Qasala and Sakhmet
The third stop for the Equestrians' tour of Neopia was the Lost Desert. Luckily for the tour group, they didn't need to walk far and encountered a single caravan on the way that was willing to take them to Qasala, which was where nightelf_37's neopets planned to take the delegates.
The caravan drivers consisted of a bruce (feathered neopet with two large flat feet, a pair of stubby wings, no tail, a smartly tied ribbon around their neck, and 75 centimeters tall), and a kyrii (furry bipedal neopet with large pointed ears, a long mane that stretches down to its tail, a naturally wide mouth and 30 centimeters tall), with a pair of Desert(-colored) unis (120 cm-tall alicorn neopets with horns colored—unlike Equestrian unicorn ponies—differently from their coat colors) pulling the entire vehicle. It wasn't awkward for the ponies; they had been in horse-pulled carriages before.
It was also decided that the neopets told the delegates of how the Lost Desert was discovered, but not before using their hammerspace to 'put away' their petpets, and assuring that it was safe for them.
"It may sound strange, but the story begins at the third Annual Neopian Cheat! Championships in Neopia Central," Tychophon began. "In case card games don't exist in Equestria, Cheat is—"
"I'm familiar with the rules," Twilight Sparkle interrupted. "Cheat is a card game where the players aim to get rid of all of their cards. Players would set a number of face-down cards and make a claim as to what those cards are. The player must call either the same rank as the previous player, or one rank above or below. This claim may be a lie, and may have to be one if the player has no cards of the required ranks.
"Once a player has made a claim, every other player has until the next player starts their turn to call "cheat", if they think the player's claim was a lie. The game then pauses as the pile is checked. If the player lied, then they take the entire pile and play continues starting with the claimer. If the player didn't lie though, it's the claimer who takes the pile. The first to run out of cards is the winner."
The four yellow neopets weren't exactly surprised that something like card games existed in Equestria, but for a race that lacked hands to develop such… No, stop thinking about it. "…Thank you for summing that up for the rest of us," the shoyru said.
"You're welcome, Tychophon. Although in Equestria, we don't have tournaments for card games, let alone one that revolves on bluffing."
"I see."
Messerole then decided to continue the story. "Moving on. In this tournament, a Green bruce named Brucey B…" He gestured to the avian driver as an example. "…was on a winning streak thanks to a 'lucky coin'." He made air quotes to emphasize this. "He managed to sweep the competition, and won the finals, earning himself a trophy and 250,000 Neopoints. Unbeknownst to him, somebody was watching, paying particular attention to his lucky coin.
"Upon returning home, Brucey found a letter waiting for him, signed by someone who identified themselves as R.S.. The letter invited him to a private game of Cheat! with a minimum buy-in of 100,000 Neopoints. Despite his friend Capara, who is a kyrii—" The grundo gestured to the other caravan driver. "—and a fellow Cheat! player, advising him not to, Brucey decided he would attend the game."
"That's not gonna end well," remarked Twilight.
"Indeed it didn't," confirmed Aquanax. "But not in the way you think. The prospect of a game was legit, but it turns out that R.S. cheated, as in played unfairly. Since Brucey foolishly entered with his prize money as his buy-in, he lost everything, including his 'lucky coin' after R.S. goaded him to wagering it. And then he was kicked out.
"Brucey was heartbroken from this loss, and his two friends went and consoled him, Capara and…" the acara gave a dreamy sigh. "…Princess Fernypoo."
"Princess Fernypoo?" Rainbow Dash parroted. "What a ridiculous name."
In an instant, the acara's eyes flashed red, a trait common to her species, and her face turned into a frown. "Don't you dare insult her!" This shocked the pegasus for only a split second.
"Pardon Aquanax's outburst, but Princess Fernypoo is a role model for many User-bound acaras," said Euryflavia as her User-mate shortly calmed down. "Even though she's a bit of a spoiled brat with a wicked temper and a top Cheat! player." She took out a book from their User's (Tychophon's) bag, which was titled the Neopedia, and sifted through its pages until she reached Princess Fernypoo's article and placed a bookmark on it. "Here's a page on her you can look up later. Anyway, Capara and Fernypoo convinced Brucey that they'll help him recover his 'lucky coin'."
None of the ponies commented on their dedication to what seemed to be a ridiculous endeavor; after all, friends are supposed to be there for each other in times of need, no matter what.
"They started their search by asking Kauvara, the Magic Shopkeeper in Neopia Central. She also happens to be a challenger in the Battledome. Unfortunately for the group, Kauvara did not know much and instead advised them to go see the Brain Tree. Meanwhile, miles away, it turns out that R.S. was in league with a villain named Dr. Frank Sloth, who had hired him to acquire Brucey's lucky coin for reasons we'll reveal later."
"Uh, who's this Dr. Frank Sloth?" asked Twilight.
"We don't know what he is, but he's certainly not a User or a Faerie or a neopet, and takes offense to anybody who thinks he is one. Well-versed in the arts of mad science and technology, he plans on conquering Neopia," Messerole explained. "In fact, it was he who brought my kind to Neopia, although we were a slave race back then. But thanks to the Space Faerie and the Users, he was thwarted and we were freed. But that was long before our User adopted any of us, though.
"But you don't need to worry about him. Currently, he's sealed away and floating somewhere in space, although that tale is for another time."
"Anyway, Brucey and his friends, not wanting to see the Brain Tree yet, asked around Neopia Central, but all who they asked said to ask him," continued Euryflavia as her fellow female User-mate calmed down. "And so they did. The Brain Tree told them to travel westward across the Haunted Woods, which no one had done at that time. It was an arduous journey, the area not being as less hostile as it is today. Eventually, they emerged from the forest and found themselves facing the sand dunes we faced just a while ago. At the same time, many miles ahead, Dr. Sloth and his Mutant grundo troops made their way to a giant Sphinx statue, and tried to force their way in by blasting through the entrance. However, somehow it failed to even blemish the surface."
The Equestrian delegates did not ask for an explanation; such things (at least one instance) existed in Saddle Arabia.
