Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story

by AutoKnight01

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Luna, Mystery, Spike, Comedy
Length: 63584

Twilight woke up in the middle of the night to see someone fall through the mirror portal. Who is this human? And who is this Guilmon he's looking for?

"Actually, scratch that. I think I'm going to keep that promise after all."

All Takato wanted to do was see his friend again. So badly in fact that when the portal to the Digital World opened up again, he went through it alone. But the Digital World is not at all where he ended up. Instead he finds himself in a whole other world filled up with these colorful talking horses who have never even heard the term "Digimon" before in their lives. And if that wasn't strange enough, his Digivice is telling him that Guilmon is there too.

But his troubles don't end there. According to the ruler of these creatures, there has been a dark threat looming over them for quite some time and they now are in need of help. Eager to help and reunited with his old friend, Takato is determined to not leave until the threat is dealt with.

Twilight Sparkle, along with the rest of her posse are about to get a new definition to the word "Friendship".

(Takes place after "Such Sweet Sorrow" but before "Runaway Locomon")

*Featured 5/20/2019 and 12/10/2020*

Published 2018-01-29 04:10:08 UTC
Last updated 2020-12-11 00:02:17 UTC

Redirected

Once again. Digimon Tamers is owned by Bandai. MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust! Read and comment below!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 2: Redirected

Equestria – Ponyville – Castle of Friendship – 12:35 AM

To say things were awkward would have been the understatement of the century. First Twilight wakes up in the middle of a night because of a strange noise. Then it turns out that noise is because the mirror portal that regularly serves as a gateway to the human world, has opened up all on its own and literally spat out a human boy. Not only that, a boy with an interesting fashion sense as the goggle would suggest. About a million questions were running through her head. Who was this kid? How did he get here? Why was he here in the first place? The kid himself only stayed there on his knees unsure himself of what to say. He said hello. But Twilight didn’t respond back.

“Are you….alright?” Twilight tried breaking the ice now. “You did hit the floor pretty hard.”

This seemed to rouse a sense of ease from the boy.

“Oh um, yeah I’m okay. Just hit my head but I’ll be fine.” He replied back.

She saw him rub at the back of his head again trying to ease the pain. He was just a young thing. What could he do?

“Well come with me then. I’ll get you an ice pack.”

“Uhhhh…sure.”

As Twilight began to leave the room, the boy got up to his feet and began to walk in pace behind her.

“So you’re a human, right?” Twilight asked as they exited the room and into the grand hallway of the castle.

“Yeah I’m a human alriiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……”

He couldn’t finish his sentence as he looked around where he was. This hallway was huge. And every surface, below, to the side, and above him, seemed to be made of the same crystal substance. Royal purple banners hung in set patterns down and up the hallway they were in.

“Where the heck am I?” He managed to get out.

“You’re in the Castle of Friendship.” Twilight turned around to respond. “Follow me if you want that ice.”

So many questions. Both of them joined had more questions than could be counted. For now though, Twilight was only concerned with getting him a bag of ice for his aching head. She led him down the hallway and down a staircase again made of crystal. Once down to the lower floor, she led him into what appeared to be a grand kitchen.

There was an icebox nearby. And in a nearby cabinet an ice bag to hold it floated out of it, surrounded in a magenta aura. Takato only looked at the thing dumbfounded. How was it floating? His answer came to him quickly when he turned and saw the horn on Twilight’s head glowing in a similar color. So obviously she was the one making the ice bag move around.

“I don’t know what kind of Digimon this is. It looks like it could be a smaller form of a Unimon. But I’ve never even seen it on a card before.”

Once the bag was full of ice, Twilight made it hover in front of Takato.

“Here you go.” She said.

“Thank you very much.” Takato had to admit. Whatever she was, she was very kind.

As he placed the icepack to his head, Twilight gestured to a nearby stool and Takato took that as an offer to sit. He gladly accepted it and sat down, letting his backpack slip off him and drop to his legs. Now that they were both a bit more relaxed, Twilight took this as her chance to start asking him questions.

“Do you have a name?” Twilight decided to go with the simple one first.

“Oh. It’s Takato. TakatoMatsuki.” The goggleheaded boy replied. “And what about you?”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship.” She answered back.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Takato repeated it to himself before chuckling. “Hehe. Doesn’t sound like any Digimon name I’ve ever heard.”

Her eyebrow rose out of confusion. What did he just call her?

“I’m sorry. But….I’m not a….whatever you just called me. I’m a pony. An alicornto be exact.” She stood up straight proud of her rank.

“Ummmm…..wha?” Now it was Takato’s turn to be confused. “You mean you’re an alicorn type Digimon, right?”

The look Twilight gave him only made the boy frightened. She was a Digimon. She had to be. No other creature in existence he knew about could look like that and have the ability to speak. Not to mention those magic floating powers he just saw. There was no other possible explanation.

“Why do you keep using that word? Digimon? What is that?” She asked, genuinely not having a clue what he was saying.

With a gasp, Takato shot up off the stool and looked into Twilight’s eyes. His own gone as open as they could and full of nothing but fear.

“You have to tell me now! Where am I?!” He shouted.

“Whoa whoa whoa. Take it easy!” Twilight held up a hoof to try and ease him back down. “And like I told you, you’re in the-”

“No no no!” Takato interrupted her. “I know I’m in this Castle of Friendship but what world is this?! It has to be the Digital World! It just has to be!”

“Digital World? What in the hay is he talking about?!”

The alicorn had no clue what he was going on about. Digital World? Digimon? How hard did this kid hit his head?

“Listen….Takato…” She said gently using his name for the first time. “I don’t know what you think is happening here. But this isn’t ‘The Digital World.’ This is Equestria. The land of ponies.”

“………no…………no no NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Without even thinking, Takato dropped the icepack and left his backpack behind. He ran out of the kitchen at full speed, trying to find a door or a window. Anything that would show him the outside.

“Takato, wait!” Twilight shouted as she took after him.

“This can’t be happening! This just can’t be happening!”

It didn’t matter how many times he repeated the thought, it did nothing to ease him. He hopped through that portal alone. He left his parents and friends behind. There’s no way a mistake like this could have happened. It just didn’t make any sense!

After running and continuing to ignore Twilight’s calls to him, Takato finally found a big enough door that looked like it could be a front door. Barging it, they flew open. And he didn’t like what he saw.

Instead of the desolate landscape of the lowest plane of the Digital World he remembered seeing the first time, Takato was instead met with a grassy field and a path that seemed to lead to a nearby village.

“No…..” Tears started to leak from his eyes. “I…..I can’t be…..in the wrong world….”

Behind him, Twilight was standing unsure of what to do. She was completely taken for a loop with this kid. And now what did he say? In the wrong world? Just what was going on here?

As Takato began to stumble down the staircase he looked up to the sky for at least the one big sign to be there. But it wasn’t. Earth wasn’t visible. Only the moon in the night sky. That only sealed it. He fell to his knees in anguish and screamed to the heavens.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Twilight was about ready to use her magic to put this kid to sleep so she could wait until morning to finally get him to talk. But that thought quickly exited her head when the sound of him crying rang into her ears. Slowly approaching, she could now see the tear trails going down his eyes and soaking the dirt underneath his face.

“Takato?” She muttered.

“I….I just….wanted to see him…..Guilmon…” Takato choked out between sobs.

“Guil…mon?” She repeated the best she could. “Who exactly are you, kid?”

Still crying his eyes out and pounding the ground in a mixture of frustration and sadness, Takato tried his best to answer.

“I…I just…..I came through….a portal….cause I wanted to see Guilmon again…..but…..he’s not here…”

That at least made the puzzle a tad clearer to the princess. He’s looking for his friend. But somehow he ended up in the wrong world. How did something like that even happen in the first place?

“I…..I’m sorry….for coming here….I….I didn’t mean…”

“Shhhhhhhhhh.”

Now filled with sympathy for his situation, she rested a gentle hoof on his sholder.

“It’s okay, Takato.” Twilight muttered to try and ease his crying. “I don’t understand what’s going on right now. But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

The words did very little to calm Takato down. Twilight wasn’t sure what to do. She just sat there with a crying human on her front porch, waiting for him to stop crying. It took a few minutes. By then he was still leaking tears, but he was calm enough to the point where he could talk clearly again.

“Twilight….that’s your name, right?”

“Yes.” She softly softly responded.

“I hate to do this but…..would you mind helping me get back home?”

There wasn’t even a question in there for the alicorn.

“Of course I will. But for now, you’re tired. Come back into the castle and get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Sniffling and wiping his eyes dry, Takato stood back up and looked down to the pony with his vision still a little blurry. She was right. He hadn’t slept all night because he was too excited to see his partner again. But now his dreams crushed and all that crying have worn him out.

“Thank you.” Was all he said.

With a nod, Twilight led him back into the castle and showed him to one of the castle’s many guestrooms. Lucky for him, the bed inside was big enough to fit a human of his size. Thanking her again, Takato removed his shoes and made his way to the bed to climb inside of it. As he did, Twilight closed the door and teleported back to the kitchen to get his backpack that he left in his rush to get outside. She was tempted to look inside of it. After all he was still a human from another land that just fell into Equestria. There could be some plot to try and invade going on here. It could all be a charade.

Her paranoia got the best of her and she opened up Takato’s backpack. When she looked inside, her feelings calmed down upon seeing that the thing was stuffed almost entirely with loaves of bread. There were also a few changes of clothes for himself underneath it all but more than half of the backpack was full of bread. Why bread of all things? Weren’t kids Takato’s age supposed to be all about candy and junk food? What kind of a kid brings bread?

Deeming nothing to be threatening inside the pack, Twilight teleported back to the outside of the door and creaked it open again. Takato was already inside the bed fast asleep.

“Poor kid.” Twilight whispered. “To fall into the wrong world.”

That only raised even more questions. He packed. Takato’s backpack was filled with clothes and food. So clearly he intended to fall into a different world that either was or wasn’t his own. Where did he come from? Where was he trying to go? He said something about the “Digital World”. But other than that, nothing.

Placing the backpack by his shoes, Twilight vowed to get her answers tomorrow morning. Right after she wrote to Celestia about her new houseguest.

A matter of hours later and sure enough, morning came. The sun rose up to greet Ponyville to the new day with its light. The rays shone through the window of the sole other pony resident of the castle. Starlight Glimmer rose up out of her bed and stretched her legs before walking over to the mirror in her room to brush her mane back to what it normally looks like. She had a few plans for today as listed on the tiny note taped to the surface of her mirror. But first, she needed a meal.

Spike’s cooking was always something she looked forward to when she woke up in the morning. That little drake knew his way around a kitchen. As she made her way out of her room and down the hall, she took in a breath through her nose smelling the scent of a meal already being prepared. Only a few steps later however, she heard something new: snoring. Coming from the door she was now right next to.

“Did Somepony else stay here last night?” she asked herself out loud.

She didn’t remember any of her friends staying the night. Spike’s room was in the other direction. So who was in there? Wanting to know, she cracked the door open to see who was occupying the room. The one eye she was looking in with went as wide as a saucer when she saw what was in the bed.

“A human? What? But how? I gotta tell Twilight!”

Skipping the traditional walk to the kitchen, Starlight opted for teleportation instead and jumped to the kitchen. Spike was the only other one in there wearing a chef’s hat and an apron while he flipped some hot pancakes off a skillet.

“Spike, where’s Twilight?! It’s an emergency!” She alarmingly requested.

“Map room.” Spike replied lost in his work with breakfast. “So how many pancakes do you want?”

“Spike this is not the time!” Starlight shouted before teleporting away again.

Spike shrugged, not awake enough yet to deal with either mare’s tendency to overreact yet. A few seconds later though, Starlight reappeared in a flash of cyan colored magic.

“But if you’re asking, I’ll take three and drown it in syrup, please.”

The dragon smirked as she teleported away again.

Meanwhile in the map room, Twilight was sitting at her chair in deep thought, thinking back to the mirror and Takato. In front of her was the journal she regularly used to communicate with Sunset Shimmer on the other side of it. As soon as she woke up, Twilight sent her friend a message telling her the mirror acted up last night and someone fell out. Then she asked if anything like that happened at all on her end. It took a while to get a response, but according to Sunset, nothing happened that she saw. She even asked to use the school security cameras to see if anything unusual happened. The response was negative. Whatever happened to the mirror only happened on Equestria’s side of it.

She had sent a letter to Celestia about the human as well. There had still been no response back after about an hour. She figured she must have a morning routine to go through before she can get to letters from her. Right? All she knew now was that it was killing her to wait for Takato to wake up so she could start her questioning. Surely he had some questions for her as well.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a burst of magic explode right behind her. And from it emerged her student and friend, Starlight Glimmer.

“Twilight! I have no idea how but-!”

“I know.”

Two words. With just two words, Starlight froze.

“I know about the human, Starlight. His arrival here woke me up last night.” She said with a hint of concern for him.

“What do you mean? How come you didn’t wake any of us up?” Starlight came up to her side so she could see her mentor’s face.

“Because it wasn’t that big a deal. The alicorn replied. “He’s just a kid. And I think he’s lost.”

Her mind flashed back to the image of Takato on the ground crying last night in front of the castle doors. Lost was one word to put it right now.

“Okay. But how did he get here?” Starlight asked another one.

“He came through the mirror. But…..it was different. The portal that the mirror created was a lot different than the one you and I used to go to Sunset Shimmer’s world.”

That portal came back to her mind. Those floating punctuation marks, the deep black void, the fact that he seemed to fall through it, everything. The mirror had never done that before. And to only happen on one side. Why now? Why this boy? What was so special about him?

Starlight was about to speak but Twilight stopped her.

“And before you say it, I already asked Sunset about it. She says nothing strange happened on her end. It was just us this happened to.”

“But how? Why? I mean who exactly is this kid?”

“His name is Takato Matsuki. And he’s trying to find his friend…..Guilmon. I think that’s how he said it.”

There were names now. Starlight’s interest was officially piqued.

“Trying to find his friend? What makes him think this Guilmon is here?”

“I don’t think he is. Before he went to sleep last night, I told Takato exactly where he was and it scared him half to death. Then he said he was in the wrong world.”

Shaking her head, Twilight thought it best not to just keep thinking about what happened and wait for the answers to just pop up. If she wanted her questions answered, there was only one way to do it. But she didn’t want to seem like she was just going to interrogate him.

“I’m going to bring him some breakfast and see if he’s up to answering a few of my questions.” Twilight said with a bit of confidence. “You go ahead and eat yourself. I’ll keep you up to speed.”

“Should we tell the others about this?” Starlight wondered.

Twilight had considered that, but for the moment decided against it. She looked back to Starlight with an assuring smile.

“Like I said, Takato’s just a kid. I doubt there’s anything major to worry about. And I already sent a letter to Celestia about this. If need be we’ll bring in the others but for now I think we’re covered.”

It seemed like a simple enough plan. Trusting the princess, Starlight nodded and teleported with her back to the kitchen. The unicorn’s order was waiting for her on the table. Three pancakes covered in maple syrup. Using her levitation magic, Twilight fixed up a plate of two pancakes and a glass of apple juice for Takato. She placed the plate and glass on a tray before teleporting once more.

Meanwhile up in the room, the tamer was finally beginning to stir from his slumber. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was in a bed that wasn’t his own. The walls of the room he was in were crystal. The sight only made reality sink in deeper.

“Nuts. It wasn’t a bad dream after all.”

Groaning, he sprawled his body out across the bed. He was really stuck in another world that wasn’t Earth or the Digital World. And now his chances of ever seeing his Digimon again seemed to be nonexistent. The fact alone felt like it was enough to keep him in that bed forever. But a series of soft knocks against the bedroom door caused his head to move.

“Takato? It’s Twilight. Are you awake?”

The only familiar voice he knew right now in this world. He was fifty-fifty on not answering her so she would leave him to sulk. But something in his head made him reply anyway.

“Yeah I’m awake.” He groggily called out.

The door clicked open and in walked the alicorn, carrying a tray of food and a glass of what appeared to be apple juice sitting next to it. It was floating in the same magenta aura the icebagwas cased in last night.

“How are you doing that?” He gestured to the tray as it was lowered down over his legs.

“It’s just a simple levitation spell. It’s the basic spell every unicorn here first learns.” Twilight explained as she sat down beside him.

“Unicorn?” Takato sat up as Twilight talked. “I thought you said this world was inhabited by ponies.”

“It is.” Twilight corrected. “Unicorns are just one of the three main races.”

“Ooooooh.” The tamer muttered.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me, Takato. But I hope you understand, I have some questions for you as well. I know you’re upset because this world apparently wasn’t what you were expecting it to be, but do you think you can answer some for me?”

Takato sighed. He should have figured he would get bombarded with questions sooner or later. He just hoped for the second option to be more likely. There was no avoiding it now. Answering her questions was the least he could do for intruding into her castle late at night and taking one of her guest bedrooms.

“Sure. Lay em’ on me.” He said as he sat up to inspect the food on the tray.

“Alright then.” Her horn glowed again and out of nowhere, a feather quill and a small notepad appeared out of thin air and hovered in front of her, causing the boy to look in astonishment.

“An easy summoning spell. Works great with small objects.” She gave a short summary before she began to write. “Alright, Takato. Let’s start with an easy one. Where are you from?”

That did seem like an easy one to start out with.

“Well I’m from another planet called, Earth. I was born and raised in Shinjuku. It’s a district in this big city called Tokyo. It’s in a country called Japan.”

“Tokyo…..Japan…..I remember hearing those names before when I traveled to the human world myself before.” Twilight said as she wrote.

That little statement made Takato freeze as he began to bring the glass of juice to his lips.

“Wait. You’ve been to Earth before?” he asked shocked.

“I’m starting to theorize it may not have been the same Earth that you know.” Twilight answered him. “But we’ll get into that later. How did you get here to Equestria?”

Equestria. The name alone almost made Takato laugh. A big horse pun. He kept the laughter in his head so as to not disrespect one of its rulers now in front of him.

“Well to answer that, I gotta go back a bit and explain to you a few more things about what I’ve been through.”

That didn’t bother the alicorn one single bit. The more she could learn about this kid, the better. And she loved learning. She had her quill ready to go like she was waiting for a timer to hit zero.

“You see, back in my world, my friends and I are fans of a TV show and card game called ‘Digimon’.”

“Right right. I remember you thinking I was a ‘Digimon’ last night. What exactly did you mean?” Twilight asked as she kept writing.

She already knew what a TV was thanks to her brief time in Sunset’s world. It was like a play shown from an electronic screen that you could watch anytime.

“Well here’s how it started. Digimon is about these kids around my age who get sucked into this other world and partnered with these creatures called, Digimon. Short for Digital Monsters. Creatures that have incredible amounts of power. It turns out the world they got sucked into was the Digital World. A world made up entirely of data passing through Earth’s digital network. The internet, everything. Every bit of data made up the Digital World and the Digimon that lived in it. These kids were brought to that world because they were chosento be the heroes to save it. And they did. Multiple times over. The power of their friendship with their respectiveDigimon partner allowed said Digimon to grow stronger so they could defeat powerful opponents.”

Using the power of friendship to save the day. Twilight was starting to like this show already even though she hadn’t seen it yet. As he kept talking, Takato started to dig into his pancakes.

“The show got so popular that it spawned toys, video games, and most importantly, a trading card game. My friends and I would always play the game with each other and try to win tournaments. We never did but it was still fun. I even for fun made up my own imaginary Digimon and drew pictures of him. Then one day before school, I notice this strange blue card piled in with all of my other cards that I had never seen before. I swiped it through my card reader but it caused the thing to short out.”

“Sorry to interrupt. I’m following you but what’s a card reader?” Twilight asked curious.

“It’s like this small little electronic device you swipe the cards through and it generates a random number to see how many points you get. It’s kinda like rolling dice.”

Nodding, Twilight let Takato continue.

“I came back after school to see if my card reader was broken but when I saw my reader again, I saw it change into a Digivice.”

“A digi what?”

Reaching over to the nightstand on the other side of them, Takato grabbed his D-Ark and showed it to Twilight. Putting the quill behind her ear, she leaned in closer to marvel at the small thing. The golden ring with unreadable glyphs surrounding a small square screen in the center of it glistened in the sunlight. It had two matching gold buttons made out of rubber. And a red strap and belt hook was attached to the top. On the right side there seemed to be a slit that the other side didn’t have. She had seen cell phones before in the mirror world. But she had never seen anything like this before.

“Incredible.” She whispered. “What is its purpose?”

“I’ll get to that in a bit. After my card reader transformed I decided to see what would happen if I swiped my drawings of my Digimon through the card slot there. When all the details were scanned, it created an egg. A digi-egg. When school finished that next day I saw that the egg hatched. Then my Digivice here led me where he emerged into the world. That was the first day I met Guilmon.”

“Guilmon? You mean the friend you’re trying to find?” It looked like the dots were starting to get connected.

“Yeah. It turns out Digimon weren’t just cards or video games or a TV show. They were real. And I was able to create my very own out of scratch and bring him to life.”

Astounding. Takato created a whole other life with just a drawing and this Digivice of his? She was scribbling away on her notepad like a madpony trying to get down every last detail she could.

“These creatures that exist, hidden away in your world’s digital network, can make their way to the real world?”

“Yeah. In fact once I found Guilmon and he and I became partners, I met up with Henry and Rika. They had their own Digimon partners too. We had some bumps in the road but we ended up becoming best friends. We called ourselves, ‘Digimon Tamers’. We took it upon ourselves to fight off the bad Digimon that broke through to cause trouble because we were the only ones who could. We had so many crazy adventures together. We and our Digimon grew stronger together. With every battle we won we felt that we went up a step in our friendship. That didn’t change when we travelled to the Digital World.”

“Hold on.” Twilight stopped writing again. “You actually went to the Digital World? A world that exists inside your world’s digital network? Wha….how? How did you manage that? And why would you go there in the first place if its crawling with these Digimon?”

“The Devas.” Takato went on as he kept eating. “We had been under siege from this group of Digimon that called themselves the Devas. One day, the biggest Deva of them all, Vikaralamon, came to our world and completely wrecked downtown Shinjuku. We were able to stop him, but not before a lot of damage had been done. But during our fight, one of our friends, Calumon, was kidnapped by another Deva named Makuramon. He kidnapped Calumon and took him back to the Digital World. My friends and I went there to get him back.”

“You’re telling me you ventured off into another world crawling with creatures of unlimited power just so you could save one of your friends?” Twilight asked, touched.

“Yeah. Calumon is my friend and he was in trouble. But there was another reason. Calumon was a small little Digimon but he had this power that helped other Digimondigivolve.”

Again, the scribbling halted. Takato knew what was coming.

“Digivolving is what it’s called when a Digimon evolves into a bigger more stronger level than its previous form. All Digimon have the power to do it. But Calumon couldn’t. Mostly because he was the embodiment of that power.”

“This….is absolutely AMAZING!!!!”

A whole other world she didn’t know about. A whole other species that could evolve on command. Oh the papers she could write.

“We traveled to the Digital World to rescue him and….after some more of those bumps, we got him back.”

He sighed as visions of Leomon’s death came flashing before him. But he quickly pushed those thoughts out. Beelzemon wasn’t that psycho anymore.

“After we got Calumon back, we all returned to our world. But something followed us back. A nasty enemy called the D-Reaper. It was being that was created to destroy anything that it felt had evolved past its allowed limitations. And it saw us humans as ‘too evolved’.”

“And I’m guessing you defeated that as well, right?” Twilight muttered as the quill tip kept scratching the paper.

By now she was probably on her tenth page of notes. She looked up from her paper to see that Takato’s sad look had returned.

“Yeah….we beat it….but it came with a price none of us saw coming.”

“What happened?” Twilight didn’t want to pry, but she had come too far into the story to not know now.

“As it turned out, the only way to defeat the D-Reaper was to give up our Digimon partners. They had to return to the Digital World. None of us wanted that to happen. Our partners were like family to us now. We couldn’t stand the thought of being separated. But there was nothing we could do. All of us just watched in tears as our best friends floated away and back to their world. That was around three months ago.”

The princess couldn’t help but feel sympathy once more for the tamer. To have a bond that tight but forced to sever it, she prayed that day would never come with any of her friends. They were family to her like she assumed this Guilmon was to Takato.

“Well, after they left, life picked up right where it seemed to leave off. But one day, yesterday, I was walking by our old hang out and I saw that the portal to the Digital World was open again.”

And that was it. Twilight didn’t need anything else from that point.

“And so you went through it, trying to get to the Digital World to see your friend again, but somehow ended up here in Equestria instead.”

“Yes, your highness.” Takato confirmed.

“Please. Call me Twilight.” She insisted. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Takato. I can’t imagine having to rush out a goodbye like that on the spot.”

“It’s alright, Twilight.” Takato said as he took the last gulp of his apple juice. “I just….I promised him that we would play again soon. And I was so sure I couldn’t keep that promise. But once I saw the portal, I was dead set on keeping it.”

The only response he got was a nod as Twilight kept writing to finish up her notes.

“But that still doesn’t answer the question on how I got here.” The tamer looked around the room.

“That’s something I’m still trying to figure out myself. That mirror you fell through IS a portal to another world but again, I don’t think you’re from that same world.”

“Well while we’re on the subject of worlds, would you mind telling me what exactly Equestria is?”

That wasn’t too tall of an order to fill. It wasn’t yet clear how long Takato was going to be stuck here. So she figured it may do him some good to at least have some sense of knowledge on this world. So she began by starting out with the general idea of what Equestria is, and what it entails. She answered his earlier inquiry about the “races” thing. The main 3 types of ponies seen in Equestriawere earth ponies, pegasus ponies, and unicorns. Alicorns were ranks only reserved for royalty like she was.

Then she went into her own adventures with her friends. She started from when she first vanquished Nightmare Moon all the way up to when she and the Pillars of Equestria defeated the Pony of Shadows. It took only a bit longer for her to explain all that than it did for Takato to get through his story.

But nevertheless, Takato was greatly interested and stunned that such interesting things happened in a place like this.

“It sounds like your friends sure are quite the team.” The tamer said.

“We sure are.” Twilight boasted proudly. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll get to meet them during your stay here.”

“Maybe.” That sentence only helped him remember the fact that he was stuck there.

Twilight took notice of his drop in enthusiasm and decided now would be a good time to give him some space. Taking the empty tray from his lap, she made her way towards the bedroom door.

“Thank you for answering my questions, Takato.” She said to him. “I promise, I’m going to do everything in my power to get you back home.”

“Yeah. Thank you, Twilight.” The boy murmured back.

Closing the door, Twilight let loose a heavy sigh.

“What did I say that?! Why did I make a promise like that?! How am I supposed to get him home when I don’t even know how the portal got him here in the first place?!”

She had to figure something out. One thing was definitely for certain. She was going to be pulling a few all nighters if she was going to get to the bottom of this mystery. Be it magic or fate that brought Takato here, she would be sure that she would be the one to get him home. If anything to get him one step closer to reuniting with his friend again.

But first she just HAD to tell Starlight about all this.

Back in Takato’s room, he had finally decided to get out of bed a few minutes after Twilight left. Walking over to a nearby door that led to a balcony, he got his first view of the Equestrian Landscape in the morning daylight. It certainly did look as beautiful as Twilight made it out to be in her story. The grounds were lush and green. And the village not too far from them had to bePonyville as Twilight called it. Just beyond the village seemed to be an eerie looking forest covered in thick dark trees.

“If only Miss Asaji could give me credit for writing a report on a land of ponies. I’d be gold.” He tried to joke to himself to feel better.

It worked for one second. With a sigh, he looked upwards into the deep blue sky.

“This place looks like one of Suzie’s wildest dreams.” He spoke out loud again.

“Oh Guilmon, what have I gone and gotten myself into this time? I shouldn’t have rushed into that portal on my own. I just missed you so much. And now I’m probably in it deep with my friends and family. Heck Rika is probably gonna kick my butt if I ever get back. So I have that to look forward to. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jeri took a swing at me. I know you can’t hear me. But just know that I’m not gonna stop. I know now there is a way to get you back and I am not gonna rest until I find you again.”

As he turned his head to view the country some more, he felt a familiar feeling grow inside his body. One he just couldn’t ignore.

“But first things first, I need to find a bathroom.”

He rushed back inside the room rushed past the bed one his way to the bathroom which luckily was attached to the guest room. Once he was done and he came back out the door, he looked to his bed to see something he never thought he would see.

“That’s…..impossible.”

Picking up his pace with every step, he snatched his D-Ark off of the messed up bed covers and saw that the tiny screen was glowing a dim white. He was in a whole other world. Surely this thing had to be messed up when it came through the portal right? As sure as the possibility of a malfunction was, Takato’s heart began to race as he pressed one of the buttons on the bottom of the Digivice. The screen changed to a familiar compass program that Takato recognized many times when he had lost Guilmon.

The arrow was pointing south.

Eventful Mornings

As always MLP FiM is owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Digimon is owned by Bandai. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 3: Eventful Mornings

Earth – Tokyo, Japan - Nonaka Residence – 9:00 AM

Saturday. The day all kids still in school lived for. Having no school and not having to worry about school the next day was the perfect combo. Rika Nonaka was no exception to that rule. Beginning with a mumble, the redhead began to rise back to consciousness. The previous night she had been out with her mother and grandmother for a family dinner together. The food was so good she almost didn’t want to stop eating. When she got home she noticed that her phone’s battery had died and needed a recharge. Before she went to bed, she plugged it in and decided to keep it charging until she woke up.

Sitting up, she greeting the coming day with a big stretch of her arms and a yawn. Another day without her partner that is. Pushing that thought out of her head, she got out of bed and walked over to the small sable she had up against the wall. Her phone was now fully charged and sitting right next to her blue colored D-Ark. The phone turned on with a buzz and small music chime before the screen lit up. The screen showed that she had a ton of missed messages, both text and voicemail.

“Whoa. I’ve never had this many messages at once before. Something big must be happening.”

She decided to take care of the voice messages first. Pressing a few buttons, she held the phone to her ear. The first message she recognized as Takato’s voice. After it got done playing, the phone fell out of her hand almost landing on top of her foot. For a moment she seemed like she had entered a sort of catatonic state. Those words Takato said through her phone hit her like a ton of bricks.

“The portal……it’s open?” She whispered.

She needed to know more. There were more messages. Maybe Takato had left her some more details. Snatching it back, she started the next message. This one was from a frantic sounding Henry.

“This better not be some sort of practical joke.” She said as she started listening.

Meanwhile in the kitchen of the house, Rika’s grandma, Seiko, was cooking up a nice healthy breakfast for her beloved family. Even before the Digimon thing, she had always enjoyed spending time with Rumiko and Rika, despite their strained relationship at the time. Then after the D-Reaper event, the three girls were all closer than ever. It absolutely warmed her heart to just think about it. Rika WANTED to spend time with them and didn’t just go along because she felt forced to. Rumiko had also backed off when it came to Rika’s style and stopped trying to push those frilly outfits on her. She had finally learned that a good parent doesn’t try to make their child try to be like them, but rather embrace their differences and let them become their own person.

Rumiko was still asleep and Seiko was sure Rika was too. She wanted to surprise the two of them with a nice Saturday breakfast. However-

“HOW CAN THAT GOGGLEHEAD BE SO FREAKIN’ STUPID?!??!?!”

It seemed that it would have to be put on hold. Seiko immediately turned off the stove so the food wouldn’t burn and rushed to Rika’s room. Opening the door she saw Rika from behind but could tell by her clenched fists that she was angry. When she started approaching her granddaughter, she noticed something else. Her whole body was trembling. This wasn’t just anger. Rika was absolutely livid.

“Rika? What in heaven’s name is wrong?” Seiko asked begging to know.

“The portal to the Digital World is open again.” Rika growled back.

This did nothing to calm down Seiko. If anything it only made her more confused.

“But isn’t that a good thing? Doesn’t that mean you can get Renamon back?”

“It does and I’m happy about that but there’s a problem.” The redhead finally turned to face her grandmother. “Takato went through the portal, Grandma. He snuck out of his house last night and went through it alone!”

Seiko was taken aback by that fact. She had met Takato many times and he always seemed like such a well behaved young man. To hear that he would do such a thing like that seemed so out of the ordinary.

“Why would he do this?” Rika asked both herself and her grandma. “I mean I could understand Kazu or Kenta being this dimwitted but Takato? I missed Renamon too but not enough to go dropping into the Digital World by myself. It was bad enough there the first time when we had each other as backup! I swear if he ever does get back I’m gonna murder him myself.”

She was going to keep on ranting, but the hand of her grandmother resting on her shoulder made her stop.

“It’s okay to admit you’re scared for him, Rika.” Seiko murmured with a soft smile. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”

It wasn’t wrong to Rika either but despite being through so much with Takato and the others, it was still scary for her. When she was just a lone wolf, she only had to worry about herself. Now with all these friends she had people to care for and laugh with. But it also meant she had more people around her that she could lose if things got too hairy. People to cry over if they got hurt or worse. The whole thing made her head feel funny.

“I know he wanted to see Guilmon. I understand that. But he still shouldn’t have gone off alone.”

“I agree with you.” Seiko soothed her. “But standing here feeling angry at him isn’t going to do anything.”

Expelling a sigh, Rika placed her own hand on her grandmother’s and gently squeezed it.

“You’re right, Grandma.”

Looking back to her Digivice, she tried her best to push out the negative thoughts going on now and thing of the positives. The portal was open. She could get her best friend back. And this time, she would be there to stay.

“I better get together with the others to discuss what we’re going to do.”

“Just let me and your mother know if you decide to head out again, okay?”

With a soft smile to mimic Seiko’s, Rika turned and hugged her.

“Promise.”

Wong Residence – 9:30 AM

“But Henwy!”

“I said NO, Suzie!”

The indigo haired tamer raised his voice to his older sister for probably the tenth time that morning. And he hadn’t even been up for that long. He already had enough on his mind. This was not at all how he wanted his Saturday to start. First he gets abruptly woken up by a call from Takato’s parents asking a zillion questions about Takato and if Henry knew about that note. Once he heard what was going on, he jumped out of bed and rushed to the phone. He never played the messages on the answering machine when they came home from being out. But once he played the one Takato left for him, a million feelings rushed into his head at once. Joy at the prospect of being reunited with Terriermon, curiosity about why the portal opened now, and anger at Takato for leaving without them after saying he wouldn’t. If only he hadn’t gone to that low quality play that his older sister was part of, he would have been home when Takato called and this whole thing would've been avoided.

Now he sat at his computer typing away trying to think while all the while, his younger sister and fellow tamer, Suzie, was behind him trying to make her case for why she shouldn’t be left out of the inevitable trip back to the Digital World.

“It’s not fair! How come you get to go and get Tewwiermon but I can’t come with you to get Lopmon?!”

“I’m not going to tell you this again, Suzie. The Digital World is too dangerous even for something as simple as going to get someone to bring them back. The first time we went it was for that same reason. And you didn’t even see the stuff that happened before you showed up there. So once more my answer is no. You can’t come.”

Henry did speak with logic. But unfortunately he forgot he was trying to reason with a seven year old. And to a seven year old, logic has no meaning. Stomping her foot, Suzie’s voice carried throughout the apartment once more.

“But I still wanna come! I miss Lopmon and I know she misses me! I need to go! I just gotta!”

Growling, Henry turned around with the full intent to start yelling again but stopped himself when he saw their mother, Mayumi Wong, standing in the doorway.

“Finally some backup.”

“Mom, help me out here. Tell Suzie she-“

“She can go, Henry.”

