They soon came into the costume department where Hailey worked in and they came inside, but there didn't seem to be anyone in there.
"Hello? Madame Katerina?" Hailey called. "Madame Katerina?"
"Coming~" An older woman's voice replied.
"That must be her." Ramona said.
"So, Hailey, you work here?" Estelle asked.
"Yes, indeed I do." Hailey smiled.
An older woman soon came out.
"Oh, she reminds me of Mrs. Twombley from the Littlest Pet Shop that Mom told me about." Estelle smiled to herself.
"You must be Madame Katerina." Ramona smiled at the older woman.
"Yes, that's me," Madame Katerina replied. "Oh, are you those new girls? Madame Natasha's spoken highly of you even if you just started."
"We sure are, but, um, I kind of went off the choreography." Estelle smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, dear... Madame Natasha isn't too fond about that..." Madame Katerina replied. "I'm sure you meant well though."
"I really did." Estelle reassured.
"Um, Madame Katerina, do we have any size fives?" Hailey soon asked.
"Shoes? Well, there should be some extras over by the Giselle costumes." Madame Katerina suggested, pointing that way for Hailey to go over and check.
"Isn't that the one about the girl that had to choose between a guy that pretended to be poor, but was really rich and a guy that was like a hunter or something, in the end dies?" Ramona asked.
"Someone really knows her ballets." Madame Katerina smiled to Ramona.
Ramona smiled bashfully in response to that.
"Find any shoe size 5s yet?" Estelle asked Hailey.
"I think I found some." Hailey replied.
Kristyn just let out an unfortunate sigh. "It'll take me more than new shoes to make Madame Natasha happy tonight," she then sulked before imitating her teacher. "It is far from perfect."
"Nice imitation." Estelle smiled.
"Thanks, Estelle." Kristyn smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, nonsense, dear," Madame Katerina smiled. "I saw the whole thing. Beautiful dancing like a butterfly," she then looked to Estelle, Ramona, and Lee. "And I loved your version of Princess Tutu where she doesn't disappear from existence after professing her love to Mytho."
"Thanks." Estelle smiled back.
"But, when I'm dancing I know the choreography, but it starts to flow from me and then new moves just aren't moving." Kristyn frowned at first, but soon stood up and started to twirl around with her own dancing again.
"She has been this way forever, guys," Hailey said as she continued to look for shoes, but soon failed to find the right size. "She knows every role and every step, but when it's time to preform she just-Okay, there are no size fives here."
"Hmm... Madame Katerina, could you help us find some size five shoes for Kristyn?" Ramona asked.
"Hmm... I would suggest maybe the Swan Lake section." Madame Katerina suggested as she came to help them.
"Ah... Giselle..." Kristyn sighed as she took one of the leotards. "I would give anything to dance Giselle."
"Careful," Madame Katerina told her before putting the leotard back. "We're not quite done with that one yet."
"Let me guess, Madame Natasha wants it to be perfect?" Lee guessed.
"You may be new here, but you seem to know her really well already." Madame Katerina replied.
"Her behavior could already tell me that she looks for perfection and nothing else." Lee said.
"Tara's so lucky..." Kristyn sulked. "Madame will never trust me with a lead role."
"But your milkmaid dance is a delight." Madame Katerina told her.
"Oh, just once I wish I can be Odette: Queen of the Swans." Kristyn said before taking the Swan Lake crown and wore it on her head.
"But doesn't her ending have the same result as Giselle?" Ramona asked out of confusion.
"I guess..." Kristyn pouted.
"I wanted that too, but Natasha got all the dancing talent in our family," Madame Katerina said before taking out some shoes, but they were still the wrong size. "Oh... Size two."
"Maybe they're somewhere in the far back?" Estelle said.
"I should keep better organized." Madame Katerina sighed to herself.
Kristyn gasped to a costume.
"The Snow Queen," Madame Katerina replied at the icy blue gown. "Our holiday production this year."
"I think Madame Natasha would be perfect for that role." Estelle smirked playfully.
"I think you might be right." Madame Katerina chuckled to that.
"I guess Tara will wear this one." Ramona guessed.
"Not that one." Madame Katerina gave a small joking smirk.