"Brucey and his companions did not have the privilege of a friendly caravan like we do and trekked through the desert on foot. His friends were at the verge of giving up, not having expected or even been to a desert."
"Ugh, I gotta sympathize for Princess Fernypoo," commented Rarity. "All the sand in her shoes must be a pain for her."
"But in the midst of complaining, Capara paused mid-complaint as she saw a gigantic city among the dunes. Fernypoo and Brucey stopped and saw it too. Thirsty from their trek, they raced up the last dune towards the gates of the then-lost city."
"Which of those two be that city?" asked Pinkie as she poked her head out of the shelter of the caravan.
Her friends looked out as well and saw what she was pointing at. There were two great cities made out of hardened sand and clay in sight. One was larger than the other, which in turn seemed to be nearly finished in a state of rebuilding.
Tychophon poked his head out with them and pointed to the larger city. "That one. Sakhmet."
"But we're not going there," said the Bruce driver. "We're headed to Qasala, which is the other one."
The ponies and shoyru popped back inside the caravan and the Yellow usul continued. "Once inside Sakhmet, the first thing they did was look for clues on the whereabouts of R.S.. That and buy some food. The locals soon directed Brucey to the Great Pyramid, which we won't be able to see from here, and is where the Sphinx statue is. At the same time, Dr. Sloth was losing patience from the seemingly impervious entrance and in a fit of rage tossed the coin right at the opening—"
"And it turned out to be the key?" guessed Rainbow.
"Why, yes. I'm guessing you know thanks to another 'Daring Do' book?"
"Yeah."
"Moving on. It soon turned dark, and the three unprepared adventurers managed to successfully sneak past all the Mutant grundos and just outside the Sphinx entrance. Inside, Dr. Sloth, his troops, and R.S. found a treasure trove. R.S. naturally went for the gold, but Sloth was looking for something far more valuable; a magical staff. Just as he found it, Brucey and his companions stumbled in. While they found R.S., they also immediately made a run for it at the sight of Sloth."
"Is this Dr. Sloth really that notorious?" asked Applejack.
"Yes," Aquanax answered in her User-mate's stead. "Unfortunately, Sloth's staff claimed two of them as its first victims. Capara was transformed into a Wadjet, a small snake petpet—" Twilight shuddered from hearing it. "—while poor Fernypoo was mutated into a horrible creature. Only Brucey was able to escape such a fate by running as fast as his short legs could carry him."
"All of the treasure was loaded into Dr. Sloth's vessel, and R.S. was only given a meager number of gold coins, as well as the gold ornaments he wore, as his share, and that is the last anybody heard of R.S.. With the staff and his army, Dr. Sloth made his way to Sakhmet, eager to conquer it. Brucey and his mutated friends followed haplessly in their wake, while Sloth's army began to storm Sakhmet's inner city. Their advanced technology proved too much for the locals, and Brucey soon came up with a desperate plan; recruit the locals into an army to help defend the city. Incidentally, a band of more-prepared Users and their neopets had arrived, and found themselves enlisted. As it was, a few curious Users had followed Brucey's group, and then went back and told everyone about it."
"I know it sounds wrong, but many of these Users were eager for a fight and, as I've said before, neopets are competitive in nature," Tychophon took over as the caravan neared Qasala's gates. "Miraculously, both sides suffered very few fatalities, since most of the weapons, both Neopian and Sloth's, were set on stun and neopets always ignore anybody obviously too tired to fight. I guess you can say that we all are also merciful to a degree. Were, at least, if the 'Tale of Woe' is anything to go by. And even then it's only in combat. Other…unsavory methods are still used.
"With the help of the Users and their neopets, the city residents began to turn the tide of the battle, overcoming the mutant grundos. Dr. Sloth however refused to go down without a fight, and used the magic of the staff to summon a large rock beast, tipping the scales once more. Thankfully, the army was able to destroy that as well. In the midst of the chaos, Brucey B made his way to where Dr. Sloth was watching the battle, and entered a brief scuffle with him, all in an attempt to get back his lucky coin. The staff was destroyed in the process, and its magic was completely undone, returning Capara and Fernypoo to their original forms. Defeated, Sloth escaped, vowing to return, and leaving his army behind, who were detained as prisoners of war.
"As for Brucey B and his friends, they returned to their normal lives in Neopia Central, with Brucey finding his lucky coin too. And that ends our tale."
"And this ends your ride," added the Kyrii driver. "We're finally at our stop."
The heat was oppressive, or would have been were it not for Twilight casting a cooling spell on the group. She nearly neglected Tychophon, assuming that as a dragon(-type neopet) he would be naturally resistant, but the shoyru explained to her that his kind doesn't bear as much heat-resistance as most draconic neopets (and petpets), and can't even breathe fire.
And they didn't get to walk that far before some Qasalan guards found them while the group was at Qasalan Delights, checking out the foods, particularly the Qando and Queela fruits. As it was, the guards had been looking for the delegates under orders of their rulers, King Jazan and Queen Nabile, who requested an audience with them. Or something like that. Unfortunately for the tour guides, they were not permitted to accompany them, so the four milled about in Qasala.
Soon, the delegates were finished and they met at the place entrance. All they confided to the neopets was that they discussed political matters, and requested for a ride to the next closest Neopian land (apart from the Haunted Woods). That next land turned out to be Altador…which was across the mountains to the west, and between them and Qasala (and Sakhmet) were a sizable number of lesser kingdoms sitting in the desert sands, and wars frequently broke out between those countries. Because of the conflicts, that area is rendered off-limits to Users. An escort would have to be established for the trip. In the meantime, under Nabile's suggestion (and incidentally as the tour guides planned), the delegates would visit Sakhmet and have an audience with Princess Amira.
The party of ten found themselves trekking from Qasala to Sakhmet. It wasn't far, and there was a river between the two cities. And there were a few stops on the way. In the distance, they saw a swarm of red bugs (and a few green) coming in from the east, but they were being blasted into oblivion by a steel gray vehicle with a long tube that launched projectiles aimed for the bugs. Euryvlavia quickly noticed that Fluttershy as wincing at the sight, so the neopets quickly led them away.
