There are ants in my Lucky Green Boots Circulation: 177,074,046 Issue: 328 | 1st day of Awakening, Y10
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A Day With Fyora


by black_skull725

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Alicia the faerie Cybunny was ecstatic to hear the news that Fyora would be delivering her public address to Faerieland on the Day of Faerie Appreciation, a holiday exclusive to Faerieland. She had always regarded Fyora as her heroine and devoted her life to making Faerieland a better place. It was her way of fulfilling Fyora’s wish of a better Faerieland. Though she had always seen Fyora on posters and newspapers, she had never caught a true glimpse of her. Alicia couldn’t wait to gather in front of the Faerie Castle to hear Fyora speak. In fact, she was ready to run outside and tell all her friends.

     “Where are you going in such a hurry?” asked Cassie, her owner.

     “Um... to the Faerie City? Fyora’s going to give a speech!” Alicia exclaimed.

     “Ahh... be sure to carry some food with you; the Faerie Foods shop sells food at a high price and the last thing I want is my Neopoints being wasted,” Cassie cautioned.

     “Aww but I like faerie foods,” whined Alicia.

     Cassie sighed and went to get her purse. She then handed Alicia a 10k Neopoint piece. “Please use my Neopoints wisely. I know that we’re better off than most Neopians but we shouldn’t squander our modest wealth. I hope you have a safe trip and find delight in listening to what Fyora wishes to speak about. Be careful, not all faeries are nice -- ” Cassie said before Alicia cut her off.

     “Aww, don’t be such a worrywart. I’ve never had gotten into trouble on my own,” Alicia said, waving goodbye.

     Alicia bounced down Air Faerie Lane excitedly. However, when Alicia was excited, she usually wasn’t very attentive and therefore bounced right into her friend Alexa.

     “Hey! What’s with the big hurry off to your next destination?” squeaked Alexa, in her high pitched Meerca voice.

     “Aww I’m so sorry for knocking you over. Anyway, Fyora’s going to deliver a speech. You know how I feel about her; she’s my hero!” stammered Alicia. The words barely rolled off her tongue as she was so excited.

     “Eh? Is it really that big of a deal? I mean she’s just another faerie,” Alexa said.

     Alicia was rather saddened to hear that Alexa didn’t care about Fyora. Alexa seemed to have noticed too as Alicia’s ears began to droop.

     “Aww... sorry. I was just too quick to speak as usual. I wasn’t trying to deride you or anything. I just didn’t know that Fyora was that important to you. Anyways, I have to take these groceries home. My owner wants to celebrate the Day of Faerie Appreciation by having a big dinner. *sigh* It’ll be boring,” Alexa said.

     “You could come with me to hear Fyora speak, but I guess you’ll probably find that boring too,” Alicia replied, still appearing downcast.

     “No offense but yeah, I would probably find that a lot more boring than my owner’s dinner party,” Alexa replied.

     It was about noon and Alicia decided she needed a lunch break before finishing her walk to the castle. She soon found herself in the Faerie Foods shop. The foods were being snatched up in bulk by restockers. Alicia didn’t stand a chance in getting any food. She approached the earth faerie behind the counter. The faerie smiled and said, “Welcome to Faerie Foods, we get restocked every eight minutes or so, so please come back soon. You’re welcome to have a seat though while waiting.”

     Soon the next shipment of food came in and Alicia was able to get a couple of faerie bubbles, a raspberry faerie crepe, and a Fyora Day Fizz. Seeing that it was sufficient enough, she sat down and began to eat. The voices of the other faeries filled the room as they began to relax for lunch also. A magnanimous light faerie saw that Alicia was sitting alone.

     “Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked, smiling.

     “I don’t mind,” Alicia said, appearing to be slightly bored and lonely.

     “I guess you’re destined to see Fyora speak today; that’s the reason most of us are out here. If only some of us would actually appreciate what Fyora has done for us; unfortunately most of the faeries just come to see Fyora because they are forced to. They’re afraid that Fyora may regard them as the scum of Faerieland. I guess they just don’t know their queen enough to realize that Fyora doesn’t judge Neopians like that,” the light faerie babbled on.