Suzie’s attitude performed a complete one-eighty after hearing her mother sign off on her going. Henry on the other hand was stunned. His mother was actually ALLOWING Suzie to come to the Digital World? Just like that?

“YAY! I’m gonna go start packing! I need another jacket after that mean birdie tore up my other one!”

The young tamer ran out of her brothers and straight to her room to begin packing, leaving Henry alone with his mother.

“Mom, why did you say she could go?” He was practically begging for an answer.

“Because while the way she said it may have been childish as is her nature,” Mayumi replied as she sat down in front of her son. “, she’s also right. It’s unfair for you to go to get Terriermon but she has to wait her for you to bring Lopmon back to her.”

“But that doesn’t make what I said any less true.” Henry argued. “We’re going there to FIND our partners and bring them back. When we go, it’s just going to be us without them. We’ll have no one to protect us until we do find them. And there’s no telling how long that will take.”

“I know. I know about all of that and even while I say this the inside of my mind is screaming at me to do the opposite. But….”

Slowly, she reached over to Henry’s desk, taking his green D-Ark off its resting place and holding it in her hands.

“…I know it’s going to do nothing to stop either of you from going. You haven’t said anything about it much but I see it on your face. You and Suzie have been waiting for this day to come ever since they left.”

Her finger’s traced over the rubber buttons while her face tilted up to look her son in the eyes.

“And you won’t be alone. All of you will have each other. You all deserve to go and reunite with your partners together.”

Henry sighed. She was right. He knew she was right. It was going to be a hassle having to watch Suzie all the time while there but it was the right thing to do letting her come and get Lopmon.

“Alright. I promise I’ll look out for her.” He said as he reached for his Digivice.

But Mayumi pulled it away. Her face turned a bit stern, an expression Henry wasn’t used to seeing from his mother.

“But before you go, you know what I want you to do.”

The tone didn’t convey a request. This was an order. And Henry knew what it was. For three months now his relationship with his father, Janyu, had been reduced to barely speaking one sentence to each other a day. He had tried a few times to apologize to his son for the part he played in sending his best friend away but it was always the same result. Henry refused to accept his apology. He was too lost in his anger and sadness to even try and see reason. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to be mad.

“Alright.” He said with a sigh. “I’ll talk with Dad.”

“Thank you.”

With that, Mayumi held out his Digivice for him to take which he did. Despite it all, he was still psyched to be reunited with his partner again.

“Just hold on, Terriermon. We’re coming for you. We all are.”

Equestria – Ponyville – The Castle of Friendship – 10:00 AM

“Okay….Twilight? How hard did this kid hit his head when he fell?”

In the map room of the crystal tree-castle, Starlight and Spike had just finished hearing Twilight explain to them what Takato had told her. Spike was in awe, thinking that these Digimon, whatever they were, sounded pretty cool. Starlight however was having a hard time believing a single word of this. Monsters from another world made entirely of computer information? And he got there through what? One of those tiny screens she saw Sunset carrying around?

“Starlight, I know it all sounds hard to swallow but think about it.” Twilight reasoned. “He’s just a kid. He’s all alone. And the only thing he brought with him is a few pieces of clothes and some loaves of bread.”

“Bread?” Spike wondered. “Why bread of all things?”

“I don’t know I never asked him that.” Twilight shrugged. It confused her too but it wasn’t the most important of things she wanted to know.”The point is he doesn’t have a reason to lie to us. He wouldn’t gain anything out of it.”

Starlight had to concede there. But she still wasn’t completely on board with this. They all did agree to get him home as soon as they possibly could.

“Still no word back from Celestia?” Starlight asked.

“Not yet.” The alicorn replied. “Maybe I should send a letter to Cadence too. The mirror was kept in the Crystal Empire before it was moved here. Maybe she knows a few things about it.”

“It’s definitely worth a try.” Her student agreed. “Let’s just hope we can get this figured out without too much trouble.”

“It would be a nice change of pace.” Spike shrugged.

“Twilight!”

That fourth voice sounded in the distance when it rang out. Starlight and Spike looked around wondering who it was while the princess already knew who it was.

“Twilight! Where are you?!”

“Umm…Twilight is that-?”

“Yes it is.” She answered the dragon before he could finish. She then turned her head to the door. “In here! Just follow my voice!”

A few seconds later, the sound of footsteps could be heard getting closer to the door. Then it opened revealing the human out of breath. His shoes were back on his feet and his goggles were once again strapped to the top of his head. Both Spike and Starlight had seen human beings before. But this one seemed…..different. They couldn’t pinpoint what exactly what it was. Just the overall appearance of this human seemed off from the ones they saw in the mirror world.

As Takato caught his breath, he looked up to see that Twilight was not alone in the room. She was joined by a purplish-pink unicorn and a tony purple and green reptilian creature.

“Is that the dragon Twilight told me about? Thought he’d be taller. Oh well.”

A bit of his energy was regained as he walked over to the chair Twilight was sitting at.

“Is everything okay, Takato?” She asked concerned. “Why were you yelling? And were you running?”

“Yeah I had to find you.” He said before turning quickly to Starlight and Spike. “Sorry about this. I’m Takato.”

“Hello there.” Starlight waved her hoof unsure of this creature. “I’m Starlight Glimmer.”

“My name’s Spike!” He stood up in his chair trying to act tough. “I’m the toughest dragon you’ll ever meet.”

The response he was expecting was one of intimidation and maybe a step back to save his own life.

“Cool. Nice to meet you.” He quickly said before turning back to Twilight.

The one he got was not at all what he or even Starlight was expecting. Any normal human would freak out upon coming face to face with a dragon now matter what the size was. And this one just shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Twilight, you’re not gonna believe what happened. Look!” The tamer held up his Digivice for Twilight to see.

The screen of the small contraption seemed to have changed from what she saw it look like before. There was an arrow on it now and it was pointing south. Curious themselves Spike and Starlight walked over to take a look. All three of them seemed to have a similar opinion towards the reason for Takato’s excitement.

“I think it’s broken.” Starlight said as she pointed her hoof to the left. “North is THAT way.”

“No no no. You don’t understand.” He said to the unicorn before addressing the princess again. “Twilight, I never told you what my Digivice does did I?”

Twilight’s head perked up upon realizing he was right. She had asked what the thing was and what it did but he never answered her.

“That’s right. So what is it?” She asked now ready to hear the answer.

As he went on to explain the function of his little device, they could all hear the excitement rise in his voice.

“Well, Digivices are what connect a Digimon and their partner to each other. They allow us to share our power with our Digimon allowing them to become stronger.”

“Interesting.” Twilight muttered as she kept staring at the thing. “Such a powerful little thing. Who made it?”

“That’s…..kind of a long story. Not really the point.” Takato shook his head. “It has other features in it to. But the most important one now is this one. It does work like a compass but it doesn’t point north. “

“Then what does it point to?” Spike wondered.

His smile looked as if it was about to match a certain pink pony’s width.

“It points to Guilmon. Normally if he weren’t within range the arrow would just rotate around in a circle. But look. It’s pointing that way. Twilight I have no idea how but Guilmon is here. He has to be.”

This seemed to rouse various reactions between the three of them hearing this. Twilight was doing a million calculations in her head trying to even fathom that possibility. Starlight was thinking it just flat out wasn’t possible. And Spike got excited to wanting to meet these Digimon creatures.

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here.” Starlight went first. “You told Twilight that your friend Guilmonwas returned to the Digital World. How is it even possible that he could be here?”

“I don’t know.” Takato responded. “But I jumped through the same portal that was supposed to take me to the Digital World and it brought me here instead. Isn’t it possible that the same thing could’ve happened to them?”

Being reminded of that fact made Starlight second guess her stance. This was true. The portal didn’t take Takato to his intended destination. So that did open up the slim possibility that maybe his friend Guilmon had the same thing happen to him.

“So you’re going to try to find him?” Spike asked.

“You bet I am!” He said almost shouting. “If Guilmon is here then I have to find him. And nothing is gonna stop me!”

“Hold on one second, Takato.”

Twilight held up a hoof both to stop him from just running out the door and to stop him from talking. Takato was feeling kind of concerned now that the princess was gonna order him to stay put or something.

“I understand you want to find your partner, but there a few things to consider. The first and most obvious one being, you aren’t a pony. That alone is still shocking to me. Usually whenever someone comes through the mirror from the human world they turn into a pony themselves but you didn’t. So we have to work with that. Also the citizens of Ponyville have never even seen a human before. So there’s no telling how they might react to seeing you walk around.”

As she said that, she flashed back to when she was still new in town and remembered how they all reacted to Zecora. All of them locked up their doors and hid away from her like she was carrying the plague inside of her. Sad to say, she bought into some of those rumors after the poison joke thing. Who knows how they would react to something like Takato.

The explanation was meant to make Takato understand that he couldn’t just go out and about whenever he wanted. But all it seemed to do was confuse him.

“But you’re the princess around here. Can’t you just tell them I’m not a threat or anything?”

Suddenly Twilight felt not only Takato’s eyes on her, but also Spike’s and Starlight’s as they agreed with the tamer’s question. She began to think. She was a princess after all. One of the most regarded ponies in Equestria. Surely if she gave Ponyville a heads up about Takato it would be a huge help. And there was still no response back from Celestia telling her what to do about the matter. So it was at the moment all in her hooves.

In her head she was quickly trying to come up with the positives and negatives of letting Ponyville know about Takato. The pros were easy. It would eliminate up front any fear anypony might get if they just saw him without any forewarning.Not to mention it may be good for him to not be cooped up in the castle for however long he was here. There were a few cons too. The big one being, if the Digimon WERE here in this world, then she would have to give ANOTHER warning about them. And according to Takato, these creatures had many looks ranging from cute and cuddly to incredibly fierce.How would the public react to them?

She took a moment to weigh out the list but eventually the pros won out.

“Alright. I’ll gather Ponyville in town square and publically announce your presence. After that is over, then you can go looking for your friend. Sound agreeable?”

She held out her hoof, a gesture which Takato recognized. Smiling, he reached out, grasped the end of her hoof, and shook it.

“Deal.” He agreed. “How long do you think it’s gonna be?”

In order to properly answer that question, she first needed to ask another one.

“Spike, what’s on our to-do list for today?” The princess looked to her number one assistant.

The young dragon reached for a scroll that was resting on top of the table and unrolled it, revealing a short list of things to do on it. His finger traced down the list as he read it in his head.

“Not a lot, Twilight.” He answered. “Pretty much just going through a few documents for filing but that shouldn’t take too long.”

“Alright then.” She turned to both Spike and Starlight with a smile on her face. “Spike, bring me those papers and we’ll get started right away.”

With a small salute, Spike rushed off to fetch what was needed.

“Starlight, I want you to meet up with the girls and spread word throughout Ponyville that I will be making an announcement at noon sharp in town square. Don’t tell any of them about Takato yet.”

“You got it.” Closing her eyes, Starlight’s horn flared to life with an aqua colored aura surrounding it. A moment later, she vanished in a burst of the same colored light.

With both of them gone, Twilight turned back to the human.

“As for you Takato, just make yourself at home. Walk around the castle. Explore. And once the announcement is over, my friends and I will do everything we can to help you find your friend again.”

Not only was he going to be allowed to leave the castle, but the princess was personally offering her help in finding Guilmon. Another huge smile spread across the tamer’s face as he rushed in and gave the pony a hug.

“Thank you, Twilight. Thank you so much.”

With a smile of her own, Twilight returned the gesture.

“You’re welcome.”

Everfree Forest – Zecora’s Hut – 10:25 AM

Deep within the only place in Equestria where the weather magic had no effect, three small fillies exited a hut built into a large tree. The home of Ponyville’s go-to healer for exotic ailments, Zecora the zebra. The stripped equine had just finished wrapping up a small visit from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As they left the hut, a crate of apples was left in the hut as they all waved goodbye and began to make their way back to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Thank ya both for helpin’ me deliver Zecora’s order of apples.” Applebloom said to her two friends.

“Hey it’s no problem.” Scootaloo said. “The sooner you get done with your chores, the faster we can get back to the clubhouse.”

“Who are we supposed to help today anyway?” Sweetie Belle wondered momentarily forgetting the list of appointments they had for today.

“I think we were supposed to meet with Pipsqueak again. He wants to try his hoof at art this time.” Scootaloo answered.

“Didn’t we already try that with him?” Applebloom asked as she tried to remember. “Ah’m pretty sure we did.”

“No I don’t think we did.” Sweetie Belle at least remembered that.

As they kept talking about their appointments for today, the three fillies seemed to stop paying attention to what direction they were walking. As their hooves kept moving, sunlight around them seemed to darken.

“So that’s what we’ll try when we meet up with him today. Agreed?” Scootaloo looked to the two of them.

“Agreed!” Both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sounded off.

Finally, the three of them looked forward and realized they were no longer on the path back to Equestria. A fact that caused all three of them to grow a bit scared.

“Uhhh….weren’t any of you watching where we were going?” Sweetie Belle asked as she looked around trying to find the way back.

“No. Ah thought you were.” Applebloom was mimicking Sweetie Belle’s movements.

Before Scootaloo could chime in, a familiar sound was heard. It sounded like a squawking sound like that of a certain farm animal.

“W-w-w-was that a…chicken?” Applebloom began to shiver.

“There aren’t any chickens out here in the forest….except for….”Scootaloo couldn’t bring herself to finish.

“Oh no.” The small unicorn muttered.

They knew what it was. They had only one encounter with it before. This time though, Fluttershy wasn’t there to save them from it. As the sound rang out once more, they turned around to see the creature they feared start to advance on them. The thing sported the head of a chicken, albeit with a beak that had sharp teeth. Its talons also seemed normal like a chicken’s. The rest of it was reptilian. A round green scaled body with a long red spiked tail and wings.

“Hehehehe…..n-n-nice cockatrice….” Sweetie Belle fearfully said as all three of them began to cower back from the creature.

The cockatrice had its eyes on not one but three new victims it had been a while since it had any. It was prepared to turn them into stone using only its eyes. The crusaders wanted to run but there seemed to be nowhere TO run. They were cornered. The bushes behind them were too thick to try and break through. Sweetie Belle didn’t know any magic that could get them out. And Scootaloo was incapable a flight. A fact she was really resenting right now. The creature closed in with its wide opened eyes ready to unleash its power.

“Pu!”

The unfamiliar sound was what made it break its concentration and look up. From the bushes behind the three fillies, a blue heart shaped bubble floated out stopped in front of the cockatrices beak before popping. It didn’t know what was in that bubble, but it was enough to make it back off.

“Pu!”

The sound rang out again, and even more bubbles came out of nowhere and surrounded the creature. When they popped the cockatrice seemed to grow more and more alarmed. The fillies turned around, wondering where and what the bubbles were coming from. The cockatrice had enough. It turned around and ran off leaving the girls alone.

“What….just happened?” Scootaloo asked anyone.

“It was scared off…..by bubbles?” Sweetie Belle had no other words.

“What kinda bubbles could do that? Was it some kinda magic?” Applebloom wondered.

Before they even knew what was happening, the bushes began to rustle again and something that couldn’t be made out rushed towards them and scooped them all up in its grasp before jumping away. Once again the girls all thought they were in grave danger and were never going to be heard from again. Instead, moments later, they found themselves released from whatever it was that had them, and they were back on the path the led straight to Ponyville. Confused more than anything now, all three of them looked around for any sign of whatever it was that seemingly helped them.

“Well….that happened, I guess.” Scootaloo said as she rubbed her head.

“Think we should tell anypony about this?” Sweetie Bell asked her two friends.

“Let’s keep it to ourselves for now.” Applebloom suggested. “Ah don’t think there’s any reason to make our friends worry about this.”

Agreeing with her, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed her on the way back to Ponyville as they talked more about who they were going to help today. As they did, two figures from the tree line leaned out from the shrubbery to watch them leave.

One of them was a small fairy like creature with a red heart on its chest, small pink wings, and what appeared to be two small antennae coming out of its head. The other was a very tall yellow fox-like creature standing on two legs. On its front arms, it wore purple gloves that went up to its elbows, both emblazoned with yin-yang symbols.

“We arrived just in time.” The fox spoke with a deep feminine voice. “Those three really should watch where they’re going next time.”

“Hehe. Small ponies silly.” The little fairy creature spoke with a high pitched voice.

“Let’s find some food and return to the others. We shouldn’t be gone too long.” The fox suggested.

Agreeing, she and her small companion disappeared back into the depths of the forest in search of something good to eat. The forest was quiet once more as the day continued on.

Meetings

Once again, I only own the plot of this here fanfic. Digimon Tamers is owned by Bandai. MLP FiM is owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Remember to comment below telling me what you think! I love feedback! Who doesn’t?

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 4: Meetings

Equestria – Ponyville Town Square – 11:58 AM

The time could not pass by fast enough for the eager tamer. Once Twilight was done with her work, she came and found Takato who has seemed to grow a bit friendly with Spike. He had gotten the young drake a little bit more up to speed than he already was by showing him his deck of Digimon cards and showing him the basics of how to play the game. It made Twilight smile to see him actually having a little fun with Spike. It opened up the possibility that he would be able to cope a little easier if he had friends to help him.

As much fun as they were having, the goggleheaded boy and the dragon were stopped by Twilight’s call. She told them it was time for the announcement and then asked Takato if he had ever teleported before. He said that he kind of did by this thing called a “data stream”. She had no idea what it was but from how he described it, it did sound a lot like a teleport. So with an ignition of her horn, a magenta aura surrounded herself, Spike, and Takato at once. Then in a split second, Takato was blinded and his whole body felt like it had fallen asleep at the same time. The transport was over in an instant but it took the boy a few seconds to get his balance back.

“Sorry.” Twilight sheepishly said. “For first timers it can be a little jarring.”

“That was not a data stream.” Takato replied back as he reached for a chair and sat down.

When he sat, he then looked up to see where he was. He was inside a different building, this one much smaller than the castle of course. Just where had Twilight taken him? Wherever it was, it was empty. And it smelled good. That’s when he looked to the left and began to drool at the display case filled with all sorts of pastries. He wanted to get up to get a closer look.

“HI!”

“WAAHHH!!”

Instead he was scared right out of his seat and down to the floor when a high pitched voice out of nowhere. Turning in the direction it came, he saw another pony. This one didn’t have a horn or wings. It was clearly a female by voice alone, and she had a bright pink coat and a curly mane of darker pink. That smile of hers was huge and didn’t seem to go away.

“Hehehehe.” She giggled. “Sorry about that. I’m Pinkie Pie! Are you who Starlight Glimmer was being so secretive about? What’s your name? What’s your favorite cake flavor? Oooooooooooooooooooo! I can’t wait to introduce you to everypony! And then I can throw you a “Welcome to Ponyville” party!”

The human only watched the pink horse as she talked a mile a second.

“Um….what?” He could only respond as he got back up.

“Pinkie!” Twilight went over slightly pushing her friend away from him. “Pinkie what are you doing here? I thought you were helping Starlight gather everypony.”

“Oh I already did that! Then I came back here to play with Gummy for a bit before the big speech! So what’s the big speech about, Twilight? Is it about him? Who is he?”

“Slow down, Pinkie Pie.” The princess held up a hoof to stop her rambling. “I’m gonna let everypony know at the same time. I brought him here so he could enter outside when I think the crowd is ready for him. So just wait a few more minutes. I’ll give the town a brief description then I’ll tell you and the other girls the rest. Okay?”

Hyper as Pinkie Pie was, she could never resist a request from one of her friends, especially Twilight. Vowing to keep quiet she made her way back outside, still eyeing Takato in curiosity the whole way.

“Wow. I think I just met Jeri as a pony. Only multiplied by ten.”

As she walked out however, Takato noticed something he hadn’t noticed before. There was a mark on both sides of the pony’s flank: a picture of three brightly colored balloons. Looking to Twilight, he intended to ask her about that but then he noticed that she had a mark too. A pink and purple colored twinkling star. How did he not notice that before? And what was it?

“One thing at a time. First meet the town, then ask about the marks on their butts. On the other hand that might not be a good first impression.”

“Alright, Takato. Here’s how its gonna work.” Twilight’s voice brought him back out of his thoughts. “I’m gonna go out there, tell them about you and give them a brief description as to why you’re here. When I call for you, just come on out and introduce yourself. This way they’ll all see that you aren’t any threat to them.”

“Did you really have to hide me like this?” Takato looked around the empty bakery again. “It seems like a bit much.”

“I know I know. But the thing is these ponies kind of spook easily. Easing them in is the best way to do things sometimes.” Twilight explained.

It still seemed kind of odd, but he was the fish out of water. And a princess is supposed to know her subjects best, right? Trusting her, Takato nodded.

“Alright I’ll just wait in here then.” He said eyeing the display case again. “And try not to eat those while I do it.”

“I’ll buy you a cupcake when we’re done here. Promise.” The alicorn said with a smile as she headed for the door. “Come on, Spike.”

As the two of them stepped outside into the waiting crowd of all of Ponyville’s citizens, she waved at her six closest pony friends, four of them looking at her a bit confused as to why this was happening at all. Pinkie kept bouncing up and down excited for Twilight to tell the news. Starlight was just hoping the overall reaction to Takato’s presence wouldn’t be too bad. She hoped for positive but for some reason was expecting negative.

Clearing her throat, Twilight’s horn began to glow. A small ring of her magical aura surrounded her throat before being seemingly absorbed into her neck.

“Thank you all for taking time out of your day to meet here.” She addressed her town with her voiced now amplified like a megaphone. “I know you all probably have plans for the day so I will be brief. Last night, a creature from another world accidentally arrived here in Equestria through a portal in my castle.”

Just that sentence alone was enough to spur up the negative reaction Starlight anticipated. The crowd began to murmur and whisper among themselves about the possibility of them being invaded by aliens. Pinkie Pie kept on smiling that wide smile of hers, while the four others up front, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all varied. Applejack was simply uneasy. Fluttershy started to tremble, the rumor of invasion frightening her. Rarity wasn’t sure what to think yet. As for Rainbow Dash she was probably the only positive one out of all of them, thinking now she would finally have a thrilling day and not just the same old routine.

Sensing the overall atmosphere as well, Twilight kept talking.

“But before you go and make assumptions, the reason I brought you all here today was to assure you that this visitor means us no harm. In fact, he is merely a child of his species. I talked with him and learned a lot about whom he is and why he has come here. And I want you all to meet him as well.”

Turning to the door of SugarCube Corner, she called out to him.

“You can come out now.”

Ten seconds later, the door to the bakery creaked open. The first thing the crowd saw creep its way into view was the top of its head. A growing mop of brown hair accessorized by a pair of yellow goggles was seen. Then its eyes and whole head slid out. He scanned around the area taking in what he saw trying to process it all. This really was a world made up of colorful ponies with what appeared to be special butt tattoos. None of them had the same mark, at least none that he could see.

“It’s okay. They aren’t gonna bite.” Twilight tried to ease him.

Like cannon-balling into a cold pool, Takato took the plunge and stepped all the way out the door, revealing his full body to them. Immediately the chatter began again. Once again, none of them were able to make heads or tails of what this thing was, or what it wanted. But as he walked next to Twilight, he stopped, put his feet together, and bowed forward to all of them before speaking.

“My name is Takato Matsuki. It’s very nice to meet all of you.”

The most they could all agree on was that he was polite. Usually whenever one bows, it’s only towards the princesses. No one had ever bowed to them in such a manner. As he leaned back up, they saw that the boy stood at least a foot in height above Twilight. Because of that, nopony save for Starlight could tell his age range. Twilight did say he was a child but how many years did this species remain a child?

“What is with those goggles?” Rainbow Dash whispered. “Can he fly or something or does he just like wearing them?”

“I would certainly hope not.” Rarity answered back with a bit of a louder whisper. “What sort of fashion statement is that?”

Their attention turned back to Twilight and Takato as he talked again.

“I uh…..I just want you all to know I didn’t come here to start any trouble. I’m only here because I think my best friend is somehow here too. I just want to find him and get back home. I won’t get in any of your ways.”

Finding a friend? Did that mean there was more of his kind here? And how long before he came did the first ones arrive? This was the collective mindset of the crowd as they continued to mutter amongst everypony else.

“I will not ask you to help him.” Twilight said in her amplified voice. “But I will request all of you to treat Takato here with the same amount of respect you all show to each other every day. Ponyville is a great town and I’m proud to call it my home. And I trust every single one of you to show him why.”

The smile on her face was unmistakably genuine. For the ponies of the small town, it didn’t seem like that tall of an order at all. Just treat him like any normal pony. Simple. Slowly but surely, the crowd began to voice out their approval, making the alicorn smile even more.

“Thank you everypony. I know you won’t let me down.”

The mention of a certain word caused Takato to look back to the princess with an odd look.

“Did she just say ‘everypony’?”

“Alright. Thank you all for coming. You can go on with your days now.”

As the crowd began to disperse back into town, Twilight did two things. One was take her voice amplification spell off of herself. And the second was look to her friends in the front row and beckon them inside Sugarcube Corner. She, Takato, and Spike all went in first before the rest of them began to proceed themselves. All of them that is, save for Fluttershy who remained in place.

“Tell Twilight I’m sorry. But I gotta get home first.” She said in that soft tone of hers. “It’s almost Angel’s lunchtime and all of you know how he can get. I’ll meet up with you all later.”

With that said, the pegasus mare turned and headed back to her home. The others moved in the other direction, walking in through the doors of the bakery one at a time. There inside sitting at the table were the three waiting for them. Starlight and Pinkie went over without a problem but Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity still approached with a hint of caution around the human. Soon enough though, they were all seated at the table together. The goggleheaded tamer just gave a nervous wave to them all as they settled into their seats.

“Hehe…..hi there.” He said.

The other three waved back, unsure of what to even say to him.

“So can you fly or something?” But apparently Rainbow had a question.

Of all the things Takato could have been asked, of all the things Twilight could have been expected Takato to be asked, that was the last one they ever expected.

“Um………..no.” Takato said.

“Well then what’s with the goggles?” Was her follow-up question.

Understanding now, Takato looked up to his forehead with a more relaxed chuckle than the first one.

“Oooooooooh. Oh I just like wearing them.”

Rarity looked as if she was about to faint. And Takato noticed.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked any of them.

“Don’t worry about. She’s a fashion designer.” Applejack was the one to answer.

Immediately thoughts of Rika’s mom popped into his head because of the similar fields. Was modeling and designing clothes was related? Shaking his head, he deemed that not important.

“Takato these are my close friends. The ones I told you about.” Twilight said pointing to them. “You’ve already met Pinkie Pie.”

“Have a cupcake!” Out of nowhere the pink party planner produced a chocolate cupcake and set it down right in front of the kid.

Not one to pass up a free cupcake, but at the same time wondering where it came from, Takato shrugged and picked it up as he began to eat it.

“This here is Rainbow Dash.” Twilight went on.

“Not too often we get visitors from a whole other world.” The flyer said with what sounded like a million percent of confidence.

“She kind of reminds me of Rika. Not to mention a bag of skittles.”

Takato nodded in her direction as Twilight gestured to the next pony.

“That’s Applejack.”

“Howdy there, Takato.” She greeted with a tip of her hat.

“And this is Rarity.” She gestured to the ivory unicorn that seemed to recover from her almost-faint.

“Very nice to meet you, Takato. Now about those goggles.”

“Not the point, Rarity.” Twilight stopped her from going on.

Meanwhile Takato was starting to get afraid Rarity might try to make a grab for his goggles. And she was a unicorn. She could probably float them off his head without even noticing.

“Wait a minute. Where’s Fluttershy?” Starlight noticed they were one short.

“She said she’ll meet up with us later. Had to get Angel his lunch. So what did you need to tell us in private?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well….Takato’s friend, the one he’s looking for, he’s not exactly what you would expect.”

Fluttershy’s Cottage – 12:30 PM

Fluttershy had gotten back just in time to prevent a temper tantrum from her pickiest animal companion. Angel the bunny was hungry and wanted his lunch served to him. Not only he but also she noticed that the other animals in her home, furry, feathered, or scaled, needed to be fed as well. So she had a bit of work to do. After slaving away for what felt like a hundred years, she managed to get every animal eating their lunch. Even Angel was satisfied with his meal.

The only creatures left on her list were the birds outside in the trees. Finding the bag of bird seed being kept in a lower cabinet, she grabbed it and flew over to the tree where a feeder hung from a sturdy branch. She filled it up and seconds later, it was surrounded by a rainbow of multi colored birds pecking away at it the seeds.

“There we go. All fed.”

Thinking it was about time to get back to Twilight to find out what she wanted, she turned to fly off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. That creature she was with was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She had so many questions and hated that she wasn’t able to ask them right away. A fact she was certain to make up for in a matter of minutes when she reached the bakery. Before she could get too far away though, she heard something rushing out of the forest bordering her small patch of land. A familiar bear who she regularly gave massages to be running out of it at full speed with the most frightened look she had ever seen a bear have. The large creature jumped behind Fluttershy’s house and began to cower.

Fluttershy turned her head in the direction he ran from to see if anything was following him. There was nothing. Not even a sound or anything. Growing confused and concerned at the same time, Fluttershy flew to the back of her house and landed in front of the shivering bear.

“Barry? What’s wrong? What were you running away from?”

Not answering with any vocal sounds, the bear just poked its head out from Fluttershy’s house and pointed down the path he charged down.

“You mean….*Gulp*….something in there?” She grew a bit frightened herself.

Since meeting Twilight and becoming closer friends with the others, the Everfree Forest didn’t really bother her as much as it used to. But it still brought a twinge of fear to her heart whenever she had to go trekking into it alone. In this particular case, one of her close animal friends was scared witless by something she hadn’t seen, and something he wouldn’t say.

Her priorities shifted. First she would see what it was that scared Barry then head off to meet up with the others. With a deep breath, she began to walk into the tree line of the forest. As the sunlight grew darker around her, she looked around for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe he just ran into a cockatrice. She could just use her stare to make that little thing go away. Easy. But what if it wasn’t easy? What if it was something bigger? What if it was a timber wolf coming out of the forest again? She couldn’t handle one of those. They wouldn’t listen to her no matter how hard she tried.

“Okay…..it’s not a big deal….I’m not that far into the forest. Zecora’s hut is much deeper than his. Applebloom makes that walk all the time on her own.” She talked to herself to try and calm down. “I’ll just find out what it was that scared Barry. And if it’s a problem I’ll bring it up when I talk to the others.”

*SNAP!*

“Eep!”

She froze. She didn’t step on any branch near her. Something else did. She quickly turned her head in every direction around her but couldn’t pinpoint any sign of another creature there with her.

“Um….h-hello?” she stuttered. “Umm…..if you’re what scared my bear friend earlier….I j-just wanted to say…..that wasn’t very n-n-nice of you to do that.”

The bushes rustled to her left causing a few leaves to fall off of them. It scared her a bit at first, but then she realized that to fit in the bush, this creature, whatever it was, had to be pretty small. And that bush wasn’t very tall. Wide maybe but not tall. A bit calmer than she was a few seconds ago, she started to march over to the bush.

“Okay then. I don’t know who or what you are, but can you tell me why you scared my friend, Barry?”

“I scared him? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Honest.”

Then the voice rang out. It spoke in a very odd sounding accent and had a very innocent tone to it. The only thing clear about it was that it was a male sounding voice. Whoever this was, Fluttershy didn’t recognize him.

“I was just trying to find something to eat. Can you help me? My friends went out earlier to get food but I’m still hungry.”

Whoever this voice belonged to, it didn’t sound like he meant any ill intent when he scared Barry. The fact remained however that he still DID scare the bear. So what did he do to make that happen?

“Is that all that was?” she asked as now stood inches away from the bush. “Well I can help you with that. Why don’t you come out of the bush and tell me what it is you want.”

“Really? You mean it?” the voice asked growing eager.

“Of course. I wouldn’t want any creature to go hungry.” Fluttershy’s kindness really knew no bounds.

The bushes rustled again and the creature began to rise up from its crouched position in the bush. At first Fluttershy was all on board for helping this thing, whatever it was, get a simple bite to eat. One second was all that needed to pass in order for all the color to drain out of her body. She found herself face to face with a creature that stood a little bit taller than her, had a red reptilian like body, and an odd looking symbol on his chest. When he opened his mouth to speak, she looked straight into his mouth and saw the sharp pointed teeth that looked like it would chew its way through anything.

“Do you have any bread?”

Talks

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far! I hope you keep on enjoying it! Also just a heads up, I need an editor for this story. If you’re willing to help out just comment below or message me.

I only own the plot of this story. Digimon is owned by Bandai and MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 6: Talks

Earth – Tokyo Japan – Wong Residence – 3:00 PM

Knuckles hovered away from the door for what seemed like hours. Henry had never felt this nervous before. On one hand he knew this was the right thing to do. He had to clear the air with his father before he went back through the portal. Yet on the other hand, he was still angry with him for being behind the cause of Terriermon and the being sent away. It was like a big game of tug o war inside his head. He promised his mother he would do it though. That was the one condition she gave to allow him to return to the Digital World. So with a deep sigh through his mouth, he opened up the door to the rooftop of his apartment building and walked outside.

Whenever Janyu didn’t have to work, he would practice his martial arts in the afternoon rather than the evening. He always went to the roof though no matter what. And sure enough there he was, practicing his stance. Henry must have figured he didn’t hear the door open because he didn’t turn back to look at him. Either that or he already knew he was up there and wasn’t sure what to say. Then again, Henry didn’t know either. Finding a nearby cinder block, the tamer moved it in front of the door so they wouldn’t get locked out.

The scraping of the block’s rough surface against the ground of the roof was enough to make Janyu stop and turn to see what it was. He froze when he saw it was his son. His mind began to ask a million different questions pertaining to what he possibly could have wanted. Surely it had to do with the message Takato left last night and the fact that he ran off in the night but what exactly? The father and son just kept staring at each other for a few moments, which to them felt like hours.

“H-hey Dad.” Henry decided to be the one to speak first.

“Henry.” Janyu responded back with one word.

Once again the air was filled with silence.

“Why is this so hard? Why can’t I just talk to him? Yeah I’m mad but it’s not like I wanna be forever.”

“So I take it you’re going to go back then?”

His father’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

“Oh….yeah. We’re all going back. We gotta make sure Takato didn’t get himself killed or anything.”

What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to start this? It was killing him to try and figure it out.

“How could you, Dad?” Finally, after all this time of just being silent, Henry decided to just release it.

“How could you send him away like that? Terriermon was more than just my best friend he was family to me. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me what you had to do. I would have understood. We all would have. We could have thought of another plan. One that would have worked out for all of us.”

The aging man just sighed and walked over to a protruding air vent in the roof and sat on top of it. Henry was it first annoyed because it seemed like his father was just ignoring him. He then saw Janyu pat the left side of the vent next to where he was sitting.

“Come here, son.” He requested.

Nervous as he was before, Henry went over and took a seat where his Dad had tapped. When he was there, Janyu looked up to the sky as if he was becoming lost in his own thoughts himself.

“You know, back when I was Monster Makers in college, I grew so attached to the Digimon that myself and my friends had worked so hard to create. To even think about abandoning the project after that much progress was made, it felt like I had to give up a part of who I was. And for the longest time, I was certain I was never going to get that part of me back. But then something amazing happened.”

For the first time in a while, Henry saw his father look at him with a smile on his face.

“When you had become obsessed with the Digimon TV show, you came to me begging you to take you to buy your first pack of trading cards. Do you remember that?”

Henry thought back to that day. He did remember. And he did so fondly. The cards had already been out for a couple years by that point. But it wasn’t until the show came on TV that he was made aware of Digimon.

