Once on a Haunted Night

Written by: Lillie

They say that Edna comes out of her tower only during the witching hour. Well, that isn't entirely true. If you were to challenge her to a fight in the Battledome on Hallowe'en at exactly the right time (after you finally work out when she accepts challenges), she still wouldn't come. She has far better things to do on that day than to waste her time fighting puny little pets. Before you become rightfully enraged at this insult to your beloved Neopets, let me tell you what it is that Edna does every year on Hallowe'en.

As every well-versed Neopian citizen knows, Edna is a witch. As a witch, she does all the traditional things that witches do: dress up in a black dress with a black pointy hat, glare at you with green eyes (in Edna's case, she's entirely green), mix potions in a bubbling cauldron, cackle insanely and all the rest of it. She does not, however, keep a black cat to help her with her potions as she is perfectly capable of doing the work herself, thank you very much. Having a cat would be robbing Edna of her independency, something she values very much. The one drawback in not having a cat is that she can't very well leave her cauldron any time she pleases to get the ingredients she so needs. Goodness knows what would happen if her precious cauldron was left to bubble and sizzle on its own! No, no, that would never do. This would be precisely why she made up for not having a cat by setting up quests.

Again, as every well-versed Neopian citizen knows, Edna's quests are more often than not simply not worth the time, money and bother. Her rewards aren't brilliant, to say the least, and the quests sometimes cost far too much. The only real reward you get – and only if you are an avid Battledomer – is Edna's agreement to fight you in the Battledome. What can a poor witch do? She doesn't have the money to give expensive rewards and she can only get money if she sells a successful potion. She can't make successful potions without having her quests completed and her ingredients brought to her. And no one will complete her quests unless she has a substantial reward, which she does not. As you can now see, she simply doesn't have the ingredients she needs, despite her quests.

Yet again, as every well-versed Neopian citizen knows, Edna was not always a pretty Green Zafara. (Don't tell her I called her pretty.) She was one of the ugliest hags that ever lived, once upon a time. It was when she hit upon her oh-so-ingenius plan that she concocted a potion that would turn her into one of Neopia's most adorable Neopets. She figured that a morphing potion cost too much money that she didn't have, and to be fair, her homemade potion wasn't too bad. Okay, I hear you say. What are you telling me all this for?

Listen up. Well-versed Neopian citizen or not, you probably never knew this about Edna: On Hallowe'en, she ventures out into Neopia Central to go trick-or-treating.

Don't look so disbelieving. What's a poor witch to do? On one night a year, the whole of Neopia is willing to give free candy and other goodies to young Neopets. If you go to the right places, you get expensive goodies. Expensive goodies that are often vital to Edna's potions. Do you see where I'm getting at? Only a foolish witch wouldn't take advantage of the situation and Edna is no fool. She dresses up, goes out into Neopia and knocks on people's doors to say, "Trick-or-treat!" In return for this little bit of work, she gets free ingredients and lots of extra candy besides (which she can use for quest prizes later). And what does she dress up as? Herself.

No young Neopet would dress up as Edna in her previous form as ugly old hag. Hallowe'en is a time to look spooky in a cutesy-wootsy way, not take-a-look-at-me-and-run-away-screaming. You'd never get any candy that way. But as a cute green Zafara witch ... Well, when Hallowe'en rolls around and young Neopets are wondering what to dress up as, Edna is a perfect role model. Not a few Green Zafaras will be putting on black gowns and pointy hats. The real Edna won't look a bit out of place amongst all the Edna look-a-likes. What about that cauldron, though? No worries there; as everyone knows, the Haunted Forest is not a place you want to go when all the ghosts and evil spirits come out to play. Ingenius, eh?

So this year when you're sitting by your fireplace waiting for Neopets in costumes to ring your doorbell and cry "Trick-or-treat!", you may well be brooding over where Edna might be on this haunted night. If a green Zafara turns up on your doorstep dressed up as a witch, be sure not to be stingy with your goodies. Out of the corner of your eye you may see a little soot on that dress, a frayed edge to the hat and a glint in those eyes that no other Neopet you know has – and as you watch the witch leave, you'll be glad you weren't stingy with those goodies.

Have any comments? Want to submit an article for the Pink Ink? You can send a Neomail or email me at pi_articles@hotmail.com!