Our Digital Friends (MLP X Digimon)

Chapters

Explaining Digimon
Prologue/Egg Finding
Morning Digimon
Babies And Rookies
Digimon Party
VS Gazimon
Digivolve To Champion
The Princess Visits
Pecking at a Grudge
Boasting and Regrets

Explaining Digimon

“I am so, so, so, so sorry, Princess! I had no clue you were coming by today! Oh, this place is a mess! Spike, why didn’t you let me know about this! I would’ve-“ Twilight kept dashing to and fro around the main room of her home, her mouth running a mile a minute. The other occupants of the room watched as her body turned into a purple blur, dashing from one end of the room to the other. Her magic was working overtime to pick up the scattered scrolls and papers along the floor. Well, “scattered” wasn’t necessarily the right word. It was more like pages upon pages of notes organized into neat piles along the floor or table. There was still enough room for anypony to make it through the room. It was just that the scrolls and such were very obviously not supposed to be there.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy tried to say something, but her quiet voice couldn’t reach the panicking Twilight Sparkle.

“I knew I shouldn’t have neglected my schedule today! This always happens whenever I do!”

“Twi?” Spike tried to step forward, but was knocked back by the wind pressure Twilight kicked up as she ran. Babs grabbed him before the baby dragon could hit the ground, but Spike’s eyes still swirled from the impact.

“I didn’t even have prepare anything to eat! This is so, so, so bad! Don’t worry, Princess Celestia! I promise I’ll get you some-“

What finally stopped Twilight was a gloved hand grabbing her tail as she tried to rush by its owner. Her body stretched a bit as her momentum was suddenly arrested by an opposing force. She gasped as she was pulled back by the force. She came to a stop, being dangled in the air by the owner of the gloved hand, Cornelius. The Wizarmon X lifted Twilight up until he was looking her in the eye. His voice was calm as he spoke, “I believe you can calm down, Twilight. Things are not as bad as they seem.”

“Not as bad!?” Twilight flailed her hooves around in the air, locks of her mane sticking out to emphasize her panicked state, “Not as bad!? Cornelius, Princess Celestia is in my home unexpectedly! I don’t have anything prepared for her arrival, and my home is a mess!”

“Perhaps. But she doesn’t seem to mind that much,” Cornelius waved toward the alicorn in question. Twilight followed his movement to see her mentor giggling at the whole situation. She was lying down on the left side of the room, where the least amount of piles were. To her left lay Fluttershy, the pegasus nervously smiling while nodding her head at Twilight. Hovering above the two, his wings flapping every now and then to keep him afloat, was Lucemon. His lips were curled into an innocent smile, but his eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.

Twilight blushed, a nervous laugh escaping her lips as she gazed up at Cornelius, “Ehehehe...uh...right. Um...you can set me down now.”

Cornelius obliged, gently lowering Twilight onto her hooves and releasing her tail. She sat down and started using her hooves to fix her mane, while her horn glowed to put some of the scrolls in their proper places. Cornelius grabbed one of the scrolls and then waved for Spike to come over. Shaking his confusion off, Spike got to his feet and hurried over to Twilight. As he helped her with her mane, Princess Celestia spoke up, “I do apologize for not informing you of my arrival, Twilight. But the circumstances led me to believe that leaving as soon as possible would be the best idea. Both to investigate an event that occurred with the Elements of Harmony, and to meet these Digimon you wrote so much about in your letter.”

“What?!” worry immediately creased Twilight’s expression at the Princess’ words, “What’s wrong with the Elements?! Do we need to head to Canterlot?”

“Be at peace, Twilight Sparkle. There is no need for panic. I have already found the answer to what happened yesterday. And it all stems from those Digivices on your hooves,” Celestia pointed toward the device tied around Twilight’s hoof. The sash holding it in place was a light fuchsia that complemented the lavender color of her Digivice. Multiple sparkling purple stars stood out along the body of the device. As Twilight looked down at her right hoof, Celestia continued, “It seems that, after your Digimon 'evolved' as you put it, those devices came out of the Elements of Harmony. I can only assume that they're directly connected to both them and all of you.”

“Hmm, that answers one of our theories,” Cornelius lifted one of the scrolls from a nearby table along with a quill. He started marking things out on the parchment as he spoke, “The Digivices you all received are, in fact, directly connected to your Elements. Their arrival coincided with our evolution to our Champion forms. By this logic, we Digimon are indeed directly connected to the Elements of Harmony. How fascinating.”

Twilight's brows furrowed as she lifted a scroll and quill with her magic. As it wrote, she continued to speak, “But it doesn’t explain why that’s the case. You all weren’t there when we first got the Elements, and it’s hardly been a day since you all first arrived. Not to mention that Spike doesn’t have an Element, yet he got a Digivice as well. Could it have something to do with how you Digimon are sensitive to emotional bonds?”

“I’d imagine so. Hmm, perhaps the bonds are simply something that affects us Digimon. It could be that Spike’s relationship with you may have influenced the creation of the Digivices.”

“Or maybe they’re a reward. I don’t think the Elements would give us rewards for what we did yesterday. But maybe adding Digimon to the mix muddies how they work? I wish I had my Element here. Then I could-“

Spike’s loud groan got the two of them to stop talking. He looked over at Princess Celestia and waved his claws at the two, “See? They’ve been like this all night! Ever since we got home, they’ve been doing nothing but talking and writing about Digimon and stuff. The only times they stopped were when Twilight sent you that letter and when Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie came by.”

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow as her horn started to glow a bright gold. She levitated some of the scrolls to read and hummed, “I see. Is this true, Twilight?”

Twilight blushed again, putting down the scroll and quill while avoiding Celestia’s eyes, “Ahaha...uh...yes, Princess. We may have gotten a little carried away.”

Celestia turned her attention to Fluttershy, “And what about you, Fluttershy?”

“Oh...I...um,” Fluttershy started drawing circles on the floor with a hoof, “I...uh...I wanted to...talk with Twilight about...Lucey.”

At the sound of his name, Lucemon floated down to land just behind Fluttershy. He gently grabbed her around the chest with his arms. She let out an “Eeep” as he lifted her up and hugged her close to his chest. He sat down, laying his head against her mane, and looked at Celestia, “Fluttershy tried to turn me back into my previous form. But her Digivice kept saying she couldn’t. We came here to see if Twilight could find out why, ran into Pinkie and Cutie along the way, and now we’re here. I was flying around to give Twilight and Cornelius some material they could study when you came in.”

Celestia looked at the strange Digimon up and down. Her eyes shifted to Fluttershy, who was trying to comprehend being held by her Digimon. Her gaze soon landed on the yellow mare’s right hoof, and the Digivice wrapped around it. A peach-colored sash kept the yellow device snugly fastened to her hoof. Her cutie mark was imprinted all over the device, much like Twilight’s. Then Celestia turned back to Twilight Sparkle, “While it is good to be curious, Twilight, it is not healthy to neglect your basic needs. Sleep and food are just as important as knowledge.”

“But there’s so much to learn!” Twilight responded with raised hooves, “These Digimon are completely new species that come from an entirely new world that we know nothing about! We could be standing on the precipice of something amazing for Equestria and-“

Her tirade was interrupted by a loud grumble echoing through the room. Everypony present blinked before looking at the source. Twilight placed both her hooves over her stomach as she tried to smile through the embarrassment, “Hehehe...never mind. I guess I could take a little break. Speaking of, where’s Pinkie Pie?”

As if on cue, the door to the kitchen was kicked open. As everypony’s attention went to it, they saw a familiar pink tail peaking out of the door. Followed by the aforementioned pink pony backing up out of door. She was making loud sounds in between saying, “Hold her steady, Cutie! Watch the tippy-top of the door! And the sides! And the landing so you don’t trip!”

“I have it, I have it, I have it!” another voice, higher-pitched and sounding a bit strained, said as “Cutie” made her way through the door after Pinkie Pie. The Shortmon was holding a large platter over her head with both hands, moving carefully to avoid letting its contents touch the walls. When everypony’s eyes fell upon the platter, they saw-

“Cake?!” Twilight, Fluttershy, Spike, and Celestia all exclaimed simultaneously. The Digimon didn’t react to the revelation, except for Bab, who started drooling at the sight of the food.

“Yeppers!” Pinkie said, giggling as she led her Digimon over to the table in the middle of the room. Despite being the same color as her fur, her pink Digivice could be clearly seen on her left hoof. It was tied to her with a bright blue sash and had the balloons of her cutie mark plastered all over the body. She stepped back and said, “Okay, Cutie! Set her down!”

The Shortmon did as asked, letting out a short grunt as she did so. Now that it was on the table, the occupants were able to get a good look at the object. As white as the driven snow, as tall as Pinkie Pie, and wide enough to cover the platter, the cake seemed to be “split” into two sides. One side was a standard vanilla cake with swirls made of strawberry icing dotted across the top. The other side looked the same, except that a multitude of gemstones seemed baked into the cake itself. Emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and more all sparkled in the light of the sun. The sight made Spike start drooling as well. Letting out a sigh, Cutie reached into her chest pockets and withdrew a stainless steel cake knife along with a small tower of plates. She turned to the room’s occupants and, with a bright smile on her face, said, “So, who wants the first slice?”

“Me!” Spike, Babs, and Pinkie all said in unison, all three dashing to stand by Cutie’s side. Without a word, Cutie easily cut two slices out of the gem half of the cake, handing one to Spike and one to Babs. The two dragons licked their lips as they walked off to enjoy their meals. Cutie turned the cake’s platter around and started cutting into the regular part to get Pinkie her slice.

“Wh-Wha-Bu-How?!” Twilight shouted, glancing at the kitchen door with her eyes wide, “How did you make a cake in our kitchen?! We didn’t have all the ingredients for it!”

“A good patisserie excels in two things. Firstly, the willingness to serve customers with politeness and a bright smile,” Cutie said as she handed Pinkie her slice of cake. Pinkie thanked her before hopping over to an open spot next to Princess Celestia. She greeted the Princess and then started to dig into her food. Cutie took a wipe out of her chest pocket and used it to clean the cake knife. She smiled over at Twilight and said, “And secondly, always being prepared to work with limited resources. The gems were the hard part. Fortunately, I found some in a bucket beneath the kitchen sink. Oh, was that yours, Spike?”

Spike was already shoving his cake slice into his mouth. He nodded but said through crunchy bites of his cake, “Yeah, but don’t worry! This stuff is delicious enough for me to forgive you for it!”

“Why, thank you, young drake,” Cutie gave the dragon a short bow. Then she turned to Princess Celestia and gave a deeper, more proper bow, “And what of you, Princess Celestia? Will you do this novice patisserie the honor of trying her latest creation?”

Celestia, with a calm smile on her face, nodded, “Of course. Although I am the one who should be honored to receive such a gift.”

“Your words are like cake icing on my heart; sweet, filling, and smile-inducing! You get two slices for that!” Cutie’s hands were a blur as she cut two slices of the normal cake and tossed them onto a plate. She stabbed the cake knife into the cake and then pulled some silverware out of another pocket on her jacket. Carrying both over to Celestia, she let the Alicorn pick it up with her magic. With one last bow, Cutie proceeded to walk back to the cake and began passing out slices to anypony who didn't have any. Lucemon put Fluttershy down and took the plate with two cake slices in his hands. He used one of the forks to cut a piece out of it, then pointed it toward Fluttershy's mouth. With a nervous smile, Fluttershy opened her mouth while Lucemon placed the fork in her mouth. As she chewed, he used the same fork to eat his own piece of cake, though he did so quickly that nopony seemed to notice.

Twilight continued to stare at Cutie, her eye twitching even as her own slice of cake sat untouched in front of her hooves. Parts of her mane started to stick out as she spoke, “Bu-But-But that doesn’t explain how?! Where did you get-“

“Twilight,” Cornelius spoke up, picking up her plate and his own, then placing both on a nearby chair that was big enough to hold both. He looked down at his tamer and said, “I believe that the origins of Shortmon’s ingredients can be explained by a previous theory of ours. The one that concerned us Digimon and our ability to create what we need within the capacity of our station.”

Twilight’s twitching stopped as a contemplative expression came over her face. Her head slowly nodded as she brushed her mane back to normal with her hooves, “Hmm, yes. You might be right about that. This is the theory on how you’re able to summon a staff whenever you want, regardless of the laws of physics, right?”

“Indeed,” Cornelius answered, twirling his hand as a long, wooden staff appeared in a flash of light. Said staff had a gnarled and twisted shaft that seemed to fit perfectly in Cornelius’ palm. The top of the staff had been carved into a sun with seven points sticking out the sides. The middle of the sun was cracked open, revealing a strange, white rock placed inside, resembling the Digivice on Twilight's hoof in many ways. It even had a star engraved just above the rock. He held it across his arms as he continued, “Much like how I am able to do this, Cutie can use the data within her digicore to create the things she needs within reason.”

Twilight nodded as her horn lit up. She picked up some of the scrolls and prepared to write down what Cornelius had said. However, the sound of somepony clearing their throat gave her pause. She looked up to see Princess Celestia staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Nervously smiling, Twilight set the scrolls down and picked up her plate to eat some cake. Smiling, Princess Celestia spoke up, “Very good, Twilight. Once you’ve eaten, how about you tell us about some of these theories that Cornelius mentioned. I’m rather interested in learning more about your new friends.”

“Y-Yes! Of course, Princess!” Twilight proceeded to shovel the cake into her mouth and swallow it as quickly as she could. Pinkie and Spike giggled at her actions, while Fluttershy quietly whispered for her to be careful. Cornelius took his cake, then turned his back to everypony in the room. He pulled down his mask and began eating his own slice. Surprisingly, he made no noise as he did so. Within seconds, he pulled his mask back up and turned around. He cleared his throat, tapped his staff against the floor, and an azure blue aura appeared around its top head. A large whiteboard with multiple markers rolled into the room, surrounded by the same azure blue aura. Cornelius tapped his staff against the floor again, and the aura disappeared as he moved to stand next to the whiteboard.

He waited for Twilight to finish eating, then move to stand next to the whiteboard with him before he began to speak, “Throughout the night, Twilight and I had been discussing anything and everything we could think of regarding Digimon. The differences between us and ponies, how the emotional connection between Twilight, her friends, and us works, how our evolutions work, and anything else we thought would be pertinent information to know.”

“And what we found kept us up all night,” picking one of the markers in her magic, Twilight started to write on the whiteboard as she spoke, “Firstly, we have confirmation that Digimon do, indeed, come from a separate world from ours.”

“Not that hard to figure out,” Spike said, rubbing Babs’ head and scratching him around his scales. Babs smiled while pushing his head into Spike’s hand, one of his legs thumping against the floor. Spike chuckled and said, “I’m pretty sure somepony would’ve heard about guys that look this cool.”

“But it’s more than that,” Twilight continued as she kept drawing on the board, “They don’t just come from a different world than us. They come from a place with completely different rules. Nature is completely automatic, with plants growing on their own and rain coming whenever it wants or needs to. And it comes back to a specific fact about their world that makes it completely different from ours. Our world is made up of physical matter, magic, and chemicals, their ‘Digital World’ is made up of a single defining element: Data.”

Twilight stopped writing and stepped aside to reveal a relatively simple drawing of a world, with multiple arrows pointing toward it with the word “Data” written above them. Fluttershy and Pinkie “oohed” at the reveal, while Cutie and Lucemon simply nodded. Celestia stared at the board with a curious expression on her face as she spoke up, “Fascinating. And what exactly is ‘Data’?”

Twilight frowned and said, “I’m afraid to say this, but my understanding of what data is exactly is...limited. I understand that it’s information and seems to be how Digimon are able to do things that seem like magic. But Cornelius can explain it better than I can.”

All eyes turned to the Wizarmon X. With a slight nod, he stepped up to the whiteboard, erasing what was there with his sleeve. He picked up one of the markers and drew a circle with two rings around it. Then he stepped back and pointed at it, “This is a Digicore. It is a Digimon’s soul. It not only allows us to exist and live, but also stores all the information from the data we receive upon our evolutions. This data is then processed by the Digicore, and through it, our items and other aspects are created. For instance, my robes are formed from my Digicore processing the data related to them and then projecting it onto my body.”

“So, the reason Lucemon has six wings is because that’s the ‘data’ that his Digicore is processing?” Celestia asked while looking at the Digimon in question.

Lips curling into a cheeky smile, Lucemon flapped his two upper wings as the Princess’ attention fell on him, “Why yes, indeed it is. Though I have to say that they are not nearly as beautiful as yours or Fluttershy’s wings, Princess.”

Fluttershy blushed but quietly said, “Th-That’s not, um, true. I...I think your wings are lovely.”

Lucemon used one of his lower wings to rub under Fluttershy’s chin while he placed a hand on her head, “Thank you, Fluttershy. Your kind words are always treasured by me.”

Fluttershy giggled as Lucemon rubbed behind her ears. Pinkie hopped up from where she was seated and dashed over to Cutie. She began hopping around her Digimon with a huge smile on her face, “Oh, oh! Does that mean that Cutie is made up of a bunch of data-ma-whatsits about strawberry shortcake!”

Drool leaked from Pinkie Pie’s mouth as she mumbled something about “Shortcake Data”. Cutie chuckled and handed her another slice of cake. As Pinkie thanked her, Cutie explained, “Yes, but no, silly Pinkie. Data is kind of weird. Cause while we can use it for things like this, it’s not something we can use all willy-nilly. And it’s not something you can physically touch. Think of it like silly string, but it’s invisible.”

Everypony’s eyes turned back to Cornelius. He seemed to grimace but nodded, “While I wouldn’t describe it that way, Cutie is not wrong. Data is invisible and can’t truly be touched or seen by the naked eye. At least, not within this world. In the Digital World, you could see and touch data as the entire world is made from it. And due to how data is simply information, it stands to reason that the Digital World is a world filled with a varying amount of information. All processed in different ways to create the world itself. Which would then mean the inhabitants themselves are just as varied as the world itself.”

“Thus, Digimon,” Twilight continued, using a marker to create rudimentary drawings of the Digimon in the room, “This would explain why the Digimon we’ve seen are so different from each other. All their Digicores processed different data when they were in their Digitama, or egg, forms and evolved to that state. That is how all their subsequent evolutions work. This explains why some of the evolutions have been radically different from their previous forms, such as Cutie changing from a rabbit to a walking strawberry shortcake."

“Yeppers!” Cutie said as she cut the cake into its last few slices and laid them all out on the table on plates for anypony to get. She took one herself and moved to sit by Pinkie, the two giggling as they noticed the cake icing stuck to the party pony’s nose.

“But....um..., but what about when I, uh, found them as eggs?” Fluttershy asked, shuddering as Lucemon’s hand moved to her other ear. She stifled a happy sigh as his fingers traced around the back of her ear.

Twilight smiled and spun her marker around in the air. Next to her, Cornelius was using his own marker to draw basic pictures of Twilight and her friends. Twilight continued to speak while looking at everypony else, “That’s because data in and of itself is not enough for the change to occur. It forms the basis of their evolution and helps them discover what they will become upon evolving, but they need something else. They need a stimulus. Something that can kickstart their change into a new form. Sometimes it’s age, but a much more potent force is...”

“The Magic of Friendship,” Cornelius and Twilight said in unison, both tapping their markers against the whiteboard. It now displayed two images side by side. On the left were the Digimon in their Rookie Forms, and on the right were Twilight and her friends. Between them were drawings of the Elements of Harmony shining brightly.

Pinkie and Cutie clapped at the revelation, while Spike rolled his eyes. Celestia, however, smiled with pride at her student’s conclusion, “That is wonderful! This would be confirmation the bond you've formed with your Digimon is what caused the lights emanating from the Elements yesterday?”

“Indeed. Though, I would like to add an addendum to that information,” Cornelius said while putting his marker down, “It is not just friendship, but emotions in general. We Digimon are very empathetic and can be heavily influenced by the feelings of those around us. None more so than our Partners.”

Twilight held up her right hoof to let everypony see her Digivice. Once she had everypony’s attention, she tapped on the screen a few times, causing it to light up. Twilight’s horn emitted a magenta aura that surrounded the Digivice. As she did this, the screen on the Digivice floated into the air. Spike wiped the cake and gem dust off his mouth and crawled closer to get a better view. Babs followed him, accidentally tripping over the baby dragon and causing them both to tumble to the floor. After shaking off the impact, they managed to get close enough to sit next to Twilight. By that time, a white screen was hovering in front of Twilight. Her magic’s aura glowed around the edges, while the screen displayed an image of Cornelius on the right side. On the left side, there was a long list of numbers and letters that nopony could make sense of. Save for the three at the top that read “Friend/Tamer/Partner: Twilight Sparkle”, “Digimon: Wizarmon X (Cornelius)”, and “Stage: Champion”.

“Oooohhh! Pretty! Can mine do that cool thing too?” Pinkie asked, already preparing to slap her hoof against her Digivice.

“Possibly,” Twilight answered as Pinkie started rapidly pressing her hoof against the screen of her own Digivice. The unicorn pressed her hoof against the image of Cornelius on her Digivice, causing the one floating above her to glow, “Whatever these Digivices are, they seem to have been made with the idea of a Digimon finding a friend in mind. It records the fact that I bonded with Cornelius, though I’m unsure why I’m also called a Tamer. None of the Digimon are animals, after all.”

“Don’t. Know. Either,” Babs spoke up, his voice rumbling a bit, “But. Feels. Right.”

“And what’s happening with the image of Cornelius on the right?” Celestia asked as the glow covered the entire image. A second later, the image split in two. On one side was Cornelius in his Wizarmon X form, while on the other was his Lopmon X form. Above both, the word “Change?” flashed multiple times.

“That,” Twilight began, “is how we can change our Digimon’s forms. By placing our hooves on the image, we gain access to this process. All I have to do is touch Cornelius Lopmon X form, and he’ll transform into it in a few moments.”

Cornelius nodded to confirm Twilight’s words, “This is true for all of us Digimon... save for one.”

As Cornelius turned his eyes toward Lucemon, everypony else in the room followed suit. Lucey and Fluttershy both glanced up when they noticed all eyes on them. Fluttershy attempted to conceal herself behind her mane, while Lucey simply smiled and shrugged, “It’s true. As I stated prior, Fluttershy can't turn me back to my Cupimon form. We wanted to ask Twilight about it, but I think that can wait until later.”

“Y-Y-Yes....th-th-though, I kind of wish...I...um, got to see more of your, um, Cupimon form. It was...really, uh, cute,” Fluttershy, realizing what she just said, quickly shook her head while looking up at Lucemon, “N-N-Not that you’re not, um, cute Lucey. I’m sorry if, um, that’s what-“

Lucemon lowered his finger and placed it on Fluttershy’s lips to gently silence her. His angelic smile remained as he spoke, “There’s nothing to apologize for, Fluttershy. I understand what you meant. However, I doubt you’ll think the same when I demonstrate what I can truly do with my fingers.”

Fluttershy looked confused, but Lucemon only chuckled. Cornelius cleared his throat and then continued, “Yes. We were unable to get to that because we were...distracted by other things.”

“Ah, I see. And, Pinkie Pie and Cutie just came along?”

“Yep! I felt like something cool was gonna happen! So I didn’t wanna miss it!” Pinkie admitted with a giggle.

“And I came along for the same reason!” Cutie declared with a raised hand.

Princess Celestia chuckled. However, her expression fell somewhat as she turned back to Twilight and said, "Then that just leaves one final question: The Digimon who attacked Ponyville. Do you know why they came here, or even where they came from?”

Both Twilight and Cornelius grimaced. They looked at each other, nodded, then Cornelius began to explain, “We...don’t. Well, it would be more accurate to say that we don’t know much.”

“We know that they likely came from the Digital World, and that they came here on behalf of the ‘Dark Area Invasion Army’,” Twilight wrote the name out on the whiteboard, brows furrowed in contemplation, “Whatever that means. We can assume they got here the same way that our Digimon did. This implies that there must be a method for Digimon to transport themselves between here and the Digital World. But...”

“We are completely in the dark as to how that is possible. And that is, unfortunately, our fault,” Cornelius put a hand on his head in frustration, “Our memories of our time in the Digital World are...limited to say the least. Though it seems that we gain more of them as we reach higher stages, as I certainly remember more about our home than when I was a Baby or Rookie. I can even recall how some of the natural processes work. But...I can’t recall what this ‘Dark Area’ is, or where their ‘Invasion Army’ came from.”

“All we know is that this likely isn’t the last we’ve seen of them. They made it very clear that their plan was to take over not just Ponyville, but all of Equestria. And I doubt they’d feel that confident if a couple of Rookie Stage Digimon were all they had in their forces,” the two’s conclusion made the mood in the room drop quite a bit. Celestia looked pensive, Fluttershy was shaking so much Lucey had to hold her in place, and Spike was hugging Babs to calm himself down. The only ones not feeling down were Pinkie Pie and Cutie, as the latter checked the former’s mane for something to improve the mood.

However, before they could do anything, a small, squeaky voice spoke up from somewhere, “E-E-Excuse m-m-me.”

Everypony searched for the source of the sound, not seeing anypony it could have come from. That is, until Celestia noticed a small light glowing next to her right hoof. Everypony followed her gaze to see a Baby Digimon standing next to her. She smiled down at the orange Digimon, “Well, hello there. And who would you be, little one?”

“I-I-I-I’m Sunmon,” the orange Digimon said, the flame on his head wavering as he looked up at Princess Celestia, “A-A-Are you the Princess who raises the s-s-sun every day?”

“Why, yes, indeed I am. Princess Celestia, at your service.”

Sunmon’s flame increased in size slightly, his voice shaking as he tilted his head up to meet Princess Celestia, “W-W-Wow! You’re really tall a-a-and pretty.”

Princess Celestia giggled, then patted Sunmon’s head with her hoof, “Your compliments are most welcome, Sunmon. I also think you look rather cute. Hmm, that flame atop your head. Is it real fire?”

“N-No! It’s part of my body! It’s my way of representing the sun. Because...I...I really like the sun. It lights up the whole world, warms ponies up when they’re cold, helps plants grow, and...and...um...lots of...stuff,” a blush somehow came over Sunmon’s face and only grew redder as he kept talking.

Celestia's smile remained as she lowered her head and lightly kissed Sunmon’s cheek. The Baby Digimon froze in place as she said, “Well said. I hope I can live up to your great expectations, Little Sun.”

“L-L-Little-!” Sunmon’s flame suddenly shot up, then got smaller as steam came out of the top of his head. His eyes rolled back as his lips curled into a dopey smile. With a happy sigh, he fell back and hit the floor, giggling and repeating what Celestia said over and over again.

Pinkie Pie, Cutie, and Spike all started laughing at the reaction, while Fluttershy got up to check on the fallen Baby Digimon. Babs, after seeing Spike laughing, also began to openly laugh at the display. Princess Celestia placed a hoof over her mouth as she stood up and moved her empty plate to the side. She looked over at Twilight and said, “You have done well, Twilight Sparkle. You too, Cornelius. You have given me much to think about and look into. I assure you that I will do everything in my power to find where this Invasion Army came from. In the meantime, I believe you all should take the time to introduce your Digimon to the rest of Ponyville. You can never have too many good friends.”

“As you say, Princess,” Twilight and Cornelius bowed to Celestia. The Princess reciprocated the gesture before her horn lit up, and she vanished in a flash of golden light. As soon as she disappeared, Twilight collapsed to the floor, panting heavily. Her eyelids drooped, and she gazed up at Cornelius, saying, "Th-Thank goodness. I-I-I don’t know how much longer I could’ve gone for. I-I feel so tired.”

Cornelius crouched low and picked Twilight up in his arms, “I understand. I’ll take you to bed. Thank you for coming by, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Lucey, Cutie. I hope you all have a good day. Come along, Spike, Babs. Once I put Twilight to bed, I’ll need you two to help me organize all these scrolls and books.”

“R-Right, right. Come on, Babs,” Spike said between chuckles as he got to his feet. Babs did the same, and the two dragons followed Cornelius up the stairs to Twilight’s bed.

“Come on, Cutie! We need to get everypony’s evolution parties ready!” Pinkie said as she bounced toward the door. Cutie followed behind, keeping pace with the party pony while checking her inventory.

“It seems that he will be alright,” Lucey said as he and Fluttershy laid a passed-out Sunmon down on a nearby pillow, “Shall we return home as well? I believe that Angel will need his daily fluffing soon.”

