The Enchanted Pony

  To Sophie

  Contents

  1 A Mixed Blessing

  2 The Phantom in the Woods

  3 A Lesson Well Learned

  4 Sophie Goes to School

  5 Equitopian Underbelly

  6 The Four Winds

  7 Kelpie Towers

  8 Back to School

  9 Thank You, Sea Horse

  10 Home to the Underbelly

  11 A Wet Start

  12 The Working Hunters

  13 Hooray for Fetlocks Hall

  CHAPTER ONE

  A Mixed Blessing

  ‘Parents,’ sighed Portia Manning-Smythe, headmistress of Fetlocks Hall Pony School, ‘can be a mixed blessing!’

  She had just finished a telephone call from Mr and Mrs Simms about their daughter, Penny. They were concerned that her letters and emails home seemed to be full of ponies and nothing to do with any school work. Potty Smythe had reassured them that Penny was doing extremely well at her lessons and that she had probably thought school work was very matter-of-fact and not necessary to mention in her letters. Ponies, on the other hand, are much more exciting to a ten-year-old pony-mad little girl, so naturally she’d want to tell her parents all about her adventures with them.

  Mr and Mrs Simms had no idea what sort of adventures Penny was having at this very unusual pony school, where extraordinary things happen. In fact, Penny was not only an exceptionally talented horsewoman, but just happened to be the hundredth Unicorn Princess of Equitopia, the Kingdom of the Unicorns. She possessed magical pony powers and was a very important child indeed! She’d ONLY saved Equitopia and Terrestequinus (our planet) from invasion by the wicked Devlipeds. If those nasty, fire-breathing, scaly little red ponies had gained control of these two worlds they would have made life extremely unpleasant for all of us!

  Fetlocks Hall had a very important role to play in Equitopia. Its main task was to find and educate very special equichildren who might one day become A students at the school. On reaching this level, pupils can receive magical powers similar to Penny’s. While the unicorns are responsible for keeping the mythical scales called the Equilibrium of Goodness balanced in favour of good, the wicked Devlipeds are always plotting to steal them. Their plan is to tip the balance towards evil so that they can make the two worlds as nasty as their own. A students have the power to assist the reigning Unicorn Princess to protect the scales, and therefore keep Equitopia and Terrestequinus safe.

  This, of course, was S.U.S. (Secret Unicorn Society) business and that was highly secret. Parents, unless they themselves were past Fetlocks A students, could never be told about the other-worldly side of Fetlocks Hall.

  Potty Smythe smiled to herself and took a gulp of tea from her favourite tin mug.

  ‘. . . And her parents want to know how Penny’s doing at computer studies!’ she giggled.

  It had been predicted by Valentine Silverwings, King of the Unicorns, that Penny would come to Fetlocks Hall. He had given her certain magical gifts which she had earned at her coronation by passing some very rigorous and scary tests. The Lance of Courage protected her against all evil, the Vial of Unicorn Tears helped her to heal all wounds and illnesses, and Queen Starlight’s Horn, with its magical music, tamed any wild beast or monster. There was no way Penny or Potty Smythe could share this information with ordinary mortals because it was S.U.S. business, but they could tell their extraordinary friends, the Fitznicely family – Lady Sarah, Sir Walter and their mischievous twin daughters, Arabella and Antonia, who were the resident ghosts at Fetlocks Hall. They were all former unicorn royalty and they helped Penny rule as current Unicorn Princess.

  Her everyday life was supported by her fab chums and teammates, The Fetlocks Hall Flyers, Sam, Pip, Dom, Carlos and Matt. Recently two new pupils had joined the crew. Morri and Merc were the Veggipire children of Lady Mortia-Antoinette and Sir Faustus Fangley-Fitznicely, the unusual inhabitants from the Dower House in the woods near Fetlocks Hall. They were actually hundreds of years old but being Veggipires they could be whatever age they wanted. They’d chosen to be twelve and thirteen years old. They knew Penny was a Unicorn Princess but kept the Equitopian secret safe as Penny did theirs. The other children and their parents had no idea that the Fangley-Fitznicelys could turn into bats whenever they liked!

