Digital Harmony

Chapters

Prologue: The Portal
Chapter One: Partnership
Chapter Two: The First Champion
Chapter Three: Brothers
Chapter Four: True Beauty

Prologue: The Portal

Equestria loved technology.

It was rather startling how quickly the kingdom evolved into a technological powerhouse. In fact, it happened so suddenly that most foals could still remember a time without it. When questioned, most would simply shrug and chalk it up to magic, too awed and excited by the devices before them to question it.

Every household, it seemed, had at least one television and personal computer. Ponies could be seen using cellular phones and laptop computers on a daily basis. Young colts and fillies spent much of their time online or playing video games. Some theorized that it wouldn’t be long at all before much of the population simply refused to leave their homes, preferring to waste away in front of a TV screen or a computer monitor.

One pony who seemed to already be in that state was Twilight Sparkle, Equestria’s newest princess and Ponyville’s librarian. Most of her interactions happened either online or with her dragon assistant Spike acting as a middleman. Most of her waking hours since the sudden advent of technology were spent in the basement of the Golden Oaks Library. All anypony knew—or rather, all she would tell them—was that she was trying to build something. Nopony, not even Spike, knew what it was, as she insisted it was a “surprise,” though he would swear to hearing strange noises coming from whatever she was making.

But nopony could have known that Twilight’s tinkering would soon change the lives of her friends... and threaten more than one world in the process.

“Finally!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she and her friends stood inside the library. “We haven’t seen you for months, Twilight! Whatever this surprise is, it had better be worth that.”

“I’m really sorry about that, everypony,” Twilight confessed. “It’s just that this was something I was very passionate about. I hardly realized it had been that long.”

“What, yer calendar ain’t workin’?” Applejack remarked.

Fluttershy approached Twilight and wrapped her in a hug. “I don’t care how long it’s been. I’m just glad to have my friend back.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I haven’t gone anywhere. And I’ve been emailing you regularly, haven’t I?”

“It’s hardly the same,” Rarity stated. “It lacks a personal touch. We knew you were situated in your basement, but you still felt so distant!”

“Well, we won’t be having any of that anymore,” Twilight announced, “because my project is finally complete!”

“Ooh! What is it?” Pinkie Pie inquired. “Some kind of supercomputer? A giant virtual reality? A tap-dancing CGI penguin?”

“No, no, and what?” Twilight reeled back, trying to process what was just said. “Look, just come down to the basement and I’ll show you what I’ve spent the last few... months, I guess... working on.”

“Whatever it is,” Rainbow asserted, “for as long as it kept you from us, it had better blow my mind.”

“...yep. Consider my mind blown.”

“Called it!” Pinkie exclaimed. Sure enough, the girls were staring at an absolute behemoth of a supercomputer. The machine had a million lights and buttons that nopony but Twilight could even begin to understand. It was making a hellish racket, and the heat in the basement implied that it had been running all day, if not longer.

“Actually,” Twilight informed them, “I bought that myself. I saved up quite a bit to afford it, but the shop owner practically forced me to pay a discounted price due to my—”

“But if you purchased that monstrous thing,” Rarity asked, “then what were you constructing down here?”

“Well...” Twilight replied, stepping off to the side.

Behind the spot where she once stood was a massive arch styled to look like a horseshoe. It looked large enough for a pony to walk through, and it was attached to the gigantic console by a wide array of wires. To the assembled group of mares, it almost looked like...

“That’s the portal in the Crystal Palace!” Fluttershy cried. “You built another one?”

“I did,” Twilight answered. “Or at least I hope I did.”

“Well,” Rainbow retorted. “That’s my mind blown twice.”

“Can you do that?” Pinkie asked. “Can you be mind-blown twice?”

“Ah think my first question is why,” Applejack stated. “Why’d ya feel the need to build another portal to another dimension?”

“I have friends on the other side,” Twilight admitted. “They’re a lot like you, actually. A lot like you. It’s like... I’m looking into a mirror and seeing a world just like ours in just enough ways, right down to the people in them.”

“My apologies for the interruption,” Rarity interjected, “but if this was for your benefit, why did you show it to all of us?”

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “Well... I was kind of hoping to bring you all with me this time.”

Everypony gasped, the look of shock almost universal on all of their faces. Pinkie Pie, however, looked considerably more excited.

Rainbow was the first to break the silence. “Okay, Twilight? I’m gonna need you to stop blowing my mind now.”

“...and take a look at this gauge every once in awhile,” Twilight explained, showing a bewildered Spike the machinations of the electronic behemoth in the basement. “If it goes into the red, I’m afraid the portal might collapse in on itself, and that might not end well for either world.”

“Uh...” Spike stammered. “Can you write all this down for me?”

“Already have!” Twilight beamed, dropping the thickest scroll he’d ever seen into his waiting claws. He immediately collapsed attempting to lift it.

“Thanks...” Spike said groggily.

Twilight giggled, then set her sights on the portal before her. It appeared stable for the moment, and it showed no signs of faltering or collapsing now. She’d asked her friends to reconvene here around now; she knew it was a bit earlier than they were accustomed to, but she planned to spend the bulk of a day on the other side, and she wanted to make the most of it. She’d see her other friends, Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer... and everypony else would be there with her this time.

“Twilight...?”

Twilight looked back to Spike, who had a surprising look of worry on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, this is your first time going there without me,” Spike explained. “I just want to make sure you’ll be alright over there.”

“Relax, Spike. We’ll be fine. When the six of us are together, there’s nothing that can come between us.”

“Can you at least pack your tablet or something?” Spike inquired. “You’re going to be worlds away. I’d feel a lot better if I could at least email you to keep in touch.”

Twilight wanted to tell Spike that it wouldn’t work, that there was no way she would be able to communicate across universes using an electronic device like that. There was absolutely no logical way to make it work.

But Spike’s face was picture perfect brotherly concern. He just wanted to look out for her, even though they both knew the world shouldn’t pose any sort of threat. If nothing else, she could grab her tablet out of the desk on the other side of the basement, just to put his mind at ease. Besides, her friends were liable to have something on them; if nothing else, they could keep in touch if they got separated.

“Alright, Spike,” Twilight agreed. “I’ll grab my tablet.” True to her word, she walked across the room to fetch it, finding it right where she’d left it and putting it in her saddlebags.

After she made sure that it was secure, Twilight took another look around the room, nodding her head in satisfaction. “That should be everything!”

The instant she said that, the basement door slammed open. Pinkie Pie burst in, saddlebags at the ready, screaming “Let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy followed behind her, wearing bags of their own.

“All of my affairs are in order, as you requested,” Rarity stated. “I’ve packed everything I would reasonably need for a day out.”

“I really hope this other world is worth waking up before noon,” Rainbow muttered. “I’m missing out on a great nap right about now.”

“Ah woulda been up anyway,” Applejack replied. “Just had to tell Big Macintosh to cover my workload for the day. Nothin’ too hard.”

“This is just way too exciting!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We get to meet our doubles, we get to see how much nicer Sunset Shimmer is now, we get to meet Twilight’s crush—”

“I thought you dropped that!” Twilight shouted.

“Just one more thing,” Fluttershy interjected. “You’re absolutely sure the portal won’t close on us? We won’t be trapped if we don’t leave in time? I can’t just leave my animals if something like that could happen.”

“I’m positive,” Twilight assured her. “If this portal works like the one in the Crystal Palace, we should have three days, and I told you we won’t even be there for that long. In fact, now that I’ve scienced it up, it could potentially stay open for longer than three days if we needed it to.”

“Did you seriously just use science as a verb?” Rainbow quipped.

“Plus,” Twilight continued, “Spike will be keeping an eye on the machine from this end. I have faith in him, and I’m sure he’ll do a good job.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Spike stated. “Take care, everypony!” he added, waving goodbye to his friends.

“You too,” Twilight responded. “If everyone’s all set, then... onward, to Canterlot High!”

The six friends stepped into the portal without looking back, none of them noticing that the numbers indicating their destination had altered themselves.

Twilight began to think that this wasn’t the right place.

For one thing, she distinctly remembered that the portal led to right outside Canterlot High. Yet here she lay, flat on her back and staring up at an unusual jungle. The place was unlike that which she remembered, and unlike any she’d ever seen in Equestria. On the surface, it looked to be a normal jungle, but the trees had a strange... lack of presence. Even the sky itself looked off, seeming to have more color and vibrancy to it. She also noted that she was still a pony, even though the alternate world was supposed to transform her into the same species as the other inhabitants. On top of that, when Spike jumped in afterwards, he’d ended up right beside her, but now she couldn’t see any of her friends around her. She was alone, in a place and a world she didn’t recognize.

However, the most telling sign that she hadn’t reached her intended destination was the small, purple, fuzzy creature hopping on top of her chest and shouting “Yay! Twilight Sparkle’s here!”

Twilight immediately started screaming.

Chapter One: Partnership

Dorimon stared at Twilight as she stared inquisitively at him. For someone he’d been waiting his entire life to meet, she wasn’t at all what he expected. Still, she was here, which could mean any number of very important things for him.

Eventually, the newly arrived alicorn coordinated her curious thoughts enough to formulate words. “Who—no, what—are you?”

Well, that made more sense. Dorimon had figured that one of Twilight’s first questions might be what he was. He had a vague idea of what she was, but her world wasn’t very connected to his, at least not yet, so she’d have absolutely no way of knowing what was going on.

Right now, though, the most important thing was that she was here. And if she was here, that meant they could go on an adventure!

“So where do you want to go first?” Dorimon asked, completely dodging his new partner’s question.

“How should I know!?” Twilight retorted. “What is this place!?”

“You’re my partner, right? Does that mean you can help me evolve?”

“I don’t care! Where are my friends!?”

“You brought friends!? Do you think your friends and my friends have met yet?”

“How is this relevant to anything that’s going on right now!?”

“If you came through, does that mean other ponies might start coming through too? I’d love to meet new people!”

“Why are you asking so many questions instead of answering mine!?”

“Oh, oops,” Dorimon stated. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I guess you have different priorities.”

“No kidding,” Twilight retorted. “First off, how do you know my name?”

“Well, I knew you were coming,” Dorimon explained. “And I’ve spent my whole life waiting for you! My friends have people they’re waiting for too; maybe they’re your friends! And if that’s the case, then they should all be nearby!”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. I suppose we should go look for them. Before we do that, though... I still have so many questions.”

“You can ask while we look!” Dorimon suggested. “I don’t know if I’ll have all the answers, though.”

“Alright, then,” Twilight agreed. “First off, before we head out... you seem to know me, but who are you?”

“Oh, sorry! I never actually gave a proper introduction. My name is Dorimon, and welcome to File Island!”

File Island. Twilight had never once heard of it. It couldn’t be in Equestria, and all signs pointed to it not being in the world she meant to visit either. Adding in the element of the creature that called himself Dorimon, it was clearer than ever that she was nowhere near any place she’d ever known.

That fact made her isolation from her friends that much more painful. She had no idea where she was, and she had no idea where they were, a combination that wreaked havoc on her nerves. If she even had one friend near her, she could rest easy knowing the others could still be just as close. Finding the rest now seemed more important than—

“Twilight!?”

Twilight looked to her left to see who was calling to her, and she saw Applejack stepping out through the foliage. Riding on her back was another small creature, this one a small, blob-like white puppy with a maroon tail, ears and legs. Applejack ran right towards Twilight, knocking her companion off her back with a yelp, and hugged Twilight uncomfortably tightly.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Applejack cried. “Ah just woke up alone in this jungle, and ah got scared ah might never see any of y’all again!”

“You didn’t wake up alone,” the puppylike creature stated. “I was right next to you!”

“That ya were,” Applejack conceded.

“That’s wonderful,” Twilight groaned, “but can I have my lungs back now?”

“Right.” Applejack released her hold on Twilight, allowing her to breathe properly again. “Sorry, Twi.”

“Well, I’m glad you caught up to me, Applejack,” Twilight confessed. “I was just about to leave to find the others, since Dorimon here thinks they should be nearby, but I would have missed you if I’d—”

“Wait, you’ve got one of those critters with ya too?” Applejack asked in surprise, staring at Dorimon.

“Hey, Dorimon!” the puppy greeted. “Who’s the pony? Your partner?”

“Yep!” Dorimon confirmed. “Her name’s Twilight Sparkle!”

“Seems these two know each other,” Twilight observed.

“This little guy here’s Shaomon. He was standing right by my side as ah was wakin’ up. Loyal little fella. Kinda reminds me of...”

Applejack sighed, her ears drooping. “Kinda reminds me of Winona. And ah didn’t see no portal back to Equestria on my way here. Twilight, what if we can’t go home? What if ah never see my family again?”

“We will get home, Applejack,” Twilight assured her. “Even if there’s no clear way now, we’ll find our own way. Right now, though, our priority is regrouping. How did you find me, anyway?”

“Ah was close by,” Applejack replied. “Once ah heard ya shout, ya weren’t hard to spot.”

“Sorry,” Twilight muttered. “Well, it’s still good that we found each other. Now let’s see if we can find the others.”

“So we are going on an adventure?” Dorimon inquired.

“A little one, yeah,” Twilight answered.

“Yes!” Dorimon exclaimed. “Then let’s move out!”

“So...” Twilight asked as the four of them walked through the jungle. “What did you mean when you said you were waiting your whole lives for us?”

“It’s not easy to explain,” Shaomon replied. “It’s just... I was just born knowing I had something to wait for. Someone to meet. I can’t necessarily speak for the others, but I think it’s the same.”

“Others?” Applejack remarked. “How many of ya are there?”

“Of us?” Dorimon answered. “Not many at all. I only know four more, but for all I know, there are more elsewhere with the same sense of destiny. The only others I know are the ones that live on this island.” He quickly perked up. “Actually, one of them’s my best friend! Maybe you’ll meet him!”

“Hey!” came a voice from above. “Up here!”

Twilight looked up to the sound of the voice and saw Rainbow Dash standing atop a tree ahead of them. She flew down to meet the group, at which point Twilight could see that she had a new companion as well. Clinging to Rainbow’s neck was a yellow, draconic creature with purple- and red-tipped horns on his head and little fins in place of arms and legs.

“Boy, am I glad to see you!” Rainbow stated. “I can’t imagine having to go through this jungle alone!”

“Kyokyomon!” Dorimon exclaimed, completely ignoring Rainbow Dash and rushing to greet the creature on her back. “It feels like it’s been ages! How have you been?”

“All’s quiet on my end,” Kyokyomon replied. “Well, except for Rainbow Dash here dropping in. There hasn’t been a dull moment since!”

“I imagine,” Dorimon agreed. “I’ve been walking around looking for my own partner’s friends, and I think you nabbed one of them!”

“Uh... are they talking about us?” Rainbow asked.

“I think so,” Twilight answered, no less confused.

“Wow,” Rainbow remarked. “I just got here, and I already feel like a third wheel.”

“Ah’m just glad these little guys are hittin’ it off,” Applejack replied. “It’s kinda cute.”

An ear-piercing shriek rang out through the jungle, disrupting the group’s train of thought. The ponies realized at once who it must have been coming from.

“Rarity!” they cried in unison. Without hesitation, they ran towards the source of the noise. It took only a moment to find her, as she was running in the opposite direction, colliding with Twilight as soon as she was in view.

“Twilight!?” Rarity cried. “Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Could it truly be you?”

“One hundred percent,” Rainbow replied.

“And us too!” Kyokyomon chimed in from atop Rainbow’s back.

Rarity screamed again. “There are more of them!?”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Rarity!” a voice scolded from behind her. The owner of the voice stepped forward, revealing a green, white-faced reptilian creature with two massive leaves growing on her torso.

“You really know how to pick ‘em, Tanemon,” Kyokyomon quipped.

“This disgusting plant... reptile... thing has not stopped following me!” Rarity complained. “When I awoke, it popped up from out of the ground!”

“Is she like this about everything?” Tanemon asked. “This is a beautiful jungle, but she’s been complaining about everything she sees!”

“She ain’t used to roughin’ it,” Applejack replied. “Shame, too, ‘cuz unless we get outta here soon, she’s gonna hafta do a lot of it.”

“Get out of here?” Tanemon repeated. “You guys don’t want to stay here?”

“I should say not!” Rarity shouted. “I have prior obligations back in my own world that I was not willing to put off for more than a day! For the sake of my business, for the sake of my sister, we had best depart this world before then.”

“That’s it,” Rainbow remarked. “Until Rarity gets ahold of herself, I’m scouting from the sky. I’ll let you know if I see anything.” With that, she took off, Kyokyomon clinging to her for dear life.

“Rarity, just take deep breaths,” Twilight pleaded. “We’ll find a way out of this situation, I promise."

Upon Twilight’s instruction, Rarity regulated her breathing, and after a few moments, she looked considerably calmer. “Very well. If you believe that we may escape this place, I have faith in your judgment. To that end, I am willing to tolerate these creatures who are so insistent on following us.”

“Awesome!” Dorimon exclaimed.

Tanemon hopped up on top of Rarity. “We’ll have so much fun together. You’ll see!”

“Please don’t ride me,” Rarity deadpanned.

“Guys!” Rainbow shouted from above. “There’s a clearing over here! And I see Fluttershy right in the middle of it!”

“...which, I think, is why the northeastern end of the island is all snowy.”

“This place is so fascinating!” Fluttershy mused. “You must love it here, Gummymon!”

“It’s cozy,” Gummymon admitted. “I’m more used to this jungle area myself. Nice big trees, plenty of little clearings, mostly peaceful... no worries! Moumantai!”

“Mou...man...tai?” Fluttershy repeated. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, it’s just a little mantra I live by,” Gummymon explained. “It means ‘no problem.’ To relax and take it easy!”

“Well, it’s a beautiful sentiment,” Fluttershy commented.

Gummymon nodded his head enthusiastically, his little ears flopping with the force. “Thanks!”

“You’re quite welcome,” Fluttershy replied with a warm smile. “While we’re talking about the island, do you know anything about that mountain?” She pointed upward, to a dark and foreboding mountain at what looked to be the heart of File Island.

“Oh, that’s Infinity Mountain,” Gummymon stated. “Highest point on the island. I don’t know too much, but I know it’s hollow inside. There’s actually a way inside by the Village of Beginnings. That village, by the way, is like a giant day care. I think you’d love it!”

Fluttershy beamed at the thought. Gummymon was already just so cute; to think that there could be a whole village on the island with creatures just as cute was almost too much for her.

Before she could dwell on it further, she heard a familiar voice calling to her. “Hey! Fluttershy! We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Twilight and the crew fought through the foliage to reach the clearing Rainbow Dash had pointed out. Just as she’d said, there was Fluttershy, sitting with what looked like a green ghost with floppy ears and a large horn atop its head. Twilight also noticed something else... something strapped to Fluttershy’s right foreleg. It was shaped like a pink butterfly, just like her Element of Harmony, but it also looked to have a screen and buttons on it.

“Hello, girls,” Fluttershy greeted calmly. “I figured you’d come find me, so I decided to wait here for you and have a nice talk with—”

“Wait,” Twilight interjected. “That thing strapped to your leg. What is that?”

“Oh, this?” Fluttershy asked, lifting her leg to display the contraption. “Gummymon called it a Digivice. I just found it in my bag, but I don’t know how it got there. He didn’t know exactly what it did, and neither do I, but he said that if you all had partners too, you should have a Digivice of your own.”

“I think I’d have noticed something like that,” Rainbow retorted. “Nopony goes through my bags without me knowing about—”

“Well, ah’ll be,” Applejack remarked, pulling out a Digivice resembling an orange apple.

“Wow, Applejack!” Shaomon exclaimed. “Your very own Digivice!”

“You should look for yourself, Rainbow,” Rarity replied, pulling a purple diamond Digivice from her bag. Twilight reached into her own bag with her magic, detecting something that wasn’t there before, and pulled out a magenta star-shaped device. Rainbow did likewise, finding a red lightning bolt.

“These Digivices...” Twilight observed. “They all resemble our Elements of Harmony. They’re personalized for us. But... where did they come from? Who made these?”

“I don’t know,” Dorimon replied. “But it’s a sign that you all were chosen to partner up with Digimon to serve some higher purpose.”

“What purpose!?” Twilight demanded. “All I’ve had this entire time were questions, and I haven’t gotten nearly enough answers!”

“If we’re really in this for the long haul,” Applejack interjected, “then we’ll have time to get all those questions answered. If we get outta here fast, they won’t even matter.”

“Alright, so Fluttershy’s here,” Rainbow noted. “That just leaves—”

“Oh my gosh, I finally found you!”

As if on cue, Pinkie Pie stepped through into the clearing. Upon her back was what appeared to be the head and tail of a blue cat, with a darker blue M on its forehead. Strapped to her foreleg was a Digivice modeled to look like a blue balloon.

“Hey, guys!” Pinkie exclaimed. “So, it turns out this isn’t where we wanted to be!”

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight grumbled. “I noticed.”

“I figured, but that’s not the really cool part! Wanyamon here says this whole place is made of computer data! Guys, I think we’re in a video game!”

“I never said that,” Wanyamon clarified. “Just for the record. There’s just no convincing this one. On a related note... we may want to move.”

“Why?” Fluttershy asked. “We’re having a nice, quiet moment.”

“Oh, but that’s not even the coolest coolest part!” Pinkie continued. “I figured the best way to start this game off was with a good boss fight we could all tackle together for some major experience points, and I found the perfect one on my way to meet you guys!”

Before anyone had the chance to ask what in Celestia’s name Pinkie was on, they heard a thunderous stomp from the area Pinkie had approached from. The stomps repeated, growing louder as whatever was making them drew closer. Before long, it shoved its way through the trees and into view of the group.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow stated, “if we don’t survive this, I am going to kill you.”

Behind Pinkie stood a yellow, humanoid, draconic beast several heads taller than everypony. Its tail was tipped with silver armor, and its brown head only accommodated a single eye on the left side of its face. Its right arm was disproportionately enormous, with giant red claws and a spiked shoulder guard.

“What is that thing!?” Fluttershy whispered loudly, trying to hide herself behind the rest of the group.

“I think that’s Cyclomon,” Gummymon replied. “And I think he’s angry.”

“Cyclomon,” Twilight’s Digivice explained. “Virus-type Dragon Man Digimon. Champion level. A prideless warrior driven solely by revenge. Signature move is Hyper Heat.”

“Why are you telling us this now!?” Twilight cried, screaming at her Digivice.

Gummymon moved forward in a surprising display of mobility, eyes locked on the towering menace. Turning back for a second, he gestured forward. “Come on, guys! We need to help our partners!” With that, he zipped forward again, just out of reach of Fluttershy’s hooves.

The ponies froze, staring slackjawed. Rainbow raised a hoof in an unusual display of nerves. “He’s… he’s not…”

“Double Bubble!” Gummymon spewed a series of pink bubbles from his mouth, aimed directly at Cyclomon’s face. Cyclomon, for his part, merely lazily rubbed at his one eye, and retaliated by swatting Gummymon away effortlessly.

Landing in Fluttershy’s hooves, Gummymon shook his head a few times to clear it. “Oh my goodness, are you alright? Do you need healing, or anything like that?” Concerned teal eyes fixed to the little creature in her hooves, and he looked back dizzily.

“I’m fine! Time to show him what we’ve got!”

Fluttershy’s squeaked-out “We?!” was drowned out by the other creatures leaping to their feet and shouting their support. An angry roar drew the ponies out of their shocked stupor, and all eyes fixed back on Cyclomon.

Smirking, Rainbow Dash flexed her wings. “Let’s do this.” Taking off in a blur, the other ponies began to move as well. Wordlessly, the two magic-wielders nodded to each other and took off, Twilight to the right and Rarity to the left. Both charged their horns in preparation as Rainbow set about distracting the beast by flying around its head. Expertly dodging the swipes from its smaller paw, she darted around the back, taking some breathing time as she watched the others.

Pinkie Pie darted around Cyclomon’s enormous feet, moving just in time to avoid each angry stamp of them. Wanyamon rode with her, biting at Cyclomon each time they got close and taking refuge in her mane directly after. As his right foot came down in another frustrating miss of the party pony, Rainbow darted upwards again from behind. Kyokyomon tumbled gently from her back, landing fins-first on Cyclomon’s head and shooting tiny spikes harmlessly at it. Seeing it was barely affecting it, Dash darted down to snag Kyokyomon.

Before she could get there, Twilight fired a bolt of magic at the larger paw, hoping to incapacitate it. Cyclomon roared, bringing it up suddenly as it was hit, knocking Rainbow from the sky. She landed hard, pulling up dirt and grass as she slid across the ground, wings ineffectually splayed. With a gasp, Twilight threw up a shield around her and ran forward, meeting Fluttershy on the way. Their partners trembled slightly, looking down on the still form of the pegasus. “R-Rainbow?” Reaching out a hoof, Fluttershy stroked her mane gently. She stirred, one rose eye looking out blearily.

“Anyone get him?”

