A Tour of Neopia

by nightelf37

Selection of the Tour Guides

A/N: I will not be describing all the Neopets characters immediately; that will come in the future.

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Somewhere in the cosmos, beyond Equestria, is a planet called Neopia, which is home mainly to a diverse series of creatures called Neopets.

Unlike ponies, who come in four races, Neopets come in at least fifty-four diverse species, ranging from the draconian scorchio to the porcine moehog, from the alicorn-like uni to the griffon-like eyrie, from the canine gelert and lupe to the feline aisha and wocky, from the extraterrestrial grundo to the prehistoric chomby and grarrl, and from the rabbit-squirrel hybrid usul to the maned rhino-like tonu.

Living alongside them peacefully, but not completely side-by-side, are the Faeries, a mystic, bipedal, and always-female race, who also come in a number of varieties, but not as much as Neopets. They are capable of powerful magic (though Neopets, in theory, can exceed their magical prowess), but their ruler Queen Fyora makes certain they don't abuse it for ill or for good.

While not residing in Neopia itself but in another place entirely, there are also the Users, who explore the land and are as much a part of Neopian society as Faeries and Neopets. Via secret binding magical contacts of terms and reasons long forgotten, the Users are permitted "ownership" of at least one Neopet or as many as four (or five for a few privileged ones) and are entitled to care for their Neopets as they explore Neopia. They are also greatly limited in how much they can influence Neopian society by a group of "high" Users called the "TNT Staff", who moderate the other Users and impose penalties on those who violate "the rules", usually by "freezing" them.

But what should this place have anything to do with Equestria?

The answer: one of Neopia's Faeries, who is called the Space Faerie (and named Mira), who travels the cosmos beyond Neopia as its protector, chanced upon a strange planet which instead circles the sun has the sun circling it. Its moon was uninhabited save for a few traces of dark entities. As she wasn't familiar with this planet, she was cautious as she explored the land from above. From what she saw of it, while they weren't primitive, they had zero knowledge of space travel. The land was also saturated with powerful magic unlike any she has felt before, though thankfully it had no negative effects on her.

In the midst of her impromptu recon mission, in spite of her best efforts of stealth, she had been located. Princess Luna found her after noticing that some of the stars in the night sky were amiss. She went over to the source of the anomaly and saw Mira, who explained herself and wished to meet with the nation's leader, and requested that her presence be a secret. Without alerting anyone else, Luna took Mira to the castle, where she had an audience with Luna and her elder sister Princess Celestia. At first, she was careful with what she revealed about her home world, but she later found herself telling enough for them to be curious enough to want to explore it.

And so a couple of things were arranged; Mira returned to Neopia to report to Queen Fyora of her discovery and of Celestia's wishes to visit one day to discuss the possibility of 'linking' their worlds. A few days after that, Queen Fyora arranged a meeting in her castle with the other rulers of Neopia's many lands (as well as the"Neopets Staff", two high-ranking users named Lawyerbot and Sweets), so that they can meet one of the two diarchs of Equestria. Soon, the Space Faerie arrived with Princess Celestia, and a diplomatic discussion took place.

Some time after, having kept this meeting secret from the majority of the Users, they decided that an special event will be announced. An event that thankfully did not coincide with any disaster or war. An event that did not involve beating "high scores". An event that would not have any deaths involved.

A delegation of six Equestrians—not to be confused with those who ride Unis or any equine Petpets—will be sent over and be given a tour of the world of Neopia.

---

One afternoon in Faerieland…

"Come on! We're gonna be late!"

"No fair! Our wings still need time to be set before we can use them for flying!"

Four Neopets were making their way to Faerieland Castle, two of them running and two of them gliding with their wings. The two fliers had 'natural' ones while the two runners had artificial yet operational ones.

One of the fliers was a very light amber, smooth-skinned bipedal Neopet with the basic form of a dragon. He had large wings (relative to his body), each tipped with a small bony point at the top, huge eyes colored like his skin, and a single fin-like crest on his head. His tail was long and thick, which he used for balance when on the ground. He stood at 54 centimeters, a little under two feet, not counting the crest. He's a shoyru. Of all the many "User-owned" Neopets, his kind was the most popular of them all. More than six percent (there are fifty-four kinds of Neopets) of "User-owned" Neopets started as shoyrus.

"Tychophon. What's your opinion on this?" a female voice asked.

The shoyru turned to one of the runners, an usul. She was a furry bipedal Neopet with large, fluffy bunny-like ears, an equally fluffy tail akin to a squirrel, black eyes with cyan scleroses, a ruff of light yellow fur around her neck. With her ears up straight, she stood at 75 centimeters tall. On her back was a pair of Mechanical Wings. In spite of their apparent bulk, they're capable of lifting its wearer up to the air by means known only to its creators.

