Winx Club A Different Way AU: A Dragon Awakens

by RayeWonderland

Bloom, a teen girl from Earth discovers she has magical abilities and enrolls in the Alfea College for Fairies. Along with her newfound friend Stella, a fairy princess, Bloom meets her other flatmates Flora, Musa, and Tecna. Together, they form the Winx Club and fight off the wicked Trix! This is a rewrite and I don't own anything from the Winx Club franchise.

14. Chapter 14: Miss Magix

Summary:

Tests and beauty pageants are going on at Alfea and our illustrious Princess Stella will be contributing in the latter, but will she be pageant perfect or will her nerves get the better of her and the other contestants?

A/N: Welcome back lovelies,

Sorry for being so late on the chapter I recently got baptized and have been dealing with some at home troubles, but it's amazing that even though I did take long I didn't stop writing. I just really enjoy it honestly. Even though I don't have many fans of this story, knowing that someone is reading and enjoying it makes me happy, so thanks for be there for me and reading this silly fanfic. I love you all! Expect chapter 15 next month, late September. Probably up until Chapter 17 depends if I can write fast lol.

Editor:
Paranoidgirl (thanks for the help dude or dudette!)

All right, without further ado, get ready for the feels and emotions and pageantry, this is:

Chapter 14: Miss Magix

The rain poured on a dreary Monday afternoon, leaving nothing but the soaked ground and dark clouds in the sky. While others were relaxing in their flats after a long day or shielding themselves from the rain with coats and umbrellas, Bloom had taken shelter in another location with a familiar face.

Brandon and she sat at an adjacent table to the door of the café they had gone to not too long after the fiasco with Stella and her mom, but this time they got to enjoy their respective drinks without drama interfering with their good time.

"Those dreams you're having are quite fascinating," Brandon said, having heard Bloom recount another insane day from her already insane few weeks at Alfea. "This nymph you mention called you Blair at first?"

"Yeah, it was so weird, but once I told her who I was, she changed and has been calling me that ever since," Bloom said. "She's like a calming ghost following me around, which is awesome if she wasn't so persistent about finding her."

"Maybe it's just your imagination," Brandon replied, but Bloom shook her head.

"I thought so too, but these are real," she said. "I feel like I know her, but I have zero ideas where to go. It's like every other night there's a new episode of this dream. It's not by accident. It's as if she's showing me the way."

Brandon took a long sip from his ceramic coffee cup before asking; "Do you think it's because you found out that you're a fairy and not just an ordinary Earthling?"

"Probably," Bloom said, burying her head in her hands. "I have so many questions to ask her, but she just keeps begging me to find her and it'll 'Answer all my questions.' I don't know where to find a mystical nymph dream woman!"

"And Daphne was her name?" Brandon asked.

"Yup."

"Huh, well I wish I could help you, but I have no idea… Timmy is into a lot of weird stuff," Brandon replied. "I'll chat with him about that."

"I appreciate that," Bloom said. "You sure you know nothing about it?"

"All I know about Daphne is she's the Princess of Domino and a nymph. I'm sorry."

"It's cool," Bloom said, brushing some fallen hair behind her back.

Brandon blushed at the girl's face shining from the lights of the café, but she didn't notice.

Bloom held her head down, rubbing her forehead. "Let's just talk about something else."

"Right so… You were attacked by… a tree?" Brandon said.

"Don't let that underestimate you, it was a tree that put people to sleep and nearly killed us," Bloom reminded him in a serious tone.

"You were attacked… by a tree?" Brandon paused, seeming to mull this over, before he grabbed Bloom's hands, much to her confusion. "Do you know how awesome that is?"

"Five seconds," Bloom said, staring at her hands intertwined with the goofy boys. He quickly dropped them laughing. "It's not funny."

"It's a smidgen funny," Brandon said, chuckling. "A sapling did you in."

Bloom rolled her eyes. "My point is, it's been a rough couple of wee— It's been a rough few months. When I told my parents about the not-awesome magic sapling I think my father almost fainted."

"Almost?" Brandon questioned scratching his head. "Oh, that's the fellow who almost lost it when there was a… hole…"

Brandon trailed off as Bloom stared at him with an annoyed raised left eyebrow.

"I'll stop talking," Brandon said, his eyes shifting.

After a second, Bloom rolled her eyes again and then said playfully, "Do I scare you, Brandon?"

"A little, yes," Brandon answered honestly. "But I like it."

"Still got it," Bloom said triumphantly. "Seriously though, don't be, I'm just your ordinary girl."

"Who likes to wear dark makeup?" Brandon said slyly. "I mean no harm when I say that though, you're very gorgeous with your look. Probably the prettiest goth I've seen…"

Bloom's face turned pink at the compliment causing her to hide her face with her hair.

"Oh dear, that sounded weird, didn't it? I'm around pretty… let's say, colorful people, different shades but all bright, and then I met you."

"I get what you mean," Bloom said with a smile. "Where I'm from everyone's a different shade of weird, but I usually kept to myself. Hell, you're one of the few jocks I've talked to." She chuckled, looking at the leftover whipped cream in her cup.

Brandon shook his head with a smile. "Bloom, I wanted to ask, have you always been around non-magi?" he asked, tapping the ceramic cup of his black coffee. "It just seems so strange you've never been around any type of mysticism."

"Kind of," Bloom admitted. "My aunts on my mom's side are Fae Wiccans… My grandma is too but not as into it as my aunts. They all practice this mystical stuff to a degree, but they make it clear they aren't witches."

"You sure?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, Wicca is like… a religion of sorts, it's kind of hard to explain. My mom never really did anything with it because she saw it as hogwash," Bloom said. "I kind of did want to do it, but my mom was adamant I was not involved. Although my aunts helped make me who I am to a degree. They love the dark and melancholic while also worshiping spirits and the earth. It does get weird with all the knives, chalices, and ceramic skulls and this really cool realistic skull… although my Aunt Gertie swears it's real."

"Your Aunt Gertie scares me," Brandon said, clutching his cup with both hands. Bloom chuckled softly. "You grew up around some interesting characters."

"I guess I just attract the weird," Bloom said with a wink.

Brandon laughed nervously before taking a long sip from his coffee, avoiding eye contact again with the mischievous girl.

"Brandon…" Bloom asked, tapping her finger on the café table. "I know you kind of… get awkward when talking about your family, but in one sentence describe them and I'll do the same."

"One word…" Brandon paused, biting his bottom lip. "Does complicated work?"

"That's all I needed to know," Bloom replied. "Mine… Plain, but I love it."

"Plain?" Brandon questioned. "Explain."

"You know those frames you see at the dollar— Right you're probably rich… you know those cheesy tv shows from back in the day? You must have those here."

"We do, one is this show called Love and Life, this cheesy sitcom about a stepfamily."

"We had Brady Bunch and Full House, yeah that's my family. My mom and dad are the perfect high school sweethearts, who stayed together afterward and had one child and live in a townhouse and my mom even dresses like a fifties housewife sometimes." Bloom laughed. "I love them, but they can be so plain… sometimes I feel so out of place with them, but they make me feel… whole at the same time."

"You're lucky, I imagine they aren't neglectful."

Bloom shook her head. "The opposite. They smother me."

"You're very fortunate," Brandon said, holding his head down. "My mum is lovable, but my father is…"

"You don't have to talk about them… after some recent discoveries I understand why some people keep families secret."

Bloom thought back to Stella who was still coping with her parent's divorce but was doing well. Brandon silently grinned while swirling his coffee in his cup. Bloom looked down at her cup unsure of what else to say or do, she wasn't really comfortable putting her hand on top of his like last time.

She quickly came up with a better option. "But would you say he's a…" Bloom's lips curved into a mischievous grin. "Stark raving dad?"

Brandon raised his left eyebrow chuckling, "Was that a pun?"

"Maybe," Bloom said in a light-hearted manner.

"You're too much," Brandon said, brightening up in laughter. "It needs work though."

"I'll have to learn from the master," Bloom said with a wink. She then looked out the window of the coffee shop and sighed happily. "I love the rain, it's so calming."

"I do too," Brandon agreed. "Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."

"Looks like John Updike made it to the magic world," Bloom said, clicking her Frappuccino cup against the boy's cup.

There was a twinkle in his eye as he stared at Bloom, but she had looked away at that point to admire the rain. "Enough about me, what do you have planned for the rest of the week?"

"Glad you asked," Bloom said with a smirk as she leaned back in her chair. "I get to see a bunch of girls go through a simulator after the hell I went through."

"Oh, they finally fixed it?"

"Yup and everyone is freaking out," Bloom replied. "It's funny to watch when you've gotten it over with."

"True, what else have you got going on?"

"Well, not me, but my 'bestie' has sold her soul to the devil."

"What?!" Brandon exclaimed, nearly dropping his cup.

"Not like that Goldilocks," Bloom said, shaking her head. She forgot about the differences in certain terms in Magix. "Worse, she wants to be a pageant princess."

"Oh," Brandon said, relieved. "The Miss Magix pageant is this week."

"Yeah, instead of studying for the simulation exam or doing something productive, she'd rather play dress-up for some creepy judges who probably live in their mother's basements."

"I wouldn't be so harsh, the pageant offers a host of amazing prizes and is fun to be in," Brandon reasoned, gaining an eyebrow raise from Bloom. "Even a Princess needs a couple of bucks and a pretty crown."

"Dude, she should be studying. The chambers are almost finished being fixed, everyone is freaking and she's like, 'I have to get my sparkly dress for the pageant.' 'Oh, does this look good on me darling?' 'Which eye shadow works blue or orange?', 'Would you say a shimmer powder makes my glow too illuminated?'." Bloom said, putting on a high-pitched posh British accent.

Brandon laughed. "Don't be so negative, love."

"Sorry I just hate this competition bullshit. You parade yourself for others' approval and praise for some silly crown when you can do that yourself. It makes you look like a fool when you're coated in twenty pounds of makeup dancing around or twirling a baton or singing some cheesy pop song, to be honest."

"I should've figured you'd feel strongly about this," Brandon said, gaining another eyebrow raise, but this time he simply rolled his eyes. "What's your issue with pageantry?"

"It's a rigged showcase of vapidness that ruins women's self-esteem and that's just the abridged version of what I think," Bloom replied. "Don't get me started."

"You've annoyed the girls with this thinking, haven't you?" Brandon asked, chuckling.

Bloom silently sipped her coffee in response causing Brandon to laugh again.

"Don't get me started on children's pageants, my mom almost had me do one of those. Thank God my dad stopped her," Bloom said shivering.

"I think you'd look cute as a pageant Queen," Brandon complimented with a shy smile. "I could imagine you wearing a dainty garland, singing about gumdrops and sparkles."

Bloom playfully punched Brandon on the arm while he laughed. She rolled her eyes, but after a second laughed with him. She was really enjoying being with the squire boy and admired how open he was becoming with her.

"Just be supportive, that's what she wants," Brandon advised. Once Bloom made a disgusted look he added, "Just try."

"Fine, but I make no promises, Goldi," Bloom said, crossing her fingers. "You're a real Prince Charming, you know that? Sticking up for a friend."

"Stay with Goldilocks. I'd rather be a mischievous blonde instead of a bland lead," Brandon said smirking.

"Amen to that," Bloom said, clinking her cup against Brandon's again. "And you better not call me Cinderella."

"Of course, not… Rapunzel," Brandon joked, gaining another playful punch from Bloom. "What did I say?"

…

The next day at Alfea, Bloom found herself in the simulator control room with her classmates, a tired-looking Pallidum standing before them. The poor man looked like he hadn't got a wink of sleep as the simulator was lit up and fully operational.

"Okay so after a week of barely any sleep and repairing this chamber, I finally fixed it!" Palladium exclaimed, his eyes bugging out. "Damn budget cuts may have made it hard to find a crew, but with help of Wizgiz I was able to get it fixed!"

Wizgiz, who was next to Palladium, sipped on his coffee before saying, "And I'm here to make sure he doesn't fall out."

"I am fine and definitely am not seeing things," Palladium said, causing some girls to snicker. He looked around alarmed like he just heard voices behind him. Wizgiz rubbed his forehead ashamed. "Now class, before we start, I'd like to make it absolutely clear that there is no way what happened last time can happen again," he reassured the class. "I removed the timer thingie… which I know the name of and it's ten minutes now."

"Why was I the only one who got the difficult setting?!" Bloom asked, upset.

"Let's just say you got the beta version," Tecna said chuckling.

"Yes, beta thingie! Sorry, Bloom, you get an extra plus then!" Palladium said spinning around causing Wizgiz to stop him and face him straight to the students. "Not only have I been running diagnostics all night to confirm the code was okay, but there's also been incorporated a shut-down switch over there." He pointed at the wall where there was a large switch labeled 'Shut down'. "So, we're safe. Nothing bad will happen! And coffee is a great friend! With that out of the way, I made a list of who's… going today. Where is it again?"

