Equestrian Warriors

"I'm home!" Spike shouted as he ran into the castle.

"Welcome home, Spike!" Twilight greeted, pocking her head out of a door frame.

"Is Gumdramon here?" He excitedly asked, looking around.

"I think he's still in his room. I wouldn't know, he hasn't come out all day." Twilight answered, looking up the stairs. "Do you think you could go check on him, I'm busy baking cookies for the Pinkie's potluck."

"Sure thi-wait... Pinkie's having a potluck?"

"Sort of, Sugarcube Corner's having a contest for a new recipe to sell. But Pinkie kept calling it a potluck party and it just kind of stuck."

"Oh, so you're entering the contest too?"

"Yeah, I know I'm not gonna win, but I just love backing these chocolate nut cookies!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. She stopped once she heard a loud ringing noise. "Oh, that's the first batch!" She said, rushing back into the kitchen.

"I hope she didn't mistake the salt for the sugar again." Spike thought to himself before walking up stairs. After walking for a few minutes, he came to Gumdramon's door. He knocked on it, waiting for a reply... nothing. He knocked a few more times... still no reply. He took his backpack off, placing it on the ground, before entering the room.

"Where is he?" Spike wondered, looking around Gumdramon's empty room. He stopped in his tracks once he saw hidden passageway in the closet.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about his lab." Spike quickly walked down the stair into the lab. He stopped again, noticing Gumdramon. He was laying face down on a metal table, tubs of ice cream were scattered around him. Spike slowly and quietly walked closer to Gumdramon. He looked at the desk, seeing a picture of... Fluttershy?

"Huh?!" Gumdramon yelled, shooting his head up and knocking Spike on the ground. Gumdramon turned towards Spike, quickly rubbing his eyes. "Oh, Spike... I'm so sorry!" Gumdramon said, helping Spike up.

"It's no problem. So... what were you doing all day?" Spike asked, feeling a little awkward.

"Nothing..." Gumdramon paused, giving him a forced smile.

"I couldn't help but notice the, um..." Spike pointed at the picture of Fluttershy on Gumdramon's desk.

"OH!" Gumdramon quickly moved in front of the picture. "W-What are you talking about?!" Spike crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Alright..." Gumdramon said in defeat. "I was crying all night and day."

"What? Why?"

"*sigh* I finally got her, but now... she doesn't love me."

"Huh?" Spike asked, confused by what he had just said.

"Fluttershy and I got together, Exmon erased her memories of loving me, and now she doesn't love me anymore." Gumdramon blurted out, slowly forming tears in his eyes.

"W-Well... have you talked to Twilight about this?"

"Oh Spike, I can't talk to her about this kind of thing. Well, it's more like I don't feel comfortable about it."

"Oh, okay... so, that this mean no training today?"

Gumdramon wiped the tears out of his eyes. "No, there will be training today. Training usually helps me get myself together. Oh, by the way..." Gumdramon knelt down to Spiked, pulling him in close. "Could we keep this between the two of us?"

"Sure." Spike said, nodding in agreement.

"Perfect, you keep my secret and I'll keep yours about liking Sweetie Belle!" Gumdramon exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Spike shouted, blushing.

"Spike, I minds were fused... I know how you feel about her." Gumdramon said, winking at Spike, causing him to blush even more.

Gumdramon was walking through the forest, Spike slowly following behind. As they walked, several animals sounds could be heard, some getting louder than others. Spike looked back and forth, a worried expression dawned his face.

"Uh, Gumdramon? Where are we going?" Spike asked, pushing several branches out of his way.

"We're already here." Gumdramon said before breaking a wall of branches and throwing them behind him.

"Ow!" Spike exclaimed, rubbing his head in pain after being hit in the head with some of the branches.

"Whoops, sorry about that." Gumdramon apologized. After that, the wall of branches was finally gone, revealing a way to an open field.

"It's a... clearing?" Spike said, confused by what he saw.

"Don't judge a book by it's cover." Gumdramon said to Spike before walking away.

"I live with Twilight, I pretty much hear that expression in my sleep." Spike said, walking towards Gumdramon.

"Alright, it should be right..." Gumdramon felt the ground, searching for something. After a few seconds, a loud, metal click could be heard. "There!" Gumdramon said, quickly getting back on his feet.

Several mechanical sounds echoed through the forest, scaring away several animals. Soon, small spots around the clearing shot out steam and slowly opened. Several punching bags, weights, and other instruments arose from the ground. Spike stood there, jaw dropped.

"W-What is all this?!" Spike asked, freaking out.

"This is my training spot. It took a long time to make, what with your world having less advanced technology." Gumdramon explained as Spike ran around, looking at the objects that had appeared. "I haven't used it in a while, but it's good to know that it still works."

"Whoa, this is amazing! What should we do first?" Spike excitedly asked, hopping up and down.

"Well, first we have to figure out how and why you switch from normal to digital." As Gumdramon explained, Spike slowly stopped hopping.

"Oh, right." Spike said as he completely stopped. "So... how do we do that?"

"Well, I managed to make this out of a few spare parts." Gumdramon pulled out something that resembled a pin-back button, except it was much more mechanical looking. "It can't control when you transform, but it can detect a change in your DNA, especially if it turns into data."

"Alright, put it on me!" Spike enthusiastically exclaimed, spreading his arms. Gumdramon walked over and attached the device to one of his head spines.

"Great, now let's get to training!" Gumdramon exclaimed, pointing to a punching bag. "Let's start of with punching bags."

"Yes sir!" Spike said, saluting to Gumdramon before running over the said punching bag. He got into a boxing stance and began punching it.

Gumdramon looked at the D-Drive, which showed a green, spiky wave going up and down. "Hmm, I don't think it's going to be that simple." Gumdramon said, rubbing the back of his head.