//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Ponymon Mystery Dungeon: Rainbow Rescue Team 
// by Insert_Name_Here 
//------------------------------//

	That night, I had a dream. It wasn’t one of those dreams where bizarre scenarios are thrown at you and you kind of have to just take it all in. Rather, it was one of those dreams where it feels like a lost loved one is trying to communicate with you. Unfortunately, the dream was hazy and couldn’t be clearly seen or remembered. I willed every inch of my mind to focus and noticed the silhouette of…something. But I felt like this “something” was important.
“Who are you?”
The figure mumbled something in a soft and sweet voice but I couldn’t quite make it out.
“Why was I transformed into a pony?!” I cried out in confusion.
The dream started to fade. I fought it as much as I could but I felt myself being dragged into consciousness. My eyes shot open. I was aggravated I couldn’t have gotten any answers from the dream, but it was nearly morning so I saw no point in attempting sleep again. 8-Bit was still cuddling the sapphire close to her breast and I smiled a little upon noticing this.
I climbed out of my bed and stretched, sending instant relief through my legs. I shook my head to wipe the haze of sleep from my head and trotted to the door. I glanced over at 8-Bit again to make sure she was still sleeping and quietly pushed the door open. I didn’t want to wake her; she’d had a pretty tiresome couple of days.
I sat in front of our house and closed my eyes. I say “our”, because I stopped seeing 8-Bit as my host and guide, and more so of a really close friend. Funny… I’d only known her for two days and I already trusted her with my life. I guess getting put into dangerous situations every day will do that to you.
I reviewed my foggy dream. Someone…No, why did I say someone? It had to be something; it couldn’t be someone…could it? I shook my head and sighed. What had happened to me? I’d asked myself that question when I first woke up and the past few days didn’t really give me much time to dwell on it…but I still felt like I was missing something important.
I felt warmth stretch across my face and opened my eyes to see the golden light shine through the trees and just above the horizon. The sunrise was…breathtaking. Streaks of red and orange dawn painted the sky and clouds only served to reflect its beauty. And as the sun grew higher, I felt a slight sadness. I glanced back at the moon as it sank below the horizon and whispered, “Farewell for a few hours, your night was just as gorgeous as the day.” It might’ve been my imagination, but I could’ve sworn I saw the moon shine brighter after I said that. It was only a flicker, so I wasn’t sure if my mind was playing tricks on me or not.
I heard the clopping of hooves behind me, but they were muffled as if their owner were trying to be quiet. I stayed where I was and let 8-Bit approach me. She stopped right next to me and sat down, staring at the sun.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” she asked with a yawn. I could tell she was tired, but seemed set on staying awake. I simply nodded. I noticed how she kept glancing at me and when I’d go to look at her she’d look away. I was curious as to why, but didn’t feel it was important enough to ask her. Finally, she looked at me with a different light in her eyes. “You up for some breakfast?” I nodded.
“Yeah, defiantly! What do you have besides apples?” I said with a laugh. I wasn’t trying to be rude, and I liked the apples, but you can’t really blame me for wanting variety. She rubbed her muzzle and stared thoughtfully at the heavens, and then chuckled.
“Not much, I’m afraid. It’s not really breakfast, but I guess we could head to Sugarcube Corner to get something,” she finally decided. I rattled off a few sugary foods that could be considered breakfast foods inside my head.
“Do they have donuts and cinnamon rolls?”
“Well…yeah.”
“Then let’s go!”
My partner nodded and headed for the direction of town in a canter and I followed behind her with the same pace. The town had very few ponies moving about, probably because it was still early in the morning. I wondered if Sugarcube Corner was even open at this time of day, but 8-Bit seemed to know what she was doing so I didn’t question her. 
We trotted up to a building that looked like a massive gingerbread house with all sorts of other various toppings on it as decorations. My green friend raised a hoof to knock, but the door swung open before she had the chance. I admit, I fell back and landed right on my rump in surprise. Standing there was a pink pony with a mane that looked a lot like cotton candy, just a shade darker than her coat. She had a massive grin on her face.