"In yer hand," Wizgiz replied dryly.

Palladium lifted his right arm and noticed he was gripping a clipboard in his hand and smiled dizzily, "Oh yes! I knew that! All right… Flora Rosa, you're up!"

"Now I wish I could make myself disappear," Flora said, shaking nervously. She took a few steps back eyeing the chamber door warily.

"Me too!" Musa said, holding onto Tecna trembling as well. The farm girl rolled her eyes, patting the girl on the arm. "Can't we skip this and take a regular test?"

"Where's the fun in that!" Palladium yelled, laughing nervously.

"Inside voice," Wizgiz advised. "Yer so outta it."

"Would you go already? We ain't got all day," Tecna commanded. "Yo' already fought off a giant sentient tree last week, this ain't nothin'."

"What?" a girl with blonde hair asked, confused.

"I don't want to end up lobotomized!" Flora cried.

Tecna groaned, before releasing herself from Musa's snake grip, stormed over to Flora, yanked her arm, and tossed her inside the chamber before shutting the door with such force that Flora didn't have enough time to react.

"Now get to goin'!" the scarred-hand girl shouted through the microphone. She then turned her attention towards Palladium. "And you, sit down and start the damn machine!"

Palladium staggered over and plopped down in the seat of the chamber with Wizgiz right next to him to keep an eye on him.

"She operates off one emotion I swear," a girl dressed in a green jumper whispered, causing another girl with purple hair to laugh loudly.

"Shut yo' mouth befo'e I tape it shut!" Tecna threatened, walking over to Bloom and Musa.

"All right, beginning countdown," Palladium's voice sounded over the intercom. "Three, two, four, seventy-seven-"

"One, activate," Wizgiz said, pressing the large green button to trigger the simulator. The red panels lit up and soon the cowering Flora found herself in a familiar setting.

A greenhouse.

The smell of flowers flooded her nostrils, she found herself blinking due to the sunlight being filtered through the glass above. She looked around, finding herself in a massive greenhouse with a variety of decorative plants. A small stream snaked through with a pretty bridge crossing it. Flora scanned the room, hugging her frightened body. She was sure it to be a trick but quickly noted that if everything was what it looked like, then the room was quite harmless.

With that out of the way, she took another look around, noticing several glass elixirs on a table to her left. She walked over to the table and grabbed one of the bottles, examining it eerily. She took notice of a note in the middle of the vials next to a small tree. She picked up a bottle cautiously.

The paper read, 'Which ingredients will cause the tree to grow?'

Flora felt relieved; this was the perfect environment for her. She knew plants, and the first two bottles, Beetwood and Blackhorn, she knew would work against the growth of the flower, but there were so many to choose from.

"You know this, girl," Flora reassured herself, looking over the bottles. Bloom wasn't sure how the simulator worked, but she was still impressed with how it worked.

…

"Very good Flora. Don't worry about the simulator, you're good at this stuff," Palladium said, observing the brunette's progress. "While she does her thing, Bloom, could I ask you something?"

"I'll take over I guess," Wizgiz mumbled.

"Sure," answered the artist as the professor stood up and led her aside. "What's up, Professor Palladium?"

"I've been… what have I been doing?" Palladium wondered, scratching his head. After a second, he snapped his fingers, "I've been trying to converse with Miss Davenwood about her class's midterms for quite a while, especially after her grade in botany class, but have been…" Palladium looked off for a second. "Unable to catch her. Do you know where she is?"

"Well, she wasn't feeling well this morning, Professor. She told me that she was going to stop by the infirmary," Bloom answered. "Maybe she'll come later."

"Tell her to drop by my office for the date of the midterm," said Palladium, swaying. "Stella has a few failures to make up for and the other professors have been trying to meet up with her… but she's… she's been very evasive with them as well."

"That sounds like Stella," Bloom admitted, averting eye contact with the professor. "Don't worry, I'll tell her."

"Great!" Palladium said. He then grabbed ahold of Bloom's shoulders and stared at her intensely. "Has anyone told you your hair is red?"

"No, really?" Bloom said sarcastically looking at her hair in mock shock. "Let's focus on that later, you have a test to administer."

Bloom led the professor back to the chair where Wizgiz hopped off standing next to his exhausted and dazed coworker.

"GREAT JOB FLORA!" Palladium shouted through the microphone.

"Good God," Bloom said, ringing a finger through her ear.

…

Flora looked down at the wilting small tree that reminded her of the Red Willow she defeated recently but kept the dark essence that she had been trying to cleanse. This helped her form a potion to bring calmness to the little shriveled Chaste tree.

"A little white fang root, little unicorn tears, and a smidgen of coffee dust and…" Flora casually mixed three colorful potions into one beaker before the elixir turned bright pink, making the flower girl gasp happily. "Yes! This should help her!"

Flora carefully poured the mixture into the roots of the small tree then, in a few seconds, the tree began to flourish and evolved like a blooming flower. Flora clapped eagerly.

"All right, did I pass or is there more?" Flora asked, wiping her hands clean. After a moment of silence, Flora looked around, unsure of what was going on. "Hello? Cheesy Pete, is the lobotomy happening?!"

A voice came into the microphone, but it wasn't Palladium's, it was Wizgiz, "Lasse I think ya passed in my eyes, but I'll have to wake up my cohort in a minute and show him the footage. Congrats regardless."

"Awesome!" Flora cheered.

…

"Okay, let me just…" Wizgiz said, sitting Palladium up, who had fallen fast asleep on the controls and was snoring away. The elven professor fell forward back on the panel. "He's heavy."

Musa and a few other students helped as well before the elven professor fell forward again. Wizgiz pulled a whistle out of his pocket before saying, "Cover yer ears, girls."

The students listened, covered their ears, and Wizgiz blew on the loud whistle, startling the professor awake and sending him falling to the ground. Palladium groaned before saying, "Thank you, Wizgiz."

"It's what I'm here for," Wizgiz said, nonchalantly.

"How are you not exhausted?" Musa asked Wizgiz.

"Leprechauns don't require much sleep," Wizgiz answered. "Gotta love it."

"Help me up please, my body is really weak," Palladium begged, still groaning. A few students ran over and helped the exhausted man up, who struggled to keep his eyes open. He took a long sip from his coffee, before chugging it down. He slammed it back down before shouting, "I'm better now!"

"Not how one should drink coffee," Wizgiz chided.

"Where was I?" Palladium said through the microphone. "Oh, Flora! All right, Flora, did you do the assignment?"

"Yup, Iris is okay," Flora said pridefully. "Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

"Nope, you're good, I'll review the footage later to decide your grade, but it looks like you did a great job," Palladium said, shaking his head.

"Well, I try," said Flora with a grateful nod.

With that, Palladium pressed a button ending the simulation and looked at his clipboard as Flora exited the chamber and was greeted by her friends cheering for her.

"You're going to fall asleep again, maybe we can take a brea-" Wizgiz advised his friend, but Palladium covered his mouth while smiling erratically.

"I'm fine! Okay… Musa Tori is next!" shouted Palladium. "Get in there!"

"Oh, okay, yay… it's me!" Musa said, cheering, but not hiding her fear. "Let's… do this."

"Go get 'em sho't stack," Tecna encouraged, leading the girl into the chamber. "I believe in ya."

"Glad one of us does," Musa said, straightening up and slowly entering the room, looking like she was shivering in the cold. As her simulation started, the rest of the Winx chatted.

"Yo' did good, flower child," Tecna complimented, assigning the girl a new nickname.

"Flower child? I like it," Flora said smiling.

"Did Stella get one of your specific nicknames?" Bloom asked, chuckling.

"Why of course," Tecna replied. "Sundrop, it's similar to the nickname her momma gave her. I haven't told her yet though; she's been so busy with the pageant."

"Yeah, that mess," Bloom said, annoyed. "Well now she's not feeling well, I better go check on her. Think Palladium will let me leave early?"

A loud thunk was heard and Bloom noticed the professor had fallen fast asleep on the controls again.

Wizgiz sighed while saying, "Can someone hand me that thermos of coffee?"

"I think he'll barely notice," Tecna whispered.

Bloom nodded, while quietly leaving the room as Wizgiz struggled to lift his coworker back up.

…

Bloom walked down the empty halls of Alfea to the nurse's office to check on her friend, but once she made it there, she found all the beds were empty. She walked over to the nurse who was munching on a salad before saying through chews, "Everything cool?

"Yeah, Nurse Willow," Bloom said. "I was just-"

"Whew, girl let me tell you, I have been swamped since that new gym professor Zelda started her dodgeball class," Nurse Willow said, relaxing in her seat. "It has been annoying hearing kids yack away about 'my shoulder got bruised', 'my eye might be broke', 'I'm pretty sure I need to go to the real hospital!" An ice pack is enough. You got hit by a dodgeball, not a metal one. Then Palladium came in begging for coffee, it's like, check the professor's lounge. Geez."

Bloom smiled, surprised at how casual the nurse talked compared to many of the other faculty. It was similar to a sassy schoolgirl. The woman even had a perky cheerleader-type voice.

"Right, well I'm fine, I just came to check on Stella," she said.

"Princess Davenwood?" said Willow. When Bloom nodded, she said, "No Princesses today, that's been the least of my complaints. Lots of students have been here, with everything from dodgeball injuries to pulling all-nighters to upset stomachs to Palladium begging me for coffee! But no, Stella has not been here."

"That's strange," Bloom said, scratching her head. "Maybe she's resting in the flat."

"Probably, or she's focused on other things, knowing her she's-"

"Focusing on Miss Magix," Bloom finished in an annoyed tone. She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"I'll keep it a secret if you don't tell Faragonda what I said about the students whining," Willow promised with a wink.

Bloom nodded before leaving the office, grumbling under her breath. Just when she couldn't be possibly more annoyed about Stella's pageant obsession, now she had to deal with the girl skipping classes for it.

…

In the middle of classes, the phone rang in Faragonda's office as she chewed on a cookie while looking over a permission slip. She cleared her throat while casually picking up her phone and then saying eagerly into the phone, "Headmistress Doretha Faragonda speaking."

"Could you please greet me with less enthusiasm?" a raspy voice said on the other end.

Faragonda lit up hearing the sullen voice though, "Ezzie!"

"It's Headmistress Griffin!" the woman snapped, groaning. "Before you start talking, let me say I brought Icy DeVil, Darcy Magnati, and Stormy Payne to my office and punished them accordingly for the destruction of the simulator at your school. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it wasn't pretty."

"I hope you weren't too harsh on them Ezzie," Faragonda said, ignoring the growl on the other end at her usage of the nickname. "But thank you, nonetheless. I must ask though; why did it take you so long to inform me of this?"

"Because every time I call, you refer to me as Ezzie!" Ezzie hissed before ending the call with an audible click sound, but Faragonda could tell she probably slammed her phone down with such force it shook her desk.

Faragonda giggled, shaking her head, "Classic Ezzie."

…

Bloom entered her flat a while later after deciding to relax at the library and found most of her flatmates already there. Tecna was busy playing a game on her gaming console that Bloom still hadn't gotten the name of, Musa was reclined in a chair with a book, reading with glasses placed on her nose and a wide grin on her face and Flora was watering a small yellow sunflower.

"Yo' back late," Tecna said looking up from her game. "Dontcha worry Palladium didn't notice yo' was gone."

"I was doing some more reading in the library," Bloom replied. "I couldn't really find much of what I was looking for though."

Musa cocked her head. "Library not having enough books? That is peculiar."

"So how did it go?" the redhead asked Musa. "You didn't explode, did you?"

Musa lowered her book, and her smile grew wider. "It went amazingly well, apparently after Palladium woke back up, he saw me restore a dead planet with music and was so proud! He told me I was most certainly getting a passing grade! I'm so happy I could sing!"

"Yeah, once she got the flow of things," said Flora. "It was like she was conducting a choir."

"Aww, you're too kind," Musa gushed, blushing. "I was about to explode though. Or get an ulcer from being so nervous."

"Damn, let's not go there," Tecna said, keeping her eyes on the game. "Yo' gals were nervous fo' nothin'. Shoot, you could've done nothin' and got a good grade with how outta it Pally was."

"He fell asleep with every student," Musa said, chuckling. "It was funny."

"Glad you got a good laugh," Bloom said, chuckling. "Whatcha reading?"

"Oh, this? The Mixed Thoughts of Penelope Dewdrop," Musa said, passing the book over to her. "It's really good."

Bloom took it, noticing the almost blinding yellow cover of one half of the book, with a chipper girl mid-skip as the sun shined with a wide grin on its face, but the other side was telling. On it stood the same girl looking depressed as a large frown was on her face and thunderclouds shot down lightning from the sky.