Suddenly, the Digivice on Rainbow Dash’s leg shined a brilliant white. Kyokyomon, still atop Cyclomon’s head, was engulfed in the same light, momentarily blinding the dragon-beast as Rainbow’s partner’s form began to change.

“What’s happening?” Rainbow cried. “Kyokyomon!?”

After a moment, the light dissipated, but Kyokyomon looked radically different than he did moments ago. His head and limbs were covered in golden fur, and most of his body was covered in black, purple-dotted samurai armor. Just below the helmet, on his forehead, was a vaguely triangular red interface.

“Ryudamon,” Rainbow’s Digivice exposited. “Vaccine-type Beast Digimon. Rookie level. Fires iron blades from its mouth with Iaijin.”

“Not the time!” Twilight shouted. “Can’t these things turn off!?”

An angry growl erupted from above, drawing all eyes back up. Ryudamon faced down, clinging deeply to the beast’s head as he fired his blades directly into the top of Cyclomon’s head. Snarling, Cyclomon shook his head furiously, slowly dislodging the silver claws from his head. Fluttershy stayed crouched with Rainbow, who was trying to rise, as the others took up their positions once more.

Hooves dug into the ground, Rarity assessed the situation as best she could. There’s that… thing Pinkie has, and I suppose I have this one as well… She glanced to her left, appraising Tanemon with a critical eye. Tanemon looked back up, eyes meeting Rarity’s as she hopped nervously from foot to foot. Sparing a smile for the tiny creature, the white unicorn poured more power into her horn.

“Tanemon, darling, I must ask you to assist us. My specialty in magic is fine manipulation. I need you to distract that beast long enough for me to use these.” Rarity carefully levitated out a stray pincushion from her saddlebags, drawing out the tiny needles. “It may not be much, but it should cause him enough pain to possibly stop the attack.”

Steeling herself, Tanemon nodded. “A-alright.”

“On my mark!” called Rarity. Across the pitch, Twilight fired off another spell at Cyclomon, causing him to step back a pace and narrowly miss Pinkie Pie, who was still bouncing carelessly between his feet. After a moment, Rarity saw what she needed.

Applejack.

The farm mare charged up behind Twilight, passing by her to come before the beast’s leg. In a fluid motion, she spun, bucking up once to allow Shaomon to attack as she readied herself to acquaint Cyclomon with Bucky McGillicutty and Kicks McGee.

“Now, Tanemon!” As Tanemon charged forward with a speed belying her stout appearance and rammed Cyclomon’s leg, Applejack’s hind legs shot out as well, both pony and Digimon hitting true to their targets. This small distraction given, Rarity took the opportunity to fire her pins. Hundreds of tiny points whizzed towards their target, lodging themselves in the chinks of his natural armor, and Cyclomon roared once again. Waving his arms across his body to dislodge the pins, he snarled down at Rarity, who simply regarded him coolly as Tanemon scampered back to her side.

Growling angrily, Cyclomon looked down at Twilight. The ruse worked—Twilight fired up her horn, not expecting what came next. The larger creature darted his eyes to the side before somehow extending his arm out, catching Rarity with the palm of his hand and tossing her into the dirt. Twilight fired a bolt of magic as Rarity cried out, and Cyclomon roared, bringing his knuckles back and knocking Twilight into a tree. She skidded, her horn flickering and finally going out as she connected with the bark, the shield around Rainbow Dash following suit.

Rarity’s and Twilight’s Digivices lit up, and Tanemon and Dorimon interrupted their assault as their bodies were enveloped in the same glow. As their bodies morphed, Cyclomon was hit in the face by a sphere of iron from where an evolving Dorimon stood, and his enormous right arm was wrapped in vines stemming from the hands of what once was Tanemon.

Blinking blearily, Twilight looked on, bemused. “I… kind of wish I could write this down…”

“DORUmon,” her Digivice chimed in, providing a less welcome alternative. “Data-type Beast Digimon. Rookie level. Carries the X-Antibody. Signature move is Metal Cannon.”

“Palmon,” Rarity’s device added. “Data-type Plant Digimon. Rookie level. Ensnares opponents with vine-like fingers with Poison Ivy.”

“I don’t think writing it down will be necessary, dear.” Rarity struggled to her hooves, shaking her head and wincing slightly as her right front hoof refused to fully hold her weight. Eyes sweeping the field nervously, she noted Rainbow back on her hooves, as well as Fluttershy standing beside her with a new determination in her teal eyes. The two pegasi eyed Cyclomon warily as he shook off Palmon and DORUmon's assault and brushed the last of Rarity’s pins from his hide.

Drawing the broken and bent implements to her, the white unicorn had just enough time to lament the loss of their use before a familiar grunt caught her attention. Applejack stood resolutely in front of the pegasi, facing Cyclomon. Snorting once, she tossed her head. “Ah’ve had about enough of this. This here monster ain’t gonna get the best of us, girls, so stop lettin’ it.” With that declaration, she lowered her head, pawing at the ground.

Bouncing up again to an impossible height, Pinkie Pie hopped on Cyclomon’s shoulder. “Yeah! You big meanie meanie pants face! Stop being so mean to my friends!” Headbutting him once, she leapt deftly aside as his hand came up, causing him to merely smack himself in the face. With a giggle, she jumped down, joining the small group that was forming.

The bemused Cyclomon recovered quickly from the attack of… well, Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, and snarled down at the little group. Both pegasi extended their wings and crouched, prepared to take off, while their partners stood at their sides. Applejack and Pinkie stood shoulder to shoulder, both with their heads lowered angrily. Wanyamon and Shaomon took up stations to their far sides, growling.

A beat of silence crossed the pitch.

A weak bolt of magic from the downed Twilight was enough, and the earth ponies charged as soon as he was distracted. Fluttershy and Rainbow immediately took to the air, Fluttershy following Rainbow as if it were a tornado drill. Shaomon dashed forward from the right flank, biting at Cyclomon as the two earth ponies connected, hard heads and sharp hooves damaging the skin of his feet. Purple and blue magic fired off, dual protective shields coming down around the ponies as Cyclomon swung down, enraged.

Twilight’s shield around Pinkie Pie held. Rarity’s shield around Applejack did not. As the giant fist connected, the shield cracked and then shattered despite the unicorn’s exertion. Applejack was snatched up in the giant fist as Rainbow and Fluttershy began to circle Cylcomon from the bottom up. Desperately, Rarity lit her horn again, trying to levitate Applejack’s entire mass away.

“Applejack!” Shaomon shouted, his body enveloped in the same white glow as the others before him as his partner’s Digivice shone its light. Now more fully resembling a dog, he let out a ferocious supersonic bark as he rushed towards the hand that was clutching Applejack. Cyclomon released his grip to block his ears from the audio assault, and Applejack was caught by her partner and Palmon before she hit the ground.

“Labramon,” her Digivice exposited. “Vaccine-type Beast Digimon. Rookie level. Restores and optimizes the data of weakened allies with Cure Liqueur.”

“This isn’t working!” Labramon shouted. “We’re just making him angrier!”

“I think we need a plan!” DORUmon replied, strafing to avoid Cyclomon’s swinging arm.

“Got one right now?” Ryudamon called, still clawing at the dragon-man’s head to keep a grip.

“Of course I don’t!” DORUmon yelled back. “Just keep wailing on him and hope it works eventually!”

“Keep up, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash increased her speed, whirling around Cyclomon with the yellow pony right on her hooves, wings straining against the effort.

“I’m trying!” Nearly in tears, she pushed herself even harder, muscles burning with the effort as a whirling mass of debris began to form around the beast.

Cyclomon managed to finally throw Ryudamon off his head with a violent thrash, the smaller creature trying to fire another sword in retaliation as he fell. Palmon continued to stand her own ground, ensnaring Cyclomon’s arm in her vines again, but she was lifted up and swung around for her efforts. DORUmon and Labramon prepared to strike on their own, but looked up to see what the pegasi above were attempting and backed off. Palmon was not so lucky, her grip slipping just as their efforts bore fruit.

The pegasus tornado was abruptly halted by the interruption of Palmon flying through the cyclone, and the two pegasi wobbled before breaking off suddenly to recover their stability. “Whoa, watch it!” Rainbow Dash flapped furiously, righting herself before gliding down beside Twilight. Fluttershy landed with a stumble a moment later, beside the other pegasus.

As the winds died, however, Cyclomon remained standing, unaffected but thoroughly aggravated. He turned to Fluttershy, readying his right arm for another long-range strike.

“Fluttershy, no!” Gummymon hollered, placing himself in front of his partner as a rather ineffective meat shield. However, Fluttershy’s Digivice lit up the instant Cyclomon tried to strike, and the evolving Gummymon spun himself around rapidly, creating a mini-tornado of his own and slapping the offending hand away with his now-massive ears.

“Terriermon,” Fluttershy’s Digivice revealed. “Data-type Beast Digimon. Rookie level. Fires small green energy blasts from its mouth with Bunny Blast.” Not even paying attention to the exposition, Terriermon flapped his ears and took off, firing at Cyclomon from above.

As the battle continued to unfold, Twilight recalled the information she’d been given about their foe. “Wait, everyone! The Digivice said something about ‘Hyper Heat.’ I don’t think he—”

Right at that moment, Cyclomon’s mouth opened, a mass of superheated energy gathering within. As he charged, he set his sights on the gathered group of ponies.

Twilight’s eyes widened in sudden realization. “Scatter!” she ordered, and most of the group dissipated immediately, fearing what may happen if Cyclomon’s attack struck them. Only Pinkie Pie remained, staring distractedly at the pretty blue light.

“Pinkie, come on!” Wanyamon urged. “Get out of the way!”

“Why?” Pinkie asked. “This is a perfect chance to see how the extra-life system works!”

“This isn’t—” Wanyamon tried to say, but before he could finish, Cyclomon threw his head back, ready to launch a beam attack that would surely roast Pinkie alive. Unseen by her, both her partner and her Digivice were enveloped in that same brilliant whiteness. Wanyamon charged towards her, completing his own evolution and tackling Pinkie out of the way just as Cyclomon fired. The force of the blast threw everyone back, the surrounding temperature rising dramatically as the grass around the impact zone burned away.

“Gaomon,” Pinkie’s Digivice explained before she could react. “Data-type Beast Digimon. Rookie level. Launches a barrage of swift punches with Gao Rush.”

Pinkie had time to blink once, examining her singed mane and tail, before Cyclomon set his sights on her again. Eyes widening, she bounced away just as his massive fist swung again, barely whiffing past her as she made her way to Rarity. “Oh my gosh, Rarity! I don’t know if we can do this…” Pinkie looked over, eyeing Applejack, who had struggled to her hooves and was making her way to them.

“Wait a minute!” DORUmon cried, finally seeming to notice that his comrades around him had all evolved as well. “There are six of us, and only one of him! He might be bigger and stronger, but we’ve got numbers on our side!”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Terriermon called from above. “Please tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying!”

With a nod from DORUmon and a cry of “Rush him!” the group charged one last time towards the towering beast, Palmon breaking off to hit him from the back. Gaomon leapt up and thrust his fists into Cyclomon’s chest with blinding speed. As soon as he jumped away, a supersonic wave, a green energy ball, and an iron sword struck the same area, the force sending Cyclomon reeling backwards. DORUmon shot a large iron sphere from his mouth, nailing Cyclomon dead in the face. Palmon sent her vines out one last time, wrapping themselves around the titan’s throat, and with one powerful downward thrust, brought him crashing down to the ground with monstrous force.

Once the dust cleared and Cyclomon kept still for a moment, Fluttershy walked gingerly up to his head. His breathing was audible, but his eye was shut and he showed absolutely no signs of getting back up. “I think you just knocked him out!” she called out to the panting and exhausted cluster of combatants.

As the adrenaline wore off, the group stood in silence for a rather awkwardly long time, just staring at where Cyclomon lay unconscious and trying to process what just happened. The shock of six small creatures taking out such a massive beast left them all at a loss for words.

Eventually, out of nowhere, Palmon suddenly screamed, “Oh my gosh, we’ve all evolved!”

“Hey, yeah!” Ryudamon replied. “We really did! I was firing swords out of my mouth! How awesome is that?”

“The awesomest!” Rainbow Dash answered, her hoof bumping with her partner’s fist.

“Isn’t this great?” Palmon exclaimed, hugging Rarity tightly with a massive smile on her face. “Now we’re even bigger and stronger than before!”

“And no more attractive,” Rarity muttered. “Not that such is any of my concern at this time. I thank you sincerely for saving all of our lives.”

“Yay!” Palmon exclaimed, releasing Rarity and smiling warmly.

“What do you think?” Terriermon asked Fluttershy, attempting to show off what little muscle his small body had. “Think I look pretty tough?”

“I don’t know about that,” Fluttershy remarked, “but you still look very cute. And you were very brave out there.”

Terriermon stared at Fluttershy incredulously for a moment, then shrugged. “Moumantai. I’ll take what I can get.”

Labramon paced around Applejack, checking for any signs of injury. “Are you sure you’re alright? I’d hate for you to get hurt.”

“Ah’m fine,” Applejack assured him. “Golly, ya really do worry ‘bout me, don’t ya?”

“Well, you’re my partner!” Labramon reminded her. “It’d be wrong of me if I didn’t.” Applejack was rendered speechless by the remark, but she managed to give Labramon a warm smile.

“So, how does this work?” Pinkie asked, examining Gaomon. “Did you level up or something? Do you have a completely new skill set? Is there an item equip menu I can access? Where is even the heads-up display? Can you even type with those boxing gloves on?” She went on for several minutes, Gaomon showing impressively little response beyond rolling his eyes.

DORUmon, however, had fallen silent. He stared at his reflection in the armored tip of Cyclomon’s tail, seemingly fixated on an odd red interface on his forehead that looked just like the one on Ryudamon’s. Twilight observed this behavior for a moment, somewhat concerned by the unreadable look on his face, and walked up beside him. “DORUmon? Is something wrong?”

“What?” DORUmon replied, his focus broken. “Oh, no, it’s fine! I’ve evolved, you’re safe, and we can finally have our adventure now that the gang’s all here! What about that could be wrong?”

“It’s just...” Twilight began, but decided not to continue. It seemed to be a matter DORUmon didn’t wish to discuss at the moment. “Never mind. I don’t know how long this thing is going to stay unconscious, so we need to head out as soon as possible. I’m not sure where we’ll go, or what we’ll do, but... now that my friends are all here again, we can find our way back to Equestria.”

“You can definitely try,” DORUmon suggested. “And the six of us will be right there with the six of you. I’m not completely sure it’ll be that easy, though. Like I said before, I think you being here is supposed to serve some greater purpose. That might be the bigger picture: why you’re here.” He broke his gaze and returned it to the reflection, sighing. “Why any of us are here.”

Twilight let off a sigh of her own. It was possible that she and her friends had been brought to File Island for a reason; she was no stranger to the concept of destiny, after all. There would be plenty of time for discovering that reason, however, after they figured out whether or not returning home was possible. For now, that took priority.

Still, she looked back at DORUmon. “If you’re right... if there’s something that we’re meant to do here...”

DORUmon nodded. “You’re probably gonna be here awhile.”

“Welcome to the Digital World. My name is Yaamon.”

A mare opened her eyes after a very confusing turn of events involving getting sucked into her laptop computer. What she saw before her was not the land she was accustomed to, but a very high cliff at the edge of a very tall mountain. The view suggested that the mountain was at the heart of an extremely geologically inconsistent island.

Directly in front of her was a round, purple creature with floppy ears and a brown face. This, then, must be that Yaamon character that addressed her earlier. Beside him was a small electronic device, matching the shape and color of the star on her cutie mark.

The mare found this to be a curious sight, but given what brought her here, it seemed to make sense.

“I was told of a new virtual reality game,” the mare explained, standing upright. “One with a very real and very generous prize for success. I assume this is the game?”

“The greatest game you’ll ever play,” Yaamon confirmed. “In this game, you have to be the best. To be the best, you have to be the strongest. The first step is to take this...” He gestured towards the device with an ear. “And use it to make me stronger.”

“If this is my quest for power,” the mare demanded, “then why must I strengthen you?”

“That’s the rule,” Yaamon exposited. “You get a partner to play with, and you and your partner—that would be me—have to grow stronger together.”

The mare paused for a moment before responding. “If the prize is as grand as they say, I will play by those rules.”

The mare clutched the device, and the screen shone with a brilliant light. The light enveloped Yaamon, causing him to grow and change form. When the light dissipated, Yaamon stood before the mare as a small purple demon. He had a pale face, a wicked smiley face on his chest, and a red bandanna and gloves.

“Impmon,” the device explained. “Virus-type Imp Digimon. Rookie level. Summons giant balls of flame and ice with Inferno Funnel.”

“Giant balls of flame and ice, eh?” the mare mused. “Prove it.”

“Gladly,” Impmon replied. He spread his arms and opened his palms to the sky, conjuring a ball of fire from nothing in his left hand and a ball of ice in his right hand. He hurled the fireball at the edge of the cliff, causing it to explode and sending chunks of rock falling to the ground below, and repeated the process with the ball of ice, which froze the ground it hit.

“So, what do you think?” Impmon asked. “Up for a game of conquest?”

The blue unicorn smirked. “Yes, this is shaping up to be an enthralling game... and the Great and Powerful Trixie plays to win.”

Author's Note

Thanks to MidnightDancer for her gigantic contribution to this chapter.

For those of you who don't know what the Digimon described in the chapter look like (and I've noticed a number of people with that concern), this should clear it up for you. I'll be putting these blogs out with each new chapter.

Chapter Two: The First Champion

Twilight led the group of newly-christened adventurers as they continued to trek through the jungle of File Island, their new partners keeping the same pace. They had been walking without rest since the encounter with Cyclomon, and the fatigue had begun to show in their faces.

“How much longer must we keep this up?” Rarity complained. “The jungle floor is murder on my hooficure!”

“This is an island,” Twilight informed her. “It stands to reason that, if we travel long enough in a straight line, we’ll inevitably reach the shore.”

Rainbow Dash gave Twilight an inquisitive stare. “What’s at the shore?”

“I’d like to find out,” Twilight replied. “At the very least, we’ll be out of the jungle.”

“We’ve been walkin’ for hours, though,” Applejack remarked. “This must be a mighty big island if’n there’s this much jungle.”

“Fine by me,” Labramon declared, his tail wagging behind him. “This is the first time I’ve had enough leg muscle to take a good walk like this. I almost don’t want it to end.”

“Well, we’re moving north-ish, right?” Terriermon inquired, shifting his position atop Fluttershy’s head. “We can’t be too far from the Great Canyon.”

“A canyon?” Twilight responded, incredulously. “Right next to a jungle?”

“The island is very geologically diverse,” Fluttershy replied. “At least, that’s what Terriermon told me. There’s supposed to be a frozen tundra on the northeast end.”

“I find that very hard to believe,” Twilight stated. She then turned to face Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, can you fly up above the trees and tell me if you can see water from here?”

“I’m on it!” Rainbow confirmed. “Ryudamon, hop on!”

“I, uh...” Ryudamon countered. “I might be a bit too big now. And too heavy, with all this armor.”

Rainbow Dash stared awkwardly at Ryudamon for a moment, clearly having forgotten how drastically evolution had changed his body. Ryudamon just gestured his head upward, to the line of trees above, and Rainbow Dash nodded and took off to survey the land from overhead.

“What do you think she’ll see?” Palmon asked, wrapping her arm around a reluctant but welcoming Rarity.

“Well, Terriermon’s the one that knows the place,” DORUmon replied. “If he says there’s a canyon, I bet there’s a canyon.”

“And I say that’s not possible,” Twilight retorted. “The climate required to sustain a jungle and that required to sustain a canyon aren’t even remotely similar, so having one right beside the other is—”

“Exactly what’s going on,” Rainbow Dash called from above. “The trees cut off in a few hundred feet, and it’s all rock from there!”

Twilight swore she could hear her brain sizzling.

If Trixie didn’t hate mountains before, she did now. The trek down to the bottom of what Impmon called “Infinity Mountain” was proving to be much more trouble than it felt it should have been. For Celestia’s sake, she was going along with gravity; why was that so difficult!?

This was not how she expected to begin a game of conquest. It stood to reason that she would begin with limited resources, but an electronic trinket and a single ally being the extent of those resources seemed ridiculous. She did not intend to live off the land like some primitive lowlife; then again, she also didn’t intend to slide down a mountain on day one, but here she was, latching onto any ledges that her infernal tagalong suspected would hold her weight.

“Come on, keep up!” Impmon called from below. “Seriously, it’s like you’ve never climbed down from a mountain peak before!”

“Of course not!” Trixie hollered back. “Trixie is a respected showmare, and activities like this are far beneath her!”

“Again with the third person!” Impmon scolded. “You know, there’s nothing stopping me from just going off on my own and abandoning you if you keep doing that! It’s annoying, and it’s creepy!”

Trixie groaned. “I thought I was the one in charge here!”

“Do you even know what ‘partner’ means? We work together! No one’s in charge!”

“I didn’t even ask for this partnership!” Trixie retorted. “I have always worked alone!”

“Well, you’d better get used to me,” Impmon snapped, “because you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Says the one who threatened to leave a moment ago...” Trixie muttered, resigning herself to her fate. There was still a great deal of mountain left below her, and she was stuck with Impmon the rest of the way down.

She supposed having someone standing by in case she tripped up would be beneficial to her ability to not die on the first challenge. It would be disgraceful to fail at the tutorial. In addition, he seemed relatively nimble, had basic knowledge of the layout of the mountain, and could hurl ice and flame on a whim. Combined with her natural magical proficiency, she figured they might work well together, to some extent... for as long as he was useful. She would not even need him if she still had the Alicorn Amu-

No. That amulet had poisoned her mind. She discarded the thought as soon as it arose, simply letting Impmon guide her down Infinity Mountain and to the cave that he claimed lay beneath them.

“Look, guys! If I stand right here, I’m in the jungle and the canyon at the same time!”

“Come on, Pinkie Pie,” Gaomon urged from up ahead, where everyone else had already begun advancing into the Great Canyon. Pinkie simply shot her partner a toothy grin, bouncing along to keep up with her friends.

The canyon expanded as far as the eye could see, aside the jungle immediately behind the group. The air was dry, the ground was cracked and nearly barren, and it frequently gave way to gaping chasms that, given the fact that they were on an island, made some of them wonder how high they were above sea level. The landscape was littered with a plethora of rocky formations that rose up several stories above them, so prominent that it made the density of the jungle’s trees that much more staggering to have hidden them completely.

Twilight and DORUmon led the group towards a particular mesa, hoping to get to higher ground and look for anything that could get the ponies back home. Every time Twilight glanced down at DORUmon, however, he looked troubled, almost contemplative. This wasn’t a particularly new look on him, she noted; he’d been like this ever since he took a look at his reflection in Cyclomon’s tail. Her focus had been on finding anything that could help her and her friends get home, but now she felt compelled to talk to him about his state.

“DORUmon?” Twilight asked, prompting her partner to look up at her. “Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s fine,” DORUmon insisted, though he shied away from Twilight’s gaze as they walked. “Let’s just worry about getting you where you need to be.”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. DORUmon had claimed to have been waiting for her arrival all his life, and yet he was closing himself off and being elusive, neither of which were conducive to a successful partnership. For the time, however, she put it out of her mind; they had reached the mesa she’d been leading the group towards.

Signalled by a quick nod from Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy took their partners and flew to the top of the elevated mass, with some difficulty on Rainbow’s part due to Ryudamon’s newfound mass. The alicorn summoned her magic to teleport herself and everyone else to the top edge to meet them, looking over the edge as she arrived.

She had to admit, it was a spectacular view, even more so with the setting sun, and she could see just how expansive the canyon segment of the island was. The only other area she could see from her vantage point was the jungle they’d just arrived from, as well as the mountain that was visible from the clearing in which they’d found Fluttershy. Unfortunately, as stunning as the canyon looked, there was nothing in sight that looked like a way back to Equestria.

She sighed, turning her head away from the mesa’s edge and shaking her head dejectedly. Before she could start leading the group away, however, she heard Fluttershy call out, “Over here! I found something! It looks like another monster, and it looks hurt!”

Twilight turned to the source of the cry, and sure enough, Fluttershy and Terriermon stood beside another large creature lying on his back in the shade of another protruding landmass. He looked like a bulky, bipedal, wingless dragon, primarily colored blue with a white belly. His body was covered in battle scars old and new, and his chest bore a blue V shape.

“Veedramon,” Twilight heard her Digivice exposit. “Vaccine-type Mythical Dragon Digimon. Champion level. A very rare and elusive species known for its immense power. Signature move is V-Nova Blast.” Every word came with an echo as the other nearby Digivices relayed the same information.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Territorial dispute,” Veedramon said dismissively, even as he clutched his stomach. “It’s not serious, the issue or the injuries. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Terriermon asked, tilting his head. “You look like you got pretty roughed up.”