  Potty Smythe sighed as she sorted through a huge pile of letters on her desk from pupils’ mothers and fathers who, like Penny’s, seemed to be feeling left out of their children’s school life.

  Mr and Mrs Goodfellow had written to say they were worried about their daughter Stephanie, who had asked if she could stay at Fetlocks during the school holidays instead of coming home at all!

  Tumbleweed, the little Exmoor pony belonging to Susie Hamilton’s parents, hated leaving the school at the end of term so much he refused to go into his trailer. Even Penny, who had the magical gift of Equalese, enabling her to talk to ponies, could not persuade him.

  The Waterford family from Ireland were concerned that their son’s pony, Coolin, was not jumping as well as expected. Potty Smythe knew how she could solve that problem. She’d get Penny to jump him for Seamus because one of the special gifts King Valentine had given her was the art of Equibatics. She could actually fly ponies, so jumping was no problem.

  Herr Klimt, one of the most ambitious parents, was moaning because his daughter’s pony was not getting good enough marks in his freestyle dressage to music. Penny, however, had already spoken to the little German pony and discovered that he hated the music and found it too difficult to change legs to the beat. Penny possessed the gift of Equiballet and could make ponies dance. She and Rheingold worked out a new routine to different music. The result was that Potty Smythe received another letter a few weeks later from Herr Klimt, enclosing a cheque to pay for a much-needed new dressage arena.

  Although parents were very important as they paid fees to keep the school going, Potty Smythe also wanted to keep relatives happy and informed of their children’s school progress. This was all very well but there were other important things for her to do at Fetlocks Hall, like keeping out Devlipeds, finding enough money to run the place and stopping the authorities closing it down! But school fees and new parents were always needed, so something extra had to be done to keep the present parents happy and attract others with the kind of children Fetlocks needed. She decided to hold a staff meeting to see if any of the teachers could come up with a clever idea as to how this could be done.

  They all met up next Monday morning in H.Q. (the headmistress’s study).

  ‘What about an emailed newsletter at the end of each term?’ said Quentin Theary from Physics.

  ‘Or a parent–teacher association with monthly meetings?’ suggested Miss Mappit, the geography teacher.

  These and similar suggestions seemed good ideas but Potty Smythe was looking for something more spectacular that could attract new parents as well.

  The teachers were all sitting round scratching their heads when Potty’s two deerhounds ran over to the balcony window and wagged their tails. They had noticed Penny flying her best pony friend, Patch, around the park. Of course no one else could see this as Penny was invisible when Equibatic to anyone except Potty, the Fitznicely family, ponies, dogs, unicorns and Devlipeds.

  ‘I bet I know someone who could come up with the answer,’ thought Potty Smythe, reversing towards the window and giving Penny the secret ‘both thumbs up’ sign behind her back, indicating that she needed to talk to her.

  On her second lap of the great house Penny noticed the signal and landed Patch at the front of the Hall. She slipped off his brown and white back, gave him a pat and raced up the stone steps to the main entrance. Her magical gifts were hidden under the third step and guarded by two stone u
nicorns on either side. As she dashed past they saluted her with the usual rainbow of stars from their eyes.

  ‘Thanks, Hippolita and Rain,’ said Penny in Equalese.

  Moments later Penny knocked on the door of H.Q. Potty Smythe opened it and invited her inside.

  ‘Ah, Penny,’ she said with a wink and a smile, ‘come to fetch those new pony magazines for the library, have you? There they are, on my desk.’

  ‘Of course, Miss,’ said Penny with a smile, picking up the bundle. ‘Will there be anything else I can do?’

  ‘Well,’ continued the headmistress, ‘we were all trying to think of a way of getting parents involved in the school a little more. As a Fetlocks student, what do you think your own people would like?’

  ‘That’s easy,’ said Penny. ‘How about a parents’ day where we can all show off what we have learned – and the ponies, of course. Something like a county show or country fair.’

  ‘Excellent idea!’ cried the headmistress, turning to her astonished staff, who were staring over their teacups. Everyone agreed it was a brilliant thought.

