They slid on until eventually they ran out of hill, and they came to a gradual stop. A sudden stop. They crashed into a snowdrift.

Stella snorted as Duman once again shook off, a smirk tugging at her lips as she looked down at all the glitter adorning her.

Duman caught her eye and slowly started backing away. 'No…Stell, don't you dare…'

She flashed a grin, then shook as hard as she could, glitter flying every which way in a storm of fabulousness.

'Nooooooooo!' Duman coughed, glitter falling from him. 'Aw man…Stella!'

'You look wonderful,' she giggled, falling into the snow with laughter as glitter tumbled from his Mohawk. 'Almost like a Winx.'

'No!' Duman shook the glitter off as fast as he could, swatting at his skin to free himself from anything that could identify him as a glittery fairy heroine. 'Aw man…my lungs are bedazzled, Stella…'

'Well my hair is full of snow you shook off; let the punishment fit the crime.' Shooting him a satisfied grin, she pulled the wrapping paper from her pocket, shaking off the snow. 'Okay…now we got the eggnog, we need…Aurora. From…Aurora?'

'Y'mean the Aurora?' Duman clarified.

'Guess so.' Stella shrugged. 'There's a map. See?' She held up the tiny little map, showing it to him. 'We need to travel through the Christmas tree forest, cross the skating lake, then we'll find…this mountain at the base of the Aurora.'

'Why is this place so idyllically named when we just almost got shot?'

Stella couldn't answer that, so she just tucked the map away again and grabbed the strings attached to the sled.

'You're bringing that?'

'What, you were just planning to dump it here? That's littering. Also, like we won't find some hills on the way. It'll totally speed this up, and be way fun!'

'Fine, but I'm not carrying it.'

'Oh, don't worry.' Stella snickered. 'I won't ask your little penguin flippers to hold this big sled…'

'Hey!' Duman's face scrunched up in annoyance, and he kicked at the snow as they set off. 'I didn't mean to turn into a penguin…I think it's this place, it's screwing with our powers.'

'…Yeah, actually.' Stella thought it over. Maybe something about the magic of this place was impacting their magic. She was ostensibly a Christmas fairy, while Duman was turning into penguins and angels…very festive creatures. Maybe everything in this place had to be festive. Including them. Hopefully she could roll with that…

They walked on for what had to be at least half an hour, Duman humming carols and death metal under his breath while Stella almost walked into things staring at their beautiful surroundings. Every tree around them glittered with a thousand lights, and it took all she had to not call up her sketchbook and capture all the inspiration she had bubbling inside her brain. One tiny dress design couldn't hurt, could it? Just a dress! A scarf! But every time her fingers twitched, she thought of what was at stake and kept on walking, cherishing every mental snapshot away in her brain to be gazed at later.

Eventually, the trees thinned, and Stella's breath caught in her throat as they came to a majestic, crystalline lake spread out ahead of them, so large she could barely see the snowdrifts on the other side, sparkling in the starlight.

'Guess this is the skating lake, huh,' Duman remarked, testing the ice with a hop. Thankfully, it didn't break. Stella really didn't feel like diving into a freezing lake to save him from drowning.

'Guess so…' She carefully stepped onto the ice, a swirl of silver magic enveloping her delicate boots and forming into slender blades to allow her to skim across the surface. She'd learned to ice skate a few years back on a rare snow day on Magix. Not an exceptional skater, but good enough to handle a straight line.

She pushed off, almost taking a tumble straight away. She let out a yelp, skates skidding, arms flailing.

'Woah!' Duman grabbed her, steadying her with a snicker. 'Wish I coulda filmed that; aren't princesses meant to be super dignified or whatever?'

'This princess can eat everything on the Burger King menu in one sitting,' Stella rebuffed, not letting go of Duman's arms.

'Love that that's something you're proud of.' Duman carefully guided her onto just one arm, but she opted to cling onto it like a koala, slightly less confident in her skating now than she had been before.

'Geez, if you want me this bad, we should just make out.'

'One: I have a boyfriend. Two: so do you. Three: you don't even like girls.'

'Fair.' He didn't remark on her staying clung onto his arm as she skidded her way across the ice, though eventually, she managed to skate more easily, staying in a straight line.

