Rainbow Dash was tired. She'd never admit it, of course, but she had been flying all day, and she was getting tired. She looked over her traveling companions, and was dismayed to see that only Fluttershy looked tired. Applejack and Pinkie never seemed to get tired, the only time Rainbow had ever seen Applejack tired was when she ran herself ragged trying to buck every tree in Sweet Apple Acres all by herself, and Pinkie Pie... Well, she was Pinkie Pie. Somewhat more startling was the fact that Twilight and Rarity didn't look tired at all. Sure, Twilight knew how to pace herself and Rarity wasn't a push over, but... Twilight was an egghead! Rarity only very rarely exercised! How were they keeping up better than she was?!?
Seeming to read her mind, Twilight turned and regarded Rainbow briefly before saying "I'm not tired, Rainbow, because of the same reason we're here. There's a ton of magic in the air, and it's keeping me moving." Rainbow rolled her eyes and adjusted her flight goggles, pretending that she totally wasn't wondering about that at all. "Oh, and yes, we're almost there." Okay, Twilight was clearly using some kind of black magic to read her mind. Twilight giggled, turning back to the road, and said "No, I'm not reading you're mind. You're just very predictable!" Lies. Lies and slander.
Why were they here again? Oh, right. Twilight was having headaches... Blah blah blah... Books said it was magical... Blah blah blah... Twilight decided she needed to do something to fix it... Blah blah blah... Heading to the mountains! Clearly Rainbow needed to pay more attention to what she was volunteering to do- tracking through the mountains was NOT what she had expected.
Though what HAD she expected? She distinctly recalled somepony mentioning mountains, and "Mist", whatever that meant... Oh well! She didn't have time for all this thinking! She had to... Keep climbing the mountain. Her wings drooped mid flap, and she plummeted several feet before catching herself. Applejack gave her a worried look, and Rainbow smiled sheepishly before dropping to the ground. Maybe she'd be less tired if she walked...
Somehow both before she knew it and after what felt like hours of silently -ugh-walking up the mountainside, Twilight called a stop. Apparently they were high enough, and the "Mist" would be able to do... Whatever they were there to do. After a few minutes of zoning out, Rainbow started paying attention again when she heard Applejack calling her name. And then saw her waving a hoof in front of her face. Okay, time to play it cool, pretend you were definitely paying attention the whole time... "Huh?" masterfully done, Rainbow. Another mark solidly in the "win" column.
"Ah SAID it's getting mighty late, and we should be makin' camp 'fore we do whatever Twi an' Rarity plan ta do, and asked you ta help me set up tents! Tarnation girl, you got little bits of cloud stuck in your ears?"
Okay, they know you weren't paying attention, so... Probably best to act nonchalent, pretend you just don't care. "Yeah, okay, whatever..." perfect! Now just get it done quickly, but not so quickly it looks like you're actually trying hard, and you'll be set! At this point Rainbow's legs decided to better acquaint her with the dirt. Treacherous things.
Applejack snickered, before saying "Well, Rainbow, if'n you're that tired ah figure you can take a nap right there... But wouldn't ya want, I dunno, somethin' soft ta sleep on?" rainbow scowled at Applejack, which only made the farmer laugh harder. Great. Now, how to... You know something? Screw it. This is a loss. And the ground IS rather comfy...
When Rainbow opened her eyes the camp was set up, and somepony was nudging her front leg. She groaned, and struggled to stand. And promptly fell over. Again. Skill. And... Applejack was laughing. Again. LOVELY. Finally, after lots of effort and at least one phrase that I refuse to reprint on the grounds it would simply be censored as to obscene to ever grace the internet(quite the feat, I know), she managed to get to her feet without falling over. She glanced around, quickly discerning it was time for dinner. She walked calmly(who is she even kidding? She ran like she'd never run before) straight to an empty seat, causing Pinkie to giggle, while Applejack seemed to have finally gotten a hold of her laughs.
Barely.
Glancing around for support, Rainbow quickly skipped past Fluttershy, that mare wouldn't be able to distract the conversation unless something went badly... Rarity was deeply interested in... Something. Rainbow lacked the attention span to discern what, exactly, she was interested in, and so that was a bust. That left... Twilight. Hmm... How to get that mare talking enough to distract Pinkie and Applejack? Oh, of course! "So, Twilight, how long is it going to take you to do... Whatever it is we're here to do?"
