I thought my owner, Maura and I had what was called loyalty to each other, that we would never ever in our life leave when the other was in pain. But that kind of trust ended when I woke up in a dark, musty place, tattered Neopets standing around me, shivering and the expressions on their faces devastating. I looked around for Maura; she wasn't there.

Suddenly I looked out the window and Maura was playing with my siblings. AdobeFeather the Pteri, STAR_of_THE_night the Uni, BadHairDay the Lenny and- wait, I only had three siblings! But who was that goat-like creature?

A starry Shoyru, who had been watching right beside me without me knowing, said, "That happy family, having a great time together. Ixis are the new Neopet, they just arrived the other day."

I became angry. "That's my family!" I screamed.

I edged my head in betwen the bars (you know, bars on a window, like a jail?) and shouted for Maura, but she just looked at me and laughed.

"Baybanada, silly faerie Grundo, don't you see? Ixis are so much cooler than Grundos. And I wanted one, and since you were the ugliest Neopet in my account, I abandoned you." you sneered.

I yelled so loud, so loud that I swear, the Faerie Queen in Faerieland could hear, I swear upon Neopia. I said My life is no more.

The next four weeks were the same old thing. I couldn't get over losing Maura. After all that time, laughing, sharing, hugging . . . it was all fake. Maura just wanted me for a Neopet, not accepted as family. I muttered to myself.

"You'll see, Ixi. Your time will come, when the latest, greatest Neopet will come out and you'll be stuck in here, shivering, cold, through rain and snow, the only food you get is bread and the only drink water." I muttered.

Just then a goat head appeared in between the bars of my prison.

"Hiya, I'm Ixinita. I hear you would've been my sister if Maura didn't already have four Neopets." it giggled. One of my antennae drooped, the way it always does when I get irritated. I narowed my eyes at Ixinita.

"Because of you, I'm abandoned in the ridiculous pound without an owner, you Ixi! Now get out of my sight!" I growled.

Ixinita whimpered and ran away.

The starry Shoyru came up to me. "So, I don't like the pound very much either. My name's MoonlitWings. I heard that girl say your name was Baybanada."

"Yeah." I said, smiling for once in that awful cavern.

We started talking. I told MoonlitWings that when I walk around, people look at me like I'm dim witted. But I'm not. I've read plenty of books and have become very intelligent. MoonlitWings told me her owner used to try to get her into basic courses at the training school, even though she was level 21.

"Wow." I marveled, "How did you get that high? I'm only at level four."

"Training. Lots of it. Inez was very rich. She bought lots of codestones and trained us in the Battledome, the Training School too. Both of them." replied MoonlitWings.

We talked for hours, I mean it. I may not get out of this pound, but at least I have a friend.

Besides, she'll never get adopted. Have you ever seen painted pets in the pound?