EQG Frontier

On the whole, Canterlot was a decent place to live. A nice high school with competent faculty, a prestigious private school further in the city, nice people and places to see. One just has to ignore the recent string of magical things happening that cause damage to things on occasion. Actually, most take the magic stuff in stride, seeing it as just another quirk of the city. Like that portal to another world in front of Canterlot High.

But that is not the start of this tale. This tale starts in a mansion in the rich part of Canterlot. A mansion owned by the family of Twilight Sparkle. Within its spacious gym, the repetitive clacking sound of hard blunt objects striking each other filled the air. Twilight held one, and was squaring off with her friend Flash Sentry, who held the other. Twilight stood in a relaxed fencing stance, her prop saber held in her right hand; while Flash stood in an offensive stance with his own saber in a two handed grip.

Flash came on hard, his blows swift and powerful, but easily deflected by Twilight's relaxed footwork, so relaxed that she appeared to be dancing. Finally, Twilight caught Flash's saber in a bind and twisted it out of his hand, catching it in her left hand. "Not bad, Flash. But you still can't beat me."

Flash laughed as she handed him back his saber. "One of these days, Twilight," he replied as they were approached by Sunset Shimmer, the bacon haired girl holding out chilled bottles of water for them. "Thanks, Sunset."

"I still never pegged you for a Star Wars nerd, Flash," Sunset teased with a smile. "Guess everybody has their guilty pleasures."

"Yeah," Flash answered with a chuckle and small blush as he smiled at Sunset.

The air was suddenly cut by a trio of rings. All their phones had received messages at the same time. "Okay that was weird," Twilight said as she pulled out her phone and looked at the message. "Would you like to join a game?"

"I've got that too," Sunset said.

"Same here," Flash added, confusion in his voice. "What do you girls think?"

"Well there's no sender ID, no number to call back, just a question with an answer yes or no," Sunset muttered. "That doesn't sound like a scam at all."

Twilight ignored the sarcasm as she worked her techno magic to try and trace the texts. "I can't trace them either. Even though this does sound like a scam, I'm actually a little curious." Typing in 'What sort of game' she hit send and almost immediately received a reply. "A game to determine your future."

"Well that doesn't sound ominous at all," Flash muttered sarcastically.

"Well I have my geode's magic if it's a setup," Twilight said before she received a repeat of the question if she would join the game. Typing 'yes', she hit send and received a reply immediately. "Go to the subway station and take the elevator down to the basement."

"Well I'm not letting you go alone," Sunset said as she replied 'yes' to her own message and got the same instructions. "Same destination."

Flash answered 'yes' as well. "Looks like these are from the same person."

"Well let's go see what this is all about!" Twilight declared, leading the way out to the garage where Flash had parked his car and Sunset her bike. While Sunset got on her bike, Twilight joined Flash in his car, the trio setting out together for the subway station to solve this mystery.

In another part of the city, at a small karaoke club, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were in a private room for some quality song time. And Rainbow was up at present, finishing a new addition to the soundtrack.

I'm a cursed black cat!
I'm an albatross!
I'm a mirror broken!
Sad to say, I'm your bad luck charm!

Rainbow laughed as the music ended and she set the mike down. "I love that song!"

"I must say, despite my initial opinions, RWBY really is a show worth watching," Rarity said with a smile. "And such a nicely made soundtrack."

"Poor Qrow," Fluttershy said before her phone vibrated. "Hm?" Pulling out her phone, she saw an odd text. "Would you like to join a game?"

Rarity and Rainbow's phones noted received texts as well, and turned out to say the same.

"This sounds like Saw to me," Rainbow said. "Hope this is just a prank and not some psycho trying to play out a Saw movie."

"That sounds scary," Fluttershy muttered.

"Hey between my speed and Rarity's diamond things, we can handle any trouble," Rainbow said. "Want to check it out?"

"It sounds like a setup to me," Rarity said. "But at the same time, I'm rather curious."

"Want to go together then?" Rainbow asked with a cocky grin.

"Well... I guess there's no harm in looking," Fluttershy replied.

"We'll be fine if we stick together," Rarity added.

"Together then!" Rainbow said as they all replied 'yes' and received directions.

Meanwhile, at the Sweet Apple Acres orchard, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, newly found cousins, were looking through and comparing family photo albums, seeing how close their families were connected. Which was interrupted by the simultaneous ringing of their phones' text notifications.

"Wonder who it is," Applejack said as she checked her message. "Weird. No name or number. Just askin' if I wanna join a game."