“Oh, you’re right, Lucey,” Fluttershy said as she flapped her wings, “Um, lets go home. Goodbye, Twilight, Cornelius, Spike, Babs, Pinkie Pie, Cutie.”

“Farewell, everypony,” Lucemon said as he took to the air with Fluttershy. The two hovered their way out of the room and into Ponyville beyond.

Author's Note

Finally got this finished! Jesus! Sorry it took so long. This being a transitory Chapter and my new strategy of working on one of my writing projects per week made it difficult for me to write. Not to mention that I got sick at the start of this week, which made things even worse!

Other than that, I hope you all enjoy and I would like you to know I have finished Season 3 and have just finished the first two episodes of Season 4.

Prologue/Egg Finding

The Digital World.

A world that came into being along with the creation of the internet. Within moments of its creation, the world expanded into multiple different variants of itself. Within moments a form of life was created within this world that soon populated every inch of it.

Digimon. Digital Monsters.

These strange creatures are born within the Digital World and die within the Digital World. It is their birthplace and where they call home. However, the Digital World is not one singular place. Because its creation is tied to the advent of the internet, the Digital World has expanded far beyond its home universe. It has split into multiple servers that are entire worlds in and of themselves. Some of which are so different from the main server, that they could theoretically exist long after the main server goes down.

This has led to many Digital Worlds that are completely different from each other. Their histories, the Digimon who live there, the fundamental laws of their worlds. All these and more can be totally distinctive when compared to even the main server. And it is one of these worlds that happens to find itself drifting through the multiverse. While many of this world’s fundamental laws are the same as the main universe, it has deviated enough that it can survive without its connection to the main server. And, unbeknownst to the main server, that is a very fortunate thing.

For this Digital World is facing a time of strife.

A battle between good and evil rages within this Digital World. Forces of the Dark Area, a place filled with the worst Digimon the world has to offer, seek to destroy this server before moving on to another to do the same there. The forces arrayed against these evil Digimon have managed to keep them in check, both sides having their own powerful warriors that can cause immense damage to the other. If nothing changed, then perhaps this would remain the status quo for years to come.

However, something did change.

As it drifted away from the main server, this Digital World soon stopped just above a different world. One far, far away from their origin point. A land filled with magic and wonder. One that had technological advancements, but hadn’t even grasped the concept of the internet.

A world...filled with magical, small equines.

It didn’t take long for the Digital World to establish a secret connection with this one. The world’s low technology level allowed for multiple invisible pathways to attach themselves to various places in the world. And, within a few days, the Dark Area Digimon immediately made plans to invade this new world. Believing that their primitive technology and weak magical prowess would make them easy pickings for their dreaded armies. However, the Digimon who opposed them discovered this plan before it was enacted.

In order to thwart their dastardly schemes, the leader of the good aligned Digimon, Yggdrasil, gathered together numerous unhatched Digi-Eggs. With the blessing of the guardian of the Digital World, they were sent through various Digital Gates and into the world below. With them went the hope that they would find locals who would take them in and care for them. Those who did would become their Partners.

And, through their Bonds of Friendship and Love, they would become this world’s greatest protectors.

Thus this new story begins...as nine Digi-Eggs arrive at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Just outside a certain yellow mare’s house in Ponyville.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy’s soft voice could barely be heard above the sound of the wind rustling the trees around her home. The mare’s yellow fur and pink mane and tail stood out in the dark of the night. She idly flapped her wings as she leaned her head down to get a better look at the strange sight she found in the middle of the night. Luna’s moon shined down from above, covering the land in its soft light.

And illuminating the clutch of brightly colored eggs that were laying a few steps away from her home.

There were nine of them in total, and they all had different colors and patterns on them. Some were red and black, some were blue and yellow, and one was even a plain white color. Their smooth surfaces reflected the light of the moon into the air making each one shine all the brighter. Fluttershy looked at all the eggs with a curious smile on her face, “And what are you doing out here all alone little eggies? Shouldn’t you be with your mommies?”

As she observed each egg, her smile began to fade somewhat. Confusion came over her face as she paid a bit more attention to their structure, “I don’t think I’ve seen eggs like you before.”

It was true. Most of the eggs laid by the animals she knew of were usually small enough to fit in the palm of her hoof. These were as big as her front legs and looked more like...dragon...eggs.

“Eeep!” Fluttershy started to shiver as she looked around, expecting a huge, scary dragon to show up at any moment. She fell to the ground and covered her head with her hooves...and just so happened to tap her nose against the nearest egg. This egg had a plain white color with a yellow ring around it. And as Flutterhsy lightly tapped it, the egg began to move. Gasping in shock, Fluttershy backed away from the moving egg. It wiggled back and forth as whatever was inside fought against its confines.

A crack appeared along the center of the egg. Starting from the left, it ran all the way around the egg until it abruptly stopped moving. Fluttershy opened one eye while taking one hoof off her head. She stared with fear at the egg as whatever was inside lifted itself out of its confines...and then she gasped in both relief and shock.

For what came out of the egg was indeed a baby.

But it was not a baby dragon.

In fact, she wasn’t sure what it was. Its body was pure white and ovular in shape. A single, strange, pointed antenna extended from the top of its head, pointing toward the sky. Two tiny yellow wings extended out the left and right sides of its...head? Actually, upon closer inspection, Fluttershy saw that its head and body were the same thing. Its two black eyes blinked open along with its small mouth as a yawn left its body. It looked around at its surroundings, the remains of its egg on top of its head. Then, as if only just noticing her, it froze upon making eye contact with Fluttershy.

“Puu~?” the cute, strange sound it made was the last straw for Fluttershy. Fear forgotten, she dashed forward and grabbed the strange creature by the sides of its body-head-thingie.

“Oh. My. Gosh! You are so cute~!” she whisper-yelled while holding the tiny creature in her hooves. She brought it close and rubbed its cheek against her own. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was doing and she abruptly stopped, “I’m so sorry, um, I didn’t mean to, um, do that without asking. Is...is it okay if I...if I-“

“Puu~!” as if in answer to her query, the strange creature pressed its face against the mare’s cheek. Fluttershy let out a little “yay” while reciprocating the affection. The creature’s wings flapped as it and Fluttershy shared a moment.

After a few seconds, Fluttershy pulled the creature away and said, “So adorable. Where did you come from little guy?”

The creature seemed to consider Fluttershy’s question for a moment. Then it shook its head-body left and right.

“You don’t know?”

The creature “nodded” its head-body.

“Well, do you know where your mommy and daddy are?”

Another shake of its head.

“Oh my,” pity laced Fluttershy’s voice at the creature’s answer, “That’s so sad. We’d better go find them.”

“Puu~!” the creature shook itself free from Fluttershy’s grip. Its little wings were barely able to let it float to the ground without hurting itself. Fluttershy whispered for it to be careful when she saw sweat falling from its head. After landing and taking a moment to catch its breath, the creature bent low to draw in the dirt with the protrusion on its head. Fluttershy watched as it made a crudely drawn image of a single circle with dots for eyes. Then it made two more that were bigger than the first.

Fluttershy pointed a hoof at the image, “You and your parents?”

The creature nodded, then draw an “X” over the larger image.

“You...don’t have parents?”

“Puu~!” the creature jumped up and down, showing that she had guessed correctly.

“That’s strange. Is...is it the same for them?” she pointed a hoof at the remaining eight eggs. The little creature turned around then nodded toward Fluttershy in the affirmative. Before she could reply, the two heard a loud gurgling sound coming from nearby. Fluttershy glanced around, body shaking as she tried to find the source of the sound. But then she heard a said little “Puu...” and immediately focused on the little creature.

She knelt down while staring it in its big black eyes, “Are you hungry, little fella?” The creature nodded, stomach gurgling again. Fluttershy considered the situation for a moment...but her soft spot for animals won over any caution she might have had. She grabbed the creature again and put him on her back, “Okay, then. I’ll bring you inside and get you something to eat.”

“Puu~!” the creature hopped up and down in happiness. But then it pointed a wing toward the rest of the eggs. Its expression made it clear what it was asking Fluttershy.

She nodded her head, “Yes, I’ll come back to get them too. I can’t just leave defenseless eggies out in the cold. I’ll need to grab my saddle bags first though. You all stay here and be good, okay?”

After saying that to the eggs, she trotted back to her home with the little white creature on her back.

Completely unaware of how this event would change the lives of her, her friends, and possibly all of Equestria.

Author's Note

Guess who's back?
Back again?
I am back!
Tell ya friends!

In all seriousness, it's good to be back. I still haven't finished the show, but couldn't wait to post this. So, yeah. Welcome to my new fic! Now, I'm going to be revealing a LOT of things here. So please bare with me as I explain things.

~~When it comes to my current knowledge of MLP, I am still working my way through Season 1. Specifically, I just finished watching Episode 19. So, any spoilers that happen after Season 1 Episode 19 are straight up banned. As for how far I'm gonna go, I'm thinking of only watching until the end of Season 2. The main reason is that the fact that the creator of Fosters and Powerpuff Girls made this show is one of the few things that managed to get me to actually try it. It is a good show, but I'm betting that Faust is one of the main reasons why.~~

I have now finished Season 1 and am on Season 2.

I MIGHT try to watch Seasons 3 and 4 at least. But I'm not gonna watch the other FIVE SEASONS. Cause that...that doesn't sound good. So, you're probably wondering what that will mean for the fic. Lets just say that the majority of the fic will take place in Equestria...but not all of it. Also, please no spoilers for Seasons 3, and 4.

Anyone who knows Digimon knows that they can be pretty strong, or weak depending on the medium. While I don't have any hard and fast rules for Digimon Power Levels, I want to give everyone here a general idea of how to measure it. Note that the following are GUIDELINES and GENERALITIES. NOT 100% Ironclad Rules:

Baby/Baby II: It's a baby. A Pony could kick it and it would go down.

Rookie/Child: An actual threat. A Filly couldn't fight it, but most adult Ponies could match the weaker ones. Stronger ones might need some teamwork.

Champion/Adults: Some of these are kaijus. You'd need to either be a Main Character or have more strength that normal ponies to stand a chance. And that's for normal/weak ones. Stronger ones might need even more.

Ulitmate/Perfect: Metal Greymon is a Perfect/Ultimate. Metal Greymon has nuke missiles. You'd need the Elements to face it, though Celestia and Luna could fight it on equal ground.

Mega/Ultimate: An Alicorn would be given a run for their money against things like this. Most of these are strong enough to make literal Miracles happen.

I also plan to include the X-Antibody variants of certain Digimon. For those who don't know what that means, X-Antibody variants are essentially more powerful versions of normal Digimon. Some being even more bullshit then their original forms. This power boosts can sometimes allow Rookies to take on Champions. In addition, the X-Antibody provides heavy resistance to "Instant Win" effects in a a lot of cases.

I already have the ideas for what Pony will get what Digimon and what those Digimon will evolve into. Note that I am using Wikimon for this, so it's going to follow the "Evolution Tree" version of Digimon. I.E. Not all the Evolutions will make total sense. We're also using mostly Adventure Season 1 Rules for evolution. Which means that the Digimon won't get their evolutions until the Main Characters have some serious character development.

Lastly, here's the Digimon that Fluttershy got: https://wikimon.net/Puttimon

Morning Digimon

“Aaanndd there,” Fluttershy said as she finished placing the last of the eggs within the makeshift bed she had made from pillows and straw. The eight remaining eggs all sat in silence as Fluttershy nudged and adjusted their position in the bed. After a few moments, she stepped away from the bed and looked over her shoulder at her passenger, “Would you mind passing me the, um, the cover, little guy?”

The strange creature nodded while hopping off Fluttershy’s back. It hopped over to the side of Fluttershy’s bed, then grabbed one of the covers with its mouth. Fluttershy while walking over to help it with the covers. The two worked together to put the cover over the seven eggs. Fluttershy made sure to tuck them in while her new friend watched her work with wide and curious eyes. Once she was done, the mare turned to her new friend and knelt down to be at his level, “There. Now they’re all nice and cozy. You ready to, um, go get something to eat?”

“Puu~!” the creature smiled as its stomach started to growl. Fluttershy giggled before picking it up and placing it on her back. She walked out of her room and headed downstairs.

“Oh, I just realized. I haven’t asked your name yet,” she looked over at the strange creature as she spoke, “Do you know what it is?”

“Puttimon!” the creature said, its name being the first full word its said to Fluttershy.

“Oh, well, that’s, um, a wonderful name,” Fluttershy’s lips curled into a small smile, “M-My name’s Fluttershy. It’s good to meet you, uh, Puttimon.”

“Puu~!” it flapped its wings with happiness as the two made it to Fluttershy’s kitchen. She placed Puttimon down on the table while she looked for something to give it. She wasn’t sure what a “Puttimon” would eat. So...

“Um, what do you like to eat?” she asked, while looking through her supplies, “I’ve got carrots, hay, lettuce, soup, honey...”

Puttimon nodded its head-body, drool leaking from the side of its mouth, “Puu~!”

“Oh my. Does it all sound good to you?”

“Puu~!” another nod of the head-body.

“Hmm, alright. Lets try...carrots and lettuce then,” she pulled out the aforementioned vegetables and put three carrots and some lettuce leaves on a plate for Puttimon. She grabbed the plate in her hooves then put it on the table, “There you are. Eat as much as you want, al-“

Before Fluttershy could finish, Puttimon had already dived into the offered plate of food. It quickly grabbed all the carrots in its mouth before rapidly chewing them up. Surprisingly, not a single crumb of food was scattered as it devoured the food. The lettuce was similarly eaten, with it either swallowing the food whole or chewing it up with its teeth. At least, Fluttershy assumed it had teeth. She couldn’t really see from where she was standing. But soon enough the plate was empty and, literally, licked clean by the strange creature. It hopped up and down while making sounds that Fluttershy took for thankfulness.

“Wow, you, um, really were hungry. And you’re welcome,” she grabbed the plate and put it near her sink while watching Puttimon’s reaction. The creature was smiling but soon started to teeter back and forth. Its mouth opened wide as it yawned, its eyelids becoming heavy. Fluttershy moved to rub where she figured the creature’s forehead was, “Aww. Are you feeling sleepy?”

“Puu...,” its voice was sluggish and it leaned itself against Fluttershy’s hoof. It seemed to be having trouble staying awake. With another giggle, Fluttershy picked it up and placed it onto her back again.

She spoke to it as she made her way back to her room, “It is pretty late. I’ll need to make you your own bed in the morning. For now, you can sleep with me in my bed. Would you, um, like that?”

“Puu,” it said, rubbing its face against Fluttershy’s soft neck fur.

“Hehe, I’ll take that as a yes.”

It didn’t take her long to get back to her room and into her bed. It was made for a single pony, but Puttimon was small enough to sleep next to her. She tucked the little white creature in under the covers before climbing inside herself. Puttimon scooted as close to her as possible, while she hugged it with her front hooves. She whispered to the small creature, “Sweet dreams.”

But Puttimon was already fast asleep. And, after listening to its peaceful snores, Fluttershy soon found herself doing the same.

...Unaware of the sound of an egg cracking open in her room.

Celestia’s sun shot into the sky above Equestria, her daily raising of the sun finished once again. As the sunlight fell onto Fluttershy’s cottage, the mare in question stirred in her sleep. She yawned while her eyes blinked open from the mourning sunlight shining on her face. She instantly became aware of another’s presence in her bed, as well as the feeling of something pressing into her chest. Remembering what happened last night, she smiled and looked down to say good morning to Puttimon...

“Huh?”

...but that wasn’t who she saw sleeping next to her. Instead, she saw something else. It looked like Puttimon. It has the same body coloration, the same golden wings on its back, the same strange protrusion coming from its head. However, the rest of its body was completely different. It had an actual “body” for one thing. A full torso with two flat arms, each three short pink claws on the end of them. Its short legs and flat fee reminded Fluttershy of a cute bunny’s paws, while the wings on its back had grown a bit larger. They actually looked like they could carry the creature’s weight now.

The creature yawned and tilted its head up, giving Fluttershy a clear few of its...well...actual head and face. Its mouth had grown larger and now reminded her of a kitty’s mouth when it was closed. A single fang poked out from the right side of the creature’s mouth. Its eyes blinked open, showing Fluttershy that they had turned from pure black to a bright yellow and white. Three rounded black marks were placed along the sides of both of its eyes, the right side for its right eye and the left side for its left eye.

The creature’s eyes opened fully and locked gazes with Fluttershy. The mare, feelings of fear already making her body shake, said in a not so calm voice, “P-P-Puttimon? Is-Is that...you?”

The creature blinked for a moment. Then its lips curled into a big and happy smile. Then it did something that Fluttershy wasn’t expecting.

It spoke.

“Hi, Fluttershy! And, yep, I’m Puttimon! Well, I was.”

“Y-Y-You...were?” Fluttershy felt multiple emotions warring within her at that moment. Fear from seeing someone new just appear in her bed. Confusion as to how the creature she was holding used to be Puttimon. And the fact that, the creature was still extremely adorable even now.

“Puttimon” nodded its head. Well, his head. He sounded like a boy to Fluttershy at least. He gently put his hands onto Fluttershy’s hooves, smile bright and happy as he continued, “Yeah! But thanks to you, I was able to evolve into my next form. Now, I’m Cupimon!”

“Evolve? Cupimon?” Fluttershy was at a complete loss. She couldn’t understand a single thing that Puti-, er, Cupimon was saying. What did he mean by he evolved because of her? And how did she not notice it in her sleep.

However, most of her worries disappeared when Cupimon pressed himself into her chest fur. His head moved back and forth, tickling her as he showed his affection. His voice was slightly muffled, but Fluttershy still heard it loud and clear, “This wouldn’t have been possible if not for you, Fluttershy. Thank you, so much for taking care of me. I love you.”

Those words broke through any caution she had and hit her right in her heart. Fluttershy smiled and patted Cupimon on his back, “Aww, you’re welcome Cupimon. Come on, now. Lets get up and get ready for the day.”

“Okay!” Cupimon let go of Fluttershy and stood up in the bed. He stretched his little arms out and let out one more yawn while his wings flapped behind him. Fluttershy giggled while hopping out of bed and doing her own morning stretches. However, as the two of them woke up, they became aware of something worrying.

That being?

The numerous broken egg-shells leading out the door to Fluttershy’s room.

Fluttershy gasped in shock, “Oh no! What happened to the eggs?!”

Cupidmon ran to the edge of the bed, shock in his voice as well, “They must’ve hatched while we were alseep!”

“Oh, that’s bad. If they’ve just hatched then they could be in trouble,” Fluttershy galloped toward the door to her room. Cupimon, moving surprisingly fast for such a small creature, jumped in the air and flapped his wings. He landed on Fluttershy’s back as she passed by and grabbed onto her back as she moved.

“Don’t worry. They’re Baby Digimon. They couldn’t have gotten far. They’re probably just downstairs looking for something to eat,” he explained while Fluttershy ran down her stairs.

“Baby Digimon? What’s a-“ before Fluttershy could finish the two made it to the bottom floor...and found themselves staring at a multitude of strange creatures. Who all looked similar to Puttimon. Though their similarities started and ended with their body shapes and color schemes.

The one that stood out the most was a creature running around on all fours. Its body and leg shape, along with its bright pink body, reminded Fluttershy of a little baby piglet. However, it didn’t have the twirled tail nor a snout. Instead, it had a cat like mouth with a single fang peaking out the right side. But the most stand out features were the large, pink, things that protruded from its forehead. They formed an “X” pattern on the center of its head, and flopped around above it as it ran. It laughed with glee until it bumped into Fluttershy’s leg. It landed on its back, shook its head, then got back on its feet. It smiled sheepishly up at Fluttershy. When it spoke, Fluttershy noticed that it had a higher pitched voice than Cupimon, “Oops! Sorry, Ms. Pink Hair Pony!”

It turned and ran away from Fluttershy as she tried to make sense of what it called her. Following its path, she saw it run into another creature. The two collided with a “squeak” and ended up falling on top of each other. Worried, she dashed over to the two fallen creatures and checked to make sure they were alright. This gave her a clear view of the creature the pink one had run into. Its body was covered in dark blue fur that, based on what she felt when her hoof touched it, was extremely soft. It had two bright red eyes above a white muzzle like mouth with a flat black nose. Behind it a small, bushy tail wagged back and forth. Truth be told, Fluttershy was reminded of Applejack’s pet dog, Winona.

She lifted the creatures into her hooves, resisting the urge to press their soft bodies against her cheeks, while looking between them with worry, “Oh, oh no, are you two alright? Do you need some medicine?”

“They’re fine,” Cupimon climbed his way up to Fluttershy’s head. He leaned down to look the mare in the eye as he spoke, “They might be Babies, but they’re still Digimon. And we’re a tough bunch.”

“So, you all are...Digimon?” Fluttershy asked while looking between the two “Digimon” in her hooves.

The pink one shook its “head” and looked up at her with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, “Yup! All of us!”

The other Digimon looked up at Fluttershy and barked, then licked her cheek with its small tongue. She started to giggle while putting both Digimon down on the floor. At the sound of snoring, she looked over to see her couch. Her eyes widened in awe as she beheld four of the “Baby Digimon” huddled together and sleeping on her sofa.

One was a strange looking, brown Digimon with three horns sticking out the top of its head. It had no arms or legs, with the bottom of its body looking like a fluttering skirt. Two small, floppy, bunny ears hung from the sides of its head. It was laying against a blue and white Digimon that reminded her of Cupimon. The front of its body was pure white, while the rest was a deep blue color. It had two pointed ears sticking out the top of its head, with small stubby arms and flat feet. Its long flat tail was hanging off the edge of the sofa while its little chest rose and fell with every breath it took. Laying atop its chest was a Digimon that looked like Puttimon before he became Cupimon. Except its body was covered in yellow fur, with two triangular ears atop its head. A cat-like tail extended from the back of its body, purple stripes running along its body before ending in a purple tip. Its mouth was a long, squiggly line that opened and shut as it snored atop the blue Digimon. Lastly, there was a...

“Aaah!~ Another baby dragon!” Fluttershy whisper-shouted while tiptoeing her way over to the sofa. And it was true, the last Digimon on the sofa looked exactly like a baby dragon. However, unlike Spike, this one didn’t have any legs. Instead its body ended in a strange, white looping tail that stood out amongst its green and yellow body. It didn’t have arms either, instead two wings grew from the left and right side of its body. Two black horns protruded out from the back of its head. Small puffs of black smoke exited its nose with each breath it took.

Fluttershy cooed while saying, “They look so peaceful. And they’re Digimon too, right?”

“Uh huh. We all are,” Cupimon whispered back to Fluttershy. Then his eyes narrowed while he counted off his claws, “But this isn’t right. There were nine eggs but, counting me, there are only seven of us. Where are the other two?”

“Oh! They’re over there by the window!” the pink Digimon said, pointing one its protrusions toward the window near the door. Sure enough, sitting on the window sill were two more Baby Digimon. One was a strange orange Digimon, with a flame perpetually sticking out the top of its head. Its body was covered in small cones with pointed ends. The other was a dark blue Digimon that looked like a floating raindrop. The antenna like protrusion on its head slowly swung back and forth as the two of them looked out the window.

“Oh my goodness! Fire!” Fluttershy dashed over to the window, Cupimon nearly losing his balance as she ran over the window sill. The two Baby Digimon jumped as she appeared near them, lightly blowing at the flame on the orange Digimon’s head.

“Ah! Hey, cut that out!” the orange Digimon yelled while hopping away from Fluttershy, “That feels weird.”

“O-Oh. I-I’m sorry. But I, um, I thought that, you, uh..." Fluttershy, completely caught off guard by the Baby Digimon’s reaction, took a slow step back from it.

“That flame is part of his body, Fluttershy,” Cupimon said, shaking his head to get his bearings, “And it won’t make anything catch on fire.”

“O-Oh. Um, how do you, um, know that, Cupimon?”

“I...don’t know,” Cupimon frowned while rubbing his head, “I...just kind of...do.”

“You’re the one who found us last night, right Miss?” the blue Digimon said. The orange one had sounded like a boy, but this one sounded like a girl. When Fluttershy nodded in response, the Digimon’s mouth curled into a small smile. It tilted its head-body down and said, “Then allow me, Moonmon, to thank you so much for doing that. This here is Sunmon. They’re my friend.”

“And I accept your apology. As long as you don’t try to do that again,” the newly named Sunmon said, which earned it a light shove from Moonmon.

“Oh, I promise I won’t. And, um, I’m Fluttershy by the way. It’s nice to meet all of you, but I’ve never heard of a ‘Digimon’ before. What kind of animals are you?”

“We’re not animals!” the pink Digimon said getting everyone’s attention. It hopped up onto the sofa, careful not to wake the sleeping Digimon. It stood up on its back legs and said, “I’m Tokomon X, and I’m here to say that we’re all Digimon. Digi-“

“Aaaaaahhhhh!”

“Weeeeee!~”

Tokomon’s speech was interrupted as the screams of three ponies suddenly echoed through the house. It was soon followed by Fluttershy’s door being busted open as a blue, pink, and orange ball slammed through it. It hit the wall behind it while the ponies all landed in a heap in the middle of the floor. Tokomon was sent falling off the sofa from the sudden crash, landing on the ground hard enough to make the sofa shake. This woke up the cat-like Digimon, who’s bright orange eyes shot open. With a hiss it hopped off the blue Digimon’s stomach hard enough to wake the latter up. As the blue Digimon’s bright orange eyes opened, it shot up with a loud cry of pain. This woke up both the brown horned Digimon and the baby dragon-like Digimon. The former retreated to the left most side of the sofa and cowered away from the nose, while the dragon took to the air and flew around in circles, making small roars of shock and surprise.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy said while moving to the heap of ponies in the middle of her room. Ponies that she soon recognized as her friends. She blinked as she called their names, “Rainbow Dash? Applejack? Pinkie Pie? What are you three, um, doing here?”

“I’d like to know that myself,” Applejack winced, rubbing the spot where her head had hit the floor. The orange coated mare used her other hoof to make sure her stetson hat remained where it was on her head. Her blonde mane shook as she glared at the other pony, “What in tarnation was all that for, Rainbow!?”

The blue pegasus pony shook her head, her namesake mane swinging with her motions. She frowned while putting a hoof on her chest, “Woah, woah, woah! Don’t go blaming me for this! Blame Pinkie! She’s the one that...uh, Pinkie? What’re you looking at?”

All three mares turned to observe the pink party pony. Said pony was having a staring contest with Tokomon X. The pink Earth Pony locked eyes with the pink Digimon, neither one moving as they did so. A minute passed as the other mares and Digimon all watched with abject confusion. Then, just as Rainbow was about to call Pinkie’s name again, the pony and Digimon let out a unified, “Squee!”

Both leaped at each other, crashing in the air, only to fall to the ground in a big hug. The pink pony held the Digimon up with her front hooves while her mouth became a wide tooth smile, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?!”

“I’m Tokomon X! And you look amazing! Is your mane made of candy?” the Digimon said while wiggling its little legs in the air.

Pinkie Pie gasped, “No, but can you imagine how cool it would be if it was?! I’d never have to worry about having something sweet on me again!”

“And you could feed your friends by just pulling a chunk of your hair out! Huh, and you could carry chocolate icing around with you, too. That way you could give out chocolate coated candy manes!”

Pinkie’s grin somehow grew wider and her eyes sparkled with pure delight. She rolled onto her stomach while rubbing Tokomon’s cheek against her own, “That. Is. The. Best. Idea. Ever! You’ve gotta be my friend! We’ll be the bestest, most amazing, friends ever! Please be my friend! Please please please please!”

Tokomon met the mare’s gaze with a wide smile of his own. He giggled as he replied, “Pinkie, you don’t have to ask to be my friend.”

“I don’t?” Pinkie tilted her head to the side...far enough that she should’ve broken her neck. Yet, somehow, she didn’t.

“Of course not. Because we’re already friends!” Tokomon X tackled Pinkie to the floor, the two rolling around while giggling like lunatics.

“Oh no now there’s two of them,” Applejack and Rainbow said in unison.

Then the blue pegasus finally took note of the strange creatures in the room. She flew in the air and hovered near Fluttershy and asked, “Wait a second, Fluttershy, what’s going on here? What are all these weird, pudgy, things doing in your house?”

“Oh, um, they’re, uh, they’re Digimon,” Fluttershy said while staring up at Rainbow, “I found some eggs outside my home last night and, um, brought them inside. When I woke up, um, they had hatched and, well...”