     Alicia nodded. She totally concurred with the light faerie’s reasoning.

     “You’re absolutely right... umm...” Alicia stuttered.

     “Oh deepest apologies for not introducing myself, you may call me Alma. I’m from the western edge of the Faerie City,” Alma said.

     “My name is Alicia and I’m out to seek Fyora when she delivers her speech,” Alicia said.

     “Ah. I see, I truly wish you enjoy this wonderful opportunity,” replied Alma, while munching on a Faerie Queen Burrito.

     Alicia sipped her Fyora Day Fizz.

     “So how have come to know Fyora so well?” Alicia inquired.

     “Well, the employment agency offered me a job of cleaning parts of the Faerieland Castle. Being a faerie that was living in poverty at that time, I desperately accepted the generous offer. It was my first day on the job and I was mopping the castle lobby. Nobody was in the lobby at the time and I was becoming rather lonely. I began to despair when I turned to find a faerie dressed in lavender holding a feather duster. I recognized this faerie to be Fyora... but it couldn’t be. Queens don’t carry feather dusters and clean castles. She smiled and asked, ‘Need some help dear?’ I felt guilty having Fyora help so I smiled back and shook my head. Fyora went on dusting anyway. This went on for a couple of days until Fyora invited me up for tea. We talked for a bit and Fyora saw me to be a rather intelligent faerie. She assigned me to educate the younger faeries of the royal blood and paid me well. There’s my story,” Alma finished.

     It was getting late and the shopkeeper began to wipe the tables. Alicia and Alma said goodbye though each was travelling to the same location, the Faerieland Castle. It was a long way to the castle and Alicia was getting tired but she had the passion. She really wanted to see Fyora speak and that was the only driving force that kept her going. By the time she reached the castle, her hunger was once again aroused. However, good luck was on her side for Hubert, the hot dog stand Mynci decided that today was an excellent day to seek business in Faerieland so he brought a hot dog stand to Faerieland while leaving his apprentice to oversee sales at the Neopia Central hot dog stand. Hubert was busy grilling the hot dogs when Alicia approached him with a thousand Neopoints.

     “Hey Hubert, I’d like a faerie leaves hot dog,” Alicia said.

     “Good choice, comin’ right up here in a sec,” Hubert replied, turning the hot dogs one by one over the grill.

     “Thank you, Hubert... hey why do you have bananas on the grill?” Alicia asked out of curiosity.

     “Banana hot dogs, what can I say? Not all pets like meat. So I picked up somethin’ that looked like a sausage and it just happened to catch on. I’ll give ya one fer 500 Neopoints,” Hubert said, now loading the other half of the grill with bananas.

     “Umm sure...” Alicia said with a degree of uncertainty.

     Alicia bit into the banana hot dog and found it to be actually quite delicious. The banana retained its smooth, moist texture, but there was just that grilled taste that caused it to be so delectable. The faerie leaves hot dog didn’t seem so good anymore, but it was enough to satisfy Alicia’s hunger. Alicia thanked Hubert for his innovative banana hot dog.

     “Enjoy Fyora’s speech and here’s yer receipt just in case yer owner wants to know where 1500 of yer Neopoints went. I’ll be here till midnight just in case ya get hungry again. I like to experiment late at night though,” Hubert raved. Hubert then began taking out a speckled paint brush and painting the hot dogs speckled.