"Mine too!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Maybe it's a super secret sweepstakes for a chance to sample a brand new, never before tasted cupcake frosting! Or maybe it's a secret summons to another world of monsters and data and moral ambiguity!"

Applejack just stared at her cousin in confusion. "Let's uh... Go with that first one, sugarcube."

"I definitely want a new frosting flavor!" Pinkie replied as she answered 'yes!' "Huh. Weird place to hold a sweepstakes. The basement at the subway station?"

"Okay I'm goin' with ya to make sure nothin' happens," Applejack said, typing in 'yes' and receiving the same destination. "Weird messages. Kinda creeps me out."

"Come on, cousin! To frosting!" Pinkie declared as she dragged Applejack along out of the house.

Pinkie dragged Applejack all the way through their path in the subway station to the elevator and hit the basement button. "Frosting here we come!" she cheered as the elevator began descending, the floor indicators above them lighting up in sequence as they reached the basement, and then the light went past them into the metal itself, as though taking them down many more floors.

"That ain't supposed ta happen!" Applejack said in surprise, wondering just what her cousin had gotten them into. After a tense minute, the elevator stopped and opened to reveal...

"A train station?!" Pinkie gaped in shock. "A secret underground train station?!"

"This is gettin' super weird by the second," Applejack said as they stepped out. As her eyes scanned the station, they settled on three familiar figures. "Twilight! Sunset! Flash!"

The trio turned to face them with surprised looks. "Applejack! Pinkie Pie!" Sunset greeted with a smile. "I'm guessing you got a weird text asking if you wanted to join a game too?"

"Sure did," Applejack confirmed. "Pinkie thought it was some frosting sweepstakes."

"Classic Pinkie," Flash commented with a chuckle as the elevator opened again, letting out Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

"Now the gang's all here," Twilight commented as she adjusted her glasses. "I doubt this is a coincidence. True coincidences are rare." Their phones all chimed at once. Drawing her phone, Twilight looked at the message. "Now you must board the train." The other seven quickly confirmed that they too had received that message.

"If we're going to do this, we should do it together," Rarity said as she put her phone away.

"Yeah! Nobody left behind! We're strongest together after all," Rainbow agreed.

"Together is safest," Fluttershy added.

When nobody objected to boarding, Sunset nodded. "That's decided then. Together." Walking to the sole train in the station, the eight friends stepped aboard, the doors closing behind them before the train started moving.

"Ooh... Ominous!" Pinkie said as the train entered the tunnel before it. Right before her body twitched a bit. "Ooh! Pinkie Sense! There are new friends to meet on this train!"

"New friends?" Rainbow asked before her attention was pointed to a pair of teens in the next car up.

All curious, the friends moved into the next car to meet the strangers. One was a girl with pale skin similar to Rarity's, two tone blue hair with a pink bow atop her head, and she regarded them with icy blue eyes that were accented with purple eye shadow. Her outfit was a simple one. A bluish white blouse and dark blue jeans that hugged her legs, with black boots.

Across from her was a boy with skin a darker blue than Rainbow's own skin, black hair with silver streaks through it, and as he opened his eyes from his meditation, he revealed them to be red. In contrast to the girl, he was best described as sharp dressed as far as casual clothes went. He wore black pants and shoes, a red button up shirt, and a black suit jacket with a matching trilby atop his head.

For the first few moments, nobody spoke. Which was fine with Twilight, as she was busy staring at those red eyes. She didn't even blink as she and he held eye contact. Her heart was racing in her chest, and her face heating up as she felt herself almost being drawn in by his gaze. Until at last he broke the silence. "Flash Sentry, and the Rainbooms. So you were called as well." That voice! Twilight nearly swooned then and there. His voice was a low, gravely, baritone that dripped with power.

None of the others really took notice of what Twilight was experiencing as Sunset approached. "So you know who we are. What are your names?"

"Sapphire Valley," the girl replied with a slight inclination of her head.

"Facet," the boy said, his gaze falling to Twilight again. "Ten all together. Wonder what makes us special enough to call upon for our mysterious host."

Twilight finally pulled Rarity into the previous car for a private chat, shutting the door behind them. "Rarity. You believe in love at first sight, right?"

"Yes. Why, darling? I thought you didn't," Rarity replied with an arched eyebrow.

Twilight looked through the window at Facet, who was now conversing with Flash. "I do now..."

Rarity followed her friend's gaze and smiled. "Well first impressions tell me he's a nice, if gruff fellow. And he certainly knows how to dress."

Twilight turned to Rarity. "What should I do? I've never been in love before. I don't know what to do!"