Twilight looked startled, before sighing and putting down her salad... Which she had been holding with her hooves? Huh. File that away for later.
"Rainbow, were you paying ANY attention when I explained this?" Rainbow assumed a blank stare would be answer enough. She was correct. Twilight desperately attempted to hide her face behind a hoof. "Okay, lets go over this one more time. I woke up a couple days ago with a splitting headache, coming from my horn. No, don't ask how that works, I can't explain it. So I did some reading, and turns out the symptoms were virtually identical to those many unicorns experience when they overtax their magic, but I've never managed to do that. No, not even when I "vanquished" the Ursa Minor. That made me tired, but it didn't overtax me. So I waited for a day or two, but when it didn't go away I talked to Rarity, and she said that when SHE overtaxes her magic she comes up here to let the Mist repair any damage she did, and she suggested that I should do the same. Then you all volunteered to go with me, even though it's not that hard a walk, especially for a Unicorn because the Mist will just give them back the energy they use. Okay? Any more questions?"
Applejack pushed back her hat, looking back and forth as if to check if anypony else was going to speak, before clearing her throat. "Twi, ya didn't answer tha question... How long will this take? Ah me-" Applejack was cut off by Twilight when a layer of magic- not her usual maroon, but rather a brilliant white- forming around her horn, accompanied by a low groan of pain from the aforementioned mare. She grabbed her horn, which simply seemed to make the layer of magic grow larger... Or perhaps it just never stopped growing. Seconds later Rarity let out a squeal of pain, falling backwards onto her back and grasping her horn as well, as a similar aura covered her horn. At the same time as this happened Rainbow could have sworn she heard a voice calling Twilight's name, but wasn't concerned with it as she tried to help her unicorn friends.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Rainbow was falling. She knew how to fall though, and she quickly righted herself, flapping her wings several times, beginning... To do absolutely nothing to her downward momentum. Once again swearing with a force that could make a sailor blush, Rainbow fell through nonsensical symbols and images, before the world recollected around her with a heavy thud.
Authors Notes-
Dammit Solaris! you made me do this! ...grumble.
"Rainbow"
Rainbow's eyes fluttered as she heard an unfamiliar voice calling her name. Who could it be?
"Rainbow!"
Rainbow's eyes flickered open, and she saw a massive pink ball with bright red eyes and sharp teeth inches away from her face. She shot up, accidentally knocking the thing away, before taking to the air and glaring at it. Not seeming to get the message that Rainbow didn't want anything to do with it, it hopped up and down saying "You don't need to be afraid of me! I'm your friend I'm your friend I'm-" rainbow hovered just low enough too shut it up by sticking a hoof into it's mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, i wasn't afraid..." rainbow said, glancing about. As near as she could tell she was in some kind of jungle... Not that that revelation did a lot to help her. "So what are you, anyways?"
The creature pulled away and started bouncing around her. Rainbow tried to keep it in view but got slightly dizzy from the effort. It spoke on the upward bounces, almost sounding like it was biting the words off when it hit the ground. "Everything's gonna be alright now! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you!"
Rainbow scowled. It was like this thing just didn't want to give her any information at all... "What do you mean, waiting for me?"
It jumped into the air again, this time hitting Rainbow in the chest and knocking her onto the ground, seeming content to rest there, before saying "I'm your partner, silly! And my name is Korumon!" Rainbow sighed, briefly noting that there was something around her neck, but turning her attention back to the creature.
"Korumon, huh? What's that mean, annoying blob?"
The thing shook it's head emphatically, spitting out "Uh-uh! It means 'brave little warrior'! Don't forget it, Rainbow!"
Rainbow sighed, slowly standing up, as Korumon good-naturedly jumped off, resuming it's excited bounces. "So what did you actually mean you've "been waiting for me"? And how, exactly did you know my name, huh?"
The thing looked like it was going to actually answer, but was cut off by a familiar voice. "Rainbow? Is that you? Twilight asked as she pushed a too-large leaf aside and stepped into the small clearing.
Rainbow beamed, twisting about, practically yelling "Twilight! It's so good to see you! Where are we, do you know?"
Twilight shook he head, before pausing. "Well, I have one idea, but I'd like to get some more data before I try to explain something that probably isn't true. Anyway, I see you've got one of these little guys too, huh?"
