Chapter 10

The next day I was able to leave the hospital and from the terror that was nurse Red Heart and her devil needles, did I mention how much I hate needles yet? Hmmm? Better safe than sorry, I hate needles!! The doctor's said I that any internal damaged I suffered had healed and that my sore muscles should clear up in a day with the medication they prescribed me.

Once I made it home at around 9 am and went to check up on Bearmon and Kotemon who were asleep in their room. I was glad to know that Fluttershy had taken the time to watch over Bearmon and Kotemon for me while I was in the hospital. I decided that I would take a shower since I hadn't anything better to do and don't feel like sleeping, plus the hot water might help with my sore muscles.

Walking upstairs, (which is a pain when your body is sore as hell), I made my way into my room to pick out a different set of clothes and underwear. I decided to change things up a bit and choose to wear black shorts and a red t-shirt, no gloves or hat today though. Before I decided to take a shower, I grabbed a pair of swimming trunks. Now I can already hear you asking me why I'm doing this; the answer is simple really. Ever since I got to this world, my life has been exactly like an anime. I get a super cool power that is unique to me; hot girls surround me, and I get into steamy situations. I'm sure there are bunch more clichés that I'm missing, but that's beside the point. But if there is one thing I prepared for, its possible girls walking in on me while I'm in the shower. And since I live in a house with one mare those odds are very likely, sure we have more than one bathroom, but lord knows the universe will find a way to make that happen. As I was about to exit the room, I saw that on the calendar that it was May 26. ‘Wow, is it that day? Guess I forgot it was May. Meh, who cares not like I told anyone?’

I reach the restroom and put up the “in use” sight that I bought to minimize the chance of anyone walking in on me and step inside. Now I didn't go into much detail about how the restrooms looked so here goes. The tub is big enough to fit possibly more than three humans; it's deep enough that if I were to sit down, the water would reach up to my neck. And it also doubles as a shower, so if I didn't feel like taking a soak or I could take a quick shower. And since I had no obligation to attend to any time soon, I wanted to take a nice long bath.

I turned on the water and adjusted the temperature so that it wasn't too hot, but not too cool that my muscles couldn't loosen up. And even though I said I could fill the tub enough to cover my neck, I choose to keep below my chest, for two reasons. One would be a waste of water. Two, I needed some of my skin to be exposed if I wanted to give myself a good cleaning.

Once the bathtub is ready, and I put on my swimming shorts and slowly lowered myself in and sighed with delight as the warm water already started to help soothe my aching muscles. I leaned against the one side of the tub and just relaxed as the warm water helped relieve some of the tension in my sore body. I would also use this time to reflect on some questions that I couldn't stop thinking about. Who was the queen that TigerVespamon mentioned? How did they know about the spirits? What was my next move? I consider these questions earlier back at Cloudsdale but did not have the chance to think hard on then as I was in the middle of a battle, which brought me to another concern of mine, what will I do if something like that happens again, or something much worse. I hadn't thought about how I may have to fight more than one opponent at a time, and what's more how to hone my skills. Up until now, I was fighting on pure instincts alone, and I knew that wasn't going to get me far if my last fight was anything to go on.

I shook my head and tossed those thoughts aside for another time; I didn't need a headache from overthinking to go with my sore body. I could feel that the temperature in the tub was slowly decreasing and thought it would be best to start cleaning myself up. Grabbing the soap bar from the tray on the side of the tub, I started to scrub my arms and legs. As I do so, I quickly noticed something different about myself; it seemed as though my arms have gotten a bit thicker and have a bit more definition to them. As for my legs, I could see that they too were a bit larger with my calf’s having a bit more muscles. And then it hit me, Twilight was right, my body is starting to adapt to my constant transformation. Maybe this soreness has its upsides too.

After I had finished scrubbing the soap off with a sponge, I tried to move my arms behind me to scrub my back; unfortunately, due to my sore muscles, my reach was limited and ineffective. “Damn, I can't reach.” I cursed bitterly as my arm moved back in front of me.

“Here, Jackie, let me help you.” Pinkie chirped as she grabs the sponge and starts to scrub my back gently.

I felt her gentle touch as she scrubbed my back, helping my muscles relax. “Mm, oh, wow thanks Pinke that helps a lot.” I hummed as she rubbed my back.

I heard her giggle a bit. “Aww, it's no problem, Jackie, what are friends for?” She said in a cheerful tone as she worked on my shoulder blades next. “How's this, Jackie, does that feel any better?”

“Oh yeah, right there that feels……..wait a second…….Pinkie!!” I shouted moving forward to turn and yell at Pinkie, however when I turned to her; I quickly noticed that she was naked and averted my eyes. “P-pinkie w-what the hell!!!”

“What's the matter, Jackie? I thought that you were enjoying it?” I couldn't see her, but the way the water rippled I could tell she was getting closer.

Thanking my foresight to wear my swim trunks I quickly turned, so I saw facing away from Pinkie Pie. “T-that's beside the point, why are you in my house? Better yet, why are in my bathroom while I'm taking a shower with no clothes on!?”

“Hehe well I was thinking how you looked so sore yesterday that I thought, Gee I bet poor Jackie must be sore from all that fighting, and how you probably couldn't even wash your own back. So being the super-duper bestest friend I am, I would help you. And as for why I'm not wearing any clothes is easy I didn't want to get then wet… and so I could try and seduce you before the others could...”

I heard Pinkie mumble something but didn't catch what she said. “Um, what was that last part, Pinkie?”

“So my clothes wouldn't get wet silly.” She giggled as she placed her hands back on my shoulder, making me twitch for a moment. “Now just relax and let Pinkie help her friend.”

I didn't have a moment to protest as Pinkie used her fingers to rub along my shoulders, the sensation alone made me relax. While I was used to Pinkie's bouncy and happy go lucky nature, the way she was massaging my back was so different than how she would normally be. Her touch was gentle and caring; I could feel the knots in my back fade away, I was so relaxed that I had almost forgotten how she was naked right behind me…..almost. Soon she started to use the palms of her hands for kneading and rubbing my shoulder blades. “Gee, Pinkie, I h-had no idea you knew how to massage.”

“Well, it's just like baking bread; you got to knead the dough to get it all nice and smooth.” She giggled as she continued to work on my back.

For a good three minutes, I sat there as she worked her magic on my back. Of course, I was still flustered about the ideas of us sharing a bath while one of us was completely naked. I was about to voices my opinion when I felt her stop while both of her hands and set themselves on each of my shoulders, and that I felt something resting in the middle between them. “Pinkie?” I waited for a response but got nothing.

Darning to tempt fate, I slowly looked over my shoulder and saw that Pinkie was resting her head against me. What's more, is that something about her was completely off. The first and most obvious give away was that her fair was not its normal puffy cotton candy shape. Instead, it was straight down like it was wet, but I knew that even if it had gotten wet, it would have still been puffy. Second, was her skin tone, now I wasn't too sure if it was because of the lighting or not, but it almost seemed like the color had drained away from her. “Pinkie, are you okay?”

After a few moments of silence, she moved her arms from my shoulders to wrapping around my chest and pulling me closer to her. I could now feel her breast pressing against my back and would be flustered if had it not been for the fact that I could now feel her quivering and heard her sniffling. And the warm sensation of water running down my back only confirmed what I thought was happening. She was crying. She was nuzzling her head into my back as she continued to cry, and the way she was holding me made it feel as though that if she let go that I would disappear. I know this hug well when I was younger and would have nightmares about losing my family, I would always give my mom and dad this very same huge.

I knew that she needed reassurance and had to show her that everything was alright, so decided to get brave and not give a damn if she was naked or not I turned around and returned the hug. I could tell that she was confused for a moment, but she quickly got over it and rested her head on my shoulder. I gently stroked her head, trying to calm her down as she cried into my shoulder. We stayed like this for a good five minutes before she decided to talk.

“I'm s-sorry.” She whimpered as her sobs started to lessen.

“It's fine Pinkie. Take your time. I'm not going to rush you.” I kept petting her head softly as eventually, her sobbing stopped.

“I'm so sorry we couldn't help you.” I didn't quite register what Pinkie meant by that, so I hoped that she would tell me if I asked.

“What do you mean Pinkie? What couldn't you help me with?”

Pulling away, Pinkie tried to wipe away her tears as she tried to talk to me. “I mean how the girls and I couldn't help you fight against those bad Digimon.”

And like a ton of bricks, it hit me. Pinkie was feeling guilty for not being able to do anything. But this made me wonder, did the others feel the same way too? I hadn't considered that the girls would feel guilty at all, but then again, it was out of their power. The Digimon aren't like the villain they've faced before. With this in mind, I knew that I would have to check up on everyone to see how they were fairing. But first, my main priority was Pinkie.

I wiped a tear from her cheek as I looked at her. “Listen, Pinkie. You don't need to be sorry about what happened last time.”

“But~” I placed a finger to her lip to shush her.

“Ah, ah, let me finish.” She signed and allowed me to continue. “I get that you feel bad that you couldn't help in the fight, but you and the girls did do as I asked, which was helpful enough. Thanks to you girl leaving and clearing the town like I asked I had fewer things to worry about.” As I continued to talk, I had noticed that some of Pinkie's color was returning. “I'll try and be more careful during my fights so that I won't die out there and worry you, girls.”

