Classy Colours and Cool Comrades

by rabite13

"Say 'Dragon Friend.'" The Mongmong blinked, then stuck out her tongue and blew raspberries at Dragon Friend.

"You are not very smart, are you, Happi?" the blue Shoyru said. He glanced around, looking for Skweeli, but the little Snorkle was nowhere to be found. Jemee got up from the shade of a large tree and sat beside him.

"It sure is hot out today, hey? Go look for Rayni again," the pink Aisha said.

"Okay." The little blue Shoyru jumped up and took flight. He hovered high in the air, then rocketed back down again.

"What? Do you see her?"

"Yes!" Dragon Friend squealed happily. "She's coming!"

At that moment a blue-haired girl came out from between the trees surrounding the meadow.

"Rayni!" Dragon Friend said, and flew into the girl's arms.

"Oh, guys, I'm back! And look!" Rayni pulled off her backpack and opened it. It was full of food! "And I got us a new ball to play with, too!"

"Yay, yay! Is there a slushie for Dragon Friend?" He looked up hopefully into Rayni's face.

"Yup, here's a strawberry slush for you. Here, Jemee, have an apple. It's too hot out today to do much so we're going on a trip."

"Where?" Dragon Friend asked.

"Well, we've been all over the Mystery Island, and I don't want to go to the Haunted Woods..." Rayni said this because she knew Dragon Friend was afraid of the Haunted Woods. "And Happy Valley would be a nice place to go because it's so hot here, but after that earthquake, I'm not sure it would be safe."

"Why don't we go check out an unexplored region of Neopia?" Jemee asked. "There's a forest just west of here where no one goes very often."

"Why? Because there's monsters?" Dragon Friend asked, a worried look on his face.

"Naw, probably because it's unpopulated." She stretched from her tail to her four ears and grinned, her spirit of adventure awakened.

"All right. Let's go to the forest," Rayni said with a smile. "But first, we should pack for the camping trip. And take Happi and Skweeli inside the house."

Ten minutes later they were ready to go. There was food and water for the PetPets, and Rayni had arranged for her friend Shelley to take care of her shop.

"Let's go!" Rayni smiled as she swung her pack onto her back.

"Yeah! The forest!" Dragon Friend jumped high into the air and flew into the trees.

"Wait up!" Rayni giggled, then followed her friends into the woods. She took out the bright red ball and bounced it as she ran. Jemee ran up and knocked it away with her head.

Dragon Friend giggled and dove towards Jemee. She sidestepped him and used an Aisha pounce. Rayni grabbed the ball, only to be tackled by both of her pets. Soon all three of them were rolling in the grass. Dragon Friend got the ball and flew up into the air with it.

"Not fair!" Jemee yelled. "I don't have wings! Come back..." she trailed off as a she suddenly noticed a green Scorchio zip through the sky. He smashed into Dragon Friend, sending the young pet towards the ground. Rayni ran and caught the poor Shoyru.

"Dragon Friend! Are you all right?" His face was scrunched up in pain, and he moaned softly. Rayni hugged him tightly.

The ball had hit the ground and was bouncing away. The Scorchio flew after it. Rayni looked at Jemee and was startled to see angry fire in the Aisha's eyes. Jemee bolted after the Scorchio and slammed into him from behind.

The green pet was knocked over, but he quickly recovered and faced Jemee. The ball was forgotten in the dagger stares.

"I'd tell you to pick on someone your own size, but I'm not sure I know any pets as big and fat as you," Jemee said angrily.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be trying to tell me to do anything. Careful who you challenge," the Scorchio replied with a look as cold as Jemee's.

The Aisha gave a fierce cry and pounced on the Scorchio. The Scorchio kicked her off and charged at her. Jemee ran. Rayni wondered if she could somehow give Jemee her Battledome weapons, but the fight was on. The Scorchio lifted off into the air and dove at Jemee, but Jemee sidestepped him and he hit a tree face-first. He growled at Jemee, then started to walk away.

