A Neopian Fairy Tale

     Oktyabrina closed the blush case with a decisive snap. While today was like many other days, she did not feel like she did on many other days.

     “I am going to go out for a walk,” she announced, and shooed away the ladies.

     She picked out a long dress with a fur-lined collar and a rich turquoise color. Carefully, she placed her tiara among her locks, and she pulled on a cloak for warmth. With a pleased nod, she twirled around and knew that, as always, she looked like exquisite perfection.

     She slipped on a pair of shiny heels and clicked her way out of the castle. Oktyabrina lived just outside of Meridell. She didn’t care for all the, ugh, peasants, living inside Meridell playing ridiculous games like Guess the Weight of the Marrow. She had far more important things to do.

     Exactly what those things were, Oktyabrina wasn’t sure, but then again, if a mere peasant asked, all she’d have to do was sneer. She had no need to explain what she spent her days doing.

     “I know what I’ll do today!” she thought suddenly. “I’m going to go explore a distant and faraway land. I’ll go to the Virtupets Space Station!”

     She had never been there before, so maybe some great and majestic wonders existed there. Set on her decision, she headed back to her castle to demand that she be taken there. She tapped her foot impatiently while the help called the Unis to come get hooked up to the carriage. She smirked at them sadly.

      “How utterly pathetic to have to spend your life toting around rich people!” she thought.

     “At least it’s not me!” she added determinedly, and climbed into the carriage.

     With a snap of her fingers, the four Unis took off at once and whipped the carriage through the air. The wind blew through their manes, Oktyabrina noticed. She had to admit, if she was a mere commoner watching the carriage in the air, she would be amazed at the beauty of it. She didn’t know the names of the workers, because of course, she didn’t need to. But all her employees were fairly majestic looking. She didn’t want some ugly Neopian working for her. The Unis were Starry, Shadow, White and Pirate. The Pirate Uni was in charge of the rest. Beyond that she, didn’t know much about them or their jobs.

     And on that note, Oktyabrina waved away the thoughts with her paw. It was unnecessary to dwell on such common matters. She took to looking outside the carriage window for the rest of the ride.

     In just a few hours, they arrived at Virtupets. The entire Station was cold and covered with metal. Certainly a different landscape than Meridell.

     “Miss,” the Pirate Uni called after her. “Best not to stay too long, eh? Never know what kind of folks come out at night.”

     Oktyabrina simply sniffed at him and walked away. “I’ll leave on my time,” she thought. “As if my chauffeur is going to tell me when I’ll leave. It’s his job to protect me, after all! At least I think it is, but no matter.”

     She added a decisive “BAH!” to her last thought, and took to analyzing her surroundings. There was a place where you could look at Grundos. Ew. Who would want to do that? She shuffled past it quickly. The smiling Blue Grundo creeped her out.

     Up and to the right was a store for Space Petpets. They were rather mechanic looking. Oktyabrina was fairly sure she had a Vacumatic 9000 working for her, but she wasn’t entirely sure. She knew her father told the cleaning staff to remain as invisible as possible, and she therefore had no clear idea as to who cleaned the whole palace. Looking at the Wains squeaking made her think of her own petpet back home; he was a Lutra. Oktyabrina couldn’t remember the last time she’d fed him. She’d have to check on that when she returned home.

     She flitted past the rest of store fronts until she came up to a great big lever. A sign warned, “DO NOT PULL.”

     “Ha!” she sneered to herself, and pulled it anyway. A great big hand reached down and stole one of her purses. It disappeared just as quickly.

     “Well, I never!” she exclaimed. She decided she would pull it again, then grab the hand and pull whichever individual was robbing her out of the box and give him a piece of her mind.

     With another yank on the lever, the hand reached down. She sidestepped it, then began, “You know, you rude sir, that you need to… Hey!” The hand had simply ignored her and stole some more of her precious Neopoints.

     Now completely unsure what to do, she stood in front of the odd device. She poked it, then quickly leapt out of the way. Nothing happened. She began to ponder, when she realized that her Pirate Uni had come up next to her.

     “Grand Duchess,” he said quietly, “I’m thinking we’d best leave. You’re attracting a lot of attention.”

     Oktyabrina turned and looked around her. There were suddenly quite a few Robot Neopians looking at her. She shivered and nodded, letting the Uni escort her back to the carriage.

     The ride back was much quieter. Oktyabrina didn’t really think about much of anything. She simply watched the sunset and the sky slowly turned from sky blue to a brilliant red to a deep navy.

     Finally, they arrived back at her castle. She sighed, and realized she didn’t want to go in. “I’m going to go for a short walk,” she announced, and flitted away.

     “Don’t go too far, lass!” the Pirate Uni called after her, but she merely waved him away. She had lived here her entire life, and knew that nothing dangerous lurked in these woods.

     She pulled the cloak around her, and walked until she reached a small pond. She sat on a nearby log, and wept big tears of self-pity and shame. “What a horrid day!” she thought. She had humiliated herself in front of Virtupets and her help. She sobbed harder, and just let out a yell. She suddenly felt much better. She inhaled deeply and stopped crying.

     “What’s the matter?” a voice called out.

     Oktyabrina let out a girly squeal, and looked down at the intruder. It was Mutant Bearog.

     “Ew,” she responded. The one head was freaky. The work of pure evil. She shivered and step back.

     The Bearog looked forlorn, and said, “Yeah, that’s pretty much everyone’s response. If only I could break this curse!”

     “Wait, curse?” she asked. Still suspicious, she stepped forward a bit. Surely, he couldn’t be that bad.

     “Oh, yes, curse. I am Lord Tezcocoatl. I have a castle on the other side of Brightvale. One day, Jhudora came to my castle and demanded I fetch her some item,” the Bearog narrated. “I refused, and she cursed me to become this. I was once a handsome Kyrii of grand royalty and riches, and now I’m this.”

     Oktyabrina took pity on him and came closer. She kneeled and asked, “Is there any way to get rid of the curse?”

     The Bearog leaped on the log and came closer, so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Yes,” he stated. “I just need a kiss from a fair maiden, and I will be returned to my normal form.”

     “Well, he’s been cursed, he can’t be evil,” Oktyabrina decided. She leaned down to give him a peck on the cheek.

     “Just kidding,” he said. Then he ate her.

The End