Pinkie lowered her head for a minute as she twiddled her thumbs together before looking up at me with her light blue eyes. “Promise?”

From that single word I already knew which promise she wanted me to make, I had read about it in Twilight's journal and knew that it was not just empty words but a solemn oath. So making the proper hand gestures, I make my promise. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

I felt my heart warm up as I saw Pinkie's mane return to its normal puffy look and with a big smile on her face, and she hugs me tighter than before “Yippee!! I'm so glad you said that. Now I know I can relax since you made a Pinkie promise, and no pony ever breaks a Pinkie promise, and I mean NO PONY.”

While I was slightly the way she said that last sentence did scare me a little…...okay a lot, I was happy to see her happy again. However, now that I know Pinkie is no longer depressed and in need of me for emotional support, I quickly remembered something important, SHE STILL NAKED!!

Slowly I try to back away while trying not to look at her, and make an attempt to get out of the tube and dry off. However, just as I was about to get out, I felt Pinkie's arms wrap around my waist and pulling me back in with a splash. “And just where do you think you're going, hmm?” She slowly wrapped her arms around my chest as she nuzzled into my cheek. “I still haven't given my thanks for making me feel better.”

I could feel my heart beating faster as Pinkie looked at me with a mischievous grin. “N-now Pinkie let's not doing anything funny oka-eep!!” I didn't get to finish as she quickly turned me around with tremendous strength.

“Don't worry, Jackie, I'm just going to show you my thanks.” I had no time to react as she cupped my cheeks and pulled me towards her until she pressed her lips against my own. I had little time to process what was happening as Pinkie had forced her tongue into my mouth and explored its entirety. And what's more, is that I could feel her bare breast pressing against me, they were incredibly soft and only made my heart rate skyrocket. My mind went numb as the kiss continued for a good amount of time, reducing the amount of oxygen I was getting. Finally, Pinkie decided that I had enough when my eyes rolled into my skull. “Hehe, well, I'll see you later tonight, Jackie.”

Now I would say I watched Pinkie Pie bouncing out of my bathroom while still naked if it wasn't for the fact I was currently draped on the side if the tub with my eyes still rolled back and gasping for air. “These...*wheeze*...mares…*gasp*...are...gonna...be...the…*wheeze*...death of me.”

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After my little incident with Pinkie Pie, I realized that I had failed to consider my friends feeling about what happened in Cloudsdale. Now I'm not trying to come off as making myself seem more important than necessary, but I do feel bad for making them all worry about me. So I thought it would be best to pay each of them a visit to talk to them and see how they are. Because if Pinkie Pie was any indication of what happened to me could affect her, then the others might not be too far off.

Once I reached the center of town, I tried to consider who I would visit first? While I was thinking, I noticed something odd, across the plaza I saw Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo pulling a large wagon. It looked like one of the wheels had gotten stuck in a little ditch, so being the kind civilian, I go over to help them. “Hey, girls need some help!?”

It seemed like I caught the girls off as they jumped a bit and looked at me looking worried for some reason. Applebloom stepped for while the other two stood side by side in front of the wagon. “Eh heh hiya there, Jack, whatcha doin?” She asked, sounding a bit nervous.

“Nothing much, just thinking about checking on my friends today. What about you, girls? What's with the wagon?” I walked closer and saw that three of them had it packed with pillows, blankets, and buckets of apples. The girls seemed even more nervous when I saw what was inside. “So, what's with all this stuff?” I asked curiously.

They seemed to shift their eyes around as they were sweating bullets, I was a bit concerned and was about to ask what's going on until… “WerehavingaslumberpartyatAppleblooms!!” Sweetie squealed her body shaking.

I blinked for a moment processing all that and smiled. “Is that all? You girls don't need to be scared of me knowing that. I used to go to a lot of sleepovers with my friends when I was your girl's age.” I gently pat the girls head and move to the back of the wagon and gave it a push moving it out of the ditch. “There you girls go. Also, Sweetie, do you know if Rarity is at her shop?”

“Thanks, Jack, and yeah, she's at the shop.” The girls started to push their wagons a little faster than needed. “Well wish we could chat, but we got to get ready for our slumber party, Bye!!” And as if someone had lit their tails on fire, they speeded off.

“Well, that was….odd.” I just shrugged it off and made my way over to Rarity’s shop to see if she was home.

I found myself in front of her boutique and slowly made my way in, and as always the bell above my head ringed signaling that a customer had entered the shop. “Be there in a moment.” I heard Rarity called out from a different room.

“It's just me Rarity,” I called out, causing her to poke her head from the other room. She gave me a large smile. “Hey, how are you today?”

“Oh, darling! It’s so good to see you!!” She cheered and rushed over and hugged me close, nearly poking me with her horn. Rarity must have realized what she was doing and pulled away with a noticeable blush on her cheek. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Jack?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about what happened in Cloudsdale.” I easily saw that Rarity was uncomfortable by this topic. And I would have just dropped it and say forget it, but I needed these girls to know that they can't be blaming themselves anymore. “Listen, I want you girls to know that you shouldn't be blaming yourself or feeling guilty for what happened.”

She sighed and made her way over to a chair and sat down, looking at the floor before she spoke again. “I know darling, but deep down the others, and I had never felt so useless before.” I could see a lone tear sliding down her cheek as she continued. “And when we thought we had lost you, and when we thought we had lost you it made us come to know how powerless we were.”

Now a lot of you think that even if I had died that these girls could have just used the Elements of Harmony to feed off whatever evil Digimon may come their way. But as it turns out that Equestrian magic doesn't have that much of an effect on Digimon, according to Twilight, that is. She mentioned something about not risking pulling out the Elements of Harmony for something that won't guarantee it will work.

Back to Rarity, I honestly didn't know what to say to make her feel better. So wiping away her tears, I pulled Rarity into a hug and gently stroked her back. This seemed to work as she Rarity was now balling her eyes out on me, but I didn't care about my shirt, all that matters was I needed to comfort my friend.

“Listen, Rarity I'm sorry that you and the girls are feeling upset about not being able to help physically, but I can ensure you that emotionally speaking, you girls are my greatest strength.”

Rarity stopped for a moment and looked at me confused and whipped away her tears. “W-what do you mean by that Jack?

Well, time to get all touchy feelings now. “What I mean is that when I'm out there fighting, I'm not just fighting for myself, but for you guys.” Her eyes seemed to widen with awe. “When I'm in a fight it's not just so I can live, but all of you as well. You guys are always on my mind when I fight, because I know if I failed I'd be failing not just myself, but all of you. It's where I draw my strength from because even if I'm beaten up and near death, you girls are the fuel for the fire inside to keep on going and to never give up.”

I hadn't noticed that while I was ranting that Rarity tears were flowing out in full force. I was going to try and comfort her thinking I did something wrong when she tackle-hugged me. “That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard.” She occasionally sniffled, smiling up at me. “I'm so touched that you care about us all that much darling.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek, causing my check to flush a bit. “You're a fine brave stallion that I'm glad to call a friend. “She moved in again and hugged me once more, which I was happy to return the favor.

After a good minute of hugging a loud pop snapped us out of your tender moment as we look up and see a small scroll hovering above Rarity. Extending her arm out and took the letter in her hand, I backed up so she could read without being disturbed. I watched as she opened the scroll and how her eyes moved left to right as she read the scroll. Pretty soon, a smile crept on her face, and she rolled up the scroll before putting away in her pocket. “I'm sorry, Jack, but something needs my full attention so I'll need to cut our chat short and close up shop.”

Guessing that whatever was on that letter must have been important, I complied with her request and made my way to the door. “No worries Rares I need to go visit the others anyway, by the way, do you know if Rainbow Dash would be home yet?”

Rarity tapped her finger on her chin as she thought about it, she looked over at the clock and saw that it was 11 am. “Normally, she would be, but due to her helping with the repair to the weather factory, I'd say she won't be home for at least another hour or so.”

I winced as I remembered that it was my fault that the factory took so much damage. “Yeah, I guess that's kind of my fault, huh?” I scratched the back of my head, feeling embarrassed.

“Oh, don't worry too much about it, dear. Rainbow Dash had done much worse to that factory when she tried to prevent winter from coming.” I honestly didn't remember that written in any of Twilight's notes or not but I'll have to remember to ask about that. “Perhaps you could go see Twilight next. I'm sure she would be delighted to talk to you next. “Taking the hint, I made my way towards the door. “Oh, and would you be a dear and flip the sign over for me to close.” I gave her a thumbs up, and as I made it to the door, I flipped the sign, exited the shop and made my way to Twilight's castle.

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I walked up to the front doors of the castle and knocked waiting for Spike to answer, and on cue Spike opens one of the doors smiling up at me. “Hey, Jack, glad to see you’re okay dude.”

“I guess you heard what happened in Cloudsdale.” He nodded his head. “Well, no worries bro I'm okay, a bit sore but otherwise okay. I came by to talk to Twilight, is she here?”

He stepped aside to allow me. “Yeah, Twilight is actually in the throne room.”