Jemee growled softly as the Scorchio disappeared into the woods, then ran back to Rayni. "Is Dragon Friend okay?" she asked, her brow furrowed in anxiety. "Let me heal him."

"All right." Rayni gently put Dragon Friend on the ground.

Jemee whispered the spell a Water Faerie had taught her and a bright blue flash shone over Dragon Friend. He blinked, then got up. He moved his left arm and wing, and found there was no pain. He grinned.

"Thank you, Jemee. Hey, where the ball?" Dragon Friend looked around and found the ball behind a tree.

"All right, let's go!" Rayni said, and the adventure was underway again. They walked through the outer forest's thin brush and scraggly trees. The forest was beginning to thicken as they walked.

They talked and joked on the way. Dragon Friend flew above the treetops, then flew down again to report what he saw. "I can see lotsa wild NeoPets! Lots of Kyriis and Meercas and Myncis, and a few Unis and Kougras and Eyries and even a Cybunny! Cybunnies are rare," he said.

Soon the sky grew darker. The trio stopped and had some supper from Rayni's backpack.

"Isn't the sunset beautiful?" Rayni asked. "Look at where the pink and blue meet."

Jemee opened her eyes, something Aishas rarely do. "Yeah," she said, "It's wonderful..."

"Yup, pretty. This is fun," Dragon Friend said. "Are we gonna camp out?"

"Yep!" said Jemee, shutting her eyes and relying on her extremely keen ears to easily map the area. Her ears were uncommonly sharp for an Aisha. "Can we put up the tent now, Rayni?"

"All right." Rayni took the tent out of her backpack. "My backpack was enchanted so that it carries lots of things," she said as she pulled out pieces of metal rods that looked too big to fit inside the pack.

Rayni assembled the rods and stood them up while Jemee pushed the stakes into the ground. Dragon Friend hovered around, not sure of what to do.

Not wanting her Shoyru to feel left out, Rayni said, "Dragon Friend, fly up high and tell me if you can see anyone. We need to find out where we are."

Dragon Friend obliged, but soon came back down. "It's too dark," he said with a shake of his head. "I'll go see if there's anyone near who can tell us where we are."

"All right, be careful," Rayni said.

"Yeah," Jemee said in a wicked voice, "You never know what kind of things could be lurking in the dark..."

A frightened look appeared on the Shoyru's face. "Cut it out, Jemee," Rayni said.

"I'm brave, don't worry," Dragon Friend said as he flew into the woods. But he sure didn't feel that way.

"There are no such things as monsters. There are no such things as monsters," he whispered to himself. He touched down to the ground and started walking, hoping the bushes could conceal him from any big, red eyed, sharp toothed monster who might notice him flying through the trees and decide on having a bedtime snack...

"Shh!" the blue Aisha named JemWater said. Immediately the other two pets and the human were silent. The Aisha strained its ears. "Company. Something's in the bushes behind us."

"Ambush Beta, now!" The human girl whispered. The three NeoPets went into formation in the darkness. Soon the source of the noise appeared. A blue Shoyru stepped out of the bushes. The NeoPets pounced.

"Ahh!" Dragon Friend cried, beating his wings furiously. It took all three of the pets' strength to keep his wings down, and he almost flew away. But they had him.

"It's only a Shoyru? Okay, piglet, start squealing," the human girl said. "Why were you sneaking up on us?"

"I think I heard something, but I'm not sure. All these trees are disrupting my radar," Jemee said.

"Dragon Friend's been gone an awfully long time," Rayni said.

"You're right," Jemee said."I'll go check it out. You finish setting up the tent."

Jemee walked farther and farther away from the campsite, straining her ears. What was that noise? Just a Meerca, perhaps? Then her ears caught a faint squeal. That's Dragon Friend, all right, she thought, running towards the noise.

She slowed down and listened, then opened her eyes and looked at her collar. The gold 'J' was glowing faintly in the darkness. Another Aisha nearby had caused Dragon Friend's cry. Jemee shut her eyes again and moved stealthily forward.

