Penny the Pony Fairy

by Daisy Meadows

  Every goose’s head turned in Jack Frost’s direction. The biggest snow goose wagged her tail feathers and honked loudly at the others. Then they all waddled over to Jack Frost. These geese meant business! When they reached him, the geese tapped meaningfully at the ice with their beaks. Jack Frost ignored them, but they began pecking at his legs.

  “Hey!” he shouted in surprise. “Stop that!”

  But the geese didn’t pay any attention to him. Soon Jack Frost was surrounded by honking, pecking, angry geese!

  Glitter didn’t seem to like the noisy geese at all. She leaned away from them, tugging on her icy rope. Jack Frost was so busy trying to stop the geese from pecking him that the rope slipped out of his fingers. Glitter was free!

  Penny flew over to the pony and waved her wand. Fairy dust streamed out, and the rope of ice turned into sparkling snowflakes that melted on the breeze. Glitter shrank to fairy pet size again.

  Penny threw her arms around the little pony. “Oh, Glitter!” she cried joyfully. “Thank goodness you’re all right!”

  The pony neighed softly and nuzzled Penny’s hand. Penny waved her wand and produced a juicy red apple for Glitter.

  Kirsty smiled, seeing Glitter and Penny reunited. Then she turned to see if Jack Frost had noticed. He was still trying to get away from the geese!

  As he pushed the biggest goose away with his hand, beautiful, magical sparkles glittered around the goose and Jack Frost.

  “What’s that? What’s happening?” Kirsty asked Penny.

  Penny chuckled. “A pet has finally chosen Jack Frost as its owner!” she explained with a grin. “The snow goose wants to be Jack Frost’s pet!”

  “Or does she want him to be her pet?” Kirsty giggled.

  On the other side of the pond, Jack Frost’s goblins came crashing through the trees, but they were too late to help their master now.

  Jack Frost’s gaze fell upon Glitter, safe with Penny. He held up his hands in defeat. “All right! I’ll turn the ice back to water,” he cried. “But you geese have to leave me alone — and stop that awful racket!”

  He stalked off the pond and waved his wand. The ice melted away. With a satisfied wiggling of tail feathers, the geese turned and waddled back to the pond, launching themselves into the water one by one.

  “Come on,” a grumpy Jack Frost called to the goblins. “Let’s go home.”

  The goblins trailed after their master as he stomped toward the trees.

  Suddenly, with a honk of surprise, the biggest snow goose flew after them. She landed by Jack Frost’s side, and pushed her beak affectionately into his hand.

  “She doesn’t want him to leave without her,” Penny said, smiling.

  “How sweet!” Kirsty exclaimed, as the goose gazed lovingly at her new owner. The other geese came out of the water, too, waddling over to join Jack Frost and the goblins.

  “It’s nice to have a pet,” Penny agreed, patting Glitter. “I’m glad Jack Frost has someone to love now, too. And I’m even more glad that I have Glitter back,” she added, smiling at Kirsty and Rachel. “Thanks so much, girls!”

  Rachel fluttered her wings happily. “Now all of the fairy pets are safe.” She beamed. “We did it!”

  “I’d better take Glitter back to Fairyland,” Penny went on. “Would you two like to come with me?”

  A smile broke over Kirsty’s face. “Yes, please!” she cried eagerly. Then she looked over to where Jet and Annie were tethered. “But we should really get the ponies back to the stable,” she said.

  “The ponies will be fine,” Penny said reassuringly. “I’ll work some magic so that it seems like you’re only away from them for a second.”

  “Hooray!” Rachel cheered. “Then we’d love to come to Fairyland!”

  Penny waved her wand and a cloud of fairy dust billowed from the tip. It enveloped her, the girls, and Glitter in a whirl of sparkles. Seconds later, the girls found themselves in Fairyland, right outside the palace.

  King Oberon and Queen Titania were waiting in the palace gardens. All the other Pet Fairies were at their sides.

  “Welcome back, Kirsty and Rachel,” the queen said, smiling at them. “Thank you so much for helping our Pet Fairies.”

  The king stepped forward. “You did well, my dears. Once again, you have helped the fairies and brought order back to Fairyland.”