I faked gasped, causing Spike to jump and look at me. “You mean Twilight Sparkle, our Twilight isn't in an area filled with books? The apocalypse is upon us!!” I frantically wave my arms in the air.

Spike started to snicker into his hands, trying not to laugh out loud. “I heard that!!” We heard Twilight called out from down the hall. Spike and I looked at each other before falling on the ground, laughing. Once Spike and I got the laughter out of our system and wiped the tears of joy out of our eyes, I walked into the throne room where I saw a not to amuse Twilight giving me a deadpan look. “You know my life doesn't just revolve around books, you know.” She puffed out her cheeks, making a rather adorable pouty face.

I was going to apply until I quickly noticed that a saw a book tucked into one of her wings, no doubt trying to hide it from me. “So then you weren't reading any books before I came in?” I slowly stalked my way over to her with my hands behind my back.

As I got closer, I could see her eyes shifting from side to side as she gave me a nervous smile, and I could see that her wings were fidgeting. “N-nope, no books here.” I could now she was sweating bullets as I got closer.

Pretty soon I was now leaning over her as she leaned against her crystal chair, I held myself up with my right arm leaned against the top of the chair as I stared down at Twilight who was trying her best to hide the book in her wing. I could see her blushing as she stared up at me while she fidgeted in her seat, slowly looked away. ‘Oh God, this mare makes it easy.’ I gently cupped her chin and gently turned her head, so she was looking at me. “You know, Twilight, there's something I've meant to tell since the first week I spent here.”

Twilight's cheeks only burned brighter. Her eyes try to focus on anything but me. “A-and w-what, would that be.” She tried to stop herself from stuttering.

I slowly leaned down, and I talked. “That you Twilight are absolutely, incredibly…” As I leaned in, closer Twilight just closed her eyes and puckered her lips. I moved in till I was near her ear. “A bad liar.” Before she could register what I said my free hand quickly plucked the book tucked under her wing. I smiled as I looked at the cover. “Oh, is this the recent Daring Do book?”

When I looked back at Twilight, her face was red with rage and quickly snatched the book with her magic and started to hit my head it repeatedly. "YOU’RE SUCH A JERK!!!" Twilight yelled, giving an adorable pouty face.

I soon get into her rhythm and get to dodge her wild swings. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but you're so cute when you're mad." By this point, Twilight stopped swinging the book and twiddle her thumbs. "Tell you what Twi if you want I'll give you a kiss of your choosing."

Twilight's wings quickly extended to their full length, while her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "R-really?" She looked at her lap as she held her hands together before looking back up at me. "Y-your just messing with me again, aren't you?" She sounded almost disappointed.

I shook my head. "No, Twi, I'm serious. Besides, when I went to talk with Pinkie and Rarity, they both kissed me for some reason." Part of me winced as I said that out loud.

However, instead of seeing Twilight being angry or upset, she looked rather annoyed. "Damn, I told them to wait a little while." I couldn't hear what she said, and she seemed to blush when she saw me leaning in to hear what she said. "Um well, Jack if you mean that, then can I get a kiss on the lips?"

I will admit that I found her forwardness rather surprising and even managed to make me blush a bit, but considering that I have already been kissed twice today. One being a simple peck on the check by Rarity. Or that kiss from Pinkie that…

"And pause. Hi there guys, Nail here. Before we finish this joke, I'd like to inform the readers that the joke you are about to read is in no way meant to offend or make fun of anyone. If after this chapter is up and some of you do comment on how incentive the joke was, we will make sure to erase it and replace said joke. And with that, I'd like to say thank you for your time. And play."

….could turn a gay man straight, or straight woman into a lesbian, so what's one kiss on the lips anyway? "Well, Twilight if that's what you want, then sure I'd be happy to kiss you." I walk over to Twilight and lean down and slowly give her lips a gentle kiss on the lips. Now I know what you’re thinking, so he's just going to kiss her and be flustered or embarrassed now? And to answer your question, no, because after what happened with Pinkie my brain is currently broken and still recovering, so all that blushing and babbling mess will be future Jack's problems. I guess I wasn't paying attention as Twilight was now literally blushing so hard steam was emitting from her face. 'Wow, I thought that was just a metaphor, but damn.'

Eventually, Twilight managed to get a hold of herself and tried to talk once more. "Y-you k-kissed m-me." She stuttered still in shock from her experience.

"Well yeah, you did ask for it, remember?" I often found it amusing how Twilight worked. She could be her normal adorkable self, or on rare occasions, she's outgoing and sometimes a flirt. And the rest of the time she's an easy pony to make blush with minimal effort, guess which one she is now?

"S-so, Jack, what brings you here today?" Twilight asked, trying to change the topic of course.

While I would have loved to tease her a bit longer, I did need to talk about why I came here. "Well, I came here to talk to you and the other about what happened in Cloudsdale." The thing about ponies is that a large percent of them had incredibly bad poker faces, and Twilight is one of them. I can see both guilt, and sadness in her eyes, much like with Pinkie and Rarity. "Listen, Twi, I already know how you feel, and you need to know that what happened was out of your control. There was nothing you guys cou~."

"BUT THERE WAS, AND WE FAILED!!" I was easily cut off by her sudden outburst. I could see that she was shaken up about something and wanted to comfort her. "You gave us a simple and important task. To find the spirits and bring them to you, remember?"

Was that really what had her so upset, that should couldn't find one of the spirits? "Listen Twi that task was probably a bad idea on my part, I had forgotten you and the girls had no means to track down any of the spirits. So the fact you couldn't find one isn't your fault."

I had expected to her expression softened and her mood as well. However, that was not the case. She lowered her head even more, and her hand shook, I didn't know if it was fear or anger that made them shake, but I imagined I would soon know why. "Jack, that's the problem. We did find one." I hadn't expected that answer, but I could still hear the sadness in her voice. "I and Rainbow Dash were searching high and low for one of those spirits you talked about. At first, it was incredibly difficult since we didn't know what we were looking for. But I had remembered that Digimon doesn't emit Equestrian magic, so I used a spell that would detect any foreign objects that weren't giving off any magic. And that's when we found one; it was inside a pillar of wind." By that, I could easily tell she was referring to the wind spirit. I only guessed this because asides from my flame spirit I found the other in locations that matched their elements. "Dash was about to nab it when that large Digimon ambushed us, TigerVespamon I think he called himself. He came and easily snatched the spirit from us and was about to leave before Dash tried to stop him. Only to be easily knocked out with his incredible speed. And the worst part was not only did I fail to collect the spirit, but I stood by helplessly as my friends got hurt." Tears slowly streaked across her face and down onto her lap.

I felt three strong emotions building up in me. One was guilt for not being able to be there to protect my friends, and for making they feel guilty. The other emotion was rage and anger. The rage that one of those Digimon laid a hand on my friends and hurt them, anger that Dash and Twilight tried to go against a Digimon without thinking about what could have happened. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down, yelling or getting upset with her and Dash won't change the past.

Once my mind was clear, I knew I had to address the situation at hand. "Twilight, listen to me, okay?" Though she didn't want to Twilight did as I asked. "The Digimon you mentioned was at the mega level; he was the strongest form that any Digimon could achieve." Twilight's pupils slowly shrank as what I said had slowly dawned on her. "Tigervespamon could have easily ended both you and Dash's lives; it is by some miracle that he choose to spare your lives. Listen Twi I need you to understand something; while I don't expect you or the others to aid me in battle you should know that the Digimon are too dangerous to take on without a partner Digimon okay?"

I could tell that she wasn't okay with not being able to help. Twilight gave me a weak nod. 'Well, that's three down only three more marked to visit today.' I was about to leave when I remembered the fight and how the Digimon mentioned something about a queen. "Hey Twilight during my fight with the Digimon they mentioned something about a queen. Any ideas on that?"

Twilight perked up by this. “I heard them mention it too, and I might have a theory, but I need you to confirm something for me." I gave her my full attention as I shifted my body, giving her my full attention. "Now I know it might have been obvious based on their appearance, but were the four Digimon we saw in Cloudsdale insect type?"

Now that she brought it up, I hadn't noticed they were insect type, and I was sure that Tigervespamon was one. "Now that's you mention it yeah I'm pretty sure they all were, why do you ask?"

"I tell you in a moment; my last question will probably seal the deal? Are there any bug type Digimon that have queen in their name?" I gave it some thought, while I knew there were a few Digimon that possibly had queen in their names, there weren't any that I could imagine that are bug related, I shook my head once I was sure that I couldn't think of any. Twilight let out a heavy sigh and leaned back into her chair. "Then it has to be Chrysalis; we haven't seen her since she fled her kingdom after Starlight, Discord, Trixie, and Thorax defeated her. Now I'm afraid that might be responsible for the attack."

While I do remember reading about that in the journal, she lent me. However, there was another question that I had meant to get off my chest. "Hey, Twilight theirs something that has been bothering me. How did the Digimon know that the spirits were in Cloudsdale?"

"What do you mean Jack?"

"I mean, how did they know where to find the spirits, because unless you have one of these," I pulled out my D-tector." You can't find them without taking forever."

