The Qasalan Princess

     To everybody’s surprise, the little princess had an unusual feature: her hair was completely green! Of course, the princess’s hair colour delighted everyone, which made King Jazan and Queen Nabile decide to name the princess “Emerald”.

     Emerald grew up happily in Qasala and when she turned 15 years old, her green hair was so long that it could easily reach her heels. The princess’s hair instantly enchanted every single neopian that met her, from the eldest citizens to the youngest children. Foreigners from the most distant lands came all the way to Qasala only to see the beauty of Emerald’s hair. At some point, Emerald became known all over Neopia as “the green-haired princess”.

     Over time, Emerald noticed that a friend, absolutely delighted by Emerald’s hair colour, decided to dye her hair to look just like the princess. Emerald imagined that her friend was indeed impressed by the beauty of her hair and felt flattered.

     However, a few days later, other adult females in Qasala dyed their hair green as well. After that, little girls also started dyeing their hair, with various shades of greens. After that, male citizens and little boys started dyeing their hair likewise. At that point, it was difficult to find a qasalan citizen that didn’t have at least one green lock of hair. The most enthusiastic supporters of the princess had every single hair strand dyed green. Actually, most of Qasala had some type of green hair, including children, who didn’t necessarily like the colour green, but had their hair colour changed mostly due to their parents’ will.

     Emerald then was sad to see that she was no longer as different and special as she once was because now everybody dyed their hair like hers. In that regard, Emerald, “the green-haired princess”, decided to ask the Royal Qasalan Guard to take her on an exploring trip, from land to land, so she could find new colours to dye her hair.

     The first land that Emerald stopped at was Maraqua. Maraqua had (and still has) a big blue sea, just like the sky, which Emerald thought was a very impressive shade of blue, so she started to put her big hair in the water and dyed it blue to the root. Sadly, when Emerald put her hair in the water, a sea creature bit part of her hair, making it a little smaller.

     With the hair now hitting her knees, Emerald then returned to Qasala with her blue hair, which made people marvelled once again. Of course, it didn’t take much longer before the qasalan people changed their hair colour from green to blue.

     Again sad, Emerald, now “the blue-haired princess", travelled again. This time, she went to Faerieland, to find a pink lake she heard about. She slowly put her entire hair inside the lake but felt that when it touched the bottom of the lake, a white and smelly mud stuck to the tip of her hair, so she had to cut it, making her hair a little smaller.

     Arriving once again in Qasala with her pink hair, the people found it even more beautiful than the blue one. Even if the hair was now hitting the height of Emerald’s waist, there was no denying the qasalan people absolutely loved it. But, again, it didn't take long for people to dye their hair locks pink.

     Bored, "pink-haired" Emerald travelled once again, this time to Tyrannia, where she found a large orange river. She put her pink hair in the river, and it was instantly washed to the roots by the river’s current. The strength of the current was so intense that it made her hair hit sharp stones in the river’s bank. The stones ended up cutting Emerald’s hair, making it a little smaller.

     Returning to Qasala with her orange-coloured hair, which now reached just a little below her shoulders, the people thought the princess's orange-coloured hair was absolutely stunning. Obviously, in less than a day, everyone already had hair of the same colour!

     Princess Emerald, the now “orange-haired princess”, was totally outraged, and left once again on her royal trip in search of a new colour for her hair. This time Emerald travelled to Neopia Central and went straight to the Rainbow Pool. She was advised that instead of choosing a single colour, she could pick all the colours at the same time by painting her hair rainbow. Her hair would constantly change between the colours of the rainbow, making it impossible for somebody to copy her.

     Delighted by the possibility of having truly unique hair, Emerald didn’t hesitate to put her hair inside the Rainbow Pool. The hair started to change its colour, but later it completely fell out, making Emerald totally bald. One of the Neopia Central’s natives was passing by and informed her that the Pool was only supposed to paint neopets, not hair, that being the cause of the princess’s hair loss.

     Emerald, the now “hairless princess", ordered the Royal Guard to immediately make her a big wig with shiny hair. After the wig was done, she returned to Qasala. Upon arrival, everyone thought Emerald’s “new hair” was beautiful, but a strong wind ended up ripping off her wig, showing what really happened to her hair.

     The shame of being bald was so great that she started crying copiously, which lead to Emerald locking herself in her own room for months. Once again, the qasalan people, out of compassion, also cut their hair, being saddened by the princess's suffering.

     King Jazan even ordered the Royal Guard to hide all the mirrors in the palace, so that Emerald would never see herself in a mirror again. Likewise, Queen Nabile would knock on Emerald’s room every single day, asking her daughter to calm down and to also deliver her meals. Nonetheless, Emerald, the now “bald princess”, cried for a hundred days and a hundred nights without stopping.

     On the hundredth first day, Emerald realized that so much time passed that her hair had already grown back. She left her room and tried finding a mirror, but wasn’t able to since King Jazan had previously hidden all of them to protect his beloved daughter. Then, Emerald went to the palace’s courtyard and could finally see her reflex in a water fountain, where she noticed her hair was as green as it was before she first dyed it.

     The people of Qasala, that also shaved their own hair to support the princess’ agony, also realized that their hair had grown back. The qasalan citizens felt amazed and ashamed at the same time, finally understanding how much the hair of each one was naturally beautiful, regardless of being equal to someone important, like the princess.

     From that day on, no one in Qasala ever wanted to be like anybody else again, whether it was in terms of hair, clothes, or body, realizing that each one was unique and wonderful in its own and unique way.

     The End.