Sapphire's Special Power

by Daisy Sunshine

  The professors gathered their classes together, doing their best to quiet the gossip and questions. With Fairy Green still perched on top of her head, Professor Sherbet led her students to a tree and asked her class to please wait quietly there while she and Fairy Green checked in with the headmaster. Somehow, Fairy Green seemed to have shrunk with sadness. The class did as they were told. They felt very protective of their fairy guest, and wanted to make her life easier.

  But when the adults walked away, a discussion soon started up again.

  “We need to do something!” Firefly shouted.

  “Of course, but what can a bunch of first years do?” Peppermint asked.

  “Well, remember what Flash said earlier today?” Storm asked. “We’re the best first years she’s seen. We have the best abilities, remember?”

  Most of the class nodded in agreement, but some still argued that they should do as they were told.

  Now Sapphire really felt she had nothing to offer Fairy Green or her classmates. It was clear the students with magical abilities were going to save the day, and she still hadn’t found her magic. I should get on with my quest, she thought. Even if it was feeling less and less like she would ever find what she was looking for.

  9 Hatching a Plan

  Sapphire! Come back!”

  Sapphire turned to see her fellow students waving their horns her way. She sighed. They probably just feel bad for me.

  Sapphire trotted back over to tell them not to worry about her, but her classmates didn’t give her the chance.

  “Um, where are you going?” Peppermint whined with a spectacular mane flip.

  Sapphire took a deep breath and said, “Well, it’s clear you don’t need me, so—”

  “Excuse me!” Comet said, floating slightly up from the ground. “You have been interrupting me all day, but I am going to say what I, and everyone else has been trying to say. We absolutely do need you. You’re the glue!”

  Sapphire rolled her eyes. She was sick of everyone trying to make her feel better. It actually made her angry. She just couldn’t take it anymore.

  Hot tears welled up as she yelled, “Ugh! You guys obviously do not need me. I have NO magic. I can’t fly around campus and look for the basket from the air, like you, Comet. I can’t listen in on conversations to see if anyone really did take the basket, like you can, Twilight. I can’t call the wind to sweep back the long grass and see if it’s hidden in there, like you can, Storm. And I definitely can’t take down everyone’s memories from the day and use my ability to see when the basket went missing, like you can, Shamrock!” Sapphire finished her rant. She was panting now. All her angry energy had been expelled, like she’d let out all the air from a balloon and was just deflated. She needed a nap. But when she looked up at her classmates, she saw them all smiling at her. “What?” she snapped. Had they not heard her?

  It was Twilight who was brave enough to come closer to the fuming Sapphire. “Well, it seems like you might have a plan for how to save the day. Want to walk us through it? Um, perhaps a bit more calmly and slowly this time?” Twilight smiled and, so only Sapphire could see, winked.

  It took Sapphire a minute to work out what Twilight meant. “Well, let’s start with Shamrock,” she said, a little hesitantly.

  “Yeah, what in the kingdoms were you talking about?” he asked.

  “Well, I think you might be able to patch together memories that aren’t yours into your… What did you call it? Memory movie?”

  Shamrock nodded.

  “Okay, well, I was thinking of when you told me about reliving the time when Comet poured powdered sugar all over Twilight. You actually didn’t see that, remember? We were on the other side of the hill. But Twilight told us about it. I think you were able to access her memory when she shared it somehow, and add it to the movie.”

  It was like the class was watching a hoofball match. As soon as Sapphire stopped talking, they all turned to Shamrock at once, wondering if it was true.

  Shamrock’s glasses shook up and down his nose as he nodded, taking in what she was saying. “Oh my glitter, you’re right! And if enough unicorns tell me exactly when and where they saw Fairy Green, I should be able to put together a mental movie of the day!”

  It seemed both sides had won this match, as the whole class cheered together. Everyone gathered in a line, eager to share their stories with Shamrock.

  When the class had finished, Shamrock closed his eyes. Breathing in and out, he took his time putting the memories together. Finally he opened his eyes to look at everyone. But he had a heavy frown, and his eyebrows were pushed low enough to be entirely hidden by his glasses. It didn’t seem as if he had succeeded.

  Sapphire, who was starting to feel like her old self again, walked over with confidence. “Think about the earth,” she suggested. “Think about the trees and flowers and grass included in their memories. Think painting, not movie.”

  Shamrock smiled at her, and closed his eyes again. The class waited silently for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes. Then Shamrock opened his eyes. This time triumph was shining through.

  “Okay,” Shamrock said. “It seems that no one has seen the basket since Fairy Green flew over the Spotlight Flowers. That was when she was also carrying a bunch of baskets from Stella and Celest, so it would make sense if she didn’t notice one of them drop.”

