There is a horse on my bed

by XYZDreadnought

Chapter three - I see (Annoying) ghost ponies

Hidden author's note: if you can read this, this chapter holds invisible white text, for better immersion, please reset your page format to default.
The morning after, Maud decides that my temperature had gone, and I am well enough to go to school again.

I want a second opinion.

It's not that I feel unwell, I feel fine, as well as I usually do anyway. In fact I could go as far to say that I am perfectly healthy for a girl of my age, if it wasn't for the fact...

"Hellooo? Is anybody home?"

The blasted horse is still here.

The atmosphere of an autumn morning is something that I usually enjoy, the calm tranquillity before the rest of the town is up and about, with nothing but the chilly air and the yellowing leaves for company as I make my way to school. It's one of the perks of being an early riser, you get the street to yourself.

Usually, anyway.

"Pinkie to grump, Pinkie to grump, can you read me, over," says the annoyance, making static noises.

'Just keep walking, if I ignore it, it might just disappear,' I think.

I lurch forward slightly as something jumps onto the back of my head. "Come-onnn, stop ignoring me!" it whines, hugging my forehead.

After the brief stumble, I keep walking as if nothing happened.

"You can't ignore me forever you know," it says after a long pause.

"Just watch me," I say flatly.

My vision is suddenly eclipsed by the pony's head, upside-down and wearing a semi-smug grin.

"...Dammit," I concede.

After a long pause I say, "Do you mind getting out of my face now?"

"You forgot the magic word," the pony says, cheekily.

In response I calmly pick her up and throw her over a nearby hedge. "Weeeeeeeee!" she shouts as she flies through the air.

"Would it kill you to be nice once in awhile?" says the pony, walking up beside me.

"Don't know, I haven't tried yet," I snark.

The pony looked blank for a moment, before giving a snort. "Hehe, good one."

'Or better yet, just get to school. Hopefully I can drown it under the general stupidity of the student body, and it will fade into my subconscious where it belongs,' I think.

"Are you all right, Pinkamena?" says a masculine voice in front of me.

Looking ahead I see the speaker. "Good morning Officer Shining, Why do you ask?"

The neighbourhood police captain raises his eyebrow. "You didn't notice when I waved a minute ago, and you were talking to yourself, is there a problem?"

I swear internally.

"Language!" says Pinkie chidingly.

Shooting her a little glare, I try and think of a reasonable response. I decide on a semi-truth. "I had a fever yesterday, I haven't entirely recovered." No need to tell him about my little pink delusion, Shining thinks I'm weird enough as it is.

"And Maud let you go anyway?"

I shrug. "I'm not that bad, besides, I have an attendance record to keep up."

Shining shakes his head. "Well I won't be the man to stand between a girl and her grades, just go easy, you know your sister worries about you enough as it is."

I roll my eyes. "I also know that she knows I can look after myself."

"And that's why she worries," says Pinkie, nodding sagely.

I turn my head to deliver a sharp retort, but then I remember that Shining is still here, and is looking slightly worried.

"Are you sure you're OK?" he says.

"Yeah, just thought I heard something is all."

Shining still doesn't look convinced, and looks like he is about to press the issue.

"Look, I've got to go, I get up this early for a reason you know," I say, cutting him off.

He sighs. "All right, I'll get out of your hair, just take it easy and try to stay out of trouble." Thinking for a moment, he adds, "And while I remember, is Maud still up for bowling tomorrow?"

"Don't know, you'll have to ask her," I say, sidestepping him and walking on. "See you 'round, Armour."

"You too, have a good day Pinkamena," he says.

"Don't make me laugh," I say over my shoulder.

"So, why do you go this early?" asks Pinkie.

"Avoiding people," I say. "This way I arrive before anyone else, and therefore can get my stuff out of my locker to the classroom and find somewhere quiet to wait for class, cutting out a whole morning of unnecessary social interaction and idiot exposure."

Looking down to the mother of all disappointed frowns, I say "I'm not looking for your approval."

