Lizards
by Xaltatun of Acheron
All rights reserved, except for those ceded to the Whateley Academy Author’s Group.
This is fan fiction for the Whateley Academy series. It may or may not match the timeline, characters, and continuity, but since it’s fan fiction, who cares?
This is a teaser for the eighth story about Sted “Ponygirl“ Lancaster. The entire series, at least at the present time, is:
*Pegasus (v4)
* * * Deleted scenes
*Welcome to Whitman
*Fragment from It’s A Bird!
*To Train a Ponygirl
*Aftermath
*Ponygirl’s Combat Final (game to come)
*What I did on my Christmas Vacation (second edition)
*Lizards (teaser only)
<<<=====
*Fashion Note
*Aspidistra (Version 2)
*Wine Dark Sea
Out of continuity:
*Roommates
Lizards
by Xaltatun of Acheron
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Morning. Sted threw back the covers and slid out of the bed, her cushioned hooves hitting the floor with a muffled thud. She turned the lights on with a focused thought.
That was one of the more convenient little gizmos she’d installed. The wall switch looked normal, but it now had a cute little gadget she’d invented that flipped a relay when she focused her attention on it, while the switch also flipped the relay.
The lights, of course, wouldn’t bother her roommate. Derala stood on her perch as usual, her sleeping hood obscuring the girl’s head on the massive coal-black form of the hawk.
Sted put on a robe, gathered up her shower kit and looked out the door. Demios was standing guard in the corridor this morning. Sted waved to her on her way to the bathroom. Sandra was, as she expected, coiled in front of one of the mirrors polishing her scales. Sted took one of the empty shower stalls and cleaned up.
Ten minutes later she was back in her room while Sandra was still working on burnishing her scales.
* * *
“Let’s fly,” Derala said. “It’s a green flag day.”
“Suits,” Sted answered.
The two girls walked out the front door of Whitman Cottage. Derala spread her coal-black wings and triggered the little gadget on her harness, reducing her weight by two thirds. She flapped twice, raising a swirl of snow, and took off. The swirl of snow somehow didn’t manage to touch Ponygirl.
Ponygirl lifted off sedately. The apparently motionless figure floated next to the hawk-girl, her mane, her tail and the skirt of her Whateley uniform untouched by the wind of their passing.
* * *
“What is
that on your shoulders?” Psidoe asked.
“Captain Flypaper and Lady Exterminator,” Sted answered. “They’re Italian Wall Lizards. I got them for Christmas. They’re native to Topeka.”
“Italian Wall Lizards are native to Kansas?” Grabby asked.
Sted laughed. “They escaped from a pet shop back in the 50s and settled in. Some of my friends back home are probably capturing them for science class. Or they will once it warms up.”
“You hear about Sara?” Psidoe asked.
“Oh, what?”
“She had something on her shoulder that made people run screaming.”
“Rev. Englund?”
Psidoe giggled. “I think someone called it a shoggoth?”
Sted shuddered. “Not nice.”
“She got rid of it. They’re letting you have pets?”
“They’re not pets. I’m using them for magic and devisor class.”
“Yeah, right,” Grabby said.
“Admin bought it, and I’ve got some ideas.”
“Shoulder Angels?” Grabby asked.
“I might be able to whip up a spell so they can talk.”
A triangle of French Toast floated up off of Derala’s plate. “What would a lizard say?” She took a bite out of it, and then the truncated triangle floated back down.
“Ohhh. Tasty?” Psidoe said.
Sted laughed again. “Record some stuff, borrow logic from Eliza.” She grinned wickedly. “Maybe put in some stuff to torment fatso. I doubt if anyone’s shoulder angels are going to make sense.”
“Torment away,” Grabby said. “They’ll more likely make trouble.”
“Speaking of trouble,” Psidoe said, “is there
anything you can do about my roommate?”
“You’ve asked Judicator for help?” Sted asked.
“She said she can’t do anything.”
Sted shrugged. “She’s got more pull with the house mothers than I do. There’s something wonky with the situation, but I haven’t been able to find out what.”
“There isn’t anything?”
“Judy could get away with going around the house mothers to ask Miss Grimes or Earth Mother. I can’t. I’m not on good enough terms with Fey to ask her to come over and just kind of accidentally stumble across whatever it is. Not with Foxfire and her coven thinking TK has something going on. Majestic? Unless Judicator asks her, forget it.”
Psidoe sighed. “I was hoping. So what’s your class schedule like?”
“Another Schedule from Hell. I’ve got Grammar as a Weapon, Introduction to the Sims, two magic courses, a Workshop course, Intermediate Martial Arts, all three of the courses needed to support my Federal Concealed Carry permit as self-study plus Security’s Police Procedure course. As well as an all-term work assignment that the Headmistress stuck me with because of what happened over Christmas vacation. And I’m supposed to work with the business people setting up my gem business in New York and Boston. I think the work assignment is an inducement to get on with it.”
“So what did happen?” Psidoe asked.
Sted reached into her purse and pulled out her card case. She shuffled through it and pulled out her MID. “This.”
“Two borders?”
“Yep. The DPA made me come in so they could reissue it after the New Year’s party. I think the MCO would have ignored it, but not the DPA.”
“You’re a real superheroine?”
“Yep.” She took out a couple more cards and laid them on the table.
“Geeze. Topeka and Berlin. How’d that happen?”
“Don’t ask. Please. Frankly, I wish I didn’t have them; that’s where half my courses came from. At least the Hero designation lets me slide through airport security like I’m greased.”
Is this ever going to be finished? Who knows?
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