"I can't believe you're doing this!"

"Are you nuts?"

Tarla stuck her nose and tail into the air as she plodded on through the snow. The words of her so-called "friends" still stung her, however. They had told her she was silly, that Ixi were best suited to life in Meridell, not on Terror Mountain. She refused to listen to them, though.

Sure, her hooves sunk deeply with every step, and it was rather cold, but she would persevere! With her teeth clenched in determination, Tarla continued trudging on through the deep snow.

In all honesty, she really would have preferred setting up a shop in a warmer, and less steep area, but for now, this was all that was available. She was quite lucky to get the property at all.

Tarla heaved a sigh, and looked around. Far ahead, she could see the distant mountaintop where her new shop was waiting for her arrival. Exhausted, but resolute, the Ixi continued struggling through the slow.

Hours later, the Ixi collapsed on the doorstep of her new shop. She stared up from the ground at the snow-capped building. A nice little blue trim there maybe, and I'll have to replace that sign, she thought, in a dreamy state. She probably would have continued to lie on her back, daydreaming, if a large clump of snow had not slid off the roof and landed on her face. Tarla stood up, and shook her head to fling off the snow. Her ears twitched with a slight annoyance as she unlocked the door, and stepped inside her new place of business.

The bleak daylight filtered in through the windows and onto the dusty floor. The shop was mostly barren, except for a counter and shelves, which held a few broken containers. Definitely a fixer-upper, she thought, grimacing. However, she had expected as much. Swinging the pack from her shoulder, she opened it, then withdrew plenty of cleaning supplies.

Hours later, an exhausted Ixi lay asleep on the floor of a sparkling clean shop. Soon, however, she was awoken by a knock on the door. Confused, the bleary-eyed Ixi lifted her head from her pack, which she had been using as a pillow, then got up to open the door.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!" shouted two Chias. "I'm Mika, and this is Carassa," the Blue Chia said, pointing to the yellow one. "We noticed someone had moved into this old shop, so we thought we'd bring over some shop-warming presents!" Mika said, handing Tarla several cans of paint.

"This is wonderful!" the Ixi cried, "I was wondering how I was going to haul paint up here! The climb through the snow with just the cleaning supplies alone nearly did me in!"

The two Chias raised an eyebrow at each other, "Erm, why didn't you just take the mountain stairs? It's cleared of snow daily." Carassa said.

Tarla's eye twitched slightly.

"In any case," Carassa hastily continued, "You know about it now! Even better, we'd love to help you paint your new shop." Tarla practically leapt for joy at this, and together, the three Neopets set to work clearing off the snow and drying the building in preparation to paint.

"There!" Tarla announced, smiling, as she added the final touch of paint. She climbed down the ladder that Mika had brought.

"Now the only thing we need is to finish your sign," Carassa said, while cleaning up the painting tools. "Come to think of it," the yellow Chia said, "We never did ask what you were selling." The two Chias turned expectantly towards the Ixi.

Tarla smiled and said, "Well, you see, I'm..."