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"Hey, Charmed, I'm your little princess aren't I?" a baby
Uni by the name of Indipsi asked her owner.
"Of course," Charmedhorses said. "You always
have been and always will be."
Indipsi grinned. "Wouldn't you like to make it
official and paint me royal?" She shoved the copy of The Neopian Times
she had been reading over to Charmed. "Look at that princess," Indi pointed
to a picture of a pink Uni draped in an elegant cloak and garnished in a lea
of beautiful flowers. "She's beautiful!"
"So are you," Charmed said, glancing at the
image. "But I don't need to paint you some fancy color to prove that. Besides,
I can sew you a sheet like that and I'm sure there are some flowers fresh for
picking in the Neogarden."
"But, Cha-armed," Indi whined.
"Indi, if you want a royal paint brush you can
buy it yourself. I'm not going to spend 1.75 million Neopoints on one."
Disappointed, although not entirely surprised
by her owner's reaction, Indipsi began to scheme. Somehow she would get that
paint brush. Even if it meant getting downright dirty.
Three hours, two hamburgers, and a lot of thought
later, the baby Uni had a revelation. From Indi's seat on the floor of her room
a light bulb went off. In her head, that is. If she expected to get anywhere
in life she would have to fend for herself and when better to start preparing
than now?
Determined to go about it the hard way Indipsi
began a treasure hunt around the Neohome, searching for the necessary items.
An hour later…
"Indi? What are you doing?" Charmed asked, eyeing
the Uni quizzically as she carried a bulky box through their Neohome.
"Oh," Indipsi heaved, pausing for a moment.
"I've devised a plan. And it's a very good one if you ask me. You know how you
said I would have to earn the Neopoints myself if I wanted to be painted royal?
Well, why don't you come down to the Neopian Square in a couple hours and see
how it's going?"
"Indi, I really don't think it's a good idea
for you to go out on your own," Charmedhorses hesitated. "I would hate to see
anything happen to you."
Indipsi rolled her eyes. "Charmed."
Her owner smiled. "Do you need any Neopoints
to help you get started? You can always pay me back once you get on your hooves."
The baby Uni shook her elegant head vigorously.
"No. I'm going to do this on my own."
"Alright, then," Charmedhorses replied, admiring
the Uni's determination. "What's in the box?"
"Oh, just some necessary supplies," Indipsi
explained. "Don't worry, you'll never know they're gone. It's not like we used
them anyway," she paused. "Well, I've got to be going."
"Okay, have fun," Charmed called as Indipsi
boosted the box back up and left the Neohome.
**********
Indipsi lived with Charmedhorses on a hill on the outskirts of Neopia, where
there were few Neohomes and the land was left for wildlife. By the time the
Uni finally made it into town her forelegs were weak from carrying the load
and she set the box down with a relieved sigh in the center of the Neopian Square.
However, as Indi saw it, time was Neopoints and so she hurriedly began to set
up her business.
From her cardboard box Indipsi pulled out item
after item, setting bottles of liquid on a small, foldable table (the source
of her hoof aches) and a paper sign on which was written: "Warf Wash: 1,000
Neopoints per Warf. We'll wash the dirt clear off to Kreludor!" Sure, one thousand
Neopoints seemed a bit steep, but Indipsi figured if she was going to get a
royal paint brush she would have to wash one thousand, seven hundred, and fifty
Warfs. It just wasn't worth her time to offer a Warf Wash for any cheaper. As
it was, she would have to be washing all summer if she expected to get the paint
brush.
When everything was all set up Indipsi lay down
on the grass beside her table and waited for her first customer. She was sure
there would be a line in no time. After all, who would pass up this great opportunity?
**********
Meanwhile, unaware of what exactly Indipsi's plan was, Charmedhorses was attempting
to clean their Neohome when she found that their stain remover was missing from
the cabinet below the sink. At dinner the previous night Indipsi had spilt some
tomato sauce and now Charmed was trying to get it out of the carpet. Funny,
she thought, that the stain remover would have disappeared like that.
**********
Down at the Neopian Square, Indipsi was giddy with delight, for she had gotten
her first customer.
"Do you have a Warf of your own?" the petpet's
owner, a spotted Kau, asked, patting her pup on the head.
"No, but I know they're fabulous companions,"
Indipsi replied diplomatically.
"That they are," the Kau agreed. "Do you have
any experience washing a Warf? They can be quite the handful, you know."
"No, I don't, but there's no better time to
start than the present," Indipsi said. Her cool cover was beginning to waver
and she was worried she would lose the business that she had just so recently
acquired.
"I suppose," the Kau considered. "Well, while
you give camper here a bath would you mind if I stopped by the beauty shop?
I tell you, my hooves sure could use a coat of polish."
"That would be no problem at all," Indipsi assured
her. "Camper will be fine. I'll take good care of him."
"You'd better." Though the Kau seemed hesitant,
she left her petpet in Indi's care and proceeded across the street to the beauty
store.
Once she had left, Indipsi turned to the Warf.
"Looks like you're my first customer. Don't worry, you're in great hooves."
The Warf looked up expectantly, his eyes wide
and bright. His tail wagged patiently and he sat waiting for Indipsi to begin.
