First Dig [visual]

[ghostgem]

[Hello, Ponyville. Your newest import is a small purple dragon with bizarre gem-eyes! And she's walking around, looking at the scroll. Judging from the trees behind her, it looks like she's near the forest. Somehow, her hands are free! What you can't see is that she's using her scarf like a second set of hands, holding on to the scroll. When she speaks, she seems pleasant enough, and her voice has a friendly southern twang to it]

This here scroll's pretty nifty, I have to say! We got somethin' like this, sorta, called a frism. Got one at home, under lock and key! It's a weird little jar made'a ice that's so cold, it can freeze voices. Then when you warm it up, it plays the voice back for ya! But it can't record pictures, not like this! No sir-ee.

Er… [she pauses, tapping her claws to her chin] Ain't what I'm here to talk about though!

My name's Gemineye! Gemmy for short! [she says it "Jimmy"] I'm a Pokémon, ya see. And I'm mighty curious as to who owns this here land. I s'pect this is a good place to live. S'good as any! [she holds the scroll out, showing an area near the foothills of Rambling Rock Ridge. She's marked it off with whatever she could find; rocks, leaves, flowers, whatever.] But I don't just wanna take it over! I got Bits! Plenty of 'em fer land like this! [her Poké and the handful of gems she'd had in her bag had carried over pretty well]

Ah, and once I get the land, I'm gonna need me a favor from one of y'all. Architecture ain't my strongest point, and I'd like a little hut out here. Just a roof to keep out the elements, I reckon. The sooner I get a base of operations, the sooner I can get to servin' this fine community with my special talents![buttering you ponies up? You bet. She turns the scroll back on herself]

I s'pose I should also ask if any of ya know what a "Pokémon" is. Most of the Ponyta --- er… "ponies" -- I talked to ain't never heard of 'em before! Ain't sure how that's possible. They also called me a dragon. I can tell ya what, I ain't no dragon-type! [she laughs, because it's a FUNNY JOKE SEE] I'm a Sableye, like my mom and her mom and her mom before her! We're ghost and dark types! Dragon… pretty silly.

Comments

[Audio]

[surpriserainbows]

So hey! I didn't really understand any of that but you know I can at least tell you it's the Princesses who own the land! The land, the sky, the ocean, and everything that walks, flies, or swims here in Equestria!

[The pony on the other end laughs nervously. That was just a load of new information she's never heard of to try and process. But she can at least give a little information for one of the questions the weird dragon just asked even if Surprise's own interpretation of how things are are skewed a bit and wrong.]

So never heard of a Pokemon before! What is that, like some kind of animal or creepy monster or what are you actually supposed to be? I mean I'm not trying to be rude it's just there's a whole lot of new ponies here who aren't ponies and it's getting kind of confusing! Like a lot to take in!

[Audio]

[ghostgem]

Princesses? [there's a pause, during which Gemmy makes a humming noise] Do they live up in that there fancy castle on the mountain? But I walk here! They don't own me! No sir. People aren't property! But if it's some royalty I gotta talk to, I guess I ain't got a choice!

Nah! Pokémon come in all different shapes and sizes! I'm just one kind of lots! S'why it's kinda weird ta see a town populated by... well... all one kind of thing! Hard to explain, I guess. You from around here, then?

[Audio]

[surpriserainbows]

That'd be Canterlot and trust me it'll take more than just walking to really get there.

...You really think you're just going to walk up and talk to the Princesses?

[Maybe the ones here would be decent enough to receive this weird dragon. Or at least the Celestia here would be. Back in the Equestria she was from having the gall to try and speak to the Princesses' face to face would earn you a trip to the dungeon. If you were lucky.]

Sort of! Uh, I'm a Pegasus! So I lived up in Cloudsdale! If you look up you'll see a big town floating on the clouds.

[Audio]

[ghostgem]

Shishishi!! Well obviously it'll take a bit of climbin', too!

Er, well, I dunno. I never talked ta any sort of royalty before. Maybe I should send 'em a post first. Maybe we can conduct business over scroll! That'd be peachy as pie!

[sounds like a nice place c: No such thing as real "royalty" where Gemineye comes from. Sure, there were Pokémon with power who considered themselves pretty important! But kings and queens...? Nah.]

[another pause, then Gemmy lets out a gasp] Well cover me in feathers and call me a Pidgey! There sure is a town up there! That's pretty.... well, I'll just come out and say it. That's pretty physics-defyin'.

[Audio]

[surpriserainbows]

I don't think you get how to act towards royalty, man. First off I don't think they can help you get out of here, even if they're trying with all the other non-ponies who showed up. Secondly you'd have to have real important business to waste their time with it.

