Shamrock and Sapphire walked in silence, as they did quite a lot when they were at Unicorn University. They were both thinkers. Shamrock was usually thinking about a book he had just read, and Sapphire was usually dreaming about where she’d like to travel when she got older.
Shamrock thought that perhaps Comet’s surprise would be some sort of baked treat, and he was very much looking forward to it. He was also pleased that he was going to explore the caves sooner than he’d thought he would. Maybe he could go with the flow a little bit more. Maybe.
Shamrock and Sapphire peeled off from Twilight and Comet at the barn and made their way to the beach. On the walk, Shamrock noticed something—or a few somethings—dashing in and out of the grass. He could tell it wasn’t the wind, but the little creatures were too quick to see.
“What’s that in the grass, Sapphire?” he asked.
“They’re ghosts!” Sapphire shouted, making Shamrock almost jump out of his coat. From her shout—not because of “ghosts,” he assured himself.
Sapphire laughed and nudged him with her flank. Shamrock giggled, but he did wonder if he might have been more affected by all this ghost talk than he’d realized.
“No, not really,” Sapphire explained. “They’re sand pixies of course.”
Shamrock nodded. “Oh, I see! We have grass pixies in the mountains, and they make the same sounds. I’ve never been able to see one up close, but I’ve read about them. What about you?”
“Yeah, they’re too quick to see. Hmm. You know, I’ve read about ghosts, too, and now I’ve seen one!”
Shamrock just shook his head. He could see the caves up ahead and raced toward them. Sapphire followed closely behind.
They both paused at the mouth of the cave and stared in wonder at the sparkling rocks. The sun was shining into the cave, making the floor and walls glimmer and shine like diamonds. Shamrock felt like they had found the treasure without the help of any ghost.
6
To Catch a Ghost
After dinner, Shamrock led the way toward the beach. He couldn’t wait to conduct the experiment and prove that his hypothesis was right and the others were wrong. He whistled and swished his tail as he pranced through the grass.
Everyone settled at the spot where Sapphire had first glimpsed the ghost.
“Okay!” Sapphire yelled out in her best organizing voice. “Everyone, get some driftwood for the fire, and pile it here.” She pointed with her horn to the small hole she’d dug in the sand.
When they’d gathered enough wood, Sapphire arranged the pile and made a campfire. Shamrock remembered when she’d learned to do that at school from one of the chefs, Stella. Stella was a dragon and knew tons about fire.
“Shamrock, do you have the sparkling rocks?” Sapphire asked.
He sure did. Shamrock had loved gathering the rocks and was excited to bring them home after all this. Some were huge and white with silver specks, and some were shining gray. A few even had purple streaked through them. He handed the bag to Twilight just before she used her special ability to become invisible. Shamrock, Sapphire, and Comet hid in the tall grasses off to the side. They peered through dark green strands to see Twilight line the rocks up in front of the fire so they would sparkle in the light.
“Beautiful!” Sapphire said with awe.
Everyone nodded as they watched the rocks shimmer. Twilight crept back to the grass and dropped her invisibility.
“Now what?” Comet asked.
“Now we wait,” Sapphire told her, and crouched a little lower behind the grass.
Shamrock looked up to see the many constellations in the sky. It was such a clear night, he didn’t even need a telescope.
“There’s the Big Horn,” he pointed out, looking up to the constellation that looked like a triangle made of big, bright stars.
Comet laughed. “At first I thought you meant the ghost was here.”
Shamrock laughed too. He could understand the mistake.
“Shh, don’t scare the ghost,” Sapphire reminded them.
“This is pretty cool, though. I read all about the constellations over break,” Shamrock said very quietly. “See the tip of the horn? The very brightest star?”
Comet nodded.
“That points north, and unicorns have used it forever to guide their way. There are lots of stories about it.”
“Kind of reminds me of what Uncle Sea Star said earlier,” Twilight whispered. Shamrock didn’t see the connection between ghosts and stars but decided not to say anything. He didn’t want to hurt Twilight’s feelings.
“Guys, focus on the water!” Sapphire whisper-yelled. “We don’t want to miss the Glowing Horn.”
They did focus on the ocean, but still no ghost appeared. Soon their legs were cramped, and they all started fidgeting in the grass.
“Maybe the ghost wasn’t real, after all,” Sapphire said with disappointment.
“Maybe it’s just feeling shy,” Twilight told her. They all knew Twilight understood that feeling.
“Maybe you were right, Shamrock,” Comet sighed. She walked over to the fire and flopped dramatically onto the sand. “All this for nothing!”
“No way! Not for nothing!” Shamrock shouted. He felt like he had taken a big gulp of warm cider, and he was filled with a warm glow from head to toe. He jumped up with glee and raised his horn high into the air as he trotted around the fire. “The experiment proved that I was right! I told you guys all day. I told you! I’m taking a mental picture of this moment right now.”
His glasses had gone askew in his excitement, and he shook his head back to straighten them. Using his special ability, he filed away a memory movie of the moment.
“Well, I still have my surprise!” Comet said, ignoring his speech. She scooted over a large black skillet of cupcakes she had brought and put it by the fire. “Just to warm them up a little,” she explained.
Soon the smell of freshly baked cupcakes filled the air, and it wasn’t just Shamrock who was feeling good. Freshly