“I do remember.” He answered back. “It was right after I saw the episode where they defeated Devimon in season one.”

“I may not remember which episode you were watching but I do remember your face.” Janyu said with that smile. “I knew right then this was something you were going to become obsessed with. And for me, it meant that I would have something special in common with you even though you weren’t aware of it at the time. We came home with your cards and you would read off the names of every monster card with that same smile. That was the very first moment that I felt all that work that we never got a chance to finish didn’t go to waste. You gave me a sense of fulfillment, Henry. Digimon may not have been what we had set them out to be, but the fact that they were able to bring my son so much joy was something much better than I ever could have asked for.”

That was a good day for both of them. Henry remembered it almost as fondly as his father seemed to. He considered that to truly be the day became obsessed with Digimon.

“As time went by, your liking for it only grew. You bought more cards, toys, everything. Every dollar you got you would always spend on Digimon stuff. It only made that sense of fulfillment only grow. But then when I discovered you had Terriermon with you, I just couldn’t believe it. Digimon becoming living creatures and appearing in our world was something I never thought would happen. But yet it did. And seeing your bond with Terriermon go far beyond the one I had with the old project almost made me want to burst.”

He said every word with a smile. But then it shrank away and became a frown as he turned the corner into the hard part.

“That’s why it killed me to do what I did. The fond memory of that face you had when you discovered Digimon became replaced with the one you gave me in the park that morning right after the Digimon had left. To think I could have caused my son and my baby daughter so much pain, it broke my heart, Henry. It destroyed me.”

He took in a heavy breath.

“I am sorry that it hurt you and your sister, son. But I’m not sorry that I did it.”

Henry’s head shot up like a bullet after hearing that. Did he just say what he thought he said?

“What? But Dad, how-“

“Please, Henry.” Janyu stopped him. “Let me explain.”

He wasn’t expecting this to go smoothly from the start. But Henry never thought his father would say something like that. Especially in a conversation like this. Nevertheless, he leaned back allowing him to go on.

“The D-Reaper was overwhelming us and we were running out of time. Every single one of us was working overtime to try and think of a way to stop it. Yamaki, Shibumi, everyone. Then the plan we used came to us. It would defeat the D-Reaper, but it meant that the Digimon would have to return to the Digital World. After seeing all of you kids bond with your partners so deeply, none of us wanted that. But we just didn’t have time.”

He turned his head down so he could make eye contact with his son. He wanted to make sure that what he said was heard loud and clear.

“We couldn’t think of another plan. We didn’t have the luxury to do so. It was either we go with what we knew would work to save our world from that demented program, or spend more time we couldn’t afford and risk total annihilation. I made a choice. One I knew you wouldn’t like but I had to do my part.”

Henry was starting to understand. Looking back, he realized his father was right. Time was not on their side at all and to try and think of a different one would have been really risky. But he still didn’t get why he and the other kids were left in the dark. His father should have been up front with him.

“As for why I didn’t tell you,” Janyu went on. “,you say now that you would have understood, Henry. But the truth is I know you. I know for a fact you wouldn’t have. You’re a smart kid, Henry. Incredibly smart even. It’s something I’m proud of. But you’re still, despite all that, still just a kid. Be honest with me. If I had told you before you and your friends went into the D-Reaper about the plan and what would happen because of it, would you have gone along with it?”

The tamer froze. Once again he had to admit it. If he had been told the truth, that the D-Reaper would be defeated but Terriermon would have to leave, he would have fought against it. He would have demanded something else be thought of. He didn’t want to say it. He wanted to say he would have understood, but the truth was what his father said. He would have resisted the plan.

“I thought not.” Janyu didn’t need him to say anything. His face said it all. “And I knew that too. So I withheld the truth from you and your friends. It was dishonest of me, and I regret doing it of course. But I couldn’t risk you all fighting against us when we were in a race to save the world. So I kept my mouth shut and made you all believe that it was all going to work out. I love you and Suzie so much, Henry. But I had a choice to make. It was either think only about you, or think of the whole world.”

A choice. That was what it all boiled down to. One choice could be what either saves the world or destroys it. Janyu was the one who was doing all the thinking along with Hypnos and the Monster Makers. Henry and his friends were the ones executing those plans. In the heat of battle, there isn’t much time at all to think. And Henry had to see his father’s point of view in a new light.

“Dad….” He couldn’t even find the words. “I’m…..I’m so sorry I’ve been such a jerk to you lately.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Henry.” Janyu said back, resting his hand gently on his son’s shoulder. “If anything I should apologize to you.”

“No. No you shouldn’t.” Henry took his turn to stop him. “You shouldn’t be sorry either now that I see it clearly. You were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and you had a decision to make. I may not have liked it….but it saved the world.

Janyu’s heart began to warm up a bit, realizing his son was forgiving him. To close the deal, Henry leaned into his body and wrapped his arms around him, embracing his father in a hug. It was the first time that had happened since he first returned from the Digital World. Almost on the verge of tears, Janyu gladly reciprocated the gesture.

“If there is anything I can do to make things up to you, just let me know.”

As he pulled away, Henry looked up, already having something in mind.

“Takato’s mom said he brought Yamaki’s communicator with him through the portal. Maybe you can help me get in touch with him to see if he’s okay.”

Smiling, Janyu stood up from his seat on the vent.

“I’ll call Yamaki and get that sorted out. Meanwhile, you should meet up with your friends and start planning things out for when you go.”

Nodding in agreement, Henry got up from the vent too and together, they made their way off the roof and back down to the apartment. He may not have heard what he wanted to hear, but the results spoke for themselves. The bond between father and son was mended again thanks to a few harsh truths.

Now came the hard part of returning to the Digital World.

Equestria – Everfree Forest – 3:25 PM

The two of them kept each other embraced for what to them felt like not even close to long enough, but for the others present and watching, it felt to be overdone a bit. Takato and Guilmon were still on the floor in a tight hug, crying over their reunion. They kept it up until Renamon finally stepped in and said enough is enough.

Then it came time for yet again another explanation, this one solely for Fluttershy’s sake so she could be caught up. The tamer groaned. He didn’t want to have to go through the explanation of everything for the third time in one day. But thankfully now, he had others with him to help, namely Terriermon, Renamon, and Guilmon. Fluttershy listened intently, all the while keeping her eyes flashing back and forth between Monodramon and Guilmon. The scene of the latter hugging Takato had somewhat eased her fear of the red reptilian Digimon, but Monodramon was still up in the air. She didn’t want to fear them, but their dragon-like appearance was still off-putting to her.

Eventually, with the Digimon’s help, Takato was able to get through everything once again and Fluttershy was now caught up in the loop. Granted he left a few details out all three times he had told the story but he would cross those bridges when he came to them. Hopefully though, he never would. He had done what he had come there to do. To find Guilmon. Now all that was left was the second and final part of his plan: getting home.

“And that brings us to right now.” Takato said as he wrapped up the story. “I fell through the portal in Twilight’s castle and woke up here. I thought I was in the wrong world but my Digivice was working and it led me into this forest. And here we are.”

“I still can’t believe you jumped through that portal all on your own.” Terriermon remarked, annoyed. “Henry’s gonna pound you. And that’s saying something. It’s Henry.”

“Not if Rika doesn’t get to him first.” Renamon added. “You really should have waited, Takato.”

“I know I know I know.” Takato agreed with them reluctantly. “I saw the portal and I was so excited. I was going to wait for them. I left messages and everything. I was going to wait until the next morning to talk with them but I got afraid that the portal might disappear if I waited too long. So I jumped in.”

It was a decent enough reason to go through but it still wasn’t enough for them. They wanted to see their partners as much as Guilmon wanted to see Takato.

“But you’re here now. And that means we can go home, right?” Guilmon asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so.” All eyes turned to Twilight as she answered the Digimon. “You see, I’m not entirely sure how Takato got here. If he did go through a portal to your Digital World, then that’s where he should have ended up. I don’t know how he got here. And quite frankly, I don’t know how to get him, and all of you, back.”

Guilmon just whined a bit like a begging dog as he lowered his head. A second later he felt the soothing hand of his tamer rubbing the top of his head.

“It’s okay, boy. We’ll get back home eventually. And when we do, we’ll have an all you can eat bread buffet waiting for you.”

That seemed to lighten the virus-type’s spirits.

“But now that we’re on the subject, how did all of YOU get here?” Starlight asked the present Digimon. “You said you were sucked back up into a portal like the one Takato went through. So how did you end up here? And how long exactly have you been here?”

Guilmon, Impmon, Monodramon, Terriermon, and Renamon all looked back and forth between each other with mixed looks as they thought about answering the unicorn.

“To answer both questions, we don’t know.” The yellow vulpine answered. “After we were pulled away from our partners, we came out of the other side of the portal here in this forest.”

“At first we thought we WERE back in the Digital World.” Terriermon went on. “The place sure seemed crazy enough to fool us.”

“But then we saw a whole bunch of different creatures that we knew weren’t Digimon.” Guilmon took his turn. “That was our first clue that something had gone wrong.”

“What was the second?” Rarity asked, her interest piqued.

“Well, we reached the edge of the forest and saw that town over that way.” Impmon pointed in the direction of Ponyville. “After we saw that, and all you horses, we pretty much realized that the portal had pretty much gone nuts. This wasn’t the Digital World, and we we’re on our own.”

“So we found this cave and we’ve been using it as a hideout.” Monodramon was the one to finish. “We thought any chance of getting back to the human world or our own world was gone. But now Takato is here.”

Takato smiled as he looked back and forth between the Digimon as he spoke. All five Rookie Digimon.

“Wait a second.”

“I have a question now.” Takato raised his hand as if he were in school, capturing the attention of the five present Digital Monsters. “When you all left through the portal, you had all shrunk back down to your In-Training stages.”

All five of them shifted in their positions as they figured which question was coming next.

“How did you all Digivolve?”

Silence hung in the air for a while. Now that the eight present Equestrians had been brought up to speed they knew what Digivolving was and what it entailed. They too shared the same curiosity.

“Once again, we don’t know how exactly we Digivolved.” Renamon answered. “We were stuck in our In-Training stages for quite some time. But then one morning we just woke up and we all found ourselves back in our Rookie stages.”

It didn’t make any sense. Takato knew that. Digimon were made of data. The only way they could possibly acquire more data to Digivolve was from computers. The closest thing he had seen in this world to a computer was an oven. What sort of energy could have possibly been used to substitute for data?

“Hello?”

A new voice stopped them all from thinking. Turning to where it came from, they saw another small creature, assumed to be a Digimon, walk out from behind it and rub his eyes as if he had just woken up. This one was small and chubby with a white coloring. The tips of its feet and short ears were purple. And on his forehead was a dull red triangle surrounded by three smaller black ones. Every single pony there felt as if their hearts were about to burst from the amount of cute its yawn alone gave off. Then its huge green eyes opened all the way and he noticed that they had visitors.

“Am I still dreaming? Why are there so many pretty ponies in here” The small one groggily said.

“Oh well thank you. Though I do believe the word pretty is an understatement for me, darling.” Rarity bashed.

Becoming more and more awake, the small Digimon was beginning to think this was a dream.

“Calumon.”

Then he heard a familiar voice. And when he saw who it came from, his smile went from ear to ear. In fact, even his ears extended out from his head to make him resemble a rabbit of sorts like Terriermon.

“Takato? Is that really you?”

“It’s me, buddy.” The human happily replied back.

With a huge gasp, Calumon dove back behind the rock.

“HEY YOU GUYS! WAKE UP! TAKATO’S HERE! TAKATO’S HERE!”

After his happy shouted, the tiny white Digimon ran back out from the rock and dived right into Takato’s chest hugging him tightly.

“I missed you so much! I didn’t think I was ever gonna see you again!”

“I missed you too, Calumon.”

“Why do all of their names end in ‘mon’?” Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack.

“Ah have no idea.” The country pony whispered back.

As Takato hugged the tiny Digimon, the others were still keeping their eyes on him. His happy energy and smile seemed infectious. Then he turned to look at them. Immediately sensing they were friendly, Calumon jumped out of Takato’s arms and seemed to float over to them, using his ears as wings. He stopped right in front of Applejack’s nose hovered right there before her.

“Hi there! I’m Calumon! Wanna be friends?” he innocently asked like a five year old child.

All eight ponies and their dragon companion once again seemed ready to explode from the sheer amount of cuteness this thing was radiating. Applejack couldn’t help but let loose a hearty chuckle.

“Well aren’t you just a little ball of sunshine.” She said to Calumon happily. “Ah know Ah’d like to be yer friend. And Ah’m sure the rest of us will too. Ah’m Applejack.”

Laughing with happiness, the former light of Digivolution plopped its feet on Applejack’s head, right atop her hat. Once again the others introduced themselves. Then even more tired sounding moans came from behind the rock Calumon came from and more figures made themselves known and seen. Three more and the last three present.

One of them looked almost exactly like Terriermon to a tee. Except this one was brown and pink and sported two extra horns atop her head. The second one seemed to resemble a small pink pixie with a ring around its neck. That one made the others go “awwwwwwwwwwwwww” once more. Pinkie Pie was the first to move forward from the group and grabbed the tiny thing, pulling it into a hug. At first the small Digimon was resisting because it was afraid. But after a few seconds and realizing this pony just wanted to be his friend he calmed down and began to laugh as her fur tickled his body.

“Lopmon! MarineAngemon! It’s so good to see you!” Takato cried.

Then the third one came out. The sight alone made all of the present Equestrians, even Takato, shirk back a little bit in confusion. It looked like a big walking stag beetle covered in silver metal plating and beady red eyes. The prodded tops of its head sparked with electricity and electrical plugs protruded out of its abdomen.

“What in Equestria is THAT?” Starlight asked anyone.

“I am pretty sure I saw something like that in a comic book once.” Spike commented.

“Hmph! How rude! You equine looking creatures sure don’t know how to make a good first impression now do you?!” The metallic bug shouted at them insulted.

Takato was the only one of them to recognize the voice and its dialect. Reaching for his Digivice, he held it out towards the bug and a circular holographic screen with a picture of the creature in the center of it came up. Beneath its feet was a name.

“Kokuwamon. Machine data type. Rookie Level. Special attack: Mini scissor claws.”

When he was finished reading off his stats, Takato put the Digivice back, clipped to his belt loop.

“Wait a minute.” Rainbow Dash caught what Takato had done. “So that thing of yours can tell what other Digimon are and what they can do?”

“Yeah.” Takato said as he ran his fingers over his D-Ark. “If Guilmon can see another Digimon, my Digivice can bring up its information with the Digimon Analyzer built into it.”

So powerful, that little device. That was all Twilight was thinking as she eyed it.

“But who exactly are you, Kokuwamon?” Takato asked.

“Takato, that’s Guardromon.” Guilmon said as if it were obvious.

“Whaaa?”

He should have realized it before now. Monodramon was in his rookie form so of course Guardromon would be in his too. He had just never seen it before.

“I apologize I am not in the shape you recognize, Takato.” Kokuwamon politely bowed. “But I assure you I am Kazu’s partner one in the same.”

Yup. This was Guardromon alright. There was no denying it. Looking around, Takato smiled again. They were all here. All nine Digimon he tearfully said goodbye to three months ago were right here.

“Kenta?”

The soft voice came from MarineAngemon who was still in Pinkie Pie’s forelegs being hugged.

“No you silly little cutie. That’s Takato. Tuh-KAH-toe!” She explained while pointing to the tamer.

“No no, Pinkie. Kenta is one of my friends and MarineAngemon’s partner.” Takato corrected.

“Kenta isn’t here, MarineAngemon. Takato thought it would be a good idea to hop through the portal all by himself.” Terriermon said, still annoyed.

“Alright alright, I get it. It was stupid of me to do it.” Takato waved his hand to the small green Digimon.

Lopmon, Kokuwamon, and MarineAngemon all looked dejected when they heard none of their partners were there.

“But now that you’re here, does that mean we can finally leave this cave?” Guilmon asked. “Not that I don’t mind eating fish and berries for every meal but I’m hungry for some bread again.”

“While food isn’t my top priority, the fact that Takato is here and friends with these ponies does open up the possibility of a better place to stay than this forest.” Renamon added on while turning her head to the Equestrians. “That is, if they were willing to accommodate us.”

At once, all eight of them began to think it over.

“Well they can’t stay with me. I don’t think Digimon can walk on clouds.” Rainbow Dash voiced her opinion.

“Ah suppose Ah could let them stay in the barn. But how would I explain them to mah family?” Applejack wondered aloud.

“I don’t think Mr. and Mrs. Cake can make room at Sugarcube Corner for them. There was barely room for Gummy when I first got him.” Pinkie Pie said while looking down to MarineAngemon.

“My whole house is a mess right now from all of the orders I’m getting for the Gala. I simply can’t take the time to accommodate for them even though I really want to.” And Rarity meant it. Renamon’s fur and overall look still captivated her.

“So that leaves either Fluttershy’s house or the castle.” Starlight said as she looked back and forth between the alicorn and her pegasus friend.

Fluttershy wanted to say she could help. She so wanted to. But there was no way she could tell them why she also didn’t want to. Her eyes kept glancing back to Monodramon. Even though he had barely said a thing this whole time, his look alone was still menacing. Then she was told what Digivolving was. What is he decides at some point to Digivolve and get even bigger? What then?

While she thought, she kept her head flashing back and forth between Monodramon and the rest of the group. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she was severely conflicted on the whole thing. Someone had to stop her before she hurt herself.

“The castle has more than enough room for them.” Twilight finally announced, making Fluttershy stop. “They can all stay there until the time comes where I can figure out how to send them back. But you all have to stay out of trouble and stay out of sight. The town of Ponyville knows about Takato but they don’t know about you.”

“Do those sound like agreeable terms?” Spike asked the Digimon.

“Those sound like very acceptable terms.” Lopmon finally spoke. “Thank you all so much for this.”

All parties present smiled save for the yellow pegasus. She didn’t have to say it. They all knew she was afraid. What did they think of her now?

“Well then let’s get going. Everyone gather around and I’ll teleport us all to the castle.” Starlight said as her horn began to glow.

All nine Digimon, Takato, and the eight Equestrians all gathered around while a bubble of cyan colored magical energy surrounded them. Closing his eyes, Takato braced himself.

“Hehe. This feels funny.” Calumon chuckled, still standing on Applejack’s hat.

The other Digimon agreed. It felt odd but it also felt like something else. They didn’t have much time to think about it though as a split second later, the scenery around them flashed away from view and they were instantaneously transported back into the map room of Twilight’s Castle of Friendship.

While Takato found it familiar, all nine Digimon looked on in awe at the room they were in. The crystalline walls and chars matched each other. And the marks on the back of the six taller chairs matched six of the present ponies. Calumon however was entranced by something else. Jumping off of Applejack’s head, he literally began to float upwards towards the large piece hanging from the ceiling. The roots of the Golden Oaks library decorated with several jewels, each one embedded with a different memory Twilight and her friends had in the place. Takato too found himself looking up at the thing in awe. When he rushed in here this morning to talk to Twilight he hadn’t noticed it at all.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see that. It looks like an upside down Christmas Tree.”

“How pretty.” Calumon commented.

“Well I always thought castles were supposed to be shiny and this certainly fits the bill.” Impmon added on.

Guilmon was going to say something, but then he thought of another thing.

“Hey Takato, have you tried sending a message back to Earth?” he asked his tamer.

Takato froze for a moment and then facepalmed. How could he have forgotten? He had Yamaki’s communicator. And seeing as how he came alone, the least he could do is try to get word to them that he’s okay and they don’t need to worry about him.

“No but I’ll try.” He answered before thinking of something else, catching everyone else’s attention. “But I don’t even know if the communicator I brought with me will work. The Digital World and Earth may be directly linked but I don’t think the same rules apply here in Equestria.”

“Well the only way you’ll know for sure is if you try.” Rainbow Dash confidently said. “I say try and if it doesn’t work, then you’re pretty much in the same place you’re in right now.”

“And don’t you worry none, pardner.” Applejack approached the human with a warm smile. “We’re gonna make sure you and all yer friends here get back to your own world safe and sound. We give ya our word. Right y’all?”

With enthusiasm, the six other ponies and their dragon friend all pumped their hooves (and claw) into the air agreeing with their country friend. Twilight was still nervous though. She still had to examine the portal, a chore she would get to at least by tonight. Then maybe she could think of some spell or different way to try and alter it so it could open up a new passage back to Takato’s world.

“Thank you so much for your help!” Calumon shouted as he landed atop Applejack’s hat.

“Ya really like it up there, don’t ya little fella?” Applejack chuckled.

Takato couldn’t help but laugh a bit too. But his face quickly turned to concern when he saw Spike clutch his stomach and bulge out his cheeks.

“Spike? Are you okay?”

A huge belch was his answer along with a burst of green flames. Everyone and every Digimon backed away from the small explosion not at all expecting it. The flames then spiraled upward before they formed a small shape. Then with a pop, the fire morphed into a paper scroll and fell to the floor before them.

“Did he just puke up a scroll?” Terriermon tilted his head, completely and utterly confused.

“I wonder if it tastes good.” Guilmon eyed the thing with interest.

Only to be pulled away by his partner.

“Guilmon, he just threw that up! Don’t eat it!” Takato pleaded with disgust.

“It’s a letter from Princess Celestia. She must have finally gotten back to me from my earlier message this morning.”

Twilight stepped forward and took the scroll up into her telekinetic grasp and unrolled it to read the response.

“I thought SHE was the princess.” Lopmon pointed to Twilight.

“Perhaps it’s her sister or something?” Kokuwamon thought.

“No it’s nothing like that.” Starlight corrected them. “Princess Celestia is the ruler of this country of Equestria. Twilight is a princess too but she doesn’t rule in the same manner as Celestia, Luna, or Cadence.”

“There are four princesses?” Monodramon wondered. “Then who’s the queen?”

This caught the attention of all the ponies save for Twilight, and Spike. They looked like they didn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

“If there are princesses here, then surely there must be a queen at the very top. Right?” Renamon agreed with her purple and gold friend.

All of them had no idea how to answer that. They had never been asked about it before. Before they had a chance to try however, Twilight rolled up the scroll and looked all around at her present company. It looked like a huge wave of sweat was rolling down her forehead.

“Twilight, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked concerned.

“She said she wants me to keep Takato’s presence here a secret.” The alicorn replied with a nervous chuckle. “And she wants to come here to speak with him.”

Now they all understood. The first part of that was going to be a bit of a problem.

“So what are ya gonna do? Ponyville already knows about Takato.” Applejack reminded her. “And chances are somepony who travels out of town from here may bring this up in passin’.”

Letting out an anxious groan, Twilight ran a hoof through the top of her mane. She had to keep it together. Remembering Cadence’s exercise, she placed that same hoof to her chest and exhaled out, calming herself down.

“I guess I’ll just have to write back telling her it’s too late for that. In the meantime, Takato, while you may be free to walk around town here, the Digimon are not and I want to keep it that way for just a little while longer. At least until I can have a conversation with Celestia in person. Does that sound agreeable?”

Takato, and most of the Digimon each sounded off in agreement. There was one however who didn’t like it.

“What?! You’re sayin’ that we’re supposed to be kept in here like a jail cell?! That sounds bogus if ya ask me!” Impmon shouted.

“Relax, Impmon.” Renamon told him annoyed. “It’s only temporary. I’m sure once Twilight talks with this Celestia, we can work something out. Besides, I agree with her. Its best we stay out of sight for now.”

“Besides this is a castle after all. We got all the space we could possibly need!” Terriermon shouted excited to get a look around.

The small Digimon still didn’t like it. He liked going out and walking around. Exploring was his relaxation. To be denied that was almost like being confined in a prison. But he was outnumbered.

“Fine I’ll stay but I won’t like it.” He declared.

“Knowing this group, I’d be surprised if that arrangement lasts a day.”

Takato didn’t want to believe what the back of his head thought but the track record spoke for itself. These guys had a tendency to disobey and sneak out on their own from time to time. Especially Calumon and Guilmon.

“Oh don’t you worry, Impmon!” Pinkie Pie appeared right in front of his face. “Once we show you around I’m sure you’ll LOVE staying here!”

Considering that a good idea, Twilight asked her friends to please show the others around so she could have time alone in the map room. Only Spike was asked to stay. Slowly but surely, the others all made their way out of the room, ponies, human, and Digimon. When the door shut and it was just her, Twilight turned back to her assistant.

“Take a letter, Spike.”

Acquiring a blank scroll and a fresh ink dipped quill, Spike held the tip up to the parchment ready to repeat back in text what the alicorn says vocally.

“Dear Princess Celestia, I really wish you had responded to me sooner.”

Evening Plans

It makes me so happy to see how many of you have faved this story already. Thank you all so much. I only own the plot of this story. Digimon is property of Bandai. MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 7: Evening Plans

Earth – Tokyo Japan – Nonaka Residence – 5:00 PM

As the sun began to set, almost every tamer found them standing in different places within the outdoor garden in Rika’s home. The only ones not present were Ai and Mako who unfortunately had recently come down with a nasty cold and were confined to their beds until further notice.Though that was a small hindrance, the other tamers promised to keep the two youngsters up to speed when it came to planning.

Everyone else had already been there for about an hour now discussing things and going back and forth stating how stupid a move it was for Takato to leave alone. But it was already growing old ragging on him. By the time the scent of Seiko cooking dinner came to their noses, one thing was certain.

“So we’re all going back, huh?” Henry spoke out.

“Well we can’t leave chumley on his own in the Digital World.” Kazu agreed. “I guess we have to go and get him before he hurts himself.”

“If he already hasn’t you mean.” Rika said with a bit of a growl. “It’s been almost a full day for him on his own. What if he hasn’t found them yet? What is he gonna do?”

“It’s Takato. I’m sure he’ll think of something.” Kenta defended his friend. “He always was good under pressure in school.”

Stifling a groan to himself, Ryo stood up straight.

“This isn’t like school, Kenta. If you make a mistake there you can just try again on a makeup test. But in the Digital World, one wrong move and it’s over. You don’t get a second chance there.”

“As much as I may hate to say it, Ryo’s right.” Rika had her teeth almost gritted. “Takato may be our leader but he’s also a bumbler.”

“Well then what are we still doing here?” Jeri questioned as she adjusted her hand in that sock puppet of hers. “If the portal is open, then how come we haven’t gone through it yet ourselves?”

“Yeah! I wanna see Lopmon! Let’s just go!” Suzie was already impatient.

“We can’t!” Henry said a little bit louder than he meant to.

This was getting ridiculous. The indigo-haired tamer felt like he had already had this same discussion so many times before in the same day. How many more times was he going to have to repeat himself before they all understood?

“I want to see our Digimon too and I want to make sure Takato is okay. But we can’t just rush into the portal. You for one Suzie didn’t go through the portal like we did when we left. So you’re gonna have to prepare for that. Also we need to take time and let each of our parents know what’s happening. I’ve already told my parents I’m going back. How many of you have let yours know?”

Only a few hands in the group went up. Rika, Ryo, and Kenta were the three that did. The rest remained down and unanswered. Suzie was already in the clear obviously because she and Henry had the same parents. Jeri and Kazu were the only two behind.

“I heard my Dad wasn’t too happy with me leaving on my own last time.” Jeri said sadness evident in her voice. “I’ll make sure to do it right this time.”

“My folks aren’t gonna like me going back to get Guardromon. To my mom he just takes up space in the backyard. But I guess if I have to let them know.” Kazu commented casually as is his nature.

Nodding, Henry adjusted his spot, leaning against one of the wooden posts of the house. Everything seemed to be set. Now all they needed to do was execute.

“Alright then, tamers. Here’s what we’re gonna do.” He looked around to all of his friends. “Jeri and Kenta, you two tell your parents tonight about the plan to head back. I’m gonna head to Guilmon’s old hideout and see if the portal is still there. If it is, I’ll call you and we’re all gonna pack up what we’ll need and head out.”

“When do you think we SHOULD leave?” Kenta asked as he adjusted his glasses.

That was one of the bigger matters all of them needed to think about. Yes Takato ran off and they wanted to follow as fast as they could. On the other hand, they didn’t want to just rush off like the last time they did to get Calumon and not have everything they needed. And again, their ability to leave will all depend on the portal even being there. Ryo was the only one who thought of this. Not to mention one more thing.

“How about Henry goes to see if the portal is still there first before making a travel plan?” He suggested. “If it’s there then we’ll start planning but if it’s not then we’ll have to think of something else. Also don’t forget Ai and Mako will probably want to come with us too. It wouldn’t feel right to leave them behind.”

They had almost forgotten about those two little ones. Ai and Mako had only met the rest of them a few times before but they never really had a chance to get to know them as well as the present seven tamers already know each other. Also his other point was valid. Making plans to go back would be pretty pointless if the portal wasn’t still there waiting for them. So they all agreed to hold off until Henry could confirm that the portal was still in Shinjuku Park.

Seiko all asked if they were going to stay for dinner but they all declined, deeming it was getting late and they should make their way back to their respective homes. Henry promised to keep in touch with them and let them know what was happening as soon as he got back home. But first there was a stop to make: Guilmon’s old home.

Leaving Rika’s house, he took Suzie’s hand and began to make his way towards Shinjuku Central Park. The truth was he hadn’t been there since that fateful day when he had to say goodbye to Terriermon. He had actively tried to avoid it too. The memories were too painful to think about. But now with he and his father on good terms again, and the chance to get his partner back in front of him, the pain was gone.

Suzie on the other hand was just excited that she would get her two favorite Digimon back. She had barely had time to teach Lopmon how to complain about going to bed early. She had so much to teach her. As they walked, the two soon found themselves heading up the staircase that led to Guilmon’s hut. At the end of the climb, there it was. From the outside the massive dirt piles from the Digimon’s digging were clearly seen. Henry was surprised no one ever caught onto that.

“Is that it, Henwy?” Suzie asked as she tilted her head.

Henry had almost forgotten that his little sister had never seen the small hut before.

“Yeah that’s it. Come on.” He began to walk towards the thing.

The gate was unlocked. The Wong siblings made their way inside and then looked down the massive hole Guilmon had dug.

“Stay right here, Suzie.” Henry told his younger sibling as he climbed into the hole.

Suzie was curious and wanted to see too, but she followed her brother’s request without question. Crouching down, Henry crawled deeper into the Digimon made tunnel and looked ahead. What he saw made him gasp.

“There it is.”

The portal was still there. He wasn’t sure what was making it stick around for so long, but it was still there. The floating punctuation marks and letters were a dead giveaway. Seeing all he needed to see, he made his way back out of the hole and popped his head up for his sister to see.

“Is the portal down there?” Suzie asked.

“Yeah it’s there alright.” He smiled as he climbed back out of the hole, causing his sister to smile bigger in turn. “Let’s get home and start calling everyone. I’ll even race ya.”

Both of them brimming with excitement, they rushed back home. Henry slowed down just before they got to the front door of their building allowing Suzie to pull ahead of him and “win” the race. Once that was done and the laughter was had, both of them arrived to their apartment upstairs and Henry grabbed the phone. Dialing numbers like crazy, he called Rika first and told her the good news. He called her first for a reason. She had a phone of her own so she could help out with delivering the news. She called Ryo and Jeri while Henry dialed Kazu and Kenta. Then he left a message at Ai and Mako’s house hoping to at least get a call back from one of their parents.

After the series of calls and call back’s ended, an hour had gone by and the sun was set. The stars had taken the place of the sun in the sky and the full moon seemed to rule over them. The plan was to meet up at Rika’s house once again tomorrow morning with all of their parents there as well start thinking up a plan of when to go.

“Just hang on Terriermon. We’re coming for you. And if you see Takato, keep him safe.”

Equestria – Ponyville – Castle of Friendship – 7:00 PM

“I wonder if it’s night back home too.”

That was what Takato thought as he stood outside the balcony of his current guest room with Guilmon by his side. He wasn’t sure if the time flow was the same here as it was back home. But it certainly felt similar. They had the same way of telling time. Twenty four hours in a day and the day and night cycle had sunrises and sunsets. It wasn’t like the Digital World where the light and darkness of the world flipped on and off like a switch. Nevertheless, the sky was gorgeous. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the sun and moon were literally moved by the two head princesses up in Canterlot. That little tidbit alone sparked so many questions. He didn’t even know where to begin. So he didn’t.

The other Digimon were still down in the kitchen, gorging themselves on whatever food Spike and Pinkie Pie together could make up for them. The young dragon and the party planner in the kitchen together were an unlikely fast team when it came to whipping up meals. With Spike’s experience cooking for Twilight when she was pulling all-nighters and Pinkie Pie’s knowhow when it came to all sorts of confectionaries, the two were putting out plates for them to eat left and right. Terriermon and Impmon seemed to cast their manners out the window when they got their first plate. They both dove right into it and didn’t care how loud they were being. Rarity was absolutely repulsed by their behavior. Yes Impmon saved their lives earlier today but that was no excuse to behave in such an uncouth manner.

The other Digimon seemed a lot calmer. Guilmon was close to following Terriermon’s and Impmon’s example but Takato was there with him to advise him to be a bit more polite towards the ponies who were letting them all stay in the castle, and the two chefs making them their meals. The most polite out of the group seemed to be Calumon (Mostly because he was sticking close to Applejack and being fed by her), Lopmon, Kokuwamon, and Renamon. The last of which seemed to prefer eating away from the group in solitude. The others all asked her to join them but she declined. The reason of which they never got out of her.

Monodramon was a bit messy himself but he was at least trying to clean up after himself whenever he spilled a bit of food off the plate. For a curious dragon type rookie level, he seemed quite intent on making sure nothing was out of place. Perhaps being yelled at one too many times by Ryo’s dad was enough to make him that way. But no matter how clean he tried to be, that didn’t matter to Fluttershy who still seemed to be keeping her distance from both him and Guilmon. The other ponies obviously noticed. They understood but they were also a bit annoyed too.

MarineAngemon got his meal from Pinkie Pie. The tiny little mega seemed content in staying in her large poofy pink mane. Takato had to admit it was cute. But then he got a little freaked out when he saw the big front curl in front of her forehead begin to move on its own. It was handling cooking utensils, and was even wrapping around small samples of food to feed to MarineAngemon. When he stammered to even speak, the other ponies around him just told him to not question it. It was just Pinkie being Pinkie.

The meal, combined with gazing at the night sky was a good enough distraction from the disappointment he had faced a couple of hours earlier. Taking Guilmon’s advice, he had grabbed Yamaki’s communication device and tried to send an email back home to let his parents and friends know that he was alright. None of his attempts succeeded. No matter where he stood, even when he was right next to that mirror portal he came through, the device wouldn’t get any sort of connection to get a message through. He was completely cut off. Now there was no way to let them all know. For all they knew he could be hurt or worse.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he tried to focus on the positives. He was here in a world full of friendly pony creatures who didn’t want to hurt him but help him. He had found his partner and everyone else’s. And soon enough, he would be home in his world where Guilmon would stay forever. At least that’s what he hoped would happen. First Twilight needed to fix the portal thing.

When the meal was finally done, all the Digimon thanked the two chefs for the meal and went to find Takato, leaving the eight Equestrians alone. Before the others all left, they all convened in the map room. Each one sat in their respective thrones surrounding the map as they began to converse about the situation they were all currently a part of, save for Starlight because she didn’t have one.

“Alright so he found his friend. What do we do now?” Rainbow was the first one to speak.

“Ain’t it obvious, Dash? Now we gotta work on gettin’ him back to his world.” Applejack replied.

“Not that I mean to sound rude here.” Rarity began. “Takato seems like a nice boy and I do wish to help him. Though first I wish to remove those goggles from his head but I digress. How are we supposed to help him?”