JemWater froze. Had she felt something nearby? She turned her long ears towards the bushes. She gasped, but it was too late to warn her friends.

A red Aisha shot out of the brush, knocking into JemWater and sending her tumbling. The red Aisha rounded on the Usul, using an Aisha pounce.

"Go Jemee!" Dragon Friend cried gleefully.

"Ow!" the red Usul cried as Jemee bit her in the ear.

"Hey! Stop fighting my NeoPets! Evil Aisha!" the human girl yelled.

The Acara jumped on Jemee, but Dragon Friend knocked her off. The fight was on.

Rayni put another branch on the firewood stack, then looked in the direction Jemee and Dragon Friend had went. Then she started into the forest. It wasn't long before she heard the cries of the battle. She started to run.

No one but the human girl looked up when Rayni burst through the brush.

"What in the woods...! Stop it!" Rayni yelled. Dragon Friend flew into the air and hovered beside Rayni, as though to protect her. Jemee ignored Rayni, busy biting the Usul's ear. "Jemee! That's enough!" Jemee stopped and ran to stand beside Rayni.

"About time you showed up and gave your dumb pets what for. They attacked us!" the human girl said angrily.

"Did not!" Dragon Friend yelled in defence. "They attacked me! Then Jemee came and beat 'em good!"

At this remark the other girl's pets started yelling that they had been winning, and for a moment it looked like the fight would start up again. "Stop it!" Rayni yelled. "First of all, they are not "dumb pets." Secondly, you do not attack someone without a reason. Why did you attack Dragon Friend?"

"How dolt are you? Sneaking around in this forest at night could get you killed! We were trying to defend ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard the rumours?"

"No."

"Then I'm not telling you. It'll take too long. I have to set up camp."

"We're camping too. Maybe we'll see you in the morning," Rayni said.

"Maybe. Good night," the girl said.

"What's your name? I'm Rayni. Rayni Shadowmusic."

"Jessie. JediJessie."

"Well, see you later," Rayni said as she walked away from the campsite.

"We could have beaten them, you know," Jemee grinned. But Rayni noticed she was walking with a limp. "Are you okay, Jemee? Do you need a healing potion?"

"Naw, I'm okay. I'll just use heal." Jemee whispered the words and the woods around them were momentarily lit with a blue flash. Rayni looked again. Jemee walked fine now.

"What about you, Dragon Friend?" Rayni asked.

"Me okay," he said, and proved it by somersaulting in mid-air.

"Well, all right," Rayni said as they approached the campsite. "Can you light the fire for us?"

"No problem!" he said happily, and breathed fire over the stack of wood with his Scorch attack. It burst into a wonderful, crackling fire, illuminating the campsite and the trees around the clearing. Rayni pulled a bag of marshmallows from her backpack and the trio went to work sharpening sticks.

"What do you know about the rumours the girl spoke of?" Rayni asked Jemee.

"Well," said Jemee, her golden 'J' token shining brightly in the firelight, "I heard it was called the Sunleaf Forest. There's rumours of all sorts of things here. Elves, sprites, faeries, dragons, unicorns... who knows what else."

"Magic's children. I didn't know that." Jemee couldn't be sure for certain, but the flickering light seemed to reveal a worried look on Rayni's face for a second. Then it was gone. "Anything else?"

"There's rumours of a Faerie glen, but I'm not sure I believe that."

"Woods, that sounds cool. Do you think they'd give us a gift or a quest?"

"Maybe..." Her voice didn't sound too hopeful, though.

"Dragon Friend, you haven't said much..." Rayni looked at him and saw the reason. He had decided that simply toasting the marshmallows to a golden-brown over the fire would take too long. He was simply eating them from the bag.

"Whaf fere to fay?" he asked, his mouth full of sticky marshmallow.

Rayni had to laugh. Jemee joined in too. Dragon Friend swallowed and said in a more distinct voice, "What's there to say?"

"Yeah, when you could be pigging out like that, I guess talking doesn't appeal to you, hey?" Jemee laughed.

