How A Non-Special Shoyru Saved the Rainbow Fountain

     Each day on the walk home from Neoschool, she passed the Chocolate Factory, its sweet aroma hanging heavy in the air. She passed Uni's Clothing, where the most fashionable bought their clothes. She passed the NC Mall, shoppers strutting about, eager to spend their Neocash. Then, she came across the Rainbow Fountain. It may have been one of the Seven Wonders of Neopia, and if not, it should have been, because every Neopian's dream was to have the luck and fortune to let their pet bask in the fountain, as they'd become whatever colour they wanted to be. Pallia watched each day as nothing-special coloured pets like her walked out of the fountain Royal and Plushie and Pirate and many other expensive colours worth anyone's envy. These lucky pets' owners had completed quests for access to the fountain. Of course, Pallia thought, she'd never notice me. I'll always be a boring, not-special green Shoyru that nobody envied or thought was pretty.

     Later that evening, her sorrowful mood was uplifted as soon as she arrived home to aubergine chia pops in the freezer, her favorite snack, which her owner must've bought. But not for long; she had been so sick of seeing so many pets from school basking in the fountain that she had even forgotten to pick flowers. She opened the door and walked in without a beautiful, colourful bouquet of random field flowers for the kitchen windowsill. Immediately this struck her owner Emily odd.

     "Where are my flowers today, Pallia?"

     She thought of a story off of the top of her head about how she had come across a pack of hungry Lupes and was chased through a forest and nearly abducted by aliens, but Emily stopped her halfway through, not buying it at all.

     "Alright, well, here's the real reason," Pallia exclaimed. "I'm sick of seeing so many of my friends at school going to the Rainbow Fountain, and coming to school looking totally awesome and showing off! How hard is it to get a quest? Why can't WE be as lucky as them?!" she cried, and burst into tears.

     Emily gave her a funny look, one like she'd always given her when she was upset, in attempt to cheer her up. A smirk appeared on her face, her head cocked to the side, one eyebrow raised.

     "Pallia, Fountain Faerie quests are extremely rare, I mean EXTREMELY rare. There are plenty other Neopians like us still dying to get one. It could take years before we're lucky enough to get one! But it doesn't matter, you're just fine the way you are."

     Emily smiled, and Pallia settled with that and went to bed, dreaming of being a great colour like Camouflage or Speckled. She walked into class, and everyone's mouths dropped in awe. They asked how she'd gotten so cool looking, what paint brush she bought, how much did it cost. She was the most popular girl in school. When asked, she simply answered, "My owner got a faerie quest," smiled, and winked.

     Then she woke up, and realized that it was all just a dream. What a disappointment. She walked downstairs, ate a chia pop, and went back to bed. At least I'm not a Chia, she thought to herself. I sure hope that popsicle wasn't magical or anything.

     The next day after Neoschool, the first thing she did was pick a big, bountiful bouquet with every coloured flower she could find. It was the biggest bunch of flowers she'd ever picked, and the prettiest; it was full of bright, white daisies, vibrant yellow daffodils and dandelions, baby's breath, and poppies. It also had blue and red tulips, and some randomly colored wild flowers thrown in there. It was almost too humongous for her to even carry, but as she was walking home, she noticed something quite odd. She peeked over her bouquet and saw nobody at the fountain but the faerie, and she was sitting on the edge of the fountain looking down and shaking her head. Something had to be wrong. Pallia walked up to the fountain.

     "Hi, I'm Pallia, I walk home from school this way every day. You look sad. Is something wrong?"

     Now, Pallia wasn't very shy at all, but in this situation she found herself blushing and shuffling her feet. She was prepared for the worst. She expected to be scolded for showing up unannounced and without having completed a quest, but instead the faerie was surprisingly nice.

     "All the magic from my fountain has been used up. I've been too generous giving out quests lately, and now I can't repay the questers for their hard work."

     She picked up a bit of water in her palm, and poured it back in.

     "There is no colour left, and I simply don't have the energy to bring it back. Oh, there are probably many pets waiting; I hope I don't get fired for this..."

     Pallia looked down for a moment, and held out to the faerie her big bouquet. She looked puzzled for a moment, but them held up her finger, snatched the flowers, said a spell, and the flowers disappeared into many strands of vibrant rainbow colours. They danced around the faerie, and then bounced into the fountain. The water was transformed from ordinary to magical and colourful again. Pallia nodded and turned to leave, but quickly the faerie grabbed her shoulder.

     "Before you go... I have a little surprise for you. Thank you for saving my fountain. Pick a colour... any colour." She smiled.

     Pallia walked out of the fountain a beautiful Camouflage Shoyru. She was covered in many different shades of lavender and purple. It was the best colour ever! She had done a good deed, and had been rewarded in return. It didn't even take months or even years for her turn to bask in the fountain to come. She felt like the luckiest Shoyru in Neopia. She danced and spun around with joy, ran back to the fields to put together a bouquet for Emily, and started towards home, a wonderful new colour that she was very proud of.

     When she got home, Pallia walked up to her owner, held out the bouquet and spun around, showing off her new colour. Her owner gasped and hugged her. Pallia explained how she saved the fountain and how she'd always dreamed of being a pretty colour and how she was so proud of what she'd accomplished, and they celebrated over ice cream and chia pops.

The End

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