"First you need to calm yourself, darling," Rarity said, putting a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "And when you're calm, you need to start with simple conversation. Natural conversation. Don't try to force talks. Just focus on learning about him, tell him about yourself. Let the relationship, if one will come, bloom on its own."

Twilight nodded as she breathed deeply, slowly calming down. "Okay. I'm calm."

"Just be yourself, darling," Rarity advised. "Make sure he loves the real you."

"Right," Twilight said, schooling her features before returning to the rest of the group with Rarity. Just as she was about to sit beside Facet to strike up a conversation, the train suddenly accelerated, surprising everybody.

"The hell?!" Sapphire yelled as she steadied herself. Right before the train suddenly turned upward 90 degrees. "What the fuck kind of train is this?!" she demanded as everybody was pressed against the rear of the car, Twilight very happy that she and Rarity had shut the door.

As the train kept moving upward, Twilight caught flashes of figures over her companions. Humanoid animals of some kind by the look of them, but she brushed it off as a trick of her mind.

When the train suddenly righted itself, they were all thrown forward into a pile. "Get off of me!" Sapphire growled as the train finally stopped.

"End of the line," a booming voice that seemed to come from the train itself said as the doors opened.

"Did this train just talk?" Facet asked as he extricated himself from the pile and dusted himself off while disembarking. "It did!"

"Impossible!" Twilight protested as she got off the train and found that it, to her shock, had a face. "What kind of train is this?!"

"I'm not a train!" the train protested. "I'm a Trailmon!"

"Trailmon?" Flash asked as he and the rest of the group got off. "What's a Trailmon?"

"I'm a digimon," Trailmon said. "Short for digital monster. Welcome to the Digital World."

"Wowie zowie!" Pinkie yelped. "My second guess was right! We're in that kind of story!"

"What is she talking about?" Sapphire asked as she regarded Pinkie with an arched eyebrow.

"It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it," Rainbow said as the Trailmon shut its doors and went to sleep.

Sunset reached into her pocket for her phone and gasped as she pulled it out. "My phone!" In place of her smartphone was a strange red and black device. "What is this thing?!"

The other nine all pulled out their phones and found that they too had been transformed into such devices. The only differences being color scheme. "Well this is an unexpected turn," Twilight said as she looked hers over. "Fascinating though."

"What's fascinating is the presence of humans in the Digital World," said a voice behind them. Turning, they beheld a diminutive creature with white fur, black fur around its mouth that resembled a beard, a pink striped sash around its waist, and three claws on each of its hands and feet. "I am Bokomon, a scholar." He looked at the devices in their hands. "D-Tectors. Then you are the ones Azulongmon spoke of."

"Who's Azulongmon?" Fluttershy asked as she stepped over to Bokomon and knelt beside him, smiling at how adorable he was.

In answer to Fluttershy's question, the screen on Sunset's D-Tector lit up and displayed a blue eye symbol. "I am Azulongmon. One of the four Digimon Sovereigns. It was I that summoned you to the Digital World and transformed your mobile phones into D-Tectors. Bokomon will guide you to where your path should begin. With any luck, you ten will be able to free this world from the grip of the Three." Before any could question him, the screen faded to black.

"The Three?" Facet asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That would be a reference to the Celestial Digimon," Bokomon explained. "Ophanimon, Cherubimon, and Seraphimon. Once the protectors of the Digital World. Now its tyrants."

"So this Azulongmon wants us to save the Digital World?" Rainbow asked. Grinning, she smacked her right fist into her left palm. "Let's kick some ass!"

Rainbow's exclamation was answered by an explosion at the cliff side outside where the tracks came to the Digital World from the Real World.

"Volcano Strike!" another explosion rocked the ground outside before it turned into data that was sucked into the maw of a large gray and black digimon that resembled a mix of a dinosaur and rhino.

"Well there go the tracks," Sapphire muttered with a frown. "So much for going home."

"What is that thing?!" Flash asked Bokomon.

"Monochromon! A servant of the Celestial Digimon!" Bokomon answered. "He's been a problem here for weeks. Eating the data of the nearby forest and trapping us in the Village of Flames."

Rainbow's grin widened. "Let's go get him then!" Touching the gem attached to her necklace, she suddenly took off at high speed, running circles around the much slower Monochromon to confuse it. While she did that, Applejack ran at the beast and jumped at it, fist cocking back before shooting forward in a punch that sent Monochromon sliding back in pain, a crack appearing in its armored skull.

"What?! A human managed to hurt me with a punch?!" Monochromon spoke in disbelief. "What kind of humans are you?!"