“...And now we’re here,” Cupimon got Rainbow’s attention by standing on top of Fluttershy’s head. He waved up at the flying pegasus, “Hey there! I’m Cupimon. The Digimon with your friend over there is Tokomon X.”

“Digimon? What’s that supposed to be?” Rainbow rubbed her head in thought but was interrupted when she felt something latch onto her back, “Hey! What the-“

She turned to see what had grabbed onto her back and was surprised to find a light blue Digimon holding onto. Its bright orange eyes were shining as it stared at Rainbow Dash while sitting on her back. It spoke with an excitable male voice, “Hiya! I’m Chibimon! Who are you supposed to be?”

Frowning, Rainbow Dash moved over to another spot in the air as she spoke, “Uh, I’m Rainbow Dash. The fastest flier in Equestria. And I didn’t say you could-“

The Digimon’s eyes shined all the brighter, “Fastest flier!? Oh, that sounds so cool!”

Rainbow’s words died in her throat at the Digimon’s words. Instead of her original angry admonishment, her lips curled into a smile and she crossed her front hooves in front of her, “Well, duh! Only the coolest pony around could hold that title! And I. Am. The coolest!”

Chibimon’s tail wagged behind it as it spoke, “Amazing! We should totally be friends! I’m gonna be the fastest Digimon one day, and I want to be friends with the fastest flier! Is that okay?”

“Hmph, course it is! But, how are you gonna be the fastest if you don’t have wings?” Rainbow pointed to the Digimon’s back, “Kind of need those if you want to keep up with me.”

Chibimon frowned but didn’t sound discouraged as he declared, “I-I’ll grow them! Just you watch! I’ll grow wings and then I’ll be able to fly right alongside you, Rainbow Dash!”

“I’ll be waiting, squirt!” Rainbow Dash chuckled while pounding her hoof against Chibimon’s tiny fist.

“Oh, brother,” Applejack rolled her eyes as she looked up at Rainbow, “A lil’ flattery and that girl’s done forgot our questions.”

A bark near her hoof gave her pause. She nearly called Winona’s name but stopped when she saw the source of the bark. It was the small, dark blue Digimon that had collided with Tokomon. It stood next to Applejack with a light shining in its eyes and tail wagging behind it. Applejack smiled and reached down to pet the Digimon’s head, “Well howdy lil’ critter. What’s your name supposed to be?”

The Digimon barked and started to run around Applejack, its tail wagging while its tongue hung out its mouth. It stopped in front of Applejack and leaped up to lick her face. She grabbed it with her front hooves as its smalls tongue licked her cheek repeatedly. She laughed while patting the Digimon on the head, “Woah, boy, woah! Friendly guy, ain’tcha? Hey, Fluttershy, what’d yer lil’ buddy say these things were called?”

“Um, Digimon.”

“And that one’s called Bowmon,” Cupimon answered for Fluttershy.

“Bowmon? Like, bow-wow? The sound a dog makes?”

“Yep.”

“Who in their right minds would call a critter that?”

Cupimon shrugged, “I don’t know. They’re just...the names we have and remember.”

Bowmon barked as if to agree with Cupimon. Applejack set it on the floor then looked over at the remaining Digimon. The yellow cat-like Digimon had gone back to sleep, the brown horned one was looking around with curiosity in its eyes, the dragon was sitting on the top of the sofa, and Sunmon and Moonmon were still in the window sill. The farm pony whistled at the sight, “Sure are a lot of these Digimon critters. And ya said that they all hatched from eggs that ya grabbed last night?”

“Shouldn’t you take them back to their parents?” Rainbow said, stopping above Fluttershy.

Fluttershy shook her head, “Oh no. Cupimon told me they don’t have parents.”

“Uh, of course they do. Everyone’s got parents,” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Not us,” Cupimon and Chibimon said in unison.

“Digimon all come from eggs. And those come from...from...I...I don’t know. My head starts hurting whenever I try to think of it,” Chibimon said while rubbing at his head.

Applejack tapped the ground with her hoof, “Speakin’ of heads hurtin’, Pinkie! Why in tarnation did you and RD come crashin’ into me when I was busy bucking apples?!”

“Oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of Applejack’s face, before hopping around the orange mare so that everypony could see her. Tokomon X was laying on its stomach atop her head, yet her mane kept its same bouncy appearance. Pinkie Pie spoke rapidly while explaining the circumstances:

“It all started today after I woke up and left Sugarcube Corner. By the way, Mr and Mrs. Cake are working on some new types of cake. You girls should come by later to try some. Anyway, I was hopping down the road when I spotted Rainbow flying through the air. So I was like ‘Rainbow Dash’ and she was like ‘Pinkie Pie’ and came down to talk with me. I asked her what was up, which was weird because, obviously, Rainbow Dash was up because she was flying. But I asked anyway and she said she was practicing her tricks and flips and stuff and wanted my help to make sure she’s doing it right. Which is obviously a weird thing to ask, cause, she’s Rainbow Dash. She always gets it right. Except for the times when she's crashed like when she crashes into Twilight’s treehouse, but that’s not-“

Applejack shoved her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth, “Alright, alright, I gotcha, I gotcha.”

“But she wasn’t done!” Tokomon X said as Applejack pulled her hoof away.

“I know, but I was hardly able to keep up with her when she started speakin’ all fast-like.”

“What do you mean? She was speaking at a normal pace,” Tokomon X said with confidence.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Cupimon, Chibimon, Bowmon, and the rest of the Digimon all stared at Tokomon X as if he had just grown a second head. Tokomon X looked around the room and said, “What?”

“Aaaannyywwaay,” Applejack looked up at Rainbow Dash, “I assume that Pinkie did somethin’ while ya’ll were flyin’?”

“Yeah! She jumped on my back while I was in the middle of a double loop around a cloud! Why’d you do that, Pinkie?”

“I wanted to help out! I figured that if you have some extra weight, you would get more out of your training! Ya know, like lifting dumbbells while you run a marathon!”

Rainbow Dash facehoofed and shook her head, “That’s...That’s not how that works Pinkie. Sorry about that, AJ.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it none, RD. So, Fluttershy, do you or your friend know exactly what these ‘Digimon’ are?”

Fluttershy and Cupimon shared a look. Then they both shook their heads as Fluttershy said, “Uh, I’m sorry, but, no. Not really.”

“But you’re supposed to be good with animals, right? How do you not know what these guys are?” Rainbow pointed to Bowmon and Chibimon.

“That’s cause we’re not animals. We’re Digimon,” Chibimon said.

“Yeah, but what does that mean? Like where do you guys come from? What do you eat or drink and stuff?”

“We don’t know where we come from, but we can eat just about anything. As long as it tastes good!” Chibimon answered with a smile. Bowmon and Tokomon X both barked in agreement.

“Hmm, okay, but I still would like to have some idea of what ya’ll are. Just in case somethin’ happens and we need to help ya,” Applejack said while rubbing Bowmon behind its ears.

“Oh! Oh! Let’s take them to Twilight’s place! She knows a lot of stuff about lots of stuff!” Pinkie said, now standing in front of the door with Tokomon X on her head, and the brown horned Digimon, the yellow cat-like, and dragon Digimon held against her chest. The latter three Digimon were completely shocked by how the pink mare had grabbed them without their knowledge. Without waiting she started hopping out the door on her hindlegs while calling for the other ponies to follow her.

“Pinkie, um, wait!” Fluttershy called as she followed the party pony, not noticing as Sunmon and Moonmon jumped onto her back with Cupimon.

“Dag nab it! That pony sure can be a handful sometimes. Come on, lil’ guy!” Applejack galloped toward the door as Bowmon barked in acknowledgment. The little wolf like Digimon leapt up and landed on AJ’s back, burying itself in her mane as she ran out the door.

“Hold on tight, squirt! I don’t do slow!” Rainbow Dash said as she shot out the door, a Rainbow streak trailing behind her. Chibimon did as asked, shouting with glee as the two left Fluttershy’s house.

Within in the Everfree forest, a piece of the sky was rent asunder...

Five bodies fell from above...

Their aim?

To plunder the lands that the pony's love.

“I am in your debt for this, Twilight Sparkle,” the white unicorn mare named Rarity said as her horn glowed a sky blue color. An aura the same color as the one around her horn appeared over a book. Said book’s cover depicted a wheel that was cut into six pieces, each one filled with a different color. The book floated into the air and deposited itself into the white saddle bag Rarity was carrying. She looked back at her friend, “I promise I will return Color Correction and Coordination before you ever start missing it.”

“No problem, Rarity,” the studious voice of another unicorn mare said as she used her magic to write down that Rarity had checked out the book. At her right side a pink and green baby dragon stood staring at Rarity with hearts in his eyes. Twilight lightly kicked Spike to get him out of his daydream before pointing toward the ladder leaning against one of her bookshelves. While Spike went to take care of it, she trotted over to Rarity, “I can’t wait to see what kind of designs you come up with. Though, I would’ve thought somepony like you would have all colors memorized."

“Why, I do,” Rarity said while flipping her mane, “But even a great designer such as myself needs a little reminder every now and then. And, please, allow me to thank our dear little Spike for his help as well.”

The dragon in question paused while putting up the ladder. He felt a happy shiver go up his spine when he heard Rarity send him her thanks. He looked over his shoulder, hearts in his eyes while he moved to put the ladder away...

...only to walk smack dab into a wall and fall on his butt.

Twilight and Rarity giggled as Spike got back to his feet. Then Rarity turned toward the door, “Well, I shall bid you farewell, Twilight. Hope to see you-“

Rarity was interrupted as a certain pink pony kicked in Twilight’s door. She ran in while shouting Twilight’s name...and ended up tripping over the threshold. She hit the ground literally rolling to a stop, and sending the Digimon in her hooves all through the air. Though, somehow, Tokomon X remained latch onto Pinkie’s mane.

The dragon one landed on the fallen Spike’s stomach, knocking the wind out of the purple and green dragon. The yellow cat-like one landed on Rarity’s back, making the posh mare gasp in shock.

And the last one, the brown horned one, landed softly in front of Twilight as she caught it in her magic. She brought the Digimon close to her face, the little creature’s black eyes shining as it met her purple ones. They were so close that she could feel its breath on her face. She said out loud, “Pinkie...what are these things? Where did you get-“

Before she could finish, the little Digimon pushed itself just a bit closer to Twilight. Close enough that its front horn touched hers.

When it did there was a sudden jolt.

And in an instant, the Digimon’s body started to glow white. Gasping, Twilight let her magic drop as the white ball that was once a Digimon floated to the floor in front of her. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and the rest of the Digimon arrived just as the light became blindingly bright. Then, as soon as it started, it suddenly ended. And where once there was a small brown Digimon, there was now a large Digimon the size of Twilight’s front leg.

Its skin had the same brown coloration, but the rest of its body had completely changed. It now had a large, bushy, cotton ball like tail with two similar cotton balls under its ears. Which were now extremely long and large, with both ending in bright pink patches of fur. The left ear had an earring with a red garnet jewel embedded in the center. Its ankles, wrists, and neck were all covered in white cotton, while its paws and hands had the same pink fur as its ears. It had gained a small button nose and its black eyes were more vibrant than before. Its three horns had grown larger, with the center being the longest and all having pink fur covering their ends.

As everypony and Digimon in attendance stared in awe at the strange newcomer, it stared at Twilight Sparkle with its big black eyes. Then, slowly, it got down onto its hands and knees while keeping its ears flat against the wooden floor. Twilight couldn’t say a word as a storm of emotions warred within her heart. She had so many questions but not a single one would leave her lips.

Then, the Digimon bowed its head...and spoke in a calm, cut, boyish voice, “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. My name is Lopmon X. And I have but one question for you.”

“Wh-Wh-What is it?” she asked, not sure what else to say at this point.

Lopmon X raised its head and looked Twilight dead in the eye...

...and then its cheeks turned red as it bashfully pressed its index claws together.

“I-I-I know this is sudden...but...but...would you like to be my...my friend?”

...Any and all questions Twilight had were temporarily shoved to the back of her mind as she reacted in the only natural way possible for a mare of her caliber.

“Soooooo cuuuuttttteeeee!~”

And used her magic to pull Lopmon X into the tightest hug she could manage.

Author's Note

I literally cranked this out within a day. Like, I worked on it ALL DAY and got it done.

Hope you all enjoyed! Sorry if things are moving kind of fast, but it is the first few chapters. Hope you can all see my improvements in comparison to my old stories.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

Baby/Baby II Digimon
https://wikimon.net/Cupimon

https://wikimon.net/Bowmon

https://wikimon.net/Babydmon

https://wikimon.net/Nyaromon

https://wikimon.net/Tokomon_(X-Antibody)

https://wikimon.net/Chocomon

https://wikimon.net/Chibimon

https://wikimon.net/Sunmon

https://wikimon.net/Moonmon

Rookie Digimon
https://wikimon.net/Lopmon_(X-Antibody)

Babies And Rookies

“Ah-Ahem, I'm so sorry about that, um, Lopmon X, right?” Twilight Sparkle said as she sat down behind the rabbit-like Digimon.

“That is correct,” Lopmon X said, panting as he tried to regain his breath from Twilight's tight hug. He shook his head from side to side before backing up and sitting down in front of Twilight. Then he leaned his head back until he was resting it against Twilight's forelegs, “And there is no need to apologize. I am glad that you were willing to be my friend. Feel free to call me whatever you wish. Lopmon X is a mouthful to say all the time.”

“Really? You wouldn't mind if I...," Twilight blinked, then shook her head back and forth, “Wait! No! That's not what I should be focusing on! What are you?! What's happening in my home?!”

Twilight held her hooves out to indicate what had been happening while she was hugging Lopmon X. That being? All of her new friends were in the room and each one was talking with a different strange creature.

“Alright, squirt, if you want to be as cool as me, you've gotta be willing to go the distance!” Rainbow Dash said while spotting Chibimon as he did push-ups on the floor.

“Yeah!” Chibimon exclaimed in agreement, managing to do multiple push-ups despite his tiny arms and legs.

"So, I don't want to see you stop until you hit fifty push-ups! Got me?!”

“Just fifty?! Someone who wants to match you will do more than that! I'll do one hundred!” Chibimon proceeded to move even faster while still keeping track of his number of push-ups.

“That's what I want to hear! Go! Go! Go!” Rainbow continued to cheer on the Baby Digimon as it continued its routine.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy held Cupimon in her hooves while sitting in front of Rarity. She lifted him up and asked, “And what's this one's name, Cupimon?”

“Nyaromon,” Cupimon stared at Rarity and frowned, “And I'd be careful if I were you, uh, Rarity? Nyaromon can be a bit...touchy.”

"Darling, please," Rarity said with a confident smile on her face, “If there is one pony in Ponyville who knows how to treat a magnificent specimen such as this, it is I.”

As she spoke, the Baby Digimon in question was lying on her left hoof. Its tail was hanging off the side while its eyes remained closed. A soft purring emanated from it, indicating that it was indeed comfortable. Rarity gently reached her right hoof up and gracefully began petting the Baby Digimon's head. It stirred but didn't wake as it remained seated on Rarity's leg.

“And, oh, how wonderful this Nyaromon is. Her tidy yellow coat perfectly complements the violet stripes on her tail. She and Opalescence would look beautiful together. You wouldn't mind if I adopted her, would you, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes at her friend.

Fluttershy shook her head, “Not at all. Oh, but, um, you may want to check with Nyaromon. I'm not sure if she would be, um, alright with it. Would she, Cupimon?”

Cupimon shrugged, “Depends. Nyaromon?”

The Digimon in question stopped purring when Cupimon called her name. She opened one bright orange eye and pointed it toward Rarity. Without a word, she raised her tail, wrapped it around Rarity's hoof, and then moved it over to its left ear. Years of caring for Opal led Rarity to instinctively rub her hoof against the back of the indicated ear. Nyaromon let out a satisfied purr before releasing Rarity's hoof and closing its eye again.

Rarity's smile grew, “I'll take that as a yes. Hmm, what should be your name, little one?”

While Rarity thought about a possible name, Fluttershy and Cupimon shared a knowing smile. She hugged Cupimon close and rubbed his belly with one of her hooves, “Thank you for helping her find a home, Cupimon.”

“Ehehehe,” Cupimon giggled, enjoying the attention he was receiving from Fluttershy. Sunmon and Moonmon had since jumped off the yellow mare's back. They were now sitting on the sill of a window near the door to Twilight's home, both staring at the sun in the sky.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Pinkie and Tokomon X were whispering to each other. No one could hear exactly what they were saying. But the words "party," "cupcakes," "everypony," and "plans" were being thrown around by both of them. Every now and then, one of them would bounce into the air, alternating every ten seconds. First Pinkie, then Tokomon X, then Pinkie, and so on. Next to them, Applejack stood in front of Bowmon with a smile on her face. Bowmon was staring up at her, his tongue out and panting, while his tail wagged behind him.

“Okay, lil' fella. Let's see if you know any tricks. Roll over!” she said, and Bowmon quickly complied. He got stuck on his back for a few moments but managed to get back on his feet with some effort. He barked up at Applejack, and she smiled even wider. Then she held out her hoof and said, “Now, shake.”

Bowmon tried to lift his paw but realized that his legs were too short to actually do as Applejack asked. Instead, he ran over and bumped his nose against Applejack's raised hoof. He barked in triumph, clearly pleased with the solution he had come up with. AJ chuckled and patted Bowmon on his head, “That'll do, lil' fella. Betcha Winona would love to meet ya.”

Bowmon pressed his head against Applejack's hoof, his tail wagging even faster behind him. Lopmon X and Twilight locked eyes, with the former fully understanding what the latter meant. But any conversation they would have had was interrupted by Spike rushing over to Twilight. He had his right arm up and was pointing at it with his left hand. He spoke with a large smile on his face, “Twilight! Twilight! Check this guy out! He's another baby dragon like me, and he likes me.”

The baby dragon-like Digimon made a strange cooing noise. Its wings were folded at its sides, while its tail was wrapped around Spike's outstretched arm. Its big purple eyes examined the room with wonder, but they always found their way back to Spike. Twilight blinked and then chuckled, “Um, that's nice, Spike. I'm glad you found another dragon to be friends with.”

“Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet! Check this out! Buddy, do that thing ya did before!” at Spike's insistence, the Digimon opened its mouth and released a small cloud of green gas into the air. Spike turned up towards the cloud and blew out a small stream of green fire. As soon as the flames made contact with the gases, the latter ignited and crackled like fireworks. Everypony's attention was drawn to the small spectacle, with exclamations of "ooh" and "aah" filling the air. When it disappeared, Spike turned back to Twilight with a bright smile on his face, “Did you see that? Pretty cool, right?”

“Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't do it in a library made of wood and with many flammable and precious books all around you,” Twilight frowned at Spike while she admonished him.

Spike flinched, then rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He chuckled nervously, “R-Right. Sorry, Twi.”

Twilight's frown turned into a slight smile. She reached over and patted Spike on his head, “It's alright, Spike. And, besides, you did manage to get everypony's attention for me. So, thank you for that.”

She turned her gaze back to the bunny-like Digimon lying down in front of her. Ignoring the urge to check how soft the cotton under its ears were, she spoke clearly to Lopmon X, “Anyway, can you please explain what is going on here? What or who are you? And what about all these...things?”

Lopmon X blinked up at Twilight, as if he didn't understand what she meant at first. Then his eyes widened in realization, “Ah! Yes. I apologize, Twilight. I was so comfortable lying next to you that I forgot about the current situation. Please, give me a moment. And, for the record, Spike, that one is called Babydmon.”

“Bab-Babyduhmon?” Spike sounded out as Lopmon X got to his feet. Upon hearing the word, the now-named Babydmon flapped its wings. Spike looked over at it, then shook his head, “Nah, that's stupid. I'm gonna call you, Bab. Does that sound good to you, Bab?”

“Bab” cooed again, moving its head up and down in what was assumed to be agreement. Spike smiled and scratched the Digimon's scales with his free hand. Now standing straight, Lopmon X looked over at Spike and nodded, “That is fine. Babydmon is simply what he is. It is not his name.”

“What it is? So, Babydmon is its species," Twilight unconsciously used her magic to grab a quill and scroll. As she stared intently at Lopmon X, she was already writing down what she had learned, "Is that the same for you?”

“Yes, in fact, it is true for all of us Digimon. Hmm, please give me a moment,” Lopmon X said while looking around the room. When he spotted the solitary table in the center of the room, he swiftly walked over to it. Lifting his large ears, he used them as hands to hoist himself up onto the table effortlessly. He moved to the center, his ears long enough to hang over both edges of the table. He stood in the center of the table and cleared his throat to prepare for his speech.

Lopmon X looked around to ensure that everyone in attendance was looking at him. Once he was certain everypony, and Digimon, was looking at him, he put his hands behind his back and spoke loud enough for all to hear, “As has been repeated numerous times, I am a Digimon. As are Cupimon, Tokomon X, Bowmon, all of them. They are all Digimon.”

Rainbow slammed one hoof into another, “Ah! I just remembered! None of you ever said what being a ‘Digimon' means.”

“It's actually shorthand. The proper term is, 'Digital Monsters'.”

“Digital?” Twilight asked, her quill still moving despite the confusion.

“M-M-Monsters?” Fluttershy squeaked as she looked at all the Digimon in the room. Then she shook her head, “But, um, you all don't, well, look that scary. Not that you looked scary before, or anything. Just, um..., I'm sorry,”

Fluttershy lowered her head in shame. But Cupimon just smiled at her, “It's alright, Fluttershy. We all understand.”

“I'm more interested in the first part. What do you mean ‘Digital'? How does that factor into what you all are?” Twilight asked, stepping closer to the table.

Lopmon X frowned and shook his head, “Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure. I don't think any of us know the reason. Or what it really means for us.”

“Yeah!” Tokomon X's shout caught everyone off guard. The pink Digimon was hopping up and down on Pinkie's head, while the party pony herself jumped whenever he did. Tokomon X continued even as he bounced up and down, “Like when I try to remember where I came from, all I see is this weird white space, and then my brain starts hurting. Huh! Do you think we all came from a white void?! That'd be kind of weird, though. I mean a void is a void for a-“

“Tokomon X. Please stop,” Cupimon said, and the pink Digimon quickly fell silent. He heard Twilight and Rarity whisper “There's two of them?”

Lopmon X shook his head and said, "Thank you, Cupimon. Fluttershy, you were the one who found us in our Digitama forms, correct?”

“Digitama?” Fluttershy looked confused.

“He means our egg forms,” Cupimon explained to the mare.

“Oh, then, yes. I was putting my animals to bed when, um, I saw something lying in the road next to my house. When I went to check, I found your nine eggs. Then you hatched, and well, now we're all here in Twilight's house,” she explained while hugging Cupimon a bit closer.

“And I assure you that you have our deepest gratitude for your help. We are extremely vulnerable as Digitama, and even our Baby forms are only somewhat capable of defending themselves from threats,” Lopmon X bowed his head to Fluttershy.

"Excuse me," Twilight raised her hoof to get Lopmon X's attention, “you keep saying ‘Baby' but I have a feeling that you don't mean a foal or an animal's offspring. It's more to do with whatever happened to you when you touched my horn.”

Lopmon X's lips curled into a small smile, “Very astute, Twilight. You are completely correct. We Digimon have a unique maturation cycle. While we do age with time, we primarily grow through a process known as evolution. Through encountering certain stimuli, our forms change to a higher stage. All the Digimon in the room, except for myself, are in their Baby Stages. I, on the other hand, have reached my Child or Rookie Stage.”

“Urgh, great, another egghead like Twilight,” Rainbow Dash shook her head and walked over to Lopmon X. She put a hoof on the table and pointed her other one at him, “Can you talk like a normal pony and explain it?”

“He means that when we get stronger, we evolve into stronger forms. The rest of us will become Rookies like him if we get stronger,” Chibimon said, finishing push-ups eighty and eighty-one in the process.

“See, like that?” Rainbow pointed one of her hind legs at Chibimon for emphasis.

Lopmon X took a deep breath and said, "I see. I apologize if my wording caused any confusion.”

“Oh, don't worry about Rainbow, darling. She just likes it when things are simple to understand,” Rarity assured him while placing Nyaromon in her empty saddlebag. The cat-like Digimon remained asleep as Rarity's magic floated it into the bag.

"Wait... go back," Twilight sounded confused as she frowned up at Lopmon X, “You said your growth cycle is called ‘evolution'? As in, the process of creatures adopting specific traits over time based on environmental stimuli?”

“Yes, indeed,” Lopmon X nodded.

“But...that...that doesn't make any sense!” Twilight stood up and walked over to the table. She pushed her quill and scroll toward Spike, and her assistant instinctively caught them out of the air. He quickly prepared to write down whatever Twilight was about to say, Bab flying off his arm to wrap its tails around the largest spike on his back. Twilight went to the table and poked Lopmon in the stomach with her right hoof, “But, if you really evolved when you touched my horn, why do you look the way you do now? When you came in here, you didn't even have arms or legs. Just your smaller horns. Your Child Form is a drastic departure from your Baby Form. In fact, how did you evolve so quickly from just that touch? Evolution is supposed to take years to accomplish.”

Lopmon X was caught off guard by Twilight's questioning. He had to take a moment to parse through her questions before he could come up with an answer. When he did, he straightened himself up and coughed into his hand, “W-Well, you see...when I say ‘evolution,' I don't necessarily mean the ‘natural' type. We Digimon evolve in a broader sense. For us, evolution simply means growth and becoming stronger. Not adapting to our environment. Thus the reason why my current form is extremely different compared to my Baby Form, Chocomon.”

He moved closer to the edge of the table so he could stare into Twilight's large purple eyes. He held up both his hands and said, “As for why I evolved so quickly? Well, as I stated, our evolution is not based on environmental factors. It is based on stimuli. And some of the most potent and effective stimuli for us Digimon is-“

A sudden, loud growl brought Lopmon X's speech to a screeching halt. Spike nearly dropped his quill as the sound seemed to be right next to his ear. Everypony glanced around, looking for the source of the growling. But it soon became apparent when all the Baby Digimon suddenly fell to the floor and groaned.

"So...hungry," Chibimon said, his hands holding his rumbling stomach.

Cupimon groaned while pushing himself to his knees, “Forgot...none of us have eaten...anything since this morning.” Fluttershy knelt down and tried to comfort the little Digimon by nuzzling her face against his cheek.

Bowmon whined in agreement, rolling around on the floor in pain. Babydmon had flopped over onto Spike's head, its wings blocking his eyes partially. Even Nyaromon had pushed her way out of Rarity's bag to express its hunger. Tokomon X's protrusions deflated as he flopped onto Pinkie's mane. Even Sunmon and Moonmon were slumped against each other on the windowsill, both frowning from hunger.

Lopmon X's own stomach growled, but he wasn't brought to his knees. He looked away from Twilight and coughed into his hand, “Um, perhaps we can continue this discussion after getting something to eat.”

With a small smile, Twilight grabbed the quill and scroll from Spike's hand using her magic. She nodded at Lopmon X, “That sounds like a great idea. What do Digimon eat?”

“Anything!” Tokomon X suddenly shouted, jumping to its feet as drool fell from its mouth.

“As long as it's yummy!” Chibimon continued for the other Baby Digimon, suddenly finding the energy to stand on two feet.

Pinkie gasped and then shoved her two front hooves into her mane. After digging around inside it for a few moments, sticking her tongue out of her mouth in concentration, she shouted, “Aha!” When she removed her hooves, four blueberry muffins were lying across her legs. With surprising dexterity, she tossed a muffin to Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. When she saw that she only had one muffin left, she reached back into her mane with her left hoof. When she pulled it out and saw that nothing was on it, she shook her head and said, "Looks like I didn't bring enough for everypony. Sorry!”

“Don't fret, Pinkie Pie. Spike?” Twilight looked over at her dragon assistant. He saluted Twilight and dashed into the library's kitchen. There were multiple sounds of him rummaging through the pantries and fridge, followed by him repeatedly telling Bab to stop trying to grab something. Eventually, he walked out of the kitchen with a plate of two bright red apples and a hay sandwich. Bab had another apple in its mouth and was using its wings to hold it in place. Once the apple was still, it chomped down and ate it in one bite. A bit of apple juice splashed onto Spike, but the little dragon didn't seem to mind.

“Here you go, Twi,” Spike held the plate up, and Twilight used her magic to pick up all the food.