She flipped open the book and read on the first line of the page, 'Bacon sandwiches always reminded Penelope of home.' She looked up from the novel and incredulously asked, "What is this?"

"It's about a girl reeling from a new move after her parents divorced and although she's always positive, it's being tested because of all the crazy fluff happening in her new life! Amazing right?" Musa said, her smile staying plastered on her face.

Bloom looked over at Tecna and then Flora who both shrugged in response. She wasn't sure how to respond herself seeing this chipper girl reading something so weirdly existential.

"Sounds like fun."

"I know right?" Musa said, taking her book and flipping back to the page she was on. "Meredith Honey writes great books about existential journeys."

"You're an odd case," Bloom said without thinking, but Musa simply giggled in response. "Anyway, have any of you seen Stella? She lied about being sick and I haven't seen her all day."

"She's been acting so strange lately, but she luckily hasn't been replaced, just pageant obsessed," Flora answered. "Maybe she's in her room."

"That's a good place to check," agreed Bloom, as she walked over to the Solarian Princess's door. She knocked a couple of times and after a few seconds, Stella opened the door and ushered Bloom in along with waving to the other girls to enter like she was about to show them something amazing. "Glad to see you're okay."

"What?" Stella questioned, before her eyes widened, "Right, yes I may have made a small lie, but I only did it because I have been focused on something far more important."

"Something more important than studyin' and submittin' assignments?" Tecna questioned, annoyed.

"Of course, darling!" Stella replied chipperly. "I had to lie to the professors, or they would drone on and on about prioritizing my time. Which I am, I finished half of my assignments and will study soon, but this is what I need to focus on!"

"This outta be good," Tecna said leaning against the door frame with a raised left eyebrow.

"As you know-" Stella dramatically started to say before Bloom raised her hand to cut her off.

"We know you're in Miss Magix. Your point?"

"My point?" Stella questioned incredulously. "Do you not understand how important this is to me? This has been in my blood since I was born! Before I was a thought! I have been a Pageant Princess since I was just a little girl still playing with dolls. Now comes my chance. My mum was Miss Magix, and her mum, even my dad's mum, was a pageant, Queen! I have prepared my body, outfits, voice, and mind for this. I must win. I will win! Nothing will stop me! For I shall be, Miss Magix!"

Stella held her hands in the air in a dramatic manner, eyeing the group as if she was expecting applause, but was met with silence from her friends who only seemed confused, "Musa clap."

"Oh, okay!" Musa said, eagerly clapping to which Stella waved with her left hand formed into a Princess wave.

"I'm not clappin' fo' that," Tecna replied coldly. "I'm sor'y I tried to bite my tongue, but I am just flabbergasted that yo' think a little show is mo'e important than studies!"

"Oh please," Stella said, waving her hand without a care in the world. "Miss Magix is a once-in-a-year thing and qualifying for it was not easy. I still have a day and a half to prepare myself to walk down that catwalk and be presented with my crown."

"Am I the asshole 'ere?" Tecna questioned. "Or is this a waste of time?"

"The latter," Bloom replied. "Why are you focusing on this brain-draining nonsense when you need to focus on the simulator exam alone?"

"I will get to that eventually," Stella replied. "Geez, school is an all-year thing. That is not a worry for me."

"Yo' as a young adult should not have to have it explained to yo' on how stupid that sounds," Tecna commented, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well, I mean she did say she finished most of her assignments," Musa reasoned, tapping her chin. "You do have a lot due, but if you finished them then I guess a little focus on a side project isn't a bad thing."

"This isn't just a side project, this is my livelihood— Bloom shut it," Stella said before immediately turning her attention to her judgmental friend who had already opened her mouth to talk.

Bloom pulled back with a grimace.

"Stel, if you spend your time preparing for the competition instead of studying, how will you ever be able to handle your midterm?" Flora questioned.

Stella walked over to her vanity mirror and sprayed a small amount of perfume on her neck while stating, "Infinite Springtime, that'll be a perfect scent for my ensemble."

"Stella!" the girls scolded.

"I'm sorry I'm just focused on Miss Magix," Stella replied blushing. "It took me forever just to get accepted and find the right dress. Look, I'll cram after the pageant. I'll just call out sick until Friday, do the assignments during free time yadda, yadda, and I'll pass!"

"Cramming seems like a worse idea compared to not studying," Bloom criticized, crossing her arms. "Plus, do I have to remind you that entering some beauty contest is dumb? You're just parading around the stage like a clown for a few seconds of glitz and glam."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," Stella insulted with a smirk.

Bloom groaned, clutching her fist. "I'm not jealous, I just know-"

"That pageants cause negative effects on women's self-esteem, it shouldn't be forced on younger girls, and showcasing yourself like a buffoon in pounds worth of makeup is like selling your soul. I can't stand it," the rest of the girls said in a mocking tone causing Bloom to blush embarrassed.

"My point still stands," she grumbled, tightening her crossed arms.

"I will study in between, I promise," Stella said, clasping her hands together. "Please don't let me down. I really need your support. This is incredibly important to me. What can I do to make you feel sorry for me? Lament about the laborious load I have to bear to impress my family? Mention how long it took me to just get accepted as a participant? Weep about how many years I've dreamed of this day? How my nerves are tighter than a body con dress? Beg on my knees?"

"We understand Stella, but you should focus on studying, you know?" Musa advised. Stella whimpered, holding her head down. The blue-haired girl shook before jumping to her feet and embracing Stella. "We all will help you! Just don't be so sad!"

"And I know Flora will assist me after I trudged through murky, filthy, and dangerous bogs to get a flower," Stella recalled, staring at the flower child.

"Why not, I have nothing better to do," Flora said grinning. "I already aced the exam so I'm free."

"Fine, but afta this yo' is studyin'," Tecna relented, wagging her finger at Stella. "And as a former Pageant Princess, I shall aid ya in gettin' ready."

"You were a Pageant Princess?" the girls asked surprised.

"Until I was twelve, afta that I begged my Pa to convince Ma to let me do my own stuff," Tecna explained. "The worst time of my life, so much hair spray."

"You must have horrid flashbacks just thinking about it," Bloom said shivering.

The farm girl nodded in response, "You have no idea. But if it helps yo' to study, I will bring back the pageant mindset. In between, yo' will be studyin' though."

"Promise," Stella said, crossing her fingers in front of the girl to show she was keeping to her vow. She then looked over at Bloom and released herself from Musa's hug. She walked over to the girl and took her hands. "I need my bestie to be supportive of me. We've been through a lot together, the least you can do is sit through a little beauty contest."

Bloom mulled it over for a second and while she hated the idea of what Stella was participating in, she was still her bestie, one of the few friends she had, and she didn't want to disappoint her by complaining too much. That made her decide to support her, but: "I'll support you but under silent protest."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Stella approved.

…

Miles away, inside the dining halls of the great Cloud Tower, Icy, Darcy and Stormy sat together finishing their lunches while mulling over what to do next.

"I'm getting real sick of not having my powers," Stormy complained, cracking her knuckles. "Stupid ginger fairy had to rat us out!"

"Didn't help that we didn't use any type of disguise," Darcy mentioned. "But hey, it's fun getting caught, I live for the thrill."

"I hate when you're sardonic," Icy insulted, stabbing her sandwich with a fork. "I don't even feel like messing with the Winx this week… we need a break."

"To mess with someone else?" Stormy questioned with a smirk.

"Exactly, but who?" Icy questioned, rubbing her chin. The others thought about it too as Lucy eagerly walked over and sat down at the adjacent table.

"Hey girls!" She greeted them with a wide grin. "I'm by myself today. My fr- the girl I was with is sick so it's just me, the cool one." Lucy did two finger guns as the Trix glared at her. The gangly witch blushed nervously and cleared her throat. "How are— how are you doing?"

Darcy adjusted in her seat before asking, "Lucy, you know about the Miss Magix pageant, right?"

"Yeah, fairy trash stuff, I'd never even set foot there!" Lucy said with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh, okay you don't want to help us," Darcy said, turning away.

Lucy gasped before sliding her chair close to Darcy and frantically saying, "Whatever it is I'll do it!"

"Down girl," Darcy said, pushing her chair away with her foot. "You'll be perfect for our little prank."

"Darcy, what are you doing?" Icy questioned.

"I have a plan, that's what I'm doing," Darcy replied with a smirk. "Want to help us fuck things up?"

"Ruin some fairy event? Yes!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Well girls, we found someone perfect for our plan," Darcy said, turning to her sisters with a menacing leer, before smiling back sweetly at the girl. Icy and Stormy took notice and nodded with matching insincere smiles.

Lucy could barely hide her excitement, ignorant about what the witches' real intentions were.

…

The next day Tecna's rigorous pageantry training involved walking, talking, and even waving like a pageant contestant. While Stella was accustomed to this, it was only to a certain degree and involved breaks in between. Tecna was adamant about doing everything in one go.

"And pose!" the farm girl commanded, causing Stella to halt mid-strut where she nearly tripped before catching her footing. "Nope, yo' nearly stumbled, do it again."

"Oh, for bloody sake, this is exhausting!" Stella whined. "My old tutors weren't this strict, and they used rulers!"

"If yo' want to win, yo' gotta know how to strut down a stage with poise," Tecna replied snapping her fingers.

"I'm a Princess, I already know this," Stella said, hands on her hips. "This is ridiculous, when I asked for your help, I meant applying makeup, outfit selection, and asking pageant questions, not being a drill sergeant!"

"Fine, yo' want to answer some questions, let's move onto that," Tecna said, snapping her fingers. "Keep your head up, back straight, and answer with a regal tone."

"Just have them read the questions," Stella said, readjusting her posture.

"Flo'a, read the card!"

"Oh yeah," Flora said, shuffling the thick pack of index cards before asking slowly: "Who is the most… influential person in your life?"

"The most influential person in my life is my mum. She is exactly who I want to be like in the future: kind, compassionate, and a true epitome of a Dragon-fearing woman."

"That's good, but don't forget to add, 'She is an inspiration, a blessing for me, and for others who have come in contact with her.' That'll really win them ovah," Tecna coached, putting on a high-class accent that surprised the group.

"Oh, I like that, yes," Stella cleared her throat. She said in a refined voice, "She is an inspiration, a blessing for me, and for others who have come in contact with her."

"Good job girl," Tecna complimented. "Next question!"

Bloom sighed before looking over the cue card, her body squirmed at the question. "In what ways does— oh God– in what ways does a beauty pageant help women?"

"What a good question," Stella said, shooting Bloom a tight smile and knowing expression. The redhead refused to reply. "A beauty pageant is a celebration of beauty. It is an act, a venue to acknowledge and they give honor to the beauty the Dragon placed in us. It is also an effective means to campaign for social awareness of different social issues and problems that need our attention since the answers the candidates give serve as pieces of good advice to the concerned public. It also helps the children."

"I like that chil'ren part at the end, they always like when yo' adore chil'ren," Tecna said, patting Stella on the back. "What's next?"

"Right now, I need a break, I'm knackered," Stella said, slouching. "I need something to drink."

"Here ya go," Musa said, appearing behind Stella nearly startling her.

She had a big refillable water bottle in her hand, but it was filled with a strange red liquid. Stella didn't care as she took the bottle. The Princess chugged the liquid before spitting it out and wiping her tongue on her hand. Unlike the liquid, her tongue turned purple. "What is that?"

"I thought it was like an energy drink. It was in the fridge, labeled 'energy juice'," Musa replied innocently.

"Hey, that's my plant rejuvenator," Flora said, taking the bottle. "This isn't really safe for humans to drink, but you spit it out so-"

"I'm going to be sick," Stella said, recoiling as her stomach grumbled. She ran to a nearby bush and vomited into it. The girls stared disgusted at the sight.

"'Kay, maybe it's time fo' a break," Tecna mumbled, rubbing her neck.

…

"You want to be Miss Magix? I just don't get it. What's so appealing about walking around a stage in a swimsuit? Besides, you know they would never ever pick a witch to be Miss Magix. It's all biased bullshit. Why go through that?" Mirta questioned her friend as they relaxed in their dorm room.

It was a two-person bedroom that the two shared, which had clashing sides of the room. Lucy's was the typical dark and macabre side filled with ceramic skulls, a green and black color scheme, and tattered designed clothing.

Mirta's was dark, casual macabre, but toned down compared to her roommates, with a pink and purple color scheme, compact discs taped to the wall, and many books occupying the shelves on her side.

Mirta stared at her roommate like she said she was going to dance in her underwear, but Lucy simply shrugged in response.

"There's nothing in the rules that says witches can't enter. Magix is gonna have their first witch queen, cause I'm gonna win. Icy said she's going to help me," Lucy said eagerly. "She said when she's through with me I'll be the most beautiful girl in all of Magix. I'm gonna get that crown and everything's gonna change around here. Icy, Darcy, and Stormy will like me, they'll finally let me be one of them. Then I'll be popular."

