Magic Ponies: A Special Wish (2 page)

‘I think he should be hearing by the end of the day,’ her mum replied.

‘Great! We can start looking at ponies for sale. It’s Friday today, so we’ve got the whole weekend,’ Marcie said excitedly. But then she sighed as she thought about her best friend who had recently moved away. ‘I wish Lara was still here. She had loads of pony magazines. We could have looked through them to help me decide what sort of pony I want.’

‘You’re really missing her, aren’t you? It’s a shame she had to move so far away. But you both promised to keep in touch by phone and email, didn’t you? And Lara can always come to stay in the school holidays,’ Mrs Locket added.

Marcie knew her mum was right, but at that moment it didn’t make her feel much better.

It wasn’t going to be the same without her best friend living just around the corner. Marcie and Lara had known each other since they were in Reception class and had always sat together as they moved up the school. They used to spend every weekend together, taking it in turns to ride Lara’s pony, Tramp.

‘Lara’s bound to forget all about me,’ Marcie said glumly. ‘She’ll be busy making friends and riding ponies with them.’

‘I’m sure she’ll remember her old friends too,’ her mum chided gently. ‘And don’t forget, there’ll be a brand-new reason why Lara will be delighted to come and visit.’

‘Oh yeah! My new pony!’ Marcie exclaimed, starting to cheer up a bit again. ‘Lara will want to know everything about it and she’ll be dying to ride it.’

As they drove through the busy streets, Marcie let her thoughts wander, picturing ponies of every breed and colour imaginable. There were so many gorgeous ones out there. Where would they buy hers from? What was she going to call him or her?

They reached the school and Mum dropped her at the gates. Marcie gave her a kiss and waved as she drove away.

Marcie wandered into school in a daze – all she could think about was her new pony!

When she got to her usual desk by the window, she found Jessica Evans already sitting there. Jessica looked up and smiled as Marcie sat down. ‘Hi, Marcie. Miss told me to sit here. I’m your new desk-buddy!’

Marcie smiled. ‘Um… hi, Jessica. Fine by me.’ She didn’t mind Jessica at all but no one could ever replace Lara.

As the rest of the class filed in and took their seats, Jessica began telling Marcie about the new computer game she’d had for her birthday.

‘It’s got a brilliant console. I was playing games with my brother all last night and I got a really high score! He was dead jealous. What did you do?’ she asked.

‘I put a bits ’n’ bridles poster up in my bedroom. It’s got all the different types, like snaffle bits and flash nosebands,’ Marcie began enthusiastically. ‘I’m getting a pony of my own really soon, so I’m thinking about getting new tack for it…’ She stopped as she noticed a glazed expression settle on Jessica’s face.

‘I just don’t get ponies and riding at all,’ Jessica commented. ‘I mean, what’s the big deal about galloping through muddy fields and stuff and getting freezing cold? Then you have to get up early to clean out pongy old messy stables and build muck heaps, don’t you?’

‘Well, yes,’ Marcie admitted. ‘But I like the smell of horses and there’s other stuff to do that’s lots of fun. It’s all part of looking after your pony.’

Jessica widened her eyes incredulously. ‘Fun? I’d rather hang upside down in custard. I’ll stick to my computer games, thanks.’

‘Right.’ Marcie didn’t know quite what else to say. A small wave of loneliness washed over her and she realized that she was missing Lara more than ever.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever and Marcie was relieved when the bell went for the end of lessons. The moment Miss Slater dismissed the class she grabbed her school bag and raced outside to meet her mum.

‘Did Dad text you?’ she asked eagerly as they drove home.

Mrs Locket shook her head. ‘There’s no news yet. You’ll have to be patient for once. Although I know that’s not your strong point!’ she said, laughing.

Marcie grinned. ‘Impatient? Me?!’

When they got home, Marcie skipped upstairs to change out of her school clothes. She was just doing up her jeans, when she heard the front door. Her dad was home! Dashing out of her room, she shot back down the stairs, two steps at a time.

‘Hi, Dad!’ Marcie sang, looking up at him excitedly. She stopped; why did he have such a serious look on his face? Today was a good day for all of them!

‘Hello, love.’ Mr Locket hung up his jacket and then ran his fingers through his short brown hair. ‘Where’s your mum?’

