“Oh no,” Flip said, staring at the black, opaque water.

“What will we do?” Snow asked.

“This is a catastrophe,” Aqua said as her eyes filled with tears. “We have no choice but to cancel the Merthday Splash.”

Mira, Myrna, and Moira stopped singing and playing their shellophones. They rushed over to the hatching pool. For a few seconds they hovered above the pitch-black water. And then Mira said, “Oh dear.”

“I think we’d better just cancel the Merthday Splash,” Myrna said.

“The eggs can hatch in Kelp Castle the way they always have,” Myrna said.

Mira and Moira nodded. “We’ll just hold the Merthday Splash next year,” Moira said.

Tears streamed down Aqua’s cheeks. “I know you’re right,” she sniffled. “I just feel so very disappointed. I guess I should fly back to Feather Palace and tell the others not to bother coming after all.”

Clara stared at the water. She took a long, deep breath. “Before you go,” she said slowly, “why don’t we all think together for a minute about whether there is any way to save the Merthday Splash.”

Mira, Myrna, Moira, Aqua, Flip, and Snow nodded. For several seconds, they all stared at the pool with furrowed brows.

Flip sighed. “I’m trying my hardest, and I can’t think of any creative solutions,” she said.

Snow shook her head. “Me neither. I didn’t want to have to learn to swim today, but I definitely didn’t want the Merthday Splash to be canceled.”

“I can’t think of anything either,” Aqua said.

Clara looked for a moment at the water droplet design on Aqua’s tiara, the snowflake design on Snow’s tiara, and the spiral design on Flip’s tiara. She thought for a minute about the strong seaweed the merfairies used to build Kelp Castle. And then, suddenly, Clara had an idea. Her eyes widened. A grin spread across her face. She hopped up and down. And then she twirled in a circle. “I have a plan to save the Merthday Splash,” she said.

“Really?” Aqua asked, looking hopeful.

“I will do anything to help,” Snow said.

“Me, too,” Flip said, nodding.

“Count us in,” Myrna said. Mira and Moira nodded.

“If we all work together, I bet we can do it,” Clara said. She turned to Mira, Myrna, and Moira. “Do you think you could braid a rope out of rainbow seaweed?”

“Of course,” Mira said.

“Easily,” Moira said.

“How long should it be?” Myrna asked.

Clara looked at the hatching pool. “About six times as tall as I am.”

“We’ll be back with a seaweed rope in just a minute,” Mira said.

The three merfairies turned, flew to the Sky Sea, and plunged in. A few seconds later, they returned carrying piles of rainbow seaweed in their arms. As they hovered in the air, Mira quickly used her fingers to braid the seaweed as Moira and Myrna handed her strands.

“It’s ready now,” Myrna announced, holding up a long, tightly braided seaweed rope that was tied on both ends.

“Excellent,” Clara said. “The next step is to fly with it over the hatching pool and let each end dip into the water so it makes a rainbow shape.”

“A rainbow shape?” Myrna said, raising her eyebrows. Moira, Myrna, and Mira looked at each other and shrugged. Then they flew over to the hatching pool, each carrying a section of the rope. They let the rope’s ends dangle into the water.

“Maybe lower the ends of the rope just a little more into the pool,” Clara said.

“Sure thing,” Mira said, and the three merfairies all flew downward so the rope went deeper into the black water.

“That’s perfect,” Clara called out. “Excellent work!” Next, she turned to Snow. “Do you think you could use your magic to freeze the hatching pool water?”

Snow cocked her head in confusion. She stared for a few seconds at Moira, Mira, and Myrna, hovering in the air and holding the rope. And then her face brightened. She reared up and called out, “I know what you’re thinking.” Snow turned to the hatching pool. The gemstone snowflakes on her tiara sparkled. And then, in a flash of light, the pond turned into a giant piece of black ice.

“Wonderful,” Clara said. “Now we can get rid of that inky water.” She turned to Snow, Flip, and Aqua. “Could you help the merfairies use the seaweed rope as a handle to pull the ice out of the nest? I was thinking you could drop it out in the Sky Sea to melt.”

“What a great idea,” Aqua said.

“I’d be thrilled to help,” Snow said.

“Me too,” Flip said.

The three pegasus princesses flew over to the merfairies. They each grabbed a section of the seaweed rope in their mouths.

“Start flying up at the count of three,” Clara said. “One. Two. Three!”

Clara sucked in her breath. For a few seconds, Aqua, Snow, Flip, Mira, Moira, and Myrna were all pulling upward on the rope as hard as they could, and nothing was happening. But then the giant chunk of ice began to slowly slide upward. “It’s working!” Clara called out. “You can do it!”

The ice kept sliding upward while the merfairies and the pegasus princesses pulled as hard as they could. And then, with a loud scraping noise, they were all suddenly up in the air holding the biggest, darkest piece of ice Clara had ever seen. Together, they flew toward the horizon out over the Sky Sea, and when Clara could barely see them, they dropped the ice. Then, they flew as fast as they could back to Heart Island.

“You did it,” Clara said. “Good job!”

Aqua, Snow, and Flip panted. “I think that was the hardest I’ve ever worked,” Aqua said.

“I’ve never lifted anything that heavy,” Snow said.

“Phew!” Flip said.

Mira, Moira, and Myrna looked uncertainly at each other. And then they looked at Clara.

“Thank you for getting the inky water out,” Mira said slowly. “But, it’s just that—”

“Well, the thing is, I don’t want to disappoint you, but—” Myrna began.

“What we’re trying to say is that, once we dug that pool, it took us three months to get enough water in it,” Moira said.

“We spent all day, every day filling up buckets in the Sky Sea and dumping them out in the hatching pool,” Mira said.

“I still think we may need to cancel the Merthday Splash,” Myrna said. “Even if we all got buckets and started pouring water into the hatching pool right away, there isn’t enough time to fill it up.”