“He can’t leave yet! I haven’t even thrown a party for him! He can’t go home without experiencing one of my parties!” Pinkie sounded like this was priority number one.

“I’m sure everypony loves your parties, Pinkie. But Rarity’s right. None of us except Twilight and Starlight know the first thing about magical portals.” Fluttershy agreed with her fashionista friend, getting the conversation back on track. “I do wish them to get home as soon as they can.”

“Oh you’re just saying that because Guilmon and Monodramon scare you.” Spike was not afraid to be blunt.

A few of the ponies, namely Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Rarity glared at him.

“What?” he raised his claws in defense. “It’s true and you all know it. Come on what have those two done to make you so afraid of them? Is it just because of how they look?”

Now Fluttershy was afraid for another reason. She never took into account how her obvious fear of the two dragon-like Digimon would affect Spike. He was the only dragon she was friends with and that was because he was small and couldn’t do any harm. Save for the one time he grew because of his greed but that’s beside the point. The point was that she had to choose her next words very carefully so she wouldn’t offend him.

“I…..okay yes.” She just bowed her head down and admitted the truth. “Even after all we’ve been through, the sight of another dragon bigger than you, Spike, terrifies me. Even Guilmon and Monodramon. I know they seem nice but they still scare me.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little unfair?” Starlight had to side with Spike here. “I mean yeah, those two look like dragons but they’ve done nothing scary since we’ve met them, save for the way they eat.”

That only made Fluttershy even more ashamed. The only reason she ran away from Guilmon when she first saw him in the forest was because he asked her for bread. Granted she didn’t really hear that. She was just too focused on his sharp teeth. Looking back around the table she was feeling even more nervous as every pair of eyes in there were focused on her. It felt like they were all drilling into her head at once.

“I’m so sorry!” She cried out. “I’ll apologize to them as soon as I get the chance! I promise!”

Once everypony saw the tears form in her eyes, they realized that they may have gone a bit too far with questioning Fluttershy.

“We’re sorry, Fluttershy. We didn’t mean to harp on you.” Twilight started before looking to the rest of her friends. “And that isn’t why we’re here. Applejack is right. Takato found who he came here for so now the top priority has to be getting him and his friends back home. But before I can start there’s a few more things that have to happen first.”

Interested as to what these other things were, the others stayed silent allowing her to continue.

“I responded back to Princess Celestia telling her that I had already told Ponyville about Takato. Not too long after that, she sent me another letter saying that while she wishes that I had refrained from doing so, it was my choice to make. So that’s that. Also she plans on arriving here around noon tomorrow to talk with him. About what, I don’t know.”

“Well then Ah guess that’s that then.” Applejack said. “What else is there to do?”

“Well for one I need to make sure Takato doesn’t get into too much trouble while he’s here. While he’s staying here in my castle that makes him my responsibility. Also I need to start looking into the portal. Maybe if I get in touch with Sunset in the other world she can help me. Her world has computers like Takato’s does.”

She wasn’t done. Soon enough she began to ramble like she normally does when she gets nervous. And that only made her friends nervous too. They have had plenty of experience with a nervous rambling Twilight. And none of those experiences ever bloomed into good ones.

“Twi-Twi-Twi! Simmer down there!” Applejack reached over from her neighboring throne and rested her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders.

Taking a breath and being eased down from Applejack’s comforting touch, the lavender alicorn looked around to her friends before bowing her head down. Her gaze was pointed right to the smooth surface of the deactivated map.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…..I made Takato a promise to get him home and I have no idea if I can keep it or not.” She looked up to the ceiling where Takato was standing one floor above them. “What if he gets stuck here for a long time without being able to see his family and friends back home again? And to add on top of that, what if he gets hurt? There are a ton of creatures here in this world that could do some serious damage to him if he’s not careful. It’s on me to make sure that doesn’t happen because if it does, it’ll be my entire fault because I couldn’t help him.”

The others all looked back and forth with one another as Twilight kept on going. She was really concerned for this human boy whom she only met no more than twenty four hours ago.

“Oh come on, Twilight. It wouldn’t be ALL your fault.” Pinkie tried to comfort her as well. “He’s the one who jumped into the portal on his own.”

“While that’s true, he’s made it very clear that Equestria wasn’t where he intended to go.” Twilight replied, that fact only frustrating her even more. “This is just so weird. I have no idea how he or the Digimon even got here.”

“None of us have any idea either, Twi.” Rainbow started as she hovered up out of her chair. “Look, you’re doing that thing again where you start to put so much pressure on yourself. Look around you. We’re all your friends here, Twilight. You don’t need to take on so many different tasks on your own just because you feel responsible for Takato. Let us help you.”

“Yeah. We can all help out in our own way so you don’t feel so stressed.” Pinkie Pie agreed. “How about all of us can take turns with Takato in town tomorrow and show him around?”

“That’s a great idea, Pinkie!” Starlight claimed with a smile. “And I’ll keep the journal with me and communicate with Sunset Shimmer. That should leave you plenty of time to examine the mirror.”

All at once, the others spoke their favor of the plan. Twilight almost wanted to cry. It always warmed her heart when her friends came to her aide like this. No matter how much she went insane, they were always there for her. They truly did live up to their roles as the elements of harmony. Wiping her eyes from the impending tears, she smiled to all of them.

“Thank you, everypony.” She cleared her throat. “Alright. So we have a game plan for tomorrow. I’m gonna let Takato know about it. The rest of you head on home and get some rest.”

After bidding each other goodbye, the other five of the six elements of harmony made their way out of the castle and back to their respective homes. Each one had their own separate thoughts as to their current situation as they left.

Applejack had a feeling in her gut that things were about to escalate. Sure Twilight was working on getting Takato back home. But things like this tended to happen around here. First an odd event happens that leads to some discovery, in this case Digimon, and then Equestria is soon on the line. Shaking her head, she prayed that wasn’t the case as she crossed the threshold into her home at Sweet Apple Acres.

Rarity was absolutely swimming in a pool of new ideas and inspiration. The mere look alone of each and every Digimon had given her new ideas galore for fashion lines. And Renamon was at the center of that pool. She still didn’t know what it was about the biped fox that intrigued her so. She figured a good night’s sleep would do it. When she got home, she saw her younger sister was still up and waiting for her. The seamstress had forgotten that she was staying there while her parents were out of town. Apologizing, she took her sister to bed and then made preparations to follow her.

Rainbow Dash flew up to her cloud home stoked about the possibilities that these Digimon could do. Things in Ponyville had been a bit dull lately and this seemed like the perfect spark to ignite a new adventure. While she had to admit Calumon and MarineAngemon were adorable beyond anything she had ever seen before, it was Digimon like Guilmon, Monodramon, and even Kokuwamon that just made her say “Awesome” a million times in her head. Their looks alone just screamed “strong” and “fierce”, or in Kokuwamon’s case, “Stay at least ten feet away at all times”. Excited about what tomorrow could bring, she entered her house.

Hopping all the way home, Pinkie Pie, like Rarity had so many ideas flowing through her mind. If Takato and the Digimon were going to be sent home soon, then she was going to throw them a party. She had so many questions to ask herself. Should it be a surprise party? What flavor cake? What COLOR flavored cake? Do Digimon even eat cake? Judging by the way they ate the meal she and Spike made, they may eat just about anything. And she would have to make small bite sized treats for the smaller ones like MarineAngemon. She didn’t know what it was, but something about that tiny Mega radiated off a sense of happiness, joy, laughter. One thing was for certain tomorrow. She had supplies to gather.

Fluttershy was the most down of the group of five. What Spike said to her still stuck in her craw. The fact that she was scared to go near Guilmon and Monodramon simply because of the dragon appearance, she had to admit, was unfair. While the others thought about what they could do with Takato tomorrow, Fluttershy was more focused on apologizing to the two Rookie Digimon. Now that she recalled, the two of them didn’t seem so bad at all. Guilmon was incredibly calm especially with Takato by his side. She carried those thoughts with her throughout the rest of the night.

Meanwhile back at the castle, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike decided to talk to the tamer together. They knocked on the door to his room a couple of minutes after the others left. Takato heard the knock and allowed them to come in. When the door was opened, the princess, her student, and her number one assistant all saw Takato standing on the balcony with seven of the nine Digimon around him. All of them were looking in different directions out into the town.

“This place sure is beautiful.” Lopmon commented. “Suzie would probably go nuts if she ever saw it.”

Terriermon was seated next to his chocolate flavored doppelganger on the railing.

“Hehe. Yeah no kidding. And I bet Henry would try to explain that magic isn’t real.” He joked.

“But magic IS real here.” Guilmon argued. “Didn’t you see all the spells that Twilight and the other unicorns used earlier?”

“Hehe. Those were pretty impressive. I bet all the Unimon back home can eat their heart outs.” Impmon joked.

Spike leaned in closer to Twilight and whispered.

“Why do all of their names end in ‘mon’?”

Both her and Starlight heard him and shrugged without an answer.

“Takato?”

The human and all of the present Digimon turned around to the call to look at their hosts. They were about to tell him what was going to happen but then they finally noticed there were a couple of them missing.

“Where are Renamon and Calumon?” Starlight asked growing concerned.

“Those two went out.” Takato replied. “Renamon is very good at not being seen. She sticks to rooftops and just keeps watch in case something happens. Calumon? He’s something else entirely.”

“That little creampuff just likes to find something fun to do.” Impmon added.

“What?!” Twilight immediately began to freak out. “Buh-buh-but you all said you would stay here! Why would they leave? What if they’re seen?!”

“Twilight Twilight Twilight! Calm down!” Takato raised up his arms.

With the help of Starlight Spike, who were also now growing increasingly concerned with the two monsters’ disappearance, they were able to keep Twilight from having a panic attack. Seeing as how she was quiet, Takato went on.

“Okay. Look. Renamon is like a ninja. Trust me. No one here is going to see her. They may see something out of the corner of their eye but when they turn to look she’s gone.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that. As for Calumon. I don’t think you have to worry. He won’t disturb anyone. Plus if he gets seen it’s not like he’s very threatening in his look.”

Twilight took a moment to consider Takato’s words. Renamon kept out of sight, and Calumon was as scary as a newborn kitten. Plus it was night now. Everypony was about to head off to sleep.

“Okay. But I sure hope tomorrow there won’t be anypony coming to my door saying they saw a monster.” Twilight said with every bit of hope she had. “But back on topic. I came in here to tell you what the plan for tomorrow is.”

And so she did. She told him about how the others planned on taking him around town to show him the places of interest so it didn’t feel like he was cooped up there. But he had a problem with Guilmon and the others not being allowed. She said she would think about it. Then she got to the part about Princess Celestia dropping by to speak with him. That only made him and a few of the other Digimon a bit nervous. The ruler of the whole nation was coming to speak to them. What for? What business did she have with them?

“Alright then. I’ll meet with her.” The tamer said back. “I kinda wanna know what she wants to talk about now.”

“Yeah us too.” Spike agreed. “And I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

“It is getting a little late.” Starlight yawned. “Maybe we should get some sleep.”

That was something all four present species could agree on. Bidding each other goodnight, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike left Takato’s room and headed off to their own respective bedrooms to turn in for the night. That left Takato to figure out where the other Digimon were going to sleep. Obviously he was going to share that big bed in the room with Guilmon. There was a small sofa that the smaller Digimon could share. Those being Terriermon, Lopmon, and Impmon. Monodramon was fine with curling into a ball on the floor. MarineAngemon was so small he could literally find a place to rest anywhere. He was able to find a nice spot on one of the decorative pillows that adorned the sofa the other three were resting on. Kokuwamon, Takato thought was going to be the biggest challenge. But he didn’t take into account that the electric bug Digimon was metal. He could literally be comfortable anywhere. The robotic Rookie just laid flat on his back at the foot of the bed and he was good.

Soon enough, the night carried on and one by one, the lights all turned off in the small houses of Ponyville. By the time midnight had arrived, the only sound that could be heard were crickets in the bushes, the soft breeze going through the leaves on the trees, and the soft steps of a certain vulpine Digimon walking on the rooftop of Ponyville Town Hall.

Renamon knew she wasn’t back on Earth. But that didn’t matter to her. It was her nightly routine. Being a Digimon, sleep was something she hardly ever did. At night when everyone else called it a night, she would go out and monitor the city to make sure no trouble came. There were no wild ones here in Equestria. She questioned herself as to what she was doing if that wasn’t the case. Her memories of what she saw while staying in that forest were her answer. She may not have Rika here to protect. However, these ponies seemed to be some of the most innocent creatures she had ever seen.

Looking up to the moon, she thought to herself what Rika may do if she ever saw this place.

“She might say that everything here is so bright it makes her sick to her stomach.” She said to herself with a chuckle. “Ohhh Rika. I told you I’d see you again and I’m so close to that day.”

She remembered her final words to her tamer before she went through the portal. That she knew for a fact that they would meet again. She was starting to think that may not happen but with Takato’s appearance, the hope was re-ignited with such vigor, and it immediately erupted into a roaring fire.

So with her mind eased Renamon could look around town and admire it. It was so quaint. The streets were so clean. The street lamps gave an incredible ambiance to it. And the glowing eyes made-

“What?”

Snapping her head to the south, Renamon saw not one pair of glowing eyes, but five starting to slowly advance into town. Hopping away, she landed on the rooftop of the flower shop to get a closer look. She had seen those eyes before. And the scorch mark on one of these creature’s faces matched what Impmon said about how he came into contact with the ponies. She was about to jump into a fight but she stopped. Instead, she vanished like she was mist in the air.

Back at the castle, Twilight was snug asleep until the sudden appearance of Renamon at the side of her bed woke her up.

“Princess Twilight.”

“AHH!!”

The alicorn tumbled out of bed startled by the rude awakening.

“Errrrggh. That’s two nights in a row.” She grumbled before turning to look at the Digimon. “What is it?”

It was clear she as in no mood to talk.

“The timber wolf is in Ponyville. And it brought friends.”

If that wasn’t enough to fully bring Twilight to a sense of alarm, the chorus of screaming coming from Ponyville was surely enough to do the trick.

Growl of the Wolves

Alright first action scene. Let’s get it going. I only own the plot of this story. MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Digimon is owned by Bandai. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 8: Growl of the Wolves

Equestria – Ponyville – Sweet Apple Acres – 12:30 AM

Within the Apple Family home, all four members residing within were sound asleep, waiting for the next day to come. Applejack’s room was dead silent. Turned onto her side, the country mare was snoozing away, dreaming of new ideas she could make with her respective fruit.

*RATATATA*

The noise was out of nowhere and was starting to stir her from her slumber.

*RATATATATATA*

Again, the noise caused her ears to twitch. Grumbling in her sleep, Applejack turned to the other side, trying to avoid the noise.

“WAKE UP!”

That however could not be avoided. A loud voice startled Applejack right out of her bed. With a thud to the floor, she was now awake and rubbing her eyes. Looking around, she didn’t see the culprit’s voice anywhere in her room. But then another tap at the window came. Turning to it, she saw a familiar face. One she didn’t expect to see.

“Calumon?”

The tiny little Digimon had his ears extended and was literally hovering outside her window. He looked like he was frightened. But being mostly asleep, Applejack couldn’t notice that as she walked to the window and opened it up. As she did, the door to her bedroom opened up and the rest of her family walked in.

“Applejack?”

That was her younger sister talking. Frantically, she tried to cover hide Calumon by standing upon her forelegs.

“Applebloom! What are ya doin’ here? Wait. What are all y’all doin’ in here?” She questioned her sister, brother, and grandmother.

“We heard a noise.” The younger apple rubbed her eyes. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Hey! Turn around! There’s trouble!”

The sound of a voice that belonged to none of the Apples caused confusion to rise. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom all looked around the room but found nothing.

“Who in tarnation was that?” Granny Smith demanded. “Applejack what’s behind ya?”

“What? N-nothing! Ah swear Granny you’re startin’ to hear things!”

She was not a good liar. Almost anypony in Equestria could vouch for that face. The performance she was giving here to try and conceal the little Digimon behind her just added on top of that proclamation. Standing on both her hind legs, her front ones extended out to try and cover the window. It was like she was being possessed by a ghost.

And Granny Smith wasn’t going to have any of it.

“Applejack, what are ya hidin’?” Her tone grew stern. “And don’t try lyin’ again.”

Knowing none of them were going to let up, Applejack relented and fell back down to all fours. Once she did, Calumon flew inside and landed atop her head. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith went wide eyed at the arrival of this new unknown creature. Applebloom however…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!”

The young crusader was immediately lost in the cuteness that was Calumon. Without even thinking, she rushed up to get a closer look at him. She almost wanted to take him into her arms right there and hug him.

“Who’s this little guy?” She beamed.

“His name is Calumon.” Applejack replied. “And he was the one who rudely woke us up.”

“I’m really sorry I did, Applejack.” The tiny Digimon did sound like he was legitimately sorry. “But those big wooden wolf things are running around the town!”

Immediately his fear spread to the four ponies in the room with him.

“Timberwolves? In town?!” Applejack stood back up and looked out the window.

“Zap Apple Season just ended a month ago.” Granny Smith stated. “What coulda possibly roused them up?”

Calumon didn’t know what zap apples were. Only that they sounded tasty. Before he could get lost in his love of food he turned back to Applejack who was still looking out her window. In the distance she could see Ponyville. She was starting to pick up a scent in her nose. And it was nasty. Only one thing in Equestria had breath that fowl. Then she heard it.

“AAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

The howl. That was all she needed to hear. Resting her hat on her head, she bolted out the door.

“Big Mac, hold the fort here in case they come!” She called back.

“Eeeeeyup.” The elder sibling muttered.

The youngest Apple went up to her sister’s window and watched her run out and into Ponyville with that cutie Calumon flying behind her. She was focusing more on the latter. What the heck was that little thing? And how tight could she hug it before it burst?

Usually nights in Ponyville were peaceful. Ponies would sleep, Princess Luna would come into their dreams, ward off any nightmares, and so on. This night however, the nightmare was not in the dream realm. Screams filled the air in town as ponies either were running from their homes or bolting the doors shut. A pack of five timber wolves had emerged from the Everfree Forest and was now walking through the streets leaving giant wooden paw prints in their trails. Nopony had any clue why they were here. Timberwolves never came out of the forest unless something had bothered them. So what was the cause here?

As one of them walked into town square, it looked around for what it sought. Upon not seeing it, the creature only grew angrier and growled towards its pack mates as if giving them orders. After it did, it turned to walk in another direction but was instead met with a blast of cake batter to its face.

“BAD TIMBERWOLVES! BAD! GO BACK TO THE FOREST!”

Pinkie Pie was wide awake. And she was not happy about these big wooden dogs trampling in and ruining everypony’s beauty sleep. Oh no. She was not going to have it. With her party cannon loaded with whatever she could cram in there, the busted out of the Sugarcube Corner and went off to do her job as one of the Elements of Harmony and protect her home. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she got help from her friends. But she did hope it would come sooner than later as the timberwolf she fired at shook the batter off its face like it was nothing.

The creature then looked down at its assailant with an angry snarl. Sure the blast of undone cake did nothing to it, but this pony was getting in its way. This meant she needed to be removed in order to carry out its mission. A bit unnerved by the slow approach of the creature, Pinkie held her cannon out in front of her while backing away.

“Uhh….heehee. Niiiice doggy.” Pinkie nervously muttered.

The timber wolf raised a wooden paw to swipe at the party planner with a raised wooden claw but was instead broken apart due to the force of a cyan blast of magical energy. The shot soared above Pinkie’s head and made contact with the very cent of the wolf’s chest. As it fell into a bundle of logs before her, the pink earth pony turned around and smiled at Starlight Glimmer who still had her horn glowing and ready to fire another shot.

“What’s going on, Starlight?!” Pinkie asked, hoping the smart unicorn would know.

“I have no idea!” Unfortunately, Starlight was as clueless as everypony else. “But we have to find a way to make them go back to the forest!”

Twilight came flying in besides her folding her wings back to her body as she touched back down.

“And we need to make sure they don’t hurt anypony.” The alicorn added on.

She knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the girls would be in town and ready to help how they could. Hopefully it wouldn’t have to be a long wait. The timberwolves were starting to spread out all over town which made keeping tabs on all five of them harder. Not to mention she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could.

Looking back to her home, she prayed that the wolves didn’t reach it. The last thing she needed was an injured human on her conscious. What would she tell his parents if she ever could get through to them?

She couldn’t think about that now. First wolves, then Takato. Her horn flared to life in a flash of magenta as she hovered above the ground with her wings flapping again. Seeing the three ponies in front of the wolf made it angry. These ponies were getting in the way. To show it was ready to fight them, it let out a mighty roar to intimidate them.

Meanwhile back at the castle, Spike stood in front of Takato’s door and listened inside for any sign of noise. There was nothing. He didn’t know why Twilight asked him to not let the tamer know about what was happening. He thought the Digimon could help. They were able to ward them off in the forest. But he still trusted Twilight’s judgment so he did as he was told. The distant but audible howls and roars of the timberwolves did make him tremble a bit. He remembered the last time he encountered one when he was pledged to Applejack because of his dragon code. They were scary then and they are still scary now.

Inside the room, the Digimon were sound asleep in their spots save for the absent Calumon and Renamon. Guilmon’s snoring seemed to echo around the room. Thankfully for him and the others, they were all deep sleepers. Then suddenly, the noise just stopped. Guilmon twitched as the faint sounds of a roar went into his ears. The snoring was replaced by smelling. After a few sniffs from the red Rookie’s nose, his eyes opened up and the pupils were now as small as pinpricks.

The motion of him jumping off the bed was enough to wake his partner up, rubbing his eyes, he saw Guilmon staring at the window and growling.

“Guilmon, what’s going on?” he asked.

That pose and growl meant one thing: Trouble. Yet how did he know? Guilmon could only smell Digimon. As the growling grew louder, the other Digimon were stirred from their own rest and woke up to see that Guilmon was battle ready. But ready for what?

“What’s goin’ on with pineapple head?” Impmon asked, not liking the rude awakening.

His answer came to him when Renamon performed her trademarked entrance and phased into the room.

“There is a pack of timberwolves in town right now attacking. For what reason, I don’t know.” She told them.

This brought a sense of alert to all of them, especially Takato.

“You mean those huge wooden wolves from the forest?! We gotta do something!” He jumped out of bed and looked around for his shoes and socks.

“That’s why I’m here.” Renamon said. “The ponies are trying to push them back but they’re struggling. They need help.”

“And they’re gonna get it!” Takato shouted, determined to help the ponies who were helping him.

With his footwear on and short sleeved hoodie back on his torso, he grabbed his Digivice and deck of cards and looked to Guilmon.

“You ready, boy?”

“Let’s do it, Takato.”

He needed one last thing. The goggles. Putting them back on his head, he turned to the rest of the Digimon who were all wide awake.

“I know your tamers aren’t here. But do you think you could-“

“Absolutely!”Terriermon shouted with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for a while to get back to rumbling! And what better way to do it on some big wooden doggies?!”

“These ponies are peaceful.” Kokuwamon concurred with Terriermon in a different way. “We must do what we can to help them.”

Looking around, he saw and heard all the other Digimon voice their approval and readiness to fight. Turning to Renamon for the final vote, she nodded in agreement. Smiling, he looked to the door.

“Then let’s go.”

He swung the door open and was prepared to run right out of it. But all of them stopped short when Spike was found to be standing on the other side with his arms extended out.

“Ummm….Spike? Would you mind moving? It’s kind of an emergency.” Takato asked nicely.

“Sorry, Takato. But Twilight told me to make sure none of you left.” Spike said with a flat tone.

As the dragon said that, Spike realized he had a problem with fulfilling that request. If it were only Takato, that would be one thing. Instead he found himself proclaiming not only to the human, but to the seven Digimon that were standing behind him. He had no idea how he was going to do it. But he promised Twilight that-

“Wait. There’s only seven? I thought I heard-”

“GYAH!”

Before the young dragon even knew what was happening, he found himself behind hoisted up off the ground by his own tail. Hanging upside down, he saw that the one holding him was Renamon. And the bipedal vulpine looked like she was in no mood to be told what to do. Then again she always had that look.

“Listen, lizard boy. I know you have your orders from the princess. But we’re going out there whether you like it or not. And I think you know you don’t have enough power to stop us.”

He didn’t need to be told. As soon as he found himself hanging like a bat, Spike knew there was no way he could keep them contained like Twilight wanted.

“Renamon, put him down. We gotta go.” Takato said.

Following his request, Spike had no choice but to watch as all the Digimon rushed out of the room to find the front door. Takato was the last to exit. Instead of following them, he knelt down and helped Spike stand up straight.

“Sorry about this, Spike. I’ll tell Twilight it wasn’t your fault. I promise.”

With that said he stood back up and rushed after his partner leaving Spike there to wonder just what they could do to stop a whole pack of timberwolves. Yet as he saw Takato leave, he saw that the human seemed to have no hint of fear anywhere on him. He had almost forgotten that Takato had told some harrowing tales of his own adventures with his friends. He hoped it was enough as he heard the door to the castle shut with a thud. The young dragon stood in the hallway contemplating going after him. Two steps into that march another howl sounded out making him stop.

“You know what? Maybe he’ll do okay. He has a dragon with him.”

Back out in the town the streets were empty now save for five timberwolves seemingly on the hunt for something, and seven ponies trying to redirect them back to the Everfree. No matter what they shot at these things, they just kept on rebuilding themselves and continuing their rampage.

“Darn it! These things just keep getting back up!” Rainbow Dash cried from up above.

She didn’t have much when it came to magic or that earth pony strength. But what she did have was speed and acrobatic skill. It came with being a Wonderbolt. What she would do is lure the timberwolves into following her and then lead them down the streets where she would pull up and make them collide with yet another one. The results were as effective as anything else that was thrown at these things. They’d break apart for only a few seconds, and then they would reassemble.

Being the air support, Rainbow Dash quickly thought about plans to get these things to leave but her brain came up with nothing solid.

“RAINBOW DASH!!!!!”

The pegasus’ ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice. It wasn’t any of her regular friends. It was rather a friend of hers from the weather team. The only pegasus pony in town who had wandering eyes. And she looked like she was scared out of her mind as she flew in and hovered in front of Rainbow Dash panting her lungs out.

“What the-Derpy! What are you doing out here?! It’s too dangerous!” Rainbow knew Derpy Hooves was a bumbler but she had to have SOME sense right?

“It’s Dinky! I can’t find her anywhere! My little muffin is out here somewhere!” The gray pegasus’ eyes began to leak.

Rainbow let loose a small gasp. Of course that’s why Derpy is out here. Her daughter is missing. Any mother would do the same. There wasn’t any question of it now. Rainbow Dash had a filly to save on top of saving Ponyville from timberwolves.

“Don’t worry, Derpy! I’ll find Dinky! You just stay up here and away from all that!” Rainbow Dash flashed her cocky smirk and flew back down into Ponyville.

Derpy took a sigh of relief knowing Rainbow Dash was on the job. She watched from up above as that rainbow streak went whizzing through every street at high speed. Rainbow may have been flying too fast for any normal pony to look at the same time, but she was no ordinary pony. She could multi task. And she was on a mission. Dinky wasn’t just the daughter of one of her old friends, but also one of Scootaloo’s classmates. She couldn’t let anything happen to the little unicorn. First thing was first though. She had to find the filly.

“Dinky! Where are you?!” She called out hoping for an answer.

“HEEEEEEEEEELP!”

Lucky for the cyan pegasus she got one. That scream was way too high pitched to be either Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy. That kind of high note only comes from a child. Heading to the left, the found the voices owner.

Dinky’s coat and mane almost matched her mother’s perfectly. But right now she looked as if she could be pure white with all the fearful shivering she was doing. One of the timberwolves had found her and backed her into a corner.

“Dinky, hang on! I’m coming!”

The wonderbolt dashed forward making a bee line straight for Dinky. With her forelegs stretched out all the way in front of her, she was ready to swipe the filly off the ground and curve up into the sky where her mother waited for her with open hooves.

“GYAH!!!!”

Unfortunately what ended up happening was, one second into her approach, she was slammed into the ground underneath the paw one of the timberwolf’s pack mates. With her wings pinned down underneath its wooden paw, and her hoof strength nowhere near as strong as an earth pony to push herself up, Rainbow was trapped.

“GRRRGH! AAAGGGH! Let me go you walking pile of tree bark!” Rainbow angrily shouted.

It was no use. She could only struggle and watch as Dinky only screamed her little lungs out. The wolf in front of her began to lean down and open up its jaws, ready for a snack.

“DINKY! NOOO!!!!

“TERRIER TORNADO!”

Rainbow Dash was the first one to jerk her head in the direction of that call. The wolf that was about to chomp Dinky into mush turned away for just a moment only to see a miniaturized green twister flying towards him at a speed to fast to dodge. The twister hit the side of the wolf dead on causing it to fall apart like usual.

“POWER PAW!”

A yellow and purple blur flew in from overhead nailing the wolf that had Rainbow pinned down in the side of the face. Rather than bursting apart, the wolf was merely knocked to the side. The paw came off of Rainbow’s body and she made a speedy getaway. Speeding towards Dinky, she sweeped her up off the ground and into the sky. Derpy was elated to see her daughter be put back into her forelegs. The reunion between the mailmare and her child was a smile inducing sight indeed, but Rainbow Dash had her attention diverted when she remembered those two voices.

Down in front of the now two timberwolves, the previous one having rebuilt itself again, were Terriermon and Renamon. They were hunched over in fighting positions as the wolves just growled at them to intimidate them. The tactic was ineffective against them. They were then joined by the pegasus who flew down and joined them on Renamon’s left side.

“Thanks for the save.” She said to both of them. “But you two should get out of here. We don’t want anypony seeing you.”

“Are you kidding?! No way!” Terriermon shouted. “We’ve been itching to get back into the ring for a long time!”

“And it seems like you could use all the help you could get.” Renamon added.

As she spoke, the vulpine Digimon crossed her arms in front of her chest. Before Rainbow Dash could argue back, Renamon leapt up and towards the two wolves. Seeming like she was now hovering in mid-air, she lashed both her arms out to her sides. Out of seemingly nowhere, a wide array of white glowing spikes appeared underneath her arms. The wolves just let out a snarl of confusion at the sight.

“DIAMOND STORM!”

One at a time at a pace too fast to track, the spikes all shot towards the two wolves and they both found their faces seconds later, to be stung with the sharp projectiles. Roaring, both of them started shaking their heads to free themselves from the shower of spikes while Renamon landed back on her feet. Terriermon was all the while laughing at Rainbow Dash who had her jaw dropped, completely stunned at what Renamon just did.

“So you thought that was cool, huh?” He said as he took a step forward. “My turn.”

His first move was taking in a deep breath and taking aim at the wolf on the right.

“BUNNY BLAST!”

Right after seeing Renamon let loose an attack of flying jewels, Rainbow Dash then turned to see little Terriermon unleashing a rapid fire barrage of tiny green bolts of energy from his mouth. Every single shot landed directly on the side of his intended target’s face. The force of the blow may not have been much but it was enough to catch the wolves’ attention.

“Wha…..what?”

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. Diamond Storm? Bunny Blast? What the heck were these creatures? She heard Takato explain it a couple times today but hearing explanations and seeing demonstrations were two very different things.

“Rainbow Dash, Terriermon and I can handle these two.” Renamon advised the pegasus. “You should go and help one of your friends.”

Shaking her head, Rainbow snapped out of her stupor and looked to the bipedal vulpine.

“Are you sure?” She asked her.

“Momentai.” Terriermon smugly replied. “I’m gonna teach Rover here some new tricks.”

The pony was about to protest but then she did a little bit of quick thinking and found that Renamon had a good point. With her and Terriermon keeping these two busy, she was free to help out with another friend who needed it. Her wings began to flap and she lifted off the ground.

“Alright. Be careful you two.” She wished them before taking off further towards Ponyville’s center.

Meanwhile in another part of the town, another wolf was slowly walking through the street turning its wooden head back and forth searching for something its nose was picking up on. It was getting closer too. Turning another corner, it saw prey. It wasn’t the same scent it was locked onto, but it would be a good enough snack before feasting on its main target. This prey was a yellow pegasus who was leading a band of baby ducklings separated from their mother into a bush to hide.

“Now you stay there and stay hidden. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.” She softly said to the baby ducks.

The sound of growling and the stench of a monster’s breath caused Fluttershy to go stiff. She could barely manage to even turn around to look her assailant in the glowing eyes. She wanted to use her ability to talk with the timberwolf and plead with it to leave her alone but she knew these creatures were one of the few who didn’t care that she could talk to them. So it was wasted on them.

The wolf took more steps toward her. The ground shook underneath her hooves. Then the wooden creature began to lean its head down to take a bite into its snack.

“BEAT KNUCKLE!”

It didn’t even get close before a purple blur flew over Fluttershy’s head and smashed its right three claws into the timberwolf’s nose. The force of the blow was enough to send the monster sliding back in the street, leaving two big ruts in the ground. Snapped out of her feared stupor, Fluttershy was instead stunned when she saw her savior land on both of his feet and flex his purple arms, ready for more.

“Monodramon?” She muttered.

Hearing his name, the dragon Digimon turned his head and smiled at the yellow pony.

“Are you alright?” he asked genuinely concerned.

The demure pegasus could hear the sincerity in his voice. While relieved that she was saved by him, it only made her feel worse about her fear about him. He was a dragon, but he was a lot like Spike. He just saved her life. He wasn’t greedy or a brute or anything like that. Monodramon was just being a friend.

“I’m….I’m fine.” She replied. “Thank you, Monodramon.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The Rookie said back. “But you better get away. It’s not going to get any safer here.”

“You’re sure you can handle it on your own?” She suddenly grew worried again.

“If I were Cyberdramon, this would already be over.” He turned his head back to look at the recovering wolf. “But I can take this guy.”

Cyberdramon? Fluttershy had questions in her head about who that possibly could be but she shook them out. She heard Monodramon could take this guy on his own, and that was all she needed to hear. Pulling up on the bush where she just hid those ducklings, she gestured for them to come back out.

“We’re not safe here. I’ll take you somewhere else.” She crouched down for them to hop on her back.

One by one, the ducklings hopped onto her back. When all four of them were there, her own wings spread out and she took to the skies.

“Good luck, Monodramon!” She cried back to her hopefully future friend.

As she flew overhead, Fluttershy could see that the other Digimon had joined the fight as well. Lopmon and Kokuwamon were partnered together fighting one alongside Applejack and Rarity. MarineAngemon, the tiny little thing, was blowing heart shaped bubbles at the same one. Strangely enough, it was working. And Rarity could not have been more confused as to how that was possible. She was the one standing next to the small Digimon after all.

The only ones that Fluttershy couldn’t see or hear from above were Guilmon, and Impmon. If the others were there, that meant they had to be somewhere too right? Unless a wolf already got them before they had a chance to help. Shaking her head, she threw those thoughts out of her head and turned to the right to find a place to set these ducklings down in a safer place.

Back on the ground, Twilight, Starlight, and Pinkie Pie were each trying to handle the one wolf that had the scorch mark on the side of its face. No matter how many times they blasted it apart, they could not find a way make it stay down or make it change its direction back to the forest. For the two ponies sporting magical horns, they could keep trying. But the same could not be said for Pinkie whose party cannon fired off a dud.

“Girls! My party cannon is out of ammo!” She cried to them.

Without her cannon, Pinkie was pretty much useless. She didn’t have earth pony strength on the same level Applejack did. And Sugarcube Corner was too far away to go and resupply.

