"What are you doing?" an old Mynci asked.

"I'm helping," she replied innocently.

"Help... no, no." The Mynci shook his head and gently took the broom. "This is your first year here... go explore Neopia. Have some fun. You can help with next year's cleanup."

The young Vandagyre smiled and skipped off. After all, she wasn't going to argue with someone who was telling her not to work. Tansy decided she would do just as she was told. She was going to explore. A little adventure after all of the celebratory sugars would be good for her.

She was on her way out of Neopia Central when the words "Magic Shop" caught her attention. Magic? she thought. I haven't really seen much magic yet.

"Hello?" she said as she opened the door and entered the shop. No one answered, but she continued in anyway, admiring all of the potions, elixirs, and other magical items. Tansy looked through everything in the shop, focusing all of her attention on not touching anything. With her attention elsewhere, her feet took her to the back room of the shop, where shelves upon shelves and tables upon tables were filled with sparkling liquids in jars and bubbling mixtures in potion bottles. Her eyes, however, settled only on one object.

"Oooh, what's this?" she said as she picked up...

Mmm, this smells delicious! she thought. The Vandagyre was suddenly filled with a burning desire to down the potion in one gulp. Wait a minute, I should at least try to read the label.

Tansy determinedly studied the bottle, looking it over for a label. However, once she found it, the Vandagyre found that some of the label had been damaged and she was only able to make out "Rainbow U- Transf- Potio-."

"Could this be... a magic potion that will change my colour to rainbow?!?" she exclaimed out loud to herself. The thought of changing colours from blue to something more exciting was something she found fascinating. Without giving it a second's more thought, she swiftly drank from the bottle and finished the potion in one large gulp.

"Uh oh," she said with a groan. "I'm starting to feel funny." There was a loud poof! and she felt the changes instantly. Tansy looked down where her hands should have been and...

She turned around to leave the back room and go find a mirror, only to find herself face to face with a starry Kau giving her a stern look. "What are you doing back here? I heard something break. Whatever it is, you'd better be prepared to clean it up and pay for it."

"It was just an empty bottle," Tansy said uneasily.

"An empty bottle, huh? Why was it empty? This is where I store my completed potions before putting them out for sale," Kauvara explained.

"I, uh... I drank it," the Vandagyre-turned-Uni explained guiltily.

"You did what?!?" Kauvara asked.

"I didn't know it was for sale," Tansy explained sheepishly. "It looked really pretty and smelled good..." She paused, then continued. "What did it even do to me?"

"What did the bottle say?" the Kau asked in a resigned voice.

"Rainbow U-something Potion."

"That was a Rainbow Uni Morphing Potion you just drank. You are a rainbow Uni now. Morphing potions are my top sellers, so you have cost me a lot of money. How do you intend to pay that back?"

"This is a mistake, though! I don't want to be a rainbow Uni. I wanted to be a rainbow Vandagyre! When does this wear off?" Tansy asked.

"Oh, a Vandagyre. That explains it." If the Uni had formerly been a Vandagyre, then her strange actions made more sense. Perhaps she had never seen a morphing potion before? Kauvara decided to give the girl a break.

"Alright, well... you're fresh out of luck. Morphing potions don't wear off. You're stuck looking like that, unless you drink another one or paint yourself at the Rainbow Pool... and I just sold my last Vandagyre morphing potions -- lazy pets with lots of pocket change have been buying them up to avoid cleaning. If you can go out and get the ingredients for me -- and promise to never do anything this stupid again -- then I'll make you a Vandagyre morphing potion. How does that sound?"

Tansy nodded enthusiastically, glad that Kauvara was not mad at her anymore. She had not wanted to make an enemy so soon. "I was supposed to be exploring Neopia, but I guess I can do that later."

"Good... although, I wouldn't say this little trip won't take you around Neopia. Now, let's get you a list of what you'll need to find..."

"Here, this should about do it... and please, make sure you get everything I have listed. Nothing more and nothing less, okay?" Kauvara asked the awkward Uni.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am, I promise!" Tansy replied with a flick of her tail.

"Good... now go on, then, before it starts to get dark," Kauvara told her.

Tansy nodded with a hurried look and tucked the note safely behind her right wing.

At first the Vandagyre had a little trouble walking, as she wasn't used to walking with four hooves. Kauvara saw her struggling and offered to help her to the door. Tansy watched how Kauvara moved as she did so -- since Kauvara had four hooves, too, she thought that, if she walked like she did, it might work out okay.

Thankfully, after a few tries Tansy was back on her feet (and not tripping anymore). She thought she'd better examine the note that Kauvara had given her carefully before starting on her quest.

The first item on the list was a Magical Feather Shower, which Kauvara wrote down was made in Faerieland.

"Faerieland?!?" Tansy asked, gasping with excitement.

She had never been to Faerieland, nor did she know where it was, but it was a place she truly wanted to visit. While trying to figure out which way Faerieland was from Neopia Central, a stranger came up to her and began to speak.

"Faerieland, you say? Well, I can take you there. I was just about to head up there myself, you see..."

