Hi! I'm Yoshi, the green dinosaur! …. Okay, I am one of the green Yoshis, but I was the first one that Mario found. When I hatched, Mario was the first thing that I saw. I knew a lot of stuff because my parents talked to me while I was in my egg, but one day they stopped talking to me. Mario explained that Bowser, the evil koopa king, was responsible, and wanted to know if I would help him save all of the other Yoshi and Mario's princess, Peach (she had a tasty name). I nodded my head yes, then my stomach growled. Mario jumped on my back and said, "There are a bunch of goombas, koopas, and peaches ahead, so you will get-a to eat your fill!"

With that, we were off. We trekked through the area until there was a break in the enemies and came upon a man wearing green.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted at the figure in green, "You shouldn't-a run ahead unless you are-a going to take-a out some enemies."

"Sorry, bro. I wanted to scout out the next area. I found the castle, but it will take a while to get to. And you found a green Yoshi! That's great. Let's go on and free the rest!" Luigi was not one to beat around the bush when he was on a mission. I was glad for that. After exchanging a few more details, Mario – now riding on my back – Luigi and I started our long journey together.

Not much was to be said about the journey, though. We fought enemies, solved puzzles, and captured every castle outpost along the way to each stronghold. I never actually went in to any of the castles. A little known fact about Yoshis is that we are terribly afraid of the indoors. Not that it is for lack of trying. We can live in huts made from trees and leaves, but stone structures terrify us. That, and I personally am afraid of ghosts, so I didn't even step into the boo houses.

At one point during our quest Luigi found a cape and put it on for fun. He ran as fast as he could and shouted, "Look at me! I am Supermaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" He jumped, and soared into the sky. Mario and I looked up in awe. "Who-a knew that-a Luigi could fly," he stated. I shrugged; I had only known the guy for a few weeks, so they could have the ability to turn into cats for all I know. That would be weird. Luigi finally came down and said that he had found a magic cape, and that it would really help with scouting out better routes to walk. Mario and I could only nod, more surprised that he was calm after being flung into the sky unprepared then the fact that he had just flown.

We kept going like this for a while; Luigi went ahead and scouted out the area (much faster now that he could fly) while Mario and I took out all of Bowser's minions in the area. This was our pattern. We were used to it. Nothing went wrong that way. But one day Luigi brought back news of the area ahead, and it didn't sound fun.

There was an abyss ahead, the bottom was hidden beneath a sheet of fog, and the only way to cross it was a path of giant red and green mushrooms. Luigi said that he would take out as many enemies as he could the next day so that Mario and I could focus just on jumping from mushroom to mushroom. With that in mind, we slept for the night.

When Mario – who, as always, was riding on my back, not that I minded – and I arrived at the mushroom path, we wasted no time in getting across. Luigi kept true to his word, because there wasn't a single koopa in sight for miles. Mario and I cruised along with ease until we came across one particular jump that made Mario stop me from continuing.

"Hey-a Yoshi, do you think you can jump this?" he looked almost ashamed, avoiding eye contact, "I know Luigi would be able to, but I can't. Do you think we can get to the other side?" He was embarrassed, and had to ask me for help. I looked at him, with fierce eyes, nodding my head. Any Yoshi could make that jump, and because Mario had ridden me all of my life, I was far stronger than any other Yoshi. It took a few seconds, but he finally returned my gaze, saying, "Okay then!" He jumped back onto my back.

I backed up to the back edge of the mushroom we were on, planning on getting a running start. I took off, sprinting at full speed, racing towards the edge. That edge came and went as I jumped into a high arc. Up and up we went, almost half way to the other mushroom, but before we reached the halfway point, we started going down. Just then I realized that even though I was stronger because Mario rode on my back, he weighed me down. This jump was impossible with him on my back. We were going down, going to die, but then a second thought occurred to me. One of us could live, and I made my choice. A tear came to my eye: I didn't even get to say goodbye.

I grabbed Mario's hand and threw him as hard as I could to the other mushroom, and in doing so, sealing my fate. The last thing I heard as I fell was Mario's scream; "Yoshi! Noooo!"

~~ Luigi's PoV here on out ~~

After I had finished clearing out the mushroom bridge, as I had come to call it, I waited for a half on an hour to rest from all of the fighting. After resting, I decided to go and see if Mario and Yoshi needed my help getting to the other side. Mario may have been older, but I still worried about him and Yoshi. As I got up to fly out to find them, I saw Mario jumping the last few gaps between the mushrooms… alone. As he got closer, I saw that is eyes were dead and his cheeks puffy.

I ran up to meet him, "Mario! Are you okay?" I hesitated to ask, but I had to, "Where's Yoshi, Mario?"

When Mario reached the solid ground, he only walked, his hat hiding his eyes, his head hung low. He didn't answer me, but instead walked past me as if I hadn't spoken, "Mario? What happened? Mario, please! What happened to Yoshi!?" I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, knowing that he would only confirm what I suspected.

"He misjudged a jump. He wanted to go for it, and I let him, but we missed the edge by several feet," tears were flowing from his eyes. "He saw that we were not going to make it before I did, and he threw me to the edge. I could only watch helplessly as he fell. He saved me. I was too weak, and he paid the price!" Mario fell to his hands and knees, unable to hold back any more, "I failed him! Because I was too weak, he had to save me!"

Mario was never the same after that. He trained whenever he got the chance, building muscle, jumping further, and hitting harder than I even knew was possible. While he could never jump as well as I could, he was more than able to jump the mushroom gap that had taken his companion. No enemy, no fort, no castle withstood his wrath. Within a month we rescued all of the Yoshi eggs and freed the princess. But Mario still never cheered up.

Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, who I had told about the entire incident, could find no way to return the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom to his former self. I had all but given up when I decided to look at the maps I had made of the land we had just traveled when I found that something had been added to one of my earlier maps, an X. I wasted no time in putting my cape on and flying over.

When I returned, I went to the palace, where Mario had been staying for the past few weeks, and I called for the two princesses to join me in visiting Mario. Mario had been in the library, staring at the lit fireplace in a large cushioned arm chair. I went in alone and gave Mario two items: an info box and a green spotted egg. Mario looked at me oddly as I hit the info box, causing words to appear. It read:

"Mario, if you are reading this, then I assume I didn't make it. I don't mind though. I bet I was helping you save the Yoshis and your princess with the tasty name. In any case, I have a favor to ask of you. This is my egg, my child. If I can't be around to raise it, then can you? I know it's a lot to ask, but I have no one else to go to. Also, don't be sad that I am gone. I will always be with you.

Goodbye Mario,

Your friend, Yoshi!"

Mario looked up at me and then down to the egg. Tears filled his eyes once more as he said, "Thank you Luigi. I don't know where you found this, but it means so much to me."

"It was the least I could do for you, bro, the least I could do."

All of a sudden the sounds of cracking were heard throughout the room. The days were going to be a lot happier here on out.

A/N So this is my first story! Tell me what was good, what was bad, and what needs improvement. This is all based off of a pic, which I will try to link in my profile later! I hope you all enjoyed!