"With her behavior; I think it would be perfect." Ramona smirked back the same way.
"Doesn't matter," Kristyn sulked. "I'm sure I will be wearing antlers and pulling a sleigh."
"Ugh!" Hailey complained as she soon came back after searching for new shoes for her best friend. "Plenty of shoes, Madame, but no fives and all the stores are closed."
"That's bad." Ramona said.
"Now what?" Estelle frowned as she wanted to help Kristyn.
"Oh, wait! I might have something here." Madame Katerina said as she walked off briefly.
"Whew! Great." Estelle smiled.
Kristyn and Hailey looked curious.
"What is it, Miss?" Lee wondered.
Madame Katerina brought in a brown box and set it down on the table, opening it, and inside were a pair of beautiful pink shoes.
"Whoa, those look just like mine." Estelle smiled at the beautiful pink shoes.
"They do..." Lee agreed with a small smile.
"Oh, they're beautiful." Kristyn beamed.
"They're for you, my dear." Madame Katerina smiled, holding out the box to Kristyn.
"Oh, Kristyn, you are so lucky." Ramona smiled.
Kristyn smiled back as she accepted the new shoes. "Thank you, Madame." she then told the woman who gave them to her.
"Well, right size, wrong color." Hailey commented.
"No way!" Kristyn smirked. "Pink is always in style."
"Think pink: a better way of life." Estelle quoted.
"They're better than nothing." Ramona said.
"You know, I could bleach them to match your costume." Hailey suggested to Kristyn.
"Don't you dare!" Kristyn giggled as they soon left with the new shoes.
'I have a feeling those shoes are more than just ballet shoes.' Estelle thought to herself.
Madame Katerina smiled as the girls soon went off.
"They really do look like your shoes." Ramona said to Estelle.
"Yeah, I wonder if they're just as magical as mine." Estelle replied as she looked at her own ballet shoes.
"Real magic?" Ramona asked as she also looked at the shoes.
"Ramona, you have a lot to learn if you're gonna be my friend." Estelle smiled.
"I guess I do." Ramona smiled back as Kristyn tried on the pink shoes she was given.
"Madame, if you had these all along, why didn't you-" Hailey began to ask.
"Wow! These are some shoes." Kristyn smiled and suddenly, the shoes glowed.
Estelle's shoes began to glow as well. "Looks like we're in for an adventure." She said.
"Uh, an adventure...?" Ramona asked. "Isn't going to a new school already an adventure."
"You must be new to the adventuring world, Ramona." Estelle teased.
The pairs of magical shoes soon transported them to somewhere else and changed Kristyn and Estelle into two familiar characters from ballets.
"What just happened?!" Ramona shrieked.
"I think their shoes just transported us to a forest." Lee said.
"How are you so calm?!" Ramona asked. "I don't get it!"
"Ramona, relax, this happens all the time." Lee told the girl.
"All the time?!" Ramona gasped.
"Settle down, it's going to be okay." Lee told her calmly.
"How is this going to be okay?!" Ramona panicked.
"Oh, Ramona..." Lee sighed as he wished that he could help her somehow, but wasn't sure how to in this kind of situation.
"Guys... Where are we and what am I wearing?" Kristyn asked.
"That looks like the Giselle dress, but what about your hair?" Estelle asked.
"The Giselle dress?" Kristyn replied. "Where did it come from?"
"Madame Katerina did the bodice, and I did the skirt, but the fabric is from India, so technically-" Hailey began to explain.
"No, I mean, how did I get into this dress?" Kristyn replied.
"Same way your hair changed color?" Ramona guessed.
"WHAT?!" Kristyn gasped and felt nervous now.
Ballet music soon began to play in the background.
"Wait... I know that music." Hailey said as they followed the music.
"Me too." Estelle said.
They soon walked down through the forest as they followed the music.
"These houses... It's like we're in Giselle..." Kristyn commented.
"Yeah, and it looks like everyone is in position." Ramona added.
"How can we be in Giselle?" Hailey asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, but if we are, the maidens are about to appear." Kristyn smiled.
"Looks like it." Estelle said.