“Thank you, assistant. Alright, everypony, eat up,” she held the food in the air while lowering the muffin Pinkie had tossed to her down to Lopmon X, and moving the other sandwich over to Sunmon and Moonmon. The rabbit Digimon gently grabbed the food and thanked Twilight and Pinkie for the meal. Meanwhile, Fluttershy flew up and grabbed an apple for Cupimon. Fluttershy flew down to Cupimon and gently handed it to him. The Digimon looked up at Fluttershy with tears of joy in his eyes. Muttering a “Thank you” he took the apple and started to chew into it. Fluttershy patted his back as he ate, encouraging him to eat slowly.

Rainbow Dash, in contrast, held her muffin in her right hoof while pulling it back. She called out to Chibimon, “Heads up, squirt!” She tossed the sandwich to the Baby Digimon. Despite his previous display of weakness, Chibimon effortlessly leaped up and caught the muffin in his mouth. He grabbed the food with both hands as he began eating it. Rainbow Dash flew over and chuckled as the Digimon rolled around on the ground, biting at the muffin.

“Here you are, Nyaromon,” Rarity cooed, pulling a small piece of the muffin with her magic and floating it over to Nyaromon. The cat-like Digimon sniffed at the food for a moment. Then it opened its mouth just wide enough for Rarity to float the piece inside. Once Rarity let the muffin piece drop onto its waiting tongue, Nyaromon daintily closed its mouth and silently chewed the food before swallowing. She then opened her mouth again, and Rarity repeated the action. The pure white mare's eyes flashed as inspiration suddenly hit her, “I've got it! Ampurley! That's a wonderful name for a magnificent Digimon such as you. Don't you think so?”

Nyaromon didn't respond. She simply continued eating the muffin pieces that Rarity floated into her mouth.

“Ah, yes. I apologize. A lady such as yourself would not speak with her mouth full,” Rarity bowed her head as she continued to feed her Digimon.

In contrast to how Rarity fed Nyaromon, Applejack and Pinkie both simply handed their apple and muffin to their Digimon, respectively. Tokomon X took one look at the muffin before opening his mouth as wide as he could. A long, pink tongue shot out of its mouth and wrapped around the muffin before yanking it down its gullet. The Tokomon took a moment to chew before his eyes lit up with a bright pink light. He leapt off Pinkie's head and did a flip while shouting, “Wooohooo! That was the best thing I've ever eaten! What was that thing called?! Do you have more?! Please tell me you have more!”

“It was a blueberry muffin, silly,” Pinkie answered while reaching up to pat Tokomon X on his head, “And nope! Don't got anymore sweets next to my noggin'. But don't worry. There will be plenty of sweet stuff to eat later.”

“What are ya'll talkin'—woah!" Applejack pulled her hoof back, feeling Bowmon's tongue grabbing the apple from it. She watched as the little dog ate the apple whole, chewing it up and swallowing it within a moment. He belched before sitting down on his haunches and looking up at Applejack with a gleam in his eyes. Applejack chuckled before petting the Digimon's head, “Be careful with that tongue, lil' fella. That thing felt hotter than Granny's freshly made apple pies!”

Bowmon barked again...and then he suddenly froze in place. A bright white light suddenly encased his body, surprising Applejack so much that she took a step away from the Baby Digimon. The same thing started happening to Tokomon X, then Nyaromon, and so on and so forth. The only exceptions were Cupimon, Sunmon, Moonmon, and Lopmon X. The three former Digimon all stared in awe at what was happening. So much so, that they all stopped eating the food provided to them to watch it happen. Lopmon X, meanwhile, didn't seem surprised in the slightest.

All the ponies and the lone baby dragon squinted as the lights in the room became unbearable. Spike even fell to the floor, which unknowingly saved him when it caused Babs to fall to the ground next to him. As soon as he hit the ground, the light began to expand until it was the same size as Spike. Rainbow Dash was forced to land, lest her temporary blindness cause her to fall out of the air.

“Wha-What's happening? Are they...evolving?!” Twilight asked, her quill still moving as she tried to keep taking notes.

“Indeed,” Lopmon X said casually as he took a bite of his muffin, observing his fellow Digimon evolve, “For Baby Digimon, one nutritious meal is typically sufficient for them to reach their Rookie Stage. However, it normally takes a day for this to happen.”

“Then, why is it happening now?” Twilight asked as the lights began to die down. The ponies all blinked and rubbed their eyes to clear the blindness from them. Twilight was the first to clear her vision, and she immediately gasped upon seeing the changes to the Digimon in the room. Her quill actually stopped moving as she stared at the Rookies in awe.

The first to catch her eye was the actual dragon standing next to Spike. What was once a small, green-scaled baby dragon smaller than Spike, was now a blue and red young dragon a head taller than Spike. It had grown long, muscular arms and legs, with its wings taking on a reddish hue. They now grew from the backs of its arms, just above its three-pronged claws. Its tails had fused into one long, thick, blue tail with a reddish tip. A yellow “X” was on the top of his muzzle, while four glowing red horns stuck out of the back of its head. A similar glowing scale protruded from its chest, shining brightly in the light of Twilight's home.

“W-W-Woah,” Spike said, his mouth gaping at the much larger dragon standing next to him. Its yellow eyes turned to stare at Spike, who yelped at the sudden attention. The larger dragon got onto all fours and crawled over to Spike. Sweat poured down Spike's face as his body shook in fear. He spoke out loud, “B-B-Bab? I-I-Is that...you?”

The dragon stayed quiet for a moment...then its tongue shot out and licked the center of Spike's head. Caught off guard, Spike could only flail in surprise. He looked up at the now smiling, bright blue dragon as it spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, “Spike. Friend.”

The Digimon proceeded to lather Spike's face with licks, causing the baby dragon to laugh while trying to push it off.

Over by Rainbow Dash, she heard a loud exclamation of triumph as her vision cleared. Turning to see the source, she saw that Chibimon had also transformed. Mainly evolving into a larger version of his former self. He now had proper arms and legs, each ending with five...things at the end of his arms instead of the nubs from before. His tail was longer, and he now had a full torso and head. A yellow "V" sat in the middle of his head, right between his big red eyes. Two large ears grew out of the top of his head and flopped around as he jumped up and down. When he stopped hopping, he turned to look at his back...only to frown at what he saw. He stomped his foot and exclaimed, "Dang it!" No wings! I wanted wings so I could fly like Rainbow Dash.”

“Uh, I think you should focus more on how you gained more than a few inches from eating a muffin!” Rainbow flew down and yelled that into one of the Digimon's ears. Her eyes widened as she looked the Digimon up and down, “You're as tall as me now! What was in that muffin?”

“Nothing,” the Digimon shrugged, “It was just what I needed to evolve. Now, I'm V-mon! And don't you worry! My next evolution is gonna give me wings! Just you wait!”

V-mon started shadow boxing at the air, leaving RD watching him with confusion.

As Rarity's vision cleared, she became aware of something lying across her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw...

“A puppy?” Rarity said, craning her neck to get a better look. She was proven correct. Lying across her back was a little puppy. Its fur was a bright yellow and covered most of its body. The only exceptions were the black tips at the ends of its floppy ears, and the white patches around its mouth and on the end of each of its feet. Rarity wasn't sure where it came from, but something about it seemed familiar for whatever reason. Unbidden, she whispered, “Ampurly?”

The puppy's green eye opened up.

Rarity gasped, “Oh my! It is you, isn't it? You've turned into...a dog?”

The Digimon didn't respond. It got onto its feet, stretched, yawned, then walked over and nuzzled its body against Rarity's neck. It then laid back down and closed its eyes again. Rarity shook her head and said, "Oh, this is just...this is so confusing. I think I need a moment to lie down.”

“Here you go, Rarity!” Spike, having somehow gotten out from under Bab, appeared at Rarity's side holding a large satin pillow in his hands. Rarity lifted it up and soon lay down, while Spike stared at her with hearts floating above his head. Bab looked over at his friend with clear confusion in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Applejack took another step back from the new Digimon standing in front of her. She swallowed while observing what Bowmon had turned into. Instead of a small cub or puppy, it was now a fully grown wolf. At full height, it came up to Applejack's chin. Its fur had changed from a light shade of blue to a dark purple. In contrast, the middle of its chest, the end of its tail, and its large muzzle had pure white fur. Two pointed ears stood atop its head, and it stared at AJ with dark red eyes. A strange red gem sat in the middle of its forehead, and for some reason, belt straps were tied to its front paws. AJ couldn't help but stare at the creature's sharp claws and fangs. Chuckling nervously, she said, “Ahaha, not such a lil' critter anymore, are ya?”

Then the Digimon did something she didn't expect. It answered back.

“That I am not, Applejack,” the Digimon said while sitting down on its haunches, “I have evolved into my new form; Loogamon. Thank you, for helping me.”

“Ya'll can talk?!” Applejack shook her head in disbelief.

“Yes. Most Digimon gain the ability to talk when we reach our Child Stages,” Loogamon said as he approached Applejack. Once he was close enough, he held out his front paw and “smiled” up at her, saying, “And now, I believe I can actually ‘shake' like you asked me to. Shall we try that again?”

“Uh, sure?” AJ placed her front hoof in Loogamon's paw. The Digimon gently gripped her hoof and shook it up and down. AJ just stared at what was going on, completely floored by the current events.

“Oooh! Oooh! All your Digimon look so cool!” Pinkie exclaimed as she plopped down on her rump. She reached up to grab her Digimon, “I wonder what mine looks like? Did he become an even bigger Tokomon or something?”

She grabbed the new weight on her head and pulled it down so she could see what it was. What she saw made her gasp in shock, “Oh. My. Gosh.”

“What?” everypony looked toward Pinkie...and then they repeated the question, “What?!”

This is because Pinkie was no longer holding the pig-like Tokomon X.

She was holding a rabbit-like Digimon instead.

Its body was just as pink as Tokomon X's, but thinner and more feminine. It had two arms with the same weird things that V-mon had at the end, while its feet were covered with red socks. A dark pink scarf was tied around its neck, and a peculiar headset rested on its head. Two ears pointed upwards from its forehead just above its round, button-like pink eyes.

Pinkie stared at her new Digimon, and it stared back at her. After a few seconds, it nervously waved at Pinkie before speaking in a small voice, “Um, hello, Pinkie Pie. Um, I'm Cutemon and-“

“Darn straight you are!” Pinkie interrupted, pulling the Digimon into a tight hug. She rocked back and forth while speaking, “You are the cutest little thing ever! I didn't think it was possible, but I was proven so wrong! Digimon are awesome!”

Cutemon could do nothing but squeak in surprise as Pinkie hugged her tightly.

Twilight rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was seeing things. But when Cutemon remained in Pinkie's grasp, she knew that she wasn't. And that only made her confusion over what was going on even worse. All the other Digimon? Their evolutions made sense. Yeah, Lopmon X's was a bit of a stretch, but she could somewhat see the through-line there. The other Digimon had essentially evolved into larger versions of themselves, even if Nyaromon somehow transformed into a puppy dog.

But this?

Tokomon X, a Digimon with the body structure of a pig, somehow, turned into a Digimon with the body structure of a bunny rabbit!

And somehow gained a scarf, socks, and a headset in the process.

“This—This—This doesn't make any sense!” Twilight's gaze shot to Lopmon X, who had just finished eating his muffin, “What is going on?!”

Lopmon X smiled and put his arms behind his back. The picture of innocence, his nonchalant tone never wavered as he said, “As I said, we Digimon have a unique maturation cycle. One that is not always sensible. Especially considering one particularly powerful stimulus that allowed for all of them, and myself, to reach our Child Stages so quickly.”

“And that is?” Twilight's voice conveyed both frustration and curiosity. Her quill and scroll stood at the ready, even though it was already mostly full of notes.

Lopmon X raised one of its claws like a finger and said with total seriousness, “Friendship and love.”

From the Everfree Forest, the five invaders came. Their sickly orange eyes locked onto Ponyville. In their minds, the mission they were given repeated itself over and over again.

Find the locals.

Conquer their lands.

And create a base for those who would come after them.

Moving on all fours, the five of them made their way toward Ponyville, ready to put their plan into action.

Author's Note

For the record, I'm gonna be using the English and Japanese names for the first three Digimon Stages interchangeably. So, for those who don't know:

In-Training = Baby
Rookie = Child
Champion = Adult

I'm only doing it for these three, as they are pretty interchangeable. However, I will be using "Ultimate and Mega" for the final two Stages, instead of "Perfect and Ultimate". Mainly cause I like the first two more. They sound more fitting.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

Rookies/Child Stages
https://wikimon.net/Dracomon_(X-Antibody)

https://wikimon.net/V-mon

https://wikimon.net/Cutemon

https://wikimon.net/Meicoomon%27s_Unnamed_Child_Form

https://wikimon.net/Loogamon

Digimon Party

Sugarcube Corner. The primary sweet shop in Ponyville. Ran by the earth ponies Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the store was also home to the well-known Party Pony, Pinkie Pie. Due to this, the place was regularly used as the venue for the Pink Pony's numerous parties.

And today was no exception...save for who the party was for!

“Cutemooonnn~!?” Pinkie called out, hopping her way through the crowd of ponies who had come to party. Her uncanny sense of where other ponies were hiding led her to the drinks table. She leaned her head down and pulled up the white sheet covering the table. As the light from outside banished the darkness under the table, a small pink bunny creature's eyes widened as the light fell upon it. She turned her head until her big pink eyes found Pinkie's face, with the remains of a cupcake falling off her cheeks.

Pinkie tilted her head at the Digimon, “What are you doing down here, silly? A ‘Welcoming Party' needs the ponies we're welcoming to be here, ya know?”

“I-I-I know. I'm just...um...nervous,” Cutemon fiddled with the half-eaten pink cupcake in her hand. She swallowed while using part of her scarf to hide her face, “I-I-I'm just gonna...stay down here and eat.”

Pinkie giggled and grabbed Cutemon's body with her front hooves. Cutemon squeaked as Pinkie yanked her out from under the table and plopped her onto her back. She kept her eyes on Cutemon and said, “Then just stick by me! No pony can be nervous when they're with Pinkie Pie!”

“I-I-I don't-“ Cutemon was interrupted as Pinkie hopped over to a group of multi-colored ponies. The mares and stallions all moved aside to let Pinkie through, the pony in question stopping in the middle of the small crowd.

“Hey, everypony! Say hello to my new friend, Cutemon!” Pinkie grabbed the Digimon in question around the waist and held her up for all the ponies to see. As they all waved or greeted Cutemon, the Digimon could only stare at the crowd with trepidation. She swallowed and waved back while whispering a return greeting. Pinkie then set her down and rummaged around in her mane. A second later, she pulled out two pink, flat balloons and handed one to Cutemon. She answered Cutemon's confused stare with a smile, took a deep breath, and then blew as hard as she could into her balloon. The pink plastic expanded more and more until it was as big as Pinkie's head. Then...

POP

...it exploded with a loud popping sound. Pinkie's face was covered in pink plastic, and the pieces of the balloon fell over the rest of the crowd. They all laughed while Pinkie pulled the balloon off her face. She was laughing too and turned to Cutemon, “Now, you try!”

“Me?! I-I-I don't know-“

“You can do it! It's easy. You just put your lips on the end and blow!” Pinkie mimed doing so with the remains of her balloon. Cutemon pursed her lips and pulled at the end of her balloon. Still nervous, she took a deep breath and blew into the balloon. It didn't expand as quickly as Pinkie's, and she stopped when it became as big as her arm. She tied the end of it to keep the air inside. Then, acting on instinct, she started folding and bending the balloon in multiple different ways. The ponies around her watched closely as she worked on the balloon, the plastic squeaking repeatedly as she did so. After a few moments, she stopped and held up the finished project.

The ponies all gasped as they beheld a balloon version of Pinkie Pie in the Digimon's hands. Cutemon's face somehow turned pinker as she fidgeted in place, “Um...tadaa?~”

Pinkie gasped and quickly grabbed the balloon from Cutemon's grasp. Her smile somehow grew even wider as she jumped for joy while keeping the balloon in her hooves. She beamed at Cutemon, “This is amazing! You've gotta show me how you made this, Cutemon!”

“Me too!” exclaimed one of the ponies in the crowd. It was soon joined by numerous other exclamations from ponies who wanted to learn how to do what Cutemon did. Cutemon looked around, her nervousness evaporating in the face of everyone's excitement.

She stood up straighter and held her hands together, “Well, o-okay. I'll need some more balloons, though.”

“I've gotcha covered, sister!” Pinkie said, holding out enough balloons to cover both of her arms. Cutemon smiled and started passing the balloons out to the crowd of ponies.

In a separate room, Rainbow Dash was standing to V-mon's right. She had a piece of chalk in her hoof next to a whiteboard. The whiteboard already had nine lines drawn on it, and Rainbow was waiting to add one more. She called out to her Digimon, “Come on, V-mon! You can do it! Just one more, and that will be your fifth set!”

The Rookie Digimon in question was currently on his back, holding up two piles of ponies. In one hand, he held three earth pony stallions who were lying limply in his grasp. In his other hand, he held three pegasi mares who were doing the same. A crowd had gathered around, all watching the blue Digimon as he struggled to push both his arms up. Sweat fell from V-mon's head as his arms trembled under the strain. He gritted his teeth and with one final grunt of effort, he lifted both his arms all the way up. Rainbow Dash quickly marked the last line on the board and pumped her hooves in the air. The ponies helping V-mon also cheered as he placed them on the ground.

He jumped to his feet from a sitting position, flexing both of his arms with a big smile on his face, “Did it! Told ya I could! What's next? What am I doing next?”

His head darted back and forth, looking for something else to do. Rainbow landed to his right and swatted his head with her wing, “Calm down, squirt. Take a moment to bask in the glory before heading off to the next challenge. It's supposed to be your party. Here!”

Rainbow held out her right hoof for V-mon to shake. V-mon looked down at the offered hoof and smiled. Without hesitation, he grabbed Rainbow's hoof...and then heard a buzzing sound.

“GGGGGGGGG!” V-mon's body jolted and shook as if he had been shocked. He instinctively let go of her hoof and fell to the floor. His body twitched as Rainbow started laughing.

“Hahaha! Gotcha!” Rainbow held up her hoof to show the red buzzer wrapped around it, “Need to be careful about who you shake hooves with, squirt! Haha!”

“Mmmmph,” V-mon mumbled into the floor.

Rainbow leaned in close while holding a hoof over her ear, “What's that? Couldn't hear you from down there.”

“Mmmph.”

“Say again, squirt? Still can-woah!”

Rainbow was caught off guard when V-mon grabbed her front legs and stood up. He yanked her off her feet and held her up with both hands. His lips curled into a devious grin as he moved both his hands down to her torso, “You're wide open!”

The crowd gasped as V-mon placed his hands on the center of Rainbow's body and-

“Pffft-ahahahahahahaha!~”

-started to tickle her.

“S-St-Stop it! Hahahahaha!~ Yo-You-cahahahaha!” Rainbow was unable to speak as V-mon mercilessly tickled her. The crowd of ponies was unsure whether to laugh at what was happening or remain in stunned silence at how easily Rainbow Dash was brought down. Eventually, the rainbow-maned mare managed to push V-mon off her. The two stared each other down as Rainbow Dash got on all fours. She flapped her wings and sent a challenging smirk at V-mon, “Alright, you caught me off guard that time. But you better watch your back, cause I won't' let that slide.”

“I'm ready any time, any place, Dash,” V-mon met Rainbow's smirk with one of his own. Lightning seemed to spark between them as they waited for the other's next move.

Nearby, Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at Rainbow Dash and V-mon. The two were heading toward the food table with their Digimon on their backs. Ampurley was curled up on Rarity's back, her dog-like ears flopped on either side of her head, with her eyes closed. Cupimon, on the other hand, was wide awake and looking at the party around them. His eyes landed on V-mon and Rainbow, and he blinked in awe, “Those two are getting along rather well.”

“Indeed. It is almost as if they were separated at birth,” Rarity said while pulling out two stools at the table with her magic. As she and Fluttershy climbed onto the stools, Cupimon flapped his wings and landed on the table. Ampurley suddenly awoke and hopped onto it with him. Her eyelids were slightly lowered as she stared at Rarity expectantly. With a smile, the fashionista used her magic to pour punch into four glass cups. After putting straws into the glasses, she floated one to each of them. Cupimon was quick to grab his cup out of the air, while Fluttershy gently took hers and thanked Rarity for it.

“Here you are, Ampurley,” Rarity placed the glass in front of the Digimon and lowered the straw for her to sip from. Ampurley looked at Rarity, then at the cup. Keeping her passive expression, she lifted her head up and slowly drank the pink liquid through a straw. Rarity watched her with a happy sigh, “So elegant. I'm more of a cat pony myself, but I think I could make an exception for you, Ampurley. Your wonderful fur is already filling my mind with so much inspiration.”

Fluttershy took a tiny sip from her drink before speaking to Cupimon, “Honestly, I'm so happy that everypony is getting along with you Digimon. It's good to, um, know that you're all being welcomed. Is there, um, anything specific you want to do while we're here? As long as it's not too, um, intense.”

Cupimon stopped drinking his punch to hum in thought. He moved his head from side to side before looking back at Fluttershy. Then he smiled and said, “Well, I want to do whatever you want to do, Fluttershy.”

“W-What?” Fluttershy actually sounded surprised, “Y-You're, um, sure? Cause I-I don't usually, um, play much with the other ponies.”

Cupimon shrugged, “That's fine. I have fun just being around you. And, if you ever want to do something, tell me and we'll go do it.”

“O-O-Oh. Thank you, Cupimon. That's sweet of you,” she smiles and reaches over to rub his head. He giggles and leans into her hoof to enjoy the petting. However, he leaned a bit too far and loosened his grip on his drink. He scooted to the side and accidentally let go of it, causing the glass to fall over towards Rarity's side of the table.

Before either mare or Cupimon could notice what was about to happen, an orange blur dashed over to the drink and prevented it from tipping over completely. Despite the sudden wind pressure, Rarity's mane somehow remained perfectly fine, along with her drink. The two mares blinked before turning to see Ampurley holding onto the side of Cupimon's glass with her paw. She shot a glare at Cupimon, which made him flinch. He sheepishly grabbed his glass and said, “S-S-Sorry, about that, Ampurley. I'll be more careful.”

She gave Cupimon a firm nod before walking back over to her drink. Rarity and Fluttershy shared a look before both started to giggle at the circumstances.

Elsewhere, a different scene than the previous ones was unfolding. Near the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, there was another crowd of ponies. But this one was much smaller than the others. The ponies were a bit more nervous and avoided getting too close to the newcomer. In fact, the only one who dared to get close to him was the first pony he befriended since coming here.

Applejack rubbed the back of her head while looking down at Loogamon. She chuckled and said, “Uh, don't worry ‘bout all ‘em, Loo. They're just nervous ‘round new ponies. Well...new Digimon aye suppose.”

“Loo” looked up at Applejack and spoke with no hint of malice in his voice, “It is alright, Applejack. I understand why they are reluctant to get to know me. My appearance isn't exactly welcoming.”

“Ah wouldn't say that,” AJ chuckled, only to be immediately contradicted when a dark brown stallion gasped and hid behind a potted plant upon seeing Loo. Sweat fell from her forehead as she gave Loo an understanding look, "Just give ‘em some time to warm up to ya. Ya'll find that everpony in Ponyville is actually real nice.”

“I shall take your word for it. Hmm,” Loo looked around and spotted an orange stallion wearing a pinstripe hat and shirt. On his back was a large vanilla cake with red icing all around the top. He moved with the care of someone who had been doing this for a long time. Getting an idea, Loo spoke up, “Applejack? Could you come with me?”

“Uh, sure. Whatcha need?”

“What's that stallion's name?” he asked, pointing a claw at the stallion in question.

“Oh! That's Mr. Cake.”

“One of the owners? Splendid. Could you call out to him while we head over to him?”

“Sure thing. Hey, Mr. Cake!” Applejack's voice carried across the floor as she walked alongside Loo toward the stallion. Mr. Cake stopped in his tracks to look over at Applejack and nearly jumped out of his fur upon seeing Loo moving with her. The cake on his back was the only reason he didn't run, but everyone could see his knees wobbling beneath him.

He swallowed audibly as AJ and Loo stopped close to him. He forced a smile and said, “H-Hi, Applejack. Um, is-is this one of those ‘Digimon' that Pinkie made this party for?”

“Yep. This here's Loogamon. Though, aye call ‘em Loo for short.”

“Greetings, Mr. Cake. I am very grateful to you, your wife, and Pinkie Pie for doing this for us,” Loogamon bowed his head to the stallion, his voice cool and soothing.

Mr. Cake felt his fear lessen at the Digimon's manners. His voice grew steadier as he replied, “Oh, well, you're very welcome. We're always happy to help Pinkie throw parties for new friends.”

“That is wonderful to hear. Hmm, that cake you are carrying. It is for everypony here, correct?”

Loogamon pointed at the cake on the stallion's back. Mr. Cake nodded his head, “Yes, sir! Just need to get it to the table and everypony can dive right in!”

Loogamon hummed in thought. Then he turned to Applejack and asked, “Would you mind grabbing the plates from the dessert table, Applejack?”

“Not at all. Why ya need ‘em?” AJ's eyebrow rose questioningly.

“For what I'm going to do. Mr. Cake, could you please place the cake on the floor here? I promise that it will not get dirty or be ruined,” Loogamon bowed his head again to show his seriousness.

Though a bit skeptical about what the Digimon was asking, Mr. Cake did as requested. If Applejack and Pinkie Pie trusted him, then why couldn't he? AJ had already run off to grab the plates by the time he put the cake down on the floor. By this point, numerous other ponies were watching the proceedings. All were curious as to what the wolf-like Digimon had in mind. Loogamon straightened himself up on his hind legs. He held up his front paws and extended his claws. The sound made most of the ponies gasp and flinch away as he started slashing at the cake. Everypony expected to hear and feel cake icing flying all around...but it didn't happen. In fact, the slashing only lasted for a few seconds.

“There we are,” Loogamon's voice made all the ponies look at what he had done. What they saw made them all gasp in surprise. He had sliced the cake into twenty even slices. Not a single bit of icing or cake fluff was out of place on it. Even his claws were stainless. AJ whistled in awe as she handed the plates to Loogamon. The Digimon took a stack of them in his left paw, while using one of his right claws to carefully lift up a slice and place it on the plate. He then took the plate and handed it to Mr. Cake, “Here. Please, take this.”

Stunned, Mr. Cake took the plate with his mouth wide open and stammered, “Uh, uh, uh, th-thanks. Um, you didn't have to do that.”

Loogamon shrugged while picking up another slice, “I simply wished to give out some cake early. There should be enough to give each pony here one.”

“But wait, what about you?” Mr. Cake sounded concerned.

“Oh, it is no trouble. I did not plan for any of this to go to me. It's more important that you ponies eat it,” he said as he placed a plate with a slice of cake next to Applejack. Without missing a beat, he readied another slice and walked over to the dark brown stallion. The pony had emerged from behind the plant and watched the Digimon approaching him with awe. Loogamon held the cake out to him and said, “For you. I hope you enjoy.”

The pony looked at the cake, then at Loogamon, and then back at the cake. After a bit, his expression softened, and he pushed the plate towards Loogamon, saying, "No, you have it. It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get some. And, I'm sorry for the way I acted.”

Multiple ponies agreed, coming close to Loogamon to apologize or offer their slices to him. The Digimon didn't know what to do. He was stuck in the middle of the apologies, his eyes blinking as he tried to process what was happening. Applejack chuckled, picked up her plate, and started walking toward Loogamon. She said out loud, “Told ya. Just needed to let them warm up to ya.”

Finally, over by the window near the door, Twilight was sitting across from Lopmon X. The two were looking at separate scrolls with furrowed brows. Sunmon and Moonmon were sitting together on the windowsill, their eyes locked on the sky above. Sitting on the floor near them were Spike and Babs. The Digimon was in his new Rookie Form, Dracomon X, and had multiple cupcake wrappers sitting around him. Spike was in a similar state as him, both throwing cupcakes into their mouths.

“This stuff is great, isn't it, Babs?” Spike said through a mouthful of cupcake. He put another one in his mouth before Babs could answer, his tail wagging behind him as he spoke.

“Great!” Babs exclaimed, dropping three cupcakes into his maw and chewing loudly.