“This thing just won’t give up! What did it even come here for?!” Starlight asked again.

“I have no idea!” Twilight responded, wracking her brain to think of a plan.

“INFERNAL FUNNEL! FIRE!”

Turning their heads, the wolf, and the three ponies present saw a ball of fire about the size of a dodge ball fly towards the creature of wood. The wolf just barely ducked it and watched as the ball of flame soared into the sky for a few moments before dissolving.

Turning back, the wolf’s snout picked up the scent it had been following. Only now it was ten times stronger. Its intended prey was there. The trip of mares saw him too. Impmon was standing there with his arms extended after throwing that fireball.

“Didn’t learn your lesson back in the forest now, did ya?” Impmon taunted. “Looks like I’m just gonna have to give it to ya again!”

The response was not what the small virus type, or the three ponies expected. The timberwolf raised its head to the sky and let loose a loud howl. Throughout the town the other wolves heard the call and turned away from their current fights and started to run towards town square, where their leader was waiting for them.

“Where on Earth are they going?” Kokuwamon wondered.

“Ah don’t know.” Applejack answered the machine Digimon. “But we better follow em’.”

No need to argue with that. She was right and they knew it. They all took off after the wolves and ran into Rainbow Dash along the way. Terriermon was floating alongside them using his ears as makeshift wings like Calumon could. Who by the way was underneath Applejack’s hat the whole time. Renamon was hopping along rooftops in pursuit of her fleeing opponent. When they came to the clearing that was town center, they saw all five wolves together once again and slowly closing in on their primary target. And that target was the small purple mischievous virus type.

“Uhhh….hehe…..oh boy.”

Nervously, Impmon began to back away from the five wooden creatures approaching him with their fangs bared.

“Impmon? They’re here for Impmon?” Terriermon couldn’t grasp it.

But Twilight could. A small gasp escaped her lips as she cracked the equation in her head.

“That wolf. With the scorch mark. It’s the same one Impmon must have burned earlier today in the forest. It came here for revenge.”

“Well that’s not going to happen.” Dashing forward, Renamon jumped up high and lashed out her arms again.

“DIAMOND STORM!”

Rarity was not the only one stunned to see Renamon’s fierce attack be unleashed. Rainbow Dash was the only pony who had seen it until now. However the attack itself did nothing this time around. The shower of spikes only stuck into the creatures wooden backs. None of them even flinched. After she landed back on her feet, Renamon started sprinting forward, looking for a gap in between the wolves to get to Impmon.

“SOMEBODY GET THESE MUTTS AWAY FROM ME!” Impmon shouted.

All five of the wolves began to lean down to finish the virus type off.

“PYRO SPHERE!”

A dim orange light came from the right side, catching the wolves’ attention. Another fireball, much bigger than any Impmon had been seen thrown, buzzed by their heads and just barely missed them when they ducked out of the way. Growling, they turned to see who it was that had just fired that shot at them. The Digimon already knew by the attack call out alone. But the ponies all turned their heads in kind with the timberwolves and were all giving off mixed expressions as to what they saw. Twilight for one was downright terrified.

Guilmon was standing there, hunched over and his pupils still shrunk. His fangs were bared and his claws looked about ready to slice through anything that came his way. Standing right next to him was his partner. His face was flat as he looked upon the five timberwolves with interest. But his main goal was now only to beat them. Determined to carry it out, he looked to his partner.

“Go get em’.”

The rookie didn’t need to be told twice. He lunged forward growling with every step he took while Takato remained where he stood.

“Takato!”

The young tamer looked over to see Twilight fly over looking frantic. Her friends and his friends were both in tow with her save for Renamon and Impmon.

“What are you doing out here?! You have to get back to the castle! It isn’t safe here!” The alicorn cried as she gestured Takato to head back.

The movements she got were not the ones she was expecting. Instead of turning around, the human just turned his eyes back to his partner. Then his hand went to his back pocket and came out holding one of the cards from his card game. In his other hand was his Digivice.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

All seven present ponies just looked at the card with nothing but confusion. Was this kid out of his mind? Then they saw the boy hold his Digivice above his head and the card was soon to follow. He looked confident but inside he was just repeating over and over.

“Please work, please work, please work, please work!”

As soon as the edge of that card was inserted into the slot on the right side, a series of bright white sparks began to fly out of it. The Equestrians were now completely lost as they watched Takato swipe the card all the way through.

“DIGI-MODIFY! HYPER SPEED, ACTIVATE!”

Not keeping his eyes anywhere but on his partner, Takato smirked when he saw Guilmon’s legs began to move faster. Then faster. Then he picked up speed again. Before he knew it the Digimon was a blur sped through the legs of the timberwolves. They couldn’t even twitch before Impmon was caught in Guilmon’s arms and in a flash was set down in front of Twilight and the others.

“Whew. I am so glad that worked.” Takato said to himself before speaking out loud. “Good job, Guilmon.”

“Yeah. I owe ya one, pineapple head.” Impmon thanked his savior.

Nodding, Guilmon turned around and began to charge back to the wolves. The other Digimon thought it would be best to leave this fight to him from now on since he was the only one who had his partner here to assist him. Renamon was in agreement as she retreated back and stood by Monodramon’s side. Takato turned his head to follow him with his eyes but stopped when he saw all seven Equestrians staring at both him and Guilmon with various levels of stupor.

“Wha…huh?” Twilight raised a shaky hoof, trying her best to point at the card in Takato’s hand.

“What?” The human had no idea what was wrong.

“You told us those were just playing cards for a game!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You didn’t tell us they could power Guilmon up!”

“I didn’t?” Takato thought back to his explanation and tried to remember if he did or didn’t disclose that detail.

“Um….now may not be the time to get into this.” Rarity observed as she watched Guilmon close in to the five timberwolves.

The tamer agreed whole heartedly and returned the hyper speed card to his pocket before pulling out a few more and searching through them, trying to pick out another one to use.

“What other cards you got?” Rainbow Dash was now looking over Takato’s shoulder at the cards.

The other ponies gathered around, sharing Rainbow’s interest into Takato’s next move. Deciding on a card, he placed the other ones back in his pocket and kept on in his hand. In the center of it was a pictograph of six white bright wings.

“Let’s give them a tricky target.” The tamer repeated his action from before and raised both his Digivice and the card above his head as he swiped it through.

“DIGI-MODIFY! HYPER WING, ACTIVATE!”

In his sprint, Guilmon could feel a familiar tingling in his back. Seemingly from thin air, three pairs of white wings, mirroring the appearance on the card, materialized in his back and carried him into the air. Once again, the ponies were stunned at the power this kid and his Digital partner truly had together.

“YOU CAN GIVE HIM WINGS?!?!?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it. “AND THEY WORK?!?!”

“Sure can.” Takato replied as he slipped the card back. “Guilmon! Don’t let them cause too much damage!”

“Right!” the Rookie shouted back.

Curving upwards, Guilmon turned out of the way to avoid the many swiping paws that were trying to knock him out of the air. He barrel rolled out of the way of one more before he was high enough to the point where the wolves now had to leap to try and reach him. One of them tried to with open jaws and snapped them shut when it thought it was within range to bite. It missed by a mile when Guilmon swooped to the left. Then he began to dive down at high speed and drew back his right arm as he closed in on the head of the pack. That wolf with the scorch mark on its face.

“ROCK BREAKER!”

With a punching motion, Guilmon’s claw made contact with the side of the wolf’s face. It wasn’t strong enough to break it apart. But it was definitely packing enough power to send the creature off balance. Descending a bit more, Guilmon kept going and landed another Rock Breaker on another one’s leg. The leg did break apart causing the wolf who was hit to fall to the ground. Dodging again in mid flight, the virus type broke left and then made a hard right to avoid two incoming wolves. He just barely was able to avoid them and was able to make the two collide into each other and break apart.

While this was happening, the other Digimon just stood by and watched the show with satisfaction. The seven mares were all impressed by Guilmon’s ability to fly. Rainbow Dash was tempted to ask the Digimon to a race when this was all over using those wings. Meanwhile Takato was just watching with the knowledge that his partner was capable of finishing this on his own. With all the times he had used that hyper wing card on Guilmon, he was pretty much used to it being a part of him by this point.

The other ponies had to give Guilmon his props. Even though those wings were fakes he sure was good with them. And he was taking on five timberwolves on his own with them which was even more impressive.

“WOOO-HOOO!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “GOOOO GUILMON!”

As she cheered, the other Digimon fell into confusion upon seeing the pink pony wearing all sorts of articles relating to the one out there fighting. A red hat with ears resembling his was on her head, as well as a shirt with a symbol that matched the one on the Rookie’s chest. On both her hooves were a couple of red foam claws.

“Wha….where did she…?” Terriermon could not find words.

“Do yourself a favor. Don’t question it.” Starlight strongly advised.

The red Digimon adorned with fake wings began to curve upwards again as he prepared to curve around and launch another aerial attack. The sound of a roar that wasn’t his however caused him to tear away from his concentration and see the wooden paw coming in from the left. There was no time to react. Guilmon was swiped out of the air like a fly by the wolf he didn’t yet hit. He was beyond making a recovery in mid-air as he spun out of control and thudded into the ground. He slid in the dirt for a few moments before coming to a stop. He let out a painful groan as the white wings vanished off his back.

“Guilmon, no!” Takato began to dash for his partner.

“Let’s get back in there!” Impmon shouted.

The other Digimon were quick to agree and began to run right behind Takato. The seven mares were quick to follow. Their path however was quickly blocked by four of the five timberwolves. The ones that were busted apart had already reformed back together, much to all of their annoyance.

“Oh right….they can do that.” Takato had seem them perform that feat earlier in the forest yet had already forgotten about it.

With their path blocked, everyone who could moved forward to attack and clear the way so they could get to their downed ally. One by one, attack after attack was fired at the wolves, be it by magic or by Digimon. This time however, the wall of wolves would not stand for it. Every blast that was aimed at them, they avoided. Those that didn’t do much damage were merely brushed off. Some of the blasts whizzed past them and ended up impacting a few of the houses. Twilight and the others cringed. They didn’t want to break their town but these things couldn’t keep running rampant.

Meanwhile as Takato kept trying to find an opening through them, he could see through the other wolves that the pack leader was closing in on his partner.

“Guilmon! You gotta get up!”

“Takato, don’t get too close!” Twilight warned him from the distance.

She wanted to swoop in and grab him to pull him away from the wolves but unfortunately one had her hooves tied. Frantically, Takato began rooting around in his back pocket searching for a card to recharge him with. His thinking was turned away from his hand when he heard Guilmon cry out in pain. The wolf had slammed its paw down on his body rather harshly. With the Digimon incapable of movement, the timberwolf began to lean his head down and take a bit out of its next meal.

The ponies and other Digital Monsters all looked on in horror on what looked like Guilmon’s final moments. Takato’s breathing began to rapidly increase in pace like crazy. This couldn’t be it. It just couldn’t be. They had just reunited after so long. This could not be the way it was supposed to end. Not like this.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO! GUILMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”

If the volume of his voice sure wasn’t enough to capture the attention of everything that heard it, the light erupting from the device he held in his left hand certainly did the trick.

*Residence of Lyra and Bon Bon*

Everypony in town was hiding in their homes trying to hide away from the rampaging creatures. Lyra and her roommate Bon Bon were no exceptions. Though the latter was a secret agent, she could not hold her own against five timberwolves. She thought it better to remain at home with her friend and comfort her until the princess and her friends could deal with it. She just sat there in her house, hugging her friend and roommate close all the while telling her things would be okay.

Her task got a bit harder when said friend’s horn began to flare in a bright golden yellow color.

“Wha-Lyra!” Bon Bon loudly whispered. “Turn your horn off! What do you think you’re doing?”

If she hadn’t said anything, the mint colored unicorn may not have even noticed. But now that she had, all Lyra did was look up at her forehead, absolutely puzzled. Like trying to turn off a loud noise, Lyra was furiously fumbling her hooves to her horn trying to stop it.

“Lyra, stop casting a spell! The wolves could see us!” Bon Bon scolded again.

“Bon Bon, I swear to Celestia! I’m not doing this!” Lyra frantically cried.

That only made the earth pony even more confused. Lyra had to be the one making her own horn glow. That’s how it works. The unicorn’s actions however were a compelling argument for unintentional.

“What is going on here?” she mumbled.

*Residence of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch*

Over in another part of town, it was the exact same story. The earth pony of the home was scolding her unicorn roommate for lighting up her horn at a very bad time.

“Vinyl, stop fooling around and turn off your magic! I don’t want to be timberwolf chow!” The cellist shouted.

“Octi, I don’t know what’s happening but this isn’t me! Honest!” The DJ was genuinely trying her best to turn off her magic.

It wasn’t just her. All throughout the town everypony sporting a horn was wondering why now of all times it had chosen to turn on by itself. The three ponies in town square that had that appendage were no exceptions. With the light from Takato’s hand blinding the timberwolves, all the ponies shied away from it and brought a hoof up to their eyes to shield themselves from its intensity.

Starlight was the first to notice when she peeked her eyes open just a bit to see what was happening. Just what was her teacher doing?

“Twilight? What spell is this you’re casting?!” She shouted, wanting an answer.

“Spell? What spell?” Turning her head, Twilight looked to her student with the same confusion she herself had. “What spell are YOU casting?”

“Me?”

Finally looking upwards, Starlight saw that Twilight was right. Her horn was glowing. But she wasn’t casting any sort of spell. Noticing the same happening with her own horn, Twilight began to panic.

“What’s going with us?!” She cried as she brought a hoof to her horn.

“I think we have the same problem!”

That third voice was from none other than Rarity. The only other pony amongst their group who had a horn and hers too was glowing in a dark azure aura.

“What the hay is goin on with you three?!” Applejack shouted as Calumon peeked out from underneath her hat. “What spell are ya castin’?! And where is that light comin’ from?!”

“Applejack, we aren’t casting any sort of spell!” Rarity cried back, wanting so badly to know why her horn was acting against her.

“That light though…” Starlight winced as she brought her hoof back to her eyes. “I think it’s coming from Takato’s Digivice.”

“Ooooooooohhhhh its happening.” Calumon said, cool as a cucumber.

That only brought more attention to him as all pairs of eyes that belonged to the ponies turned towards him.

“What are you talking about? What’s happening?” Rainbow Dash asked the small Digimon.

“Watch and see.” Calumon pointed to Takato.

The tamer himself just stood there, looking at his Digivice. He hadn’t seen light blast out of it like this in months. He wanted to question it. He wanted answers just as much as anyone else did right now. Right now however, in this moment, all he wanted was to save his friend. And the way to do it had come to him.

“DIGIVOLUTION.”

After that voice rang out from the small device, the same light coming from it enveloped Guilmon, causing the wolf to pull its head away and shut its eyes.

“GUILMON DIGIVOLVE TO…..!”

The timberwolf tried keeping its paw pinned down atop the lizard but for some reason found it harder to keep doing that. It felt it being pushed further and further back by the light and physical force until it had no choice but to release and turn away. Taking a few steps away, it growled in anger as the light continued to shine. A few moments later, the light from both Guilmon and Takato’s Digivice began to fade.

“…GROWLMON!"

Author's Note

Sorry it took me a bit longer with this one. With work and BABScon I had a lot of other stuff to do. Here ya go. And the next one will be out in a hopefully shorter time. But I make no promises.

Growl of the Mon

Author's Note

Yeah I know its been over a year. I apologize for the VERY long delay but, that's life. It does that. I apologize for taking so long and I do so again because I can't guarantee that the next one will come soon. So until then, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for your patience.

Growl of the Mon

Part two of the fight is here! Enjoy it! I only own the plot of this story. Digimon is owned by Bandai and MLP is owned by DHX, Hasbro, and Lauren Faust.

Taming Equestria:

A Digimon Story

Chapter 9: Growl of the Mon

That light. That was all anypony inside their homes or outside could see for probably miles it felt so bright. The seven mares that were dedicated to keeping their home safe had their hooves cover their eyes. Their ears however heard something different. It sounded like Guilmon but his voice seemed to grow just the tiniest bit raspier than usual. Then, from the inside of their shut eyelids, they could all tell the light was starting to dim. Each of them opened their eyes to see what it was that Guilmon and Takato had just done. They mostly just surmised it was another attack.

The sight before them proved otherwise.

Fluttershy had instantly been rendered catatonic as she now had to look upwards to the Digimon that was standing not too far away from them. Pinkie’s jaw had hit the ground so hard it cracked around her jaw. The five other mares too had their mouths open and their eyes bulging as the dim sound of growling emanated from the creature. On the other side however, the other Digimon merely stood there surprised that their friend was able to pull off what he just did, but were glad either way. Now this could end quickly.

Though shocked, and a tiny bit frightened, the ponies looked over this new form. Rather than near his partners height like they had seen before, Guilmon had grown. He was about as tall now as the average Ponyville house. Two horns were now protruding out of the top of his head as well as a bushy head of white hair. His large arms each had a red spike poking out of the side. And lastly they noticed the symbol that was on Guilmon’s chest was now on both of his shoulders.

“Wha….what…..what the…...”

Twilight had found herself unable to form a complete sentence at this time. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Not only were she and her friends completely taken aback, the sight of this new monster made them all slightly tremble. Takato on the other hand was beaming as wide as the first time he had ever seen this phenomenon happen.

“YES! GO, GROWLMON!”

All it took was one of the timberwolves to move for the bigger Digimon to react. Surrounded by five wolves, when the first one lunged, he moved faster. One of his now huge claws swatted through the wooden creature and shattered it like it was held together by cheap glue. Then when the next one came, Growlmon’s other claw repeated the action, turning the wolf into a log pile. The third one roared thinking it would succeed where its pack mates failed. It was wrong. Still in momentum from his last swipe, the red Digimon’s tail swung with him. It struck through the timberwolf’s body and it too crumpled to sticks.

Then the last two standing wolves decided to try attacking together to even the odds. Together they charged and jumped, but it was no use for them. With a ferocious roar of his own, Growlmon timed his attack just right and brought his claws up at the same time. Grabbing the sides of the wolves heads, he smashed them together and thus, there were now logs of destroyed timberwolves all around his feet.

Snorting smoke out of his nostrils, he considered his work done and turned away. As he walked back to his cheering tamer, it took a few more steps to realize that Takato and his other Digimon comrades were the only ones smiling. The seven ponies however all stood with mixed expressions.

Twilight and Starlight both had their horns ignited and pointed right at the larger Digimon ready to fire if he made a move they didn’t like. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both were leaned over and ready to charge themselves. Rarity wasn’t entirely sure what to do. All she did was take a nervous step back. Pinkie Pie had her party cannon primed and itching to blast. Fluttershy on the other hoof had to be checked by Terriermon if she had blinked in the last two minutes. She hadn’t.

“Takato, step away from him.” Twilight warned.

“What?” Turning back, Takato saw all of their expressions and held up his hands in defense. “Whoa whoa whoa! Stop! What are you doing?!”

“Did you NOT see what just happened?!” Rainbow Dash had both of her hooves pointed to the monster behind the human. “Look what happened to Guilmon!”

“He could be dangerous now! Get away from him!” Starlight’s horn flared a bit brighter.

Seeing all of the unhappy faces caused Growlmon to halt in place. His face slowly turned from one that looked like he was ready to tear something apart, to that of a frightened child.

“Why are they looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong, Takato?”

Even his voice, which hadn’t changed a bit, seemed to have the inflection as if he were a kid being scolded by his parents. This caught the seven ponies off guard. Never in a thousand years would they have ever imagined a creature like THAT to ever have a voice that high.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Growlmon.” Takato softly acknowledged his partner first before turning to his hosts with a bit of a glare. “All of you stop looking at him like that! He’s not dangerous! He’s still the same Digimon from before! He’s just bigger….and….a little scarier but still all the same!”

He did have to give them a little leeway here. Takato flashed back momentarily to the first time he ever encountered Growlmon in his new size during the battle with Devidramon. He was scared stiff as well, thinking his friend was going to devour him whole. But he soon learned that wasn’t the case. Even in his new look, inside he was unchanged.

The ponies however were still caught in their apprehensive state as they stared up at the big red beast. The tamer’s words were barely enough to make them lower their guard slightly. It sounded like Guilmon alright but what they just saw him do and how easily he did it; they needed more than just the words of a human child to convince them.

“Uhhhh….guys?” Terriermon’s voice called over. “They’re doing the thing again.”

First all seven ponies looked to the small Digimon and saw him pointing past Growlmon. Following his point led them to look at the pile of logs that was the herd of timberwolves, only now they were glowing again and starting to put themselves back together. This time however the rebuilding process seemed to go a little differently. Rather than start to form five normal sized wolves, all the pieces began to merge into one being.

“Oh no. They’re starting to combine.” Starlight observed out loud.

Now Takato looked over and his face dropped when he saw Starlight was correct.

“They can do that?” He asked now a little afraid himself.

“Man where’s bio-merging when I need it?!”

Growlmon was able to hold off five small wolves on his own but there was no guarantee that he would be able to hold out against them formed up into one being. He had to think fast.

“Brace yerselves, y’all! This is gonna be a long one!” Applejack was no longer focused on Growlmon and was readying herself, rope in mouth.

The other Digimon seemed to be raring to go too. But Takato was still thinking as he looked around the area, turning in a circle as he surveyed the nearby buildings, the open space, his champion level partner, and the massive timberwolf that was constructing itself like something out of a fantasy book. Then he saw through the windows of those buildings, faces. Scared faces of ponies who were unsure of what was about to happen. He had soon those faces many times already back home when wild Digimon crossed over, and again with the D-Reaper.

“Is there an open area nearby?”

The question from the tamer made every pony and Digimon look to him again.

“Why are you asking that? We kinda have bigger things to worry about.” Rainbow Dash said as if it were obvious and Takato couldn’t notice.

He did notice. He noticed a bit more than the flyer did.

“We can’t keep fighting that thing here. The longer we do the chances of houses getting destroyed and peop-er, ponies getting hurt just go up. We need to lure it somewhere that has no risk of causing any collateral damage. Is there anywhere around here that fits the bill?”

Twilight’s horn stopped humming as she looked at the boy impressed with his idea. She hadn’t even considered that. Usually the repairs can and mostly are solved with magic but preventing damage from happening in the first place was a much better idea. Not to mention the strain on the ponies doing it comes at a stressful toll.

“Y-yes.”

The first reply came from Fluttershy, finally finding her voice and pointing north.

“That way. The outskirts just outside of town are wide and open. Rainbow Dash practices flying out there all the time.”

“Good enough for me!”

Turning around, the ponies yet again were met with confusion and surprise as Takato turned away from them and started climbing up Growlmon’s leg and onto his back.

“Takato, what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?!” Rarity cried.

“Growlmon and I are gonna get it to chase us. Then once we’re outside of town, we can finish the job. Right, boy?”

“Right, Takato!”

The big red dinosaur began to turn around and face the forming creature once more.

“Takato, wait!”

The lavender alicorn flapped her wings and ascended up to Growlmon’s back, hovering just a few feet away from the boy with a look of fear still on her face.

“This is crazy. You’re just a kid. You can’t just throw yourself in danger like this. You could get hurt. Or worse! And it would be my fault!”

“Wha-your fault? How would it be YOUR fault?”

This was a question that everypony and Digimon present wanted an answer to.

“Because I’m responsible for you, Takato! You showed up in my castle! I gave you a room to sleep in! That means you’re under my care until I can get you back home! I have to keep you safe! Your friends and family are probably worried sick back home and I can’t send you back if you’re hurt or worse! Please just get down!”

That face. Her tightly closed eyes fighting back tears and the fear of him getting hurt. Takato had been in this exact spot before. First with Miss Asaji on his “last day of school”, and then again later that same day with his mother. The former of which said something very similar. That he was her responsibility. As a teacher she had a right to feel that. And in a sense, Twilight kind of had a right to feel it too. She took the kid in and gave him food and shelter. She even promised to work her flank off to get him back home. She definitely considered herself his guardian for however long the duration of his stay was in Equestria.

None of them could think of anything to say. Twilight was about to keep talking but something stopped her. She felt something clench softly around her right front hoof. Looking down and opening her eyes back up, she saw that the young tamer had reached out and grabbed hold of her, looking at her with a soft smile.

“Twilight, it’s okay.” He softly said. “Besides. Look around you. Look in the windows and see the faces.”

She had no idea what he was talking about. But she took a quick look anyways because she was curious as to where he was going with this. Looking around at the nearby houses, the alicorn did see faces in the windows. Those faces belonged to the ponies of Ponyville. Her little ponies. And they were scared.

“You’re responsible for them right now, Twilight. Not me.” Takato went on. “They need you a lot more than I do. Growlmon and I can lure the timberwolf away from the town and finish the fight. But you have got to be there for all of them right now.”

“B-but-“

“He’s right, Twilight.”

The alicorn twisted around to look back down and directed her sight to Applejack.

“Now granted Ah don’t really know the boy, but he and this here dragon seem to be able to handle it. What we need to do is calm Ponyville down and explain to them what’s goin’ on.”

“If that’s the plan then we better do it fast! The walking log cabin is almost rebuilt!” Terriermon shouted.

Looking back over, everyone there saw that the white and green monster was right. The four legs of the merging wolf’s body had been formed and the torso was halfway complete. With unease still present on her face, Twilight turned back to look at Takato.

“You’re SURE you can handle this?”

“I’ve done this plenty of times before, Twilight. Trust me. I got this.”

The confident smile and the firm grip he had on her hoof wasn’t entirely enough to make the alicorn one hundred percent on board with this. But taking into account that he wouldn’t be alone, and that he had experience in this sort of thing, she relented. She quickly closed the gap and gave the human child a quick hug before lowering herself back down to the ground with her friends.

“Please be careful.”

With a nod, Takato looked back to the other Digimon.

“Alright. It’s gonna come after me and Growlmon. I know your tamers aren’t here but I’m gonna need all of your help to make sure it doesn’t cause damage on our way out of town. Can I count on all of you?”

One by one, all of them gave Takato their assurance that nothing and no one would get scratched.

“Alright then. Let’s do this. Growlmon?”

“Right!”

With a thunderous step, the giant red champion turned to face the giant wooden wolf which had now finished completely re-forming itself. A mighty roar was let out for the sole intent to strike fear into whoever dared face it.

“Hey! Over here, you walking matchbox!”

The timberwolf looked over to see its target clad in red and seemed to be waving its arms to taunt it.

“You want me? You have to catch me first!”

Turning around, Growlmon began to take off as fast as he could down the open streets of Ponyville. Taking the bait, the timberwolf took chase after him with a snarl that all could hear.

“Remember! No damage! Let’s go!”

After that reminder from Renamon, all the present Digimon ran as fast as they could over the rooftops to try and cut corners to catch up. There was one exception however. Calumon instead of joining them, remained on Applejack’s head.

“Aren’t you going to go with them and help?” Rainbow Dash asked the small Digimon.

“There’s nothing I can do to help.” He replied sadly. “I’m not like them. I can’t digivolve or have any attacks.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing.” Starlight had a thought as she approached. “You stay with us. We may need your help with our side of the plan.”

The others, especially Twilight were interested to see where Starlight was going with this. Calumon was just smiling with genuine happiness knowing that he could still help in some way. As the doors of the surrounding homes and buildings began to open up, ponies began to flood out and head in the direction of the mane seven. Several questions were filling the air in seconds. Before any of them were answered, Starlight’s magic grabbed hold of Applejack’s hat and adjusted it so Calumon was hidden from view.

“Stay under there and don’t come out until we tell you to. Okay?”

“It’s kinda smelly in here but okay.”

Applejack blushed a bit from that. Working in that had did give it an odor. But back to present matters. As most of the townsponies began to circle and surround the seven ponies, Twilight flapped her wings so she could look around and address all of them at once.

“Please everypony! Calm down! I know what you just saw but I can explain what’s happening!”

“Why are the timberwolves attacking?!”

“Are the dragons and timberwolves in a war and we didn’t know about it?!”

“No! No that’s not what’s happening at all I can assure you!”

“Rarity!”

That last call came from a certain white and pink filly that squeezed out of the crowd and ran towards her older sister.

“Sweetie Belle!”

Catching the filly in a tight hug, Rarity inspected her to make sure she was ok.

“Are you alright, dear?”

“I’m fine, I’m just scared! First the timberwolves then the thing with my horn happened, and now this dragon and I-“

“HOLD IT!”

Rarity’s shriek was enough to shut everypony around her up. One of the points her younger sister made, she wanted to address.

“What thing with your horn, Sweetie?”

“W-well….I don’t know exactly what happened. It just started glowing all by itself. I wasn’t casting a spell or anything.”

“Hey! My horn did the exact same thing!”

That voice came from Lyra in the crowd with Bon Bon nodding next to her as confirmation.

“Vinyl’s did it too!” Octavia cried out.

“So did Dinky’s horn!” Derpy added in holding her daughter tight.

All at once, all the unicorns of Ponyville sounded off saying that all of their horns lit up as well with no warning whatsoever. Rarity, Starlight, and Twilight all shared equal looks of concern. That light shined the same time Growlmon digivolved. So there definitely was a connection. They just weren’t sure what it was.

“We can discuss the horn thing later, everypony! Right now I need to explain to you just who that red dragon is!”

As she began to do just that, the thundering stomps of Growlmon and the trimberwolves shook the ground as they ran by the houses and businesses. While Growlmon was the primary target keeping the wolf’s attention, the other Digimon were not far behind. Renamon had Impon on her back as she sprinted and leapt from roof to roof with sharp precision. Terriermon and Lopmon were both using their large ears to glide and keep up. Marineangemon was flapping his little wings as hard as he could and kept up just fine. Kokuwamon had to use a bit of his own electrical power to give himself a boost in the air. While down below, Monodramon had taken his own path through the other streets to try and cut corners where he could. Each of them were using their own attacks to knock it away from the buildings whenever it got too close.

“Keeping going, Growlmon! We’re almost out of town!”

“I’m trying, Takato! But he’s gaining on us! It’s not fair! He has four legs and I just have two!”

Looking back, the goggled Tamer saw that indeed the wolf was gaining on them but hopefully it wouldn’t be too long now. He could see the outskirts of town exactly where Fluttershy said they were. They just had to press for a few moments longer then they could start the real challenge.

“Come on, pineapple head! Put your legs into the next gear already!”

The “encouragement” from Impmon was of no help whatsoever. Growlmon’s legs were already being pushed to their limit. Sure enough, they did reach the edge of town and broke free from the line of buildings. Right as they did though, the wolf behind them made a powerful lunge for Growlmon’s back and managed to tackle him. Takato was sent hurdling into the air like a rag doll, screaming for his life. The first to reach him was Renamon who caught him in her arms and landed on the ground gracefully.

“Thanks, Renamon.” The boy was grateful as he got back to his legs and turned back to his partner.

Growlmon skidded on the ground a bit before turning into the tackle and reversing it. He grabbed the wolf by its body and rolled to throw it away from him. The timberwolf hit the ground but stayed together in one piece before getting back up and snarling at Growlmon. The red champion wasted no time in repeating the action himself. Now he didn’t have to hold back. There was nothing and no one around him that could be hit by him. It was monster on monster.

The two began to slowly circle one another in a stare down. All the while the other Digimon landed or stopped near Takato and looked onto the battle about to come.

“Come on, Growlmon! Turn him into a big campfire!” Terriermon shouted.

“Wait for your moment, then strike!” Lopmon cried beside her look alike.

His giant footprints trailed behind him as Growlmon slowly waited. The timberwolf slowly mirrored his actions for a few more moments until finally, it stopped. Not even a second later, it sprung forward towards the champion. Narrowing his eyes, Growlmon closed the gap and round two was underway.

*MEANWHILE BACK IN THE CENTER OF PONYVILLE*

“So you see, everypony, what I told you earlier today was indeed true. Takato came here to look for his friend and he ended up finding him. He’s….well…just not what we all expected him to be.”

Twilight was trying her best to explain the situation as best she could to Ponyville, but was having trouble finding the right words to use. How can she fully explain something when she’s also trying to explain it to herself at the same time? She thought she had most of the details down but this weird Digivolving thing had taken her for a spin. Not to mention everypony with a horn lighting up at the same time it happened was no coincidence.

“His friend is a dragon?!” Scootaloo shouted from the crowd. “That’s so cool!”

“It is most certainly not!” Spoiled Rich called out. “That monster almost destroyed our town!”

“Calm down, please!”

Twilight held her hooves up to try and stop that train of thought in its tracks. Spoiled Rich was very known for not liking certain things…..like ponies “below” her, or other species. She noticed the dirty looks she gave Spike whenever they passed her by.

“You don’t know Growlmon! None of us know Growlmon! And right now he’s right outside town fighting a giant timberwolf trying to protect us! That alone should be enough of a reason to give him, and all the other creatures who helped defend us against them a chance!”

“Yeah! Plus they’re like, totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash took a turn to speak as she hovered above the crowd. “They’re called Digimon and they deserve to be treated fairly!”

A lot of murmurs was heard from the large group of ponies as they let the words process. The mane seven all knew that there were going to be some naysayers like Spoiled Rich and maybe a few others. However, if the majority was in favor of giving them a fair chance to be friendly, then it was a victory.

Applejack took a step forward. With the crowd calmed down a bit, this seemed like as good a time as any to try Starlight’s plan out.

“That Growlmon fella y’all saw is a big un’. But he’s just a puppy on the inside. And not all of them are scary like he is.”

Her eyes looked up to the rim of her hat as she nudged it up a tad with her hoof.

“Alright. Ya can come out now, Calumon.”

The crowd began to feel a little more uneasy as Applejack’s hat began to stir completely on its own. Then it raised up and a tiny head poked out. Once in view, Calumon’s eyes looked left and right seeing nothing but ponies wherever he looked. Emerging fully from Applejack’s hat, his ears extended out to their long length and he began to take a few steps towards the front row.

“Hi there! Are all of you out here because you wanna play?!”

Ponyville wasn’t sure what to think about Growlmon at the moment. Calumon was a different story entirely. His look, and the way he spoke with one sentence was enough to convince them he wasn’t a threat.

“CUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!”

Before he knew it, Calumon was hugged from behind by the tiny form of Sweetie Belle like she just found a new stuffed animal.

“Oh my gosh you are so adorable! I just want to take you home with me!”

“Sweetie Belle! Let the poor dear breathe!”

Glancing briefly at her older sister, Sweetie Belle gasped when she turned back and saw clearly that Calumon was having trouble breathing thanks to her tight grip. Immediately she let him go and he began to take in air again.

“Hehe…sorry about that.” She meekly apologized.

“I’m all for playing and having fun but not so hard next time.” Calumon answered back.

“Ya see? These Digimon here are friendly. We all can assure you they mean us no harm whatsoever.”

*BOOOOOOOM!!!!*

The very loud noise was enough to distract everypony from the speech given by the harmonic bearers and turn their heads in the direction it came from. Right where the fight was happening.

“That didn’t sound good.” Starlight commented.

“Takato!”

Her worry coming back full force, Twilight’s wings spread and she took off like a shot with her friends in tow. Calumon was left behind more curious than worried.

“Where are they going?” Sweetie Belle asked him.

“I guess to make sure Growlmon is ok.” The small Digimon guessed.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sweetie Belle noticed somepony trying to sneak away from the crowd in the very direction the fight was at. Pushing her way through the crowd with Calumon behind her, the small unicorn ran into Scootaloo before she could take another step.

“Where you YOU going?” She questioned, already not liking what the answer might be.

“It’s a dragon fighting a giant timberwolf! Where do you think I’m going?!” The orange pegasus looked at Sweetie Belle as if it were obvious.