  Rachel and Kirsty curtseyed. “It was a pleasure, Your Majesties,” Kirsty said politely.

  “But what if Jack Frost tries to steal our pets again?” Bella the Bunny Fairy asked. “How do we know they’ll be safe?”

  Penny gave her a wink. “Don’t worry, Bella,” she said. “Now that Jack Frost has his own pet, he doesn’t need to steal anybody else’s.”

  The queen smiled and sprinkled a little fairy dust over the nearby pond. The surface shimmered with magic, and Kirsty and Rachel leaned over to look as a picture appeared. It showed Jack Frost’s palace — with a new pond in front of it!

  “That wasn’t there before,” Kirsty said with a grin.

  “And look! There are the geese!” Rachel laughed. “They look very happy in their new home, don’t they?”

  The girls smiled to see Jack Frost sitting on a bench near his pond. He was feeding the largest snow goose some bread, and patting her gently. The two of them really did seem to like each other!

  Katie the Kitten Fairy cuddled Shimmer, her kitten. “The fairy pets are definitely safe now,” she said. “Hooray!”

  Sunny the puppy bounded over to Rachel and gave her a lick as if to say thank you. Then Sparky the guinea pig squeaked something.

  “She says, ‘Nice job, Kirsty and Rachel’,” Georgia translated with a grin.

  “I think we all agree with Sparky,” the queen said, giving the excited guinea pig a little smile. “But I’m afraid I must return you to your own world now, girls. Annie and Jet need you to take them back to the stables.”

  “They know the way,” the king added. “You’ll find Jessica and the others waiting there. If you hurry, you’ll get back before Jessica has to ride out looking for you.”

  “Before you go, though, we’d like you each to have one of these,” the queen said. She waved her wand, filling the air with a flurry of golden fairy dust. When the dust cleared, Kirsty and Rachel saw that they each had a new charm bracelet sparkling on their wrist. The bracelets were silver chains with seven tiny charms that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.

  “Oh, Kirsty, look!” Rachel cried in delight. “A kitten, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a puppy, a hamster, a goldfish, and a pony!”

  “You’ll never forget your adventures with the Pet Fairies now,” the king told them, his eyes twinkling.

  Kirsty shook her head. “Never ever,” she agreed. “Thank you so much. And good-bye, all of you. I hope we’ll see you again soon!”

  “Good-bye,” Rachel said. “Thanks for the bracelets. I had a great time on all of our adventures.”

  “Good-bye!” the Pet Fairies cried, running over to hug their friends one last time.

  Then the queen raised her wand and waved it over the girls. The world seemed to spin in a blizzard of fairy dust, and then Rachel and Kirsty found themselves back by the ponies.

  Kirsty untied Jet and swung herself up onto his back. “Let’s get back to the stables like the king told us to,” she said. “With a bit of luck, we’ll still have time to go out for one last ride with Jessica before my mom comes to pick us up.”

  “Good idea,” Rachel said, climbing up onto Annie’s back. Then she grinned at Kirsty. “Race you there!”

  Rachel and Kirsty helped all seven Pet Fairies, but now the Fun Day Fairies are in trouble. Can the girls help

  Megan

  the Monday Fairy?

  Take a look at this special sneak peek!

  “I’m glad I’m staying
with you during vacation,” Kirsty Tate told her friend, Rachel Walker, as they came out of Fashion Fun, the accessory store on Tippington’s Main Street. “And I hope these sparkly clips will look good with my new haircut!”

  “I’m sure they will,” Rachel said cheerfully. “They’re so pretty.”

  “Thanks,” Kirsty replied. “I wonder how the fairies are,” she added, lowering her voice.

  The girls walked through the iron park gate and across the grass. The park was filled with colorful flowers, and in the middle was a large brass sundial shining in the light.

  “The sun’s bright today,” Kirsty said.

  Rachel nodded. Then she noticed something that made her heart beat faster — tiny golden sparkles were hovering and dancing above the sundial!

  “Kirsty, look at the sundial!” Rachel gasped. “I think it’s fairy magic!”

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  e-ISBN 978-0-545-29548-2

  Copyright © 2006 by Rainbow Magic Limited.

  Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Georgie Ripper.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Rainbow Magic Limited.

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  First Scholastic printing, July 2008

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