“Hi! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! You’re our first guests today! You’re probably here for breakfast aren’t you? Well let’s get you something to eat!” She leaped over us and pushed us inside. 8-Bit raised an eyebrow.
“Pinkie Pie, don’t you ever sleep?”
“Oh silly, the average pony only needs eight hours of sleep! That means sixteen hours to PARTY!” she said, doing a little bounce as she said so. At least she was living each day to its fullest. “Oh, I almost forgot! What do you guys wanna eat?” 8-Bit looked at me, as if expecting me to answer. So I did.
“We’ll have two chocolate donuts and two cinnamon rolls please.”
“COMING RIGHT UP!” Pinkie Pie zipped around the room with incredible speed, gathering the food and stopped in front of us, holding it out on a plate.
“That was…fast,” I said, dumfounded. My partner laughed.
“Well, welcome to Ponyville, Silver.” As she saw Pinkie Pie’s widening grin, she realized her mistake and quickly tried to undo the damage. “I mean, because you’ve never met these ponies before and…” At this point, realizing she was just making things worse, she gave up.
“You’ve never been to Ponyville before?! Of course you haven’t, I’ve never seen you here before! I was so focused on getting you your food that I totally didn’t notice the NEW PONY IN TOWN!” I swallowed the chunk of my chocolate donut I’d been chewing and glanced nervously at 8-Bit.
“What’s…what’s so special about a new pony?”
“Well…” She sighed. “It’s just that Pinkie Pie throws rather…excessive welcoming parties and…yours is up.” When we glanced back to the pink pony, we noticed that the entire room was covered in streamers and balloons. Our mouths hung agape as she cart wheeled in front of us nonchalantly.
“I’d throw your party now but if I threw your party now nopony would be able to show up and if nopony was able to show up you’d feel lonely and if you felt lonely you wouldn’t feel very welcome and if you didn’t feel very welcome it wouldn’t be a good welcoming party!” she exclaimed. I nodded.
“That would be…tragic. How about I come back later when other ponies are awake?” I suggested. She grinned and jumped into the air.
“Okie dokie lokie!” She then dashed off. 8-Bit and I stared at each other.
“That was some pretty quick thinking there,” she said with a wry smile. I shrugged. We both gulped down the rest of our breakfast and headed to the door and closed the door quietly behind us, as to not alert Pinkie Pie of our departure and started to head home. By now, the sun was higher in the sky and more ponies were awake. We passed by two fillies talking in a low voice.
“I don’t know Apple Bloom; I’m really starting to get worried about Scootaloo… What if she’s in serious trouble?” the white unicorn asked.
“Ah’m worried ‘bout Scoot too Sweetie Belle, but even if we did go after ‘er, how could we bring ‘er back?” the yellow pony countered.
My partner and I shared a brief look and nodded. We trotted over to where the fillies were talking.
“Excuse me,” I started, “but I couldn’t help but overhear you two. Your friend is in trouble? The reason I ask is because we’re a rescue team and I was wondering if we could help.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, and then Apple Bloom decided to jump at the chance.
“Ahr friend Scootaloo went missing yesterday an’ we ‘aven’t seen ‘er since. She was bein’ teased by Diamond Tiara ‘bout not bein’ able t’ fly, so she headed to Ghastly Gorge all by ‘erself and…”
“Alright, relax. We’ll go rescue Scootaloo.” I said, trying to calm Apple Bloom down. “Won’t we?” I looked at 8-Bit, but her face was more pale than usual. She nodded slowly.
“Yeah, we’ll do it,” she croaked. She turned around and started to slowly trot away. I followed after her.
“Be careful!” Sweetie Belle called after us. When we were out of earshot from the fillies I glanced at my companion.
“You seemed uneasy when Ghastly Gorge was mentioned.”
“It’s just…” My friend bit her lip. “Ghastly Gorge is like…the bane of all pegasi. Only the most skilled can get through. If you can’t fly at all it’s twice as dangerous.”