“Are you out of your mind? I kind of like living, Scootaloo!”

“Fine! YOU go home! I’m going to go watch!”

With that, Scootaloo turned and ran, determined to see this up close.

“Scootaloo! Don’t-uuuuuuuuuuuughhhh! I swear that pony is gonna kill me one day!”

“Why would she kill you?” Calumon asked.

She didn’t answer. She was too busy chasing after her and Calumon was right on her tail.

Weaving her way over the rooftops of Ponyville, Twilight tried her best to not think about all the possible ways Takato could be mangled right now. He was perfectly alright. He had to be. He promised he would be. There was no chance he was a pile of goop underneath a timberwolf’s wooden paw. No! He was not that! And boy was she relieved when she broke the town’s borders and saw him standing there alongside the other Digimon, not a scratch on him.

“Takato!”

She swooped down and landed right by his legs looking frantic all over.

“We heard the loud noise! What’s happening?!”

She received no answer. Takato and the others kept their eyes glued to the sight before them. Turning their heads, she and the other ponies took their turn to survey the area. The fight was still raging between Growlmon and the timberwolf, and the former was starting to look tired.

“Growlmon doesn’t look so good.” Pinkie Pie commented.

“Yeah! Come on, dragon guy! Whoop that wolf’s butt!”

Everyone was distracted by the new voice and turned 180 degrees to see where it came from Takato recognized them from earlier today in the crowd of ponies he was introduced to. Renamon remembered them too from their rescue, but the two fillies didn’t recognize her. Calumon buzzed past them and landed back on Applejack’s head.

“Sweetie Belle! What in Equestria are you doing here?!” Rarity rushed over to her sister.

“Scoots this place is so not safe. You should head back to your aunts’ house.” Rainbow agreed with her friend.

“I just followed her because I was trying to get her to turn around! Honest!” Sweetie Belle cried.

*THUD!!!*

Once again the ground trembled as everyone’s attention was turned back to the fight. Growlmon had been struck hard and sent skidding across the ground, destroying the terrain in his slide. The big red champion was not looking like he had a lot of fuel left in his tank as the wolf cave a howl of victory. The giant wooden creature then lunged once more and jumped, bringing down its wooden paws with the intent to slam into Growlmon’s face. Raising up his own arms, Growlmon was able to keep them from making impact with his body. But the timberwolf was leaning down with his jaws wide open, ready to bite down and let its teeth do what his legs could not. All the while that rancid smell came pouring out of its mouth like a fountain all over the reptilian Digimon.

“Blech! Seriously! Eat a mint!” Growlmon snarled.

“I don’t think this is gonna end well!” Starlight cried.

“No it’s not.” Takato stated.

Right after he did, all the ponies both young and not watched him reach into his pocket and fish out another card from his deck.

“Not for the wolf anyway.”

His D-ark in his other hand, Takato raised both small objects over his head and swiped the card through it, causing the device to light up yet again.

“DIGI-MODIFY! POWER, ACTIVATE!”

Not even a second past before the actual growl of Growlmon began to grow in volume. His teeth gritted. His muscles bulged. His arms began to push back against the creature with ferocity. He pushed them back enough to the point where he was back on his own two feet and the timberwolf had been forced to stand on its hind legs. With a mighty roar, he pushed the wolf back with all of his now recharged might, causing it to topple backwards.

“DO IT, GROWLMON! END THIS!” The young tamer screamed.

“YOU GOT IT!” The Digimon called back, in sync with his partner.

Crossing his arms, the two spikes on Growlmon’s forearms swiftly stuck out at a right angle and began to glow in a dim white power.

“DRAGON SLASH!”

Charging, Growlmon slashed twice with his arms and severed two of the wooden legs from the creature. Both crashed to the ground with a loud noise accompanying them and the painful howl of the wolf to follow. It didn’t have long to wail, for Growlmon wasn’t done. After his up close attack, it was time for the final blow. Turning back around, the timberwolf, and the spectators all saw the inside of Growlmon’s mouth begin to shine a dim orange.

“PYRO BLASTER!”

Opening his mouth all the way, a huge torrent of fire erupted from Growlmon’s jaw and flew right for the very big and very flammable wooden creature. It had to time to dodge with two legs down. All it could do was stander there and be engulfed by the high powered flames. The pillar of fire completely covered it from view while the other Digimon, and the spectator ponies just watched in awe at the true might of a Digimon, and his partner. A few more seconds passed by before Growlmon closed his mouth and the bright light from the fire finally died down. Laying in the center of a patch of burnt grass and dirt, laid a pile of ash, ash that used to be a small herd of timberwolves, now being carried away by the passing breeze into the night.

The seven equines took their own turn to glance back and forth between Growlmon and Takato. Timberwolves were powerful-no, VERY powerful creatures on their own. To take on one by itself let alone five of them combined into one was almost like courting death itself. Yet Growlmon was able to take it on and come out victorious like it was barely a challenge at all. And he didn’t do it alone. Takato, that scrawny little kid was in that fight just as much as Growlmon was. They just weren’t aware exactly how much that thought held true yet. But for now, he was there. He stood right alongside his partner and gave him the help he knew he needed right there in the moment. He was indeed telling the truth. Takato was a seasoned veteran when it came to this kind of stuff. His attitude and skill with the cards proved it.

Walking back towards the rest of the crew, everyone could tell Growlmon was beginning to look a little tired after unleashing those attacks.

“Takato? I think I need some of that bread you promised me right now.”

Without another word, Growlmon’s whole body began to glow the same way it did when he was fist Digivolving. Rather than grow, this time his size shrank down. And it kept going down until finally, when the glowing stopped, Growlmon was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood Guilmon once more.

The first to rush him was obviously Takato who wrapped his arms around his big neck with a happy laugh. The bread loving rookie reciprocated the action without any hesitation.

“You were awesome, boy!”

The young human was quickly joined by the other Digimon.

“Way to start a campfire, pineapple head!” Impon was grateful for his life being saved but always expressed it in his own way.

“And no one here got hurt. A successful battle indeed.” Renamon stated.

“Let’s just hope nothing else like that happens for a while. We can’t put the stress all on Takato and Guilmon.” Monodramon gave his two cents.

Looking over Takato’s shoulder, Guilmon noticed that they were being watched by nine ponies now. All of them were varying degrees of, “What just happened?” to “That was insane!”. Slowly, Takato noticed himself and turned back around to face them all, as did the other monsters with him.

“So….uh…..hi.” The gogglehead had no idea what to say.

“Takato……that…….was…….AWESOME!”

The cyan pegasus pony was now hovering right in front of Takato’s face with the biggest smile on her own.

“You and Guilmon are totally like in sync with one another! And the way he threw that wolf to the ground and finished it off! Just…uh! WOW!”

“Ah gotta hand it to ya both.” Applejack approached. “Ah didn’t think you were gonna win, but you were just waitin’ for the right time to use that card to charge him up. Weren’t you, Takato?”

The human nodded and tapped his finger against the screen of his digivice.

“Sure did. Just swiping card after card wouldn’t do much good in battle.” He rubbed the back of his head remembering the battle with Devidramon.

Standing next to each other, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slowly walked towards the group of aliens. Sweetie Belle was just a hoof-length behind her friend, still a bit hesitant to meet these people, especially the red reptile. There was no going back when they all locked eyes with each other.

“I remember you.” Takato spoke first. “You were in town earlier today when Twilight introduced me.”

“Sure was!” the orange filly hopped up, her wings buzzing like an insect. “I’m Scootaloo and it’s so awesome to meet you! That size changing thing was so cool! Can you do it again?!”

“Eeeeeeeeeaaaasy, Scoots. Breathe.” Rainbow Dash chuckled and put her hoof around her honorary sister’s back.

Seeing as she was still hesitant to speak, Rarity walked up to her little sister and mirrored Rainbow’s action.

“Takato, this here is Sweetie Belle, my younger sister.”

“H-hi.”

“As nice as introductions can be, don’t you think we should go back into town?” Lopmon suggested. “I think the town might want an explanation from us.”

That reminder came crashing down on all of them like a ton of bricks. The fight was over with the wolf, but there was still one more thing to win: Ponyville’s trust.

“And they’ll get one, but not tonight.” Twilight stated firmly. “Starlight, you teleport Takato and the Digimon back to the castle. I’ll head be there after I finish calming everypony down.”

“What about the rest of us? What do you need us to do, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, always ready to lend a hoof.

“I need you all to go back home and get some sleep. Now that Ponyville knows Takato and the Digimon are here, and Celestia is coming tomorrow to see them, I think we’re going to need all of our energy to get through the many talks that are on the way.” She smiled as she looked to her best friends. “Can you all do that for me?”

“You had me at ‘go back home’.” Rainbow responded with a yawn. “Come on, squirt. I’ll get you back to your aunts then I’m crashing for the night.”

As they all began to separate, the Digimon grouped with Starlight. Calumon didn’t want to leave but he relented and flew off Applejack’s hat and landed on Guilmon’s head. As Starlight’s horn began to charge up, she conjured up a teleportation spell.

“Wait!”

That call came from the yellow pegasus who had barely said anything throughout all of this. During the fight she was petrified. Growlmon battling that wolf had her heart beating a thousand times a second. Then when it finally ended, she thought she was going to die right there when Growlmon approached. Then…..he just turned back. It was amazing. That ferocious fire breathing monster was really just an adorable puppy on the inside with a love of bread. It didn’t seem logical in any way. But there he was, hugging his human partner as if they had been brothers their whole lives. It made her relieved but it also made even more guilt crawl into her. She had been so fearful and distant of not only him but also Monodramon because of looks alone. She hadn’t been fair and now was a good time for her to start changing that.

“Thank you so much for saving us, Guilmon. And all of you as well.” She softly said.

The other Digimon smiled her way or nodded their heads in acknowledgement of her words.

“You’re welcome.” Guilmon replied with that goofy smile of his.

With that, Starlight finished the spell and she, with the Digimon, all vanished in a burst of teal light. The rest of the ponies present all went their separate ways for the night after that. It took a bit of effort but Twilight was able to convince Ponyville that the threat had been taken care of. Soon after, the town of Ponyville were all back in their homes, safe and sound and back into the world of slumber. Her job done, Twilight returned home to her castle and let loose a giant sigh.

Tomorrow was another day.

Meet the Town

*I only own the plot of this story. MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro, Lauren Faust, and DHX. Digimon is owned by Bandai. Enjoy!*

*Also I’ve made the decision that this story is taking place between seasons 8 and 9. So the school and the young six WILL show up soon*

Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story

Chapter 10: Meet the Town

Earth – Tokyo – Hypnos HQ – 8:00 AM

To say things had been stressful for Mitsuo Yamaki the past couple of days would be a major understatement. Ever since word had gotten out that Takato went through the portal back to the Digital World, his parents had been calling him practically every hour on the hour for a status update. Why? Because during the first phone call they made, Yamaki had promised them that he would do all he could to track down Takato’s location in the Digital World so a retrieval would be easier to execute. Now that he had made that promise, the Matsuki parents were restless. It started to feel like he was spending more time of the day trying to talk them both down than track Takato. He was almost considering having their number blocked from the Hypnos phones. Almost. As much as an annoyance and hindrance it was, Yamaki still needed to keep the line to the Matsukis open so he could relay any new information.

Unfortunately, new information was something he had zero of. Every station of the Hypnos agency was immediately put to work trying to locate Takato’s exact location in the Digital World and formulate a plan for getting him back safely. But in the span they’ve worked, nothing has been brought to light. Scans of the Digital World’s map were being performed multiple times an hour and every single one yielded nothing. His top scientists were trying to think about why this was happening. Maybe the coding of the Digital World had changed after the D-Reaper’s attack. Maybe the four Digimon Sovereign were up to something. Whatever the reason they came up with, nothing could be proven without substantial evidence. And that also was in low supply.

Whatever the case was, Yamaki had to come up with something fast. Every second that passed the clock was just another second Takato had to spend along in an unforgiving digital dimension. As he casually flicked the lid of his lighter open and shut again, he ascended the stairs that led to the main room of the Hypnos building. The large dome where his two main monitors, Riley and Tally, were up in their chairs typing away at their controls.

“Riley, Tally, is there anything to report?”

Looking down from her chair, Tally just shook her head to her boss.

“Nothing but the same, boss. We haven’t been able to get a lock on Takato’s digivice.”

Pocketing his lighter, Yamaki used his other hand to pull his sunglasses off his face before rubbing eyes. Nothing but the same indeed. A big sack of nothing. With a heavy sigh, the head of Hypnos looked back up to the two women as he came to a decision.

“You two keep doing what you’re doing. Report to me the second anything new hits your screens.” He said as he turned back around to go down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Riley asked from above.

Yamaki didn’t turn to them as he answered. All he did was put his glasses back on.

“I have to make a call.”

As he walked to his office, Yamaki kept his head as level as he could flicking his lighter back and forth. The metallic clicking echoing throughout the halls as he stepped. It seemed to be the only thing that kept him sane in times like this. That constant clicking. As he approached his desk, he set the lighter down and picked up his phone. The number was dialed and it was one he hoped he wouldn’t have to dial again for a very long time. But he wanted this dealt with as fast as he could. No human on Earth knew the Digital World as well as this guy did.

The dial tone buzzed into Yamaki’s ear twice before the sound of a phone being taken off its hook and held up to a mouth could be heard.

“I honestly didn’t think you would call me in so soon, Yamaki.”

He stifled a chuckle. Of course he knew.

“Well then, Shibumi, I guess I don’t need to give you an explanation of what’s happening then.”

“No you don’t.”

Over in another part of the city, Gorou Mizuno, AKA: Shibumi, was sitting at his own work station, looking at windows upon windows of data readouts as he held the phone to his ear.

“Tao called me yesterday and filled me in.”

“Then I take it you’ve been at this nearly as long as we have.” Yamaki surmised. “Please tell me you have information that I don’t already know.”

“I do. But you aren’t going to like it.”

Yamaki sighed. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew where this conversation was going.

“I’m not going to have to tell the Matsukis they have my condolences, am I?”

“I’d hold off on sending them flowers, Yamaki.” Shibumi then went straight into explaining mode. “Right after I got off the phone with Janyu, I went straight to my computer and activated my tracking program for the children’s digivices.”

“Tracking program?”

“Yes it’s a neat little feature isn’t it? With the right program I can use it to track the whereabouts of the children anywhere in this world or the Digital World, so long as they have their digivices with them. They may be not of this world but like the Digimon themselves, they give off a unique signal that can easily be tracked. Right now I’m seeing on my screen that all the children, save for Takato’s are showing up in different parts of Tokyo.”

“And let me guess. There isn’t a single trace of Takato here or in the Digital World.” Yamaki finished for him.

“No, Yamaki. Apparently there never was.”

That part was where Yamaki caught his breath. This had to be the new information he was talking about.

“What do you mean, ‘there never was’? Explain, Shibumi.”

“It’s as obvious as it can be. I ran through my data and backtracked to the night Takato left for the Digital World. Right after he left through the portal, the signal tracking on his digivice went dead. And it never popped up again in the Digital World.”

“Perhaps there was a malfunction with his digivice.”

“Highly doubtful, Yamaki. Those things may be small but they are resilient little things. I spent hours running scans all over the Digital World trying to find him but came up with nothing. Unfortunately this leads me to the ‘you’re not going to like it’ part.”

Both Yamaki and Shibumi paused as the latter finally spoke.

“The reason Takato’s digivice isn’t giving off a signal is because Takato isn’t in the Digital World, nor is he on Earth. He’s somewhere else beyond our reach. And I have no idea if he’s dead or alive.”

Equestria – Ponyville – Castle of Friendship – 9:30 AM

The sun had officially been hanging overhead in the sky for a few hours now. Takato rubbed his eyes as he finally rose up from his sleep to greet a new day in Equestria. Turning to his side, he smiled to see that his partner and best friend was right there by his side, snoozing like a log. After the fight last night, he deserved a long rest. Softly, the tamer brought his hand up to pet his head. It may not have been much but it was enough to rouse Guilmon from his slumber.

“Oh hey, boy. Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Ahhhh….it’s alright.” The red Digimon said still half awake.

However, his nose seemed to be fully functional as he took in a lot of sniffs. The scent he was picking seemed to act like morning coffee because Guilmon sprung right out of bed with a wide smile on his face.

“Whoa! Guilmon, what’s wrong boy?” Takato immediately thought there was another threat on the approach.

“And would you keep it down, please? Some of us still wanna sleep.” Terriermon groggily said.

Takato looked down and saw around the room the other Digimon had started to rise as well, looking different levels of annoyed or tired.

“Nothing is wrong. I just smell food! A lot of it!” Guilmon happily answered his partner.

And there it was. The only thing that could get Guilmon on his feet faster than any threat could, the chance of a good meal. That could be said for any Digimon. The others were now fully awake and ready to eat as well. Even Renamon had made an appearance in the corner of the room.

“Well then pineapple head, lead us to the grub!” Impmon shouted, hungry and ready.

As Guilmon headed out the door with the rest of the Digimon in tow, Takato hurried to put on his clothes and follow them, running down the hall to catch up. His nose led him downstairs into the kitchen and dining area where the source of the delicious scent was found. One push through the door and Takato plus the Digimon were stunned at what they all saw.

Not only Twilight, Starlight, and Spike were in on this, but the other five ponies that Takato had met up close yesterday were all chipping in, setting the table and putting plate after plate of different kinds of food around the table’s surface. Pancakes, fruits, biscuits, muffins, and anything else that could be thought of breakfast food that didn’t seem to involve any sort of meat were being placed on the table, ready to be eaten.

Guilmon, Terriermon, Calumon, and Monodramon were practically drooling at the sight of the spread. Impmon, Lopmon, Kokuwamon, and Marineangemon all had sparkles in their eyes. Renamon was the only one who seemed unaffected. But inside, she was impressed at the effort the ponies put into making all this food. The young tamer was lost in the aroma all the foods made mixed together. A few moments passed before he decided to break the silence.

“What is all this?”

Hearing his voice made all ponies and the sole dragon halt in place finally notice Takato and the Digimon were all in the room.

“Look whose up!” Rainbow Dash floated over and jabbed Takato affectionately on his shoulder. “Good morning, hero!”

The gogglehead just chuckled as he rubbed his arm.

“Thanks for that. But it was mostly Guilmon and the others who did all the work.”

“Well that’s not entirely true, darling.” Rarity was quick to correct him. “We saw all of you act bravely last night, including you, Takato. You may not have done any fighting but you and your cards sure helped turn the tide of the fight against those dreadful wolves.”

Pinkie walked into view, balancing a bowl full of an unknown batter atop her head. A huge smile that was normal to see on her was present as she looked at every single Digimon and the only human.

“Yeah! You were all totally amazing last night! So to thank you we all pitched in to make you a hero’s breakfast!”

She gestured back to the table filled to the brim with delicious food. All the foreign guests in the castle looked on it now with a bit more surprise after hearing what Pinkie said.

“You…made this all for us?” Lopmon could hardly believe it.

“I don’t know what to say.” Kokuwamon looked about ready to shed an oily tear.

*DING!*

“Oop! Last thing is ready!” Starlight trotted over to the oven.

Twilight was already there using her magic to levitate out what she and Starlight considered the grand finale. Guilmon’s nostrils began to flare as he picked up one of the most familiar scents his nose could take in. As he and Takato looked over, the red and black Digimon’s eyes grew wide and developed stars as he looked at what was on the tray Twilight brought out.

Lying there on the baking sheet was an assortment of bread rolls. Each one of them was carefully rolled and molded by Pinkie to resemble the hazard symbol Guilmon wore on his body.

“Is that what I think it is?” Guilmon could barely contain himself.

Everypony and Spike chuckled while Starlight took the tray from Twilight and placed on the table near the end.

“Takato told us it was your favorite food.” The unicorn explained. “How could we make a buffet and not include it?”

Guilmon didn’t hear a word she said. His eyes were laser focused on that tray of shaped bread he had forgotten how to blink.

“I think we better let them start eating before they try to eat us first.” Starlight said with a chuckle.

“THANK YOU!” Calumon took that as the green light.

Within a timeframe of two seconds, almost every Digimon was crowded around the table trying to fill their plates like animals and begin to scarf down everything that was on them. Twilight and the rest of them all stood by and just watched them with surprise, afraid that if anyone tried to stop them, they would get a limb torn off and eaten accidentally. Takato, not wanting Guilmon to be seen as a mindless black hole of bread, gently grabbed his partner by his back and pulled him away before advising him to slow down and be polite to the ones who prepared the meal for them. Renamon added in on this saying that it would be impolite to not let them eat as well since they put in all the work making the food for them. The other Digimon agreed to this and apologized, taking their seats properly and taking their time to eat instead of trying to inflate their bellies like balloons.

The other seats of the table were then occupied by the eight Equestrians who took their turn serving themselves and passing the plates around. Renamon, like last night at dinner, chose to distance herself from the crowd and sat cross legged in the corner with her plate in her lap. It didn’t seem right to sit at the table with the others when Rika wasn’t there amongst them.

The young tamer, after finishing his glass of orange juice, looked to Twilight.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

This was a question that not only the Digimon, but the other occupants of Ponyville wanted to know as well. All of their gazes turned to Twilight expecting an answer. Lucky for the alicorn, she had one ready for him.

“Actually, there are a couple of things I need you and the Digimon for.” She began. “Thanks to the attack last night, the whole town knows you’re all here. So now I have to address them again and let them take the chance to meet all of you.”

“Hopefully that will make them as comfortable with all of you as we are.” Starlight added on.

“Well hopefully they don’t try to pin the blame on us.” Lopmon expressed worry at that.

“Aw momentai.” Terriermon waved it off. “It wasn’t our fault those wooden dogs came.”

“Maybe not. But that still didn’t stop most of the town from seeing you and what you can do.” Rainbow Dash voiced herself.

The Digimon all paused at that. The prism-maned pegasus had a point. They had no intention of harming anyone, but they learned back on earth multiple times, that fearful crowds tend to look at things from one direction.

“Okay. So we introduce ourselves and hope that goes smoothly.” Impmon said. “What’s the other thing you need us for?”

“Oh right.” Twilight had almost forgotten. “Earlier this morning Princess Celestia responded to my letter.”

Using her magic she made a scroll appear very similar to the one Spike belched up yesterday. She unrolled it and began to read aloud.

“Dear Princess Twilight,

While I do not agree with your action to introduce the human to the population of Ponyville, I understand that it was not a decision of mine to make. I only hope that it will prove to have a good outcome in the future.

That being said, in hopes to prevent any panic about other species ‘invading’ our world, both myself and Princess Luna will be making a surprise visit to the Castle of Friendship tomorrow at precisely half past noon. Both of us wish to question this human about how he got here and what his intentions are. Please make sure he is willing to comply and present at the castle upon our arrival.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia.”

With the letter read, she rolled it back up and popped it out of sight with a small burst of magic. Looking around the room she saw that Takato and the Digimon all had slight looks of unease on them.

“Your ruler is coming here….to talk to me?” Takato squeaked out.

“It sure looks that way.” Applejack replied. “And if ah were you, Ah’d go through with it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Monodramon asked the cowmare. “If he isn’t here she’ll…hunt him down or something?”

Realizing she made a poor choice of words, Applejack raised her hoofs in defense.

“No no no. Ah didn’t mean it like that, ah swear.” Applejack fumbled to keep going.

Lucky for her Rarity caught her in mid fall.

“What she means is that Celestia and Luna are both mares of a tight schedule and appreciate punctuality.” She said.

“What’s punctuality?” Calumon asked.

“Sounds like a baked good.” Marineangemon answered.

Rarity slapped her own hoof to her head as Pinkie took a turn to speak.

“Haha! No you sillies! It means being on time! You know. Not late.”

The other Digimon nodded in understanding while they all turned to look at Takato, something he noticed after five seconds of chewing on a bread roll.

“What?” He asked them.

“Well are you going to talk to her or not?” Kokuwamon asked.

“That kinda goes without saying doesn’t it?” Takato said swallowing the bread. “It’s not like we can just leave.”

“And it won’t be just him. We’ll be there too.” Guilmon added on.

This caught the attention of the Digimon and the not-Digimon together.

“Why would we be there?” Impmon was annoyed. “In case ya didn’t hear that letter, pony princess only wants to talk to your partner. Not us.”

“Not to mention it might not be the best idea for you guys to meet them yet.” Rainbow Dash advised.

The other Equestrians felt the same way. They were worried Celestia and Luna might get the wrong idea upon seeing them.

“Guilmon does bring up a good point.” Renamon stood up and walked over to join them.

“Guilmon with a point? That’s a rare discovery.” Terriermon laughed.

“Quiet.” The vulpine snapped to the green and white Digimon. “Princess Twilight intends to introduce us to town earlier today anyway. And news of us is bound to spread after they see us up close. So wouldn’t it be more beneficial for the rulers of this place to meet us for themselves and make an opinion of their own instead of just hearing rumors?”

The other side had weighed in on the balance and now looked to be of equal weight if not a little more. There certainly would be an upside to having Celestia and Luna familiarize themselves with the Digimon before those awful tabloids starting printing out rumors of monsters or something of that sort. Twilight and Rarity knew foremost how badly journalists liked to twist things around for more subscribers and ratings. And they definitely did not want these creatures to be painted in a bad light after seeing the good they did last night.

“Maybe we SHOULD let them meet the princesses with Takato.” Fluttershy switched to the Digimon’s side.

Monodramon smiled at the caretaker as she walked around to join them.

“They may seem scary and not very friendly looking at first but I’m sure once they get to know them they’ll see a whole other side.”

Spike for one smiled upon seeing Fluttershy trying to get a little warmer towards Monodramon and Guilmon. She still quivered a bit when she was in proximity and a little more when they smiled and showed their teeth. But she gulped and nodded, keeping her stance.

“Then it’s settled.” Twilight said. “We formally introduce you all to Ponyville together, and then we do the same thing with Celestia and Luna this afternoon. Agreed?”

One by one the whole room sounded off their approval. When breakfast was finished, Spike and Starlight helped clear the table while the other five of the mane 6 headed out into town to spread word of another address from Princess Twilight within the hour. Twilight herself retreated to her study to write back Celestia informing her that Takato had agreed to the suggested time of meeting. Takato and the Digimon on the other hand, they just stayed around the castle and tried to keep out of trouble until they heard from Twilight that it was time to go.

Soon that time came. With Starlight and Spike among them, Takato and the Digimon huddled around Twilight as both she and her student worked together to create a teleportation spell big enough to handle the entire group. Rather than head into Sugarcube Corner like last time, Takato suddenly found his new surroundings different than any he had been in before since coming here. It looked to be some sort of tall business building by the looks of the décor and accolades hung on the wall. The dome shaped top of the building had a bit of a political vibe to it was well, like those pictures he saw in his school textbooks of American capitols.

“Where are we now?” the tamer asked.

“And where is a bucket? I think breakfast is coming back up.” Terriermon said with swirls in his eyes.

Lopmon and Kokuwamon worked together to steady their friend while Twilight, Spike and Starlight couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at the small Digimon’s reaction. A moment later, they got back on track.

“This is Ponyville Town Hall.” Starlight answered. “We figured this would be the perfect place to introduce you since it’s in the middle of town.”

“And it looks like everypony is out there.” Spike said as he looked out the window.

It was true indeed. Bunching up the entire front half of town hall and back a good distance, all the ponies and other residents of Ponyville were there eager, waiting, and some demanding to see and talk to the ones who fought the timberwolves the night prior. In front of the door leading into the building, Mayor Mare herself and five of the mane 6 stood there trying their best to calm the residents down but to very little avail.

“Please everypony! Settle down!” Mayor Mare raised her hoof trying to gain order. “I know all of you have been waiting for some time but I assure you. Twilight Sparkle is on her way and she will give you the answers you’ve been looking for.”

The crowd’s noise did die down after hearing from the mayor that Twilight was coming. Turning back around, Mayor Mare dropped her mask since now only the five element bearers could see her face.

“Please tell me Twilight will have the answers they’re looking for.” She snapped at them.

Applejack stepped forward and put a friendly hoof around the politician’s back, trying to be comforting.

“Don’t you worry nothin’ about it, Mayor. If Twilight doesn’t have the answers, then Takato and the Digimon will.” She said.

“Takato and the-wait! She’s bringing them here?! Now?!”

The five bearers looked at Mayor Mare with varying looks of confusion.

“Uhhh…yeah. Everypony here knows that. That’s why they’re here. To meet them.” Rainbow said.

“Granted, Takato met the town yesterday but he didn’t have a lot of time to interact with everypony until last night’s events. We think this will be able to help both him and us.” Rarity added.

Mayor Mare was panicking on the inside. Outside she tried to keep a level face but she was surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of her ears. Truth be told with all she had going on this morning because of last night, she figured that detail about Twilight’s summoning of the town must have gone over her head. Now she had to deal with it.

Looking back to the front door, she saw it creek open and a familiar purple dragon poked his head out, beckoning the mayor to come inside. Excusing herself, Mayor Mare walked based the five elements of harmony and joined Spike inside town hall. Only a few seconds after the doors closed…

“AAAHHH!”

That small yelp could be heard throughout the crowd and beyond. Now the air had become dead silent as they were wondering what the heck was even going on. Then Twilight, Spike and Starlight exited out the doors of the building. A few of the ponies in the crowd were about to start asking her questions but they went silent yet again when not long after those three exited, they were joined by many others.

The same human they met yesterday, along with the monsters they all saw last night walked out of the central building and joined Princess Twilight by her side and with the other elements of harmony. None of them dared speak a word in fear of possibly saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. They just looked so…odd. Some of them looked like as ferocious as a common dragon, yet some of them were so adorable…then there was whatever Kokuwamon was.

The Digimon however were in a different yet similar boat. Seeing these ponies up close was a lot different them watching them from afar. They all looked so…similar. Colors and different mane-styles helped but a lot of these horse creature’s body types were so very alike, it was difficult to tell one apart from the other. The only other indication of distinction seemed to be those markings that each one had imprinted on their rear ends. Granted back in the Digital World some Digimon of the same species looked exactly alike, but this level of similarity to it yet being so different at the same time was…eerie.

“Ahem.” *Twilight cleared her breath. “I have no doubt that there are a lot of you out there who want to bombard these creatures with your questions. But before we proceed I am going to ask all of you, as your friend, to please be civil about all of this.”

She sounded friendly, but firm. Everyone knew that she wanted this to go smooth.

“And I also can guess that you’re all expecting me to explain all of this. Where they came from, what happened last night, and so on. Well the truth is I can’t do that. But my friend Takato here, he can.”

This finally caused some murmurs to stir up in the sea of ponies as all eyes turned to the young human. Adjusting the goggles on his head, Takato took in a deep breath as he saw this huge crowd immediately about face in his direction. He hadn’t frozen up that bad since he had to take a big oral exam in Miss Asaji’s class months ago.

A gulp was heard and a step back could be seen, but his body was caught. Looking down, he saw the red arm of his partner pat him on the back comfortingly.

“Together, Takato?”

The tamer’s unease immediately washed away after hearing his partner’s voice like that again. Being together with Guilmon is what he was meant for. And he promised they would be together again forever. Time to start fulfilling that promise.

“Yeah. Let’s go, boy.”

Exhaling another breath, Takato and Guilmon stepped in front of Twilight together to speak to the crowd of ponies, as one team.

“Hi there. I’m Takato. Takato Matsuki. I’m in Elementary School, Miss Asaji’s class...but you probably don’t care about that.” Rubbing the back of his head, Takato cleared his throat and kept going. “Look, I get it. You don’t know us. You don’t know a thing about us or where we come from. If I were in your place, I’d be freaked out too. In fact, I was once.”

He placed a hand on Guilmon’s head and scratched one of his ears.

“When I first met Guilmon here, it was super hard for me to believe what was happening was in fact, actually happening. Monsters straight out of a card game I play with my friends were coming to life and appearing in my world. It was like a dream come true. We went through so much together and I thought when all of the fighting we did was done, we would just relax together for the rest of our lives…but then they left.”

Once again, Takato had to blink away a tear as the memory of Guilmon floating away played back in his head.

“And I thought I would never see them again. But I was wrong. The same doorway they went through to leave my world, is the same one I went through that brought me here. And as luck would have it, they were here too…what Twilight said to you yesterday is true. I came here to find my friend and well…here he is, along with some others of mine.”

He gestured back to the other Digimon who gave a few waves and gestures of their own to the crowd. He decided to take a moment for a pause to try and read the crowd. For the most part, everypony seemed to be cautious. They had a decent reason to be. After seeing one of them grow bigger than a house last night and shrink back down again, it sparked a lot of déjà-vu regarding Spike. Nopony seemed to want to even take a single step towards them in fear of getting their hooves bitten off.

“Can you do it again?”

The one question rang out from the crowd from a very young voice. Squeezing her way through the crowd, a familiar orange and purple pegasus filly closed the gap between herself and Takato. She looked back and forth between him and Guilmon with stars in her eyes.

“Do what again?” Guilmon asked her.

“That thing you did last night! When you grew bigger! Can you do it again?!”

Scootaloo’s excitement sure did surprise Takato and the other Digimon. For a moment. Takato then realized that she was acting almost exactly like he did when his life as a tamer started out. Pure excitement and no regard for the negative implications.

“You’re not scared of us?” Renamon approached the young one, recognizing her from the forest.

“Why would I be scared of you? It’s not like you’re the ones who attacked us.” She replied. “I saw you guys through my bedroom window and then up close. It was all just so cool!”

Before she could say anything else, another filly walked forward. This one sported a cherry red mane and a bright pink bow on her head.

“Besides, we learned a long time ago how wrong it is to make judgments about someone just because they look different. Ah don’t know about the rest of town but ah don’t wanna make the same mistake twice.”

Applejack smiled at her little sister for remembering that important lesson. It was Applebloom herself who taught them that one in the first place when it came to Zecora. Sometimes the wide eyed hopefulness of a child was just what one needed. And it seemed to be working again. Looking back out into the crowd, the elements of harmony could see that quite a few of them were starting to look down at the floor with a bit of a guilty look as they remembered how unfair they were to Zecora. Assuming she was a wicked enchantress who would come into town to prey on the weak and fearful, but it turned out they were the wicked ones because they shunned her merely because she looked and acted differently than they did. It was a lesson they never forget, but it’s never a memory they look back at fondly.

“Sooo…what are all yer names?” Applebloom asked.

Feeling like they were getting somewhere, Takato smiled as he decided to list off the names of all the Digimon there, starting with his partner and ending with Calumon who floated back in front of the two crusaders like he did last night.

“So does this mean we can play together?” He asked the two of them.

“CUUUTE!”

The third crusader of the group finally made herself seen as she hugged Calumon just like she did last night but a little softer.

“Oh absolutely we can play together! Right, Rarity? Can we?” She looked like she was begging.

“Of course you can, Sweetie Belle.” The ivory unicorn answered.

And just like that, the floodgates opened. A few more ponies walked out of their spots and towards the Digimon to try and ask a few questions to get to know them. It warmed Twilight’s heart to see the ponies she called her neighbors open up to try being friends with these creatures. However a small part of her did feel some disappointment when some of the others, namely Spoiled Rich, turned and left, not ready to give them a chance quite yet.

The kids especially were enjoying how each one of them looked entirely different, save for Terriermon and Lopmon of course. Marineangemon and Calumon were surrounded by ponies who thought they were the most adorable things alive. Bon Bon even mentioned she had some ideas for new limited candy shapes. Guilmon and Monodramon were happy to let a couple of Cheerliee’s classponies hop on their back. Takato got a kick out of it too seeing the kids of this town get used to them so quickly. It went like this for a good while but unfortunately, it had to be cut short when Twilight looked at the clock and saw the time.

