The first stop for the Equestrians' tour of Neopia was Faerie City. Upon entering the central hub for Faerieland's citizens, there have been a couple of curious looks from the surrounding neopets and faeries, but nothing greater than that, as they have been told by Fyora about them, though nightelf_37's Neopets didn't know that. The six ponies were awestruck at the majesty of it all.
The buildings were absolutely beautiful, colored in shades of purple and pink, contrasting nicely with the blue sky and the greenery around. They noticed however that a few of the buildings however had temporary unpainted wood patches in the roof, or cracks in the masonry. Twilight Sparkle asked Aquanax if there had been some sort of conflict in Faerieland not too long ago, and the acara confirmed it, but told her they would explain another time. Right now, they had to eat breakfast, and a few grumbling stomachs from the delegates made them agree.
That didn't stop them from asking stuff on the way though. Like questions on faerie history from Twilight, food-related questions from Applejack, the various kinds of "cute" petpets ("Pets of Neopets, has your mind exploded yet?" joked Messerole) from Fluttershy, weather management inquiries from Rainbow Dash, fashion trends from Rarity, and random questions on neopets in general from Pinkie Pie.
Despite their maturity, the four neopets were in over their heads at answering many of the questions, particularly fashion trends as their User isn't savvy on that issue, and weather management was a bit of a foreign concept, even though they've been told about it during Princess Luna's audience with them. Regardless, they answered them the best they could before finally reaching a food store called Faerie Foods.
There, the group ordered a huge serving of Fluffy Faerie Pancakes, various Faerie vegetables, a heap of Celestial Salad, and a couple of Faerie Bubbles, which Pinkie immediately took a liking to. And for dessert, they would get some ice cream. The group took two tables, one for the ponies and one for the yellow neopets. Tychophon requested this so that they could plan all the parts of their official tour in earnest. Naturally, the ponies were a bit weirded out with the wings on some of the food, but they were assured it was safe to eat.
While the ponies conversed with one another concerning their initial opinions on Neopia, the neopets were busy formulating their stops and the order they'll have to do it so that they can cover them in as few days as possible. A book of the Maps of Neopia was opened and the yellow quartet were marking paths with their fingers or whatever they had that could pass as such.
"So, where do you think we should go first in Faerieland after eating?" Euryflavia asked.
"Let's start with the Faerieland Bookshop," Tychophon suggested.
Messerole had to disagree. "Oh no. We're not gonna spend the majority of the day there. We all know how much you like reading. We're supposed to give our delegates a tour around Neopia."
"We'll just be there for the crossword and the sudoku puzzle. Maybe I'll even give Twilight a try on the latter." While the ponies now knew the written language thanks to the "Language Textbook", it requires knowledge on Neopia, which they are sorely lacking at the moment.
"You better. Also, that sudoku—I mean, Roodoku is at Roo Island, not Faerieland. So we'll only be there for as long as you need to solve the crossword. It's not a library anyway." The grundo took a deep breath. "What about after?"
"I say we go try out the Wheel of Excitement," suggested Euryflavia.
The grundo made a face of worry. "What if we get a bad spin?"
"That's what the Healing Springs are for, duh," said Aquanax.
"We can't just warp willy-nilly without our User. And what we got takes a lot of time to charge. It would give a bad image for the ponies anyway. I mean, seriously, we're going to risk them getting hurt on the first day?"
"I think we'll have to take that risk. Plenty of things in Neopia are bound to hurt."
"Fine."
Tychophon traced his hand along the page that depicted the map of Faerieland. "All right. Wheel of Excitement, Healing Springs if we get hurt, try and see the TDMBGPP along the way, and then…"
"Faerie Caverns, Poogle Races, and Jhudora's Bluff for last," suggested Aquanax.
"That'll do. Looks like the Hidden Tower is out of the question. It's not like we can afford anything there, anyway. Also, the Rainbow Fountain is useless for them." As soon as the shoyru finished tracing, he flipped the book over to the map of Neopia. "But what about the other lands? Where do we head first after Faerieland? Haunted Woods or Brightvale?"
"I suggest the Haunted Woods. Best get the scariest place out of the way while it's still light out."
"And then naturally the Lost Desert," added Euryflavia. "Then Altador, Shenkuu…I hope we can get an airship to Neopia Central there. And then we can pass by Kiko Lake to reach Brightvale, then Meridell. Of course, we have to take them to Darigan Citadel too. Glad I brought these wings with me." Her Mechanical Wings unfolded themselves and flapped once in demonstration.
"Too right," agreed Messerole as he did the same with his own Wings of Flame. "Going the other way around might end up with us reaching the Haunted Woods come twilight." He paused for a moment. "Nothing to do with one of the delegates."