Ahead was a Tug-O-War match currently in progress, with spectators surrounding the area. The current competitors seemed unbalanced in terms of size.
The one on the Sakhmetian side of the river was a grundo, but he was approximately two to three times Messerole's size. He was also muscular and had dark green skin. According to the smaller grundo, his name was Truggdon.
The one on the Qasalan side was a female Desert aisha (short-furred quadruped felines with two extra ears that stand out on antenna-like stalks, half-closed-looking eyes). As with all Desert aishas, this one's fur was tan-colored, there were gold ornaments around the body, and a white cape and headdress. Her name was Horak.
The marks on the sand/mud showed that the match had been going for quite a while. To the ponies' surprise, Horak seemed to be holding her ground. In fact, it was apparent that for all his bulk, Truggdon was losing. And it wasn't long before he fell into the water, eliciting cheers from the audience. Thankfully, the river wasn't too wide, and he was big enough not to be swept away as he climbed back to shore.
"Whoo-ee. That smaller neopet sure is strong for her size," commented Applejack.
"She certainly is," agreed Tychophon. "Although the weights tied to her feet helped." And with that any good opinion on the Aisha was gone. "Although she still sometimes loses even with the weights."
"Serves her right," said Rainbow.
"Says the cheater." The cowpony gave a teasing look.
"Hey, the rules weren't clearly established in that competition!"
The shoyru looked at them for a moment. "Reminiscing an old memory?"
"Yeah," both athletic ponies answered.
"The two of them underwent an Iron Pony competition," explained Pinkie. "They tied in the first half, but Dashie dominated the second half thanks to her wings, mostly by flying."
"Ah." And Tychophon ended the inquiry on the subject there.
The tour party approached their next stop before Sakhmet: Coltzan's Shrine. It was a tall obelisk with huge hieroglyphs on all sides reading vertically, except in place of the second hieroglyph (if one was to try and read it from top down) was an empty space holding a crown.
"This here is Coltzan's Shrine," Messerole told the ponies. "Plenty of Users and their neopets visit this place for the chance of a blessing."
"Like the Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity?" asked Pinkie.
"…In a way, except the plushie is more hidden than the shrine. Coltzan's Shrine rewards range from gifts of…" The grundo tried to find a suitable substitute for 'stat increase'. "…permanent personal enhancements to items to a handful of neopoints. However, unlike the Plushie, the late Coltzan's spirit isn't often there to gift those who visit his place of rest."
"Coltzan isn't a deity worshiped by the residents of the Lost Desert," Aquanax stated. "Not that you'd probably know what it is to worship a deity since she doubles as your ruler, and teacher in the case of one."
One of Euryflavia's Mechanical Wings slapped the acara in the face and gave her a frown, 'telling' her that what she said could've been offensive. "There's a tale concerning this one too. You see, King Coltzan III was Princess Amira's father."
There came a soft gasp. "How did he die?" The question came from Fluttershy.
The tour guides felt a little chilled. While they knew what death was, the TNT Staff was very sensitive on the matter being discussed since most Users are still children who have yet to grasp the concept. Offenders are often "frozen"; it never happened to their User, who doesn't plan on finding out.
"There's another story behind that," said the usul. "And please take caution when you say that word. The High Users are known to 'freeze' Users who violate the rules. We don't know what it does, but there is no ice involved. I don't know if you guys are exempt from it, but we don't want to chance it.
"Anyway, it all began after the deal with Brucey B and his lucky coin. King Coltzan was throwing a great dinner party to celebrate Dr. Sloth's defeat, Brucey and his friends having already returned to Neopia Central. Unfortunately, disaster struck. Coltzan's meal had been poisoned by one of his guests; Princess Sankara, an exiled Princess from one of the many kingdoms to the west. As it was, her motive behind the crime was because she wanted Sakhmet to send troops back to her homeland so she can liberate it, but King Coltzan had always advised against such notions, saying she was too young."
"And she hoped to put Amira on the throne and manipulate her into doing that?" deduced Twilight.
"Not exactly. You see, Amira was out traveling at that time. Her sister, Vyssa, was Sankara's target, though."
Messerole could see the ponies about to dwell on the subject (like if Sankara's method was justified or if Coltzan's reasons for refusing Sankara were valid), so he decided to distract them with another. "Anyway, when this shrine was first opened in Coltzan's honor, his crown was revealed to be missing!"
The ponies turned to face him with interest in the tale. Apparently, it worked.
"Stolen by the Meerca Brothers Heermeedjet and Meerouladen, as deduced from their taunting note the former left behind."
"He even signed it with his name. What an idiot," commented Aquanax. "They also happen to be opponents in the Battledome and have done time in prison."
"The race was on to find the crown and restore it to its proper place," Tychophon continued. "Neopian super-sleuths (read:Users) gathered to examine the clues. In any case, the search for the crown took them all the way to Neopia Central, to Peopatra's Petpet Shop (which we'll take you to later), to a parrot living in Mystery Island, to a Neohome there, and finally—"
"Bo-ring!" Pinkie interrupted. "A story about a mystery isn't really exciting when it's told in summary. What happened in the end?"
"I was just about to get there. The sleuths eventually found the crown at a beach in Mystery Island… and they saw Malkus Vile, a notorious crime boss who had hired the Meerca Brothers to steal it (and unfortunately got away). Also, it was revealed that Princess Sankara conspired with him and she was naturally (already) arrested. Of course, the crown was returned to its rightful place, since Users are also honest when it comes to artifacts and transactions."
Just then, an image of a Lupe's head wearing a royal Lost Desert headdress appeared. It could only be King Coltzan.
"I will do what I can to help you…" he said, addressing all who were present.
A wind then blew, revealing a variety of items from the dunes underneath their feet. From what the ponies could see from what the other visitors picked up, the 'rewards' ranged between lenses, shields, food, scrolls, books, and plushies that were apparently in Coltzan's likeness when he was still alive.
The tour group's rewards were…three silver coins that were larger than either a Neopian neopoint or an Equestrian bit, and had the image of a moon embossed in both sides.
The ponies were unimpressed. "Three coins? That's it?!" Twilight asked in disbelief.