  ‘Thank you, Penny,’ grinned Potty Smythe. ‘Now run along with those . . . and by the way, Patch is eating the petunias.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Phantom in the Woods

  Penny told the rest of The Flyers about the parents’ day plan while they were washing grooming kit brushes later that morning.

  ‘We could do a real Fetlocks Hall Horse Show,’ she said.

  ‘With demos for the parents on pony club games, eventing, showjumping, dressage, polo – everything we’ve learned here!’ added Sam Hedges. She did not have any parents as they had been killed in a hunting accident, but she was always keen to show off her wonderful horsemanship at shows and events.

  ‘We will have to include some other skills besides our pony ones,’ said Ethelene Giggabit (Gig to her friends). A real little computer geek and honorary member of The Flyers, Gig had already thought of making a website for the show and producing a DVD of the day for all the parents to take home.

  ‘When do you think Potty Smythe is planning this parents’ day?’ said Carlos. ‘I would love my father to see our polo team. He is coming over to represent Brazil for the Nations Cup showjumping competition at the Royal International Horse Show soon. It would be great if he could bring his puissance horse, Negra, with him because I could give a high-jump demonstration on her.’

  ‘As long as you don’t enter her for the “Chase Me Charlie”,’ said Dom. ‘Our ponies would never be able to follow her over a jump and leave it standing. No way could they jump as high as Negra. Doesn’t she hold the world record? My folks would be pleased to come up from Cornwall to watch that.’

  ‘Merc and I could do some acting on our ponies to music,’ said Morri Fangley-Fitznicely.

  ‘What a great idea!’ grinned his sister, showing her strange sharp little teeth. ‘We could do something really thrilling to music on Moonwalk and Nightsafe. Mama and Papa can provide the props.’

  The other children loved the idea as much as they liked Merc and Morri, even though they did have some rather strange ways. They looked pretty weird with their pale skin, black hair, dark sunglasses and matching black ponies, but were really competitive and full of fun.

  ‘My parents are bringing my Arabian horse, Shaab, over from Dubai for me,’ said Matt shyly. ‘I have taught him some tricks. He is very intelligent. I could dress as a Bedouin horseman and put on a good show of sabre work.’

  Pip dropped her brushes and ran into the tack room.

  ‘What’s up with her?’ said Matt. ‘Did I say something wrong?’

  ‘No,’ said Dom. ‘What’s wrong is that Pip is upset hearing us talk about our parents like this. Hers went missing two years ago and no one has any idea what happened to them. They were equine vets working with zebras in Africa. They just completely vanished out there!’

  He put down his brushes and followed her into the tack room, where poor Pip sat weeping. He put his arm around her and she cried floods of tears on his shoulder. Penny and the other children crept in and gave her a big Fetlocks Hall Flyers hug.

  ‘I’d give anything to see my mummy and daddy again,’ she sniffed.

  ‘And I’d do anything to find them,’ thought Penny. If only she could somehow use her magical pony powers to find Mr and Mrs Horsington-Charmers she could make Pip’s wish come true.

  ‘Let’s all go for a nice ride in Middlemarsh Wood,’ said Sam, knowing it would cheer Pip up to get out on her lovely pony Waggit. ‘Someone’s put some jumps up in there and I’m dying to try them out.’

  The someone was actually Henrietta Wellington-Green, head girl at Fetlocks. Peter Fixcannon, the handsome school vet, had decided to build some jumps out of fallen branches and logs in the wood for the children as a surprise. Henry had the most awful crush on the vet, so was delighted to help him at any time.

  School work was finished for the day and there was plenty of time before the ponies’ teatime to go for a ride.

  They followed Sam on her brave pony, Landsman, along the rides until she found the line of jumps.

  ‘Come on, you lot,’ she yelled over her shoulder. The others all screamed a good view holla and shot after her over the fences at a mad gallop.

  They pulled up giggling and laughing and made their way through a leafy glade in the centre of the wood. Carlos’s pony, Budget, suddenly stopped and blew down her nostrils.

  ‘Come on, girl, what have you seen?’ said Carlos, patting her neck. She was frozen to the spot as if she had seen a ghost.

  ‘What is it, Budget?’ said Penny in Equalese. Of course, no one else could hear this question as pony language can only be heard and spoken by Unicorn Royalty.