  Sapphire smiled, picking up where he was going. “And since Spotlight Flowers close whenever someone is near, they may have closed up right over the basket.”

  The class cheered again. They’d figured it out!

  “Um, excuse me!” Peppermint called out. “Does no one else see the problem? The Spotlight Garden is humungous. How is Twilight supposed to search the area all by herself? And I’m pretty sure she’s the only invisible unicorn in the whole school.”

  “Actually, I have a plan for that,” Sapphire said. She grinned, and her friends noticed that the sparkle in her eye was back. And it might just have been bigger than ever.

  10 A Search Party

  Sapphire, Comet, Twilight, and Shamrock got ready for their new quest. Students were supposed to be staying on the Looping Lawn, so this was going to have to be a covert mission. A herd of first years was not going to go unnoticed.

  Before the group left, Peppermint wove a long length of ivy around Comet’s waist. She even wove some flowers through it, making it almost as beautiful as her welcome banner. “What?” Peppermint asked when she saw Sapphire’s face. “Just because it’s practical doesn’t mean it has to be boring.”

  Sapphire just shrugged.

  When everyone was ready, Sapphire gave Storm the signal—two stomps and a whinny.

  Storm called up a wicked wind and whipped it into a small tornado. The spiral wiggled through the lawn, drawing everyone’s attention. Just like it was supposed to.

  Sapphire and her rescue team made their escape. Keeping off the main paths, and sticking to the woods, they made their way to the Spotlight Garden.

  * * *

  “Okay, Fairy Green was seen flying into the Spotlight Garden from this side, so I think we should start here. She was next seen at the Science Stables, so head in that direction, Twilight,” Shamrock told her.

  Sapphire handed Twilight one end of the ivy. The other was still tied around Comet’s waist. “Hold this in your mouth, Twilight, and be careful not to let it touch the ground.”

  “Okay,” Twilight said, looking nervous about the important part she had to play.

  “You can totally do this,” Sapphire assured her.

  Twilight smiled at Sapphire before she closed her eyes, and soon enough she disappeared from view. Even though they’d seen it a million times by now, her friends were always astounded at how good she was at disappearing. She was really starting to master this ability. A long way from the first day, Sapphire thought.

  “Here I go,” invisible Twilight told them, her voice muffled by the ivy rope.

  “Then I guess that’s my cue,”
Comet said. She was already floating in excitement, so she just pedaled her legs as if she were swimming in air, and rose higher. Soon she was well above the other unicorns’ heads.

  “Comet! Stop pedaling. Let Twilight pull you. Just focus on finding the basket!” Sapphire reminded her.

  “Right-o, Captain!” Comet yelled from above, and she did start searching below.

  Sapphire and Shamrock waited nervously, both wiggling in anticipation, until finally Comet called, “Twilight! Twilight! Turn around and walk three steps back. There’s the basket!”

  And just moments later, Fairy Green’s bark basket was floating over the Spotlight Flowers as Comet flew above.

  “You know, it’s really quite something to see the world from up here,” Comet called down to them all.

  11 The Fairy Good Return

  The students on the Looping Lawn greeted the four friends with big cheers. Some older students even started the chant “Best first years ever!”

  But the teachers did not seem to be in the same mood. Even Professor Sherbet looked disappointed. “You should not have done that on your own,” she told them in a very serious voice. “You should always tell a teacher.”

  “Your teacher is right. It is important to listen to your elders,” Fairy Green added, still sitting on Professor Sherbet’s head.

  All at once Sapphire, Shamrock, Twilight, and Comet started talking.

  “It was all in the name of the school,” Shamrock tried to argue.

  “Please don’t be angry! Please, please, please!” Comet pleaded.

  Twilight mumbled something no one could understand.

  It was Sapphire who stepped forward calmly. “It was my idea, Professor,” she said with her head held high. Her heart was beating wildly and she wanted to bite her lip. But she willed herself to stand up for their plan, and protect her friends. She looked first into the eyes of Professor Sherbet. “It was my plan, Professor, the whole thing.” Then, though it felt as if her body were frozen in fear, she turned toward the headmaster. “None of the other students should be punished. I convinced them to do it.” And finally, even though it now felt as if Storm had sent icy rain to keep her from looking up, Sapphire made herself look into Fairy Green’s eyes to say, “I think your class today may have changed my whole life. And I didn’t want you to think badly about our school. And I didn’t want you to miss the gathering. So I don’t regret what we did. I’m happy you have your basket again.”

  Fairy Green and Professor Sherbet smiled at Sapphire with such warmth that they made her feel like they’d asked the sun to melt all that ice away and fill her up with sunshine.

