Chapter 5

5 "What should we do?" Phoebe whispered nervously. "We don't know how to be stars!" Rosie added. "I hardly know how to be a dragon," Stella agreed. "But I suppose we'll figure it out." "Right. It's too important not to try," Phoebe said.

Stella could tell Phoebe was still worried. She was proud of her friend for not letting that stop her. Together, the three Night Dragons turned to face Madame Prancey. "We will audition," said Stella, trying to sound more confident than she felt. Madame Prancey snorted. "This is a dance school for stars, not dragons." "But we are Night Dragons," said Stella. "And I am the Starlight Dragon. So I am a star… kind of." Madame Prancey thought about this, then nodded. "Fine. I will make an exception. This once." The junior stars cheered and flocked around the dragons. They seemed excited to see the audition. Or maybe they were just happy their lesson was over! Madame Prancey shooed them back. "Give the dragons plenty of room," she warned. "If you get stomped on, you'll end up as stardust."

The little stars squealed and scattered. Madame Prancey clapped her hooves once more. "Let us begin. To be allowed into the Star Fields Dance Academy, there are three basic moves you must be able to do." Stella gulped. "What are the moves?" "Twinkling. Shining. And shooting across the sky," Madame Prancey replied. "You can choose the order." "We'll start with shooting across the sky," Stella decided, tingling with excitement. This seemed like a move they would have no trouble with. She glanced at her friends. "Ready, on the count of three? One, two, three… go!" Stella shot up into the air, Rosie on one side and Phoebe on the other. The three had flown together a lot, and they streaked across the sky in perfect formation. "Go, Night Dragons!" whooped the junior stars. "Loop?" Stella called, and with their wings stretched out to touch, the trio executed a neat

loop. When they landed, the little stars clustered around them, twinkling wildly. "Not bad," Madame Prancey said. She looked surprised and impressed. "What will you do next?" Stella looked across at her friends. Their bright scales were lit up by the glow of the small stars. "We're already doing the next one," she said, stretching out her wings. "Look at how we're shining!" Madame Prancey tapped a hoof to her mouth thoughtfully. "That is true," she said. "You have a different type of shine, but you are definitely shining." Stella grinned. They had already passed two moves! Madame Prancey crossed her front legs over her chest. "Now it's time for twinkling. For stars, this is easy. They can twinkle in their sleep. In

fact, they often are asleep when they twinkle. But I have never seen a dragon twinkle." "We are not normal dragons, remember," Stella said. She turned to the others. "Let's try roaring," she said. "That's not really twinkling," Phoebe whispered. "Our roars are a bit twinkly, especially as they start to fade." Stella shrugged. "It's worth a try, right?" Rosie and Phoebe agreed. The trio breathed in the cool night air and roared as loudly as they could. The sky above the clearing filled with swirling pinks, purples, blues, and oranges, lighting up the surrounding trees and making them glow. "Oooooh!" The little stars clapped their points. "So pretty!" "Very pretty, yes," Madame Prancey agreed, tossing her mane. "But not twinkling."

Stella frowned. "Why are you making this so hard?" she snapped. "We are trying to help the stars and the Magic Forest. Don't you understand that the Fire Queen is dangerous?" Stella expected that the teacher would argue right back. But Madame Prancey didn't say a word. She was looking at something just behind the dragons. The junior stars had also gone quiet.