"Like every other event before this one, Euryflavia," the shoyru Tychophon answered. "Neutral."

"Neutral?" a second voice came, coming from the other flyer, then sighed. "As usual."

The other flyer was a quadruped Neopet with huge blue eyes and short but scruffy light yellow fur except on the paws, which were pink. Her most striking feature is her double-sized, shell-like ears and a pair of long horns on the back of her head. Unlike conventional horns, they're flexible and can flop and swing about when she moves her head. On her back was a pair of delicate-looking, pink-and-purple, butterfly-like wings. She's an acara, and stood at 48 centimeters.

"Knock it off, Aquanax," said the last one, a male. "You know he takes a bit from our owner."

The fourth and last speaker was a grundo, a smooth-skinned bipedal Neopet. His eyes were enormous, red, and pupil-less, his two antennae with their round sucker-like ends served as ears, and his feet consisted of two large toes. He stood at 35 centimeters, and was the shortest of the four. On his back were Wings of Flame, which were exactly as implied by their name, although they did not burn and were also capable of lifting its wearer up to the air, its means also known only to its creators.

"I know, Messerole, but still…" the acara Aquanax replied.

Neither he nor the others spoke any further and before long his and Euryflavia's wings were in operational condition and they used them to ascend to Aquanax's and Tychophon's level. The four of them reached the castle and made their way to the Great Hall, where there were a lot more Neopets gathered, both "User-owned" and otherwise. Those capable of extended flight or floating did so to provide space for those who can't, accompanying some of the Faeries in the area as well. Some larger Neopets, who were as tall as 120 centimeters (reaching 4 feet), allowed smaller ones on their backs, heads, or shoulders.

They all faced a large stage that was set up in front. Here stood Queen Fyora, who was smiling and waving at everybody gathered. Accompanying her was the Battle Faerie Aethia, who stood guard valiantly with her trusty sword and small round shield. Also with Fyora were the rest of the Faerieland Royal Guard, including their Captain Brynneth (nicknamed Brynn) and her companion the Master Thief Hanso, both of them heroes of a catastrophe that happened a few years ago called "The Faeries Ruin" by the Users. The young kougra guard was keeping the ixi pickpocket from sneaking off by grabbing his arm and keeping him close, much to the delight of some of the User-owned Neopets; the Users saw them as a couple for this and many other reasons. Messerole would've rolled his eyes if he had irises in them, which he didn't.

Fyora began her speech, which began with greeting everybody present as well as the not-present Users of the "User-owned" Neopets who are present. Then, she proceeded with a speech of some sort, the four Neopets listened but it went in one ear and out the other, as they weren't really into long speeches. Of course, they maintained neutral expressions so as not to offend the Queen. Eventually, she reached the part everybody has been waiting for.

"And now, I would like to introduce someone from a faraway place the Space Faerie found during her travels." Just as she said that, a portal began to appear, which looked just like one of those portals leading from Petaria. "Here she comes now."

From the portal emerged a dark sapphire blue hoof; and everybody in the hall can tell that the visitor is equine. It bore a shoe of some kind, which almost looked like a glass slipper or something, the four weren't sure. When the visitor fully emerged, everybody was awed at the sight of her, gasping accordingly, even the Royal Guard.

She had the basic body of a uni, but was about a foot taller than one, and more slender. Her mane and tail were long, sparkly, translucent, almost ethereal (could very well be), and very similar to the night sky. Her eyes were teal and had white scleroses like the Faeries and many Neopets. Her horn was not colored yellow, but in the same way as her coat. Behind it was a little black tiara. She also wore a black crescent-moon necklace. What was most notable of her appearance however is a symbol on both her hindquarters: a white crescent moon in front of a black splotch of what is presumably the night sky.

Queen Fyora raised an eyebrow as if she was expecting someone else, but was appreciative of the visitor's arrival regardless. "I thought it would be Princess Celestia coming here today."

"Pardons, dear Fyora, but my sister is unable to attend. It came at the last minute, but she had to attend a meeting at the Griffon Kingdom to renew a peace treaty. She has briefed me in on what I should do though, so I should be able to so what she was supposed to do here."

"I see." Fyora and the visitor turned to the audience and the Faerie Queen said, "Citizens, this is Princess Luna, co-ruler with Princess Celestia of the land of Equestria."