‘Um… in the kitchen making supper, I think,’ Marcie said, starting to feel that something was wrong.

She went and stood next to her mum as Dad sat down at the table and began speaking. ‘I’m afraid it’s bad news. We were all called into a meeting late this afternoon, and told that the company’s closing down,’ he explained. ‘I’m going to have to find another job. And to be honest, as things are at the moment, that could take some time.’

‘Oh dear. That’s quite a shock.’ Mrs Locket sank on to a kitchen chair next to her husband and took his hand. ‘Well, we’ll manage. We’ll just have to make cutbacks,’ she decided firmly.

Marcie’s heart sank. Something as expensive as a pony would definitely be one of the cutbacks her mum was talking about. But she bit her lip as she looked at Dad. He seemed pale and tense, although he was trying hard to put on a brave face. She felt really bad for him.

Marcie went and gave both of her parents a hug. ‘I’m really sorry about your job, Dad. And I can wait a bit longer for my pony.’

‘Thanks, love. That’s my grown-up girl.’ Her dad hugged her back and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘And don’t you worry. You mum and I will work this out.’

Marcie nodded. She could tell that they had lots to talk about. ‘I think I’ll… um… go and sit in the garden… or something,’ she said.

Her mum nodded absently.

Marcie went outside and trudged down to the paddock. She sighed as she thought that it could be empty for quite a while. If only Lara was here. Marcie could have gone over to her house for a long comforting talk.

Suddenly, there was a movement from over near the old shed.

Marcie’s eyes widened in surprise as a dapple-grey pony with a darker grey mane and tail appeared from behind it and began walking towards her.

‘Can you help me, please?’ it asked in a velvety neigh.

Chapter
TWO

‘Oh!’ Marcie did a double take.

She swallowed hard as she gazed at the pony in utter astonishment. What was going on? Had her mum and dad bought it as a surprise?

But how could they have done, when her dad had just lost his job?

Marcie couldn’t work out why there was a pony in her paddock. And her imagination was obviously working overtime, because she’d just imagined that it had spoken to her!

As the pony leaned forward, Marcie reached a hand towards it. It had a short elegant head with a slightly dished nose and unusually large eyes. They were a stunning deep violet colour and glowed like amethysts.

She had never seen or heard of any pony with eyes like that before.

‘Hello,’ she breathed softly, letting it snuffle her to get her scent. ‘You’re absolutely gorgeous. You look like a Connemara pony. But however did you get in here?’

‘I have just arrived from far away. My name is Comet of the Lightning Herd. What is yours?’ asked the pony.

Marcie dropped her hand in shock and took two paces backwards. This pony really
had
just spoken to her. This couldn’t be happening! Talking ponies only existed in fairy tales!

But the beautiful pony twitched his ears forward and stood looking at her calmly as if waiting for a reply to his question.

‘I’m Marcie,’ she gulped when she could speak again. ‘Marcie Locket. I live here with my parents.’

Comet dipped his head in a bow. ‘I am honoured to meet you, Marcie,’ he said politely.

‘Um… me too,’ Marcie blurted out. She recalled something the pony had just said. ‘What’s… the Lightning Herd?’

‘We are a family of horses who live on Rainbow Mist Island,’ Comet told her proudly. ‘Our leader is wise and strong. He is called Blaze. A Stone of Power protects our herd from the dark horses who would like to steal our magic.’

Marcie listened hard, still having trouble taking all this in.

‘So why are you
here
?’ she asked him.

Comet gave a soft blow. ‘My twin sister, Destiny, lost the Stone of Power when we were cloud-racing. I found it and it is safe again, but Destiny does not know this. She thought she was in terrible trouble for losing the stone, so she ran away to hide in your world. I have come here to look for her.’

Marcie’s curiosity seemed to be getting the better of her shock. ‘You and your twin sister were
cloud-racing
? But how…’

Comet backed away from the fence. ‘I will show you. Stay there,’ he neighed gently.

Marcie felt a strange warm tingling sensation flow to the very tips of her fingers as violet sparkles bloomed in Comet’s dapple-grey coat and a veil of shimmering rainbow mist surrounded him.

The grey pony disappeared and in its place stood a magnificent young cream-coloured pony, with a flowing gold mane and tail. Springing from his shoulders were powerful wings, covered with gleaming golden feathers.