Both Twilight and I were left to think on this for a while. Not only was there the possibility of one of Twilight's old nemesis coming back, but that she possibly can control the Digimon and she has one of the spirits and some way of tracking them down. Could this be the threat to that I was summoned here to defeat, or is there more that I'm overlooking.

Just as I was about to think this over some more a sudden *POP* interrupted my train of thought, looking to where the sound originated from, I saw that Twilight had a scroll in her hands and was reading it after she had opened it. I watch as her eyes scanned the paper as she read and a smile growing in her face before she rolled it back up and placed it in her pocket. She turned towards me with her hands behind her back and a mischievous smirk on her face that sent a chill down my spine. "Sooo, Jack, where did you plan on going next?" She asked, stepping forward.

I gulped as I got a bad feeling from the look she was giving me. "W-well I was planning on talking to the rest of the girls, that being Dash, AJ, and Flutters. Why?"

I watched as Twilight's horn glowed again as her grin only grew. "Well, in that case, it would be a shame to make you walk to Dash's house from over here. How about I shorten the trip for you?"

I instantly knew what she was planning and quickly turned on my heels as I tried to make a break for the door. Only to soon notice that I wasn't moving an inch and a purple aura covering my body. "This is because I messed with you earlier, isn't it?" I asked in a deadpan tone.

"Aww, see you're learning. Hehe, see you later, Jack." Twilight smiled, and she waves me goodbye before she teleported me away.

====================================

The moment I felt my feet touch the ground, I felt as though my stomach was about to spill out of my mouth. I waited a good five minutes before I decided to walk up to Rainbow Dash's house. Once I felt like I could move around without losing my breakfast, I slowly walked over to Dash's door and lightly knocked. The door immediately opened, and I saw Dash leaving against the doorway with a smug grin on her face. "Hehe went and pissed off Twilight again didn't ya?"

"Screw….you." I nearly dry-heaved feeling nauseous from being teleported.

"Was that a threat or a promise," Dash asked in a rather seductive tone while giving me a wink. My face burned brightly in response, which caused Dash to start laughing. "Oh man, you're just too easy to mess with, you know that right?" She motioned me with her hand to come inside.

Unfortunately for me, Dash quickly caught on that it was easy to make me flustered since, after high school, I had no social interaction with girls due to my life being mostly about college and work. So anytime Dash could she would always use that to her advantage, but I also found out that it works both ways. However, I was feeling too sick even to try.

Once I was inside, Dash closed the door behind me and led me into the living room where I sat down to ease my nerves. "By the way, I already know why you are here." I looked over the couch and saw Dash walking up to me with some water. "Rarity told me and the others that we should be expecting a visit from you. And I promise that I don't blame myself for what happened back then." She raised her hands defensively.

'Well, shoot, there goes the whole speech I had prepared.' Seeing as there was no need for me to give an emotional and heartfelt speech, I decided to relax and lean against the incredibly soft couch. "So what now? I mean, I had a speech and everything."

Dash just shrugged and plopped onto the seat next to me. "How about we watch another one of those Indians Jones movies? You said there were four of them, right? “I nodded. “So, let's watch the next one, then." Just like last time, Dash laid her head on my chest as I pulled out my phone and loaded up the next Indiana Jones movie, ‘The Temple of Doom.’

As we watched the movie, I would notice how comfortable Dash got while resting on top of me, in all honesty, I didn't mind I learned that the ponies of this world are not afraid to show affection. While we watched the movie Dash would always complain about how the lead heroine was way to whinny and how she was like Rarity throwing a hissy fit, I tried to hide my snicker not wanting to admit that. And much like the last movie, Dash would ask me about stuff that she would see in the movie, from the vehicles to the culture and location.

Once we were getting close to the climax, I noticed that Dash seemed fidgety all of a sudden, and instantly knew something was on her mind. "Alright, Dash, what's up?" I asked pressing pause on the movie.

Dash slowly sat up and kept her hand together on her lap as she was looking away from me. "W-well, you see, there's something I've meant to ask you."

I was a bit thrown off seeing her act like this. Dash doesn't usually act this way before, or at least not that I was aware of. "Yeah, what is it?"

"So there's going to be a Daring Do conversation again in a few months, and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go? With me?" She asked her muzzle burning brightly while looking away.

'Well, this was unexpected.' I thought as I watched Dash fidget around as she waited for my answer seeming almost embarrassed. I saw an opportunity for revenge. 'Oh, I'm going to get some mileage out of this.' I stood up, pacing, and humming to myself. "I don't know Dash, I mean the last time I went to a convention I ended up here. What happens if I go to this Daring Do conversation and somehow get roped into some crazy across the country adventure?" I folded my arm and looked away, pretending to give it some thought while also hiding my smile.

Dash easily caught on to me and punched me in the arm, while it did hurt I couldn't help but laugh. "So what do you say dude, want to go with me?" She asked while leaning in with her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, sure, sounds like it could be fun." Dash punched her fist in the air with joy. "So, did you want to finish the movie or not?" She nodded, and we got back into our comfortable sitting position.

The movie was nearing its end; Dash slightly gagged when she saw the villain fall of the hanging rope bridge and being torn apart in a gator-filled river. I had to explain to her that it was a fake person that was getting torn up and not a real human. Dash tried to play it off that she wasn't scared and that she knew that the whole time. Yeah her nervous chuckle wasn't selling it.

Once the movie had ended, we both got up and stretched. Dash decided to mess with me by fully extending her right wing so that it would hit me in the face. Granted it didn't hurt, if anything it tickled my nose a bit. I tried to get even with her by grabbing said wing lightly only for her to let out a low moan. I immediately let go and slowly backed away, as I did I could see Dash's face burning bright red, either of embarrassment or rage, I had no intention of finding out as I quickly booked it out the house hearing her scream. Yep definitely anger.

====================================

I was running so fast constantly checking to see if Dash was chasing me, that I failed to see the tree that was right in front of me when I slammed into it. I slowly fell flat on my back, looking up at the tree's branches filled with apples. Speaking of I noticed one was willing from my impact on the tree and watched as it snapped off and was head towards my face.

I quickly close my eyes, waiting for the impact, but after waiting a few seconds, I opened my eye to see that a hand had caught the apple mere inches from my face. "Hehe, close call der sugarcube." I followed the hand up to its owner to see Applejack standing next to me with a smile.

I exhaled in relief as I sat up, rubbing my head from the impact on the tree. "Thanks, AJ, I wasn't paying attention to where I was running." Twisting my body so that I was lying flat on my stomach, I pushed myself up. "So I take it you already got Rarity's message?"

"Eeyup." She answered with a smile as she did so like how her brother would. “So, Ah, reckon you're here to try and convince me that Ah shouldn't feel guilty about what happened in Cloudsdale?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well I was originally this morning but thanks to Rarity telling you girls my plan I think it's not needed anymore. So since I'm here how's about, I help you around the farm."

I moved to help lift a bullet only to have her put her hand out to stop my actions, "While Ah do appreciate the offer, and you’re still recoverin' from that fight. Ah, can't accept your offer." And as if to make it seem that she wouldn't budge on it, she folded her arm.

I quickened a brow and smiled. "Then I guess I'll just give you a sappy and long talk about how you did all you could while wasting time instead of working."

I could see a visible amount of sweat trailing down her forehead as he considers my ultimatum. "On second thought, how about ya help me out, and we can forget that." She nervously chuckled. "Y'all can help me load the wagon and carry it back to the barn." She pointed to a couple of buckets filled with apples and a wagon that I had used before.

"See was that so hard" I joked as I started to lift a bucket into the wagon, surprisingly they are kind of heavy, whether that's due to my sore muscles or just how they were that way all the time.

Applejack did take kindly to my banter and play smacked the back of my head. "Yeah, yeah, help me load up the wagon, and don't push yourself. Otherwise, I'll have to force you to stop."

For the next half hour, I helped load and unload buckets of apples as we made a few trips from the barn to the field. I could never get used to how big this orchard is from the ground, and it looks like it could go on forever.

In all honesty, the fact that only four ponies are the ones in charge of this place is mind-boggling. Well, technically it's only three ponies since Big Mac is out of commission. Speaking of. “So I take it that Big Mac is still recovering?"

I watch as AJ lowered her head a bit. “Unfortunately, he is. He messed up his shoulder, but the doctor said he'd recover in another day or two."

Even though that doesn't seem too long, I can still see that Applejack was troubled by it, most likely cause that she might have been doing overtime to make up for the lack of one member. 'Ah, nuts to this, I can't help.' I move over to her and lightly tap her shoulder. "Well if it helps I can help around the farm until he's back and ready to work."

While she was a bit stubborn to let me help her today, I could see that she was willing to give this some thought. That only tells me that she must be feeling the stress of having to do all the work. "If you're sure ya can handle it without hurtin' yourself, then Ah guess I can allow ya to help."

I gave her a thumbs up to show that I'm up for the task. "Don't worry; I can manage. Besides, it's not like I would leave a friend hanging when they're in need." This reminded me of my days back on earth, whenever David or the few friends I knew from high school would ask for help, I would do so without thinking about it. 'I wonder if I'll ever make it back. Or if anyone is looking for me since I never came back.’

