“If you’re sure?” said Jasmine.
Bluebell nodded. As the gorgeous golden mist swirled around the four fashion fairy princesses, she had a feeling it was meant just for them.
“All right, then.” Iris was pulling Jasmine’s hand, her face already alight with excitement about the ball. “Good luck, and we hope to see you again soon.”
As the two pretty fairies left, Bluebell felt a stab of sadness. She wished she could see them later at the ball. But her three friends were already making their way up the mountainside – she had no time to wallow in her disappointment. “Wait for me,” she called softly, flapping her light blue wings to take off towards them.
As they climbed higher, the swirls of mist got thicker – as if they were in the middle of a giant fluffy cloud.
“Wow,” said Buttercup, her mouth gaping open. “This is incredible.”
“Do you think we’re safe up here?” Rosa asked, looking around her.
But the thick mist cloud didn’t look dangerous to Bluebell – just very magical.
“Look, the golden trail’s heading even further upwards,” Violet pointed out, and all four fairies continued on their way, barely able to see each other through the fog, the wetness settling on their skin like talcum powder.
As they flew, it felt as if the trail of golden mist had the power to pull them ever closer – as if they had no choice but to follow it as it continued to wrap itself around all four fairies. When Bluebell reached out to touch it, if felt like popping candy glittering and bursting on her fingers.
Suddenly, the mist-cloud cleared, as if blown away by a giant gust of wind. At last, the fairies could see what lay in front of them, and Bluebell staggered forward at the view. They were at the very peak of Dream Mountain, and before them stood a delicate, small but beautiful ice-white castle, the sun bouncing off it, making it sparkle like a giant crystal.
“My fairyness!” cried Rosa. “It must be the Dream Queen’s palace!”
The grand white stone door of the palace began to open slowly, and Bluebell held her breath. As the door opened fully, a serious-looking elf appeared in the centre. “The Dream Queen says to come in, quickly, please!”
The fairy princesses looked at one another in horror – were they in some kind of trouble? There was only one way to find out. . .
Violet led the way to the Dream Queen’s castle door, but even she looked nervous, Bluebell thought.
The elf pulled the stone door open wider to allow them to enter, and bowed as he did so. Inside, every white wall, floor and surface glistened – as if it were ice – but when Bluebell brushed against the wall it was surprisingly warm to the touch. It felt like a very special place.
The short elf led the fairy princesses along the main hallway to one of the rooms at the rear of the palace. He kept silent as they moved – giving no clue as to what the Dream Queen wanted with them.
They got to the very end of the hallway, to a grand marble door flanked by two marble fairy statuettes. The elf stood on his tiptoes and knocked gently.
“Come in,” came a deep, echoing voice from inside. The elf pushed open the door and hurried the fairy princesses inside – still without saying a word.
Bluebell looked down at herself and her heart fluttered with panic – they were meeting the Dream Queen looking like they had been through a firefly storm backwards!
Inside, the Dream Queen’s parlour was huge. Unlike the rest of the palace, it was decorated in all the colours of the rainbow – with splashes of red, pink, purple, blue and yellow across the walls – and when the fairy princesses glanced down, they saw the floor was made of tiny gold mosaic pieces. Bluebell couldn’t help but smile – she loved colours, and this was so wonderful after the stark white of the palace outside.
The Dream Queen sat on a golden throne at the far end of the parlour, in front of a mirrored wall, which showed the nervous reflections of the fairy princesses. The queen had waves of golden hair, and wore a black velvet cape threaded with multicoloured silk.
“Hello, fairy princesses,” said the queen. Her voice was low but smooth, as if she could send them off into a beautiful sleep at any moment.
“I’m so sorry we look like this,” Bluebell began. “We’ve had a rather disastrous day.”
“Please don’t worry – I know all about it.”
“You do?” said Violet. “But how?”
The queen smiled at the question. “I know about everything that happens here. Not only that, but as the Dream Queen I also grant wishes to fairies in need. And it sounds as if you lovely fairy princesses are very much in need.”
Bluebell was relieved they didn’t have to explain everything that had happened. Was she really going to help them too?
“Now close your eyes,” the queen continued, “and no peeking.”
The four friends squeezed their eyes tightly shut. Bluebell shivered as she felt a gentle breeze flick about her shoulders.
“Now you can open them,” said the queen.