The neopets however were completely amazed. "Not just any coins!" Tychophon said as he picked them up. "They're dubloons! This one has a denomination of twenty, and that translates to approximately twenty thousand neopoints! They're also the only currency in Krawk Island!"
"Krawk Island?" parroted Pinkie.
"In a nutshell, an island rife with…" He made air quotes, dubloons still in hand. "…high-risk traders."
Rainbow seemed to get what he was not saying immediately, which was surprising as she didn't give the impression of having a brilliant mind. "You mean pirates?" she asked eagerly.
"…Yeah," Euryflavia confirmed. "Although they aren't all that bad. In fact, one of Neopia's heroes is a pirate, but that tale is for another time. Let's hurry to Sakhmet."
"But you haven't told us some of the other things out here," Twilight pointed out as she indicated some of them. "Like the pyramids in the distance, or what is apparently a battlezone you deliberately led us away from."
"The pyramid, also called Gebmid out of the Geb petpet in these parts, is Sutek's Tomb, which sadly doesn't have much in the way of history."
"Who's Sutek?" Twilight wanted to know.
"An ancient and presumably the first Geb who was basically the wisest and strongest of all the Gebs. There's a combination lock there that keeps thieves out of the tomb and its riches and the tomb was just as tough as that pyramid Dr. Sloth failed to penetrate by force."
Messerole took over from here. "And as for the other, the Lost Desert has been having infestation problems and that…vehicle blasting them is one of many 'pest control' methods, that one being one the Users can take a part in and earn neopoints." The grundo raised a hand. "And please, no asking us on the economic system. I'd like to stress that again."
As they explained, Aquanax and Tychophon meanwhile talked in hushed tones for a moment.
"Should we talk about the 'Desert Diplomacy' incident?" asked the acara.
The shoyru thought for a moment. The 'Desert Diplomacy' incident happened not too long ago. It involved stolen items from visiting rulers, sorting out which band of thieves stole which item, and Users solving the crimes. "…Nah." It wouldn't be a nice tale to tell, given how badly they retold the case of the theft of Coltzan's crown.
A while later, the tour group made it to the gates of Sakhmet. A regiment of guards were there, undergoing a marching session. The two posted at the gates themselves allowed the group to pass, and it looked like they identified the delegates. They were all tonus, leathery-skinned quadrupeds with enormous ruffs around their heads, a horn sprouting from their nose, thick and sturdy legs, comparatively small ears, a tiny tufted tail. They stood at about 70 centimeters in height, making them shorter than the ponies. The non-anthros, anyway; the anthro ones towered over them.
Just before they could proceed further, somebody else revealed himself. It was an anthro tonu like the guards at the gates, but his armor was significantly more ornate, and his color was Blac—no, Shadow.
"It's General Dacon," Tychophon told the ponies.
"Greetings, delegates from Equestria," Dacon said. "Princess Amira is expecting you. Please follow me."
And the ten did so. "It'd be wrong to say no," remarked Euryflavia. "You can check the sights in Sakhmet after your business with the Princess. We'll be waiting just outside the palace."
As they traversed the thankfully not-so-busy streets of Sakhmet, the neopets noted that the ponies didn't exhibit as much interest as back in Faerieland. Then again, this was just the third land; there was still so much to check out.
The Yellow neopets half-expected the Desert Scarabs, thieves local to Sakhmet (and honorary heroes in another conflict that hit Sakhmet, different from the one that 'exposed' the Lost Desert to the Users), to try and filch something from the delegates, but they never came.
Eventually, the group made it to an expansive square, which 'housed' a bazaar. Stalls selling all sorts of items, hosting games, or just showing interesting stuff. All the way across it (and dividing the bazaar in two) was a main road that led to what General Dacon indicated to be the palace, where Princess Amira is waiting inside. nightelf_37's neopets were hoping to show the delegates all the sights in Sakhmet, but that could come later. As with the case of Qasala's rulers, the four neopets were asked to wait outside as the ponies went in with Dacon.
Less than a third of an hour later, the ponies were out of the palace. nightelf_37's neopets showed them the sights in the bazaar. As Tychophon promised, they went to Peopatra's Petpet shop first. Most of them were awed at some of the traditional animal-like petpets, some were weirded out at seeing just what a Geb was (short pyramid) as well as the khnum petpet (which looked like a sphinx), and Twilight kept away from the wadjets.
Since the area was so big, the party decided to split up. Tychophon and Twilight went to the Sakhmet Solitare tent and the latter played one game. Fluttershy and Rarity followed Euryflavia in Osiris Pottery (It's supposed to be Osiri's Pottery, but there's an…issue with apostrophe use). Messerole took Pinkie to the Food Stall. Aquanax took Applejack and Rainbow past the Coloring Pages stall ("It's just pictures of neopets going about their daily lives.") and to the Scarab 21 game stall, where the farmpony decided to give the game a try while the pegasus waited boredly, and was considering actually playing next.
Right after checking the pottery, the usul took the two delegates she was escorting to the Fruit Machine. Greeting them at the stall were an anthro aisha, kau, and lupe.
(Kaus are bovine neopets with a short coat lengthening around the hooves and forming a tuft of hair on top of their head. They are easily recognizable by their large ears and horns and their stripy markings, as well as shiny hooves. Non-anthro kaus normally stand at about 60 centimeters.)
Seeing Twilight over-analyzing her moves, Tychophon told her that he'll be at the other side of the bazaar. Meanwhile, Messerole was chasing a pronking Pinkie as she made her way to the Scarab 21 tent. She went in on Rainbow playing a game and naturally so did the grundo. And things were not looking good for the pegasus. She took one more card and put it down.
"That's it. You're out of moves," stated Aquanax.
"I can't help it!" said Rainbow. "Thinking far ahead like this isn't exactly one of my strong suits."
"Well, you did score higher than our user ever did in one game. 435 points is above his record of 287. I mean, two full house 21s! How did you even do that?!"
The pegasus just rubbed the back of her head. "Huh. I don't know. But I certainly wasn't placing cards at random. Even I wouldn't do that."
