Previously on Winx Club:

"The royal court of Solaria is pleased to announce its official Princess' ball." Wanda, the official palace messenger had said. She played her horn for a few seconds and the scroll turned into a hologram of Stella.

"I bet you they're getting back together! I bet that's what the surprise announcement's going to be!" Stella had exclaimed, standing up.

"My realm is in trouble. I have to go immediately." After having transformed, Layla had taken off into the ocean with the mermaid.

Chapter 2: Beauty is Beast

Poor Layla, I thought, seated at my computer, trying to communicate with her, somehow. Bloom was standing behind me, and it was disappointing as each of my attempts failed. Every time they did, the only thing that would happen is that a red circle with an 'x' would appear on the screen.

"I've tried every way I know to get in touch with Layla," I was saying to Bloom, disappointing the fairy of the Dragon Fire more, "but nothing's worked." I turned around to look at her in shame.

"Do you think maybe one of Palladium's location spells might help?" She asked.

But before I could answer, Stella popped her face in the doorway in between my room and the common room of our dorm.

"Still no news from Layla?" She inquired, immediately going back into the common room, holding a fancy pink hat.

"Nothing at all," Bloom replied, stepping into the room herself.

"Musa and I struck out too," I could hear Flora say, as I decided to give up for now and went to join the other girls. "Layla seems to have disappeared into thin air."

"I'm starting to get worried. It's like she fell off the face of the realm," Bloom said.

I sighed. It'd been days since we'd last heard from her, and considering how urgent it was that she had to go to Tides, I could only imagine what kind of trouble was going on. And when I did, I blacked it out for it just made me worry even more for Layla's safety.

"Fret not," Stella said, trying to brighten the mood as she stood over the gray coffee table, putting the pink hat into a frilly purple and pink hatbox. "Layla's probably just really busy. And I'm sure we'll hear from her soon."

"Hey, go away," she directed to Kiko, turning him around. "Shoo. Layla's not about to miss the party of the century." And she seemed quite proud in what she said.

"What are you talking about? My birthday's not until December," Bloom told her, teasing.

"I'm not talking about your party." She paused when Bloom burst out laughing. "I'm talking about my Princess' ball, which is tomorrow!" She finished, making a face. After watching all of us laugh, she understood. "Oh, you were joking! That was a joke!" She said, throwing a pillow at her.

Silently, I laughed to myself. Oh, how silly my friends can be. And it's still impossible to believe that that girl isn't our age. It very much wasn't. Almost every day I had to remind myself that Stella was a year older than us do to that potion lab incident during her freshman year, forcing her to repeat the grade when she was readmitted. I never could fully accept it since half the time, she acted younger than we did.

Bloom hit Stella with the pillow, and as the pillow fell from Stella face, she said, "Bloom, don't you ever do that again. There's certain things that are just way to important to joke about. And my party's one of them." She stopped when pixie pets began to fly out of her hatbox. "Hey! I told you before. There' s no pets aloud at a Princess' ball." She pounded her fist onto the table and scared them away.

"Okay daw-lings," the Solarian princess continued, raising her arm into the air. "It's time." She took the box and placed it with the rest of her suitcases. "And on this trip, there will be no luggage snafus because I decided to travel light," she beamed, miniaturizing her things.

"I'm packed," Bloom told her, "but do we have to leave now?"

Stella took her ring of Solaria from her finger. It'd been so long since I'd last seen her use it, I barely even remembered that she still had it. "The first rule of beauty is that it requires time and preparation. So, let's not dally."

We all watched as Stella threw the ring into the air, it turned into a scepter, and she caught it. "Solaria!" She said, twirling it as she teleported Bloom and herself to her home kingdom.

"So, Tecna, are you doing anything today?" Musa asked me, looking up from the couch.

I shook my head. "I was just going to send a message to my family and then," I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, have you decided what to wear to Stella's party tomorrow?" She asked.

I nodded. "I picked out this dress not to long ago. Hopefully Timmy will like it."

"I'm sure he will, sweetie," Flora assured me, in the loving way she does with everyone.