Man there's nothing-defying about it! It's just what pegasi do! The earth ponies have the land and the vegetation, the unicorns have the magic, and we've got the sky and the weather. I dunno why it'd be surprising....

[She honestly just can't see things from the point of view of all the weird ponies and dragons and whatever else pouring in. This is all some standard stuff to her.]

visual

[etranger]

what is this she don't even

Ahem. There's a dark pink pony just sort of staring into the scroll in bewilderment.

"I...what."

A pause so she can be bewildered at you some more.

"You're...seriously a Sableye? Really?"

visual;

[ghostgem]

[She tilts her head, perking her little ear fins to one side]

Well gosh. Yeah. That's what I said, m'mam! Ain't never been anything else! Haw! Sounds like you know what a Sableye is at least! Are you a Pokémon?

[etranger]

"I'm a human, actually...or at least I used to be. I'm a Pokemon Trainer, actually."

She shifts the scroll a little, to show off a baby dragon splashing about the edges of a nearby river.

"That's Etranger, she used to be a Hydreigon."

[ghostgem]

Human? [a frown] Aww, you're pullin' my leg! Humans don't REALLY exist! They're just stories. Pokémon trainer? ... Oh! I get it. Ya help Pokémon get strong, right? Well, not sure how a human could know enough about Pokémon to train 'em, by golly!

[Gemmy blinks, so rapidly that it just looks like her eyes are flickering]

... Ya know, I've never seen a Hydreigon myself, but ain't they s'posed to be a mite... bigger? She looks the same size as me.

[ihasahoe]

Pokemon can talk?!

[Cynthia never mentioned that.]

[ghostgem]

Well of course, fella! Shishishi! What a silly thing to ask.

[ihasahoe]

I've never heard a Pokemon talk before...

[Not that he's met very many, of course.]

[ghostgem]

Heh! Well I guess the obvious question is just how many Pokémon have you met? Maybe they were just quiet, or shy!

[millionbitpipes]

[...Sableye are the creepy-lookin' ones, ain't they]

Yeah, I know what Pokemon are. Never run into a Sableye before, though.

[ghostgem]

[among the creepiest. A fact that she knows -- and uses -- well]

Oh good! I'm glad to hear it. Though sad that you've never met a sableye! We're fine folk, shishishi!

[millionbitpipes]

Yeah, well, I never actually went to any Pokemon universe myself. Bunch of us got turned into 'em in this other place once, though. [There wasn't anyone there creepy enough to be a Sableye.]

[ghostgem]

Turned into 'em? That's some far-fetched stuff, stranger. Though it seems like this place likes to mess with the shape of folk, too, so maybe it ain't as strange as I thought!

[Audio]

[buckleupforsafety]

We have something like this, too. They're called televisions and computers and cell phones. I think we win.

[Audio]

[ghostgem]

Com-pyuu-turr? So it... computes? Is that right? Like, it does math?

[Audio]

[buckleupforsafety]

That's a calculator.

A computer does math and everything else in the world.

[Also porn, but that feels like a weird thing to bring up in front of the not-dragon, and that's more 21's area anyway.]

[ghostgem]

Everything? Geez, y'all really like messin' with me, don't ya! What does "everything" even mean!

[honestly, something that does math would be enough for her! Abacuses are as hi-tech as the Pokémon world gets]

[visual]

[strawberryredgrave]

You probably got changed into a dragon when you got here. You wouldn't be the first.

(So says the full grown dragon on the other side of the visual.)

Pretty sure I can help you out with a hut, too; putting up a few walls and a roof isn't too hard.

[visual]

[ghostgem]

Well, I ain't much different than usual! I normally don't have a tail quite like this... and my nose is a little too long. [she pokes it.

She also doesn't seem too concerned by how large he is. She works alongside some of the largest Pokémon there are, anyway.]

Aw, shucks! That's be just peachy! I'll have to find a way to repay you, for certain! I'm a lady of my word.

[visual]

[strawberryredgrave]

Then you lucked out; some people went from two legs to four.

(Not Dante, of course. He's too cool for that. He waves a dismissive hand.)

Eh, don't worry about it; it's on the house. Think of it as a welcoming gift.

[visual]

[ghostgem]

Shishishi! I can run on both. But ah, I know what you mean. I'm pretty happy to still have these here thumbs. I don't think I could work with hooves.

Hmph. Well, if you're very sure. [she'll probably give him a gift later anyway. A totally unrelated one. A good business-pokémon has no debts] Gotta acquire this land though, first, 'fore I can break ground.