You Go, Pongo

by dragonmagic1313, through a racing Poogle's eyes

Hi! My name is Pongo. I'm a racing Poogle. In fact, that's all my owner likes me for. She has 4 pets, but only the time for 3. The last time I saw home was about 2 years ago. I've been living in a small pen where all the racing Poogles were kept in a dark corner of the racing cloud since then. This is all I remember before I became Racing Poogle #6...

I was created. My owner was looking for a pet to get her Neopoints, and that was it. I didn't know it then. She had heard a bit about Poogle Racing and decided to get a yellow Poogle, or me. She named me Pongo. I was happy for about 2 weeks while my owner called various people, trying to get me a spot for racing. I thought I was special, but the truth was, I was just a dumb Poogle that nobody loved.

"PONGO GET UP NOW! IT'S TIME TO RACE AND MILLIONS OF FANS ARE WAITING NOW GO PUT ON YOUR RACING OUTFIT!" yelled my owner.

She gripped my brother Flick the Eyrie's wings as he flew her around. My owner kept barking orders. I jumped up. I was used to that being my alarm clock. I ran out of my open pen and the other Poogles and I bustled around, getting ready for the BIG race today. I met up with James, Poogle #1, my only friend. "Hey James, ready to race?" I asked.

"I don't stand a chance against you," said James.

"Well, I know I am a bit faster than you but I'm sure you'll come in second, or third at the least," I told him.

"Thanks!" James looked a bit more confident.

"COME ON ALREADY PONGO!" shouted my owner at the top of her lungs.

"I'm coming!" I walked over to her slowly, saving my strength and speed for the race. She told me to go line up. I stood next to Poogle #5, one named Marky.

"ON YOUR MARK, GET SET..." cried the announcer...

BANG! The starting gun sounded and the Poogles bolted off.

I ran as fast as my stubby Poogle legs could carry me. I passed Marky, who was panting away in front of me. James was just behind me. "Nice going, James!" I called. And I meant it.

"Thanks!" said James.

I leaped over a hurdle and took a stumble. The crowd burst out laughing but I could only hear one thing, my owner cursing at me under her breath. Poogle #2, Born2Race, bolted in front of me and I put on a HUGE burst of speed, but Born2Race was just too fast! He came in second, James came in first. I came in 4th place just because of a stumble. I congratulated James, even though I could barely move. My owner was soooo mad! She told me to get into my pen or else, but I couldn't get up!

"Get up already!" my owner growled.

"I can't!" I moaned.

"She needs to go to the NeoHospital," remarked James's owner.

"I KNEW THAT!" roared my owner.

"Eyrie02, get over here!" she yelled.

But my brother, an Eyrie (duh!) was busy playing with my sister, Bearibite, a Shoyru. My owner actually cared about Eyrie02 and let him be. "Come on, dumb old Poogle, whatever your name is," muttered my owner. She dragged me to the Healing Springs.

"Abracadabra!!" shouted the Water Faerie. My health shot up from 4/10 to 10/10. "Come on, Gopong or whatever your name is," said my owner.

"My name is Pongo!" I suddenly jumped up and growled, right in front of the Water Faerie and everything.

"Did you just GROWL at me!" screamed my owner.

"Yes, I did!" I shouted.

Then, suddenly, my owner and all of her pets but me disappeared with a tiny pop! "Your owner has been sent to the Spooky Woods. She can't adopt anything but a mere PetPet, but doesn't have the Neopoints anyway, and is not allowed to leave. Your brothers and sisters are in the pound," said the Water Faerie.

"Thank you!" I stammered. And I held up my only possession, a Water Faerie trapped inside a bottle. I opened the bottle. The Water Faerie flew out.

"I suppose you want to grow a few levels and all," said the Water Faerie that I had released.

"No. You're in Faerieland. Go be with the other Faeries," I said. "The Faeries will be pleased with you," smiled both of the Water Faeries, and I smiled too.

The Water Faerie that I had released flew away. "Go to your pen on the racing cloud," instructed The Water Faerie. She didn't say why, but I did as she wanted me to.

When I got to my pen, I found a Blue Furry Negg and a Faerie Paint Brush. I ate the Negg, being very hungry. Then I examined the paint brush. It wasn't made by a Neopian, as I could see. It had real Faerie wings attached to it, not just the fake plastic ones that Neopians made. It was special. I smiled, and touched the paint brush to my body. WINGS! Beautiful pinkish wings popped out of my back. I couldn't have been happier. I flew around for hours until I finally realized something.

I had no owner. I was going to have to go to the pound where no one would be able to afford me because I had been painted. I would probably last pretty long on the streets of Neopia, if I flew down there, being used to no care. I didn't know what to do. Then suddenly, a Faerie's words inside my head: "The Faeries are pleased with you. You will survive if you go to The Wheel of Excitement, possibly. I thought about the voice. "I WILL, THANKS FOR HELPING!" I shouted. I flapped my wings and flew to the wheel.

"Spin, Spin, Spin the wheel of excitement!" shouted a Light Faerie. I gave the wheel a giant spin, holding my breath. The wheel spun, spun, spun, and finally came to a stop. ON 10,000 NEOPOINTS! I danced around joyfully. "Great job, for a little Poogle like you," said a Light Faerie. I thanked her, and carried the bags of Neopoints away.

I dove down under the clouds and into Neopia, the huge world bigger than any others. I bought a size 3 shop for me to live in, I couldn't afford a house. See, Neopians, when they join NeoPets, actually have about 1 million Neopoints when they start, but have to buy a house and a car and clothes and food for themselves and everything, so that always takes them down to 500 Neopoints, which explains why I only had enough to buy a small shop like mine. I called it 'Pongo Poogle's Hangout and Shop'. I bought myself books and toys and when I was bored with them, I sold them in my shop for 5 Neopoints more than I had bought them for. I had a good life.

One day I was watching TV when I found the Poogle Races on Channel 13 1/2. I saw James, Marky, and Born2Race running at full speed. For a long time, I just stared at the TV, watching my friends. Tears rolled down my cheeks. "What have I done?" I cried. I had forgotten my friends. I turned off my TV, closed my shop, and flew out the door.

"JAMES! MARKY! BORN2RACE!" I screamed. "JELLY_BEAN! GEORGEY!" Jelly_Bean and Georgey were the other two Poogles. The Poogles shot a glance at me, but otherwise ignored me. "IT'S ME, PONGO!" I yelled. James called out to me: "We stopped looking for him years ago. And anyway, Pongo was yellow! How stupid can ya get?" A tear rolled down my face, but I stayed still and watched the race. Georgey won. I didn't really care. I ran up to James.

"I told you to go away! I KNOW you aren't Pongo!" James yelled.

"Yes, I am!" I said. "Prove it!" said James. I couldn't, but tried to explain about the Water Faerie. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Now go away and leave me alone!"

"Good-bye, James," I said sadly, and I flew back to my shop.

I have many friends, but none will ever be better than James. I have tried many times but he never believed me. I will always treasure my memories of the fun we had together when we were best friends. I have always thought that Neopoints were better than anything, growing up with my owner, a person who only saw me as Neopoints, but now I know the truth. True friends are better than Neopoints

The End