"You don't have to be popular," Mirta said comfortingly. "You're popular to me."

"This isn't some Saturday cartoon special," Lucy ridiculed laughing. "I want to be actually popular. All I want is to see what it feels like, even if it only lasts for one day. You should understand that."

"No, I don't," Mirta replied honestly. "You're playing with fire, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"You're just jealous of me," Lucy accused, her face turning red. "I know what I'm doing. I don't need you, or anyone else telling me what to do!"

Lucy grabbed her jacket and backpack and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Mirta groaned, falling back onto her bed.

"Dragon, don't let her get hurt too much."

…

After releasing her lunch, Stella sat by herself waiting for her stomach to settle. She could feel the tightness in her chest. Not just because of the plant liquid she drank. While she wasn't showing it, she was freaking out.

What she hadn't told her friends, or anyone was that this was her first time ever even entering the Miss Magix pageant due to the turmoil she went through last year. The pressure was weighing on her shoulders.

What if she wasn't as good as her mother and didn't win? Could she face the other students? Could she handle what she thought would be ridicule from the other girls? Would her parents be disappointed?

Do you really think you stand a chance? She chastised herself in her head.

She pulled out her phone and opened the text messages to see if she had received any messages from her parents. She got some encouraging texts from her mother, but none from her father, even though she had texted him numerous times about what was going on with practice.

"Not even a hello," she mumbled under her breath somberly. She groaned as she rested her head on her knees. Stella attempted to dial his number, but pulled back reasoning that "He's too busy to talk to me."

"You doing okay, Stel?" the Princess heard someone ask from behind, startling her.

She turned around to find Musa behind her, "Of course, darling."

"Sorry about the drink mix-up," Musa apologized, holding her head down. "I hope you can forgive me."

Stella giggled, standing up and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "It's quite all right, I'm fine now."

"You sure?" Musa asked, holding her head up. "You've been sitting here quietly for the last fifteen minutes. Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, just thinking," Stella said.

"Well, whatever you're feeling… just know it's going to be okay," Musa comforted. "I believe in you, we all do, that's why we're helping. Even if you don't win, you're—"

"I'm going to win, there's no if, okay?" Stella said, emphasizing the word 'if.' She didn't even want to think of the word.

Musa sighed softly then hugged the Princess for a second before pulling away. Even though she said nothing, Stella could feel the sincerity and warmness of the girl's embrace. It helped soothe her. "We'll be waiting for you over there. Take your time."

The chipper girl walked off leaving the Princess behind to think about what she said. Turning off her phone, she made her way over to the group, forcing a smile. She didn't even want to believe there was a chance she might get second place or worse in the pageant, but Musa's kind words and warm hug made her rethink those worrying thoughts.

…

Icy sat on the common room sofa, turning a page in her book while chewing a pencil.

"Hey Icy," Stormy said in a self-satisfied voice. The white-haired witch looked up where the wild-haired Stormy was standing in front of her. "I found the spell we're looking for!"

"What is it?" Darcy questioned sitting next to Icy.

"This better be good," Icy added.

"It's a low-level appearance-based spell," Stormy replied, showing off the spell in a small spell book. "We cast it over a trinket, place it around the person's neck and make them… well anything we want them to look like, but we can reverse it whenever we want and I mean, whenever we want."

"Are you sure you found the right spell?" Icy questioned.

"Yeah, the last time you guessed a spell would work you ended up croaking for a week," Darcy added, causing Icy to chuckle with a smirk.

"You promised to never bring that up!" Stormy shouted, fuming. "Look this will work, I promise, just look."

Icy incredulously took the book and studied the spell. After a second, she shrugged. "We'll give it a try, either way, that little witch will be thoroughly ridiculed once we're done with her."

"You ever think we're being too mean?" Darcy questioned.

The Trix pondered this for a moment before collectively agreeing on the same thing: "Nah."

…

The next day arrived, only a few more hours until the pageant and Stella was still practicing her talent portion: Opera singing.

After belting out a long, melodious note, she finished and breathed heavily. Musa clapped after conducting her. The others clapped as well as Stella felt her heart racing, but once she saw the applause she beamed.

"Thank you, thank you," Stella said, bowing. "I try my best to wow the crowd."

"Let's not get cocky," Bloom jested.

"That was really great! I didn't know you were into opera," Musa gushed bouncing on her toes.

"My nana used to usher me to operas when I was a child and I just got hooked. Thankfully I know how to sing it as well," Stella said pridefully. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make a phone call."

"Hurry back," Musa said as Stella left the room.

The Princess smiled when leaving, but as she walked down the hall her regal and calm disposition faded, replaced with heavy breathing and a racing heart. She made her way to a corner where no one could see her. The world began getting fogged around her and the beating grew with each passing second.

She put a hand on her heart while saying, "It's okay, you're okay, they loved it… calm down… please."

As she kept saying that, she could feel herself calming. Happy thoughts flooded through her head of sunshine, stars, partying, friends, and… family. Her parents' smiling faces. She let out a relaxed exhale as she opened her eyes.

No one was around.

I hate when that happens, why can't you be like a calming cup of tea?

She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress before pulling out her phone and checking her text messages. Still nothing from her father.

"He's busy… as usual," Stella whispered, turning off her phone to focus on her practice. After a few more minutes alone and calming her nerves, the Princess somberly made her way back to the music room, humming sadly.

…

Night had fallen over Magix City, only a few stars visible in the sky above, the rest outshined by the light of the city. Stella and her friends walked across a central plaza, heading towards the large theater where the competition would be held.

"I can't believe this is all happening," Bloom said, shaking her head. She looked toward the throng of people heading towards the main entrance. "A lot of people showed up to this clown show?"

"I know, it's amazing!" Stella gushed. "Also remember your silent protest."

"Sorry," Bloom apologized. "I'll keep my opinions about this vanity contest to myself."

"Thank you," the girls said simultaneously.

Bloom crossed her arms annoyed. "Are only fairies in this beauty contest?"

Stella shook her head, "No, we have witches, elves, leprechauns, pixies, as long as you're gorgeous you can enter."

"Yea, but fairies have been known to win the most," Tecna said, looking at her phone. "A bit biased."

"I guess we're just more… enticing to look at," Stella said, trying to keep focus on her prize. "Now roll back those shoulders and let's make an entrance! Big smiles, girls! Let's psych out those wannabes!"

Stella cheered and ran inside. Even with heels on she had good speed.

"Ah, the regal way to enter a place," Bloom joked, following behind her chuckling friends.

Stella made her way to the back of the auditorium where she handed her pageant ID to the bodyguard and ushered her friends inside who she called her entourage much to their chagrin.

"You didn't seriously call us your entourage?" Bloom critiqued.

"It was the best way to get you in here. Take it as a compliment," Stella replied, placing her large makeup case on the vanity table that had a large mirror in front of it. "You just have to assist me in getting ready."

"I am not puttin' on yer grease paint," Tecna said, crossing her arms.

Bloom nodded.

Stella laughed in a mocking tone. "Ha, ha, good one girls. No, I wanted Flora to do it. Her cosmetic game is good."

"Oh… thank you," Flora said, blushing. "I'm ready for this."

"Right, and you brought my perfumes?" Stella held out her hand.

"Yeah, just give me a moment to unpack," said the brunette as she started to search through her satchel.

"Tecna, get me some water," ordered the Solarian Princess. "I'd rather you get it over other people."

"I said I was sorry!" Musa mumbled pouting.

"Not taking any chances," Stella said, applying concealer to her face but when her hands started to shake, she dropped the brush and crossed her arms to hide her anxiety. "Ergh, why am I even applying this? Flora, start with foundation."

Flora rushed over, placed the perfumes on the table, and grabbed hold of the brush before saying, "Wait let me add some essential oils, peppermint should work."

"Musa, the music," demanded the Princess.

"That I can do," Musa chipperly said as she pressed play on her phone's music player. Soon soothing music that reminded Bloom of beaches and sunlight spread across the room. She couldn't help feeling homesick right now.

"Bloom, hang my dresses up so I can choose one once I'm done here!" said Stella, snapping her fingers again while Flora began rubbing oils onto her face.

The redhead sighed before unpacking the big bag, hanging dress after dress onto hangers. Each was more extravagant than the other, but Bloom couldn't stand the contrasting colors.

Keep it to yourself.

"Make sure they're absent of wrinkles!" Stella shouted. "If there's even a single wrinkle, I want you to use the steamer to steam it out!"

"I swear, she's giving me a headache," Bloom mumbled as Tecna reentered the room.

"Get in line," Tecna agreed. "I just paid fif'een bucks fo' water."

"Tecna. Water!" Stella commanded.

"This close," Tecna said, pinching her index finger and thumb together.

"There your dresses are hanging up, now I have to go… get some air," Bloom said, sneaking out the room with only Tecna noticing.

"This ain't gonna be pretty," Tecna said, passing the bottle of water to Stella.

…

As Bloom preached the downsides of beauty contests to a poor girl, the entrance to the backstage door creaked slightly open with a triumphant smiling Icy behind it.

"You got everything?" she questioned her sisters.

"Yeah, but you got any incense? I need to cleanse myself from all this vapidness," Stormy said, coughing. "These perky girls with the hair rollers are definitely not witches."

"You'd be surprised," Darcy said, clutching onto the makeup kit. "I kind of like it, I've always enjoyed these silly things."

Icy and Stormy stared at her, surprised.

"What? A girl can have other interests," Darcy said with a smirk. "Now let's get in there."

"We need Lucy," Icy said. "Where is she?"

"Right here," Lucy said walking over to them, shrouded in a cloak. "I applied my own makeup, tell me how I look."

Lucy pulled down the hood showing off her face causing the girls to gasp in admiration.

Icy smirked. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

…

"I'm not saying you're not gorgeous, you are, but you don't need strangers, mostly creepy men to make you feel pretty," Bloom expounded to a pageant girl wearing a purple sparkly dress and an aggravated look.

"I'm entering for a charity and whether I win or not the funds go to children who have trouble seeing on poor planets," the girl, with a name tag that said Bera on it, explained.

"There are other options," Bloom replied, missing the point.

"Why don't you go talk to Stacy, she loves to hear ramblings about… that stuff," Bera said, moving Bloom over to a girl with a large black afro and dark skin, who was busy drinking from a water bottle. "Here ya go, Stacy."

"I know what you just did," Bloom called as the girl ran off. She turned to Stacy who was eyeing her warily. "Well, at least I have a listening ear."

Meanwhile, back in Stella's dressing room. She was finishing her water while reciting lyrics to her song and modeling an outfit of an orange bathing suit in front of the remaining girls.

"You like this?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's really cute. Perfect for the swimsuit portion," Musa complimented, clapping. "You're stunning!"

Stella smiled. "Thank you."

Flora passed her a cup of green liquid.

"A fresh botanical beauty booster," she said before Stella could ask. "This will maximize your natural beauty, but it might sting a little."

Stella passed her back the cup circumspectly. After the last drink Flora had concocted, she wasn't trusting anything the girl made.

"Fret not. You're talking to a girl with many years of pluck and groom experience. No magical drinks required." Stella sat down in the armchair. Her breath was heavy, and her heart was pounding, but she had to hide it, or she'd lose her chance in the contest. "I'm doing fine. I'm so good right now-"

She paused once she noticed someone was missing. "Where's Bloom?" she asked fretfully.

"She gone and went to coax some girls into quittin' the pageant and callin' them vapid," Tecna answered. "They probably ain't listenin'."

As soon as she said that, screaming and sobbing was heard. The girls looked at each other worried before rushing out of the room to see what their friend had done.

They found Bloom next to Stacy who was sobbing erratically. "Oh Dragon, I'm ruined!"

"What did you say to her? Why is she crying?!" Stella scolded, pushing Bloom aside.

"All I did was bring up the truth and then she started talking and then burst into tears," Bloom explained.

"My voice, it's ruined!" Stacy said in a high-pitched chipmunk voice. Some girls snickered hearing her voice which only exacerbated her crying.

"You still have your looks," Bera comforted.

"Why do you sound like that?" Stella asked.

"I made this elixir to enhance my voice, but I got the potions mixed up and instead of angelic I got… chipmunk!" Stacy tearfully explained.

"That's dreadful," Stella said, patting her on the back. "Maybe you can work with it."

"Oh, please I am not going out there talking like this," Stacy said. "Doesn't help that the crypt keeper over there ruined my mood!"

She waved her hand over to Bloom whose eyes shifted. "I was only telling you the truth."

"For Dragon's sake," Tecna exasperatedly grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Oh Bloom," Musa criticized, shaking her head along with Flora.

Bloom held her head down.

"You are a thorn in my side right now," Stella said through clenched teeth.