"All right, guys, time to turn in." Rayni looked at the fire. There was no grass nearby, but she doused it with sand just to be careful. Then the trio got into the tent and into their sleeping bags.

Rayni woke up with Dragon Friend curled against her. She sat up, yawned and stretched. A cool breeze swept through the tent flaps and the birds chattered outside in the early morning. "What a great day!" Rayni said. "Camping rules. All right, Jemee..." She stopped. Jemee was not in her sleeping bag. A look of confusion came over Rayni's face.

"Dragon Friend, get up. Do you know where Jemee is?" "Dragon Friend slowly opened his eyes. "Me don't know where Jemee is. Me got scared in night. Big noises. Me come sleep with you."

"That's okay, Dragon Friend. Where could Jemee be? And she left us to put away the tent and sleeping bags. Here," she said, reaching for her backpack, "have an apple outside. Watch for Jemee."

"Okay," Dragon Friend said and walked outside, too sleepy still to fly.

Rayni quickly changed from her nightgown to some normal clothes, then rolled up the sleeping bags and put them into her backpack. Her backpack was still pretty light. "That was a very strong storage enchantment," Rayni said happily. Then she went outside, disassembled the tent and put it in the backpack too. Then she sat down with Dragon Friend and had some bacon and Neggs over another fire.

Jemee ran into the clearing. "I thought I smelled bacon!" she said and ran over to the fire.

"Where were you?" asked Rayni. "I was worried."

"I was out getting a quest."

"A QUEST?!" Rayni and Dragon Friend yelled in unison.

"Uh huh. I sensed a Faerie in the night and followed it to the Faerie glen. There actually was one."

"Woods, you can sense faeries?" Rayni asked in surprise.

"No, I can sense magic."

Rayni shook her head. "From the moment I picked you up, a newborn pink Aishaling, I knew there was something special about you."

"What about me?" Dragon Friend said in an unhappy voice.

"You were special too, but I don't know how. Jemee has supersensitive ears and can sense magic. You're really smart, Dragon Friend, though why you keep speaking like a baby Shoyrulet..."

"Me likes to talk this way," Dragon Friend giggled.

"Your egg had flecks of gold on it," Rayni said. "It was the prettiest one in the nest."

"But I don't do anything special." Dragon Friend sounded hurt again.

"Of course you do! You're my brother and I love you and you're special just because you are Dragon Friend," Jemee said, hugging him. "Thanks, Jemee. Thanks, Rayni. Hey, what about the quest?"

"Yeah, what about the quest?" Rayni asked.

"It was the Faerie Queen."

"The Queen gave you a quest? Woods," Rayni said.

"Yep. She said we had to bring back her crown," Jemee looked troubled.

"It's in a Skeith's cave. A Skeith named Thornblaze."

There was a long pause. "Woods. That's not the easiest quest I've ever heard of."

"Yeah, but it was the Faerie Queen! You don't refuse the Queen's quest to her face before you've even tried."

Rayni put out the fire now that they had all eaten breakfast. She wrapped up the leftover bacon and put it into her backpack for lunch. The campsite looked just as when they came, except for the partially buried sticks that marked the fireplace.

"Let's go," Jemee said and started to walk into the bushes. The other two followed. Dragon Friend claimed leader this time and flew through the bush.

"I smell food!" he said suddenly.

"I don't," said Jemee.

"Me neither," said Rayni.

"Follow me!" Dragon Friend zipped through the trees. Sure enough, they soon found the girl they had met the night before.

"Hello," Rayni said, then looked down at the girl and her three NeoPets "You're having breakfast this late? And NeoCrunch cereal? On a camping trip?"

"What? Are you, like, one of those crack-of-dawn campers? And what's wrong with NeoCrunch cereal?"

"Well, nothing, I suppose, but... would you like some leftover bacon?"

"Yay!" her baby Acara squealed. The other pets looked up hopefully as Rayni brought it out from her backpack along with the last two Neggs. Her backpack was great because things couldn't break while inside, and it stored quite a lot of things.

