Comet jumped up and hovered a little before landing back down with a thud. “Totally!”
Before she left, Sapphire took out her notebook and inkwell again and rested it on one of the benches. She crossed out “Learn to fly” and beneath it wrote, “Ask an expert.”
6 Questing
On her way to the kitchens, Sapphire saw Shamrock in the Peony Pasture, examining something on the ground underneath the teachers’ tree.
“Curiosity kills the quest.” Sapphire sighed to herself, and headed toward Shamrock.
“What’s up, Shamrock?” Sapphire stopped next to her friend and looked down where he was looking.
Shamrock jumped back in surprise and whipped his long silver mane around so that he could face Sapphire. Which in turn startled Sapphire, and she jumped back too.
After the giggles stopped, Shamrock put his serious face back on. “Okay, but don’t tell anyone,” he said, looking around to make sure they were alone. “I wanted to see the fairy dust for myself, so I came investigating to see if any had leaked out, and sure enough there’s a little pile right here. And it really does look just like powdered sugar!”
Sapphire could barely contain her excitement. A pile of magic right there?! She leaned over carefully and held her breath so as not to blow any away. She couldn’t help but laugh when she realized what it was. “Shamrock! That looks like powdered sugar because it is!”
“No way. It isn’t all sticky like when we used it for the class picture. That was more like paint.”
“That’s because it was mixed up with Twilight’s sweat and, well, tears. This must have fallen off the candied apple Fairy Green was eating.”
Shamrock raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know…,” he began.
So Sapphire licked a little, not too much, in case it really was dust. But sure enough, it was sweet powdered sugar.
“Aw, man,” Shamrock groaned. “I was so excited. I guess since I didn’t get to go to the kitchens that time, I’m—um—not as familiar with the substance.”
Sapphire laughed again. “Well, do you want to go now?” she asked. “Coach Ruby sent me to get a tonic and have a quick look-over to make sure I’m not hurt.”
Shamrock looked up with concern, his bushy eyebrows popping out over his thick glasses. “What happened?”
“Oh, I’ll explain on the way,” Sapphire said.
* * *
Sapphire had just finished her tale when they reached the kitchen.
“Whoa, cool. I can’t wait to see what Stella says. But, Sapphire, I don’t think you need magic. I mean, you already can do everything. You’re the smartest unicorn I know,” Shamrock said.
“That’s very nice,” she said dismissively. “But I’ve started the quest for magic, Shamrock. And I need to finish it.”
That was the type of logic Shamrock could understand, so he nodded supportively.
Looking up at the large, moss-covered building attached to a giant oak tree, Sapphire felt a rush of warmth. She loved the stitched bark walls and the chimney made of smooth, white pebbles. Of all the places at Unicorn U, this was where Sapphire felt most at home.
Sapphire used her glittering horn to knock three times on the huge oak door. Seconds later it swung open to reveal a smiling Stella and Celest.
“We heard you were coming!” boomed Stella, a small green dragon in a bright pink apron. “Coach Ruby sent a message ahead. But I see you stopped to grab a friend?”
Shamrock held his horn up high and gave her his “best student” look. “I’m Shamrock.”
“Of course you are! We’re happy to meet you,” said Celest, a gray speckled unicorn with a curly, gray mane. “Come, come. It’s too nice out for the kitchen,” she said as she pushed Stella out the door. “Let’s have our exam by the stream here. We even have some candied apples, so we can make a little picnic out of it.” Stella held up an overflowing basket as proof.
Sapphire had never had so much fun at a doctor’s appointment. Before long, the four of them were settled on a large blue-checkered picnic blanket. And Sapphire was deemed perfectly healthy.
“So, why were you really jumping off those bleachers, Sapphire?” Stella asked. As a dragon, Stella had a different type of magic and tended to see things that others missed. She could even see Twilight when she was fully invisible.
“Because… well, in order to become an explorer, I need to find my magic,” Sapphire admitted. “Fairy Green said so today.”
