Tips and Tricks for Helping Your Faerie Pet Soar

     Everyone knows that faerie pets need a lot of love, care, and most importantly, exercise! Faerie pets have a unique disadvantage that most pets with wings don’t have, and that is that they (most often) are not born with their wings. Thus, for the first few months (or even years) that your newly-painted faerie pet has their wings, they might be a little gangly and awkward. Flight won’t come naturally to them, so their wings won’t see as much use, making them weaker over time. Once your pet gains the confidence in flight, they’ll find themselves tiring quickly. Their wings need a lot of movement to stay strong enough to lift their neopet, and you as their owner need plenty of ideas to keep them motivated and their exercise consistent and fun. That’s why today, on the most celebrated day of all faerie pets, we at the Neopian Times are giving YOU a quick, easy guide to working out those faerie wings.

     The first and most important step is making sure your neopet (or neopets!) stretch before beginning their exercise routine. They need to stretch their whole body, not just their wings, or otherwise an unlucky cramp might send them spiraling into a passerby! To stretch, make sure your neopet goes on a light jog and focuses on bending their knees, back, and lastly, wings. Even if they haven’t left the ground yet, they still need to get those wings limbered up so that they get the maximum support.

     Secondly, once your pets are limbered up comes the most important part: the flight path! Surely you don’t expect your neopet to have the same routine every day, right? No neopet wants to soar over the same field day in and day out, so keeping a varied flight path is key to consistency. For those who don’t want to spend any money on their exercise, there is an easy way to vary the same old areas their pet has been to time and time again. They can take the course backwards, dive up and down through the trees, or play games intended to make it both more fun and challenging. See if your neopet can play hide and seek from the air, or go on a scavenging hunt where they aren’t allowed to touch the ground!

     Now, for those of you with a little more neopoints to spare, those tips will work, too. But if you’re wanting to up your faerie neopet workout routine, there’s plenty of other options! Initially, you can buy a simple flight kit that contains raised hoops in order to add some extra challenge to your pets flight. How many can they get through in a lap? You can also vary your pet’s flight course by taking them to exotic or interesting locations that they don’t get to see all that often. Take them down Terror Mountain for a cold-yet-exhilarating dive, but make sure to watch out for avalanches. Soar over the Lost Desert for some breathtaking views of the pyramids. Lastly, have them fly through Faerieland itself, and they might get lucky enough to see Fyora on her grand day!

     “That’s not enough,” you’re saying, “I want my faerie pet to get the MAXIMUM enjoyment out of their daily flights!” I hear you, believe me! For those willing to spend anything to go the extra mile, I have a few other tips. Painting your pet’s petpet faerie will give them a flight companion that is always eager to soar and can often outrun the speediest of flying pets. Plus, that companionship will go a long way to increasing their confidence in the air. And as far as exotic locations go, well, can your pet handle flying in the zero-gravity spaces on Kreludor or the Virtupets Space Station? A trip off-planet might be costly, but for your faerie pet, anything is worth it. Zero-G can make the most nervous of neopets feel confident in their ability to fly, and having their friends in the air around them makes the experience not just fun, but also a great group exercise.

     Speaking of which, group exercises are another beautiful way to make your faerie neopet feel comfortable and entertained in the air. Whether you have more than one faerie pet or just multiple pets with wings (I’m looking at you, Korbats!), getting together in a group makes the workout feel like less of a chore. If any of your neighbors or other community members have pets with wings, this becomes an opportunity for some community involvement, and a chance to make new friends!

     That said, I want to warn you about a few of the dangers involved in flying. While it’s a fun and extremely beneficial task, there are times where flying isn’t a good idea, no matter how badly you want to. If you and your pets leave your home to a thunderstorm or heavy rain, snow, or hail, avoid the air. It takes one lightning strike, hailstorm, or flash flood to cause a catastrophe, no matter how skilled your neopet is. Similarly, flying courses above your neopet’s current skill level poses the same risk. If your pet can barely get off the ground, it might be best to save that dazzling trip down Terror Mountain for another time, less they be permanently scarred from the encounter. Lastly, when forming exercise groups with local neopets, always make sure that you have their owner’s permission and know the local area well! You never want to scare another owner by taking their neopet off on some day trip, or accidentally get involved with a group whose skill level is much higher (or lower) than your own neopets. In summary, always be aware of your pets surroundings!

     That’s all the tips, tricks, and warnings I have to offer today! Use this guide to plan out your next few trips into the sky, and your neopet will thank you. Be sure to tune in next time for a handy guide on how to get your maraquan or aquatic pet the proper swimming exercise they deserve, and remember that fitness is the key to a happy and entertained neopet.