For two hours, I spent the day helping Applejack with her daily routine until finally, we managed to finish up the quota today with only a few more buckets left. 'And God are my arms sore!!' I never knew that carrying buckets of apples could be so strenuous. 'And to think Applejack and her family do this kind of work all the time.'

While a part of me was regretting to make my offer to help, I wasn't going to back out of my promise. With each bucket that I lift my muscles scream out in pain, trying to get me to stop. This workout was already adding to my original pain from the fight. 'Right the fight.' I thought bitterly. Throughout this whole day, my mind would wander to that fight, and I would remember how close I was to being killed. It wasn't the fear of death frightened me the most; no most of my fear was what would have happened if I wasn't there to protect everyone.

My thoughts raced around me that I hadn't noticed that I had just walked past the barn and that Applejack was walking to me. "What? Sorry, AJ, did you say something?"

"I said, what are your plans now?" She asked in an annoyed tone while she tapped her hoof.

I didn't want to bother her with my sulking, so I decided to try and play it off. "I'm sorry I don't know what you mean?"

"Don't try and hide it. While we've been workin', ya have had that look on your face tellin' me somethin's troublin' ya. So what's up?"

'Damn. Well, so much for playing it off.' Knowing that there is no point in trying to lie to her, I choose to answer her question truthfully. "Well, after what happened, in Cloudsdale, I realized that I should consider improving my combat skills and strengthening my body."

She tilted her head seeming, confused. "But ya seem to fight well when ya do that whole digi-whatever. Ain't that how y'all would normally fight?"

"No, actually it's not. While I did take some martial arts back on my world, thanks to my dad, it wasn't enough for me to be this good." I briefly reminisced on those memories and smiled before going back to answer her question. "No the way I've been fighting is solely on instincts. While I do gain the fighting skills and power, I don't gain the knowledge on how to use them effectively. "

Placing cheek in one of her palms Applejack tried to understand what I meant. "So, what you're sayin' is that we need to find someone who can teach ya how to fight better?"

"Basically, yeah. I was thinking about going to the Digimon village and asking Dinohyumon to give me some training." I would have considered Shining Armor's offer to train with him, but the Crystal Empire is much too far away and would take too long to and from, that was too long for me to leave Ponyville unprotected.

"Ah guess that is a good plan. Just don't strain yourself too hard. The last thing, Ah want-er, Ah mean, we want for ya to land in the hospital again." I briefly noticed a light blush on her cheeks before she turned away. I shrugged it off not giving it much thought.

And within ten minutes everything was done, all the apples were in the barn, and the sun was almost ready to set. "So now that all that's taken care of I think I'll go head down and talk to Fluttershy." I slowly stretch my limbs, trying to reduce the soreness that I had added on by helping on the farm. "I get the feeling that she does feel guilty about what happened."

"That's an understatement." Applejack muttered.

"Huh, did you say something, AJ?"

Just as I was about to leave, I felt Applejack tap my shoulder. "Oh, nothin'. But, Jack, there's somethin' Ah've been meanin' to ask." I watched as she seemed to fidget in places. "Is there no way for me and the others to help ya out?"

I let out a sigh. I knew this question would eventually come up. "Unfortunately not really, after finding out that besides Digimon attacks, that ponies physical attacks won’t work on Digimon, while magic isn't very effective. I'm afraid that unless you have a Digimon partner, then there's not much you can do. I'm sorry."

Her shoulder slouched a bit in defeat, something I did not enjoy seeing. "It's ok. Ah, understand. Ah'll admit, Ah can't stand not bein' able to help." She turned her head in the direction of town in the distance, and you could barely make out a few ponies walking around. "Ah guess, Ah'm so used to helpin' save Equestria that bein' on the sidelines doesn't work for me."

'So that's what's been bugging her?' I hadn't considered that the girls might be feeling this way. While I did speculate it, I hadn't expected that it was the case. "Hey, don't worry Applejack I'm sure we'll find a way have you guys help, but for now I need you and the others to do your best that you can. Alright?"

She gave me a small smile before nodding in agreement. "Thanks, Jack. Ah, appreciate the kind words." Now with her work finished, Applejack decided to stretch as well, letting out a light yawn. "Well, ya wait here. Ah, need to get your pay for the help." I had planned to protest, however. "And before ya even say anythin', ya will accept it, and Ah won't take no for an answer. Hehe." She gave me a smile before walking into the house.

I chucked a bit and turned to watch the sun as it slowly moved across the sky, making it light orange with hints of red. 'Now all that is left is Fluttershy.'

====================================

The walk to Fluttershy's cabin was short due to it being close to Sweet Apple Acres, but the walk was long enough for me to think on how I should talk to her about what happened. Little do the others know that Fluttershy is a DigiDestined just like Gabby and Vinyl, this may be me overthinking it, but she could be feeling guilty not being able to help like how Gabby and Biyomon did?

Soon I found myself at her front door, the sun would likely set in the next twenty or so minutes, and while I don't want to rush this the way back to my house would cause me to walk a bit near the Everfree Forest, which can become very active during the night. I took a few deep breaths making sure that I would be careful in my choice of words given how sensitive she can be. 'Well, at least thanks to Rarity I don't have to explain why I'm here, so that should save me some time.'

I knocked on the door three times and patiently waited for her to respond. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long as the door opened, revealing a timid yellow pegasus. "H-hi, Jack, won't you come inside?" She asked while hiding some of her face behind her mane.

I nod and walk in as I moved away from the door to allow me inside. I heard Fluttershy close the door behind me and watched as she walked over to her couch and took a seat. She looks at me before tapping the at the space next to her, inviting me to take a seat. Not one for denying a friend's request, I made my way over and slowly took the seat next to her. The couch was unbelievably soft, yet firm enough not to be uncomfortable. While I was enjoying the comfiness of the couch, I felt something jump into my lap. Looking down, I saw a familiar white bunny, Angle bunny if I'm correct.

He stared at me for a few moments while tilting his head a few times. I slowly moved my hand to try and pet him. While he did seem a bit reluctant to let me do so, he was willing to allow me after a while. I started with petting his head lightly, which if the way he smiled and closed his eye were any indication that he enjoyed it. I then proceeded to scratch under his chin, which to my delight, caused he left foot to start thumbing.

As I was doing so, I had noticed that Fluttershy was staring in awe as I pet Angel. "Wow, I've never seen Angel let anyone besides Starlight pet him like that."

"Well back home, I did have a way with animals, so I guess that applies to Equestrian animals too," I remember the times when I would take long walks around my local park, and every time I did so a man would walk his pit bull too. People would often get scared and move the other way when they saw the two walking down the same path as them. I, however, wasn't scared, and every time our paths crossed the pit bull would be so kind and playful.

"Jack?" I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard Fluttershy call my name. "Sorry, I was just wondering if I can talk to you about something."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead, Fluttershy."

She took a few deep breaths before looking me straight in the eyes with what I imagined to be determination. "I want to help you when you have to fight."

I cocked my head back in surprise, Fluttershy wanted to help me fight? I wasn't sure if I had heard that right and needed to clarify. "You want to help me fight? As in against the bad Digimon?" She nodded without thinking for even a second. "While I appreciate the offer, I got to ask, why all of a sudden?"

She breathed in, and I could see a pained expression. "Because I don't want you to have to fight alone anymore and get hurt while fighting." She reached over and held one of my hands. "After what happened, in Cloudsdale, I felt so guilty because I could have helped just like Gabby did."

I figured as much. "Fluttershy you have to understand that you couldn't do anything becau-"

"Because Koromon and Tsunomon weren't strong enough." She finished my sentence for me. "That's the problem. They're not strong enough because of me."

I was a bit surprised she knew that. "How did...”

"Gabby told me. She told me that a Digimon strength comes from their partners." I could hear how sound she sounded. "It's because of me that Koromon and Tsunomon weren't strong enough to be able to help. Why didn't you tell me?"

This was something I wasn't expecting that I would need to explain to her, but it would seem that I can no longer hide it anymore. "Look, Fluttershy, there are two good reasons why I never told you, the first being that I knew you don't like the idea of fighting and that goes double for your friends." She nodded weakly, knowing that I was right. "And the second reason is mainly on me."

She perked her head and stared at me, confusingly, "What do you mean by that, Jack?"

"Well, the second reason is that I honestly thought I would be able to fight any Digimon or threat that would come our way." I clenched my fist as the memory of getting my ass handed to me back in Cloudsdale rush back. "But because of that I got arrogant and underestimated my opponents and got myself beaten up for it. That's why I needed to tell you, girls, not to feel guilty because it was all my fault. "

"Jack it’s not-"

"YES, IT IS!!!!" I shouted, causing her to jump. "If I wasn't so arrogant, I could have taken them all on, but instead I let myself get cocky and paid the price and nearly got you girls involved!!" I was clenching my fist so hard that my nails dug into my skin, causing it to bleed. "You girls say that you felt guilty for not being able to help, but what does that say for me? I had the means to fight back, but I failed." My head sunk low as I could no longer hold back my tears.

