A Quiggle of Another Colour

     "Shouldn't you be meditating somewhere?" grumbled Blue Goggles. Nimmos were normally relaxing creatures, in tune with their surroundings. Toadalla, however, had spent too much time exploring Neopia.

     "The Wheel of Excitement, Pirate ships with dubloons, alien vending machines... the world is too stimulating to be meditating all the time, dude," Toadalla had remarked before heading out on a trip to visit the Snowager.

     Blue sighed. He had bigger problems to deal with than a crazy Nimmo.

     "What's got you down in the dumps, brotha?" said Toadalla, after parking her board. "Don't you know there is no reason for a Neopet to be sad? The world is an awesome, awesome, awesome place." Toadalla was surprised to see her brother awake. He was normally up at night, dancing and singing in the water.

     "Stick a pile of dung in it, Toadella," grumped Blue, covering his face.

     "Seriously, bro. What's the problem? Pant Devil steal your Platinum Dubloon? Dr. Sloth on a rampage again? Lose a fight in the Battledome?" asked Toadalla, getting curious.

     "I'm tired of being a boring blue Quiggle," Blue Goggles burst out. "There are blue Quiggles everywhere and they're cool and all... but I want to be different!"

     "No problem, bro," smiled Toadalla. "Get a paint brush."

     "A what?" asked Blue, confused.

     "Man, you should have explored more, B.G.! A paint brush! If you get one, you can paint yourself whatever colour you want at the Rainbow Pool."

     "Really?" questioned Blue with hope in his eyes.

     "Really," confirmed Toadalla. "I'll even help you out, bro. What's a sister for?"

     "Where can we get one from?"

     "We'll have a look around, ask some friends, see what's what," replied Toadalla.

     Blue Goggles and Toadalla went to their friend, Freddie. Freddie was a Kougra and he was incredibly bright. He also usually had exotic items on hand. When they entered his room, they could see Freddie was engrossed in putting the last piece on a golden pyramid puzzle.

     "He looks different," whispered Blue almost inaudibly.

     "What?! Speak up!" yelled Toadalla. Freddie turned around, startled, and knocked over the pyramid with his tail.

     "Oh no! Coltzan's crown! Look what you made me do," said Freddie, looking peeved and gesturing at the puzzle pieces scattered everywhere.

     "Sorry, Freds, what's up?" asked Toadalla. "You see," she said, interrupting Freddie who had just begun to speak. "We need a paint brush for my main man, B.G. He's blue about being blue, if you catch my drift."

     "Hmm..." said Freddie, still glaring at Toadalla. "I myself just got painted desert a short time ago. Maybe you're looking for something like this?" Blue looked at Freddie's gold headdress doubtfully. It looked good on a Kougra, but it would look silly on him.

     "Um... maybe..." said Blue Goggles, trying to find a polite way to say no.

     "Don't worry about it, Blue. This look isn't for everyone. Here, I've got a box of brushes that my owner wants to get rid of now that we're all painted. Have a look through, bring it to the Rainbow Pool and find something you like." Freddie smiled. He handed Blue the brushes.

     "Thanks, Freddie. I appreciate it."

     Freddie waved at him and turned back to his shattered puzzle.

     "Let's go to the pool now," said Toadalla, excited. "We can paint you right away!" Blue Goggles followed her up the path to Central Neopia. He didn't say anything out loud, but he was worried. Would getting painted change who he was? Maybe he should just stay blue after all.

     "What colours are there, Toadalla?" asked Blue a little shakily.

     "Hm... I don't know," she said, looking in the box, "These ones are missing their labels and the paint at the end. We might have to try them out to see."

     "What?" asked Blue, upset.

     "Why does it matter, B.G.? Anything's better than blue, right? Let's try these babies out!" They walked past the Art Centre and could see the glistening rainbow colours of the pool ahead. Neopets of all colours and shapes were around, in the midst of painting or being painted, admiring their fresh new looks in the water's reflection. Toadalla pulled out a brush and dipped it in the rainbow fountain.