The look intensified.

"If you don't like it, feel free to leave," I say, hoping it will get the hint.

"You're gonna need a lot of work," she said, her frown shifting into a grin. "Challenge accepted!"

I contemplate depositing the small pink menace in the nearby bin, however my thoughts are derailed by a door opening and shutting, and a figure running out onto the footpath. She is wearing a green jacket, a small sports bag slung over her shoulder, and slightly messy long hair which I would describe as a light cyan, streaked on one side a white highlight. she takes one look at me, her eyes going wide, before bolting away at high speeds toward the school.

"Wow, I'm really that intimidating," I say, raising my eyebrow, I'm doing a better job than I thought.

"It would help if you smiled more," says Pinkie.

"That would be counter productive," I say, "people might get the idea that I'm actually approachable."

"Seriously what's your problem?!" says Pinkie, latching onto my face and looking me in the eye. "Are you that determined not to make friends?"

"Would you be surprised if I said yes?" I say, my voice slightly muffled by her fur.

"Come on grumpy, work with me here, I'm trying to help you," says Pinkie, using watery puppy dog eyes.

It was not very effective.

Depositing her in a nearby bin with a sharp "Eep!" I continue on my way.

"Ewww!..." says Pinkie. "...Oh hey a coin!"

---

"How exactly are you late for class again?" asks Pinkie, trying to keep up with my brisk walk.

"Oh shut up!" I snap down at the small horse, not caring about the looks I was getting.

"I mean we got here so early..." says Pinkie, bounding beside me.

"Say one more word about me being late, and you're going in a bin again," I snarl, still ignoring the stares.

Pinkie immediately zips her lip... literally... with an actual zipper... I'm not going to question it, it's best not to question your delusions, that path madness lay, and I've been having quite enough of that recently. Besides it allowed me to brood in silence.

It's not as if I'm annoyed about being late, I can handle being late, it was English after all, I have an understanding with Ms Liebe. What has me annoyed is the fact that the irritating little horse had disrupted my focus, and nearly made me lose count! I have never lost count before not for all the years I have been counting, and this little irritation had nearly made me lose it. The last stragglers in the corridor turn to look at me. Apparently sensing my boiling temper, they all turn and run to their classes, all except for two.

"Hey there Miss Pink, playing hookie are we?" says Cathy, who is obviously playing hookie herself, followed as usual by Violet.

"Go fellate a cactus Cathy, before I shove one down your throat myself!" I snarl, brushing past them without slowing down.

Cathy and Violet look at each other. "That was unusually abrupt."

"You don't think she's ill, is she?"

Oblivious to this exchange, I continue to stalk down the hallway.

"Thm wznt vrrry nss," says Pinkie, through her mouth zip.

"Remember what I said about bins, Pinkie?" I say without even looking down.

She promptly removes her mouth from her face and stashes it in her mane.

Not bothering to question this, and seeing my classroom up ahead, I step inside.

"I hope you have a good reason for arriving to class late- Oh it's you Pinkamena, sit down, class has started," says Ms. Liebe, her irritation quickly fading.

Ms. Liebe is a tall woman with dark skin and what some might describe as an hourglass figure, she has long, dark cerulean hair that trails down her back. She wears a black cardigan that shows far too much skin and way too much cleavage for a school teacher, a form fitting skirt that matches her hair ending just above the knees, and thin black stockings, as well as a pair of stiletto high heels, which somehow bore a closer resemblance to the knives than the shoes, and a pair of spectacles, which I know are just for show. Standing next to her is a girl, who I remember as the cyan haired girl from before school who, by the blush on her cheeks, is very uncomfortable standing next to the well endowed teacher, considering she was trying to look anywhere else except the tall woman's chest.

Walking past them I make my way to the back of the classroom to my seat in the corner, ignoring the slightly dirty looks from my classmates...

---

I watch the pink haired girl walk to a desk in the back corner of the classroom, which is a welcome distraction as it meant I don't have to look at Ms. Liebe.