Some dancers soon came out as if on cue. Lee bobbed his head along as he tried to get into it.
Estelle couldn't help but giggle. "You look like Ebeneezer Scrooge in that one Christmas Carol version."
"Really?" Lee asked.
"At least that's how it looks for me." Estelle smiled gently.
"Hm." Lee smirked to that.
"Let's keep watching." Ramona said.
"Look, the peasants are about to crown Giselle Queen of the Harvest!" Kristyn beamed. "And there's Albrecht, the prince."
"Jerk." Estelle and Hailey glared.
"You got that right." Ramona added.
"Engaged to another girl, and still trying to date Giselle," Hailey shook her head. "Where's the nice guy, Hilarious or whatever?"
"Hilarion," Kristyn corrected before shrugging. "He's hiding, I guess."
"Oh, of course he is," Hailey rolled her eyes. "And we're in a ballet, and pigs are about to fly."
"Where could he be?" Ramona asked.
"Now, let me see if I have this right," Lee said. "When the music stops, Giselle comes out of that cottage?"
"Right, Lee!" Estelle smiled, happy that he remembered, but when the music stopped, Giselle didn't come out.
"Uh... I don't think that was supposed to happen." Lee blinked.
"She's... Missing her cue..." Kristyn frowned.
"I think she would be you since you are dressed as her." Estelle told Kristyn.
"M-Me? Really?" Kristyn gasped slightly.
"Yeah." Estelle nodded.
"I think Estelle might be right, Kristyn." Ramona added.
Someone else soon came out of the cottage who was not Giselle.
"Psst! Giselle!" The woman then called out to Kristyn.
"That must be Giselle's mother." Ramona said.
The woman gestured for Kristyn to join in, thinking that she was Giselle.
"You got the dress, and the hair, and a new pair of-" Hailey told her best friend before they both gasped and realized that they did this. "The shoes!"
"Come on, Kristyn, you better dance now." Estelle suggested to her new friend.
"Yeah, because they're not going to continue without you." Ramona said.
Kristyn soon looked over and then went to go and see the others. They looked back at her and she soon started to dance just like Giselle from the ballet.
"She's so beautiful!" Prince Albrecht gushed. "I must have her as my wife!"
"Time to interrogate him." Ramona told Hailey.
"Fair enough," Hailey replied as she soon came to the young man. "So you're a peasant, huh?"
"What? Yes, that's correct." Albrecht replied as he watched Kristyn dance.
"Not secretly a prince?" Ramona smirked.
"You're both funny girls." Albrecht replied, acting like he had no idea what they were talking about.
"Single? Are you?" Hailey added. "No fiancée?"
"No, no, no, of course not." Albrecht replied.
"Of course not." Ramona repeated as she rolled her eyes.
"You're not masquerading as a peasant to deceive Giselle into marrying you?" Lee soon asked.
"Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't know what you're talking about." Albrecht replied.
"Hmm..." Ramona hummed.
"Beef stew or foie gras?" Hailey soon asked.
"Well, foie gras of course." Albrecht replied.
"Aha!" Hailey then smirked.
"So you are a prince!" Ramona added.
"I, uh..." Albrecht stammered.
Kristyn smiled as she continued to dance her little heart out, and where she even went off the choreography of the dance. Everyone seemed to enjoy her dancing so far. Kristyn soon finished and she was met with applause from the people there. She smiled as this meant a lot to her as she soon bowed herself and soon went back to Hailey, Estelle, Lee, and Ramona.
"That was amazing." Estelle smiled.
"It really was!" Hailey added. "Now let's get out of here."
"These shoes," Kristyn smiled before twirling. "I love these shoes."
Albercht soon caught her in her twirls. "My darling, you are more beautiful today than ever before." he then swooned to her.
'I am seriously hating that guy.' Ramona thought to herself.
"Oh, thank you." Kristyn said.
"Your eyes, blue as the sky..." Albercht smiled to Kristyn. "Your hair, kissed with strawberry~"
"I feel sick right now." Lee groaned.
"You and me both." Estelle added.
"And I've never seen you dance like that before, or anyone else for that matter." Albercht continued to Kristyn.
"Giselle, this man is an impostor," Another man said as he walked by. "Look at his hands. Soft like a baby's behind."
