Sapphire wasn't able to fall asleep. So she took some spare time to write her thoughts in the journal she had brought with. Ruby watched her write with her mouth, and silently thanked her lucky stars she had paws to use.
When Sapphire finally put the journal away, Ruby asked, "So…how come you wear a scarf?"
"Oh! Well, I don't really know. My mom gave it to me when I was little, I guess it's just a comfort thing. Pretty sure she bought it at a flea market" She said
"Huh, makes sense I suppose. I don't…have a mom"
"I'm so sorry, are you ok?" Sapphire asked.
Ruby nodded, "I never knew her. My guardian said I had been abandoned, and this scarf was the only thing on me. I guess a small part of me keeps it because there's something special about it? It reminds me that I'm lucky to be alive, and to be grateful for what I'm given."
"And another part of me hopes it will help me find my real family. I mean, my dad is…ok. But I want to know what happened, what kind of people they were. Maybe one day i'll be walking, and my real mom will recognize the scarf. Uhm…that's kinda dumb I know"
"No no. I think it's sweet. It's good to have a reminder to be grateful for what you have, and remember what can be taken from you in the blink of an eye"
Ruby had the sense there was something in Sapphire's past that gave her such insight, maybe it was about her leg, but she wasn't going to ask about that quite yet.
"By the way…thank you for being nice," she said.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ruby asked, confused.
"I knew to expect people like Tyrone or Eclipse. I knew kids like them growing up in my small town. Lots of kids liked to pick on me for being disabled. And if they weren't bullies, they still gave me odd looks or asked too many questions. Or pity me. I can't handle bullying, but pity is where I draw the line. I won't let anyone feel bad for me, I know I'm strong and smart!" She said triumphantly.
Her confidence was contagious, "Yeah!" Ruby shouted maybe a bit too loud, "I'm sorry you have to go through that. I don't really know what it's like to be legless, but I've been bullied too"
"Really? What for?" The pony asked, taking off her metal leg with her psychic powers. Her horn glowed bright. "You seem so…normal"
"I'm bit of an airhead, you could say. I never got to finish primary school, you see. I had to drop out a couple years early to help take care of the house while my Dad was away at work. Some months were tougher than others when it came to money, so sometimes I had to work the odd job to pay for food. It wasn't easy to be alone all day, or to not know simple stuff everyone else knew"
Sapphire nodded, "I see. Well, I was a pretty smart student, if you ever need help, you can ask me. From one outcast to another, yeah?"
Ruby smiled, and blowed the candle out, coating the room in darkness, "Totally"
…
In the morning they had their first class. They had to take a course on fighting and battles, it was run by Professor Magly, he was a young but giant nidoking who was also a guild member. The class itself was boring, just going over basic type matchups that everyone already knew. But it had to be done, with how many dumb students come through, can't be too safe.
The next class of the day was way more exciting for everyone. It was an exploration class, and the professor, Mrs Mira, pulled no punches.
"Who here has been inside a mystery dungeon?" The giraffe pokemon asked, and they all raised their hands.
"Thank Arceus, so I don't need to do much dummy explanations. Follow me guys", she led the class outside and went on a small walk. Just by the outskirts of Moongleam city were marshlands. It was pungent and dead looking.
"Can anyone tell me what they see here?" Professor Mira asked.
Tyrone butted in, instead of raising his hand like Ruby, "The small grove over there is hiding a mystery dungeon. I saw it right away, unlike everyone else" he said, and Ruby glared at him from the side. Sapphire rolled her eyes
"Correct! Not everyone is able to identify a hidden dungeon, but it's important to learn. Follow me inside, then keep close to me so you don't get lost"
They all make their way into the dungeon. It's alive with moss and greenery. The small puddles are topped with lily pads sprouting pink flowers. The walls and ceiling are wet and dripping. The earthy scent almost makes some of the students gag, not expecting such a stench.