As the fairy princesses widened their eyes again, the Dream Queen was lowering a long, diamond-tipped wand. Then they all sighed with joy and amazement as they caught a glimpse of themselves in the mirror. They were dressed in beautiful ball gowns – the ones they had lost! What’s more, their feet twinkled in their new peep-toe shoes, and nestled in their hair were the diamond-heart tiaras.
Rosa began to curtsey, nudging the others to do the same. “I don’t know how to thank you, Your Majesty,” she said.
“You don’t need to,” the queen replied. “All the thanks I need is for you to enjoy the Summer Ball. Now let’s go, before you miss the first dance!” She stood up, towering over the fairy princesses. “Close your eyes again,” she murmured.
The air swirled around them once more. Bluebell felt herself lifting up and slowly spinning, but she dared not open her eyes, not even a slit. Suddenly, her ears were filled with the most tuneful tinkling of music she’d ever heard.
“Now open!” called the Dream Queen.
The four friends couldn’t help but squeal with delight when they saw where they were. They stood on a shiny black stone stage, and in front of them was a magnificent ballroom – easily as big as their entire fairy castle back in Sparkle City. Fairies fluttered everywhere, all wearing gorgeous ball gowns in every colour and fabric imaginable.
There was Lily, wearing a netted lilac tutu and silver tights, and Snowdrop, who had on a stunning long red dress that made her look like a poppy flower. They spotted Iris and Jasmine, wearing gorgeous golden tassel-edged saris, who both beamed with happiness at the sight of the fairy princesses at the ball after all. Bluebell felt weak at the knees at the beauty of it all, and grabbed on to Buttercup before she fell over.
“Isn’t it amazing,” the blonde fairy whispered. “Look, there’s even a dragonfly band.”
Bluebell looked up in the direction Buttercup’s tilted head. A dozen tiny dragonflies were flying around the ceiling, making music by darting in and out of little silver harps.
The Dream Queen broke Bluebell’s daze. “Before you go and enjoy the ball, I have something else for you,” she said.
Bluebell looked down at the Dream Queen’s outstretched hands and gasped. In them were four golden feathers. Could they be. . . ?
“These are fallen feathers from a golden dream eagle,” the queen confirmed. “I want you to have them as a souvenir of your visit here, and I hope they help to make up for the tricky day you’ve had.”
“Thank you!” the four friends breathed as the Dream Queen passed a feather to each of them. It felt soft and magical in Bluebell’s hand.
“Now have fun, fairy princesses,” she said, and gave a small wave of her hand.
As the princesses flew down from the stage, sparkles dancing behind them, Violet pointed out the decorations. The stone walls were covered in tiny glow-worms, lighti
ng up the room with a magical greeny-yellow light. And the room was edged with glass tables that held sparkling drinks, dainty sandwiches and melt-in-the-mouth iced cakes.
Just then, the dragonfly harpists went quiet, and the Dream Queen’s voice boomed out from the stage. “It’s almost time for the first dance of this year’s Summer Ball,” she began. “The dream fairies and I hope you all have a wonderful time.”
As soon as she finished speaking, several elves appeared on the stage, carrying different horn instruments. They stood, nodded at one another, and began to play. It was the kind of fast, fun music that you couldn’t help but dance to, and soon every single fairy in the ballroom was tapping her feet and flapping her wings. The fashion fairy princesses’ dresses billowed gently as they danced, the layers floating up and down like clouds.
As Bluebell twirled Buttercup around, grinning with delight, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun round.
“Fern!” she cried. Her dark-haired friend was dressed in an emerald green maxi-dress with sequinned green ballet pumps to match. Bluebell gave Fern a huge hug. “We hoped you’d be here!”
Soon all five friends were joined in a group embrace, smiling and jumping to the music. Despite their difficult day, the Summer Ball was turning out to be everything the fashion fairy princesses had hoped for, Bluebell thought, as she pirouetted into the centre of the group, making everybody laugh. All their troubles had been worth it, and now she wished that the ball would never end!
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KNOCK KNOCK! Rosa jumped up from her pink glass dressing table, where she’d been combing her long dark hair, and fluttered over to the bedroom door. Who could it be? She guessed it was one of her three best friends, but it was early on a Saturday morning, and Rosa was almost always the first fashion fairy princess to wake up.
She twisted the rose-shaped doorknob and slowly opened the door.