However, the sled was starting to become borderline hazardous as she tried to keep it in line behind her, but Duman had insisted he not carry it, so she continued tugging it, grunting slightly as she almost tripped on the ropes. Duman raised an eyebrow, but she glanced away. She'd committed to this thing. She couldn't get him to carry it.

She started with surprise as she felt a tug on the ropes, her eyes widening as Duman slid it out of her hand and tucked it up under his arm.

'This never goes beyond the two of us.'

Stella nodded silently, smiling quietly. Aw…her secretly nice buddy. To her. He was secretly nice to her. She got the distinct feeling he'd probably just prank all her friends.

When they'd finally made it across, Stella stepped up onto land, her skates vanishing in a burst of sparkle.

'This is yours.' Duman handed the sled back across to her, not glancing at her delighted puppy eyes at the chivalrous way he'd helped her. In gratitude, she didn't call him her knight in a fluffy jacket.

'Thanks.'

'Don't mention it. Ever.'

She nudged him gently, and he looked away, hurrying ahead through the snow. As they walked, the Aurora got brighter and brighter, until they took over the whole sky, a swirling, dizzying whirl of colours. So…that was the way home.

'Okay, let's just get up there, grab some, and move on.' Duman shimmered with a soft golden light, rolling his eyes as he shifted on a pair of huge, fluffy angel wings. 'Oh come on! I was going for demon wings!'

'I think they're lovely,' Stella giggled. 'Feathers are very in right now.'

'Whatever.' Duman took off, snatching at the Aurora. Unsurprisingly, his hand just went straight through the lights.

'It's not really…'

'It's gonna work!' He kept trying, and, with a sigh, Stella flew up after him, doing her best with her light powers to catch a few of the ribbons of light, but they all flitted through her fingers.

'D…think this is why they told us to go to this place.' She pointed to the X on the map. 'That must be where we can collect them.'

'Not sure how they'll be any different on a mountain, but okay…' Duman landed, staring out across the soft, snowy peaks laid out before them.

'Admit it.'

'No.'

'Admiiiiit it…'

Duman rolled his eyes with a groan. '…Now would be a good time for the sled.'

'Yes!' Stella punched the air, and set the sled up, hopping onto the front. 'Okay…hold on!' She pushed off, and they were off like a bullet, so fast that Stella was surprised this was an activity for children.

Years of flying with thin, delicate wings had given her a finely-tuned set of steering skills, and she expertly manoeuvred them through the soft peaks, letting out a shriek of excitement. This was so fun!

She brought them to a steady halt, digging her heel into the snow as they slid to a slow stop in a semi-circle, staring up in awe at what surely had to be their destination. A palace towered above them, every balcony and balustrade carved painstakingly from ice, a shimmering, sparkling architectural masterpiece spiralling up into the night sky.

'Damn…' Duman whispered, slowly getting up. 'This…is pretty sick.'

'Never thought I'd have palace envy…' Stella followed him, walking to the huge doors, ornately carved and inlaid with intricate symbols, each side perfectly symmetrical. Whoever has crafted this place, whatever masons had sculpted this masterpiece…they had her respect.

She raised her hand to knock, but the doors swung open in a blast of icy wind, almost seeming to beckon and warn in the same breath.

'…Hello?' she called out hesitantly, lingering in the doorway.

Duman held up no such conventions, sauntering inside like he owned the place.

'Duman! We can't just walk in!'

'We gotta save Christmas, Stell! And we just walked into the last place.'

'Yeah, but…but…' Finding no argument, Stella took a deep breath and hesitantly walked after Duman, jogging slightly to catch up to him.

Inside, the palace was somehow even more breathtaking. There was barely an inch of unadorned ice, light refracting through every pillar and fragment in a shimmering rainbow, only to shine through another crystal until every inch resembled the aurora outside.

'This place is beautiful…' she whispered, gently running her fingers along the banister of the staircase they stepped down.

'Thank you…now, perhaps you would like to tell me why you have trespassed into it?'

Duman and Stella's gazes both whipped to the source of the voice, and Duman facepalmed, letting out several harsh expletives.

'Great…had to be you.'