“I’ve met a few fairies in my day,” Stella said. “But she is my absolute favorite.” Stella stretched out and leaned against the tree, folding her scaly arms behind her so that her large head could rest on her hands. Her tail and legs were curled up beneath her.
“But what do you mean, find your magic?” Celest asked.
“My magical ability. Shamrock just discovered his yesterday, and now I’m on a quest to find mine.”
Stella and Celest looked at each other, sharing their special thing. It always seemed as if they could communicate with each other without speaking.
“Why don’t we roast some marshmallows?” Celest suggested. “Stella, would you make the fire?”
“Oh! Could you teach me?” Sapphire asked. “That seems like a very important skill for an explorer.”
Stella raised her scaly eyebrows in surprise. “No unicorn has ever asked me before! I’d love to.” She took her claws from behind her head and sat up taller, clearly pleased by her own new adventure.
Shamrock and Sapphire smiled and inched closer to their dragon friend.
“To start, we’ll need wood.” Stella began her lesson. “Celest, could you grab some?”
“Of course,” Celest agreed, disappearing into the house and quickly reappearing with a bundle of wood tied in an old red cloth. She had carried it with her horn and dumped it a few steps away from the picnic blanket.
Stella rumbled over to the wood, then settled herself on her hind legs. Shamrock and Sapphire stood up and circled around.
“Every dragon can simply blow on a bundle of wood and make a fire,” Stella told them. “But it is important that all of us learn to build a fire as well. It teaches us to respect the fire, which we dragons need for everything from food to building to communication. Fire is a very big deal for dragons.”
Sapphire figured it was like water for her family. Everything about her life at home revolved around the ocean.
“Now, there are many ways for dragons to build fires. For example, I have fingers and scales and talons that can spark a flame. But there are hundreds of ways! I know them all.”
Sapphire looked down at her hooves. She wasn’t sure they would be very helpful.
“But there seems to be only one way a unicorn can build a fire without help,” Celest joined in. “After all, we never used fire before the dragons showed us how. And we only really use it for cooking. In the north the long-haired unicorns use it for warmth only on the coldest days.”
Shamrock and Sapphire nodded in unison. All the unicorns knew that their stoves were built by dragons, and designed so that the unicorns only needed to turn a little knob and—poof!—fire. And if they didn’t have a stove, unicorns would use a special dragon-designed device that would turn sunlight into fire if held the right way.
“I’d love to go up north,” Sapphire said. “I’ve never met a long-haired unicorn before. I wonder what their schools look like.”
“I’m sure you’ll see for yourself someday,” Celest told her.
Stella took up the lesson. “For a unicorn to make a fire, you must have one rock the size of your hoof or bigger.”
Celest demonstrated, knocking a big rock in front of her.
Sapphire smiled, watching the two of them. Celest and Stella seemed like one creature, half unicorn, half dragon. They wove their words and actions together like they were each one half of a whole.
“Then,” Stella continued, “strike the rock with your horn in a curved motion so that a spark appears. We dragons do this with one of o
ur claws.”
Sapphire and Shamrock hurried to find their own rocks, eager to try to make a spark. Sapphire looked around for the perfect one. She figured it should have a flat side to rest on, so it didn’t tip over went she struck it with her horn. After a bit of searching, she found exactly what she was looking for.
Celest demonstrated, and a spark appeared just as Stella had described. Sapphire and Shamrock tried to follow but only found themselves making terrible scraping noises against their own rocks.
Wincing at the noise, Celest offered some advice. “Try to make a C with your horn, and hit the rock at the very end of the curve.”
This made perfect sense to Sapphire, and she did just that. She was pleased to see a little spark appear in front of her. Shamrock didn’t manage to create a spark, but he cheered along with Stella and Celest at Sapphire’s success.
