Danger! Danger!

FAERIELAND - Beautiful, bright, happy Faerieland where your head, quite literally, is ‘in the clouds’. Actually, when you visit the so called ‘wonderous’ clouds of Faerieland, your whole body is in the clouds. Or, at least it should be.

A new kind of danger has arisen in Faerieland and, unknown to its visitors and even its residents, the danger is right under their feet! The soft white and fluffy clouds that hold the majestic land of the faeries high in the sky may be, for the first time ever, failing.

Many experts have been, rather discreetly, researching and experimenting with cloud stability. These studies had previously been classified top secret until a brave Wocky, believing in people's safety over science, spoke out.

“They’ve been doing this for years now,” said the disgruntled and almost frightened Wocky who preferred to remain anonymous. “That was the reason they built Faerie City in the first place. It was to see just how much weight the clouds could support.”

Further inquiries into this subject led Neopian Times reporters to a large building complex hidden in the Haunted Woods. This complex contained records of the first inhabitants of Faerie City and the surrounding clouds. The records say that, ‘the only inhabitants allowed to live as Lab Slorgs were the Faeries who have wings and so have little need to use their legs.’

Since the complex was empty of all life and many records had been destroyed, our reporters concluded that the escaped inhabitants of the nearby Meepit Oaks Sanitorium for the Psychologically Fragile had ransacked the buildings long ago and so the experiments and research was discontinued.

Due to that discontinuation, Faerieland and its famous Faerie City were, for the first time ever, open to all of Neopia. The inhabitants soon became varied in their species and many, such as the Poogle, were not winged Neopians and so added more weight to the clouds that support the fabled lands.

Now it seems that the tourists who made Faerie City rich and great are now the ones who are destroying it.

“I hardly believe that!” exclaimed one pompous Eyrie when confronted with such evidence and asked her opinion.

Many understood Faerieland to be under some spell that made the clouds dense enough to hold up the city but, contrary to popular belief, no such magic exists. In truth, the records found in the Faerieland Research Centre told of the many Draiks, Shoyrus and other winged Neopians who flew up into the heights of Neopia and scouted out the best place for the experiments to take place.

Once the densest clouds had been assessed and closely studied a group of faeries who had escaped Balthazar and his magical faerie net volunteered, in their desperation and fear of bottles, to be the first ever inhabitants.

Those first settlers built Faerie City and some moved to the surrounding clouds and built arenas, giant spinning wheels, water springs that carried moisture from inside the clouds to the springs where they would then be treated by the Water Faerie to give them healing properties, and one ambitious faerie even started a Rainbow Fountain where pets could come and bathe in the fountain's magical waters and change, although the so-called ‘Fountain Faerie’ soon went out of business and had to close the fountain.

Inhabitants were strictly monitored by the staff of the Faerieland Research Centre so that they didn’t exceed the weight limits without due authorization and, for many years, Faerieland was kept secret.

The secret, however would never last. The inmates of Meepit Oaks escaped and so drove out the scientists of FRC. The flocking of visitors to the mysterious land of the faeries was no longer controlled and regulated and now, the clouds were thinning and some have even disappeared completely.

Indeed one Discarded Magical Blue Grundo Plushie of Prosperity was reported to be seen falling from a hole in his small and lonely cloud despite many people trying to talk some sense into him. He reappeared not too long afterwards but refused to say where he had been, what he had done or how he returned. He just said nothing.

Another account of a victim who fell was the poor Blumaroo who was reputed to have bounced too close to the edge of a cloud and saved by the famous Air Faerie, Psellia or the Dreamer, one of the Twelve Heroes of Altador. Our reporters spoke to an eyewitness who swore the unfortunate Blumaroo had not fallen off the edge of the cloud but had indeed fallen straight through the middle of a softer and less stable patch.

The last few weeks have been wrought with failed cover up stories and those we once respected as wise and knowledgeable are now being doubted in everything they say. They at first denied that any such cover ups existed and that Faerieland was indeed safe for the public, but then there was another accident when a spinner of the Wheel of Excitement had won a prize far too heavy for the clouds to support. The prize, most regrettably, fell into the ocean just off the Coast of Krawk Island. The inhabitants of Krawk Island are now searching to recover the lost prize.

Despite their initial denial, the once respected scientific community of Neopia has teamed up with other scientists, climatologists, meteorologists, musicologists, angleologists, penologists, and other such experts to try to resolve the matter.

In the interim, Faerieland has been cautioned against walking near the edges of the clouds where less weight could be supported and warning signs have been erected all over Faerie City.

“Too little, too late,” says the distraught brother of the most unfortunate Blumaroo who was saved by the Dreamer, “My brother had to go to Meepit Oaks to recover from his experiences and still they refused to acknowledge the problems at hand!”

Many other residents of Faerie City have agreed with him and have left Faerieland to settle in other places and still more prepare to leave.

The numerous experts now work day in and day out to ensure the safety of Faerieland and its people but they are ever cautious. “We’re not above complete evacuation if the clouds become too unstable,” said a tired and overworked Hissi.

Faerieland, the place of miracles, wonders and beauty is now unsafe, unstable and many people are angry at the compromise of their safety and some even stage daily protests but until the matter can be resolved, Faerieland and Faerie City stand on the brink of disaster.

From The Neopian Times, good night and good luck.