Twilight's Grand Finale

Daisy Sunshine, Monique Dong

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781665900973
• eBook ISBN: 9781665900997

Twilight shares her creativity in the fifth book of this sparkly new chapter book series that follows the trials and triumphs of young foals attending Unicorn University—perfect for those who love magic, happiness, and My Little Pony! Unicorn University is putting on a carnival for past students and their families, and Twilight has been chosen to be in charge of the decorations! She can't wait to show her family, who's attending the celebration, how far she's come since her first day of school. In addition to designing the booths and banners, Twilight's also tasked with arranging a grand finale that's supposed to be a magical end to a magical day. And what could be better than a fireworks display put on by a famous dragon?But when Twilight finds out the fireworks show must be cancelled, she fears the whole day is ruined. Her visiting sisters aren't making things easier, either. Can Twilight take charge and show them she's capable of saving the carnival?

1 Rainbow Balloons

Twilight looked down at her painter’s smock and snorted in surprise. She was totally covered in paint! Her deep black coat was speckled with a rainbow of colors, and her hooficure was covered by blue and pink splotches. Actually, she thought, this is a cool idea for a painting. She imagined a big canvas filled with splattered colors.

But Twilight’s dreams of future art projects were put on pause when a bright orange unicorn came running up to her. A giant cluster of colorful balloons bobbed behind them, and Twilight noticed the strings were tied to the unicorn’s horn.

“Hi, Sunny,” Twilight said. “So cool—it looks like you’re pulling a rainbow behind you.”

Sunny stopped to catch their breath. “Thanks!” they said, still panting from the run over. “Where”—huff—“do you”—huff—“want them?”

Twilight bit her lip and tried to remember which booth needed balloons. She had been juggling so many tasks that she was losing track of things! Being in charge of all the decorations for the Unicorn University Annual Carnival meant that Twilight was responsible for everything from balloon decisions to booth painting to fireworks!

Unicorns from all over Sunshine Springs, and even some who lived in other parts of the five kingdoms, were traveling to Unicorn University for the celebration. Parents and siblings of current students would arrive tomorrow to visit with students and see the campus. Every year, the first years planned and set up the events of the carnival, meaning it was Twilight’s class’s turn. They had spent weeks thinking up game ideas, snacks, and, most exciting of all, a big surprise to end the night. The carnival was a tradition, and Twilight wanted this carnival to be one to remember.

“At the welcome tent!” Twilight finally remembered. That’s where the balloons needed to go! “I can bring them over, Sunny. Why don’t you take a snack break? The baking club made special apple cakes for everyone.”

Sunny smiled wide. “You’re the best, Twilight.” They bent down their horn so Twilight could take the balloons, and then they jogged off in search of sweets.

When the art club had first asked Twilight to be in charge of decorations, she had thought they’d made a mistake. If someone had told her on her very first day at Unicorn University that she would be telling any other unicorn what to do, she would have whinnied in their face. But when she thought about the carnival, her big imagination took over and she couldn’t help but think of all the ways to make things look beautiful. It had been her idea to have different clubs decorate their booths with materials they loved most, and the result was perfect. Twilight looked at the booths around her. The garden club had decorated their booth with flowers; the science club had made a bubble machine that was burping up big, soapy bubbles; and the baking club had hung doughnuts and cookies at their booth.

Over at the baking booth, where Sunny was happily munching on apple cake, Twilight noticed that Comet, one of her best friends, was using her flying ability to frost the top of a giant cake with her horn. Twilight chuckled. Comet looked so serious, but she was totally covered in frosting! It made for a silly sight.

The balloons above Twilight’s head bopped together as the wind whipped up, reminding her to get moving. As she walked toward the blue-and-white-striped welcome tent, the springtime smell of fresh flowers and sunshine wafted through the air, and the green grass under her hooves squished a little from the morning rain. Feeling lighter than air, Twilight skipped the rest of the way.

As she tied the balloons to one of the welcome tent’s poles, she heard a very familiar voice. And it did not sound very happy.

“One at a time! One at time!” a mint-colored unicorn yelled to a crowd of first years. It was Twilight’s other good friend Shamrock, and she could see that his glasses were crooked and his mane was a mess. Twilight knew that the more rumpled Shamrock looked, the more ruffled he felt. Uh-oh, Twilight thought, something must be wrong. After finishing off her knot, Twilight headed over to help figure out the problem.

2 Maps and Magic

But I thought my booth was going to be here!”

“Didn’t we say the dunk tank was in the middle?”

“The dunk tank can’t be the middle! That’s where the stage is.”

The first years around Shamrock were shouting so loudly over each other that Twilight wondered how they could hear themselves think. And from what she’d heard so far, she had a feeling she knew what they were shouting about. Shamrock had a photographic memory, and so everyone was used to asking him where things were supposed to go, but on the day before the carnival, there were simply too many questions for one unicorn to answer. Twilight could see the problem was that he couldn’t be everywhere at once to remind everyone what they had planned, which meant groups and clubs were clashing and literally stepping on each other’s hooves!

Too bad we can’t copy his brain, she thought.

But wait! While they couldn’t clone Shamrock, they might be able to do something else….

Twilight used her special ability to turn invisible to get Shamrock’s attention. She had learned that unicorns would take notice if she shimmered in and out really fast. It wasn’t quite disappearing—it was more like she was glittering.

Shamrock glanced her way, and a look of relief crossed his face. In fact, he looked at Twilight like she was a superhero. “Any ideas?”

Twilight’s eyes sparkled. “Why don’t you draw a map, Shamrock? Then everyone can make a copy, and we’ll all be on the same page. Literally!”

The whole group laughed. It was so obvious! Shamrock got to work drawing, and the other unicorns pulled out pens and paper to copy his sketch.

“Thanks, Twilight!” one of the unicorns called as they bent over a piece of paper.

“What would we do without you?” another unicorn mumbled, a pencil dangling from the side of her mouth.

Twilight smiled to herself, feeling like she was filled with sunshine. Not only was she decorating the whole fair, but she was solving problems, too! She remembered a famous painting she had seen once of a unicorn smiling. Her mom had said it looked like the unicorn had a secret, but Twilight didn’t think that was it. As she stood in the field looking around at all her classmates’ hard work, Twilight thought she finally understood what the unicorn in the painting was smiling about. The unicorn was proud of herself!

At first Twilight had been nervous about taking charge of the carnival decorations. She didn’t think she was smart like Shamrock, or funny like Comet, and she certainly didn’t have big adventures like her other best friend, Sapphire. But over the last few weeks Twilight had learned that she was good at helping other unicorns. And that made her happy.

Twilight noticed how the balloons at the welcome booth bobbed and dipped with the wind, and they now reminded her of the puffball flowers that had sprouted all over Unicorn University. Round, white, and about the size of one of her hooves, puffballs popped up at the start of spring, but they never stayed for more than a week, and soon the wind would blow the balls apart and spread the flowers’ seeds all over Sunshine Springs....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Chapter 1: Rainbow Balloons
• Chapter 2: Maps and Magic
• Chapter 3: The Sisters’ Song
• Chapter 4: Meeting Ms. Beatrice
• Chapter 5: Dancing Puffballs
• Chapter 6: Breaking the News
• Chapter 7: Splashing Rocks
• Chapter 8: Showtime!
• Chapter 9: A Magical Moment
• Chapter 10: Goodbye Tears
• ‘Sapphire's Summer Disguise’ Teaser
• About the Author and Illustrator
• Copyright