Twilight didn't seem to mind the loud chewing near her. Her attention was solely focused on the scroll containing all of her notes. She looked around it at Lopmon X and said, “Okay, so...um...you're really fine with me calling you Cornelius?”

Lopmon X looked around his scroll and nodded, “Indeed. It would be much better in the long run, as I doubt I'll be ‘Lopmon X' forever.”

Twilight nodded and cleared her throat, “Alright. So, Cornelius, let's go over everything we've told each other so far. We'll go in rotation from me to you and back again. Okay?”

“That sounds fine. Whenever you're ready, Twilight,” Cornelius nodded, using his ears as a cushion.

“Okay. So, you Digimon evolve by forming friendships with other ponies. In fact, your evolutionary growth occurs faster when a Digimon forms a bond with somepony else. Is that right?”

“That is correct. Friendships and bonds are some of the most important things to us Digimon. As they can heavily impact who and what we become in the future,” Cornelius looked at his scroll and pursed his lips, “According to you, ponies take care of all the natural functions of the environment. From the pegasi ensuring that different areas of the land have enough rainwater, to all the ponies working together to change the seasons from one to another. That is actually surprising to me.”

“Really? It's something that's normal here.”

“I know, but,” Cornelius frowned and put a hand on his head, “it's just strange. My memories tell me that such natural processes are usually automatic. That the land usually takes care of itself without outside interference.”

“What? Like the...Everfree Forest?” Twilight shivered as she said that name.

“Is that place particularly dangerous?”

“Yes! It's filled with all kinds of monsters, strange plants, and everything works without any pony intervention. The trees, the grass, everything grows all by itself.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Lopmon X wrote the information on his scroll. Then he turned to Twilight, “Apologies. I believe I accidentally asked two questions there. You may ask me two as well.”

“Um, excuse us,” both Cornelius and Twilight were caught off guard when they heard the tiny voices coming from the windowsill. They both turned to see Sunmon and Moonmon looking at Twilight. Sunmon spoke with anticipation in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes, “If everything is handled by ponies... does that include the sun?”

Twilight's smile grew a bit wider as she nodded, “Yes. Every day the sun is raised and lowered by our very own Princess Celestia. An alicorn of amazing grace, beauty, and compassion. She has ruled Equestria for a thousand years. It's thanks to her wise rulership that we have such a peaceful life here.”

“She's just saying that because she's Celestia's favorite student,” Spike laughed, causing Twilight to blush.

She shook her head to deny the accusation, but Sunmon didn't seem to be paying attention to that. His eyes were ablaze as he turned back to the window. He looked straight at the sun, the light not damaging his eyes in the slightest. His voice carried a sense of reverie, "Princess Celestia. I think I'd like to meet her one day.”

“Does she control the moon too?” Moonmon asked, her tone just as curious as Sunmon's.

Twilight flinched, “Well, yes and no. Her sister, Princess Luna, usually moves the moon, but she hasn't been seen much recently. Not since my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony to turn her back to normal. I think she's been cooped up in her room at Canterlot Castle since then.”

“Aw. She sounds like she's lonely. I'd bet she'd like a friend,” Moonmon said, turning to look up at the sky with Sunmon.

Twilight blinked in surprise before turning to Cornelius. She nervously chuckled, “Hehe, those two are really living up to their names, huh?”

“You'll find that most of us Digimon do,” Lopmon X said with a cheeky smile.

Twilight nodded, then spoke again, “Back on topic. So, when you touched my horn, do you think that the reason you evolved was because of my magic?”

“I'd say so,” Lopmon X looked up and waved a claw through the air, “The magic of this world is very... dense is the best way I would put it. I can't say much as I don't have the capabilities to fully analyze it. But the slight sensation I felt when I touched your horn suggested that it is a potent power source. And, if what you've told me is any indication, it too can be influenced by the emotional state of the ponies using it. Which is similar to how we Digimon work.”

“Uh huh, uh huh. Hmm, and you say you can't remember anything about where you come from? Even in your Rookie Form?”

Cornelius frowned and put a hand on his head, “Unfortunately, yes. It's... strange. Whenever I try to think about my origins, I just see white. I can get small snippets, but they don't make any sense without proper context. I imagine that my fellow Digimon are in similar states.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry. Maybe you'll get your memories back as you evolve. Speaking of which, when do you think you will evolve again? I believe you said there are five stages for you Digimon?”

“Yes. Baby, Child, Adult, Perfect, and Ultimate. Or, in a simpler manner, Baby, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. There isn't a definitive time frame between one stage and the other. And I can't think of anything that would indicate when it will happen at any given time. So, I wouldn't rely on it to clear up our collective amnesia.”

“Oh. I see,” Twilight frowned as her ears flattened out on her head.

Cornelius smiled, reached out, and patted Twilight on her head, “There's no need to worry, Twilight Sparkle. I'm certain things will become clear later. For now, I believe I can ask you two questions now.”

Twilight blushed again but nodded at Cornelius. His smile faded, replaced by a confused frown, “I've been meaning to ask, what are those marks on your...uh...flanks, I believe? I've noticed that every pony here has them.”

Cornelius glanced over the side of the table to observe Twilight's flank. She followed his gaze and then smiled, “Those are our cutie marks! A pony gets it whenever they find out what they're special talent is. Mine is magic!”

“You have a mark that tells you what you're talented at? Do you get that as you age?”

Twilight shook her head and said, “No, you have to discover it yourself. There are even some fillies and foals who have their cutie marks."

“Fascinating. Hmm, if you don't mind, I would-“

“Hey!” Twilight and Lopmon X both jumped when Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up next to their table. Twilight nearly dropped her scrolls, and Lopmon X nearly fell out of his chair. Pinkie looked between the two with a big smile and asked, "What are you doing over here, silly billies?! It's a party! You should be playing games and stuff!”

Cutemon leaned out from behind Pinkie's back with a party popper in her hand. She held it up and pulled the string at the back. It popped, and multiple streamers and ribbons fell over Twilight and Lopmon X. Both Cutemon and Pinkie laughed before dashing off to help with the party. Cornelius and Twilight blinked at each other in surprise. Then Cornelius started laughing while brushing the streamers off himself, “I suppose we have been staying here for a bit too long. Perhaps we should go engage in some, what was it, ‘Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Pony'?”

Twilight smiled and pushed her chair back, “That sounds like a good idea to me. Don't eat too many cupcakes, Spike and Babs. You'll get stomach aches.” Spike and Babs mumbled responses to Twilight but didn't seem to notice what she had said. Cornelius used his ears to lift himself off the table and land on Twilight's back. However, just as Twilight started to trot toward the party games, Lopmon X suddenly stiffened on her back. His ears shot up, and his eyes widened as he stood up straight. To Twilight's left, Babs was doing the same, dropping his cupcakes on the ground.

The same circumstance repeated itself with all the Digimon in the building. All of them had suddenly gone stiff and were standing completely still. They didn't move, even when the ponies poked or spoke to them. All at once, they turned towards the entrance door of Sugarcube Corner.

Loogamon put his plate of cake down and leaped to stand in front of the entrance door. He got on all fours and bared his fangs, growling, "Something's wrong. Everypony get away from the door!”

“What are ya tal-“

Before AJ could finish, the door to Sugarcube Corner was knocked off its hinges and flew straight at Loogamon. As the ponies screamed in panic, Loogamon raised his claws and cleaved the door into pieces. They fell harmlessly around him as the ones who had destroyed it dashed into the building.

There were five figures in total, all completely identical to each other. They all had pure gray fur with bright red eyes. The ears on their heads looked like wings, and their arms had three long black claws sticking out at the ends. Their tails all had black bands wrapped just underneath the tips. They stood on two legs with sharp fangs bared to all.

“Listen up!” the one at the front of the formation shouted, “From today onwards, this place is under the control of the Dark Area Invasion Army! All of you are hereby under our rule and-“

“Vee Headbutt!”

Whatever else the intruder was going to say was interrupted by V-Mon dashing forward and hitting him hard in the stomach with a headbutt.

Author's Note

I have now finished Season 2.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

https://wikimon.net/Gazimon

VS Gazimon

The Digimon V-mon headbutted's mouth flew open as the air was driven from its lungs. The momentum carried both of them out of the open entrance of Sugarcube Corner. The two became a rolling ball of violence as they left the building. Ponies walking down the streets of Ponyville stopped to stare at the blue and gray ball as the Digimon came to a halt a few feet from the stairs. V-mon ended up on top of the other Digimon and immediately moved to take advantage. He straddled his foe and lifted a fist up, "Gotcha! Get ready for a beating ya overgrown mutt!"

He launched his fist toward the other Digimon's head, but it managed to lift both of its arms up and block the strike. Then it used the brief moment of respite to lift its legs and kick out at V-mon's stomach. V-mon went tumbling off but quickly rolled back to his feet. The Digimon pushed itself up and glared at V-mon, "Urk, what's another Digimon doing here?! This place was supposed to be completely undefended!"

"Looks like you thought wrong. And you're gonna pay the price for it," V-mon slammed his fists together to intimidate his foe. In truth, he had no clue what the Digimon was talking about. But he wasn't going to let the chance to freak him out pass him by.

The Digimon growled and struck its claws together. The sound made the ponies still outside scream in panic. They ran into their homes and closed their doors, leaving the town deserted in a matter of seconds. The Digimon chuckled, "Don't be so cocky, fool! You may have caught me off guard, but now you have isolated yourself from your allies! My fellow Gazimon will soon be here, and then you'll see that quantity-"

The Gazimon was cut short as multiple pained yells rang out from inside Sugarcube Corner. Soon, the four other Gazimon came flying out the door. They all landed on either side of the lead Gazimon, groaning in pain as they got to their feet. Loogamon stepped outside behind V-mon. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Please forgive me for what happened to the door, Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I promise to help repair it once this is over!"

He then bounded toward V-mon, stopping at the blue Digimon's right side with his fangs bared at the Gazimon. Lopmon X followed him, using his ears to hover out the door. He was Dracomon X soon followed, carrying Ampurley on his back. Dracomon X landed on the left side of V-mon, Ampurley jumping off his back and onto the ground. Both glared at the Gazimon, Ampurley pawing at the ground while threatening sparks emerged from Bab's mouth. Lopmon X landed on the other side of Loogamon, crossing his arms while curling his ears into makeshift fists.

"You were saying?" V-mon's lips curled into a smug smile.

"They were stronger than we thought, leader. The Lopmon grabbed two of us with its ears and threw us out. Then that damn Loogamon and Dracomon rammed the last of us," one of the Gazimon said while getting to his feet.

The leader scowled but held its claws at the ready, "It doesn't matter! We're still more than a match for all of you. Prepare to fall to the might of the Dark Area!"

The five Gazimon lined up across from the five of them. Tensions rose as glares and intimidating gestures were exchanged among them, all preparing for battle. They all took runner stances and prepared to kick off to begin the fight. V-mon, Lopmon X, Dracomon X, Loogamon, and Ampurley all charged at the Gazimon-

"HOLD IT!"

And then stumbled as Twilight's scream cut through the tension in the air. Cornelius nearly tripped over his own feet but managed to stay upright by using his ears to stabilize himself. Loogamon skidded to a halt, while Dracomon X fell on his face as he tried to stop. Ampurley stopped on a dime, while V-mon to windmilled his arms to prevent himself from falling over. They all turned around to see what had happened. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all came rushing out the door. Twilight was at the back of the pack and stopped just outside the destroyed door. Her horn glowed a bright purple as the pieces of the door floated back into place, held in a similarly colored field of magic. They were rejoined into their original form and, a second later, they were returned to normal. As if it hadn't been knocked off its hinges in the first place.

"Twilight! Everypony!" Cornelius shouted as the mares all stopped by their respective Digimon. He glanced at Twilight for a moment before turning back to the Gazimon. His frown deepened as he unconsciously moved to stand a bit in front of Twilight, "You all need to stand back. This is going to get dangerous."

However, Twilight gently pushed the Digimon to the side while looking at him disapprovingly, "Oh no, not without all of you telling us what is going on here? Why did V-mon suddenly attack that Digimon? Do you all know them?"

"We know what they are," Loogamon said, not lowering his guard in the slightest, "Gazimon, who have come here on behalf of the Dark Area to invade Ponyville."

"Okay," Applejack placed a hoof on Loogamon's head to try to calm him down, "but I don't think attackin' somepony out of the blue like that should be ya'll's go to just cause of that."

"I don't know, AJ. When a couple of ponies introduce themselves by kicking somepony's door in, say they're here to rule over us, and that Ponyville is now under their control," Rainbow Dash shrugged while landing next to V-mon, "I don't blame Squirt and them for deciding to punch first and ask questions later."

"B-B-But, um, you shouldn't just, um, hurt others like that," Fluttershy said, trying to make herself as small as possible, "It's not, um, nice."

"Fluttershy! Do you not feel that?" Cupimon said from atop her back. He was glaring at the Gazimon who had remained in place and were whispering to each other about something. Cupimon's tone made it clear that he did not care for the Gazimon standing across from them, "That...That malice that they're radiating? The hate that they carry with them?"

"They certainly don't look very nice," Rarity admitted from her place next to Ampurley. She sniffed the air and then covered her nose with a hoof, "Ugh! And smell even worse! A bath or two would do them wonders."

Ampurley nodded her head in agreement with Rarity. Spike was busy helping Babs remove the dirt from his face after he fell to the ground. The Dracomon X licked Spike's face in gratitude, and Spike simply chuckled at the display of affection. Pinkie Pie was bouncing around the ground with Cutemon on her back. After a second, she dashed over to the Gazimon in the blink of an eye. All the Gazimon jumped back in surprise at the pink pony's sudden appearance. She started to hop around while speaking in an excited tone, "Oh! Oh! Maybe they came to say hi to our Digimon! In which case..."

Pinkie took a deep breath, preparing to sing her "Welcome to Ponyville" song. But before she could start, one of the Gazimon raised its claws and rushed at her. Cutemon gasped, grabbed Pinkie's mane, and pulled as hard as she could. With surprising strength, she pulled the party pony away from the attack before it could hit her. Pinkie leaned back, letting out the breath she had taken in as a puff of air before landing on her backside. Cutemon breathed a sigh of relief as she said, "I-I don't think they want to be our friends, Pinkie."

"Foolish creatures!" the Gazimon that had attacked Pinkie shouted. Sparks fell off his claws as he clashed them together, "Count yourselves lucky that those other Digimon are here to help you. Otherwise, you and all your kind would already be under the rule of the Dark Area Invasion Army!"

"But don't think that will stop us. Before the day is over, we will own this wretched place. And it will serve as a stepping stone for our conquest of this whole land!" the Gazimon who had knocked down the door shouted, holding his claws toward the sky. The rest of the Gazimon all raised their arms and cried out in agreement.

The ponies all blinked in surprise at the blatant declaration of aggression. Cornelius looked up at Twilight and raised an eyebrow, "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, yes it does. But it still doesn't mean we need to get violent," Twilight said as her horn glowed again. The same field that had surrounded the door flashed into existence around the five Gazimon. The Digimon all cried out in panic as they were lifted off the ground. Once they were high enough to not hurt anypony, she started walking forward, "Let's just take them out of Ponyville so they can't hurt anypony. I'll be sure to send a letter to Princess Celestia about this. She'll come by and take care of the rest. Come on, everypony."

Cornelius quickly followed Twilight as she walked, with the rest of the ponies and Digimon following suit. Rainbow Dash flew up next to the floating Gazimon and started taunting them as they floated by. Babs stared in awe at the floating Digimon and said, "Twilight. Strong."

"Of course she is," Spike said from Babs' right side, "You won't find a single unicorn in the world better at magic than Twi. She's not Celestia's personal student for nothing."

"Still, to be able to levitate five Rookie Digimon at once and not lose concentration. That is very impressive," Loo tilted his head to look at Twilight, "Is she what one would call a 'prodigy'?"

"From what I've seen, I'd say so. Ya don't get to be the Element Of Magic without being darn good at magic," Applejack affirmed while tilting her hat with a hoof.

Twilight blushed and refused to look too long at any of her friends, "C-Come now, girls. I'm not-not that great."

"Element of Magic?" V-mon asked, doing his best to stay under Rainbow Dash, "Is that something important?"

"Well, duh!" Rainbow Dash moved closer to V-mon, explaining, "It's one of the Elements Of Harmony! Didn't Twilight tell you guys about that?"

"I was planning to, but then these Gazimon broke down the door," Twilight explained while pointing a hoof at the floating Digimon. She looked at V-mon and said, "They're artifacts with great magical power that represent the six key elements of Equestria. Mine is Magic. Rainbow Dash's is Loyalty."

Rainbow Dash beamed and crossed her hooves with pride.

"Applejack is Honesty."

Applejack winked at the Digimon that were looking at her.

"Pinkie is Laughter."

Pinkie giggled while pulling another balloon out of her mane and handing it to Cutemon.

"Rarity is Generosity."

Rarity flipped her mane, causing Spike to swoon. Babs grabbed the baby dragon with his wing before he hit the ground. Then he placed the smaller dragon on his back to carry him.

"And Fluttershy is Kindness."

Fluttershy nearly jumped when all the Digimon suddenly turned their eyes on her. She tried to ignore their gazes while keeping her eyes on the ground below. V-mon's eyes were sparkling, and he started hopping in place, "That's. So. Cool! If you're that important, then you all must be super tough. I bet that's why we were all able to evolve to Rookie so quickly. Cause you girls are all so cool!"

"But. Me. Evolved. Too," Babs pointed at himself and then at Spike, "Spike. Not. Element."

"And I didn't evolve," Cupimon looked at his hands and frowned, "I'm still a Baby. But I ate a lot at the party, and I still haven't changed. Maybe something's wrong."

Cupimon let out a sad sigh. However, his sadness only lasted until Cutemon gave him a balloon that looked like him. He gently took the balloon while Cutemon patted him on the head, "Don't worry, Cupimon. I'm sure you'll evolve soon enough."

"T-Thank you, Cutemon," he hugged the balloon to his chest, being careful not to pop it with his claws.

Fluttershy and Pinkie both exclaimed "aww" at the interaction between the Digimon. While everyone else had been talking, Lopmon X had kept his eyes on the Gazimon. As they walked, four of the Gazimon kept resisting Twilight's magic. They kicked, punched, and yelled in vain attempts to escape their predicament. However, the fifth Gazimon didn't seem as panicked. He wasn't fighting against his bonds at all. Instead, he had his back turned to Twilight and seemed to be watching where they were going. The group was halfway to the edge of Ponyville, with the Everfree Forest coming into view in the distance. Twilight noticed Cornelius' worried frown and asked, "Is something wrong, Cornelius?"

"Hmm, perhaps. It's just that...I've been thinking about how the Gazimon were extremely aggressive when they arrived. That's how they usually act," Lopmon X shook his head as he spoke.

"How so?" Twilight asked as they arrived at the edge of Ponyville.

"They're not the type to attack an enemy head-on. They will typically try to weaken their opponent beforehand or set up traps to take advantage of during the battle. Which usually involves lots of trap...holes..."

Cornelius' eyes widened as he looked at the vast expanse of open ground between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. He shouted at Twilight as she steps outside the town's limits, "Twilight! Don't!"

Before Twilight could react, the ground beneath her fell away. Her forward momentum carries her into a hole large enough to accommodate two ponies. She cried out in shock and surprise, her magic disappearing and causing the five Gazimon to drop three steps away from the hole. As she starts falling, the other ponies, Digimon, and Spike all call her name. Rainbow prepares to dive for her, but thankfully Cornelius is just a bit faster. His ears shot out and grabbed Twilight around her torso before she fell. He planted his feet and pulled back with a loud grunt, pulling Twilight out of the hole and back to their group. The purple unicorn landed on her left side, while Cornelius fell onto his back.

Fluttershy and Spike ran over to Twilight and helped her to her hooves. Spike asked her, "Are you alright, Twilight?"

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm alright. Thank you, Cornelius," Twilight said as she shook her head to clear it.

"Don't mention it," Cornelius said as he got to his feet. The sound of cruel laughter caught everypony's attention. Across from the hole in the ground stood four of the Gazimon. They were all laughing while their leader stood with his arms crossed, a smug smile on his face.

"Hey, ya dirty varmints!" Applejack yelled while shaking a hoof at the Digimon, "What's the big idea doin' that to Twilight?!"

"Ha! Idiots!" the leading Gazimon yelled while sweeping his arm out, "This is what you get for standing against the Dark Area! We have dug holes all around your little village! If any one of you tries to leave or enter, they'll fall into the pit and be at our mercy! I suggest you prepare to surrender now, before all you weaklings get caught!"

The Gazimon continued to laugh, eliciting glares from the ponies and their allies. However, Rainbow Dash flew into the sky and shouted, "Ha! If there are any idiots here, it's you guys! Cause you all seemed to forget some of us have wings!"

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Cornelius called, holding one of his ears toward the blue mare, "It's a trap! One of them is missing!"

But RD was already speeding off toward the Gazimon. Her eyes were firmly locked on the leader, planning to ram into him and then drag him away from the rest of his party. As she flew, V-mon ran after her, jumping over the first pit to keep up. Just as she was about to dive, the ground in front and below her suddenly erupted into a cloud of dust. She cried out in shock and stopped before getting hit by dirt and dust. She covered her eyes with her front hooves, which prevented her from seeing the Gazimon's body through the dust. Its cheeks were puffed up as it prepared to attack.

"Paralyze Breath!"

"Rainbow!" V-mon put as much power as he could into his legs and leaped straight up. He left a small crater in the earth as he launched himself up to and in front of Rainbow Dash. He crossed his arms in front of him as the Gazimon expelled a cloud of yellow mist that hit him head-on. Yellow electricity flowed through his body, causing his muscles to freeze up. The Gazimon smiled wickedly before raising its right claw. The claws glowed a clear white color for a moment before it announced the name of its next attack.

"Gazimon Claw!"

V-mon cried out in pain as the attack hit him head-on. Three gashes were left on his arms as the force of the attack sent him flying back. He hit Rainbow Dash, and the two of them flew away from the Gazimon. Thinking quickly, Rarity and Twilight grabbed both of them with their magic. A purple field caught Rainbow mid-air, while a light blue one did the same to V-mon. The mares settled the pony and Digimon down in front of them before crowding around.

"Are you alright, RD?!" AJ asked the rainbow-haired mare.

Rainbow Dash sat up and shook her head to clear it. Then she nodded, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Wait, V-mon!"

She scrambled to her hooves and went to check on the blue Digimon. V-mon was lying on the ground, his arms still raised as his body remained in an uncomfortable pose. Small yellow tendrils of electricity kept appearing and disappearing along his body. His eyes darted from left to right, indicating that he was still conscious. The worst part were the three gashes on his arms, which left small blue cubes flying off his body where they made contact. Rainbow placed her hooves on V-mon's arms before turning to the only one in their group with experience in healing animals, "Fluttershy! What should we do?!"

"I-I-I don't know," Fluttershy admitted, her voice quaking with fear and anxiety, "I-I-I'd need to get to my house, but-but-but those Gazimon would..."

Fluttershy looked over at the Digimon in question. Said Digimon were giving each other high-fives and sticking their tongues out at the ponies. Rainbow Dash scowled at them and shook her hoof, "You jerks! Just wait till I get my hooves on you! You'll be sorry!"

Despite her threats, the Gazimon just kept laughing. While everypony was checking on V-mon, Cutemon tapped the side of Pinkie's head to get her attention. When the pink pony finally looked at her, Cutemon leaned in and whispered something to her. Afterwards, Pinkie gasped as her lips curled into a smile, "You can do that?! Go for it, Cutie!"

"Cutie?" Rarity asked as Cutemon hopped off Pinkie's back and ran toward the downed V-mon.

Pinkie shrugged, "You girls are giving your Digimon cute nicknames. I figured I should, too. And I don't have to worry about a letterbox limit!"

While Rarity tried to process what Pinkie had just said, Cutemon knelt down next to V-mon. She placed both of her arms on V-mon's stomach and then closed her eyes. Her voice became sonorous, carrying the sound of wind chimes, while her hands glowed a bright green.

"Healing Glow."

A bright green light covered V-mon's body, and the wounds on his arms healed in an instant. The electricity disappeared, and his body relaxed within seconds. By the time Cutemon had removed her arms from him, V-mon was completely healed. Not a single hint of his injury remained. V-mon quickly sat up and looked at his arms with wide eyes. Rainbow Dash quickly hugged V-mon and shouted, "V-mon! You're okay!"

A second later, however, Rainbow realized where she was and quickly let him go. She coughed into her hoof and looked away from V-mon, "I-I mean, it's good to see you back to normal, Squirt. And, uh, thanks for the save back there."

Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike all giggled at RD's reaction, while Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. V-mon hopped to his feet and looked over to thank Cutemon, only to see the Digimon hiding behind Pinkie's left leg. But he did spot the happy smile on her face from where he was standing. As he gave her a grateful thumbs up, Twilight stared at the situation with her mouth wide open. She looked over at Cornelius and pointed towards Cutemon, "W-W-Was that magic?! You didn't tell me Digimon could use magic?!"

Lopmon X shrugged, "That's because it isn't magic. Or, at least, not the kind of magic you ponies use. Our powers are more akin to intrinsic abilities. Like a dragon's fire breath. Or an earth pony's affinity with nature."

Twilight looked around with a distressed expression on her face. Then she shouted, "Spike!"

Quickly, the little dragon ran over with a scroll and quill he had produced from...somewhere, before handing it to Twilight. The purple mare quickly picked them up with her magic and started writing down what Lopmon X had said. After that, she handed the scroll back to Spike and glared at the Gazimon across from them, "Regardless, we need to do something about those Gazimon. Otherwise, ponies will be stuck in Ponyville or worse."

"Good luck, pony! You will soon learn that none can stand before us. Go! Show them true despair!" the lead Gazimon waved his arm as he declared his order. The other Gazimon let out battle cries before slamming their claws into the ground. They all disappeared into the earth in clouds of dust, leaving only one Gazimon standing. The hole V-mon's attacker came from was swiftly filled with dirt and rocks.

Knowing what they would do next, Lopmon X ran over to the hole he had saved Twilight from and looked over the edge. He only got to see inside for a second before another Gazimon appeared and filled in the hole. Dust rose into the air, with some of it nearly landing on Rarity. However, Ampurley moved in and knocked the speck of dust away with her paw. While she thanked her Digimon, Lopmon X backed up and placed a hand on his chin. He looked over the plains of grass and dirt before them, then turned to his friends behind him and said, "I think I might have a plan. But I'm going to need everypony's help to pull it off. Would you all be willing to listen?"

"Darn right! I've gotta get those guys back for what they did to me, and almost did to Rainbow!" V-mon shadowboxed as he declared his agreement.

"I'm with Squirt! I'm gonna give those jerks a piece of my mind!" Rainbow Dash imitated V-mon while flying in the air.

"I can't rightly let those varmints get away with this. I couldn't bear it if Applebloom fell into one of those holes. Ya with me, Loo?"

"You don't even have to ask, Applejack," Loogamon said as he lowered himself to the floor.

"Count me in! Though, I'm not really sure what I can do. But I bet Babs could handle those Digimon. Can't you, Babs?" Spike asked the other dragon. Dracomon X nodded while flapping his wings in anticipation.

Rarity flipped her mane and said, "Those ruffians do need some discipline. And they need to pay for nearly dirtying my pristine coat. Isn't that right, Ampurely?" The Digimon nodded in agreement, its paws already raised and poised for battle.

"And if any of you get any ouchies, just leave it to Doctor Pinkie Pie and Nurse Cutie! We'll fix you right up!" Pinkie said, holding Cutemon up in one of her hooves. The pink Digimon saluted in agreement.

Fluttershy, though, was slowly backing away from the group, "W-W-Well, you all seem to be, um, ready to h-handle this. So-So-So, I'll just go back to my, um, cottage and-eep!"

She was interrupted when she felt something pushing her from behind. Looking back, she saw Cupimon pressing his hands into her flanks while pushing her forward. His wings fluttered rapidly as he shouted, "No, Fluttershy! We can't just leave our friends behind! We need to fight with them!"

"Oh, but-but-but I can't fight! I-I-I don't like hurting other p-p-ponies. And th-th-those Gazimon are s-scary," she stammered, sticking her hooves into the dirt to try to stop herself. But the little Digimon possessed a surprising amount of strength. He managed to push her back into the half-circle of ponies and Digimon.