I smiled and went to go send that message. I wrote them about how I'm so happy that Lord Darkar is defeated for good, I was having a great time with all my friends her, and that Timmy and I were dating(I added that in four times since my parents made a bet that I wouldn't ever get with him before I graduated. Well, they lost!).

Suddenly I realized I'd gotten an IM from Timmy. I smirked. I hope he's having fun. Life is so boring now.

Timmy-the-hero: Hey Tecna! How are you?

I smiled as I thought about that. How was I? Well, for one thing I most certainly was excited to go to Stella's Princess' ball tomorrow, but, than again, we all were. Hmmm? I asked myself. Finally, I wrote down the simplest thing I could, and the conversation continued there.

Tecna-the-techno-fairy: Oh, hello Timmy. I'm fine, just bored is all. Who knew how bored one could be when you're not in school and all the villains are gone. Catch my drift?

Timmy-the-hero: Yeah, I get where you're coming from. Are you excited for Stella's Princess' ball tomorrow?

Tecna-the-techno-fairy: Oh, definitely. I picked out the perfect dress, and hopefully you'll be willing to dance with me in it.

Timmy-the-hero: Tecna, it doesn't matter what you wear. I'll always think you look nice because you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

I blushed. Timmy always was such a nice guy. I feel bad for Musa sometimes because Riven generally doesn't know how to compliment a girl because of his sarcastic 'bad boy' nature.

Tecna-the-techno-fairy: Well, I guess I'll go now Timmy. I think I'll just hang out in my room for a while.

There was a few minute pause. I wondered what he would say. Sure, though we were dating, it was still really awkward for us to spend time with each other in person a lot of the time. We didn't know why, it just felt like that to us. Talking online was a much easier option.

Timmy-the-hero: Okay Tec. And, about Stella's Princess' ball, I hope you know that even though there'll be lots of other girls in dresses there, my eyes'll be focused on you only the whole time. I really care about you Tecna. I hope you know that.

Tecna-the-techno-fairy: Aw, you're so sweet. Talk to you again later Timmy. Bye!

I logged off and just sat at my bed, staring at the wall for a while. I thought I'd only been doing it for a little while, but the next thing I know, I wake up and it's morning already.

That went by to fast, I thought. Why didn't Musa wake me up? But I just forgot about the detail and later I ended up seeing the rest of the girls.

Eventually, the three of us changed into our dresses. Musa had her hair down and was wearing a long strapless gown with several different shades of pink, red, and orange.

I was dressed in a thin dress with lots of soft pink and bright green. The sleeves of it frilly and I had on a headband that was similar except it was all green. I hoped I looked nice, though everyone told me that I did.

Flora's dress was more of a traditional gown with the same color's as mine. When I looked at her, I imagined that that's what some of the characters Bloom has told me about from Earth would wear.

We ended up arriving later to the party than we had planned because Helia's ship had broken down, delaying the other guys that didn't go with us from getting there. The guys, as usual when we went off to places like this were dressed in their Red Fountain uniforms, and in this case, I thought they fit the occasion.

Finally, we landed in Solaria in the squad ship, all of us very excited for the night's event. Sky and Brandon were the first to step out.

"Alright, Princess' ball here we come," Musa was saying as she walked out with Flora. I was just behind them.

"Hey," I greeted to Bloom.

"I'm so happy you're here," Bloom said, running into Sky's arms.

"I'm hope we're not late," Sky replied, twirling her around. "We got delayed at Alfea."

Aw, they're so sweet. Just as inseparable as ever.

"Well, look's like it was worth it," Bloom said, looking over at us. "Your dresses are totally beautiful."

"So, where's Stella?" Brandon asked.

"You'll see her soon enough," was her only reply.

The grand ball room of the Solarian palace was amazing. It was a very large, open space complete with large amounts of windows, a smooth, shiny floor, and elegant staircases.

"I can't believe that Helia's ship broke down," Flora was saying. It wasn't that often that you would hear Flora complain about something, but this did involve Helia, and we all knew that she was quite sensitive about him.

"They might still make it," Bloom said, trying to cheer her up.