“I’m fine,” Veedramon insisted. “I’ve had worse. The guy just blindsided me, is all.”

“So it was another creature that did this to you?” Rarity asked, looking the injured dragon over.

“The term we use is ‘Digimon,’ actually,” Veedramon corrected. “Short for ‘digital monster.’”

“Is that what it means?” Twilight exclaimed, somewhat excited from the newfound sense of understanding. “My Digivice had been saying that every time we met a new one! DORUmon, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

DORUmon shrugged. “I thought I started to. You didn’t question it when I used the term myself. Plus, if you’d given it thought, it wouldn’t be hard to put two and two together.”

“That was furthest from my mind this whole time,” Twilight replied. “I’ve been focused on trying to get us out of this place and back to Equestria.”

“I figured you weren’t from around here,” Veedramon interjected. “Didn’t even know what ‘Digimon’ were... you sound like a gang of tourists.”

“Alright, drop the attitude,” Rainbow chastised, with a fair amount of her own attitude. “Do you know any way back to our world or not?”

Ryudamon promptly pulled Rainbow back before she could get in Veedramon’s face. “You cool it too.”

The injured dragon huffed, then tried to sit up, grunting in pain before falling back to the ground with a decent thud. Within seconds, Fluttershy was right back at his side, ruffling through her saddlebags. “Please, don’t try to move too much. You’re hurt.”

“I told you I’m fine,” Veedramon snapped, successfully but strenuously getting into a seated position. Fluttershy, however, pulled out a first-aid kit from her bag and started treating his wounds, Applejack rushing over to help with her own kit. The others all sat back and watched, the other ponies in the group wondering why the two thought they’d have needed the kits in the first place.

“Atta boy,” Applejack exclaimed as the last bandage was wrapped. “All patched up, and hopefully ya won’t get more of them nasty scars.”

“You’d think healing items would work faster, though,” Pinkie commented, noting a spot of blood on the bandages on his stomach. Gaomon started to object, but shook his head and sighed, letting her have her moment.

Veedramon huffed indignantly and shot a glare at the ponies who treated him. “I said I was fine. I can’t get stronger if I rely on the kindness of strangers.”

Fluttershy frowned. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to the ponies who helped y—”

“Even though I told them not to. I’ve gotten by on my own power all this time, and I don’t appreciate you butting in.”

The farm pony scowled at her ungrateful impromptu patient, but Labramon walked up and gave her a comforting nuzzle. “Relax, Applejack. Lots of Digimon are like that.”

“Do you know how to get our partners home, Veedramon?” Palmon inquired, repeating the question that his efforts to sit had left ignored.

“Not even a little,” he responded bluntly, leading to a collective groan from the group. “I don’t even know how you got here in the first pla—”

Veedramon stopped short, however, his attention leaving the gathered ponies and Digimon as it drifted above and behind them. “Ah, great. He’s back.”

“Who’s back?” Twilight inquired, then looked up to follow Veedramon’s gaze. Sure enough, there was something in the distance, hovering in the sky and looking down at the group. It looked like a flying dinosaur, perhaps a pteranodon of some sort, but the way the sunlight gleamed and reflected off of its blue body made it look metallic. She was able to say for sure that it was metallic, however, once it started flying closer.

“What is that?”

“What is that?” Trixie inquired, staring in confusion at the small mechanical creature that greeted her and her partner at the entrance to the cave in Infinity Mountain. His form was cylindrical, with glass casing protecting the top of his head, and he had two long arms and four short legs. Much of his body looked damaged, especially on the left side of it, where the glass was cracked open and the metal gave way to show an organic-looking red eye contrasting the robotic yellow one.

“Datamon,” Trixie’s Digivice revealed. “Virus-type Machine Digimon. Ultimate level. Able to hack computers and alter data on a whim. Signature move is Digital Bomb.”

“A Digivice?” Datamon remarked, looking at the contraption around Trixie’s leg. “Interesting. At the very least, it saves me the hassle of an introduction.”

“You look worse for wear,” Impmon noted, looking at all the structural damage on Datamon’s form. “What’s all that?”

“Something we are not discussing,” Datamon snapped.

“Impmon...” Trixie inquired, slightly concerned. “Who exactly is this?”

“Our eyes and ears,” Impmon replied. “Datamon has the single most thorough surveillance system in the entire Digital World. We’re gonna need to start keeping tabs on the goings-on of the world if you wanna conquer it.”

“You say that like I’ll just let you use me,” Datamon remarked, a hint of scorn in his voice. “I can’t allow that. Not unless I can be sure you’re trustworthy.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Impmon jovially replied, giving Datamon an unwelcome pat on the back. “I know I’m a stand-up guy for sure, and I’m willing to vouch for Trixie here too.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is perfectly capable of speaking for herself!” Trixie declared, turning up her nose.

Datamon groaned. “She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Impmon admitted. “But we’re stuck with each other, so I’m trying to grin and bear it.”

“So why should I trust either of you?” Datamon asked, almost accusingly.

Impmon paused for a moment, apparently trying to think of something that would convince Datamon to lend them aid. Trixie simply huffed and turned away, unsure of why her so-called partner was even making the effort. She didn’t even want his help, and now he was tying her to yet another individual? Did he even know who she was?

Ultimately, however, she decided to withhold her reservations. Impmon was right, as much as she hated to admit it; global conquest could be thwarted by ignorance, and she would need a way to watch over the world that was soon to be hers. Her partner clearly knew a way to watch over the land, and if that meant another temporary alliance, then so be it.

Finally, Impmon was prepared to speak. “Well, I think you can vouch for me as not being a threat. I mean, you have to have been looking at me through your little system. And Trixie here... she’s my partner, so I’ve gotta trust her. And all we want is help in our goal to take control of the Digital World.”

“Sounds ambitious,” Datamon noted. “Not exactly a noble ambition, either. I’ve heard that goal plenty of times before, and other than this one loudmouth punk, it was never good.”

“I promise benevolence,” the unicorn mare swore. “While I do want to take control of this ‘Digital World,’ I would rather not be overly cruel about it. Historically, there is no gain from ruthless rulership.”

Datamon regarded Trixie for a while. The sight of his mismatched eyes fixed right on her made her rather uncomfortable.

After a moment of thought, Datamon nodded. “Alright.”

“Alright what?” Trixie inquired. “You will help us?”

“Yes,” Datamon confirmed. “I’m willing to work with you. In fact, you can call all the shots. I work better when given direction than I do when giving it. But...”

Datamon locked eyes with Trixie, then raised his hand to her. In an instant, she was overcome with a dull but building pain. Her body felt sluggish as she tried to back away, almost as if... as if it were lagging.

“I don’t know what you’re made of where you’re from,” Datamon stated coolly, “but here, you’re just data, like everything else. I can stuff your body with all sorts of viruses. If I catch wind of anything resembling treachery, if I even think you’re trying to dispose of me, I will crash you. Are we clear?”

Trixie nodded as well as she could, and Datamon regarded her for a moment longer before dispelling the virus. Trixie collapsed to the ground and panted heavily, looking up at Datamon with unexpected fear as Impmon rushed to help her to her feet. Her Digivice had referred to him as Ultimate-level, and if this is what Ultimate could do, she could not comprehend the possibility of anything above it.

It appeared her mind was made up for her. She would not be disposing of this Datamon, not even if his usefulness was outlived. If this was his power, she could not imagine him possibly outliving his usefulness. She sighed, extending a hoof for Datamon to shake, and his reciprocation marked the beginning of an alliance that she, for fear of her well-being if she betrayed him, did not intend to dissolve.

“Now then, why don’t we step inside?” Datamon invited. “I’ve got a lot of cool toys to share.”

“Pteramon. Data-type Winged Dragon Digimon. Armor level. Dive-bombs enemies from enormous heights with Beak Pierce.”

“Oh, thanks a lot!" Rainbow shouted at her Digivice, eyes set on the monster flying overhead. With a hard beat of its wings, the silhouette tore through the air towards them, a shriek piercing the ears of everypony. Rainbow chucked herself to the side, shouting "Scatter!" as she shoved Fluttershy away.

Everybody took the hint and booked it as the shriek of air became furious, and the beast hit the ground beak-first, tossing rocks and a choking cloud of dirt up around it. The monster's wings desperately beat as it tried to yank its buried beak out of the ground, grunting before the earth finally let it go. It took one look around before stomping hard, shrieking. "More trespassers on my territory!?"

All eyes set on the injured Veedramon, who just looked back at everyone, raising his eyebrow in confusion.

"Ya mean that 'territorial dispute' was 'cuz you walked in like ya owned the place!?"

"It was the only way I could get him to fight me!" Veedramon raised his hands in defense, brow furrowing. "I wanted some practice on armored opponents and flying ones, and Pteramon covers both bases, so...”

"Hey, if the NPCs wanna level up, I won't argue!" Pinkie declared with her trademark grin, raising her brow a bit as she earned bemused stares from everybody present. However, at the sound of a hissing roar, they all collectively turned to see something white and on fire suddenly speeding towards them.

"Missile!" Ryudamon shouted, shocking everyone out of their stares and setting them on the move, though it was too little, too late, as the missile slammed into the ground and outran them all with the blast wave. The ground shattered as fire shot out from the impact, and everyone was sent flying through the air, trying to recover before they all slammed into the ground. Pinkie spent it laughing and flipping through the air, eventually landing on her hooves as AJ hit the ground beside her, spinning around, just to get knocked over from Veedramon crashing into her face-first.

"Ghfik!" Was all she managed before tumbling away.

Pteramon scowled at the near-miss, cursing the wind for throwing his aim off before propelling himself enough to steady in the air and taking aim again. His scowl changed to a smile as a bouncy, hot pink dot on the ground made itself a prime target, and a pleasant 'fwoosh' ripped the air beside him as another missile flew off from his other wing.

Recovering from his sudden date with the cruel ground, Gaomon rubbed his face and got to his feet, vision blurred slightly from hitting his head. His eyes locked on a bright light in the sky and the screech of a missile tearing through the air, and looked for where it was headed. Before he knew what was happening, he was already charging for Pinkie, and he leapt into the air, heart stopping for just a moment as he shut his eyes, body thrown between the mare and the explosive.

His ears registered a deafening bang as the missile went off... but where was the hit? The blast wave? Where was the searing pain? Hitting the ground answered that last question as he winced, a bruise on his shoulder igniting as it rubbed against a sharp rock, but he quickly stood back up and looked back, eyes going wide.

Veedramon had put himself between Pinkie and the missile, bandages either blown clear of his body, burned, or still on fire around his wounds, arms raised and crossed in defense. He stumbled back a bit before throwing his arms out and roaring, glaring up at his opponent. "This isn't their fight!" His foot slammed into the ground, standing fast against Pteramon. "This is you and me! Stop getting them involved!"

Pteramon glared at the stubborn foe. “They’re trespassers, the same as you. And if you don’t leave, I’ll run you all through!”

A roar answered the threat as Veedramon’s maw opened, a bright blast of perfectly V-shaped light firing out as his legs braced against the recoil. Pteramon lurched as he was hit in the chest, wings halfway through their flap to get him out of the way, hairline splits breaking out across his armor from the impact, wings stalling as shock overtook his senses.

“You’re trespassing on my territory!” Veedramon slammed the ground with his foot and braced, launching another flare of energy as Pteramon righted himself in the air, narrowly missing his head as his opponent jinked to the left. “Buzz off, trash can!”

“C’mon, let’s get out of here!” Twilight shouted, dragging the dazed AJ over to her as everyone else started heading away from the battlefield. She kept AJ hanging in the air with her magic, only registering the faint grunts of somepony getting tumbled around in a dryer.

Pteramon ducked under a third blast, leering for a moment at his opponent before looking away, sneering. He focused back on his opponent, smiling just a bit as he flapped into the air and launched two missiles at the escapees.

Veedramon’s eyes locked onto the flying bombs and quickly focused a blast on one, shooting it out of the air before running towards the group. With a leap, he snatched the other from the air and twisted with the missile’s thrust, throwing it off into the air.

His eyes locked on Pteramon’s, the speeding predator rocketing straight for him, beak outstretched like a javelin. He swiftly slammed his claws together, trapping the speeding lancer’s beak between them and taking off with his enemy, flying past the ponies. He jerked and twisted, trying to throw the bird to the ground, while Pteramon fought to get his mouth open. Quickly tilting his head down and slamming his own claws into Veedramon’s stomach, he slammed the dragon to the ground, sliding along the jagged rocks and dirt, a cry of agony and a loosening of the grip around his beak following.

With a smirk, his beak snapped open and a shining ball of energy collected, aimed straight at Vee’s horned face. He braced for the point-blank blast, rearing back for a punch...

Just to see his beak snap shut in a weird purple gas, and hear something explode inside the bird’s maw.

Pteramon leapt off his opponent, shrieking in pain as he clawed at the inside of his beak, Veedramon wincing at the visible burns inside it. “Ahhh, that burns!” The lavender aura faded as Twilight rushed in, breaking off from the group while the others ran for safety, AJ recovering from her daze and subsequent magic rattling. Several bolts launched from her horn, bouncing off the monster’s armor as he winced from each hit, a cruel eye focusing on her. He growled and turned, rushing for Twilight with rage burning in his eyes.

Veedramon fought his way to his feet, eyes locked on Twilight and Pteramon slashing and punching at each other. His mouth opened, mentally grinning at his chance to bring down his “training dummy,” and another bubble of energy collected in it. He put all the strength he could into it before taking a breath and firing.

A light caught Pteramon’s attention out of the corner of his eye, and he leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the furious blaze of light. Twilight shrieked as she didn’t get so lucky, the searing light dragging a black line across her side, her legs throwing her to the side on sheer instinct.

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, Fluttershy squealing at the sight. Pinkie’s smile faded for just a moment before shaking her head, zipping over to Fluttershy.

Putting all her typical glee into her words, Pinkie patted Fluttershy on the back and grinned. “She’s fine, don’t worry!” A gust of wind blasted her mane into disarray as Rainbow shot off towards the battle, only to jink as a missile screamed past her. She took her eyes off Pteramon, fear in her eyes as she locked onto the bomb soaring by.

With his enemies all distracted by the missile rocketing by, Pteramon latched onto Twilight hard with his talon and took flight, racing off. The dragon locked his eyes on the escaping foe, roaring as he forced his weakened form to charge one last blast. “Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!” The recoil nearly knocked him over as he fired, energy flaring out towards Pteramon. His enemy rolled out of the way, a stagger knocking the dragon’s aim off even farther as he fell to a knee.

DORUmon winced as the missile made landfall far off, but the explosion barely registered as his eyes locked on his unconscious partner being carried off. “No! You aren’t taking her away, darn it!” He took off after the monster, firing cannonball after cannonball at him in a blind fury. Pteramon rolled left and banked right, beak gnashing together as he glared back.

“Buzz off, bug!” He shrieked, before a ball of energy shined in his mouth. A blaze of energy shot out and carved a line in DORUmon’s path, the heat haze shoving him back as the ground melted from the attack. With the last threat taken care of, he raced off for home. Bah, retreat for now and reload. I got one of them, and I’ll get the rest later.

As he flew, though, he failed to notice a shining light coming from Twilight, her Digivice flaring powerfully as DORUmon started to panic. With a primal roar of unbridled rage, his body transformed and grew in his partner’s light. His tiny wings extended sideways and jutted straight out like airship wings, and an enormous dorsal fin appeared on his back. His torso and arms gained a large amount of mass as they became weighed down with Chrome Digizoid armor. Once the light faded, he looked like a draconic yellow cyborg. The rest of the group looked upon him in awe, apparently shocked that DORUmon could evolve a second time.

With his prey in sight and his goal clear in his mind, Raptordramon took to the skies.

“How can all of this fit in here!?” Trixie exclaimed the moment she entered her new ally’s cave.

“You realize this is a mountain, right?” Datamon replied incredulously.

The mare didn’t bother to retort, as her attention was grabbed wholly by Datamon’s lair. The entire layout, aside from the door on one end and a console on the other, was filled with screens upon screens of surveillance footage. With the level of coverage displayed, it had to have covered the entire world, not just File Island. Every screen showed a different terrain, most of them with some sort of commotion going on involving other Digimon.

“This is... excessively thorough.”

“You wanted global coverage,” Datamon reminded her. “You won’t get it anywhere else.”

“Wow,” Impmon remarked, soaking in the view for himself. “I know I talked you up as this big watcher guy, but looking at all this kinda makes me think you’re way paranoid.”

“Call it paranoia if you will,” Datamon began. “I see it as being careful. I need to know who’s worth trusting. You see...”

As Datamon explained exactly why he felt the need to keep tabs on the entire Digital World, Trixie spaced out, just staring at the wall of screens. So much care went into the design of this game, as evidenced by the diversity of the creatures and terrains shown. They were all displayed in crystal-clear resolution, a level of detail that suggested to her that all of these were areas that could be visited during her playthrough.

Suddenly, one screen in particular caught her eye. She wasn’t sure what drew her to it, but she fixated on it the instant she saw it. It was well above eye level, but she could still clearly see what looked to be two large metal dinosaurs staring each other down in midair. The moment she saw them speeding towards each other, she knew she had to watch.

“Switch to that screen,” Trixie commanded, interrupting Datamon’s speech with a pointing hoof. “It looks like we’ve got ourselves a dogfight.”

Twilight’s vision swam and blurred, a quiet groan escaping her as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. She saw her hair blowing around in a powerful wind, eye squinting in the force of the gale, and felt a lurching sensation of her body being forced up and down, like something was carrying her. Her breath caught as her senses came back, and her eyes turned upward, seeing the beating wing of a massive beast, and when her eyes turned back down, vertigo hit her like a train as she saw the ground far below her.

Her lungs stalled for a moment as fear lanced into her mind. Did... did I get abducted? And... with something this big, it can’t be because I’m a hostage... She gulped, whimpering softly.

A sense of dread nestled in her mind. She closed her eyes and started making her peace before a voice caught her attention, eyes turning to her foreleg, and the Digivice resting on it.

“Raptordramon. Vaccine-type Cyborg Digimon. Champion level. Extremely predatory and modified to kill targets efficiently. Signature move is Crash Charge.”

“Raptor—”

As soon as the word left her mouth, something heavy and extremely fast crashed into Pteramon’s side, knocking Twilight loose with a shriek as the monster was thrown off, rolling through the air. Twilight’s eyes locked on the ground as she flailed, and she did what any sensible pony would do in that situation.

She started flailing and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Her appointment with death was postponed, however, as something snatched her out of the air, and that gale force wind blowing through her mane returned to its thankfully horizontal direction. She coughed, catching her breath as the impact winded her, looking around in terror. Oh Celestia, what’s got me now!?

She almost started smacking the new beast on the chest before her ears registered a familiar voice. It came deeper and with a much more noticeable growl, but it definitely rang true to her.

“Sorry for the wait, Twilight. I gotcha!”

She quickly turned her head to the new arrival, eyes wide in shock. “D-DORUmon...? Is that you!?”

The beast offered her a smirk, eyes hidden in a terrifyingly spiky helmet. “It’s me, yeah. You’re safe.” His smirk vanished in a gag as Twilight suddenly latched onto his neck, a bone-crushing hug forcing his windpipe to look more like a crumpled copper pipe than an air passage. “Ack! Twilight, too tight!”

“S-sorry!” Twilight grinned sheepishly as she loosened her hug, though she grinned all the same. “Thanks! Um... what happened to you, though?”

Raptordramon scanned the skies for the monster who snatched his partner as he flew towards the ground, slowing and landing down on his heavy feet. “I’ll explain later. Rainbow’s right behind me, and she’ll take you back to the others.”

“That doesn’t answer the question, though!” Twilight furrowed her brow in indignation as she got placed on the ground, earning a smile from the dragon. That only made her stomp the ground and grit her teeth, frustrated by his refusal to cooperate.

“Just know you made me a whole lot stronger than I used to be. Just like the first time.” With that, he turned and spotted a dot racing through the air, banking left with a small light in its mouth. “Now run! He’s not done!”

“But wait, I can help you!” Twilight winced as her partner’s wings flapped once, the blast of wind nearly knocking her on her rump.

“I’m not putting you at risk again. Now go!” With a heavy flap of his wings, he tore off through the air towards the circling Pteramon, narrowly avoiding a blast of heat from his enemy. The shot was too high to hit Twilight, blowing a hole in the earth some distance behind her. She winced slightly, but that was all the reaction she got as her eyes locked on her partner racing off, even as Rainbow landed next to her and lifted her up.

“C’mon, Twi’, leave it to him! Those burns of yours aren’t gonna fix themselves.” Not waiting for a response, Rainbow turned and threw Twilight onto her blue back, and flew off towards the group. Twilight’s eyes stayed on her partner, a feeling of helplessness weighing on her heart.

Stay safe, DORUmon...

The wind ripped as another beam of energy tore through the air, Raptordramon rolling out of the way and rocketing towards his enemy. His fangs gnashed together with the effort of closing the gap with Pteramon, who kept the distance, launching blast after blast of searing energy to throw his enemy off. With a grunt, he narrowly dodged another blast, flying down under Pteramon while shouting upwards. “Nasty little flashlight, aren’t you!?”

“Flashlight?!” Pteramon shrieked back, pivoting and diving down towards Raptordramon, beak opened for another flare. “Flashlights blind you! I burn you alive!” With a high-pitched cry, the beam launched out of his beak, narrowly missing Raptordramon as he rolled to the left and pitched up hard, flapping his wings like a mad-Digimon to close the gap with his enemy. Pteramon flapped back and flipped over, soaring away from his enemy, but quickly found himself being chased. “Buzz off, fangs!”

“No way, not now!” The beast gnashed his fangs together, sparks flying from the silvery metal. “I’m gonna teach you a lesson about picking fights with everyone who comes by!” With a sudden burst of strength, his wings threw Raptordramon forward, quickly picking up speed and closing the gap with his foe.

Pteramon’s eyes locked on his enemy, panting a bit as he fought to keep away from the dinosaur, those shimmering fangs instilling a sense of dread in him. Gotta keep away from that mouth of his. Maybe...? He quickly scanned the sky before rolling and pitching downwards, rocketing down towards the ground. Raptordramon tracked his enemy with steely eyes and flew down after him, closing his wings to increase his freefall speed. The wind whistled past them as the ground raced upwards, jagged rocks below just begging to make their faces’ acquaintance.

With a last look pointed back at his enemy, Pteramon looked down at the ground, noting the gap still closing between him and the fang-filled monstrosity. Checking his distance, he took a sharp breath and snapped open his wings, throwing himself aside as Raptordramon blasted past him like a missile, still flying towards the ground. With a smirk at his plan working, two locks clicked under his wings, and the bombs held by them started falling as well. He quickly turned and flew off and away, looking back at the falling munitions.

At the point he passed Pteramon, Raptordramon grimaced and looked back, throwing his own wings open and slowing to a halt just above the ground, his weight making ascent a little harder. The whistling of something else falling through the air caught his attention, and his eyes widened as he looked to the side, a rather large bomb falling past him.

Oh cru—

His thought was cut off by the deafening blast of two bombs hitting the ground and going off, consuming his form in raging fire and dust blown clear by a huge shockwave. His roar was muffled by the shock of sound, curling up to defend himself as burning gas seared his exposed skin and heated his armor, turning it red with blazing fury. Pteramon let out a shry cackle as he observed his prey, circling over him and getting ready for another bombing run. “What’ve you got to say now, fangs!?”

His eyes then snapped wide as something blasted out of the cloud of dust, his enemy now a visage of pure rage as he quickly shot towards Pteramon. “What’ve I got to say now!?” Raptordramon roared a deafening roar as he opened his maw wide. “I’m hungry!”

Taking that as a cue to leave, Pteramon quickly turned tail and started flying away from the manic Digimon he’d just tried to blow up, arming two more missiles as he fought to keep the distance gap relatively wide. Their wings beat with crazed abandon as the distance gap shrank ever so much, more and more, Raptordramon’s narrow, predatory eyes fixed on his enemy as he bared his fangs. “Get back here, chicken!”

Pteramon grimaced back, eye twitching at the insult before suddenly spinning around, darting back towards his enemy. Raptordramon rolled to the side, Pteramon rolling as well, a flare of energy appearing in his opened beak. “I’ll show you who’s— ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” The flare vanished as Pteramon shrieked hard, yanked back by the powerful fangs latched onto his leg.

Raptordramon steadied himself, snarling hard as he bit down harder, armor cracking under the force of his jaw. He started whipping his head back and forth, trying to get his screaming prey to shut up, snarling and growling to try and show his foe who’s boss. “Quiet!”

Pteramon suddenly perched up and jammed his beak up where the sun doesn’t shine, Raptordramon grunting with every renewed, forceful slam against his armor. He thrashed his enemy around some more, before roaring in agony as Pteramon finally found his mark and stabbed the dinosaur in the leg, something cracking a bit under the force before he started falling. The beast clutched his leg as he righted himself with the other, glaring up at the yellow monster that had so deftly ruined his protective shell.