Then he flew in front of her and said, "Then you don't have to! I'll do it! You just stay behind me, okay?"

"But-" she was interrupted as Cornelius stepped up to explain his plan.

On the other side of the field, the leader Gazimon watched their group as they huddled together. He scowled and called, "Whatever plans you're coming up with won't work! Just surrender before we have to destroy your pitiful little home!"

But the group ignored his calls, only turning back to him once they were done setting up their plan. Cornelius, Loo, and Babs all stepped up to the edge of Ponyville while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the sky. They both disappeared into the clouds before coming back down with two large, fluffy clouds in their hooves. They pushed them over the space between their group and the leading Gazimon. The Gazimon stared up in confusion, wondering what they were planning. At Twilight's signal, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy bucked their respective clouds. With a flash of lightning, the two clouds started to rain all along the ground. The rain saturated the earth, quickly turning the dirt into mud. Once the water started to drown the grass and create muddy puddles, Lopmon X took a deep breath. His cheeks puffed up comically as frost fell from his lips.

"Blazing Ice!"

A stream of supercooled air blasted out of his mouth. It swiftly covered the earth in front of him, freezing the water and the dirt beneath. The lead Gazimon's eyes widened when he realized what was happening, but it was too late. He tried to yell a warning, but the freezing air kicked up by Cornelius forced him to cover his face. A thin mist covered the area, blinding him, so he couldn't see what was happening for a while. When it finally cleared, he gasped at the sight of the entire ground between him and Ponyville.

It had been turned into a flat plane of ice!

As Rainbow Dash pushed the two clouds out of the way, the lead Gazimon wiped the mist out of his eyes. He glared across the way at the four ponies, one dragon, and five Digimon standing on the other end of the ice. He angrily waved his hand and said, "Do not think this changes anything! My Gazimon can easily break out of the ice whenever they want!"

However, Cornelius could only smile while ignoring the Gazimon's words. He looked to his sides and nodded to both Babs and Loo. The Dracomon X and Loogamon stepped forward until they reached the edge of the ice. Flames gathered within Loogamon's mouth as he dug his claws into the earth. Dracomon X mimicked the wolf, planting his claws into the ground as his wings flared out. Their mouths glowed a bright orange-red as they raised their heads up. They then shouted in unison before throwing their heads forward.

"Baby Blaze!/Howling Fire!"

Twin streaks of red-hot flames flowed from their open jaws. The heat was so intense that many of the ponies had to cover their faces with their hooves to resist it. The wave of fire covered the frozen earth, quickly melting all the ice that had been left above the ground. The two fire-breathing Digimon continued for five seconds before Cornelius raised his right ear to signal them to stop. Their flames died the moment they closed their mouths, allowing all of them to see the ground between them and the lead Gazimon...and how it was completely covered in steaming pools of water.

"Perfect. V-mon, Ampurley, Babs, Twilight, Rarity? All of you, be ready for what comes next," Cornelius looked over at Applejack and nodded, "Do it, Applejack."

Applejack nodded, then galloped to the edge of the flooded ground. Once there, she tensed the muscles throughout her body. Her hind legs flexed as she reared up and readied her forelegs. It was only now that the Gazimon realized what was happening. He cried out, "NO!" but it was already too late. Applejack's hooves crashed down onto the earth in front of her. The combined force of an earth pony's natural might and the strength born from years of working on her farm shook the ground before her. The ground rumbled, causing the puddles to ripple and shake from the force. After a few seconds of shaking, there was the sound of something in the ground giving way. The next second...

CRASH!

Several pits suddenly collapsed, their surfaces caving in and exposing a total of at least ten pits. All of them were soon filled with mud, grass, and steaming hot water. Applejack whistled, "Hooo wee!~Would ya look at that? That little bunny of yours was right, Twilight!"

Twilight smiled and nodded, "Yep! How'd you know that would work, Cornelius?"

Cornelius held up his hand, "I suspected as much when that Gazimon attacked Rainbow Dash. While it was possible that each Gazimon had a separate pit to hide in, they would lose their value after one use. Even if they filled them in, we could simply memorize their locations. Thus, in order to make such a strategy work..."

"...they would need to create a tunnel system. That way, they could move between each pit whenever they want. Allowing them to confuse their targets and avoid fully revealing themselves. And you confirmed this when you looked into the pit before it was filled in," Twilight's smile grew as the realization sank in.

"Exactly. Now we just have to wait and, eventually-"

"YEEEOOOWWW!"

Right on cue, four shadows shot into the air. The four Gazimon all had their hands in the air, trying to shake the hot water off their fur. As they reached the apexes of their jumps, their bodies were swiftly covered by purple and light blue magical auras. Twilight and Rarity grunted as they pulled the Gazimon in with their magic. Their targets were swiftly pulled in toward their party, as V-mon, Ampurley, Babs, and Cornelius all tensed up. Cornelius curled his ears into fists and began spinning them in a circle. His ears span and span until they became a blurry, brown and pink tornado above his head. Ampurley's front paws glowed bright white as she prepared to launch her own attack. V-mon started spinning his right arm faster and faster while keeping his eyes on the incoming Gazimon. Babs held his head down as his horns glowed an even brighter red.

When the Gazimon came into range, all four Digimon struck different targets simultaneously.

"Petit Twister!/Vee Uppercut!/Smash Horn!/Puppy Paw!"

The sound of bodies being hit and pummeled echoed through the air. It was soon followed by the pained yells of Gazimon as the blows connected. Rarity and Twilight released them as their Digimon struck their respective foes. Cornelius' ears smacked his target in the stomach simultaneously, causing the Gaizmon to crumple around his limbs. V-mon's fist connected with his target's chin, causing the Gazimon's eyes to close in pain as the force surged through its body. Ampurley launched a flurry of blows on her target's body, keeping the Gazimon in the air by alternating between her left and right paws. And Babs' horns had crashed into his target's body, igniting some of the Gazimon's fur with the superheated scales on his horns. With a final grunt of effort, all four Digimon launched the Gazimon back into the air.

"Alright!" Spike cheered as the Gazimon were sent flying, "Nice hit, Babs!"

"Be sure to wash your paws after this, Ampurely," Rarity said while watching the Gazimon reach the apex of their flights, "They were all dirty and covered in water when you hit them."

While the ponies and Digimon celebrated, the lead Gazimon was grinding his teeth in anger. He yelled that he would make the ponies pay for what they did, lifting his claws up to strike at the ground. But he was interrupted by something poking him in the back. Stumbling in shock, he turned around to see Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie behind him. The pink pony was smiling at him with one hoof behind her back, while her friend was hiding behind her, her body shaking in fear.

"Hiyah!" Pinkie waved a hoof through the air in greeting, "I'm Pinkie Pie! This is my friend, Fluttershy! We ran over here while you were distracted by the ice and fire to ambush you!"

The Gazimon laughed and raised his claws, "Is that so? And how do you plan to accomplish that, you weak little ponies?"

"Oh, we're not gonna do anything. These two are," Pinkie pushed out the hoof she was hiding, revealing Cutemon and Cupimon hanging off her hoof. The Gazimon started to laugh but froze when he saw the golden ring around the Cupimon's head. Before he could react, the Baby Digimon dropped from Pinkie's hoof and swung his head forward.

"Angel Ring!"

The golden ring hit the Gazimon in the face, sending him stumbling back. It didn't do much damage, but it did leave him wide open for an attack. And Cutey didn't let the opportunity slip away. She leapt from Pinkie's hoof and flipped through the air until she was right above the Gazimon. Her cheeks puffed up before she let out a loud screech aimed directly at the Gazimon.

"Supersonic Wave!"

A wave of sound smashed into the Gazimon, sending him crashing into the ground. He cried out in pain as he was unable to move from the sudden attack. He tried to stay awake, but the combined assault knocked him out. Cutey landed on the ground and quickly ran back to Pinkie's side. She looked up at Pinkie and gave her a thumbs up, "Did it. Did I do good?"

"You did great! Exactly like Corny said!" Pinkie patted Cutey on the head, the Digimon blushing from the praise.

Fluttershy stepped out from behind her friend and approached the fallen Gazimon. She stared worriedly at the passed out Digimon, "I hope he's okay. He's not hurt too bad, is he?"

"I'm not sure it matters," Cupimon said while climbing onto Fluttershy's back, "Besides, we're going to hold him until Celestia shows up, right? So, knocking him out is a good thing."

"I...I suppose," Fluttershy didn't sound convinced. But she still reached down and grabbed the Gazimon under its arms. She flapped her wings and carried the unconscious Digimon over to the rest of her friends. Cutemon hopped onto Pinkie's back, and the party pony swiftly bounced her way back to the group. Despite the wet, hole-covered ground between her and Ponyville, she expertly managed to avoid all the pits and deep puddles. She reached her friends completely unscathed, except for a bit of mud on her hooves.

As Fluttershy set the Gazimon down, Twilight spoke up, "And that's all five. Great job, everypony. Now, let's get going and...Cornelius?"

All the ponies stared at the four Digimon, who were gazing at the Gazimon still airborne. Which, now that the ponies thought about it, was strange. Why were the Gazimon floating in the air? And things only got stranger when rings of light blue light suddenly exploded out from the center of the floating Gazimon. Rainbow asked what that was, but none of the Digimon seemed to hear her. Instead, Cornelius, Babs, V-mon, and Ampurley all focused on the floating Digimon in silence. Then they all held their arms out, closed their eyes, and breathed in deep gulps of air. As they did, Cornelius shouted out to the open air, "Fractal Code; Digitize!"

As he said that, the strange lights flew from the Gazimon into the four Digimon that had defeated them. Long strands of blue fell from the sky and wrapped around their bodies before flowing into their noses and mouths. The Gazimon's bodies disappeared before their eyes as the lights left their bodies. Four featureless gray eggs replaced them. When the last of the lights disappeared, the eggs fell from the sky, but Twilight quickly caught them with her magic.

V-mon let out a happy sigh as he opened his eyes, "Oh, man! That felt great. Got a chance to get back at those guys, and got some data for myself. All in all, I'd say this was a good day."

Babs nodded his head in agreement while Ampurley started grooming herself. Cornelius stretched his arms out and turned to address Twilight. But he saw the worried expression on her face and tilted his head, "Is something wrong, Twilight?"

"Wh-What was that? What did you do to those four Gazimon?" Twilight asked, holding the eggs above her in her magic, "Why did they turn back to eggs? Didn't you just knock them out?"

"Oh. We did. But you see, we Digi-"

"GRRAAAHHH!"

"EEP!"

Before Cornelius could finish, the last Gazimon woke up and tried to swipe at Fluttershy. Fortunately, the yellow mare managed to jump out of the way of his claws. She backed away as Cupimon and the rest of the Digimon prepared for combat. The Gazimon got to his feet and glared at his foes. His eyes were filled with hate as he spoke, "You-You damn Digimon! You destroyed my comrades. I'll-I'll make you pay for that!"

"Destroyed?!" all the ponies and Spike shouted in unison. They looked at their Digimon with suspicion.

Cornelius quickly shook his head and said, "No!" That's not what happened! Well, not exactly. There's more to it than what he's...wait...something's wrong."

Cornelius was right. For some reason, the air around their group started to get tenser. There was a sense of electricity in the air. Pinkie's entire body began to shake, bounce, and rock back and forth. The ground began to shake, and a strange darkness fell over Ponyville.

No...not Ponyville.

The Gazimon.

"You-You will-You will all PAY!" he shouted to the heavens above as his body was suddenly engulfed in pitch-black smoke. His roar echoed through the air, growing deeper and louder as time passed. His body started to grow larger and larger until he was the size of a building. All the ponies and Digimon stepped back, sweat dripping down their heads in fear. Fluttershy covered her head with her hooves while the rest of her friends watched in shock as Gazimon transformed.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Applejack shouted.

"He-He's evolving. But...but this feels wrong. This isn't how it's supposed to go," Loogamon said, unconsciously moving to stand in front of Applejack.

Soon after the black smoke was scattered by a large purple hand...revealing the monster that the Gazimon had turned into.

Its fur had turned a sickly purple color and was covered in stitches from head to toe. Black bands wrapped tightly around his arms, while steel plates shone on his knuckles. His lower half was covered by torn black pants with stitches on the thighs. His head was covered by a shaggy black mane that extended all the way to his back. Bones jutted out of his shoulders and chest, while white smoke escaped his mouth. His maw was filled with dark purple teeth, which made his burning red eyes look even more menacing. His claws had transformed from black to purple, and each one was now the size of a regular pony.

"Wh-What is that?" Twilight asked, swallowing in fear.

Cornelius answered, his own fear evident in his tone, "A Ch-Champion. Mad...Leomon."

As if hearing its name called upon its wrath, Mad Leomon's eyes locked onto the Digimon and ponies before it. It sucked in a breath before letting out a roar that shook the earth. Then it raised its claw and prepared to bring it down on its targets.

Author's Note

I have now finished Season 2 and watched the first Episode of Season 3.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter (Spoilers for the Ending):

Champion Digimon:
https://wikimon.net/Mad_Leomon

Digivolve To Champion

“Scatter!”

Cupimon’s shriek was the only reason none of the ponies or Digimon got hit by MadLeomon’s claws. The ponies scrambled or dashed out of the attack, while the Digimon jumped out of the way. However, even though none of them took a direct hit from the Champion, the force of it hitting the earth was enough to send them flying. Grass and dust went everywhere as the attack landed. Cupimon hit the ground next to Ampurley, both rolling to their feet and checking on their respective Partners. Rarity had landed somewhere to Ampurley’s left and tried to get up, only for Fluttershy to land on her. The yellow pegasus looked down then quickly flew off the white unicorn. She spoke quietly while helping Rarity to her hooves, “I’m so sorry, Rarity. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, dearie. Just a bit of damaged pride,” Rarity looked at her now dirty coat and mane with a grimace, but quieted any complaints she had.

“Is everypony alright?” Twilight said, getting up from the ground and looking around to survey the damages. Cornelius was by her side, shaking his head to get his bearings back.

“We’re fine over here,” Loogamon said, the wolf carefully holding Cutemon in his jaws by her scarf, while using one of his claws to keep AJ’s hat from flying off. He gently placed the pink rabbit down before bringing the fallen AJ her hat. The cowgirl mare thanked him while putting the hat back on her head. Cutemon panicked for a bit while looking for Pinkie, until she found the pink pony laying flat on the ground nearby. She went over and helped pull the mare up...along with her puffed up mane. It remained a mess until Pinkie shook her head back and forth, returning it to its original status.

As Cutemon let out a relieved sigh, Rainbow Dash and Babs both flapped their way into view. Rainbow held V-mon under his arms, keeping the light blue Digimon in the air as she flapped. She looked down at her Digimon and said, “Huh, you’re surprisingly light, Squirt. I thought you’d be heavier.”

“Uh, I don’t think you should really be thinking about that now!” Spike popped up from Bab’s back, his claws holding onto the pointed scales sticking out of Bab’s back. His panicked eyes were focused on MadLeomon. Said Digimon pulled its claws from the earth, leaving behind purple pools of poison that ate through the ground at a rapid pace. Spike audibly swallowed and his body shook as he stared at the Champion Digimon, “Th-Th-That doesn’t look good!”

“I. Protect. Spike,” Babs stated, flames gathering in his maw as he prepared to attack MadLeomon. However, before he could fire, Spike grabbed his maw and held it closed.

“No! Don’t!” Spike shouted, surprising Babs enough that the Dracomon X nearly fell out of the sky. He regained his balance and continued to hover in the air while staring at Spike with shock. Before either of them could say anything, MadLeomon roared again as it prepared to charge at its foes.

“Everypony, run!” Twilight shouted, already turning to run away from the towering Digimon. No pony argued as they all turned and ran from the large purple lion coming straight for them. Their Digimon joined them, moving right alongside them or being carried by the ponies. Twilight still carried the eggs with her magic, holding them above her head as her group ran away. The MadLeomon wasted no time bounding after the, eating up the distance in seconds.

Cornelius shouted while running on all fours away from MadLeomon, “Move around the outside of Ponyville! If the Gazimon’s pits are still around, then we might be able to use them against him! Rainbow Dash! Try to get his attention and lead him away from Ponyville and towards some of those pits!”

“On it! Squirt, think you can get him to look at us?” Rainbow Dash said as she banked around Babs with V-mon still held in her hooves.

“You bet, RD!” V-mon shouted while pursing his lips together. As the two flew toward MadLeomon, V-mon opened his mouth and launched multiple small, blue energy blasts at the Champion, “Vee Shot!”

The blasts hit MadLeomon right in the face, but didn’t seem to do any damage. If anything, they only annoyed the large lion Digimon. It growled while holding up a hand to block the barrage of blasts while its eyes burned with frustration. Its feet dug furrows in the ground as it turned to charge at the flying blue mare and Digimon. It raised one claw to try to swat at them but Rainbow dodged to the left before it could hit her. Confident they had its attention, V-mon stopped his firing while Rainbow flew toward the western edge of Ponyville. MadLeomon chased after them, his claws swinging at the air repeatedly as he tried to catch Rainbow and V-mon.

The rest of the ponies and Digimon stopped running to watch the giant lion chasing Rainbow and V-mon. Twilight called Rarity over and swiftly put the eggs into her saddlebag while speaking aloud, “Okay, I’ve got a plan. Once Rainbow gets that...MadLeomon into one of the pits, we move in. Pinkie, Spike, help Rainbow Dash keep it distracted. Rarity, Applejack, you and I will keep it in place. Fluttershy, you need to calm it down and get it to stop.”

Fluttershy squeaked with shock while trying to hide behind Applejack. She shook like a leaf in a storm while furiously shaking her head, “N-N-No, no, no, no. I-I-I couldn’t possibly. N-Not with something s-s-s-so ferocious and scary!”

“Girl, didn’t you stand up to a manticore when we were the Everfree?” Applejack asked the cowering yellow mare.

“Th-That thing wasn’t scary! It was just hurt! Bu-But that MadLeomon is-“ she swallowed audibly while looking up at the Champion Digimon still trying to swat Rainbow and V-mon out of the air, “Isn’t that!”

“Well, just imagine that it is that manticore! The faces are pretty similar,” Pinkie said, pointing a hoof at MadLeomon’s face...which was in the middle of roaring up at the sky.

Fluttershy swallowed and was about to shake her head, when Cupimon flew up to her face and grabbed her cheeks. He looked her in the eyes and said, “Don’t worry! I’ll be right next to you, Fluttershy. I’ll keep you safe, alright?”

“Um, uh, ok-okay?” Fluttershy didn’t sound so sure but was too surprised to argue.

Cornelius nodded then looked at the other Digimon, “Okay, everypony. While Twilight and her friends hold MadLeomon in place, we’ll move in to-“

“No you won’t,” Twilight interrupted Cornelius while shaking her head down at the Lopmon X. At his confused and shocked expression she continued, “You all are going to let us handle this.”

“What?!” Loo shouted, saying what all the Digimon in attendance was thinking. He shook his head his voice filled with worry and indignation, “What are you talking about?!”

“I don’t want you all fighting MadLeomon. You can stand by us if you want, but I don’t want you attacking him. Not if you’re gonna destroy him like you did those Gazimon,” Twilight grimaced and looked away from the Digimon.

“No! Sense!” Babs shouted, shaking his head from side to side, “Dangerous! We! Help!”

Spike put a gentle hand on Babs’ head and gave him a nervous smile, “I know it sounds bad, Babs, but...just trust Twilight, alright? She knows what she’s doing.”

The other ponies tentatively agreed with Twilight, refusing to look their Digimon in their eyes. Said Digimon were stunned and Cornelius spoke up, “But we didn’t destroy them! The Digitama are proof of that! We ju-“

The sound of MadLeomon roaring in pain cut Cornelius off, drawing everypony’s attention to the large Champion. As predicted, MadLeomon had stepped into one of the holes dug by the Gazimon. While it wasn’t deep enough to completely cover his right leg, it did manage to trip him up. He was on one knee while trying to swipe at the still flying Rainbow Dash and V-mon. Rainbow Dash called out, “We got him! What’s next?”

“Work with Pinkie to keep him distracted! The rest of us will hold him down! Come on, girls!” Twilight galloped off toward the trapped MadLeomon, soon followed by the rest of her friends. Babs hesitated before flying after the mares with Spike on his back. Cutemon and Cupimon were both riding on Pinkie and Fluttershy’s backs, respectively. Loo, Ampurley, and Cornelius all shared nervous looks. The former two turned their gaze to the latter, waiting to hear what he had to say. Cornelius lowered his head and shook it before running off to join with the rest of the group. Understanding, but still frustrated, Loo and Ampurley went off after him.

“Look over here, ya big idiot!” Rainbow Dash said, flying in to kick MadLeomon in the face before dashing away. Her attacks didn’t do any damage, but it did keep the Champion focused on her. Especially when V-mon stuck his tongue out at the crazed Digimon. Which was only made worse when Pinkie and Cutemon hopped in front of its eyes and shot party poppers in its face. It shook the streamers off just as Spike and Babs flew by, clipping its nose with Bab’s left wing. Enraged by the actions, the Digimon pulled its right fist back, a burning purple flame traveling down its arm to its hand.

However, before it could launch its attack, a purple aura appeared over its right fist. It jerked as its movement was arrested, looking over its shoulder to see Twilight with her horn glowing bright. With teeth grit and eyes closed, she stood her ground as she held the monster’s limb in place. Cornelius came over and used his ears to help hold her steady, eyes locked on the Champion Digimon. It tried to raise its other fist only for a second, light blue aura to appear around that one. Rarity stood a good three feet away from Twilight in a similar position to the purple mare. Ampurley was on the white mare’s back, wiping off any dirt or dust she had on her fur. MadLeomon howled and raised its free left leg to stomp the ground.

“Woah there!” Applejack shouted, lasso in her teeth as she threw it underneath the raised limb. Once there, she pulled it up and then taut around the monster’s ankle. Its leg was pulled out from under it, forcing it onto one knee while its arms were pulled back and its other leg was in a pit. Applejack was briefly pulled forward by the force of the monster’s fall. Sweat poured from her head as she spoke, “Urgh, stronger than ‘ah thought....might need some help here!”

“I’ve got you!” Loo stood up on his hindlegs and grabbed a part of the lasso with his paws. He pulled on the rope, taking some of the weight for Applejack.

“We’ve...got him...Fluttershy...now!” Twilight shouted, legs shaking as MadLeomon started to struggle against his bonds. It roared while shaking its body and mane, trying to break its bonds even a little bit. Steam and smoke came out of its mouth while its stitched up muscles tensed and writhed. It only paused when Fluttershy flew in front of its mad eyes. Its deep breathing continued as it locked its eyes on the yellow mare. She was so small compared to him that he could swallow her whole, yet she still managed to look him in the eye...

...Well...somewhat.

Her entire body was shaking, she was barely keeping herself aloft, her tail was between her legs, and her eyes were so wide that they rivaled dinner plates in size. It was like one good roar would be enough to send her running. The only reason she was hovering there was a combination of wanting to help her friends, and the little Digimon on her back giving her encouragement. Cupimon held her tightly while meeting Leomon’s glare without any fear whatsoever. After a few seconds, Fluttershy tried to speak, “H-H-H-Hel-Hello, th-th-there Mr. L-L-L-Leomon. Um-Um-Um, I-I-I just wan-wanted to say that, um, we-we’re really sor-sorry for h-hurting your f-f-friends and-“

She was cut off when MadLeomon roared at Fluttershy. The force of his yell sent her hair flying back and nearly launched Cupimon off her back. It opened its jaws wide and made to swallow the yellow mare whole. Fluttershy screamed with fear, while Cupimon climbed up to her head and launched a golden ring at MadLeomon’s nose, “Angel Ring!”

Surprised, MadLeomon snapped its mouth closed before it could reach Fluttershy. Seeing her opportunity, Fluttershy shot away from the monster before it could recover. Seeing what had happened, Rainbow Dash yelled, “Hey, leave Fluttershy alone! You’re gonna pay for that! Come on, Squirt!”

“Yeah!” V-mon agreed, pounding his fists together as Rainbow Dash dived for the MadLeomon. Ignoring the shouts of the others to stay back, Rainbow threw V-mon at the MadLeomon’s face. The Digmon’s head glowed a bright white before he shot toward the MadLeomon like a meteor. He struck the Champion right between the eyes, a loud crash being heard as he landed his attack.

“Vee Head Drop!”

Rainbow Dash followed this up by diving beneath the Digimon’s head and kicking it right in its chest. The momentum from both attacks pushed the MadLeomon back...far enough to lift its right leg out of the pit.

With surprising speed and agility, MadLeomon righted its right foot against he ground. Its eyes gleamed with malice as it used the new leverage gained by its position to pull at Twilight’s hold on its right arm. Twilight’s horn began to spark as the monster’s strength overwhelmed her magic. Cornelius tried to keep her steady but it was a losing battle. Eventually, her magic shattered and the light on her horn winked out as MadLeomon jerked its fist out of her grasp. The force was great enough to send her to the ground, Cornelius falling with her. That caused a knock on effect as MadLeomon turned its right hand into a fist and brought it down on the field around his left hand. Sure enough, Rarity’s magic shattered as the light on her horn winked out. She gasped and fell onto her side, only kept up by Ampurley quickly moving to keep her upright.

“Rarity! Babs, go help her!” Spike shouted and Babs moved into action. However, as he flew toward the downed white mare, a massive black hand appeared in front of him. He tried to stop but it was too late. MadLeomon closed its paw and caught them in its hand. As the two struggled it used its other hand to grab V-Mon who was ineffectually punching its face. Rainbow Dash moved in for another attack, but being free made MadLeomon much faster. It lashed out with the back of its right fist, which Rainbow Dash flew over...only to be hit by its other closed fist. She grunted in pain as the force sent her over MadLeomon’s shoulder and into Twilight Sparkle.

“Rainbow! Twi!” Applejack called, giving just enough slack on her lasso for the MadLeomon to lift its foot. Loo tried to compensate but he wasn’t able to accomplish much. The MadLeomon lifted its leg up, catching the edge of the lasso on its ankle. Seeing this, AJ quickly bit down on the lasso again...only to be pulled up along with Loo. MadLeomon lifted the two of them into the air then kicked its leg backwards. The force and momentum from it made AJ and Loo release their holds on the lasso. AJ landed on her side and skidded to a stop in front of Rarity. Loo managed to right himself and dug his claws into the ground. He slowed to a stop in front of AJ and Rarity. Cornelius came over to them, carrying a tired looking Twilight and an injured Rainbow Dash in his ears. Growling, MadLeomon swung its paws at the group, launching Babs, Spike, and V-mon at their group. Screaming, they all hit the ground in a heap. Stars swirled around Spike and V-mon’s heads, while Babs struggled to get to his feet.

“Is everypony alright? What’s the damage?” Cornelius shouted, gently putting Rainbow Dash and Twilight on the ground.

Twilight shook her head then put a hoof on her horn. She winced in pain as she spoke, “My-My horn, hurts. I’ll need time before I can use my magic again.”

“As will I, darling,” Rarity winced as well, using both of her hooves to massage her horn, “Ow, ow, my precious horn...” Spike, somehow, cleared the stars from his head and ran over to Rarity. He did what he could to help her out, but that mostly amounted to patting her on her back alongside Ampurley.

“I can still-gah!” Rainbow tried to fly, but hit the ground with her hooves covering her ribs, “Gaaahh! My chest...hurts.”

“Ah think we all got our bells rung there,” Applejack said while rubbing her injured side. Then her eyes widened as she looked around, “Wait a minute, where’s Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy?!”

“I’m here,” a small, squeaky voice said from above them. Fluttershy landed with Cupimon on her back, the former shaking and trying to hide her face behind her hair. A second later, Pinkie came flying at their group while shouting “Weeeee~!” at the top of her lungs. She hit the ground head first, somehow remaining upright on her head. Cutemon was hanging off her tail and let go to drop to the ground on her feet. She helped Pinkie right herself, the party pony shaking her head to clear it. Then she looked at her friends with a smile, “I’m a-okay! The big meanie pants threw grabbed me and threw me, but Cutie kept me all nice and healthy!”

