KiwiBonk hummed her favourite song as she skipped along the sidewalk of Faerieland.
She passed the Poogle Race Track, the Healing Springs, and the Wheel of Excitement.
Suddenly, the blue Aisha stopped in her tracks. "Where is everybody?" she thought.
Faerieland was mysteriously deserted. "Usually this place is packed." A piercing
scream made KiwiBonk's fur stand on end. The sky turned the ugly colour of a
bruise, and the wind blew leaves across the road that seemed to be miles across.
Several glowing purple spheres sped past, giggling softly. The stores on either
side of the road faded away into grey fog. Footsteps pounding in her head, KiwiBonk
started to run. She tripped over a pile of wood in the middle of the road. There
was something behind her... she couldn't see it, but she knew it was there....
It was getting closer, almost upon her. KiwiBonk felt as if she couldn't control
her feet. Her vision was suddenly blurred and she felt a searing pain on the
golden part of her tail. "Noooooooo! Get away!!!!" she heard herself scream.
Then, everything was white. "Heeeeeeeee...."
I found KiwiBonk on the floor of her room, tangled up in her blanket, sucking
on her tail. Snuffs moaned softly as I came in. "You're a weirdo," I told him.
KiwiBonk awoke with a start.
"Wha... the Faeries... wood... in the road...." she mumbled.
"You were dreaming, KiwiBonk."
"Oh, yeah. It was weird..."
"Well, come on, sleepy head. Today we're going shopping!"
KiwiBonk suddenly sprang to life. "Shopping! Yay! Will you buy me a Faerie?"
"You're obsessed." I kicked some NeoBlocks out of the way as I picked up the
sheets strewn over the floor. KiwiBonk flattened her bed-head hair with a huge
squirt of hair gel. Snuffs was sniffing at the package of a Rainbow Chia Pop
hungrily.
"I'll get you some breakfast," I said. Snuffs followed us into the kitchen,
the plastic package dangling from his mouth.
After gobbling up a jam pastry and a fried egg, KiwiBonk began to tell about
her dream. "I was in Faerieland, but nobody was there. Somebody screamed. There
were Dark Faeries laughing, and then this big thing started chasing me, and
it hurt my tail. I heard Snuffs screeching, too. The pain seemed so real...."
"That's a very peculiar dream," I said.
"Yeah, I'm sure it means something," she said.
"Let's go see the Island Mystic on Mystery Island, and see what he has to
say about it."
"Oh, he's just an old coot..."
Nonetheless, we made our way to Mystery Island. (They got rid of the rule
that you had to pay for the boat ride).
"Hey, Qt!" KiwiBonk called to her NeoPet friend as soon as we stepped off
the boat. Qt_the_adorable was a silver Shoyru, and her owner was Gabrielle Hughes.
Qt's pet Meekins, named Happy, giggled at Snuffs. The snowman hissed, and disappeared
into the crowd.
"Look what I found on the ground!" Qt cried, holding up a green Aisha Plushie.
"Wow, is it magical? Because if it is, you'll turn into an Aisha like me!"
"I don't think it is."
Gab turned to me. "We're on our way to Coltzan's shrine. He gives away free
stuff! Where's Snuffs?"
"He runs away like a wimp whenever another PetPet comes near. I don't know
what's wrong with him."
"You should get a Faerie PetPet, like Happy," Gab said. Qt was showing KiwiBonk
the tricks her pet can do.
"I have one in my inventory. But KiwiBonk likes Snuffs too much."
"Anyway, I gotta go," said Gab.
"Yeah, me, too. We're going to the Island Mystic, then to the Neopian Bazaar.
Come on, KiwiBonk."
The Island Mystic lived in a grass hut not far from where we met Gab. Snuffs
was waiting for us there. The one-roomed hut was dark and smoky, and reeked
of incense. The Island Mystic himself was a short little man with a white goatee,
dressed in a grass skirt and numerous necklaces.
"Welcome, Alison, her screeching snowman, and the golden tailed Aisha," he
said. The wooden beads on his skinny arms clinked as he gestured for us to sit
down on the woven grass mats. "You are here because of a vision seen in a dream,
I think?"
KiwiBonk giggled. "You talk funny."
"That's right," I said.
He put on a thoughtful, mysterious expression. "Explain."
KiwiBonk told him about the strange dream. "It was really lifelike," she finished.
"Ah, yes. You are friend of Faerie, know I. A Faerie trying to tell you something,
is what dream means."
"Yes, but what are they trying to say?"
"A Faerie's trying to talk to me?" said KiwiBonk. "Is that Faerie with a capital
F?"
The mystic shut his eyes. "Good day."
"But, I still have some questions!"
"Good day."
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!"
"Good day."
KiwiBonk stomped angrily out of the shop. "What good was that?" she grumbled.
"What a waste of time."
"Snuffs enjoyed it," I remarked. It was true. The snowman had a huge
smile on his face ever since the mystic had greeted us. "Well, anyway, let's
do some shopping."