Raptordramon sneered and gritted his teeth, holding his open wound in a claw as he glared at his prey, snorting hard. “You tasted horrible, y’know that?”

“Yeah, I do. Something else you should know!” Pteramon threw himself upwards with a beat of his wings, opening them to reveal the munitions under them. “When I’m this close to you, it gets really hard to miss!” Not wanting to see another devil spring from a cloud of destruction, numerous locks unclipped and released the remaining missiles under his wings, Pteramon fully set on making sure there’s nothing left of this predator. This has to take him down! It has to! For good measure, he fired several energy blasts as well, his foe’s armor taking the hits well before the missiles flew up.

Raptordramon, in response, snapped his wings closed. Two of the missiles narrowly missed him while the other five flew off into the sky, red-white trails left behind as they flew away. Once they were gone, his wings snapped back open, and he stared at his opponent. The distant explosions barely fazed him as his glare intensified, filling with a predatory hunger that would paralyze lesser creatures. “Thanks for ringing the dinner bell.” He bared a fang-filled grin as his claws scraped together. “Now c’mere.”

Pteramon... squeaked. The sound stunned both of them for just a moment before he turned tail and flew off, Raptordramon’s eye twitching. “Why. Won’t. You. Give. Up!?” His wings flapped hard as he tore off after Pteramon, enraged by both his predatory instincts being inflamed from an elusive prey, and his plain anger at his enemy not surrendering without a proper beating. “Get back here and let me properly chomp you!”

“What’s with you?!” Pteramon cried out, pitching down and out of sight. Raptordramon’s furious eyes scanned around, looking down under him to see his enemy flying upside down and aiming another blast at him. Throwing safety to the wind, Raptordramon pitched down hard and flew down towards his enemy, the distance gap closing faster than a bakery at rush hour. The two slammed into each other, Raptordramon quickly sinking his fangs into Pteramon’s shoulder and biting down with all the force he could muster, snarling as he felt the armor crack and give. His weight thrown into the equation, nothing could be done with Pteramon’s rampant wing flaps throwing them into a spiral as they dropped towards the ground like a rock.

Just before touching down, Raptordramon’s wings shot open and flapped several times, slowing their descent until the hit the ground. Enough force to knock the wind out of Pteramon, but luckily not enough to make a crater out of their bodies. The yellow monster’s heavy foot stepped down on Pteramon as his fangs finally let go, head raising to glare down at his enemy.

Recognizing the terror in Pteramon’s eyes, Raptordramon took a few calming breaths, his eyes going back from their bloodshot, knife-edge hunger to something more normal and less murderous. “I’m gonna say this once. You take in every word... got it?”

Pteramon just nodded his head, wriggling just a bit under the limb on his chest.

“This territory is mine. This land, is mine. And you aren’t welcome on my turf. Now you get out of here, and if I so much as catch wind of you coming near my partner, or her friends again...” His eyes widened and his fangs bared, he snarled. “I’ll rip you apart.”

Pteramon stared back up into the predator’s eyes, snarling back as best he could. “What’s stopping you from trying now? Suddenly lose all that bravado?”

“No, what’s stopping me is respect for myself and my partner. But I’ll make good on my promise if you cross into my territory again.” Pteramon’s head leaned back as the raptor’s own face moved in, fangs glinting in the light. “Do not. Test me.”

Finally getting the hint, Pteramon just fell silent and nodded, and Raptordramon stood back up. Taking his foot off his enemy’s chest, he just narrowed his eyes as the wounded Digimon got to his feet and spread his wings. The two locked eyes one last time before the wounded monster took flight, and headed off into the distance.

Once he was out of earshot, Raptordramon let out a heavy breath and wiped his brow. Seriously? Eat him? What am I, Keramon? He shook his head and looked back at the receding shadow of his enemy, eyes narrowing slightly. I think he got the message, though. Better head back... I wonder how long this form will last. I kind of like flying. With a smirk, he turned and took off back towards the group, wings beating to propel him along even faster. A smile grew across his face as the wind tore by, its apex predator heading back towards his friends.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.”

“You know her?” Impmon asked.

“Very well,” Trixie explained. “She is an acquaintance. Or rather, a rival; she has bested me twice with her displays of magic. If I tried to confront her the same way again in this world, especially with her ascension to royalty, I would surely lose a third time.”

She smirked, her sight never leaving the mare on the screen. “But we’re not playing by the same rules anymore. If she means to steal the ultimate prize from Trixie’s grasp, then Trixie will fight her another way!”

“Ooh, exciting!” Impmon exclaimed. “What did you have in mind? Hand-to-hand? Let me at her?”

“An army,” Trixie replied. “The aim is conquest, and conquest cannot be achieved without force. We need to rally an attack force to take this world over, and we will trample Twilight and her precious friends underhoof!”

“Now you’re talkin’!” Impmon shouted excitedly. His enthusiasm sapped after a moment, however. “Wait, how will you manage that? I don’t think a lot of Digimon would be up for that.”

“He’s right,” Datamon added. “A good number of Digimon are peaceful, and many of those who would willingly fight have too much pride to fight for someone else, let alone a pony.”

Trixie pondered for a moment. “I might have a way. Do you think you could beam a signal to other Digimon if I cast a spell to target them?”

“If I can’t, no one can,” Datamon boasted, cracking his metal knuckles. “Why? What’s the plan?”

“This world is made of data,” Trixie stated, her smirk widening into a cruel smile. “If they won’t come willingly, Trixie will have to do some hacking.”

Datamon met Trixie’s grin with one of his own. “Now that I can do.”

“Thank you so much, everyone!” Veedramon exclaimed. “I don’t think Pteramon’s going to be coming back anytime soon!”

“We’re not all to thank,” Twilight replied modestly as she gestured towards DORUmon, who had unfortunately expended all of the energy her Digivice had given him and reverted to his Rookie form.

“Oh, stop,” DORUmon retorted, waving his arm dismissively.

“Hey, that was still a cool trick,” Veedramon admitted. “Might be even cooler if you could stay a Champion.”

DORUmon simply shrugged. “Rookie’s a lot more manageable anyway.”

Veedramon rolled his eyes, which invariably led to them fixing on Twilight. “Also... I’m sorry about the burn thing.”

“It’s fine,” Twilight insisted, absently rubbing at the bandages around her torso. “I know it was an accident; it happens. At any rate, I think we’re all pretty exhausted. We’ve all been traveling non-stop for hours, and it’s getting dark.”

“Yeah, now that you mention it...” Rainbow stretched, her wings popping a bit. “We really should stop off somewhere.”

Veedramon nodded. “Make that somewhere here. You’ve earned it.”

“Thank you very much, Veedramon,” Fluttershy replied with a soft smile. She carried an already-dozing Terriermon on her back, setting up a resting area for everyone.

“I can help!” Palmon chimed, rushing over to do so. She stuck her vine-like fingers into the ground, and they emerged some distance away, intertwined in the rough form of a series of cots.

Rarity grimaced at the makeshift beds, thinking them to look messy and uncomfortable, but sucked it up and laid on the one closest to her partner. “Thank you for your assistance, Palmon. Will you require one for yourself?”

“Nope!” Palmon chimed, and promptly dug her rooted legs into the ground as well. “Yuck. This is all rock,” she added with a slight grimace.

Pinkie Pie giggled, leaping onto a vine bed of her own. “Saving station! Yay!”

Soon the other ponies and their partners traveled to the rest area, each finding beds beside each other. After a quick exchange of goodnights, most of them drifted off easily to sleep, finally getting the rest they needed and deserved.

DORUmon, however, couldn’t find solace in sleep. The events of the day were exciting, obviously. He met the partner he’d been conditioned from birth to wait for, he managed to maintain a stable Rookie-level evolution, and he even managed to reach Champion level. That sudden rush had made him feel like he had a role, an actual purpose, as a hunter and predator.

So why did he still feel unfulfilled? Why did it still feel like this was not what he was meant to be? He felt nearer to understanding, but still so very far.

With a heavy sigh, he stood up and left his bed, walking around the other sleeping ponies and Digimon. Veedramon sat away from the group, still awake, and the smaller Digimon approached him and sat beside him.

“Can’t sleep?” Veedramon asked, looking down at DORUmon.

“No, I can’t,” the Rookie replied. “I kind of... wanted to ask you something.”

Veedramon shrugged. “Guess I could ask something myself while you’re here.”

“Oh. Well, you can go first.”

“Are you sure?” Veedramon inquired, slightly surprised.

DORUmon replied with a nod. “Mine’s not that important anyway.”

“Suit yourself,” Veedramon relented. He paused for a moment, regarding his fellow Digimon, before taking a deep breath.

“How do you work with others? How did you know about your partners?”

The question surprised DORUmon. It made sense that Veedramon wouldn’t understand the dynamic, but he didn’t expect the dragon to have any interest in it.

After a short while, however, he shook off the surprise and formulated his response. “Well... I was kind of expecting it from birth. Those other five were too. We were born knowing we were destined to meet them, and we waited our whole lives to meet them. It feels more right than anything else in my life.

“Which actually leads me to my question... when did you know what your purpose was?”

Veedramon simply shrugged again. “I didn’t have the patience to wait on others to see me through my life. I had to fight that sense of destiny so I could work to make my own, on my own.”

DORUmon was caught on Veedramon’s phrasing, his tone of voice. His words carried a bitterness to them that he wasn’t anticipating. The way he spoke of destiny, it sounded like...

“You’re supposed to have a partner too.”

The larger monster looked away, huffing. “He’s not coming. I got tired of waiting.”

DORUmon shook his head. “Ours did. Yours will too, someday. I have faith in that. Destiny will find a way.”

“Well, it’s taking its sweet time,” Veedramon growled, and promptly turned away from the smaller monster. With another sigh, DORUmon got up and walked off, returning to his partner’s side.

That told him nothing. He learned something very interesting about Veedramon, but it didn’t help him to understand himself any better. Veedramon’s purpose was found trying to spite the partner he thought would never come; DORUmon wasn’t going to do that to Twilight just to find his way. It would be extremely selfish, and he didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself.

Becoming Raptordramon gave him a love of the hunt, but he still felt incomplete.

“Are you alright, DORUmon?”

DORUmon sighed at the sound of Twilight’s voice. He was expecting her to still be asleep, but it seemed his activity roused her. He was ready to blow her off again, to keep her from worrying about him. However, after all they’d been through today, he supposed he owed her something.

He turned to face his partner, a conflicted frown on his face. “Honestly... I’m not sure. I’m still no closer.”

Twilight gave DORUmon an inquisitive look. “Closer to what?”

He couldn’t tell her. The words stuck in his throat when he tried, and even Twilight’s caring intentions weren’t prying them out. He would have liked for her to help, but if he still couldn’t bring himself to talk to her about it...

“Never mind,” DORUmon muttered, turning back away and trying to get to sleep.

Twilight sighed and shook her head, now unsure if she would be able to return to sleep. Something was troubling her partner deeply, and she still couldn’t press him to admit what it was. It could be viewed as progress that he confessed to there being something, but until he told her what that something was, she couldn’t help him. And she couldn’t stop worrying.

Her gaze drifted to her saddlebags, which lay on the ground beside her with her Digivice clipped to the latch. She opened the bag opposite the Digivice, retrieving her tablet. When she turned the device on, she noted the full charge it bore, absently wondering how long that would last her, even with the battery she modified for it.

She would make a journal of their encounters, she decided, and would update it nightly. She had a writing application installed that wouldn’t require online access to work, and she promptly opened it to start transcribing. It took her about an hour even with the speed at which she typed, and as soon as she finished and saved her journal log, she powered the device down and returned it to her bag.

With another sigh, Twilight laid herself to rest on the bed of vines again, careful to mind her injury, and attempted to sleep. This wasn’t how any of them expected to spend their day out.

Author's Note

Many thanks to KillerSteel for his gigantic contribution to the writing of this chapter. Sorry it took a year.

Also, here's this chapter's visual companion, since I'm anticipating the same appearance-related questions from the last chapter.

Chapter Three: Brothers

“Going so soon?” Veedramon raised his eyebrow as he looked over his new friends packing up their things, tilting his mouth up at the side. “You only just got up!”

“We can’t waste any time,” Twilight raised her head from her over-stuffed bag only for a moment, before ducking back into it, fretting over how to organize her food so it’s spatially efficient. “We have to get home, and sitting around won’t lead us to the way back.” She let out a soft sigh, mind cranking away at the issue as she absently adjusted the bandage wrapped around her side.

DORUmon flashed the larger creature a soft smile, peeking at Twilight’s bandage for a moment before looking back at Veedramon. “You’re more than welcome to come with us, Veedramon. We’d be glad to have you.”

“We would?” Rainbow Dash asked, her own bags packed and in the middle of being tossed onto her back by Ryudamon. Ryudamon promptly shut her up with a rough nudge, which earned him a glare from his pony partner.

Veedramon shrugged. “I’d just be in the way. I’ve told you before, I’m fine on my own. You’ll be just as fine not having me hanging around.”

“But what if you get hurt again?” Fluttershy asked, her gaze fixed on his numerous still-healing wounds and old scars. The sight of the still-red scars and slashes, and the burns still stinking of charred skin, set her stomach reeling and her wings twitching.

“Then I’ll deal with it myself,” Veedramon huffed, folding his arms. The searing pain running up through his wounds was forced down to a twitch of the eye in response. “Like I always have,” he growled out through grit teeth.

"Hey, ya wanna be the lone wolf again, be my guest." Applejack shrugged and let out a trained sigh, showing no signs of carrying the point on as she tied the saddlebags tight against her, heavy with cargo. She turned to her friends and their partners, nodding to them. "Alright, 'cmon. Let's go."

“Always ready when you are!” Labramon declared, nuzzling his partner. Applejack chuckled at his affection and gave him a quick petting, then hoisted up her saddlebags and led him onward. The others quickly followed her example, letting the farm pony guide them as they set off at last.

“Bye, new friend!” Pinkie Pie called back, bouncing backwards with the group as she waved at him. “We’ll hopefully see you again!” Veedramon just waved back in response, turning and walking his own way as the travelers journeyed forth.

“You’ve been staring at that screen nonstop,” Impmon walked up beside his partner, glancing to the screens, then back at her before giving her side a light elbow. “Did you even sleep last night?”

“Only when they did,” Trixie narrowed her eyes, gaze fixed on the wandering band of ponies displayed on one of Datamon’s many monitors. “I need to keep an eye on them, Impmon, you know this.”

“Yeah, yeah, something about them being a huge threat. Why not just roast them now then?” Impmon shrugged, looking up at her with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, it’s not like we’d have much trouble. Just ask Datamon to infect ‘em or something.”

“Not yet... when it comes to this kind of battle, Impmon, simply ‘roasting’ them carries little satisfaction.” Trixie’s glare fixed on the pony at the lead of the group, her lavender coat turning the magician’s stomach and making her bile rise. “I need her to know exactly who is the best between us... and the world follows after that.”

Impmon furrowed his brow at that, looking up into Trixie’s eyes. He sidled away slightly, wanting to put some distance between him and those lethal eyes. “You alright, Trixie?”

“Fine... more than fine. Apologies, but that group of ponies and I go way back.” She closed her eyes and shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh. They aren’t going to win this time. Twilight will not win this time. You will all know defeat when I am ready, and when you are all knelt before the Great and Powerful Trixie, I will claim my victory in this little game we're playing. She looked over at Impmon for a moment, then looked back to the screens. “Why are you here, anyways?”

“Got bored, saw you were sitting here, figured you wanted someone nearby.” He plopped down onto his rear and crossed his arms, looking up at the screen. “Figured you’d be doing something a little more interesting, though.”

“Hmph.” Trixie scoffed and brushed back a lock of her mane, glaring at the group on the screen. Evolution... if Twilight’s pet could suddenly become so powerful... She looked over at the imp sitting next to her, narrowing her eyes slightly. Could Impmon do so again as well?

Bothersome that this isn’t recorded and saved. All I saw was the fight... what in the world triggered his evolution? Trixie blinked and turned back to the screen, ears drooping slightly as she pondered to herself. Beyond the fact that he has the capability, I know nothing of Twilight’s little living weapon. Suppose I know somepony who could fix that, however...

“Pah. Where is Datamon?” She turned away from the screen, standing and looking to Impmon.

“How should I know? He’s off in some dark corner of the cave, working on some crazy tech-thing. Last I saw him, he was a level down.” Impmon shrugged, looking away from Trixie. And stop glaring at me... it’s creepy.

“Very well. Wait here; once I am done with him, I will have a task for you.” Trixie turned and trotted away, and before Impmon could get more than a sputter out, the blue mare teleported away, leaving him in the viewing room. The imp simply grimaced and huffed, standing back up and looking to the TV displaying the other ponies.

“Well, at least you have a tolerable partner, DORUmon. I’m a devil, not some pack mule. Jeeze...” He kicked the ground lightly before turning away and walking to the door at the back of the room. “Thinks she’s the boss of me... partner or not, no one talks down to me like that.”

Datamon tinkered away at a new piece of machinery, looking over the careful hydraulics linking everything together. “Delicate... very delicate... caaarefu—”

He jumped as a sudden blast of light lit up his cavern, and a snap echoed out in front of him, minuscule, but piercing his brain all the same. “Oh, curses!”

“Datamon! Have you finished yet?” Trixie trotted up beside him, the android’s eyes rolling slightly out of her sight.

“Are you serious?” the android huffed. “I have to rework the entire system in order to make your plan work. It’s hard enough to do that without shutting the cameras off!”

“Yeah, it’s impressive that you can do that,” Impmon commented from the doorway, staring absently at a screen full of cribs and eggs. Trixie shot her partner a glance, a glare that screamed a lack of amusement with his disobedience.

“Why, thank you,” Datamon remarked. “At least someone appreciates the work I’m putting into this.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and turned up her nose. Ungrateful machine. He should be honored that I’ve considered him worthy of my leadership, and humble that he will serve when I take over the Digital World!

“Alright,” Applejack announced as the group traversed the vast canyon. “We’re gonna look for the shore, like Twilight said yesterday. Hopefully there’s somethin’ on the edge of the island that’ll help us get home.”

“And we’re only finding this out after we’ve started moving?” Rainbow huffed as she glanced to AJ, furrowing her brow a bit.

Ryudamon nudged her again, looking up at her as he kept pace. “Easy! Why are you so on-edge?”

The speedster groaned, her wings flaring outward. “I just wanna get back. This place is getting real old real fast.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight snapped, looking back at Rainbow. “That’s kind of rude to say to someone who’s lived here all his life.”

“It’s fine,” Ryudamon assured her, shaking his head. “I know none of you asked to be here. I’d be angry too, if I were stuck in a place I didn’t know without a way to get back.”

Gaomon nodded, walking slightly ahead of his bouncing partner. “We’ll get you home, however long it takes. And we’ll keep you safe until then.”

Twilight smiled at the blue canine and nodded in appreciation. Her gaze returned to the canyon ahead as she walked with her friends, DORUmon loyally walking beside her.

Terriermon simply lounged around on top of Fluttershy’s head, sleepily munching on some pink mane while looking at Twilight’s partner. It was so hard to believe that his friend had just made it to Champion level yesterday, especially considering he was back to being a Rookie now.

He smiled a bit, a few pink hairs trapped in his mouth. Wonder what that whole ‘evolution’ thing felt like...?His curiosity was burning. He just had to know what it was like.

He spat out the hairs and cleared his throat, looking to DORUmon. “So, DORUmon...”

“Hm?” The dino looked back at him, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“So you evolved.” Terriermon crossed his arms on top of Fluttershy’s head, looking as nonchalant as he could and offering a little smirk as he continued. “How’d that go for you?”

“It was insane!” DORUmon exclaimed, the outburst causing Twilight and Fluttershy to jump in surprise, looking over at him. “Like, as soon as it happened, Pteramon was just prey to me. The second Twilight was carted off, I went ballistic on him!” The little dino grinned as he gestured excitedly, overjoyed by the memory. “Never felt so powerful in my life!”

“Oh, now you’ve gotta tell me! Gimme all the details!” Terriermon grinned, tapping his little claws together excitedly. Oh, he’s on fire, I can tell! This is gonna be good.

“I’d rather not talk about...” Fluttershy objected quietly, neither Digimon picking her up as the conversation went right along.

“Sure!” DORUmon agreed. “It started off with me just dodging all the beams and missiles. Oh, and bombs; he dropped bombs on me too. Once I got close though, I just tore into him! You should’ve seen the teeth I had in that form! Sank right into his leg, and his armor didn’t even stand a chance! I swear, I could taste his data through the...”

Fluttershy kept her head low through the walk, chewing on her lip with her eyes locked on the ground. DORUmon's words, charged with pride and excitement from Terriermon's encouragement, rocked her mind like the hull of a ship in a storm, every single detail sinking into her mind and creating images she repressed with as much speed as she could muster. Her ears drooped more with every word as she tried to block out his voice, drifting towards the back of the group to just get away from it.

It wasn’t just DORUmon, either. Even Veedramon's attitude towards battle had dug into her and squirmed in her stomach. Thinking of his friendly demeanor raised her spirits a little, but then her mind wandered to his want to fight and argue with others, the manic grin he'd get at the prospect of a fight. Her spine tingled with the image of those glittering fangs and sharp eyes bearing down on her, maw opening and coming towards—

She shook her head violently, jostling Terriermon around on top of it. The last thing she needed now was to have images like that floating through her head.

What got to her the most, though, was the still-healing burn on Twilight’s side. She knew Veedramon didn’t try to hit her, but from what she saw, he didn’t try not to either. He was so focused on Pteramon, and she was just in the way. Not only did he start that fight, he wasn’t even concerned about who got hurt during it. That was more than just alien to her, that was...

Cruel. The word she wanted was “cruel.” There was none other she could use.

“Hey.” Terriermon poked his partner’s nose, shifting on top of her head. “You’ve been stressed and mopey ever since we left. What’s wrong?”

Fluttershy looked up at her partner, who met her gaze with a look of friendly concern. She looked around at her friends, seeing that they were all engaging in conversation with their own partners, and sighed.

“Seriously, what’s wrong?” Terriermon repeated. “I can help you de-stress, because stress isn’t good. Moumantai, remember?”

“I know,” Fluttershy replied, pointing her eyes back at the ground. “It’s just... Veedramon picked that fight with Pteramon on purpose, and he got Twilight hurt. He was nice otherwise, but I really think he’s... I don’t know... obsessed with fighting.”

Terriermon took a pause to blink at her, then raised his brow as he sincerely inquired, “Is that all?”

Fluttershy’s head snapped back upwards, surprising Terriermon enough to send him rolling onto her back. He flopped onto her back and looked up, only to see Fluttershy’s shocked eyes meeting his. “What do you mean, ‘is that all?’ That’s not a good thing, Terriermon!”

Terriermon’s eyebrow rose in slight confusion as he sat up on his partner’s back. “Are you saying you’ve never fought a day in your life?”

“N-No, I’m not...” Fluttershy admitted, eyes turning to the ground slightly in thought. Images of her past struggles flashed through her mind: Nightmare Moon, the sleeping dragon, the parasprites, the cockatrice, the diamond dogs, Discord, the greed-grown Spike, Iron Will, the changelings, King Sombra, the corrupted Trixie, the timber wolves, Discord again... and every single time, she was pushed to act by all of their own actions. Even then, the parasprites didn’t really count, did they?

She sighed, turning back to Terriermon. “I’m saying I’ve never started a fight in my life. Not with the intention of starting one, anyway.”

Terriermon shrugged, his glance fixed on a point somewhere beside them. “That’s not as common an attitude as you’d think around here.”

“What do you mean?”

Terriermon pointed Fluttershy towards the scene he was looking at, and the sight appalled her. She could see two massive forms, too distant to make out clearly, locked in some unknown struggle. It was a disorganized flurry of punches and kicks and other attacks she couldn’t describe, and neither of them seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

Her eyes widened at the senseless violence. “Is... d-does that happen everywhere here?”

“This is a cruel and selfish world,” Terriermon informed his partner. “Survival of the fittest. You have to fight and get stronger if you want to make it anywhere. I’m pretty sure that’s why Veedramon wasn’t too keen on you butting in and helping him.”

“B-but...” Fluttershy stammered, somehow unable to tear her eyes away from the sight. “This can’t be all there is here. That’s no way to live at all...”

“It’s the way I know,” Terriermon replied. “It’s the way we’ve all always known. Not that there are no peaceful Digimon, but it’s way more common to see stuff like this around the Digital World. That’s a cold, hard fact, Fluttershy; we’re made to fight.”

She was stunned, eyes fixed on the scene in the distance. N-No... there’s no way that they exist just to fight. There’s other reasons, there has to be... an examination of nature, maybe? This sort of thing happens all the time in nature, out of necessity. Predators and prey, territorial disputes, showing off to attract mates... maybe that's what this all is?