It's not as if I think she is unattractive, quite the opposite in fact, which was kind of the problem. "Why does she have to be so... big," I think, looking down. I have moderate C's and am quite content with that fact, but large breasts are always a thing for me, and Ms. Liebe is at least double D, it's making me rather uncomfortable to say the least, especially at this close proximity.

Once the the pink haired girl sits down, Ms. Liebe says, "As I was saying, we have a new member of our class, Miss Lyra Heartstrings. She is transferring from her original English class and homeroom due to some... issues she had with some of the students, please make her feel welcome, and if I hear of any unpleasantness directed at Miss Strings from anyone in my class or from my homegroup, the consequences will not be pleasant, is that understood?"

There is a general grunt of confirmation from the class, with a few nods here and there, ranging from unenthusiastic to polite, which doesn't get my hopes up too much, but at this point I'll take whatever I can get.

"Good, now please take a seat Miss Strings, and we will start the class."

Nodding to my new teacher, and relieved to be out of her direct vicinity, I walk to the only unoccupied seat in the class, right up the back, between a light-blond girl in a grey shirt and a large pair of glasses and the moody looking pink haired girl who came in late, who is staring disinterestedly out the window.

After I am seated, Ms. Liebe instructs us to take out our books and open to chapter 25. The book is Huckleberry Finn, a book I'm not very fond of, but at least I am familiar with it. As the class went through the contents of the chapter, I notice that the pink haired girl has yet to get her book, in fact, she hasn't stopped looking out the window since class had started. I vaguely recognise her from before school, she was outside my house when I left, I also remember panicking and running away, hope she doesn't hold it against me.

"Um excuse me, miss," I say gently, causing the girl to slowly look at me. I felt like shrinking under the harsh gaze, but I manage to say, "I just thought that um, I'd let you know class has started... we are re-reading chapter 25." I put on an awkward, helpful smile, hoping she doesn't take offence.

"I am well aware of that," she says, her tone neutral, before turning back to the window.

Confused by the complete lack of reaction, I want to say something more, but am stopped by a cheerful voice behind me, "Don't bother, I've never seen her do any work in this class, you're wasting your time."

I turn to the girl on my other side, the blond one with glasses. "Nice of you to try though," she says, "but on that girl? Wasted effort, believe me."

"Why is that?" I ask, keeping my voice down so as not to disturb the class.

"You're new here, aren't you? Who was your previous homeroom teacher?" she asks, cocking her head.

I shift uncomfortably "I've only been here three weeks, my homeroom teacher was Mr. Sombra."

She ahh'd in understanding "That explains it, no students in that group give the orientation talk."

"Orientation talk?" I say.

"Something me and a few other students do for new blood, tell them the ins and outs of the school, what's cool what's not, who to talk to, who to avoid, that kind of stuff," she says.

'Gee, that might have been useful three weeks ago, I might have been able to avoid some pitfalls,' I think sourly. Aloud I say, "What's that got to do with her?"

"Her name's Pinkamena, and when it comes to people to avoid, she's on the top ten," she says.

"W-why, what does she do?" I say, casting a nervous glance at the girl in question, who hasn't moved her gaze from the window.

"For the most part, not much, when she's left alone she mostly sticks to herself," she says, causing me a bit of confusion, but she wasn't finished. "But it's when you intrude in her personal space, now that's when she gets nasty," making me tense again. "What she does varies depending on who you ask, but one thing's for sure, it ain't nice. From what I can gather, it's mostly verbal abuse, she wields her tongue like a dagger and she's not afraid to fight dirty and stick her words where they really hurt. Even most of the school bullies avoid her, the smart ones anyway. And though I've never seen it myself, I've heard she also ain't above physical violence either."

I had starting shaking at one point, truly frightened of the person behind me. The girl doing the explaining notices this, and says reassuringly, "Hey don't worry, like I said, it's only if you bother her, as long as you stay out of her space, she's nuthin' to worry about."