"You would? Oh, thank you! I'm new to Neopia, you see, so I really don't know my way around," Tansy told the Grundo as they walked together out of Neopia Central.

"Really? Rainbow is a rare colour for a brand new Uni," the Grundo said. "My name is Kyle, by the way."

"Oh, I'm not really a Uni," Tansy rushed to explain. Tansy quickly recounted everything that had happened, finishing with, "...and now I need to find the ingredients for a Vandagyre morphing potion to change me back!"

Tansy was so focused on watching the beautiful countryside and trying not to trip over her hooves that she missed Kyle's sly grin.

"A Vandagyre, really? And you have the list of ingredients for one of the morphing potions? Kauvara doesn't normally trust those to anyone. You must be very trustworthy."

Tansy blushed. "She's just doing me a favour, really. The first ingredient on the list is a Magical Feather Shower. Do you know where in Faerieland that might be?"

"Of course!" Kyle said, and then he proceeded to tell her all about his travels to Faerieland, as well as the other Neopian lands he had visited. Tansy was enthralled and barely noticed the time passing as she listened to him recount his wonderful adventures. How she wanted to travel Neopia like he had!

Eventually they stopped for a break. "You know," Kyle said, "if you were to show me the list, I could probably point you in the right direction for the other ingredients as well."

Tansy was a little hesitant; Kyle had told her that Kauvara was giving her a big responsibility by trusting her with the ingredients. Kyle had been so friendly, though, and he was obviously the best one to ask for help.

As soon as she handed him the list, Kyle...

The Grundo had tricked her!

Tansy started to run after him but she tripped and fell to the ground, scraping her legs as she started to cry.

What was she going to do now?!? Kauvara would surely be angrier than ever, and who knew what she would do when Tansy went back empty-handed.

She turned around to walk back to the Magic Shop, defeated and feeling worse than she'd ever felt in her life.

Tansy walked back into the magic shop and Kauvara looked at her expectantly.

"Well, where are the bags? Where are my ingredients?!? What about my list?" She started to walk toward Tansy while staring at her, expecting an answer.

"A brown Grundo tricked me into handing him your list! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" Tansy pleaded. She really didn't want to spend the rest of her life as a Uni.

Kauvara had a thoughtful look on her face as she went and grabbed a golden glass bottle and a cauldron.

"Luckily for you, that wasn't the list. I was going to surprise you and have a morphing potion ready when you returned."

"But... why would you trick me?" Tansy replied, upset by being deceived by everyone that she had met so far.

"I could be harder on you -- you do realize this, right? I taught you a lesson. You should be thanking me! Also, I have a little helper coming to assist me. He should be here any minute now."

The sound of the door opening caught their attention and they both looked toward the door.

"Well, hello there!" Kauvara said pleasantly, looking at the brown Grundo at the door.

"Kyle?!? What is going on?!?"...

"Well, Tansy," Kauvara began sternly, "the Rainbow Uni Morphing Potion you drank so thoughtlessly was actually meant for Kyle." Kauvara waved one of her golden hooves at the smug-looking Grundo in the doorway.

Tansy glanced at Kyle, abashed. "Oh," she said quietly. "I never thought that it might belong to someone," the former Vandagyre said.

"Yes," Kauvara said briskly, "I guessed as much when you drank the potion! Anyway, I had sent Kyle a message to let him know his potion was ready," the starry Kau said as she gestured toward Kyle. "I knew he was already on his way over here and I thought I'd better get you out of here before he showed up so I could explain to him what happened once he arrived."

"I had really been looking forward to regaining my true Uni form," Kyle chimed in, "but I'm a very understanding and forgiving Neopet, and though I wasn't too upset, Kauvara and I thought you might need a stern lesson in taking things that don't belong to you. So, I agreed to help Kauvara with the plan she formulated while I was on my way here."

Tansy stared, open-mouthed, at the two conspirators. "I can't believe this! You both must have really thought I needed that lesson! Well, trust me, your plan worked -- I will never do anything so thoughtless again!"

Tansy turned to the brown Grundo leaning, arms crossed, against the doorjamb. "I'm really sorry I drank your potion, Kyle," Tansy said sheepishly.

"No worries!" Kyle said cheerily. "Kauvara is going to make me another potion, and I had fun helping her play a trick on you." Kyle grinned mischievously.

"Lesson," Kauvara said emphatically, giving Kyle a stern look that quickly dissolved into a friendly smile. "Now then, let's get the two of you back to your true forms, shall we?"

Kauvara poured the potion, which had been simmering in the small black cauldron, into the golden glass bottle and handed it to Tansy. "You first," she said to the Uni. "Hopefully I did this right; this one's been a little tricky for me since it's still so new. It's so rare and costly right now because I've had to toss out a lot of bad batches that had results that were... well, let's just say... unintended." Kauvara frowned. "I haven't had the chance to test it yet, but I'm pretty sure I did everything right this time."

Tansy eyed the potion warily but took it anyway. "As long as you're sure it'll work..." Tansy said, and then quickly tossed back the liquid.

"Hey, I never said it would work for certain!" Kauvara stated as Tansy gulped down the last of the potion.

