"Hey! Who ate my Chokato Pie?!?" the young Usul shouted, placing her fists upon her hips. She glared at the empty spot on her windowsill, where only a few minutes ago, her freshly baked pie had been cooling.

She was about to shout for her siblings, when she remembered they had left Faerieland earlier that morning to visit Mystery Island. Confused, she looked at her Petpet, who was peacefully sleeping on the floor. "Couldn't have been her..." she muttered to herself. Besides, her Kadoatie was much too skinny to have eaten an entire pie by herself.

She looked out the window, but saw nothing. After all, there was very little pie-thievery in Faerieland. She was just about to pull her head in through the window, when she thought she heard snoring. Looking down, flush against the house, there was something large and furry, and evidently sleeping... with an empty pie tin resting on its stomach. "Ah HA!" she cried, then ran out the door to confront the suspect.

Outside, the creature was startled by the Usul's shouting. It jerked up, then looked around frantically, seemingly confused.

From around the corner, the Usul appeared, ready to give the perpetrator a sound verbal thrashing. "How DARE you steal my pie, you nasty thief! You--" However, when her eyes fell clearly upon the creature, the Usul was completely taken aback. "Y-you... what are you?!" she asked, confused. For in front of her was...

"A Yurble."...

"A Yurble," the creature repeated. "What're you suppose to be?"

The Cloud Usul cocked an eyebrow at this "Yurble," clearly surprised he didn't know what she was. "I'm an Usul... you know, a REGULAR Neopet."

"Hey... I'm a Neopet, too!" the Yurble replied with his hands on his hips. "I just came out of hibernation. I'm Dugan, by the way."

"Lora. Well I, for one, think you're a very rude... Yurble! I was saving that pie for desert tonight!"

Dugan immediately looked guilt ridden as he twiddled his fingers. "I'm sorry. I was just so hungry, and your pie smelled delicious. I'll help you make another one."

"Why? So you can eat it?" Lora felt her fur start to bristle. "Besides, I can't make another one. The minute I took the pie out of my oven, the stove blew a fuse! Now I can't make anything tonight!"

Just then, Dugan's eyes lit up happily. "Maybe I can help! I love fixing things." He picked up his backpack, which had been lying neatly next to him. Unzipping it, he pulled out a wrench. "Where's the kitchen?"

Before Lora could utter one word, Dugan had already let himself into her house. The Usul quickly leapt into the living room, storming after the Yurble. "Now wait just a minute here! I'm planning a very important dinner tonight, and I do not need some strange Lab Ray accident to be messing around in..."

"Finished."

Lora stood in the doorway, surprised to find that Dugan had been quickly tinkering away at the stove. He had some oil on his face, but he then turned a knob on the stove and it immediately started to heat up. No sizzling. No sparks. It was working perfectly.

"You... you fixed it!" Lora said, surprised

Dugan blushed. "I'm still sorry about eating your pie, though... do you have anything else that needs fixing?"

Lora looked around to see if anything else need a tune-up. "Well, my blender's been sputtering a lot lately."

"No problem!" In a flash, Dugan zoomed over to the blender and started to work. Lora saw bits of gears sprinkle the counter, then dissapear into Dugan's busy paws. Giving one last twist of his screwdriver, he stepped back and pushed the blend button. The blender purred like a baby Kougra.

Lora smiled at her new friend, forgetting completely about the pie incident. "Would you like a smoothie?" she asked sweetly.

"Love one!" Dugan said, making himself at home as he sat down at the kitchen table, polishing his wrench. "So, what's this important dinner tonight?"

Lora giggled as she pulled different fruits from the fridge. "Oh, it'll be great! You see, I've invited..."

..."All my friends to come to my house. We're gonna have an awesome party!"

Dugan looked up from his polishing. "Oh... well then, I'd better be going. It was very nice meeting you," he said, turning for the door.

"But... aren't you my friend? You're coming too, right?" Lora asked, confused.

"Really? You mean it?" inquired Dugan, sounding happier than before.

"Of course! Come on, it'll be super!" Lora laughed.

"Okay, but..." Dugan began, his voice trailing off.

"But what?" Lora asked, tilting her head slightly.

"But, you see, I have no idea what to do at this party of yours! I've never been to a party before!" Dugan replied, wringing his paws anxiously.

"Oh, don't worry about it! Just be yourself. There's gonna be food and drinks on a table, games in the other room, and a wonderful desert after dinner. Just lots and lots of fun!" Lora explained cheerfully.

"Oh, okay then. I guess it'll be fun..." Dugan said, shrugging.

"You bet!" Lora exclaimed.

"But, what if your friends don't like me?" Dugan asked fretfully.

"Ah, don't be silly! Of course they will!" Lora retorted good-naturedly.

Dugan was exuberant. He was going to go to a party! Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Lora exchanged a glance with Dugan and hurried to open it. The figure standing in the threshold was...

"Hello *pant* there, miss." he gasped. "May I *pant* come *pant pant* in?"

"Certainly!" Lora said, deeply confused. "Erm... I'll just get my friend to give me a hand, and..." her voice trailed off. Dugan, who had been at her side when she had opened the door, was gone.

"Silly me, he must have gone into the kitchen." Lora murmured. The Usul helped the exhausted guard over towards the kitchen table. Surprisingly, Dugan was nowhere to be seen.

"Dugan!" Lora called. "Where are you?"

"Pardon me, miss," the guard said. "But if this is a bad time--"

"Nonsense!" Lora said warmly. "He must have gone upstairs, that's all. Now, what's the problem, sir?" she asked, offering him some of the leftover smoothie.

"Thank you," the guard said graciously, accepting the cool drink. "Anyway, I would like to warn you about a very dangerous individual."