A small blob that resembled nothing so much as a jellyfish without tentacles wiggled out from behind Twilight, saying "My name is Motimon, and i am at your service!"
Korumon hopped forward excitedly, and said "Nice to meet you Motimon! I'm Korumon!"
Twilight shook her head confusedly, before turning to Rainbow. "Hey, you've got one of these pendants too!" she exclaimed, using her magic to lift a small crystal inscribed with strange runes attached to a simple twine necklace out of her bag, and pointed to a similar necklace around Rainbow's neck.
Rainbow looked down, noted the necklace, and nodded, saying "y'know twi, that's weird and all, but shouldn't we try to find the others? Here, I'll go check if I can see them!" as she finished speaking Rainbow took off, quickly clearing the trees. She strained her eyes to see, searching for something, anything that might point to one of her friends' location. After a moments searching she saw a strange red shape veering through the underbrush, knocking trees aside as though the were made of twigs. As she watched the thing took to the air, making it's presence known with a terrifying roar and charging towards Rainbow, causing her to quickly head back down below the tree line.
Twilight looked up and asked "What did you see, Rainbow?", noting her normally brash friends unexplained panic, a question that was answered moments later when a massive beetle like monster with a dark red and black shell came crashing through the foliage, it's snapping jaws ripping through massive trunks with ease.
Korumon seemed to tense, before yelling "That thing's Kuwagamon! Run!" and booking it into the trees, Twilight and Rainbow following close behind, while Motimon even managed to pass Korumon after a minute.
Suddenly Motimon veered off to the left, yelling "Follow me, I know where we can hide!" as he lead them through the underbrush. "Through here!" he yelled when he stood just in front of a massive tree, several meters across at ground level, then jumped straight into the trunk, passing directly through the solid wood.
Rainbow and Twilight both stopped, but rainbow quickly started up again and dived through while Twilight slowly approached, poking the surface, which spread about her hoof to allow her access. "So... It's like a hologram?" she asked no one in particular, before Motimon and Rainbow popped out again and pulled her through, causing her to let out a brief, shrill scream. Once she recovered her breath Twilight looked around, examining the interior of the tree. It almost looked like it was made of metal, but the shine and reflection were just a little off, as though it was projected into place magically. "So what is this thing?"
Motimon hoped up and down, clearly agitated, and said "It's a hiding tree! But we've got to be very quiet, shh!"
After several tense minutes a muffled voice echoed from outside, calling them out with "Come on out, girls! It's all clear!"
Twilight and Rainbow stepped through the barrier to see Rarity standing before them, a small green sprout with four feet attached directly to it's body and two leaves splitting off at the top of it's head standing just beside her. Rainbow puffed out her chest, and said "Yeah, we were just about to come out and try to figure out how to deal with that big bug!", causing Twilight to giggle.
Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof, holding back her laughter as the sprout waddled forward, tipping it's head forward in greeting "My name is Pokomon! Pleased to meet you! Any friend of Rarity is a friend of mine!"
By this time Korumon and Motimon were sitting behind them, and Rainbow looked back and forth between the three, saying "How many of these things ARE there?", just as yet another shape bounced into view, this one looking like a ball of fluff with four tiny legs and beady black eyes. It glanced slowly turned to face them, while Twilight stepped forward to examine it more closely.
"Where are they all coming from?" she wondered around, and the creature turned to face them, sitting back onto it's haunches, and giving them a ponderous look.
Finally the thing spoke, saying "Hey there! My name is Tokomon!" before turning back to the woods in the direction it came from and calling out "Hey! Pinkie! Over here!"
The leaves rustled once more and Pinkie pie came bouncing out of the woods, quickly saying "Hey girls! Ooh! Tokomon, did you find them for me? Thank you soooo much!" and grabbing up the fluff ball in massive hug as Applejack followed her out of the woods, a small orange ball with white fur covering it's face, whose most striking feature was a large black spike that out the back of it's head and curved forward and up like a reverse shark's fin.
"Pinkie, wouldya just stay still for one minute? Oh, hey girls."
Rainbow stepped forward, and asked "You've got one of those things too, applejack?"
Applejack turned to look back at the thing on her back, saying "eyup, he's um..."
