Fantasia

Chapter 10

Early next day, the pegasi flew, and they travelled by foot into the kingdom.

'Strokes, Ivy, can you paint us some wings? I really want to fly one last time.' Ellie asked with big, pleading eyes. Ivy smiled, and she painted a pair of wings on Ellie, while Strokes painted one on Vicky. They all soared up into the air, and a goofy grin never got off Ellie's face.

They flew almost all morning, and Ivy pointed at a particularly large tulip. 'That's the tulip palace, where Queen Pixella lives.'

They flew to the top, and landed on one of the petals. They slid down the petal, and entered a small palace sitting on the center.

The palace was the same size as the palaces in our world, and it took up only a small part of the flower, but the thing that baffled Ellie was the size of the tulip.

'If the palace itself is this big,' she thought, 'then the tulip must be the size of a city, for sure!'

in the palace, they entered a huge pair of doors, which leaded to the court of Queen Pixella. The room was a rather big one, with chairs made of all kinds of flowers. On the end, there was a really big throne made of vines, roses, and tulips. On top of the throne was a pixie that was undoubtedly Queen Pixella herself.

Queen Pixella was as tall as a toddler, had wings much like those of a dragonfly, pale green skin and bright, pink hair. She looked rather beautiful, but the look in her brown eyes told them to be careful of her.

She noticed them and frowned. 'Ohw era uoy?' Vicky blinked, then bowed.

'Queen Pixella, it is my pleasure to meet you.' Ellie, Strokes and Ivy hastily followed suit.

The frown on Queen Pixella's face slightly softened, and she said, 'tahw od uoy tnaw?'

Vicky blinked again. 'I'm sorry, but I didn't get you.'

Queen Pixella giggled like a little girl and said, 'erugif tuo ym kcirt!'

Ellie's eyes lit up. She pulled Vicky to her and whispered, 'she's talking backwards! Wait, I'll handle this.'

And she stepped forward towards Queen Pixella and said, 'we would like to borrow your sacred tulip.'

Queen Pixella laughed ruthlessly and said, 'Od uoy tsuj tcpexe em ot evig uoy eht dercas pilut?'

'No, we don't. But is there any way that I can earn it? I promise, thought, that I'll return it back to you.'

Queen Pixella seemed to consider the request. Finally, she said, 'tihgrla. Uoy evah ot rewsna eerht selddir.'

Ellie nodded happily, and then she walked over to the rest of the three. 'She says that if I answer three riddles, then she'll give the sacred tulip to us.'

Vicky nodded, and pulled Ellie into a hug, which really surprised her. After she pulled away, she looked into Ellie's eyes.

'You'll ace it, Elizabeth Barfield.' She said seriously, and Ellie grinned.

'Of course I will, Victoria Barfield.' She responded in the exact same tone. Strokes knew that those were their real names, but Ivy didn't. She looked from Ellie to Vicky and back, completely baffled.

'What are they calling each other?' she whispered to Strokes.

'That's their actual names.' He whispered back.

'Oh, right.'

Ellie took a deep breath, and turned back to the throne. 'I'm ready.'

Queen Pixella nodded, and she waved her hand through the air energetically. With a bright flash, a leaf appeared out of thin air, and Ellie plucked it out of the air.

'It's shorter than all the rest, when you're happy you raise it like it's the best.'

She paused for her while and her eyes lit up. 'it's the thumb! The thumb is much more shorter than all the fingers, but when your happy, you raise it up by showing the thumbs up sign.'

Queen Pixella looked a tad bit dissapointed, but she nodded, and made another leaf appear in mid-air. 'Although I'm made of blades, I am something that loves to grow. I'm not sharp like a razor, I am something you can mow.' She read. 'ooh, this one's hard.' She pressed her finger to her lips.

'it's grass! Grass is made of blades, it loves to grow, it's not sharp, and you can mow it.'

She looked satisfied with her answer, and Queen Pixella looked even more dissapointed, and a frown was forming on a face.

The next riddle appeared, and Ellie read it. 'I'm the biggest mammal in the sea, most other fish let me be. I can shoot water from my head, when I sleep I need no bed. It must be a whale. A whale is the biggest mammal in the sea, fish don't bother it, it shoots water out of its blowhole, and it can't sleep on a bed. Yes, it's a whale.'

She grinned and Queen Pixella's frown turned into a scowl. 'uoy era doog. I od ton tnaw ot, tub I lliw peek ym esimorp.' She said and clapped her hands, and another pixie walked into the room solemly, carrying a tray with a beautiful tulip on it.

Ellie picked up the tulip, bowed to Queen Pixella and ran to Strokes, Vicky, and Ivy. She held up the flower, and they grinned from ear to ear. Only an hour had gone by, and they could still make it to the fairy kingdom by tomorrow morning. They ran out of the palace, whistled, climbed on to the pegasi' back and took off into the sky. Ellie had predicted correctly; they reached the border by nightfall. They camped there, and fell into a deep sleep.