The Song of the Moon Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Introduction

  Map of Aura

  Map of the Castle of Destiny

  Meet the Melowies

  Chapter 1: A Surprise for the Melowies

  Chapter 2: Friendly Competition

  Chapter 3: Peace and Quiet

  Chapter 4: A Twist to the Tale

  Chapter 5: Now or Never

  Chapter 6: Practice Makes Perfect

  Chapter 7: Opening Night

  Chapter 8: Applause and Hugs

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Imagine a magical land wrapped in golden light. A planet in a distant galaxy beyond the known stars. This enchanted place is known as Aura, and it is very special. For Aura is home to the pegasus, a winged horse with a colorful mane and coat.

  The pegasuses of Aura come from four ancient island realms that lie within Aura’s enchanted oceans: the Winter Realm of Amethyst Island, the Spring Realm of Emerald Island, the Day Realm of Ruby Island, and the Night Realm of Sapphire Island.

  A selected number from each realm are born with a symbol on their wings and a hidden magical power. These are the Melowies.

  When their magic beckons them in a dream, all Melowies leave their island homes to answer the call. They must attend school at the Castle of Destiny, a legendary castle hidden in a sea of clouds, where they will learn all about their hidden powers. Destiny is a place where friendships are born, where Melowies find their courage, and where they discover the true magic inside themselves!

  The Castle of Destiny changed at the beginning of every school year. The castle’s silent corridors, high ceilings, and steep spiral staircases filled with laughter and friendship. The castle turned into a place where promising young Melowies came to search for their own destinies.

  “Hey, girls! The first week of school is finally over!” cried Electra. She ran out of the science lab like a cyclone of red curls. “When do we start lessons in the Art of Powers? I can’t wait to learn how to use mine! In the Day Realm, Melowies make beams of light! I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  “Not yet,” said Cora, throwing cold water on Electra’s enthusiasm. “First we have to take our core lessons, which will be hard. I almost fell asleep in pegasus science today!”

  “Me, too!” Electra said. “But that’s because I was too excited to sleep last night! Just think! We survived our first week at the Castle of Destiny! We made it!” She found a gap in the crowded corridor and skipped away.

  Cora shook her head. “No one behaves like that in the Winter Realm.”

  “Come on, Cora!” teased Cleo with a chuckle. “Do you always have to be Miss Icicles?”

  Selena was so deep in her own thoughts that she passed right by her two friends. Maya, though, was still dragging her hooves. “Is something wrong?” asked Cleo.

  “It’s true. We have made it,” whispered the pink filly. “But what if I’m not up to it? They have already given us a mountain of homework to do. I still haven’t finished the geology project, and now we’ve got two chapters of science to finish by tomorrow!”

  Cleo just smiled. “Come on, Maya! You’re doing just fine. Even Ms. Pangea said so when you answered that question about the Spring Realm!”

  Maya blushed. “Well, that was easy! That’s where I’m from! But you got a ten on the first literature assignment. I don’t know how you did it.”

  “I think it’s because I really like reading.”

  “And you were fantastic at the first aerobatics lesson.”

  “Oh, that’s only because I have been secretly watching flying lessons since I was little!” Cleo said.

  Cleo was the only Melowy who didn’t know which of the four realms she came from. She grew up at the Castle of Destiny after the school principal found her on the front steps when she was just a baby. She’d never been allowed to mix with the students who lived in the castle, until this year. The day of the entrance exam, she discovered that she was a Melowy as well. All at once, her dreams had come true. Best of all, she made four new friends, each from a different realm.

  “Come on! Ms. Calliope is waiting for us in the auditorium,” cried Cora, urging her slowpoke friends along. Maya and Cleo hurried after her.

  “Yippee!” The girls heard a voice from a floor below them. Cora, Maya, and Cleo all leaned out over the spiral staircase to find a cyclone of red curls dashing down the handrail. Electra was riding it like a slide!

  Cora shook her head. “Why does she always have to make a scene?” she said, walking down the stairs slowly. Cleo and Maya chuckled, and followed her.

  Once they were outside, they all flew across the garden. They went past the waterfall, which glittered with a thousand shades of blue and green. They flew over the heads of chattering groups of students and waved hello to the gardener, who was whispering to his beloved flowers. Finally, they arrived.

  The auditorium was a huge room with beautiful tall windows. There were dozens of seats arranged in a semicircle around a stage with a purple curtain made of heavy velvet. There was a place for Principal Gia and the other teachers to sit above all the other seats. The first-year students sat around the stage in front of a lively looking pegasus.

  “Come in closer! Come in closer!” Ms. Calliope called to the students. They were all looking around at one another timidly. She hadn’t raised her voice at all, but her words rang across the entire auditorium.

  “Where is Selena?” Maya whispered to her roommates. Cleo looked around and saw her standing near the doorway by herself.

  “I have an announcement,” continued Ms. Calliope with a shake of her mane. “I have decided that all the first-year students will have to do a special kind of test this year. Believe me, girls, it is going to be something very special.”

  “A musical!” exclaimed Electra with a huge smile as they left the auditorium. “Did you hear that? A musical!”