I could feel Fluttershy get up from the couch and leave the room. I stayed there trying to stop my tear but to no avail. I felt my left hand nudged by something soft and warm. When I looked at what it was, I saw that Angel Bunny was still sitting on my lap. His ears sat against his head, and he nuzzled my hand, trying to cheer me up. I felt a tinge bit better as I petted him with my hand that wasn't bleeding, which stung a bit.

While I was petting the little bunny, Fluttershy came back with a small white box with a red cross on it. He opened said box and pulled out a small rag, and a roll of cloth and gently lifted my bleeding hand to her. She gestured for me to unclench my fist. When I did so, she saw that my palm was covered in my blood and gently took the rag and carefully whipped off the blood until she could see where I had cut myself. Grabbing the roll of cloth, she gently wrapped it around my hand a few times. Once it was properly bandaged up, she smiled and gave it small peck causing me to blush a bit.

"Jack, I understand, the others and I have been through the same thing." I was going to protest, but she silenced me by putting her finger to my lips, which caused the already noticeable blush on my cheek to burn a bit more. "I know you feel bad for what happened, and you feel guilty about what happened, but the girls and I know how you feel." She lowered her hand away from my mouth, and she continued.

"There were times when we could have done something, but either didn't or couldn't. Like the time Twilight tried to tell us that at the wedding for Cadence and Shining Armor that something was off about Cadence, but we didn't listen. And because we didn't listen to her Canterlot lot nearly got taken over by Queen Chrysalis."

"So please, Jack don't be so hard on yourself, because it won't do anyone good if you sulk over something that has passed. All that you can do now is learn from your mistakes so that it doesn't happen again. Do you think you can do that, Jack?" She asked while giving me a warm, kind smile.

For some reason, all my pain not just in my hand but in my heart suddenly felt nonexistent. I looked at my hand and thought about what she said; I can't help but smile and look at Fluttershy. "Yeah I think I can and will Flutters" She gave me a big smile and leaned in and hugged me tight to which I returned with vigor.

We stay like this for s few moments before I pulled away and I had decided to try and help Fluttershy with her request. "Okay, Fluttershy if you want to help me, then our first goal is to get Koromon and Tsunomon to reach the rookie level." I was determined to help my friend. However, when I looked at Fluttershy, she had this awkward smile. "Something wrong?"

She let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, um...you see about that." She got back up and moved over to the doorway that led into the kitchen. "Okay, you two. You can come out now."

I had guessed that she was talking to Koromon and Tsunomon, but who came walking through that doorway threw me for a loop. Walking out of the kitchen were two large Digimon. One was a yellow dinosaur and the other another lizard-like Digimon that wore a fur pelt on its body. There standing next to Fluttershy at around waist level was Agumon and Gabumon. I could feel my jaw drop as I stared at these two iconic rookie Digimon.

I don't know how long I was staring for, but when I felt Angel Bunny hop onto my shoulder and clouds my jaw, I snapped back to my senses. "Wah who, and the…..huh?"

"While you were unconscious, I made up my mind that I wanted to help you no matter what. That's when my Digivice started to glow, and these two Digivolved." Fluttershy explained as she and her partner Digimon sat back next to me.

My mind was completely blown away, mostly because on the inside, I was geeking out being able to see my two favorite Digimon of generations one. "Well, I guess your determination to want to change must have triggered the catalyst that allowed your Digimon to ascend to the next level." I scratched the back of my head, seeing one new problem. "I guess it's going to be a bit harder to hide these two from your friends."

Fluttershy chuckled, nervously, as she tried to make eye contact with me and she pressed both her index finger together. "They know." Once again, my jaw went slack. "Well, when Koromon and Tsunomon evolved, I knew it was time, to be honest with my friends. I told them how I wanted to help you more, and they were very supportive." I was going to inquire further when a scroll just popped right in front of Fluttershy. She took the scroll and opened and read its contents before a big smile grew on her face. "Oh, they're ready!"

Once again, I was going to ask what she meant before she quickly got up and grabbed me by the hand and started to drag me to the door. "H-hey, where's the fire, Fluttershy?"

"Sorry, but no time for questions." She gestured with her hands for Agumon and Gabumon to follow. "Come on, you two, you’re coming along too."

"Oh, boy, I can't wait!" Gabumon cheered jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yeah, let’s go. I've been waiting for this!" Agumon equally excited ran past us.

'Do they know something I don't?' I pondered as we left Fluttershy house and down the path that led to Ponyville.

====================================
(Meanwhile in the Everfree Forest)

A two-figures stood in a clearing in the middle of the forest. One was a large injured red stag beetle Digimon that is Kuwagamon while the second was a human-shaped armor clad Digimon, TigerVespamon.

"Look at you, pathetic." TigerVespamon scolded the injured Digimon. "You failed in your mission, and you dare stand here while your comrades were defeated. I should end for your failure." He said coldly pointing one of his swords towards Kuwagamon who shuddered in fear. "However, I might have use for you yet." He sheathed his swords and pulled an orb of data from his back. "This here shall grant you the power to ascend to the next level. Use it and eliminate that human, and you may redeem yourself to our queen."

The orb of data flew out of TigerVespamon hands and into Kuwagamon head, causing the beetle Digimon to glow as its body slowly changed while letting out roars of power. "Savor tonight while you still can, human. It may be your last."

===================================
(In front of Twilight's castle)

From the entire trip from her cabin and past Ponyville, Fluttershy had held my hand as we were soon walking up the step to Twilight's front door. "What's going on, Fluttershy?"

"Hehe. Sorry, Jack, but I can't tell you just yet." She nodded to Agumon and Gabumon, who opened the doors, and she gently pushed me from behind. The inside of the castle was darker than usual with only a few dimly lit lights. "Okay, close your eyes, and no peaking until I say so, okay?"

While a part of me wanted to ask why another part told me that I could trust her knowing she would never lead me astray. I closed my eyes and let her guide my steps as we walked forward. For the entire walk, all I could hear were our footsteps, but after a while, I felt us stop and her turning my body. Then the sound of doors open graced my ears before I was gentle moved forward.

I heard the sound of the doors closing behind us before Fluttershy spoke once more. "Okay, open your eyes."

As I did so and all I could see was darkness as the lights were out, and just as I was about to ask what was going on the lights suddenly turned on, and familiar pink party pone filled my vision. "SURPRISE!!!!"

"GAH!!!" I screamed, and I jumped back in shock only for the back of my head to collide with the door. I slide down on my back until I was sitting on my butt while holding my head.

When I looked up to ask why Pinkie scared me, my eyes widened. The room was filled with all my friends and decorated with red and yellow balloons, streamers, and a banner that read.

Happy 19th Birthday Jack!!!

"Wha…..h-how?" I couldn't form any more words than that as I slowly got back to my feet and stared in awe.

Pinkie Pie bounced over and smiled at me. "It's your birthday party, silly!!" She giggled as she paced a party hat on top of my head.

"But how did you know today was my birthday, I never told anyone," I asked as I walked to the middle of the room and saw tables filled with all kinds of foods, even some meat dishes mostly for the Digimon and me.

Pinkie nervously giggled as she made a little circle on the floor with her hoof as she pulled something out of her pocket and helped it out to me. In her palm was a black leather wallet, or to be a bit more accurate my wallet.

"See when we had to carry you to the hospital and changed your clothes. That was fun by the way, hehe." Pinkie giggled again, and I quickly noticed the other mares blushing a bit. "That’s when this fell out of your pants, and I may have, took a peek inside and found your ID and saw when your birthday was." She smiled before looking down at the floor. "You’re not mad, are you?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Mad? Are you kidding me, Pinkie!?" She winced for a moment before quickly letting out a yelp as I move in and hug her tightly, practically lifting her off her hooves. "How could I be mad for something like this?" I cheered, happily, as I set her down. Pinkie just smiled and hugged me back with everyone else joining in.

"Alright enough with the mushy touchy feelings, let's get this party started!!!" I heard Vinyl call out from a corner of the room where both she and Datamon had set up her DJ equipment.

"Yeah, let's get it started!!" Pinkie shouted, pulling her party cannon out and firing off a blast of confetti and streamer as the music began to blast out.

====================================

The moon was at its peak as me, and my friends partied into the night dance the night away. We ate delicious food and played all kinds of game. However, my least favorite was pin the tail on the pony since when it was Pinkie's turn she had accidentally pinned the tail on me while I was enjoying some food. I hate needles!

During the party everyone chatted with one another, Fluttershy asked Datamon for help with understanding her Digivice and what functions it had. The Digimon mingled and along with Spike who played together, and I noticed that Dorumon was here but not Midnight. I didn't care; she hasn't been doing her 'job' as of late, which I plan to talk to Celestia about later. For now, I was enjoying my favorite kind of cake, an ice cream Oreo cake. I didn't even know they had Oreos here?

When the party had finally died down, and Vinyl and Datamon decided to head home, I thought it was time to call it a night too, however. "Okay, Jackie, it's time for presents!!"

"Presents, you guys didn't need to, you know?" I was quickly pulled and sat down at a table where the girls quickly pushed a long rectangle box that had red wrapping paper and a yellow bow on top. "Well, I guess I can't say no, huh?" They all shook their heads while smiling.