"The kind that's gonna kick your ass, Monochromon!" Rainbow answered with a cocky grin. "

"Volcano Strike!" Monochromon launched a fireball at the duo, Rainbow catching Applejack and getting her out of harm's way thanks to her speed. This in turn allowed the fireball to strike a furnace near the rest of the group, and it was only thanks to Rarity's quick reflexes that they were protected by her diamond shields.

As the smoke cleared, Sunset saw a light through it, a bust like object of a warrior. A warrior with red horned armor. She wasn't sure why, but she felt something from it. Almost like it was calling to her. Deciding to follow her gut, Sunset pulled out her D-Tector and, as though she had always known the workings of the odd device, pointed it at the bust and pressed the button on the side.

A beam of light shot out of her D-Tector and hit the bust, drawing it toward her, shrinking down within the light until it was absorbed into the D-Tector, a red symbol appearing on the screen. "The time is now, Sunset Shimmer." The voice of Azulongmon came from the D-Tector, helping steel Sunset's will even further.

Walking toward Monochromon, Sunset knew exactly what she needed to do. Ribbons of data gathered around Sunset in an egg shape as the bust she'd absorbed into her D-Tector appeared on the screen. Raising her left hand, a small ring of data appeared around it. Raising her D-Tector to the ring, Sunset scanned it. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Data formed closer around Sunset, pieces of armor starting to overlay over her body before closing in around her and physically transforming her into the warrior the bust was made in the image of. Fire swirled around her as she flexed her new form's muscles, feeling as though she had been born into this body, a name coming to her as the data around her cleared. "Agunimon!"

All eyes were on the transformed Sunset for better or worse now.

"Awesome..." Rainbow muttered, Applejack agreeing with a nod.

"What did Sunset just turn into?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"That is Agunimon," Bokomon answered. "One of the Ten Legendary Warriors, specifically the Warrior of Fire."

Agunimon charged at Monochromon with a battle cry, jumping into the air as fire gathered around her fist, aiming her strike at the crack Applejack's punch had made in its armor. "Burning Salamander!" Her fist struck the crack dead center and channeled a blazing fire dragon directly into Monochromon, eliciting a roar of agony from it as it was thrown back, landing on its back and going limp as a ring of code appeared around it. Following her gut once again, Agunimon brandished her D-Tector and scanned the ring. "Fractal Code, digitize!" As the fractal code was absorbed by her D-Tector, Monochromon's body faded and all that remained was a bit of data in an egg shape, which flew away from the area toward parts unknown.

Pointing her D-Tector at the ground, Agunimon released the data she'd taken from Monochromon, which soon restored the train tracks and the forest connecting the village to the rest of the Digital World. As the data settled and solidified, data formed around Agunimon, dispersing to reveal Sunset, who fell to her knees slightly panting as her friends and Facet ran over to her.

"Sunset that was awesome!" Rainbow cheered as she smacked Sunset on the back.

"Be gentle with her, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity chastised. "She just went through something clearly tiring after all."

"I'm alright," Sunset assured as she got to her feet. "I'm okay. That was... That was something. Not sure how I knew everything that I did."

"It seems the ten of you truly are Azulongmon's chosen," Bokomon said from behind them, prompting the group to face him. "Come. There are things to discuss."

While the ten humans were escorted by Bokomon to his home, far away, in another part of the Digital World, a meeting was taking place.

"Humans?" A deep, reverberating voice asked. Its owner was a massive digimon with dark blue skin, long ears, yellow eyes, and three horns in a triangle pattern atop its head. "Is Azulongmon so desperate that he would reach out to the Human World?"

"Well he is the only one of the Sovereigns that remains active." This voice was feminine, belonging to a slender being coated head to toe in armor with four golden, demonic looking wings, a flaming scythe brandished in its right hand. "It matters not. These humans have interfered with our work, and become foes to be destroyed!"

"Indeed," the beastly digimon agreed. "We must destroy them before they find the rest of the Warrior Spirits."

"I will go destroy them at once!" the feminine one said before the third of the trio spoke up.

"Patience, Ophanimon, Cherubimon." The owner of this calm, commanding voice was clad in imposing metallic green armor with ten demonic wings. "Perhaps these humans can be conscripted to our cause. We will test them first."

"Always thinking of the big picture, aren't you, ShadowSeraphimon?" Cherubimon asked. "Fine. I'll humor you for now."

"If you believe they can be shown the correct path, then I will defer to your judgment, ShadowSeraphimon," Ophanimon said, bowing her head to him.

"Excellent," ShadowSeraphimon said. "We shall begin the trials now."