  “Yes, we heard,” sighed Cora. “We were there, too, you know.”

  But Electra continued, too excited to let Cora bring her down. “And the story is so beautiful! Two rival princesses who put aside their differences to defend their realms! I really hope I get to play one of them!”

  “I would be much happier with a smaller role,” said Maya with a shrug. “I mean, my singing is not so bad, but my dancing isn’t the best. And the whole school will be watching us!”

  “Come on!” Cleo smiled. “We can practice for the audition together!”

  “That sounds like a lot of fun!” said Maya with relief. “What about you, Cora? What do you think?”

  “Us Melowies from the Winter Realm have excellent singing and dancing teachers. I am going to try out for one of the leading roles.”

  “Good luck!” snarled a strange voice. The voice belonged to a Melowy with long blue-and-purple hair, and green eyes with a mean glare. “My name is Eris, and you are going to have to go up against me for a leading role.”

  “Wow, you are really modest, aren’t you?” teased Cleo. But Eris pretended not to hear and walked away with her nose in the air.

  “My mother taught me not to pay any attention to Melowies with no manners,” Cora said, giving her long mane a shake.

  “We’ll see about that, you big show-off!” Electra shouted in the direction of Eris. Everyone turned to stare at her.

  “Electra!” Cora sighed.

  Selena, who’d seen everything, came over and joined her friends. “Selena! Why didn’t you come sit with us before?” asked Electra as the girls crossed the garden. “Aren’t you excited about the musical?!”

  “I don’t like musicals,” said Selena as they turned down the dormitory hallway.

>   “What?!” cried Electra. “But everyone likes musicals!”

  “Not everyone,” muttered Selena, looking annoyed. “I don’t. I also don’t really like the idea of performing in front of people. Especially not after the last time …”

  When they got to their room in the Butterfly Tower, Selena grabbed her drumsticks off her bed and started playing her drum kit. She had long ago promised herself that she would never perform onstage again. She played her drums loud to help drown out the memory of the last time.

  “Hey, Electra!” Cora snapped. “Why is your skirt on my bed? How many times do we have to talk about this?”

  “I’m sorry. I must have left it there this morning by mistake,” Electra responded.

  “You have to try to be neater!”

  “Says the Melowy who has filled the bathroom with thousands of different bottles. By the way, why on earth do you need a lotion for polar climates? The weather’s lovely here!”

  “My stuff is perfectly neat.”

  “Sure, but where are we supposed to put ours? There’s no room left!”

  “Here we go again,” Selena mumbled. “If this musical has as much harmony as we have in our room, it’s going to be a disaster!”

  At breakfast the next morning, Selena got herself some cereal and a cup of milk, and looked around the crowded cafeteria for a place to sit. She found her roommates sitting together, eating and chatting. She sat next to them, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Selena enjoyed starting her day slowly and quietly. She liked to eat her breakfast in silence, sometimes while gazing out the window.

  “Hey, sleepyhead!” cried Electra. She shook her mane, still wet after her shower, which splashed water everywhere.

  “Hey, watch out!” shouted Cora, whose mane was perfect as usual.

  “So much for peace and quiet,” Selena whispered to herself. She gazed out the window, missing her quiet mornings back home more than ever.

  “Selena,” Cleo called, distracting her from her sad thought, “we are all going to get some lunch and eat in the garden after class. Do you want to join us?”

  Selena thought about it for a minute, not sure how to answer. She was not used to spending time with Melowies her own age. Maybe it was time to change that, since she would be living with these girls for the next four years. She did like them after all, and it sounded like it could be fun.

  “Yes!” cried Electra. “You should come, too, Selena, and then we can all practice for the auditions together! I have been practicing my favorite part, which is when Princess Cassiopeia orders her soldiers to defend her realm!”

  Selena suddenly changed her mind. Everyone kept talking about that silly musical. She had not even bothered to listen to the songs that Ms. Calliope had given them to learn. If she had to be in the musical, she would join the choir and hide in the back row.

  “No, thank you,” Selena answered. “I still have a lot of algebra homework to finish. I want to be ready just in case there’s a pop quiz.”

  “Is this because you don’t like musicals?” asked Electra. “It is going to be so much fun! You love rock music, right? There is a cool scene where the princesses’ armies battle the witch’s ghostly legions, while the moon looks on and sings this really great song.”

  “No, really, I have homework,” Selena repeated.

  “Aww,” Electra sighed, disappointed.

  “Leave her alone,” said Cora. “Algebra is a very important subject.”

  “And boring!” said Electra, making a face. “And impossible to understand!”

  “Well, if you paid more attention in class, you might learn that you actually like it.”

  “Okay, you two, no need to argue,” joked Cleo, standing up to fix her skirt. “Anyway, we should really get going or we will be late for our next class.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Maya whispered to Selena.

  “I’m positive.” Selena nodded.

  * * *

  The afternoon passed slowly for Selena, alone in her room working on her homework. She thought she could at least enjoy some peace and quiet, since the others were in the garden. But after a while, it was a little too quiet.

