Digimon: Equestrian Destined

Chapters

[Episode 1] Digitize!
[Episode 2] The Digital World
[Episode 3] Reunited with Friends
[Episode 4] Midnight Thief
[Episode 5] A Short Detour
[Episode 6] Checkmate

[Episode 1] Digitize!

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were all there in their usual meeting spot. Apple Bloom, with her cream yellow coat, bright red mane and tail, and a pink bow on her head; Sweetie Belle, with her white coat, swirly pink and purple mane, and little horn atop her head; and Scootaloo, with her orange coat, purple mane, and two little wings on her back. They had been friends for a long while, they had accomplished so much in their lives, they had made so many new friends...

...and they were bored, plain and simple. But why? They had gotten their cutie marks, they redeemed and become friends with the school bullies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and even become the center of the attention for the week. They should be the happiest fillies in the universe! Yet there they sat on their newly cutie-mark-donned flanks in their clubhouse, staring off into space and pondering on what to do next.

That was just it, you see; they had gotten their cutie marks, and now they had nothing to do. Their entire friendship had been built on finding their cutie marks, and while they promised themselves that they'd stay friends, there was no escaping the overarching boredom they had to suffer through. The three stayed there quietly until finally Scootaloo couldn't take the silence any longer.

"UGH!!!" she groaned, getting up off her seat and stomping her front hooves "I'm so BORED!!!"

"We all are, Scootaloo..." Apple Bloom lazily said.

"Not much we can do now that we have cutie marks..." Sweetie Belle slumped backwards onto her back "Other than sit and wonder, I guess. Who knew getting cutie marks would be so... boring?"

"Definitely a case of the journey bein' more excitin' than the destination..." Apple Bloom brought up.

"But there's gotta be something else we can do other than... THIS, right?" Scootaloo questioned "Maybe go out and help somepony in need? Play something with our other friends? Maybe go and explore around the Everfree forest without our sisters' permission? Anything but sitting around and complaining about being bored."

"That's true, but..." Sweetie Belle began "I guess us getting our cutie marks kinda left us all exhausted. It's a weird feeling, but you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah, I know..." Scootaloo slumped back down with her friends.

The three had all slumped on their back by this point, looking up at the ceiling of their clubhouse. At the same time, they let out a sigh of complete and utter boredom. They had nothing to do, that was obvious. Any options they did have were shot down immediately simply because they didn't want to do that today.

But then, Apple Bloom thought of something she was sad she never thought of before.

"...hey, what 'bout Diamond Tiara?" Apple Bloom suggested "She's tryin' her best ta make up fer everythin' she did, right? Why don't we go and help her out a touch?"

"Why haven't we thought of this sooner?" Scootaloo half-jokingly replied "Great! Our first mission as the New Cutie Mark Crusaders begins now!"

"New Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Sweetie Belle questioned "I think we're gonna need a better name than that."

"We'll think about it along the way" Scootaloo shrugged "Now, does anyone remember where Diamond Tiara lives?"

"Um... Down past main-street, ah think..." Apple Bloom pondered.

"I remember it being near town hall..." Sweetie Belle recalled "But I can't quite remember the-"

"Well, we'll find it along the way!" Scootaloo jumped up and raced outside the clubhouse. Sweetie and Apple Bloom looked at each other before shrugging and dashing off after her. There they saw her already on her scooter with her helmet and daredevil smile firmly on. The two jumped into the wagon behind the scooter, allowing the designated driver to finally dash off towards Ponyville.

As they continued on, a familiar-looking colt unknowingly stepped out in front of them, causing Scootaloo to close her eyes from natural reaction and push down her back hooves and stop herself from running right into him. She stopped just in time, but her friends were unfortunately flung out of the wagon and into two nearby hay bales. Scootaloo then opened her eyes to reveal just who it was that forced her to stop.

How could she not blush at that well-kept, combed back grey and navy blue mane of his, or the beautifully washed light grey coat he wore? His deep purple eyes made Scootaloo shiver with delight, and his wings, though small, looked strong enough to carry her over Canterlot mountain.

She never quite understood why she suddenly had these new feelings toward Rumble. Usually, he was just that one kid in Ms. Cheerilee's class that stayed quiet most of the time, away from everyone else. But the more she looked at him...

"...Scootaloo, are you alright?!" Rumble shouted for the final time, causing Scootaloo to snap out of her trance.

"Huh? What? O-Oh, um, sorry about that, Rumble..." she continued to blush, though more so on embarrassment than anything else "I-I'll be more careful next time."

"Well, alright then" Rumble nodded "Actually, I was looking for... you, and only you, Scootaloo~..."

"M-Me?" Scootaloo questioned.

"Yes, and your friends, like I said" Rumble confirmed.

"Oh."

"Speaking of, where are they?"

"Bleah!" Sweetie Belle rubbed her tongue a bit with her front hooves as she emerged from the hay bale "I hate raw hay! Why does Rarity always feed it to me anyways?"

"Probably 'cause it's good fer ya" Apple Bloom popped out from her own hay bale before looking right at Scootaloo and Rumble "Hey, when y'all are done smoochin' over there, mind ifin ya help us out? These bales are gettin' harder and harder ta break free of everyday... Oh, hey, Rumble!"

"Hello, Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle!" he greeted them.

"We weren't smooching!" Scootaloo argued "There was no smooching here of any sort!"

"Sure..." Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"A-Anyway, um..." Rumble began, still a little confused about what that dispute was all about "I was wondering... oh, geez, there's no easy way to say this, uh..."

"Y-Yes, Rumble?" Scootaloo blushed a bit more.

"...will you, uh..." Scootaloo's eyes grew larger with each passing second "...will you let me join your club?"

She didn't know why, but a wave of sadness and disappointment washed over her body. It was if something showered her in sad thoughts then flew away, laughing at her dismay. Nonetheless, she shook her head free of any personal thoughts and payed attention to Rumble's question.

"You mean the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" she wondered "Yeah, of course! We're always looking for new members anyway."

"Ahem!" Apple Bloom cleared her throat purposefully, gaining Rumble and Scootaloo's attention "Ah thought we were supposed ta make decisions as a team?"

"Oh, Apple Bloom, you know we can make choices on our own, right?" Sweetie Belle smiled "Besides, I think having Rumble as a new Cutie Mark Crusader is a great idea! All our members thus far have been fillies, and having a colt might be refreshing."

"Well, ah guess ah don't see any harm in it" Apple Bloom shrugged and smiled "Welcome ta the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rumble!"

"Thanks, you guys, er, girls!" he jumped up in happiness.

"Can I ask, what made you want to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the first place?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Well, I think my flank speaks for itself" Rumble pointed at his clearly blank flank "I've actually been pondering for a while if I should join or not, but I was worried that the other colts might make fun of me if I tried to join a girl's club. Now that you've become popular, and I'm sorry if this sounds really selfish, I had no fears going in to ask you."

"Understandable" Sweetie shrugged.

"So where were you three off to today?"

"We had nothing to do, so we were going to see if Diamond Tiara and maybe Silver Spoon wanted to do something" Scootaloo explained "Would you like to join us?"

"I dunno... I'm still getting used to the fact she's nice now" Rumble shrugged whilst looking down at the ground.

"Rumble, y'all know she's tryin'! Especially with her mom usually houndin' her ta do better" Apple Bloom brought up "Jus' one visit, okay? Jus' ta make her feel better?"

"...well, okay" Rumble nodded "I know she's going through a rough patch in her life..."

"Then hop aboard and let's go!" Scootaloo grinned, pretend-revving up her scooter as Rumble entered the wagon attached to the back. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simply groaned and squirmed out of the hay bales themselves, with some struggling, of course. They both gave Scootaloo a look before hopping into the wagon with their new friend.

"What?" she wondered.

"Ya could've helped us" Apple Bloom deadpanned.

"We seemed to be able to get out alright, Apple Bloom" Sweetie Belle pointed out.

"Ah don't think that's the point, Sweetie Belle" Apple Bloom sighed "Anyway, let's go and pay Diamond Tiara a visit, shall we? Mush, Scooatloo, mush!"

"Hahahahahaha!" everyone laughed as Scootaloo smirked and drove off down towards Diamond Tiara's house, hopefully being able to find it before sundown.

At last, the four came across a rather fancy-looking house that looked like most of the other homes in Ponyville, albeit more flamboyant than the others. Outside, it looked like three familiar-looking fillies were arguing over something trivial. Of course, this was where the Cutie Mark Crusaders would come in, but perhaps they would need a new name first.

The first was easily recognized as Diamond Tiara, what with her lavender coat and swirly purple and white mane, as well as her sky blue eyes and, to put it bluntly, diamond tiara atop her head. The second was Silver Spoon without a doubt, obvious by her silver coat and light silver braided mane. Her purple eyes hid behind her blue glasses, and a pearl necklace decorated her neck. The third was harder to make out, but Apple Bloom recognized her almost immediately. She had a bright brown coat and a short, bright pink mane sharply cut on one side of her head. She had green eyes and rather cross expression on her face.

"Well, well, well... If it isn't Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon" Babs Seed rolled her eyes "Here to cause even more trouble than last time, or just as much? Either way, I don't think I like you being here..."

"Relax, Babs Seed" Diamond scoffed "Silver Spoon and I have seen the error of our ways and are doing our best to fix our mistakes. Now, please move out of the way, I need to speak with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."

"Yeah? And what's your reason?" Babs still didn't believe the two.

"My reason is that I need to speak with her you insufferable-" Diamond Tiara stopped herself before continuing "...ahem... I mean, I would like to speak to her, please."

"Well, I can at least say that's the first nice thing you've ever said to me..." Babs pondered.

"Babs!" Apple Bloom excitedly cheered, hopping off the wagon as soon as Scootaloo stopped "Babs, it's so good ta see ya here!"

"Apple Bloom!" Babs smiled "Nice to see you too!"

"Hey, Babs" Scootaloo greeted "Why are you here anyway? Not that I don't want you here, of course, but... you get it."

"I came over for a visit because my dad had a business meeting here with... Filthy Rich" Babs sighed at the name, not for the stallion himself, but for his daughter "I figured I would be able to see you again since I heard you got your cutie mark, but unfortunately, these two palookas stopped me before I could find you."

"Hello, Cutie Mark Crusaders" Silver Spoon greeted.

"Hey, Silver Spoon" Sweetie Belle waved "I guess Babs doesn't know yet?"

"Doesn't know wha-" Babs finally figured it out "Wait, you mean you all made nice with them?"

"More like they made nice with us" Scootaloo corrected "But still, yeah, we're friends now. Well, kinda... Diamond Tiara is still learning how to be nice to others."

"So I noticed..." Babs looked back at Diamond with a slight glare.

"A-Anyway, why are you all here today?" Silver asked, trying to break away from the dispute.

"We were gettin' kinda bored, so we wanted ta see if you and Diamond Tiara were available ta play with" Apple Bloom explained "We picked up somepony else along the way. Everpony, y'all have met Rumble, right?"

"I've seen him around sometimes" Diamond mentioned "Not sure if I really got a chance to meet with him, though. For, um... obvious reasons, of course."

"Speaking of, he seems kinda quiet..." Babs pointed out, looking at him staring off into space "Is, uh... Is he gonna be alright?"

"Wanna check him out?" Scootaloo asked before realizing what she said without context, blushing a bit "N-Not in the way you're thinking of, though! I meant, like, check him out as in make sure he's okay, not like check him out if he's hot or not!" she realized what she said again "N-No, not like that, I... um..."

"Well, looks like somepony has a little crush" Babs smirked.

"I HAVE NO CRUSH!!" Scootaloo shouted as she blushed redder than a cherry "No crushes were made that day!!"

"Sure" everyone but Scootaloo and Rumble giggled and rolled their eyes. After their little laugh, Rumble snapped free of his trance and shook his head clear of fatigue.

"S-Sorry, what were we talking about again?" he asked completely dumbfounded.

"Nothing, Rumble" Sweetie Belle playfully grinned "We were just talking about how Scootaloo had a crush on-"

"NOPONY!!" Scootaloo insisted "No one in particular, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom..."

"Right, sorry" Apple Bloom understood her friend's privacy "Anyway, yes, we were wonderin' if y'all would like ta come with us and do somethin' interestin'. We're more bored than a plank o' wood."

"Ha... I get it..." Rumble snickered.

"Only a guy would laugh at a joke like that" Diamond chuckled before realizing what she said "N-No, wait, I didn't mean to be-"

"It's alright, Diamond Tiara" Apple Bloom smiled "It was a pretty dumb joke. Anyway, yay or nay?"

"Sure, I'm always up for some excitement in my life" Silver nodded "After all, now that we're friends, we'll have to do something together eventually, right?"

"Then I'm going as well" Diamond proudly stated "I'd like to spend some time with-"

"Diamond Tiara, what ARE you doing?" spoke a voice all to familiar to her. She turned around only to see her mother, Spoiled Rich, with her pale, grayish pink coat and her dark magenta mane and tail. She wore a small, blue outfit on the upper half of her torso and a golden necklace around her neck, as well as a very disapproving face upon her muzzle.

"Mother..." Diamond sighed, growling a bit.

"You may have re-built that playground for those impudent children, but that doesn't change the fact I'm still your mother" Spoiled Rich pointed out "Now, you come here back inside the house and away from those... lowlifes, immediately."

"No, mother!" Diamond shouted "I would like to spend my day with my friends, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me from enjoying my day."

"Not even a trip to Manehatten?" Spoiled Rich devilishly grinned.

"M-Manehatten?" Diamond Tiara shakily asked "I've... I've always wanted to go there..."

"Don't listen to her, Diamond Tiara" Rumble rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, she's just a meanie" Sweetie Belle stood up for Diamond "If you're serious about changing your ways, Diamond Tiara, then you should stop listening to the mare who keeps stopping you from accomplishing your dreams."

"...mother," Diamond finally spoke after a few moments to think "I would like to play with my friends today, and there isn't anything you can say to stop me from doing so."

"Burn" Scootaloo and Rumble smirked.

"Yeah, go Diamond!" Apple Bloom cheered.

"Huh... I guess she really has changed..." Babs noted.

"Y-You... You insolent little brat!" Spoiled Rich shouted at her daughter before coughing a bit and straightening herself "...fine, play with the lowlifes, do as you want. But let me tell you this, Diamond Tiara: you will regret this sorely. Oh, you will regret this very much so..."

"Whatever, mother..." Diamond rolled her eyes before joining her new friends "So, what are we doing today?"

"Actually, we haven't gotten that far..." Apple Bloom admitted.

"Why not go and meet with Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Silver Spoon suggested "I've always wanted to see inside that huge castle of hers... It must be the most beautiful palace ever..."

"I'm not sure anyone here has seen the inside of her castle..." Rumble mentioned.

"Well, all in for a visit to Twili- I mean, Princess Twilight, say I" Scootaloo called out.

"I" everyone raised their hooves in the air.

"Then it's decided" Diamond smiled "Let's all pay Princess Twilight a visit!"

"YEAH!!" the original CMC began at once "CUTIE MARK CRUSA...ders...." they had forgotten they weren't technically Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore "...oh..."

"You guys should really think of a new name" Babs suggested.

"That's what we said!" Sweetie gasped "Maybe we'll think of something later?"

"I've got a few..." Silver Spoon brought up.

"Alright, shoot" Apple Bloom nodded.

"How about Cutie Mark... nah..." Silver Spoon thought of some names on the spot "Oh, oh, why not Cutie Mark... oh, no that wouldn't go with your team at all... maybe Cutie Mark- Oh, that's a little dirty, sorry... Cutie Mark... no, that'd just be silly... but Cutie Mark... um... no, I just realized that doesn't quite match your style... why not Cutie Mark... no, again, that doesn't work... Cutie Mark... Cutie Mark... Cutie Mark..."

"Princess Twilight's castle?" Spoiled Rich thought aloud, listening in on their conversation "Hmm..."

The list was long and tiring, and unfortunate for the group no names truly stuck out. That, or Silver Spoon never quite finished any names she may have thought up. Nonetheless, the seven had arrived at Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle, fortunately not guarded by any sort of security whatsoever.

Though it did confuse the fillies and colt a bit; why would a princess, a guardian of the land and holder of great power and wisdom, not have any form of guard at all. Not a single tripwire was found. Taking a deep breath, they all stepped up to the giant crystal doors and reached out for the great knocker on the front. With a slight boost from his new friends, Rumble was able to fly up and knock on the doors. They waited for a little while after that.

"Hello?" a female voice spoke as once of the great doors finally opened up, revealing a lavender mare with a long, nerdy purple mane and tail, a lavender horn atop her head, proud, fluffy wings, and purple eyes "Oh, hello, girls! Oh, and I see you've brought... Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? But I thought you three told me that-"

"Hey, Twilight" Sweetie Belle greeted "Long story short, we made nice. Anyway, we were wondering if we could enter the castle, since we've never actually been inside it before."

"Oh..." Twilight looked rather surprised before smiling and opening up the door a bit more for them to enter "Well... Sure, why not? It's pretty big though, so don't get-"

All seven of them immediately rushed inside the castle, laughing and giggling all the while, unfortunately leaving Twilight in a cloud of dust. She coughed a bit before watching the little ones run around the long corridor.

"Lost..." Twilight sighed.

"Whoa! Look at all these pillars!" Babs' eyes widened in fascination "They're way bigger than the ones in Manehatten!"

"These crystal walls are really pretty..." Silver Spoon rubbed the walls, much to the confusion of the others "So... smooth..."

"The crystals that this castle is made of is probably worth more than my parents could ever get in their lives" Diamond smiled "Good, there's finally somepony who's worth more than my parents..."

"But... everythin's' so... shiny..." Apple Bloom's eyes sparkled.

"Kinda reminds me of the giant apple we made for the parade" Sweetie Belle remembered "Only not as gold."

"Ugh... Don't remind me..." Babs sighed "But yeah, this is all very shiny. Hey Rumble, what do you think of... my beautiful mane and finely polished city coat~?"

"I think it's w-wonderful..." he responded, completely missing what Babs actually said.

"So, you do think the walls are nice" she nodded with a smile of approval.

"W-Wait, what?"

"Girls, try to stay still" Twilight urged "Hmm... How to calm them down... There's gotta be something I can show the youth of today that will distract them long enough so I can continue studying..." finally after some thought, she had figured something out, a smirk appearing on her face "Oh, I have an idea... Girls, why don't I show you something I've been working on recently?"

"An invention made by Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Silver Spoon nearly drooled at the thought.

"Ah dunno, Twilight..." Apple Bloom spoke with a skeptical tone "Applejack told me ta stay away from yer inventions ever since ya showed her that automatic apple harvester last week..."

"That was... um... a small miscalculation on my part" Twilight sheepishly chuckled before going back to a kind smile "But I promise you, when this thing is done, it'll revolutionize Equestria as we know it! The world will then enter the next stage of its life cycle, and eventually everypony will be... oh, sorry, I'm getting off topic..."

"So, where is this machine of yours anyway?" Diamond asked.

"It's downstairs" Twilight nodded "I know that sounds like I'm taking innocent young fillies into a deep basement like some sort of creeper, but I just keep all my stuff down there."

"And colt, thank you very much!" Rumble shouted from behind everyone else.

"Anyway, follow me, everypony" Twilight motioned her hoof and allowed the group to follow her. She looked around in routine habit before pressing a secret button against the wall and opening the way to her secret lab underground. Slowly but surely, the seven children entered the passage and into the basement, with Twilight following close behind them and making sure none of them tripped over anything.

"Hey, Twilight!" greeted a small, purple dragon with stubby legs and small arms, as well as rounded, harmless green spikes on his head and down his back "Is there somepony else behind you- AHH! Why did you bring the kids here?!"

"Spike, don't be rude" Twilight lightly scolded him "These seven were simply curious as to see what we were working on."

"But Twilight, didn't you say this thing was supposed to be top secret?!" Spike panicked.

"Relax, Spike, the release day was coming up next week anyway" Twilight assured "There's no harm in showing the younger generation something about our future. After all, they'll be the ones using it most of the time when the time comes."

"Well... alright then..."

"Okay, everypony, you can come in now" Twilight allowed the children to enter the lab. As they entered, they saw the mess that Twilight and Spike had left it in. Wires and metal parts were scattered everywhere, something everyone was quite surprised to see, knowing the organizer that Twilight usually was. Several metal shelves were positioned around as well, each having an assortment of different tools and parts in boxes and bins.

"Sorry about the mess of this place" Spike apologized "We haven't really had a chance to clean up, what with Twilight messing around with the machine constantly."

"You keep talking about a machine, but we don't actually know what it looks like" Babs pointed out.

"Yeah, what is it anyway?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Oh, right, sorry" Twilight blushed a bit before nodding at Spike, most likely signalling him to get the machine out. He rushed into the back room only to come right back out with an odd-looking device on top of the cart he was pushing. The former was nothing more than a tan box with a black piece of glass on the front. It had multiple cords and wires on it that dragged across the floor. As soon as Spike stopped the cart right in front of the seven, Twilight immediately picked up the cords with her magic and plugged them into the cords on the floor.

"So, what exactly is it?" Rumble wondered.

"Looks like some kinda portal" Apple Bloom's eyebrow rose "Are ya sure this is safe, Twilight?"

"Relax, I've had WAY more test runs than my last invention" Twilight assured "Now this is what I call a "Completely Optimized Monitor and Portable Utilized Tracking Entertainment Rec-room, or COMPUTER for short. It'll allow hours of fun allowing anyone to read any book with the click of a button! It's like a smaller version of a library, but with more stuff!"

"A library?" Diamond Tiara asked "All that for a boring old- er, I mean, sorry... This isn't very interesting to us, Princess Twilight" she quickly corrected herself.

"Yeah, actually gotta agree with DT on this one" Scootaloo admitted "That is a little boring."

"Yeah, a bit..." everyone else muttered between each other.

"Relax, everypony, you simply haven't seen it working yet" Twilight playfully rolled her eyes "Let me just say that you'll never look at libraries the same way ever again! And yes, I promise nothing will happen. What's the worst that could happen anyway?"

Twilight smiled as she flicked the switch on the side of the monitor with her hoof. She and the others watched as the machine booted up and showed a blue screen with a few lines of words on it. With her magic, Twilight pulled out a white, plastic board with a lot of different buttons on it and pressed a few to continue on to the next screen, which was pure black.

"Now, give me a second, the COMPUTER is still in beta test, so it might be slightly buggy..." Twilight brought up "Like, glitchy buggy, not anything fatally buggy."

"Ah-Ah still ain't so sure 'bout all this, Twilight..." Apple Bloom now spoke in a worrying tone.

"Y-Yeah, it's a cool thing and all, but maybe we should head back-" Sweetie Belle nearly completed her sentence before a small surge of blue electricity appeared around the monitor. All had seen it, and most had become worried. Another bolt appeared, and soon another, and then another. They became increasingly more violent the more they appeared.

"Twilight, I don't think this is supposed to happen..." Spike pointed out.

"I don't think so either, Spike..." Twilight spoke with extreme concern in her voice "Girls, it'll be alright, just stay calm and-"

Before Twilight could finish, the monitor screen lit up a green color she had never seen before on the machine. Said machine made a few noises before seemingly locking onto something and glowing brighter and brighter. With a quick flash, the nearest filly, Scootaloo, was broken down into small squares and pulled into the machine.

"SCOOTALOO!!" everyone shouted in fear and panic.

"Girls, run!" Twilight urged the others to escape the same fate.

But it was too late.

The monitor then locked onto the other children and, for lack of a better term, pixelated them into itself. They said not a word as they slowly disappeared from this world and into the device. This was around the moment when Twilight began to panic.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" she screamed "They're gone! THEY'RE GONE!!! We need to get them back, Spike, or their parents and or sisters will get in a twist with me! How could this have happened...? I checked all the circuits, all the wires and cords hundreds of times! Everything should have been flawless!"