After Twilight left the Sakhmet Solitaire stall and made her way to the Emergency Supplies tent, where Tychophon was standing… "Finished?" he asked. "We'll need to return to Qasala soon for our ride to Altador."
"Right," the unicorn agreed as the two of them walked towards the Sutek's Scrolls stall, which not only sold scrolls, but standard hardback books as well. Euryflavia and Rarity were inside as well. The shoyru saw Fluttershy enter the Scratch Cards stall. "Judging from the sun's position, I think we have a few minutes left."
Messerole and Aquanax left the tent with their accompanying delegates towards the Geos stall. Their user never got the chance to play it, and they thought it'd be nice to try it out. It was a two-player game, and the 'pairs' went as follows; Messerole decided to take on Applejack, while Aquanax and Rainbow contended against one another. Pinkie was about to sit this out as a result when a Blue Blumaroo invited her to play with him.
(A Blumaroo a neopet with short, soft fur that walks on two legs, although it can also often be found bouncing on its highly springy tail. It is recognizable by its large ears, beady eyes and long drooping nose. When balanced on its tail, it measures about 100 centimeters.)
As Tychophon exited Sutek's Scrolls, he saw Fluttershy exit the Scratch Card stall with her head hung low. He walked over to her, but before he could speak, she sensed him coming and said, "I'm sorry I wasted 500 of your neopoints. I thought I could win, but…"
"Eh, it's okay, Fluttershy," sighed the shoyru. "We don't win often either. It's better to sell it, anyway, have others try their luck. Come on. Let's check out our last stop in Sakhmet."
The two of them made their way to the Paintbrush Stall, which did not have any paintbrushes, but instead showed pictures of neopets painted in Desert Color. Twilight, Rarity, and Euryflavia arrived shortly after.
"What's this place for?" Twilight asked. "I don't even see any paintbrushes."
"I'm glad you asked. Nearly every land in Neopia has these kinds of places. As we've explained earlier, we can come in various Colors." Tychophon indicated the pictures that were in the stall. "These serve as a preview for the Users on what they would look like if they wish to change their neopets' Color, in this case the Desert color."
"Oh, right," said Rarity. "You guys said something about magical paintbrushes back in the Haunted Woods. And you said you'd explain."
"Right, but I'd like the others to hear it too so we won't explain it twice. Let's go find them."
The four of them eventually made their way to the Geos stall, where their friends (or User-mates, which is a closer bond) were playing. The ponies playing were on one side of the table, and their neopet opponents on the other. The Geos game boards were upright, preventing the opponents from seeing each other's. The game pieces were on the table, and were magically modified so that players without arms (like jubjubs, kaus, and unis) can lift them up by simply thinking it. It only works for the individual closest to them and can see them, so nobody else can sabotage the game in that way.
Messerole placed a piece on his board, and then 'ghosts' of another player's pieces suddenly appeared, and he hung his head in defeat. "Ugh! Defeated by a farmpony…" He then quickly turned his head past the boards to look at Applejack. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
As for Aquanax, she whooped in victory, having apparently won her game in Rainbow's long exasperated groan was any indication.
"Oh goodie! You're finished!" Pinkie said as she placed her piece, earning a groan of defeat from her Blumaroo opponent. "Come on, girls! It looks like Tychophon's gonna explain something!" The shoyru wondered how she knew that, but he had been told by Twilight to shrug off from trying to find an explanation. After all, "it's Pinkie Pie".
In a while, everybody was gathered at the Paintbrush Stall. "Okay," the shoyru began. "Before I begin, I want to hear what you girls remember about Colors."
"Colors is an attribute all neopets have that can be changed via multiple methods," Twilight summarized. "They don't always mean colors, but also forms, like with the Baby Color. Changing Colors is sometimes voluntary, and sometimes not."
Tychophon nodded sagely. "That's the gist of it."
"So…about the magical paintbrushes. I'm guessing they have something to do with changing a neopet's Color, right?"
"That's right," agreed Aquanax. "Magical paintbrushes is one of the many methods of changing one's Color, and it's what our User used to change both of our Colors."
"Both?" asked Fluttershy.
"Me and Tych. I was once Yellow, which is a shade darker than this…" The acara gestured to her light yellow fur. "And had no wings either." She then indicated the shoyru. "And he was once Blue, his shade akin to Rainbow Dash's fur. But it's not as simple as finding a magical paintbrush and applying it. One has to go to the Rainbow Pool (not Fountain) first before that for its magic to operate. We'll tell you more when we get there."
"And when will that be?" queried Rainbow.
"When we get to Neopia Central. But we got two more stops before that. And lots more to see besides."
A couple of minutes later, before they knew it, the tour party of 10 were back at Sakhmet, Queen Nabile already has a transport and (light, so as not to attract attention) escort ready to take them to Altador, and they were off.
(A/N: The lack of detail of the ride they're on is deliberate. Partly because I don't know what an appropriate royal desert-themed transport would look like that can hold ten. And I didn't feel splitting them up was a good idea.)
The ponies waited boredly, since there was nothing of interest to see outside apart from sand dunes. And the occasional clash of blades. Luckily, their ride was covered to not only shelter them from any coming sandstorms (even though Twilight can erect a barrier to rectify that problem) but from watching eyes; the warring lesser kingdoms might have spies who might put the delegates' lives at risk. And so to alleviate the boredom, the tour guides decided to tell the delegates another story.
"Here's another tale about the Lost Desert," Tychophon began. "Did you know that a couple of years ago, Qasala was little more than a ruin?"
This caught their attention. "What?!" they all gasped.
"Surely you must be joking!" added Rarity.
"It's no joke," assured the shoyru. "Let's start at the beginning. It was a couple of years since Brucey B's discovery of the Lost Desert, and it all began when Jazan, who was merely a prince back then, arrived at Sakhmet upon a Blue uni. He bribed his way into the palace and to Princess Amira's throne room, where she was holding court. He intended to seek her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, she has—even to this day—stubbornly refused any proposals made to her; Jazan would've been no different. Amira cast Jazan out of the city, branding him a fraud. As the Prince rode away, two of the Desert Scarabs, a small band of 'street rats', decided to follow him."
