All the Smallest Things: Original Draft

Nemona headed into Maretime Bay. She didn't know where she was going; she just needed to get away from them. The pastel-coloured buildings and wide, paved streets reminded her of Alfornada. Only a few ponies were outside, and they all kept their distance, staring at her in curiosity.

Ahead of her, she noticed Izzy and Misty flanking the Deerling like they were his bodyguards, all heading towards the centre of town. She broke into a sprint to catch up with them. Her strides were so wide and graceful that toe-claws barely scraped the sun-baked bricks, but after only a few seconds, her chest ached and she had to stop.

After catching her breath, she shouted, "Wait for me!"

The others must've heard here, because they stopped in place. Izzy and Misty turned their heads to look at her.

"Hiya Nemona!" exclaimed Izzy once she'd caught up. "What're you doing here?"

"Long story," Nemona said. "Where are you going?"

"We're taking a shortcut back to Bridlewood," said Misty.

"Can I join?" asked Nemona.

"Sure!" exclaimed Izzy.

The group continued walking again. Eventually, they reached a large tree in the town's plaza that was covered in multicoloured flowers.

"This is a together tree," Izzy explained. "There are four of them in Equestria, and they're all connected. If we touch its trunk, we'll be transported to another one!"

Nemona saw the Deerling tremble between the two ponies.

"Don't worry," Misty said to him. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Together, the four of them, along with the Spewpa on Misty's back, stepped into the tree. In an instant, the sunny skies and stone buildings of Maretime Bay had disappeared, replaced with Bridlewood's pinkish trees and cyan crystals. Now that there weren't any Sableye running around, it was a lot more peaceful. Some older unicorns were watering their gardens, while the little ones were taking turns on a swing.

Izzy looked around with squinted eyes. "Pipp didn't say where this other Deerling was, but I'm guessing it would be somewhere outside tow—" Before she could finish her sentence, the Deerling bolted away. "Wait, come back!"

Izzy galloped after him, Misty following close behind. Nemona decided to climb a tree and follow them from above; her claws gripped onto the bark with ease, and leaping between branches was much less tiring than running. After a few minutes, they found the Deerling in a clearing.

"What's the matter?" Misty asked him softly, but he still jumped when he heard her voice.

"I thought I smelled something familiar..." he said. He sniffed the air, then headed towards a bush. The others stayed still, and heard rustling as another Deerling stepped into view. It stepped towards him and sniffed him in turn. Izzy's horn glowed, presumably to cast the translation spell, but Misty shushed her.

The familiar Deerling stepped back. "I... don't know her. Sorry."

"That's a shame," said Misty. "Would you like to come back with us?"

"No... thanks. I like it here. It's quiet." He turned away, but hesitated for a moment.

"Goodbye," said Misty. Nemona jumped down from the branch to join in.

"Goodbye!" exclaimed Izzy, waving her hoof.

With that, the two Deerling pranced away into the forest.

On the way back to Bridlewood's town, Nemona noticed a circle of purple, electric-like sparks dancing across the grass. While Izzy and Misty kept their distance, Nemona leaped forwards to take a closer look.

"Is this like the thing you saw this morning?" she asked.

Misty nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Shame I wasn't there. I would've beaten that Roaring Moon in no time!" And Penny would've had no reason to stop me.

Penny jumped in surprise when she saw a bright flash of light. Then, two things fell to the ground: a marble, and an unconscious, orange Pokémon with big arms, short legs, and thick fur. The sparks disappeared.

"What're those?" asked Izzy.

"This is a Pawmot!" Nemona squeed. "I had one of these back in Paldea. Isn't it cute?" She pointed to its cheeks, but avoided touching it. She didn't want to wake it up and risk getting attacked. "Let's leave it be for now."

"What about the other thing?" asked Misty.

Nemona picked up the marble. It was mostly yellow, with purple and red streaks inside. "Oh, this? I'm not sure. It looks pretty, though. I'll keep it!" She clutched it in her hand.

Once they were in the town centre, Nemona noticed that most of the ponies had gone inside. She also swore that some of the crystals were missing chunks, and thought she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Whatever it was, it nearly blended into the canopy's shadows.

She took a step closer to the together tree, when... wham! She felt something slap her from behind, causing her to drop the marble. She whipped around to see her assailant, and came face-to-face with a wide, toothy grin under a pair of gemstones. It was a Sableye!

Izzy quickly cast a translation spell on the Sableye, just in time for him to snarl, "YOU!"

"Who are you?" Nemona asked.

"You attacked my brethren yesterday!" He pointed a jagged finger at Nemona's face. "We just wanted to eat some perfectly good crystals, but no, the locals had to chase us out."

Izzy bounced to Nemona's side. "Sorry about that, Mr. Sableye. We were just scared of you because we didn't know what you were!"