“So what are we standing around for? We have to get moving!”
I took off in a gallop, but as I did I noticed 8-Bit staring sadly at her wings.
*****
For the most part, my friend led the way. After all, even if I was a crazy pony who bumped his head, there was still my memory loss I had to deal with. 8-Bit didn’t say anything the entire way there so I just followed. It gave me a lot of time to think, that’s for sure. I wasn’t really paying any attention to the route we took, so it came as a bit of a surprise when my partner stopped abruptly and pointed to Ghastly Gorge.
For the looks of it, it was a huge canyon that lived up to its name. The length from the bottom from where we were standing made me a little dizzy, but I shook my head and steadied myself. 8-Bit’s legs were shaking and she looked like she was ready to throw up. She quickly grabbed my hoof in hers, though I’m not sure whether for comfort or support. Nonetheless, I nodded reassuringly at her. She nodded back and we began our descent down the steep rocks.
At the bottom, we looked around. There were holes in the walls of the gorge but no signs that a pegasus had ever been there. I cupped my hooves to my mouth and called for her.
“Scootaloo? Scoot-Scootaloo?
The call bounced off the canyon walls and then faded away. For a moment, there was nothing else but the howling of the wind.
“I’m here!” a raspy voice echoed from across the canyon. I started to trot to it, but my partner held her hoof out in front of me.
“Wait…”
I waited. Nothing happened. I gave an annoyed sigh and rolled my eyes.
“Eight Bit, you’re just being paranoid. It’s fi-“
I stopped in mid-sentence as the ground began to rumble softly. It started off gentle, and then gradually grew in magnitude until it felt like the whole earth was shaking under my hooves. 8-Bit and I lost our balance and crashed into the ground. We crouched until the shaking stopped and both sat up. My friend rubbed her head and looked at me nervously.
“The quarray eels are awake. We need to get moving quickly before they show up.”
But her sentence was lost to my ears. For behind her, a large, red, serpent-like creature was slithering out of one of the crevices in the wall. It was far bigger than the timberwolves and diamond dogs put together. My legs suddenly went numb and when I tried to warn 8-Bit, my throat was dry. She looked at me with a confused look on her face.
“You don’t look so good. What’s wrong?”
Then it opened its mouth, revealing the rows of razor sharp teeth that could turn us both into a tasty snack. Rivaling the speed of lightning, it lunged at my friend. I’m not sure why I did next, but I did.
“Eight Bit, get out off the way!!” I cried as I charged her. I extended my forehooves and shoved my partner a couple of meters. As I looked up, I only had enough time to see the mouth of the fearsome creature close in on me and…
When I opened my eyes, I realized I was holding its mouth open. My forehooves were lodged in the roof of the creatures mouth and my hindhooves its lower mouth. I trembled as the force of the massive jaw tried to overpower my legs. The quarray eel's mouth felt warm and slippery, and I feared I would lose my footing. Also, this thing had really bad breath. I heard 8-Bit’s cries of horror in the background, but I didn’t pay any attention to them. I focused all of my mental and physical strength into keeping the teeth off of me.
Then, I lost my footing. The jaws slammed shut and I was wrapped in darkness. However, it wasn’t the darkness of unconsciousness. No, there was no way I was going to let myself end there without any of my questions unanswered. I quickly reached for my sword in its harness and drew it as I began sliding to the quarray eel’s throat. I only had one chance so I had to time myself perfectly…The throat got closer…and closer…
When I was right about to fall, I forced my jaw forward and felt the blade poking into the quarray eel’s tough skin. I felt a rumbling underneath me and as I fell down its throat, but a force of liquid pushed me upwards and spilled me onto the floor of the canyon. I looked wearily over at 8-Bit who was surrounded by the beasts. The one that had vomited me up roared and the other quarray eels looked at it before beginning to retreat back into their holes. 8-Bit galloped over to me.