"Twilight, calm down!" Spike did his best to ease his friend down "You're Princess Twilight Sparkle! You'll find a way to bring them back, okay? You always do!"

"...but this is something Equestria has never seen before, Spike" Twilight shakily sighed "That wasn't magic or some kind of dark power, that was electronic energy, something very few ponies have ever tampered with! I know only enough about it to make that thing! If I knew it would have..."

"Twilight, it's not your fault, and you know that" Spike patted her on the back "C'mon, let's take a breather, okay?"

Diamond Tiara felt blissful, though she didn't know why. This was probably the very first time in her life that she ever felt this way. It was a calming feeling, to say the least. Though, it felt foreign to her. In fact, everything around her felt foreign to her. She opened up her eyes to the pleasant breeze and listened to the sound of the soft waves of the beach. Her back felt coarse, meaning she lay on the warm, welcoming sand. She couldn't help but smile.

Yet, something felt off. In fact, something was very off, but not just the waves or the wind, but the very world around her. She had never seen a beach like this before. She looked around and confirmed her suspicions; she was without a doubt somewhere else. But where? The rocks looked very different from the ones at the beaches she's been to, but she-

"Oh, come ON!!" shouted a rather rude male voice next to Diamond Tiara "Are ya gonna stand up or talk philosophical crud all day, eh? I didn't come over here for nuttin', so GET UP!!!"

"Ah! I'm up, I'm up!" Diamond immediately lifted her body up, but stayed seated on the sand "Oh... I'm sorry, I must have overslept... I had this odd dream where I was sucked into Princess Twilight's weird machine..."

"Princess Twilight? Never heard a' her" the voice shrugged "She sounds like a real bore, though. Eh, I'm not really one fer princess life, ya hear?"

"Hey, Princess Twilight is not a bore you-" Diamond finally turned to scold the one who had awoken her, only to see a creature with what appeared to be a white face, green eyes, a red neckerchief, red gloves with three points where its fingers should be, and a purple jester's outfit with a long tail behind it, pointed feet with sharp-looking claws, and a smiley face on the belly.

"Hey, what's with the look, tuts?" the creature asked.

"EEEEEEEEK!!!" Diamond Tiara screamed "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU, YOU... THING!!"

"Ey, what's the big idea, eh?" the creature angrily shouted at her "I come all this way ta get you up from your little snooze-fest and the reward I get is gettin' screamed at? Doesn't sound fair ta me, now does it?"

"...wait, you aren't going to hurt me?" Diamond wondered, finally calming down a bit.

"After that display, I soitainly feel obliged to!" the creature shouted before he too calmed down "But what can I say? I'm in a forgivin' mood today. Just don't do that again, ya hear?"

"O-Okay, I won't..."

"Say, you don't look like any Digimon I've ever seen" the creature got a closer look at Diamond "What rank are ya, eh?"

"Rank?" she wondered "I'm not sure if I follow. And what the hay is a Digimon anyway?"

"EH?! What did ya just say?!" the creature nearly freaked out "Ya don't know what a Digimon is?! What rock have you been livin' under, tuts?! Wait... unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless you're one of those real world dwellers?" the creature considered "Nah, you're not nearly beige enough... Yet, ya don't know what a Digimon is, so ya gotta be not from around here, that for soitain."

"What... are you, anyway?" Diamond finally asked.

"Now there's a question I can't believe ya don't have the answer for!" the creature scoffed "But if ya are a real world dweller, then I guess ya wouldn't really know, would ya? Hmm... Well, alright, I'll tell ya this once. But ya better not forget, or I'm comin' after ya! The name's Impmon, the greatest Digimon that ever lived, ya hear?"

"Still not sure what a Digimon is..." Diamond made a face that seemed to upset Impmon. He quickly calmed down however once he took a closer look at Diamond Tiara, smirking a bit.

"Y'know what, tuts? Maybe I can have some use for ya" he chuckled "Come with me, and I'll show ya what a Digimon is. But no whinin', no cryin', and soitainly no lollygaggin'! Capeesh?"

"Ugh, fine" spoke a disappointed Diamond as the two began walking away to wherever Impmon was taking her "But afterwards, I would like to search for my friends, okay?"

"Ya mean there's more a' ya real world dwellers?!" Impmon shouted "Man, my day just DOESN'T end, does it?!"

Author's Note

Impmon

I'll be making a note of all the new Digimon we see on our adventure in case you've never see or heard of them. For example, Impmon here! Though, I'm pretty sure you've ALL heard of this rascal. AKA, the best part about Digimon Tamers!

And yes, I liked that show more than the original. Grow up.

Before anyone accuses me of plagiarism, I had no idea about the story known as Digital Harmony before writing this chapter, or episode as I'll call them. I discovered halfway through, and I didn't want to restart my work, so I simply continued on and decided to make a reminder at the AN to explain my reasoning. Thank you, and have a great one!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Episode 2] The Digital World

Scootaloo felt as if her side was just bitten by a hydra. Though, who could blame her? As she woke up, she discovered she was resting on what appeared to be a rocky bed, which felt absolutely horrible for her back and wings. But how did she get here? She remembered the machine Twilight built made a few noises and then... nothing. She couldn't remember anything after that. She sat up and rubbed her head with one of her front hooves.

But something felt off. She in a rather small house unfamiliar to her and not in a hospital, that part was obvious, but there was something else she couldn't quite put her hoof on that was glaringly different from back home. She looked around the area she had appeared in and took in some of the surrounding air.

"Smells... different..." she noted "Nothing I've ever smelled in Equestria before, anyway. Smells... kinda nice, actually..."

Scootaloo finally decided to get out of the rather uncomfortable bed and look around to try and discover where she was. She was confused, first of all. Why would a rock bed be in a nice-looking, albeit small house? She supposed that didn't matter in the long run.

"Where... Where am I?" she wondered "Apple Bloom?! Sweetie Belle?! Anypony?!"

"My apologies, I didn't realize you were awake" spoke a rather calm voice from near her "If something wasn't to your liking, I can always change it."

"Y-Yeah, the bed was, uh... a little rocky" Scootaloo sheepishly chuckled.

"Ah, of course" the voice said right as a strange-looking, dog-like, red creature with multiple tails, bluish purple stripes, long, pointy ears and bright blue eyes entered the room via a small door "Every Digimon is different, of course, so catering to each and every one of them is important."

"Um, sir, you left your, uh... dog thing in here!" Scootaloo called out before stopping for a moment and recalling what the voice said "Wait, what's a Digimon?"

"You don't know what a Digimon is?" the voice asked "Well, that certainly explains you appearing here not in an egg..."

"And where are you anyway?" Scootaloo was starting to become a little cross "First you kidnap me, then you make me sleep on a rocky bed, and now you won't even show your face to me! And where are my friends?!"

"Relax, please" the voice tried to calm her down "I don't know where your friends are; only you appeared here. And if you wish to speak with me, please, eyes down here."

Scootaloo was about to question why he would say that until at that exact moment, she figured it out. She looked down and saw the dog-like animal by her feet stand up on its back legs and look her in the eye. It gave her a gentle, welcoming smile, while Scootaloo tried her best not to freak out.

"Hello there" the creature greeted in the same voice she heard earlier "I'm Elecmon, and welcome to the Primary Village. Sorry about the state of it, though. A very, very long time ago, the previous Village of Beginnings was destroyed by evil Digimon. However, we managed to build it the ground up and allow Digimon to-"

"Okay, Scootaloo, you're just dreaming..." Scootaloo assured herself before she closed her eyes "There is NOT a red and purple dog monster talking to me, I am NOT in a tiny house, and I am NOT absolutely lost..." she opened her eyes again, yet nothing changed.

"Hey, still here" the creature, apparently called Elecmon, waved.

"Oh!" Scootaloo began to panic "Oh no, this can't be happening!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly sure what I can do to help you" Elecmon somberly said "You were the only one of you kind I found around here, which means you and your friends were separated upon arrival..."

"Upon arrival?" Scootaloo questioned, calming down a little bit "Arrival to where?"

"Why, to the digital world, of course" Elecmon stated before going on all fours and walking towards the front door which he came through. He opened the door and revealed to Scootaloo the world she had arrived in. Outside was a large city-like place with buildings made entirely out of children's building blocks, and green fields with eggs and small jelly creatures as far as the eye could see.

"This is the digital world?" Scootaloo asked "It's huge!"

"Oh, this is just a small bit of the digital world" Elecmon confirmed "But I can't deny that Village of Beginnings is quite large. Larger than the one my previous life owned."

"Previous life?" Scootaloo confusingly questioned "Sorry for asking so many questions and repeating your exact words, but that's something that even I find... odd."

"Hahaha! Not to worry, my child" Elecmon laughed "When Digimon, those creatures you see roaming these fields, come to the end of their lives, they reappear here in the Village of Beginnings to start anew as an egg. Sometimes they retain their memories of their previous life, and sometimes not, but they'll always live again."

"Alright, I'm starting to like the digital world now..." Scootaloo smiled, now stepping out of the house "But, I really gotta find my friends before something happens to them. There's uh... nothing bad in the digital world is there?"

"Well, I-" Elecmon was about to respond before feeling something pawing at his side. He looked down to see a rather cute-looking red creature with a small, black-tipped tail, a white belly, orange eyes, stubby legs and small wings on its back, looking rather distressed by something.

"Elecmon, can I go with her?" it asked in a cute male voice "I wanna go with her!"

"Oh, hey, little guy" Scootaloo finally noticed it "Aww, he's so cute..."

"Gigimon, you know you're too young to leave the village" Elecmon reminded the young Digimon "You know what sort of things there are off the island. You know what sort of things are ON the island, so the answer is no."

"Aww, but... but..." Gigimon began crying "I... I haven't seen the outside world before...! WAAAAA!!!"

"Gigimon, please don't cry..." Elecmon spoke worryingly before looking at Scootaloo and sighing "I'm sorry, about him, child. Gigimon here is a special case, so to say. He is one of those Digimon I was speaking about who cannot remember his past life, the poor thing. As a result, instead of acting how he should as an adult, he acts as if a child. Usually I have no quarrels with childish Digimon, but... well, this."

"Well, why don't I adopt him?" Scootaloo wondered, much to the concern of Elecmon.

"Adopt him? You mean take him away from the village?" he nervously questioned her "I'm not sure... He is still a young one..."

"But... he's so cute..." Scootaloo's eyes widened to those of saucers "Besides, I can take care of him! Do you know who I am? I'm the number-one fan of Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Equestria? The world you come from?" Elecmon wondered "Hmm... I've never heard of it... but... if you're truly telling the truth, I think I can entrust Gigimon with you."

"For real?!" both Scootaloo and Gigimon gasped.

"For real" Elecmon nodded "Besides, little Gigimon here was starting to become a little bit of trouble in the village..."

"Heh... yeah..." Gigimon sheepishly grinned.

"Now, um... Scootaloo, was it?" Elecmon wondered

She nodded.

"Scootaloo, you may take Gigimon on one condition" Elecmon stated "Chances are that if your friends also appeared in this world, they've appeared on the server continent of the digital world. This world is giant, but if people are separated they're usually not too far apart from each other. Go directly to the Primary Island dock just south of the village and head out for the mainland immediately. No dilly-dallying!"

"Sure thing... uh... Elecmon?" Scootaloo questioned, to which Elecmon nodded "Right, of course. Okay then, c'mon, Gigimon! Let's go on an adventure!"

"Yay! Adventure!" Gigimon cheered as the two began walking together on their quest to find Scootaloo's friends. Elecmon watched them leave and waved them goodbye. As soon as they were out of eye shot, he let out an exhausted sigh.

"Perhaps this was for the better..." he said to himself "But what Gigimon is capable of... I fear as if I made a horrible mistake..."

Thankfully the two were out of earshot from Elecmon, for they never heard his contemplation of this being a good idea or not. They simply continued down on their trip to the dock. In fact, said dock was just down the pathway now. The sight of the Primary Island dock got Gigimon extremely excited.

"The dock is really cool!" he hopped up and down until eventually landing on Scootaloo's back "Whamon is super big but super nice, and everyone loves him. I love him the most though."

"Whamon?" Scootaloo wondered "I'm guessing he's a whale Digimon, right?"

"Whale?" Gigimon wondered "Oh, I guess that's your version of Whamon, right?"

"I guess you overheard my conversation with Elecmon, huh?" Scootaloo chuckled "I guess for a little guy, your pretty smart..."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

They finally came upon the dock, which was just one giant port with nothing else. The port had to be as wide as town hall back in Ponyville, though Scootaloo wasn't sure why. Curiously, no such Whamon was present. Or maybe it was, and she simply didn't see it. She hadn't fully understood these Digimon things yet.

"Isn't Whamon supposed to be here?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Maybe he's taking a nap?" Gigimon suggested "Or maybe he's gone out for a trip to the server continent! Or maybe-"

"Gigimon, what are you doing at the dock without Elecmon?" asked a echoing yet calm male voice "Unless this Digimon here is your caretaker for the day, hmm?"

"Whamon!" Gigimon jumped over to the dock and watched as a giant creature arose from the depths of the rather steep beach.

At last, Scootaloo had a good look at him. He looked like any normal whale, what with the deep blue color and the size, only he had a giant bronze piece of metal over his head, nose, blowhole and eyes, if he even had the latter to begin with. Down his back was more bronze covering his spine and connecting it to his head with lighter blue and bronze cords. Like any whale though, he also had a large, gaping mouth with sharp teeth on his lower jaw. His upper jaw teeth were simply an extension of the bronze on his head.

"So you're the Whamon I've heard so much about" Scootaloo smiled "You're pretty big, but can you get us across to this 'server continent' as I hear everypony say?"

"You... You're not from the digital world..." Whamon deduced "But... I sense though that Elecmon has entrusted this little one to be with you on your journey to... hmm... And you wish to find your friends, correct?"

"Whoa! Yeah, that's exactly it!" Scootaloo nodded, amazed Whamon knew that from the start "How did you know?"

"I'm actually psychic, you know" Whamon responded with a deep chuckled.

"For real?" both Scootaloo and Gigimon's eyes widened in fascination.

"No, I'm only joking with you" Whamon chuckled again "Digimon that share an extremely close bond of friendship together can talk to each other even if far away. Elecmon and I have been friends for a very, very long time."

"Oh..." both were slightly disappointed.

"Worry not, young ones" Whamon assured them "I have agreed to let you both visit the server continent with full permission from Elecmon to find your friends. However, Elecmon would like you, Gigimon, to return as soon as the young one here finds the others. Is this understood?"

"Yes, Whamon..." Gigimon sighed, disappointed he couldn't stay longer.

"Good boy... Now, hop on my back, you two" Whamon lowered his body down and allowed access for the two to climb up onto the mechanical part of his back and sit down safely "Next stop, the server continent."

As Whamon left the dock, Gigimon looked back at the Village of Beginnings and waved farewell to all the Digimon he met there. Of course he was coming back, but he believed he should at least say goodbye for now. He smiled before slumping back down and looking out into the sea, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"So big!" he stated.

"This sea must go on forever..." Scootaloo looked over and all around her.

"Not forever, no" Whamon confirmed "But certainly for a while. Who knows; perhaps one day you and Gigimon might explore every inch of the seas."

"Yeah, that'd be so cool!" Gigimon cheered "A adventure with Scootaloo to sail the seven seas!"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure about that" Scootaloo scratched the back of her head before sighing and looking back out into the world "I will eventually have to go home to- Oh my gosh! I just realized something!"

"What, Scootaloo, what?" Gigimon worryingly asked.

"Even if I find my friends, we have no way of getting back to the real world!" she exclaimed "We're... trapped here..."

Deep inside a dense forest on the server continent where the sun only hit through clearings in the trees lay home to even more Digimon than a single pony could handle. Then again, perhaps three could survive the harsh rules of nature? Or perhaps not, as three unfortunate young ponies, one colt, one rich filly and one tomboy filly, ran through the denseness to escaped their most certain doom at the hands of giant bug Digimon.

"KEEP RUNNING!!" Rumble shouted back to his allies following him through the forest "We have to outrun them, we gotta outrun them! I don't really feel like dying today!"

"Quit shouting, Rumble! You'll attract them!" Babs Seed scolded him "Besides, bugs are dumb, common knowledge. If we find a place to hide, they'll never find us!"

"M-My hooves are starting to hurt..." Silver Spoon gasped for breath "Let's... Let's take a breather right here..."

"Everypony down!" Babs called out, pushing her companions down onto the ground behind some bushes. They stayed absolutely quiet as they heard buzzing go over their heads. Slowly, they inched back into the bush as to avoid visual detection until all they could see was leaves and branches. The giant bugs, of course, seemed too dumb to understand where their prey went off to.

"Where'd they go?" asked one of them.

"They must have run further into the forest!" exclaimed the second.

"YEAH!!" the others shouted in agreement before buzzing off, trying to locate the three again. Silently, the hidden ponies let out a sigh of relief before getting out of the bush and watching the bugs fly away.

"How did we get in this mess anyway?" Rumble shivered.

"We woke up in the middle of this place a few minutes ago" Silver recalled "We looked around for something to eat. You said you found something, but when you went to go touch it, it turned out to be part of one of those... things."

"Well, that's not my fault, now is it?" Rumble argued "How was I supposed to know it was a giant killer beetle?"

"Their stench..." Silver nearly gagged.

"Will you two knock it off?" Babs stopped them from continuing their bickering "Arguing won't get us anywhere in this place. We have to work together and figure a way out before those giant bugs come back and eat us. Can I trust you two enough to not argue for a few seconds and allow me to think?"

"Fine..." the two groaned.

"Alright... okay..." Babs took a deep breath and calmed herself, taking a moment to relax before starting up again "Now, I don't know if this is the Everfree forest or some other forest I've never been in, but I do know that getting out of here is-"

"FOUND YOU!!!" one of the giant red bugs pushed aside the bush with two of its four strong arms. Up until now, the kids never really had a good look at the beast. It had a armored red exoskeleton with a gaping jaw and two pincers on the side of its face. It had no eyes, only black markings on the top of its head. The insect-like wings on its back had a few small holes in them, but it looked still capable of flight. After looking at the creature for a second, the three children screamed before they escaped further into the forest.

"Just run, and don't look back!" Babs mentioned "There has to be a way outta here eventually, right?"

"Over there! Light!" Silver Spoon pointed out ahead of her. A small laugh escaped her lips. Finally they would be free from this wretched creature and away from the forest forever.

If only it were that simple.

The light Silver saw flicked off and revealed yet another one of those dastardly insects. This caused the three to come to a screeching halt. They went to turn left only to be blocked off that way too. Eventually, any way out was now completely blocked off by the very hungry-looking creatures.

"Ha HA! Not so dumb now, are we?" one of the creatures laughed.

"I guess this is the end..." Rumble sighed and gave up hope "We're gonna be bug food now!"

"There's gotta be a way out of this..." Babs looked around to try and find a way out.

They stepped back further and further away from the creatures until they were now touching each others' flanks. They tried to inch back even farther away, but Silver Spoon felt something underneath her hooves. Suddenly, the three were dropped through a small trap door into the depths of the earth, screaming as they fell.

"Oh..." one of the giant insects watched them fall into the cavern too narrow to allow access for any of them "Darn us and our inability to be a Rookie rank Digimon... Well, whatever. Let's head home, boys!"

"Aww, c'mon..."

"You serious?"

"Lame..."

The three continued falling down into the surprisingly long, dark, dirt shaft that didn't seem to end. It was about half-way through the ride that they realized the end was coming up too slowly, so they slowly died out their screams until they came to a complete halt. The only sound now was the sound of the wind rushing by their ears and hair. All let out a few sighs of boredom.

"When my mom told me about all those bottomless pits in fairy tales, she wasn't kidding" Babs stated "Geez... Is this thing gonna end soon or what?"

"Could it end soon?" Rumble questioned "I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable..."

"Well... This is certainly a better way of going out than being eaten by those... things..." Silver Spoon looked positively on the situation "Besides, at the end of these so called bottomless pits is usually something soft, like a pillow or two."

"I don't think a pillow or two will break this fall..." Rumble stated.

"Wait, is that... light?" Babs looked down and saw a faint orange light at the end of the drop "It looks like there's a curve to slow the fall at the bottom as well. Everypony stay on the back side of the tunnel."

"Right!" the other two leaned against the back of the wall and prepared themselves for the end. Babs did the same and closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh. Eventually, they hit the bottom and slid right out, harmlessly coming to a stop. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and slumped onto their backs.

"Ugh... Worst. Slide. Ever" Babs noted.

"Definitely something I won't be doing in the near future..." Silver Spoon shook her head before feeling her now dirty mane "Oh, and look what that dirt did to my hair! I'll get those giant bugs next time I see them..."

"Are you kidding? They'll tear us apart!" Rumble expressed his concern "We have no way of defending ourselves or attacking them, so we're pretty much toast if we go up against them!"

"Will you stop whining?" Silver Spoon shouted at him.

"I don't know, will you stop being so uptight all the time?" Rumble shouted at her.

"Break it up, you two!" Babs got between them and pointed at what she was seeing in front of her "Look over there..."

The two rolled their eyes at each other before paying attention to what Babs had seen. Over on the other side of the cave they had fell into were what appeared to be seven pedestals made of the same rock the area was made out of, all put around in a circle formation. However, it was what was on the pedestals that sparked interest in the city filly. Slowly, she approached the objects on the pedestals, greatly concerning the other two.

"Wait, you don't know what they are!" Silver called out.

"You could hurt yourself!" Rumble urged Babs to come back "I- I mean, we don't want that to happen!"

"Relax, you two, it's not like they're going to bite me" Babs rolled her eyes playfully, hiding her true feelings on the matter "I hope, anyway... Well, I gotta show those two there's nothing to worry about..."

"What was that?" Silver wondered.

"Nothing, Silver Spoon, it was nothing" Babs called back "But I'm touching those things on the pedestals."

"Please, Babs, you have no idea what they are" Rumble plead "What if they're disintegration machines left out for us because those giant bugs knew we would try and touch them?!"

"Relax, Rumble, they look harmless" Babs chuckled, finally getting a good look at the objects on each of the pedestals. They each looked like a small, puffy addition symbol, for lack of a better description. Each had three buttons on the sides; two on the right and one on the left, as well as each had a small screen in the middle surrounded by a circle of odd letters Babs had never seen in her life. There appeared to be seven of them all with different colors and all resting on their own pedestal.

"They're... kinda familiar-looking, actually" Babs pointed out "They kinda remind me of Princess Twilight's machine..."

"R-Really?" Silver Spoon did not hesitate to get up and walk over to the odd machines "That's so cool..."

"But wasn't Princess Twilight's machine the thing that brought us here in the first place?" Rumble questioned.

"The design of these are still amazing!" Silver Spoon gushed "I guess you could call me a bit of a science geek... Well, we're all friends now, so there's nothing to hide."

"H-Hey, one of them's glowing..." Babs looked at the purple one she analyzed not a few seconds ago and saw it had begun blinking a blue light from the screen.

"Really? May I see?" Silver Spoon asked, to which Babs gladly moved out of the way to allow her not-quite-friend-yet examine the machine "This is really interesting... I wonder what set it off in the first place. Maybe it was-"

Before Silver could complete her sentence, the machine began blinking faster and faster until the light was now fully on. A light came out from the side of the device which, once the light finally faded, turned into a black wrist strap. Without a moment to rest, the machine flew into the air and attached itself to Silver Spoon's front left hoof, locking it in place.

"AHHH!" she screamed a bit "What's this?! Get it off, get it off!"

"Calm down, Silver Spoon, okay?" Babs tried to relax her.

"I knew those things were bad news!" Rumble brought up again.

"Just, everepony, calm down!" Babs shouted "Okay? Okay. Silver Spoon, does it hurt?"

"N-No, not at all" she shook her head "I suppose it just startled me a bit. Sorry about that..."

"See, nothing's bad here" Babs smiled "Don't jump the gun next time, okay, Rumble? Now, because we have that out of the way, I guess we could figure out what this thing is."