"And then we head for Roo Island, then Terror Mountain, then Tyrannia. After that, we teleport to the Virtupets Space Station, and after touring that take a spaceship to Kreludor. And then—"
"Excuse me." The four neopets turned to see that Twilight has walked up to them. "I think we're ready to go."
It also turns out that everybody was done with the ice cream that came after breakfast, although Pinkie was ordering a second helping of Faerie Bubbles for take-out, even as she popped a Starberry-flavored one in her mouth.
"Yup, let's get going," Aquanax answered.
What Messerole had feared nearly came true during the trip to the Bookshop. But it wasn't Tychophon he had to worry about. Instead, it was Twilight
who nearly spent too much time there, and might've spent all of the group's allotted bits before Applejack made her settle down. Apparently, the unicorn loved reading just as much as the shoyru if not more, especially since they were in a new world. They only stayed for as long as it took for Euryflavia to solve the crossword and earn neopoints for it, and during that time the other three neopets discussed (in hushed words) a couple of topics on faeries, like the Faerieland Employment Agency, and the concept behind Faerie Quests.
After that, they were given a full tour of Faerie City before they would leave and tour the rest of Faerieland itself. As they walked/flew, the ponies were introduced to the six kinds of faeries and some of the other species of neopets their four tour guides weren't.
the ponies also took a Faerie Personality Quiz on a whim and Pinkie's suggestion. The quiz ended up going as follows. Of course, as some of their decisions weren't among the choices, they had to choose the next best one. Also, they were given basic information on the "abilities" in the fourth question and the lands outside Faerieland in the last.
When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you do?
Stretch and take a deep breath. [Air] RD
Shut your eyes and go back to sleep. [Dark]
Light a candle. [Fire]
Water your plants. [Earth] Fs, Aj
Open the drapes to let in some light. [Light] PP
Take a shower or bath. [Water] Rt, TSWhere would you go to relax?
Camping, so I could sit around the campfire. [F]
To my garden to plant flowers. [E] Fs
To the lake to go swimming. [W] PP
To the beach to lie in the sun. [L] RD, Rt, Aj
My backyard at night to stargaze. [D] TS
Out of the city to get some fresh air. [A]Which of these words appeals to you most?
Flame [F]
Wind [A] RD
Land [E] Aj
Waves [W]
Sunlight [L] PP, TS, Fs, Rt
Darkness [D]What ability would you teach your Neopet? (EDIT: What ability would you like to have?)
Drain Life [D]
Water of Life [W] Fs, TS
Restore [L] RD, Rt
Regeneration [E] Aj
Boil [F]
Invisibility [A] PPOthers might describe you as…
Fiery [F] RD
Carefree [A]
Clever [D] Rt
Cheerful [L] PP
Modest [E] TS
Relaxed [W] Fs, AjIf given the choice, which of the following drinks would you select?
Natural fruit juice. [E] Aj
Something diet. [L]
Black coffee. [D] TS
Ice water. [W] PP
Anything carbonated. [A] RD
Hot chocolate or tea. [F] Fs, RtWhere in Neopia would you live?
Darigan Citadel [D]
Faerieland [A] Rt, TS, PP
Meridell [E] Fs, Aj
The Lost Desert [F]
Maraqua [W]
Altador [L] RD
Twilight Sparkle got Water Faerie (just like the neopets' User nightelf_37), Applejack and Fluttershy got Earth Faerie (which the former honestly predicted she would get), Pinkie Pie and Rarity got Light Faerie, and Rainbow Dash got Air Faerie (to her slight disappointment as she hoped for Fire).
In any case, upon leaving Faerie City, the ponies were treated to another awe-inspiring sight. The verdant plains, the crystal clear waters, the pink-and-purple architecture, the sparkling rivers, a rainbow waterfall in the distance… the only thing that put them at edge however is the forest to the west and south, especially the one at the south. The neopets decided not to tell them that that was their next destination. Presently, only Tychophon and Rainbow were flying while the rest walked.
"Say, is that rainbow over there spicy?" Pinkie asked, pointing at the Rainbow Fountain as they walked.
"We never bothered to taste them," Aquanax answered. "However, from the few neopets we know who have sometimes been drenched in that sort of liquid (don't ask), it's just like water, but with a tingle of magic, just like what I felt when I first got these wings." She flapped her seemingly delicate wings in demonstration.
"First got those wings?" Twilight was curious. "You mean you weren't born that way?"
Euryflavia rolled her eyes, a song in her head. "No. I think we should tell you about the nature of Colors, and that's with a capital C."