     Alicia could now see the crowd that had already gathered in front of the Faerieland Castle. The doors were opening and the huge crowd began to pour into the castle. Several light faeries assisted in guiding the crowd along. Alicia was suddenly stricken by claustrophobia. She dared not get close to the crowd. Therefore, she began to flap her wings and hovered above the crowd. Ahead was a small window perfect for a Cybunny. She hovered in and landed inside the castle with a soft thump. Alicia looked around, but didn’t see the crowd. She was in a narrow corridor that appeared totally empty. She could hear the crowd; however, the castle was large for a Cybunny and all the different doors and passages would give any Cybunny a fit. Meanwhile Fyora began her speech:

     “Faeries, Neopets, petpets, and all other Neopians alike, I extend a warm welcome to all of you on this fine Day of Faerie Appreciation. I would like to thank all of you for making Faerieland a prosperous place so far this year and encourage you all to continue to do so. Yes, we’ve been rather successful with our unemployment rate close to zero percent. However, I would like every citizen of Faerieland to have a source of income soon. Nobody deserves to starve in Faerieland.”

     The crowd cheered and Fyora smiled.

     “Anyway, we faeries have accomplished a lot this year. We have blessed millions of Neopets every week in order to make sure they are strong and healthy. We have helped many Neopets get employment through the employment agency. I would like to congratulate you on all this. However, there are still some problems we need to fix. Animosity against dark faeries has soared, but I don’t understand why. They are faeries too and deserve the same treatment as all faeries do. They may have a proclivity to perform crimes but everyone in Faerieland is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, please treat them nicely so we can all get along. In the same way, you dark faeries need to treat your other faeries sisters nicely too; don’t give them any reason to dislike you.”

     Fyora rambled on about improvements needed. She also spoke about how she wanted to help all the faeries fix those problems. At the same time Alicia was now climbing the stairs to get an aerial view of Fyora. She got to the first landing thought she would try flying. Unfortunately the stairwell was a bit too short and narrow and Alicia crashed into the ceiling.

     “Ahhh my wings! This won’t do,” lamented Alicia.

     Alicia’s wings were immobilized and now all she could do was hop up to the second floor. As soon as she got there she found an area with railing that overlooked the main lobby where Fyora was speaking. Alicia leaned over to listen and looked to see Fyora. Fyora was currently taking questions from the crowd.

     “Fyora, what’s your solution for that grundo plushie stuck in my cloud?” asked a faerie.

     “I assure you that the plushie will not hinder anything as it has no magical properties and is simply stuck there,” Fyora replied.

     Alicia suddenly slipped and plummeted headfirst.

     “AHHHHHHH!” Alicia screamed.

     Fyora and the other guests looked up to see a faerie Cybunny that had crumpled wings. Without hesitating one bit, Fyora reached up and caught Alicia. The crowd stared at Alicia. Fyora on the other hand sat back down calmly and began petting Alicia.

     “Does anybody have any further inquiries tonight?” Fyora asked, as if nothing had happened.

     Alicia’s heart was thumping against her chest but she was glad Fyora was there and Fyora may have just saved her life. The crowd remained silent so Fyora dismissed them as the speech was over. A couple of Neopians remained seated. They were the journalists of the Neopian Times frantically writing and drawing in their thick notebooks about Fyora saving a Cybunny. They soon got up to leave also. Soon there was nobody in the lobby but Alicia and Fyora.

     “Are you okay there? You gave me a bit of a scare there. Oh and your wings!” Fyora exclaimed.

     “I apologize for giving you a scare, your highness. Don’t worry about my wings. My name’s Alicia by the way,” Alicia replied.

     “Oh no no no, please call me Fyora, Alicia. I really don’t think you should be going back out there until we get your wings back to good condition. Why don’t you stay here for at least a day?” Fyora offered.

     “My owner will get worried,” Alicia protested.

     “I’m sure she’ll come looking for you, but I don’t want you to be reunited to her with broken wings,” Fyora insisted.

     Fyora had an empty guest room right next to hers on the top floor. She carried Alicia and flew her up to the room.

     “Let me or one of my maids know if you need any other special accommodations. Get some rest then and sweet dreams,” Fyora said, leaving Alicia alone.