She blinked as the thought crossed her mind, her ears flopping down to the sides of her head. But... DORUmon enjoyed it. Veedramon reveled in it. Animals don't enjoy doing what they do, they h-have to do it to live and breed... Her head drooped, and she let out a soft shudder. Not all Digimon c-can... be this cruel here, can they? But, b-but... Her breath caught a bit in her throat; DORUmon’s vivid words of his battle and his absolute pride in them, Veedramon’s uncaring disregard for pain caused to those not involved in his fight. The battle carrying on in the distance...

She tore her eyes away from the fight and tightly shut them, feeling wet trails draw themselves down her cheeks as she shook, trying to imagine any peaceful though that would mercifully come to her. Nothing from pictures of fields of flowers, to birds singing, did much to help her views. This world... it’s not right, it’s n-not... o-oh Celestia, I feel like I’m gonna puke...

The mare fell onto her rump and shivered, not feeling her partner grab onto a wing to stay on her back. She felt the bile rise in her throat as the sounds of the distant battle seemed to reach her ears; slashing claws, roars of agony as sharp teeth clamped down and tore flesh, blood hitting the ground in a crimson rain.

“I-I wanna... g-go home...”

“Are you alright, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. Fluttershy looked back up from the ground to discover that all her friends were looking at her with concern, Rainbow herself having come up to her. Everyone had stopped moving in response to her crying, and she looked back down at the ground to see that she’d fallen into a sitting position..

The yellow pegasus curled up a bit from the sudden attention, hiding her face behind her mane. “I-I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m sorry for slowing everypony down...”

“Fluttershy, dear, you know that’s not going to fool any of us.” Rarity trotted up to her side and placed a forehoof on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. “Something has you torn up, and it would be dreadful of us to not support you in a time of need. Now please, tell us what the matter is.”

Fluttershy started to shy away from Rarity. “I just want to g-go home...”

“We all do,” Twilight said with a sigh, ears drooping slightly as she glanced towards where they were walking. “And we’re trying to. We’ll find our way back as long as we don’t stop looking.”

The timid mare managed a nod in response. Seemingly satisfied for the moment, Rarity released her comforting grip, and after helping Fluttershy onto her hooves—and a scratch behind the ear from a worried Terriermon—the group began to travel again. Palmon was quick to mimic the motion with Rarity, catching her off-guard and making her yelp in surprise.

“Poor Fluttershy,” Pinkie remarked, her trademark smile no longer present on her face as her bounce reduced to a meager trot. “She should be having fun like the rest of us, but...”

Fluttershy kept her forlorn eyes off her friends as she walked behind them, instead plastering them back onto the distant struggle. It seemed to be over now; one of the Digimon was towering over the other, still pummeling the other’s seemingly unconscious body. The group’s path was bringing them a slight bit closer to the scene, and within range for her Digivice to chime in: “Wendigomon. Virus-type Beast Man Digimon. Champion level. A rage-filled beast able to warp space and time. Signature move is Howling Destroyer.”

She kept her eyes on Wendigomon, mostly against her will, as the beast’s muscular arms crashed down over and over again onto its opponent’s body. Her jaw slacked as she stared, her eyes widening as her pupils shrank. It—he; it looked male to her—just kept pummeling his fallen foe, bellowing in rage as he completely ignored the lack of reaction. No matter how long she stared at Wendigomon, he just kept going.

When she shot a glance at Terriermon, however, she discovered that he bore the exact same expression. For some reason, he was just as mortified by this mindless monster as he was. She looked back at Wendigomon, but while she was absolutely certain that this was the most brutal thing she’d ever seen, she didn’t see anything she thought her apparently hardened partner would object to.

Fluttershy looked back over at her stunned partner. “Terriermon, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at him like that?”

Terriermon’s gaze didn’t leave the rampaging beast. “That’s... my brother.”

The creature picked that exact moment to stop assaulting the unconscious body and look up at them. Specifically at them. Fluttershy and Terriermon both looked back, matching his fury with fear. For a long while, they stayed like that, and the others in the group were quick to join their gaze.

Wendigomon let out a feral roar, then vanished before their eyes. Fluttershy gasped, letting out a quiet yelp as her wings locked to her sides, her gaze still fixed on the site where the gigantic beast was. She perceived a few assorted murmurs from the group and a baffled “Where did it go?” from Rainbow.

A gust blew around her, and a massive shadow covered the group from behind. The group spun around towards the source of the shadow, Rainbow shouting out as she ripped herself from the ground with a blast from her wings. “Scatter!”

The monstrous Digimon barely gave anypony any time as it lunged forward with a claw, a blast of light appearing where he aimed before the claw slammed into the ground where Twilight was, rocks scattering from the iron talons shredding through them. She popped back into reality a distance away, DORUmon on her back as her horn lit up. “Can this thing teleport?!”

“Worry about that later, Fluttershy’s still over there!” DORUmon leapt off Twilight’s back and charged off towards the frozen pony, eyes still locked forward at where the demonic creature once stood. Something weighed her hooves down, despite fear screaming at her to move and hide, but the sight of those eyes and teeth made hiding seem useless, especially when the beast already showed so much speed. A chomp on her ear snapped her out of her shock, forcing a yelp out of her as she looked up to what bit her.

Terriermon was there, hanging onto her head and staring back at her. “Fluttershy, what’re you doing?! Run!”

“I-I...” Another chomp cut Fluttershy’s words off, Terriermon now looking pretty panicked.

“He’s right behind us, Fluttershy! Move, move!” He spun around as Fluttershy’s wings shook, and she finally started moving, taking off as quickly as she could away from the fight. His eyes set on the monster of a brother currently pummeling the ground as DORUmon and Labramon ran around his feet, biting at him whenever they could.

Rainbow Dash moved through the air, Twilight firing off bolts at Wendigomon to try and stave it off. The alicorn’s eyes fixed on Rarity and Palmon, both of them standing a distance away from the fight so they didn’t get trampled. “Rarity, can you pin him down?!”

“I-I’ll try! Palmon, be a dear and help me, would you?” Rarity looked to her partner, keeping at least a little distance between them as her horn lit up.

“Gladly! Just slow him down, right?” She nodded and jabbed towards the ground with her tendriled hands, digging into the earth and spreading the roots quickly towards the beast in front of her. “DORUmon, Labramon!”

The two Digimon looked over to her before they felt the ground rumble, and roots burst out of the earth around them. They quickly moved away as Palmon grit her teeth, wrapping the roots around Wendigomon’s legs and gripping him as tightly as she could. The beast twisted and threw a punch at the annoying blue bug flying around him, just then noticing his feet being tied to the ground. He spun and threw off his weight, roaring as he fell back.

“Got him! Rarity!” Palmon looked to her partner, the unicorn gritting her teeth as she grabbed onto Wendigomon’s hands with her magic and pulled him down the rest of the way, the monster hitting the ground with a large thoom! Dust scattered from the impact as the beast struggled against his binds, Palmon and Rarity both having trouble off the bat keeping him pinned.

“Twilight, we have him, but he’s too strong! Have you got a plan!?” Rarity shouted, forcing the beast’s hands down to the ground. Wendigomon writhed and thrashed, snarling as he fought to break from his anchors, teeth gnashing as he struggled. He spied the blue bug from before flying over head and turning over in a loop, sneering as Rainbow raced down towards him.

“I got him!” She yelled, grinning as she dropped like an anvil from the sky. “This is gonna hurt, big guy!”

Seeing his target hurtle herself towards him like a dart at a dartboard, he took in a big breath, gripping his fists in slight pain as his lungs stretched to contain all the air. Then, with an earth-shaking roar, he launched a powerful shockwave towards Rainbow. She could barely roll out of the way before it slammed into her like a brick wall.

She was right; it did hurt. Sweet celestial sisters, it hurt bad. She was tossed away like a ragdoll by the blast of concussive force, sending her hurtling towards the ground, wings stunned and her head ringing like hearing one of Pinkie’s marching band songs.

“Rainbow!” Ryudamon shouted, quickly charging for his falling partner as Twilight helped with keeping the beast pinned down. He dove and rolled, sliding on his back as he got under the dropping pegasus, and quickly flipped up and put his hindlegs between him and Rainbow. He carefully extended them, trying to gauge Rainbow’s speed and use his legs to slow her down, but even with that, the impact made when she landed on his feet was strong enough to knock the wind out of him. “Oof!”

Rainbow coughed hard, struggling back to her hooves as her ears rang. She was on her hooves for barely a second before falling over on her side again, holding an ear with her hoof. “H-He just shouted at me! What was that?!” She cringed in pain as her own voice exploded in her head like a bomb, gritting her teeth.

Ryudamon got up himself, taking a few deep breaths to ease his lungs before heading over to Rainbow’s side, the crackle of earth catching his ear. He turned to see Wendigomon glaring back at him, heaving himself up onto his feet, despite the incredible force applied by Twilight and Rarity on his hands. The snarl coming from its fanged maw chilled Ryudamon down to his base code, quickly hefting Rainbow back onto her hooves. “C’mon, Rainbow, we’ve gotta go! Get up!”

“I’m trying, shorty, stop shoving!” Rainbow grunted as she got up, staring down the monster in front of her. Her wings flared as she dared to charge him again, only to be grabbed by Applejack running by her.

“C’mon, ya featherhead! We’re leavin’!” AJ chucked the pegasus onto her back and grabbed Ryudamon in her mouth before taking off, giving Wendigomon a hefty berth as she charged towards the forgotten Fluttershy. “Fluttershy! Slow down!”

Terriermon looked back at the galloping AJ, then spun around and bopped Fluttershy on the head. “It’s alright, Fluttershy, they’ve got him! Calm down!”

“Ow!” Fluttershy lowered her head from the bop, slowing down obediently. She looked back at the rising beast, but it was clear that it was struggling. “B-But, it’s getting up!”

“He, and don’t worry about him. Lopmon always had an anger issue.” Terriermon shook his head, sighing. “Sorry for panicking like that, just never seen him like... this. He’ll calm down on his own, he just had to get some of his tantrum out.”

Fluttershy looked back at him, then back to the beast collapsing back to the ground, frowning slightly with worry. “Are you sure?” She asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Completely! Why would I lie?” Terriermon smiled, hopping back up onto his partner’s head. “Once he realizes he’s lost, he’ll just stay put, cry for a bit, then go off on his way after I scold him.”

“B-But, what about Rainbow Dash? He hurt her!” Fluttershy turned to her two friends, Rainbow gritting her teeth as AJ came up by Fluttershy.

“Darn right he hurt me! Gonna knock his teeth ouuuuwwww, my ears...!” Rainbow winced, AJ putting Ryudamon down on the ground.

“Yeah, explain that, Terriermon. Why’s your brother attackin’ us like some bull set loose in a ring?” AJ raised her eyebrow at the small bunny Digimon, before looking back at his monstrous brother battling against Rarity, Palmon and Twilight. DORUmon could be seen a distance away, focusing everything he can into evolving again to help protect his friends.

“Lopmon’s got issues and he always loses a bunch of fights. It's the same thing when we’re together; always brawling with each other, and I always win. He gets mad and leaves in a huff, then comes back, calm as a breeze.” Terriermon shrugged, looking back to the country pony. “This isn’t different, just... worse, I guess. Heh, maybe he lost a bet? Just let me talk to him.”

“A be— ugh... c’mon, y’all, let’s go help the others at least.” AJ nodded to Ryudamon and Terriermon before turning around, starting to run back to the others. “Ya don’t have to come, Fluttershy, just stay away ‘till we’re done!”

Fluttershy opened her mouth, only to have it shut from Terriermon jumping off her head and taking off after the earth pony, Ryudamon in close pursuit. She reached out to them with a hoof, as if it would pull them back to her, voice caught in her throat as she tried to get words out. Failing that, her eyes turned to the ground as she lowered her hoof, sighing a bit. “J-Just a scolding... poor thing must lose a lot of games with his brother. M-Maybe I can help?” She looked back up towards the monster, nodding a bit. “Yeah... I mean, I’ve helped manticores before, haven’t I? This is just like a manticore, without a scorpion tail or wings. Yeah, I can do this...” She smiled a bit before opening her wings and taking off after her friends.

Don’t be afraid, Fluttershy... you can do this.

The two ponies and Digimon swiftly closed the gap to the rest of the group, coming to a stop by Rarity and Palmon, both of them struggling to keep Wendigomon on the ground. Palmon looked back to the approaching group, gulping through a pant. “Don’t come close, he’s still angry!”

“Don’t worry about it, Palmon! I know my brother!” Terriermon came to a stop beside Palmon, smirking with confidence. “He’s just throwing a tantrum.”

Rarity looked over him with surprise. “A tantrum, dear? A tantrum is messing up my design room and throwing fabrics about after getting a D on a test! This is a violent, furious beast that needs to be stopped!”

“No he isn’t! This is just Lopmon after a bad loss. Just lemme talk to him!” Terriermon scoffed and walked up towards the thrashing monster, furrowing his brow.

“Don’t get near him! He’ll—”

“Hey! Lopmon!” Terriermon shouted, blocking out Palmon’s voice as he approached the monster’s head. “I know you can hear me, kid!”

The beast stopped thrashing, turning his head to face the tiny bunny, two blazing eyes focused on him. A questioning growl came out of him.

“Listen, Lopmon, you’ve gotta calm down! I know losing hurts, but remember what I always tell ya; a loss is a time to learn, right? And don’t try excusing your way out of this!” He narrowed his eyes at Wendigomon, like a parent staring down their child. “Lemme guess, some big Digimon challenged you, and you got your butt kicked, right?”

Another growl came as a response, a little subdued as the monster focused on him, eyes narrowed. His hand flexed out of Terriermon’s sight as his muscles relaxed.

“Yeah, I thought so. So what? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, go fight someone else. Don’t freak out over a single loss, kiddo.” Terriermon crossed his arms as he sat down, staring down the monster. “Seriously, it’s embarrassing us both when you turn into this over one challenge.”

Another growl and gnashing of fangs, Wendigomon furrowing his brow at his brother.

“Hey! Don’t gnash at me, buddy, I’m not the one who’s throwing the temper tantrum!” Terriermon moved up closer and poked Wendigomon in the cheek. “You’ve gotta calm down, kiddo, you’re gonna corrupt yourself with all this stress.”

Finally, a sigh escaped the beast as he rolled back over, staring up at the sky. Terriermon hopped up onto his brother’s chest and patted him on the chin.

“It’s alright, Lopmon. You know I’ll help ya out. Fighting’s for fun when it’s between us, right?” Terriermon smiled and nodded his head, getting a nod back from his brother. “There ya go, kid. Let it go, it’s one loss, you’ll win others.”

A grunt and a nod was his response, and Terriermon turned to the others, raising his brow and smiled confidently. “What’d I tell ya? Just a little temper tantrum. He’ll be good.”

Fluttershy flapped up by the beast, shivering slightly as she touched down. “R-Really?”

“Yep, no trouble.” Terriermon grinned, nodding.

Fluttershy smiled back at him, walking up towards Wendigomon and reaching out with a hoof. It started with a gentle, recoiling touch to his claw, but after seeing there was no reaction, she reached back out and gently rubbed the monster’s hand, nodding. “H-He really is like a big manticore... nice, once you get to know him...” She let out a sigh, followed by the rest of the group. Rarity’s grip loosened a bit as she relaxed, though she kept an eye on the beast’s arms.

Wendigomon simply focused on the sky, sighing a bit, before letting out a grunty humph and closing his eyes.

His rest wouldn’t last long.

“Datamon!” Impmon ran into the lab below the viewing room, panting. “Hey, bot-brain!”

“What is it, you cretin? And I have a name. For Yggdrasil’s sake, you said it already.” The robot Digimon turned to face the short imp, leaving his next upgrade to the monitoring system half-finished on the table.

“Trixie’s callin’ for ya, and man she’s livid! Er, excited. I dunno, she may as well have rabies for all I know!” Impmon hopped in place, like he’s feeding off some adrenaline spike somewhere in the lab. “Just come up to the viewing room!”

Datamon just deadpanned at the imp. “Yes, I will follow every order and leave this clearly volatile experiment to decay on my workbench.” Liquid sarcasm leaked out of his mouth, which he wiped away with a hand. “Thought I fixed that...”

“Whatever man, just c’mon! That group of ponies we were watching are fighting with Wendigomon!”

“Yes, I’m aware. I can see what’s going on.” Datamon turned back to his project, carrying on his work with a welder. “Why should I care?”

“Because, she’s got a job for ya. She wants to know if you can make things more difficult for ‘em, since Wendigomon’s, well... losing.” Impmon put his hands on his hips, raising his eyebrow. “Unleeeess the oh so intelligent Datamon doesn’t have anything that can help. Thought you were prepared for anything?”

“Denouncing my intelligence now, are you?” Datamon sighed and placed his welder back on the table. “Alright, what does she want me to do?”

“She wants this guy to get angry, get really furious, and really have at ‘em!” Impmon grinned and started bouncing again. “Oh, and it’s to see if you can actually do what you say you can do.”

“Alright, first thing’s first, she does know ‘Datamon’ is my name, right? Data. Data is my specialty. Outsiders, honestly...” He stood upright and folded his arms, tapping into the camera feed over the battle area with Wendigomon and the ponies. “Right then, let’s see. Champion level, Beast Man, meaning his core code is loaded in a few memory addresses... a little modification will do the trick. Blind anger, or anything specific?”

“How should I know? Just make him angry!”

“The one time I offer specialized hacking...” Datamon shrugged and brought the camera in for a closer look. “Time for a bit of breaking and entering...”

“What the heck is that?” Rainbow watched a little thing flying down from the sky towards them. She opened her wings before it came into full view, tension in her muscles as she prepped to launch at it and take it out. She visibly relaxed after it came up to the group, revealing it to be a camera of sorts. “Oh, it’s a... uh... what is it?”

“A camera?” Twilight raised her eyebrow, loosening her own magical grip on the calmed beast and trotting over to the metallic orb. A simple device in shape and look, it was a steel-grey sphere with a little jet on the bottom of it, and a large camera lens on the front of it. “A pretty weird looking one.” Twilight leaned around it, furrowing her brow. “Where’s the viewpiece?”

“Perhaps it’s an automated camera?” Rarity said, looking over at it as she helped hold Wendigomon down. Palmon just looked over at it and raised her eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

“Never seen one of those before.” She shrugged and looked back at Wendigomon’s legs, scanning for any tension. She sat down, now properly bored of the situation as she remained rooted in place. Sometimes regret sticking my hands in the ground. Now I’m stuck.

The camera booped and turned in the air, looking at Twilight, then over at Rarity. It turned then to Rainbow, then the others, as if registering their presence for its records. Its jet thrusted a little harder, pushing it up into the air, and it flew over to Wendigomon, peering down at him. The beast opened his eyes at the sound of the camera’s thruster and stared back, brow furrowed slightly in confusion as the camera got closer.

Datamon rapped his digits on the workbench as he got a nice close-up of Wendigomon’s fangs, then of the monster’s eyes. “Now where was the interface on this creature again? Somewhere behind the left eye, I think...” He groaned a bit at the query, searching through his available data on Digimon. “Wendigo, Wendigo... ah, here it is. Data interface behind the left eye, two inches into the temple, modify addresses 0x0001632 through 0x00F33A23. Not hard at all.” He nodded as the camera shifted down to Wendigomon’s left temple, the beast watching the camera go. “And deploy interface module...”

Rarity and Twilight watched the camera move around, AJ and Rainbow Dash moving up to it, when a little compartment opened up under the lens and deployed a needle, attached to a thick grey canister. “What th’ hay is this?” AJ furrowed her brow at it, and reached out to touch it, before the camera suddenly burst forward and jabbed into Wendigomon’s head.

Datamon smiled, and with a sweep of his hand, several windows filled with memory locations and associated data, digits sweeping through them and adjusting their values to a myriad of strings, integers and booleans. Seconds later, he waved his hand to sweep the windows away, Wendigomon’s eyes shrinking as something changed in his mind. “You’re mine now.”

With a snap of Datamon’s fingers, the change saved, and Wendigomon suddenly roared out louder than he ever had during the fight. His muscles tensed and he easily broke out of the ponies’ grip, kicking upward to snap the vines. Palmon’s face hurtled straight into the ground from the force, getting a yelp of pain out of her as she flipped back and grabbed her face, vines well and truly snapped.

Poor Terriermon was catapulted right off his brother’s chest as Wendigomon flipped upright onto his feet, and the beast spun around and rushed the closest target to it, fist flying straight for her.

Fluttershy never knew such terror in her life, and when that fist crushed into her chest and sent her flying, she recognized a whole new world of pain. Her scream caught in her throat, her legs stopped working, her wings went slack, and the world just spun around her as she flew up, then down, then slammed into the ground.

Terriermon was in mid-fall when he saw everything, a nightmarish chill racing down his spine as his brother rushed Fluttershy. Hearing the pony get brutally winded and thrown away like a ragdoll stopped his blood cold in his body, his nerves shattered, and hitting the ground barely registered for him. He got up onto his feet and watched the monster race off towards Fluttershy, the other ponies taking off after him to try and stop him. And that’s when something finally passed through his head, and put strength into his legs.

This isn’t fun anymore.

Fluttershy tried to pick herself up, but the sight of the titanic devil racing for her froze her to the ground. Her eyes tracked the angered red in Wendigomon’s eyes, and she could barely breathe as she saw her end coming straight for her. “Help... me...” With the words came a blinding flash of light from the Digivice on her leg, and another light to consume her partner as he raced for her side.

With a primal scream of rage, Terriermon lunged forward and took off towards his partner as he felt the light sweep over him, the way it had before, and it just pushed him on faster, even as he changed. His body bulked up and grew immensely, his neck practically fusing to his body as his ears ballooned outward. His arms bulged out from elbow to wrist, transforming into gatling guns with metal hands in the centers. The fading light made visible his new green body, donning a pair of blue jeans and a belt of ammunition strapped to his chest.

Wendigomon reared back and screamed, throwing a killer punch straight for Fluttershy. He was hungry now, and the ponies looked like very scrumptious snacks. But his punch met an equally angry and powerful one, stopping dead in its tracks.

Fluttershy couldn’t even open her eyes, but she knew someone was there. The sounds she heard, from the enraged snarling of the monster, and the huffing from the being in front of her, mixed with the sound of her Digivice rattling off a bit of welcome info.

“Gargomon. Vaccine-type Beast Man Digimon. Champion level. Attacks relentlessly with nimble and precise movements. Signature move is Gargo Pellets.”

Gargomon put on a grim grin, glaring up at his brother as he matched Wendigomon’s strength with his own, his metal fist pushing against Wendigomon’s. “Fight my partner without even inviting me, huh? That’s low, brother.”

With a furious roar and a tensing in his legs, Gargomon pushed forward, shoving Wendigomon back. The beast threw another punch at him, blocked by his other gatling gun, and the anger simply built higher between them. “Just like old times, kid! All the money’s on the table now! Now, come get some!” He smiled and countered the force from his brother with a sideways shove, pushing Wendigomon’s arms out of the way. With the path clear, he pointed his arm-mounted gun and took aim.

“Aha!” Trixie exclaimed, grinning. At last, she saw one of her adversaries’ partners evolve with her own eyes. The process was truly a sight to behold; that brilliant light masked a series of elaborate changes in the Digimon’s appearance and size.

She’d seen it before, of course, when she triggered Yaamon’s evolution into Impmon. However, the process was effortless for her. Depending on how evolution worked without the influence of a Digivice, but he may have already been on the cusp of evolution when she arrived and her push was the last bit he needed. She would have to ask him to know for sure, if he even knew himself.

No, this was different. This was triggered, a reactionary response to something that happened. Considering the evolved Digimon’s usual proximity to the yellow pegasus that just got smacked around, Trixie was led to wonder if her distress was the deciding factor. The series of events strongly pointed to such being the case, but she would know for sure if this turned into a pattern. It was times like this that she wished she’d been given a tutorial when she entered.

The partner’s peril triggering evolution in a Digimon... there was something almost noble in that. Unfortunately, that would render Impmon incapable of evolution, since she would likely never find herself in genuine danger. Her plan was too perfect, this surveillance station was fortified, and no one in this room would do something stupid like assault one another.

Winning this game was going to be so trivial. It was almost boring, but such was the risk that came with tampering.

Speaking of tampering... She was suddenly reminded of her associate’s chore. She turned to the mechanoid and asked, “How goes it?”

Datamon turned to Trixie, an irritated scowl plastered on his face. “I’ll tell you when I’m done! I’ve told you I’ll tell you when I’m done!”

“Need any help?” Impmon offered. He crawled up onto the dome on Datamon’s head, staring down at the confusing mass of buttons and lights that made up the console. “I can always learn what all this stuff does.”

“The last thing I trust you with,” Datamon remarked as he plucked the Rookie off his head, “is toying with my virus software. Stay put, be patient, and let me work.”

Impmon pouted at Datamon. “Yeesh. Don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

“And you don’t need to be a pest!” Datamon scolded, swatting his hand in the weaker creature’s direction before returning to his work.

