Authors Note:   Please read the entire FAQ before neomailing with Questions and Info!  Thanks!

FOR THE PART NEAR YEAR, I HAVEN'T PLAYED MUCH ON NEOPETS, SO I APOLOGIZE FOR ALL INFO NEOMAILED TO ME IN THE PAST MONTHS THAT HAS BEEN PURGED THAT HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED.  I'M BACK NOW, SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT ANY MISTAKES AND NEW FACTS WITH SCREENSHOTS IF POSSIBLE.  IT WOULD BE MUCHLY APPRECIATED!

What/Where is the Rainbow Fountain? How does it work? What does it do?

The Rainbow Fountain can be found in Faerieland, or by clicking HERE.

Usually, the Fountain is non-functional.  The only circumstances in which it will work is if you get lucky and are RANDOMLY given a Quest by the Fountain Faerie.

If you obtain and complete her quest, she will allow you to paint your active pet almost any color for FREE.  No paint brush is involved.  Your only cost is for the item she wants.

How do you get a quest from the Fountain Faerie?

It's COMPLETELY RANDOM, and quite rare. NOTHING can increase your chances of getting a quest from the Fountain Faerie; although the more pages on the site you visit, your chances increase slightly, but this holds true for ANY Faerie quest or random event. The event can happen on ANY PAGE on the site...it's totally RANDOM.  The word random means that nothing will increase the odds of a certain outcome.  Age of an account is irrelevant.

And as an added note, donating to the Money Tree DOES NOT increase your chances of Random Events.

Why is the fountain telling me the magic has been all used up?

See Question #1.  The ONLY way to get it to work is to be given the quest and complete it by giving her the item she asks you for.

If you complete her quest but the fountain isn't working, refresh or come back in a short while.  But make sure it wasn't a quest from the Water Faerie!

I did a quest for the Water Faerie but the fountain didn't work?

The Water Faerie and the Fountain Faerie LOOK similar, but they are NOT the same Faerie, they are ENTIRELY different. Only the FOUNTAIN FAERIE quest will give you access to the Rainbow Fountain. Here's what each looks like:

When you get ANY Faerie quest, it will TELL you in the event which Faerie is giving you the quest, read CAREFULLY! Also, When you complete a quest for them, the WATER Faerie will bless a RANDOM pet of yours with more defense and list the pet's name, the FOUNTAIN Faerie will NOT list a pet's name, and tells you to go to the Rainbow Fountain.

Also, the Water Faerie will ONLY ask for books...the Fountain Faerie asks for any item that has a rarity of 94, 95, or 96.  Rarity of an item can be found by searching it in the sidebar on the site's left menu (note that rarity 99 and up items do not show in search, but as the Fountain Faerie never asks for these items, so for the sake of this FAQ, it doesn't matter).

How expensive can her quests get?

What she asks for is RANDOM, but appears to be any item that is rarity 94, 95, or 96, and that can make for one heck of a broad Price Range.  My first quest cost 300k NP; the other cost only 1k NP.  But in nearly every single case I've seen, it was DEFIANTLY worth it, as Paint Brushes are expensive nowadays!

Just be wary, Neopets staff does NOT dictate prices...users do.  It's all based on rarity, supply, and demand.  This is why some quests are cheap, and others are expensive.  For example, a old rarity 94 item is likely to be a LOT cheaper than a newly released rarity 96 item (just look at my quests, which pretty much falls into that scenario at the time).

So, DO NOT ASSUME that ALL Fountain Quests are expensive.  Yes, many are considering the high rarity of the items that the Quest asks for, but rarity alone does not dictate prices.

What type of item does she usually ask for?

ANY item that is rarity 94, 95, or 96; My first was a Toy, the second, a Battledome Weapon, and I've seen her ask for petpets, food, and gardening items, and other things as well.  It appears the rarity is the only thing her items have in common.

How long do I have to complete the quest/is there a time limit?

Like any other quest from the Faeries (with the exception of the Voluntary Quests you can perform for the Snow Faerie, Jhudora, and Illusen), there is NO time limit...but you CANNOT use the Shop Wizard or receive another Faerie Quest until you turn the item in.   NO TIME LIMIT means you can take however long you need to make NP for the item.

What color(s) can I paint my pet?

ALMOST ANY COLOR that the species of your active pet can be Painted (check the Rainbow Pool in the main shops area to see what colors your pet can become). So yes, Mutant, Coconut, Jelly, Robot, Alien, Sponge, Snot etc., are ALL available. If the color for that species is listed at the Rainbow Pool, then it's an option at the Rainbow Fountain.

There are THREE exceptions, the MSP Poogle, and any Royal or Robot Pet.

Royal and Robot USED to be on the list for, but it's been since removed, as evidenced in these screenshots (thanks to melmacariel & emc2):

 

So yes, any other color, such as lab ray onlines like Coconut and Garlic JubJubs, Fruit Chias, Alien Aishas, etc, are possible.  I am NOT sure about Ice Boris, since they are special pets.  This is next on my list for confirmation, so any sort of info is helpful!

Does she pick the color my pet will become, or do I?

You get to decide! But the pet she'll allow you to paint MUST be your CURRENT active pet when you visit the fountain.  Note that this means you CAN change your active pet ANY TIME prior to visiting the fountain after the item has been returned.  The pet only has to be active when you bring it to the fountain, it does not have to be the active one when you get the quest or return the item.  If you bring the wrong pet to the Fountain, you CAN go back to quick reference to change it, as long as you don't select a color until you have the correct pet you want to paint.

How often can she paint my pet?

ONCE. It's not like the lab ray, where you can keep going back...her Quest is a one-shot paint deal. You CAN, however, get ANOTHER quest from her, and begin the process all over again (though this is even more rare, but it's certainly possible).   Getting a second (or even third in some cases) is all based on luck, just as the first one is.

Can I change the Gender/Species of my pet at the Fountain?

Nope. Years ago, when the ORIGINAL Rainbow Fountain was a "reward" for signing up with sponsors, you COULD opt to change the gender or species of your pet (if you had the right amount of tickets), in addition to the color. This does NOT hold true for the NEW and CURRENT Rainbow Fountain; the Fountain Faerie will only PAINT your pet, and nothing else.

My screencaptures - These are MUCH too large to fit on the page, and since I cannot link to them directly, you can use these URLs that are also listed on MiauMix and colored_buzz pet lookups.

MiauMix:
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/fountain.gif
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/fountain2.gif
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/fountain3.gif
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/fountain4.gif
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/fountain5.gif
colored_buzz:
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/buzz1.gif
http://neopets.dark-stars.net/buzz2.gif

As an added note, if you get a Quest from the Fountain Faerie, and use it to Paint a Buzz ANY color, you'll be able to use the "Buzzin'" Avatar on the Neoboards!  Unless you are planning on painting a buzz anyway, are satisfied with the color of your pets already, or are an avatar collector (as I am), then I wouldn't "waste" the quest for an avatar...but it's totally up to you how you spend your free paint job.

Other things to keep in mind:
I am in no way affiliated with TNT, this FAQ was made solely by me from information I discovered on my own, with confirmation from other users.  I can in no way help you with any technical issues regarding the fountain (such as if you complete the quest and it still doesn't work), or answer questions such as to why the fountain is the way it is.

If you have any further Questions regarding the Rainbow Fountain NOT ALREADY ANSWERED, or you wish to affiliate with this petpage, feel free to Neomail takarifreak!