"Colors in Neopia don't just mean…well, colors," Tychophon explained, doing a 'barrel roll' to show his features. "They also mean different appearances. All those neopets back in Faerie City with wings like Aquanax, or look extremely elegant without clothing? They are all Colored Faerie. Other Colors we neopets can have aside from the classical ones like Yellow, Red, Green, and so on are Pirate, Skunk, Fire, Desert, Royal, Shadow, and even Rainbow." The last one prompted raised eyebrows from the polychromatic-maned pegasus.
"Although a small amount of those Colors just apply it to the ruff of fur on usuls like me," the usul pointed out.
"Chias however, which are those smooth-skinned neopets topped with a fluffy crest of fur, have a ridiculous range of Colors, most of them making them look like various fruits and vegetables. We better exercise caution whenever one of those is nearby." He pointedly stared at Pinkie, who reacted innocently.
"Jus' what kindsa crazy Colors can Chias be 'colored' in?" Applejack wanted to know.
"Let's see…" Messerole began to count them with his fingers. "Apple, Asparagus, Aubergine, Avocado, Blueberry, Carrot, Durian, Gooseberry, Grape, Lemon, Lime, Onion, Orange, Pea, Peach, Pear, Pepper, Pineapple, Plum, Thornberry, and Tomato. Even some native fruits here like Agueena and Chokato." He turned to see the shocked/quivering looks from the ponies and immediately felt bad. "Yeah, we neopets are weird. But that's why the Users love us."
Deciding to divert the conversation to a different topic, the grundo decided to ask, "Why did you ask if the rainbow from the Rainbow Fountain was spicy anyway, Pinkie Pie?"
"She took a taste of one of them when I gave my friends a tour of the weather factory back home at Cloudsdale," Rainbow explained.
"Oh." His eyes turned away from the group, then something caught his attention. "Hey, is that the Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity?"
The other three neopets stopped in their walk and turned to where he was staring. The ponies took a bit longer, and Pinkie was the first to point. "Is that it?"
The titular plushie was hanging on a tree branch close to a lake they were passing by. The group approached it and saw that it looked really sad, getting the pity of all of the ponies.
"Poor thing," said Pinkie. "All on its own, unwanted…"
"And yet from the name, it's apparent that this plushie is supposed to be well-known," finished Twilight. "Why is it hanging there in spite of all that and why hasn't anybody taken it home?"
Tychophon gave a chuckle as they all stopped a few feet from it. "You know, there have been a couple of stories behind that thing's history. One of them theorizes that the plushie loses its gift of prosperity and even brings bad luck to anybody who does take it home."
"Oh, that's so sad!" gasped Fluttershy.
"Yeah." The shoyru gave a deep sigh as he walked up to the plushie. "In any case, this plushie has granted minor windfalls (did I use the word correctly?) for anybody, usually Users and 'their' neopets, who has encountered him. Rewards range from simple happiness, to less hunger, enlightenment, getting healed, or even neopoints or random toys. Consequently, it might make visitors hungry, dampen their mood, or even nothing happens." He then walked back to the others. "Well, best be on our way."
Everybody agreed and began to walk away when a hoof made contact with something heavy. "Ow!" yelped Rarity. The other nine turned to see that she had bumped into a pouch of what seemed to be neopoints.
"Oh goody!" gasped Euryflavia as she picked it up.
"Are ya sure it's all right?" Applejack asked. "Maybe somepony dropped it and they might—"
"Nah, this is one of those windfalls the Plushie often grants," Tychophon assured then pointedly faced Twilight. "And I think it's best you do not ask exactly how it works; even we don't know either."
The party of ten approached the Wheel of Excitement, whose operator was a light faerie.
"It looks like fun, right? Come and spin the Wheel of Excitement!" she said.
"Me! Me! Me!" gasped Pinkie as she—with 500 neopoints ready—spun the wheel, then gave the money to the light faerie. She then backpedaled a bit as the group watched the wheel spin.
"I'm assuming the numbers on the wheel represent the amount of neopoints you can win when the pointer lands on it, right?" Rarity asked.
"Mm-hmm," Aquanax nodded. "And some of these spaces grant special potions and even healing."
"Your dragon friend mentioned that not too long ago. It's almost like the prospect of getting hurt is always around the corner."
"This wheel, and all other wheels in Neopia, always have a chance of bringing some sort of misfortune. Luckily here, only four of the sixteen spaces are bound to be bad luck for you girls."
Just then, the wheel stopped spinning, and the group turned to see that it seems to have landed on a red space depicting a being of fire.
"Darn. Well, you win some, you lose some," sighed the light faerie.