Rayni soon had a campfire going and the pets were cooking with a frying pan from Rayni's backpack. "I like to be prepared," she grinned.

"We couldn't start a fire 'cause none of us knows Scorch," the Acara said.

"Where's your tent?" Jemee asked.

"We don't have a tent. We slept under the stars," said the blue Aisha.

"So, what are all your names? I'm Rayni, this is Dragon Friend, and this is Jemee."

"I'm Quick Heart," the blue Acara said, "and this is JemWater" --the blue Aisha waved-- "Cascaderose" -- the red Usul waved her tail-- "and this is JediJessie, our owner."

JediJessie looked up. "Why do you have blue hair?"

"Um-- I dyed it that way," Rayni said.

The tone in her voice made Jemee open her eyes and look at her. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen any humans with blue hair. NeoPets come in so many colors I didn't really think about it."

"Yeah..." Dragon Friend said, apparently not have considered this either.

"Well, I just dyed it that way, that's all," Rayni said uncomfortably.

Dragon Friend changed the subject. "We're on a quest," he said happily.

"Really?" JemWater asked.

The situation was explained, with lots of 'oohing' and 'ahhing' from the pets. "So now we have to find out how to get to Thornblaze's cave," Jemee said.

"I could help you," Jessie said, "if you share the prize with me."

"Sounds good to me," Rayni said.

"I have a map. I'm not sure if it's any good." She pulled a map from back pocket and examined it. "Let's see... it says 'Skeith's cave' but it doesn't name the Skeith."

"How many Skeiths are there?" Dragon Friend exclaimed. "Maybe we should just leave."

"Come on, be brave," Jemee said.

"All right, the map says we should go this way," the girl pointed.

"Thanks, JediJessie," Rayni said.

"Just call me Jessie," the girl smiled.

The NeoPets had finished off the bacon and Neggs. Jessie rolled up the blankets on the ground.

"Here," Rayni said, taking the blankets from her and trying to stuff them into her backpack to the complete astonishment of Jessie. Finally she got them in and hefted the now- heavy pack onto her back.

"There's no way that much could fit into that backpack!" Jessie said.

"On the contrary. That much can fit into this backpack. That and more." Rayni grinned.

"Cool! It's enchanted," Jessie caught on. "How did you get that done for you?"

"Oh, uh, I dunno. My mom gave the backpack to me. I never really asked."

"Huh," Jessie said. Jemee's keen ears heard the note of doubt in her voice if no one else did.

"Well, anyway, let's get this quest going!" Rayni said and began to walk into the woods.

By about three o'clock in the afternoon they found the cave. There were scorch marks on the ground around it, and the trees nearby looked burnt.

"Okay, let's go tell the Queen we couldn't do it now," Dragon Friend said in a quivery voice.

"Yeah," said Quick Heart, but Jemee bounded inside. The rest followed her.

"I can feel magic. Lots of magic," Jemee said happily.

"Look how big the tunnel is," JemWater said. "How big must the Skeith who built it be?"

The group walked through the tunnel, watching the light behind them slowly disappear. Soon the only light came from the two Aisha's gold medallions, which wasn't much light at all. Jemee whispered the Magic Torch spell. A ball of firelight sprung into being in front of the group. They were following it deep into the cavern when--

"WHO DARES APPROACH THORNBLAZE?"

Dragon Friend squealed and flew behind Rayni, seeking protection.

"At least we know it's the right Skeith," Cascaderose whispered.

"We come for the Faerie Queen's crown!" Jessie yelled bravely in the darkness.

There was a hissing noise and light appeared in torches on the wall, revealing a huge red Skeith on his hoard of Neopoints and jewels. Jemee let her flame ball go out.

"What will you give me for it?"

The group walked in front of the Skeith.

"Well... we've only got a few thousand NP..."

"Do you think I need Neopoints?" the Skeith laughed.

"Yeah, real smart," Jemee said quietly. "We go to a Skeith's lair without anything to barter with. Great."