     Alicia looked around the room. Next to the bed was a pink nightstand with a small alarm clock sitting on it. On the other side was an enormous dresser with large handles, also pink. There was a desk with mirrors and small cabinets. Alicia opened these cabinets to find some Fyora’s Magical Airspray and some makeup. Everything in the room seemed to be pink. The bed was pink, the sheets were pink, and this was a bit too much pink for even a faerie Cybunny. Alicia, however, thought she was lucky enough to have a room in the castle so she didn’t think much about it. She collapsed into the soft silky sheets on the bed and was soon fast asleep.

***

     At that moment Cassie was getting worried about Alicia. She sent a frantic Neomail to TNT and several members of TNT were dispatched to her neohome.

     “What happened?” asked Borovan gruffly.

     “I lost my Neopet, she went to hear Fyora speak and she’s still not back yet,” Cassie stammered.

     “And what do you expect us to do?” Borovan asked.

     Soupfaerie gently pushed Borovan aside.

     “Now now the poor girl has lost her Neopet, let’s not be so harsh. We’ll be on the lookout for your pet but I do have a strong belief that she is safe inside the Faerieland Castle being cared for by faeries. Perhaps you should check there,” Soupfaerie said.

     “Thank you for the advice, I will look there tomorrow,” Cassie said.

     Soupfaerie and Borovan left, bickering to each other about whether to be harsh or not. Cassie lay awake in her neohome, absentmindedly petting her other Neopets. The night had swallowed the remaining daylight and Cassie decided that she should trust the faeries to take care of Alicia well. With that thought, she fell asleep.

***

     “Alicia!” Fyora shouted.

     Alicia jumped out of bed.

     “It is morning and well, I expect everybody to arise at the same time,” Fyora said with a wink.

     Alicia dragged herself out of bed but her fur was just a horrendous mess.

     “Oh my, you need some magical air spray and a comb!” Fyora exclaimed.

     “Thanks. As you can see, today is a bad hair day,” Alicia laughed.

     Fyora groomed Alicia and then sent her off to eat breakfast in the dining hall. As Alicia approached the table, she noticed that it was piled high with all kinds of doughnuts and doughnutfruit. There were also some biscuits, bagels, scrambled eggs and boxes of cereal.

     “So we meet again,” said a voice.

     Alicia whizzed around to find Alma behind her.

     “Oh hi!” Alicia exclaimed.

     “Hi Alicia, I heard you had quite an accident yesterday and I hope you’re doing well. Help yourself to some food then; Fyora won’t mind,” said Alma.

     Alicia ate until her Cybunny stomach was full. Fyora came down at last and had a bowl of cereal. She beckoned Alicia over.

     “Your wings need a bit of blessing before they can heal quickly,” Fyora said and she placed her hands on Alicia, whispering something in the faerie tongue. Alicia felt warmth surge through her wings.

     “Now they’re a bit fragile still, so I don’t recommend flying, but you should probably go outside for a walk in the gardens,” Fyora advised.

     Fyora’s garden was enormous with all sorts of exotic plants in many exotic colors. One could spend hours trying to identify each plant. The air smelled sweet with the aroma from the flowers that diffused everywhere. Fyora came out a minute later with a clipboard and a huge notebook.

     “What’s all that for?” wondered Alicia.

     “My paperwork, I thought it would be better to do it outside in the fresh air rather than on a desk all day,” Fyora replied.

     Alicia found a bouncy ball and began playing with it. She bounced it off the walls, the ground, and the trees. Suddenly, the ball began to bounce away with a gust of wind. Alicia followed the ball until it bounced against the air. Wait... balls don’t bounce against nothing...

     Alicia was a bit confused. She then ran into something solid but there was nothing there. She walked slowly forward and felt something made of wood. She pushed in and something swung open to reveal a staircase. Alicia was too busy climbing to notice that Fyora was right behind her. She reached the top to find shelves filled with strange items. There were darigan and baby paint brushes, dolls, and some weird things that appeared to be armor and weapons. Alicia went over to the dolls.

     “Oh these are so cute... and costly,” she said sadly looking at the price tag.

     “Unfortunately I don’t do loans,” Fyora said.