"SILENCE!" With that, the Sableye picked up the marble. Nemona stepped back and watched in awe as he was enveloped in a rainbow-coloured glow. His gem-eyes turned red, and the ruby in his chest burst out as it grew to the height of his body.

Nemona's pupils widened in realisation. "Oh, it was a mega stone! But I thought they needed a key—"

The Sableye's giant ruby glowed until a beam of light shot out of it and struck Nemona in the chest. It sent her reeling back, and she skidded across the dirt. As she got back up, she saw the Spewpa bounce off Misty's back and scatter confetti-like powder at the Sableye: a Stun Spore. He shielded himself with his ruby, and the numbing powder bounced back at the Spewpa, covering it.

"Oh no!" Misty gasped as the Spewpa dropped to the ground. "Nemona, what type is this Sableye?"

"Ghost and Dark," Nemona replied as she readied up an Ice Punch, "so it's only weak to Fairy." She leaned to the side so her arm reached behind the Sableye's ruby-shield, and hit him squarely in the chest.

"You mean like Sylveon?" asked Izzy. "I wish Penny were here right now."

Nemona rolled her eyes as she reigned in the urge to say, 'I don't.' The Sableye scratched her in the face with a claw cloaked in a shadowy aura, but it wasn't very effective. She jumped back. The Sableye took a cumbersome step towards her, still clinging onto his ruby like it was a safety blanket.

Nemona leaped to Izzy's side. "I've got an idea," she whispered. "You need to distract him."

"Right on it!" Izzy exclaimed.

The Sableye made his ruby glow again, but this time Nemona rolled to the side. It took him a few precious seconds to turn to face her, by which point she could roll again.

Izzy's horn lit up with a pinkish glow as she levitated a twig in the Sableye's face. "Come here, you big gremlin!" she yelled. The Sableye easily snapped it with a single scratch, but it bought Nemona enough time to punch him in the back. She felt one of the gems on his back crack beneath her fist...

But she didn't expect them to start glowing. A pink beam of light hit her in the face, and then everything went dark.

Izzy and Misty gasped in horror as Nemona was sent flying into a nearby tree trunk. She fell to the ground and shrunk, much like the Sableye they'd fought yesterday.

"Misty, you stay here," said Izzy. "I'll go get help!"

While Izzy galloped away in the direction they came, Misty took a cautious step towards the Sableye. His ruby-shield glowed again, and Misty almost backed away, but she took a gulp and looked him in the eyes.

"Stop!" she shouted. She concentrated all the magic into her horn, hoping to cast a shield like Sunny... but she couldn't.

"Why should I?" the Sableye hissed. "We just wanted a place to live, and you attacked us!"

Misty looked down for a moment as she pondered what to say next. "That's true, but... it's just like Izzy said! We didn't understand you! If a bunch of strangers showed up in your territory and started eating your stuff, wouldn't you attack them?"

"You have a point, little one," the Sableye said as he made the glow dissipate, "but why did your friend attack me on sight today?"

"You attacked Nemona first!"

"I meant the purple one, you imbecile!" He stomped his foot.

"Oh, you mean Izzy? She wasn't attacking you, she was casting a translation spell!"

The Sableye tilted his head. "A what?"

"It lets us understand you! See, we're ponies, not Pokémon, so we can't understand you normally." Misty took another step forwards. "I think she was hoping that if we talked things through, you wouldn't attack us!"

"And what would you... ponies have to offer us? A lifetime's supply of hugs?" He chuckled.

Misty shook her head as she thought of what to say next. "Umm... I don't know. But we'll think of something!"

Just then, Izzy came rushing back with the Pawmot following close behind. His paws glowed, and he bent down to touch her. Nemona was surrounded by a bluish-white glow, then woke up and returned to her normal size.

"Izzy, I need your help!" exclaimed Misty.

Izzy rushed to her side. "What is it?"

"I want to make a deal with this Sableye, but I'm not sure what he'd agree too..."

Izzy looked around at the half-eaten crystals. "A-ha!" She faced the Sableye. "I know! How about you ask Alphabittle nicely if you can eat all the gemstones you want, as long as they don't belong to anypony. He's big, he's grey, and he has a broom." She pointed towards the tea shop's stained-glass doors.

"An interesting proposal..." said the Sableye. "I shall discuss it with my pack first." He turned away and headed towards the darkest parts of the forest.

Misty and Izzy returned to Nemona's side.

"Thanks," Nemona said to the Pawmot.

"It's no big deal," he replied. "Your friend Izzy woke me up with quite a shock! I didn't mind, though. She told me you needed help, so I told her I know Revival Blessing. What did she say your name was again...?"

"Nemona."

The Pawmot placed his hand under his chin. "Huh. That's odd. My trainer was called Nemona. I wonder where she is?"