The visitor, Luna, then cleared her throat, and when she spoke to the audience, it was like standing next to one of those large speakers in concerts. "DENIZENS OF NEOPIA! I AM GLAD TO MEET YOU ALL!" She stopped immediately upon seeing her voice's effects on the audience.

Any of the audience in flight was recovering from the force of her voice and a few were even blown back into the wall. Those in front had been sent flying or pushed back. Several Neopets were rendered dizzy, among them the Neopets with large ears, all the grundos, and Hanso, who was teetering while Brynn tried to keep him upright while suffering from the effects of Luna's voice herself.

"Apologies, Neopians," said Luna. "My sister had told me you Neopets had a thing for loud voices. Apparently, she was messing with me." She rolled her eyes. "Again."

Fyora and Aethia just turned to each other in confusion, Brynn was getting Hanso to stand straight and not stumble for a kiss, and the rest of the audience was just trying to reorient themselves from the recent assault on their eardrums.

"Princess Luna," Fyora said as she gestured to the audience. "If you please."

The dark alicorn turned to the gathered Neopets (and Faeries), and began her speech. She started by talking about the important things they needed to know about Equestria and its inhabitants. Among these are the fact that the weather is manually managed (except in the Everfree Forest), ponies have a vegetarian diet (though they also eat dairy products like cake), their strange language quirk (like replacing the "-body" suffix with "-pony"), and its own history as well as that with its neighboring lands.

A couple of times during the speech, hands, paws, hooves, claws, or fins were raised in the gesture of wishing to ask a question. Having no limbs to raise, JubJubs—who were basically balls of fluff with flexible feet—jumped up and down instead. Luna answered their questions to the best of her ability, though did not ask anything about Neopia in return. When one faerie asked why, she said her sister Celestia has already supplied her with the necessary information learned from a meeting days before this event, including about the Users.

The audience began to murmur upon hearing this revelation, but thankfully did not react badly to it. Fyora then took over from here. "Thank you, Princess Luna." She then faced the audience. "The real reason I gathered you all is because Princess Luna and the Space Faerie will be sending six delegates to Neopia, and one lucky User will have their Neopets be their tour guides."

"As much as I wish to take that tour myself, I need to return soon to Equestria to rule while my sister is gone," Luna added.

A hand went up. It was from Tychophon. "Your Majesty?"

Fyora turned to the shoyru. "Is there something you wish to know?"

"Might I ask, why choose User-owned Neopets like us? Why not, say, someone in your Royal Guard or some other well-known Neopet or Faerie?"

"Excellent question. You see, while I can easily do that, there are a number of reasons why I decided to have User-owned Neopets be the tour guides. One, User-owned Neopets know the entire planet better than anybody. I, for instance, am not too knowledgeable on the technology in the Virtupets Space Station. And two, Users have the strange ability to be in more than one place at a time and travel distances greater than even the fastest Neopet can manage."

"But what about the Users? What will they say about this?"

"The TNT Staff already have that taken care of." She turned her attention back to the audience. "Now, for this to work, I need to know all the Users connected to the Neopets present." She was about to call for one of her faeries to bring a list when Luna already did so, producing one and a quill as if from thin air. Both items were floating in an aura colored the same way as her stellar mane. "Due to the importance of this task, I will need to ask that the Neopets whose Users have not been in Neopia for more than one year sit down." A fair number of them did so.

One at a time, User-owned Neopets made their way up the stage alone, or in pairs, in threes, fours (like Tychophon and company), fives, or even much more, and—one in each group—signed the paper with their User's 'username'. For the groups greater than five (and a few who are of five), signed their User's 'main username' and added their 'side accounts' below them but with a bullet point before them to set them apart from the other 'usernames' in the list.

Once the last of them signed, Luna turned to Fyora and 'passed' the list and quill to her. The Faerie queen took both items and started going through the names, crossing out a few repetitions. Once she was done, she returned the quill to Luna, who dismissed it into thin air. The Faerie Queen then let go of the list as it floated in front of her, summoned her staff as if out of thin air and into her right hand, then waved it at the list, which promptly vanished. A second after that, as Fyora dismissed her staff and positioned her hands as if to catch something, a glass bowl with strips of paper appeared on them. Luna seemed to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"Now, I shall select a name from this bowl, and the name I pick shall be the lucky User whose Neopets will be the tour guides of Equestria's six delegates."

Nearly everybody else in the room turned to each other with awkward expressions, many of them thinking of one thing; it's a bit strange to select at random for something so important.