  But the headmaster did not seem at all moved by her words. “Please come to my office, Sapphire.” He turned without even looking to make sure she followed him.

  “After you speak with your headmaster,” Fairy Green told her, “I do hope we can have a chance to talk before I leave.”

  Sapphire could only stare in wonder at such an opportunity. If she had to get through a lecture to talk to Fairy Green, she would. That gave her all the bravery she needed. With a deep breath, Sapphire squared her shoulders and followed the headmaster.

  The headmaster’s office was not the scary place she’d expected. She didn’t know what exactly she had expected, but it wasn’t this cozy room. There wasn’t even a desk! Just a large rug and a fireplace. The walls were lined with book hooks and paintings of all different sizes and in all different styles of art. The books too seemed to be a mix of things. There were fantasy stories and textbooks, dictionaries and thrillers. Who is this unicorn? Sapphire wondered.

  “Are you ready now?”

  Sapphire jumped back a little. She hadn’t realized how long she’d been staring at his things. “Oh, um, yes, Headmaster, sir,” she said as confidently as she could manage.

  Headmaster Starblaze surprised her even further by chuckling softly. “Now, now, you’re not in trouble, Sapphire. In fact, I would like to thank you.”

  “But, Headmaster. Before—it seemed, well, like you were going to expel me.”

  “You did break the rules. You and your fellow first years will have to receive some sort of punishment. I’ll think on that. But for now I’d like to offer my thanks. Your search party proved much more successful than mine. And I do believe you have helped the five kingdoms because of it.”

  “Well, thank you, sir,” Sapphire said, feeling about a million times better. She wanted to tell him it was all because of her classmates’ abilities, but she didn’t want to get them in any more trouble. Plus, she was beginning to realize that she’d played a big part in finding the basket. Perhaps the biggest of all.

  “Okay, that is all. You may rejoin your friends, Sapphire.”

  Sapphire turned to go, but, curiosity getting the best of her, she turned back around and asked, “Headmaster, what’s your ability?”

  The headmaster looked taken aback. “No one has ever asked me before,” he said.

  Sapphire laughed. He was the third person to say that to her that day.

  “Well, since no one knows, all the students think it must be something very impressive. Or terrible.”

  The headmaster threw back his head and laughed so hard, the picture frames shook on the walls. When he finally stopped, he said, “I don’t have an ability, Sapphire. It’s just me.”

  “You know what? I don’t think I have one either,” Sapphire admitted, and she turned around and left the office. She skipped all the way out, feeling lighter than air.

  * * *

  Before she got back to the Looping Lawn, Sapphire saw Fairy Green flying her way. The fairy had her basket securely over her shoulder and was carrying a tiny suitcase. “Sapphire!” she called out.

  Sapphire went over to her. The dancing beans from earlier felt like they had found their way back to her hooves. She skidded to a stop in front of the fairy, catching herself from falling just in time.

  “I wanted to clarify my answer from this morning, Sapphire,” Fairy Green said.

  Sapphire hadn’t been expecting that. She could only blink in surprise.

  “I want you to know that you have magic, Sapphire. And certainly enough to travel the five kingdoms. Magic comes in so many forms. Sometimes as dust. Sometimes as flashy unicorn abilities. And sometimes it comes in the form of leadership, curiosity, or a good heart. And you have all three of those.”

  Sapphire was speechless. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever said. “Uh—thank you, Fairy Green,” she finally managed.

  “Oh, and that’s the other thing. My real name is ‘Juniper.’ Now that you know it, you can call on me and I’ll hear it wherever I am. If you ever need me, just say my name and I’ll find you.”

  “Thank you very much, Juniper. I am honored,” Sapphire said, tears of pride brimming in her eyes.

  And with that, Juniper sprinkled some fairy dust and disappeared with a pop.

  Sapphire looked up to see her friends waving from up on the hill. Looking at them, she realized that it wasn’t their abilities that made them special. Not at all. They were magical because of the unicorns they were. Sapphire took out her notebook and wrote “Magic found” and underlined it.

  Smiling, she galloped over to her friends and wondered what kind of adventure they were going to go on next.

  More from this Series

  Shamrock's Seaside…

  Book 3

  Twilight, Say Cheese!

  Book 1

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Daisy Sunshine writes books and dreams of unicorns by the sea in Santa Cruz, California.

  Monique Dong is an illustrator whose passion is creating images that encompass light, life, warmth, and color. She had her start in animation before making the jump into the world of illustration. She lives in South Africa with her husband and two very busy little boys, Felix and Bailey.

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  Also by Daisy Sunshine

  Twilight, Say Cheese!

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  First Aladdin paperback edition February 2021

  Text copyright © 2021 by Simon & Schuster

  Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Monique Dong

  Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.

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