  She looked down at her algebra book and snorted before throwing herself on her bed, feeling very gloomy. Just then, her cell phone lit up with a message from Electra. It was a link to a song. Selena rolled her eyes. Electra would not give up trying to persuade her to audition! She put on her headphones and pressed the play button. Suddenly, an awesome song came through her headphones. It was so good that she jumped up and started dancing. Music was Selena’s favorite thing in the world. It could always make her feel better.

  When the song ended, she dropped back onto her bed and picked up her phone. There was another message from Electra.

  How cool is this song? It’s from the musical. The next time we practice together, you have to come! You will love it!

  “That song is from the musical?” Selena whispered to herself. It was one of the best songs she’d ever heard. Maybe she should give the musical a chance. If only she could find the courage.

  The auditorium was crowded with nervous first-year students when the day of auditions finally arrived. Cleo looked around. She was surrounded by Melowies, each one with a different story and each with a different symbol on her wings. Some of them were daughters of doctors, teachers, and warriors who had studied at the Castle of Destiny before them. Others were the children of pegasuses with no special powers and had made their parents so proud on the day they were chosen to come to the school. Others, like Selena, were the daughters of queens. Cleo thought it was such a pity Selena wouldn’t be there to audition.

  “Oh no! Oh no!” Maya kept repeating in between deep breaths. “What if I forget the steps? What if I fall flat on my face? What if … ?”

  “Don’t worry!” Cleo smiled. “I am nervous, too. But we’ve practiced a thousand times! You will be great.”

  Cleo and Maya had asked to audition together. They both wanted the roles of Princess Cassiopeia’s ladies-in-waiting. Both were small parts, but they still had a big dance scene and the steps weren’t easy.

  “Who’d like to go first?” asked Ms. Calliope. Everyone in the auditorium went quiet and all the Melowies stared down at their hooves. All, except one.

  “I do!” a confident voice called out from the crowd. It was Eris. She strutted up onto the stage, wearing a plaid skirt with rhinestones around the hem. Her long blue-and-purple hair hung loose over her shoulders.

  “What a show-off!” whispered Electra, before Cora shushed her.

  “What will you be singing for us, Eris?” asked the teacher.

  “Princess Cassiopeia’s aria, of course,” snorted Eris. She closed her eyes and, with a theatrical gesture, began to sing. Her voice was beautiful.

  “Well, I’ve got to admit, she can really sing,” whispered Electra.

  “Stop,” Ms. Calliope suddenly cried.

  Eris gave her an annoyed look. “But I haven’t finished! There’s still another verse to go!”

  “I know,” explained the teacher. “You have a very good voice, Eris, but that alone will not be enough. I want to see how you cope when the pressure’s on. Electra, could you come up here, please?”

  “Me?!” cried Electra in surprise. But she did as she was told and took a spot on the stage next to Eris.

  “Let’s try it again as a duet, with each of you taking turns singing the verses,” Ms. Calliope said.

  “But it’s a solo piece!” cried Eris.

  Ms. Calliope only nodded and gave Electra the cue to begin singing. Eris immediately started singing even louder, trying to drown out Electra’s voice. Electra just kept singing, doing her best, sounding more and more confident. Eris stared at Electra and grew angrier. She was so focused on winning that she forgot some of the words of the song and ran off backstage, embarrassed.

  “You see, skill isn’t enough. You need self-control, calmness, and awareness of others,” said Ms.
Calliope. She looked at Electra thoughtfully.

  “I think you would be perfect for the role of Princess Cassiopeia,” she said.

  “Where is Selena?” asked Maya. The auditions had lasted three hours and were coming to a close. Everyone had done so well!

  “She decided not to audition,” said Cora. “She says she wants to be in the choir.”

  “Well, that’s it, girls,” announced Ms. Calliope. “I’d like to thank you all for your hard work and enthusiasm. There are still a few roles I haven’t decided on, but we have our leading ladies, Princess Cassiopeia and Princess Kalista, who will be played by …” Again, the auditorium went dead quiet. “Electra and Cora!” announced the teacher.

  “Yay!” squealed Electra, rushing over to her friend to give her a big hug.

  “Be cool!” Cora whispered, giving her a frosty look.

  “Umm … congratulations, Cora,” muttered Electra, giving her a timid pat on the back.

  Ms. Calliope taped the list to the wall and let the excited Melowies see for themselves who had been given what role.

  “We did it! We’re the handmaidens!” cried Cleo and Maya in unison.

  Eris had been given only a small role, but she did not know that yet. She was still hiding somewhere backstage, embarrassed about the way she’d ruined the duet. As the auditorium was emptying out, Ms. Calliope asked Cleo to try to find her.

  “Me?” asked Cleo, feeling very puzzled.

  “You’re the one who knows her way around the school the best,” explained Ms. Calliope.

  “Please be quick, Cleo. We all want to go and celebrate with a milk shake at Sugar and Spice!” said Electra.

  “You go and I’ll catch up,” said Cleo with a nod as she went backstage.

  It was quiet except for the creaking of the floorboards under Cleo’s hooves. And under someone else’s hooves as well.

  “Who’s there?” called Cleo. “Eris, is that you?”