While the Princess patted the girl on the back, she felt a sharp shove hit her hip as she and Stacy were pushed aside by a few familiar faces.

"Watch where you're going- Oh no," Stella said before her eyes widened in fear.

"Greetings," Icy said with a wave.

A few girls started whispering at the appearance of witches, some even backing away scared. The Trix basked in the intimidation they were causing throughout the room.

"Yes, we know who we are," Darcy said. "Before you ask why we're here, we only came to help a friend of ours. Oh, and we heard your voice and forgot to laugh."

With that said, the Trix and Lucy cackled at the dark skin girl causing more tears to well up in her eyes. She looked like she was ready to curl up in a ball from embarrassment.

"Excuse me," Stacy said, running off and crying harder.

"Stacy, wait, it sounds good girl. You can make it work!" Bera shouted running after the girl.

"Yes, one less loser in this competition," Stormy said, pumping her fist.

"Makes it easier for us to win," Darcy agreed.

"Poor girl," Stella lamented before turning her attention to the witches who were helping set up the makeup and accessories for the girl in the cloak. "What did you witches do to her?"

"What?" Icy said surprised and this time she didn't sound like she was faking it. "We didn't do anything to her. We just entered!"

"We actually didn't, she was just an idiot," Darcy confessed. "We would brag about doing something that hilarious."

"We would," Stormy added, walking into the former contestants' dressing room with hair tools. "This time we're innocent and you can't do anything to us."

"Now if you'll all excuse us, we have a witch to get ready for the win," Icy said, pulling down Lucy's hood.

Everyone gasped at her newfound beauty. Her choppy hair had changed to flowing light green hair that dropped gracefully down her back, her jagged appearance had softened into a rounder face, and smooth-looking eyes, her skin was pale and her body slim. She was conventionally gorgeous to those around her, and she was loving it.

"Meet Lucinda!" Darcy said, showing off the girl. "Say hello."

She elbowed the girl in the hip.

"Um… hi," Lucinda greeted shyly in a cute high-pitched voice. "I'm gonna win tonight, but it was nice meeting you all."

Icy smirked. "You heard her, now off, we have to get this Queen ready."

The girls scurried off along with Stella and her crew after eyeing the girl suspiciously. Bloom turned her neck slightly to watch the Trix, but they didn't seem to pay attention to her.

"Should we be worried?" Musa asked as she and the girls entered Stella's dressing room.

Stella shrugged. "They seem overall harmless, although whoever that poor girl is, I wish her luck dealing with them."

…

"Do I look good?" Stella asked, her voice at the edge of panic as they walked to the back of the stage.

"For the tenth time, you look fine, Princess," Bloom reassured. "Relax."

"I don't want to be fine; I want to be stunning!" Stella said with panic in her voice.

"Fine, you look gorgeous," Bloom said sincerely. "And before you ask, no your dress isn't too tight or loose, there's not a hair out of place and your makeup makes you glow."

Stella sighed. "Thanks."

The air wafted perfume of different smells causing Bloom to cough while the participants finished up the last preparations of their ensembles.

Soon there were ten contestants backstage: Humans, elves, leprechauns, witches, and even ogres, all of them beautifully dressed with hair styled in all kinds of manners. With Stacy dropping out there were only ten contenders for the contest.

"Two minutes until showtime," Bloom said, checking her phone. "Not too late to race from here."

"Shush," Stella said, adjusting the wrinkles on her flowing orange and white gown. She could feel her sparkly orange heels pinch her toes, but kept up her smile to hide the pain. "I told you to smooth out the wrinkles."

"I did the best I could," Bloom said with a shrug. "I'm not used to this stuff."

"No, really?" Stella said, superciliously.

Bloom groaned, clenching her fist while thinking, It's just the hectic pressure of the pageant, don't bring up she's sweating like she's in a sauna.

"You got some stiff competition ahead of you," Flora stated, gaining a sharp elbow jab in the hip from Tecna. "Sorry."

"Oh please, they're all going to lose to the Princess of Solaria," Stella bragged, but her left knee was shaking.

Stella walked over to the group keeping her composure. In reality, she was resisting the urge to have a panic attack.

The curtain opened a minute later, and blinding lights hit the smiling contestants as the host stepped on stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, a warm and magical welcome to this year's edition of the one and only Miss Magix Pageant!" The host announced. "Tonight, ten beautiful young women will battle for the title. We all know the rule: no magic! All curses and spells are strictly prohibited and will lead to disqualification. This contest is sponsored by Reading for Children, Pure Life, Dentures for the Elderly, and Magical Cosmetics. The winner tonight will receive a thousand-dimar award to be used how they choose and the coveted crown, and while not every girl will be winning tonight the other participants will receive a hundred-dollar gift card to Magical Cosmetics. What could be more enchanting, ladies and gentlemen? And now, here they are!"

The host swept her arm over to the female contenders who smiled and posed.

"Miss Loni Love! Miss Heidi Honeydrop! Miss Lesta Starlight! Miss Agween Yoon! Miss Bera Rose! Miss Stella Davenwood! Miss Lee-Hona Harrah! Miss Karen Wright! Miss Sabatha Tabitha! And last but not least Miss Lucinda Mortimer Argent!"

The audience clapped and cheered as each girl walked down the stage. In the room were several round tables, where the audience sat. At one table sat Faragonda, Griselda, and Griffin, the latter two trying to look as interested as possible.

As the host kept talking, the faculty started conversing.

"I hate coming to these," Griffin complained as she took a sip from her bubbling and foggy drink.

"Behave, we have to be supportive of our students," Faragonda answered. "Ezzie, I heard you lost a bet to be here."

"Stupid Zarathustra, she made sure I got the short straw," Griffin seethed. "How did you get your lackey to show up?"

"I was bored," Griselda replied. "Although I'd take boredom over this con-show."

"Be kind ladies," Faragonda advised. "We've all been through this, now we can enjoy watching the younger gals have their fun."

Griselda scoffed, pulling out a book as Griffin took more sips from her cup, which smelled strongly like alcohol. Faragonda folded her hands together, smiling as she watched the show.

…

Behind the scenes, the girls split up to get ready, while a commercial jingle blasted from the loudspeakers about how every day was great at some makeup store.

Stella stiffly wandered off the stage, a rictus-like grin plastered on her face. Beside her walked Lucinda who fiddled with the small heart around her necklace. As she passed by the Princess, she 'accidentally' stepped on Stella's shoe, hurting her foot.

"Watch it," Stella complained, shaking her bruised foot.

"Whatever fairy trash," Lucinda said, glaring at Stella and then focusing back on her necklace. "Also, you were in my walkway, so maybe watch where you're going."

Stella grumbled.

"You did really well, Stel," Musa congratulated. "You were so poised and perfect out there."

"Thanks…" Stella said, breathing heavily.

Musa cocked her head noticing how flushed the Princess was. She changed the subject though and turned to the green-haired girl who was still fiddling with her necklace. "You did pretty well yourself, Lucinda."

"Your opinion means nothing to me," Lucinda rudely replied, startling Musa.

"That was uncalled for," Bloom critiqued, glaring at the girl.

"Um… okay," Musa said, swaying on her heels. "Well… you're from Popularis. What part?"

"The rural part," the nervous girl replied flustered. "Now if you'll excuse me I gotta go… prepare for the next event!"

"Good luck!" Musa wished, with a friendly wave.

"Man, it is busier than a hen pen durin' feedin' time," Tecna commented looking around.

"Yeah, still, did anything about that girl seem... I don't know, slightly off to you?" asked Bloom, staring down the hall the girl had left through.

"Not more than can be expected from these overly anxious contestants," Flora said. "Plus, she's working with those witches, anyone would be frazzled around them."

"Yes, yes, who cares? Let's get back… to the dressing room," Stella said, nervously. "I have to get changed for the traditional portion."

…

When the girls returned to the scene, Stella was wearing a flowing white ball gown with a black band around it, black stiletto heels, and her hair was accented into a high bun.

"This is traditional Princess garb?" Bloom asked.

"Yup, we… we have to look our best… when we want to impress," Stella said, keeping her back straight. "Although it has been updated since then, but… I can't wear what I usually wear to events."

"You, okay?" Bloom asked, taking notice of her friend's pauses.

"I'm fine… I'm fine," Stella replied, smiling nervously.

"Well, you look really pretty. I mean that," Bloom said earnestly while patting her shoulder. "I may not be all for this, but I'm rooting for you."

Stella blushed.

As they waited for Stella's name to be called for the outfit portion of the event, Bloom peaked her head out from the side of the curtain to look at the judges. One was a pale woman with a choppy short haircut, wire-rimmed glasses, and a tuxedo, the middle one was light tan and wearing a dressy purple pants suit and the third was a chocolate brown woman wearing a pink halter top and small top hat.

"Those are the judges?" she asked

"Yup," Stella said. "And see? No basement dwellers."

"Color me shocked," Bloom said with a smirk. "Guess I'm not right about everything."

"Correct. Now if you'll excuse me, it's my time to shine," Stella said, smoothing the wrinkles from her dress and casually walking out to the front stage as contestant five left the stage.

As she introduced herself again, Lucinda a.k.a Lucy was breathing erratically in her dressing room and staring at herself in the mirror.

"You can do this; you can do this!" she said psyching herself up. "You're Lucinda Maritmer Argent! This is a cakewalk, you will win!"

"You better win," Icy said, appearing behind her. "We wouldn't want you making a fool of yourself, right?"

"Right," Lucy said, slouching. "I promise I won't… and after this, I can sit with you guys during the eating periods?"

"Of course," Icy said, putting a strand of her hair back into place. "Would I lie to you?"

"Of course not," Lucy said smiling. "Let's do this!"

…

After traditional wear and modeling in their swimsuits, the personal interview portion came up. Complex questions were asked to the girls that even surprised Bloom, but some of the answers she wasn't surprised by.

"I think that poor people should have jobs because… everyone deserves to work, especially poor people," a girl wearing a sparkling red dress answered a question about poverty.

"Wow, she had to put a lot of thought into that," Bloom said sardonically.

"Behave," Stella chastised before going out next.

Now she was wearing a light white lace and mesh gown accented with what Bloom guessed were real rhinestones. She strutted to her place next to the judge when it was her turn and did a dainty Princess wave. After being asked a few questions, she answered them with gusto and grace.

"And that's why I would want to give my money to the children. They deserve to learn whether they are rich or poor." Stella finished keeping her regal smile up and perfect.

The audience clapped with some cheering.

"I taught her that," Tecna said pridefully backstage.

"Mm-hm," the other Winx girls replied with eye rolls.

"That's a great answer," the host said before clearing her throat and saying. "Your final question, who do you admire most?"

"There are so many people I admire in my life, but I'd have to say the one I care for the most is my mu-" Stella paused scanning the crowd, leaving an awkward silence. She knew they couldn't appear to see her on stage, but hoped they were watching her on the live feed. She had received a supportive text from her mother to have fun and hang in there. Still nothing from her father.

After a second, she cleared her throat to refocus on the matter at hand and calmly answered the question, "Who I admire most is my father, he's been there for my entire life, supporting me, cheering me on, and showing me the care and kindness a father should. He's never given up on me… never turned his back on me… and rarely gotten angry. He even gifted me this ring."

Stella held up her hand staring at the ring before saying, "But that's not the greatest gift he gave to me… his love is what keeps me strong and guided. Even though he's not here today, I know he's watching the live show… Hi daddy, I love you."

The audience clapped with some 'awwing' at the last part she said. Stella managed to not shed a tear even though she wanted to cry. This is how she felt, although she loved her mother dearly and she felt the same way, she always was slightly closer to her father and wanted him to know that.

"Wow, some great answers! Thank you, Stella Davenwood," the host said as people continued to clap.

Stella nodded before walking off the stage and being met by her friends.

"That was really nice," Bloom said.

"Thank you I—" Stella said but was interrupted from continuing further when she heard laughing directed her way. Her eyes darted towards the Trix, and Lucinda who were pointing and cackling her way.

"Listen to the little Princess, 'I love my daddy'," Icy ridiculed in a mock posh voice. "He's the best neglectful parent there is."

Stella froze at the last comment.

"'Thank you for the ring, daddy. I hope I don't lose it. Oops, I did lose it'," Darcy added.

"So pathetic," Stormy said, walking off with the rest of the girls.

Stella gulped nervously as she clenched her fist tightly, unsure of what to say. Bloom clenched her fist as well as she and the other girls glared at the cruel witches who left still laughing.

"Okay that's it," she said, about to storm over to them, but was held back by Stella grabbing her arm.

"They're not worth it," she said, composed. "Now if you'll excuse me for a few minutes."

With that, the Princess silently walked off towards her dressing room leaving her friends behind. She wasn't showing it, she couldn't admit it, but she was on the verge of tears.