"Uh, who's that?" Lee asked.
"I think that's Hilarion." Estelle replied.
"AKA, the other guy that Giselle is supposed to choose as her husband." Ramona said.
"I listen, I promise." Lee said to Estelle.
"Oh, it's okay, Lee, you're still learning." Estelle smiled.
"That's right." Ramona nodded.
Lee gave a small smile while looking to Kristyn with the two men, and where it did seem like she was in an awkward position.
"And now they're fighting over whoever gets to marry 'Giselle'." Estelle sighed with air quotes.
"Oi." Lee groaned.
"You said it." Estelle agreed with her boyfriend.
"That's hilarious." Kristyn forced a laugh.
"It's Hilarion." The man corrected as he held the rose.
"Oh, brother." Ramona rolled her eyes.
"You? Ha! What can you offer her?" Albercht smirked to his competition. "I am descended from the most royal of royal lineages. You are nothing but a oafish farm boy."
Lee looked like he wanted to beat up Albercht right now.
"Easy, Lee, easy." Estelle said.
Lee soon looked to her and soon calmed down, but crossed his arms.
"I am a hunter. And provider for this entire village," Hilarion told Albercht. "Giselle and I milked our first cows together. Remember, Giselle?" he then smiled to Kristyn. "I got you your first bucket."
"Bucket?" Kristyn replied.
"Bucket?" Albercht added in a mean way. "I can give her gold buckets, to carry her gold bullion in."
"Oh, wow." Ramona rolled her eyes.
"Whoa! Hold on," Kristyn told the two men. "I'm not getting married. I'm only 17."
"17?" Albercht repeated before smirking. "Better late than never, my sweet."
"You don't look a day over 16." Hilarion added.
"Couldn't we just dance some more?" Kristyn asked nervously.
"Giselle? A word?" Hailey called before taking her best friend by the hand.
"We won't be but a moment, gentlemen." Estelle told them as she joined Hailey and Kristyn.
"Your first bucket? Really!" Albercht smirked to Hilarion.
"It was a nice bucket!" Hilarion glared in defense.
'These two are seriously getting on my nerves.' Lee thought to himself.
"Kristyn, we gotta get out of here." Hailey told her best friend.
"Yeah, like, now." Ramona added.
"I don't know. They're both kind of cute," Kristyn smiled bashfully. "And you saw me dance, right?"
"Yes, but how long do you expect to stay as Giselle?" Estelle asked.
"Well, I don't know..." Kristyn shrugged. "I thought I'd make the most of it."
"'Til when?" Estelle asked.
"I'm not sure." Kristyn replied.
"Do I have to remind you of how Giselle ends?" Estelle replied. "Mad scene, dance, dance, sword in the heart."
"Yeah. It doesn't end well, does it?" Kristyn replied. "But just one more dance, then we'll go."
"So, you'd really want to go back out there to give those two your answer to who you're going to marry?" Ramona asked.
The two men were soon seen nearly wrestling on the ground to win the heart of 'Giselle'.
"Uh, they're busy... Let's go!" Hailey said before running off.
"Yes." Estelle nodded in agreement.
"Where are we going?" Kristyn asked.
"Anywhere but here." Hailey replied.
"Yeah, the farther we're from those guys the better." Lee said.
"Someone's coming!" Kristyn gasped.
"It's not the White Witch, is it?" Estelle asked as she saw someone coming which reminded her of the story she was told about Narnia.
"I don't think so, but maybe they can give us a ride." Kristyn suggested before waving her hand to alert the carriage.
"I don't think that would be wise." Ramona said.
Hailey soon grabbed Kristyn and pulled her back into the bushes with the others as the carriage sped by with a trail of snow following.
"The Snow Queen!" Estelle gasped in realization.
"But that's impossible." Ramona said.
"Did you feel that?" Kristyn shivered.
"I did." Hailey nodded, coldly.
"We sure did." Estelle shivered.
The two men continued to argue as the Snow Queen came by.
"Can I please clonk their heads in?" Lee complained about Hilarion and Albercht.
"I think we'll leave them to the Snow Queen; besides, I have a feeling she won't freeze them yet." Estelle said.