Finally, Fyora picked one and pulled out the slip of paper from the bowl. "If the name of your User comes up, please come over." She then raised the slip to her mouth and blew into it. The paper disintegrated into dust and turned into little golden lights that formed a word.

nightelf_37

Slowly as one, Tychophon, Aquanax, Messerole, and Euryflavia stood up with shock on their faces, took to the air, then flew over to the stage on their wings, both natural and artificial. The rest of the User-owned Neopets made various outcries and complaints—but none too loud—as they approached. Luna turned to Fyora and asked, "Are you sure about this? They look so…young."

"I assure you they are up to the task," said Fyora. "Neopets who have a bond with Users usually mature faster than those without."

"We'll do our best not to let you down," stated Euryflavia as the four of them bowed to both the queen and the visiting princess.

"I'm sure you won't. Does your User have a Neohome?"

"Y-yes, your Majesty."

"Take Princess Luna there. She'll explain why once you do. And before you go, take these." Fyora conjured six books and a large pouch of Neopoints and levitated them over to the Neopets.

"Language Textbook," Tychophon read. "Umm, Your Majesty, we already read this."

The books were then 'taken' by Luna as she levitated them into her stellar mane. "It's for the delegates, I presume." Fyora answered with a nod.

"Oh, of course."

"And the bi—um Neopoints are for them to spend for items."

"It wouldn't be fair for the tour guides to provide everything," Fyora said.

"I'm not sure this is enough," commented Messerole as he shook the pouch.

"You will want to teach them then on how to earn more then." Luna seemed shocked at the prospect of the delegates finding a job in Neopia before catching herself and remembering one crucial part of Neopian society, which involved Users and games.

"R-right. Of course, Your Majesty."

The audience gave Luna and the four selected Neopets a wide berth to the exit of the Great Hall. Unbeknownst to the four Neopets, Fyora went into further discussion on the six delegates.

---

Later, elsewhere in Faerieland…

"Do you Neopets have some spell that allows you to walk on clouds?"

"Oh no, no, no," answered Messerole. "These clouds—" He indicated the pink ones they're walking on as they're making their way to their Neohome. "—are filled with Faerie magic so that not only can anybody walk on them, solid structures like these Neohomes can be built without falling through." He then munched into some Faerie Bubbles they bought on the way. For some reason, foods are always more expensive—and more filling—to User-owned Neopets when their User is around, which he isn't.

All around them were plenty of yellow houses with blue roofs heart-shaped ceiling windows, and a large magenta flower decoration on top. The corners were decorated with blue stands and purple-and-pink Faerie wings. Some of the houses had various outdoor decorations. As Luna paused to try a Faerie Bubble for herself, she then asked, "What about ordinary clouds? What can walk on them?"

"Only faeries, Faerie Neopets like me, and Faerieland Petpets can do that," said Aquanax as she romped around. "Faerieland was once up in the sky, you know. Unfortunately, a Neopet sorceress named Xandra used a magical artifact to petrify all faeriekind."

"How was she stopped?"

"Well, that's kind of a long story. You might want to look for Brynn of the Royal Guard. Or you could ask for the Master Thief Hanso, though he'll most likely brag and exaggerate."

"I see."

"Oh, we're here." The group finally stopped in front of one house. There seemed to be nothing special about it. As they reached the door, Tychophon put his hand on it and opened the door. "After you, Your Majesty." Luna nodded and crossed the doorway to to their Neohome, and she was shortly followed by the four Neopets. Once she was inside, she took in her surroundings.

There were no walls in the Neohome, but the borders were clearly defined by the different wall colors and floor paints. From what she could tell, there was a living room littered with chairs and tables, a bathroom, two bedrooms, a short hallway, a small hallway, and a sixth 'room' with only a chalkboard.

Her only comment however was, "Oh dear. One of the delegates won't be too happy to see this. Why are there no walls?"

"That's one problem all 'beta' Neohomes have," Euryflavia answered as she and the others walked into various parts of their home. "The old ones are more customizable, but more expensive to make, especially if you want to expand it."

"Hold on. Why did Queen Fyora ask us to being you here again?" asked Aquanax as she hopped onto one of the four large yellow beds they each sleep on, which flanked three orange closets.

"Because I will be using a special teleportation spell to bring the delegates here. Sending them all at once will be very taxing for them and they will end up unconscious." As she talked, Luna made her way to the purple sofa, glancing at the Chariot Chair with a bit of puzzlement.

"So we were asked to bring you here so you can find a safe location to send them?" guessed Tychophon.

"Exactly."

"I see. Is there anything else you would like while you're here?"

"Nothing much, except for a few warnings. As I've said before, one of the delegates won't be too happy to see this home of yours, being a…critic in design. Another might act in aggression, so… tell me, are any of you well-versed in close combat?"