Seeing I had no other option, I decided to examine the box. It wasn't a thick box, so something flat was inside, my first thought was that it was maybe a sword given that the box is flat and long. I began to carefully tear away the wrapping paper and revealed a white box. I placed my hands on either side and carefully slid the lid off to see…"A belt?" Yes inside the box was a brown leather belt. When I looked up to the girls and noticed they had confused expressions on their faces. I quickly realized that what I said sounded rude and tried to bounce back. "I mean WOW a belt! How did you girls know I wanted one? I mean I have been working out, so I lost a bit of weight which made my pants a little lose hehe. This is just what I needed." I laughed nervously.

Applejack was the first to facepalm, making me cringe. "Al'right, who was in charge of putting in the thing?"

The girls quickly turned their heads towards Dash who looked around innocently before chuckling. "Whoops, my bad."

Twilight face palmed next before looking at me. "It’s what on the other of the belt that makes it special, Jack."

I looked back down at the belt and pulled it out and flipped it over. And what I saw made my eyes popped out. Along the middle of the belt were five gems: a ruby, emerald, amethyst, topaz, and a sapphire. When I looked back up, all the girls were smiling warmly. "Are these?" I asked, pointing to the gems, and they all nodded.

Dash pointed to the ruby at the left end. "This will give you three times your normal speed, dude."

Fluttershy pointed to the emerald second to the left. "And this will help you heal faster. That way, we know, you'll be okay after a fight."

Next was Rarity who pointed to the amethyst in the middle. "This will grant you incredible acrobatics skills, which in your use should help you move around much easier."

Pointing to the topaz on the far right Applejack stepped up. "This here topaz will give you the strength of three earth ponies, so y'all have the strength even when you’re not a Digimon."

Last was Pinkie who pointed to the sapphire next to the topaz. "And this will give you super endurance, so you can fight longer and take hits no sweat."

Spike patted the belt itself. "And the belt is from me. I got it from the dragon lands from Ember; she says that this leather is incredibly durable and fireproof, so you don't have to worry about breaking it."

Last but not least was Twilight. "And my gift to you is special because it utilizes all aspects of the belt. I have enchanted it with a spell that will make all the gems skills and abilities passive skill. Which means you won't need to focus on any of them."

It was too good to be true; what I had was essentially was a major power up. Of Course, I knew it was too good since all my previous gem items had one thing in common. "Sooo, what are their drawbacks?" They stayed silent as if they didn't understand what I meant. "You know, like how long do they take to recharge, or what their limits are?"

It seemed like they got what I meant as Twilight stepped forward. I so called it. "Jack unlike your fire band and your aqua ring these gems are the original, not copies."

"Wait. What!?" I took me a few seconds for her words to sink in, and I looked down at the belt in my hands. And then the memory of what Twilight told me about those kinds of gems came to mind. "But you said that those kinds of gems are very expensive. Didn't you?" Both the other girls and she nodded. "I can't accept this! It must have cost you girls some serious bits for each one of these gems."

When I tried to push it away, Twilight stopped me by placing her hands on my own. "Jack listen, we know how much it cost to make this, but we don't care." Soon the other circled me. "This is our way of helping you when you need it most because, with this, we know you'll be even safer than before." Each of them placed a hand on top of my smiling at me. "When you wear this belt, it's like a part of us is with you, and in a way when you fight, we're fighting with you."

I had no words. Never before have I ever felt so happy, and to know I had such amazing friends who were willing to give so much, touched me to my very core. They slowly removed their hands and gestured for me to put on the belt. I looked at the belt seeing my reflection in each of the gems, and for a moment I could have also sworn I saw my friend’s reflection in them too.

I slowly and carefully slipped the belt through the loops of my pants and fastened the buckle. For a moment, I felt no different, I looked down at the belt and watched as the gems began to glow, and their magic started to flow in me. It felt warm and somewhat fuzzy for a bit before slowly fading away. I still felt no different until I noticed that my soreness that I had accumulated over today and from my fight was no longer there. Wanting to see if they were working, I removed the badges from my hand that I had wounded earlier. I saw the wound was no more once I removed the bandages.

I wanted to test out my new found abilities but didn't know how. I looked around until I saw the wall at the far end; it was about a good 5 feet away. I moved away from the ground and got into a runner's position and stared at the wall. Pushing off my back leg, I closed the distance between me and the wall in a matter of seconds. However, I was going to fast that I didn't have the reaction speed to stop before slamming into the wall. "On one hand, that gem Fluttershy gave me is helping with the pain, and on the other, ouch." I fell flat on my back and could hear the girls laughing, and I soon joined them.

I pushed off my hand and flipped backward, landing on my feet with no trouble at all thanks to Rarity's gem. I then tested Applejack's gem by punching a hole through a wall, much to Twilight's dismay. "Eh, he sorry about that." She waved it off as though she was used to it. I wanted to keep testing out my new abilities. "Hey, I'm going to go for a little night time jog, be back in a bit." I didn't bother waiting for a response as I jumped out the open window and landed on the ground with minimal effort.

"Hehe, he's like a colt who got a new toy for Hearts Warming." Twilight chuckled.

====================================

"Wahoo!!" I shouted into the cool night as I jumped from tree top to tree top. The combination of both Rarity's and Applejack's gems made it seem almost as if I was like a ninja. I would push off with the strength of the topaz and land easily on the next branch thanks to the amethyst. "This is so awesome!!!"

I land on a patch of dirt that leads both to the apple farm and Fluttershy's cottage. "Wow, I got here in no time at all. Hey, maybe now I can visit the Digimon village without having to take a chariot." I took a moment to gaze up at the night sky, taking it in and all of its beauty. "Man the night skies back home have got nothing on this place."

As I was making my way back to the castle to help clean up the sound of a loud buzzing noise came from my right. I turned so that I was facing the direction the sound was coming from and saw that I was looking at the Everfree Forest. 'What's that noise coming from?'

I peered into the dark forest, watching for any sign of moment. I waited for seconds waiting for anything to come out until the buzzing noise stopped. "I guess it was noth-" out of the forest came a pair of giant gray pincers coming straight at me. "WHOA!!" I quickly dodged rolled to my left as I watch the gray pincer easily cut through the trees that were behind me.

"Hehe seems like you've improved since the last time we fought human." A dark and raspy voice spoke as the rest of the body that was attached to the pincer steeped out of the trees. With an eyeless face and head with black hair, stood a large insectoid Digimon. "You once knew me as Kuwagamon, but now I stand before you in my ultimate form, I am Okuwamon!!"

'Oh, crap.' I slowly got back up to my feet as I kept my eyes on the ultimate level Digimon. My first option was to speed off and warn the others. However, given his new powers, I wasn't certain that I'd be able to outrun him and warn the girls. 'So that only leaves option two.' I quickly scooped up some loose dirt and tossed it right into Okuwamon face and dashed off in the opposite direction and through along the Everfree tree lines.

"Gahh!!! You're only delaying the inevitable!!!" I Heard Okuwamon shout as I weaved through the trees trying to gain some distance. As I ran, I could hear the sound of trees crashing down behind me getting closer. "I will feast upon your flesh, human!!"

I was so preoccupied looking back that I tripped on a rock and was sent tumbling down to the ground, and just as I was about to get back up Okuwamon was right behind me and swung his arm hitting me dead set on the chest sending my body flying out of the forest and into an opening. My body hit the ground hard and rolling, and while the sapphire did help absorb the brunt of the impact, and the emerald was quickly healing my body, the pain I felt right now was immense.

I tried to get my bearings and saw that I was back at Sweet Apples Acres. 'Damn it! He's stronger than the Digimon I've faced so far.' I could see trees being torn down from the forest ahead as the ultimate level Digimon made his way. 'I'll have to spirit evolve before…..before.' I patted down my pockets, trying to find my D tector. However, I wasn't finding it. "Shit, I left it at the party!!"

I didn’t have enough time to regret my mistake as Okuwamon came out of the trees and smacked right into me, knocking me on my back. I was dazed for a second my vision blurry, and the moment it came back to me, I saw that Okuwamon was about to slam his mandibles down on my body. I quickly use my hands to grab them just before they could make contact. However, the force from the attack forced my body deep into the ground.

As I was struggling to keep his mandibles from crushing my body, Okuwamon started to laugh. "Nyan ha-ha take solace human, for you shall fall by the might of an ultimate level Digimon!" He started to make violently chomps on my body as she tried to push closer. "But do not worry for you won't be traveling to the afterlife alone, for once I have claimed your life, and I shall do the same to your equine friends!!"

A part of me had snapped as the images of my friends dying began to flash into my mind. 'No! I won't let that happen!!' I started to push back, trying to get him off. 'I just...need...something…to….throw…him...off!!!'

DIAMOND STORM!!!!!

BUNNY BLAST!!!!!

PYRO SPHERE!!!!!

Three long-range blasts had struck Okuwamon on its side. "GAH!!! WHO DARES!?" I quickly took this opportunity and rolled out from underneath him and grab him by one of his legs and began to spin his body around. "WHAT!?" I let go of him, sending him flying straight for the Everfree Forest.