“Incredible, Sapphire!” Stella said, pleased with her new student. “I’ve never seen a unicorn pick that up so quickly. Now you’ll need to gather some dried leaves from the ground, and some very small sticks. Add these to the pile of wood. I’ve already arranged the wood in the perfect pile, but that’s a lesson for another day.”
Sapphire gathered the required materials while Shamrock continued to work on his spark.
Once everything was put together, Stella continued the lesson. “Okay, now position your rock so the spark will meet with one of the dried materials and then the fire will catch.”
Sapphire created a few sparks, and a small fire appeared in front of her. She was so happy, which made her think of Comet’s doughnut story. She felt lighter than air.
The little group cheered again. “I am very impressed, Sapphire,” Stella said. “You would fit right in with the dragons.”
Sapphire grinned. She imagined herself surrounded by dragons, listening to them tell stories around a bonfire.
“Well done! It took me weeks to do it, really,” Celest added.
“Thank you for teaching me, Stella and Celest,” Sapphire said. “I have to admit, I feel kind of proud of myself.”
Smiling, Sapphire took out her notebook and ink, and instead of crossing out “Ask an expert,” she put a little check mark next to it. They may not have figured out her a magical ability, but she had learned something new.
7 Down to Earth
She and Shamrock had science next and, after saying good-bye to Stella and Celest, headed to the Science Stables.
“I was thinking the Science Stables could inspire an earth element ability,” Sapphire was saying.
“Well, you know, I think my photographic memory is related to the earth element. When I look at my memories, they all feel connected to living things, if that makes sense,” Shamrock said.
“Actually, it does.” Sapphire said, her investigator brain turning on. “How does the picture look when you see it? It is like a photograph? Or a painting?”
Shamrock thought about it. “It’s like a photograph in the middle of the memory and a painting on the sides. Like, when I was looking for the basket of flowers, the flowers were a photograph but the surrounding details were more like a painting. I think it depends on what I’m focusing on. But the basket wasn’t really clear. The flowers were much more clear. I think because they’re rooted in the earth, you know?”
Sapphire nodded. “Totally.” She and Shamrock were always able to understand each other. They just had the same logical brains. And before, they’d also been the only ones without a magical ability. Sapphire was happy for her friend, but she couldn’t help feeling a little lonely and a little jealous. Those were new feelings for her, and she didn’t like them. They felt sticky and uncomfortable. But it was like stepping into quicksand. She didn’t know how to shake them off.
* * *
Professor Sherbet had just sent the science class to start working on their projects when she spotted Sapphire and Shamrock walking toward the greenhouses. “Hi, you two!” she called.
“Stella and Celest sent word that you guys were on your way. Sounds like you had an extra lesson today.” Professor Sherbet smiled at them.
The two students nodded. “Sapphire learned how to make fire,” Shamrock said. “I’m still figuring it out.”
Sapphire wasn’t paying attention. She was staring hard at the plants in front of her, biting her bottom lip the way she always did when hatching a plan.
“Sapphire? Hello?” Professor Sherbet waved her horn, gently shaking the moss crown on her head.
Sapphire was shaken out of her thoughts. “Sorry, Professor. I’ve been on a quest today. Would it be okay if Shamrock and I did a separate project right now? I have a burning question.”
Professor Sherbet never could say no to a burning question. Like all the first years, Sapphire knew that the professor valued curiosity above all other things. The professor laughed, knowing too that all her students had learned how to pull at her heartstrings. “Oh, go ahead, you two. But I would like a full report of this quest at the end of the day, Sapphire.”
* * *
Sapphire and Shamrock headed out of the greenhouse. She was feeling hopeful again.
“Don’t you want to look at all the cools plants in there?” Shamrock asked.
Sapphire explained, “Remember Peppermint’s story about waking up with her mother’s knitting wrapped around her because she’d wanted a blanket?”
Shamrock nodded.
“And you developed your ability when Twilight, your friend, was in trouble.”
“But I’m not sure where you’re going with all this,” he admitted.