"W-Wait, do you hear that?" Rumble questioned.

"Rumble, I'm not listening to another one of your paranoid thoughts" Babs deadpanned.

"No, I actually hear it this time..." he listened closely "It sounds like it's coming from... the pedestals! Get back, you two!" Rumble rushed forward and pushed the two fillies down onto the ground just in time to avoid a burst of fire that sprung forth from the center of the pedestal circle.

The three looked back up to see that a candle-like creature had appeared. It had bright red eyes, white wax for a body, two white wax arms, a golden lower body acting as the candle stick, and an orange flame over its head with its own pair of bright blue eyes. The wax part had a toothy mouth as well. The creature looked around before finally noticing the three and giving off a toothy grin.

"You there!" it spoke in a male voice with pride, pointing at them "You three dare step foot in the domain of the resting Digivices without permission?! How dare you! Leave now or face the wrath of Dynasmon!"

"D-Dynasmon?" Silver Spoon questioned.

"Wait... Why does my voice sound so..." the creature then took a good look at its arm and soon the rest of its body "...I de-digivolved over the years? After this whole time I lost power?!"

"Um... do you need any hel-" Babs began before getting shot down by the creature verbally.

"No! I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much" it said proudly "I'm just a little... what's the word... cross right now. You see, I was once the almighty Dynasmon, guardian of the Digivices. Speaking of, there seems to be one missi-" he took one look at Silver Spoon's wrist and gasped.

"What, this?" she asked "I'll give it back if you-"

"You actually managed to get the Digivice on without the security locking you out of its functions?!" the creature exclaimed "Which means... you're a DigiDestined!"

"A Digi-what-now?" Rumble questioned.

"Forgive me, you three, I thought you were all thieves" the creature apologized "Though, it looks like this is all new for you. Allow me to briefly explain your situation... ahem..." he prepared for a slightly long lecture "I am what is known as a Digimon, a digital being created from electronic devices. My name is Candlemon, and I was tasked to guard those machines there, Digivices, so the DegiDestined, you with the silver hair, can use them."

"So... I'm a DigiDestined..." Silver's eyes began to sparkle.

"From what I remember, the Digivice only activates when a DigiDestined has discovered their partner" Candlemon recalled "Which means any of you could be DigiDestined as well! I can't remember the details though. Those new versions of the old models give me a headache... Whatever then! Now, where is your Digimon partner?"

"Um... Sorry to say, Candlemon, but you're the only monst- I mean, Digimon here" Babs realized "Which means..."

"...oh dear" Candlemon looked nervous "The Digivice actually chose me to be a DigiDestined's partner? ME?!" he lowered his body a bit and sighed from disbelief "...I'm not sure if I should be ecstatic that I was chosen to be the partner of a legendary hero, or terrified that I was chosen to be the partner of a legendary hero..."

"Well, if we're going to be traveling together, Candlemon, might as well introduce ourselves" Babs stepped up "This here is Silver Spoon, your new partner, I'm Babs Seed, and this is Rumble, the paranoid one."

"I am NOT paranoid!" Rumble shouted at her.

"Quite" Candlemon nodded "So then, what's our first order of business, hmm?"

"If I can?" Rumble spoke up "We should take these Digivices in case we find the other DigiDestined and their partners."

"A wise idea, Rumble" Candlemon nodded before turning to Silver Spoon "Your Digivice works as many things, including a storage system, from what I can remember. Simply aim your Digivice at your intended item and press the upper right button to put it into your inventory."

Silver Spoon nodded and followed every instruction. Eventually, each dormant Digivice was absorbed into Silver's Digivice, safe and sound. She put her hooves down and awaited the next instructions.

"Good" Candlemon nodded with an impressed look upon his face "Your Digivice is also able to digivolve your partner Digimon when the need arises, but we'll get to that lesson when the need arises. Now, what are we to do next?"

"Well, we should go out looking for our friends" Silver suggested.

"You have others of your kind in the digital world?" Candlemon questioned "Hmm... Oh dear, what time of the year is it?!"

"Well, we can't really answer that question, Candlemon..." Babs shrugged "We're new here, remember?"

"Okay, allow me to simplify it for you then" he understood "Were there large, red, insect-like Digimon out and about the forest when you entered the cavern?"

"Um, yeah, there were" Rumble nodded.

"Oh dear... Kuwagamon season..." Candlemon shivered "Your friends may be in serious danger, you three. Come, we must exit the cavern immediately! With what little magic power I have left, I will be able to open a portal back up to the surface. Everyone, come with me, quickly! There may still be time!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't believe where they were right now. They had fallen into a strange new world with creatures that called themselves Digimon, gotten captured the moment they woke up, by mushroom men no less, and were now being carried to a large arena-like place. More than anything though, they were just unimpressed.

They never cared that the Digimon that were carrying them back into what seemed like their home base wanted them to participate in the games they held there, nor did they care that there were even more strange creatures surrounding them now than ever before. They were just angry at themselves that they were captured so easily. Sure, they gave a bit of small talk every once in a bit, but stayed quiet for the most part. Finally, Sweetie Belle decided to break the silence.

"I feel dumb" she said.

"Me too..." Apple Bloom responded.

"Well, personally, maybe y'all shouldn't have been so easy ta capture" spoke a mushroom Digimon, with a purple cap with yellow rings around it on his head, a pale beige body, purple gloves with poison symbols on them, and purple shoes with purple bubbles on the toe area, carrying them back that appeared to be different from the others in the sense he had a southern accent like Apple Bloom, albeit slightly thicker "A shame too... Y'all looked like purdy good fer battle."

"Believe me, ah couldn't fight mah way outta a paper bag" Apple Bloom admitted "Ah'm not one fer fightin'..."

"Neither am ah, sweet pea" the mushroom Digimon responded "Ah'm jus' doin' mah job. Actually, since yer gonna kinda... die, sorry ta say, might as well introduce mahself. Ah'm Mushroomon, and these are mah friends, Mushroomon, Mushroomon, and Mushroomon."

"Hey" the other three carrying the two fillies back greeted.

"You're all named Mushroomon?" Sweetie Belle questioned "Doesn't that get confusing sometimes?"

"Not when yer in tune with yer pals, little one" the first Mushroomon explained "Me and mah buds here are so synced up with each other, we can practically talk with our minds. Heck, we literally can! But tell ya what..." he placed a red ring around his arm "This is a leader ring given ta only the finest leaders. It'll help ya see which one is which. Now, yer names, youngin's'?"

"Well, mah name is Apple Bloom, and this here is Sweetie Belle" they introduced themselves "We're not Digimon, in case ya dunno yet. We're actually kinda lost, as a matter o' fact."

"Not Digimon, ya say?" Mushroomon asked "Interestin'... Yer not human, that's fer sure, so what are ya?"

"Hu... man?" Sweetie wondered.

"Oh, never mind, ya youngsters" Mushroomon laughed "Besides, we're here. Do ya hear the sounds o' the crowd? Their waitin' fer ya ta make yer big entrance."

The four Mushroomon entered the arena and closed the main gate behind them. They then released Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and allowed them a moment to look around before the show began. The entrance hall, if you could even call it that, wasn't much to look at for too long. It was a tall room made of gray stone bricks with a few torches lighting the way, and nothing else.

"So... I guess we're up soon?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yer actually up now" Mushroomon responded "But ifin it makes ya feel better, ah feel a kinda connection ta ya. Why dun ah root fer ya both and pray y'all can give it her all!"

"Reassuring" Sweetie Belle flatly said "But... thanks. Even though, y'know, you were the ones who captured us and all."

"Yeah... sorry 'bout that..."

"Ya see what I'm talkin' about now?" Impmon cheered from within the outdoor seats circling the arena "Now THIS is what bein' a Digimon is all about, yeah? Doesn't it just get the blood pumpin'?! Hey, tuts, are ya even listenin' ta me?"

"W-What? Oh, sorry Impmon" Diamond Tiara apologized "Yeah, this does look pretty fun, actually. I've never been to something this loud before, but you're right; it does get my blood pumping!"

"Yeah, now your gettin' it!" Impmon smirked before hearing the sound of the bell go off "Oh, here we go! Personally, my money is on big ol' Ogremon! Bein' a Champion rank don't mean nuttin' when your a powerhouse filled with nuttin' but power, I tell ya! Who'd you place your bets on, tuts?"

"I'd prefer if you called me Diamond Tiara" she scoffed "And I personally wanted the one known as RedVegiemon to win."

"RedVegiemon? HA! Ya need some serious bettin' skills for the future tu- I mean, Diamond Tiara" Impmon laughed "Now shush! Here comes the poor Digi-decoy captured as bait for the evenin'!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" a male announcer spoke on the speaker "Welcome one and all to the 25th annual Kuwagamon Championship Fighting Tournament! Before we introduce our fighters for this evening, allow me to show you all the unlucky souls captures to be our contestant's chewing toys! May I introduce to you... THESE THINGS!!"

The crowd cheered as the gate at the far back opened up and released two small-looking Digimon that were on the chopping block for the night. Diamond Tiara was about to cheer as well until she took a closer look at the Digimon in question, only to realize they weren't Digimon at all!

"Eh? What's with the look, Tiara?" Impmon wondered.

"Those... Those are my friends!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed.

Author's Note

Elecmon

Gigimon

Whamon

Kuwagamon

Candlemon

Mushroomon

Personally, I LOVE Candlemon and Mushroomon! They're probably some of my favorite-looking Rookie Digimon ever! Don't get me wrong, I love Agumon as much as the next guy, but Candlemon was always the one, y'know?

This was a satisfying chapter, I'd wager! Now, how will our heroes escape this fate? But more importantly, will Scootaloo manage to find her friends in time before they're turned into chopped liver? Find out on the next exciting episode of Digimon: Equestrian Destined!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Episode 3] Reunited with Friends

At last, after the long journey across the digital sea, Whamon arrived at the server continent's small dock, much to Gigimon purest excitement. Immediately, he jumped off Whamon and hopped up and down on the wooden dock with a big smile on his face. Scootaloo slid down the whale Digimon's back as well, though less to marvel at the new land and more to go and make sure Gigimon didn't get hurt. She picked him up with her front hooves and placed him on her back.

Now Scootaloo had a chance to look at the new land she and her partner arrived in. The land in front of her was a wide plain with a forest in the background. She squinted her eyes. A large stone brick building was way deep in the forest, filling the air with the cheers of a large crowd. If nowhere else, that was probably where her friends were.

"Thank you so much, Whamon!" she turned back to the large Digimon and nodded.

"No need to thank me, my child, I was simply upholding the deal" Whamon responded "Now remember; the server continent takes up a majority of the digital world. It will be tough to trek through it without companionship. Gigimon, I want you to defend Scootaloo on your adventure."

"Sure thing, Whamon!" Gigimon excitedly said, hopping up and down.

"Scootaloo, come closer, child" Whamon spoke as quiet as he could, making sure Gigimon was still distracted by his excitement "You know Gigimon is far too young to be a guardian quite yet, but with a bit of love and patience, he'll become something of a hero, I can assure you. Until then, keep him safe and guard him with your life."

"I will" Scootaloo nodded and smiled before looking back at Gigimon, still excited he was able to do something on his own for a change "Y'know, he really is cute."

"He's going to become big quickly" Whamon stated "And that's not just a saying."

"W-Wait, really?" Scootaloo's eyes widened "How much bigger?"

"Much bigger than you. Ten times over, perhaps" Whamon explained.

"I'll... I'll be sure to keep that in mind..." Scootaloo nodded "Anything else I should know before heading out?"

"Hmm... Well, I needn't mean to worry you..." Whamon pondered before deciding to explain his thoughts "There have been a few rumors arising that state of a Digimon that is so powerful, it has the ability to eliminate the digital world simply by existing. However, there is little to fear. These are simply rumors, and I doubt they're actually real."

"Good to know..." Scootaloo let out a nervous sigh.

"C'mon, Scootaloo!" Gigimon finally stopped his little excitement trip "We gotta go find our friends!"

"You mean my friends?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Well when I finally get to meet them, they can be my friends too, right?" Gigimon cheerfully hopped "Is that okay with you, Scootaloomon?"

"Scootaloomon?" she questioned, feeling a little confused "Gigimon, you know I'm not a Digimon, right?"

"I know!" he nodded "But Whamon said that when two Digimon get to know each other a lot, we can talk with our heads without having to say anything. That would be super cool, so I wanna call you Scootaloomon until you turn into a Digimon so we can be friends all the time!"

"Gigimon, I..." Scootaloo was about to explain to the child the truth before she stopped herself and sighed a bit, letting a small smile escape her lips "Y'know what? That sounds cool! I'd love to be able to talk with you with our minds!"

"Yeah, me three!" Gigimon giggled "Then from now on, you're gonna be named Scootaloomon!"

"Yes, okay..." Scootaloo sighed with a defeated smile. She shook her head a bit before focusing on the task at hand. She grabbed Gigimon gently with her hooves before placing him on her back. With a final wave of farewell to Whamon that seconded as a thank you for carrying them over, Scootaloo began running across the plains toward the stone building.

"Yay! Let's go and find our friends!" Gigimon cheered, holding onto Scootaloo's back tightly.

"Don't be gone for too long!" Whamon called out behind them before finishing what he had to say slightly quieter "Or Elecmon will get into another one of his fits."

"I heard that, Whamon..." Elecmon spoke in a deadpan tone within Whamon's head, slightly cross he would say that to him.

"But it's true, old friend" Whamon chuckled a bit.

The violent cheers and roars of the crowd filled with Digimon large and small was almost deafening for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, to say the least. Everything about the inside of the arena was intimidating; from the large statues of some sort of bug Digimon hanging overhead the door to gateway, to the shapes and sizes of some of the grotesque and powerful-looking Digimon on the other side where the two stood, more than likely waiting for their time to crush them.

Sweetie Belle began to shiver. She knew the situation she was in had a very little chance of her and Apple Bloom surviving. Speaking of, she knew Apple Bloom was scared as well. She could see it in her eyes. Sure, she may act tough and fearless, but her mother and sister once told her the eyes are the doorways to the soul. Finally, Apple Bloom broke her fake expression and began crying

"W-Well... this is the end, huh?" Apple Bloom stated, a few tears coming down her cheeks "We're gonna be turned inta monster food! Heck, we already ARE monster food!"

"Apple Bloom, wait, calm down!" Sweetie Belle tried to calm her friend "There has to be a way out of here..."

"You, little pony creatures!" a large, green monster with a gaping mouth filled with sharp, curved teeth, red and black straps on its arms and legs, horns on its head, white hair on its head and down its back, and a large bone-like club in its hand, pointed at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom "I, Ogremon, will smash you into oblivion!"

"Aren't ogres supposed to be dumb?" Sweetie asked "That's what my sister told me anyway. I mean, you are an ogre, right?"

"Me? Unintelligent as the creatures in folklore?!" Ogremon shouted, clearly having a rather ill temper "You wretched little brat... I'll destroy you, and then absorb ALL of your data, so you'll never be able to come back!"

"Absorb our... data?" Apple Bloom wondered curiously.

"That's right, youngin'..." spoke a familiar voice to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Mushroomon?" the two wondered.

"How are ya even able ta talk with us?" Apple Bloom questioned "Ah thought y'all were..."

"Ah know where ah am" Mushroomon confirmed "Durin' yer lil' nap, ah took the liberty o' attachin' a communication device ta each o' yer ears. Unlike mah friends, I'm more merciful ta newcomin' bait Digim- er... yer kind, ah would guess now. But this isn't important right now. What's important is that y'all survive the game."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Jus'... ugh..." he sighed, probably seeing something on his side of the talk "Jus' try ta avoid Ogremon's attacks until ah git back. Speakin' of, ah'll be right back."

He signed off.

"Well, that's just great!" Apple Bloom groaned "Now not only are we trapped in an arena with some ugly lookin' Digimon thin' over there, but now we have ta fight it."

"Apple Bloom, I don't think that's a good idea to-" Sweetie Belle's eyes widened, urging her friend to stop.

"And what's even with him anyway, that Ogremon?" Apple Bloom continued complaining "He's jus' some big bully wantin' ta hurt us. Ah dun think that's very nice."

"AB, you might wanna-"

"And that smell o' his is unbearable! It's like he's constantly lookin' over me and jus' waitin' ta throw his stupid stink all over me! Why, ah think he's even smellier than Big Mac after a full day o' workin'."

"Apple Bloom, what are you doing?" Sweetie Belle nervously asked her friend, looking at the towering Ogremon who was less than impressed with her display of words "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Wait for it..." Apple Bloom smiled.

"BONE CUDGEL!" Ogremon shouted, raising his bone club into the air and absorbing some surrounding energy into it before bringing it down onto Apple Bloom. She and Sweetie moved out of the way immediately, but as far as the former was concerned, everything was going according to her plan.

"Oh, and Ogremon begins the fight with a Bone Cudgel attack!" the announcer speaks loud and clear "It looks like our little decoys are still holding out though! Maybe they're tougher than they look!"

"Apple Bloom, are you crazy?!" Sweetie squeaked a bit.

"Relax, Sweetie Belle, ah have a plan" Apple Bloom nodded with confidence "Like Mushroomon said; jus' hold out until he gits back."

Meanwhile, over in the midst of the crowd, a very worried filly and a constantly cross Digimon watched the two fillies run around the rather large Digimon. The former was chattering at her hooves, wanting to do something in order to help the two escape their fate. The latter, unsurprisingly, was laughing and cheering all the way.

"YEAH!! GO OGREMON, YA BIG PALOOKA!" he cheered.

"Impmon, don't you get it? Those are my friends down there!" Diamond worryingly explained to him, causing him to stop for a second to ponder for a moment.

"Eh, friends shmends. Who needs 'em anyway?" Impmon shrugged.

"Look, Impmon, I was once like you as well..." Diamond confessed "But I promise you that friends are-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, tuts" Impmon waved his hand in front of Diamond's muzzle, greatly angering her "I'm tryin' ta watch a game here, capeesh? I ain't got time for no games."

"Are you for real?!" Diamond grumbled "You stubborn... stuck-up..." she sighed to try and calm herself, though she was still a little cross "How could you not have a single friend? Even me when I was still a bully, I had Silver Spoon. But you just outright refuse friendship?!

"It never appealed ta me, a'ight?!" Impmon shouted "Now, lemme sit down and enjoy my game! It's bad enough I'm lettin' ya stay around with me for this."

"Please, Impmon, help me save my friends!" Diamond plead "You said it yourself that you were in a good mood today, right?"

"Eh, the time's come and gone, tuts" Impmon rolled his eyes "I'm feelin' more towards this fight than I am anytin' else, so why don't ya suck it up and WATCH THE GAME!! Your friends will just appear back at the Village of Beginnin's' again, no trouble!"

"Oh yes, you told me about that..." Diamond remembered "But my friends aren't Digimon, Impmon! They won't get a second chance at life if they're killed here!"

"Well, sucks ta be you" Impmon shrugged.

"Grrrrrr!!" Diamond growled before grabbing Impmon by one of his arms and flinging him on her back, carrying him away from the stands "You're coming to help me whether you like it or not! I owe everything to those two, and I plan on repaying them sometime soon!"

"Ey! Put me down, ya four-legged buffoon!" he squirmed around a lot "I demand ta see a lawyer about this! I said put me down, ya disgustin' whelp of a horse! Geez, c'mon, are ya braindead?!"

"No, just trying to do the right thing for once" Diamond simply explained "But I can't do this alone. You need to help me, Impmon! You have to help me!"

"I ain't helpin' no one!" Impmon whined "Ya can't make me!"

"Quit acting like a foal" Diamond stuck her nose up in the air and moved around all the other Digimon watching the fight, trying to locate the exit and the stairs she and Impmon trekked up to get this high up into the stands in the first place.

Despite the cheers coming from deep within the forest, signalling their other friends may be in serious danger, Rumble, Babs Seed, Silver Spoon and Candlemon all rushed through the dense woods, following the loud sound of the crowd and hoping, nay, praying that the others were okay. Of course, Candlemon being shaped the way he was, he required some assistance from the others. Thus, he rode upon his partner's back.

"We need to keep going if we are to save them!" he stated out of purest determination to get his partner's friends back "Quickly, hurry, hurry! The fight has already begun, but I can tell we still have time!"

"Candlemon, we're running as fast as we can..." Rumble spoke with an exhausted sigh before spreading his wings and starting to hover across the land, the same speed the others were going "Okay, time to fly then!"

"How much farther, Candlemon?" Silver Spoon questioned.

"It shouldn't bee all that much longer now, if memory serves" he recalled "The arena was built not too far from the cavern. I remember because I saw it being created with my own eyes, though that comparison will mean little to you."

"Well, I hope we can find it soon" Babs mentioned "Because if we can't..."

"Don't worry, Babs, we'll find it, I'm sure!" Rumble nodded with a smile.

"Thanks, Rumble" she nodded, still focusing on running through the forest "I need to stay hopeful that my cousin and friends are still alive. They gotta be alive, I know they are!"

The team stayed silent for a little while as they ran through the woods, contemplating on whether or not the others were out of harms way in this fascinating, yet extremely dangerous world. Would they too find their Digimon partners to help them along the way, or have they already? Questions like these flooded the heads of the three children anxiously hoping their friends were alright. They were too distracted to noticed the queer pair of eyes looking down upon them, chuckling with joy.

"Heya there, crazies!" the pair of eyes dropped down, revealing a small, pale blue, furry Digimon with squinted, red eyes and long ears ending in three tuffs of furr on each ear. The sudden appearance of the Digimon shocked the four enough to halt them in their tracks and come to a complete stop.

"Hey! Why would you do that?!" Silver Spoon shouted at the Digimon.

"Sorry, uh... thing, but Pagumon doesn't reveal his secrets! Ahahahahaha!!" he laughed near uncontrollably for a moment before calming down "...ahhh... Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear you four had some missing friends?"

"Just ignore him, everyone" Candlemon rolled his eyes "That's a Pagumon, a mischievous little pest that loves getting into other people's businesses."

"H-Hey, now! Let's be rational about this, okay? You old fart!" Pagumon insulted him hopping up to a fallen tree branch to get to the same height as the others.

"E-Excuse me?!"

"So you're Pagumon, hmm?" Babs stepped up to face the small Digimon "Tell me, Pagumon, if that is your real name... Why would you try and scare us?"

"But... Pagumon is my real name" Pagumon looked a little confused by that statement before cheering up to answer the question "And to answer your little thought there, I did it because I could! I mean, you guys were right here, and I was right up there in the trees, and you were all like 'we have to save our friends', and I was all like 'hahaha, losers losing their loser friends', so I scared you!"

"Certainly a well thought out explaination..." Silver Spoon said sarcastically before noticing something below her "Hmm? Hey, everypony, my Digivice is glowing..."

"It's what?" Rumble looked down and saw the Digivice blinking the soft blue it did before "Oh, so it is. Candlemon, do you have any idea what this could mean?"

"Since I'm already Silver Spoon's partner, it's unlikely this light is for her" Candlemon deduced "Perhaps one of the Digivices inside its inventory senses another DigiDestined nearby, as well their... Digimon... part... ner..."

Everyone stopped the moment they put two and two together. They all turned around and looked right at Pagumon, who was blissfully unaware of the situation. He finally snapped out of his trance and looked around to see all eyes on him. Needless to say, he was slightly confused as to why.

"What? What's with all the looks?" he questioned.

"He can't be..."

"Oh for crying out loud."

"Is he... really a DigiDestined partner?"

"That's impossible" Candlemon stated "A Digimon with such a dark heart as Pagumon couldn't be the DigiDestined partner. There has to be something else around here that-"

"Candlemon, there's no other Digimon around here besides you and Pagumon" Silver stated "Don't feel bad though; I'm sure Pagumon will be able to not only prove himself, but also act on his best behavior. Am I right, Pagumon?!" she stared at him intensely, actually causing him to feel fear.

