From the Rich Side of Neopia

by blazebright

I'm Taryel. I'm a NeoPet owner with the four best pets anyone could want. There was Flarka the ever hyper and happy Shoyru, Plasania the quiet, and very wise Peophin, and Pellior and Tanani, my two adopted invisible Unis. I loved all of my NeoPets. They were the greatest! They were all powerful from the many quests I finished but they still had many faults. I was also rich. Not like 1000 Neopoint rich, but more like 50000 Neopoint rich. Many people hated me because I had that much money, but not many people realized how much of my money I donated to the Giving Tree. I loved helping people. It gave me a warm feeling inside.

But anyway, one nice and sunny day in Neopia I was restocking my store with chocolate, fruits, and vegetables. I spent long hours finding the best food at the best prices and resold it for a good price. Almost everything my shop was 20 Neopoints. But enough about that.

"Taryel! Taryel! Taryel!!!!" called Flarka as she zoomed into my shop. I was restocking the chocolates when I heard her calling.

"What's wrong Flarka?" I asked turning around.

"Tanani is in a fight with a Chia and the Chia is getting his butt kicked!!" she cried as I tossed off my apron, and ran out of the shop. I wasn't worried about anyone breaking in. The faeries of Neopia had put spells over the shops to make sure it was impossible to break in. And besides, the police and nice guilds walked along the shop streets to make sure everyone was safe. I quickly dashed forward when I saw an average blue Chia get tossed into the air and then pummeled into the ground. I knew it was Tanani. She was invisible so she was hard to see giving her a advantage in fighting.

"Tanani! What are you doing?" I called as the Chia owner picked up the bruised and battered Chia. Tanani floated to the ground and walked to me.

"He was insulting you... said you stole from stores and you ripped people off. And he called me a weakling," Tanani said, her sea blue eyes blazing with fury.

"I'm really sorry about my Uni getting into a fight with your Chia. How can I make it up?" I asked walking up to the owner, taking out my purse.

"Bah! Forget it. You rich people are all the same, thinking that you're the best and all that junk. Well you know, you're probably just some scammer that rips off poor people. I don't like your kind," he said as he glared at me and carried his Chia away.

"Some people..." I said shaking my head. Turning to Flarka and Tanani I smiled. "Let's go to the Giving Tree and donate some Neopoints," I said as we all walked to the Giving Tree. The Giving Tree was a giant tree on High Street. There, lucky people could find money and items donated by nice people. I donated food and money now and then, whenever I could.

"I'm going to donate a red apple!" cried Flarka as she placed a shiny red apple at the base of the tree. The tree was covered with books, food, Neopoints, and other items. There was already a large crowd of people and NeoPets looking for stuff to take with them. I gave a smile as I remember once I was in that crowd, taking items and money. Now that I was rich I only came here to donate. I quickly left 300 Neopoints before quickly leaving. I walked back to my shop and went back to restocking.

"Taryel, can we go shopping?" asked Tanani as she rubbed her hoof on the ground.

"Sure Tanani," I gave her and Flarka each 2000 Neopoints. "I'm not giving you too much because I don't want you two getting assaulted by people and getting the money stolen and you can get a lot of stuff with 2000 Neopoints, but don't buy anything for the Battledome. I'll get that stuff for you later. Have fun!" I said giving a small wave as they flew out the door.

I finished stocking the chocolate and arranged some fruit when someone walked in the door. "Welcome to The Candyshoppe, where we have cheap food at cheap prices. How may I help you?" I asked the young girl as her striped Wocky leapt on the table.

"Well, I just need some food," she said as I petted her Wocky.

"How many Neopoints do you have?"

"Only 100," she said as she opened a small pouch. I lead her and the Wocky to the section with all the chocolate.

"All of the chocolate here cost 20 Neopoints. The fruits and vegetables are also 20 Neopoints. If you think the prices are too high, talk to me and I'll see what I can do," I said.

She said thanks and got a white chocolate Lupe, white chocolate Tatsu, and a white chocolate Wocky off the shelf. "That's 60 Neopoints," I said as I carefully wrapped up the candy in nice paper and handed her the packages. She handed over the Neopoints and I placed it in the shop till.

"Thank you and have a nice day!" I said as I gave a friendly wave. I smiled as I heard her talking to her Wocky and saying what a nice shop this was. This happened a lot. I loved helping people new to Neopia. It gave me a great feeling. I also loved keeping my prices low.

"Hi Taryel!" called Cyamond, a white Lupe. Cyamond was my friend BlazeBright's Lupe. Blaze also had a cheap store and all of our NeoPets were best friends.

"Hey Cyamond! How are you doing?" I asked as I placed my hand atop her head.

"Doing great. Someone got angry at Blaze because she bought too many items. Blaze returned the items to the store but the owners got really angry. They accused her of being a scammer and almost called the police," Cyamond said giving a low growl. I gave a sigh.

This was happening a lot. Many of the poorer people of Neopia disliked the richer people. Why? I'll never understand that. I like treating everyone like equals. I don't care if the people are rich or poor, male or female. Everyone is an equal.

"Sometimes I wish everyone was rich. Or everyone had the same amount of money. Or ever that the poor people understand that the rich people are rich because of their shop. I've been to a lot of poor people's shops and they're selling apples for 300 Neopoints," I said leaning against the store counter.

"Yeah, I tried telling people to lower the prices so they would gain money, but they just called me a rich pet snob and kicked me out of the store," Cyamond said as she bit at a flea.

"I wish there was something I could do to show the poorer people of Neopia that not all rich people are bad and that many rich people try to help."

"Well Taryel, I think you can. Send something in to Neopian Times," said Cyamond smiling.

"I should!" I cried standing up. "I'll write a story about how the rich people of NeoPets try to help the poorer," I said as I took out a pencil and pen and began writing.

"Can I see what you have?" asked Cyamond after a few minutes.

"Sure," I said as I read to her what I had written.

"I'm Taryel. I'm a NeoPet owner with the four best pets anyone could want. There was Flarka the ever hyper and happy Shoyru, Plasania the quiet and very wise Peophin, and Pellior and Tanani, my two adopted invisible Unis..."

Fin