This piece is the second variation within the Pas de Deux used at the end of Act 2 of the ballet, but it appears as the third piece in the suite. It is a solo dance by the Sugar Plum Fairy, the queen of the Land of Sweets. In Japan, it is translated as “Dance of the Konpeito Fairy,” but it originally refers to “dragée,” a confection made by coating fruits with sugar.

The theme in the right-hand part of this piece was played by the celesta in the orchestral version. The celesta is, so to speak, a keyboard glockenspiel, resembling an upright piano in shape. Its greatest charm lies in its very soft sound, produced because the hammers that strike the metal plates are wrapped in felt. It is noted in Tchaikovsky's letters that when he visited Paris and saw the celesta, he was so captivated by its timbre that he swore his acquaintances to secrecy about the instrument's existence, eager to incorporate it into his orchestra before any other Russian composer. The left-hand part is played by string instruments with pizzicato in the orchestral version.