I quickly tried to work the call function on my digigaunlet. "Fluttershy!!! Fluttershy, can you hear me!?" I shouted, praying that she responded.

"......Jack, is that you?" I heard Fluttershy call back.

"Yes!! Yes, it's me!! Listen, I don't have much time to explain. I left my D tector somewhere back at the castle, and an ultimate level Digimon is after me!!"

"WHAT!?" I heard more than Fluttershy.

"Listen, I'll explain later. I'm heading back to the castle right now." I was about to sprint off but quickly stopped to see who it was who helped me. I scared the trees and saw no one. "Whoever you are, thank you!" I called out and made a mad dash back to the castle.

====================================

I ran as fast as my feet could carry as I soon approached the castle, Twilight and the others are already on their way. Thankfully thanks to the emerald my body’s wounds had ready healed. I could see the girls heading straight for me, when…."Not so fast human!!" Okuwamon jumped from out of the trees and swung his arm into me, send me flying back. "I'll deal with you later, but for now, I think I'll have a snack."

Okuwamon quickly turned to Twilight and her friends. "You stay away from them, you bastard!!" I quickly jumped on top of his head and started to thrust my fist into his skull.

"GET OF ME YOU WELP!!!" He quickly reached up and grabbed me with one of his pincer arms and tossed me into the side of the castle. "Now then, who's next?"

The impact left me feeling dizzy and unable to focus. My vision was all over the place as I tried to get back onto my feet. When I could finally focus, I saw Fluttershy her Digimon stepping forward. "FLUTTERSHY GET OUT OF GAHH!!" I hacked up some blood as I fell onto my knees still not fully recovered from the impact.

"No, Jack, this time, I won't stand by while my friends get hurt." She stood her ground with Agumon and Gabumon beside her. "I have to be brave so that I can protect my friends!!" As her words echoed on the wind, a bright light started to shine from her pocket. Pulling out the object Fluttershy saw her Digivice begin to glow as two beams of light shot out from her Digivice and onto Agumon and Gabumon and a bright blinding light began to glow.

"Agumon!!"

"Gabumon!!"

"Digivolve to--"

(3rd person)

As the light slowly faded, two large Digimon stood in the place where Agumon and Gabumon stood. The first was a large orange three horned dragon with blue stripes, and what looked like a brown mask at the top of its head. The second was a giant blue wolf with light blue-gray fur and magenta claws.

"Greymon!!" "Garurumon!!"The two Digimon shouted out their names as they stood in front of Fluttershy. Everyone present couldn’t believe their eyes, and no more so than Fluttershy who now witnessed her Digimon partners undergo yet another level of evolution.

"So what if you have two champions Digimon!? I am an ultimate level Digimon and will not lose to two lower-class whelps!!" Okuwamon charged forward ready to inflict damage to the ponies. However, Greymon charged forward, stopping the Ultimate level Digimon in his tracks. "WHAT!?"

"Great Horn Attack!!" Greymon quickly dived in impaling Okuwamon with his three horns and quickly thrusting the insect Digimon back.

As the bug like Digimon fell to the ground, Garurumon jumped atop its body. "Subzero Ice Fang!!" The fangs in his mouth glowed bright white as he chomped down on one of Okuwamon mandibles freezing it completely before snapping it off completely.

"GAHH, YOU INSIGNIFICANT BEAST!!" Okuwamon bellowed as he tried to swipe Garurumon of his chest only for it to backflip out of the way.

While the three Digimon were fighting Jack managed to quickly get to his feet as the emerald gem slowly began to heal his wounds. "There stronger, but they need more help."

"Jack!!" Turning to his right, Jack saw Twilight and the other running towards him. Twilight quickly pulled out his D tector and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Taking the D tector, Jack got into his stance. "Now it's my turn." Pressing the button on the side and a ribbon of data surrounded Jack’s hand. "EXECUTE!!! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!" Flames quickly engulfed him as he spirit evolved. "Agunimon."

Charging forward, Agunimon jumped into the air feet raised as he flew straight for Okuwamon. The insect Digimon didn't see the attack coming and smashed into Okuwamon’s face. Once he landed his mark, Agunimon kicked off the ultimate Digimon head and backed flip back. "So it's you again ?!" Okuwamon barked enraged by the sudden appearance of of the same Digimon from before in Cloudsdale.

"My heart burns for justice like the mighty sun; my crimson flames will burn the wicked to ash. I am Agunimon warrior of fire!!" He shouted, igniting his body in flames as he threw two flaming fists at the bug Digimon. "Greymon and Garurumon, let's show this creepy crawly not to mess with our friends."

"RIGHT!!" The two champion Digimon spoke in unison. Agunimon led the attack by igniting his fist gauntlets, and he started to throw darts of fire. Greymon and Garurumon charged forward slamming their bodies into Okuwamon while either hitting him with their tails or biting into his flesh.

"That's enough! You forced this on yourself!!" Soon Okuwamon's body began to bulge out as his muscles doubled in size, and his claws and mandible grew sharper. “Destructive Impulse!!" He shouted, swinging feverishly like a caged animal. The three champion Digimon all managed to duck or jump out of the way.

"He's lost his mind!!" Jack quickly ran over and started to whale into the berserk Digimon, trying to divert its attention from the ponies.

Greymon took a deep breath, and flame soon began to form in his jaws. "Nova Blast!!" He fired a large flaming ball at the rouge Digimon knocking it over on its side.

Garurumon charged forward, jumping high into the air. "Howling Blaster!!" Blueish white flames shot from its mouth burning the mad Digimon body.

The three champion Digimon stood together as they watched Okuwamon stager to get back onto its feet still letting out roars of a wild beast. Agunimon stepped forward. "Alright, you guys, let's end this. I want you both to use your attacks on me so we can combine out attacks." He looked back at the two. "You with me?" Both Greymon and Garurumon nodded and prepared their attack. Slamming his fists together Agunimon's body ignited and stretching out his arm started to spin rapidly. "Pyro Tornado!!!"

"Nova Blast!!"

"Howling Blaster!!"

The two Digimon fired their attacks into the flaming tornado causing it to spiral with both red, and blue flames. "It's time to end this!!" Using all his might, Agunimon sent the combined attack at the weakened Digimon. Upon impact, the flames completely engulfed the insect Digimon causing it to roar and writhe in agony before its body slowly faded to black, and a ribbon of data emerged. "This time, I won't forget to do this." Summoning his D tector Agunimon pressed one of the buttons and scanned the ribbon of data in. "Fractal Code Digitize." The last of the data was absorbed, showing that Okuwamon data was absorbed and the remaining data transformed into a digiegg and flew into the sky. With the battle over and won, the three Digimon collapsed onto the ground tired and weak.

(Jack POV)

I laid on the ground panting and gasping for air as both I and Agumon and Gabumon had one the battle. "Not…..bad….you...two. “I complemented still gasping for air.

"Th-thanks. You….too." Gabumon gasped trying to return the favor.

"C-can, we eat…..I'm starving." I chuckled as I thought I hear Agumon's stomach glowing from here.

"Hehe…., yeah…., let's….do that."

(TigerVespamon POV)

Standings top the clock tower in town TigerVespamon watched as the battle came to an end. "It seems that Okuwamon has failed once again." He voiced his anger. "No matter, our queen will have her prize, and soon Equestria and all its creatures will now before her hooves." Spreading his wings, the mega Digimon took flight and disappeared into the night.

(Jack POV)

I groggily climbed into my bed after having my wounds treated, and my stomach filled with delicious food once again. After the fight, everyone praised both Agumon and Gabumon for their incredible fight. But they weren't the only ones receiving praise, Fluttershy was also cheered for by both her friends and her Digimon partners for her act of friendship and courage.

"Looks like I won't be fighting alone anytime soon." I smiled as I looked over at my dresser where my new belt hung. And to finish this night off, I did as I always do, recall the events of today.

What started as nothing more than a typical Sunday turned out to be an incredibly eventful afternoon? From having bathed with Pinkie and receiving a kiss that I can barely describe, to going around talking to my friends and making things right.

My thoughts stopped as I thought about what Twilight said. "Queen Chrysalis, huh? The former Changeling Queen might be making her move. Maybe I should pay a visit to the current ruler to see if he knows anything that can help me track her down."

The memories continued as I remembered Fluttershy words and how I shouldn't dwell on the past, but learn from it instead. And next was my amazing birthday party, which I almost considered not celebrating, and receiving amazing gifts.

"And now for the more unpleasant memories." The fight with Okuwamon as he knocked me around town. But that when my memories come to a stop again. When I was pinned down in Sweet Apple Acres, something or someone had helped me. But it all happened so fast that I couldn't remember the attacks that were called out. "Who was it that saved me back there?"

I shrugged my shoulders and laid on my side as I resumed in my thoughts. While the fight did leave me bruised and in pain, I had to admit fighting alongside my two favorite Digimon was a dream come true. "Worth it."

With all my memories looked over, I slowly closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. But there was something about today that kept me awake, some memory that I overlooked. I quickly played the events if today my mind stopped at the moment, I couldn't forget causing a to sit up grabbing my head. "I kissed a princess today!!" I could feel my face burning as I plopped down onto my pillow, unconscious.