"Some stuck-up witches," Tecna said. "Stella is stronger than me."

"Yeah, but we should still be there for her," Musa said, walking past the group. "Come on."

"She might want to be alone," Bloom said, concerned, but wanting to give her friend space. She was yanked away by Musa grabbing her arm.

The girls made their way to the dressing room Stella was in and Musa gently knocked on the door. There was silence for a second before Stella could be heard saying, "Come back in five minutes."

"Stella, are you okay?" Musa asked.

"I'm fine, darling… come… come back later," Stella called, seeming to be panting.

Musa bit her bottom lip before saying against the behest of the other girls, "We're coming in."

Once she opened the door, she found Stella sitting in the armchair, breathing erratically and with her hand on her chest. She looked down at the floor while continuing to pant. Her face was flushed, her breathing was heavy, and her body shook like she was in the arctic tundra.

"I said come… come back later," Stella said once she saw the girls were there. "Please… leave."

The girls stared at her, concerned. They entered the room and closed the door behind them so no one else would see her. Stella hadn't acted like this in a while; she was afraid and dismayed. She avoided eye contact from the girls, her eyes fixated on the floor while her heart palpitated faster than it normally should.

"Are you having a panic attack?" Bloom questioned rushing over to her friend. "Just breathe, okay?"

"I said… I'm fine," Stella said, but she could feel the world around her shaking. Her heart kept beating like a cheetah running through a safari. She could feel her palms become sweaty.

Her hand gripped her heart as the palpitations grew faster and more intense. She had issues like this in the past but was usually able to bring them under control, but after the Trix's biting insults, the pressure of the show, and the silence from her father, the stress was too much. She was on the edge, but she didn't want to admit it.

"What the witches said weren't true," Musa comforted. "Ignore their negative words."

"Just some… nerves."

"You're shaking," Flora noted. "This is more than just nerves."

Stella tried to correct the girl, but she felt her throat tighten making it harder to talk. Her hand moved from her heart to her throat as she struggled to find anything to say.

"Stella just breathe, don't talk," Bloom said, rubbing her back. "Um, focus on an object."

"Yeah, focus on an object while yo' breathe," Tecna added, calmly while walking over to Stella. "I'm not accustomed to this, but I read that helps."

"I said... I'm fine," Stella choked out, continuing to panic. She could feel small tears in her eyes as she kept looking down. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Stella…" Bloom said, but she could only rub her friend's back to calm her. She never had a panic or anxiety attack herself, but she had seen it before and the best thing she knew to do was to comfort the Princess while they went through it.

"Not freaking out. Not freaking out. Not freaking out. Not freaking out!"

"What do you see?" Bloom asked. "What do you see?"

"I said-"

"Stella, please just look around and tell me what you see, it'll help," Bloom said, cutting off the girl from her lie.

Stella sighed angrily but started focusing on objects around her. "My shoes… the dirty carpet… um…" the distressed Princess looked around. "The beige wall… the vanity mirror… Musa smiling."

The chipper girl waved eagerly.

"Here, smell this," Flora said, grabbing a bottle of oil labeled 'Lavender'. "It'll soothe you."

Stella took a whiff of the oil and felt her heart slowing. She kept looking at objects around the room, shoes, tables, a chair, and the wall. It may have been a dull-looking wall, but it was a tranquil image. Everything around her began to steady and all she could see now was her concerned friends smiling at her. As her body untensed and she felt everything coming back to reality. She let out a breath of relief.

"Better?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, but…" Stella paused, biting her lip. "I almost cried on stage," she said, that realization dawning on her. "I didn't mean to."

"You're okay," Bloom said, continuing to rub her back. "You just need to keep focusing on objects."

"That might've cost me the win," Stella said looking at the wall. "I messed up."

"Who cares? What matters is that you're okay," Flora said softly. "You have to calm yourself."

"I have to get ready for the talent portion," Stella nervously said, attempting to stand up, but was slowly pushed back down by Tecna.

"Relax first, we got time," she said. "Stella, it don't matta if yo' win or lose. What matta's is yo' have fun while doin' it."

"You don't understand, my mum and her mum and my father's mum were all pageant Queens, and I shall be too!" Stella said, frantically. "If I lose, I fail."

"So?" Bloom said, gaining a glare from Stella. "What I mean is that that doesn't matter at all. You still made it this far and whether you win or not doesn't mean you failed. Stella, trust me, you're a good person already, you don't need some crown to prove that you're worthy of something."

"Yes but-" Stella started to say before there was a knock at the door. She stood up, calmly walking over to the door, and pulling it open. "May I help you?"

A man wearing an earpiece held out a glass vase of flowers and passed them over to Stella while saying, "These are for you."

"Ooo someone got you flowers," Musa said, eager. "Was it Sky? That's so sweet!"

Stella took the card stuck in the flowers and read the back, she nearly dropped the vase while saying, "They're from my… father."

"Aww," Musa cooed.

"That's the least he could do since he didn't show up," Bloom mumbled as Stella looked at the card.

She walked over to her vanity mirror and placed them down while reading the card aloud, "My dear Starlight, I wish you luck in Miss Magix, but remember winning isn't the goal. You're a Princess regardless and I love you so much. Whether you win or lose, you'll always be my Starlight and I love you for that. Love Daddy."

Stella covered her mouth, shedding tears.

"Don't cry, he's here in spirit," Musa comforted.

"It's not that," Stella said, smiling through her tears. "It's not that. He left me flowers. He left me flowers! This is amazing!"

"Does he usually leave you a pony?" Bloom asked half-joking.

"Is it really the time?" Tecna scolded.

Bloom fiddled with her fingers embarrassed. She hated her automatic cynicism sometimes.

"She's all right, it's just… My mum or a servant always signed the note under the illusion he left them, but this is his handwriting! I'd recognize that sloppy written S from him! He left them for me!" Stella wiped some tears away with her palms, smearing her makeup. "He hasn't texted me for the last few days, but I think he was busy and couldn't talk so he sent me these. These are even my favorite flowers. He does care."

"He loves you," Musa said, resting her head on the Princess's arm.

"Well don't get all emotional yo'll ruin yer look." Tecna passed the girl a few tissues. The others stared at her confused. "I'm just sayin'."

Stella giggled. "You're correct…um…" she stared in the mirror noticing her tear-stained eyes. "Can we not talk about what just happened?"

"Your panic attack?" Bloom questioned, still worried. "Do you have these often?"

"I really…" Stella bit down softly on her bottom lip. "It's something I'm working on, but I'm okay. I can control them, just don't like others seeing me so frazzled. Although I appreciate your help."

"That's what we're here for!" Musa assured. "Do you need a few more minutes to prepare yourself? We can wait."

"You don't even have to finish if you don't want to," Flora said. "We can leave right now."

"It's okay, I want to finish this," Stella said coolly. "I'll try not to focus on winning though… emphasis on 'try'."

"Atta girl," Tecna said, slapping Stella on the back, nearly knocking her off her footing. "Now let's get your voice ready to show off!"

Stella laughed. "Get me a bottle of water please, and this time I'll pay,"

…

As Stella was in her dressing room, the other contestants had gone until Lucinda's name was called. She proceeded to answer many questions with the same grace as Stella which was met with applause.

"Some great answers tonight from you," the host complimented.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," Lucinda said, covering one of her cheeks in mock embarrassment. The audience laughed.

The Trix sat in the audience after refusing to help Lucinda get ready. They kept rolling their eyes at how saccharine the girl was acting to wow the crowd.

"This is almost sickening," Stormy whispered to the other girls.

"Only an hour and a half left," Darcy mumbled, resting her arm on the table and her chin in the palm.

Icy slammed her head on the table, groaning.

"Last question," the host said to Lucinda. "What is your philosophy that you hold dearest in life?"

"Why that's easy," Lucinda said, her smile widening. "My philosophy in life is to stay morally upright despite the prevalence of immoral acts in our society; to respect and gain respect; to become a friend to everyone and be able to help other people. With that, I would be presentable in the eyes of my friends, my family, and especially to the eternal Dragon."

The audience seemed to love that as the applause was uproarious as Lucinda gave a pageant wave keeping her smile up and confidence brimming.

Stella and the other Winx, who decided to return and check out the rest of the competition, stood on the sidelines and Stella's reaction was hard to read.

"Figures they'd love that generic answer," Bloom said. "Yours were better."

Stella remained silent.

Once the questions were finished, she stepped aside as Lucinda walked backstage, her sweet smile turning into a smirk as she said to the Princess, "Didn't have to cry to get sympathy."

Bloom and others glared at Lucinda, but Stella's face remained blank as the show took another commercial break. After a second she walked over to Lucinda calmly and tapped her on the shoulder.

Lucinda turned around with a raised right eyebrow, suspicious of what the Princess was going to say next.

"I just wanted to tell you," Stella paused for a second. She then said in a soft and kind voice, "You gave great answers to those questions. They are bleeding tough, I almost lost my footing at the end there, but you kept strong and focused. I admire that."

"Um… you really mean that?" Lucinda said, looking around, unsure if this was a trick or not. Stella nodded. "Well… that's just something a loser would say."

With that, Lucinda walked off still unsure whether she was being messed with or the Princess was sincere.

"I can't believe you were nice to her," Bloom said, appearing closer to Stella.

"It's the right thing to do," Stella replied.

"That was thoughtful too," Musa agreed. "I'm rubbing off on you."

…

The talent portion was the last event before the crowning ceremony. First was Loni Love. A tanned fairy in a form-fitting leotard walked out onto the stage. The host said from her microphone, "Let's get ready for contestant number one, Loni Love, who will be showing off her acrobatics."

Loni bowed before she started her routine, backflipping across the stage doing pommel horses and vaults.

In the back of the audience, Icy whispered while moving her hand, "Hope you like slippery ice." Before shooting an invisible beam toward the girl's footing.

On the stage, the girl swung out of the still rings and landed on the mat, but found her footing was conflicted as she slid on the mat before face planting onto the hard stage floor. The audience gasped and winced in pain. Assistants immediately jumped forth to assist the dizzy girl and helped her to the back.

"That had to hurt," Icy said, chuckling.

"How do you trip on a rubber mat?" Bloom questioned from behind the stage, scratching her head.

"Maybe she had on lotion," Stella said with a shrug.

"Uhm... well, an unfortunate conclusion, but otherwise a great performance," said the announcer. "All right let's move on". The various gymnastic tools lifted from the floor and floated off the stage. "Next, contestant number two, Heidi Honeydrop, who's going to demonstrate her juggling skills."

A dark skin elven Princess in a glittering suit walked onto the stage and started juggling with large bean bag balls. She lifted her legs to make the bags pass across them, spun around, and hopped while juggling. Darcy chuckled before waving her hand shooting a similar invisible beam and five seconds into the act, the girl frowned as she fumbled with the bags before one crashed into her face and knocked her to the floor.

"Thank goodness she wasn't juggling pins," Griffin said, covering her nose in sympathy.

"Indeed," Faragonda nodded, concerned.

"Okay, that was quite unfortunate," continued the announcer, adjusting his collar. "We're going to move on. Contestant number four, Miss Lesta Starlight! will demonstrate her … eating skills."

A pink, thin ogre walked out on stage shyly, her massive pigtails bouncing up and down as a table of many foods were placed on a foldable table. A timer sat next to her as she sat down, pressed the button, and started scarfing down food in front of the eyes of the audience. It wasn't pretty, to say the least as the girl practically unhinged her jaw to shovel in the food.

Icy stared at the girls, unsure of what to say.

"Do we… do we even need to do anything?" she asked as most of the audience looked on horrified, some squirming, but there were a few cheers from what was assumed to be other ogres.

"Eh, I'm bored," Darcy said, shooting another invisible beam that hit Lesta and caused her stomach to become unsettled.

After swallowing a chicken tender, her cheeks started to pop out. She covered her mouth for a few seconds before turning from the crowd and vomiting on the stage floor horrifying the audience even more. A massive puddle of green liquid spread on the platform as the girl coughed after emptying her stomach. The ogre lady stared at the audience, a massive blush appearing on her face before she ran crying off the stage.

The Trix were the only ones laughing.

"Funny thing is, it was only supposed to make her a little nauseous," Darcy whispered chuckling. "The puking was all her."

"Don't you love how life works?" Icy said.

Backstage the Winx and everyone else were having opposite reactions. Some even ran off to empty their stomachs.

"That gave me nightmares," Bloom said, clutching her stomach.

"Resist the urge to lose my dinner," Stella said, covering her mouth.

"Um… okay, we're going to take a brief commercial break to clean up the stage, and… sorry for what you just witnessed," the host said, visibly green.

With that, a jingle was heard, and the sound of music playing could be heard. On the sideline, the other contestants and their assistants stared in confusion.