**********
"By golly, where is it?" Charmedhorses asked herself, searching the laundry
room for the cleaning detergent. The teenager had wanted to do some laundry,
but that would prove quite difficult if she had nothing to wash it with.
"Where could it have gone?" Charmed wondered.
"It's not like it grew legs and walked away…"
It wasn't only the cleaning detergent and the
stain remover that had mysteriously disappeared. Earlier Charmedhorses had gone
to wash her hands only to find that there was no longer a single bar of soap
in the entire Neohome. She had heard tales of a sock monster, but a soap monster?
**********
"Come on," Indipsi urged, pushing the plump Warf toward a large wooden
tub of water she had set up. "It won't hurt you to get your paws wet."
The Warf didn't appear convinced and sat with
his paws locked, determined not to budge. Though Indipsi was considerably larger,
she still wasn't full grown and her strength was not enough to move the little
guy.
Finally, Indipsi won the battle and bribed the
Warf in with a piece of doughnut that she had brought with her. Camper munched
contentedly, submerged up to his chest in water as Indipsi got the soap ready.
Indi had brought a variety of liquids, not to
mention Charmed's entire assortment of soap bars. She chose to begin with one
of those, sure that it should take care of the dirt coated thick on the Warf's
fur.
"Okay," Indipsi said. "This shouldn't take long.
Just sit there and be a good Warfy."
The Warf cocked his head and looked at her but
remained still.
"'Atta boy," Indipsi praised him. Soap in hoof
she approached him, then timidly set the bar on his body and began to scrub.
Right away Camper showed his discontentment.
It became very clear that he did not want to be cleaned. Thrashing at the water
his innocent personality soon became violent.
"You little Balthazar," Indipsi scolded. "Stay
still." With one hoof holding Camper in place and the bar of soap in the other,
she rubbed the Warf until every last speck of dirt had been disintegrated. Then,
for good measure she decided to add a quick layer of laundry detergent for that
clean-clothes smell.
"Charmed likes to say this will make even the
harshest material soft," Indipsi explained. "I figure that if I use some of
this, your fur will be extra fluffy and cuddly. What do you think of that?"
Camper whimpered, eying the bottle inquisitively.
When Indipsi poured a small bit on the pup he
rebelled profusely, springing to his paw and jumping out of the tub. Water sloshed
everywhere and Camper ran wildly through the square, gathering mud on his beautifully
clean coat.
"No!" Indipsi called, galloping after him with
the bottled of stain remover.
When she was within a few lengths of the running
pup Indi tripped on the root of a nearby tree and was sent crashing to the ground.
Stain remover splashed everywhere, forming a large puddle on the ground and
Indipsi lay sprawled in the center. Quickly realizing that Camper was loose
Indipsi collected herself and stood back up on her hooves.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" she apologized, weaving
her way through the maze of shoppers lining the square.
As it was, Camper was headed straight for the
ice cream shop and disappeared inside. (After all, he was a very smart Warf.)
Screeching to a halt as she approached the glass door, Indipsi slammed right
into an oncoming Kougra, a cone of strawberry ice cream in his paw.
"Oof," Indipsi grunted, pink ice cream blending
into her coat.
The Kougra looked at her in shock. "You owe me
another ice cream!" he said accusingly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Indipsi brushed him off.
"Later."
Inside the ice cream shop Indipsi was startled
and extremely embarrassed to find that Camper had gone not for the ice cream,
but for his owner, whom he had seen through the window.
Now the Kau looked at Indipsi with raised eyebrows.
Her Warf sat in front of her, panting obediently at her freshly polished hooves.
"Heh heh," Indipsi said. "I was just getting
ready to give Camper another bath."
"I don't think so," the Kau disagreed. "I think
I'll be taking him to the beauty shop for his bath today. If I'm not mistaken
you've returned him dirtier than he was this morning."
Indipsi bowed her head sullenly. She nodded in
understanding and slunk back to her stand, paying the Kougra for his fallen
ice cream on her way.
By the time Charmed came down to check on Indi's
mystery business, the baby Uni had already packed up her supplies and was ready
to head home.
"What happened?" Charmed asked in confusion.
"You're giving up already?"
"I am not giving up," Indipsi proclaimed
stubbornly. "This just isn't the right way to go about making Neopoints."
"Aw, what a shame," Charmed said. "Well, how
much were you able to make?"
Indipsi counted on her hooves though she knew
she had made nothing. "I lost 100 NP," she finally announced.
"You lost 100 NP?" Charmed asked. "How
did you do that?"
"I knocked over someone's ice cream cone."
"Oh. Well, let me help you carry some stuff."
Charmed took hold of the collapsible table and peeked into the box of supplies
Indipsi was carrying. There were here missing soaps, laundry detergent, and
stain remover. Charmed couldn't help a chuckle. She felt bad for whatever Warf
had had to endure a bath of laundry detergent and stain remover.
"Don't worry," Charmed consoled her Uni. "Your
next idea is bound to be better."
Indipsi bit her lip in thought. "Whatever that
will be."
THE END
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading my story! All
of your support has been so kind and appreciated! Please feel free to send me
a Neomail. I'm open to hearing from you all! Your input is welcomed!
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