From a nearby cloud emerged said being ("The Lava Ghoul!" gasped Messerole.), who breathed a very quick blast of fire over the ten. A second later, something seemed to part the rest of the flames. The Lava Ghoul then decided to leave and it was revealed that Twilight had conjured a force field around the group, although Pinkie and Rarity were panicking about as they tried to put out some lingering embers in their tails and manes.
"Come back for another spin in a couple of hours."
"I told you we shouldn't have gone to the Wheel of Excitement," scowled Messerole.
"Would you stop blaming me?" said Euryflavia. "I mean it's not like there was a big chance of that happening!"
"But it's still a chance!"
"At least we have a good reason to fisit the Healing Springs now," quipped Aquanax.
"That is not a good excuse!"
"Guys, guys!" Tychophon quickly put a stop to their bickering. "What's happened happened. Nothing will change that. All we can do is say we're sorry, and move on."
Luckily for the ponies, the Lava Ghoul's fire breath didn't have any lasting burns (as much as Rarity would disagree). Twilight noted that it was kinda like Spike's fire, Spike being her "number one assistant" back home, and a dragon too. The conversation's subject then became comparisons between him and Tychophon, but the shoyru was modest. He also had to tell them that unlike other draconic neopets, he cannot breathe fire, although he has some resistance to it.
The group eventually reached the Healing Springs, where they were greeted by the water faerie Marina.
"Welcome to my home of healing and relaxation," she greeted. "What can I do for you today? Maybe I can heal you, or perhaps you would like to purchase some of my healing potions? You must remember that my magic is limited so I can't heal everybody that often. Also, I'm currently running out of potions so I am limiting one to each customer per visit."
"We'd like a healing session," requested Messerole. "Although I'm not sure if…" He glanced at the ponies.
Marina gave a gentle smile. "I've been told about you. Come. It's—as neopets would say it—on the house." She gestured to one of the pools.
"Well, that was refreshing," said Pinkie.
"I'll say!" agreed Rarity. "I feel good as new."
"We were really lucky Marina was feeling very generous to us today," Euryflavia mused, buying a Healing Potion XII. "Sometimes she just heals only one of us when our User's around, heal us for only a bit, or even just give a potion or snowball. Her magic seems to fluctuate a lot given her customers."
"Snowballs?" parroted Pinkie.
"Yes. Snowballs. And they don't melt easy either. They're mainly one-use items for the Battledome."
"The Battledome?" Rainbow was curious.
"Yup," Tychophon answered. "We Neopets are competitive in nature. And all Neopets are capable of fighting, even the intellectual lennies, who are long-legged, slender-bodied bird neopets with three long feathers that form their tails."
"Intelligent, curious, devoted to learning and discovery…hmm…" Aquanax gave a knowing look at Twilight, who seemed honestly confused.
"Anyway, you can find the Battledome in Neopia Central, and that's still a long way from here."
"I'd like to give it a try sometime," said the cyan pegasus.
"Perhaps. We'll find out when we get there."
Rainbow decided to change the subject as they stopped somewhere. "So, where are we now?" The group was now standing a few feet from a large puddle, the water of which came from the mouth of a cave.
"Welcome to the Faerie Caverns," announced Tychophon. "Inside there is treasure. Mostly neopoints. We do need a fee of four hundred neopoints though."
"Why?" The pegasus rushed into the cave entrance, only to be repelled by an invisible barrier. "Oww…" She reeled back.
"Have you ever heard of the concept of 'trap maintenance'? You know, the sort in dungeon-exploring tales." As the shoyru said this, Aquanax produced the fee and tossed it through the invisible barrier.
"You know…I wondered about that myself when I read the Daring Do series back home," answered Twilight as she and the rest of the group then entered the cave. She also circumvented the need for a torch by flaring her horn and generating a light from it. "I mean, there's no way the traps there still work effectively, even though they've been left for hundreds or thousands of years."
"Tell me about it." From what little we neopets know, the trap maintenance is handled by the TNT users. Somehow. "I'm assuming Daring Do is a fictional…treasure hunter? Or was it tomb raider?"
"I think a much cooler term would be 'adventurer archaeologist'," Rainbow put in as they stopped at a fork in the path. There were a few curious looks from the other ponies. "What? Am I not allowed to use complicated words once in a while?"
"Okay, guys," Messerole interrupted, trying to get the group back on track. "Which way do we go?"
"I'm guessing you've never been in these caverns before, am I right?" asked Rarity.