Rayni could see the stupidity of this plan now. "Oh, come on," she said to Thornblaze, "it's not like you need a little Faerie's crown either."

"It must be important if all of you came looking for it. I think I'll keep it." Thornblaze grinned wickedly, his scales gleaming in the light from the torches.

"Well, then you're just plain greedy," said Cascaderose.

"Ha ha, a puny little Usul trying to tell me to be nice. Soon you'll be a well-done Usul!"

Cascaderose squeaked and ran behind Jessie. The Skeith took a deep breath. Dragon Friend flew forward. Then Thornblaze blew fire at the group.

Rayni, Jessie, and the NeoPets cringed and screamed, but nothing hit them. Dragon Friend seemed to be holding a shield of light that blocked the fire.

Thornblaze stopped. The group gasped. Dragon Friend let down the shield and floated to the ground, looking tired out from the effort.

"Woods! I didn't know you could do that, Dragon Friend!" Rayni said.

"That was a great shield!"

"I didn't know I could do that either!" he said happily.

"You've got a lot of magic potential," Jemee said, a smile on her face.

"Well, are you going to give me something good or do I have to flame at you until his shield breaks?" Thornblaze said. "Come on, you've got to have something valuable!"

"Valuable? Not really. My backpack, which is enchanted to hold lots of stuff," Rayni said.

"Nope. Nothing doing."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to give it to us for free, then," Rayni said.

Thornblaze snorted and laughed. "That's a good one!"

"Careful who you think you're dealing with."

"I'm Thornblaze, the biggest, meanest Skeith around!"

"Biggest is right," Quick Heart snickered quietly. "More like 'fattest!'"

"How dare you! Take this!" He took a deep breath.

"FREEZE!" Rayni cried, her hand outstretched.

A freezing wind swept through the cave and erased the oncoming fire. When they looked again, the Skeith was covered in snow.

"Brr!" he said as he shook it off, icicles breaking from his wings.

"How did you do that?!" Jessie said. Rayni shrugged, a half-smile on her face.

"You're a sprite!" Thornblaze said and sneezed. "Fine, you can have the stupid crown, I didn't want it anyway." He pulled it from the pile and threw it to the group. It bounced off the ground, but being Faerie-made it was impossible to break.

"Thanks," said Rayni as she picked it up. "Good-bye." She led the stunned group away.

"You're a sprite?!" Jessie said to Rayni.

"It does explain the blue hair, doesn't it?" Rayni grinned. "And the pointed ears I hide under my hair."

"Why do you hide it?" Cascaderose asked.

"Sprites are generally known as impish, mischievous thieves. It's the reputation we get from some of our kind. But I'm from the Shadowmusic Tribe, so I'm not like that. But most people wouldn't know anything about tribes and resent me just because I'm a sprite."

"You didn't tell us!" Dragon Friend said.

"Would you really have cared?"

"You still should have told us," Jemee said.

"I'm sorry, then. Now you know." The group came out of the cave.

"That's pretty cool," Jessie said.

"You think so?"

"Sure. Isn't it neat to use magic?"

"Sometimes," Rayni grinned.

"We've got your crown!" Jemee said, bounding into the clearing with the rest of the group behind her. In a bright purple flash, the beautiful Faerie Queen appeared.

"Well done. Thank you for retrieving it for me. Here is your gift," she said with a smile. A Faerie Paintbrush appeared with another purple flash and fell at Jemee's feet. Then the Queen was gone.

"A Faerie Paintbrush..." Jemee said in awe.

"Woods!" Rayni said. "How are we going to share it?" Jessie asked.

"I guess we could sell it and split the money..." Rayni said wistfully.

"No! I want Faerie wings!" Jemee said. "I've always wanted to fly with Dragon Friend."

"I want Faerie wings..." Cascaderose said.

"Battle for them," Rayni suggested.

"I don't think Cascaderose likes to fight," Jessie said.

"But maybe just this once," Cascaderose said with a smile.

Two minutes later Jemee was armed with a Frozen Collar, a Red Frost Cannon, a Rainbow Gun, and some snowballs.

