Most of you may know me as Sydney--a disturbingly rare Moltenore.
Those were the days, my little spoilt self sitting on a velvet pillow and dining
on grapes. I rarely went with my owner, Griffin the fire-cowboy Lupe on adventures
as water would hurt me very badly and I hated getting dirty. I preferred sitting
my wealth.
I was rescued from an evil PetPet collector by my now heroic owner. I had
no idea that he was an explorer, let alone a cowboy and a Chia protector, and
a pack leader. I thought he had been a Lupe of wealth, as he did have enough
money to buy me a Faerie PetPet paint brush and other various cutesy little
PetPet items. I was dirt spoiled, and I liked it, too.
So what am I now? You don't want to know, but it's logical if I tell you at
the end. You see, it started one day while I was basking in my owner's praise...
Griffin had bought me a box of chocolates and brought them over to my pillow
in MY room. The room was the biggest in the house, made of solid gold. Red velvet
furniture sculpted for Moltenores and Moltenores only were set neatly throughout
the room. A desert made from native Lost Desert Chias lied on the ground, and
was soft and beautiful. An ivory TV set stood in one corner, set with satellite
cable so I could see almost any channel from across the world of Neopia. A chandelier
hung from the ceiling and gave off a warming light. Various other pieces of
furniture and comfort sat around the room, perfectly in position. I liked all
of these things. I wanted more.
Griffin opened the box of French chocolates and offered them to me. I looked
at the box, took a bite out of one of them and looked back up at my owner, a
look of disgust on my face. I hissed violently and threw the chocolate in his
face, then hit the box so that all the chocolates splattered on his fur.
"Sydney! These are high-quality chocolates. Do you know how much I spent on
these?" Griffin shouted at me. I looked at him and stuck my tongue out arrogantly,
then reached for my remote control. He glared at me for a while and padded off
silently to take a shower.
Ugh, nine hundred channels and nothing to watch. The Flizzardos on NTV were
ugly and the cartoons on another favourite channel were old episodes. I snorted
arrogantly and made my way downstairs to see what everybody else was up to.
I wrapped myself in my purple silk robe and slipped my matching slippers on.
Little did I know that at the same time, Griffin's little brother, Draco,
had been busy trying to invent a new cologne for himself. He was a bit of a
stud and had a date that night, therefore he would be preparing for it the entire
day--as usual. He really, really needed a hobby. Well, anyway, Draco was making
this new cologne for himself on the kitchen table, adding various good-smelling
items into it--herbs, flowers, mint, toothpaste, dung--wait, not dung. It seemed
like it, however, as ALL of Draco's little experiments turned out as duds.
I brushed by the table and swiped the table leg with my paw. "Sydney, you
little snob--" Draco began to say. The table shuddered, and his concoction began
to shake. It crashed on my head, wetting my fur and covering me in slime.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, angry for the smelly... stuff to get to
me. It would take hours and hours of shampooing to rid of the smell, I just
knew it! Little did I know that the smell shouldn't have been what I was worrying
about. My skin began to bubble and change, and my fiery fur began diminishing.
There was a sudden POP!, and my entire body had changed.
I flopped to the ground, all hooves spread out. A tuft of orange fur covered
my eyes, so I couldn't see what was going on. Griffin, his other brothers and
Sharky, his owner, had entered the room. Griffin gasped and picked me up, holding
me closely to his body.
"Sydney!" He shouted. "Sydney, what happened?" All I did as a reply was to
snort, in a frightened and upset manner. Tears, big watery tears streamed down
my face. I was a monster, I just knew it.
He held a mirror towards my face and brushed the orange fur away from it.
I looked at the mirror in ultimate horror. I was a mutant Hornsby.
A MUTANT! A MUTATED PIG! It was bad enough being a Hornsby, a constantly crying,
know-it-all Hornsby, but I was also a mutant! I felt terrible to be degraded
to this form. Griffin would surely abandon me. He wanted a cute little fire
lizard, not an ugly mutated hog.
"Sydney, you're a mutant Hornsby now..." Griffin said, looking at me as he
held me out at arm's length. I winced, knowing what would happen next. "...And
I like it. No, I love it. I love pigs, Sydney! And you look so original."
I gave a quizzical expression. What did he mean, I looked just fine? Things
weren't fine! He noticed my expression and continued. "Looks will never matter
for me. Let this be a lesson to you."
I smiled, then licked his paws excitedly, my tail wagging furiously. I understood.
What I jerk I had been acting earlier! I had to stop. It was like Griffin read
my mind. "Let's get rid of those velvet furnishings, the TV set, and everything,"
he said. "And let's have you be my companion, my partner in my travels."
I nodded in agreement. Things were to change. I had a feeling that I would
like these changes, these changes in my attitude, my room, my looks. I didn't
need to be a cute little fire lizard. No, I was a short, fat, mutated pig--and
I liked it.
From that day on, Griffin and I did become partners. I followed him about,
always at his heels, ready to help him in times of need. I left the past behind.
It was like continuing in a new life. I liked my new life. I liked my owner
even better, and looked at him in a different way. I became a friend to him
rather than a hassle. And I loved that.
The End | 
