Twilight, Say Cheese!

by Daisy Sunshine

  Twilight dug at the wood floors, creating tiny puffs of dust that seemed to appear out of nowhere. “I’m just embarrassed. I don’t want everyone to know I’m stuck this way. They’ll think I’m some sort of scary ghost.”

  “I don’t think they will, Twilight,” Sapphire said. “But we can still keep it a secret. And we’re going to get you into the class picture, and convince you to stay!”

  Comet pranced around with excitement. “Brava! Sapphire, you are totally and completely right. Twilight must stay! We all have to! And I will totally help you convince her. And keep it a secret if that’s what you want.”

  Twilight was stunned. For what felt like the billionth time that day, Twilight felt tears well up in her eyes. But this time they were the happy kind. She didn’t know if she could really stay at the school forever, but she could at least stay until the end of the day. “Thanks, you guys,” she finally said.

  “Woo-hoo! Library Secret Mission: Operation Visible,” Comet cheered.

  8 The Light Idea

  The library was filled with students looking at books in the aisles and reading at the large tables in the front. Sapphire, ignoring all the hustle and bustle, marched straight up to Mr. Jazz.

  Twilight followed behind. It was difficult to weave her way through all the students when she was invisible. Every time she said “Excuse me,” a filly or colt would just look around and then shrug when they didn’t see anyone there.

  “Mr. Jazz!” Sapphire yelled over the chattering students, waving her horn so he would notice them.

  “Hello there!” Mr. Jazz yelled back when he spotted them. Well, when he spotted Comet and Sapphire. “Have you come to pick up your books for the fishing nets? I’ve added a few more to the pile.” Mr. Jazz gestured over to her hook, where about a dozen books now hung.

  “No, no. This is much more important,” Sapphire said impatiently. “We need some books on unicorn invisibility, please.”

  “Now, why would you need that?” Mr. Jazz asked.

  Twilight froze, and her heart started racing at lightningbird speed. Will he figure it out?

  Luckily, Comet was a quick thinker. “Because I’ve just discovered my magical ability. And I want to learn about other unicorn abilities too,” she told him.

  Mr. Jazz looked puzzled. Then he shrugged and said, “Well, you’re in luck! One of your classmates is already over there with lots of different books about magical abilities. And he has some books on invisibility too.”

  Comet, Sapphire, and Twilight looked over and saw Shamrock in the corner standing by a table, with books piled all around him. He was peering over his large, black-rimmed glasses, lost in the pages in front of him.

  The three fillies thanked Mr. Jazz and walked over to Shamrock. “It’s okay,” Twilight whispered. “We can tell Shamrock.” She had been able to get over her awkwardness with Sapphire and Comet, so maybe she could try again with Shamrock, too.

  “Shamrock!” Comet exclaimed loudly. “We super need your help!”

  “Uh, Comet, maybe don’t say that quite so loudly,” Twilight whispered, worried others would hear.

  Shamrock whipped his head around so fast that his glasses went askew. “Twilight? Where are you?”

  Sapphire rolled her eyes. “She’s invisible, as you can’t see. That’s why we need your help.” She used her horn to straighten his glasses for him.

  “Oh, okay,” Shamrock said.

  “She can’t turn back,” Comet explained further. “And we were hoping one of these books could help. We’ve got to turn her back before the class picture!”

  “Of course,” Shamrock agreed. “You can’t miss the class picture! The school handbook says—”

  “Nope!” Sapphire interrupted him. “This is not about any school rules. This is about showing Twilight she belongs here.”

  “She wants to go home, and we want her to stay, obviously,” Comet explained.

  Twilight squirmed uncomfortably. It felt odd having all this attention on her, especially since no one could see her.

  Shamrock looked at Sapphire, then at Comet. After a brief pause, he nodded in his serious way.

  “Of course you need to stay, Twilight! You’re going to help me learn to paint! And if that requires keeping your secret from the teachers, well…”

  Sapphire, Comet, and Twilight held their breath as they waited for his decision.

