Winter Wonderland #5 (3 page)

“Oh!” she gasped in wonderment as she gazed at the magnificent sight. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. “Comet?”

“Yes, it is still me, Preeti. Do not be alarmed,” Comet said in a deep velvety neigh.

Before Preeti had time to get used to seeing Comet in his true form, there was another burst of violet sparkles, and the multicolored mist dissolved into shimmering dust, revealing the sturdy gray-brown pony once more.

“Wow! That’s an amazing disguise. Can Destiny make herself look like you?”

Comet nodded, his tail twitching. “But no disguise will help her if the dark horses find her. She has been far away from the Stone of Power for so long that they are
able to see through her magic. I must look for my sister. Will you help me?”

“Of course I will,” Preeti said at once, not thinking how difficult that could be.

She suddenly remembered the news announcement about how the weather had brought everything to a standstill. It had been bad enough making her way through the deep snow to get to the barn. Tramping through it for hours in search of a lost pony would be impossible.

She told Comet her worries. “The snow’s really thick outside, and it’s very hard to walk in it. Maybe I could ask Mom and Dad to help—” she began.

“No! I am sorry, but you cannot tell anyone about me or what I have told you,” Comet snorted, his eyes serious. “You must promise me, Preeti.”

Preeti chewed her bottom lip. She felt disappointed that she couldn’t tell her parents about the amazing pony. She was sure they would have kept his secret—even if Viren definitely wouldn’t have been able to! But Comet was looking at her with a mixture of complete trust and confidence, and she found herself nodding.

“All right then,” she said hesitantly, prepared to agree if it would keep Comet and Destiny safe from their enemies.

“Thank you for keeping my secret.” Comet gave a soft blow and reached forward to gently nuzzle her coat sleeve. “And do not worry. I have my magic to help us when we search for Destiny.”

“That’s . . . um, okay then,” Preeti said, intrigued. She couldn’t imagine
what sort of “help” he meant, but she guessed it was going to be something really unusual.

As she reached up to stroke his satiny cheek, a proud smile spread across her face. A magic pony had chosen her to be his friend. How amazing was that?

Comet’s ears swiveled, and he turned his head toward the door. At the same time, Preeti heard a noise behind her. She spun around to see her little brother
brushing snow off his coat as he stepped into the barn.

Catching sight of Preeti and Comet, Viren froze.

“Where did that pony come from?” he gasped, his big brown eyes like saucers.

Preeti racked her brains as she tried to come up with something. What could she say to Viren? How could she explain Comet’s presence?

“I found Comet in . . . um . . . the garden,” she began. “He must have wandered in . . . from that empty field next to the road or something,” she went on, gaining confidence as she remembered
that ponies were sometimes tethered there. “Comet looked cold and hungry, so I decided to bring him into the barn.”

“He was pretty clever to come here, wasn’t he?” Viren went up to Comet and stroked his nose. “Poor thing. I bet you couldn’t get to the grass, because of all the snow.” He turned back to Preeti. “How come you know his name?”

“I don’t,” Preeti fibbed. “I called him Comet because . . . I’ve . . . um, always liked that name.”

“I like it, too. It suits him,” Viren decided. “Comet can stay here, can’t he? It’s nice and warm, and we can feed him straw and stuff.”

“Ponies eat hay. Straw’s just for their beds—” Preeti started explaining when Comet neighed eagerly.

“I would like to live in here, very much. It is a safe place.” He pricked his ears as he swept the barn with keen eyes.

Preeti did a double take. What was Comet doing? He had just given himself away in front of Viren!

But her little brother appeared not to have noticed anything odd. It was very strange.

Trying to gather her wits, she said, “Well—I don’t suppose anyone’s going to come looking for Comet until the roads are clear. And he does need somewhere to shelter from the—”

“So we
can
keep him? Cool!” Viren interrupted. “Great! I’ll go and tell Mom and Dad and Grandma. I’m going to get a brush so I can groom him. We’ve got a pet pony! We’ve got a pet pony!” he chanted in an annoying singsong voice, jumping around.

Before Preeti could protest that Comet was actually
her
friend and that he definitely wasn’t anyone’s pet, especially not Viren’s, her little brother had slipped outside. She went to the door and saw him scuttling back to the house through the tracks she’d made earlier.

“I’m going to tell everyone about Comet. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!” he shouted over his shoulder to her.

Preeti gave a sigh and tried not to feel too disappointed. She’d been really excited about doing that herself. Even if she could only say that Comet was a normal pony who had turned up looking for food and shelter.

She turned back to the magic pony. “Now that Viren’s decided that you belong to both of us, we’ll never get rid of him. He’ll be trailing around with us all the time.”

“Viren seems like a nice little boy,” Comet neighed.

“But he can be a real pest,” Preeti said, shaking her head slowly. “Everyone lets
him do whatever he wants. So he’s totally spoiled.” But something else was bothering her. “How come he didn’t seem to hear you speak to me just now?”

Comet wrinkled his lips in amusement. “I used my magic so that only you will be able to see and hear me. To anyone else, I will seem like a normal pony.”

“Really?” Preeti felt herself cheering up. Viren might have laid claim to Comet, but only she had been trusted with her new friend’s wonderful secret!

“Comet had better live in our barn until the weather breaks and we can find out who owns him,” Mrs. Nimesh was saying as Preeti came back into the house. “I know it’s not an ideal stable, but it’ll only be for a short time.” She smiled at her
daughter. “It looks like you have a pony to take care of, after all, Preeti!”

“Yay! Isn’t it great?” Preeti felt her grin stretch from ear to ear.

“And I do, too. Comet’s half mine!” Viren insisted.

Preeti wisely kept silent.

Her mom went to make a quick phone call to the local pet center and leave their address and phone number, in case Comet’s owner turned up.

Preeti was totally confident that no one was going to claim her secret magical friend.

“We’re keeping the pony. We’re keeping the pony!” Viren pretended to be riding around the kitchen. Clicking his tongue, he made clopping noises as he galloped out of the kitchen and thudded up the stairs.

Preeti decided to go back down to the barn to tell Comet the good news about him being allowed to stay. Besides, she wanted to settle him in properly. She was halfway there when she heard a familiar voice.

“Wait for me! I’m coming, too. I want to help!” Viren insisted.

“Okay, then, but you have to do as I say,” she told him.

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’m older and I know how to look after ponies,” Preeti said firmly. “Deal?”

Viren groaned, but when he saw that she was serious, he shrugged. “Deal.”

Comet looked up as they came in. “Greetings, Preeti. Greetings, Viren,” he snorted.

“Hi, Comet!” Viren sang out, rushing straight over to stroke him.

Preeti smiled at Comet. “We’ve come to make you a comfortable stable.”

She showed Viren how to spread a thick layer of straw to make a cozy bed.

“Easy-peasy!” He gathered armfuls of straw, but he dropped more than half of it and left wisps and clumps all over the floor.

Preeti decided that it was easier to just let him get on with it and then clean up afterward. She knew from experience that her brother would get upset if she pointed out that he was making a mess.

“Right. Finished!” Viren said proudly a few minutes later. He dusted off his hands. “I’m going to build a snowman now! Come and help me, Preeti.”

“I still have to finish up in here. You go ahead and I’ll follow you in a minute,” she said.

“Well, hurry up then.”

Once her brother had gone outside, Preeti filled a bucket with water and then
found some old netting and managed to rig up a makeshift hay net.