“Alright everypony. I’m afraid that’s enough for now.” She addressed Ponyville again. “I really appreciate you all coming and giving our new Digimon friends a chance, and I promise you’ll see them again real soon. But right now we have a meeting to attend. So for now, I bid you all a good day.”

It took a bit for the crowd to disperse, but soon enough Twilight and Starlight used their conjoined magic to warp them all out of sight and back to the castle of friendship. The meeting with Ponyville had been a majority success, now they could only hope talking to the princesses would go just as smooth.

EQUESTRIA – APPLEWOOD BEACH – 11:50 AM

The sunny beach was a great spot to go any time of the year. Be it to beat the heat of summer or just take a walk in the crisp winter air, there was something therapeutic about the landscape. Everypony on the beach could feel its warm spell. In fact they all felt it so much that nopony there took notice of a small cloud of rainbow colored smoke

Author's Note

Yeah I know. It's been a while. I got no excuse. I just hope you all enjoy it!

Meet The Rulers

I only own my OC’s and the plot of this story. MLP: FiM is property of Hasbro, Lauren Faust, and DHX animation. Digimon is owned by Bandai.

Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story

Chapter 11: Meet the Rulers

EARTH – TOKYO – WONG RESIDENCE – 12:00 PM

Janyu Wong always did enjoy playing host to friends of his children whenever they came over to their house. However this time was not as enjoyable. Henry and Suzie were sitting on the couch next to each other while all the other tamers were sat around the living room be it on the floor or elsewhere as they listened to Janyu talk. Even Ai and Mako were there this time, sitting cross legged on the ground next to Ryo as they listened to the Wong patriarch.

Apparently there was a lot of information relayed to him earlier that day from Yamaki that he got from Shibumi. The majority of it was disturbing to say the least. If Takato wasn’t in the Digital World, then where could he have possibly ended up? Better question to that, was he even alive? The Matsuki parents were being kept in the dark on this because nobody wanted to cause them to fly into an unrecoverable panic. Janyu wasn’t really on board with Yamaki’s idea but decided to go along with it nonetheless. If anything, he only did so because he too didn’t want to have to deal with their incessant calls regarded their son’s safety. Was it a jerk move? Yes. Of course it was. He knew it, Yamaki knew it, Shibumi knew it the whole dang world knew it. And now, after a lengthy explanation, the tamers knew it too.

It went without saying that hearing this development didn’t sit well with any tamer in the room. Ai and Mako weren’t every close with Takato as the rest of them were. That was mainly due to them only meeting the day when the Digimon were sucked back through the portal. After that happened the two youngsters didn’t come to visit anymore. They didn’t see any point without Impmon around.

“So you’re telling us that even though Takato went through the portal that leads to the Digital World, that isn’t where he is?” Henry asked.

Janyu shook his head at this son as he kept his head turning to look at the tamers individually.

“According to Shibumi, each one of your Digivices has a program inside it that transmits a signal that can be tracked from his systems. Supposedly it works both in this world and the Digital World. However, with there being no trace of a signal from Takato’s, it’s very likely that he’s either somewhere else entirely or…”

He couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence. He didn’t want to consider the possibility but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there at all. The others didn’t want to hear it either.

“Takato can’t be gone. He just can’t be.” Jeri was adamant on that.

“He better not be. Because when I do get to him, I’ll kill him myself.” Rika growled.

“Come on, Rika. We all know you don’t mean that.” Kenta tried to calm her down.

It did little good though as she just turned to glare at him. Chuckling nervously, the boy with glasses just turned back to Henry’s father.

“So uh, if Takato’s not in the Digital World or here, where else could he have gone?” He asked to change the subject.

“Well it’s a long shot. But have any of you ever heard of the multiverse theory?” Janyu asked them.

The look on their faces was all the answer he needed. And given that a few of his listeners were little kids, he was going to have to be very simplified with this explanation.

“Well it goes like this. For a very long time, it’s been theorized that our world is only one of many others that exist. And I’m not talking about planets in outer space. I’m taking about different versions of the Earth. Say a version of Earth where Rika has siblings, or one where World War Two was won by the Germans, or one where Digimon never existed at all. The possibilities go on and on. Even before we became the Monster Makers, Shibumi would go on and on about the possibilities of multiple Earths, what it would be like to talk to a doppelganger of himself from another dimension and so on. In fact it was him who shot this theory my way.”

“I think I follow you, Mister Wong.” Jeri commented. “So you’re saying it’s possible that Takato might have landed somewhere else in the…multiverse?”

“It’s a lead we have and nothing more. What happened to him is uncertain. But what is certain is that right now, the rest of you are forbidden from going anywhere near that portal until Hypnos and Shibumi can find more conclusive readings. Do you all understand me on this?”

Sadly, all of them did. The children were all eager beyond belief to go and get their partners back, but now they had to be told to wait even longer because the door to the Digital World might not even GO to the Digital World. One by one each of them nodded their heads or vocally agreed to the terms given to them by Janyu. Then Janyu himself nodded back in response.

“Good. I’m holding you all to this. No one needs any more of your parents freaking out the same way Takato’s are right now.”

With that, Janyu stood up to go and make some phone calls and see if there had been any updates. The children were all left alone in the living room of the Wong household. Each one of them looked at each other with varying faces and emotions present.

“Henwy, I don’t like this.” Suzie whined as she leaned her head on her brother’s body.

Gently, the boy put an arm around his little sister.

“I know, Suzie. None of us do.” He spoke as he sighed.

“How could things get so messed up so fast?” Kazu spoke up. “What was chumley thinking jumping into that portal? Now he might be dead!”

Ryo raised a hand in Kazu’s direction.

“Look let’s not jump to any conclusions. Or better yet, let’s not even try to. You heard what Mr. Wong said. Hypnos nor Mr. Shibumi have any concrete evidence about what happened to Takato. It isn’t going to do us any favors to dwell on a situation we can’t do anything about.”

What he said didn’t sit right with quite a bit of them. And his seriousness only added onto that feeling. Rika was probably the one who had the biggest problem with it. It sounded like Ryo was abandoning Takato.

“What are you trying to say, Ryo? That we should just sit around and do nothing?”

His reply did nothing but add more fuel to the fire.

“I’m not trying to say that, Rika. I AM saying that.”

Rika’s face started to turn a similar shade that matched her hair. She opened her mouth to tear Ryo a new one but Jeri spoke up before she could, hoping to defuse the bomb that Rika had become.

“As much as I hate to say it, Ryo’s right.” She started softly before getting serious. “Guys think about it. None of us have our Digimon here. And even if we did, the problem isn’t something we can physically fight. I’m not smart enough to figure out what happened to Takato or why the portal didn’t take him to the Digital World. Are any of you that smart?”

Silence. None of them had a legit answer for her because they knew she was right. They had come up with some good plans in the past but most of those were battle strategies. This situation had to be solved by brain power, not muscle. They were just kids. None of them could hold a candle to Hypnos or Shibumi in this regard. They were, all things considered, useless.

“I don’t like this.” Rika groaned.

“None of us do, but Jeri’s right.” Kenta sided with his schoolmate. “It’s not like the show where we can just point our Digivices at a computer and open up a Digi-port. We have to trust the adults here.”

“Does this mean we won’t be able to see Impmon again?” Ai whimpered.

She and her brother were holding each other while they looked down at their shared purple D-Ark. The colored rim resembled their partner so much they couldn’t help but see him through the screen. With a soft smile, Jeri kneeled down and put her hands on their shoulders.

“Don’t you worry. You’ll see him again. We’ll all see our partners again.”

As she rubbed their backs, Jeri silently hoped against hope that what she said was the truth. There were too many variables in play now to know for sure what was going to happen. It scared her and everyone else there to think that something even worse than death could have happened to Takato. Being lost in another world far from here with no way to return let alone make contact. Needless to say, but they were going to be in for a rough time for the foreseeable future. Their only hope now lied with Hypnos and the Monster Makers to come through with some results for them.

EQUESTRIA – PONYVILLE – CASTLE OF FRIENDSHIP – 12:28 PM

A loud POP echoed off the crystalline walls of the castle lobby as the teleportation from town took the mane 7 and the Digimon crew right into the center of it. Some were still dizzy from the effects but they were getting used to it, namely Kokuwamon and Calumon. As they parted from each other, Twilight looked around her castle and smiled to see everything was exactly how she left it; neat, tidy, and ready for Celestia and Luna.

“Alright everyone. The princesses will be here any moment so be ready!”

She zipped to the door and poked her head out to look for any signs of their approach. Takato and the rest of the Digimon just looked at her confused.

“Be ready for what?” the human asked anyone.

Rainbow took the chance to answer him.

“Twilight can be…oh what’s a good way to put this…nuts when it comes to the princesses.”

“I am NOT nuts!” The lavender alicorn called back.

No Digimon knew what to say to that. Every single one of them was clueless.

“Should we ask?” Impmon muttered.

“Probably best not to.” Applejack replied.

“OH! Chariot incoming! They’re here!”

Takato’s breath became caught in his throat. He had been nervous from the start about meeting the high rulers of this world he fell into. It had only been a day and a half since he had and already a whole plate of crazy had fallen into his lap. First it was finding Guilmon, meeting all these ponies, a fight with a giant wooden wolf, and now meeting the rulers of this world. He was almost tempted to ask what else could possibly happen, but past experiences taught him over and over again that asking that question was a very stupid idea. Bad luck seems to follow him and his friends around like a stray puppy looking for a home. So instead of dwelling on the future and what might happen, Takato thought it best to keep his mind here in the now.

Right now, outside the castle, the two pegasi of the Solar Guard touched down on the walkway to the Castle of Friendship. The chariot they were hauling behind them rolled to a smooth stop as they did. Once they weren’t moving, the two passengers stepped out of their seats and approached the front door of the castle. Before they could get a knock in, it opened up and there stood their fellow princess smiling before them. As the three of them exchanged pleasant greetings, Takato and the Digimon took in their first full viewing of the two princesses.

They were both much taller than Twilight though one of them was taller than the other. The tallest one was stark white with a mane of a rainbow, though less colors were there than Rainbow Dash’s. The other one was a very dark blue with a mane and tail that looked like living constellations were flowing through it. Both of their manes and tails were flowing as if there was a breeze but no wind was present outside or in the castle. Odd to say the least but not the oddest thing any of them had ever seen in their lives.

“We apologize it took something like this to get us face to face again, Twilight.” Celestia said to her former pupil. “You know as well as we do how daunting royal duties can be at times.”

Twilight shook her head with an understanding smile.

“No apology necessary. I’ve been occupied with the school and my own duties as well. So I gully understand.”

Celestia’s eyes were on Twilight. But Luna’s, all she did was look over the lavender alicorn’s shoulder to see a whole other group of unrecognizable creatures standing in the middle of the castle lobby. Once she caught eyes with them, none of them moved. Looking back and forth between the two visiting parties, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Starlight Glimmer, nor Spike dared utter a word either. They were too interested to see where this would go. A moment later, Celestia’s gaze matched her sister’s and the two groups seemed to be locked in a stare down.

Celestia and Luna were very surprised to see creatures like this standing before them. They had heard stories about human beings from Sunset Shimmer about humankind though had never had the chance to see one with their own eyes. Any mention of these “Digimon” however never came up. They all looked so different from dragons to rabbits to…whatever it that big mechanical bug thing was before them. Celestia had her gaze focused on the human being that stood in front of them. Luna’s however was directed to the small purple one on the other side of his leg. She may not have known him by name yet, but Impmon seemed to radiate some aura of negativity that Luna could sense merely by body language alone. Sure he looked nervous but there was more to it than that. She could see it in his eyes. There was something else there. While she couldn’t put a hoof exactly on it, it looked like a look she had sported before in her life. Regret.

The digital group had thoughts of their own as they gazed upon the two princesses. Their regalia and stature gave off an obvious aura of authority. It was kind of intimidating to most of them. Only Renamon seemed to be looking at them as if she were more curious than nervous. However there was one exception to this. And he was currently floating over to them on his earwings with a big smile on his face. Once Calumon was in front of them he looked up at both horses with the innocence equal to a foal and retracted his ears back into his head.

“Woooooooooow. You two are really big.”

The awestruck way he spoke, his inflections, the two alicorns couldn’t help but grow warm smiles at.

“Well aren’t you adorable?” Luna leaned her head down. “Tell me little one, what is your name?”

“My name is Calumon! Do you wanna play with me now?”

That was pretty much all it took for Takato to walk over. Calumon was growing a reputation in this world for being a good icebreaker. As soon as he took a step forward, Guilmon and the other Digimon all joined him and closed the gap between themselves and the princesses.

“You must be Takato.” Celestia surmised. “Twilight has told me about you already in her letters.”

The boy nodded and then turned that nod into a small bow like he did with Ponyville a day prior.

“Takato Matsuki, your majesties.”

The Digimon sans Calumon took their own turns to bow as well as name themselves before the princesses. Back with the ponies Rainbow couldn’t help but think the same question again.

“Okay seriously. Why does every single one of their names end with ‘mon’?”

“Time and place, Rainbow. Time and place.” Applejack nudged a hoof into her friend’s gut.

“I must say I’m pleased to see that you are all so cordial. Not most others that come here from other planes have that trait.” Luna commented.

“Uuuuhhhh…how many visitors do you get?” Terriermon asked.

“We stopped keeping count a long time ago. It gets tedious nowadays to keep track.” Celestia joked.

All of the others in the room seemed to get a giggle out of that as Celestia looked down to Twilight again.

“Twilight, I hope you do not mind but I wish for our conversation to be private.”

Twilight shook her head rejecting any notion of negativity. The other Equestrians understood as well. They had heard the story before already so it wouldn’t be like they were missing anything. And any new information that came forth would be relayed to them by Twilight anyway.

“Not at all. The throne room should hopefully suffice.”

Nodding, the two alicorns made their way there with the digital group following. Once they reached the door, Twilight opened it up for them and allowed for them to enter before her. Once she joined them, the door was shut and she took her seat upon her throne allowing the others to sit wherever they wanted. Takato sat in Rainbow Dash’s char next to Twilight’s while Celestia and Luna took their seats in Rarity’s and Pinkie Pie’s thrones respectively. The Digimon seemed to scatter amongst the room. Guilmon remained by Takato’s side but everyone else just chose a random spot. Calumon and MarineAngemon seemed content with resting on the alicorn’s crowns. Thankfully neither of them minded. Though Twilight did wonder how they could be so comfortable to just make a nest in anyone’s manes.

“So uuuuhhhhh…..where should we start?” Takato wondered aloud.

With that, the ice was broken and the princesses got down to business.

“Well Takato how about from the beginning?” Celestia started. “I know it must be annoying to have to keep repeating yourself at this point but my sister and I would deeply appreciate it if you would tell us in your words exactly what happened and why it happened.”

Takato let loose a sigh and pulled the band of his goggles. He had a feeling he would have to tell the story again. He just hoped the feeling wouldn’t turn to fact. Yet here he sat.

“Well I hope you’re comfy and those chairs don’t make your butts itch. It’s gonna be a long sit.”
Terriermon joked.

Twilight would normally panic that someone used the word “butts” around the most regal ponies in Equestria, but she kept her cool and gestured for Takato to tell the story. He did so nearly identical to the way he told Twilight the first time and left out no details.

“And that’s how I ended up here. As for how Guilmon and the other Digimon got her first, I still have no clue.”

Celestia and Luna were both sitting calmly as Takato told the tale. It was actually quite moving to them. This young human seemed to have gone through quite an ordeal similar to what Twilight and her friends seem to face on a regular basis. Not only that, but he and his own friends were more than capable of handling it alongside their Digimon partners. It warmed Celestia’s heart to know that the power of friendship was still a force to be reckoned with not only in this world but others as well.

Then the princesses asked about the events that transpired last night. They had heard news of a monster attack from their guards in the morning but the details were not enlightened on. So once again, Takato divulged the details in full, all the way up to Guilmon’s miraculous digivolution. Once the details of the fight were disclosed, the story ended.

“And that’s how it happened, your royal horseness.” Impmon commented. “Pineapple head here saved my butt and roasted those wooden mutts to ashes!”

The two alicorns didn’t give a care for the interesting name Impmon used for them. They were laser focused on the fight that Takato described.

“That is quite the tale.” Luna commented. “Never mind the transformation. The fact that Guilmon here was able to take on a hoard of timberwolves by himself in their combined form is nothing short of impressive.”

“But let us backtrack to that transformation.” Celestia took her turn. “Twilight, you commented during Takato’s story that during the time that Guilmon turned into…I’m sorry what was it again?”

“Oh. Growlmon, ma’am.” Takato replied.

“Right. During the time Guilmon turned into Growlmon, you noted that your horn and that of every unicorn in Ponyville began to glow at the same time?”

Twilight nodded confirming it, causing the princesses to put themselves deep in thought about what could have caused it. MarineAngemon and Calumon stirred around about on their heads as they tried to think of an idea but struggled to settle on a coherent one.

“Perhaps an emotional response from the boy triggered a dormant magic?” Celestia suggested.

“But from every mare stallion and foal in town that has a horn? That’s more than just a dormant magic.” Luna replied. “Takato you said that you carry a device that connects you to Guilmon and allows him to perform these changes.”

“Yes your majesty.” Takato immediately brought out his gold and red D-Arc to show to them.

“May I?” Celestia asked as her horn glowed a bright golden yellow.

Takato nodded and the device itself was encased in a golden aura as it floated out of Takato’s hand and in front of the faces of Celestia in Luna. The two of them looked closely at the small thing as Celestia began to scan it with her magic to find anything out of the ordinary. She could sense there was a powerful force within the confines of the Digivice, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what exactly it was. It felt like magic but at the same time it didn’t. It was difficult to even form a precise explanation in her head let alone try to voice one out loud.

While Celestia looked it over from a technical view, Luna was more interested in its aesthetics. In the human world this little thing would obviously look like a children’s digital pet toy. But here in this world such a thing didn’t exist. Luna was entranced with the overall look that this Digivice was gifted with. The gold and silver mixture on the main frame was gorgeous. And the code around the rim, although she couldn’t read it, was a beautiful sight to behold to her.

“Quite remarkable.” Celestia levitated the Digivice back to Takato. “Do all of your friends have devices like those?”

“Almost identical save for color.” Renamon answered. “Without a Digivice, achieving digivolution is nearly impossible for a Digimon without a partner.”

“And if anything happens to the partner or human in question…” Lopmon started.

“Then…th-the Digivice is useless. It just becomes a-a fancy paperweight.”

Impmon was the one to finish that sentence. Once again Luna was drawn to the tone he used. There it was again. That regret, that pain. Luna could tell there was something more to this Impmon than first meets the eye but they had only known each other for a matter of minutes. She wanted to know more but she knew this was not the time. There would be one though. Tonight in fact. But she quickly got back on subject.

“This is all very fascinating. But let us get back on track now. Twilight, you said when you inspected the mirror that there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. Am I correct?”

Shaking her head, Twilight too got her train of thought in the right direction.

“That’s right. I even went through it to test it and I ended up back in front of Canterlot High. So I don’t know what could have caused it.”

“Perhaps we should ask him. He might know.”

Celestia looked over to Takato as she said that. The human just looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Me? But, your majesty, I already told you everything.”

“I know you did. That’s why I need you to calm down.” Celestia spoke just like she used to with Twilight when she was her old student. “A lot has happened since the night you came here. A lot for your mind to process. Just focus on that night. When you came through the portal, tell us in your own words what happened what you felt, what you saw. Maybe it will give us a clue.”

Looking around the room, Takato saw that the others there, pony, dragon, and Digimon all seemed to agree with Celestia’s idea. If there was something missed in this whole thing maybe it could be found in a simple recollection.

“Okay.” Takato began as he let loose a breath. “I snuck out of my house, and went to the park where the portal was.”

*FLASHBACK*

EARTH – TOKYO – SHINJUKU PARK – 10:00 PM

“Hold on, Guilmon. I’m coming for you and the others too. You’re all coming home.”

Kneeling down into the hut, the young tamer began to crawl through the tunnel Guilmon himself made the first time they went hunting for the portal. Far away at the end of it he could see the distorted doorway. Bits of data and flashing punctuation marks floated out like a cloud of fog. The closer he got the more excited he grew at the prospect of seeing his partner again. He didn’t even hesitate. He picked up speed as he crawled through the tunnel and right into the digital gate. He kept crawling for a few seconds before he realized he didn’t need to anymore. He was currently inside the void between his world and the Digital World. All the room he needed to stand up or float around in the air. Also he was floating around in the air.

It was exactly like last time. Nothing about this place had changed. No rules, no nothing. Just a bunch of data trying to figure out where to go. Right now Takato was on par with that data. He didn’t seem to be doing anything. All he was doing was floating there and not moving. So he did the only thing he could think to do; talk to himself.

“Okay….nothing’s really happening. And I would very much like for something to happen. Let’s see what happened last time? We were walking. Then we were floating. Then Jeri…oh dang it.”

Just like that Takato realized what he needed to do to get moving. Part of him just didn’t want to do it. Taking his backpack off, he clutched it in his arms as if he were protecting something precious, put his goggles down over his eyes, and braced himself.

“That way is down.”

He pointed in the direction he at least THOUGHT was down. A moment later, he began to move. Fast. Gravity in this world had decided that Takato’s down was indeed down and he began to fall. For the most part, Takato did his best to keep calm as the journey downward picked up more and more speed. It became increasingly difficult to do that when he started to crash through the different layers of data again. Luckily this time though he didn’t lose the contents of his backpack again. Opening his eyes again after that, Takato could see in the distance the familiar desolate landscape of the Digital World. He was almost there. He just had to fall a little bit more and he would be back.

Suddenly, a glow from the side drew Takato’s attention away. He turned to look and he could see a bright light coming from…somewhere. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from or what was causing it. All he could make out of it through the lenses of his goggles was a vague shape of…a heart?

Just as abruptly as the light came, Takato’s direction of travel jerked away from the Digital World and right towards that heart shaped light. He almost lost his grip on his backpack it was so out of nowhere. As he got closer, the only thing he could see was a bright light. He had no choice but to close his eyes.

*END FLASHBACK*

“Next thing I know, I fall here and there’s Twilight.”

As the young tamer gave the details of his trip to his audience, all of them were listening closely trying to find anything that could be of help. Luckily, one detail had the present alicorns thinking they found it.

“It couldn’t be. Could it?” Luna wondered to her sister.

“I’m unsure. The Crystal Heart’s ability has always been shrouded in mystery.” Celestia thought aloud.

“Um….the crystal what now?” Terriermon waved to get their attention.

Remembering they didn’t know what that was, Twilight, Luna, and Celestia all turned to the Digimon.

“The Crystal Heart.” Twilight said. “It’s an ancient relic up in the Crystal Empire. It has powerful magical abilities but we still don’t know all that much about it.”

“Well then let’s go see this Crystal Heart thing and ask it to send us back home!” Calumon said with enthusiasm.

None of the ponies in the room shared it with him however.

“I’m afraid that’s not a good idea.” Luna declared.

“Awww why not? I’d ask it politely.” Calumon weakly argued back.

“I’m sure you would but that isn’t the point, little one.” Celestia said, agreeing with her sister. “Ponyville is, for now, the only place in Equestria that knows about you. If you were to travel around now and be spotted, it would only cause more complications to this situation.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right.” Takato chimed in again. “I wanna get back home too but we have to play our cards right in order to not cause a panic doing so.”

The Digimon wanted to argue against it but after taking a moment to think, they couldn’t think of a decent one. All of them, especially Guilmon, Terriermon, Renamon, and Impmon remembered how the humans of Earth reacted whenever they were spotted out in the open. It was mostly panic because plain and simple; they were monsters. People fearing what they don’t understand has always been a fundamental but annoying part of human nature. Even they were smart enough to catch onto that. And from the way some of the ponies reacted upon meeting them earlier today, it was a good guess that the masses of Equestria would not be that different a story.

It only made them sadder at the prospect that getting home or even finding a clue to get home would be a process with no definite time frame. All of them save Guilmon missed their partners something fierce. The more time that dragged on without them by their side only made their steps forward feel heavier, as was evident by the looks on their faces. Renamon was looking down at the ground wondering how much longer she would have to wait but was diverted when she felt something pat her shoulder. She saw Twilight there flapping her wings and sporting a comforting smile on her face.

“Don’t worry.” She said softly. “We’re gonna make this work.”

“Yes we will.” Celestia agreed. “Luna and I will help you as best we can.”

Then Luna talked again.

“Celestia and I will contact Cadence and Shining Armor to inquire about any odd activity with the Crystal Heart. Twilight? Are there any other leads that you can chase?”

Before she could answer, the door to the room opened up and Starlight came walking through it with her magic levitating something behind her.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt your conversation. Twilight, I figured you’d want to see this.”

She floated the object behind her into view and showed that it was a journal. On the front cover it was emblazoned with a mark that was half of Twilight’s cutie mark. The other half appeared to be a sun similar to Celestia’s but not identical. The book itself was pulsing with light on the cover and spine and vibrating.

The sight of the book and the action it was doing caused Twilight to grow a smile.

“As a matter of fact, I do have a lead, Luna.”

Walking over to Starlight, Twilight took the book from Starlight and opened it up, reading carefully what was inside.

“What is that?” Guilmon wondered.

“It’s pretty.” MarineAngemon commented.

Twilight didn’t seem to answer them. She was looking closely at what was written in the pages of that book not even hearing anything else around her. When she was finally done, she gave the book back to Starlight and looked back to the Digimon and goggle headed tamer.

“Takato, there’s one more friend I need to introduce you to. And I’m gonna do that very soon.”

Takato’s head turned to the side a bit, not knowing if this new friend would be of help, or even who or what it was.

Author's Note

Kind of an abrupt ending I know. Sorry about that. XP

A Snap Decision

I only own the plot of this story and nothing more. MLPis owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust while Digimonis owned by Bandai. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 1: Snap Decision

It all happened so fast.

The sound of a Digi-Gnome was how it all started. The young currently retired tamer was just walking past their old hangout to see if his friend had somehow miraculously returned. He was mostly expecting the same result but he still always had a shred of hope inside him that something different would happen. And this time it did. The familiar chirp of the creature that granted the tamers their Digivices rang into his ear and caused his heart to jump. Rushing up the stairs, he was almost certain that he would see him again. But what he saw instead was the next best thing.

The portal was open again.

TakatoMatsuki beamed in absolute delight at the familiar sight. He didn’t question it. And right now he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind while he stared at it was seeing his friend again. He was tempted to just jump into it right then and there. He even took a step forward to go. But he didn’t.

“If I go now, with nothing or no one with me, who knows what might happen?”

He didn’t want to risk waiting too long so the portal could close but the logical part of his brain was strongly advising against it. And for good reason too. Takato’s first trip to the Digital World with all of his friends with him wasn’t enough to keep them out of trouble. If he went in alone, he would probably be toast before one day passed. Not to mention all of the other tamers would kill him if he didn’t give them a heads up about the portal.

They had all been coping with the loss of their partners in their own ways. Due to his father being a part of the reason they all had to leave, Henry Wong had been still holding a grudge against him. It had gotten to the point where the two barely even spoke a word to each other now. His little sister, Suzie, couldn’t stay mad at her father even though she was sad for a while. She had tried playing with the fake stuffed animal her mother had made up for her. But it wasn’t the same. She missed Terriermon and Lopmon too much to even try faking it anymore.

Rika’s relationship with her mother had gone uphill in the past few months. Not having to go out every night to fight Digimon opened up her schedule to spend time with both her and her grandmother. While she now enjoyed actually being around her family, she still sorely missed Renamon to the point where she would almost tear up whenever the image of her came to her mind.

Kazu and Kenta were more obsessed with Digimon than ever now. Every dollar they got was spent immediately on new card packs. The two of them were deadest on growing their skills with the card game so they could demolish the next tournament. Each of them had respectively found and framed copies of Guardomon and MarineAngemon cards, so they could never forget their new favorite monsters.

Jeri had finally come to peace with Leomon’s death. She had also vowed to open up more to her stepmother and make their relationship grow. In the past few months, she had succeeded. Every night at dinner time, the puppet lover always told her parents about her day. It didn’t take long, but Jeri had become her chipper old self again who always smiled. Even when she started to think about Calumon, the little Digimon who brought her back to reality, she missed him with a smile on her face.

Then there was Ryo. He had been finally released after all this time. He had spent what felt like an eternity in the Digital World along with Cyberdramon. Then when he returned to the real world for the first time, he had to fight the D-Reaper. To be free of the task of fighting was so alien to him he wasn’t sure at first what to do with himself. And after all the time that had passed, he still wasn’t sure.

Though he did find a small outlet with the two newest tamers that joined the bunch mere minutes before their partners left them. Ai and Mako only got to be Impmon’s official tamers for a matter of hours. They didn’t have time to get acquainted with everyone else. But Ryo thought they should at least get a crash course on how to be a tamer in the case the Digimon should return. So he gifted the two youngsters with their own starter decks of Digimon cards and thought them the basics of using their Digivice.

“I can’t leave here without them.”

He didn’t like waiting, especially when it came to a matter like this. But it was the right thing to do to let the others know before jumping in.

“Guilmon,” He spoke to the portal. “I don’t know if you can hear me. But if you can, just know that we’re all coming for you. I just hope this portal stays open for long enough.”

With that, he rushed out of the small concrete hut and booked it back home. When he arrived, he was out of breath and covered in a layer of sweat. He stumbled through the front door of his family’s bakery barely avoiding the customers making their exit.

“Whoa there, Takato.” His father greeted him behind the register. “You look like you just outran a ghost. Is everything okay?”

“Y….yeah….fine….” He said in between pants. “Just…gotta…make a few calls…”

Before he made his way up to his room, he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and chugged the thing in one shot. The recycling bin was where the empty bottle was discarded before her removed his shoes and went upstairs.

Once he got to his room, his backpack was slung into a corner and her started to dial Henry’s house.

“Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.” He muttered impatiently.

After a few more rings, the phone was answered by the machine.

“Hello. You’ve reached the Wong residence. If this is an important matter please leave your name and number and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”

As Janyu’s pre-recorded voice cut out, a small beep rang out into the phone.

“Hey Henry, it’s Takato. I don’t know where you are right now but get this. The portal to the Digital World is open again. We can get our partners back, Henry! And you can bet I’m planning to head through it. But I don’t want to go through without you guys so please call me back as soon as you get this.”

With that, he hung up and dialed the next number he knew. Rika’s cell number.

“Rika always keeps her phone on her.” He thought out loud.

But instead of hearing rings through the phone, Rika’s voice immediately came through.

“This is Rika. If you’re lucky I’ll call you back.”

Takato grabbed his hair in frustration. Zero for two now.

“Great. The one time she probably forgot to charge her phone is now.”

Then the beep came once again.

“Rika it’s Takato. I just left another message for Henry. The portal is open. I repeat, the portal to the digital world has reappeared at Guilmon’s hut. Please call me back as soon as you can.”

Hanging up. He called Kazu next. Then Kenta, then Ryo, and even Ai and Mako’s house got a call. But not one of them answered. The entire process of leaving messages for each one of them took about fifteen minutes. He couldn’t believe not a single person answered him back.

“Either all of them just decided out of nowhere to shut me out, or I somehow managed to pick a time where none of them are home.”

There was only one more person left to call. Jeri. Dialing in her house number, he held the phone up to his ear waiting for the machine to answer him once more. Instead however-

“Hello?”

The girl’s voice rang through the phone, giving Takato a wave of relief.

“Oh Jeri thank goodness. Finally someone answers.”

“Takato? Is that you?”

“Yeah it’s me and I have some great news! The portal to the Digital World is open again!”

On the other side of the phone, Jeri’s mouth began to curl into a wide smile.

“Takato, are you serious?! That’s amazing!”

“I know! I’ve been trying to call everyone else to tell them but I only got their machines. You can bet I have every intention to go back there and get Guilmon again but I can’t go back alone.”

“Well of course. It’d be really stupid if you tried to go alone. Hehe. No offense.”

“Oh none taken. I just wish I got through to everyone else. I wonder where they are.”

“Well don’t worry, Takato. I’m sure they’re all just off doing whatever.”

“Yeah I guess. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted with what the plans are. Promise.”

“Alright. I just can’t believe it. We can get our friends back. Well….I know I can’t get Leomon back. But I’d love to see Calumon again.”

“I understand, Jeri. Anyways, I gotta go. Dinner time already.”

“Bye, Takato. Don’t do anything stupid!”

With that, the two kids hung up and Takato headed downstairs, heeding his parents call for dinner. Soon enough, night time came and it was time for Takato to sleep. As he laid down in bed, he held up his Digivice. The golden D-Arc that was presented to him the first time he and Guilmon bio-merged. As his fingertips ran across the surface of the device, he flashed back to every adventure he and his partner ever had together.

The first time Guilmon appeared in the real world was literally a dream come true. He had always envisioned his own idea of what his own Digimon partner would be like. And he was the only tamer who could say that he got to live his dream by making a fan-made Digimon real. He didn’t care if he was just a big packet of data. The first time he touched Guilmon’s skin, it’s texture felt like that of a real reptilian creature. That was all he needed. His creation was there, and he had no idea what he was in for.

As their fights grew more intense and Digivolving became a more common thing, the bond between them only grew. It grew to the point where when Growlmon was hurt in battle, Takato felt every blow as well. The ultimate link between partner and tamer. They fight together, and they share the pain together.

“At least I thought that was the ultimate link. But then came Gallantmon.”

It was like everything they had been through before that was just leading up to that one crucial point. The point where he and Guilmon became one Mega level entity. He could hear Guilmon’s thoughts, and he could hear Takato’s. The two of them were in perfect sync with one another.

As he reminisced, Takato only felt himself getting more and more impatient to see his friend. And that’s when he came to the decision that would probably get him in hot water with not only his parents but his friends as well.

“I’m sorry you guys. But I can’t wait. The longer I stay put the more time it gives the portal to close. And this could be the one chance to get them back.”

He did the reasoning in his head. It was probably suicide to venture into the Digital World alone. But as long as only one of them went, and the others knew where he was, then he could call for help. And he had just the thing to do it with. He went over to his dresser and reached into one of the top drawers. A familiar device that he had brought with him to the Digital World was in his hand. Yamaki’s communicator. It wasn’t the same one he had when the first went to the Digital World but rather another one the head of Hypnos felt that Takato should keep it as a keepsake. And just his luck, now he needed it again.

As quietly as he could so he didn’t wake his parents, Takato emptied out his backpack and started to fill it with a few essientials he would need. A few changes of clothes so he wasn’t stuck wearing the same thing like last time. He learned. Before he left his room, he went underneath his bed and pulled out a couple more things he would need. One being his deck of cards when he would need them. And the second thing was his pair of goggles. He had waited for the day he could wear them again. Now that time has come. Clipping his Digivice to the belt loop on his pants, he snuck downstairs and spotted the leftover bread that wasn’t sold that day. He knew for a fact that Guilmon would ask if he had brought any with him once they found each other again. And who was he to not come prepared?

With all the packing done, and a note left on the refridgerator, he opened the front door to his house as gently as he could, and shut it with the same care.

“I am so gonna get grounded for life for this. But I can’t waste a second. Goodbye Mom and Dad. I love you.”

Not too long later, he found himself back in Shinjuku Park, at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the concrete hut. After the small climb, he smiled to see that the portal was still there, almost as if it were waiting for him.