The shoyru took out the Neopedia and flipped through the pages until he reached an entry showing them. On the page was a picture depicting a couple of anthro neopets, all dressed lightly for the hot desert weather, and all standing in an alleyway. They consisted of a male Red lupe, a female Pink ixi, a Yellow blumaroo, a few other neopet species the ponies hadn't been introduced to yet, nor have—rather miraculously—even encountered, and a couple more they knew.
(Ixis are furry quadruped neopets, recognized by their small pointed horns, tufty tail and large almond-shaped eyes. Their slender limbs ended in shiny, solid hooves, and their faces are framed by fluffy fur similar to acaras. Almost all (non-anthro) ixis wear a species-unique "ixi collar", a ribbon band finished with a diamond-shaped gem, around their necks. Non-anthro ixis normally stand at around 60 centimeters.)
Euryflavia took the Neopedia and pointed at the former two in the picture, the Lupe first, then the Ixi. "These two," she indicated. "Their names are Tomos and Nabile."
"Wait a second!" Pinkie interrupted as she raised a hoof. "By Nabile you mean the Queen of Qasala? Or somebody who happens to share the same name?"
The usul looked at her User-mates who just looked back at her confusedly, then back to the ponies and said, "It will all be clear later." The smile she then made gave the implication that she's not about to spoil the story, and neither will the others. "Ahem. At the same time, a number of Users were led to a fortune teller's tent just outside the city, who would give them a couple of mysterious tablets, which had pieces missing. She 'tasked' them in looking for the pieces to complete the inscription that was on it so she can translate it. Users in general are eager for adventure, so they went off. As the Users searched, an ancient temple rose from the burning desert sands, the Temple of 1000 Tombs, awaiting eager explorers. Naturally—"
"Let me guess," Rainbow interrupted. "Lots of deadly traps."
"Traps, yes. Deadly, maybe not."
"Despite their stupidity, Users are quite strong, sturdy, resilient, resourceful, and lucky at times," Messerole explained. "Sleeping gas, flooding rooms, gelatinous beasts, spike traps, closing walls, piles of sand dropped on them, riddles, they could escape them all in an hour. Other rooms contained libraries with four scrolls each. Each would make the User's 'Active' neopet become smarter, and then a trap door would throw them out of the temple and onto the desert sands. But their efforts soon paid off, and they found pieces of the tablets, slowly completing it.
"Back with Tomos and Nabile. They made it to the then-ruins of Qasala, not that they knew its name yet. As Princess Amira's advisers meanwhile discovered (presumably under orders to research Jazan's background), it had been destroyed by a sandstorm 200 years prior to the events. Unable to find the prince, the two young thieves left the ruins. Jazan turned out to have successfully been eluding them."
"The next day began as a normal day, or as normal as a day in Sakhmet is," Tychophon took over. "Princess Amira was planning to make a public announcement. Meanwhile, Jazan returned to the city, intent with his usual plan. Seeing him arrive were the two thieves and another Desert Scarab named Horace." Euryflavia pointed at the Yellow blumaroo in the Neopedia. "Tomos thought of getting the jump on Jazan as soon as he was in range, Nabile thought otherwise and advised him they do the ambush when he leaves, and Horace decided to sit this one out.
"Back with Amira. She was pretty much ticked off that Jazan returned, again asking to marry her. Stubborn as ever, she refused. In response, he conjured a great magical force that transported Sakhmet into an alternate dimension, where his undead forces then began to raze. Mysteriously, no User ended up trapped inside and were instead forcibly evicted along with their neopets. These Users, as well as the two Desert Scarabs, were witnesses to this disappearance."
"Thinking it was destroyed, the two thieves sullenly followed Jazan's steed's tracks to the then-ruins of Qasala for shelter, while the Users either left or joined the others in the Temple of 1000 Tombs," Messerole pitched in. "Unfortunately, during the night, they found that—not that they knew him by name—Nightsteed, Jazan's mount and close friend, was searching for intruders. He soon located them, and a chase ensued, but the two narrowly avoided death—oops—when they fell into a pit."
The grundo paused, as if waiting for something to happen to him, but nothing did. He then continued as if nothing happened.
"Back in Sakhmet, the situation was getting worse. All its walls were breached, and Amira and the city guard was at a loss on what to do. Jazan then gave them one more week to decide whether or not he will wed Amira. If she refused by the end of the week, he would tear Sakhmet apart, and the other nobles were already considering marriage as an option and were pleading to their Princess to just accept. Elsewhere in Sakhmet, some of the other Desert Scarabs, among them Horace, had taken refuge in a fruit vendor's house, formulating a plan."
"Doesn't sound too comfortable for the fruit vendor," commented Applejack. "He must've had wares stolen from them in the past."
"True that, but they did save him from the monsters," agreed Aquanax. "Back in Qasala, it turns out that Nabile and Tomos were in its ancient tombs…which was incidentally similar to the temple the Users were exploring. They had even stumbled into one of the flooding traps, but Tomos was much more resourceful than the Users and disarmed the trap in seconds, which in turn led them to a library with all kinds of books. Nabile explored that while Tomos went the other way and located Qasala's armory.
"Back in Sakhmet, two of the Desert Scarabs got into a heated argument…which unfortunately attracted the attention of Jazan's undead forces. As far as they knew, they were nigh unstoppable. Blades didn't work, pelted fruit did little, and melee was of no use either. But thanks to a fit of rage from the fruit vendor, it was revealed that blunt weapons instantly knock them unconscious. Now armed with this knowledge, the group left to find another safe refuge, also learning that Jazan's undead only track movement—"
"So if they stay perfectly still, the monsters just pass them by?" deduced Twilight.
"Yes," Euryflavia nodded in agreement as she took over. "Soon, one of the city guards located them and after a brief explanation hears them out on what they have learned, then took them to the palace so they can tell General Dacon, whom we've met, about this. Soon, this news reached the Princess, who had the entire guard armed with blunt weapons and to evacuate the populace to the palace.