  “Then we can forget about the handbook!”

  Sapphire and Comet whooped and cheered, and Twilight squirmed some more. She had not expected the day to go like this.

  “Woo-hoo!” Comet cheered again. “Best first day ever! And I thought the class picture would be my favorite part of the day.”

  “Oh yeah. What theme did the class decide on?” Sapphire asked.

  “No one could agree on anything, so we all just decided to show up with props for different ideas. We can decide right before the picture,” Shamrock said, filling them in. “That’s why I’m here, actually. I thought we might do something that represents different unicorn magical abilities. Did you know that our powers come from the Four Magical Elements? Every ability is somehow related to water, light, air, or earth.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Twilight said. “I guess Comet’s flight comes from the air? What about invisibility?”

  Shamrock wiggled. He was clearly excited about this question.

  “From light, of course,” Sapphire told them.

  Shamrock nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly!” he said. “And, actually, I think that might be the key to turning Twilight back!”

  9 Under the Rainbow

  Come on!” Shamrock urged. “Follow me!”

  The three fillies followed him out of the library and cantered over to the Looping Lawn. The gnome band had packed up, and the candied apples were nowhere in sight. But the welcome rainbow still hung merrily above their heads.

  “Okay,” Shamrock said, and they stopped. The four of them panted for a moment, trying to catch their breath. “Sapphire was right: invisibility comes from the magical element of light. And the biggest source of light is sunlight. And here we have a rainbow—”

  “And rainbows are refracted light!” Sapphire shouted.

  “Uh, guys, what does that mean?” Comet asked.

  “It’s when a light beam bends as it moves from one thing into another. Like when sunlight goes through air and then hits water,” Shamrock explained, sounding very professor-like.

  While Comet, Sapphire, and Shamrock went on discussing rainbows and light, Twilight’s mind began to wander. She wondered what life would be like if she were invisible forever. She imagined herself living like a ghost in her house, having to knock things over and howl to be noticed. Her heart began to pound, and she tried to take a deep breath to calm down. She liked being quiet, but totally forgotten? That would be the worst.

  Twilight noticed Shamrock walking over to a giant water bubble that was spurting out the rainbow sign. She decided she had better pay attention. They were trying to help her, after all.

  “So the light from the sun is being refracted through the big raindrop over here,” he was saying.

  “I’m guessing that a unicorn with a magical water ability and a unicorn with a magical sunlight ability worked together to create this. Or maybe one unicorn with a magical rainbow ability?” Shamrock wondered aloud.

  “Right.” Sapphire nodded, clearly trying to get him back on track. “So you’re thinking, if Twilight runs through the rainbow here, the refracted light should make her visible again?” Sapphire asked.

  “Exactly!” Shamrock yelled. He and Sapphire tapped their horns together in a high-U.

  Twilight felt her spirits lift, as if her heart had Comet’s gift of flight. “Thank you so much for helping me with this. I was starting to worry that I was going to be invisible forever.”

  “You totally won’t be!” Comet cheered. “We’ve got this.”

  Twilight took a deep breath. “Okay. So I just run through the rainbow and
I’ll reappear, right?”

  The other three fillies and colts nodded.

  Twilight took another steadying breath and stood a little taller. Even though no one could see her, she wanted to run through this magical rainbow with confidence.

  “Okay. Here I go!” Twilight ran back and forth through the ribbons of colors. She ran through on one side, where the rainbow started and was close to the ground. Then she jumped up so the rainbow would touch her face. Jumping through a rainbow was unlike anything she had done before. It was incredible. She jumped higher than ever, lifted by the possibility of turning back to her old self.

  Finally Twilight trotted back toward the group, excited to see the looks on their faces.

  10 The Mystery

  Twilight still felt the cool waves of invisibility, and looked down to find that her legs had not reappeared. The four unicorns groaned in unison. Jumping through the rainbow hadn’t worked.

