Much Ado About Ado

by luverne

The first time I saw one, I was quite young. Only a week or two old, in fact. I was taking a walk in the fields and forests around Neopian Central with my owner, Luverne.

Then I saw the Eyrie. It was flying overhead, its beautiful red colour fiery in the early spring sun. His gigantic wings let him soar beautifully, and he hardly flapped them as he caught every updraft.

Below, in a valley, I suddenly saw a Lupe emerge from the forest. It barked a challenge to the Eyrie, and soon began the most amazing fight I'd ever seen.

The two creatures fought wonderfully. The Eyrie had flight on its side, but the Lupe had its sheer size and strength. Its barking was tremendous, and I was pretty certain that it would win. The Eyrie's dives kept getting slower, and it didn't fly nearly as high before every attack.

But suddenly, the Eyrie gave its fearsome battle cry, the scream of an eagle mixed with the roar of a lion. It plunged into the battle with renewed abandon, and soon was on the winning side again. I watched, fascinated, as the great red Eyrie finally had the Lupe pinned to the ground and begging for mercy.

s Luverne and I left the makeshift battleground, I asked her, "Mummy, can you get me an Eyrie brother or sister?" She replied, "Perhaps, Dignawill. When you are a little older and we have more money to support another family member, we'll get you a sibling."

***

As it turned out, when I was a few weeks older we got a red Peophin mare named ChestnutFilly. She was (or is, she's still here, of course) pretty nice, and was also quite strong. Luverne adopted her, and she sure was glad to get out of that pound!

I loved her very much, but I still kept on begging for an Eyrie brother. Since I now had a sister, it seemed fair that the next sibling would be a brother. ChestnutFilly was fun, but a guy like me can't always play with a girl.

Finally, Luverne consented. She went to the pound, leaving ChesnutFilly and I at home, eagerly waiting for the new creature to arrive.

Luverne came back leading a big Eyrie. It was green, and I had never seen such colour. The fact that the coat was dirty and the mane matted didn't alter that beauty. It was like emeralds and spring grass. Luverne said it reminded her of Ireland, an Earth-place where her ancestors came from.

Besides just its colour, the rest of the Eyrie was also lovely. Smooth fur of the body mingled with the long mane and shifted smoothly into the head and wing feathers. It had massive paws, and its wings looked large and strong, even though they were folded. The Eyrie was quite skinny, not the usual muscular slenderness of the breed, but a frightening emancipation. "We must get her some food," Luverne said.

I had been so awestruck that I hadn't even noticed that it was a she. No brother. I was slightly disappointed, but not much. Another sister wouldn't be that bad, and this Eyrie looked pretty tough anyway.

"Come on," I said to her, "We can get you some food."

She came slowly, staggering slightly. I saw now how starved she really was. We went to the kitchen, where she easily downed two whole Omelettes, a Slushie, and a whole carton of milk. Finally she was full. Without a word, she stumbled into the living room and was asleep within seconds.

ChestnutFilly, who is the 'housekeeper' of the family, tittered about 'a great lion on my nice clean rug!' but Luverne sighed, "Leave her. She needs the rest."

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Eyrie20042, but we'll call her 'Ado'," Luverne answered happily. She was really thrilled to be getting another pet.

I looked up the word 'ado' later. It means 'fuss or trouble'. As I learned later, this was the perfect name....

***

"But 'ah don't want ye tae broosh me!" Ado's rather gruff, accented voice rang through the house.

"Ado, be sensible, your mane is all tangled and your fur is dirty. I must brush you," Luverne said patiently.

"No! 'Ah can clean meself."

"Then please do. If you are going to continue to sleep in the living room, you must stay clean!"

Arguments like this were common now. Ado had taken the living room for her den, and was very territorial about it. On one occasion, she attacked and half frightened to death ChesnutFilly's PetPet, Sear. This caused her (and ChestnutFilly) to be in an extremely bad mood for a week. An Eyrie in a bad mood is not one to cross. Living with Ado was certainly trying, and I was beginning to have second thoughts about wanting an Eyrie sister, until one day.....

***

I was idly strolling down a street in Neopian central when I heard voices behind me. I whirled around. I was confronted with a group of evil looking creatures. A huge Skeith was in the front. "Aww," he said sarcastically, "What a cute little red Gelert! Does he need his blankie?"

"Oh, stuff it," I said, and continued walking.

"Hey, I think the baby needs to learn some manners," the Skeith said.

"We might be able to pound them into his little head," suggested a Buzz.

"Good idea!" exclaimed the Skeith, "Let's get 'em!"

I began running for my life, with the whole gang perusing me. I ran fast, and thought I would finally lose them, when I hit a dead end. Walls on two sides, the gang on the other two. I stood up straight, determined to fight this out to the end....

Suddenly a great whooshing sound came from overhead. In front of us, I could see, against the setting sun, the outline of a huge Eyrie. It cried out loudly and said, "Get yerselves away from him, ye little buggers!"

The Skeith gulped and said arrogantly, "Go away, catbird."

"'Ah think you'll wish ye never said that," the Eyrie said. I recognised the voice as that of Ado. With those words she swooped down on the gang and started fighting enthusiastically. I joined in. We soon had the whole group running and crying like scared babies.

"Thanks," I gasped to Ado.

"Yer welcome, laddie. Jest a bunch 'o bullies that needed puttin' in their places," she said.

"Well, thanks anyway." I walked over and hugged my Eyrie sister.

The End

Author's Note: Ado (Eyrie20042), ChestnutFilly, and Dignawill are my Neopets. I loved writing this story, so in the future you may want to look for more stories about my pets.