     Alicia jumped in surprise, forgetting she was holding a doll. The doll flipped through the air and landed on the ground with an impact that detached the doll’s head. Alicia stood there with her mouth hung open.

     “OH NO! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to,” Alicia said. She was down in front of Fyora as if begging for forgiveness. Fyora simply picked up the doll, tapped it with her wand and mended it.

     “No no, it’s fine just be glad that I was here to fix it. No, I will not turn you into a mortog, for that matter,” Fyora said, laughing a little at Alicia.

     Alicia still felt bad and immediately took off down the stairs. Fyora followed and they soon made it outside again.

     “Do you want to play some games then? Perhaps visit the Poogle races?” Fyora asked.

     “Umm sure let’s go to the Poogle races,” agreed Alicia.

     “I’ll bet on Poogle number 4,” Alicia said.

     “You sure about that? I’ll bet on 3,” Fyora said.

     Fyora and Alicia sat together with a bag of popcorn and some neocola. The race was about to begin. The Poogles were lined up and cheering erupted from the stands.

     “GO POOGLE 4!” shouted Alicia.

     “YOU MEAN GO POOGLE 3,” shouted Fyora.

     The Poogle were off, dashing toward the finish line. Poogle 3 and Poogle 4 remained side by side even at the finish line. The judges were a bit confused. Apparently the race had become a draw between Poogle 3 and Poogle 4. In the end it was decided to split the pot of Neopoints evenly between people that bet on Poogles 3 and 4.

     “Never in the history of my reign did a tie occur in such a race. I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Fyora giggled.

     Alicia wondered if Fyora was having too much fun. Shouldn’t a queen be working? But Fyora was working; she still clutched her notebook and clipboard tightly.

     “I need to get some work done, so how about you pick a quiet game?” Fyora asked.

     “How about Faerie Bubbles?” Alicia asked.

     “Sure, go ahead,” Fyora said smiling.

     Alicia approached the bubble gun with caution in case a nova bubble was to burst. She launched the fire bubble into the sky and every other bubble burned away. Different types of bubbles began to form. This time, four air bubbles were touching and Alicia was only able to see two, so she tried to clear them. Instead the bubbles got closer and more abundant.

     “D’OH!” shouted Alicia.

     Fyora looked up from her paperwork.

     “Here, let me clear this one for you,” Fyora offered.

     Fyora shot the bubbles so gracefully but quickly. She aimed with precision and each shot landed in the right spot.

     “Whoa!” Alicia said.

     “There’s a word that Neopians like to use a lot called ‘pwnage’. I think it’s used to describe situations like this,” Fyora said.

     Cassie happened to walk by and noticed a Cybunny sitting by a faerie dressing in lavender playing Faerie Bubbles.

     “No, that can’t be Alicia, she’s a bit too groomed to be my Cybunny,” Cassie said, shaking her head. But then she stared at the Cybunny and as she got closer, she recognized her voice.

     “Alicia!” shouted Cassie.

     Alicia and Fyora turned to find Cassie. Cassie saw Fyora and stopped running. She gave Fyora a little curtsey and began to walk slowly.

     Fyora smiled and said, “See, what did I tell you? You have a good responsible owner that cares for you. She wouldn’t leave you stuck with me. She knows that if you were with me too long, I’d start assigning jobs for you to do around the castle.”

     “Thank you, Fyora, for taking care of her. I should have gone with her to hear you speak. Then none of this would have happened,” Cassie said apologetically.

     “Very well then, your pet is now yours,” Fyora said, slowly walking away, waving back at Cassie and Alicia.

     Alicia knew that she had a friend up in the Faerieland Castle now. Fyora wasn’t just a queen that saw things as good and evil. She was an understanding queen. She was a caring and compassionate faerie. Cassie knew that too. If it wasn’t for Fyora, she may not be sitting with Alicia today. Alicia shook her head out the window at Alexa’s neohome. Alexa missed out greatly. Perhaps next year she’ll try to get to know Fyora.

The End

 
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