  Twilight’s poor stomach had been flipping up and down all day, and now it seemed as if it were somewhere by her invisible hooficured hooves.

  If the others could have seen her, they would have seen that Twilight’s head hung so low that her horn touched the grass. A few tears fell down her cheeks.

  “Thank you so much for trying to help me with this,” Twilight told them. “But I don’t want to cause you guys any more trouble. You should be getting ready for the class picture! I know you three will think of a great idea for it. I’m just going to go tell Professor Sherbet that it’s time for me to go home.”

  Shamrock looked down bashfully. “You know, I was worried I didn’t belong here today either. That’s why I kept bringing up the handbook! I thought that if I knew the school rules, then I would know how to be a student. But trying to figure this out has made me realize that Sapphire is right. We all belong here because we can help each other, you know?”

  “Yes!” Comet shouted. “I still think this has been the best first day ever. We have this mystery we have to solve together!”

  Soon Comet, Sapphire, and Shamrock started shouting silly ideas to solve the “mystery.”

  Twilight was taken aback and realized… they were right. It did feel like she was part of something. She started laughing along with them. “If only I had enough paint to just… repaint myself,” she said.

  Shamrock and Sapphire giggled, but Comet started floating.

  “Wait! That gives me an idea.” Comet had a huge smile on her face. “Sugar!”

  But all she saw were two puzzled looks. Of course, Twilight looked puzzled too, but Comet couldn’t see it.

  “Uh, Comet, what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked kindly.

  “We can cover you in powdered sugar!” she explained.

  Twilight had only ever had powdered sugar on candied apples. How could it help a unicorn? But the others looked at each other and nodded seriously.

  “Great idea,” Shamrock said. “Powdered sugar is sticky enough to stay on.”

  “True,” Sapphire agreed. “I wonder if being able to be seen will bring back your visibility. Like a mind trick or something.”

  Shamrock nodded his horn. “Brilliant. Only, how do we get all that powdered sugar?” he asked.

  “From the kitchens, of course!” Comet told them. “The campus chefs said that every Friday they make those candied apples that we had this morning at the welcome picnic. So they must have tons of sugar.”

  “How do you know that, Comet?” Shamrock wondered.

  “Because I asked! Those candied apples were the best I’ve ever had, so I went looking for the recipe. Technically, you’re not supposed to go into the kitchen… but I consider that more of a suggestion than a rule,” Comet told them with an eyebrow wiggle that made them all laugh.

  “But don’t you think Professor Sherbet will think it’s strange when Twilight shows up covered in powdered sugar?” Shamrock asked.

  “Not if everyone else is covered in powdered sugar too,” Sapphire suggested.

  “Huh? Why would that help?” Twilight asked.

  “Because it’s our class picture idea, of course!” Sapphire told her.

  Twilight wasn’t as sure as the rest of the group was. Could covering herself in sugar really bring back her visibility? But everyone was excited and happy about the plan, and she didn’t want to spoil it for them. And maybe if they did get the powdered sugar, the class picture wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe, just maybe, it might be fun to stand there with these three. She still wasn’t sure about the whole school thing, but being part of a group photo of frosted unicorns didn’t sound like the worst idea.

  “Let’s do it,” Twilight said.

  “Great!” Sapphire was clearly excited. “Shamrock, you go tell the class what’s going on. Twilight, you okay with bringing in the other students?”

  Twilight’s stomach pixies did a few flips. She still didn’t like the idea of being the center of attention, but she didn’t want to disappoint these magical unicorns who were trying so hard to help her. And that meant they would have to tell the class the plan.

  “No problem,” Twilight said.

  11 Stella and Celest

  While Shamrock went to tell the others, Sapphire and Twilight followed Comet to the kitchens. They wove through the Peony Pasture, where some students were still grazing, but no one thought anything of the two first-year fillies walking by.