"What sort of individual?" Lora inquired curiously.

"Oh, very dangerous, I assure you." the guard continued. "A furry monster, who's been roaming around town for the past few days. No one's seen anything quite like it! It's got yellow fur and two horns; we believe it may be one of Jhudora's minions. I've been running all over town to warn the citizens."

Lora's face froze, but she was smart enough to keep a smile plastered on her face.

"Thank you, sir. I'll be on the lookout," she said, slowly pushing the guard out of her door. Before she'd had a chance to get rid of him, however, there was a crash from the upper level, and Dugan rolled down the stairs...

...He came to a stop at the feet oof the Faerieland guard, looked up, then said, "Hello! Are you one of Lora's friends? It's great to meet you! I was just upstairs, as you can..."

"Got ya!" the guard declared, grabbing Dugan by the scruff of his neck before placing him in a large net. He tied the net into a knot at the top, then attached the net to a long stick.

"W-what's going on?!" Dugan yelled, worriedly. "Why are you taking me? What have I done wrong?!"

Lora clasped her paws around her mouth. The look of worry and puzzlement on the young Yurble's face erased any doubts the guard's story had given her about Dugan. He hadn't done anything wrong; the citizens of Faerieland had gotten the wrong idea about the furry Neopet.

"Mr. Guard," Lora said quite timidly. "Dugan isn't dangerous at all. He's my friend. Please let him go!"

"Pfft," the guard said. "Dugan, eh? Seems like you've hypnotised this poor young Usul. That's forbidden in Faerieland. You're looking at a long stretch in the dungeons for this."

"No!" Dugan pleaded. "I-I didn't hypnotise her! I didn't, I swear!" With these words, Dugan began to cry.

Lora wept, too, as the guard took Dugan away. Dugan had been accused of something he hadn't done. He wasn't dangerous, and he hadn't hypnotised her, either. Wasn't there anything she could do to prove it?

Dugan sat on the cold floor, with his head in his paws. His eyes were sore from crying. All around him was nothing but darkness. A door stood in the corner, one which he couldn't escape from because of the iron bars.

"Lora," he whispered as he tried not to cry. "Lora, please help me..."

"W-w-who's there?" he stammered, very afraid. His imagination was starting to run off with him and he'd come up with a good list of scary things that could be lurking outside the jail cell.

"It's me." whispered a voice. Dugan couldn't see anything but that voice sounded naggingly familiar.

"Lora?" he asked, not daring to hope.

"Well, who else would it be, silly?" the voice replied. Suddenly, the young Usul's face appeared on the other side of the door. She looked worried as she curled her paws around the bars, peering into the cell.

"Are you ok?" she said softly. With the darkness see a thing, but as Dugan stepped forward she gasped. The cell had dirtied his beautiful coat and his eyes were red rimmed from crying.

"I-I-I think so." Dugan said, stepping closer to the bars. "How did you get in here?" he asked.

Lora smiled and then she beckoned to someone (or something) behind her. Dugan's head crained forward as he tried to see what it was, and then his face broke out into a broad smile. There was a large group of Neopets, and it looked like they'd all come to the rescue!

"These are my friends." Lora explained. "Once they arrived for the party, I told them what had happened, and they all agreed that we had to come save you!"

Dugan's heart soared. All these people had come just to save him? Suddenly, a thought occured to him, and all his hopes of freedom were wiped out of his mind. "But, we don't have the key..."

A clever little Blumaroo stepped forward, swinging a set of keys. "Don't worry about that, chap. We've got it all taken care of." he said confidently.

Then he put the keys in the lock, twisted them, and swung the door forward. Dugan couldn't believe this! He was free, and it seemed like he had a whole new group of friends. They didn't seem to think he was dangerous at all!

He started to step out of the cell, but just as he did, a figure emerged from around the corner.

"Oh no! It's the guard that took Dugan!" Lora cried.

The Blumaroo squinted, then his eyes went wide in horror. "Lora! That isn't a Faerieland guard! That's one of Jhudora's minions in disguise! We need to get out of here... run!"...

...As the group stood in shock, Dugan bravely took Lora's hand and looked about for a place to escape. The only way out was to get around the minion.

"Everyone hold on to my back... and hold on tight!" Dugan hollered.

Down the hall, towards the guard, they hurried, and Dugan figured if he roared and charged aggressively enough, the guard would flee.

However, his plan didn't work. The minion stood like a stone wall, in his place. He was not going to let them through. They all shouted a battle cry, something that sounded slightly like the neigh of a Uni mixed with the purr of a Kougra.

They all crashed into the guard as a solid mass. The guard was knocked over and dizzy, giving them enough time to run past. Looking behind, Lora noticed that the faux guard was still dazed.

"Way to go, Dugan!" Lora whispered, hugging her friend's neck before sliding off his back with the rest of her friends. "Now, let's get out of here."

The crowd roared, cheering the group of friends. There she stood, magnificent and beautiful, her long, lavender hair flowing freely down her face and off to her shoulders. She was dressed elegantly, more so than usually. Queen Fyora stood, batting her eyelashes and rearranging her crown.

"I award, to each of you, this medal," she said, placing a shining medallion over Lora's head. "For your bravery in helping a newcomer to our world, making him your friend, and protecting him... most of all, for making him making him feel welcome."

Fyora proceeded to where Dugan stood, and also placed a medal around his neck, then kissed him on the head. "And this, brave Dugan, is for your willingness to help others in need, whether it be fixing stoves (Dugan grinned, and Lora giggled at this), or helping your friends escape a terrible foe. I hope all of Neopia will soon know of your kind, and embrace them; because, brave Dugan," Fyora said, then smiled brightly, "You are very welcome here."

The End