"AH! Y-Yes, fine, whatever!" he panicked.

"The real question though is who's the DegiDestined?" Rumble wondered before quietly muttering to himself "Please not me, please not me, please not me..."

"Well, open it up and check your inventory, Silver Spoon" Babs gave the go-ahead. Silver nodded and proceeded to bring out every single Digivice she had tucked away in her own device. The moment she pulled out the orange Digivice, however, a light sprung forth from its side that turned into a strap and proceeded to wrap itself around the front left leg of its intended owner. That owner, much to everyone's surprise, was Babs.

"So you're my new owner?" Pagumon wondered "Eh, I could've probably dealt better with that scrawny-looking guy over there. At least with him, I could boss him around! Hehehehe!"

"Hey! I'm not scrawny!" Rumble argued.

"Yes you are" Pagumon grinned.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"NO, I'm not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!!"

"NO!!!"

"Knock it off, you two!!" Babs immediately cut between them and stopped their bickering "First, I have to deal with you and Silver Spoon go at it, and now this? Fine, I can't stop you from arguing with Silver, but I'm not sure if I could take three bickering teammates... Speaking of team, weren't we supposed to be finding our friends?"

"Oh yeah... You guys were going for the arena, right?" Pagumon wondered "I can take you there, if you want. But first... you gotta do something very important for me! What you gotta do is-"

"I've locked in on the arena, you four" Candlemon stated "Well, I had to do something while you were all distracted, right? So, I re-synchronized myself a bit and hey-presto, I found the arena!"

"...wow, man" Pagumon scoffed "You just had to take all the fun out of it, didn't you?"

"I fear that if we trusted you, you would lead us somewhere else" Candlemon believed "It's bad enough you're a DigiDestined partner, but it will take a while for us to fully trust you."

"Sorry, Pagu" Babs shrugged "You can ride on my back there, if you want."

"Wait... you're actually letting me ride on your back?" Pagumon questioned "You're being nice to me?"

"Well, while what you did certainly wasn't nice, it wasn't exactly evil either" Babs explained "Forgive and forget, right? Now, are you ready to save our friends or what?"

"Forgive and forget, huh?" Pagumon pondered "...never heard of that before. Sound's weird, but hey, I actually kinda like it! It's got a nice ring to it, y'know?" he hopped onto his new partner's back and wrapped his ears around her body "Alright, let's get this show on the road already!"

"Sounds like a plan" Silver nodded after putting away the Digivices "Let's go and save our friends!"

"Right!" everyone nodded before they once again began running towards the arena, now with Candlemon's complete knowledge of where it was, riding off deeper into the forest. Of course, Pagumon found this as a perfect opportunity to explain himself.

"Hey, since I kinda came out of nowhere for you guys, I bet you're all wondering where I came from, right?" Pagumon began, much to everyone's dismay "I was hatched on a Tuesday... It was warm, but not exactly cold either. Simply the perfect weather for a Digimon to be born. I was the talk of the village, I was! Though, of course, all good things have to come to an end one day, right? But besides that, I'm sure you want to hear all about my favorite things ever, right? Well, personally, my favorite color ever is palish blue, mainly because that's what color I am, but I'm sure you already knew that..."

"I said ta lemme go, ya crazy horse!" Impmon continued to squirm around on Diamond's back. While it sort of hurt her at first, she eventually got used to his constant moving and now found it mildly annoying.

She had taken him down to the main level of the arena, where the betting station was. But leaving was obviously not an option for her. The moment she touched the floor off of the stairs, she threw Impmon onto the ground and stared at him coldly. While he didn't know why, Impmon was scared of her whenever he looked right into her eyes. What craziness was this anyway? A Digimon fearing an real world creature? It was an impossible thought, the cheek of it! Yet here he was.

"Look, Impmon," Diamond began, retaining her cross look "I don't care if you had friends or not during your life, but those are MY friends out there in the arena, and I plan on saving them. But I need your help."

"And I told ya NO!" Impmon shouted, still lying on the floor "I have better things ta do than mess with the likes a' those palookas in that death trap of an arena!"

"Do you not understand when I say they're my friends and they mean a lot to me?" Diamond scoffed.

"Your friends are probably already-"

"DON'T SAY IT, IDIOT!!" Diamond snapped, surprising Impmon "Don't... Don't say it..."

"Whoa... Looks like ya got a bit of venom in ya" Impmon chuckled.

"You... have no idea what it was like living the way I had to, Impmon" Diamond sighed "At least you didn't have to deal with parents who expected the very best out of everything you did. My world was all dark and I had literally nowhere to go..."

"H-Hey now, don't make this all sappy, yeah?" Impmon's smiled sort of faded away at the sight of a now crying Diamond Tiara.

"S-Sorry..." Diamon sniffed a bit "It's just that I would have been lost without those two, plus another. I want to do my best to make it up to them the best way I can, but I don't have any hope of going up against that thing. That's why I'm asking you one final time, Impmon... Will you please help me?"

"..." Impmon wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Before anyone could say anything more, a few footsteps were heard behind Impmon. They both looked at the area of the source, the gateway, and saw another pony filly with an orange coat and purple mane walk in with a cute-looking red Digimon on her back.

"Sc-Scootaloo?" Diamond wondered.

"Diamond Tiara?!" Scootaloo immediately started to smile. Without hesitation, she ran towards her friend and proceeded to hug her. Gigimon hopped off her back right before the two started to bond.

"Aww... That's cute..." his eyes sparkled with excitement. All Impmon could do was scoff at the scene.

"Eh, I don't know what you see in it, kid" he shrugged "Friendship is just another way a' sayin' people who'll stab ya in the back one day! Not that I have poicinal experience, mind ya!"

"You don't have friends? That's sad..." Gigimon somberly said before getting excited again "Maybe you should get some! Then you can be super best friends, like Scootaloomon and I!"

"Scootaloo... mon?" Impmon questioned before becoming annoyed again "AHHH! Ya stupid dumbmon! That's a real world dweller, not a Digimon!"

"I know" Gigimon responded, oblivious to Impmon insulting personality "Nut I was hoping that if I started calling my partner Scootaloo, Scootaloomon, I would be able to make a digi-bond with her and speak to her without having to open my mouth. Wouldn't that be super, duper cool?"

"Talk with your mind, eh?" Impmon chuckled a bit "Heheh... That sounds pretty good, actually! Yeah, I think I might have me sum use for that... heheheh..."

"Scootaloo, I was so worried about you..." Diamond Tiara finally released herself from the hug "All I had as partnership was... well... Impmon. Believe me, having a southern Manehatten-speaking 'palooka', as he likes to call everypony, for an hour is absolute hay. I'm starting to think maybe a trip to Manehatten is a bad idea..."

"Haha! Well, it's good to see you're okay, DT" Scootaloo smiled "So this is Impmon, huh? Well, this here is Gigimon, and he's agreed to help me find the others."

"Speaking of others... Oh no..." Diamond worryingly said "Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are in the arena!"

"They're what?!" Scootaloo gasped "Are they hurt?!"

"Not yet, anyway" Diamond shook her head "But we have to try and help them! Impmon here has agreed to help us save them."

"Hey, I never said anythin' about helpin' ya!" Impmon shouted "But... I'm makin' second thoughts with that promise a' talkin' with your mind, yeah? If I can gets them ta work for me for a while, maybe I can get that power all for myself! And then... I can show everyone that Impmon is the greatest Digimon that ever-"

"You suck at inner thoughts, Impmon" Scootaloo rolled her eyes "But now to more important things. Diamond, do you know where the arena entrance gate is?"

"Right there" Diamond looked around her before finally pointing to a gate she believed went directly into the arena "Scootaloo, do you know what's behind that door?"

"No, but anyway I can, I plan on saving my friends!" she confidently nodded walking over to the gate and pulling down the lever, slowly opening the gate and letting in a little light "Besides, how bad could it possibly be, right? If Impmon really is going to help us, then he can cover for me while I totally take down that Digimon."

"I think you've underestimated the situation, Scootaloo..." Diamond Tiara shivered a bit.

"Relax, DT, and just protect Gigimon, okay?" Scootaloo nodded, looking out into the arena with a confident and determined smile.

That smile quickly faded away and became a look of absolute fear as soon as she saw the giant green monster smacking its bone club down upon the earth, trying to smash two fillies into the ground. She immediately recognized those fillies as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She shakily stepped back a bit out of natural fear, but stopped herself. She knew what she had to do. With a deep breath, she charged right into the arena with a loud battle cry.

"Oh!! What's this?!" the announcer gasped "A surprise contestant?! But it's just another little pony thing! How will Ogremon fair against three of these peculiar things?!"

"Another one? Really?" Ogremon groaned, turning around and seeing the orange equine charging right at him "Oh, well at least this one's got guts. This actually outta be good..."

"Scootaloo, wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted. But it was too late. Scootaloo jumped up onto Ogremon's leg and bit down on it.

"OW!! You little miscreant!" Ogremon yelped a bit before attempting to knock Scootaloo off with his club. Before his club could hit her, however, she leg go of him and made him hit his leg, causing him to curse a bit.

"Nice to see you again, Scoots!" Apple Bloom grinned.

"Great to see you too, AB!" Scootaloo nodded with a grin "Gotta admit, this guy looks tough! And he tastes awful too..." she wiped her tongue clean of anything that came into her mouth from biting down on Ogremon's skin "Anyway, please tell me you two have a plan to take him out, because that was literally all I got."

"Ah have one in particular..." Apple Bloom nodded "But we're gonna have ta wait it out fer a bit. Think ya can handle that?"

"Yeah, I think I can!" Scootaloo nodded with slight confidence before shrinking down a bit after seeing that Ogremon had regained his balance and was now staring intensely at the three "I hope I can, anyway..."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Diamond Tiara, Impmon and Gigimon all watched as the others struggled to deal with Ogremon on their own. Diamond Tiara knew she couldn't just let them fight by themselves, and so did Gigimon. However, Impmon simply shrugged and went about his business.

"Impmon, you lazy bum!" Diamond snapped, slapping the poor thing across the face.

"EY!! What was that for, tuts?!" he yelled.

"For refusing to help my friends when I've asked you countless times!" Diamond scolded him "You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you even have shame?"

"Probably somewhere..." Impmon looked around, seeing nothing and finally shrugging.

"Diamond Tiara!" shouted a voice all to familiar to her. She turned back and saw none other than Silver Spoon with Babs Seed and Rumble tagging along with her, all looking as if they were out of breath. A weird candle-like Digimon was also on her back, seemingly perfectly fine and not tired at all, as well as a small pale blue puffball on Babs' back.

"Silver Spoon?" Diamond questioned "Everyone? You're just in time!"

"You won't believe the stuff we had to go through..." Rumble shuddered a bit, huffing from all the running and flying "There were... giant bugs called... Kuwagamon that were... chasing us, and... then we fell into a big hole... and..." Rumble collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"Wow, what a lightweight" the puffball on Babs' back snickered.

"Shut-up... Pagumon..." Rumble huffed.

"You must be these three's friends, correct?" the candle Digimon questioned "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Candlemon, guardian of the Digvices and partner to Silver Spoon."

"I'm Diamond Tiara, and this here is Impmon and Gigimon" Diamond quickly introduced herself to the new Digimon "But introductions are the least of our worries right now. Our other friends are trapped in the arena with some giant green Digimon!"

"Ogremon..." Candlemon analyzed through the gate "There isn't much I'll be able to do against a Champion rank Digimon with this form of mine. Especially with Ogremon, which you would need feet to avoid his attacks. Sadly, as you can see, I have no legs."

"So how are we supposed to help them?" Babs wondered before noticing Silver's Digivice glowing again "Hey, Silver Spoon? It's doing it again. Wanna take them out?"

"Oh, sure thing" Silver nodded, releasing the Digivices out from her inventory. The moment the blue and green Digivices appeared, they too began blinking, even faster than Silver's. The green one created the strap as usual and wrapped itself around Diamond Tiara's front left hoof tightly. The other flew off into the arena.

"Eugh... Green..." Diamond gagged at the color "Why couldn't I have gotten the yellow one? At least that one is vibrant and warm!"

"I dunno, tuts" Impmon devilishly smiled "Looks like a perfect match ta me!"

"YOU... will be quiet!" she stopped herself from doing something barbaric to Impmon.

"Guys, look! The other Digivice!" Babs pointed through the gate.

Over at where the original Cutie Mark Crusaders were fighting Ogremon, a wall near them was shattered to bits. The four currently fighting, yes even Ogremon, stopped what they were doing to see who had interrupted their battle. Through the dust and rubble came out a coughing Mushroomon, the very same one with the red band around its arm that had been nice to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Ugh... Sorry ah'm late" he apologized "Had a bit o' errands ta run. Anyway, will we take this guy down, or what?"

"Mushroomon? The country one?" Ogremon questioned "But you were always such a good foot soldier... though then again, I suppose your constant and passionate niceness was going to be your downfall one day."

"Ah dun think ah like the way thin's' are run no more" Mushroomon explained his reasoning "Ah hadn't really felt a spark 'till ah met with Apple Bloom here. Besides, a country man helps another country folk out when the time arises, am ah right?"

"With a heart as strong as a horse" Apple Bloom nodded.

"Bah! No matter!" Ogremon scoffed "Even if you have a Digimon with you now, brats, you'll still fall prey to me, Ogremon, and my bone club! Now... BONE CUDGEL!!" he absorbed energy into his club and attempted to smash the four once again. However, instead of dodging, this time he was stopped entirely.

"FUNGUS CRUNCHER!" Mushroomon shouted, firing hundreds of small, purple balls at the club from his hands. They all exploded on contact and destroyed the club out of Ogremon's hand, as well as causing his hand to glitch out a slight bit. It re-synchronized a few seconds later, but this caused the ogre Digimon to become fearful of the Rookie rank. To cause that much destruction with just one attack? It was almost unheard of.

"Nice one, Mushroomon!" Sweetie Belle cheered.

"Well, ah mean, ah try" Mushroomon blushed a bit.

"Such incredible power..." Ogremon chuckled "Gotta say, I'm actually impressed. But just because I'm disarmed doesn't mean I'm defenseless. Observe my magic power... PUMMEL WHACK!"

Ogremon raised his arms and began firing what could only be described as dark energy at the four, exploding whatever ground it touched. Understandably, they were all blown back from the attack. Thankfully, they had only been slightly bruised. But unfortunately for Scootaloo, Ogremon decided to end her life first.

"You're new here, so I'll kill your friends last" he cruelly said "At least they put up a fight. Now... PUMMEL WHA-"

His attack was interrupted by a strange floating object that appeared before him and Scootaloo. Obviously they both had a few questions, but none had time to ask them as the object began emitting a strange light that turned into a black strap. The device then flew right at Scootaloo's front left hoof and attached itself to her. The screen then turned blue fully, never once blinking.

"What the heck?!" Scootaloo spoke confusingly. Before she could question anything else, a small stream of light came spiraling out of the machine and directly at the arena's gateway. There, the odd light began surrounding Gigimon, much to his fear and concern.

"Wh-What's this light?" he asked before getting enveloped in it.

But instead of feeling pain, he felt warmth and comfort. Instead of feeling afraid, he felt determined, though he didn't know why. Then, he felt his body begin to warp, though no pain was to be found as he turned into something new.

Gigimon Digivolve to...

GUILMON

The light eventually dissipated and revealed that Gigimon had turned into something completely new. He was taller, without a doubt, as well as had arms now with three claws. His legs had strengthened and now dawned claws of their own. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth and his tail was elongated, but his most interesting feature was the black hazard symbol on his white belly.

Needless to say, the others were quite surprised by this new transformation, save for Candlemon, who merely passed it off as something he'd seen previously. The fillies and colt of the group were absolutely flabbergasted that cute little Gigimon could become something that powerful-looking, and while Pagumon was a Digimon himself, he was still taken by surprise by the whole thing. Out of anyone, however, Impmon was the most interested.

"Digivolution... without absorbing data?!" his eyes widened in surprise "How is that even possible?!"

"I... digivolved?" the new Digimon wondered still with the same voice Gigimon had, looking at his new arms and claws "I... digivolved! Yeah, I digivolved into Guilmon! Scootaloomon, I'm coming!" he ran out into the arena and straight at Ogremon.

"Well, time to start placing bets" Pagumon hopped up and down on Babs' back "I bet Guilmon's data is gonna get absorbed!"

"Pagumon, try to be nice for once, okay?" Babs scolded him.

"Right, right, sorry..." he rolled his eyes.

Over by the others, Ogremon had watched as another new Digimon entered the arena. He looked dumbfounded that the arena officials were allowing so many Digimon into the ring during his fight.

"Another one? Really?" Ogremon questioned "Hey! Announcer! Are you seeing this?!"

"Ogremon, you should know this better than anyone" the announcer chuckled a bit "In the Kuwagamon arena, there ARE no rules! Everything is perfectly allowed. This is a chaos battle, is it not?"

"You gotta be kidding me..." Ogremon sighed.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon shouted, firing a ball of fire right at Ogremon, mildly annoying him but at least leaving a burn on his shoulder "Scootaloomon, you're safe!"

"Gigimon? Is that you?" she wondered.

"Not Gigimon anymore, Scootaloomon" Guilmon shook his head "I'm Guilmon now, and I'm here to defend you!"

"Defend... me" Scootaloo smiled, remembering what Whamon said "Alright then, Guilmon, use that Pyro Sphere attack of yours again! Show that bully we mean business!"

"Before y'all do, if ah may interrupt?" Mushroomon began "Why not combine our attacks? Jus' trust me on this one, okay?"

"I trust you" Guilmon nodded.

"If Guilmon trusts you, I trust you" Scootaloo nodded.

"Then in that case..." Mushroomon smiled and threw some more of his small, exploding purple spheres at Ogremon "FUNGUS CRUNCHER!"

"Guilmon, now! At the balls!"

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon fired another ball of flames, this time at Mushroomon's Fungus Cruncher attack. The balls immediately caught fire and exploded even more violently than last time, thankfully missing the smaller ones in the arena and dealing massive damage to Ogremon. As soon as the smoke cleared, the five looked back at the damage they caused. There Ogremon stood with a giant hole in his body. He was starting to glitch out.

"W-Well..." Ogremon stuttered, not out of fear but from his glitch "I g-g-g-guess if I was-was-was going to g-g-go out-out-go out, an explosion would be-be-be-be... explosion would be the b-b-b-best way to... to... to... die."

With those final words, Ogremon exploded into hundreds upon thousands of what appeared to be glass shards. Each and every one of those shards was absorbed into both Guilmon and Mushroomon. The crowd roared with excitement at the defeat of the Digimon, much to the pride of the five.

"Did we do it?" Sweetie Belle wondered "Is he gone? Is he... dead?"

"He's not dead, sweet pea" Mushroomon assured "A small bit o' his data was sent back ta Primary Island ta be reborn in the Village o' Beginnin's'. We simply defeated him, is all."

"Oh, thank goodness..." Sweetie Belle sighed "He was a bully, but even bullies don't deserve to die."

"But we did it!" Scootaloo hugged Guilmon "We won!"

"Yay! We won, we won!" Guilmon cheered.

"That was actually kinda fun" Apple Bloom laughed "Well, one thin's' fer sure: ah ain't bored no more!"

"You guys!" Rumble called out as the others as they and his friends ran toward them "You guys did it!"

"Are any of you hurt?" Babs worryingly asked them.

"Nah, ah'm good, cus" Apple Bloom confirmed "But what's that thin' on Scootaloo's hoof?"

"Long story short, that's a Digivice" Candlemon explained "They're legendary machines that are used by the DigiDestined. Actually, you know what? I think I'll explain this later. Right now, this is the last place in the digital world that I want to be in."

"Agreed" Mushroomon nodded.

"Mushroomon? You don't wanna stay here with yer friends?" Apple Bloom asked.

"The others aren't really mah friends, y'know" he explained "They're jus' kinda foot soldiers that do whatever higher ranked Digimon tell ya ta do. Ah dun think ah like livin' that life... Ifin it's alright with y'all, I'd love ta start traveling with ya! See the sights, meet the Digimon, y'know, stuff like that."

"What do you think, Candlemon?" Diamond Tiara wondered.

"We already have a lot of folks here, but I'll allow it on two conditions" he cleared his throat "Condition one: One of you new ones must be a DigiDestined. Condition two: Mushroomon must be the DigiDestined's partner. If those criteria are met, then I'll allow him to join us. If not, he can travel on his own."

"Low blow, man" Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"I think Mushroomon might be in luck!" Silver Spoon watched as one of the Digivices, the black one, began glowing like all the others. The same strap appeared and immediately connected itself with Apple Bloom's front left hoof, much to her surprise. She looked at it with curiosity and intrigue.

"A Digivice activates when a DigiDestined and their partner are close by" Candlemon recalled before turning to Mushroomon "Welcome to the team then, friend."

"Aww, shucks" Mushroomon blushed a bit "Happy ta be here."

"Now, I promised somepony back on Primary Island I would take Gigimon... or rather Guilmon now, back when I found you all" Scootaloo remembered "I think we should head there. The Digimon running the place is actually really nice!"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Sweetie agreed "Though, how will we get there? Didn't you say it was an island?"

"I have my ways" Scootaloo giggled a bit. Everyone soon began walking out of the arena afterwards. However, Impmon stayed behind for a moment to ponder on something.

"So, they're DigiDestined, eh?" he spoke aloud, though quietly as to not attract their attention "And those Digivice thin's'... They allow a Digimon ta digivolve without needin' ta absorb data? Interestin'... Maybe if I snag me one myself, I could digivolve as much as I wanted ta! I'd be invincible! But now's not the time, Impmon. Just play along, and you'll get your spoils soon..."

He then began to follow the group, chuckling a bit as he did.

"Hey! Where are you all going?!" the announcer tried to call them back "The battle isn't... Oh, whatever... Next contestant!"

Author's Note

Ogremon

Pagumon

Guilmon

Wow! Long chapter, but I think it was worth it! We finally had our first digivolution and Digimon attack, so all in all, I think this was a pretty good chapter. Probably a little too talkative, but otherwise good.

Next time, our heroes will be going back to Primary Island and the Village of Beginnings! But it looks like Impmon has his own agenda planned out. Will he be able to pull it off, or will he get caught first?

Find out next time! Wait, I already said that... Well, still!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Episode 4] Midnight Thief

Walking through the forest was a total breeze by this point, what with the DigiDestined all walking through here before, and the Digimon either previously living here or just weren't fazed by it anymore. It was, however, starting to turn dusk, so getting themselves free of the forest would be the best idea. No one was too concerned however, as they knew they'd make it back to the dock in time.

Though that didn't stop the forest from looking intimidating, however. Everywhere they looked, there was almost always something looking back with a menacing glare. While not frightened, per say, they were certainly concerned they wouldn't be able to make it out in time for nightfall. Nevertheless, they trekked on, still with Candlemon on Silver's back, and Pagumon on Babs'. Impmon still stayed a bit behind the group, planning his own strategies.

"Man, this place sure does get spooky at night..." Rumble mentioned.

"Don't worry, Rumble" Scootaloo got uncomfortably close to him "I'll protect you any day you want~."

"Um... okay?" he confusingly replied.

"S-Sorry, uh..." Scootaloo backed away from him before thinking of a quick lie to explain her actions "Man, this new world sure has my brain going all loopy and stuff! So, uh... just don't mind me if I happen to do that again..."

"Wow, is it just me, or is there mistletoe in this forest?" Pagumon questioned, causing Scootaloo to blush heavily, much to the confusion of Rumble and just about everyone else.

"...Guilmon, Pyro Sphere..."

"On Pagumon, Scootaloomon?" Guilmon wondered before shrugging and opening his mouth wide "PYRO SPH-"

"WAIT!! STOP!! I TAKE IT BACK!!" Pagumon shouted in utter fear of being roasted alive "Jeez, watch where you're pointing that thing! I could have become cooked Digimon if you fired that!"