  ‘I just saw a funny-looking palomino pony over there behind that big elm tree,’ said Budget. ‘It had the body of a pony but from its shoulders up it was a little girl!’

  ‘Oh, come on, Mum,’ said her daughter Shilling, whom Dom was riding. ‘That’s impossible. I know you are twenty-four and going a bit senile . . . but honestly!’

  Budget gave her daughter a nip and told her not to be so cheeky.

  The children and their ponies continued along the path on their way back to the Hall. Penny was curious about what Budget had said. She was a wise old pony and certainly not senile. She was very observant and never made mistakes. Penny was determined to find out more about this apparition.

  After evening stables at 6 p.m., Penny tacked up Patch again and set off for Middlemarsh Wood. The sun was low in the sky, making dark shadows among the trees. Patch padded softly along the rides until they reached the clearing with the big elm tree where Budget had seen the phantom pony.

  Penny decided they should stay here for a bit and see if anything happened. She dismounted and sat under the tree. Patch quietly nibbled the grass by her side. After a little while he looked up and snorted just like Budget had done earlier. Penny could hear someone crying softly. At first she thought it might be Pip, who had probably come out again on Waggit to be alone with her thoughts of lost parents, but she was wrong.

  Very quietly, she and Patch moved towards the sobbing sound. There in the shadows, half hidden by a hawthorn bush, was a palomino pony. Startled, it leapt forward and turned to face her. Penny could not believe what she was seeing. Exactly as Budget had described, there was a pony with no neck whatsoever where it should have been. Instead it had the torso, arms, neck and head of a girl with very long blonde hair similar to Penny’s. In fact, she looked very like Penny except for her pony body and rather pointed ears.

  Patch’s mouth fell open. ‘Good heavens! What is that?’ he said.

  Penny walked over to the little girl/pony and offered her a tissue from her pocket to dry her tears.

  ‘Who are you?’ she said in Equalese.

  ‘I am an ugly Centaureen, that’s who I am!’ cried the creature. ‘I am half horse and half human – neither one thing nor the other. I’m just a mess!’

 
‘What’s your name?’ asked Penny.

  ‘If I told you my real name in my own language it would probably pierce your ears, so you can call me Sophie.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you, Sophie,’ said Penny, holding out her hand. ‘I’m Penny Simms.’

  ‘And the hundredth Unicorn Princess,’ continued Sophie, shaking Penny’s hand. ‘Oh, I know who you are. You see, Equitopia is not just full of unicorns. There are many enchanted ponies there, Centaurs included. I have left that world and come to yours because I want to go to school like other children. I want to go to Fetlocks Hall.’

  Penny could see there might be a problem with that straight away.

  ‘Sophie,’ she said kindly, ‘are Centaurs able to make themselves seen to ordinary humans?’

  ‘Oh yes, I can if I like,’ said Sophie, ‘and that’s exactly what I intend to do. Oh please, Princess Penny, please, please take me to Aunt Portia and get me enrolled right away!’

  ‘But, Sophie,’ cried Penny, ‘it’s impossible! Present-day humans will never have seen someone like you before. You would become a curiosity and your life would be miserable. They may even put you in a museum or a zoo!’

  Sophie let out an ear-piercing wail. Penny covered her ears but poor Patch could not. He reared up and shot out of the wood as fast as his short legs could carry him. Sophie started crying again.

  ‘Now look what I have done,’ she sobbed. ‘Your pony will have earache for a week or even be per­­manently deaf because of me. I am hopeless!’

  Penny was concerned for Patch.

  ‘I can mend him,’ she said, ‘but I have to get back to Fetlocks to pick up the cure.’

  ‘Oh yes, you will have Unicorn Tears for that,’ said Sophie, ‘and you can fly ponies. If you can fly me, hop up on my back and let’s go.’

  Penny vaulted on to Sophie’s back and held on to her waist. ‘Let’s Fly!’ she commanded and Sophie rose into the air.

  ‘I’ve never done this before, by the way,’ said the Centaureen as they flew out of the wood towards the school. ‘It’s really quite fun!’