Suddenly, woman who looked exactly like Wanda began to play their horns.

"Look!" Bloom told us.

I looked up and saw at the front staircase a fancy curtain with the Solarian coat of arms. Once it'd been lifted and disappeared, out walked King Radius.

"Welcome my friends," he greeted, "and thank you all for coming today. And now it is with great happiness and joy that I give you the belle of the ball," he turned around slightly after he'd said this, "my princess and yours: Stella!"

At this, Stella walked in from the shadows and was dressed radiantly. I don't know what it was, but for some reason, I thought she looked even more beautiful in her dress the day of the ball then she had when she'd first shown it to us.

The king walked his daughter down the steps, chatting with her the whole way. Once at the end, keeping Stella's hand in his, he said, "My friends, I've got another announcement. This day is not only joyous because of Stella's Princess' ball, but also because this kingdom will soon have a queen again."

Stella gasped, looking up at him.

A woman in a feathery violet, lavender, and white dress walked over to the king. She took his hand then. I didn't know what was going on. I looked at the other girls. They appeared to be confused too.

"In one month's time, Countess Cassandra and I will be married." King Radius continued.

This shocked all of us, especially Stella. When everyone else applauded, we all gasped in horror. Poor Stella, I thought to myself I had watched her with concern. It must be so disappointing to hear that not only are they not getting back together, now she's getting a stepmother.

I saw Cassandra whisper something to Stella. Then Stella said something to her father and walked back over the rest of us.

"My life is over," she told us. "Do you realize that horrible Chimera and her countess mother are going to be my new family?" "Hey, look on the bright side." Musa said, trying to calm her down.

"There's a bright side?"

"Yeah, Chimera coulda had ten sisters," Musa joked.

"Excuse me if I don't laugh. I was hoping my parents were going to get back together. But…this? This is the worst thing my father could've done to me!" And she walked off, disappointed.

"I hope she's okay," Bloom said.

"She should be," I told her, "she just needs time to cool off."

Flora saw Stella walk away from Brandon and went to go assure him that she was fine.

Stella's father immediately convinced her to dance with him seeing how it was a Princess' ball tradition.

Not long after, Sky escorted Bloom to dance with him as well, leaving me and Musa standing alone with each other.

Even from a distance, I could tell that Stella didn't seem to be enjoying her father-daughter dance at all really. She still looked sad.

Suddenly, in the middle of her dance, Stella fell back onto the ground, moaning in pain of some sort.

"Sweetheart," her father said lifting her head up and holding her hand, "are you alright?"

She continued to struggle and she began to change somehow. Her skin grew puce green, her got bigger and were webbed, and her body grew more round, resulting in her dress to tear.

What is going on?… She must've gotten spelled, I realized. But who did it?

"Stella!" The king gasped, looking down at her.

She continued to groan and once her hands had left her face, she started to practically scream with worry.

Everyone gasped in amazement when they'd seen her.

After Countess Cassandra had whispered something to Stella's father, he said, "Guards, seize that awful creature. Lock her in the dungeon." Just after the first few words had been ordered, guards approached Stella with weapons.

"Daddy, it's me! Stella!"

People started to run in out fear at the sight of Stella in this new state. They must've thought she was a monster who would harm them.

"Bloom! Help!" Stella begged, reaching for Bloom's hand.

Bloom gasped as a guard approached her and she ordered, "Stop!" This knocked his weapon right out of his hands.

More of the party guests continued to run of the palace in fear of Stella hurting them.

As guards continued to try to go after our friend, we and the guys surrounded her to make sure she didn't get hurt.

"Tell the guards who I am," Stella told Bloom.

"Hey, this is Princess Stella."

"That hideous monstrosity?" That horrible Chimera girl asked. "That can't be Princess Stella."

As Brandon and Sky did their best to try to hold off the guards, Chimera commanded, "Guards, seize them all."

To my dismay, they listened to her and began to go charging after us. Note to self: When I get the chance, I'm going to think up the perfect way of revenge on that girl.

"Come on girls!" Bloom told us. "Let's go!"