"All of us are," Aquanax answered confidently as she got up and slammed a curled-up paw into an open one. "We even read up on self-defense books. I'm sure we can take care of it."

"I really hope you are up to this task."

"Don't worry. How hard can it—" The acara was cut off when a Faerie Bubble burst on her face.

"It's not good to tempt fate," Messerole warned as he waggled a finger while sitting on the green round table in the home, having thrown the bubble. His Wings of Flame had been put away, though Luna didn't make any remark on it. "Saying something won't happen would most likely lead to it happening."

The visiting Princess said nothing as she then rested her eyes on the large yellow beds. Aquanax noticed and voiced her confusion, catching the attention of the others.

"Um, Your Majesty?" Euryflavia was just finished with her business at the bathroom; grooming herself as usuls like her often do. She had also taken off her Mechanical Wings, setting them down next to one of the sofas.

"I think I have located a good spot. Are those large beds occupied?"

"Um, yes. We sleep in them." She then quickly got what Luna was saying. "Hold on. Will you be sending…them there?"

"The delegates will need some rest, and these beds seem to be suitable enough."

"I guess," the Usul agreed. "Looks like the four of us will take the guest beds." She pointed to the four orange beds on the corner opposite her position.

"I shall require a closer examination of the beds." Luna got up and glided over the sofa and onto a spot between two of them. Aquanax respectfully got off and made her way to the sofa the visiting princess had been. Upon landing, she could feel its warmth, she could sense the strange magic lingering and reacting to her faerie wings, she could smell…something delicious. This made her start up in wonder.

"Chocolate fudge?" she barely whispered. This caught the attention of her fellow Neopets as they walked/flew over to her position.

"What did you say?" the grundo asked before sensing the scent.

"You smelled fudge?" Tychophon.

"Chocolate fudge?" Euryflavia.

"Yeah. I didn't notice it until now."

"I think we were all too focused on the fact that we were selected to be the tour guides to have thought about Princess Luna's scent," the shoyru mused.

Aquanax had to agree, as did the other two. "I guess."

Messerole shrugged in agreement. "Uh-huh."

Just then, Luna came over…and they could still smell the chocolate fudge. "I thank you for your hospitality, umm…" She turned to face the shoyru. "Tychophon, was it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She turned to the others. "Aquanax?"

The acara nodded her head.

"Euryflavia?"

"Mm-hmm," the usul answered.

"And Messerole."

"That's right," said the grundo.

"Again, thank you all."

---

Later that night…

"Are you worried?"

"No."

The four Neopets were sleeping at the orange beds they reserved for guests—not that they had any—leaving their queen/king-size beds for the delegates. Luna had already left for Faerie City, for reasons they did not ask.

"Be honest with us," Aquanax repeated her question. "Are you worried?"

"For the last time, no," Tychophon retorted.

"For Fyora's sake, could you please go to sleep?" Messerole muttered as he shifted about. "Even when Luna said their arrival will be quiet, I don't want to wake up to it and spoil myself the surprise."

"Me too," concurred Euryflavia. "I need my beauty sleep."

"Sorry, guys," the acara sighed. "It's just that…this is very important. And I don't mean save-the-realm or -world important, where nearly every User-owned Neopet can pitch in."

"Weren't you the one who said how hard can it—" Messerole was about to mock her.

"I know what I said! It's just that…I'm slowly seeing the responsibility required."

"Well, no use worrying about it," said Tychophon. "Let's just hope our delegates are sociable enough and won't make things difficult."

"Yeah. Good night."

"Night."

"Finally…" groaned the usul and grundo as they all nodded off to sleep.

Just as they did, something was happening on the beds they used to occupy.

Author's Note:

Dammit. For some reason now, whenever I try to imagine Fyora's voice, I 'hear' Celestia's. This chapter is merely a premise. The actual plot occurs in the next chapter. No points for guessing who the delegates are.

I'm gonna use this photo and assume that a regular pony is 3 and 1/3 feet tall, give or take an inch.

Sorry If Luna doesn't seem to be in character. This is supposed to take place in the middle of Season 3.

The chocolate fudge is a shout-out to the PonyFall Collaboration, where bronies locate MLP ponies (turned human) after smelling chocolate fudge.

Yes nightelf_37's Neopets are in a sense OCs, but seriously, there is no one else in the world of Neopets who knows everything about Neopia more than the Users. And since the Users are technically people like us, I had to settle with this. It's complicated trying to implement Users, but it's an important aspect of Neopia and Neopets.

See ya on Third!