"Then watch your tongue!" Diamond scoffed.

"Yeah, yeah, don't have to remind me..." Pagumon huffed.

"I can at least say you have guts for talking like that" Babs chuckled "But Diamond Tiara is... right," she felt odd saying that for some reason "you shouldn't say those kinds of things to ponies or Digimon if they don't have a really good sense of humor."

"And if they do?" Pagumon wondered.

"Then by all means" Babs smiled.

"Babs, dun go and encourage him!" Apple Bloom lightly scolded.

"Sorry, cus" Babs apologized, yet still with a smile on her face "But... I think I'm starting to like this little guy. Sure, he may not have the BEST soul in the digital world, but he's certainly enjoyable company. I think I'll keep him around."

"I was gonna stay around anyway even if you ditched me. Heheheheheee!" Pagumon laughed.

"Ah hate ta break the conversation," Mushroomon spoke up "But Candlemon, dun ya think this might be a good time ta tell us what those Digivices are capable of?"

"Of course, once again, I'm the living exposition fountain..." Candlemon sighed before beginning "Well, if no one here has figured it out yet, those Digivices are more than just symbols of a DigiDestined. They can do a lot more than that. You see, in this world, Digimon can do something called digivolve, in which their entire body goes through a transformation and becomes something else."

"Like me!" Guilmon cheerfully stated.

"Yes, Guilmon, like you" Candlemon chuckled "Anyway, in order to digivolve, a Digimon must absorb the data of other Digimon to become stronger and eventually transform. Don't be alarmed, as this is simply the natural way of life her in the digital world. However, a Digivice has the power to temporarily digivolve a Digimon, regardless of rank or how many Digimon data one was able to absorb. Technically, the temporary digivolution can last indefinitely should a Digimon already have enough data inside them to begin with.

"Which is why Guilmon hasn't de-digivolved yet?" Sweetie Belle wondered before becoming slightly disappointed "Aww... But I never even got to see what Gigimon looked like..."

"Relax, Sweetie Belle" Candlemon continued "A Digimon, regardless if they've digivolved via Digivice, can cycle through their previous forms at will, and perhaps even choose different digivolution paths. Though, I would perfer if Guilmon stayed the way he is right now, at least until we get out of the forest."

"A Digimon can become more than one thing?" Diamond questioned.

"Well, we are digital monsters after all" Pagumon mentioned.

"Oh, hey, I never noticed that" Rumble chuckled a bit "Digimon are digital monsters."

"Really? I noticed that ages ago" Diamond boasted before shrinking down a bit "Um... Not to brag, of course."

"Enough fer now" Mushroomon halted everyone from continuing "Let's jus' git outta this forest before somethin' attacks us. Believe me, ah would know."

"I would know as well!" Pagumon stated "Did you know there are these big Digimon called Grizzlymon that only come out at night? They're pretty huge and can take a bite outta you like you were butter!"

"Pagumon..." Scootaloo grumbled, staying quiet that whole time after the last ordeal.

"Hey, I wasn't insulting anyone!" he argued "I was simply stating something I think would be a good idea to avoid for the time being... but, I mean, if you WANTED to take it as an insult..."

"Look, sorry to sound aggressive, but can somepony please give me something to punch?" Scootaloo asked no one in particular, and the moment she said this, a pillow suddenly appeared in front of her "Oh, hey, thanks!"

"Thanks for giving something to her, Rumble" Babs nodded.

"Oh, well, while I appreciate it, I wasn't actually the one who gave it to her" he admitted "Wait... did anypony give her the pillow?"

His question was met with everyone denying it, even Impmon way in the back. This was the moment when they all turned to see a great beast with bear-like stature, a night blue coat, red armor claws on its front paws, and a white moon symbol on its forehead. It also had lighter blue fluffy fur on its back. It stood up on its back legs and dropped the pillow, which turned out to be made of nothing but numbers one and zero. It then roared at the group.

"GRIZZLYMON!!!" Pagumon shouted.

"KILL IT WITH FIRE!!" Rumble panicked and hid behind Mushroomon.

"Boy, y'all got a lot o' nerve usin' me as a meat shield... er, plant shield, ah guess" Mushroomon spoke crossly.

"Guilmon, you know what to do" Scootaloo looked at her partner and smiled.

"Sure thing, Scootaloomon" Guilmon opened his mouth and charged up his attack "PYRO SPHERE!"

A ball of fire was shot at the Grizzlymon, but seemed to do very little damage to it. With an annoyed growl, it attacked the group with a strike from its claws moving in a crescent motion. It knocked back most, but wasn't enough to strike Guilmon down. The latter fired a few more Pyro Spheres at the bear Digimon, but to still no avail. Grizzlymon just kept attacking.

"Yo, Babs, was it?" Pagumon wondered, hopping next to his stricken down partner "Why don't you use that Digivice of yours to digivolve me. Now's a better time than ever, am I right?"

"I would if I knew how to work the thing" Babs responded, looking at the screen of her Digivice "Maybe on of these buttons... the big one, maybe? I dunno, I'm just guessing by this-" she pressed the button and sent out a light at Pagumon, not unlike the one she saw envelop Gigimon a while back.

"Whoa! Okay, this is a weird feeling" Pagumon stated as the light surround him and began reshaping his body "It kinda feels like I have butterflies in my stomach!"

Pagumon Digivolve to...

BLACKAGUMON

"Aw, nice!" the new Digimon stated with a grin, his black scales shining brightly in the setting sun, his claws on both his arms and legs rearing for a battle, and his green eyes showing a hint of cockiness "Meet the brand new Pagumon! Or should I say... BlackAgumon?! Now, let's see what this new body can do!"

"Take it away, Pagu- er, BlackAgumon!" Babs quickly corrected herself, nodding at the latest digivolution.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon shouted for one final time, huffing and puffing, almost all out of breath "Scootaloomon, he's just so tough... What should I do?"

"Leave it to me, crazy!" BlackAgumon stepped up beside Guilmon and gave him a smirk of confidence "If your small, wimpy fireballs wont work, then a steady stream of pure flame will! PEPPER BREATH!" he opened his mouth and breathed out a long stream of fire at Grizzlymon. The attack seemed to do a noticeable increased amount of damage than Pyro Sphere did, but still failed to really phase the Digimon. It instead growled again and swung its claws at the two dragons, knocking them back a bit.

"Y'know this isn't workin' right?" Mushroomon questioned their attack strategy "Let's try ta combine our attacks again! Y'all use yer Pyro Spheres and Pepper Breaths again, and ah'll-"

"BADA BOOM!" spoke a voice the group was actually surprised to hear. Before they could react, a much more powerful fireball was shot at Grizzlymon, blowing a hole through it and causing it to shatter like Ogremon did previously. The data didn't go to neither Guilmon nor BlackAgumon. Instead, it went straight to Impmon, who was pointing his slightly smoky finger at where the opposing Digimon once was, an almost malicious smile appearing on his face.

"Impmon, you saved us!" Sweetie Belle happily cheered "Thank you!"

"Well, ya bozos were takin' too long ta kill the thing" Impmon laughed before becoming cross with the "Now get movin'! I don't wanna spend another second in this place! I still got a life ta live, ya hear?!"

Impmon's loud voice unfortunately attracted the attention of more unidentifiable Digimon looking at them through bushes and leaves with intimidating glowing red eyes. This was more than enough to make the group pick themselves up and run out of the forest with screams and shrieks coming out of their mouths. Of course, the hungry Digimon had to follow.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." Impmon huffed, clearly not fit enough for running. Diamond Tiara decided to step in then.

"Impmon, get on my back" she offered, nay, demanded her partner.

"Are ya nuts?! I can run myself!" Impmon stubbornly rolled his eyes.

"This isn't a matter of yes or no, Impmon" Diamond argued "I was taught that kindness can go a long way and can get you things you'd normally never get down the path of darkness. For example, YOUR LIFE!!"

"Listen, tuts, I never asked ta be your dumb Digi-doofus, a'ight?!" Impmon yelled "I just wanna live my life without anyone gettin' in my way, and now I can't do that with this stupid prophecy dumbness! Capeesh?!"

"...I don't have time for this" Diamond sighed and bumped into Impmon, knocking him onto her back. A small skill she picked up a while ago, though she couldn't remember where. Eventually, the group made it out of the forest and onto the plains. They could see Whamon in the distance still stationed at the dock, much to their relief. Unfortunately, the forest Digimon were relentless, and continued chasing them, hoping to harvest some data or even food from them.

"They're gonna get us!" Silver Spoon panicked.

"Not if I have anything to say about it! PEPPER BREATH!" BlackAgumon jumped into the air and fired some of his flames at the oncoming Digimon swarm, slowing them down a bit. However, they soon got back up to speed after a little while later.

"WHAMON!!" Guilmon shouted at the top of his lungs, gaining the giant Digimon's attention.

"Gigimon, is that you?" he asked in his usual loud, echoing, yet calm voice "Why, you've become a Guilmon now. I'm sure Elecmon will be extremely proud of you."

"Now's not the time, Whamon!" Scootaloo shouted as well "We kinda need some help over here!"

"You're right, that's a lot of Digimon" Whamon inspected the area a bit before nodding, knowing exactly what to do "Everyone, quickly, onto my back!"

After running through the plains for a little while longer, the group finally got to Whamon and did as they were told. One-by-one, they climbed onto Whamon's back and got comfortable between his different metal pieces, preparing them for what the large Digimon had in store. Slowly, he descended into the water a bit before lifting himself back up again, opening his mouth and charging an attack.

"TIDAL WAVE!" he slammed back down into the water and created, what else, a tidal wave heading straight for the oncoming Digimon. With a single sweep, the attack was able to take down each and every one of them. Everyone on Whamon's back let out a sigh of relief. They were glad such a powerful Digimon was on their side, yet some couldn't help but be extremely frightened of Whamon's power. Just how much power did he store within?

"Drive, ya big palooka, DRIVE!!" Impmon shouted.

"Calm yourself, overzealous one" Whamon calmly silenced him "The Digimon from the forest are gone now, so there is nothing to worry about. Though, I believe Elecmon may have a word or two with me when I return..."

"Whamon, there are about 70 new digi-eggs that just appeared in the village..." Elecmon spoke to him telepathically "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

"...perhaps we can take a short detour on our trip back to Primary Island?" Whamon suggested "Think of it as a way to get to know all you knew ones."

"Sounds good to me" Sweetie Belle nodded "Anyway, it was really nice of you to help us out, Mr. Whamon, was it? My name is Sweetie Belle, and this is Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Babs Seed, Diamond Tiara, Rumble, Silver Spoon, Mushroomon, Candle-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Sweetie" Apple Bloom gently calmed her friend down with a warm smile "Ah'm sure we're gonna have tons o' time ta talk about who we are on the ride ta... where did ya say, again?"

"Primary Island" Candlemon once again stood in as the guide "Also known as File Island, the island contains the extremely important Village of Beginnings, where defeated Digimon go to be reborn when they die. I've visited it a few times, the village. It's surprisingly quiet, despite the entire village being made of nothing but children."

"Sounds cute" Silver Spoon smiled "Well, I would love to see this village! Could we make for it immediately?"

"Are you sure? Perhaps not just a few minutes of smooth sailing?" Whamon suggested.

"Whamon, you'll have to face Elecmon sooner or later" Scootaloo brought up "It's better if your friends knew about your mistakes so they could probably help you out. I mean, they are your friends, right?"

"...very well then" Whamon sighed as he began pulling himself out of the dock and starting the journey back home "Next stop: Primary Island."

"Man, you're just full of friendship lessons, aren't you, weird pony things?" BlackAgumon asked before releasing some of his excess data and becoming Pagumon again "I mean, it's like you come from a world where every week, you have to learn some kind of friendship lesson like you were some kinda little girl... or balding man. Either one, really."

"Pagumon? You're not gonna be BlackAgumon anymore?" Babs wondered, ignoring his rather rude question.

"Nah, this form feels more natural to me, y'know?" Pagumon admitted as he bounced around "I can hop, float a little, and ride on your back whenever I want to! It's like living the dream!"

"This is gonna be a long trip..." Diamond sighed.

"Not for some people" Pagumon brought up "For some people, it'll just be a few seconds!"

"...hey, Impmon?" Diamond began a conversation with her quote unquote 'partner' "Back there with Grizzlymon... Thanks, really. If you weren't there, we would have been bear food for all we knew!"

"We're not friends, tuts, and we never will be. Ya got that?" Impmon stated "Once we get ta the island, I'm goin' my own way, far away from ya and any a' your dumb friends! Friends... who needs 'em, anyway? All they ever do ta you is pretend ta be your pal and then stab ya right in the back, am I right?"

"Ah think we should jus' leave Impmon alone fer now" Mushroomon suggested.

"THANK YA!" Impmon shouted "About time one a' ya palookas figured it out!"

"Impmon..." Diamond Tiara sighed.

The ride to the island was actually relatively short, despite the length between the server continent and the island being rather long. In that time, everyone had a chance to introduce themselves to Whamon, knowing they would probably meet with him again. One-by-one, everyone got off Whamon and onto the dock to meet with a dog-like Digimon with red fur and purple stripes down his back. Her was currently standing on his hind legs with a kind smile upon his face.

"Ugh..." Candlemon shivered "I hope to never go overseas again..."

"What's the matter, Candlemon?" Sweetie asked, slightly mischievously "Afraid to get into the water?"

"Yes, actually" he replied "I happen to have an intense aquaphobia problem, or a fear of water. You see, if my flame here goes out, I die. Sure, I'll be reborn as a brand new Digimon later, but I would rather not risk me losing all of my precious knowledge, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry you didn't have a good trip, Candlemon. Hopefully, we'll be able to make it more comfortable for you next time" the red Digimon nodded in understanding "But anyway, hello, everyone! My name is Elecmon, the guardian of the Village of Beginnings. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance after all the things Whamon told me though our friendship."

"Wait... Through your friendship?" Rumble wondered.

"From what I can gather," Silver Spoon began for once instead of Candlemon "when two Digimon share an extremely special bond, they are able to communicate with each other via telepathy. This is how Whamon was able to tell Elecmon about our journey, and why Guilmon insists on calling Scootaloo, Scootaloomon."

"Heh... yeah..." Scootaloo blushed.

"Ah, Gigimon!" Elecmon laughed "Or rather Guilmon now! My, how much you've grown in a day! How were you able to accomplish something so easily?"

"With these" Diamond Tiara and the others with Digivices all presented their front left hoofs "They're called Digivices, and they-"

"Oh my goodness!" Elecmon gasped "I know what those are! I remember who used them..." he took a moment to recollect himself "...I'm sure you're all tired after your little adventure. Why don't you all come back to the village and rest. We'll talk about things in the morning then."

"Sounds like a plan ta me" Apple Bloom nodded before running off into the village "C'mon, Muhroomon; let's go and find a nice place ta rest. Y'all can choose ifin ya want ta!"

"Whoa, slow down, pardner!" Mushroomon chased after her.

"Apple Bloom, wait up!" Sweetie Belle called out, giving chase as well.

"You guys, wait up!" Scootaloo called out before turning to Guilmon "C'mon, Guilmon, let's go."

"Okay, Scootaloomon!" Guilmon grinned before they both ran towards the village, leaving the others in their dust. Speaking of, the others simply watched as all five of them dashed towards the village. Elecmon prayed they wouldn't spook any of the Fresh or In-Training Digimon residing there.

"Hey, looks like fun!" Pagumon hopped on Babs' back "Let's race! Last one there is a rotten Sukamon!"

"I am most certainly not a Sukamon, impudent youth" Candlemon scoffed before seeing that Silver Spoon, which he was currently on the back of, was readying for a race "Silver Spoon, I'm sure that we can avoid something like this as-"

"GO!" Babs grinned, dashing off with Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Rumble, much to Candlemon's dismay. The only one who stayed behind was Impmon, unsurprisingly.

"Eh, I don't have time fer all that kiddie stuff, ya know?" Impmon shrugged.

"And you'd rather be here with the boring adults?" Elecmon chuckled.

"I don't wanna be with anyone, capeesh!" Impmon ran away from the two, though still refusing to join the race. Whamon watched as he stepped off the dock and onto the path to the village, worried about him.

"Elecmon, I would keep an eye on that child" he suggested "I'm sure he just confused as any boy his age would be, but I can't shake the feeling he's about to do something rash."

"I'll be sure to" Elecmon nodded before smiling a bit "Goodnight, Whamon. Have a good one."

"You as well" Whamon yawned and tried to drift to sleep.

Meanwhile, over in the Village of Beginnings, the CMC and their friends had finally arrived to the bright and colorful world. Everywhere they looked were cute little Digimon that looked like puffballs, slimes, and baby fish. Some were nothing more than round, black blobs with yellow eyes and tiny bear-like ears on their bodies. Most of the Digimon were starting to fall asleep, however, and some had even already headed to bed.

"Aww... They're so cute..." Sweetie Belle gushed a bit "I wonder if any of them will be one of our partners?"

"There are a lot of Digimon here, so I wouldn't be all that surprised" Scootaloo nodded in confirmation. As soon as she did, a strange-looking yellow Digimon seemingly made entirely out of slime with beady red eyes slithered next to the CMC. It gave an angry gurgling sound at them, as if it held a grudge against it.

"What's up with him?" Diamond asked.

"Why would he be angry at us. We didn't even do anything here yet" Rumble pointed out.

"Unless..." Silver Spoon put two and two together "You guys, remember how when a Digimon dies, it returns here to be reborn? You don't think this is... Ogremon, do you?"

"It's Ogremon?!" all ponies present besides Silver gasped before chuckling a bit.

"Now he's pretty cute" Sweetie giggled before reaching out to pet him on the head "Hey there, baby Ogremon. Aww, you're so cute... yes you are, yes you-" he gave he a sharp glare, spooking her a bit "AAH! Whoa, even as a little baby, he's scary..."

"Zurumons are known for their intimidation factor" Candlemon brought up "I suppose even at a young age, they can be intensely scary. You needn't worry about him talking back to you though. Fresh rank Digimon aren't known for talking too much, if at all. Now, shall we find a place to rest?"

"Agreed... I'm as tired than a sloth..." Babs mentioned.

"What's a sloth?" Pagumon wondered.

"Isn't there some kinda Slothmon in your world or something?" Diamond wondered "I mean, just about everything in this world has a counterpart in our world, so, y'know..."

"No, I don't believe Slothmon is a thing" Candlemon shook his head "But you're right, I'm feeling very tired as well. Years of guarding legendary objects will do that to a Digimon, I suppose."

"The rest house is this way!" bounced some of the still awake Digimon.

"This way!"

"Over here! C'mon!"

Without much reluctance, the group followed the voices of the Digimon to where they needed to rest. Though behind them, Impmon watched them leave, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. A smile appeared on his lips, yet before he could walk forward, something stopped him on his foot. Something slimy. He looked down and saw Zurumon with a look of disapproval on his face.

"Eh? Whaddya want, ya little brat? Can't ya see I'm busy?" Impmon angrily grumbled.

Zurumon, unable to speak, shook his head, or body really. It seemed even he knew what Impmon was about to do was wrong. However, Impmon simply stepped on Zurumon and scoffed, going about his merry way.

"Blub..." Zurumon sighed as he reformed immediately afterwards.

Finally, the ponies and Digimon found their way into the same small house Scootaloo had first found herself in when she arrived in the digital world. She recognized it as the same one with where it was positioned. However, there were some noticeable differences, such as the house being much larger with more rooms, and the beds not being made of literal rocks. There were seven rooms, one for each DigiDestined and their partners.

"Are you all happy with my recent renovation?" Elecmon wondered as he too entered the house "After hearing Scootaloo's complaints from last time, and after listening to Whamon tell of your adventures, I catered each room to everyone's enjoyment. Please, I insist, find a room that suits you."

"Elecmon, thank you" Scootaloo nodded "And... those beds aren't just for show, right?"

"No, they aren't made of rock anymore" Elecmon chuckled.

"Well, night, y'all..." Apple Bloom tiredly entered the room Mushroomon thought was best for the two of them, as she promised "See ya in the morning..."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna hit the hay as well" Babs yawned "Pagumon, can I cuddle with you?"

"That's weird, but sure, I don't mind" Pagumon laughed, hopping off Babs' back and floating into their room with his ears, which happened to double as small wings.

"Silver Spoon?" Diamond wondered "Do you mind if you sleep in my room tonight? I need to talk about something personal, and I think a friend who's been with me thick and thin is probably the best to talk with."

"Sure think, Diamond Tiara" Silver Spoon smiled.

"You two go ahead" Candlemon agreed "I'll just stay outside and... not... fall..." he slumped onto the floor, all four of his eyes closing immediately. He soon began softly snoring, signalling he was asleep. Diamond and Silver simply laughed at this before entering their room of choice and closing the door behind them.

Their room looked absolutely stunning, with a beautiful chandelier handing over head two beds with wooden head rests and red sheets over a the white mattresses. Beside each of the beds was a dark oak dresser with golden knobs and a glass lamp on top. A cupboard was also beside the left bed, and near the right bed was a mirror with a golden border. Immediately, Silver Spoon flopped herself into the right bed and waited for her friend to enter the left one.

"What did you want to talk about, Diamond?" Silver wondered as her best friend entered her own bed.

"Well... it's about Impmon..." Diamond sighed "I just can't shake the feeling he's about to do something he'll really regret! I don't want him going down the same path as I did..."

"The path you went down was influenced by your mother" Silver explained, much to Diamond slight dismay "Impmon is still just a kid, even if he sounds older than he really is. He's just going through a phase that makes him want to be stronger than he really is. These thoughts will go away after a while."

"I never thought you could sound so motherly, Silver" Diamond smirked mischievously.

"Well, I guess it's just a natural thing..." Silver Spoon blushed a bit.

"Anyway, goodnight, Diamond Tiara..." Silver flicked out her own lamp.

"Goodnight, Silver Spoon..." Diamond yawned and switched her own lamp off as well, causing the room to become dark. Despite the thoughts running through her head, she was eventually able to sleep soundly with a small smile on her face. She had found a way to remove her Digivice and place it on her dresser so it wouldn't bug her in her sleep.

Meanwhile, in Scootaloo and Guilmon's room, which looked exactly like Diamond and Silver's room, a knock was heard at their door just before the two were about to call it a night. Scootaloo hopped out of her bed and opened the door only to reveal Rumble, who looked as frightened as Fluttershy whenever someone recently scared her.

"Oh, um... h-hey, Rumble, are you okay?" Scootaloo wondered, blushing a bit at the sight of Rumble.

"N-No, I'm not" Rumble sighed "Sorry, um... can I come in?"

"Sure, yeah, of course" Scootaloo nodded, letting her new friend into her room. Guilmon immediately noticed this and, with a big smile, waved at Rumble.

"Hey there, Rumble!" he said.

"Hi, Guilmon" Rumble felt slightly better, though he still had something he wanted to get off of his chest "Scootaloo, look, there's something I need to talk about, and you're the first one I thought might listen to me."

"I'm all ears" Scootaloo jumped on her bed and listened to what Rumble had to say.

"Well... it's about home" he admitted "This entire time, we've been told that we're some kinda DigiDestined things who have these things called Digivices that can digivolve Digimon."

"That's a lot of digi words..." Scootaloo just noticed.

"My concern is what we're supposed to be" Rumble continued "I think I gathered that DigiDestined are meant to protect the world, or at least the digital world, but I have no idea what from! I never really asked to be a hero, nor did I want to be one in the first place. I just want to be at home with my brother... And we still have no way of getting back home."

"I think I get what your saying, Rumble" Scootaloo patted him on his back "But like you said, we have no way of getting back home. Look, I want to go home as much as the next pony, but if we're supposed to be heroes, we should at least play along and try our best to defend this place, okay?"

"...okay" Rumble nodded.

"Cheer up, Rumble" Guilmon smiled, gently placing a claw on Rumble's back, trying not to hurt him "If Scootaloomon says it will be okay, then it'll be okay."

