Rainbow Pool, Meet Curious Cybunny!

      I was so curious that morning. It was like, the most wonderful thing around me was the sunshine. All around it beamed, almost as if it was smiling at me. Bright golden streaks seemed to shimmer and glow, and dance and sparkle over the leaves of the Money Tree. I was entranced by it.

      On our way back from Pet Central, we passed by the Rainbow Pool. I was just... amazed by the different colors. When I came out of Pet Central, every pet around me was only red, green, blue, or yellow. As I passed the Rainbow Pool, it was so different. The most colorful place I'd ever seen. There were gold pets, and faerie pets, some pirate, and plushie, and more simple, but still beautiful pets in hues of orange, and white. Others came out practically hidden in shadow. Others came out in rainbow, split, and Halloween. Some came in as boring green, hardly vibrant, then they emerged as cute, huggable babies. Oh, there were so many around, it would take forever to describe them all!

      I laid my eyes on a delicate purple shade one a newly painted Uni. That was the color I wanted. I spent my days obsessing over purple. I drew in purple, I coloured in purple, I had my bedroom in purple, I even tried to paint myself purple with my Learn-to-paint Set.

      I soon realized that it wouldn't work, after the purple blotches were discovered on my coat and my owner made me wash them off. There was definitely something special about the Rainbow Pool and the beautiful paintbrushes that dropped in after the pets who were to be painted. I was determined to find out what it was. I needed a plan, a cunning and intelligent plan. My first idea was to just sneak over, and grab a sample of Rainbow Pool water to test perhaps at that spooky lab owned by the scientist Ixi that runs Chemistry-For-Beginners. Oops. I thought it would be easy, quick, and painless. How wrong I was I can't possibly describe.

      I went in broad daylight, (my favorite time of day) among the shimmering sunlight that danced among the leaves; only to be caught by the Fountain Faerie's Daughter who watched over the Rainbow Pool. She shooed me away, and said the water of the Rainbow Pool was sacred and not to be tampered with. Bah, I thought. I decided that nighttime would be the only time my plan would succeed. That night, in the cold and clammy darkness which gives me the chills, I went for another sample, which came in blue; pretty, but not quite as nice as purple. Unfortunately, I got scared on the way to the scientists lab, and dropped the test tube with Rainbow Pool water. Ugh, my owner would be so mad, I thought. I went back home, and picked up a new test tube after a hard hour of searching for my home chemistry set, and a new sample from the Rainbow Pool.

      Strange, I thought. It's orange! Last time it was blue...

      I decided that I would need a different place to test out my sample. That Ixi at Chemistry-for beginners was just creepy, with his bug eyes and hunched-over back. Maybe that crazy old Scorchio at the lab ray, where my brother (he was my sister last week, though, stupid ray...) Merina00 gets zapped at almost every day. On further consideration, I decided that maybe that wasn't quite the best choice. That scientist had to be insane, I mean, I looked at his hair and it was a definite disaster.

      Maybe one of the Neoschool teachers could help me, like Mr. Noakes, the Science Teacher! Except he wouldn't, messing with the Rainbow Pool isn't something that teachers would approve of. Maybe if... if I didn't tell him that it was from the Rainbow Pool, he wouldn't -- he couldn't -- have anything against it!

      I decided that asking the Neoschool Teacher's was the best plan yet. Mr. Noakes was very reluctant to let me use his Chemistry equipment, seeing as I'm only a beginner, and haven't started school yet. However, when he looked at my records, he saw that I was very bright, noticing that I'd read several books. He told me that I should ask Mr. Leer, the Potion Brewing teacher, because he would know a lot about Chemistry too, and it's his equipment anyway.

      I was on a roll. I came this far, I was definitely going to find out what the Rainbow Pool is all about.

***A week later***

I came back to Mr. Leers office on a gloomy Wednesday, and he told me that the tests were complete. "Results, show me the results," I was thinking, for I can be pretty impatient when I'm excited.

      "WHAT?! Inconclusive?! No... isn't there anything we can do, Mr. Leer?" I pleaded.

      "Well, we did find out a few things. This particular sample seems to contain a bit of Orange Paint, water, various grooming items, and... an unidentified ingredient. I have no idea what it could be. The scanner is being very stubborn, insisting that it's " 3 9 7 1 13 ". In numbers. I can't decipher what it is, but it seems to be powerful. Possibly potent and dangerous."