“So, Twilight and Rarity’s magic is out, V-mon and Babs are injured, Rainbow probably has bruised ribs, and everypony else is mostly alright,” Cornelius said while looking over his friends. Okay, so, now we should-“

Whatever Cornelius was going to say was interrupted when they all heard MadLeomon’s cry. Turning their gaze to the Champion, everypony froze when they saw him with his right hand pulled back. A purple flame had engulfed the fist and took the shape of a lion’s head. It was just as menacing and viscous as MadLeomon’s face. The Digimon’s eyes glowed with malice as it roared out the name of its attack.

“Beast King Fallen Fist!”

Its arm shot forward and so did the attack. The face ate up the distance between the ponies and the MadLeomon in seconds. Even if they could move out the way, the attack was coming so fast that they’d still get clipped by it. And it was large enough to hit everypony there. However, right before the attack hit, six forms jumped in front of the attack. They connected their arms and shouted, taking the brunt of the attack as it crashed into them. A large explosion of purple flames cascaded around the area, leaving a scorch mark in the ground. Still angry, MadLeomon turned its gaze toward Ponyville and started to march its way toward the buildings. What intelligence the mad Champion had left told it that the battle was over. Its attack had hit and there was no way those weaklings could survive such a blow.

However....

“HOLD IT”

A multitude of pained but strong voices rang across the field of battle. MadLeomon paused, its head whipping around in anger as it saw what had really happened after its attack hit.

The six ponies and one baby dragon were all huddled together, eyes closed and hoping that something would save them. But as they realized that nothing bad had happened, they all opened their eyes to see what was going on. What they saw made them gasp in both shock and horror.

Cornelius, Loo, V-mon, Babs, Cupimon, and Ampurley were standing before them with their arms linked together...and their bodies covered in burn marks. Cornelius’ ears were covered from tip to base in waning purple fire that seemed to eat away at his flesh. The straps on Loo’s left and right paws had come undone, while half his face was scorched. Ampurley had lost the tips of her ears and her right paw was barely holding on. Both of Bab’s wings had holes in them and one of his horns was broken. V-mon didn’t look that hurt, but his shaking body was enough to show how much pain he was in. Blue cubes flew from multiple wounds on their bodies, their legs shook from the pain, and anyone looking could tell they were barely standing. Yet stand they did.

“Are...Are you all...okay?” Cupimon looked back as he asked that, one eye closed and the appendage atop his head drooping. One of his wings was burned and barely holding onto his back, but he didn’t seem to mind it. Not knowing what to say, the ponies and Spike all nodded in unison. Cupimon forced a smile, “Good...Good...Cutemon...heal them, please.”

The rabbit slowly nodded, shocked at what had happened. She moved to the ponies and helped separate them, using here healing glow to heal those that were injured. However, a roar from MadLeomon showed that it was not going to let happen. It got ready to charge at their group, one fist raised and readying another attack. The six Digimon released each other and made ready for battle. Cornelius spoke in a pained but confident tone, “You all stay here and rest, we’ll take care of him.”

“Wh-No!” Fluttershy shouted, cutting off Twilight before she could say anything, “You’re hurt! You all need to go before-“

“If we leave then MadLeomon will destroy Ponyville! We will not let that happen!” all the Digimon shouted in unison, making Fluttershy go silent.

V-mon raised his fist, “I’m gonna...I’m gonna be as cool as Rainbow Dash someday. And cool Digimon don’t abandon the town that treated them so nicely despite not knowing them! They protect them and their friends.”

“Spike. Friends. Here. I. Protect,” Babs agreed, flaring his damaged wings out.

“The ponies here accepted me despite my looks. They saw past them and were willing to be my friend! I won’t let them be hurt!” Loo shouted, teeth bared and flames licking out of his mouth.

“This place is your home, Fluttershy! These ponies are your friends! Your neighbors! And anyone who you care about, I care about! I won’t let them be hurt by this crazed Champion!” despite his size, Cupimon’s voice was as powerful as the Rookie Digimon in the group.

Ampurley said nothing, instead stomping her paws into the ground hard enough to kick up dust.

Cornelius’ voice was more measured as he looked over his shoulder. His eyes locked with Twilight’s and he asked her one simple question, “Twilight, would you ever leave your friends behind if you were all in danger?”

Twilight didn’t even hesitate to shake her head. She already knew the answer. She had discovered it every since they defeated Nightmare Moon together. Thus she said with confidence, “No. Never. My friends are some of the most important ponies in my life.”

Cornelius smiled wide, before turning his head back to stare at the MadLeomon. Then his expression turned to one of fury as he raised his ears up and turned them to fist, “Then you know how us Digimon feel. It doesn’t matter to us if we only just met today, you all have shown us kindness, compassion, and are willing to be our friends. Ponyville has done the same. You all welcomed us with open hooves. Thus, we will defend you. Even if it costs us everything! Everypony, charge!”

With a battle cry the six Digimon ran to meet MadLeomon in battle. MadLeomon met their cry with a roar as it launched another Fallen Fist their way. The Digimon scattered, the attack hitting the earth without harming any of them. Dracomon X’s mouth glowed with orange flame as it shot a wave of fire at the MadLeomon. It blocked the attack with its arm, but that distracted it long enough for the rest of the Digimon to close the distance. Cupimon hopped up and Cornelius cupped him in his ear. V-mon did the same, and then Cornelius through the two Digimon at MadLeomon’s face. He puffed his cheeks and shot a stream of supercooled air at the Champion’s left leg. The ice covered up the front of his foot, and Ampurley moved in to smash it apart with her paws. As it cracked MadLeomon grunted in pain and lifted his left arm to attack. However, a spinning Loo came barreling toward its arm, clamping down on its skin with his fangs.

“Spiral Bite!”

As the MadLeomon flinched Cupimon sent another Angel Ring at its eyes, as V-mon headbutted its chest again. The Champion was forced back a step, but any damage it had taken seemed superficial at best. With another roar it slapped both Cupimon and V-mon out of the air and to the ground, before grabbing Loogamon off its arm. It threw him to the earth, before blocking its face from another barrage of fire from Babs. Despite being tossed, V-mon, Cupimon, and Loo ignored their injuries and got back up. They ran back into the fray with their spirits burning bright.

Away from the battle, the ponies had separated and were all watching what was unfolding with wide eyes. Cutemon had just finished healing Rarity and had moved on to Rainbow Dash. Her Paws glowed a bright green as she mended the mare’s ribs. Spike pointed a claw at the battle and spoke with awe in his tone, “So...does anypony else think those guys sounded and looked really cool?”

“Yep,” AJ agreed with a nod.

“Yeppers!” Pinkie said, cheering for the Digimon fighting MadLeomon.

“It certainly surprised me. They all so...gallant. Like a noble knight fighting to protect his home,” Rarity said, daintily wiping a tear from her eye.

“But they’re all in danger!” Fluttershy shouted, her voice filled with worry for them, “And they’re all hurt and getting worse! And-And what about MadLeomon? What if they-destroy him too...”

She gulped and closed her eyes which caused the other ponies and Spike to look a bit ashamed. Cutie had finished with Rainbow, who was testing her wings, and had moved onto Twilight. As she began healing her, the purple mare looked at the bunny-like Digimon. With a grimace she spoke, “Cutemon...why are you Digimon alright with...destroying each other? Isn’t it...bad to do that? Don’t you feel upset when you see other Digimon...hurt?”

Cutemon was silent for a moment, her face a scrunched up in concentration. Eventually, she spoke up, “Only if those Digimon...are nice. And kind. Or are our friends. If they’re bad Digimon, or crazy like MadLeomon, then we fight because...we don’t want to get hurt. Or see our friends hurt.”

“But is that really enough reason to destroy each other?!” Twilight had to hold herself back from shouting. The others were all watching them now, all wanting to hear what Cutemon had to say.

However, the Digimon’s response wasn’t what they were expecting, “We don’t destroy each other.”

“Huh?” Twilight and Fluttershy said in unison.

“But what about them Gazimon? The last one said ya’ll destroyed his friends,” Applejack pointed out.

Cutemon shook her head and turned to look at Rarity. More specifically, the saddlebags filled with Digitama on her flanks. As everypony there turned to look at the bags, Cutemon explained, “When we Digimon take a lot of damage, our Fractal Codes are revealed to the world. These Codes contain our...well...’Lifeforce’. We call it ‘Data’. In that state, any Digimon can absorb that Data in order to become stronger. And when that happens, the other Digimon turns back into an egg....to be reincarnated.”

“Reincarnated?! You mean...Digimon have a naturally cyclical existence where their souls are returned to the world as different beings?!” Twilight said aloud, her curiosity flaring up again. However, at her friends’ confused looks she explained, “It means that Digimon aren’t ever really destroyed. They turn into eggs and then come back later. As different Digimon. Possibly without their previous memories, so they can become entirely different Digimon.”

All the ponies and Spike looked to Cutemon for confirmation. When the Digimon nodded, they all gasped in shock. Fluttershy galloped over to Cutemon and said, “Yo-You mean...those Gazimon...they could come back? And as...nice Digimon this time?”

“Yes,” Cutemon confirmed.

“So...no Digimon ever actually gets...destroyed?”

“Not at all.”

Some of the weight on Fluttershy’s shoulder left. She let out a relieved sigh though she didn’t look completely sated. The Digimon were still hurting each other after all. The same was true of the rest of the ponies, who all let out their own breaths. But then all their eyes widened and they turned back to the battle unfurling ahead of them. Cornelius was almost crushed by MadLeomon’s foot and only survived because Ampurley dragged him away. Babs was smacked to the ground by an errant swing of the Champion’s tail. V-mon and Cupimon were ineffectually punching the Champion’s legs.

“Wait...but then...if they get hurt too badly then-“ Spike didn’t finish because all the ponies knew what it would mean. If the Digimon took too much damage, then they would all turn back into eggs. And if they did then MadLeomon would...

“It’s alright,” Cutemon’s words caused all the ponies and Spike to look at her in shock.

“What do you mean it’s alright?! No it isn’t!” Pinkie said, sounding far more serious than she usually did.

Cutemon was unfazed as she continued to heal Twilight, “You heard them. They’re willing to risk everything for you all. For Ponyville. To protect their friends and the ones they care about. That’s why it’s alright. Because they...we chose this. Chose to do this. Because...you’re our friends.”

It was only now that the ponies noticed that Cutemon didn’t look good. Her skin had lost some of its pink colors, her ears were drooping, her legs and arms were shaking, and she was breathing heavily. Yet, despite this, she kept her glowing hands on Twilight’s body. And every passing second she seemed to get worse. Until, eventually, Twilight stood up with her horn back to normal. Cutemon looked around to check and see if everypony was healed. When she saw that they were, her lips curled into a tired smile. Then she tipped over and nearly hit the ground...until Pinkie caught her. With a determined expression she gently placed Cutemon on her back. The Digimon blinked and spoke in a weak voice, “P-Pinkie...wh-“

“Thanks for helping with our ouchies, Cutemon. Now, it’s time we helped you Digimon with yours. You with me girls!” Pinkie shouted while stomping her hooves into the dirt.

“Heck yeah! I’m not sitting around while Squirt handles this. Wouldn’t be cool of the pony he looks up to!” Rainbow Dash said as she took to the air.

“I-I-I’m coming too,” Fluttershy flew up to join Rainbow Dash, “I-I won’t let them get hurt anymore than they already are. And-And I need to be there when MadLeomon turns into a cute little egg. To take care of it.”

“I’m with both of you, darlings,” Rarity said as she adjusted her saddlebags. Then she shot an angry glare at the MadLeomon, “No pony hurts my friends without getting a stern punishment from yours truly!”

AJ adjusted her hat and dug at the ground with her other hoof, “And ah still need to show that mad lion that you can’t keep a good apple down!”

Twilight felt a weight land on her back. She looked up to see Spike riding on her back with a determined look in his eyes. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but he didn’t look sad. If anything, he looked more confident than Twilight had ever seen him. He locked eyes with her and simply said, “You with us, Twilight?”

“As if you have to ask,” Twilight smiled and turned toward the MadLeomon with the rest of her friends, “Ready girls?”

All the ponies yelled an affirmative.

“Then let’s go!” they galloped off, hooves swiftly eating up the distance between them and the battle. Twilight and Rarity wasted no time firing magic beams at MadLeomon. They hit the Champion by surprise, knocking it away when it tried to crush Cupimon under its foot.

The other Digimon all turned to see the ponies galloping and flying their way. Cornelius’ face grew grim as he shouted, “No! Stay back! You’ll get-“

“We’re not gonna let you fight alone!” Twilight shouted in response.

“We’re all in this together!” Rainbow Dash said while diving toward V-mon.

“But. You. Said. Not-“ Babs started but was interrupted by Spike.

“Cutemon told us! We know you won’t really destroy him! We’re sorry we told you not to fight!” Spike shouted at him.

“And ain’t none of us want to see ya’ll get hurt and not do anything about it!” AJ said, stopping Loogamon in his tracks.

“You’re not the only ones who want to protect their friends and loved ones!’ Rarity’s voice made Ampurley’s heart sing.

“Nor want to stop another Digimon from hurting anypony else!” Fluttershy said as she dived for Cupimon.

“We’ll be right alongside you! Because...,” Pinkie started as all the ponies and Spike finally caught up to their Digimon. All seven of them said the same thing in unison.

“You’re our friends!”

Unbeknowst all of them, the ponies’ Cutie Marks had started to glow a bright white. And, as they said that final phrase, beams of light shot into the sky and towards Canterlot.

[/hr]

Within the Royal Palace, within the vault where the Elements Of Harmony were kept, all six artifacts began to glow. They pulsed with a new power that could be felt throughout the entire palace. Sensing the strange energy, Princess Celestia brought two of her guards with her to check on them. The moment she opened the vault, bright white lights shot through the windows and into the vault. The briefcase was opened by an invisible force and the seven lights hit the six Elements dead center. The light intensified to the point where even Celestia had to squint her eyes to see. Which is why she saw the strange devices rising out of the Elements of Harmony.

As soon as the light appeared, it disappeared, retreating from the vault with the devices.

Princess Celestia watched the light leave, eyes wide as she wondered what had just happened.

[/hr]

Back in Ponyville, the lights crashed into the ponies and their Digimon. It encompassed them all and temporarily blinded MadLeomon. The Champion put his left paw over his eyes, but could still somewhat see where his foes were. With a roar, he sent another Beast King Fallen Fist at them, the giant lion head roaring across the ground toward the light. However, right before the blast hit, seven voices shouted in unison-

“Lopmon X-“

“V-mon-“

“Dracomon X-“

“Cutemon-“

“Cupimon-“

“Loogamon-“

“Salamon-“

“Digivolve To-!”

And the second before the attack struck, it was suddenly slashed in half. The two parts of the fireball exploded, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. MadLeomon remained on guard while glaring at the smoke. He was certain that his attack had been destroyed, and his foes had already survived his attack once. He didn’t want to be caught off guard by them this time.

He saw something glint in the smoke and lifted his arm to block. As anticipated, something shot out the smoke directly at him. He tensed his muscles to prepare for the attack...but it didn’t matter.

The projectile shot straight over his guard, cutting a deep line through his arm and left shoulder. Then it came back around and did the same to his right shoulder. He roared in pain as the projectile flew back toward the hand of its owner...and revealed itself to be a playing card.

Specifically, the King of Hearts.

Twilight blinked as the smoke began to clear. She felt a weight on her neck and looked down at her chest. She gasped when she saw a strange device hanging from a metal chain around her neck. The chain looped into a space on the back of the strange, rectangular device. It was the same color as her fur and had her Cutie Mark engraved on the back. She lifted it up while muttering questions under her breath. But her attention was soon taken by the tall figure standing next to her. She couldn’t contain the shocked gasp that left her when her eyes landed on the figure.

He was far taller than her. Even if she stood on her hind legs, she’d only come up to the middle of his torso. A spiky, dark blue and red cape covered his neck, the back fluttering in the wind behind him. He wore a bright yellow full body shirt, with thick dark blue gloves on his hands. The palms of his gloves had red “X” marks in the center. An eye-patch over his right eye had the same “X” emblazoned on its front, while his yellow and red left eye was opened to the air. His yellow, straw-like hair was partially hidden by a wide-brimmed wizard’s hat. The figure’s right hand held the King Of Hearts between its middle and index finger. His hands crackled with magic power that Twilight could feel on the air.

“Wizarmon X,” the figure, Wizarmon X, said before making the card disappear into thin air. He turned to look at Twilight and the purple mare took a nervous step back. But then she saw him smile and say to her, “Hello, Twilight. It’s good to be able to see you like this, instead of constantly having to look up at you.”

Twilight frowned as her eyes searched the Digimon’s face, “That voice...Cornelius? Is...Is that you?”

Wizarmon X nodded, then bowed while holding his cape out to the side, “Indeed it is, I. This is my Champion form. Wizarmon X. A form I was only able to obtain, thanks to you. The resolve you showed back there, when you came running to help me...it lit my soul aflame and pushed me to new heights. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Twilight blushed and looked away from Cornelius, “W-Well, you’re, um, welcome, Cornelius. I’m happy to have helped a friend and...wait! Where’s everypony else?! Where’s Spike?!”

She started panicking, jerking her head to and fro as she tried to catch sight of her friends. But seeing Wizarmon X remaining calm gave her pause. She heard him chuckle, a light and airy sound, that before he spoke, “Don’t worry. I’m certain we’ll be seeing them soon enough.”

As if on cue, MadLeomon roared and charged at the two with his claws out. Cornelius didn’t panic and simply summoned more cards to his hand until he had four in total.

“Magic Game!”

With a flick of his wrists, he sent the four cards barreling toward the charging Champion. MadLeomon swiped at the projectiles when they got close...only for three of them to poof into nothing and the last one to fly up and over his attack. It hit him in the face, exploding into more white smoke that blinded MadLeomon.

And as its vision went, two blue figures flew in from above. One had a green and purple body on its back, while the other had a Rainbow streak following behind it. They dived at MadLeomon, crashing into his chest and driving the air from his lungs.

“Magnum Punch!/Strike Bomber!”

The large leonine was sent flying back to where it came from, its feet leaving the ground as its assailants came into view. Spike had a wide grin on his face as he rode atop the back of a large dragon. It was as big as a teenaged dragon, its dark blue scales glistening in the light of the sun. Its back wings, chest, and underbelly were all a light beige, the same color as the claws on its hands and feet. Red horns grew from its head and nose, matching the spines that crawled along its back and tail.

“Coredramon!”

Next to the two was a smiling Rainbow Dash, her front hoof out from having punched the MadLeomon. And by her side was another large dragon. This one was stouter and thicker than Coredramon, with no wings on its back. Its body was a mixtures of bright blues and whites, with two pure white horns sticking out its head and back. A patch of scales on its chest formed a blue “V” and its thick tail hung below it while it floated in the air.

“V-Dramon!”

“That’s for Fluttershy, ya big bully!” Spike shouted at the flying Digimon.

“And for me!” Rainbow Dash replied while pumping her hooves in the air.

The MadLeomon flew backwards until it started to lose momentum. It began to fall to the earth...but then stopped abruptly just before it hit the ground. The reason why could be seen underneath its back. It had been caught by two, pony sized Digimon.

The first was an orange cat standing next to Rarity. She was holding MadLeomon up by one of her orange furred arms. Her paws were white with black claws extended out from them. Her green eyes were furrowed along with her pointed fuzzy ears. The fur on her chest was white while her back had black stripes that ran from left to right. Her tail was thick and flat, identical to the ribbon-like appendages that extended from her back.

“Meicoomon!”

The other Digimon was perhaps the stranger of the two. As she was a literal walking strawberry shortcake. Her head had actual strawberries on the top and back, while two green eyes were open on the cake’s sides. But only her head revealed anything about her similarity to pastries. The rest of her body looked like a waiter at a fancy restaurant. A brown coat with a white sleeved shirt underneath, thick slacks for her stout legs, and thick brown boots on her feet. A purple tail resembling cake icing stuck out above her hindquarters, and both of her hands were covered in white gloves. The bottom of her face held two lips that were curled into a smile.

“Shortmon!”

She too held MadLeomon up with only one hand. After adjusting her grip on the Champion, she spoke with a dignified tone, “We have secured the opposition, Pinkie Pie. Where do you think we should send them?”

Pinkie stood a few paces away from Shortmon. She had both of her hooves out in front of her, one eye closed, and tongue sticking out of her mouth. She hummed and hawed as she tried to get a good angle on a distant patch of ground. She looked over at Rarity who was doing the same to her right, “I think I spotted a good place for Mr. Lousy Loud Lion. Do you see it too, Rares?”

“That I do, Pinkie,” Rarity smiled before turning around and gracefully pointing toward a spot in the distance, “Ampurley. Cutie. You may throw when ready.”

The two Digimon shared a nod then, with all their might, they threw MadLeomon into the air. They jumped after him, Meicoomon’s claws glowing a bright deep blue, while Shortmon summoned a fork as long as she was from...somewhere. They both stopped just behind MadLeomon’s back and then struck him.

“Tastone!/X Scratch!”

The attack left a large “X” in the Champion’s back as he was sent flying toward the spot their two Partners had indicated. With way more strength than their small forms would indicate, they sent the MadLeomon far into the distance. The Champion had gotten his senses back by this point, but it was too late to stop his momentum. So, he instead tried to slow himself down by slamming one of his claws into the earth. He dug a furrow into the ground as he flew, managing to slow himself down enough to where he could get onto his feet.

He lifted his head to growl only to come face to face with a Digimon who matched him in size. The Digimon was covered in pointed red and purple spiked fur, with a large metal muzzle on its face. At the top of the muzzle was a red gem that complimented the red eyes of the Digimon. Its pointed ears were drawn back while red hot flames fell from its closed maw. Its massive paws had black leather gloves over them, with holes for its large red claws.

“Loogarmon!”

With a howl he lifted himself up on his hand legs then brought his them down on the MadLeomon. MadLeomon raised its claws and grappled with Loogarmon...but was forced onto his knees at the other Digimon’s greater strength. As it tried to keep its balance, an orange blur ran along Loogarmon’s left arm and up MadLeomon’s. It was soon revealed to be Applejack, lips curled into an excited smile as she leaped from the arm toward MadLeomon’s face. She turned around in mid-air, pulled her hind legs back, and bucked the Champion as hard as she could. A crack resounded across the area as the Digimon’s head was forced back from the strength behind the apple farmer’s legs.

“Get ‘im, Loo!” AJ let herself drop out of the way, which gave Loogarmon a clear shot at the foe. It opened its maw wide, the flames inside burning as he shot MadLeomon point blank.

“Howling Burner!”

The MadLeomon screamed as the flames sent him flying further away, scorching his fur and melting some of the metal on his chest. As he flew, the Digimon and ponies regrouped around Loogarmon. Everypony kept watch, all the Digimon ready in case MadLeomon wished to continue the fight. And they were not wrong. The Champion got up on shaky legs, but still seemed ready and willing to battle. His eyes burned with even more malice as he forced himself to his feet. Both his arms blazed to life as he prepared to launch another fireball at his foes. But just when he was about to attack...a seventh figure appeared above the ponies and their Digimon.

One that took up everypony’s attention...and made MadLeomon pause in shock and awe.

Flying above the group of ponies and Digimon was, perhaps, the strangest being they had seen yet. He carried Fluttershy in his arms, the yellow mare seeming to be sleeping peacefully in his embrace. His wings were as fluffy and bright white as an Alicorn’s, but he had six instead of two of them. He didn’t seem like any manner of animal. He had no fur and no tail, and the five things at the ends of his arms weren’t claws. Golden bands were around both his wrists and ankles, while his most of his body was covered by a white toga. A purple tatoo ran down his chest, while his hair was a bright golden blonde.

“Oh sweet Celestia,” Rarity gasped, eyes sparkling at the sight, “Those wings, those bands, that frame...it’s all so...fabulous!”

“What...kind of Digimon is that?” Twilight asked Cornelius, wracking her mind for an answer.

Cornelius remained silent, keeping his eyes on the MadLeomon. Meanwhile the new arrival gently poked Fluttershy’s cheek with one of his appendages. She stirred and yawned before rubbing at her eyes with a hoof, “Good morning. Is the...is the fighting over yet?”

“Not quite,” the newcomer’s voice was light and playful, yet seemed to carry a weight far beyond his years to it, “I’m afraid that we still have things to take care of my dear Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy looked up and blinked at the Digimon. She blinked in surprise then tilted her head, “Oh, really? And, um, who are you su-wait...you know me?”

“Of course I do. You were the first to find me, after all. How could I ever forget that?” he gently placed a hand behind her ear and started to rub at it.

“Fir-CUPIMON?!” Fluttershy gasped, getting up and grabbing the Digimon by his cheeks. She looked him up and down with wide, disbelieving eyes, “Bu-Bu-Bu-How-Where-Whe-“

He gently grabbed her hooves and lowered them while quietly shushing her, “I will explain everything in due time. For now, may I please finish this battle? So that we may all return home safe and sound?”

Fluttershy, still floored by the revelation that this was her cute Cupimon now, slowly nodded her head, “A-Alright...um...what should I call you now?”

The Digimon smiled while hovering to the ground and placing Fluttershy down on her hooves. Then he held his arms out while crossing his legs as he answered, “Call me, Lucemon. Or, Lucey, if you prefer.”

He winked at Fluttershy before flying up above everypony else. Then he stared at MadLeomon with the thinnest smile on his face. The Champion actually backed up at the sight of him, while all the other Digimon were charging their attacks. Wizarmon X’s hands crackled with electricity, Meicoomon’s claws glowed blue, Shortmon grabbed the strawberry off her head as a new one grew in its place, Loo and Babs both started charging their flame breath, and the “V” on V-dramon’s chest glowed a bright gold. Lucemon put both of his hands together and, one by one, spheres of superheated light formed in front of him. There were ten in total and they all formed a cross with the largest in the center.

Lucemon spoke, his voice carrying even to Ponyville, “MadLeomon. This is the end. Be at peace as we send you to the rest you so deserve. Everypony, fire!”

“Bolt Break!” Lightning exploded out from Cornelius’ hands.

“Howling Burner!” A beam of superheated flames shot out from Loo’s mouth.

“Blue Flare Breath!” A wave of sapphiric fire exploded out from Bab’s maw.

“V-Breath Arrow!” A “V” shaped heat ray launched from V-dramon’s mouth.

“Sweet Berry!” Cutie threw her strawberry with all her might at the foe.

“X-Scratch!” Meicoomon sliced at the air with her claws, sending them careening toward the MadLeomon.

“Grand...Cross!” Lucey shouted as the ten spheres shot at MadLeomon. All the attacks coalesced and combined as they traveled, becoming a giant golden beam of energy that was too big for MadLeomon to dodge.

The mad lion roared and launched both its Beast King Fallen Fist attacks at the oncoming attack...only for them both to be destroyed without impeding it in the slightest. He could do nothing save scream in pain and terror as the beam engulfed his body. After a few seconds, the beam made impact and exploded on his position.

Wasting no time, Lucemon flew at the explosion while shouting, “Cornelius! Now!”

Cornelius held up his hands and said aloud, “Fractal Code: Digitize!”

In seconds a stream of blue data flew from the center of the explosion toward Cornelius’ outstretched palms. Lucemon, meanwhile, flew into the cloud and, a second later, come out with a solid gray egg in his hands.

And like that...it was over.

MadLeomon had been defeated.

And the Mane Six, and Spike, now had Champion Digimon...that they needed to somehow fit into Ponyville.

Author's Note

Yep! Say hi to the Champions everybody!

As a heads up; No. This Lucemon is NOT like the Lucemon from Frontier. I have other ideas for him. I don’t want to spoil anything right now though. I hope you all enjoyed!

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

Champion Digimon:
https://wikimon.net/Shortmon

https://wikimon.net/Meicoomon

https://wikimon.net/Lucemon

https://wikimon.net/Coredramon_(Blue)

https://wikimon.net/Wizarmon_(X-Antibody)

https://wikimon.net/Loogarmon

https://wikimon.net/V-dramon

The Princess Visits

As a new dawn crested upon the small town of Ponyville, everything seemed to indicate that it would be just another ordinary day for the inhabitants. Ponies strolled outside, ready to go about their daily routines without a care in the world. However, anypony who was looking up at the skies above Ponyville would soon realize that today wouldn't be completely normal. As the small average town right next to the Everfree Forest had recently received a few extraordinary visitors. And today, it was poised to host yet another one.

