lived. A few seconds later, a swirling cyclone of gray stars twisted toward them and entered the ballroom through the arched entrance. Inside, the wind turned into a blizzard that filled the air with stars. Then, with one final gust, they fluttered downward into a pile on the floor.
“I know what to do now!” Moon said, grinning. She pointed her horn toward the sky. Her opal shimmered as sparkling light poured from her horn. Suddenly, everything went pitch black. After a few seconds, the stars began to glow again, brightening as they turned from white to yellow to orange to red.
“Midnight Stars, make a dance floor, please!” Moon called out.
The Midnight Stars lifted off the ground and swirled above the mud and rocks. Then, they dropped down to form a perfect red, glowing floor for the ballroom.
“Excellent work, Breeze and Moon,” Cressida said.
When she turned to her unicorn friends she noticed that Breeze’s gust of wind had left their tails and manes a frizzy, windblown mess. She reached up and touched her own hair. It felt like a bird’s nest that was even more tangled than the vines that formed the ballroom’s walls.
“I guess we’re all going to have messy hair for the ball,” Firefly said.
“We’ll start a new fashion trend,” Cressida said. “We can call it the Breezy Look!”
Breeze laughed. “It’s special style that’s just for dancing to the new music,” she said, winking at Moon.
Cressida grinned. “Now I think we need just a little more light,” she said, turning to Firefly. “Do you think you could create a swarm of fireflies that will hover above our new ballroom?”
“What a fantastic idea,” Firefly said. She pointed her horn toward the ceiling. Her gemstone, an orange citrine, shimmered. Orange light shot from her horn. And then a cloud of fireflies appeared above the new ballroom so the inside glowed a warm yellowy red.
“I love it!” Moon said. “I think this new ballroom is even better than the old one! Thank you, Magic Princess Cressida!”
“Yes, thank you,” Breeze and Firefly said at once.
Cressida slid her magic wand into one of her pockets and paused to admire their hard work. Just then Sunbeam, Flash, Bloom, and Prism arrived for the ball. For a moment, they stared in surprise at the new ballroom, with its pink vine walls, red star-tiled floor, and firefly ceiling. And then they smiled.
“I absolutely love the new ballroom,” Prism said. “But what happened to the old one?”
“And what happened to your manes and tails?” Bloom asked, giggling.
“And why are you absolutely covered in mud?” Flash asked.
“And Cressida,” Sunbeam said, rearing up with delight, “where did you get that crown?”
Moon and Cressida told Flash, Sunbeam, Bloom, and Prism the story of the missing ballroom, the magic crown and wand, the compromise, and the new ballroom. “We’ve given Cressida a new name,” Breeze said. “Now we call her Magic Princess Cressida.”
“Anytime you need someone to make pink vines grow, you know who to ask,” Cressida said, giggling.
“And,” Firefly added, “we’re calling our messy hair the Breezy Look. It’s a special style that’s just for dancing to the new music.”
“Well, in that case,” Sunbeam said, smiling playfully, “don’t you think we all need to have the Breezy Look?”
Flash, Bloom, and Prism looked uncertain.
“I just spent hours getting my mane and tail ready for the ball,” Flash said. But then she shrugged, smiled, and said, “Oh, why not?”
Bloom and Prism nodded.
“Four more Breezy Looks coming right up!” Breeze said. The aquamarine on her necklace twinkled, blue glittery light poured from her horn, and then a little blue gust of wind appeared. It swirled in circles around Sunbeam, Flash, Bloom, and Prism until their manes and tails looked even messier than Moon’s, Breeze’s, and Firefly’s.
“How do I look?” Bloom asked. Her green mane was so tangled Cressida could hardly see her emerald crown.
“Absolutely breezy,” Cressida said.
“Is that mud part of the style for dancing to the new music too?” Bloom asked, looking at Cressida’s ball gown and sneakers and Moon’s hooves, legs, and cape.
“Not really,” Moon said.
Cressida shook her head. She didn’t really mind the mud. But she supposed that if she were about to go to a ball, it might be nice to have a clean ball gown.
“Allow me to help,” Bloom said. Her emerald glittered. She pointed her horn at a large mud stain on Cressida’s gown. Glittery light shot out, and the spot of mud shrank until Cressida couldn’t see it. Bloom kept shrinking the splattered mud until Cressida’s ball gown looked as clean as it had when Ernest first made it. Then she shrank all the splatters of mud on Moon.
“Thank you!” Cressida and Moon said at the same time.
Just then, Cressida turned around and spotted Ringo, Renee, Roland, and Rita walking toward them. The raccoons, wearing their tuxedos, carried harps, drums, flarpophones, quadruple-duple-banjinanos, trumpledumpledordions, and octogolocto-horns. “We love the new ballroom!” Ringo said as he and his friends walked through the entrance and began to set up their instruments.
“I’m so excited, I can’t stand it!” Moon said. “And I’d better go tell the raccoons about