      I was even MORE determined to discover what the ingredient was. Well, if anyone was good with number and codes, it would be Dr. Ballard, the Math Teacher. I went to him, all he said was that it has nothing to do with numbers really, it's really just a "numerical code", whatever that was, and that it has a "direct correlation" with the letters of the alphabet. He pointed me towards Ms. Owen's classroom, down the hall, room 301, and told me to knock first, or else she would have a fit. He also made me promise not to tell her he said that. Of course I wouldn't, not after he helped me out.

      Ms. Owen was very busy, but delighted to help a student in need of help. She examined the code for a short while, and simply told me that she couldn't help. All she knew was that it was one, five-letter word, and it starts with either C or M, and she would decode more if she had the time. I thanked her, and asked if she knew anyone else that could help. She told me that the only teacher she knew that was good with spelling and words was Miss Matthews, the Spelling Teacher.

      I was well on my way. I knew one letter of the five-letter word, and it was either C or M. I went to Miss Matthews, and she decoded the word with ease. Well, almost. She had come to the conclusion that each was a letter in the alphabet, that corresponded with it's own place in the alphabet, that "1" was "A", "2" was "B", "3" was "C" and so on. So, the word was "CIGAM".

      "Cigam? But, that doesn't make any sense! Thanks anyway..." I slouched away slowly, and as I did, she called out to me, "Wait! You might want to see that evil mutant Kacheek named Eliv Thade from that spooky mansion in the Haunted Woods! He's got to be good at unscrambling stuff!"

      I was on my way! I was going to discover that missing ingredient! I decided that I'd go visit that hideous Kacheek, play a game perhaps (I had snuck a dictionary in with me, just in case I was losing), and ask him to help. When he kept switching around his castle, trying to keep me stuck playing for practically forever (maybe that's why Hannah can't get out), I gave up trying to ask him and see if Hannah could help, because she's nowhere near as scary looking, and has got to be equally good at anagrams by now. After a few more anagrams, I found Hannah hidden behind a statue of Count Von Roo, who looked at my word "Cigam" thought for a moment, and told me the word was Magic, Cigam spelled backwards. She bid me good luck and to hurry and find my way out before Eliv cheats and switches the corridors around again. "Magic" led me back to the source. The Rainbow Pool, again, not that I wasn't glad to be out of the darkness for once. It had been three days, and all I found out was that the Rainbow Pool had paint, water, various grooming products and magic. Jessica, my owner, was waiting for me at home, all set for dinner. One more day was all I needed. I went back to the Rainbow Pool first thing in the morning after breakfast. I talked to the Fountain Faerie's Daughter, who was feeling in a much better mood, and she said that every day, at a special time, frozen to all but faeries, she added magic to the Rainbow Pool. I promised not to tell anyone that either, otherwise someone evil like Dr. Sloth might find out and do more evil. I thought someone evil could also be Eliv Thade, or that crazy computer in Spell-or-Starve. "It makes it stick to a pets skin or fur or scales or whatever a pet might have. It gives it a shiny glow as they step out, and the grooming items are specially donated by the Air Faerie to give pets that extra beauty kick. And look, here comes your owner I think. And what's that she's holding? You'd better go meet her," she advised.

      "Oh, hi Jessica! I'm sorry, I was kind of off on my own for a little while, not spending much time with you. What have you been doing anyway?" I inquired.

      "Oh, yeah, well, while you were off going to the Rainbow Pool practically every day, I was in the games room, restocking, managing the shop, and all in all saving up NP. For you. Here, it's all yours." She showed me the glorious Purple Paint Brush she'd been hiding behind her back. I was ecstatic. I hoped in the Rainbow Pool, and let her drop the Purple Paintbrush in after me. I stepped out a moment later, glossy coat, eye's alight, and thoroughly covered in purple, with a tinge of orange on the side!

      "Oh my... it's beautiful! Thank you!" I laughed.

      "There's something else you should know, Summer_Queen. I knew all along about your quest for the contents of the Rainbow Pool. Mr. Leer, the Science Teacher at your School knew all along too. He recognized the ingredients immediately, and told me. I notified your owner, and she dashed away to save up for your purple paintbrush. My name is Rhea. I'm the guardian of the Rainbow Pool and Petpet Puddle," Rhea said.

      "Thank you all. Now I can see purple wherever I go, and I can pursue something else for next week!" she laughed.

The End

Authors Note: Thanks to members of some fan sites for help and inspiring me, my guild (The Good Magic Guild) and some Neofriends for encouraging me, and support in general. Hey everyone, it's Jessica, feel free to Neomail me with any comments, questions, compliments, or constructive criticism.