It quickly spoke up, saying "Hello, my name is Tsunomon, and it is a pleasure to meet you," in a voice vaguely reminiscent of the Manehatten manner of speaking. Rainbow was still trying, and failing, to hold back laughter when a small grey shape flitted into the clearing, followed closely by a clearly very curious Fluttershy. "So what are you, exactly?" she said, apparently not noticing the others. Everypony(and thing) present turned to look at her, many with slightly bemused expressions, as she remained oblivious to the other beings in the area. "I mean, you look so... Strange, I've never seen another animal like you... Oh, but I didn't mean anything bad... I'm sorry, that sounded rude, didn't it?"
The flitting creature slowed down and turned to look at her, giving the other ponies in the clearing a clear look. It oddly lacked any legs, instead having a pair of wings that were somewhere between a bat's and a bird's, and it's darker grey fur clashing with a plume of bright orange hair that almost looked like a mane, even if it was rather out of place on the avian creature. "Listen, 'shy, you really gotta calm down about that! You're not going to offend me! Anyways, I'm pretty sure we just found you're friends, maybe you should say hi, huh?"
Fluttershy, genuinely shocked, turned around, gasping when she realized that she'd somehow managed to get within a few feet of her friends without even noticing. "Oh! Girls! I didn't notice you there! I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention... Umm..." Fluttershy slowly started to hide behind her mane in embarrassment, while rainbow finally couldn't take it anymore and fell over laughing at Fluttershy's obliviousness and the whole situation in general. Pinkie, never one to pass up a chance to laugh, quickly join her on the ground, doing the most exaggerated fall anyone in the clearing had ever seen. Fluttershy blushed and turned away, at which point she noticed the other creatures had all gathered together and appeared to be chatting amongst themselves, and finally asked the question they had all been wondering about- "What are you guys?"
Rainbow and Pinkie stood up at that, turning towards them, Rainbow looking incredibly interested in the answer to the question while Pinkie produced a bubble pipe from nowhere and reclined back in a non-existent chair. No one commented.
The creatures, seeing everypony was listening, suddenly decided to answer all at the same time, somehow managing to not stumble over top of each other or make their words unclear as they said "We're Digimon! Magical Monsters!"
*****
Some time later, after introductions were finished and everypony present had started doing their own thing as they tried to figure out where they were and how to get home- Rarity and Applejack being particularly disturbed due to their siblings and businesses that needed attending, though Fluttershy and Twilight were equally worried about the animals and Spike, respectively. Twilight was busy discussing the bizarre crystals she and the other girls had with Mochimon, who seemed equally eager to enter into intellectual pursuits, when she heard something crashing through the woods.
She swivelled her ears around, concerned, rightfully so, that it might be another monster like the beetle they had seen before, when a familiar voice, and an unfamiliar one, rang through the trees. She immediately shot up, turning and running through the trees, searching out for the source of the voices. By the time she was nearby they had degenerated to panicked screaming, which only served to increase her speed as she rushed forward like a mare possessed, Mochimon and the others following a short distance behind.
Twilight burst through the trees into yet another of the countless clearing in this forest just as a small, bipedal purple and green form, followed closely by a small pink spherical creature with a blue flower bursting from the top of it's head, that looked like nothing so much as a potted plant.
"Spike! Spike, what's the matter?" she panted, the long run taking it's toll. Twilight slowed down just as the crashing was heard again and the red form of the beetle from earlier smashed it's way into the clearing. Twilight let out a shrill screech, before picking Spike and the creature running with him up with her magic, placing them on her back and turning to run back into the brush.
When the others saw her running they paused, confused, before a deep, animalistic roar echoed through the forest, causing them to turn and run after Twilight. Twilight ran through the underbrush, barely paying attention to what was happening, only faintly recognizing that mochimon had caught up to, and passed, her and Rainbow was flying just over her head, shouting down directions. Because of this detached state she missed when Rainbow told her to turn, and found herself- and shortly thereafter, her friends- on a rocky outcropping overlooking a fast moving river, with a 20 meter drop between them and the water. She turned to return to the forest to find another escape, but the monster swooped out of the trees, cutting most down and leaving behind a massive pile of logs that cut off any quick retreat. Twilight nervously stepped back, but Rainbow and applejack stepped forward alongside the digimon.
The beast swooped into the air, where Rainbow rocketed up beside it, beating against it's armored shell. It roared and turned, heading back toward the outcropping to target the relatively defenceless ponies below, only for each of the Digimon to let loose a blast of caustic bubbles that exploded with enough force to throw off it's flight, sending it careening into the woods, though in the process it bashed the gathered digimon aside as though they weren't even there.