"Meanwhile, in the ruins of Qasala, Nabile found some Qasalan hieroglyphs. After translating them, and calling Tomos over to listen, She discovered that Qasala had been struck down with a horrible curse, its citizens turned into monsters. and that only Jazan's marriage to a Princess of Sakhmet would lift it. Jazan would be doomed to live a tortured existence until he weds the princess of Sakhmet. When true love unites, Qasala will live again. Naturally, Tomos found it rubbish and led Nabile to what he had found; a couple of old rings."
"I think I know what happens next," said the intellectual unicorn. "He touched one of them and some sort of evil spirit came out of it to attack them?"
"Wow! Picked it up from the Daring Do books, too?"
"Actually, I was the one who introduced the book series to Rainbow."
"I see. They really must've covered a lot of tropes relating to ruins, traps, and curses."
"As an adventurer archaeologist, she's bound to be in a lot of them."
"Ahahahaha. Incidentally, a similar spirit was summoned in the temple, forcing the Users to fight it off. Tomos and Nabile just fled theirs, narrowly escaping a spike trap in the process. Back in Sakhmet, Jazan decided to turn the tides in his favor once more by dispatching his giant 'pet' two-headed scorchio Scordrax onto the populace. Infuriated with the torment Jazan was dealing, Amira confronted him on this, who continued with his advances."
"Back in the temple, the Users managed to complete the tablet and find a statue of Nuria, a fire Faerie native to the Lost Desert," continued Tychophon. "With the prophecy inscribed on the tablet, which reads along the lines of Prince Jazan making Sakhmet disappear, they read it, and a secret panel on the base of the statue slowly began to open…unleashing loads of scarabs that overwhelmed them." This made their listeners worry a bit. "Thankfully, they're harmless.
He then continued, "Meanwhile in Qasala, as Nabile continued to read, she found out that when the curse is lifted, Jazan isn't the only thing that would 'live again' and she expressed pity at his plight. Tomos naturally teased her with this, and then when his friend found out about what the rings he found could do, he took one so as to figure out its effects. He ended up taking the 'Ring of the Lost', which teleported the two of them back home…Sakhmet, right where Jazan and Amira were. They were promptly arrested and Jazan ordered for a royal wedding to be prepared."
"…Awkward," commented Pinkie.
"That's putting it mildly," said Euryflavia. "As for the Users, it turns out that the scarabs somehow transported some of them to Sakhmet as well, allowing them to help in fighting off Scordrax. As for the rest, while exploring the Lost Desert, they stumbled into a Scroll Repository, which contained knowledge that might help solve the disappearance of Sakhmet. Naturally, guards barred their way, but the Users' resourcefulness allowed them to help out in the digging, as the repository had been partially buried by a freak sandstorm. It took quite a while. Unfortunately, after completely unearthing it, no entrance could be found. In fact, there had been no room made for them."
"That's pretty stupid."
"Yeah. They got to work on hauling out blocks to clear out rooms and corridors inside the repository. Scarabs proved to be a constant problem as well. All the while, they unearthed lots and lots of items from un-burying the pyramid and from clearing out blocks, which resulted in a few scuffles as to who would get what, which in turn was cleared up by the foreman.
"While all that was being done, furniture was being constructed to haul inside the Repository. Once the repository was cleared out, the Users and their Neopets got to work on moving the furniture in. Unfortunately, it turns out there have been thieves stealing the stuff, and it became a 'race' of sorts. The Users won out though in the end."
"Um, could we please get back to what's going on in Sakhmet?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, all right."
"Allow me," Aquanax said. "Back in Sakhmet, while Tomos was kept under the guard of one of Jazan's undead, Nabile had better luck as she was dressed up to attend the wedding, where she plans to speak to Jazan. Luckily for Tomos, his guard's wrapping came loose, and he used it to tie him to a chair while he escaped. Unfortunately, he got the attention of Scordrax, who proceeded to chase him, in turn being chased by User-bound Neopets who had the guts to fight it. Luckily for the Desert Scarab, he found refuge while the Users held off the two-headed dragon.
"Meanwhile, Nabile was escorted to the wedding, which was already in progress. Before the vows could be said, not that Amira would say them, Nabile explained that the marriage would not break the curse, as neither party loved the other. During her explanation, a startling discovery was made — Nabile was actually a descendent of Princess Neera, a disgraced Sakhmetian Princess." Quite a jarring revelation if you ask me, since Neopets can come in any species regardless of parents'.
"Why was this Princess Neera disgraced?" wondered Rarity.
"Old fashioned traditions," Messerole pitched in. "She married a peasant and was cast out as a result. Anyway, Amira obviously did not love Jazan, but—sympathizing with his situation, and believing there was good in him—Nabile did."
"Poor Tomos! It looked like he loved her too!"
"Yeah. Probably would've too were it not for this revelation, and that's where his part in the story ends. Anyway, once the marriage was done, Sakhmet was finally returned to Neopia, the monsters vanished, Nabile returned to Qasala with Jazan as her husband, and together they began rebuilding the kingdom."
A pregnant pause followed after that, leaving the ten of them feeling a little awkward. Thankfully for the neopets, they weren't asked what happened to Scordrax; they had no idea either.
"So… is that the end of the story?" asked Twilight.
"Well, the Users certainly thought so," Euryflavia stated. "But it turns out the tale wasn't over yet. Back at the Repository—and we needed to get back to them—before Sakhmet returned to Neopia, the Users met with the chef, who said he wanted a souvenir from an 'exotic locale'. But the only such place was the Gift Shop of 1,000 Trinkets, which was hosted near the temple. The shop owner there did have something to give, but wanted some black smoke from the spirit in the temple, and offered them a vial to hold it. It was a fairly easy task, with the Users' Neopets being stronger than we are. They returned with the vial, and she traded a souvenir t-shirt for it. The Users then returned to the Repository, and the chef gave them a 'useless' crystal."
"Heheh. I'm betting that crystal won't be so useless," chuckled Rainbow.
