sunraising | first sunrise ☼ audio/action for new bark

[action]

[ Like so many others today, a woman emerges from that house in New Bark Town, bag in hand. She's hard to miss: over six feet tall in uncomfortable-looking heels, with hair down to her knees in waves of pastel colours. She's wearing a white gown and a crown on her head, but most remarkably, she looks like she needs an instruction manual for her feet.

She takes two steps out of the house and actually windmills her arms, overbalancing backward and falling on her ass. Ouch. ]

[audio]

[ Late in the afternoon, a message makes its way across the network. The voice may be familiar to some. She sounds fairly upbeat, all things considered. ]

Well, this is certainly an adventure. It would seem I've been transported to another dimension. I thought it might have been the work of Discord, but it's much larger than that, isn't it?

[ A beat while she weighs what she just said. Much larger than Discord can't be good. ]

I'd like to find a way back to Equestria, but I imagine that if there were a simple way back, there wouldn't be so many of us here, would there? [ A note of gravity enters her voice. ] Still, I'm concerned that my little sister might not be able to handle my duties on top of her own. If anyone can offer advice or assistance on getting back to my world, or even sending a letter there, I would appreciate it.

My name is Celestia. I look forward to meeting you all.

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_{[Which makes for a smile on his end, probably audible in his voice. She doesn't seem to have changed.]}

I do. I'll be sure to get back to you on the matter.

_{[He doesn't have the Solrock on him, at present, cause frankly a big floating rock in your hotel room is really kind of awkward.]}

[She can't help but laugh a bit at that.]

At the very least, we tend to plan things out a bit more.

... I'm glad to have your wisdom to help out, your highness.

Me too. Oh!

My name is Duck! It's nice to meet you, Celestia!

(Huh...well that's a new one. Dante hasn't seen it before, but he rarely expresses surprise anyway.)

Monster's just a simplified term; the real one's pokemon.

Apus, huh...? Pretty cool name. I don't have one like that; instead, I have this guy.

(He points the camera to his Scizor, who's clearly busy punching trees in the background as per his training regime assigned by Dante.)

I call him Sparda. He's some sort of metal...bug claw thing. These guys come in all sorts of designs and shapes and stuff. It's different from what I'm used to, that's for damn sure.

[ Celestia smiles warmly at Lady. It's nice to see a Pokémon so affectionate with her trainer. ]

Illusions can be a magic all their own, but I gather that they're not, in your world. So all of this is new to you?

[ Her smile is just as audible. ]

Thank you, Dale. I appreciate it.

[ She chuckles a little, herself. ]

I'm very glad to be here to help you, Twilight. But it seems you've been doing an excellent job on your own. I'm proud of you.

It's nice to meet you, too, Duck. Thank you for talking with me.

We have quite the variety of creatures in our world, but not quite like these ones.

[ Celestia turns the camera back to herself so she can see the Pokémon he's showing her. ]

My. He looks strong.

Yeah, this is apparently the only world that has them as regulars. Even the ones that come close don't have anything like this.

I've been training this guy myself since day one. You'd think they'd know how to handle dual-wielding; this guy was a complete rookie, but at least he's made progress. Yo, Sparda! Say what's up to the camera!

(At the command, the scizor stops what he's doing to happily wave at the camera.)

"Scizor!"

They understand people pretty well, too. I dunno how, but I'm not complaining.

I should clarify: they're illusions with a non-magical explanation for how they were performed. Even if sometimes that explanation is as simple as "the illusionist is very, very good at his work".

[But. Moving on.]

As to this being new...well, it doesn't seem so now, after the time I've spent here. And there's something very like this that exists as a game in my world, so some of my friends have found it quite familiar. Personally, I've largely fallen out of finding it wondrous and simply consider it strange.

That means a lot. Thank you. But there's still a long way to go.

[She can't tell her everything over the gear, but there is a lot to do here in Johto, and she's pretty sure Celestia's figured that out for herself already.]

Do you have any questions about the place you'd like answered right away?

I can't imagine the wonder wearing off. I've been ruling Equestria for — [ a beat ] — quite some time, and I still find new things to wonder at.

I've gathered quite a bit of information from the many people who have welcomed me here. I believe my curiosities have been satisfied for the moment.

But if I find myself in need of enlightenment, I'll know who to go to. [ This with a sly sort of smile. ]

They certainly do.

[ Celestia glances at Apus out of the corner of her eye. ]

Apus communicates with me telepathically, though she doesn't use words. She's really quite skilled at conveying her thoughts through images and feelings.

[She's really not sure how to respond to that, largely because she's not sure if Celestia's serious or teasing her. That smile and the use of the word "enlightenment" leans her towards the latter.]

Right, well... I'll be right here. Anytime you need me.

You may find it more tedious when you consider that some of us have been away from our homes, our families, and our friends for a very long time.

Yeah? Sounds pretty freaky, talking to someone like that. Best I've had to deal with is body language or noises they make. Suck they can't speak English, but whatever; as long as it works.

Doesn't it get annoying when it talks to you like that? Random pictures and stuff?

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