Impmon stuck his tongue out at the grumpy robot, absently wondering if he’d actually been that annoying. With a huff, he sat back by Trixie’s side, staring at the screen she was fixed on and joining her in watching the other ponies fight a thing.

“Gargo Pellets!”

The heavy cannon suddenly spun up and unleashed pure lead fury into Wendigomon’s chest, the heavy rounds enough to pummel the wind out of him and shove him back several feet. A grin crossed Gargomon’s face as he suddenly stopped firing and leapt forward, powerful legs springing him straight for Wendigomon’s head. With a roar, Wendigomon threw a punch towards his brother, splitting the air with force.

Gargomon simply spun in the air and grabbed onto the arm with his hands, throwing himself down under it and back up over the arm in a flip, landing on his feet. “Whoo, I could get used to this!” Gargomon laughed before leaping towards Wendigomon’s shoulder, using the raised slope he was standing on to let gravity speed him up, before flipping over and delivering a powerful kick to the monster’s shoulder. The beast recoiled from the slam and spun around, the force of the kick sending him spinning on a foot. The other whipped out in a kick, the momentum speeding it up to a blurring strike which caught Gargomon in the back, throwing him to the ground.

He quickly flipped in the air and hit the ground with his hands, flipping back over to his feet and skidding along the dirt before kicking off into a sprint around the beast. The grin just wouldn’t leave his face, despite the searing pain spreading over his shoulder blades, and he loaded in a set of fresh shells into the arm-cannon. Leaning in to his left, he tightened his circular sprint towards the monster, the quaking ground as Wendigomon charged for him doing little to stop his run.

“C’mon, Wendi, let’s see what ya got!” He roared, suddenly tightening his sprint into a direct charge for his brother, both Digimon now hurtling towards each other at incredible speed, the earth itself shuddering under them. Wendigomon took in a sharp breath while throwing his fists up, bringing them down into a massive impact into the ground in front of Gargomon. He charged straight into the resulting dust cloud, the beast above him roaring straight down into the earth and shattering the rock behind him, cracks spreading out from the close-range shockwave towards Gargomon as the ground broke apart.

“Woah!” Gargomon grit his teeth as he sped up, trying to book it away from the cracks chasing him, and the beast whipped around, driving his fist into the ground and digging up a boulder. A sick grin crossed his face as he reared back and threw it with tremendous strength, Gargomon looking back and seeing the rock-turned-cannon-shell flying towards him. A swift kick into the ground launched him into the air, the boulder slamming into the ground and bouncing away like a beach ball, and he turned in the air took aim. “Gargo Pellets!” The cannon suddenly lit up again, the air breaking as shells tore through it towards Wendigomon, slamming into his leg and crippling his stance.

This is so cool! All this firepower, all the strength, the maneuverability! Never run so fast in my life, and never hit so hard before! A childish laugh escaped Gargomon as he flipped through the air, falling towards the ground and still pelting his brother with gunfire. He brought up his other arm and added another cannon’s set of fire to the barrage, the recoil causing his aim to go all over the place, shredding the ground with high-caliber shells. “Woo, that’s some recoil... hehehehe, this is fun!” He hit the ground suddenly, legs barely buckling from the impact, and he launched forward again, left cannon still firing as he sprinted forward, forcing Wendigomon to throw his arms up to protect himself.

Hm. Feel an attack name coming up. Gargomon smiled grimly as he cut the fire and kicked up to top speed, roaring as the distance closed between himself and the beast. He suddenly kicked off the ground and threw himself into a spin, aiming his feet for Wendigomon’s guard. “Um... oh crud, shoulda thought the name up first.” He groaned, kicking furiously hard as soon as he felt Wendigomon’s arms against his feet, the blast of strength knocking his brother other with a screech.

“Ah, I know! Ahhh, missed it.” Gargomon flipped over in the air, spending a moment during his flight to look over his arm-cannons. The recoil on these things is monstrous. Wait. Recoil? He raised his eyebrow, flexing his metal hands before grinning. They clicked as he loaded up some new rounds, and aimed them around himself. “Gargo Pellets!” With the command roared, the cannons spun up and started firing, the recoil sending Gargomon into a blurring spin. He slowly arced them up, using the recoil to speed up his descent towards his brother’s guard. “What’s a good name for this? Uh, Gargo Drill!”

He soon slammed into Wendigomon’s guard, the claws on his feet acting like drill bits and digging into his arms, a roar of agony escaping the monster before he suddenly broke his guard and threw his arms out, launching Gargomon back into the air. “Woah woah woah! Ahhh!” Gargomon flipped through the air, spinning and flipping all over as he flew up and up. “Gargomon doesn’t wanna fly!”

Wendigomon’s eyes blazed with fury as he slammed his arms into the ground, throwing himself back up onto his feet, and he took in a heavy breath. He took aim and let loose a furious bellow of destruction, the air twisting around the shockwave as it blew forward towards Gargomon. He caught sight of the air blurring into a tornado around the blast, gritting his teeth as he threw up his arms and curled into a guard. “Oh, this is gonna hurt!”

The blast just threw him even higher up into the air, knocking the wind out of him as the force easily broke through his guard. “Ngh, G-Gargo Pellets!” He fired his guns in all directions to stop flipping through the air and reorient himself, two more shockwaves blasting past him in the process. He panted hard as he furrowed his brow, fists clenching up, though another thought rolled through his head that put a rather crazed grin on his face, as his flight finally reached its apex. He turned in the air and fired his guns a few times in front of him, sending him back down towards Wendigomon, and soon he was falling like an anvil through the air as the guns turned to the air and let loose every round they had, speeding him down towards his brother at terminal velocity.

“Alright, Wendigomon, you wanna use some shout against me!? Then here’s one for you!!” He turned in the air and spent even more ammunition to get a roll going, flipping through the air in a blur before long as he sped towards his brother. Another shockwave was blasted towards him, but the roll twisted the force around him, just adding even more speed to it. “And I’ve got the perfect name for it!”

Wendigomon roared and threw a powerful punch towards the cannonball Gargomon, and Gargomon just let loose a furious roar as he closed the distance between himself and his brother, and brought down his heavy cannons in an axehandle. “Gargo Titan Breaker!” The impact blew away every bit of force Wendigomon had in the punch, throwing his arm into the ground and taking his body with him, Gargomon slowing down enough from the exchange to flip over and hit the ground on his feet.

He panted hard as Wendigomon went down, slamming into the ground with a huge impact, and all he could do was laugh. It started slow as the adrenaline coursed through his blood, soon rising up into a hysterical fit of laughter, Gargomon holding his gut as he curled over. “H-Holy cow, that was awesome! You see how fast I was moving there?!” He fought to catch his breath between each laugh, falling over onto his rear and kicking in his fit. “I just came in and BAM! Hit your punch and just put you on the ground! Ohhh, and that name! Gargo Titan Breaker, it’s genius!”

Wendigomon just fought back onto his feet, holding his now pretty damaged arm with his other hand, furious breaths racing in and out of his mouth through clenched fangs. He winced as a shock of pain raced up from his hand and through his shoulder, twitching slightly, the pain only driving his anger further up. With a snarl and a roar of pain, Wendigomon raised a foot and slammed it into the ground, chucking Gargomon up a few feet with the sheer force of it.

“Yikes!” Gargomon hit the ground in seconds, getting back to his feet and staring up at his opponent with an incredulous look. “Oh come on, Wendi! I beat you! You went down and just barely got back up!” Wendigomon snarled at him as he turned around, Gargomon’s eyes rolling at the display of rage. “Wait, don’t tell me. Best two out of three, right?” He huffed before jumping to the right, Wendigomon’s kick racing past him. “Alright, alright, I’ll play some more! But don’t come crying to me when your twin brother beats you down!” Gargomon smirked and jumped back, bringing up his arm-cannon and gripping his arm behind it to steady his aim. “Gargo Pellets!”

Fluttershy watched the display in pure terror, the shock of the brush with death still very fresh. Her eyes were locked on her partner, the cackling bunny jumping around and shooting his brother from all sides, showing absolutely no care or worry for injuring or even killing him. The sight struck horror into her heart, a hoof coming up over her mouth to stop the sound of her gasping from reaching the two warriors. He... wh-what happened... h-he’s just... beating his own brother into the ground! Laughing in the middle of a fight! V-Violence isn’t funny, it’s terrifying! I-I can’t even... is th-that still Terriermon...? When did he g-get so...

Scary?

Her partner scared her. He’d always had a tougher side, from what she’d known of him, but he was still so docile and relaxed. Watching him as Gargomon, however... he was spraying bullets in every direction, giggling and laughing wildly as he pummeled his own brother. He was taking a disturbingly childlike glee in fighting.

He was acting just like all the others. The whistle of a bullet flying straight past her from a wild shot snapped her out of her terror, and she suddenly screamed out.

“Stop!”

The scream punctuated the impact of fists between Gargomon and Wendigomon, both of their furies disappearing into confusion—and slight pain—as the shrill squeak hit them. They held their fistlock as Fluttershy flew between them, staring at her in bafflement. The yellow pegasus was glaring at her aggressor, a commanding stare that shook the beast’s resolve.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” the mare scolded, “but this is no way to behave! You just attacked me, my friends, and your own brother without any warning or reason! And even before that, you’ve been destroying this landscape and beating on other Digimon in a temper tantrum! Terriermon told me this isn’t how you normally act, so you’d better clean your act up!”

Wendigomon shied away from Gargomon and his partner, and he began to whimper softly, pulling out of the fistlock and holding his hurt hand with the other. The gun-toting brother threw up his fist with a whooping holler, shouting, “Atta girl, Shy! Way to put him in his pla—”

“And you!” Fluttershy turned sharply, her soul-piercing stare focused on Gargomon. Her partner yelped, not expecting her ferocity to be turned on him, and stood bolt upright and at attention under her glare. “I don’t know what your evolution did to you, but you were going berserk! You were just as liable to hit one of us as Wendigomon! I understand how important fighting is to you, but you don’t get to be reckless! I’m very disappointed in you!”

Gargomon furrowed his brow at the declaration, pride scarred a bit. “W-Wait, what?! I had this fight under control, you weren’t in any danger!”

“Not in any danger?!” Fluttershy grit her teeth and got right up in Gargomon’s face, raising her voice. “You nearly shot me!”

Gargomon’s eyes went wide at the shout, ears splaying back as he stared into his partner’s eyes. “Wait, what?”

“One of those shells...” Fluttershy panted, her eyes losing some of their anger and delving into panic. “I-It nearly hit me.”

Gargomon blinked at her, completely dumbfounded by the prospect. “But...” He looked down at the weapons around his wrists, staring at the black metal. “My aim was spot-on... how’d...?”

Twilight’s voice reached him as the others came up to Fluttershy, thoroughly freaked out themselves. “Wendigomon was moving, Gargomon... and at one point, he did put himself between you and us.”

How’d he do that? I didn’t even notice them! Gargomon flexed his hands slightly before backing up from Fluttershy, looking back up at her. His mouth opened to say something, but his voice caught in his throat, the usual confidence parading in his speech completely leaving him. After a few more tries, he simply lowered his hands and looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I should’ve been paying more attention...”

“You should’ve, Gargomon. You should’ve been paying attention to a lot of things.” Fluttershy sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. “That evolution did a lot more to you than just making you stronger. I couldn’t even recognize you during that...”

Gargomon’s ear twitched at the burning words, and he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. He just shook his head and scoffed, turning and walking away.

“H-Hey, Gargomo—”

Gargomon raised his hand and waved Fluttershy’s words off. “Don’t. Just take care of my brother. Gonna go sit down, think a bit.”

As if on cue, Wendigomon’s whimpers grew more audible, and he plopped on the ground as he began to sob. Fluttershy’s attention snapped towards the crying beast, her caretaking instincts immediately overriding her fury at the sight. To see something so brutishly powerful suddenly break down and cry... while it seemed to fit Terriermon’s description of his brother, it was a jarring sight to behold after what had just transpired.

Without another thought, the pegasus flew towards the crying brother, patting his shoulder comfortingly. “There, there... everything’s going to be okay now...”

Wendigomon’s body suddenly lit up, giving Fluttershy another fright as a white glow consumed it. The sobs could still be heard, but as the glowing form shrank drastically in size, they rose in pitch, sounding not unlike the cries of a child.

Soon the light was gone, and Wendigomon was Lopmon once more. The devolved Digimon looked strikingly similar to Terriermon, but with a brown and pink body and three horns atop his head rather than the one. If anyone had doubted their relationship before, there could be no denying it now.

Lopmon looked up at the timid mare, tears still streaming from his eyes. “Please... f-forgive me...”

A while later, and after many comforting pats and hugs to settle the distraught Digimon, the group was reassembled, Terriermon sitting on Fluttershy’s back as they set to speaking with Lopmon.

Lopmon took a moment to breathe and compose himself, before bowing to his saviors, hands together as he did. “You’ve saved me from myself! Oh, praise Azulongmon for your presence!”

“Azulongmon?” Fluttershy inquired, tilting her head. “Who’s—”

Terriermon quickly placed a hand on Fluttershy’s mouth, silencing her and shaking his head. “Don’t get him started. It’s a whole religious thing.”

“But his existence is fact!” Lopmon pointed a finger at his brother, brow furrowed in irritation. “You know this as well as I do, Terry!”

Terriermon sneered a bit and rolled his eyes as Rainbow looked over at him, cracking a bit of a smirk behind her hoof as Lopmon continued. “As for your question, m’lady, Azulongmon is one of the four Holy Beasts, and the guardian of the eastern sector of the Digital World. I am destined to be a Deva, to carry out his will and serve as his emissary.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, sitting down so she could be comfortable for the rest of Lopmon’s tale. “Very interesting...”

Terriermon rolled his eyes and leaned up to his partner’s ear, whispering behind his hand as he narrowed his eyes and looked over at his brother. “This is where he gets crazy.”

“Lord Azulongmon speaks to me,” Lopmon continued, aiming a leer back at Terriermon before focusing back on Fluttershy and speaking like a priest to a church congregation. “He speaks of my holy destiny and tells me that I am more than his Deva. He tells me of others, of partners and allies through whom I will realize my true calling. I hear his words, and I feel in my soul that he speaks the truth.”

“Really?” Fluttershy raised her brow in surprise. “You mean... you’re supposed to have a partner, just like Terriermon?”

“So my lord tells me, such is the truth.” Lopmon nodded to her, putting his hands back together as he continued. “I believe the partner to whom I am destined to bond is from a world outside of mine. If all are as kind as you, I hope for my partner to be from your world.” Fluttershy blushed modestly from the compliment, hiding beneath her mane even as she smiled at the brown bunny.

DORUmon smirked despite himself, having overheard Lopmon’s words. Now isn’t that interesting? More Digimon who’ve got partners... or at least, they will have them at some point. Sounds like fun! And we’ve already seen so many new Digimon over only a day; just how many are out there?

As Lopmon continued discussing his weird Deva thing, though, DORUmon walked over quietly and gave Terriermon a nudge, whispering to him so he wouldn’t interrupt the religious bunny. “Hey.”

Oh thank goodness, something interesting... Terriermon turned and raised his brow, face betraying his mirth for a distraction just slightly in a smile. “Hm?”

DORUmon nodded over towards the brown bunny as he continued his recount of the glorious Guardian of the East. “I couldn’t help but hear what Lopmon said about having a partner he was waiting for... why did you never tell me your brother had the same destiny as us?”

Terriermon blinked at his friend, then turned to Lopmon, clearing his throat and thankfully cutting Lopmon off. “Hey, can you let me and DORUmon chat in private a bit? You can keep going with Fluttershy.”

“Oh? Yes, of course,” Lopmon nodded and opened his hands in a wide gesture to his brother. “Azulongmon bless you; may the wind guide you to good fortune, brother.” That sickeningly sweet smile put Terriermon off a bit, and he hopped off his partner’s back and started leading DORUmon back to the others. He couldn’t help but let out a small retching noise as he went.

“What was that?” DORUmon asked. “Why couldn’t you have just said anything there?”

“Because honestly? It’s a whole load of junk data.” Terriermon replied with a slight frown and a scoff, shooting a glance towards his twin. “He’s been jealous of me since day one. He doesn’t like that I’ve made a bunch of friends and he couldn’t do the same, so he’s been trying to copy and one-up me with the destiny thing. I’ve called him out to his face on the Deva thing, but...”

He let out a sigh, turning back towards his conversation partner. “I don’t have the heart to do it on anything else. Poor guy managed to convince himself of all this, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings or lose his trust by calling his bluff on all of it.”

DORUmon simply stared at Terriermon, harsh judgment written all over his face. “I guarantee you, if he finds out you have this little faith in him, it’s going to blow up in your face. Like, Wendigomon-level blow up.”

“At least I’ve got a good defense against that now, but yeah.” Terriermon shook his head, sighing. “I know it’s all just him trying to prove he’s better than me. Just don’t wanna... well, break it to him in front of everyone. I’ve fought against it for a long time now, and he just won’t give up.” He shrugged before carrying on back to the group. “At this point, I don’t care anymore. Just don’t want his crazy religious garbage to get in the way.”

DORUmon let out a heavy sigh of his own, head hanging slightly as he trailed behind Terriermon. This guy just can’t give his brother a break, can he? It’s like watching two Ultimates beat on each other for days, trash talking throughout... He glanced back at the shrinking image of Lopmon and Fluttershy, the brown Digimon sitting on the mare’s mane as he continued regaling about his lord. And did he really make all that up? Seems kinda unreal if it all is just a lie. It’s too developed. He’s just going on and on about all these legends and battles about this ‘Azulongmon’... he couldn’t have made it up, could he?

He shook his head and looked back towards the group, standing back upright to ensure nobody thought something was happening. Whether it’s true or not, though, I’ll need to talk with Terriermon again. This isn’t how two brothers should treat each other. Families are so rare in this world... he should cherish his twin and support him, and by the end of all this, I’ll make sure he does.

He tried to push the thoughts and feelings aside. He was so used to repressing his own insecurities by now that it was only a moment before he saw success. One stray thought crossed his mind, however.

Terriermon’s going to eat those words if Lopmon’s right.

“There!” Datamon shouted, throwing his hands up. “It’s done! I calibrated and coded it! Happy?”

“That is awesome!” Impmon shouted in return. The combined noise managed to wake up his partner, who had become so fed up with the wait that she had fallen asleep on the cold steel floor of the surveillance base.

“Mmmh... what is so important that you disturb Trixie’s nap?”

Datamon clenched his fists and growled in frustration. He was becoming more and more aware of his terrible luck with choosing collaborative partners. At least Impmon was decently personable, if annoyingly talkative, but Trixie was... really something else. As much and as often as he thanked his lucky stars that she could be trusted, he seriously questioned the extent to which she could be tolerated.

He groaned audibly, looking at the awakened mare. “I finished the coding,” he repeated. “It’s not just the berserker rage thing now. With the modifications I’ve made to this virus, it should work in conjunction with your unicorn magic. Once the virus takes hold, the target will bend to your will.”

“Excellent,” Trixie replied with a smirk. “Now we simply need to test it.”

“Anyone in mind?” Impmon crossed his arms, smiling devilishly as he raised his eyebrow.

Trixie nodded to Impmon before standing up and stretching out, sighing. “I’d like to see where our ‘friends’ are headed first. Datamon, can you get a mark on their path and see if there’s anyone on the way there?”

Datamon simply narrowed his eyes slightly, drooling liquid again. “Of course I can; would you like a biscuit and some tea with that as well?” He dragged his hand across his mouth to clear up the fluids, a tired groan following.

“If you wouldn’t mind. I want to know where they’re headed.” She nodded to Datamon as she proceeded towards one of the screens in the room, looking up at it and its view of another section of the island her enemies were on. “Once we know that, we can put that virus to proper use, and give Twilight and her useless friends a... welcoming gift, of sorts.”

“I will analyze their path and determine a list of likely locations then. Anything else?” Datamon folded his arms and stared at the pony he so very regretted deciding to work with. So demanding...

Trixie pondered for a bit before raising her hoof in a throwaway gesture. “Trixie would also like that biscuit and tea.”

Datamon swore he could hear his brain sizzling.

Lopmon smiled as his brother and allies departed, waving them off. He saw the yellow pegasus they called Fluttershy turn around and return the wave, which filled him yet again with deep gratitude and joy. Terry’s in good hands. I pray he won’t give Lady Fluttershy too great a headache...

As they all left his vision, he sat down and smiled peacefully, taking in a deep, calming breath. As he sighed, his mind mulled over other meetings that could be waiting on the horizon, and a smile grew on his face. We won’t be separated for long. Fate has a greater plan for us all.

A quiet voice cut off the Digimon’s thoughts, immediately snatching his attention. It pleases me to see you saved once again, my young Deva.

The voice! It’s him! Lopmon immediately leapt to his feet and took a knee, bowing his head and closing his eyes. “Lord Azulongmon! My brother and his destined partner have calmed my rage, that I may listen and follow once more!”

As I trusted would happen. The voice chuckled, pleased with the turn of events. I reach to you with a message, young Deva.

“I hang on every word, m’lord.” Lopmon nodded, brow furrowing slightly as he focused on the coming words.

The voice breathed out and spoke with a vocal smile. The link between our world and the other has been made at last, and other gates are quickly opening. Already, Digimon are experiencing the bond of partnership.

Lopmon managed a smile. “The partner of my brother was a kind and caring pony. What do you know of mine?”

The voice let slip a sigh. Very little, I’m afraid. What I do know, however, is that she is not alone. Nor will you be in the coming days.

“What do you mean?” Lopmon inquired. “Are there other Digimon that I must meet?”

There are, on this very island. They are not of Deva blood, but they too have a great and holy destiny that extends beyond that. Find the villages, and you will find them.

“What villages?” Lopmon asked. “Where are they? Where must I go, Lord Azulongmon?”

Alas, the voice of his lord spoke no more. He was alone in the canyon once more, left with both newfound understanding and new questions.

Villages? But, this island only has the one, near the forest... strange. But I mustn’t question my lord’s directions; he guides my steps, and he has led me true thus far. There must be other villages that I simply haven’t found yet. Lopmon nodded and stood back up, looking towards the direction he knew would guide him to his destination; nothing but flat landscape and distant mountains painted the horizon in front of him, the heads of trees just peeking up into his sight. “I’ll start there, then. There may be others along the way, but I will be vigilant. Not a single wall will escape my eyes, not a single Digimon’s cry will escape my ears.”

With those last words, he set off on his path, finally putting time into getting somewhere, instead of thinking of what awaited him there. I can’t waste another moment thinking about it... if there are others, and if they are the ones who hold the key to my destiny and future, then I cannot risk them leaving before I get there.

“I believe I know what to do now, Lord Azulongmon, and under your watchful gaze, I will not fail.”

Author's Note

Thanks again to twow443 and Killer Steel. And, as per usual, the blog companion.

Chapter Four: True Beauty

“Ugh... are we there yet?”

Palmon let out a groan as she stared up at the blue skies overhead, eyes narrowed to battle back the light from the sun. The scorching, merciless, evil sun that was cooking her alive. “Gonna burst into flames at this rate...”

“Don’t worry, dear, we’re almost there,” Rarity’s voice chimed in, though it wasn’t as confident as it could be. She stammered a bit as she looked to Palmon resting on her back, shuddering as she felt vines coiling around her belly.

Those vines. Like creeping worms ready to stick themselves into anything warm and wet and drag out as many nutrients as possible. Rarity’s eye twitched as she looked on ahead, walking behind the rest of the group as she shivered lightly again. Oh, thank goodness nopony can see me like this.

Rarity kept a casual pace all the same, offering a swift, confident smile whenever one of her friends looked back to see if she was keeping up. She couldn’t stand the feeling of Palmon’s tendrils against her flesh, and she sincerely hoped her screaming stayed internal. Her mouth scrunched up to keep one particularly loud internal screech inside as the tendrils started to poke along her belly. Don’t panic her don’t panic her don’t panic it don’t scare the tentacles don’t don’t don’t.

Palmon smiled lightly from her fluffy perch, finally taking hold of Rarity fully and keeping herself steady on the bed. She closed her eyes and prepped for a nap before a certain flyer’s voice caught her attention, forcing her smile right into a frown. “Darn it...”

“There you are, Rainbow!” Twilight sighed. “What did you see?”

“No shade,” Rainbow lamented, Ryudamon sitting on her back and holding onto her neck in a death grip, more than a little pale from just how fast they were flying around. “Just a bunch of sand and water.”

Applejack raised her brow. “We’re walkin’ into a beach? From a canyon?” She looked to Labramon at her side, raising an eyebrow as the Digimon shrugged lightly.

“Just how the world is, Applejack.” Labramon turned back to the path, ears flicking lightly.

“Did you say water?” Palmon looked up from her perch, unable to see beyond the sea of purple in front of her eyes. “Actual fresh water?”