  Finally they reached a large, moss-covered building next to a giant oak tree. The walls of the building were made of stitched bark, and a chimney made of smooth white pebbles twisted out of the rounded roof. Little tufts of gray smoke puffed out.

  Comet walked confidently to the front door, which was low and wide and painted the same red as the school barns.

  “How many times have you been here?” Sapphire asked.

  “Oh, only the one time earlier today. But it was wonderful,” Comet told them. She knocked three times with her horn, and the door opened to reveal a small green dragon wearing a bright blue apron.

  “Comet! Back again so soon?” The dragon’s voice sounded like a million flutes playing in unison. Twilight had never met a dragon before. She was surprised that its voice was so musical. She made a mental note to ask Sunset about this later.

  The dragon opened the door wider and moved aside to let them in. The inside was bright, with blue-checkered curtains and cheery yellow walls. Twilight loved it immediately. It reminded her of her home on the farm.

  A gray speckled unicorn was using her long horn to stir something in a giant black cauldron in the center of the room. “Don’t mind me!” she called. “I have to stir this a hundred times or it will turn to mush. Just a moment!”

  “Well, in the meantime, why don’t you introduce your friends, Comet?” the dragon asked.

  Twilight wiggled with excitement. Had she become visible again? She was so surprised and excited that she almost knocked over a shelf full of spices!

  “Wait. Friends? How do you know that Comet has brought more than one friend?” Sapphire asked.

  Twilight’s shoulders sank with disappointment. Still invisible, I guess. But how does the dragon know I’m here?

  “Ahh, dragons have some magic of their own, little one,” the dragon said with a wink.

  “One hundred!” the unicorn at the cauldron shouted. “Phew, this recipe is always tricky.” She wiped her horn on the checkered cloth hanging on the wall. Her wire-rimmed glasses were still a little foggy from the cauldron’s steam. “My name is Celest. And this mysterious dragon is Stella.”

  “Pleased to meet you all!” Stella said with a nod and a grin.

  “Stella, Celest. These are my friends, Sapphire—”

  Comet paused to motion toward Sapphire, who waved her horn and said, “Hello!”

  “And this…,” Comet continued, looking around the room. “Well, actually, Twilight, where are you?”

  “Over here by the door,” Twilight said. “It’s nice to meet you both,” she said to Stella and Celest.

  “So, we have an i
nvisible filly in our kitchens, huh?” Celest asked.

  “We were hoping for some help,” Comet told them. “You see, I remembered how you told me about the candied apples recipe, and well…”

  Suddenly Comet seemed at a loss for words. She looked down at her hooves, as if nervous to ask for such a big favor. Twilight was shocked. She hadn’t thought Comet could ever run out of words!

  Sapphire started to speak. “Yes, you see, um, we would need, um…” Her voice trailed off, as if she couldn’t ask them for all that sugar either.

  The two unicorns had helped Twilight a lot that day, so she thought it was time she came to their rescue. She took a deep breath and said, “We were wondering if we could take some of your powdered sugar.”

  “Actually, we’ll need a lot of powdered sugar,” Sapphire said, finding her voice. “Enough to cover our whole class with it.”

  They were all silent for a moment. Then Stella and Celest burst out laughing.

  “I’m guessing this has something to do with class pictures?” Celest finally said, once she had recovered.

  The three fillies nodded.

  Celest tapped her hoof on the ground, and Stella scratched her scaly head with one long, purple-painted claw. Then they looked at each other for a long time, as if chatting silently. Twilight wondered if that was actually what they were doing.

  “Okay, here’s what we can do,” Stella finally told them. “You can have one bag. We need the sugar for our recipes, and I think it would be a waste to just dump all of it out. But we can spare one bag, and it should cover one unicorn filly, which is all you really need, anyway. Right?”

  “Well, actually—” Comet started to say, but Sapphire interrupted.

  “Deal,” she said.

  “All right, but you have to make us a promise,” Celest said.

  Twilight bit her lip. What kind of bargain would they have to make?