"Thanks, you guys" Rumble smiled "That made me a lot happie-"

A crash was heard coming from another room. This caused all three present to stop what they were doing and check out what happened. Out of their rooms, they saw that everyone else had been awoken by the sound.

"What was that?!" Apple Bloom questioned.

"It sounded like it came from the bulli- I mean, Diamond and Silver's room" Babs quickly corrected herself. Before anyone could open their room's door, it burst open. Out ran Impmon carrying something that looked strikingly familiar. He rushed past the group and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"It was Impmon!" Diamond panicked with Silver behind her "He stole my Digivice!"

"WHAT?!?!" everyone shouted.

"How could he do something like this?!" Sweetie Belle spoke with disbelief "I though he was our friend..."

"Gotta admit though..." Mushroomon pondered "He was always purdy distant from us. While ah dun think he should've done that, ah'm not exactly surprised he did either."

"We have to chase after him!" Candlemon brought up "Those Digivices... He has no idea what he's trying to do!"

"Then let's go, everypony!" Scootaloo nodded and rushed out the door. The others soon followed her into the darkness of night.

Impmon ran with all his might. He was already running out of breath, but he couldn't stop now. He saw the others already starting to chase him, but defeat wasn't the way he rolled at all. He ran through the village, never caring if he woke any of the other Digimon up. But then he stopped. He had a Digivice now, right? Surely he would be able to take on the group now, right.

He finally allowed the group to catch up with him. By now, they were in the village square with a nice-looking fountain and a few small fish-like Fresh Digimon called Pichimon swimming about in it. Everyone gave him cross looks, even Diamond Tiara.

"Impmon, give me back my Digivice now!" she shouted.

"Yeah? And who says its yours anyway, tuts?" Impmon yelled back "This is mine now, and I'm gonna digivolve with it, and there's nuttin' ya can do ta stop me!"

"Impmon, think about what your doing here..." Candlemon tried to get the device back this time "There's a reason only the DigiDestined can use Digivices. If you try to digivolve with it and you don't have a partner to help you, something terrible might-"

"Does it look like I care, grandpa?!" Impmon shouted at him "My goal this whole time was ta get stronger, so when I heard there was a way ta make ya digivolve without doin' all the dirty work, I just HAD to find me my own Digivice! Of course, there only bein' seven a' them, I had to steal one from someone, right?"

"Impmon, if somethin' happened in yer life that ya wanna talk about, we're here ta listen ta ya" Apple Bloom offered "We're your friends, and ah think-"

"I warned ya, didn't I?" Impmon smiled holding the Digivice out in front of him "Sooner or later, your 'friends' are gonna stab you in the back and do what they want ta do! Even if ya truly trusted trusted them..."

He pressed the large button on the green Digivice and sent the digivolving light out of it towards him. His smile grew larger as he saw the light begin to surround him, starting to turn him into something else.

But something went wrong. As the light enveloped him, he screamed as he felt extreme pain coursing through his body. He felt every moment of his bone rearranging themselves, turning him into a greater being. The light turned into a shadowy purple color, and his body grew three times as large as he was previously. Finally, the light dissipated and revealed Impmon's new form.

He was obviously much taller than he was previously, with pale gray skin and extremely long arms, each ending with grayish red straps surrounding his hands and golden claws on his fingers. Each arm had three red spikes near the elbows, and his chest had odd red orbs seemingly thrust into his body, though only on his left side. He also wore black pants with black straps all around them and golden knee armor as well. His black leather boots had two spikes emerging from the toe area. A golden mask hid his face, and his gray-white hair fell onto where his giant, grayish red wings connected to his back. After a moment of looking at his new arms, a low chuckle came from him, which eventually turned into an all-out laugh.

"Ha... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!" the Digimon, clearly far from being Impmon, let out a loud laugh through the entire village "I feel... GREAT!!!"

"Impmon, what have you-" Scootaloo began before getting interrupted by the new Digimon.

"Impmon is no more!" he shouted "He, or rather I, was a weak, pathetic Digimon that had nothing more than a lust for power. But now, that lust has payed off, and from my desires I have become something new! I have become... NeoDevimon!"

Extending his wings, he flew off into the dark of night, away from the island and away from the DigiDestined and their partners. He laughed all the while. Diamond noticed that he dropped her Digivice, and as she went to go retrieve it, she looked up into the sky and watched NeoDevimon fly away.

"Impmon..." she muttered, still shocked Impmon of all Digimon would betray her. But even though he acted like nothing more than a nuisance, he was still the first Digimon she ever met, and he taught her the things she needed to do in order to live in this world. And his personality had seemed to grow on her.

She pitied him.

"Everypony..." she sighed, knowing the others wouldn't like this "I know he's been a pain in our side our entire time here, but Impmon just made a mistake."

"A big mistake" Babs growled a little bit.

"I know, I know..." Diamond nodded in understanding "But... he's still young, and young ponies, er... Digimon do silly things. Believe me, I would know..."

Everyone felt a little bad now.

"That's why I want to ask you of this, everypony" Diamond stood tall "He made a huge mistake, but I made one that lasted through most of my life. Is there any way, anyway at all... we could forgive him and save him?"

Author's Note

Botamon

Zurumon

Pichimon

NeoDevimon

Wow, actual character development! That's a first! Nah, I kid, I kid... But I do think I should certainly do it more often. After all, there are going to be a total of fourteen main characters, what with all the DigiDestined and Digimon. I'm sure a few of you would like to get to know them a little more, right?

Anyway, it looks like Impmon, or rather NeoDevimon now, has forced himself into dark warp digivolution, which will be explained next episode. Will our friends decide to follow him and get Impmon back, or will they try to find a way back home? Who knows, maybe the first choice might lead them back to Equestria! Find out NEXT TIME!!

Also, requests are popping up more! Looks like I'll have to fulfill them!

Just a side note though, I'm starting Curling tomorrow, so a new chapter might not happen. However, I'll be sure to get a RPG-ween special out in time, as well as Episode 5 on Monday. Thanks for understanding!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

[Episode 5] A Short Detour

"No way, no how!" Candlemon exclaimed quite intensely "Do you seven even have any idea what that was?! That was dark digivolution, a form of digivolution that causes some Digimon to go haywire! There is no way you can-"

"Yeah, you've mentioned that before" Babs Seed sighed, recalling the hundreds of times he's repeated himself.

"For goodness sake, Candlemon, please lighten up!" Sweetie Belle groaned.

"All you've been doing for the past few hours is complain about our choice" Silver Spoon pointed out "Why not tell us something important, like how dark digivolution is activated or something."

Silver Spoon was absolutely right. Since everyone in the group, including Pagumon, had agreed to try and help Impmon break free from his horrible fate, the entire night was spent preparing to follow Impmon's, or rather NeoDevimon's, trail wherever he may have flown off to. Everyone except for Candlemon, however. He was quite opposed to going up against something as powerful as dark digivolution, and all through the night he was quite explicit he didn't want to help. Nonetheless, he decided to at least explain what dark digivolution was and how it was activated.

"...fine" he conceded "Dark digivolution, as I've mentioned before, is a form of digivolution that happens when a Digimon digivolves with a dark place front and center in their heart, so to speak. Most commonly, it's activated when a tamer, or in your case a DigiDestined, fails to give their full love to a Digimon. Of course, in Impmon's case, he dark digivolved because of his opposition to friendship."

"Candlemon, Impmon is our friend, mistake or not" Diamond Tiara crossly huffed "If your saying he dark digivolved because he had no friendship in his heart, you of all Digimon should know the reason he did this in the first place."

"He did this because it was his choice" Candlemon argued.

"He did it because we couldn't get passed his problem and become friends with him" Diamond shouted back.

"Both o' ya, quiet down" Mushroomon interrupted the two from bickering anymore "Candlemon, this is our choice, and like it or not, we're goin' after Impmon, teachin' him a lesson or five, then bringin' him back here fer a nice cup o' cider. Y'all don't have ta come ifin ya don't want ta, but yer knowledge might come in handy later."

"..." Candlemon thought for a moment before turning away from the group and looking down a bit.

"Let's just give him some space, y'all" Apple Bloom moved the group away from Candlemon.

"On another note, what's our inventory looking like?" Babs brought up.

"Let's see..." Silver Spoon opened her Digivices inventory, wanting to hold everything they had and act as the organizer of the team "We have about five days worth of food for everyone, so that's about 60 rations of food... We have two Digivices, probably for Sweetie Belle and Rumble... Oh, and map of the digital world, or more specifically, the server continent..."

"Show?" Babs reached out for the map, to which Silver gladly gave it to her "NeoDevimon flew north, according to this. I think we should start right about here..."

"In some rundown cliff?" Rumble questioned "I'm not exactly sure if that's a good place to start. Why not in a busy city like..." he read the label "Rail Town?"

"Because Rail Town isn't exactly a town" Elecmon appeared near them, walking upright with something in his front paws "It's more along the lines of a train depot where the Locomon go and rest. Besides, you wouldn't be able to get to it without going through the cliff."

"Is there anything noteworthy at the cliff?" Sweetie asked.

"Not that I remember" Elecmon shrugged "Though who knows? Maybe you'll find something interesting there. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what this is in my hands, right?"

"Looks like an egg" Apple Bloom stated.

"Heh... Thanks Captain Obvious" Pagumon chuckled, hopping off Babs "That's a Digi-Egg, right?"

"That's correct, Pagumon. Though, next time try to be more considerate of others' feelings" Elecmon lightly scolded "Anyway, this egg had only recently appeared just before the flood of new eggs I'm sure Whamon is responsible for, yet fails to take blame for..." he scowled a bit at the dock before calming down "I wanted you all to take it."

"Wait, what?" Rumble gasped "But I thought you-"

"I know, I know, but something in my... what do you kids call it these days... gut, told me that you should have this" Elecmon explained, holding out the egg and hoping someone would grab it "May it serve you well."

Carefully, Rumble took the egg with his front hooves and cradled it like holding a newborn foal. Strangely, he felt happier, as if any though and worry about getting back home he previously had simply washed away from him. With this, he smiled a bit. Of course, his happiness was interrupted when a small beeping noise came from Silver's Digivice.

"It's flashing again..." she noted "Which must mean... Rumble, that egg must be your partner!"

"My new... partner?" he questioned. Before anyone could say anything more, Silver's inventory popped up and released Rumble's Digivice, the yellow one. It too created a black strap from light and wrapped itself around Rumble's front left hoof, accidentally causing him to throw the Digi-Egg up into the air.

Everyone looked in absolute horror as the egg soon began descending back onto the ground. However, a light flashed from Rumble's device and instantly hatched the egg, revealing a small, red, jelly-like creature with beady eyes and three rounded spikes on its head. It plopped right onto Rumble's head.

"Oh... Hey there, little guy" he chuckled a bit "You sure gave us a little scare there. Are you okay?"

A small, cute gurgling noise was its response.

"A Punimon?" Elecmon wondered "Hmm... Did any of you happen to defeat a Grizzlymon on your way back to Primary Island?"

"Grizzlymon!" Apple Bloom remembered "O' course! That makes a bit more sense now. But... why didn't Rumble's Digivice react ta it when we passed it?"

"Perhaps it merely needed to begin life anew in order to register as a DigiDestined partner" Elecmon shrugged before laughing a bit "Hahaha! Listen to me, talking like I know the meaning of life! Alright you kids have fun tracking down NeoDevimon. I'll just be here in the village as usual."

"Elecmon, if it's okay with you, can you please continue calling him Impmon?" Diamond wondered "It would make me a bit more comfortable."

"Of course, my child" Elecmon nodded "However, sooner or later you'll have to face the facts and accept this is his new form. Sorry if that sounded slightly grim, but it's the truth."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to..." Diamond sighed a bit.

"Hey, you guys!" Scootaloo and Guilmon were coming back from the dock "We just finished packing up and readying Whamon for our journey. All we need now is our navigator."

"Allow me" Babs smiled, holding out the map and making Silver slightly angry with her.

"Ahem... Excuse me" she spoke crossly "I'LL be the navigator, thank you very much. I was the one who got the map, right?"

"But that doesn't mean you should be the one hogging it" Babs argued with her.

"No, but that does mean I should be the first in line to navigate" Silver grabbed the map.

"Stop being so stubborn!" Babs pulled back.

"Stop acting like you're the boss of me!"

"GRRRR!!"

Eventually, the map ripped in half and soon shattered into millions of pieces like the data it was. It flew up into the air until it could be seen no more, probably getting absorbed into the world around it and allowing a bit more space for the Digimon to live in. Everyone looked at the two in disbelief.

"You guys, that was our only map!" Sweetie reminded them, much to the twos' dismay "Now how are we supposed to follow NeoDevi- I mean, Impmon's trail?"

"With my help" Candlemon finally spoke after a while.

"Oh, hey Candlemon" Pagumon bounced a bit with a small smile on his face "I actually forgot you were there, funny enough. You're just so quiet, y'know?"

"Candlemon?" Silver questioned.

"I've had some time to think it over, and you're right" he nodded "Impmon IS our friend, and even though he has some rough patches... well, many rough patches, he deserves better than this fate."

"So that means..." Diamond gasped in a bit of happiness.

"Yeah, I'll join you" Candlemon smiled "Besides, you won't get far in this world without a guide. I'm already a walking, talking encyclopedia, so might as well continue my job."

"Thank ya kindly, Candlemon" Mushroomon tipped his cap towards him "Now, how's about we all git goin'?"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Guilmon spoke up "Oh, is there anything we're missing?"

"Other than... actually, no, I don't have a joke this time" Pagumon shrugged "I guess nothing then."

"Good" Babs said both at Pagumon's confirmation and Pagumon's inability to make a terrible joke "Lead the way!"

"Good luck, all of you!" Elecmon waved goodbye as the thirteen left on their new journey, walking down the path toward Whamon. The other Fresh Digimon came up to Elecmon as well and bounced themselves up as a form of waving farewell, their cute squeaks reverberating through the air. Zurumon on the other hand simply watched them leave. Despite disliking them for returning him to his Fresh state, he couldn't help but give them respect for what they were trying to do.

"Blub" he gurgled, smiling a bit at their goals.

"Crud" Silver stated bluntly.

By this point, Whamon was already far, far away from Primary Island, going by the directions Candlemon was giving. The trip had gone surprisingly smoothly, despite Candlemon's aquaphobia and the constant warnings of dangerous Digimon in the net sea. It was only until now when Silver decided to check her inventory and realize she made a big mistake.

"What's the problem, Silver?" Diamond wondered.

"Candlemon, since I know very little about Digimon, can you explain to me how much a Fresh rank Digimon eats?" she asked her partner. He too felt a little stupid.

"I see where you're going with this" Candlemon facepalmed and sighed "Fresh Digimon, since they can't fight at all, are required to eat MUCH more than normal Digimon. This means that we made a huge miscalculation in our food supplies."

"Heh..." Rumble chuckled a bit, hugging Punimon close "You're already causing us some trouble, and you haven't even been around for half-an-hour."

"Is there any way we can fix this?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well... Whamon, how close are we to Digitamamon's restaurant?" Candlemon wondered.

"Closer than we are to Primary Island" Whamon stated in his echoing voice "Would you like to go there instead? I AM a living creature, not a boat. I can change course whenever you want."

"Blub!" Punimon excitedly said.

"Ah guess Punimon is hungry" Mushroomon pointed out "Well, ah gotta say ah'm purdy starvin' mahself. Y'all wouldn't believe the junk they gave us Mushroomon back at the arena. Lemme tell ya, it was not tasty."

"Yeah, we haven't had anythin' ta eat or drink in ferever..." Apple Bloom heard her stomach growl a bit.

"Apple Bloom, your tummy is roaring at us" Guilmon pointed a claw at her.

"No, no, Guilmon, she's just hungry" Scootaloo laughed "Surely you've had your own stomach growl a few times, right?"

"Believe me when I say that this young one here ate two times more than any Fresh or In-Training Digimon could ever devour" Whamon chuckled, remembering all the times he and Elecmon took care of Gigimon back in the day "Well, I suppose it's decided then. We'll take a short food break before we continue on. Sound fair?"

Everyone agreed.

"In that case, next stop, Digitamamon's restaurant" Whamon exclaimed, increasing in speed.

"Wait... Isn't that it over there?" Pagumon questioned, pointing one of his ears at a rocky cliff with a tan house standing tall in a safe area near it. It was circular with a blue roof and a smaller hut on top with a blue dome on top of it. All around both floors were blue-lined windows, and a sign hung over head the door way. Though, the group was too far to see what it said on it.

"Oh, well... So it is" Whamon said, slightly disappointed he couldn't go faster "Next stop, er... turning right."

Whamon finally docked near a staircase made of rock scaling the cliff. He submerged a bit as to allow his passengers off his back and relax his fins a bit. As soon as everyone was off, he let out a huge yawn.

"Are you okay, Whamon?" Scootaloo questioned "You look tired."

"Because I am tired..." he sighed "I couldn't sleep what with all the noise about the dock, as well as the fact you could hear Candlemon's complaining from five miles away."

"Oh, um... sorry about that" Candlemon apologized.

"No worries, no worries" Whamon shrugged it off "You lot just go on ahead and I'll stay here and take a nap. If any of you are in need of assistance, please awaken me."

"Noted" Silver nodded "Alright, c'mon, everypony!" they started their walk up the rocky steps.

After a surprisingly long traverse up the cliff, they finally reached the top and faced the restaurant in all its glory. It looked pretty much how they had previously seen it on Whamon, only now they could see the windows had bubble shapes instead of squares or rectangles on for their glass, and the sign said something in a strange language that not one of the ponies could understand. Thankfully, it was walking encyclopedia Candlemon to the rescue!

"Res...taur...ant..." he squinted his eyes and made out what the sign said "Restaurant, I believe is what it says. It's written in the early Digimon language, but most of us Digimon have either forgotten or ignored the past. Digitamamon, however, likes to stay out of the present."

"Digitamamon is the owner of this place then?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

"Yer darn tootin', he's the owner" Mushroomon laughed "Ah used ta come down here with the boys all the time when we had our lunch breaks. Digitamamon makes the best omelet ah've ever had!"

"What's an omelet?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"It's cooked egg, why?" Mushroomon shrugged.

All the ponies shrunk back in slight disgust. Mushroomon was confused, though thankfully Candlemon was there to set him straight. However, perhaps Candlemon could have used a nicer way of explaining to him what he said wrong.

"You fool!" Candlemon slapped him across the face with his waxy hand "They're horses! They eat only vegetables, not meat!"

"Ow! Hey, ah'm sorry! Ow! Ah didn't know!" Mushroomon tried to explain as he was attacked by Candlemon. Immediately, Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom desperately tried to pull them apart, but to no avail. They tried again and again, but the little candle Digimon just wouldn't let go eventually they sighed and rolled their eyes, heading into the restaurant themselves.

"Hey, wait for me!" Candlemon stopped slapping Mushroomon and hopped his way forward. Unfortunately, thanks to his bronze candle holder part, he was quick to fall down. But to his surprise, it wasn't Silver Spoon or any of the others who saved him, no they were already inside the restaurant, but Mushroomon, despite Candlemon's outburst on him earlier.

"Mushroomon... why-"

"Y'all were just angry" Mushroomon shrugged as he brought his friend inside the restaurant "Ah'm sure ah can look past yer mistakes and make peace with ya."

"Oh, well... thank you" Candlemon thanked.

"No problem" Mushroomon smiled as pushed the door open into the restaurant.

"Wow!" Scootaloo looked absolutely astonished "This place looks, let alone smells, amazing!"

And right she was. The inside of the restaurant was made of finely polished and cleaned oak wood, and was filled with just the right amount of Digimon and noise. The main restaurant part consisted of a little more than the front hemisphere of the building, with the wooden border between the restaurant and kitchen making way for the bar. Circular wood tables with blue chairs were positioned right next to the windows, allowing any Digimon to gaze out whilst they ate.

At the bar was a peculiar Digimon that really wasn't much more than a white egg with legs and feet. The green, scaly feet emerged from the cracked egg body, and where its head should be was a hole in the shell with two yellow lights posing as eyes were. It noticed the new customers immediately.

"Ah, customers!" the egg Digimon noticed "Please, come, come! Sit down, and have a bite or five to eat!"

"Wait, wait, I think I got this one..." Scootaloo tried to guess its rank "Um... Rookie, right?"

"I... beg your pardon?" the egg Digimon asked confusingly before lightening up a bit "Hahaha! Oh, what it'd be like to be a kid again! No, I'm sorry, kiddo; I'm no Rookie."

"But... you look so sma-"

"What my friend here is TRYING to say is that we need pretty much all the food you can make" Pagumon bounced up and interrupted everything "See that Fresh Digimon on dweeb #6's head?"

"Blub" Punimon gurgled a bit.

"Hey, who're you calling dweeb?" Rumble crossly spoke.

"Yeah, he needs a LOT of food" Pagumon continued "And so do we, so we're going to be needed just about everything you got."

"Pagumon, you should really try to learn to be nice" Diamond Tiara spoke up "Well... I'm not exactly one to say that quite yet... But anyway, my name is Diamond Tiara, and these are my friends Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rumble, Silver Spoon, Babs Seed, Candlemon, Pagumon, Guilmon, Mushroomon and Punimon" she pointed her hoof as she introduced everyone.

"Hello!" everyone greeted at the same time, with some 'hey's and one 'blub' in there as well.

"Nice to meet you all" the egg Digimon nodded "My name is Digitamamon, and much to your belief, and much to my disappointment, I am not a Rookie rank Digimon. I'm an Ultimate Digimon."

"Ultimate? Is that a step up from Champion?" Apple Bloom wondered.

"Correct" Candlemon nodded, now set down from Mushroomon's grasp "Digimon have six ranks. Seven, if you include their egg form. They go, in order, Fresh, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. Ultimate Digimon are rare as most Digimon are unable to stay in such a large form. Digitamamon here, however, is small enough to stay as himself for as long as he wants."

"Much like Gatomon or Scootaloomon?" Guilmon wondered.

"Scootaloomon?" Digitamamon wondered.

"Yeah, Scootaloomon" Guilmon hugged his partner "She's super cool and awesome! She's not actually a Digimon, but if she was, she would be a Mega rank!"

"Heh heh... Thanks, Guilmon..." Scootaloo blushed a bit, hugging her partner back.

"Sorry about him" Babs spoke up "Guilmon believes that if he starts calling Scootaloo Scootaloomon, she and him will be able to speak between their minds."

"Hahaha! Ah, to be a kid again" Digitamamon laughed "Now I hate to do this to you all, but I do have a restaurant to run. If you're in need of something, now's the best time to ask me."

"Ah, yes" it was Silver's turn to talk now "Well, Pagumon isn't too far off. We are in need of a lot more food than we packed, especially for little Punimon here. Is there any way you can make about five day's worth of food in a few minutes? I know it's a big ask, but we really need this right now."

"Honey, I'm Digitamamon" Digitamamon chuckled "With my team and I, we can do anything we want. BURGERMONS!! MERAMON!!"

As he shouted those names, five Digimon appeared from the kitchen. Four of them were small, beige creatures with bright blue eyes and stubby arms and feet, as well as a long tail behind them. Around their neck, or rather lack there of, was a red and white scarf of sorts, and atop their head was a burger bun hat, complete with seeds and all. The fifth Digimon was a tall beast, standing on two legs and pretty much completely on fire. It had blue eyes and a stitched mouth, not unlike the flame atop Candlemon's head. In one of its fiery hands was a spatula for cooking.

"BOSS!" the four small Digimon cheered.

"What is it, Digitamamon?" the fiery Digimon growled, though the group could tell it wasn't from anger, but it was simply the way he spoke "Oh, is it about these ones here?"

"It's a big job today, everyone" Digitamamon nodded "These... how many of there are you... thirteen need five day's worth of food for their little Punimon to eat and get stronger. Do you five think you can do that?"