“Well, uh, it’s the sea. I... guess?” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, looking off to the side in thought as she hovered in place. “Well, it’s water, it should be good for you if you purify it first.”

“I can handle that, so let’s get moving.” Twilight nodded and carried on at the helm of the group, spying the end of the canyon a good distance away. “Which way once we’re out of the canyon?”

“Literally right in front of you. This world’s weird.” Rainbow shook her head and flapped along beside Twilight, throwing her hooves out in frustration. “What kind of weather would carve out a mountain right next to a beach? Why’s the mountain even here?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow, but if it’s anything like the forest being next to a desert, all I can assume is that the weather here is even stranger than the Everfree’s.” Twilight shook her head a bit, frowning. “We really should stock up on water while we’re there, but the purifying might take a while depending on what’s there.”

“Why?” Rainbow furrowed her brow lightly, AJ looking over to Twilight along with Rainbow. “Can’t you just use your magic and... well, build something?”

“If I used some other fields of magic, sure, but I’m not some magi-architect. I’m not well-versed in solid forms of magic, so I can’t just conjure a purifier out of nothing.” Twilight rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s loud groan, the pegasus flipping upside down and flying along like that.

“Ugh, seriously? Your talent’s magic, Twilight, you should know this stuff!” Rainbow scoffed, closing her eyes and frowning.

“Just like how you know how to make rainbow-colored lightning, Ms. ‘Perfect Flyer’?” AJ raised her eyebrow at the pegasus before reaching over and giving her tail a tug, flipping her back over. “Just ‘cause her talent’s magic, doesn’t mean she suddenly knows everything about everything. Give ‘er a break.”

“Hey, I know everything about flying, and you know everything about apples!” Rainbow pouted at her friend, folding her forelegs. “Why can’t Twilight know everything about magic?”

Applejack just blinked at her daft friend, deadpanning at her, with her voice just as flat as her gaze. “Sugarcube, you don’t even want me to start debunkin’ that.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow deadpanned right back. “I guess studying weather for five years in school is nowhere neeeear as complex as magic, huh?”

And with that, Twilight launched off into one of the many fields she could be given a Ph.D in: lectures. “Magic is the study of energy composed of numerous compounds generated by biological organs and components in the body, which then mix together with alicorn, a golden ichor-like substance in the horn which constitutes an exothermic reaction and the creation of manipulatable energy through the thought processes of the brain. Using formulaic components in scrolls, books, and the mind itself, one is able to create numerous effects through the modification of materials, energy, and DNA. So yes, magic is extremely complex.”

DORUmon just stared blankly at his partner. “What?”

Rainbow stared just as blankly at Twilight, furrowing her brow. “Huh?”

Applejack just rolled her eyes and sighed a bit, shaking her head. “What? It ain’t that hard to understand.”

“Shut up, AJ, you got none of that!”

AJ smirked, raising her eyebrow as she saw a challenge. “Oh? Well lemme educate ya. Exothermic, means a reaction creates heat by releasin’ energy. Alicorn’s the liquid stuff inside a unicorn’s horn.” She pointed at Twilight’s horn as an example, then back at Rarity’s horn, causing Rainbow to see her fashionista pal shuddering up a storm and turning blue from stress. “Formulas are equations, like two plus two. Energy is the stuff that makes up the world, cooled down into matter. See?”

Rainbow stared at AJ, eye twitching lightly, before she scoffed and looked off to the side, still flying backwards. “...Egghead.”

“Jus’ because I know more than you, doesn’t mean I spend all day lookin’ in books, hun.” AJ shook her head, smiling. “Just means I paid more attention in class.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me the minimum amount of mass contained in a rain cloud before it becomes a thundercloud then.” Rainbow smiled widely as AJ’s own smirk faded into a confused expression, and she looked off to the side, about to open her mouth for an answer.

“Trick question!” A muffled voice shouted, Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow taking a moment to look around before Pinkie burst out of the ground beside AJ, Labramon yelping as he was launched into the air and onto Applejack’s back. Gaomon was clinging onto her pink tail like his final lifeline, wide-eyed in shock at just how much of a tunnel Pinkie dug out underground. “Thunderclouds are thunderclouds because they have a high electric charge in them, which creates lightning! That doesn’t have any correlation towards the weight or amount of water inside the cloud, it just needs lots of static electricity!” She smiled as Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the answer, before she reached into her mane after a moment of thought. “Oh, and I found this.” With a good pull, she revealed a gold coin, tossing it over to Rainbow.

The coin bounced off Rainbow’s forehead before she regained her senses, snatching it out of the air with her hoof, looking over it curiously. “Uh... thanks?”

“No problem!” With a quick nod, Pinkie dove back into the ground, Gaomon shouting at her as he was tugged back under from his place in her tail. Poor guy barely got a word out before they were six feet under again.

Labramon looked down at the ground from his new position, utterly dumbfounded. “That’s literally rock.”

“That’s... literally Pinkie, partner.” AJ sighed heavily, shaking her head. “Girl’s gonna get her head smashed harder ‘n I can hit a tree if she keeps diggin’ like that.”

Twilight just stared right on ahead, eyes narrowing hard as she forced her brain to not consider just how Pinkie did all that. Don’t think about it, Twilight, it’ll only give you a migraine. Just like all the other stuff Pinkie does...

Still, the group was nearing the end of the canyon, the scent of salty sea air reaching their nostrils and bringing pleasant sighs of relief from some of the Digimon, Terriermon in particular. “Finally, water! Could use a swim.”

The moment the salty smell hit Rarity’s nose, her mind went into overdrive in a way she hadn’t once experienced in this place. The unorthodox juxtaposition of canyon and beach suddenly clicked with her, and the gradual transition from hard stone to grainy sand beneath her hooves only compounded it further.

Nopony else can experience such wonders... just imagine how this could translate into a new fashion design!

The images assaulted her in rapid succession. Soft, pale tans with fringes of aqua green. Sharp oranges and blues in stark contrast with each other. Long lace, ribbons, a flowing tail, a wavy sea design as natural ripples along the dress. The hard orange at the front, like the tough defenses of a mare’s heart, with the sea flowing off her back—

Oh dear, I’m making dresses, not ‘that’ kind of equipment... inspiring all the same, though, and this place is perfect! The metaphor practically writes itself! The defenses of the heart, as strong and true as a canyon’s walls, but they always bear way to the swaying, open seas of love and affection... yes, I’ve got it!

And just as the first few designs entered her head, she was consumed as her body made its way to the edge of the water. The questions of her friends and their partners fell on deaf ears as she took in the sparkling blue waters of the sea, breathed deep of its fresh, salty air, hooves digging lightly into the sand below as she sat down. Her eyes lost their focus as she found herself back at her desk, already drawing up the numerous designs she could drag away from this experience, this one, unique vista of Nature’s creation.

Her pencil drew swiftly, creating long, flowing designs, gems along the chest and upper back, the canyon’s walls standing tall and true, denying all ponies undetermined or of untrue heart. Beyond the walls of ruby and polished sardonyx came the gentle, soft blues of the sea, flowing off the back of her model like a tidal wave. She grinned brightly as the rolling waves came in layers of silken cloth, like the breaks of whitewash on a white beach, against the walls of the canyon. She could feel the waves under her as she closed her eyes.

She could really feel the waves. ...Wait a moment.

She blinked a few times, soon frowning as she looked down at her chair in her mind, and found it to be made of sand. Creeping, rolling, squirming sand.

Oh.

She followed the squirming sand for only a few inches before the material was pushed out of the way, revealing green tendrils ending in purple tips. She could hear groaning as well, the moans of effort as someone tried to pull very hard at something.

Oh...

She slowly looked to her left to see Palmon, tendrils buried into the sand, face contorted with effort as she tried to drag something out of the ground. Some of her tendrils had reached out into the salt water, though swiftly retreated as the salt burned her. “Nnnngh, c’mon, there’s gotta be something in all this dirt! I haven’t eaten in so long!”

Barely a thought passed through Rarity’s mind as her internal screaming started to rise in her head, ears slowly splaying back and eyes widening at the sight, before the internal screaming suddenly became external. She jumped to her hooves and launched a good ten feet into the air, squealing all the while as she flipped end over end, before crashing to the beach and scrambling away from Palmon.

The moment she rose back to her hooves, she let out a frustrated growl. “That’s it! This is the final, ultimate, and very last straw!”

“Rarity, are you—” Fluttershy started, the hoof she extended in comfort recoiling as the other mare growled again.

“I am through with this world!” she bellowed to no one in particular. “For perhaps three seconds of my time here, so far and few in between, I have felt myself slip into a semi-pleasant state of mind where I could ponder and think, only to have myself ripped out by another bizarre creation of this world! I had something special, something I was so certain I could bring back with me! And this vista, this beach, was perhaps my strongest inspiration yet! I was back home, in my office, and all of a sudden the sand starts creeping under me like it's infested with the cadaverous worms of the damned!”

Her friends just stared at the ranting unicorn, flabbergasted almost beyond words. “She really likes making a scene,” Rainbow offered, earning a few split-second scowls before they all turned back to Rarity.

“I will be part of these otherworldly shenanigans no longer!” she screamed again, her gaze slowly starting to focus on one target in particular. "And I cannot stand one more waking, Celestia-forsaken moment with this tendril-bearing, petal-headed abomination!"

The others could only gasp. Palmon, however, couldn’t even manage that. Her partner’s glare felt like a thousand tiny daggers piercing right through her, concentrated right on her heart.

Eventually, she found her voice again, though it wavered. “R-Rarity... I—”

“Go away!” Rarity shrieked, at the very top of her lungs.

The words struck her like a bolt of searing lightning, leaving her stunned and shocked to her very core. She felt frozen under Rarity’s cold glare, the only expression of her betrayal being the tears streaming down her face. A small whimper left her as she stood there, looking on at her partner as someone raced over to her side, butterscotch-colored forelegs wrapping around her, a typically soft voice shouting above her head and sending Rarity onto her rear. It was hard to hear anything for Palmon, the words from Rarity still ringing in her ears like a recent bomb blast.

The white mare spared one look at her before gritting her teeth and lighting up her horn, soon vanishing in a blast of light, another suddenly going off. Rarity...

“Brilliant!” Trixie declared. “The white one and her plant partner are parting ways!”

“For Yggdrasill’s sake, will you give it a rest!”

Trixie’s voice bounced off the walls of the tight cavern as she bounced with joy, watching Rarity teleport away from the group, followed by Twilight. She grinned, cackling at the sight, Impmon rubbing his ears as Datamon rubbed his own. “Honestly, Miss Trixie, you’re going to break my ears with such shrill exclamations!”

“Ah, c’mon, trashcan,” Impmon taunted, elbowing him in the rough area of his ribs. “Gotta get excited when we get a leg up on the competition!”

“It’s your competition,” Datamon corrected. “I have no stake in the outcome of your war game.”

“You will,” Trixie asserted, “once Trixie has her victory. You will be compensated handsomely for your collaboration. It’s the least I can do, I suppose, for your services.”

“I should hope so, I’m giving you a lot of resources.” Datamon scoffed, folding his arms as he watched the screen.

“And a lot of channels,” Impmon interjected, feasting on some popcorn while watching a cluster of monitors. There were about five different channels on the monitors all playing at once, and each one contained a soap opera that was even worse than the last.

“But enough of that,” Trixie asserted. “The group is weakening. Now is our time to strike!”

“And how would you suggest doing that, O Great And Powerful Trixie?” Datamon looked over to the mare, brow lowered and eyes half-closed, a firm deadpan aimed at the side of her head.

Trixie smirked, looking back to her snarking ally with a raise of her brow. “How else? The last use of your virus worked wonders, and you’ve had some time to work on it. Perhaps another test run is in order?”

Datamon huffed a bit, his arms crossing again. “It’s about time you asked me to use the thing you made me work on.”

“Sweet!” Impmon darted over to his partner, his soaps seemingly forgotten. “Who are we gonna hit?”

“It depends on who is around their area,” Trixie replied. “Datamon, what other Digimon are near that beach?”

“Let’s find out,” the robot answered, cracking his knuckles before returning to the console. His fingers rapped on the keyboard until a new visual appeared on the main screen. The shot was underwater, beneath the surface of the sea, and a fair quantity of creatures were swimming around in it.

Trixie stared at the screen, somewhat dumbfounded. “You have cameras underwater.” Datamon just groaned in lieu of offering any meaningful reply.

Suddenly, a larger figure on the screen caught the mare’s attention. A sizable yellow turtle with a green shell drifted idly through the camera’s view, the sunlight glistening on its metallic, bladed front flippers. It looked rather lax and docile, but perhaps, if her plan was a success...

“That one,” Trixie declared, pointing directly at it. “The metal turtle. That one will be our guinea pig.”

“Perfect!” Impmon announced, leaping on top of the console. “Archelomon’s gonna wreck ‘em!”

“Assuming Trixie and I can work our respective magic,” Datamon reminded him. “And I assume.”

Without another word, Trixie lit up her horn with an aura of pink magic as Datamon typed furiously away at his keyboard.

She did not know she could do that.

Rarity shakily stood a few hundred yards from her previous position, just far enough away to be out of her friends’ immediate view. She had no idea she had it in her to teleport, but it felt as if her body was completely drained of magic after doing so, not used to anything more extensive than her gem-tracking spell. Twilight must truly be gifted to have this ability...

The strength promptly left her body, and she started to collapse. She briefly picked up the fluttering of wings before she fell against another form, saving her from a messy drop into the sand below. “Rarity! Are you alright?”

Speak of the devil...

She started to right herself against Twilight’s side, aided by the wing draping itself over her. “Just fine, dear. Just... exhausted, really.”

“I can see that.” Twilight grunted as she slipped her wing under Rarity’s belly and pushed her upright, grimacing under her friend’s weight against her still-weak appendage. She guided the white unicorn over to a nearby boulder and sat her down there, settling her against it with her side so she’d stay upright.

She then took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of her nose, sitting down. “Alright... I’ve got two questions. One before the other.”

Rarity quietly nodded, looking over to the Princess. Twilight closed her eyes tightly, trying to sort the words out in her head as she rubbed her face with her hooves. Finally, she opened her eyes and gestured openly to her friend, frowning. “...Why’d you do that?”

“You’re going to have to clarify, Twilight...”

“Why did you rip into Palmon like that?” Twilight’s brow furrowed as she set her hooves in the sand, trying to keep her voice level. “Why did you say all those things?”

“...Panic, I suppose. I panicked, said one thing, then it all just rolled out.” Rarity looked down at the sand, more unable to lift her head due to weakness than any kind of regret. There was a growing pit in her stomach, however, as she felt Twilight’s glare get more intense.

“Panic? Rainbow panics and lets off a string of swear words. Fluttershy panics and finds somewhere to hide. Pinkie panics and her mane straightens out. You panic and straight up emotionally destroy someone? What’s with that?” Twilight’s voice rose as her eyes widened, gesturing off towards the group in the distance. “It’s like you weren’t even thinking!”

Rarity closed her eyes, sighing quietly. “I wasn’t.”

“Why weren’t you!? This isn’t like you, Rarity!” Twilight shouted, gritting her teeth as she leered at Rarity, the unicorn flinching under the shout.

“It isn’t like me to be around such... writhing life!” Rarity raised her voice as much as she could, which was essentially a little louder than her regular speaking voice. She coughed as a throb of pain raced through her head, a hoof raising and rubbing just under her horn. “It’s, s-she isn’t...”

“I don’t care what she is or isn’t! She’s your friend, your partner! You don’t say any of that to a stranger on the street, let alone someone you work beside!” Twilight shouted back, Rarity curling slightly as she got to her hooves, wings splaying out. “We’ve been together for a year, supporting friendship all around Ponyville and Equestria. I thought you were better than this...”

Rarity winced at the words, her frown deepening as she opened her eyes and stared at the ground. Her strength was slowly coming back, and she took a breath, raising her head to face Twilight. She couldn’t muster any words, simply wearing her regret on her sleeve as she pushed away from the rock she leaned on, and shakily walked over to Twilight. “Twilight...”

“No... just, let’s go back. Everyone’s worried.” Twilight sighed, standing and crossing the gap between her and Rarity. She moved to the unicorn’s side and draped a wing over her back, and as her horn lit up, Rarity closed her eyes.

This won’t be easy...

With a bright flash of light, Twilight and Rarity vanished from sight, warping back towards the beach, and the wounded Palmon, still kneeling in the sand in shock. The same scene that Rarity returned to, looking on at Palmon as she stared out at the sea, hands in her lap and a quiet, pained look on her face. She wasn’t facing Rarity directly, but the unicorn didn’t need to see her expression clearly to know what must have been going through her mind right now. She was the only one among the friends she’d left behind that hadn’t started running to meet with her.

Palmon did come running, however, when something massive leapt out of the water and straight for her partner, snapping her out of her daze. “Rarity!”

Rarity’s scream was cut short as a turtle, a gigantic one at that, crashed into the sand in front of her, great blades scything forwards towards her. Twilight jumped to action, snatching Rarity up and lifting her out of the way of the knives as they carved deep trenches through the sand as she flew up and back away.

Palmon gulped as she looked on at the beast, a tremendous roar quaking the air around it as it turned and thrashed again with the two great knives that acted as its fore-fins, slashing up the area around it. Glowing pink occupied its eyes, the massive blades being more than enough warning for everyone to back far, far away from it.

“What the heck is that thing!?” Rainbow shrieked, getting up above the turtle to avoid its blades.

“I dunno, sugarcube! Maybe Tank took some self-defense lessons?!” AJ shouted back, jumping out of the way of a wild slash from the turtle as it started to ascertain who was on its beach.

“Bad time for jokes, AJ!” Rainbow shouted, gritting her teeth as she tried to get a good angle of attack on it.

Terriermon scoffed from his perch on Fluttershy’s head, the pegasus currently cowering behind a nearby boulder within earshot of the battle. “Psh! Always a time for jokes! Hey, Fluttershy!” He looked down at his partner, stomping on her mane lightly. “Why’re we back here?!”

Fluttershy simply ignored the very bunny-like stomps on her head, looking up at her partner. “Um... it’s a big, green turtle with knives for forefins, glowing pink eyes, and looks like it’s trying to chop us up into little pieces...?”

“Yeah, so why’re we back here? We can take it on!” Terriermon folded his arms, furrowing his brow at Fluttershy. “C’mon! Just get up above it, and it can’t hit you!”

“W-Why do we have to fight, though? The last time you fought, you really hurt your brother!” Fluttershy creased her brow in worry as she looked at Terriermon, seeing him roll his eyes and groan. He eventually just looked up at the sky at Rainbow Dash while Twilight set Rarity down on the sand away from the battle.

“Hey, Rainbow!”

“What?!” Rainbow shouted back, looking towards the boulder. She had to squint her eyes to see Fluttershy’s mane slightly poking out from the side of it, though. “And why’re you all the way over there?!”

Terriermon latched onto the boulder and scrambled up it, grunting with the effort as he went. He soon reached the top, waving to the blue pegasus as AJ and Labramon carried on their deadly dance with the giant turtle Digimon. “Fluttershy’s too scared! Gimme a ride, would ya?!”

Better than circling around it for some opening... Rainbow nodded and tore through the air to the boulder, snatching Terriermon up in her hooves in a fly-by and launching back into the sky in a loop. She rolled and tossed Terriermon up onto her back, who latched onto her mane and settled on the back of her neck as she moved back towards the giant turtle. “Any idea who that is?!”

“You’re the one with the know-it-all Digivice! Check it!” Terriermon pointed down towards the device on Rainbow’s hoof, the pegasus finally taking notice of it.

“Oh, right.” Rainbow raised it, checking the screen as she spoke to it. “Digivice-thing, what is that?”

“Archelomon,” the device responded. “Data-type Reptile Digimon. Armor level. A slow and laid-back creature with a nearly impenetrable shell. Signature move is Ocean Streamer.”

Rainbow scoffed at her Digivice as she made another circling pass. “Laid-back, my flank! It leapt out and attacked us!”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll send ‘em packing!” Terriermon smiled as he leaned over, patting Rainbow on the neck. “Alright, so... how to attack him?”

The scene below was a bit more gruesome than Rainbow would’ve enjoyed. Applejack and Labramon were doing all they could to jump and dodge out of the way of Archelomon’s slashing knives and snapping jaws, the others staying as far back as they could. Pinkie Pie had thrown on a pair of pom poms to try and cheer her friend on, probably thinking excitement could restore stamina. Terriermon hummed, trying to think of a way to attack it. “Impenetrable shell, so that means we’ll just have to aim for whatever’s exposed.”

“Got a pretty obvious target down there. Why not hit ‘em on the head?” Terriermon patted Rainbow on the head, smiling. “Just go down and smash him with yours!”

“Oy.” Rainbow frowned, leering up at Terriermon before looking back down at the giant turtle on the beach. “Well, he’s distracted... alright, pup, hold on tight!”

“Hey! I’m a bunny, not a p-aah!” Terriermon was suddenly pulled down with Rainbow as she blasted off towards the tortoise, the bunny Digimon hanging on for dear life to her head. She tore through the air and crossed the gap in seconds, before slamming right down on Archelomon’s exposed head with her hooves. His neck was barely able to fight back against the force, his head slamming down into the beach and scattering sand all over from the impact. With a graceful flip, Rainbow sprang off his head and landed on the beach in front of him, laughing triumphantly.

“That worked pretty well!” She grinned, chuckling as her enemy actually stayed motionless. Archelomon didn’t offer anything by way of retaliation, simply glaring up at his assailant.

“Yeah, if yer plan was to make him mad!” Applejack retorted.

The way Archelomon raised his head back up and roared killed Rainbow’s grin as she backed off, grimacing. “Ahhh, well crud. Anyone got any ideas?!”

Terriermon blinked before bopping Rainbow on the head, deadpanning down at her. “I thought you were the fighter! Is that seriously the only plan you had?!”

“It works first time usually!” Rainbow shouted back before blasting off into the air again, a knife scything through the air she occupied, and she took up another circling flight around Archelomon. “Just let me think!”

“Gah...” Terriermon rose up on Rainbow’s head and lifted his paws to his mouth, shouting at the boulder Fluttershy was hiding behind. “Fluttershy! Evolve me again!”

Fluttershy peeked out to respond, only to lock eyes with the massive knife-swinging turtle, and promptly retreated behind her boulder with a squeal. He shifted forward, roaring as he reared back a knife to swing at the hapless rock defense the mare had set up, only to get a swift kick in the jaw from AJ.

“Hey, shell-fer-brains! Down ‘ere!” She shouted, slamming her hooves down into the ground and jumping up out of the way of Archelomon’s snapping jaws. She came down on his head and stomped hard, the turtle wincing from the hit before flicking his head back up, flinging her off towards the sea. “Gah!”

And up in the air, Twilight was beginning to struggle with carrying her load away from the fight, eyes shut tight as she focused completely on bringing Rarity away to Fluttershy’s cover. Seeing Applejack get flung towards the sea, though, something just snapped in Rarity’s head, her horn lighting up. Twilight was jostled by a bright blast of light, the same appearing right behind Applejack as she flew. “What th—?!”

She was cut off as Rarity snagged her out of the air with her hooves, and with a burst of strength from her magic, she flung AJ straight back towards the flying Rainbow Dash. The two collided in midair, Rainbow just managing to save herself from a dive towards the ground by rolling in the air and gripping AJ with her forelegs. She struggled against Rainbow’s grip all the same as Rarity fell towards Archelomon, the beast whirling around towards her. “Rarity!”

With a powerful crunch that made the group cringe and Fluttershy dry heave, Archelomon’s head collided with the falling unicorn, sending her flying off into the sea, her flight ending a distance away with a mighty splash.

And the massive turtle was right behind her, lunging into the water soon after.

“Rarity!” Rainbow immediately turned and started flying towards the sea, only to feel a new passenger boarding her suddenly public flight. “Grrr, what now?!”

“Sorry!” Palmon rocketed up onto Rainbow’s back, tentacles snapping back into her hands as she made her landing. Her eyes were fixed exactly where Rarity landed, the massive turtle’s shadow moving towards her partner. “Just fly me over!”

Rainbow looked back at the plant on her back, raising her eyebrow as she shouted. “And do what?! You’re puny, you aren’t gonna do anything to him!”

“Just trust me!” Palmon shouted back, loud enough to make Rainbow wince. She quieted down after that, simply arcing down towards the water to increase her speed. Terriermon held on for dear life, glancing back at Palmon with a frown.

“You better know what you’re doing. Neither of us are good in the water...”

“We don’t need to be good...” Palmon frowned, tensing up for a leap. “Just good enough to get Rarity out of trouble.”

And as Rainbow made her fly-by, Palmon leaped, aiming down towards the water with her hands to pierce cleanly through the surface. The water barely shifted as she broke through, quickly swimming down towards Rarity’s barely conscious form, and the giant turtle hunting her. Red decorated the water in thin ribbons, coming from a clear wound in the mare’s side.