Dash flew straight to Korumon while each of the others went to their injured companions, checking that they were alright and helping them to their non-existent hooves. The reprieve was short lived, however, as the beast quickly returned, now standing on it's hind legs and weaving vicious looking claes through the air. Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack each stepped forward to protect their friends, Twilight firing off a blast of magic that did little more than irritate the massive beast, before the digimon once again pushed passed them and moving to stand between the ponies and the massive beetle. As the Digimon rushed forward a brilliant light shone from each of the crystals on the ponies(and dragon) present, which seemed to form a beam that illuminated their respective digimon. They each began to change forms as everything around them slowed down.
Korumon's form stretched, a muzzle growing out from his mouth and much of his mass, even as it increased dramatically, moving down to give him a somewhat draconic appearance. His pink flesh darkened to a dull orange, and his red eyes turned a bright green.
The flowerpot digimon, who they would later learn was pyokomon, on the other hand, stretched upwards and quickly took on an avian form, if rather tall, her pink fur quickly turning to feathers accented by blue stripes at the tips of her wings and back of her head, while the flower quickly closed in on itself and became a single striped flare at the very top of her head, curling over top of itself. Oddly, even for the circumstances, a metal band formed around her left leg.
Motimon, having had no solid definition before, instead simply grew as his body shaped itself into the hard shell and 6 limbs of a large lady-bug, his shell bright red with short dark spikes jutting from them.
Tsunomon, similarly to Korumon, stretched downwards and forwards forming a vaguely canine shape with a large yellow spike coming from his head. On first glance he appeared to have two different coats, but the second was actually more similar to a jacket he could put on or take off.
Tokomon simply grew to be about double his previous size, his long ears turning into long bat-like wings sprouting from the base of his head, his pink fur darkening to read along his back and lightening almost to white along his underside.
Pukamon's wins turned into long legs, while a shorter, stockier pair grew from his back, and his body grew into a close approximation to that of a seal's. His head, on the other hand, became roughly spherical with a bright orange mohawk surrounded by thick purple fur, which turned white farther out but returned to purple in several spots- notably above and below his eyes.
Finally Tanemon grew into a shape like a cross between a monkey and a dragon, while the sprout atop her head opened into a deep purple flower with yellow markings. Her planty-flesh bulged in places and several dark purple claws sprouted from the ends of her arms.
When the changes finished time resumed it's normal, uninterrupted flow, and the now larger- as helpfully pointed out by Rainbow- digimon jumped at the beast, with the predictable effect of being knocked to the ground. When the beast attempted to take to the air, however, Pukamon rushed forward, her claws extending into long vine-like whips that wrapped around the thing's leg, keeping it earth bound even as Tokomon and Motimon flew up next to it releasing a blast of compressed air and electrical energy at it, sending it back to the ground where Korumon was waiting with a blast of fiery breath. Before the flames had a chance to dissipate Tsunomon and Pyokomon let loose blasts of blue and green energy each, which lit it's shell on fire but seemed to do little else to irritate the massive beast.
As it struggled back to it's feet, the many ineffective attacks still managing to take their toll, the digimon gathered and all let loose their attacks at once, electrical shocks melding with flaming blasts and concusive bursts, while green and blue energies weakened the shell before allowing it to be pummeled with vines. Injured and dazed the creature staggered back, tripping over the pile of logs and out of sight.
Victorious the Digimon rushed back to their shocked and confused partners, who nonetheless joined in their revelry over their victory against the beast. The revelry was short lived, however, as an all to familiar roar barely preceded the beasts return, it's weakened state causing it trip, embedding it's razor sharp jaws into the stone. Rainbow laughed, mocking the beast for it's injury, before an almighty crack and rumble tore the shelf from the cliffface and sent the ground-bound ponies, dragon and digimon tumbling toward the river below.
Author's notes!
This took much longer than I expected, but the results seem good to me. As always comments and critiques are appreciated, and if you noticed an error let me know and I'll fix it. And for those thinking I need an image for the story- don't worry! I've got one in the works!
From this point on I'll be aiming for every other week on monday, but I'll upload before then where possible. When summer comes I might be able to move up to once a week, but we'll see. Hope you enjoyed reading this!