"And you'd have won that bet. Some Users made their way to the fifth floor of the Repository and found themselves teleported to a mysterious room that eventually led them to a mini model of Sakhmet city. Light was shining in from a crack and—in a bout of curiosity—they placed the crystal onto a little notch in the biggest palace roof. The light reflected off of the crystal and shone a series of red, yellow, and blue lights on the wall opposite it. Yes, I know this shouldn't make sense, and that there should've been a green in place of a yellow.
"Long story short on what they did; the Users found themselves going between the temple and the Repository, finding new crystals (up to four, counting the first), browsing the Repository, going back to the strange room (the teleporter is two-way), rinse and repeat." If she had fingers, the usul would've raised them in indication, but alas she didn't. "By the time of the fourth crystal, it didn't show an array of colors but broke the wall, revealing a mysterious scroll behind it. They returned it to the fortune teller, who couldn't decipher it at that time and made a copy so she could examine it."
"Back to the 'main story'," interjected Tychophon. "In Qasala, Nabile and Jazan's love continued to blossom as the city was rebuilt… but still the curse hasn't lifted. Knowing she was holding in her loneliness, Jazan requested Nabile to return to Sakhmet to be along the living. She was given a hero's welcome upon her return and Princess Amira declared the day a holiday, holding a grand banquet. But Nabile wasn't one to give up, and got to work on finding answers and a way to end the curse. Back at Qasala, with his bride gone, Jazan lost interest in rebuilding his city and became weaker, often going for days without eating.
"It wasn't long before an unnatural storm descended upon Sakhmet, and Emperor Razul, Jazan's undead father, arrived to lay waste to the city. Claiming to have been freed from his imprisonment by the marriage, he effortlessly destroyed the Sakhmet army. Not even User-bound neopets could harm him, strong as some were, because unlike most 'bosses' they have fought, Razul regenerated each time he defeated even one of them." Back in Qasala, Jazan, sensing his queen was in danger, immediately rode on Nightsteed towards Sakhmet."
"I bet that Razul guy's the other thing that would live again when the curse was lifted!" said Pinkie.
"You'd be right," agreed Aquanax. "Erstwhile, the Users who were seeing the fortune teller returned to her tent. It was soon revealed that she had been reading the scroll upside-down the entire time, the inscription having been cleverly written to be readable both ways. Reading it upside-down, she discovered that the inscription served as some sort of translation guide. The Users consulted their tablets and found that all the pieces were detachable and that on the other side of the pieces were different symbols. After replacing the pieces, with the scroll and the fortune teller, they were able to decipher the meaning of the tablet. It read: 'The golden eye shines truth upon those who would do evil'. But when read the other way, which was how it is supposed to be, it read: 'The father of the prince will destroy the great desert'.
"With this prophecy, the Users returned to the temple to where Nuria's statue stood, and spoke it to it. The secret panel opened and instead of a swarm of scarabs, there was a compartment with three weapons; a scimitar, a mace, and a spear. Three of the Users' neopets out of the many were selected to pick up each of them, only for them to disintegrate (the weapons, not the neopets). The weapons still looked usable, though. They made to return to the fortune teller, only to see Sakhmet under attack."
"While that was happening, Razul had stormed the palace, intent on eliminating the Princesses," continued Euryflavia, "He managed to corner them and was about to finish them when Jazan arrived, the Users not far behind. Razul turned on his son, intent on going for the rest of Neopia after dealing with him and Sakhmet. He decided to strike Jazan first, who tried and failed to counter it with his own magic, and then Nabile took the blow before he could be overwhelmed.
"It knocked her out cold but she would survive it. Still, the attack left Jazan stunned for a few moments, giving the Users the chance to have their neopets attack. Razul brushed them all off, knocking out most of them. But the weapons found in the tomb turned out to have weakened him, since when an enraged Jazan struck once more, he overcame and destroyed his father. With Razul gone, the curse of Qasala was finally lifted (with the sad exception of Nightsteed), the damage Razul had inflicted on Sakhmet was reversed, and peace returned to the Lost Desert. That ends our tale."
And the silence that followed wasn't awkward this time, but a relief. And then a voice from outside came. It was their ride's…driver, who was a Desert Shoyru; gold-colored, wearing a headdress with a cobra adorned on top, a curled "pharaoh's staff" on one hand, and some sort of gold accessory covering the tip of his tail.
"We're nearing Altador," he said.
When the delegates looked out the window, they found themselves looking at a majestic walled city. It was no longer sandy and arid, and they could smell the sea. They were nearing the gates, but it was still two miles before they would reach it. The skies were also clear and sunny, and Rainbow could swear it was manually managed, just like in Equestria
Suddenly, Pinkie's ears began to pick up something. "I think there are some neopets expecting us."
"Well, we were told by Roktabio there were some lands preparing," pointed out Euryflavia. "Let's see what Altador's got in store for you."
I deliberately minimized details here because… I want to be faithful to the Neopets site, but at the same time the 'small maps' for the Lost Desert area (especially Sakhmet) leave so much to the imagination for what's beyond.
Now I see my story seems to be becoming half "Mane Six interacting with what Neopia has to offer" and half "Mane Six listening to nightelf37's neopets' version of the Neopets Plots". Whoa. Sorry about that. Maybe I should post this in FanFiction.Net, and then I'll likely make it a "plus Spike" edition. Having him interact with another dragon (who isn't an out-and-out jerk) sounds fun to write.
See ya on Third!
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Holy cow, this was like my childhood...
Now Neopets says my account has been deactivated...
equestria is not the name of the planet its just one kingdom just like the griffon kingdom and the minotaur kingdom the changeling hive and last but not less the demand dog clans as for the name of the planet itself i do not know but if i had to guess it could be eques
equestria is not the name of the planet its just one kingdom just like the griffon kingdom and the minotaur kingdom the changeling hive and last but not less the demand dog clans as for the name of the planet itself i do not know but if i had to guess it could be eques
5337574
Well, Even if Equestria isn't the name of the planet (and one other author used Mythos instead), all of the delegates are from Equestria the…nation, and none from the others. I'll probably fix that when there's a canon answer. Also, these Mane Six could easily be from a different Equestria that follows canon.
And another thing. You posted your comment twice, but I won't delete it lest I give others the wrong idea.