"Okay… I'm freaking again," Stella said, her erratic breathing returning. "I'm sweating, dear Dragon I'm sweating!"

"Remember the flowers," Musa reminded her. "Remember your father loves you and he wants what's best for you."

"Trying… to… trying to!" Stella said, placing a hand on her stomach. "Water. I need wat-"

She was interrupted by a bottle of spring water being placed in her hand by Tecna. She twisted the cap off and took a few long sips.

"Okay, I'm good, I'm good— duck!" Stella exclaimed, yanking Bloom down as an arrow flew in between them and hit the other side of the stage.

"My arrow!" a witch shouted, rushing after the stray bolt.

"Thanks, Stella," Bloom said, patting her hair to make sure it hadn't latched onto a strand. "What the hell is happening? Are these shows usually this destructive?"

"Honestly, yes, but last year wasn't nearly this bad!" Stella said, pacing. "Okay… okay… some mishaps have occurred, but I will not be one of them. I just need to lubricate my throat and stay very far away from everyone."

"We'll go with you," Bloom said, following behind her, keeping herself covered.

…

After a commercial break and cleanup finished, a nervous contestant four, Agween Yoon, a fairy with Asian features did a tap-dancing routine and lost her footing numerous times because the stage felt greased. Bera Rosa, a thin pale perky looking witch was next doing her hip hop dance routine which seemed to be going well.

"Remember to practice your breathing," Tecna advised, adjusting the collar on Stella's dress.

She was in a one-shoulder ball gown with blue at the top and gold at the bottom. This time her shoes were matching gold flats to make it easier for her to move around the stage while singing.

She was still breathing heavily but thought about what her friends suggested and focused on the objects around her.

"I will," Stella said with a nod. "And I know, focus on having fun, not winning."

"Yo' know it gal," Tecna said with a wink. "And remember the lyrics."

"Maybe don't tell her that as she's about to go on stage," Bloom said, lightly elbowing her in the hip. "You got this."

"I hope so," Stella said, sighing deeply.

The applause was heard, and the host said, "That was Bera Rose and her crunk hip hop dance routine! What an amazing talent!" She mumbled slightly away from the microphone, "With only a few slip-ups."

Bera walked off the stage, but as she passed Stella said in a genuinely kind way, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Stella replied with a smile. She made her way to the stage, but as she kept walking Lucinda jumped in front of her.

"Don't break a leg," she said sarcastically.

Stella breathed deeply before saying, "Much obliged, now excuse me."

She walked past as her name was finally called out. She ignored the girl's cruel tone and focused simply on doing what she loved right now: Singing opera.

"Wow, stunning," the hosts complimented, causing Stella to playfully wave off her compliment. "Well Miss Stella Davenwood, how are you going to wow us tonight?"

The Princess cleared her throat. "I am going to sing Last Circus by Amelia Stone from the opera of the same name."

"Marvelous, good luck, Princess Stella," the host said walking off the stage.

There was that word again, it made her stomach feel queasy because she felt like she didn't need luck, she needed confidence and as the music started, she could feel her confidence rising and she opened her mouth to sing.

Her melodious operatic voice echoed through the stadium and grew harmonious with each line sung.

She felt her nerves relaxing at first but soon the room started moving weirdly before her eyes like she was staring into a funhouse mirror. Her stomach churned, but her balance stayed steady. She simply stood up straight and moved her hands with the beat of the music. There was certainly no doubt about her nerves, but she managed to hit every note perfectly.

She'd practiced and practiced and was terrified that all that time would be wasted but as she stood on that stage, in front of hundreds, she could finally admit that she was proud of herself. With every note, every line, she found herself opening up and gaining confidence. Even if the world looked like a funhouse circus mirror, Stella felt her confidence grow. She didn't want this to end. It was perfect.

After completing a loud belting note there was a stunned silence. She caught her breath waiting for a response. Did they hate her singing? Her question was answered after a second. There were a few claps, then a few more, and soon the auditorium was filled with tumultuous cheers and applause.

Stella's expression changed from fear to happiness at the reaction. She waved, but in a less regal way, and bowed dramatically. With that done and the judges complimenting her once again she strode off stage feeling good.

Her friends clapped for her along with a few other pageant contestants.

"I try my best," Stella said, as her breathing steadied. "I can't believe nothing bad happened."

"Because you're awesome," Bloom said, bumping her hip against Stella's making her giggle happily.

Lucinda stood a few feet away from her, seething.

Meanwhile in the audience, Stormy wiped her eyes after clapping along with the audience for Stella.

"Bitch, are you crying?" Icy asked sneeringly.

"It was so damn gorgeous to listen to, I felt every emotion with that last note man," Stormy said, still crying. Once she noticed her coven sisters staring at her judgmentally, she covered her face while shouting, "I got allergies! Don't look at me!"

Icy rolled her eyes then they darted to a frazzled-looking Darcy. "What the Omega happened to you? Sobbing like a baby as well?"

Darcy yanked Icy to her side while angrily whispering, "I used a vertigo spell on her, she was supposed to get sick like the ogre, but… she just kept singing."

"Clearly you did something wrong," Icy scolded, crossing her arms and turning back to the stage. As the next contestant made it to the stage, she readied herself for a spell.

Darcy crossed her arms as well while mumbling, "Stupid fairy."

After Stella's set the Trix messed with a few acts, but some were already bad such as poor archery from the witch and weird spoken word poetry from a fairy. Other contestants faced attacking dogs, fumbling lines, falling through the stage, and more slippery floors, sadly the ninth performer was attacked by her doves and had to be escorted to the hospital courtesy of the Trix.

"Feel better, Sabatha," Stella said as the girl was rolled out on a stretcher.

The girl groaned in response.

"Damn, the girl almost had her eyes pecked out," Tecna said, shaking her head. "I gotta admit tonight has been mo'e intrestin' than my sixth-grade science fair where a girl's volcano literally blew up in her face and even then, this is still betta."

"Don't say that, this night has been dreadful for so many girls," Stella said somberly. "Hopefully their botched talents won't impede on their win."

"Aww, not afraid you'll lose?" Lucinda said, smirking.

"I'm simply here to have a good time," Stella replied with a cheeky grin. "Lighten up, love, it's just a beauty contest."

"Something a loser would say," Lucinda mocked.

"Do you have an off button?" Bloom asked, annoyed.

Lucinda gave Bloom a curt smile before sashaying off.

"The Trix's pet project is up next," Bloom said with her arms crossed. "The people kind of really like her."

"But they love you!" Musa said, wanting to not possibly upset the Princess.

"It's okay. If she wins, she wins," Stella said with a nod. "I'm still freaking out, but at least I have my gals."

"Aww that's so cheesy," Bloom said, but lovingly.

"I know," Stella said laughing.

The gang laughed as Lucinda watched them from afar. She frowned, clenching her fist in anger. Once her name was called, she held her head up with a choleric expression and made her way over to the stage.

"Fairy trash," she mumbled under her breath. Her anger subsided as she approached the host and heard the applause and some whistles sent her way.

"Okay we've had some mishaps tonight, are you nervous?" the host asked her.

Lucinda simply shrugged with a sly smile, "I'm not afraid to show off."

"Ooh someone is confident," the host said as some audience clapped for the girl. "Well, Lucinda, I wish you luck and viewers from the great ballerina performing-"

Lucinda went to the microphone, "'Battle of the Ravens' from the play Primrose Girls."

With that, the host left the stage as the music started. Lucinda readied herself.

Lucinda began to move around the stage gracefully like an ice skater dancing across the ice floor. With each glide, jump, and the tip of her toes, Lucinda could feel her confidence growing. This was what she always wanted to do, but feared because of her appearance. Now she saw her chance.

She closed her eyes, moving across the stage without losing her footing or falling off the stage. She just wanted to dance when she wasn't focused on being a witch. This was all she wanted here and now.

As the melody grew louder the witch spun on her heel until it reached the crescendo. She tip-toed a few feet from the center stage, ran, and leaped across the air before landing on her toes in a pinpoint. Lucy smiled at the audience as she finished her flawless routine.

Much like Stella's performance, the audience burst into a round of applause. Lucinda looked out into the audience and spotted the Trix who were standing and clapping for her, which made her grin grow.

Unfortunately for her, these were sarcastic claps and Icy saying, "Hope she enjoyed that. She'll be paying for it all year."

"Stella still had the best act," Stormy stated, ignoring the judging looks from her sisters.

"Now that's what I call talent, ladies, and gentlemen! What a treat! Bravo!" the host complimented as Lucinda stood up and wiped tears from her eyes. "And that concludes our talent contest. We can all agree that this year's pageant has been quite eventful."

The host cut to another commercial break as Lucinda walked backstage while breathing fast.

"You were really good," Stella complimented as Lucinda passed by her.

"Well, you-" Lucinda started, but when she saw how sincere the girl looked with the praise, she stopped herself and quickly said, "Thank you… you were okay yourself."

She rushed off trying to calm her nerves, something Stella could sympathize with. She knew the Trix were up to something, but she couldn't ignore that Lucinda was good competition.

Bloom walked over to her and bumped her hip against Stella's causing the girl to snicker and place an arm around her shoulder.

…

After the last commercial break ended, the contestants lined up on stage, most of them injured in some way, but their smiles never faded. The lights shined down on them as the host came back on stage holding a large pink envelope marked 'Miss Magix'.

"How about a big round of applause for our contestants? And now finally, the moment we've been waiting for!"

The host listed off the tenth through third place winners: Sabatha Tabitha was given tenth place since she really couldn't do anything else after the accident, Lesta Starlight was ninth, Agween Yoon was eighth, Bera Rose was seventh, Loni Love sixth, Heidi Honeydrop fifth, Lee-Hona Harrah fourth, and Karen Wright was third leaving Stella and Lucinda.

The host opened the envelope slowly while saying, "And this year's Miss Magix is… Miss Lucinda Mortimer Argent!"

"What!" Bloom exclaimed.

She and the other girls were upset or concerned for Stella. Most of the competitors just sent the winner a smoldering glare, while Stella just clapped. She didn't cry, frown or storm off the stage as she had thought about doing earlier when winning was on her mind. She was upset she lost, but it wasn't the worst day.

The green-haired girl stepped forward, the spotlight falling on her as the audience erupted in cheers. Tears of joy fell from her eyes as she was handed a crown and bouquet.

In the audience, predatory smiles manifested on the Trix's faces. Icy snapped her fingers sending a large surge of magical energy through the air and towards Lucinda. She felt a painful sting as she closed her eyes. Suddenly, the audience gasped, and a shocked silence fell before the crowd.

'Lucinda' stared in confusion at the shocked audience before looking down at herself. With rising panic, she realized the spell had stopped working and she had gone back to being Lucy.

In the audience, Faragonda, Griffin, and Griselda stood up shocked.

"I'm going to kill her," Griffin said with a small growl.

"Yeah, fair," Griselda said with an approving nod.

"Poor girl," Faragonda said as Lucy's eyes darted around nervously while she remained silent.

"Um… I… I," Lucy stammered the only sign of movement being her trembling legs.

"LIAR!" Stormy shouted in the audience causing the crowd to do Lucy's worst fear, booing.

"Nice one," Icy said, high-fiving Stormy. "Let's get out of here before there's a riot."

The girls snickered while racing out of the place before Griffin could spot them. Bloom and everyone backstage mouths dropped open in shock and Lucy began crying. The host snatched the crown off her head and whipped off the sash. The girls on stage were laughing at her before she ran off still in tears.

Well all of them minus Stella, who simply looked shocked. She wasn't sure what to say, but Bloom took care of that for her.

"Jesus, that was a cruel trick to play on someone," she said, shaking her head. She could've sworn she knew the girl from somewhere as well. "I feel like our little friends had something to do with this."

"You know it," Flora said with a sigh. "That was just tragic."

"Um…" the host said, unsure of how to continue. The audience was filled with murmurs from people wondering what would happen next and who would be the winner. After an awkward few seconds passed, the host put her hand to her ear and was whispering away from the microphone.

She cleared her throat after nodding her head and went back to the microphone, "Okay after that display of using unauthorized magic and being an imposter, Miss Lucinda Mortimer Argent is disqualified. As a result, the title of Miss Magix goes to… contestant number six, Stella Davenwood, Princess of Solaria!"

"What!" the other participants exclaimed angrily.

"What?" said Stella at the same time.

"Stella Davenwood, you won, come up here!" the host said, waving over to her. Stella stepped forward, bewildered at what just happened. The audience began to applaud and cheer causing the realization to dawn on Stella. She won!

She actually won! All her years of preparing made her accomplish what she dreamed of, being Miss Magix just like the women of her family. The crown was placed on her head and a sash around her hips.

"I didn't quite expect it to happen like this but," Stella said, holding back tears. "Thank you. No words can truly express my joy at this moment!"

