Clara smiled. “Maybe I should try using my hair as a paintbrush sometime.”

  “Great idea,” Aqua said, admiring Clara’s wet ponytail.

  Clara kneeled next to the pool and looked down. She thought the water looked like it was about as deep as the diving area at her neighborhood pool.

  Just then she heard the sound of wings beating in the distance. She turned and saw Flip, Snow, and Lucinda flying straight toward Heart Island. The three landed by the pool, skidding in the sand. Flip and Snow smiled at Clara, but she could see in their eyes that both pegasuses still felt frustrated and annoyed.

  “Hello,” Lucinda purred, swishing her tail. She looked at Clara and said, “You absolutely won’t believe this, but Princess Rosie’s favorite flower is a rose. A rose! I was shocked. She gave me eight guesses, and then she told me the answer.”

  Clara giggled and said, “Oh, Lucinda.” She bent over and scratched behind the cat’s ears and petted the soft fur on her back.

  Aqua looked at her sisters. “Thank you so much for coming early. Let’s get started right away on your swimming lesson,” she said. “Maybe it will help if we practice in the water instead of the air.”

  Flip sighed. “All right,” she groaned.

  “We’ve agreed to try our hardest,” Snow said.

  “But,” Flip said, “we have also agreed we can’t promise you we’ll be able to swim before the Merthday Splash.”

  “And we don’t like it when you put so much pressure on us,” Snow added.

  Before Aqua could respond, Lucinda suddenly yawned five times. Her eyelids began to flutter. “Flying over here was exhausting,” Lucinda said. She yawned four more times. “I may need to take a quick catnap.” Rocking back and forth and yawning, Lucinda ambled over to a particularly bright patch of sunlight next to the jar of octopus ink. With her eyes already closed, she flopped down into the sand and rolled onto her back. As she began to snore, she twitched her tail—and knocked the entire jar of ink into the hatching pool. Clara, Aqua, Flip, and Snow gasped as the water in the pool turned jet black.

  “Oh no,” Flip said, staring at the black, opaque water.

  “What will we do?” Snow asked.

  “This is a catastrophe,” Aqua said as her eyes filled with tears. “We have no choice but to cancel the Merthday Splash.”

  Mira, Myrna, and Moira stopped singing and playing their shellophones. They rushed over to the hatching pool. For a few seconds they hovered above the pitch-black water. And then Mira said, “Oh dear.”

  “I think we’d better just cancel the Merthday Splash,” Myrna said.

  “The eggs can hatch in Kelp Castle the way they always have,” Myrna said.

  Mira and Moira nodded. “We’ll just hold the Merthday Splash next year,” Moira said.

  Tears streamed down Aqua’s cheeks. “I know you’re right,” she sniffled. “I just feel so very disappointed. I guess I should fly back to Feather Palace and tell the others not to bother coming after all.”

  Clara stared at the water. She took a long, deep breath. “Before you go,” she said slowly, “why don’t we all think together for a minute about whether there is any way to save the Merthday Splash.”

  Mira, Myrna, Moira, Aqua, Flip, and Snow nodded. For several seconds, they all stared at the pool with furrowed brows.

  Flip sighed. “I’m trying my hardest, and I can’t think of any creative solutions,” she said.

  Snow shook her head. “Me neither. I didn’t want to have to learn to swim today, but I definitely didn’t want the Merthday Splash to be canceled.”

  “I can’t think of anything either,” Aqua said.

  Clara looked for a moment at the water droplet design on Aqua’s tiara, the snowflake design on Snow’s tiara, and the spiral design on Flip’s tiara. She thought for a minute about the strong seaweed the merfairies used to build Kelp Castle. And then, suddenly, Clara had an idea. Her eyes widened. A grin spread across her face. She hopped up and down. And then she twirled in a circle. “I have a plan to save the Merthday Splash,” she said.

  “Really?” Aqua asked, looking hopeful.

  “I will do anything to help,” Snow said.

  “Me, too,” Flip said, nodding.

  “Count us in,” Myrna said. Mira and Moira nodded.

  “If we all work together, I bet we can do it,” Clara said. She turned to Mira, Myrna, and Moira. “Do you think you could braid a rope out of rainbow seaweed?”

  “Of course,” Mira said.

  “Easily,” Moira said.