And so me, Bloom, Musa, and Flora transformed into our winx, complete with our Charmixes, just in case we needed the extra power.

Right after, the guards were about to attack Stella but she got away from them and ran up the stairs.

They chased after her to the staircase, but before they could shoot her, I flew in front of them and hit them with one of my attacks, knocking them down in the process.

"Tecna, take it easy," Flora told me, coming to where I was. "We don't want to hurt them." Together, we took off up the stairs.

"Maybe they just need a little beat down so to speak," I could hear Musa saying from the ballroom.

As I took off running with the rest of the girls through the palace, I was quite afraid for how Stella was doing. Had it hurt to change like that? How much could it have effected her self-esteem? Though, it didn't take long for those to be answered.

"I have a feeling we're not going to be invited to the next party," Musa was saying.

"I'll be happy if we just get out of here in one piece." Bloom said to her.

"Hey!" Said a voice up ahead, and we all stopped in our tracks to see who'd said it. When we took a better look, it was Stella.

This had surprised us, so Bloom and Flora-who were at the front-gasped.

"Oh no! I'm so ugly, I even scared my own friends," Stella said, turning away from us.

"I'm sorry Stella, I didn't mean to scream," Flora told her. "Come her sweetie."

I feel so bad for her, I thought as I watched Stella look sad again.

"Do you think Chimera put this spell on you?" I asked her. It made perfect logical sense since that girl had had it out to get Stella since the day they'd first met each other. What I wanted to know, however, is where she could've gotten the power to do this.

"What do you say we figure that out later?" Bloom suggested, since I could hear that the door one of the girls had sealed was being pounded on and the things put in front of it must've been falling. "Right now we need you to find the nearest exit out of this place." Bloom told Stella.

"Okay," she said, leading the way.

The door had finally been opened and the guards escaped inside, tearing after us.

"Since there's no hip-hop in the palace, how 'bout rap?" I could hear Flora say, "Ivy Wrap that is." And soon she'd caught back up with the rest of us.

"We need to speed up!" Bloom told us as we ran up stairs.

Taking her suggestion, Flora and I grabbed hold of Stella and carried her as we flew up the long, narrow staircase.

We heard the sound of guards again so Musa told us to turn around.

"Try to get into the dove tower," Stella said, pointing, "over there."

We took her advice and landed in front of a tall, golden door-well, it was actually two doors, but that didn't matter.

Using her magic, Bloom busted the door open for us. We went inside, and stopped to listen to what Bloom had to say. "Alright, if we go up, they won't be able to follow us."

While Musa and Bloom flew up, Flora and I continued to help carry Stella with us.

"I think we lost them," Flora announced.

"Is there an exit up there?" Musa asked.

"In the aviary," the Solarian princess answered.

We continued to fly, but out of nowhere, Stella says, "Oh, no! Here they come!"

I looked down and saw the palace guards on some type of magical moving platform, trying to go after us.

Bloom: "You guys go ahead! I'll block them with a fire wall."

Yet, they were prepared even for that, for they activated some type of shields and continued to chase us.

"We have to get out of here fast," the fairy of the Dragon fire said. "They're creating a back draft." And so we tried to fly faster, in hope losing them and to avoid getting hurt by the fire that was continuing to rise.

I saw Musa go up to a door and with a blast of her musical power, it instantly opened, revealing an aviary with lost of doves.

Once we'd gotten to safety, we took a quick break and landed, but it didn't last for long.

"Get the monster!" A guard ordered us, firmly grasping his weapon.

"It's not an monster. It's Princess Stella."

"She's lying," an elderly guard told the others. "Our princess could never look so hideous."

"He's right!" Another said, as the rest raised their weapons high. "Get her!" And they began to fire.

From the explosion, Stella ended up getting sent over to the other end of the room, crashing outside of the window, falling over the edge of the palace.

I gasped. No!!!

Bloom took after her. Flora had already hit her with some of her powers. Bloom flew down, in hope of catching her.

I looked down, watching as my friend continued to fall.

Okay. That was Chapter 2. Wow, that was a long one. In my word document, it was almost ten pages, while the first chapter was almost seven. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you like it.