“Good morning, Princess Rosa,” said a tiny double-winged fairy-helper who stood in the palace corridor. “Your presence is required in the Royal Hall. Please hurry – the king and queen are waiting for you.” With that, the dainty fairy flew off to her next errand, her wings fluttering so fast she became just a blur.
Rosa’s mouth dropped open in surprise – why did the fairy king and queen want to see her? But there was no time to worry about that! The fairy princess quickly changed from her pink cloud-cotton nightgown into a fuchsia bell skirt and a strawberry-print top. She hoped it was smart enough for the fairy king and queen. They lived in a separate wing of Glimmershine Palace, which they didn’t leave very often, as the king was old and rather frail. It meant the fairy princesses rarely saw them, so Rosa knew this must be something important. She pulled her long hair into a high ponytail, slipped on her favourite walnut-wedge shoes and added her dark-rimmed glasses to complete her look – then she rushed out to the hallway.
“Rosa! We were just coming to get you!” said Bluebell. The fashion fairy princess was fluttering in the corridor next to Rosa’s two other best friends, Buttercup and Violet.
“Did you get the message?” asked Violet, her brown eyes bright with excitement.
Rosa nodded. “Yes!” she replied. “We’d better hurry!”
One after the other, the four fashion fairy princesses flew as quickly as they could along the white marble hallway. They fluttered down the sweeping glass staircase without putting so much as a foot on a step. At the bottom of the stairs, they spun round in the diamond-tiled entrance hall and then sped off along the ground-floor corridor to the right. This led to the king and queen’s wing of Glimmershine Palace, past walls that were filled with magical mirror-glassed portraits of all the past fairy kings and queens. When she was little, Rosa spent hours in this hallway just looking at the beautiful pictures. She secretly hoped she might become the fairy queen one day.
The corridor began to widen, and the fairy princesses soon saw a huge arched golden door, guarded by a tall, golden-feathered cockerel. “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” it cried in a loud, ringing voice.
Rosa looked round at her three friends. She suddenly felt very nervous!
Fortunately, nothing seemed to scare Violet. She had already stepped forward, pushing the heavy golden door with one hand. The other fashion fairy princesses shuffled along behind her, letting out gasps as they took in the Royal Hall. They’d been there before, on very special occasions, but the room still took their breath away. It was enormous, with a sparkling glass domed roof. The bright fairyland sunshine that poured through it made everything in the hall glisten – especially the jewel-covered walls and polished-silver-stone floor.
Along both the right and left walls stood the cutest pink fairy-bunnies Rosa had ever seen, each with miniature wings and holding tiny trumpets. She noticed that at the end of the Royal Hall, the two ruby thrones were empty. The fairy princesses waited, not daring to move a muscle.
Suddenly, the fairy-bunnies brought their trumpets to their mouths. They chorused a short rising melody that was both beautiful and important-sounding. The four friends grabbed each other’s hands tightly, and as the bunnies lowered their trumpets, in came the fairy king and queen through an arch at the back of the hall...
The fairy royalty wore matching blue-sequinned cloaks, their sky-blue wings just visible under them. The queen’s thick blonde hair was adorned with a delicate gold tiara, while the king wore an eight-pointed golden crown. They fluttered in slowly, the king helping himself along with a pearl-topped walking stick. The fairies watched in silence as the pair lowered themselves on to their ruby thrones.
“Hello, fairy princesses,” the fairy king began in a deep voice. The four friends curtseyed deeply. “Thank you for coming to see us.”
Rosa relaxed her grip on Buttercup’s hand. The king didn’t sound very scary
at all.
“We have something very important to ask of you,” the queen continued in a light, musical voice. Her beautiful green eyes glittered as she spoke. “We know how talented you fairy princesses are, especially when it comes to fashion. And so we’d like you to put on a fashion show for us.”
Rosa’s heart leapt – how exciting!
“But this is no ordinary fashion show,” said the king. “It will be to celebrate our golden jubilee tomorrow. We’d like it to be extra special to mark our fifty years as fairy king and queen.”
“Not only that, but your designs will make up the next season’s fashion in Sparkle City,” said the queen. “So it’s also important to design outfits that everyone here will love.”
“So, will you do it?” the king asked.
“Yes, Your Majesties,” replied the four friends in unison as they curtseyed again.
“We will do our very, very best,” added Violet.
The king’s face broke into a huge beam. “Thank you, fairy princesses,” he said.
The queen nodded. “We cannot wait to see your fashion fairy creations!”
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First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2014
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