Neopia Central was packed. I had 1,000 Neopoints in my wallet, and KiwiBonk
needed a new toothbrush, and some toys. I wanted to get some groceries, too.
"Don't get any weird food, like a Baggus. Remember that time you tried to
feed me a Ummagine, and I puked it all out?"
"Yes, I remember. There's still a purple stain on the living room floor."
"Ewwww. I can't believe Snuffs ate the rest."
"Yep, it was pretty gross. He even slurped up the barf, and we had to give
him a bath 'cause he stunk so much."
We entered the Bakery. KiwiBonk pressed her face against the glass, looking
at the delicious goodies for sale. The Kacheek behind the counter chuckled,
and offered KiwiBonk and Snuffs a free sample of a Cinnamon Toffee cake. I bought
a bag of Jam pastries and an apple pie, and they were instantly deported to
our NeoHome. I also bought a sugar donut for us to share on the way to the Toy
Store.
"I wanna Monkey puppet," KiwiBonk said, her mouth full of donut. "Qt has one,
and it's so cool."
"Okay, if it's not too expensive."
The monkey puppet turned out to be only 35 Neopoints, so I bought it. We also
visited the Healthy Food Store, the Book Shop, and the Smoothie Store.
"Our last stop today is The PetPet Store in Faerieland."
"Yay! Can I play with the pets?"
"Sure, but I only need to find out what a Magaral costs."
When we reached the Faerie PetPet shop, Snuffs disappeared into Faerie City.
The Faerie who owned the shop let KiwiBonk take the pets out of their cages
and play with them.
"Faerie PetPets are the best PetPets you can get," the Faerie said. "They
are gentle and kind, and will fill your pet with laughter."
"KiwiBonk already has a PetPet: An Abominable Snowman," I replied.
"Hmmm, yes. They are not the best... but as long as she is happy."
"Do you know how much a Magaral costs?" I asked the Faerie. "I have one and
I'm thinking of selling it."
"You have a Magaral that you are trying to sell, and yet you'll keep an Abominable
Snowman?"
"Yeah, it sounds weird, but Snuffs isn't all that bad. He can be strange at
times, but that makes owning an Abominable Snowman all the more exciting!" KiwiBonk
explained, scratching the tummy of a Floud.
The Faerie chuckled. "You can sell your Magaral for 10,000 Neopoints"
"Thanks. Let's go."
KiwiBonk made her monkey puppet 'walk' down the street. Martini123, a speckled
Aisha, waved to her, and KiwiBonk made the monkey wave back. She started humming
a tune from a M*YNCI CD.
"Hey, look, there's Snuffs," I said. He was rolling towards us at breakneck
speed, and people and pets alike scrambled to get out of his way. The road was
clear of all pedestrian traffic. Suddenly, the air got very cold. The sky turned
an ugly purple. The faces of the people standing on the sidewalk were pale and
frightened. Pets were howling in terror. Martini yelled something, but her voice
sounded so far away.......
A cold, clammy hand was slapped over my mouth. KiwiBonk's eyes were open wide
in fear. I broke free, and whirled around. It was a....
"AHHHHHHH!" It took me a few moments to realise that it was me that had screamed.
Standing behind me was a bloody corpse with arms out stretched out towards me...
I was so scared I couldn't move.... A glowing purple ball whizzed past, then
another, then another....
"Dark Faeries!!!!" KiwiBonk screamed. "My dream! My dream is--"
WHAM!!!! A white ball hit the zombie in the chest, and bits of skin
and snow flew everywhere. KiwiBonk grabbed my hand, and yanked me out of my
shock. We started running. KiwiBonk tripped over her monkey puppet, but we kept
on going. I looked behind me, and saw that the zombie had brushed away the snow
like a fly, and was coming after us at a remarkable speed.
There was a strange fog between us and the sidewalk, and I could barely make
out the people standing on either side.
"Nooo..." KiwiBonk panted. "It's catching up...." The zombie was right behind
us. I could smell its foul stench, feel its icy touch, taste... snow?
I had received a snowball right in the mouth. I heard an apologising "Heeeeeeee!!!!!!!"
and then, before you could say "Get 'em, Snuffs!", the zombie was shred into
pieces.
KiwiBonk was sobbing and holding her tail. 'The Faerie... the Dark Faerie..."
she moaned.
"What?"
KiwiBonk fell unconscious on the ground. My head started to feel really light....
"Gee, all I wanted to do was see her tail...."
"Where am I?" I mumbled.
"Oh, she's up."
"Alison, can you hear us?"
"Are you okay?"
I was in a white room, lying on a bed with the covers pulled up to my chin.
Seated on the other side of the room were Julie, my friends Gab and Steph, and
my little sister Hannah.
Just then, a pink Elephante entered the room. "How are you doing?" she asked
kindly.
"What happened?" I asked.
As the Elephante took my temperature, Steph explained:
"The Faerie Queen came here, Alison. The Faerie Queen! While you and KiwiBonk--"
"Where's KiwiBonk?" I interrupted.
Hannah pointed. In the bed beside mine, KiwiBonk was curled up, looking very
peaceful.