"Actually, we've been here a couple of times with our User, who somehow turns into an idiot while inside." The grundo lowered his voice into a mutter. As well as plenty of other times…
"And we do find treasure here," Aquanax supplied. "Less than ten percent of the time, though it should theoretically be twelve point five. It's just that the ones who do 'trap maintenance', as Tych helpfully called it, on this cavern scramble the pathways via magic each time the treasure is found. Lots of this magic, mostly faerie magic, is at work so that we don't encounter other groups who are in this cave as well."
"You're right," said Twilight. "I can sense a lot of magic at work. So much it's giving me a headache when I try to sense it."
"Why can't we just split up?" asked Pinkie.
"No can do, it's against the rules," said the acara. "It's said that a powerful Wraith spawns for every party detected exploring this cavern minus one."
"That means for every party in this cave, there are just as many wraiths but they are one short?"
"Yes. The magic Twilight's sensing here is the only thing that keeps them at bay. Not even Queen Fyora is all-powerful, any more than your princesses are." She raised a paw to stop the purple unicorn from speaking up. "Yes, Celestia and Luna are probably more powerful given that they move the sun and moon respectively in your world, but that's beyond the point. And now we're getting distracted. We're supposed to be choosing a path."
"Right," she agreed, then pointed to the right-hand(hoof?) path. "That's where we're going."
It took a few seconds for Messerole to process this. "Oh. We head right."
A while later, as the dectet continued walking, Rarity had another question. "Say, about the treasure, are there any gems there?"
"Sorry, but no," said Tychophon. "Only neopoints."
"Oh."
"Why do you ask?" wondered Messerole.
"It's because Rarity has a gem-finding spell," Twilight answered. "I know how to cast it too. Surely there's an equivalent in Neopia."
The grundo put two fingers to his chin. "Well, it's against the rules to use such methods via the use of magical artifacts, but you could theoretically circumvent it if it's inherent magic like the faeries. Material treasures don't interest them though, and you remember what I said about neopet-faerie relations, right?" She nodded. "Also, when we're with our User, other rules are in effect; only he gets to decide, we're not allowed to help him."
They reached another fork in the path. "Now which way?" asked Euryflavia. She was given a coin by Pinkie, but upon catching it, she saw that it wasn't of a currency she knew. On one side was the image of Princess Luna's cutie mark, and on the other was a sun. She guessed it was supposed to represent Princess Celestia's cutie mark. "Hold on. This isn't a neopoint. Or a dubloon."
"Nope," the pink earth pony said. "It's called a bit."
"Equestria's currency, right?"
"Yup!"
"And you want me to flip it to decide?" Pinkie nodded her head rapidly in response. "Okay then. Sun, we head left. Moon, we go right." The usul flipped the coin and then caught it. "Sun. Left it is." She flipped the it back to Pinkie, who caught it in her mane, where it disappeared.Euryflavia decided not to dwell upon it.
As the group kept going, Aquanax spouted another topic. "You know, Rainbow Dash, Neopia also happens to have an 'adventurer archaeologist' as well. He's a kougra called Jake the Explorer."
"Kougra," Twilight echoed. "I remember you talking about them during our tour in Faerie City, when we encountered their captain of the guard. Brynn, you called her. They're feline neopets with small semicircular notches towards the base of their ears, and stripes like tigers, though their colors very greatly depending on their…Color. Wow, that's confusing."
"I know, right?"
"However, I notice something very different about her. Unlike most kougras, who you say walk on fours like us and you, she's on twos and has hands."
"Yeah. Some neopets—but never the ones that bond with Users like us—are born like—or turned into—that for some reason. We call them anthros. They aren't really that different from ordinary Neopets other than potential height. Not all neopets can be anthros though."
"Like what?"
"The aquatic neopets like flotsams, jetsams, peophins, and koi, the ones lacking either arms or legs like jubjubs, kikos, hissies, and avian neopets like pteris and lennies."
They reached yet another fork. "Okay. Which way now?" asked Tychophon. "And voting doesn't seem like a good idea since we're an even number."
"Rock-paper-scissors?" Messerole supplied.
"Not all of us have the appropriate number of fingers, so to speak." He gave an aside glance to the ponies.
"Odds and evens?"
"Same deal. You have four fingers. Aquanax's paws have four digits. My hand only has a thumb. So does Euryflavia. The ponies have none."
Suddenly, there came a short draft from the way they came in, and it blew off Applejack's hat and it went sailing to the left tunnel. Thankfully, it did not go far and landed on the cavern floor.
There was a few seconds of silence as the farmpony went to retrieve it when it was broken by Pinkie. "Let's go that way!"
"Sure," agreed Tychophon as the ten of them went.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask something else," Pinkie said. "Why isn't backtracking an option?"