“As unicorns, we are all connected to the earth. I mean, most of us have to walk on it, after all,” Sapphire said. “So I think the earth element, for us anyway, has to do with what’s familiar.”
Shamrock nodded but his eyebrows were scrunched up, like he didn’t quite get it.
“Well remember how I’m learning to weave new nets for Mom? She harvests seaweed and it feels like we’re always having to repair the nets. I’ve been studying the books Mr. Jazz found on the strongest thread and weaving techniques and I started practicing the new weave with ivy and bark. I’m making them for my family so they’re personal, and I was thinking maybe they could inspire some magic!”
Shamrock was now nodding in his usual enthusiastic way. “Sapphire, I think this is an important scientific discovery!”
With that, the two set off for the Silver Lining Stables at a friendly canter. Fast enough to get there quickly but slow enough to talk.
“What were you thinking about on the way to the Science Stables?” Sapphire asked. “Obviously you have something on your mind.”
“I was actually thinking about that picture day,” Shamrock said with a laugh. “I was using my ability to see it again. All that powdered sugar falling onto Twilight like snow. Comet a blur flying above her with that giant bag. It looked like a cloud. It was so fun to relive it all. And you were right, it wasn’t sticky at all.”
Sapphire cocked her head in confusion. Shamrock hadn’t been at the bottom of the hill that day. She and Shamrock had helped Comet carry the bag of powdered sugar before she’d run up the hill with it to get her flying start. Twilight had described it in great detail, of course. But they hadn’t actually seen the powdered sugar fall. Sapphire wanted to ask Shamrock questions, but before she had a chance, they saw Comet and Twilight racing toward them.
8 An Emergency
Comet and Twilight looked totally panicked as they rushed up them. Twilight’s hooves were shimmering in and out of invisibility, and Comet was hovering over the ground.
“What’s wrong?” Sapphire and Shamrock asked in unison. But no one laughed at the coincidence.
Instead Twilight squeaked, “Headmaster Starblaze has called for an emergency meeting on the Looping Lawn.”
“Professor Sherbet told us you guys were doing a special project and to come get you right away,” Comet explained.
“It’s something to do with Fairy Green,” Twilight added, her voice ful
l of worry.
With that, the four unicorns cantered as fast as they could toward the Looping Lawn. Had something happened to their honored guest?
They arrived to see the whole campus gathered together in front of the large oak trees. Fairy Green’s welcome banner still hung between them, making the whole thing seem sadder.
The teachers all flanked the headmaster, and Sapphire looked up to find Fairy Green perched atop Professor Sherbet’s head, leaning back against her horn. She looked at home surround by the moss wreath, but her face was contorted with worry. Sapphire felt like something was missing, but what was it?
Headmaster Starblaze cleared his throat, and the whole university quieted down. “As most of you know,” he began in his booming voice, “Unicorn U has had the great honor of hosting Fairy Green today.” He paused and nodded toward the fairy, who bowed her small head in return.
“But a grave thing has happened during her time here,” the headmaster continued. “Her basket of fairy dust has gone missing.”
Sapphire felt tears well up. That basket was Fairy Green’s most valuable possession. How would she get home without it? How would she travel? Sapphire wanted to help but didn’t know how. What can a first-year unicorn with no magic do? Meanwhile, the school had erupted with chatter:
“Has someone taken it?”
“Where could it be?”
“I just saw her with it hours ago!”
“Who would’ve done such a thing?”
The headmaster stomped his front legs with such force that it felt as if the ground shook beneath them. The students immediately quieted.
“This fairy dust is not of use to unicorns, but it is of serious importance to fairies. Without this basket, Fairy Green will not be able to attend the annual Fairy Gathering, the most important day of the fairies’ year. If anyone knows anything about this basket’s whereabouts, please see one of your professors immediately. In the meantime, I have formed a search party of teachers. All students are to stay here on the lawn or in the Silver Lining Stables until the dinner bell. Classes have been canceled.”
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