"Aren't you worried she can hear us?" I say, nervously.

The girl gives a little laugh, then says, "That ain't how Pinkamena works, Pinkamena don't care, Pinkamena don't give a shit, you can talk as much shizzle as you like about her, and she'd only care if you said it to her face, and that's only cuz you're standing in front of her, she just doesn't care."

I'm not entirely convinced, but I give an awkward smile "Okay, if you say so..."

"That's the spirit," she says, before extending her hand. "Name's Ditzy by the way, nice to meetcha Miss Lyra."

"You know my name?" I say, worried what she might have heard.

"You were introduced in front of the class, remember?" says Ditzy, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, right," I say, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment, but taking her outstretched hand.

She giggles. "Hey don't worry about it, I do silly things all the time."

"As much as it pleases me to see you making new friends Miss Heartstrings, I would ask you to pay attention during my class." says Ms. Leibe, appearing in front of us, causing all the students nearby (except Pinkamena) to jump, and Ditzy to fall out of her chair, with a yell of surprise.

"Y-yes miss," I say, embarrassed both by being caught talking in class and having to face my teacher's bosom.

"Very good," she says, turning on her heels and walking back to the front. "Now as I was saying..."

"How the hell does she do that?" mumbles Ditzy as she climbs back onto her seat.

With that, we both get back to work, although I find it hard to concentrate, due to the girl Pinkamena at one point starts whispering to herself.

"So this is what you do all day?" says the pink horse that I can't see or hear and may-or-may-not be in Pinkamena's head.

"Yup..."

"Just sit in the corner, and stare out the window?"

"Pretty much..."

"Not going to follow the lesson or anything, get involved with the class discussion, maybe?"

"Why should I?..."

"Isn't that the point of school, you know, to get educated, meet people, make lasting friendships?"

"For other people maybe..."

"Why are you whispering?"

"What's it matter to you?..."

"... Because you're kinda hard to hear?"

"Because I'm trying not to be overheard..."

"I thought you don't care what other people think?"

"I don't, but it saves me a headache if I don't have to explain why I'm talking to myself..."

"... You know, you are really boring sometimes, I mean Really boring."

"Oh just shut up."

Author's Note:

And here's the next chapter, Pinkamena's general irritation continues, with a new character thrown into the mix.

Proofread by m2pt5, my most reliable proofreader to date, and by far the most helpful

Comments

[bahatumay]

I'm pretty sure Pinkie's doing this during that whole last conversation: roundstable.com/forums/images/smilies/pinkie_p.png

[XYZDreadnought]

6615228 Maybe

Care to hazard a guess to what was said?

[bahatumay]

6615337
Since I highlighted the text, I already know. That'd be cheating.

[XYZDreadnought]

6615352 Ah clever,

What tipped you off, or what is just obvious?

[bahatumay]

6615362
Wide spaces between the lines, that's all.

[Filraen]

6615362
I use the Dark (color) format here in FimFiction so it was very obvious for me. In fact it confused me a bit because for a moment I was thinking Lyra could hear both Pinkamena and Pinkie

[XYZDreadnought]

6615450 Yeah, I had kind of anticipated some people might have had their formatting different, but I still wanted to do it anyway, I thought it was kind of clever in a stupid way.

I had actually intended to put an invisible warning at the beginning of the chapter, but I forgot.

[Pinkacalypse]

6615362 PM me what she said(unless you want to just post it in the comments)? I'm on mobile so I can't highlight the text to see it.

[XYZDreadnought]

6616987 Ehh, why not, the secret is already out, I'll PM you with it in a minute

[WUBZ-_-Vinyl]

Please make another chapter soon.

[XYZDreadnought]

6777689 Well, since you said please... Sure, I'd love to, I've just been a little busy of late is all.

[WUBZ-_-Vinyl]

6793172 it's alright man

[Prince Leviathan]

In actuality, the "invisible" text was a good touch.
It didn't break my immersion.