“Hold on, Guilmon. I’m coming for you and the others too. You’re all coming home.”

MEANWHILE IN ANOTHER WORLD

It was just past midnight. The moon of this world was full tonight and decorated with a beautiful array of stars. And right beneath it in a peaceful village, was a castle formed out of a crystalline looking tree. The Castle of Friendship was quiet both inside and out, saving for a certain baby dragon’s loud snoring. But luckily that wasn’t enough to wake the princess herself, who was asleep in her own room not too far away.

A different loud noise however, was what did the trick.

The young alicorn’s ears twitched at an unidentifiable sound and stirred her from her slumber. Leaning up, she at first thought it might be Spike trying to sneak another midnight snack. However that thought was diminished when she realized what direction the noise was coming from. With a flash of magenta, Twilight Sparkle teleported out of bed and in front of the mirror portal that led to the world Sunset Shimmer now resides in. It was activated only it looked different.

Rather than a rippling white light that resembled a glowing pool, the inside of the mirror was darker, and had glowing punctuation symbols floating out of it a short ways before dispersing.

“What in Equestria is happening here?” she asked to herself.

Then she heard it. She wasn’t sure it first but she definitely heard a voice growing louder inside the mirror.

“Sunset Shimmer?”

She squinted her eyes trying to get a better view into the portal, and began to make out a silhouette of a person coming through. It didn’t look like this person was walking though.

“…..aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

Whoever this person was, it was screaming. And with the way its body was tumbling, it appeared as though he was falling too. But how could something fall sideways? What was going on here?

Before she could get any sort of answer, the person breached the mirror and gravity grabbed hold, causing it to fly over the alicorn and roll right into the wall not too far away from her.

Twilight was staring at this person with wide eyes and with no sense of understanding. This creature was definitely a human being like Sunset. And from the looks of it, it was clearly a male. He wore a blue short sleeved shirt on its torso that was covering another white shirt underneath it. His legs were adorned by a grey pair of short pants and green shoes. To top it off, quite literally, the boy was wearing yellow framed goggles on his forehead. Judging by her short experience in the mirror world, this boy had to be no older than the crusader’s ages. At least that was Twilight’s estimation.

As she turned back to the mirror, she saw that the odd portal that had formed within it had vanished, giving the mirror back its regular appearance once more.

“Uggghhh…I gotta find a better way of doing that.”

Her attention was diverted back to the boy who was busy rubbing his aching head. He readjusted himself and was now on his knees just beginning to open his eyes. When they were open, he looked around his surroundings, not finding one thing about the place was in familiar.

“Wait….where am I?”

Then his head turned one more time to notice he was not alone. Twilight and this boy had their eyes locked on each other, not sure of what to say.

“Um….hehe….hi there.” Takato muttered.

Through the Woods

Hey guys! Glad you all are enjoying this story so far! I do try to make things as entertaining as I can for you guys. So if there’s anything you think I can do better please let me know in the comments below along with that you think of the story! Thanks! Also I know this one turned out to be a bit long. Sorry about that!

I only own the plot of this story. Digimon Tamers is owned by Bandai. MLP FiM is owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Enjoy!

Taming Equestria

A Digimon Story

Chapter 5: Through the Woods

Equestria – Ponyville – Sugarcube Corner – 1:00 PM

It was a lengthy discussion, but Takato had managed to run through once again everything he had already told Twilight this morning. By the end of it, the reactions that the four of them had on their faces were pretty much what he had expected: disbelief and nothing more. Rainbow Dash was hooked like she was listening to a Daring Do story being told out loud. Pinkie Pie had a bowl of popcorn in her hooves and was munching on it the entire way through. Applejack was keeping a straight face, holding her final opinion to herself until he was finished. Rarity’s reaction was a bit different. She had a hanky in her magical grip and was using it to dab at her eyes. The final part of the story told was where the separation of their partners happened. She was moved by the story by their connection to each other. And for them to have to share a goodbye like that, it felt like she was reading the end of a tragic story.

“So….just to make sure Ah got this all right,” Applejack started. “These….Digimon as ya call em’, got sucked back through the portal to their world. And when ya went through that same portal that appeared, ya ended up here instead.”

“You are correct, ma’am.” Takato nodded.

“But that Digi-whatever of yours is telling you that Guilmon or whatever he’s called, is somehow here too?” Rainbow added on.

Pulling out his D-Ark once more, he looked down to the screen. The compass program was launched again and it was pointed in the same direction as it was a couple hours ago.

“Such an elegant looking device.” Rarity commented.

“Yeah it is.” He agreed. “It’s always accurate too. I don’t know it’s possible, but he’s here. And I’m gonna find him.”

That sense of determination was what convinced Applejack that he was telling the truth. She was still connected with the Element of Honesty and was still very good at being able to tell if somepony was lying or not. This human, he was one hundred percent honest. That was all she needed.

“Well then we’re gonna help ya, Takato.” She said with a smile on her face.

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie agreed with her probably-cousin. “I can’t wait to meet your friend! And we can all become friends! And more friends are always good!”

“Count me in!” Rainbow Dash hovered above the table excited. “It’s been waaaay too long since anything even remotely exciting happened around here!”

“While I’m not as ready to partake in something “exciting” as Rainbow Dash put it, and I do have a few orders to fulfill before the Grand Galloping Gala next weekend, I too am willing to help Takato here reunite with his best friend.” Rarity said with a smile.

Hearing all four of these ponies voice their readiness to help him, even though they had just met, made Takato smile. He may not have ended up in the Digital World as he had originally intended. But he had to admit, when it came to helpfulness, these ponies were a lot better than most Digimon were.

“Thank you all so much.” He said to them warmly.

“Well let’s get started then. What way is your thing pointed?” Applejack asked.

Holding down his Digivice flat so they all could see, they all looked down and saw it was pointed south. A small sense of dread came to them as they all realized what part of town the thing was telling them to go. Their faces grew uneasy and Takato noticed.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked them.

They were about to answer him. They were about to tell him that the compass was pointed towards the only place nearby that would be suitable for a creature that was not of this world to hide.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

They were all stopped by the sound of a loud high pitched voice ringing into all of their ears. Everyone at the table save for Takato recognized that scream.

“It’s Fluttershy! Something must be wrong!” Starlight said alarmed.

“Sorry Takato! First things first!” Twilight readied her horn. “Everyone brace yourselves!”

All of them were enveloped in a magenta field of magic and the sensation of teleportation came to them all as they vanished from Sugarcube Corner and reappeared at Fluttershy’s front door.

“Uhhhhh…..” Takato moaned, feeling dizzy from the abrupt transportation.

“Sorry about that.” Twilight apologized again.

Spike went over to his side to help him stay balanced while Twilight knocked on the door to Fluttershy’s house.

“Fluttershy? Are you in there?” the alicorn called.

“We heard you screaming all the way across town. What’s up?” Rainbow asked through the door.

They didn’t receive a vocal answer. Instead, they heard the sound of multiple locks being undone. Seconds later, the door creaked open and standing there on the other side was the light yellow pegasus pony. She was trembling in fright and had a cooking pot on her head. In her hooves was a broomstick ready to be used as a weapon.

“What the hay happened, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked as she walked in.

“D-d….d-d-dragon…..in the forest….” The timid pony muttered.

Forgetting all about his dizziness, Takato’s head perked up.

“What? A dragon in the Everfree Forest? When has that ever happened?” Starlight wondered. The thought alone was silly.

“Once before.” Twilight answered, remembering the time Spike ran away because of Owlowiscious.

“I know it sounds crazy. But I swear that’s what I saw.” Fluttershy told her friends, gaining a bit more control over herself. “Barry Bear had just come running out of the forest so I went in to see what it was. I didn’t get very far into the forest when I heard a voice saying it was hungry. When it revealed itself it was a dragon. It wasn’t very big but it was scary.”

“Perhaps a younger dragon wandered here by mistake?” Rarity suggested.

“If it wasn’t very big then maybe that is what happened, Rarity.” Twilight started to surmise she may be right.

“So a young dragon is lost? That’s so sad.” Pinkie brightened up with an idea. “Oooooooooo! Let’s ask Spike if we can borrow some of his gemstones. Maybe if we bring him some food he won’t be so scary!”

They all thought that may be a good idea, save for Spike who heard from outside. That was until Fluttershy spoke.

“You know, it’s actually kind of weird. Before it showed itself, I asked it to tell me what it wanted. It asked me back if I had any bread.”

With that simple revelation, every other pony there joined Fluttershy when it came to the level of confusion. They couldn’t have heard her right. First she says she meets a dragon in the Everfree Forest. Then of all the things it could have asked for in terms of food, it asks for bread? Bread?!

“Fluttershy, are you sure you weren’t just mishearing it out of fear?” Rarity inquired, a bit concerned for her friends well being.

“I know what I heard.” Fluttershy replied back, firm on her stance. “It looked me right in the eye and asked me for bread.”

“What kind of dragon asks for bread when it comes to food?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“TAKATO, WAIT! COME BACK!”

Spike’s yelling caused them all to drop their conversation and rush outside. Spike and Takato weren’t in front of the house anymore. But the former was spotted sprinting towards the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Scared for his safety, Twilight teleported right in front of dragon causing him to skid to a halt.

“Spike! What do you think you’re doing?!” she shouted.

“Takato ran off, Twilight!” He pointed down the path that led right into the forest. “I don’t know why, but he ran right into the forest on his own!”

“He did what?!” She turned around, now scared for Takato’s safety.

The two of them kept staring down the path as the others caught up with them.

“What in tarnation would make him do something as loco as that?” Applejack asked, hearing the whole thing.

“Takato? You mean that biped you introduced earlier?” Fluttershy wanted to make sure she had it right.

After nodding to Fluttershy, Twilight looked back into the forest. She had the same sentiments as Applejack. What would have possessed Takato to run right into the Everfree Forest on his own?

“Doesn’t he know how dangerous it is in there?!” Rarity cried.

That’s when Twilight got the answer to her question. No. He didn’t know. This morning when they traded stories, she only told Takato about her friends, their triumphs, and their adventures together. She never went over the Everfree Forest and how different it was compared to Equestria, let alone the dangers of it. She cursed herself for not bringing up that little fact and feared greatly for his safety.

“No he doesn’t.” She answered Rarity back without looking at her. “But I think I know why he went in. And we gotta go in there after him.”

Whether or not his friend was in there or not, Twilight was certain Takato wouldn’t be able to face the creatures of the forest on his own. He was going to need some magical backup.

Meanwhile inside the darkening depths of the Everfree Forest, the tamer was tearing like a madman. He dodged every bush, ducked every low branch, and hopped over every big rock all the while following the arrow on his Digivice. There was no doubt in his mind now. He was here. He didn’t have a clue as to how it was possible yet but Guilmon was here. He overheard what Fluttershy had said right before he tore off. There was no other creature in existence that would look like a dragon and ask for bread other than his partner. He heard Spike calling his name and begging him to come back, but he didn’t care. He was so close. Too close to care about anything else, including his safety.

He didn’t want to stop. He was determined to keep moving until he saw the familiar form of Guilmon. Unfortunately however, Takato had to skid to a halt. He had come to a fork in the road. He reached for his Digivice again and pulled up the compass. The arrow was pointing to the left.

“Alright. Left it is.”

His panting started up again as he continued to run down the path his Digivice was leading him. This was it. It had to be. After all this time missing him, he was about to be reunited with his best friend in any world. Those three months without him might as well have been an eternity. Just a few more paces in this forest and he was sure to see him again.

“He can’t be too far away.” He assured himself. “How deep is this forest anyway? Maybe I should’ve asked for a map.”

“HEY!”

As a raspy voice came, Takato looked back and saw a familiar cyan pegasus flying towards him at high speed. He ducked down afraid she was gonna hit him. Instead she flew over his body and hovered right in front of him to block his path.

“Are you out of your mind?! You can’t just run in here all on your own!” Rainbow yelled as if she were a mother scolding a child.

“What? Why not?” Takato was confused as he stood back up. “It’s just a forest. I’ve dealt with a lot worse.”

Rainbow groaned. She really didn’t want to have to explain the weird rules of this place but this kid was making her.

“That isn’t the point. Look dude, I get you want to find your friend. But this place is dangerous. Put aside the freaky rules of the plants growing on their own and the weather not being controlled, the animals in here are out to get anypony they see as an intruder! Manticores, timber wolves, cockatrices, cragadiles, I could go on! The point is you could have gotten yourself killed!”

Surely that had to hammer in the point to this kid. Instead what he got was a confused expression across the human’s face.

“Okay I got everything else but what freaks you out about plants growing and the weather?”

Was he really asking about THAT of all things? She just told him this forest was infested with ferocious animals that could tear him apart, and the thing he asks about is her concern about the plants and clouds? What was with this kid?

As she began to speak to him, the others, even Fluttershy, had all caught up with him and were listening to them talk.

“Kid, have you ever seen a manticore before?! I don’t know if they have them in your world but they are scary! Part lion with bat wings on their backs and a scorpion stinger! And if you ran into one, you’d be nothing but a snack to it! How are you not afraid?!”

She was expecting him to be afraid of her description of the fearsome creatures. But he didn’t really seem to budge.

“No. Have you ever seen a giant red bird, almost the size of Twilight’s castle, look down on you thinking your entire race is the enemy and tries to kill you different kinds of fire attacks?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to retort but nothing came out of it. A giant red bird tried to kill him with fire? That was oddly specific. Especially the way he described it. He gave them all a brief rundown, minus the butterscotch pegasus, of all the things he had done with his Digimon up until now. But he never really dived into any details.

The others too had similar reactions. Takato must have glossed over a few things when he told them his story. But they were now certain to know everything about him as soon as this jaunt in the forest came to an end.

“Well….no I haven’t.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“None of us have.” Starlight agreed. “But nevertheless, Dash is right, Takato. Even if Guilmon is here in this forest, you haven’t found him yet. If you had run into one of those creatures Rainbow brought up on your own, then what would you have done.”

At that moment, Takato felt like an idiot. This was true. He was certain Guilmon was here but he wasn’t by his side. He would have been toast had he run into a manticore or something else Rainbow Dash listed.

“I’m sorry if I scared you guys.” He apologized to all of them.

Then he noticed that there was another one with them that he hadn’t had a chance to talk to directly yet. Looking right at her, he waved his hand.

“Hi there.” He muttered out. “I’m Takato.”

“Umm….hello there, Takato. I’m Fluttershy.” She waved back before looking around. “You did kind of frighten us when you ran off.”

“Sorry again. It’s just when I heard you say the dragon you ran into asked for bread, I knew that was my friend that I came here to find.”

“What?” Applejack stepped forward. “That made ya so sure? Why?”

“My parents own a bakery.” Takato explained. “The bread they make there is Guilmon’s favorite thing in existence. You wouldn’t believe how many loaves he could scarf down in one day.”

With that bit of information revealed, another thing became so much clearer now to Twilight.

“So THAT’S why your backpack was filled with bread.” She declared with a smile. “You didn’t bring it for you. You brought it for him.”

“Well I guess this means I won’t have to share my gems.” Spike remarked with a joking smirk.

Takato seemed to ignore what Spike said as he kept his attention on Twilight.

“Of course I did. How could I set out to get him without bringing what he thinks is the best thing ever?” The gogglehead said with a laugh before the smile fell. “Wait a minute. You went through my backpack?”

Realizing what she just admitted to, a blush formed across Twilight’s face as she sheepishly laughed.

“Sorry.” She murmured. “But I had to make sure you weren’t packing weapons or anything.”

He shook his head, honestly denying the idea.

“Nope. No weapons.” Takato responded back. “I have some experience with a lance and shield but that’s an even longer story.”

“Not that I don’t like to get to know other people Twilight, but can we please hold this chat for later and focus on helping Takato find his Guilmon?”

They all then realized that they had been standing in one place for quite some time going back and forth with each other. That was something that one should never do in the Everfree Forest. Unless you were Zecora and you lived there. The alicorn nodded to her fashion loving friend and then turned her gaze back to the solitary human.

“Right. Since we’re already this deep in, let’s keep going. Takato, what way is your Digivice pointing?”

His hand clasped around his D-Ark again and he looked to the screen.

“It stills says to go…..huh?”

He stopped himself from giving the direction because according to the Digivice, there was no set direction. The arrow was moving slowly but steadily to the left.

“The arrow is moving. And if it’s moving, he must be moving too!”

“Which way is he going?” Rainbow Dash hovered next to him to look.

“Lemme see!” Applejack came in on his right to see the screen.

“I wanna look!” Pinkie Pie hopped up on his back to look over his shoulder.

Before he knew it, Takato was on the ground, dog piled by three pastel colored ponies. The arm that was holding onto his Digivice was outstretched as Pinkie Pie crushed his back.

“Can’t…feel…..legs…” the human groaned out.

“Whoopsies!” Pinkie hopped off of him and helped him up. “Sorry about that Takkie!”

Just as he was about to question the odd nickname she came up with, the sound of a deep yet loud snarling sound. All nine of them looked around trying to find out which direction the sound was coming from. When it came again, it was clear. It was coming from the left. Even though Takato just said not too long ago that he had dealt with much worse than what this forest could throw. So he didn’t want to seem like he was scared mere seconds after making that declaration. That growling was getting louder and closer. And it sounded mean.

As all of them stood tall, Twilight and Starlight began to charge up their horns in case they needed to make a quick getaway via teleport. Rainbow and Applejack were hunched over like cats ready to pounce. Pinkie was turning her head side to side wondering and guessing to herself which animal it could be. Rarity and Fluttershy both were frightened, though the latter was more on the hopeful side that the creature was one she could deal with.

She did not get her wish.

A pair of sickly green glowing eyes made themselves visible from down the path and seemed to grow closer with every thundering step. When it got close enough, a shape could be seen that looked like a canine. Then when Takato saw what it was made of, his eyes finally opened to their maximum width. This thing was a walking pile of wood. That’s the best and most simple way the tamer could think of putting it. This dog shaped thing was literally made out of wood. How it was walking was absolutely beyond him.

“Okay I guess this world can dish out SOME surprises.”

“TAKATO! GET OVER HERE!!!!” Twilight yelled.

Not needing to be told twice, Takato turned and booked it to Twilight’s side. Both she and Starlight unleashed a few magical blasts from their horns to make the creature literally break apart into splinters. Takato smiled thinking it was over, but it turned back into a scared frown when he saw the logs and planks magically put themselves back together again.

“Ah never did like these darn things.” Applejack growled. “Only thing they’re good fer is zap apple season.”

“What do we do now?!” Spike cried begging for anyone to answer.

“BADA BOOM!”

Takato’s eyes widened once again at the familiar voice and attack called out. From the trees to the right of the reformed timber wolf, a small fireball flew out at high speed and exploded right in the wolf’s face. It wasn’t enough to make the thing break apart again, but it was enough to spark a small fire to erupt on its cheek. Frantically, the timber wolf tried to scratch it out with its wooden paw for a few seconds before it dove its own head into the ground.

“What? Where the hay did that come from?!” Rainbow Dash looked to where the shot came from hoping to see.

“It came from that way.” Starlight pointed, remembering from which trees the small fire ball came out of.

As the timber wolf continued to thrash about, dirt and rocks were thrown everywhere and all around. Twilight surrounded them inside a force field rather than teleport away. She was too intrigued to leave now. She wanted to know who or what shot out the flame. Apparently it had a voice, she knew that much. Takato remained frozen. He was certain Guilmon was here but he didn’t even think about whom else possibly could be too. They did all go through the portal at once.

Seconds later, the wolf finally stopped thrashing into the ground and lifted its head up. The fire on its cheek was out and it seemed even angrier than it originally was to begin with. The incredibly loud snarling was enough to convey that clue.

“Hey! Can’t ya take a hint, ya overgrown toothpick?! BADA BOOM!”

Another shot of fire flew out of the trees and this time landed in the dirt. Upon impact, it exploded into a small shower of sparks right in front of the timber wolf’s paw. It froze immediately fearing the fire, something all seven ponies, the baby dragon, and the human boy all seemed to notice.

Before the wolf could take another step, more balls of fire hovered out of the trees. They didn’t move nearly as fast as those last couple of shots did. Three small balls of fire were now seemingly performing an odd dancing patterned as they floated in circles in front of the creature’s snout and inching closer with every twirl. While the others thought about what kind of magic it was causing the fire to do this, Takato already knew. That attack name, that accent, no one else but a certain former troublemaker had those lines in their descriptions.

After being teased and threatened with the idea of burning again, the timber wolf relented and turned the other way. After it disappeared into the depths of the pack, the group of nine began to relax as a feeling of safety returned to them.

“That was scary.” Fluttershy whispered out.

“Sure was. But it’s over now.” Twilight stated.

“You ponies or whatever sure were lucky!” That voice rang out from the trees again. “I’m not used to saving people but I don’t you to come in here thinkin’ I’m always gonna-“

“IMPMON!”

The Equestrians gave their own chorus of “Huh?” as Takato shot up and ran out a few steps in front of them looking in every direction.

“Impmon! Come out! Please I beg of you!”

“Impmon?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head curious. “Is he feeling okay? I thought he said he was looking for Guilmon.”

“That’s what he said.” Spike confirmed.

The eight of them just kept watching the human as he held his hands up to his mouth, his yelling never ending.

“Impmon, please! It’s me! Takato!”

Finally something seemed to happen. The bushes to Takato’s left began to rustle. Something was coming.

“Be careful. It could be more trouble.” Applejack warned the tamer.

As right as she could be, Takato was certain. This wasn’t trouble. He may have been before but not anymore. His breath was caught in his throat when through the pushes, he saw two small three fingered hands covered in red gloves poke out and move the shrubs out of the way.

Then the creature attached to those hands walked entirely out of the bush and into the view of everyone there. Standing at only two feet all, he was just a bit shorter than Spike was. And also in relation to the dragon, the little guy was covered in a purple colored skin save for his pale white face. Two long ears extended out of the sides of his head. A short barb ended tail protruded out of his backside. And the red bandanna around his neck only slightly covered the pointy teeth smiley face on his chest.

The creature’s face mirrored Takato’s almost too a tee. A mixture of shock, relief, and happiness all came down on the two of them.

“Takato I can’t believe it. It really is you.” He said with that accented voice, barely above a whisper.

The others were satisfied at least knowing this was the thing that saved them. Takato just extended his hand out to him as his mouth curled into a smile.

“It’s so good to see you, Impmon.”

The small virus type’s dropped jaw picked it back up and turned into a wide, chuckling smile of his own as he reached out and grabbed Takato’s hand with his own.

“It’s good to see you too, gogglebrain!” He shouted enthusiastically.

Seeing the human made Impmon realize something. Excitement welling inside, he asked Takato a question.

“Ai and Mako. Are they here too? Where are they?”

The nervous look and rubbing the back of his head Takato did made Impmon feel a bit nervous about the impending answer.

“I uh….hehe….kinda came here alone.” He answered. “But don’t worry. I’m gonna make sure you get back home to them. They both miss you like crazy.”

And he missed them. He missed his partners beyond anything he ever knew. The thought of seeing them again made his smile return in earnest.

“Hahaha! You’re darn right I’m getting back home!”

Joining him in his happy laughter, Takato turned to the ponies and Spike.

“It’s alright, you guys. He’s one of my friends. He’s a Digimon.” He said as beckoned them over with his arm.

“Really?” Twilight’s horn snapped off like a light switch as she and the others began to approach.

“What’s a Digimon?” Fluttershy asked, marveling at the sight of this new creature.

Takato mentally groaned as he realized he was going to have to tell the story a third time in order to get Fluttershy up to speed on the whole thing. Only a moment passed before all of them were now up close and their eyes all locked on Impmon.

“Already gettin’ friendly with the locals, huh?” He asked while starting to slowly take a step back.

“Whoa there, partner. We ain’t gonna hurt ya or nothin’.” Applejack assured. “We’re sorry ‘bout the starin’. But we ain’t never seen anything like you before.”

“The feeling’s mutual. I promise.” Impmon said back.

Though still a bit nervous of these ponies, he put his legs back together.

“So is Impmon your name? Takato kept screaming it. I didn’t know humans could scream that loud.” Pinkie smiled at learning a new fact.

“Yeah that’s me.” He confirmed while also off put with how okay she seemed to be about him.

“So you’re a Digimon.” Starlight said as she inspected Impmon from head to toe. “So that was you who threw those fire balls right? How did you do that? Was it some sort of pyrokinesis?”

“Pyroki-what now?” Impmon couldn’t repeat the word. “But yeah that was me.”

To demonstrate, he held up his right hand and extended his middle/index finger. Instantly, a small ball of dark red flame ignited right above the tip of his finger. It seemed to dance in the soft breeze that passed by while the ponies and baby dragon looked on at his ability in amazement.

“Fascinating.” Twilight whispered, wishing she had her notepad so she could add onto what Takato already told her.

“Umm….not that this isn’t interesting, but can we maybe move in case that timber wolf comes back?” Fluttershy asked anypony.

Impmon retracted his finger making the flame go out. He then looked to Takato and beckoned him to come closer. Kneeling down, he leaned his head in even more when he saw Impmon approach and put a hand, covering his speech as he whispered into Takato’s ear.

“Can we trust these horses?” he asked for various reasons.

The tamer then took his turn to whisper as the two turned their heads to switch positions.

“I trust them. Apparently these ones are heroes or something to this world. And one of them is a princess.”

Looking back, Impmon observed that the lavender horse was sporting both wings and a horn. He hadn’t seen a lot of Equestria. But the ponies he did see either had one or none of those things. Not both. Pulling away from Takato so he could look into his eyes, Impmon made his decision.

“You’re out here lookin’ for pineapple head, aren’t ya?”

He didn’t need him to answer, but the look in the human’s eyes said it all. He nodded once to his small friend and with a nod back, Impmon turned to the rest of the ponies.

“Come on then. Hope you aren’t scared of the dark.”

“Ha! As if, small fry.” Rainbow Dash waved off the notion.

Pushing through the bushes, Impmon took head as he began to lead the group deeper into the thicker part of the Everfree Forest. The sun was completely blocked out in these parts, making it very hard to see. Luckily with three unicorns, and a Digimon that could produce fireballs, light wasn’t a problem. But they all agreed it would be a lot safer for Impmon to not use his trick for light and risk the forest catching fire. Agreeing, Twilight took point with the Digimon while Spike walked on his other side.

“Where exactly are you taking us?” The drake asked him.

“Our hideout.” Impmon replied. “It’s not too far from here. And any of the creatures that come around here we can handle.”

“Seeing as how you managed to chase off a timber wolf, I believe you.” Rarity stated. “But what drove you to choose here of all places to hide?”

“It’s where we ended up when we first got here.” The Digimon answered again. “When we came outta the portal it dropped us right in the middle of the forest. When we saw that town nearby we realized that this wasn’t the Digital World. So we stayed out of sight.”

“I still don’t know what any of you are talking about.” Fluttershy stated.

“Don’t worry, Flutters! We’ll get ya up to speed in no time!” Pinkie enthusiastically said.

“Just be sure to prepare some tissues.” Rarity muttered, remembering how the story ended.

They kept walking, dodging the trees and shrubbery. They all treaded through the forest with Impmon leading until finally, they came to what looked like the entrance to a cave. Only it was blocked almost entirely by a huge boulder. There was just a sliver over the cave opening left uncovered on the right side.

As they walked closer, all of them began hearing a rapid succession of high pitched beeping. It was coming from Takato’s hip. Taking hold of his golden D-Ark, he held it up to look. The compass was flashing with a lock on screen. His breath caught in his lungs as he remembered what that meant.

“He’s here. He’s just inside there.”

The wait was killing him. He wanted to throw open the makeshift door to the cave right now and just charge in. Unfortunately for him, he had little to no upper body strength. Impmon then walked over to the open slit in the hole and slapped against the rock.

“Hey! Hey guys! I’m back! Let me in!” He called.

His voice could be heard echoing from inside the cave as he called to whoever it was in there. A few seconds later, the soft sound of steps could be heard and then a black animal-like eye was seen in the light shining in.

“What’s the password?” the eye’s owner asked in a childlike sounding voice.

Takato just smiled even more, recognizing the voice of his friend’s partner. Impmon just grumbled as he turned away as if in denial.

“Just let me in already! You know it’s me!” He shouted.

“Ya gotta say the passwoooooooord.” The voice on the other side teased.

Impmon grumbled again. He looked between the ponies behind him who were confused as to why he was refusing, and then Takato who just urged him to say the word by gesturing to the rock impatiently. Another growl came, and then he relented.

“Momentai.”

“There. Was that so hard?” The voice teasingly remarked before his eye vanished from the crack.

The boulder began to rumble. Then it began to roll to the side as whoever was on the other side pushed it out of the way, allowing them all entry. Impmon went in first.

“Leave it open. We got visitors this time.” He said to the two monsters there.

A small green and white monster the same size as Impmon stood there confused. One of his incredibly long rabbit/dog ears curled up and rubbed the top of his head confused, much like a normal hand would. A small tubby horn rested atop his forehead.

The second one with his claws on the boulder shared a similar expression. A small purple dragon like creature with golden patches on his shoulders and a diamond shape of the same color emblazoned on his forehead. On his forearms were wings that resembled a bat’s.

“Visitors?” The dragon one asked. “Who would visit us?”

“Impmon, who followed you back here?” The rabbit-like one got a bit nervous.

Looking back outside, Impmon waved his hand forward, telling the ponies to come in. Twilight went in first followed by her friends. Once all eight of them were in, there was just one more left to go.

“Who the heck are all of you? And what do you want with us?” The rabbit demanded to know.

While the eight of them looked back and forth between the two new Digimon, marveling at the mere sight of them, (Save for Fluttershy who was starting to tremble upon seeing yet another dragon twice the size of Spike), the last person walked in. When Takato went in, he saw the two, knowing them right off the bat and lightly gasping. The two Digimon both gasped as well as they recognized the figure. Especially those goggles he was wearing.

“Terriermon. Monodramon.” He muttered both of their names.

“Takato?” Terriermon said back.

The two Digimon looked at the boy in shock, wondering how the heck he was here. They had so many questions. But after what felt like minutes of just staring at each other, the two of them could only ask the same thing.

“Is Henry here too?”

“And Ryo?”

Both Digimon begged to know if their respective partners made whatever trip it was Takato made. First he had to tell Impmon, now he has to tell these two what he did.

“Guys….they aren’t here. It’s just me. I uh….kinda went through the portal by myself and didn’t tell them.”

Both Terriermon and Monodramon were disappointed. But above that, they were surprised. Surprised that Takato would be so stupid to do something like that.

“Look you two, I wanna tear into him too but first, I bet you know why he’s here.” Impmon said.

Calming down only a tiny bit, Terriermon and Monodramon looked at each other as if trying to communicate via telepathy. They couldn’t but the two came to the same conclusion. First let Takato do his thing, THEN ask for an explanation.

“Give me a moment.” Monodramon said as he began to grunt.

The boulder began to roll back over the entrance to the cave, concealing them from view. When it was back in the position prior to Impmon’s arrival, Terriermon began to lead them down the cave, the light from the three horned ponies still lighting their way. Fluttershy stayed as far away as she could from Monodramon as she could. His voice and demeanor looked and sounded harmless, but it didn’t do much to quell her fear.

“So uh, who are all of you?” Terriermon asked the ponies.

They could talk with more of them now. None of them had any idea where to start, but names sounded as good a place as any. One by one, as they trekked down the cave, they all sounded off their names and professions. Fluttershy stuttered the entire way through her name and job.

“Fluttershy huh?” Terriermon could make it out. “If I didn’t know any better, I woulda gone with ‘Stuttershy.’ ” He laughed to himself.

That little remark earned him quite a few glares from the group of ponies. Takato just smacked his forehead. This was Terriermon alright. He never knew when to stop talking or when to just not talk at all.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Twilight commented to the large-eared Digimon.

“Aw come on. I was just joking. Fluttershy sounds like a nice name. Though all of your names kind of sound like dolls my partner’s sister has. No offense.”

“Terriermon, I beg of you. Just stop.” Takato desperately asked.

“It isn’t nice to make fun of people we just met.” Monodramon added.

“Just saying….” He muttered to himself.

“I’m sorry.” Takato apologized for him. “He’s like this with pretty much everyone.”

“Who’s there?”

Another voice rang out. It sounded feminine and very deep. And it was close. As the three horned ponies pointed their heads forward, they saw that they had reached the end of the cave where these Digimon have set up camp. Right in the center of the place, there was a small campfire. Near the wall was a stack of collected wood to throw into the fire to keep it going. Next to that was a pile of gathered food. Berries, herbs, and even some dead fish, the sight of which made quite a few of them gag.

“Takato?”

That voice rang again. From the left side, its owner came walking forward. When everyone saw the new Digimon, they had felt a wave of fierce elegance come to them. A tall bipedal fox sporting yellow fur and purple gloves on her arms going all the way up to her elbows. Rarity hadn’t been very much enthralled with the appearance of these monsters yet, but then she saw this fox and immediately a sense of beauty overcame her. Her fur coat was pristine. Her form and stance alone, graceful. Immediately the fashionista’s mind went into overdrive with inspiration for a new type of garment using her brilliant color scheme.

“Hi Renamon.” Takato happily greeted the Digimon, calling her by name.

“Even her name is divine.”

“I don’t understand.” She said to her partner’s friend. “How are you here?”

“Long story short, the portal opened up again back on Earth and I came through it alone.” Takato just jumped to the point knowing it was coming.

Renamon’s eyes widened upon hearing that. As soon as she had laid eyes on Takato she thought Rika wasn’t too far behind. Hearing he came here alone was almost like a knife to her heart.

“Takato….how could you do that to them?” She asked, surprised someone like Takato could even do this.

The Equestrians were starting to feel a bit uncomfortable as every Digimon there seemed to look at him for an answer.

“Takato?”

Then another voice rang one. One that only Takato and Fluttershy recognized. Sighing, Renamon relented temporarily. She could at least grant Takato this before they all dug into him for the story. She stepped aside allowing him to view the only other wake Digimon in the cave.

Takato couldn’t breathe. There he was. Red scales, that chubby gut, the claws, his face, it was all the same. He hadn’t changed a single bit. He took one step forward, wishing to every power out there that this wasn’t a dream.

“Guilmon.”

With the name spoke, the Equestrians then looked upon the scene unfolding with a bigger understanding. This was who Takato was here for. They never did get a description from him about what Guilmon looked like. Just that he was his partner.

Staying quiet, they watched as the two partners kept staring into each other’s eyes. It looked like they had both frozen solid. Then like a dam breaking, tears began to run down Takato’s eyes and Guilmon wasn’t quick to follow.

“TAKATO!”

“GUILMON!”

Both of them broke into a sprint and met each other halfway. The collision was in Guilmon’s favor as his greater weight made Takato go to his back. He didn’t care. The two of them embraced each other in the tightest hug they had ever shared with each other. Their cries echoed down the cave and back. They had known happiness before, but never like this. The feeling of being reunited when the possibility was never certain, it was a whole other level they had never thought could be reached.

Watching the scene, the princess of friendship and her friends couldn’t help but bust out the biggest smiles they had. The feeling of watching them come together and cry was almost infectious. Rarity was dabbing at her eyes already with a hanky again like she was before. And the other four Digimon watching the scene, even though they were a bit miffed at Takato for coming alone, they too were happy that he was here, and Guilmon was able to see him again. And if he had come, then the chance that the others weren’t far behind him was a possibility.

As they kept crying, Takato and Guilmon held each other tight. They had found each other. And they had no intention of letting go ever again.

Author's Note

Colored text is only going to be used for attack call outs.