Aquanax was about to explain. "Because…" She cut herself off from realizing something. "You know what? We never thought of that. Probably because the torches provided at the cave wall don't last long enough to warrant backtracking. And the fact our User is an idiot while inside this cave. Using other magical artifacts to substitute for that isn't allowed either, though that's once again circumvented with your friend's light."
"Thank you," said Twilight.
The group eventually entered a room lit with candles. In front of them was a barely closed treasure chest almost overflowing with gold coins. Everypony was fascinated at the sight, and Rarity's eyes were absolutely starry. The Neopets just sighed in relief.
"Like it? There are plenty more prize-winning places all over Neopia." Six faces immediate turned to face Tychophon. "How rewarding they are varies greatly though. And it's best not to ask about how the world's economy works. We aren't very knowledgeable on the subject."
Rarity trotted over to the chest and used her telekinesis to lift the lid. Twilight produced the pouch of neopoints as her friend 'picked up' the coins and 'put' them in. It took a full minute to collect every last coin, and Aquanax was able to count them all. "Wow, that's five thousand neopoints! We only manage to get between four and twenty-five hundred. I heard there are bigger prizes though."
Euryflavia nodded. "Uh-huh. I heard that sometimes you can get a set of brilliant wings, maybe a rare petpet, a rare stamp, or even a background."
"Background?" parroted Fluttershy.
"Something only we Neopets can…" She made air quotes. "…wear. It's User-related."
After exiting the caverns, the neopets took the ponies to the venue of one of Faerieland's most famed events.
"Poogle Racin'?" asked Applejack.
"Mm-hmm," nodded Messerole as the ten of them made their way to the betting station, which was tended to by a Red scorchio, a draconic neopet. A couple of Neopets are waiting in two line as well and the group went at the end of one. "We rarely come here, but it is all the rage in Faerieland."
"What about that rainbow waterfall we passed before the caverns?" asked Pinkie as they slowly went along the line. "You didn't take us there."
"Oh that? That's the Rainbow Fountain, where a Neopet can change their Color. No, it's not what Aquanax used to get her pair of wings, our User is still seething over the fact that his sister was able to via a quest from Naia the Fountain Faerie."
"And from what you told us, the chances of getting a quest for her are extremely slim," said Fluttershy.
"That's right. And faerie quests on their own don't come often enough. You could say that a quest from Naia is a rarity among rarities, more so than quests from Mira or even Fyora herself." A moment later, the other three neopets, Rainbow, and Pinkie burst into laughter while the others, especially the one whose name was used for the pun, just rolled their eyes. "Anyway, there are 'hundreds' of Neopets who use the Fountain, so the magic is often used up whenever we try to visit."
"That's the story given anyway for Users and…User-bound neopets who visit without completing a quest from Naia. I'm not sure about the other kind, but I think those are the 'hundreds' Naia talks about, not counting the Users who have completed her quests."
"Why would you want to change Colors anyway?" wondered Applejack. "What's wrong with bein' what you are?"
"Not all Color changes are for beneficial purposes, Applejack, or are even out of our User's volition," answered Tychophon. "There are other events that can change our Colors without our consent. For one, about being drenched in rainbow liquid, which Aqua alluded to, that can change our Color. There's also a criminal named Boochi, who owns a ray gun which he uses to turn neopets Color into Baby.
"The difference between Baby and baby is that Neopets with the Baby Color are still just as mature as any other neopet… assuming they were mature to begin with, if you get what I'm saying. They aren't treated any less either, except when taking size into account." His face then turned serious. "Now I'm beginning to worry about something else. What if during our tour he decides to take a potshot at any of you? I'm assuming that you probably know a spell that can reverse the effects, but I'm not too confident on mixing magic in a complex level."
"No need to worry," assured Twilight. "Before being sent here to Neopia, Princess Celestia cast a protective spell on us that would protect us from involuntary transformations."
"I see." He was about to ask why their princess didn't apply protection for injuries, which would've been useful against that Lava Ghoul, but assumed that Celestia had her reasons. Besides had they been protected, they wouldn't have had the visit to the Healing Springs in the first place. And they probably wouldn't be allowed in the Battledome with that 'shield'. Maybe it would be too much even for her, whether as a taxing effort or just a bother.
Just then, at the adjacent line, an individual well-known to neopetkind.
"So these are the delegates from Equestria." she said.
The ten turned around to see—
"A dark faerie?" whispered Twilight.
"Not just any dark faerie, it's Delina the Crafting Faerie," Tychophon corrected.
Like most dark faeries, she was purple, and had bat-like wings. Unlike the usual dark faerie, who have a fancy appearance that doesn't hide their 'evilness', Delina had personal items and attire that imply that she spends a lot of time in a workshop.