Cascaderose was ready with her snowballs, a Night Stone, Trumpet of Deafening, Large Metal Shield, and a bottle of Lime Elixir. Then the fight began. Jemee used Aisha Pounce and jumped on Cascaderose. Cascade blocked with her Large Metal Shield and blew her Trumpet of Deafening. Jemee cringed; her supersensitive Aisha ears stung. Then Cascade used her Night Stone. A wave of darkness came from the stone but Jemee deflected it with her Rainbow Gun, then fired her Red Frost Cannon. Cascade blocked with her Large Metal Shield. Then they started throwing snowballs.

Rayni and Jessie watched in excitement, and the other pets cheered. Neither of the two was going to lose easy. Cascaderose used her Lime Elixir and Jemee used her Heal spell. Then they went at it again. Jemee used a Psychic attack, but Cascade blocked it with her Large Metal Shield. Then Cascade threw a Wet Snowball, but Jemee's Frozen Collar magically deflected it before it even hit Jemee.

Jemee jumped on Cascade, but Cascade knocked her off. Then Jemee used her secret weapon -- radioactive snow! Cascade blocked some of it with her shield, but she still got hit pretty hard. She sat down and started to cry.

"It's okay, Cascade," Jessie said, picking her up. "You did your best. Have a Healing Potion VIII."

There was a flash of blue-purple light as Cascade drank the Healing Potion.

Then she looked perfectly fine again, but she had taken her defeat hard.

"I'll never be a beautiful painted pet!" she sniffled.

"Well, here's a consolation prize, if you want it," said Rayni, pulling a White Paintbrush from her backpack. "I was going to sell it, but if you like it, it's yours."

"Really?" Cascade stopped crying.

"Sure," said Rayni.

"You battle really well, " Jemee said.

"You think so?" Cascaderose smiled.

The group began to walk in the direction of Neopia.

"All right," said Rayni, "Here goes nothing." She threw the Faerie Paintbrush into the Rainbow Pool. It was evening and the sun was setting in brilliant orange and pinks again.

The water in the Rainbow Pool shifted from its pure, clear blue to purple and pink and blue in beautiful pastels. Rayni picked Jemee up.

"Good luck," she said. Jemee jumped out of Rayni's arms and dived into the pool. The purple and pink and blue faded away, and Jemee jumped up out of the pool, beating her new Faerie wings cautiously. She looked down at her reflection in the pool with joy and amazement. Dragon Friend let out a squeal of delight and flew over to Jemee. They hugged in midair, sister and brother, then flew into the pink and orange sky.

Rayni's eyes sparkled as she watched them fly high and laugh, and she wiped away a tear. She'd had these pets for a long time. Jemee was one of the very oldest pets, and Dragon Friend wasn't too young either. Rayni remembered the first days of Neopia and how it had come so far...

Jessie laughed and Cascaderose admired her snow-white tail. JemWater and Quick Heart hugged their newly-painted friend and then they all hugged Jessie.

Dragon Friend and Jemee flew down to Rayni and she held them in her arms. "You two are the greatest pets, you know that?"

"How could we not be, with you as our owner?" Dragon Friend said in a rare moment of sincerity and earnestness.

"Thank you, Rayni," Jemee whispered. "For everything."

And Rayni looked into the sunrise and knew she could never leave this place... this utopia... this Neopia...

"Great job, Thornblaze," the Faerie Queen said.

"Achoooo!" he sneezed loudly. "Next time can you send someone who can't freeze me?"

"Maybe next time you won't be so quick to try and set people on fire. Anyway, here's the crown," she said. "Now I'm going to go find some more brave, deserving owners."

"Don't you think I deserve a reward?"

"Oh, all right," she said. She whispered under her breath and a bright purple flash lit up the cave.

"My cold! It's gone! Thank you so much!... I mean, well, get out of my cave with your silly quests and stuff."

The Faerie Queen gave a tinkly laugh and disappeared in a beautiful, brilliant purple flash.

The End