"It's too late now!" Kyle crowed gleefully, not even trying to hide his amusement. Kyle and Kauvara stared at Tansy in anticipation as Tansy...

"I'm not sure that I feel so good," she moaned.

"I said it wasn't guaranteed to work," Kauvara informed her.

"What are some of the side effects that happened?"

The Kau had to think about her answer. "Well, there was shrinking... I think another one started sneezing fire... oh, and there was yet another who drank it that floated..."

Tansy hiccuped, and upon doing so, she turned from blue to green. Another hiccup made her color yellow. Once more made her turn blue once again. As her hiccup epidemic continued, she teetered on her own two feet.

"That's new, though," Kauvara said.

"Well, how do I make it stop?" the dizzy Tansy asked. She hiccuped once again, now turning her green once more.

Though she tried to hide it, Kauvara was getting nervous. The Vandagyre could see it in her eyes. "I have no idea. I don't know how this happened."

Kyle chuckled darkly, then said, "Oh, but I do..."

The brown antennae twitched atop the Grundo's head as he began, "It's simple, you see." He looked toward Kauvara, who rolled her eyes in impatience. "She's changing colors -- making her way through the rainbow with each hiccup." The Kau waved her hoof in a patronizing manor, pleading for Kyle to get to the point. Meanwhile, Tansy tried desperately to plug her beak as she struggled through muffled hiccups in the corner. "She just drank my Rainbow Uni potion--"

"So there is still some left in her stomach!" Kauvara finished, reaching an epiphany. "Brilliant! Of course I thought of it," she said, steaming with pride. Kyle took a step back and stared at his feet while the culinary Kau began boiling away at a new brew.

"I don't feel well at all," Tansy piped in, clutching her stomach while it rippled like the surface of a puddle that had just been stepped in. All at once, her feathers fell off and she dropped to her hands and knees.

"Tansy, are you okay?" Kyle asked, kneeling to her aid.

"It's the remnant rainbow Uni potion fighting the effects of the Vandagyre potion she just drank," Kauvara explained. "Tansy, you're going to go through some strange changes within the next few minutes that aren't going to be pretty. I need you to do your best to remain calm -- and try not to make a mess out of my shop, if you could."

Tansy opened her beak to respond, but in an instant it was sucked back into her face, leaving her no mouth at all. Her limbs grew long and hooves formed at the end of them. Wings grew out of her back and a Uni's snout extended from her face. "Help me!" she shouted in fear.

"Hang in there, Tansy!" Kauvara pleaded. "Kyle, I need you to stop whatever it is you're doing and help me!"

"What can I do?" the Grundo asked as he hopped to his feet.

"I need you to find me some Turnip Tonic from the back pantry, along with some Boiled Bagguss," she requested while madly dumping vials of liquids and bags of powders into her cauldron.

"I'm on it!" Kyle exclaimed as he ran to the pantry.

Then, suddenly, there was a loud crash and an explosion of sparkly fumes...

"Kyle? Tansy?" Kauvara called hesitantly while looking through the haze. She jumped in fright as Kyle skidded to halt in front of her, arms laden with the ingredients she'd asked for.

"I have them! I have them!" the Grundo declared emphatically, setting the ingredients down on the table by Kauvara. "What was that explosion? Where's Tansy?"

"Good," Kauvara remarked absently as she started measuring and adding the final drops of tonic. "I think the two morphing potions had conflicting ingredients; they need to be neutralized quickly before causing irreversible harm. Tansy hasn't responded. Find her quickly -- if she doesn't get this remedy in her system soon, then the Vandagyre potion won't take."

The haze started settling toward the floor of the shop. Kyle turned, looking for a sign of Tansy's head. Assuming that she had fainted, the Grundo dropped down to the floor and started crawling toward the last spot where they had seen the Vandagyre in distress.

"The cure is ready. Have you found her yet?" Kauvara called out as she opened a window.

"Not--" Kyle began, but before he could finish his sentence he saw Tansy's paw a few feet away. "Yes, she's here. She's fainted!" He rushed over and stood above the Vandagyre, waving Kauvara to the right location on the floor.

Grabbing the potion and a dropper, Kauvara hurried over. She knelt down over Tansy and used the dropper to administer the treatment. A gurgle emanated from within the Vandagyre before a long, loud burp erupted in a sparkly blue fume. Kauvara and Kyle then waited for the smoke to clear.

"Ohhh... my head hurts," Tansy said.

Kauvara leaned over Tansy and asked, "How about your stomach, though? How does that feel?"

"It feels better!" Tansy declared as she patted it. She then looked down at her hands. They were no longer hooves, but rather the blue feathered paws she knew were her own. "Am I back to myself?"

Kyle and Kauvara nodded as they helped her stand up.

"That was far too much adventure for my first day. I shall have to learn to be patient. One day I will get to be a rainbow Vandagyre, but until that time comes I will enjoy being me," Tansy said as she turned to hug Kauvara and Kyle.

"I don't know about you, but all this morphing potion business has made me hungry," Kyle said to his companions. "How about I take you both to get some leftover birthday cake?"

They all nodded their heads and left the shop. That was certainly enough magic for one day.

The End