"Hello," Delina greeted in a friendly tone, then bent down to face the Yellow shoyru. "You must be their tour guides. How's it going so far?"
Tychophon put a hand to the back of his head and said, "It's great so far. We're still starting though. What are you doing here, Miss Delina? Shouldn't you be looking around for Neopets to give quests to?"
"It's my downtime right now, and I decided to spend it by watching the Poogle Races. I could easily just fly in, but that wouldn't be fair, now would it?" Delina stood up straight and faced the betting station, which they were getting very close to. "Besides, not every User has the Neocash to spend for the items I need. Kinda unfair, right?"
"Yeah, it kind of is."
Delina turned to address Twilight. "How's the tour so far, ponies?"
"So far, I think we're doing fine. Our tour guides have been doing their best to tell us everything about Faerieland."
"I assure you that Neopia is a fantastic place to explore. There is so much to do." Just then, she reached the betting station before the tour group. "Well, nice meeting ya." She took out a couple of odds and ends and used them to make a bid. Once she was done, she made her way to the seats. A while later, the ten reached the station.
"Care to place a bet?" the scorchio bookie asked.
"Why else would we be here, silly?" Pinkie asked in return.
"To just watch the races perhaps?"
"Oh."
"We're gonna bet on Poogle One," Tychophon said as he took out a pouch of neopoints. "Maximum bet."
"That would be three hundred neopoints. Thanks for betting!!!"
A few minutes later…
The tour party of ten were now seated at the bleachers, watching the poogle racers warm up. Poogles are smooth-skinned neopets, though some consider them to have very short fur. They're quadrupeds, have large and downturned ears, have naturally rounded, chubby bodies, very small tails, and surprisingly sharp teeth in their mouths. According to Euryflavia, the five were all Colored Yellow.
"This sort of feels like watching the Wonderbolt Derby," Rarity mused.
"Except replace the Wonderbolts with poogles," Rainbow said.
"True."
"We don't know the real names of the poogles, they're only addressed as Poogles One to Five," Aquanax explained. "And their odds of winning aren't equal." She then pointed at each of them. "For example. Poogle One is lightning quick, great over jumps, and fighting-fit. Because he's the favorite, odds are about thirty-three point three percent. Poogle Two could easily be the fastest Poogle around if he wasn't easily distracted. His odds are twenty-five percent. Poogle Three exhibits great bursts of speed, but is normally very clumsy when jumping. Odds; twenty percent. Poogle Four used to be a contender, but now he is getting older, and he has lost his speed and agility on the racetrack. Odds are about fourteen percent. If you check out Poogle Five, it can be seen that he doesn't get much exercise an an athlete like his should, and so his odds are about eleven point one percent."
"Since Poogle One is the most likely to win, he's also the least…rewarding. If he wins, we only get triple our bet back."
"And if you, say, had bet on Poogle Five and he won, you would win about nine times your bet, right?" Twilight surmised.
"Correct."
Rainbow leaned back in her seat. "I can't say I'm really impressed with them."
"I'm assuming the Wonderbolts Rarity mentioned are pretty darn fast, am I right?" said Tychophon.
The pegasus scoffed. "I guess fast is one word to describe them! But they're more than fast; they are simply the most talented flyers in all of Equestria! I'm already training to be one!"
"I see. Well, Neopia doesn't have a world-famous team of flyers or acrobats, but we do have our share of speedy 'celebrities'."
"Hush! It's starting!" Euryflavia said. The five poogle racers were now positioned in their respective lanes of the course, which was a long line, like the sort for a X00 meter dash.
"Poogles get ready!" announced a voice. "Three! Two! One! Go!"
"Was there ever any—"
"Of course there were doubts, Eury. While his odds were the best among them, it wasn't even higher than fifty percent, which is commonly good odds."
"At least we're nine hundred neopoints richer, Mess."
"Don't. Call me that."
Poogle One was the winner of the race, with Three in second, Five in third, Two in fourth, and Five in fifth. It was a relatively close one too.
Rainbow hadn't been particularly impressed, saying that even the slowest Wonderbolt could clear the distance faster. Applejack wasn't impressed either, saying that Poogle One wouldn't have scored a ribbon with that speed in the Equestria Rodeo Competition.
Right now, they were at a bluff northwest of Faerieland, and frankly it looked rather creepy, reminding the ponies of the Everfree Forest.