Rarity... don’t worry, I’m coming. As long as you get out, Twilight can help...! Palmon grimaced and swam as quickly as she could, eyes quickly turning away from Rarity from time to time to check her distance from the turtle. It only took a few glances to tell the interception would be close, too close. A horrible thought crossed her mind of Archelomon opening his jaws, and clamping down on the both of them.

But her body was already working on auto-pilot, sending her faster and faster towards her partner in a frantic swim. And just as Archelomon closed the gap, Rarity watching him come in, fear settling into her mind, Palmon slipped in between them, and drew back her right hand.

Just for something. Anything. She’d swing in the barest hope to repel him.

Get away from my friend!!

And in that single moment of blind courage, she burst into light bright enough to stop Archelomon in his tracks. Rarity averted her gaze, the brilliance of the light too great to stare directly into. Palmon’s body began to change beneath that light, expanding and brightening between her partner and her foe. The mare eventually had to close her eyes as the change occurred because of just how much Palmon was growing and shining.

Could this be it? Rarity wondered absently, consciousness now finding a new light to cling to. Is this the transition into beauty I hoped it would be?

After a moment, the light faded, and she was able to open her eyes to gaze upon her partner. Palmon had taken new shape, now in the majestic form of—

A cactus. A giant walking cactus with boxing gloves.

Oh.

“Togemon,” her Digivice chimed, the sound still audible but distorted beneath the water. “Data-type Plant Digimon. Champion level. Often lost in thought and impossible to calm when provoked. Signature move is Needle Spray.”

No signature moves were needed here, however, as that same red boxing glove sliced through the water like it was nothing, slammed straight into Archelomon’s head, and sent him spinning through the water. She barely had time to react before the great cactus had whirled around and grabbed her, and quickly started swimming for the surface.

Palmon... what in the world have you become? The thought drifted through Rarity’s mind as water raced past her, first down across her face. Then, as the water itself started to move, she realized that wasn’t the only direction she could feel it moving in.

Darn it, not now! Togemon looked back as she made for the surface, seeing a massive whirling shell down below, water being kicked up around it as it spun faster and faster. Bubbles and clashing streams shifted from blue to white as froth was made, the beginnings of a whirlpool appearing and mercilessly dragging them back towards the depths. She just fought harder and harder for the surface, the wall of white reaching out towards her as the group on the shore watched on in horror.

The pit in the water appeared, and swiftly grew wider and wider, the roar of the maelstrom alone enough to scare even Terriermon. He, AJ and Rainbow could only watch from the air as the others looked on from the beach, every prayer going out to see Rarity and her partner break the surface.

Though, not quite in the form they’d been expecting, as Togemon broke through the wall of the whirlpool and started swimming up the wall, roaring as her powerful arms went to work. Rainbow just went wide-eyed at the sight of a giant cactus suddenly bursting out of the sea, carrying Rarity in a boxing glove of all things.

She would’ve started laughing if things weren’t so dire.

Though she didn’t have much time for a laugh anyways, as Togemon reared back and shouted. “Catch her!!” And before anyone could register what she even said over the chaos at sea, she hurled Rarity into the sky as hard as she could.

Rainbow simply whimpered as the white unicorn was sent flying straight for her.

“I got ‘er!” AJ nudged Rainbow with her elbow before opening her forelegs, watching Rarity fly in. “Jus’ brace for impact!”

“I’m already carrying you and the pup!” Rainbow got a swift knock on the head as Terriermon shouted right back at her.

“Bunny!”

“Whatever!” Rainbow got the single word out before contact was made, AJ grunting as she grabbed Rarity out of the air. She had to pump her wings bloody hard to stay in the air, making her way back towards shore as AJ gave Rarity a once-over.

“That’s a bad gash on her side... get us back t’ the beach, Dash! She needs help!”

“What do ya think I’m doing!? Gah, you’re all too dang heavy...!” Rainbow grit her teeth as she flew back towards the beach.

Leaving Togemon, and an emerging Archelomon, to their swirling boxing ring in the sea.

“Alright, big guy... bring it.” Togemon rode the waves as best she could, staying on the surface. She used one arm to push against the waves and stop herself from getting dragged down towards the center, as the other was raised in defense, her invisible brow furrowing. “I’ll toss you onto land as soon as you get close.”

Archelomon rode the waves on the opposite side of the whirlpool, simply showing her a sinister smirk before ducking down below the waters again. Rainbow looked back, spotting the shadow moving around with the waves, and at a much higher speed than what Togemon was moving. She shouted as hard as she could. “Hey, uh... cactus-lady! He’s coming! Left!”

Togemon looked to her left, the white wall staying solid only for the next few moments before Archelomon broke the surface, reaching out with his jaws.

He made it two feet before Togemon’s fist crashed into his chin, ripping him out of the water and sending him falling towards the center of the whirlpool.

“Holy crud, that was fast...!” Rainbow’s jaw dropped as Terriermon sat up, cheering.

“Get ‘em, Togemon! Kick his butt! Woo!” The bunny laughed as he hopped on Rainbow’s head, steadily frustrating her more and more before she whipped her head back, bumping him off onto her back.

“Stop jumping on my head!” A glare was shot at Terriermon just before she managed to make landfall, AJ depositing Rarity softly on the ground before being suddenly dropped onto the beach herself. Rainbow crashed down beside her, panting as she fell onto her side, Terriermon rolling with the fall before jumping back up onto his feet.

“Sorry, got excited.” Terriermon spared a grin before looking back to the stunned Fluttershy and Twilight. Pinkie had disappeared behind one of the rocks, preparing something. “Oy! You two! Rarity’s hurt!”

“She’s h— r-right, coming!” Twilight quickly sprinted for the group, Fluttershy peeking out from her cover before finally summoning up the bravery to move towards the sea, eyes constantly glancing towards the massive whirlpool in the distance. “AJ, help me move her!”

Twilight winced heavily as she came upon the scene, finally seeing Rarity’s injury up close. “...Actually, moving her would be a bad idea.”

The gash had opened wider, a large red tear in her otherwise pristine coat. Twilight bit her lip as she called up whatever medical experience she had that could apply to the situation, eyes darting over the injury, and the sand, as she sought out her knowledge. “Um... a-alright, uh...”

“I can help!” The actual pup in the group raced over to the group from his place behind one of the rocks, giving up on dragging Pinkie away from her project. Gaomon carried right on trying, his shouting growing louder as Labramon ran over to them. He skidded to a halt, going wide-eyed at the sight of Rarity on the sand. “Oh—”

“You said you can heal her, right?” AJ cut in, glancing to Labramon before looking back to Rarity, Twilight falling on her rear as she held her head, starting to panic. Thankfully, the worry in the group ebbed as Labramon quickly nodded and focused on Rarity, his form starting to shimmer in a faint rainbow light.

The same light appeared around Rarity, flashing data and code surrounding her in its comforting embrace, and just like magic, her wound started to close itself, pushing out the water that had gotten into the gash while healing. “I-It’ll take me a bit, though... she’s hurt bad.” Labramon grit his teeth, focusing on the painfully slow process of mending the wound.

“No worries, partner.” AJ nodded and looked back to the whirlpool, Rainbow and Fluttershy turning their eyes towards the water as well. “I think that turtle guy’s in trouble anyways.”

“Raaaah!” Togemon roared before crushing Archelomon’s face with another devastating punch, sending him sliding back down towards the center of the whirlpool. “I thought you were good at fighting in the water?! Whatcha got, punk, huh!?” She shook her fist at him before starting her trip back up the wall, trying to break away from the maelstrom’s pull. The beating had been going on for a while, but the massive turtle just wouldn’t give up, and Togemon’s punching arm was starting to get tired.

She glanced back towards the beach, the anger in her calming just slightly as she saw Rarity being tended to. Still, it put all the more strength into her arms and legs as she fought to get back to shore.

The maelstrom blasted against her in a torrent of water, sending her spiralling up as she fought up the wall. Archelomon crashed down through the bottom of the whirlpool, spinning as he retreated into his shell to recover from this renewed, crippling blow. Dazed for the moment, he couldn’t release himself from his spin, shutting his eyes as he focused on himself.

And after her glove shot through the lip of the whirlpool, Togemon ripped herself from the grip of the maelstrom. And without that whirlpool holding her down, she quickly showed off her strength by setting into a front crawl, and rocketing towards the shore, a wake blasting up behind her after every powerful stroke of her arms. Rainbow went wide-eyed at the incoming green missile, glancing to her friends before starting to back up. “Uhhh, guys? Back up.”

“What do ya me—” AJ cut herself off as she looked out towards the sea, eyes going wide at Togemon roaring as loud as the whirlpool itself as she flew towards the beach. “Oh. Twi, Twi, land t’ Twi! We need t’ move!” She quickly started backing away, Twilight snapping out of her panic just in time for Togemon to close the last bit of distance.

And she reached back with her fist and slammed it into the beach like a pole vaulter, flying up into the air in a massive flip. Rainbow’s jaw dropped as the cactus took flight, flipping gracefully through the air as water flew off her form.

Before she ungracefully slammed down on the beach a distance away, sending a quake through the sand. She turned and marched back towards the shore, each footstep sending a small shock through the sand before she put herself between the group and the sea, and raised her fists.

One lightning-fast punch forward sent a shock back through her, blasting the water off her body.

Terriermon could not be grinning wider if he tried. “So cool!”

“Hey, fanboy, less gawkin’, more walkin’!” AJ quickly looked over to Labramon, wincing at the visible strain on his face. “Labramon, think we can move ‘er?”

“Y-Yeah, she should be fine... I’ve got the wound healed up... enough that it’s not threatening.” Labramon cut the healing stream on Rarity, panting as he fell onto his rear. “I-It’s gonna take more time to heal her completely, though.”

“It’s enough... we’ll move ‘er behind Shy’s rock, carry on there. And, uh...” AJ looked over to Togemon, quietly tipping her hat to the cactus. “Thanks for the assistance.”

Togemon simply made a throwaway motion with a fist, not responding. AJ nodded and looked over to Twilight, opening her mouth before realizing Rainbow was already shaking her out of her daze.

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, Twilight squealing during the rattling of her shoulders.

“I-I-I-I’m f-i-i-i-i-ne!” Twilight quickly pushed Rainbow off her before firing up her magic, gently, very gently, lifting Rarity up into the air. “Okay, okay, just... y-you’re gonna be fine, Rarity!”

Rarity simply looked to her partner as she was slowly carried back towards the rock, the sun pouring light down on her like a massive skylight in an arena. “...G-Good luck... Togemon...”

“...I don’t need luck.” Togemon’s fists tightened, eyes fixed on the sea, and the massive shadow approaching the beach as the maelstrom lost its strength. “I just need power... and the power I got from you is more than enough.”

She braced herself as the water started to rise and break, cocked her fist back, and as Archelomon launched out of the sea...

She let the barrage fly.

“Trixie cannot believe what she is seeing right now.”

Trixie and Impmon just visibly winced, the crushing blows happening on screen playing out in their heads with the most awful sounds of bone crunching against bone, Archelomon having the literal daylights beat out of him. Just hovering there in the air as Togemon unleashed a savage barrage of accurate strikes, each one colliding like a train with his cheeks, chin, neck, any exposed area of flesh on him that would create the worst pain response possible.

The display was breathtaking. The cactus’s retaliation was gorgeously fluid despite her bulky stature. Every movement Togemon made was controlled and precise, every blow swift and deliberate. Each punch, each block and parry, carried a sort of grace and elegance the likes of which Trixie had seldom seen in motion.

Impmon simply blinked before he looked over to his partner, a cautious smile on his face as he shrugged. “I dunno, this seems pretty normal for the Digital World.”

Trixie took only a moment to whirl on her partner, shouting right into his face. “Normal!? A giant cactus with boxing gloves is beating the stuffing out of a giant turtle with knives instead of fins!”

“Hey.” Impmon wiped the saliva off his face as Trixie turned back to the monitor. “Gotta admit, the show is awesome.” He looked back to the screen before folding his arms, frowning. “Wonder if we’ve got any popcorn...?”

“Oh, save the humor for Datamon, maybe he’d actually find it funny.” Trixie grit her teeth as she watched, unable to stop imagining each blow. All she could do was think of alternate options, maybe some way to infect the cactus Digimon with the virus instead.

The difference in strength, at least on land, was as clear as the sun in the sky. And as Archelomon was grabbed, spun around, and slammed onto the sand like a massive sack of hammers, Trixie couldn’t watch anymore. The fight was over, as far as she was concerned.

“Is there any other Digimon near the sea? Anyone at all we could use our new virus on?”

Impmon shrugged. “I’m not the one with the globe-spanning surveillance network.”

“Gah... useless.” Trixie got up and trotted off, deeper into the base as she left her partner to watch the monitors. “Keep your eyes on them! I’m going to visit Datamon, see if he has any suggestions. Helpful ones!”

“Yeah, yeah...” Impmon frowned as he watched her go, and as the door closed behind her, he let out a soft sigh before turning back to the monitors. “...I can be useful, too.”

The display was brutal, majestic, and just plain jaw-dropping. And it ended with a flip of the turtle over Togemon’s head, and a crater left in the sand as the cactus hopped up onto Archelomon’s belly, sat down, and pushed his head down into the dirt with her fist. She was glimmering with pride.

Well, it was that or the water that had been splashed onto her from beating the snot out of Archelomon.

The group had retreated to a safe distance, Pinkie having come over with a makeshift bell made from a rock and a small stone tied to a string inside, ringing it in celebration. “We have a winner!” She giggled, grinning as she wished she had confetti to throw for the occasion.

Togemon simply let out a sigh and looked over to her partner, now conscious as she was being healed. The red was all but gone, the blood having been cleaned up by Twilight as she marvelled at Labramon’s healing abilities.

“Well?” Togemon asked, leaning over as much as she could to look at her partner. “Do I look any prettier?”

Rarity let out an awkward chuckle in response, rubbing the back of her neck and darting her eyes away from her partner. Even though moving her leg sent a rather bad shock of pain up through her side. She took it like a champ, not letting it show through her expression. “U-um... how do I put this politely...”

“Oh...” Togemon’s hollow mouth twisted into a frown, and she turned away from the unicorn, grinding her fist harder into Archelomon’s chin in an attempt to make herself feel better. Am I still too ugly for her? Am I even uglier now? I t-tried so hard to make her happy... it was an awful idea to throw her like that... Her breath hitched softly, the start of what would quickly spiral into a sobbing fit.

Or it would have, had she not felt a hoof on her back, risking an unwanted puncture to comfort her, and an unwanted opening of her own wound. She turned as well as she could, lifting her arm to see behind her, and to her surprise, there stood Rarity. Her partner looked upon her with a genuine smile, meeting her eyes without any regard for the multitude of needles slipping into her mane. Labramon was right there by her side, stressing over healing her wound properly, holding back all the words he had prepared for Rarity getting up in the middle of treatment.

“It does not matter if you’re beautiful,” she assured her, still gently rubbing her back. “What you have done for me, for all of us, is what truly matters.”

“You mean... you don’t think I’m some tendril-bearing, petal-headed abomination?”

Rarity shook her head. “I think you are a bright and cheerful young lady who cares deeply for those important to her. Not unlike another dear friend of mine, I might add. And I also think you are the Digimon who just now saved my life, for which I am eternally grateful.”

And once the wound had closed, Rarity received a good swat on the head from the hopping pup. “Not to mention getting up in the middle of healing, and nearly reopening your wound! Sappy moment or not, when the doctor says stay still, you stay still!”

Rarity recovered rather quickly from the hit, grinning gently as she rubbed the back of her head where she was hit. “Many apologies, my good doctor! I just...” She looked back to Togemon, smiling brightly. “I couldn’t let my friend here wallow in sadness, just because I was hurt. Rather... selfish of me to not offer some support.”

Labramon simply groaned, covering his face with his paws as Rainbow laughed. “And I thought I was the stubborn one!”

“Oh be silent! I am hardly that stubborn!” Rarity pouted as she folded her forelegs, sending a bright chorus of laughter through her friends. After everything they’d been through, it was a well-deserved celebration.

At least, until Archelomon’s eyes opened again. The laughter was cut off as Archelomon quickly started to shift, Togemon quickly picking Rarity and Labramon up before jumping off his stomach, setting them down behind her and raising her fists again.

Archelomon snarled as he quickly rolled over, and spun around to face the group, a sick grin worn on his rather bruised, mauled face. “What the heck was that beating for!?”

“To put you down on the ground for good! But I guess I’m just gonna have to send you properly flying this time!” Togemon snarled back, glaring at her opponent as she dared to throw the first punch.

“Wait!” came a cry from behind the boxer. Fluttershy darted between them as quickly as her wings would carry her, approaching Archelomon directly before anyone could stop her. “His eyes... they aren’t glowing anymore! I don’t think he’s going to attack us!”

Rainbow scoffed, glaring at the armored reptile. “What makes you think that means he’s not just gonna come at us again?”

“Because I don’t want to,” Archelomon replied, quickly silencing the rowdier mare. “In fact, since you knocked out whatever was controlling me, I wanted to thank you!” Archelomon rolled his jaw, cringing a bit. “Even if you did... I think you dislocated it...”

Togemon sighed, lowering her fists. “Labramon...?”

“On it.” Labramon nodded and headed on over to Fluttershy’s side, taking pause before she turned and made the first move.

Fluttershy smiled, rubbing the giant turtle’s head. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Archelomon. It’s the least we could do.”

“Aw, stop it.” Archelomon chuckled, playfully swatting towards her with a flipper. “If there’s any way I can repay you...”

Fluttershy winced as the knife was moved, ears splaying back. “M-Maybe start with... not gesturing with your super sharp limbs?”

“Oh.” Archelomon blinked, looking over to his forefin as Labramon got to work with healing. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I gesture with my forehooves all the time, so I can’t really blame you...” Fluttershy smiled lightly, lightly petting Archelomon on the nose as Labramon continued his work.

And Togemon finally took a seat, leaning back and basking in the sun as she relaxed for the first time since the fight started.

Togemon winced at a sudden declaration from behind her, Twilight jumping into action. “We need supplies,” Twilight announced. “We came through expecting to be among friends for three days, and we didn’t pack nearly enough for a wilderness sabbatical. We don’t have enough food to sustain the six of us for much longer, let alone twelve.”

“Not a problem,” Archelomon assured her. “There’s plenty to forage for on this island. In fact, if you turn around and cross the plateau connected to this beach, you can hit the jungle!” He beamed from his supposed helpful hint, oblivious to the exasperated groans of the gathered travelers.

Suddenly, Togemon burst into light once more, shifting right back into Palmon before everyone’s eyes. Her arms lost strength as she flopped back onto the sand, suddenly drained from the transformation stealing away all the extra energy she had. Rarity came rushing to her side in an instant, sliding in behind her to use her unwounded side to help her right herself.

“Palmon!” she shouted, her worry evident in her tone. “Are you alright? What happened?”

Palmon giggled slightly as she leaned against her partner. “I’m fine... I’m just out of energy, is all...”

Twilight sighed. “All the more reason we need to stock up on supplies.”

“Let me,” Labramon insisted as he rushed over to Palmon. The canine creature helped anchor his friend as she regained her footing, earning a grateful smile from her.

Suddenly, Labramon took on the same rainbow shimmer has he had before, and a similarly colored swirl of data began to spiral around Palmon, giving her a faint glow as the strength returned to her body. By the time Labramon’s concentration broke and everything went back away, the peppy plant was standing up on her own once more, her injuries and fatigue long gone.

“...Y’know, I still have no idea how you can do that.” Applejack mumbled, still dumbfounded by the technique. But now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, it all seemed so much stranger to her. “How’d ya even know you do that, Labramon?”

“I don’t know,” Labramon admitted. “Digimon don’t tend to question how they know their moves when they evolve. This is just one of mine.”

“Cure Liqueur...” Applejack mused, recalling her Digivice’s chime the day before. “Ain’t what the name made me think it’d look like, but... that’s what it was s’posed to do, right? Restore and optimize weakened data? Or somethin’.”

“Looks like it!” Palmon exclaimed as she had herself a merry twirl.

Twilight chuckled softly at the display, gesturing towards her bandaged injury. “Since it clearly works on us...”

“Oh, right! Of course!” Labramon chimed, bounding over to the princess and creating the data swirl again. Sure enough, she could feel the burn left from Veedramon’s stray attack mending itself rapidly, and in just a moment, she could no longer feel it at all. She unraveled the bandage with her magic once the technique finished, and there was no sign of the wound.

“Wow... thank you, Labramon. But how are you able to heal organic tissue with a data optimizer?”

Labramon just shrugged. “Maybe you turned to data when you came to the Digital World.”

“We turned into our in-game avatars!” Pinkie exclaimed. Gaomon just groaned, having long since given up on correcting or understanding her.

The prospect horrified Twilight slightly, ears drooping, though she didn’t get much of a chance to ruminate on the issue before Rainbow patted her on the shoulder. “So, uh, the food thing?”

“Y-Yeah! Food, supplies, water, right.” Twilight quickly nodded before spinning around and quickly trotting in the direction of the forest! Don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about us just being data now...

Pinkie grinned as she got to her hooves and dropped her makeshift boxing bell on the ground, bouncing off after her. “Wait for me! I can help!”

“Thanks, Pinkie! Uh, t-the rest of you, just... l-look for where we can go next! Pinkie and I will be back soon!” Twilight quickly increased her speed to a run, heading off towards the jungle with Pinkie in hot pursuit.

Archelomon just stared at the retreating alicorn before looking over to Fluttershy. “Did someone say something wrong?”

“She’s... well, she’s a little more, um...” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together, looking off to the side as she thought of how to put it softly. “Things tend to worry her more than they... should.”

“So she’s neurotic.” Archelomon blinked, furrowing his brow a bit as Rainbow nodded.

“Crazy.” Rainbow added.

“Pretty loopy sometimes, yeah.” AJ nodded as well.

DORUmon was vacant and couldn’t offer his opinion, running off after Twilight alongside Gaomon to make sure their partners didn’t get into trouble.

“So, um... is there anywhere we can go from here?” Fluttershy looked to her friends, speaking softly as she settled her hooves back on the sand. Terriermon lounged on her mane, lying on his back as he stared at the sky.

“Anywhere that’s exciting. Lotta fighting! Lots of fun!” Terriermon grinned as he made a few play punches at the air, Archelomon just deadpanning at him before pondering on the issue himself.

“Well, there might be a few places. It’s a bit of a swim to most of them. Lemme think...” Archelomon looked off to the side as he thought about the places available by sea. “If we go West from here, we’ll eventually hit the savannah area. There’s a huge factory right off the shore. Big industrial site, run by a security team of Machine Digimon.”

“That sounds pretty cool. Buzzing build sites sounds like a lotta fun!” Rainbow giggled, grinning as her partner groaned beside her.

“At least think a bit about the danger, Rainbow...” Ryudamon rubbed his face lightly as the pegasus pulled him in for a hug with her wing, still grinning.

“Well, if you say so... dangerous build sites are even more fun!” Rainbow smiled brightly, almost smugly, at the frowning Ryudamon at her side. He simply looked back at her, exhausted from her antics.

Suddenly, Twilight teleported back into the heart of the group with her friend and their partners in tow, each of them carrying newly-filled packs of supplies. “Alright! We’re set to survive for the next few whatevers!”

“Hopefully those ‘whatevers’ don’t involve more knife-swinging turtles...” DORUmon sighed, speaking quietly enough for Archelomon to not hear. Last thing to do right now would be to offend him and start another fight.

“That was really easy!” Pinkie giggled, smiling brightly as she hopped along beside Twilight, Gaomon sitting backwards on her back. “There was so much food on the trees!”

Fluttershy tilted her head quizzically at them. “It took us most of a day just to cross the canyon, and we stopped overnight. How did you get there so—”

“Did you not see how we got back,” DORUmon replied flatly.

Applejack cleared her throat, getting their attention. “Right. So while y’all were out resupplyin’, we figured out what we’re doin’ next. Archelomon’s takin’ us to the savannah on the west side of this here island—”

“Seriously, though, what is with this island!?” Rainbow shrieked, earning a sideways glance from the mare she’d just interrupted.

“Oh no, don’t tell me something new happened...” Twilight moaned with worry, looking over at Rainbow.

“All that’s happened,” AJ assured her, “is that we got a ride. And a good place to look for answers, what with the big factory that’s s’posed to be there.”

“A factory...” Twilight pondered the possibility for a minute. An industrial facility, something technological and sophisticated... surely there would be something there that could tell them what happened to her portal to send them here. Maybe there was even another portal they could use to escape and go back home!

She beamed at her friends before turning and nodding to Archelomon. “It’s decided, then. Archelomon, you can repay us by ferrying us to that factory!”

Author's Note

As usual, thanking KillerSteel for writing the combat scenes (and a good chunk of the rest of the chapter) and giving you the visual guide to the Digimon introduced in this chapter (all two of them).