"She won!" Bloom cheered, hugging Musa who was surprised by the girl's overexcited response. "Go, Stella!"

The girls looked at each other with smiles as Bloom kept cheering.

Stella waved to the audience and looked at her friends who appeared just as happy for her. The show ended and most of the contestants glared at her, but she paid them no mind.

"Of course, the spoiled Princess won!" Lesta complained, but Stella simply flipped her hair. "She didn't even deserve it."

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," Stella replied, holding her head up high.

She made her way over to her group who brought her into a group hug, but as she embraced them, she opened her eyes and found a contestant glaring at her, not the other girls, but Lucy.

The girl clenched her fist before storming out as tears filled her eyes again. Stella held her head down as the others pulled away.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" Bloom asked.

"Nothing, it's just… I'll be right back," Stella said, rushing past the group and in the direction of Lucy. She called after her much to the confusion of her friends.

…

"Lucy!" Stella called as she made her way to the girl's dressing room.

"Leave me alone!" Lucy said, walking away. She was dismayed to see the Trix weren't there, but smeared on her mirror in lipstick it read 'Loser'.

She started breathing erratically as she clenched her fist again, digging her nails deep into her palms.

"Lucy," Stella said comfortingly.

"I said fuck off!" She raced past Stella and made her way to the back door of the building where no one was around.

"Oh, come on I'm wearing heels, I don't feel like running," Stella begged.

"I don't care," Lucy mumbled, pushing the door open.

"I said, stop!" Stella said in a commanding tone.

Lucy stopped and spun around to face Stella, "What? Do you want to gloat? Go ahead I've heard it all before. I was so dumb, right? So dumb to think I could compete against all you gorgeous women while I look like this! A gangly freak! A loser! A fucking waste of space! I don't want to hear it!"

"Just listen to me," Stella said, putting up her hand to show she meant no harm. "Okay?"

"Just get it over with," Lucy said, looking away.

Stella looked at her sash and the flowers in her hand, letting out a sigh. She walked over and calmly placed her crown around the girl's head and passed her the flowers.

"You won. Fair and square. You deserve praise for doing so well," she said. "I keep the sash though."

"Wh- what?" Lucy replied, shocked.

"You were amazing tonight. Gave the right answers, showcased your beautiful ballet, and wowed the crowd. I may have won by default, but you're the true winner."

"And?" Lucy questioned suspiciously. "Where are your friends to take pictures of the poor lonely witch?"

"No one is here, you rightfully won. I mean I would've won if you hadn't entered, but that doesn't matter. What matters is you showed you have a lot of skills. Some witches shouldn't have ruined it. So just take the crown and leave before someone sees us."

"Okay…" Lucy said, gripping onto the flowers. "This doesn't make us friends."

"Obviously," Stella said with a nod. "Take care, witch. We never talked."

Stella waved as she turned away and strutted off while humming. With her gone, Lucy removed the crown and stared at it surprised before smiling softly.

"Thanks."

And with that, she snuck out of the building.

…

Stella made her way back to the group where they noticed her crown was gone.

"Where's your crown?" Bloom asked, before getting angry. "That witch took it from you, didn't she? I'll go deal with her."

"I'm joinin' in," Tecna agreed, clenching her fist.

Stella put up her hand before saying, "No need. We came to an agreement. I keep the title and she keeps the crown. Compromising does wonderful things.

"You gave her… but why?" Bloom questioned. "She cheated."

"She didn't cheat, she is very talented. Just because the Trix gave her a pretty face doesn't negate that she's got spark ."

"That is so kind!" Musa squealed. "A fair and kind Princess. Your parents would be proud."

"I think so too," Stella beamed. "Plus, I know… I know what it feels like to lose and be ridiculed."

"You're going to make me cry, girl," Flora said, wiping her eyes.

"I love you guys," Stella said, bringing the girls into a group hug. "Now let's head out, a girl's got some cramming to do if she wants to pass that simulator assignment!"

"Dragon damn, you must've been replaced again," Tecna said, in mock fear. "This ain't our usual Stella."

"Whatever," Stella said with an eye roll and playfully bumped her hip against Tecna's. "Knackered or not, I want to pass and that's what I'll do."

…

Back at Cloud Tower, Lucy made it back to her room and slowly opened the door. Mirta stood up and ran over to her to hug her.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't come, but I just didn't want to see you get hurt," Mirta apologized. "I set out snacks and tis— Wait… you won?"

"Something like that," Lucy said grinning ear to ear. "Me and a fairy both won… in a way."

"What?" Mirta questioned, scratching her head.

"I'll explain later… or not," Lucy said chuckling. She still didn't like fairies or Stella, but the thought of her being so kind to her for a reason she still couldn't figure out warmed Lucy's heart. Lucy sighed looking at her crown. "All you need to know is that I'm the Queen and you gotta give me credit for that."

Mirta rolled her eyes and clapped while Lucy bowed dramatically. "Thank you, commoner. Now hand me a fruit roll-up."

"Yes, your majesty," Mirta said sardonically before both girls laughed.

…

The next day, Stella and her class were in the simulator room. She yawned, "I feel terrible. My feet are sore, my back aches and I'm pretty sure my face is strained from smiling so much last night."

"Well, at least your makeup is covering the bags under your eyes," Musa said. "So silver lining."

"Yeah, a very thin lining," Stella mumbled, entering the room. "All right, Palladium, let's get this over with."

"Great, go right ahead and enter the chamber," Palladium said, smiling. He was much more refreshed and awake from finally getting numerous hours of sleep over the past week in class. "Good—"

"I've heard that too much, thank you," Stella said mid-yawn. She slowly walked into the chamber and the lights flashed on, causing Stella to shield her eyes from the blinding rays.

Palladium came on through the microphone, "What did you choose again?"

"I'll finish off with Bloom's assignment, and do the dead planet thing. Hopefully, no witches sneak up on me." Stella laughed.

"Screw you," Bloom said through the microphone, but Stella could tell she was amused by her joke.

…

At Cloud Tower, Lucy found herself in Griffin's office. She averted eye contact with the Headmistress as the woman looked over the report that was filed after her stunt at the Miss Magix pageant. Her shoulders were slumped as she waited for her punishment.

"I'm very disappointed you would do something so stupid," Griffin started to say in a somber tone before angrily saying, "Especially since you got caught."

"I know," Lucy said, but she wasn't as upset as she sounded. She had a crown in her room to prove she had what it takes to be a talented person. "So, what are you gonna give me?"

Griffin smirked. "No complaining?"

"I just want to get it over with," Lucy replied.

"Well, I know you didn't do this alone," Griffin said. "I know you were working with someone and if you tell me who they were I'll lighten your punishment."

Lucy's eyes widened and she started looking around. "Um… I worked alone."

"Was it your roommate?" the headmistress asked, placing a hand on her chin.

"No!" Lucy exclaimed, waving her hands. "She didn't even know."

"Then who was it?"

Lucy bit her bottom lip, looking at the ground. While she was furious with the Trix's abandoning her last night after the spell failed, she didn't want to ruin her friendship with them, even though there probably was none. She had to make a sacrifice if she even wanted the chance to possibly sit with them at lunch.

"It was just me… I did it all," Lucy lied, keeping her eyes away from the teacher.

"Okay then," Griffin said, accepting the lie. "Well, since you did it 'all alone' you shall receive the full punishment, I had originally planned. Your magic will be stripped for two weeks and enjoy detention."

"Fair," Lucy replied.

Powers or not. Crown or not. I'm not a loser. I'm worth something.

…

Back at Alfea, Stella stumbled out of the simulator, being caught by Bloom before she tumbled out.

"Bloom or whoever said it was right, cramming: bad idea," Stella said, yawning afterward. "So, what's my failing grade?"

"It was kind of… rusty, is that the right word?" Palladium said as Stella was lifted back up. "You used your light manipulation to change the environment relatively well, but you almost burned a farm, and the grass overgrew at a certain point, but… it wasn't as bad as last time."

"So, I… pass?" Stella questioned perking up.

"You get a C, that's about it," Palladium said with a shrug. He was surprised when Stella hugged him tightly. "It's just a C."

"You have no idea how elated I am to pass even with a mediocre C! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Musa pulled Stella away while saying, "Easy girl, leave the hugging to me."

Musa then hugged Palladium, surprising him again.

"You get used to it," Bloom said laughing.

"Great now if you'll excuse me, good night," Stella said, falling back and being caught by Bloom. She started snoring as the girls looked on laughing.

"So that's what it looked like," Palladium said laughing with the girls.

…

Later, back in the flat, Bloom relaxed on the couch while talking to her parents.

"Yeah, so she won Miss Magix," said Bloom, finishing her story. "I knew she would."

"You didn't complain about the idea of pageants again, did you?" Vanessa asked, sounding mildly annoyed.

"You know the answer to that," Bloom said matter of fact. "People loved it."

"Stop lying," Mike said, chuckling.

"That's not the point," Bloom said, rolling her eyes. "Point is she won, and she deserved it, but then after that, she just… gave her crown away because she thought another girl deserved it too."

"You sure this is Stella you're talking about?" Mike asked before going, "Ow, stop elbowing me in the hip!"

"You make it too easy when you keep insulting her best friend," Vanessa replied.

Bloom smiled. "Yeah, that's my job."

"Oh no, don't tell me she's your friend now," Mike said half-joking. "Wait, I'll do it." A sound was heard before Mike went, "Ow, how does that hurt when I do it!"

"Because it's deserved," Vanessa said, and Bloom could see her mother smirking which made her smile.

"I can't wait to see you guys," Bloom said, remembering the school break was coming up soon. "Only two weeks left and then I can eat a better breakfast."

"Is that all you miss about us?" Vanessa asked playfully.

"Of course not, I miss my bed too," Bloom said before mumbling, "And I guess I missed you guys too."

"We guess we missed you back," Mike replied dryly.

Bloom and her parents laughed. She brushed some hair behind her back and then said, "Well I've talked your ears off, I gotta go now. Need to check on Stella, but expect a call from me tomorrow."

"You better," Mike said. "Love you."

"Love you too," Bloom said before hanging up the phone.

"Aww," Bloom heard a voice say behind her. She turned around to see Musa behind her with her hands on her cheeks. "I love the conversations you have with your parents, so cute!"

Bloom blushed.

She stood up and walked over to Stella's room, preparing to knock on the door, but noticed it was opened enough to leave a crack. She peeked her head in and found Stella talking on her phone.

"Yes, I know… Yeah, I felt like she earned it… You think so too?" Stella giggled. "Mum was so upset when she found out I gave it away, but don't talk bad about her, you know how she is about fancy things… Thank you for not disrespecting her in your own way. I still have the title… I know, Miss Magix winner!" Stella cheered but went silent for a few seconds before saying, "I love you too daddy. Thank you for the flowers."

The door creaked open as Bloom's body leaned against it while listening to the conversation. She couldn't help feeling warm and fuzzy at Stella's nice talk with her father.

"I gotta go daddy, call you tomorrow. Bye," Stella said, hanging up the phone. She then turned to the door. "You can come in."

"Oh, I was just coming to ask if you… could I borrow your… how you doing?" Bloom stammered, punching her fist together.

"I'm okay if that's what you were going to ask," Stella replied, staring at her phone. "My father and I had a lovely conversation about what I did. He was very supportive. Calling me quite charitable, made me feel so special."

"Why does that matter, if you don't mind me asking?" Bloom asked. "You may get on my nerves, but. I think you're pretty cool, for a posh princess."

Stella chuckled, a plaintive smile forming on her face. "I know, but when a parent says it, it just lets you know… they love you just as much as you love them. Even you understand that."

Bloom pursed her lips and placed a finger on them. Thinking about her parents she nodded. "Yeah… I do."

"Somehow, in his stubborn way, he still finds time to love his daughter," Stella said looking at her phone. Bloom guessed it was a photo of her and her father.

"Did he say that in his thick gruff accent?" Bloom asked, putting on the same accent she mentioned.

Stella shook her head, "You are too much."

"I know," Bloom said. "Now what do you want to do? Cheesy pop music while showing off on your sash and pretending to strut down the catwalk?"

"Better," Stella said, reaching underneath her pillow and pulling out a large bag of caramel-filled chocolates. "Snacking and watching Next Top Fashionista on the telly."

"I'm only doing this because of chocolate," Bloom said, groaning. "Come on."

Stella squealed following behind Bloom to the TV. The rest of the night was spent with the other girls watching television and studying. Bloom never thought she'd have this in her life, but she never thought she'd have such strange people as friends. And although it was still taking her time to get used to, she felt like right now… she couldn't ask for anything better.

…

End

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you in a month! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, noticed errors that I can fix, or just want to say hello, comment down below and also tell me what you think! Like and follow this story for a more action-packed adventure with The Winx Club! I love you guys! Have a great day!