  “How long should it be?” Myrna asked.

  Clara looked at the hatching pool. “About six times as tall as I am.”

  “We’ll be back with a seaweed rope in just a minute,” Mira said.

  The three merfairies turned, flew to the Sky Sea, and plunged in. A few seconds later, they returned carrying piles of rainbow seaweed in their arms. As they hovered in the air, Mira quickly used her fingers to braid the seaweed as Moira and Myrna handed her strands.

  “It’s ready now,” Myrna announced, holding up a long, tightly braided seaweed rope that was tied on both ends.

  “Excellent,” Clara said. “The next step is to fly with it over the hatching pool and let each end dip into the water so it makes a rainbow shape.”

  “A rainbow shape?” Myrna said, raising her eyebrows. Moira, Myrna, and Mira looked at each other and shrugged. Then they flew over to the hatching pool, each carrying a section of the rope. They let the rope’s ends dangle into the water.

  “Maybe lower the ends of the rope just a little more into the pool,” Clara said.

  “Sure thing,” Mira said, and the three merfairies all flew downward so the rope went deeper into the black water.

  “That’s perfect,” Clara called out. “Excellent work!” Next, she turned to Snow. “Do you think you could use your magic to freeze the hatching pool water?”

  Snow cocked her head in confusion. She stared for a few seconds at Moira, Mira, and Myrna, hovering in the air and holding the rope. And then her face brightened. She reared up and called out, “I know what you’re thinking.” Snow turned to the hatching pool. The gemstone snowflakes on her tiara sparkled. And then, in a flash of light, the pond turned into a giant piece of black ice.

  “Wonderful,” Clara said. “Now we can get rid of that inky water.” She turned to Snow, Flip, and Aqua. “Could you help the merfairies use the seaweed rope as a handle to pull the ice out of the nest? I was thinking you could drop it out in the Sky Sea to melt.”

  “What a great idea,” Aqua said.

  “I’d be thrilled to help,” Snow said.

  “Me too,” Flip said.

  The three pegasus princesses flew over to the merfairies. They each grabbed a section of the seaweed rope in their mouths.

  “Start flying up at the count of three,” Clara said. “One. Two. Three!”

  Clara sucked in her breath. For a few seconds, Aqua, Snow, Flip, Mira, Moira, and Myrna were all pulling upward on the rope as hard as they could, and nothing was happening. But then the giant chunk of ice began to slowly slide upward. “It’s working!” Clara called out. “You can do it!”

  The ice kept sliding upward while the merfairies and the pegasus princesses pulled as hard as they could. And then, with a loud scraping noise, they were all suddenly up in the air holding the biggest, darkest piece of ice Clara had ever seen. Together, they flew toward the horizon out over the Sky Sea, and when Clara could barely see them, they dropped the ice. Then, they flew as fast as they could back to Heart Island.

  “You did it,” Clara said. “Good job!”

  Aqua, Snow, and Flip panted. “I think that was the hardest I’ve ever worked,” Aqua said.

  “I’ve never lifted anything that heavy,” Snow said.

  “Phew!” Flip said.

  Mira, Moira, and Myrna looked uncertainly at each other. And then they looked at Clara.

  “Thank you for getting the inky water out,” Mira said slowly. “But, it’s just that—”

  “Well, the thing is, I don’t want to disappoint you, but—” Myrna began.

  “What we’re trying to say is that, once we dug that pool, it took us three months to get enough water in it,” Moira said.

  “We spent all day, every day filling up buckets in the Sky Sea and dumping them out in the hatching pool,” Mira said.

  “I still think we may need to cancel the Merthday Splash,” Myrna said. “Even if we all got buckets and started pouring water into the hatching pool right away, there isn’t enough time to fill it up.”

  Aqua’s face fell as she stared at the empty hatching pool.

  Snow gazed down at her hooves.

  Flip looked like she might start crying.

  But Clara smiled. “I have an idea to fill up the hatching pool quickly,” she said. “It’s the part of my plan I’m the least sure will work. But let’s try it!”

  Snow, Aqua, Flip, Moira, Mira, and Myrna all nodded hopefully.

  Clara turned to Flip. “Is there any chance you could turn yourself into a mole?” she asked.