Professor Mira spoke, "there's no pokemon in this particular dungeon, so don't worry about fighting. Instead, we'll use this small dungeon as practice for traversing. Its not as simple as you might think. It's super easy to get lost", she then digs around in her satchel with her snout, and pulls up what looks like an orange watch.
"In the old days, pokemon could only wander aimlessly and get lost. But now, we have special tools to help us navigate".
"With some magic, this device…" she pauses to equip herself. She wore it like an ankle bracelet, the velcro straps meeting together tightly, "will record your path" she searched around in the bag again, and tossed out six more of the odd devices. Each student equipped it as comfortably as they could. "Give it a try"
Sapphire took the first few steps and then looked behind herself. It was a faint, but clearly visible orange line of light coming from behind her. The other students had different colors, Ruby's was a rich purple. Not only would they know their path, but they could find another person's path too! The other students tried it in awe.
"Nifty huh? And if you look at the little screen on there, you'll find how much of the room you've explored, it automatically maps it out for you. It can also show you how close an enemy pokemon is"
Professor Mira took everyone through the dungeon, explaining different tidbits of information and explaining features of the bracelet. It was a lot to take in for the first day, but it pumped the students up to learn.
After the class escaped the easy dungeon, professor Mira let the kids off for the day, giving them the freedom to explore around town.
"Hey, Ruby'' Sapphire tapped on Ruby's shoulder, "I've been here before a couple times when I was younger, so I know all the hot spots. There's an ice cream parlor we have to go to!"
Ruby smiled, "oh, good idea! Lead the way"
The two stuck close together on their way to what might be the best ice cream they've ever had. Unfortunately, they ran into two certain pokemon on their way.
Tyrone and Eclipse were talking on the sidewalk, just a few buildings down from where Sapphire wanted to go. Tyrone turned to look at them.
"One trick pony. Or, should I say, one legged pony" he said, chuckling.
Sapphire but didn't give much reaction, but it had Ruby fuming.
Eclipse then took her turn and walked up to Sapphire. She was just barely taller than the equine. "Listen kid. This type of job isn't for pokemon like you. You can't do it. Sure you got a peg leg but come on, the Guild can't possibly accommodate you for long. Your best bet is to quit while you're ahead and find some easier job, capiche?"
Now Ruby had it, she stormed up to the blue feline, "hey! That is not how you treat someone! I think she's more than capable of doing this. Maybe she'll even be better than you!"
The pair of bullies roll their eyes and mutter some remark under their breath. Tyrone starts to walk off, and Eclipse follows.
Sapphire looked at Ruby strangely, "you didn't have to do that you know. It's fine, I'm used to rude comments"
Ruby looked back at her sadly, "I'm sure. It's just…I know how it feels to be bullied, remember? I can't really compare it to you, I don't know a lot about different pokemon. At home there was no such thing as disabilities, or different identities or cultures. It's all so new, but I want to keep learning."
Sapphire thought to herself for a moment. But then she nodded, Ruby seems like a good person. "We still got each other, right? We're friends" She smiled. Ruby smiled back, for many reasons. My new friend.
They went to the ice cream parlor. Ruby chose a plain vanilla bean. It was always her favorite flavor. Sapphire chose blue moon. The pair went outside to eat their treats.
"I can't wait until they let us explore by ourselves. That dungeon was so dull, we barely even got to walk around!" Ruby said.
Sapphire looked up in the sky. It was a peaceful orange and yellow gradient. Rays of the sun poked through the cumulus clouds. "Yeah, it's dull for me too. I've been in dungeons since I was a kid, I'm only here to get the official stuff out of the way really" she said while taking a lick of ice cream.
The two of them kept silent as they finished their waffle cones. The sky was slowly growing darker, the moon glowed behind the clouds, a radiant dark blue.
Authors note:
Shorter chapter today, sorry! I have the next few chapters drafted out, but im slowly rewriting them to make them even better. I realized I wasn't adding much character depth as I thought, so ive been trying to incorporate that more. Thanks for reading!