"Anyway, a guy who was in Faerieland while it happened told me that you and
KiwiBonk were walking along, and Snuffs came rolling-"
"Where's Snuffs?" I interrupted again.
"At the Healing Springs with the Water Faerie. He was pretty busted up. Anyway,
Snuffs came rolling, and the sky turned a weird colour A dark person appeared,
and they looked right evil, and everyone started screaming because you were
in their way. They thought it was the Uber Dark Faerie."
"It was," Gab said.
"The pets started howling for some reason," Julie told me. "A zombie
came, and grabbed you, and you tried to run away, but then he started chasing
you, and then Dark Faeries came to make sure nobody could save you. Then we
heard this scream--"
"You were there?"
"Yeah, I was looking for you." The Elephante took over. "Everyone's talking
about it. They thought you were a goner, when the Dark Faeries finally went
away and the crowd could see. You were slumped on the ground, with your pet
under one arm, and the snowman under the other."
"Then, why did KiwiBonk's tail hurt?"
"The Faerie Queen said that her tail is kinda like Larry Otter's scar. Whenever
there is evil around, it will start to hurt," said Gab. "Cool, huh?"
"Then, somebody had the sense to fetch the Faerie Queen," the nurse continued,
smoothing out KiwiBonk's blankets. "She brought you here, then explained to
everyone present that it was the Dark Faerie who did this to you."
"Yeah, she summoned up the Dark Faerie," Julie said. "She was looking all
guilty, and said it was an accident. She only wanted to, like, see KiwiBonk's
tail because she had heard about it and how it was always wet."
KiwiBonk stirred in her bed. "Where's Snuffs? Where's the zombie?"
"Snuffs is being healed, and the zombie's dead," I said.
"The Dark Faerie said to give you this," said Steph. She took a piece
of black paper out of her book bag, and handed it to me. KiwiBonk crawled onto
my lap to read it. It was written in purple gel pen, and it said:
Sorry about attacking you, I really really wanted to see your pet
Aisha. My sister, the Fire Faerie told me about your pet, and just had to see
her. And she told me you were really great too. The zombie guy had nothing to
do with me. He was just one of those freaks who follow me around and do dumb
stuff, like chasing people. When the faeries saw how evil the zombie was being
they got excited and started chasing you too, and they thought he was gonna
get you (which was what he was gonna do if my big sis hadn't showed up) , that's
why they made sure no-one else could see. So, I'm giving you this amulet as
a sorry gift, and because it will protect you from evil. The Faerie Queen is
making me give it to you. It's not even mine. But, anyway. Well. I'm sorry for
all that happened. So don't be mad or something, and come visit me in my cave
sometimes. And Fire Faerie says to say Hi.
Yours sincerely, The Uber Faerie of Darkness T
aped to the note was a strange looking necklace. It looked like a sun with
an eye in the middle of it, which blinked every few seconds.
"Wow!" KiwiBonk said. "Now we're friends with another Faerie! Two more, if
you count the Queen."
KiwiBonk and I signed out of the Hospital, and made our way to the Healing
Springs. KiwiBonk waved her tail at everyone we passed. We got a lot of stares
walking through Neopia Central. I guess all of Neopia has heard of how we were
attacked.
At the Healing Springs, the Water Faerie was waiting at the door. "I have
some bad news," she said. "I did manage to save your pet, but I'm afraid he'll
never be the same."
KiwiBonk's smile faded. "What do you mean?" She led us through golden hallways,
past marble pillars and bubbling fountains. Finally, we entered the biggest
room of all. There, sitting in a red mat, was a small ball of snow wearing a
toque and a scarf.
"Heeeeeeeeee?" it said faintly.
"Snuffs!" KiwiBonk screamed. The snowman looked exactly the same, except for
numerous scars across his head and body, which are the only two body parts he
has.
"Ew, now he's even uglier than before," I said.
"Alison, be nice. He saved our lives! In my dream, we were both destroyed,
but he stopped my dream from coming true!"
The Water Faerie shook her head. "I'm afraid he'll always look like as if
a Chia got a hold of a Battle Axe. Sorry, but I'm a Faerie, not a plastic surgeon."
"I don't care what he looks like," KiwiBonk declared. "But he's my best
friend in the whole entire world, and no amount of zombies, Dark Faeries, or
Chias with Battle Axes will ever change that." With that, she gave her pet an
affectionate bite on the nose.
That night, KiwiBonk had Qt_the_adorable over to play. Qt brought Happy, her
pet Meekins. Snuffs watched the three of them play from a distance for awhile.
"He's probably afraid that Happy will think he's ugly, and hate him because
he was so mean to her," I thought. Then, Happy went over to Snuffs, who looked
away shyly, and gave him a kiss right on his ugly, scarred face. The next time
I went into the play room, KiwiBonk, Qt, and Happy were burying Snuffs in plushies
and having the time of their lives. But Snuffs' smile was the biggest.
The End
Author's note: KiwiBonk became friends with the Fire Faerie in a
past adventure we had. Thanks to Gabby, and Qt, for letting me put them
in my story. | 