"We're on it, boss!" the smaller Digimon, which the group deduced as the Burgermons, happily obliged.

"Leave it to me" the growling, fiery Digimon, which the team figured was Meramon, nodded and entered back into the kitchen.

"Don't you lot worry about a thing" Digitamamon assured "We'll have your food by the end of the-"

"ACK! Not you again, you little brat!" everyone heard Meramon shout from within the kitchen, as well as a loud crashing noise "Get out of here, or I'm calling the Chessmon!"

"What the- What's going on in there?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Hey, can't a girl eat food?!" shouted a bratty female voice, yet as bratty as it sounded it still had a lovely pitch "I haven't eaten in days, and I have literally no money left!"

"Then you starve!" Meramon shouted back.

"Why you insufferable... LUNAR CLAW!" she shouted. Suddenly, Meramon burst through the wall dividing the kitchen and the restaurant, causing all the Digimon there to look over in confusion. The group had fortunately moved out of the way, save for Pagumon and Sweetie Belle, both of which were too slow to react and ended up getting knocked down by Meramon.

"Hey! Whoever's in there, show yourself!" Babs shouted, her and her friends, including the Digimon, preparing to fight whatever came thier way. What they saw was the last thing they expected.

It was a small creature, a little smaller than Mushroomon. It was white with four large, rabbit-like ears with purple stripes on the side and back of its head. Its body became a dress with a pink ribbon crossed into an 'X', with a moon symbol where the pink ribbon met. Several yellow crescent moons were also on its arms with five small claws, its belly, its neck and its forehead. In the middle of its forehead moon was a long, white protrusion that faded into purple at the tip. It has a cross and uptight look on its face.

"How uncouth!" it scoffed in the same unknown voice as last time "You should treat all of your customers with respect and dignity, especially a princess such as I."

"Ugh... Please excuse her, everyone" Digitamamon sighed "This is Princess Lunamon of the castle just east of here. She likes coming in here sometimes to try some of our food because she really likes it. However, she can't quite seem to understand that she has to act like every other customer here if she wants to eat here" he looked at her as he said that last part.

"I'm a princess, I can do what I want" Lunamon rolled her eyes.

"A... p-princess?" Silver and Diamond both gushed a bit "So cool..."

"Ah, at last there are some Digimon who respect my authority" Lunamon smiled before looking quite skeptical "Wait... You seven don't look like any Digimon I've ever seen. Are you even Digimon at all?"

"Ugh... no, we're not..." Sweetie groaned as she, Meramon, and Pagumon got up from the fall "Oh!" she noticed the new Digimon among them "Aww, you're so cute!"

"Oh, you're actually very cute too!" Lunamon giggled, getting closer to Sweetie Belle and examining her "Such a beautiful coat and such amazing hair... You HAVE to tell me who does it in the morning everyday."

"Oh, well, my sister mainly does it for me..." Sweetie blushed a bit.

"You look absolutely perfect!" Lunamon's smile grew larger "I'd even say you look like a princess!"

"You're just saying that" Sweetie giggled as well.

"No, I mean every word" Lunamon confirmed "Your entire style is just so... regal. Why, I'd wager that every man you come across faints at the mere sight of you, and every women you see envies your style and wants to be you. Your sister is a very talented person if she's able to create a look such as that."

"Hey, wait, I'm a guy!" Rumble called up.

"You are?" Lunamon took out a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere and placed them over her soft pink eyes "I couldn't tell with that high pitched voice of yours."

"OOOHHHHHHHH!!!!" Pagumon and everyone sitting at their tables called out.

"Ohhh..." Rumble sighed "That's the second time my masculinity was ruined for a joke..."

"Cheer up, Rumble" Mushroomon chuckled, patting him on the back a bit "At least yer masculinity is still there. Though, ah gotta say, maybe that last joke completely ruined it."

Rumble facepalmed.

"Mushroomon, try ta be a little nicer than than, okay?" Apple Bloom chuckled a bit "Though, that joke was a lil' funny."

Rumble simply sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to beat everyone.

"Blub" Punimon snuggled him a bit, attempting to comfort him.

"Thanks, Punimon" Rumble smiled a bit "You're the only one who really gets me."

"Hahaha! Hey, you guys aren't so bad!" Lunamon laughed a bit "I mean, at first I thought you were all lowly peasants like most Digimon are, but then I kinda realized you have some semblance of personality that defines each of you."

The crowd that once cheered for Lunamon quickly quieted down. In a metaphor, they were quick to realize Lunamon's exterior was the only thing soft and cute about her. They went back to their meals and ignored her for the remainder of the time, causing Lunamon to feel slightly bad about it.

"Oh... I'm sorry I called you all lowly peasants..." she apologized.

"It's okay, Lunamon" Diamond stepped up "Believe it or not, I was actually like you as well a little while ago. No offense... See, I'm still learning about this whole nice thing. I'm sure we can teach you how to be nice."

"You'd do that for me?" Lunamon wondered.

"Of course" Sweetie Belle gave her a kind smile "That's what friends are for, right?"

"You would all consider me your friend?" Lunamon questioned, to which the entire group nodded "But why? I've only recently met you, and I've pretty much acted like a total brat around you. Not to mention I don't even know who you guys are yet."

Everyone giggled a bit before introducing themselves one-by-one, allowing time for Lunamon to understand everyone. Finally, after everyone was finished introducing themselves, their friends and Digimon, Diamond Tiara stepped up to Lunamon and smiled, much to the latter's slight confusion.

"We're able ta look past others' differences. Trust me" Apple Bloom smiled, winking at Diamond "Besides, anypony who can successfully make fun o' Rumble's masculinity is alright in mah books."

"Ugh... Please stop bringing that up..." Rumble blushed a bit, to which everyone jokingly laughed. Eventually though, he understood the innocence of the joke and began laughing along with them as well. Punimon also tried to join in, but all he could make were cute gurgling noises, which caused everyone to laugh even harder.

"Sweetie Belle, look!" Silver pointed at her Digivice.

"Another DigiDestined partner!" Candlemon pointed out "Sweetie Belle and... Lunamon?"

"Yay, another friend to play with!" Guilmon clapped a bit.

Silver smiled as she released the final Digivice, the red one, and watched it fly up into the air. One final time, the light came out from the side of the device which turned into a strap that attached itself to Sweetie Belle's front left hoof. The screen blinked a few times before stopping and settling down.

"What on earth was that?" Lunamon questioned.

"Well, Lunamon, it looks like you're coming with us" Scootaloo smiled "According to the prophecy stuff and such and blah, blah, blah, you're a DigiDestined partner that'll help us defend the digital world from danger."

"So now I'm not only a princess... but a hero as well?" Lunamon questioned.

"Ah guess so" Apple Bloom grinned and patted her on her back

"...yeah, okay... thank you..." Digitamamon sighed, hanging up a phone he had in the kitchen "Lunamon... I was just on the phone with your mother."

"My WHAT?!" Lunamon immediately snapped.

"Lunamon, please, you must understand that I have a business to run, and you always messing everything up isn't good" Digitamamon explained "I'm sorry, but BishopChessmon is already on his way to collect you."

"Actually, I'm already here" a deep, male voice said at the entrance to the restaurant. Everyone in the establishment turned to see a large Digimon barely large enough to fit through the thankfully large door of the restaurant.

He was mainly made of white metal, with joints on every part of his arms for maximum flexibility. His head was very helmet-like with a pike on top and a mask over his mouth and nose, but not his gray eyes. He wore purple robes over his chest and legs, which appeared to be a white dress with two iron feet. Behind him flowed a majestic cape, and in his left hand was a large, white, club-like staff. His face looked angry yet calm at the same time. It intrigued Silver Spoon how this could be.

"Allow me to introduce myself" the Digimon bowed a bit in chivalry "I am BishopChessmon, captain of the royal guard and friend of KingChessmon and QueenChessmon. I, and my troop of PawnChessmon, are here to collect the princess."

"Ugh... But I don't wanna go home!" Lunamon shouted as if a brat "I wanna stay here with my new friends!"

"New friends?" BishopChessmon questioned, now looking at the group "You mean to tell me you have all befriended the princess?"

"Yeah, we have" Babs scoffed a bit.

"No need to raise your temper with me. I'm merely following orders" BishopChessmon assured "In fact, I was about to congratulate you all on befriending her. She has little to no friends, so I'm glad you were all able to look past her... rough exterior and see her for what she is on the inside."

"Cheesy line alert" Scootaloo whispered to her friends, causing them to giggle a bit.

"Ugh... Fine... I'll go with you..." Lunamon groaned and rolled her eyes "But Bishy, I'm a DigiDestined partner! I have to go with them!"

"Are you now?" BishopChessmon questioned with a small chuckle, leading Lunamon out of the restaurant by holding her hand "Well, I'm sure you can tell your mother and father all about it when we get back home."

"Actually, sir BishopChessmon, I think you would like to know that-" Candlemon couldn't even finish his sentence before the chess Digimon closed the door behind him, leaving everyone else be. Candlemon rubbed his head with his hands and sighed a bit. Afterwards, he used his arms to hop over to the door, open it up, and watch as BishopChessmon, Lunamon, and some other Digimon that appeared to be the PawnChessmon, fly away in a large blimp of sorts back to the castle.

"Darn..." Mushroomon watched as the blimp flew away.

"Lunamon, no..." Sweetie sighed "Well... BishopChessmon DID say we could visit anytime we wanted, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure this QueenChessmon and KingChessmon wouldn't mind if we came over for a visit" Scootaloo nodded "Alright then, let's go and ask Whamon if we can take another detour. After all, we'll need all the help we can get to get Impmon back."

"Sounds like a plan to me" Diamond smiled at this.

"Unfortunately, I have to object" spoke a voice eerily similar to BishopChessmon. The groups turned back only to see another Digimon was standing there. He looked exactly like BishopChessmon, only his armor was night black instead of white. He stepped out forward in front of the thirteen, looking down upon them with disappointment.

"BishopChessmon?" Guilmon wondered "But I thought you left already."

"That was the royal guard BishopChessmon" the Digimon explained "I am BishopChessmon of QueenChessmon's assassination team. No secret service, I can assure you. I have come to dispose of you lot."

"Excuse me?" Pagumon shouted "There'll be no disposing of here, thank you very much!"

"Unfortunately, queen's orders" BishopChessmon explained, summoning his own staff club "She doesn't want anyone interfering with her plans, which means I can't have you being friends with Princess Lunamon."

"Well if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Babs pressed the large button on her Digivice, which sent the digivolving light at Pagumon, enveloping him once again.

Pagumon Digivolve to...

BLACKAGUMON

"Alright, we're back in business!" BlackAgumon grinned, stretching his new limbs and looking straight at BishopChessmon "Now, are you ready to be burned to a crisp?!"

"I'll commend you for having the courage to stand up against me, young ones" BishopChessmon praised "However, I will also note you have made a very foolish mistake. I am an Ultimate rank Digimon, and while that could mean nothing for some Digimon, most should tremble in fear below me."

"...uh oh" BlackAgumon shrunk back down a bit before getting hit right in the face by the club staff and sent flying backwards. His chin was out of sync, but was quick to synchronize itself.

"That was just a taste of my power. Observe... BISHOP CROSS!" BishopChessmon raised his staff in the air and summoned an X in front of him. The X's points all connected with one another, forming a square, and finally shot a laser out from the center of the X, blasting everyone, including the ponies, backwards. Rumble was sure to protect Punimon from the blast, and made sure he was still safe in his arms.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice!" BlackAgumon stood back up and smiled a bit "Heh... I finally get to say that now... Anyway, these losers have actually grown on me, believe it or not, so anyone who hurts them goes through me! PEPPER BREATH!" he fired a stream of flames at his opponent. Unfortunately, BishopChessmon merely stayed still as the attack harmlessly deflected off of him. He brushed off any charred dust he had on him before attacking yet again.

"BISHOP LASER!" BishopChessmon shouted, pointing his staff at the group and blowing them all back again with another laser beam, this one of slightly more power.

"Nng..." Silver Spoon groaned in pain, trying to get up again.

"Silver Spoon, are you alright?" Candlemon immediately went to her aid.

"Yeah, I'm okay... thank you" she confirmed as she stood back up, smiling a bit. Suddenly, her Digivice's screen began to glow. She didn't know why, but she felt as if she had to do something, anything. Without any thought, she pressed the large button on her device. The screen then sent out a bright light towards Candlemon and surrounded him.

"Digivolution?" Candlemon questioned as he was enveloped by the light "Of course! Our bond of friendship must have advanced, allowing me to achieve a higher rank."

Candlemon Digivolve to...

WIZARDMON

In the place of Candlemon was a brand new Digimon that looked more humanoid than household object, standing only a foot taller than Silver Spoon.

He had a baggy, yellow and red jumpsuit with zippers everywhere and even a pair of eyes that thankfully were only stitched on. Over his jumpsuit, he wore a red vest, and over that was a long, navy blue cape that went down to his ankles and covered his mouth and nose, with patterns on the inside. He had brown leather boots and a navy blue pointed hat with a skull on top, as well as some orange hair coming down over his face. He also wore brown leather gloves also with zippers on them, and in his hand he held a small want with a tip shaped like the sun.

"BishopChessmon, you have just made a grave mistake..." the Digimon chuckled a bit "With the power of friendship, as sappy as that may sound, I have turned into Wizardmon! My magic powers far outmatch your own."

"Really? Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" BishopChessmon was more amused than scared of him.

"Very well... VISION OF TERROR!" he widened his eyes and pointed his staff right at his opponent, sending a shock wave into him that went straight to his eyes. There he saw a familiar face looking right at him.

"BishopChessmon, I am disappointed in you for failing a task I put out for you" she said only to him "I'm afraid you're of no use to me anymore. Well, you do have one use left..."

"Please, I beg you mercy, my queen!" BishopChessmon dropped his staff and started to beg on his knees "Please, spare me!"

"I do not spare ones who have failed me!" she continued "Now fall by my hand!"

"No, my queen, no!"

"What's up with him?" Scootaloo asked next to Wizardmon.

"I cast my attack, Vision of Terror upon him" he explained "It shows anyone their deepest fear to them, in an admittedly cruelly realistic way. However, he has now left me open to attack him..." he pulled out his wand again and pointed it at BishopChessmon "BlackAgumon, I'll require your assistance."

"Sure thing, man" BlackAgumon believed he knew what to do.

"ELECTRO SQUALL!" Wizardmon shouted.

"PEPPER BREATH!" BlackAgumon opened his mouth and fired a stream of fire at BishopChessmon. Combined with the electricity from Wizardmon's attack, the fire went right through their opponent like a hot knife on butter. BishopChessmon let out a scream of agony, but the attack failed to defeat him quite yet.

"Fools..." he huffed "Do you truly believe that a mere attack combo like that would defeat me? You will have to do FAR better than that if you have any hope of-"

"FUNGUS CRUNCHER!" Mushroomon threw his explosive purple balls again.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon shouted, lauching fire from his mouth at the bombs. They exploded right in front of BishopChessmon, shattering him into data before he could even get any last words. All four battle participants absorbed the data and BlackAgumon de-digivolved back into Pagumon.

"We did it!" Silver grinned, going over and hugging Wizardmon "Thanks, Wizardmon!"

"Yeah, no problem" Wizardmon chuckled a bit.

"...mark......my.......words........" spoke a hushed voice through the air "....you....... will...... regret .......... this............. our....... queen ....... will......... be............. victorious........"

"A whisper of BishopChessmon, I would think" Wizardmon guessed "It's probably on its way to Primary Island to be reborn, but I don't think we should take this warning for granted. Anything could be in the eastern castle."

"Well, I'm ready if everyone else is" Babs grinned.

"I'm not sure... I don't think Punimon would be safe there" Rumble mentioned.

"C'mon, Rumble" Apple Bloom sighed "We'll need everypony fer this one. Besides, who knows? Maybe Punimon is gonna eat so much food there, he'll digivolve inta his next form?"

"And we wouldn't want anyone making fun of your masculinity, right" Pagumon blackmailed him.

"Oh, shut up, Pagumon" Rumble sighed before smiling and making up his mind "Okay, I'll go with you guys."

"YES!!" Scootaloo jumped up, causing everyone to look at her funny and making her blush a bit "Um... I mean... Yeah, thanks for coming along with us Rumble. Go team!"

"Right..." Sweetie Belle snickered along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. All Scootaloo could do was sigh as they headed back down the steps to Whamon. However, Digitamamon came bursting out and looking all over for them.

"Where'd they go?!" he frantically searched the area "They still have to pay me!"

Author's Note

Punimon

Digitamamon

Burgermon

Meramon

Lunamon

BishopChessmon (White)

PawnChessmon (White)

BishopChessmon (Black)

Wizardmon

I hope everyone likes this Digimon recap I do after each episode. These are REALLY tedious to do!

So our final DigiDestined partner has been discovered, and it's a tomboy princess of all things! Is this a JRPG or Digimon, eh? Speaking of, I should probably get back on track to RPG-ween... Well, whatever! I'm glad that people are enjoying this story so far, and let me just say that I am having a BLAST writing it for you! Just be sure to comment and stuff!

And finally, after five episodes, we finally have our first Champion digivolution! It's Wizardmon, another highly under-appreciated Digimon that deserves more respect. Better not mess with him, because he can take on an Ultimate rank Digimon! With some help, but that's still impressive!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!

Oh, and Digimon requests are open! If anyone wants to have any Digimon in the story, just contact me and I'll find a way to put them in. No purchase necessary!

[Episode 6] Checkmate

Once again, the group found themselves on the back of their friend Whamon, riding the waves of the net sea to their next location. Though, it wasn't to save Impmon right now. They were on a quest to find the east castle and save their latest friend, Lunamon, from the fate of living her life without friends. This was all QueenChessmon's fault. Everyone hated her, and they didn't even know what she looked like! All they knew was that she was imprisoning their friend, be it from cruelty or just being an overprotective parent. Though from the last attack from the other BishopChessmon, the team was starting to consider the former.

"...hmm? Is... Could that be?" Wizardmon looked up for a brief moment only to see an island slowly appearing in his vision. He insisted on stayed the way he was for as long as possible for obvious reasons. He stood up and looked over the edge of Whamon's pipe area, trying to get a better view of what he was saying.

"What is it, Cand- um, I mean... Wizardmon?" Silver Spoon quickly corrected herself, forgetting he wasn't quite he smaller form anymore "Do you see something?"

"Hold up, I think I see it too" Babs Seed got up as well and squinted her eyes, trying to make out what she was seeing.

"Is that the east castle?" Sweetie Belle questioned, staring directly at the island quickly approaching them "Then that means we're so close to finding Lunamon!"

"I know these waters like the back of my tail" Whamon stated "Believe me, this is as eastbound as possible in the digital world. I have actually been here once or twice previously. There's a nice village near the castle where you can rest."

"Ah, that's good" stretched a bit "It'd be nice to finally get something to..." she suddenly realized something "Uh, guys? We left Digitamamon in charge of getting us our food."

Everyone stopped.

"Ya mean?" Apple Bloom almost groaned.

"We still have no food for Punimon..." Rumble sighed, petting the jelly Digimon on the head "Sorry, little guy..."

"Well, now hold on a sec" Mushroomon spoke up "Aren't y'all fergettin' somethin'? We could always git somethin' in the town. Besides, ah think a few sacrifices o' our supply wouldn't hurt, would it?"

"Yes, it would" Silver snapped "Our rations are for each of us for five days, excluding Punimon for reasons already established. If we were to use any of the food on him now... ohhh... the entire supply could go out of whack, and I'd have to reorganize everything! We should probably get something in town."

"Speaking of, I'm pretty hungry..." Scootaloo's stomache started to growl, as did Guilmon's.

"Scootaloomon, my tummy's growling" Guilmon mentioned "Does that mean I'm hungry?"

"Alright, everypony eat up" Silver Spoon brought out one day's worth of rations from her inventory, all of which was fruit. Yes, everyone was given exactly one piece of fruit, any kind really, for the day. The group would have complained, but they were so hungry from all the walking that they honestly couldn't. Opening their mouths, they began eating their rations.

"Feels kinda weird eatin' greens, considerin' ah'm a mushroom" Mushroomon mentioned as he ate his apple.

"Eugh... I don't really like this all that much, Silver Spoon" Guilmon mentioned "Do you have any meat?"

"...w-well, um, no" Silver had to sigh before answering after what Guilmon said "I just figured that every Digimon was the same as far as food goes."

"Other creatures in your world eat other things, right?" Wizardmon questioned "Digimon aren't too different from animals and people, I suppose. Both have their own food preferences on what they can eat, their own needs, and their own personality. You had an entire night to think about this, and yet you never maybe thought: Hmm, what if Digimon eat something other than apples?"

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be a jerk about it" Silver grumbled.

"...I'm sorry, Silver Spoon" Wizardmon sighed "A new form for some Digimon means a new personality. Guilmon's line, I believe, is safe from this, for example. However, I'm not. I'm still adjusting to my new self."

"Excuses, excuses..." Pagumon shook his head/body.

"Quiet, you little whelp!" Wizardmon grabbed him by the ears and gave him a stare that could kill if possible. Both calmed back down afterwards.

"Alright, okay..." Silver sighed, going back to reorganizing the rations.

"Silver, I-"

"Best leave her be" Diamond stepped forward, comforting Wizardmon a bit "I know her more than anyone on this bo- whale!"

"Thank you" Whamon thanked.

"Anyway, like I said, best leave her alone for a bit" Diamond continued before whispering her last sentence "She can get a little angry when her friends treat her the way you did. No offense."

"None taken" Wizardmon nodded "I'll be sure to keep my distance."

"Here you go, Punimon" Rumble gave his partner his ration "I think you'll need it more than me."

"Blub" Punimon ate it by absorbing it into his body.

"Ugh... Rumble, that was supposed to be for you!" Silver complained.

"Yeah, but we want Punimon to digivolve, right?" Rumble became cross with Silver Spoon "I think any amount of food he can get will help. Besides, we can always eat something at town, right?"

"But... You... I..." Silver felt anger swelling up inside her. Before she was about to explode, she slammed her head against one of Whamon's pipes and knocking herself out. After checking to make sure she was okay, Wizardmon sighed and turned back to his friends.

"She's out like a light" he confirmed.

"Silver Spoon looked pretty scary..." Guilmon mentioned "Maybe we should get her to a doctor?"

"She does seem like she's going through some stress issues" Scootaloo agreed, turning her head toward Diamond Tiara "Hey, DT? Is this something that happens in your daily life?"

"When we weren't bullying you, Silver would usually be at home fantasizing about perfection and organization" she explained "She was, and still is, a total nerd. So, when somepony messes around with her plans, she starts getting agitated. Not much you can do about that though... She'll wake up eventually."

"Meanin' she does this often?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"Pretty much..." Diamond sighed.

"Well, nothin' we can do now" Apple Bloom shrugged "Let's jus' git ta the village and hope she wakes up eventually."

"In that case, next stop, Eastward Village!" Whamon started speeding up, getting closer and closer to the village and the castle. As the kingdom got easier to see by everyone's eyes, they realized how fortified it was, what with the giant defense towers guarding the entirety of the island, as well as protective walls everywhere the eye could see. Ominous fog has swept the area as well, causing the group to feel rather uncomfortable. The guards in the defense towers seemed to allow Whamon cross into their land, it would seem.

"Something's really fishy here..." Scootaloo brought up "I don't like this at all."

"Do you think it's a trap?" Babs wondered.

"Well, o' course it's a trap" Mushroomon confirmed, chuckling a bit "Most thin's' in this world are traps, so ah'm ready fer anythin' by this point. The question is are y'all?"

"To save Lunamon, I'm always ready" Sweetie Belle nodded.

"In that case, keep on course, Whamon" Wizardmon nodded.

