Z22, the family robot, curled up at loveablepet2000's side and began to
purr like a metallic Aisha. Loveablepet2000, the eccentric inventor, patted
her most successful (and least flammable) invention on the head. "So, you've
got your paper, Morning? I'll start whenever you're ready."
Morning, loveablepet's blue Grundo, nodded. She was working on a project
about the stories of various stars. Space and Day, another blue Grundo and a
fire Lupe, were sitting together a little way away from their owner.
Loveablepet pointed to four stars that made a square in the night sky.
"I think the story started in Tyrannia, though variations are told all over
Neopia. Anyway, this version is about a time before nothing in Neopia had any
colour at all…"
***
A long, long time ago, before the first humans ever came to Neopia, it is
said that NeoPets had no colour at all, and neither did anything else in Neopia.
It's hard to describe what things looked like before colour. They weren't black,
or white, but something in between, but they weren't grey, either. It's impossible
to imagine now.
Five Pteris were hatched to a Tyrannian Pteri named Cu-uggg-gors. Their names
were Rrrree-ed, Brrrroo, Yhelloo, Gggrrr-ean, and Brrrr-ackk. They were all
equally strong and looked almost exactly alike, but Brrrr-ackk was somewhat
vain and always boasting. He was tired of looking exactly like his siblings,
because that meant he had much less to brag about. He decided to convince them
to leave, so that he would have no more competition.
Brrrr-ackk was not the nicest Tyrannian around, but he was by far the smartest
(and he wasn't afraid to admit it, either). He knew that he could never simply
drive off his brothers and sisters by sheer force. To get them out of the way
he would have to use a clever trick.
For weeks he thought about how to fool them. At last, it came to him: he would
talk them into going on a quest for something stolen from the world long ago.
He twisted his mother's name around, shaping it until it was smooth and rolled
off the tongue like syrup. To the ear of anyone who spoke only harsh Tyrannian
it was easy to believe that the word was magical. Colours, yes, that was it.
Colours had been stolen from the world, and it was up to his brothers and sisters
to find it. It was more than that, it was their destiny.
He quickly told his siblings of the dangerous quest that lay ahead of them.
They were eager to begin the journey, but Brrrrooo had a question for her crafty
brother. "But you are going?" she asked. The others grew curious and asked as
well. Brrrr-ackk knew that his plot had failed. He had no choice but to go with
his brothers and sisters on a quest that only he knew was hopeless.
Up they flew, away from a colourless land into the drab sky. At last, earth
blended with sky and it was impossible to tell which was which. And then, on
the horizon, a strange thing appeared. The siblings didn't realise that what
they saw was colour. All they knew was that it was like nothing they'd ever
seen, and it must have been magical.
Rrrree-ed was bolder than his brothers and sisters, and he flew right up to
the door of the strange place. Filling his lung with air, he screamed out to
whoever lived in the big palace in the clouds. "Give us back the colours! They
are ours by right!"
Before Brrrr-ackk could muffle his shouts with a wing, the huge doors swung
open. A strange creature looked out at them, smiling. She had the same strange
quality as the palace, only lighter, and gave off a kind of magical radiance.
She was like a tall, hairless Mynci with wings sprouting from her back like
the little colourless butterflies that fluttered all over the plains. The Pteris
had no way of knowing that she was the Faerie Queen, and the strange thing about
her was the colour purple.
She smiled. "Of course. The colours At last, the NeoPets have come asking
for them. Come, we will give them to you."
They followed her into a massive hall. At once, there was a blast of colour
that completely overwhelmed the Pteris Even quick-thinking Brrrr-ackk couldn't
find anything to say. Several other strange creatures like the queen gathered
around. "At last, it is time to give them the colours It is time to make Neopia
beautiful."
One spoke up harshly. "If they want the colours, they must work for them.
We cannot give one of our most precious treasures away for nothing."
Another one who seemed to cast a light around her waved her arm. "No, no,
Jhudora. It is destined that the colours come to Neopia. They are not ours to
keep."
A third piped up, the air around her flickering and hot as the fires the villagers
used to keep warm. "She has a point. We need helpers."
The queen looked around thoughtfully. "Then it is decided. You will work for
the colours"
The flaming one took bold Rrrree-ed, and he became Red. One that floated like
water and had a scaly, Koi-looking tale took Brrrroo, and she became Blue. The
one that cast light took Yhelloo, who you now know as Yellow. A fourth took
Gggrrr-ean, and she is known to this day as green. And fire is always red, water
is blue, light is yellow, and plants are green because of the choices of the
faeries.
At last, only the Dark Faerie and Brrrr-ackk were left in the hall. Now Brrrr-ackk
was afraid. The rest of the beings seemed strange, but not all that bad. This
one was frightening. Still, he had gotten himself into this, and he had no choice.
For months after the Dark Faerie worked him hard. He never saw his brothers
and sisters or the faeries they worked for. He grew thin and eventually took
to stealing to survive.
At last--it seemed like years later--the faeries came together and decided
to give the NeoPets the colours they had earned. Each was changed to the colour
named after them, and they were told spread their new gift across Neopia.
They flew into the sky, but after the cool of the castle it seemed burning
hot. As they flew, they molted. Whenever a feather fell on something, it became
that colour When their work was done, they flew up into the sky and became the
first stars to forever twinkle in the sky.
***
Loveablepet shifted Z22's head off her lap. "And that's how colour came
to Neopia. Now it's late, and I think we all need a rest." Space stayed after
the others had gone, not satisfied with the ending. "What happened in the end,
to Brrrr-ackk? There are only four stars."
His owner grinned. "Well, Brrrr-ackk was never quite satisfied with being
just one star in the sky. He stayed in Neopia, but his time spent with the faeries
hadn't been wasted. He could change himself into whatever he chose, and everyone
has a story of how some heroic general or crafty advisor saved a kingdom or
helped to overthrow an evil ruler. See, Brrrr-ackk was vain, but he wasn't evil.
One thing he was proud of was his colour, which could never be changed. He was
darker than a moonless midnight."
"And what about Jhudora? She isn't an Uber Faerie, at least not any more."
"Well, her mistreatment of her worker was the last straw for the other
faeries. They all voted to throw her out and get another faerie. Now, I really
think it's time to get some rest." Loveablepet picked up Z22 and started walking
back to the NeoHome. Space walked beside her. "One last question."
"Sure. What?"
"Brrrr-ackk- where's he now? I mean, is he still around?"
"Well, there have been stories of a jet-black Lupe general nicknamed Black
who managed to overthrow a greedy scammer--it was in the news a little while
ago. Which is odd, really, because Lupes don't come in shadowed. But… well…
that's a different story."
The End | 