“Silver Blade!! Oh Celestia, are you alright?!” Her forehead creased with concern. “Ugh, you smell! When we get back, you need to bathe.”
Despite almost becoming a quarray eel’s lunch, I laughed. I stood up and shook myself, which for the most part got all of the saliva and…other things I didn’t want to think about off. I looked back at 8-Bit, who seemed to remember our mission and nodded.
“Scootaloo,” we both said.
We walked for a while longer until we found an orange pegasus filly sitting on a rock. I guessed it was Scootaloo and walked over to her. She looked up at us with a sad look in her eyes and looked away.
“Hey, Scootaloo.”
“Hey…”
I sat down next to her and 8-Bit sat down on her other side. Getting her home was good; making sure she never tried something this dangerous again was better. We knew why she was here, so we didn’t bother asking. She wanted to prove herself.
“Of all places to try and fly, why here?” my partner asked. Scootaloo sighed.
“Rainbow Dash comes her pretty often. I…wanted to be like her. It’s not fair! All of the other pegasi my age have gone to flight school except me. Why can’t I fly?” Scootaloo said miserably. We sat silently for a while before my partner spoke up again.
“Y’know…I can’t fly either.” Scootaloo and I both stared with shocked expressions at 8-Bit. She saw them and laughed. She continued, “It’s true! When I was younger than you are now, Scootaloo, there was a…there was an accident. I lost one of feathers and haven’t been able to fly since. It’ll never grow back, so I’m stuck here permanently.”
“But…” I interrupted, “You carried me those couple of times.” She nodded.
“Oh, I can fly short distances but I’ve never had the balance to fly to Cloudsdale or do any stunts. The best I can do is hover and glide. I once had a dream to join the Wonderbolts before the accident. After it…well…” Scootaloo nodded in silent understanding. “The point is, I know what it feels like to be grounded and even though I’m confident your wings will be large enough to fly one day, if it’s impossible for you to do one thing, do another.” Scootaloo seemed a little comforted, but not completely. She stared at the ground.
“It isn’t just that…I also don’t have my cutie mark and thought…I dunno, I guess I thought I could get it for being brave. It’s awful not knowing who you are.” I actually laughed at this.
“Yeah, I know how you feel,” I said as I stared at the sky.
“Huh?” The orange pegasus looked at me, more than confused.
“I woke up a few days ago with no memory. I have absolutely no idea who I am, but I don’t let this hold me back. I don’t try to remember who I was, I find myself in what I do now.”
“Finding yourself in what you do now…” Scootaloo repeated. She nodded and smiled at both of us. “Thanks. I think I’m ready to go home now.”
8-Bit nodded and pulled the badge out of her saddlebag. Scootaloo held onto her as I used my own. A ray of light shone down on us and we were lifted into the sky; our destination: home.
*****
“Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!” Pinkie Pie sang as she finished her musical greeting. 8-Bit and I both applauded. “And don’t think I didn’t hear about your rescue of Dinky Doo and Scootaloo! There’re some cupcakes on the counter for you on the HOUSE!” She grinned then pranced off into the crowd of ponies gathered for my welcome party. 8-Bit glanced at me and shrugged.
“Guess I’ll get ‘em.” She leaped down from our table and stopped by me. “You’re wrong, you know.”
“Wrong? How so?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Because,” she continued, “I know who you are.”
“Oh, do you now?” I said with the slightest trace of a smile.
“Yeah, I do,” she said confidently, “You said you had no idea who you were but I know very well who you are. The way you were willing to sacrifice yourself for Dinky, the way you held onto that sapphire to give to me despite the fact you could’ve…” she trailed off. “And now today, pushing me out of the way when that quarray eel when it could’ve eaten you and telling Scootaloo exactly what she needed to hear…You’re one of the bravest ponies I’ve ever met in my entire life. I’m proud to call you my partner…and friend.”
I was expecting her to leave it at that and to leave to get the cupcakes, but before she did she leaned over to me and nuzzled me…despite my smell.