A little after Wizardmon said this, the group saw they were approaching a gate connected to a slightly shorter wall that seemed to surround the entire island. Next to the gate stood two small Digimon, one with white armor and the other with black. They both were bipedal and seemed a little stubby, but in their two hands was a pike and a shield, both the same color as they were respectively. Their head was a spiked helmet with a golden mask over their faces. Everyone recognized them as the PawnChessmon from earlier.

"Stop right there!" the white PawnChessmon called out.

"You have violated the law!" the black PawnChessmon joined his partner.

"No they haven't, you fool" the white PawnChessmon sighed.

"Don't blame me, I've been wanting to use that line all month" the black PawnChessmon argued.

"Allow me, everyone..." Wizardmon assured before stepping up and facing the two guards "Greetings, fellow Digimon. I am Wizardmon, and I come from a faraway land. I have been sent with my... um... squires and court fools to speak with your king and queen about some very, very important matters."

"I don't know..." the white PawnChessmon pondered.

"You're very suspicious..." the black PawnChessmon pointed out "Maybe I should contact the queen and make sure that-"

"You DARE question my authority?!" Wizardmon's voice rose "You ignorant whelps! Let us pass immediately, or you're toast. And with me," he brought one of his hands up and sparked some electricity through it "I'm dead serious."

"WAA!" the white PawnChessmon exclaimed.

"W-We're sorry, sir Wizardmon" the black PawnChessmon bowed chivalrously before pushing down a lever and opening up the gate "Please, enjoy your time here at Eastward Village."

"Thank you, good sir" Wizardmon nodded as Whamon continued on his path.

"Wow, Wizardmon" Guilmon seemed absolutely fascinated at his friend's ability "When did you learn how to get so good at acting?"

"Years and years of waiting for the DigiDestined will drive you insane" he explained with a small laugh "I eventually self-taught myself, but that's a story for another day; look! We're here!"

Wizardmon was not wrong. The group looked forward and saw that they had finally arrived in Eastward Village, a small place with a small dock not nearly big enough for Whamon, single-floor housing, and filled with Digimon. However, everyone walked around with their heads hung low. They were depressed for reasons unknown, but if things were going as 'smoothly' as they were now, something told the group they would soon find out.

They all hopped off Whamon's back after he struggled to find a good place to dock. Almost immediately, the depressed Digimon turned their heads toward the group before charging right at them with hunger in their eyes. Everyone got ready to fight them, but the would-be battle was interrupted by a fireball, which came from an unknown source.

"Settle down!" spoke a childish male voice unfamiliar to the group "Settle down and be patient. You'll get your fix eventually."

At last, the owner of the voice emerged from the fog. He looked a lot like Wizardmon, with some notable differences. For starters, his attire was made of all warm colors. His pants and short robe that only went down to his hips were red and left a midriff in the middle, showing only an orange flame. His scrawny gray arms were contrasted by his giant red gloves, and where his arms met his robe was fire, pure and simple. His face was terrifying, with gray skin, seemingly stitched, scarecrow-like mouth, and messy black hair coming down from his head, on top of which was a red pointed cap seemingly on fire with a pair of goggles resting on the rim. His shoes were again red with button straps, and on his waist were a couple of belts holding two match-like wands; one red and one blue.

"Man, what's up with this guy?" Pagumon chuckled a bit.

"Excuse me?" the Digimon questioned in response to Pagumon's rude question.

"Ignore him. He does some silly things most of the time" Babs apologized for her partner's behavior "Anyway, my name's Babs Seed, and these are my friends and cousin Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Rumble, Punimon, Pagumon, Guilmon, Mushroomon and... Wait, where's Silver Spoon and-"

"Right here..." a voice came from atop Whamon. Everyone looked to see Candlemon carrying Silver Spoon hilariously unconscious body off onto the dock, slowly and steadily as to not fall into the thankfully shallow water.

"Candlemon...?" the new Digimon questioned.

"FlaWizarmon?" Candlemon wondered, gently placing his partner next to him "Is that really you?"

"A few incarnations old, but I'm still alive and kicking" the Digimon chuckled "But you look like you've been underground for ages, man! How long have you been guarding those digivices?"

"I can't even remember now..." Candlemon sighed "However, it's nice to see a familiar face in all this."

"Candlemon, who is this guy?" Diamond questioned, knowing everyone else wanted the answer as well.

"Oh, my apologies" he sheepishly chuckled "This is my long-time college and friend, FlaWizarmon. Before any of you were but specks in the digital mainframe, we had worked together on multiple projects, such as the long-abandoned project E.X.O."

"Candlemon, you actually remember that old side thing?" FlaWizarmon laughed.

"Project... E.X.O.?" Mushroomon wondered "Wait... Ah think ah heard o' it... Wasn't it the thin' that Digimon claimed would protect the digital world fer eternity?"

"It was" Candlemon nodded "Project E.X.O., or just Exo for short, was something me and FlaWizarmon worked on when we were much, much younger. The sole purpose was to, as Mushroomon stated, protect the digital world from any sort of danger whatsoever. However, once we understood the consequences this could create, such as Exo destroying any Digimon that did the smallest bad deed, we ended up scrapping the project."

"It was probably fer the better" Apple Bloom agreed "Ah couldn't imagine a world where everypony was constantly under the eye o' some sick creation, forcin' them ta do everything by the law."

"But I can't deny it was a truly sophisticated machine..." FlaWizarmon remembered before snapping free of his trance "A-Anyway, I'm sure all of you need something after your long journey."

"Yeah, we need to talk with your queen" Scootaloo nearly scoffed "She has a friend of ours that we need to get back."

"Ah, a casual arrest, hmm?" FlaWizarmon questioned.

"Well actually, she-" Sweetie Belle started before getting interrupted by FlaWizarmon.

"Everyone follow me. This village is certainly not one for rest..." he lit one of his match wands up and lead the way back to castle with his fire. Letting out a sigh, Candlemon took Silver Spoon and awkwardly hopped toward them. Oh how he despised this mode of travel.

But something stirred inside him whenever he looked at his old friend. He didn't know what or why it happened, but he did know that his friend seemed like he hadn't changed in the slightest. He smiled at this, finally being able to speak with someone of his intellect who wasn't unconscious at the moment. But at the same time, something in his gut told him something was very, very amiss.

The group was taken inside the castle, filled with black and white checkered floors, and giant statues of chess pieces lining each and every hallway. A few couldn't help but snicker at the design choice, but a few looked quite amazed at what they were seeing. After all, only so many of them have actually seen the inside of a castle before.

FlaWizarmon lead them all into the dining hall, where a great array of food items had been set out for them on a table covered in a checkered cloth. Excitedly, the fillies and colt ran forward with their Digimon to claim a seat for their own and wait patiently to feast. As a joke, Silver Spoon was placed right next to Diamond's seat, her head now resting on a plate. FlaWizarmon simply laughed at this display of children's antics. Calmly, he stepped towards the two larger seats at the far end of the table and awaited what the group could only think as the king and queen.

"This is real nice o' y'all, Mr. FlaWizarmon" Apple Bloom nodded with a smile "But, what's the occasion?"

"Oh, dear Apple Bloom, I think you'll actually find that your visit was quite expected..." FlaWizarmon chuckled darkly.

"FlaWizarmon, what is the meaning of this?" Candlemon angrily questioned.

"Hahaha! Now... I present to you... OUR KING AND QUEEN!!" FlaWizarmon pointed over to the side, causing everyone to brace themselves and get ready for a battle. A spotlight appeared over by a darkened corner, revealing nothing but a lonely corner. Many were confused, including FlaWizarmon.

"Um... Was this your big plan?" Sweetie questioned.

"It's kinda lame" Babs added.

"Q-QueenChessmon? KingChessmon?" FlaWizarmon called out "Where did you two go?!"

"Enough of this foolishness, FlaWizarmon!" Candlemon spoke crossly "Explain your plan immediately!"

"Candlemon, relax..." spoke a calm voice behind him. He and the ones sitting at the table turned to see a tall, humanoid woman with mainly black armor, as well as a few deep pink shoulder plates and a deep pink breastplate. The dress around her waist was also pink with silver, blade-like metal parts that flowed freely. Her helmet was also deep pink, but had a gold mask covering her eyes, as well as long silver hair behind her. On her back was a deep pink cape and in her hand was a staff that had a gold heart shape near the top and a gray hammer-like thing right at the top.

"QueenChessmon? It's an honor..." Candlemon bowed, but quickly got back up again and began to become very cross "What makes you think that you can just-"

"Sorry about him, your majesty" Diamond Tiara bowed respectfully "He can get a bit... uptight."

"Hahaha... I know, my child" QueenChessmon giggled a bit "I was around when he and FlaWizarmon were but fractions of data playing with blocks. Speaking of, you can stop the charade now, FlaWizarmon. Sorry, I was slightly late to the welcoming party."

"Of course, your majesty" FlaWizarmon nodded and let out a sigh.

"Wait... Charade?" Scootaloo questioned "You mean it was all a play? Ugh... I feel stupid..."

"Karma..." Rumble muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Nothing, nothing..." Rumble pretended as if nothing happened.

"We're sorry about this, truly we are" QueenChessmon apologized "We wanted to make your time here more exciting than simply a quiet dinner with nothing... interesting..."

"Are ya sorry 'bout takin' away Lunamon?" Apple Bloom stood up and walked over to her "And how did y'all know we were comin' anyway? Sounds mighty suspicious..."

"My daughter is... She's busy right now" QueenChessmon answered "As for how I knew you were all coming, I figured it out after I witnessed you defeat BishopChessmon earlier today. I know you wish to speak with Lunamon right now but-"

"But what, mother?" the familiar voice of Lunamon echoed through the hall.

"Lunamon, I thought I told you to stay in your room while we have guests over!" QueenChessmon scolded.

"I know what you said, but these are my friends, not just guests" Lunamon floated down from the air and right in front of her mother "Y'know, mother, I've never really understood why you wouldn't allow me to have friends of my own. What, did you think I would get stabbed in the back?"

"Lunamon, please, enough of this" QueenChessmon regretfully sighed.

"Enough of this, mother!" Lunamon shouted "Explain to me what-"

"Lunamon, I love you too much to tell you" the queen explained, anger building up inside her she decided not to release "Fine, stay with your friends. But the moment you're finished with the meal, they're leaving."

She then teleported away, leaving everyone behind. This was about the time when Silver Spoon woke up.

"H-Huh? Where...?" she wondered.

"Good morning, Silver Spoon" Diamond patted her friend on the back "You feeling okay?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks..." she nodded.

"Lunamon!" Sweetie Belle dashed up and hugged her partner "We missed you!"

"Hey, Sweetie Belle" Lunamon nodded "Yeah, I guess I missed you as well. Well, I mean, this is certainly better than being around my mother and father."

"Haha! Owned!" Pagumon called out.

"Pagumon, is yer very existence jus' ta annoy us and make stupid jokes all the time?" Mushroomon flatly questioned the lavender puffball of a Digimon.

"Pretty much, yeah" Pagumon giggled a bit "But remember: I can also digivolve into BlackAgumon and roast my foes on a silver platter! Or just grass, I guess that works as well."

"Digivolve? It sounds as if you can digivolve whenever you guys want" Lunamon noted.

"Because we can" Scootaloo nodded, showing Lunamon her Digivice "Remember seeing these? Well, with them we can control our Digimon partners' digivolution. It's actually pretty cool! Though, we haven't seen what anypony here looks like beyond... well... what you're seeing now, I guess."

"Digivolution on command?" Lunamon pondered "I wonder if we can use this to intimidate my mother..."

"Hold on there, hotshot" FlaWizarmon spoke up after a long period of silence "I know those things like the back of my hand. After all, I helped develop them. You can only digivolve further into Champion rank when you and your partner reach a certain level of friendship together. I wouldn't expect you to have such a strong bond yet."

"You'd be surprised" Rumble brought up "Punimon here and I have only been together for a little while, and already I'm feeling as if we could take on the world. Isn't that right, Punimon?"

"Blub" Punimon cheerfully bounced as he was eating a large amount of food on the table.

Suddenly, he began to glow with a blinding light, forcing most present to look away. His shape grew a bit before the light eventually faded away, allowing everyone to look back now. There, in Punimon's place, was a new Digimon with an orange body, white face, orange eyes and a large horn right on top of his head. He looked back at Rumble and gave a grin.

"Hey there, Rumble!" he said happily.

"Punimon? Is that you?" Rumble asked.

"Not anymore, I'm not" the Digimon shook his head/body "My name is Tsunomon! Glad to finally meet you!"

"His memory must've wiped clean when he arrived in the Village of Beginnings" Candlemon stated with a thankful sigh "Well, at least I won't have to have him complain about what happened."

"Oh believe me, Candlemon, I remember ever, single, solitary detail" Tsunomon brought up with a smirk "But I've decided not to unleash my full wrath upon you for turning me into a pile of slime because I'm forgiving like that. Besides, you guys have been so awesome to me afterwards, that I couldn't complain!"

"In any case, would you all like to see what QueenChessmon has been hiding from you all this time, Lunamon?" FlaWizarmon asked the princess "Everyone else can come along as well, if they want. You won't get in the way."

"Well, as long as it's okay with Lunamon" Apple Bloom nodded.

"Well duh! Of course I wanna see what my mom's been hiding away from me!" Lunamon grinned.

"I dunno, you guys" Rumble spoke a bit concernedly "Maybe some things are best left as mysteries, am I right?"

"C'mon, Rumble, don't be a wuss" Babs laughed a bit, getting out of her seat and starting to follow the others "Don't let us make fun of your masculinity again!"

"Hahaha! Don't listen to them, Rumble" Tsunomon laughed "You may not be strong in your willpower, but you're strong in your heart okay? After all, you were kinda the one who took such good care of me."

"You're... You're right" Rumble nodded "After all, how bad could this be anyway?"

"This way..." FlaWizarmon waved his hands forward to signal to the others to continue following him "It shouldn't be too far now. I'm sorry about doing this to you, Lunamon."

"It's not a problem, FlaWizarmon" Lunamon shook her head "I'm just glad I'm finally learning late rather than later. Then again... it WOULD have been nice if you told me sooner rather than later!"

The group had descended down into a secret passageway hidden within the castle walls. It was extraordinarily dark, that's for certain. However, the pathway slowly got brighter and brighter the closer everyone was to the end. Eventually, and to some finally, they reached the end of the tunnel only to find themselves in a large cylinder-shaped room with a strange-looking, gigantic machine in the middle with green lights flowing through it. Dead in the middle of the machine was a strange triangular, orange, blue and purple device that looked only slightly bigger than a Digivice.

"This place is making me pretty uncomfortable..." Babs mentioned "Girls, even I don't like this place. Maybe we should leave..."

"But I wanna stay here for Lunamon" Sweetie Belle brought up "You can leave if everypony wants to, but I would like to stay with my partner, thank you."

"Heck no!" Scootaloo shook her head "If your staying, we're staying too."

"Besides, the technology in this one room is so fascinating..." Silver Spoon looked around the area, her eyes widened and her mouth nearly drooling at the sight of all this advanced machinery "I could stare at it for hours..."

"FlaWizarmon, what is that?" Candlemon finally questioned the object in the machine.

"I'm glad you asked, my good friend" FlaWizarmon smiled "That is an object of my own adaptation: the ChronoCore. QueenChessmon, KingChessmon and I found it buried deep within some ruins of an old human settlement. Together, we reactivated it and modified it to allow us to accomplish our goals."

"Our goals?" Mushroomon wondered crossly "FlaWizarmon, what are ya hidin'?"

"Nothing, Mushroomon, for I have nothing TO hide" FlaWizarmon stepped up to the machine and took the ChronoCore "Everything here is a blatant as the light on a hot summer's day. I'm just surprised you haven't figured it out yet."

"...no" Candlemon shook his head with a fearful expression on his face. Everyone stepped back a bit from FlaWizarmon.

"Oh, yes, Candlemon" spoke another Digimon who appeared next to FlaWizarmon. He was the exact same height as a PawnChessmon and even looked a bit like them as well. This one however had a golden crown atop his head, as well as a purple cape on his neck, a scepter with a yellow jewel on top and a magnificent black mustache under his golden helmet mask.

"I'm guessing you're KingChessmon?" Diamond smirked "You're certainly a lot shorter than I thought you'd be."

"You impudent youth" KingChessmon scoffed "I'd have you head for that comment, but today I'm feeling generous. Besides, the only thing I need now is my 'daughter'."

"Dad, FlaWizarmon, what is the meaning of this?!" Lunamon shouted "I demand an answer!"

"Since she's already here, I might as well tell her" FlaWizarmon stepped up, but was quickly stopped by KingChessmon.

"Allow me" he said, making his college step back "Lunamon, by now you must know that we are not related by blood. Well, you were no mere adoption, I can assure you. Do you see this core here? You were found as an egg near it, along with another who unfortunately perished long, long ago."

"We believe that you are the key to powering the ChronoCore" FlaWizarmon added "As such, we require your digital energy. So, we allowed you to live in this castle for a while until we deemed it was a good time to start harvesting your power. That's why QueenChessmon never allowed you out of the castle to make friends: because we all knew all you were and ever will be was cattle for our slaughtering house. But think of it as... a sacrifice for the protection of the world."

"Y-You're sick!" Sweetie Belle gasped.

"This... This can't be..." Candlemon held his shocked expression "Protection... of the world? FlaWizarmon, you haven't been working on project E.X.O. behind my back, have you?"

"Even before you became a guardian, old friend" FlaWizarmon chuckled "Think of it, Candlemon! With Exo in play, no one will ever have to be afraid of anything ever again! War will be an afterthought, and crime will be at an all-time low! Zero, even! The world will be at peace, and all we need is the energy of one. Single. Digimon. Is that too difficult?"

"There's no way we're giving you Lunamon, creep!" Silver Spoon, along with everyone else, stood in front of Lunamon and protected her "Lunamon is our friend, and there's no way we can give her up!"

"Your plan is flawed anyway" Rumble stated "More good Digimon may die than bad if you go through with this."

"That's impossible!" KingChessmon scoffed, grabbing the core out of FlaWizarmon's grasp "This machine is flawless! And once we have Lunamon's power, nothing will be able to stop it! Now ChronoCore! Take her power!!"

A light shot out from the middle of the ChronoCore, going through everyone and hitting only Lunamon. She screamed as she felt every bit of her power being sapped away from her. The group tried to reach out to her, but the light had become too strong by that point and blew everyone away. All they could do was watch in horror as Lunamon was transformed into a small, grey, tadpole-like Digimon. Finally, the light dispersed and went right into the core.

"Lunamon, no!" Sweetie Belle rushed out to aid her immediately "Lunamon... Lunamon, can you hear me?!"

There was no response.

"Lunamon, please... Don't go" Sweetie Belle was now crying.

"What a pathetic display of affection" KingChessmon scoffed "Why would you develop feelings for something meant to be used as a catalyst for this machine."

"Your majesty? Maybe she wasn't..." FlaWizarmon looked at the ChronoCore "This thing isn't even charged up five percent."

"What?!" KingChessmon exclaimed "How can this be?!"

"I think we were simply wrong in our assumption" FlaWizarmon guessed, feeling sorry for his actions "Catalyst or not, Lunamon was still a living life, with people who love her... oh... We may have just committed the greatest crime in the digital world."

"What, kill another Digimon?" KingChessmon asked.

"No... Tick off your wife."

A loud crash was heard reverberating through the room. The secret door had been breached. KingChessmon started cowering in fear, but FlaWizarmon simply stood there and accepted what was coming to him. For the most part, anyway. Stomping was heard down the tunnel, getting closer and closer until finally revealing QueenChessmon who looked angrier than an Ursa Minor. Before she was about to scold her husband for what he's been doing, she looked down and saw the Digimon that was all that remained of Lunamon.

"...Moonmon?" she shook a bit, bending down and taking her daughter in her hands "She's... She's not breathing..."

"Honey, you knew this was what we were supposed to do" KingChessmon reminded his wife "Using the power from Lunamon, we would have been able to-"

"Shut-up..." she cried a bit "Just... Just shut-up..."

"U-Um..." Sweetie Belle was about to say something, but was softly shushed by QueenChessmon.

"You are... Sweetie Belle, correct?" she wondered "I know my daughter loved you the most, because you were the one who opened up to her and became her friend. I went along with those two, thinking we could save the digital world at the cost of a life. But as time went on, I started caring about Lunamon. I... I was too late too late to stop this... Some mother I am..."

"QueenChessmon, I-"

"Take her" QueenChessmon held Lunamon's body out "After having her data removed, she never would have gone to the Village of Beginnings to be reborn. But she's still here, and I believe you are the only one who can save her..."

"Only I can save her..." Sweetie repeated "Then in that case, I'll do whatever it takes to get her back. Not because I have to and not because I can, but because she's my friend!"

Suddenly, her Digivice began beeping and flashing a light on its screen. A light popped out from it and began surrounding Moonmon, raising her into the air and eventually enveloping her. Everyone stared in awe of what they were seeing, including KingChessmon who was shocked Lunamon was even still alive after draining away her data. Finally, it happened.

Moonmon Warp Digivolve to...

LEKISMON

The new Digimon standing before everyone was a foot and a half taller than the ponies there. She had two rabbit-like ears and large whiskers on her head, as well as the strand of hair sticking out over her forehead, all of which Lunamon once had. A silver mask now covered her face and her torso was now some form of purple crystal with six tails coming out of it. She now wore gloves and a her moon strap had now become a large necklace of sorts. A pink ribbon flowed behind her head.

"W-WHAT?! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!" KingChessmon exclaimed "Instant digivolution?! Lunamon alive?! Ohhhh... This is one day certainly not in my favor..."

"KingChessmon!" the new Digimon spoke with a voice that sounded as if Lunamon was far older, at least an adult "I am Lekismon, guardian of the moon! What you're doing is a crime against all Digimon, and I intend to stop you!"

"Oh, and what are you gonna do anyway?" KingChessmon chuckled darkly.

"This! TEAR ARROW!" Lekismon created a bow made of ice and fired an icy arrow directly at KingChessmon. He couldn't react fast enough and, in natural reaction, covered himself with whatever was in his hand. He wasn't hit, he thanked, but then he remembered exactly what was in his hands.

"Oh no..." FlaWizarmon gasped at the sight of the ChronoCore starting to malfunction.

"Um... Oh dear..." KingChessmon panicked before handing to to FlaWizarmon "Here, you take it!"

"Sorry, old friend" FlaWizarmon shrugged before looking at the group and shaking his head "And to you all, sorry out time had to be cut short, but I have to go. You all should probably as well."

And with that, he teleported away.

"He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day!" KingChessmon laughed as he threw the ChronoCore up into the air and fled the scene "Have fun blowing up, everyone!"

Everyone watched in horror as the core fell back down onto the ground. However, Lekismon had a different plan. She created an icy shield that covered the group, but she struggled to hold it.

"S-Someone help me..." she muttered, shaking a bit now. Suddenly, a hoof was felt on her back. She looked back and saw Sweetie Belle with a smile on her face. They both nodded, and soon enough everyone else was joining them, praying for Lekismon to protect them. Eventually, even QueenChessmon joined in, despite feeling great regret for treating her daughter the way she did.

"Sweetie Belle... Mother... Everyone..." she smiled, feeling power flowing through her veins "Thank you..."

The core finally hit the ground and set off.

Author's Note

FlaWizarmon

QueenChessmon

Tsunomon

KingChessmon

Moonmon

Lekismon

CLIFFHANGER!! Will our heroes survive, or will their friendship not be enough? I don't know! What I do know is that if I don't say this next bit, everyone will think I misspelled FlaWizarmon's name and forgot the "D" in there, when there was no "D" to begin with. Okay? Okay.

I'll admit this wasn't my best episode, but that's mainly because I had school and stuff. And studying. One hour of it. Mom, if you're reading this, I have fans I have to write for, so stop pressuring me and forcing me to play things by your rules, okay? Okay? Thank you. Ugh... Well, I need a coffee. I'll be right back, everyone!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!