Two thousand years ago, Neopia was not the happy and pleasant land it is today, no.. far from it. A barren husk of a world covered with a featureless muddy swamp, and endless barren plains, Neopia was not a nice place at all. No sunlight could ever shine on its surface due to the endless, thick poisonous smog that filled the sky.

It is said that one day a young scientist known as Frank Sloth arrived on this desolate world, nobody really knows how he got there (some say a spaceship!), or why he decided to call Neopia his home, but Sloth revelled in his new surroundings. He spent the years conducting vile experiments in his underground lair, trying to create creatures - maybe to assemble an army, or maybe because he was lonely.

One day, as Frank emerged from his underground lair to collect samples, something happened, something that he did not expect. A beam of light broke through the thick purple clouds above, and shone down on the rock in front of him. Sloth edged back nervously. Where the light was shining, grass was starting to grow at an amazing rate, soil was forming, and wild flowers started to grow on the rocks. Sloth hissed, where the light had touched his skin he felt searing pain, he had not seen the light in many hundreds of years.

Back in the safety of his underground lab, Sloth used his network of cameras to find out what was happening on the surface above. The light was spreading, and the planet above was changing rapidly. A few of his mutant creatures that had got caught in the light above were melting, turning back into the foul mud from which they were created. This would not do, thought Sloth... his work, his science was being ruined.

'No!', Sloth slammed his fists down on his desk, 'This cannot be! I must leave this accursed planet at once'. He got up out of his chair, and began to make the preparations to leave. As he walked down the corridor, a metallic computerised voice echoed around him.

Lifeform Detected... Lifeform Detected

Sloth, puzzled, turned around and walked back to his desk. Who could possibly be here? Neopia had been desolate and uninhabited for as long as he could remember. A screen flashed up in front of him, showing a location a couple of miles away. A small dragon-like creature was sitting in a field of grass, with bright light shining down from above. The thick cloud had parted, and Sloth could see trees and rivers around.

What is it? WHAT IS IT?

Sloth sat staring at the screen... the small dragon creature looked confused... it was looking intently at its new surroundings, taking in every last detail, eyes wide with astonishment. Sloth continued to watch his monitor. Suddenly there was a flash of light and another creature appeared next to the dragon, this one was a smaller creature, a ball of fluff with large feet. It too looked confused.

What are these... things..? What are they doing in Neopia?

Sloth had a idea... and smiled... it looked like it may be worth staying in Neopia after all...