  “I’ve never turned into a mole before,” Flip said. “And I cannot wait to see what this next part of your plan is.” The gemstone spiral design on Flip’s tiara sparkled. She flapped her wings, flew up into the air, and did a somersault. In a bright flash of light, a peach-colored mole with tiny wings appeared in the sand.

  “Hello!” Flip squeaked in a high voice.

  Clara, Snow, Aqua, and the merfairies giggled. “Hello,” Clara responded.

  “I can barely see you,” Flip squeaked, squinting and waddling toward Clara. Clara giggled. She reached down and picked up Flip in her hands. Then she held the mole right in front of her face.

  “There you are,” Flip squeaked, pushing her nose against Clara’s.

  “Luckily, for this next part, you won’t need to see well,” Clara said, laughing. “But you will need to get wet.”

  “I’m fine with water as long as I don’t have to swim,” Flip squeaked.

  “Excellent,” Clara said. She turned to Aqua. “Could you possibly make Flip a head bubble so she can breathe under water?”

  “Of course,” Aqua said. The gemstone waterdrop design on her tiara sparkled. A bubble appeared in front of Flip’s head. It spun in a circle. And then, in a flash of light, Flip’s head was inside it.

  “Now you’re ready,” Clara said, cupping Flip gently in her hands. “What we need you to do is wade into the Sky Sea and then dig an underground tunnel from the sea floor to the side of the hatching pool,” Clara said. “That way, the sea water will flow through the tunnel and fill up the pool.”

  “I can certainly do that,” Flip squeaked, turning and waddling across the sand and into the Sky Sea. With her flipper-like front paws, she began to dig downward, disappearing quickly into her own hole.

  Clara, Aqua, Snow, Mira, Moira, and Myrna all watched the empty pool. Clara took four more deep breaths before she spied two peach flipper-paws poking out from a tiny hole on the inside of the nest. Water began to run out of the hole as Flip kept digging. Aqua reared up and whinnied with excitement. “It’s working!” she said, as more and more water gushed from the hole and into the hatching pool.

  After just a few more seconds, Flip crawled all the way out of her tunnel and climbed up the side of the merfairy nest to the sand. “Did it work?” she squeaked.

  “Yes!” Clara, Snow, Aqua, Mira, Moira, and Myrna all called out at once.

  “Hooray!” Flip squeaked. She did an excited dance on her back feet and front flipper-paws. And then she flapped her wings, did a somersault in the air, and turned back into a pegasus. Flip looked down into the hatching pool, which was filling with water.

  Aqua reared up and whinnied. “It worked,” she said. “The pool will be full by the time the rest of my sisters get here. Now we can hold the Merthday Splash.”

  “Excellent job, everyone,” Clara said, smiling. “We did it!”

  “Thank you for such a creative idea,” Aqua said.

  “Thank you for working together and being willing to try out my plan,” Clara said.

  For several minutes, Clara, the pegasus princesses, and the merfairies watched as water flowed into the hatching pool.

  Then Clara heard wings beating the air. She turned. Mist, Star, Dash, Stitch, and Rosie were soaring above the Sky Sea, flying straight toward them.

  “Hello!” Mist called out as the rest of the pegasus princesses landed in the sand on Heart Island.

  Stitch held in her mouth a mesh bag bulging with teal flippers. She dropped the bag and exclaimed, “As soon as we put on our flippers and get our magic head bubbles, we’ll be ready to dive into the hatching pool for the Merthday Splash.”

  Mist, Rosie, Stitch, Star, and Dash all looked expectantly at Flip and Snow.

  “So,” Dash said, “did you learn to swim?”

  “How was your final swimming lesson?” Rosie asked.

  “Will you be able to join us?” Star asked.

  “Well—” Flip began, frowning and looking down at her shiny, peach hooves.

  “Actually—” Snow started, and she let out a long, anxious sigh.

  Aqua cleared her throat. She looked at Mist, Rosie, Stitch, Star, and Dash. And she said, “It turns out Flip and Snow were too busy saving the Merthday Splash to have a final swimming lesson.” Aqua told her sisters the story of how Lucinda knocked the octopus ink into the hatching pool and then Clara, Aqua, Flip, Snow, Mira, Moira, and Myrna all worked together to fill the pool with new, clear water.

  “Wow,” Star said, looking at Flip and Snow, “you really did help save the Merthday Splash.”