"I hope you're right." Lee replied to her.
"Exactly what is happening here?" The Snow Queen demanded.
"Oh... Uh... Um... Making plans for my wedding to Giselle, Majesty." Hilarion replied with a fearful bow.
Lee just knew that The Snow Queen would become curious of where Kristyn was.
"Oh, he hopes in vain," Albercht told the icy woman. "Your Majesty will be the guest of honor at my wedding to Giselle."
"And where is the bride?" The Snow Queen demanded. "Bring her here so I may watch her choose between you."
"I knew it," Lee frowned. "She's wanting this to be perfect."
"But why would the Snow Queen be in Giselle?" Ramona wondered.
"That's what bothers you most about this scenario?" Hailey replied.
"Snow Queen is in a different ballet production." Estelle said.
"I am waiting!" The Snow Queen glared to the two mortals.
"Your Majesty, if we had known you were coming, we could have-" Albercht smiled nervously.
"Giselle's gone, ma'am." Hilarion admitted, and where this was bad news.
"Gone?!" The Snow Queen glared. "Gone where?!"
"Um, to the market for buckets." Hilarion stammered.
"Buckets?" The Snow Queen sneered. "But how did this happen?!"
"I fear that she is not entirely well." Hilarion replied.
"I should say so." A female voice said as teenage girl with black hair that had a curve, showing as a tail feather of a raven.
"Huh?" Ramona blinked.
"Go on...?" The Snow Queen demanded.
"He's right for once, Your Majesty," Albercht replied before laughing nervously. "She was not quite herself today. She spoke of not wanting to marry me."
"So then she wasn't doing her part of the story correctly." The black-haired girl said.
"That is correct, Princess Kraehe." Albercht replied.
"Princess Kraehe..." Ramona whispered in slight shock.
"Oh, no. I got them in trouble by leaving," Kristyn frowned before she decided to go and see the group. "I'll just go explain, and we'll all have a big laugh."
"No, no, bad idea." Estelle told her as she stopped her.
"Do you see them laughing?!" Hailey scolded Kristyn.
"Did anyone else see anything?" The Snow Queen demanded.
The peasants seemed to not have, but one man raised his hand. "Uh, she was wearing pink shoes!"
"Pink shoes?" Princess Kraehe asked out of interest.
The other peasants quickly agreed to this.
"Yeah, it's true," Hilarion nodded. "She wore beautiful pink shoes."
"Would you say as beautiful as Princess Tutu's?" Princess Kraehe asked.
"Oh, maybe even more beautiful." Hilarion replied.
The Snow Queen nodded to this before looking over to one woman with a cold gaze. "Where did she get pink shoes?" she then asked.
"I... Uh, from Claude, the cobbler." The woman replied.
"Wrong answer." Princess Kraehe said darkly.
The woman winced to this a bit fearfully.
The Snow Queen soon blew a breath on her, freezing the poor woman frozen solid. "Find her, and bring her to us!" she then demanded as she went back onto her carriage with Princess Kraehe.
"And if you see Princess, Tutu make sure she confesses her feelings to a prince and vanishes." Princess Kraehe said.
"Of course, Your Majesties." Albercht replied.
"We'll leave no turn unstoned." Hilarion added until he caught what he said.
"Until then... Dance! Go!" The Snow Queen commanded. "Be perfect!"
Everyone began to dance.
"The Snow Queen and Princess Kraehe are in Giselle... This cannot be good." Estelle frowned.
"You got that right." Ramona said.
"It's not safe here!" Hailey told her best friend. "We have to go!"
"We have to do something," Kristyn replied. "I can be Giselle just for a little while longer."
"For how much longer?" Estelle asked.
"We don't have too long until you end up... D-E-A-D." Lee spelled out, not wanting to say the word.
Before Kristyn could answer, they soon hid as the men got on their horses and began to look for 'Giselle'.
"We have to get out of here." Ramona whispered.
"Madame Frosty and Miss Darkness went that way. The Goofy Brothers went that way. We'll go this way." Hailey suggested.
"Good idea." Lee agreed.
And so, they began to travel through the forest to find a way back home.