"And this is Jhudora's Bluff." They stopped just outside the entrance. "Like the other faeries, Jhudora bestows quests and grants rewards. But unlike those faeries, you can go to her personally and take quests once every twelve hours. Her quests are different too and are most suited for Users. She's actually 'nice' by dark faerie standards, though not as much as Delina, who is pretty much an outcast."
"I heard her name being mentioned back at Faerie Foods while we were eating," said Fluttershy. "The ones who talked about her also mentioned someone named Illusen and from what I could tell, there seems to be…a disagreement between them."
Messerole shook his head. "Disagreement doesn't even begin to describe their hate for each other. Apparently, Illusen was the sole witness to a crime Jhudora had committed. Not only was it apparently so vile to spark this rivalry, it is said they were even once friends. For the record, Illusen's not a light faerie, but earth. We can find her in Meridell."
"So, why aren't you gonna take us inside to meet her?" asked Pinkie.
"Are you sure you want to?"
"Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside," Twilight said, sounding like she quoted it from somewhere.
"True." The grundo put his hand to his chin. "Dark isn't evil. Some of Neopia's heroes have used dark items without 'falling' to the dark side. Even I used one once, and look at me." He spread his arms out, then relaxed them. "But the thing is, no-one has ever caught Jhudora doing anything bad. Even the other dark faeries have been found commiting a wrongdoing at least once. Jhudora? Her record's squeaky clean. And that's the cause of the discomfort concerning her. Are you sure you want to go see her?"
"I know we're your tour guides and that we shouldn't be partial to things," said Tychophon. "But if we were, we wouldn't have taken you here in the first place."
"WHAT'S WITH THE RUCKUS OUT THERE?!" a loud menacing voice came from inside the entrance. Thankfully for the neopets, it wasn't as forceful as Princess Luna's. "WHY DON'T YOU EITHER JUST COME IN OR LEAVE?!"
There were a few moments of silence. Then Rarity said, "That was Jhudora just now, was it?"
That was when a pair of neopets walked past the group, a pair of lupes (one Spotted and one Faerie), giving curt greetings as they passed, then they looked at two of the ponies with slight confusion, those two looking back with the same expression. The two lupes were wearing wigs, and they pretty much looked like two certain manestyles.
Rainbow was the first to speak. "Um, where'd you get those wigs?"
"Oh these?" said the Spotted one, who wore a wig that was identical to the pegasus's mane. "This Funky Rainbow Wig is from the JubJub Power Bounce."
"And this Trendy Highlights Wig is from Blumaroll," said the Faerie one, whose wig was black and had a headband, but had highlights similar to the ones on Twilight's mane. "Well, we best be going. We're gonna take one of Jhudora's quests. See ya!"
And with that, the two lupes ran deep into the entrance.
Once they were gone, Pinkie asked, "JubJub Power Bounce? Blumaroll? What are those?"
"Games that grant prizes. You need special tokens though. But enough of that. Let's get out of here before Jhudora gets angry."
Soon, with the tour of Faerieland over, the ten stood at the land's south edge. Ahead of them was a very large, very forbidding, and sometimes barren wilderness. The ponies regarded it with silent trepidation for a long moment before Pinkie spoke up.
"This feels kinda familiar," she said.
Rainbow turned to Tychophon and said, "How is the weather managed here again?"
"Same as in all of Neopia," the shoyru answered. "We let it do its own thing, although certain faeries and neopets sometimes do what they want with it. From what Princess Luna told us about Equestria the day before you came here, the only place nature behaves like this is the Everfree Forest. But I assure you that the Haunted Woods isn't full of dangerous creatures." He lowered his voice. "Any more than the other lands of Neopia anyway, though it does have more than its fair share."
"As your tour guides, it is our obligation to take you to all the lands of Neopia," Euryflavia explained, seeing the frightful expression in Fluttershy's face. "And we figured we best get the creepiest place out of the way first. They're less scary during the day than at night, anyway."
"The sooner we enter the Woods, the sooner we can leave them. We'll make sure to minimize the harm that comes to you to the best of our ability. Besides, this is just the beginning of our tour. Neopia's a BIG place. There is so much to see."
"And we're wasting time seeing you hesitate!" Aquanax spoke up. "Think of Neopia as a world of adventure! So let's go! We promise there are more interesting things later on after the Haunted Woods."
"We promise," assured Messerole as he began to do a motion. "Cross our hearts and hope to—"
Pinkie interrupted as she did her own motions. "—fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" This ended with her placing a hoof on her closed eye.
The grundo shrugged his shoulders as he finished along with Pinkie, inadvertently doing hers. "Eh, close enough. Now let's mosey! After this, there are still at least sixteen nations to go!" With that, he marched forward. One by one, the ponies followed his lead, the other three neopets doing the same.