  Rosie, Mist, Stitch, and Dash nodded in agreement.

  Aqua winked at Clara. Then she said, “I’ve realized the Merthday Splash can still be great even if it doesn’t go exactly the way I imagined it would. Making sure everyone feels comfortable and can participate in their own way is more important than exactly following the plans we made.”

  Flip and Snow looked at each other. Their eyes widened and they smiled hopefully.

  “I was thinking,” Aqua said, “that I could make big magic bubbles that would fit over Snow and Flip’s whole bodies—the same kind of magic bubble I wear when I can’t ice skate. That way, they wouldn’t have to swim at all. And they can still join us.”

  “That would be perfect,” Flip said, as relief washed over her face.

  “Thank you, Aqua,” Snow said. “That’s a fantastic solution.”

  Aqua looked down at her hooves. “I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you to learn to swim before you were ready. I wanted the Merthday Splash to be perfect. But I had just one idea in my head about what a perfect Merthday Splash would look like. I’m really sorry. I want you to know I’m happy for you to be part of the celebration in a way that works for each of you.”

  “I accept your apology,” Flip said.

  “Me too,” Snow said.

  Aqua smiled and sighed with relief. She turned to Stitch, Rosie, Dash, Star, and Mist. “Let’s put on our flippers!”

  Aqua, Stitch, Rosie, Dash, Mist, and Star reared up and whinnied with excitement. They pushed their hooves into their flippers. Clara giggled. She thought her pegasus friends looked like they had teal duck feet.

  “Now it’s time for the magic bubbles,” Aqua said. The water droplet design on her tiara glittered and sparkled. Beach-ball-sized bubbles appeared in front of Clara, Stitch, Rosie, Dash, Mist, and Star. The six bubbles spun in the air and shimmered in the sun. And then, in six bursts of light, the bubbles were on Stitch’s, Rosie’s, Dash’s, Mist’s, Star’s, and Clara’s heads.

  Aqua looked at Flip and Snow. She smiled warmly. “I’m so glad you’re joining us in this way,” she said. The water droplet design on her tiara sparkled again. Two giant pegasus-sized bubbles appeared in front of Flip and Snow. They spun and shimmered. In two bursts of light, Flip and Snow’s entire bodies were inside the bubbles. Flip giggled as she began to float up into the air. “The way the bubbles work is you just imagine in your head what direction you want to go in, and then they float that way,” Aqua said.

  Snow smiled and furrowed her brow. Suddenly, her bubble shot upward. She laughed. “This is a thousand times easier than swimming,” she said.

  “It sure is,” Flip said, floating even higher into the air.

  “Fantastic,” Aqua said.

  “Should we wake up Lucinda so she can join us?” Clara asked.

  All eight pegasus princesses shook their heads. “Lucinda absolutely hates water,” Star explained.

  “It’s because she’s a cat,” Dash said, shrugging.

  “She’ll be happiest if she just takes a nice long catnap in the sun,” Mist said.

  “We’re ready for the Merthday Splash!” Aqua announced, rearing up with excitement.

  “So are we,” Mira said.

  Mira, Moira, and Myrna flew over to their baskets and put the handles over their shoulders so they could still use both hands to play their shellophones. Then they flew right above the hatching pool. They looked at each other and smiled. Moira said, “A one and a two and a one, two, three, four.” The three merfairies began to strum and sing as they flew down into the pool.

  Clara and the pegasus princesses smiled excitedly at each other. Clara, Mist, Aqua, Stitch, Rosie, Star, and Dash walked to the edge of the pool. Flip and Snow glided over in their bubbles. And they all plunged in.

  Underwater, the pool echoed with the merfairies’ shellophone music. Clara kicked and paddled downward alongside the pegasus princesses.

  When they got to the bottom, they found a large, heart-shaped floor covered in layers of folded blankets knit and crocheted from rainbow seaweed. The merfairies sat in the center of the seaweed blankets and sang while Clara and the pegasus princesses gathered in a circle around them. Mira, Moira, and Myrna carefully put their eggs, which had shells with a rainbow swirl design, down on the blanket. Then they picked up their shellophones and strummed as they sang, “Little merfairies, come out today. Little merfairies, it’s time to play.” Clara and the pegasus princesses listened for a few seconds. And then they all joined in the singing.

 

1 2 3 4