     "You ready, bro? If you really want to stay boring blue, that's fine," Toadalla said, moving towards him with the brush.

     Blue Goggles didn't know what to say. He had never really thought of blue as THAT boring, but maybe it was. He just wanted to look a little different, that was all.

     "Go for it, Toad," he replied, clenching his eyes closed. He felt the brush touch him. It felt nice, like sunshine. Hardly like water at all.

     "Huh," said Toadalla. "Interesting."

     "What?" said Blue Goggles. "What? What colour am I?" Toadalla started giggling and led him to the water. Blue looked at his reflection.

     "Pink!? I'm pink?!?! Jumping Jelly Chias, I can't be pink!"

     "Why not?" asked Toadalla.

     "Yeah, why not?" growled a pink Jetsam nearby.

     "B-b-b-b-because..." stuttered Blue Goggles. "It's j-just not me. I'd have to rename myself Pink Goggles. I'd have an identity crisis."

     "Makes sense to me," said the Jetsam and swam off.

     "Whew," said Blue Goggles. "Grab another brush, Toadalla."

     Toadalla painted Blue Goggles long into the afternoon. He turned plenty of colours: red, green, purple, white, even some weird ones that made him act differently.

     "Ow ow ow ow!" he yelled as she painted him fire. "Repaint me, quickly!" He suddenly felt a breeze and noticed he was wearing a grass skirt.

     "A grass skirt?!" he cried and promptly blushed.

     "This time you're pink without the paint brush..." giggled Toadalla.

     "Just paint me again," Blue said, trying to cover up the skirt. The sun was getting low in the sky and Blue Goggles couldn't find a colour that made him happy. At this point, he was getting depressed. At sunset, he sat down, looking all the colours of the rainbow.

     "Hey, this one's Faerie," said Toadalla, examining another brush. "See? You can still see the wings on it."

     "So what?" said Blue. "Maybe I'll never find the right colour."

     "Did you say Faerie?" they heard a voice ask. Another Quiggle hopped towards them from the water. He was a plain green colour.

     "Sure did, buddy," replied Toadalla. "You the brush police or something?"

     "No... I just need a Faerie brush. I like a girl... she's a Shoyru... and we hang out every day, but she always has to fly off somewhere. I've always wanted wings and this is the only way how," explained the Quiggle, looking miserable. "I've got another brush, if you want to trade."

     "No way, buddy, get lost!" said Toadalla. "The trading post is that-a-way!"

     "Wait..." said Blue Goggles. "I don't want to be Faerie. And if I can't be happy, someone should be. We'll trade. What kind of brush is it?"

     "A blue one, I think," said the Quiggle, delighted. "A faerie gave it to me. Thank you so much, are you sure?"

     "Positive," said Blue. "Let's get you painted." Toadalla painted the green Quiggle with the brush. Suddenly, wings appeared.

     "Thank you so much!" the Quiggle cried. "I'm off to find my sweetheart!" He flew into the distance.

     "Let's try another brush from the box," said Toadalla.

     "Wait, Toady. Let's just paint me blue again." Toadalla knew from his tone that he was serious. She sighed and wet the blue brush the Quiggle had given them. She started to paint.

     "Hey wait, bro... this isn't blue."

     "What?" Blue said. "He said it was blue."

     "It's got all of these yellow flicks in it. It definitely isn't just blue." Toadalla explained. She finished painting him. "Actually, bro... it looks really good. Kind of like you before, only different."

     "Let me look," said Blue Goggles, almost afraid to feel hopeful. He hopped over to the water and looked. There he stood, almost like himself. Still blue. Only now he had beautiful stars over him. He always had loved the night, now he could be a part of it.

     "I love it," he said, amazed. "This is who I truly am." He turned and saw that Toadalla had gotten into the brushes. She was a shining gold colour, almost looking like a peaceful meditative statue in the park.

     "Finally!" said Toadalla, leaping into the air. "Now let's go see if we can sneak past the Snowager!"

     Blue Goggles laughed and shook his head. Some things never changed. It was nice that he could change, and still be himself.

The End