Princess Celestia looked over the side of her chariot as the pegasi guards continued to pull it toward their destination. She could clearly see Ponyville through the clouds as they approached and couldn't help but feel her heart sing at the sight. The peaceful, harmonious town with all of her little ponies enjoying their wonderful lives. Along with this came a feeling of relief. After what happened with the Elements Of Harmony yesterday, she was worried that trouble had descended upon her student's new home. The letter said student had sent her an hour or so after that event didn't ease her worries either.

Digimon? Gazimon? Eggs hatching into "Digital Monsters"? Small brown rabbits evolving into two-legged wizards?

She would never consider the idea that Twilight would lie or exaggerate in one of her letters. But even she found some of the things in the letter hard to believe. She had seen many, many, many strange things in her long existence as Equestria's Princess. And she could not think of a single instance of any creature like these "Digimon" Twilight wrote about. The closest comparison she could find was Discord. Their evolutions certainly seemed rather chaotic. What other word could you use to describe a little pink pig evolving into a pink bunny with a scarf, which then evolves into a walking strawberry shortcake?

But even he didn't create entirely new monsters when she and Luna had faced him. She wasn't sure he could. And she thanked her lucky stars for that. Though perhaps it would've been better if he had made that one hostile Digimon Twilight mentioned in her letter.

Celestia focused her gaze on the boundary between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. There, she saw three earth ponies quickly filling in a pit to the east of the town. It didn't take them long to finish, and soon any hints of something having been there were completely gone. She let out a small sigh at the sight. It was good to see that the damage done by those Gazimon had been repaired. And that the "MadLeomon" the last one had turned into hadn't managed to hurt any pony. All thanks to the Digimon that helped Twilight and her friends.

She was certainly looking forward to meeting those "Digimon". Twilight had made them sound so pleasant.

Either way, all these events happening only a few hours apart confirmed that this was no coincidence. Whatever happened to the Elements Of Harmony had to connect back to these "Digimon" somehow. Considering this was only a day or so after her sister was healed, she couldn't simply ignore this event. She had to see the truth with her own two eyes. While it might make the nobles in Canterlot a bit upset with her, they could stand to sit on their concerns a bit longer. She would get to them in due time. Besides, this shouldn't take too long. Just a simple visit and-

"...Hmm?" she raised one of her eyebrows as her chariot dived below the cloud cover. As they did, she swore she could feel a large amount of magical power gathered in one area. Enough that, if she didn't know better, she would've mistaken it for a particularly prodigal unicorn. Or perhaps a pack of timberwolves all gathered in one place. However, it felt...different from either of those. Wild, yet controlled. A strange combination for sure. And one that piqued her interest enough to look for it. Glancing over the right side of her chariot, she found her gaze falling upon the familiar Apple Trees of Sweet Apple Acres. Specifically near the left side of the farm where their barn sat. That was where she saw...

...Huh.

"Guards, please drop me off at Sweet Apple Acres," Celestia's voice was sweet and calm as she spoke. The guards grunted in acknowledgement before banking to the right and heading towards the entrance of the famous farmstead. They made one more pass in front of the entrance before landing outside the archway that led into the farm. As the pegasi touched down, a small yellow filly ran down the dirt road to meet them. Her bright red mane and tail were complemented by the large pink bow tied on the back of her head. She opened her mouth to greet the visitors, but stopped short when she saw exactly who had arrived at her home.

"P-P-Princess Celestia!" the young filly, Apple Bloom, was so surprised she didn't pay attention to where she was going. She tripped over her own hooves and fell forward. She rolled across the ground until she slid to a stop in front of Celestia, as the latter stepped out of her chariot. Apple Bloom shook her fall off and got to her hooves. Then she bowed to the Princess while saying, "W-Welcome to Sweet Apple Arces, Princess! Ma-Mah name's Bloom Apple-ah-Ah mean Apple Bloom! Ta what do we owe the honor of, ah mean what do we-"

Celestia chuckled as she trotted over to the bowing filly. She gently lifted her up with her front hoof until Apple Bloom was back on her hooves, "Be at ease, Apple Bloom. I apologize for the abrupt visit, but there is a matter in Ponyville that I felt the need to investigate personally. But before that, I wanted to come see something I spotted on your farm as I flew over."

"O-Oh! R-Really?!" Apple Bloom hopped up and down, youthful excitement overcoming her desire to be respectful, "What didya see?"

"A large, furry creature laying down to the left of your barn. Do you know anything about that?"

Apple Bloom's face lit up at Celestia's words, "Oh! Yer talkin' 'bout Big Loo! He's my sister's new Digimon friend! He's real nice and even bigger than mah brother. Ya want to come see 'em?!"

Humming to herself at being correct, she nodded to the filly, "Yes, I would. Could you please lead the way?"

Apple Bloom nodded and turned to lead Celestia to the west of the farm. Celestia casually ordered her guards to stay put until she came back. The pegasi all saluted then took up position around the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom bounced around as she led the Princess into the farm, talking about all the ways she had helped out on the farm. Celestia listened intently while making sure to reply to Apple Bloom whenever she wanted an answer. It was foal's play for her to split her attention between the filly and looking for "Big Loo". It didn't take long for them to come up to the Apple Family's Homestead. Big Macintosh was in the fields, pulling their plow without much difficulty. Granny Smith sat in a rocking chair on the porch, eyes closed as she snored the day away. Apple Bloom greeted her family members before leading Celestia to the barn. Once they arrived, Celestia got a good look at "Big Loo".

And the moment she saw him, she had no doubt that these Digimon weren't native to Equestria. She was almost certain that she'd remember a dragon-sized, four-legged, purple-furred wolf with the amount of latent magical power this one possessed.

Applejack stood nearby, bucking an apple tree and letting the apples fall into the buckets around her. "Big Loo" was lying down a bit behind the orange mare. His head was resting on his large paws, the muzzle over his mouth making his breath come out as steam. His tail rested behind him as he kept his sharp eyes on Applejack. Applejack sighed and turned around, revealing to Celestia a strange device tied to her left hoof by an immaculately made bright red cloth. The device was rectangular and as large as an apple. It was the same color as Applejack's mane and had her cutie mark emblazoned across its sides and back. A blank greenish board was on the front of it, sparkling in the morning sun.

Celestia could hear the frustration in Applejack's tone as she spoke, "Loo, ah already told ya I'm fine! Ya'll don't have ta laze 'round watchin' me all day long."

"You say that," "Loo" said, his voice deep and rumbling, "but I distinctly remember you nearly passing out yesterday from pushing yourself too hard."

"That's only cause ah had been buckin' apple trees, an' doin' a buncha other things without any sleep!" Applejack asserted while stepping over to the large wolf-like creature, "But ah got better after Twi an' 'em came to lend me a hoof!"

"And it takes more than one good night's sleep to overcome the fatigue of multiple nights with no sleep," Loo said, his tone stoic and matter-of-fact.

Applejack smiled and puffed her chest, "Maybe fer any other mare, but ah'm an Apple! One good wink, and ah'll be ready to go quick as ya like!"

Loo hummed, "I wouldn't doubt it. But all the same, I would still rather watch over you just in case."

Applejack hung her head and sighed at Loo's answer. She turned to go back to her apple bucking but stopped as Apple Bloom ran up to her. She smiled and looked down at her sister, "Hey, lil' sis. Aren't ya'll supposed to be helping Big Mac with the fields?"

"Ah was, but ah saw somepony flying over the farm! They landed in the front, so ah went to greet 'em! An' guess who it was?! Go on, guess!" Apple Bloom could barely contain her excitement as she spoke to her sister. She was hopping from hoof to hoof while staring up at Applejack with a sparkle in her big eyes.

Applejack rolled her eyes, but the smile remained on her face, "Oh, just tell me, sugarcube. Yer actin' like the Princess fell from the sky or something."

"Funny you should say that, Applejack," Applejack nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Celestia's voice. The ruler of Equestria stepped forward so she could be seen by everypony in attendance. Applejack said her name and quickly bowed to her. Loo, meanwhile, lifted himself to his paws with his eyes on Celestia. Said Princess greeted Applejack before turning her attention to the large wolf in the room. Looking up to meet the Digimon's eyes, she said to him, "Greetings. I've been told you were called 'Big Loo'. I am Princess Celestia. I don't mean to be rude, but would you happen to be a 'Digimon'?"

"That I am," he responded. At his full height, he had to lower his head to be level with Celestia. Then he bowed his head in respect, "Salutations, Princess Celestia. I am Loogarmon, the Champion form of Loogamon. Though, as such things are subject to change in the future, Applejack and her family have taken to calling me Loo or Big Loo. The second was suggested by Apple Bloom when she saw me."

"Because ya'll are bigger than Big Mac! An' the Princess!" Apple Bloom shouted as Applejack got up from her bow.

"What are ya'll doin' out here, Princess?" Applejack asked Celestia, "Didya stop by to visit? Maybe try some of Granny's famous Apple Family Pie?"

Celestia chuckled, "While that certainly sounds amazing, Applejack, I'm afraid not. I came due to the letter Twilight Sparkle sent me. Both because of what she wrote about your Digimon friends and due to a matter regarding the Elements Of Harmony."

"What?! Is somethin' wrong with the Elements?"

Celestia shook her head, "I don't believe so. But yesterday, bright lights shot out of them and headed in the direction of Ponyville. Along with a few strange objects that came with them."

"Ah," Loo got everypony's attention as he spoke. He lifted his head and said, "I believe I may know what that was, Princess. Applejack, do you remember what happened when the other Digimon and I evolved during the fight with MadLeomon?"

Applejack took a moment to think about what Loo was talking about. Then her eyes widened as she sat back on her haunches and lifted her left hoof up for all to see, "Ah right! Those Digivice things we all got!"

"Digivice?" Celestia asked, looking at the object on Applejack's left hoof.

AJ nodded and pointed at the Digivice, "These little things showed up on 'round our necks when the Digimon changed to Champion. They were 'ttached to these chains, but Rarity said they looked 'horrid'. So, she spent all of yesterday makin' these scarves we can wear on our hooves. Turned out that was the better idea. Watch this."

AJ lowered her hoof and tapped the screen of the device with her right hoof. The sound of a cowbell rang through the air before the object glowed with a bright blue light. A moment later, a large, rectangular, moving image appeared in front of Applejack's face. The image displayed a picture of Loogarmon on the left, while on the right were numerous strange numbers and words. Apple Bloom crooned with awe as she moved to look over her sister's shoulder. Celestia tilted her head, sensing the magic in the Digivice as it projected the image, "Fascinating. What exactly is it doing?"

"Not entirely sure. But ah can do some stuff with it. Like make the stuff here move," she put her hoof on the center of the image and swiped to the left. When she did, the image changed to a floating egg, then another image of words, before stopping on the first image again. AJ looked up at Celestia, "An' ah can use it ta change Big Loo back to his Rookie Form."

"Truly? May I please see that?" Celestia asked, turning her eyes to Loo.

Loo nodded, "It is for the best. It would make it easier for you to look at me. Whenever you're ready, Applejack."

"Got it, Loo. Now let me see here," she stuck her tongue out as she pressed her hoof onto the image of Loo. A second later, it split into two images. His current form was on the left, and his Rookie Form was on the right. Applejack smiled, then tapped the image of the Rookie. The Digivice beeped three times before a white beam of light shot out of the top toward Loogarmon. It hit him, made him glow a bright white, and then his body began to shrink. After a few moments, he reverted back to his Loogamon stage.

No longer towering over Celestia, he looked up at the Princess and bowed his head, "As you are no doubt wondering, yes, this is something that can be done with all of us...well...almost all of us."

"Almost?" Celestia asked, clearly curious about this exception.

"Lucey, Fluttershy's Digimon, can't change back," AJ explained while standing up. She adjusted her hat and said, "Twilight's lookin' into why along with Cornelius. They'll probably figure it out soon enough."

"Hmm, I see," Celestia smiled, then bowed her head to Loogamon, "Well, thank you for letting me see this, Applejack, Loogamon. And thank you for leading me here, Apple Bloom. It warms my heart to see my little ponies making new friends. Especially with those not native to our lands."

"You flatter me, Princess," Loo said, his tail wagging behind him, "If anypony here should be thankful, it should be me. After all, your subjects are the ones who-"

Loo was unable to finish as he was suddenly tackled by a brown and white blur. Surprised by the sudden tackle, he was unable to brace himself and was sent to the ground by the blur. When he stopped moving and looked up, he came face to face with Winona. The brown and white dog barked in Loo's face before starting to excitedly lick his face. Loo tried to avoid the licks by turning his head to the side. He sounded nervous as he spoke, "I-I am well aware you are fond of this form, Winona! But, please! Don't do this in front of the Princess!"

The three ponies all giggled as they watched Loo's predicament. Celestia spoke up, "There is no need to be embarrassed, Loo. If anything, I apologize for intruding on your time with her. I would assume that she's been this friendly with Loo since he arrived?"

"You betcha!" Applejack confirmed, "She's been happier than a pig in a mud bath since Loo came around. She was a might bit nervous 'round his bigger form, but that went away the moment he got smaller."

"Since then, she's been all over 'im whenever he is. Ain't that right, Winona?" Apple Bloom asked the dog. Winona barked in agreement, looking up and panting while her tail wagged behind her.

Loo groaned and gently lifted Winona off him. Once she was off, he rolled to his paws and shook his fur to get the wetness off. He looked over at Winona and said, "I appreciate you enjoying my company, Winona. However, please maintain decorum in front of the Princess and others. I'd rather not appear in such a state before other ponies."

"Oh, really? So you'd rather have Winona lick you all over when the two of you are alone?" the Princess' words made Applejack and Apple Bloom snort out of both surprise and elation. Neither could hold back their laughter as they fell to the ground, holding their stomachs while laughing up a storm. Somehow, the fur on Loo's face turned red as he rapidly tried to deny what the Princess had said, while Winona just stood behind him and continued to pant. Celestia was the picture of innocence as she smiled at his reaction.

Inwardly, she was happy about the turn of events.

It was good to see that these Digimon weren't very different from ponies.

After bidding farewell to the Apple Family and Loo, Celestia returned to her chariot and took to the skies once more. She didn't stay in it for long, as Ponyville was close by. Parking the chariot near the entrance, Celestia stepped out close to the northern edge of the town. Various ponies stopped to bow or greet her, and she made sure to take some time to greet them. While always make some headway toward her destination: Twilight's Library. Although she might not see all the Digimon today, she hoped to at least encounter a few on her way to her student's home. But when she reached the bright white walls of Carousel Boutique, she thought that perhaps destiny intended for her to see at least a few of them.

Standing outside the front door of the boutique were two familiar ponies and one baby dragon. Rarity stood between Rainbow Dash and Spike, her horn glowing as she held up two Digivices using her magic. One was a multi-colored Digivice with a lightning bolt along its back, while the other had the texture of a purple gem with green spikes on top. Another Digivice was wrapped around her left hoof, its pure white color accentuated by the blue gems painted on the sides.

Rainbow Dash was flapping her wings with her front hooves crossed over her chest. She rolled her eyes, then shouted, "Come on, Rarity! How long does it take to loop some cloth through a hole?!"

"Yeah!" a second voice from below RD shouted. Said voice belonged to "Squirt", now back in his V-mon Stage, standing right under RD. He, too, had his arms crossed and was tapping his right foot against the ground, "Rainbow needs that so I can evolve, and we can get started on our race!"

Rarity didn't seem to mind the interruptions. Her eyes were fully focused on the two Digivices held in her magic, "You cannot rush perfection, darlings. Now, shush. I need full concentration here. Ampurley! Spike! Be dears and bring the scarves, please."

"Right away, Rarity!" Spike said, rushing into the boutique to fetch what Rarity needed. He was soon followed by an orange, cat-like Digimon that easily outpaced the baby dragon while running on all fours. The Meicoomon opened the door for Spike before darting inside with him. In just a few seconds, the door was flung open again, and the two dashed out of the building. They both worked together to carry two long cloth scarves in their hands and halted next to Rarity. One was a long, rainbow-colored sash, while the other was a vibrant violet hue.

"Thank you both. Ampurley? If you would," Rarity waved her hoof through the air while releasing Rainbow Dash's Digivice from her magic. As the rectangular device fell, Meicoomon dashed up with the rainbow sash trailing behind her. She quickly grabbed the Digivice out of the air, took the sash in her claws, and swiftly looped it through the back hole in the device. Her claws were orange blurs, executing quick but precise movements to cut, fold, and tie the sash into the Digivice. Rarity did the same with Spike's Digivice, the violet sash moving in her magic until it was securely tied in place.

Ampurley landed in front of V-mon, then jumped up until she was in front of Rainbow Dash. She quickly grabbed Rainbow's left front hoof. She wrapped the sash around Rainbow's hoof before she could say anything, then used her left tail ribbon to pat Rainbow Dash's head. When she landed, V-mon walked up and whistled at Meicoomon, "Those were some nice moves, Ampurley! When you get a chance, the two of us should take some time to train together. It'll be fun, right?"

Ampurley looked at V-mon with an indifferent expression. Then, she gently hit him in the face with her ribbon while walking back to Rarity. V-mon backed up, shock evident on his face. He looked up at Rainbow Dash and asked, "What was that for? Was it something I said?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged, "Don't know. Who cares? Let's get you transformed, Squirt!"

The pegasus smiled and then held up her Digivice. V-mon smiled and readied himself for what was coming. Rainbow tapped her hoof against the screen a few times until she found what she was looking for. She smacked the screen, and a bright light shot out from the device toward V-mon. The sound of thunder rumbled despite the clear sky above as it engulfed V-Mon. The small blue Digimon rapidly grew as the light engulfed him until he was as tall and wide as a teenage dragon. When his evolution was finished, Squirt clapped his hands together and grinned up at Rainbow Dash, "Alright! You ready to lose, RD?!"

"As if, Squirt! You're still missing your wings, aren'tcha?" Rainbow said, flapping her own wings with pride.

"I-I don't need wings to match you in speed! Go on, I'll even give you a five-second head start," V-dramon waved at Rainbow while getting into a runner's stance.

Rainbow chuckled before doing the same, "Oh, I'm not gonna need that! You'd be better off taking it for yourself. Ready?"

"Always. Go!" and with Squirt's declaration, the two took off, V-dramon kicking up dust, while Rainbow Dash left a rainbow streak behind her. Ampurley used her tail to clear the dust away from Rarity and herself, shooting a glare in V-dramon's direction as she did.

She let out a yawn as she stopped next to Rarity's front left hoof. She reached up and gently touched the unicorn's leg with a claw. Rarity reached over and patted her Meicoomon's head while finishing up with Spike's Digivice, "Yes, yes, Ampurley. I haven't forgotten about your daily grooming session. Just give me a few more...there!"

She held up the finished Digivice, the sash looped through the hole in the back. She floated the object over to Spike and gently tied the Digivice to his wrist, saying, "Here you are, Spikey Wikey. Oh, it looks wonderful on you. A perfect match for your scales and eyes. Don't you agree?"

"S-Sure, Rarity," Spike said, his eyes fluttering as he stared at Rarity. He put his other claw over the Digivice, taking special care to rub the sash with his fingers, "Thanks you so much. I'll treasure it forever."

"I'm happy to hear that. Oh, and before I forget, here," Rarity used her horn to levitate a book out of her door and into Spike's hands, "Please return this to Twilight. As promised, she shall have 'Color Correction and Coordination' back before she knows it."

Spike took the book and saluted Rarity as she stood up and turned around. She called Ampurley while trotting back toward her store's door. Ampurley walked with her, looking back and waving goodbye to Spike. Once Rarity was gone, Spike took the book in both his claws and started heading towards Twilight's home. He had just reached Ponyville's main road when he saw a familiar white Alicorn standing nearby. His eyes widened, and he smiled while rushing over, "Oh! Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Spike," Celestia responded while falling into a steady pace alongside the baby dragon, "It is good to see you're doing well. I'm simply here to follow up on the letter Twilight sent me the other day."

"Oh, right. The one we sent about our Digimon and stuff," Spike looked at the Digivice on his wrist before looking back at the Princess. He smiled as he said, "So, have you met any of them already? I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

"I have personally spoken to one. Loo, I believe his name was. I also saw the dark blue one that transformed into a teenage dragon accompanying Rainbow Dash, and the orange cat-like one with Rarity. However, I don't think I got their names."

"Ah! That's Squirt and Ampurely. Ampurely is a Meicoomon and is pretty much Rarity's second cat. Squirt's a V-mon that can turn into V-dramon. I was honestly surprised when we found that out. But I'm also happy. Now I've got two more dragon friends I can hang out with. Oh, that reminds me, I need to introduce you to Babs! He's a Coredramon and is back at the library with Twilight right now. You'll love him. When you meet him, make sure to rub his belly; he really likes that."

Celestia smiled softly at the baby dragon, "Hmm, if somepony could make such a great impression on you, Spike, then I certainly do want to meet them. And how has Twilight Sparkle been doing with her own Digimon? Cornelius, I think?"

Spike flinched at the mention of Cornelius. Celestia noticed and raised a worried eyebrow. Spike rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah, well, um, about that. Ya see...Cornelius...well...he gets along well with Twilight. Maybe a bit...too well."

"Hmm?" Celestia hummed questioningly. But before she could speak, the two were interrupted by the sound of wings flapping above them. Looking up, they saw that they had reached their destination: Twilight's Treehouse. Sounds came from within and above the building. One being the wing flaps they had heard as they approached. A large shadow fell over both of them as whatever was above them made a second pass over their heads. Then the owner of the wings landed in front of them, kicking up a bit of dust as they hit the ground. Celestia looked up and immediately assumed she was looking at a strange young adult dragon. It was large enough to be one, dwarfing her in size and nearly as tall as some of the buildings in Ponyville. It stared down at the two of them with its sharp red eyes, its dark blue scales flexing with its movements.

Celestia briefly considered asking it what it was doing here, but Spike beat her to it. He stepped forward and smiled up at the dragon, "Babs! I'm back! And, say hello to the ruler of Equestria and Twilight's mentor, Princess Celestia!"

Spike held out both his hands towards the Princess as he introduced her. Babs' eyes widened in realization. He waved his arms in panic before getting down on his knees and bowing deeply to Celestia. He spoke with nervousness in his voice, "Sorry. Princess. Didn't. Know. Please. Forgive!"

Celestia felt an invisible weight lift from her shoulders. Her smile widened as she reached out and tapped Babs on his snout, "It is quite alright, Babs. There is no need for any formalities here. You may stand."

Babs did as asked and got to his feet. He looked Celestia up and down, his eyes sparkling as he spoke, "Wow. You so pretty and tall. Mane is so beautiful."

"Why thank you, Babs. I think your scales are rather rugged myself," she reached out and rubbed his smooth underbelly. The dragon's tail and wings shot up as a dopey expression came over his face. He started to laugh as Celestia rubbed up and down his soft yellow scales. She stopped after a few seconds before looking to Spike, "You were right, he does like that."

"Told you. Babs! I've got my Digivice all ready. So we can turn you back into, uh, what'd ya call your Rookie Form?" Spike asked while holding up his Digivice.

"Dracomon X," Babs said while moving to stand by Spike, "This mean. I can. Go inside?"

Spike nodded and tapped away at his Digivice, "Uh huh. You're too big to get in there right now. You couldn't get through the front door, and would probably put holes in the floor. Just give me a second to...here!"

As before, a bright light shot from Spike's device and onto Babs. A low dragon growl echoed through the air. Within a moment, Babs shrank and transformed back into his bright blue Dracomon X form. The dragon happily flapped his wings and swiftly ran over to the door. Now that he was the same size as Spike, such a thing didn't seem that unfeasible. Sharing a knowing glance, Spike and Celestia walked over to the door as well. Spike spoke up, "You'll see what I meant when we get inside, Princess. Twilight and Cornelius got along so well, that I don't think they've stopped talking to each other the whole day."

Babs suddenly turned and spoke up, "Oh. Remembered! Other. Ponies. Came. Today! Fluttershy and Pinkie!"

"How wonderful," Celestia said as Spike opened the door to the library. She stepped through, keeping her eye on Spike and Babs, "If they're with their Digimon, then that means I can speak with them as we-"

"Lucey! Look out!"

The sound of multiple wings spreading out to stop something reached Celestia's ears. She quickly turned around, magic already prepared to halt whatever was flying at her in its tracks. However, the flying creature, which she assumed was a Digimon, halted just before it collided with her. She came face to face with one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. It was bipedal like a minotaur, but had no fur or horns. Its pink skin was exposed to the open air with only a strange white sheet covering its torso and lower half. The appendages on the ends of its legs and arms weren't claws or paws. Yet, it had six pairs of wings that were as large and white as hers.

"Lucey", she assumed, floated just before her with its wings outstretched. It started flapping them, its bright blue eyes meeting her bright violet ones. The two continued to stare at each other, seemingly ignoring Pinkie Pie, Cutie, Twilight Sparkle, and Cornelius who were staring at them.

Celestia tilted her head to the left.

Lucey copied her.

She tilted her head to the right.

Lucey copied her.

She straightened her head.

Lucey copied her.

She raised an eyebrow, and Lucey copied her. When she hummed in thought, Lucey's lips curled into a smile. Then he reached out his arm, lifted the things on his appendage up, and placed them underneath Celestia's chin. Before she could say anything, he did something even she wasn't expecting.

He started scratching her chin.

And, shockingly, it felt good.

"So, you're Princess Celestia?" she barely heard him, his voice was certainly masculine, as she tried to keep her composure, despite the way his appendage somehow managed to hit all the hard-to-reach spots under her chin, "Twilight said you were beautiful. But she didn't say you were cute too.~"

"Lucemon!" Twilight and Fluttershy shouted at the Digimon. He quickly flew away from Celestia, one hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles. Celestia gave a nonchalant smile to maintain appearances, while secretly plotting to see if she could get Lucemon to do that again.

And cementing in her mind that these Digimon were definitely staying with Twilight and her friends.

Author's Note

Okay. Done. Hope you all enjoy! Sorry if not a lot happened this Chapter. I wanted to finish it this weekend while also giving looks at each of the Digimon's personalities...for the most part. Hopefully, next chapter has a bit more meet.

Also, I have now finished Season 3 of the show.

Pecking at a Grudge

A small pink rabbit with headphones and a scarf waddled her way through Ponyville, carrying three baskets filled with apples larger than herself in her arms. Cutie, now in her Cutemon form, was walking along the street with barely a care in the world. She hummed a tune to herself as she traveled with a large smile on her face. However, her walk wasn’t as peaceful as she made it out to be. The three baskets blocked any forward vision she would normally have. Meaning she regularly had near run ins with various ponies, who had to walk around her to avoid knocking her cargo over or hitting the little rabbit.

Despite this when other ponies offered to help Cutie out, she would simply look away and tell them she was fine. Then she would walk off after saying goodbye to the ponies in question. Though even with her confirmations of being able to handle the weight of all three baskets, her actual movements suggested otherwise. She would walk for a few seconds, before stumbling a bit and needing to take a moment to get her balance back.

She eventually stopped to take a short break, leaning around the three baskets to see how far she was from her destination, Sugarcube Corner. What she found was that the bakery was just across the street...which still put it more than ten steps away from her. Her ears drooped as she realized how much farther she had to go. She sighed and got ready to move until she heard a familiar voice coming from her left, “Hey, Cutie! What are you up to?”

Cutie looked up to see Squirt in his V-Mon form walking up to her. She smiled and stood up straight as she waved to him, “Hiya, Squirt! I’m just taking these apples to Sugarcube Corner. The Cakes need them for some of their sweets. They wanted to help me but they needed to watch the store. And Pinkie’s cleaning up from yesterday’s party. So, I went to get them. The Apples were really insistent on me having as many as I needed.”

Squirt looked at the baskets with a raised eyebrow, “And they gave you all that? You sure you can carry it?”

“I’ve been carrying it. Though, uh, it has been a bit of a journey,” Cutie nervously tapped her claws together, “Hard to see in front of me as I carry them. And they are rather heavy.”

“Say no more,” Squirt stepped up and crouched near the baskets. With a single lift he pulled the baskets up and held them over his head with both hands. Balancing them on his palms, he smiled at Cutie and said, “I’ll carry ‘em for you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. Aren’t they heavy?” Cutie asked while looking Squirt up and down?

“Pfft, not for me! I’m strong and tough enough to handle it. Go ahead and lead the way to Sugarcube Corner! I’ve got this,” he assured her, even holding the baskets up with one hand to show off. Though he put his other hand back on when they started to tip over. Cutie giggled before walking a bit in front of Squirt, while he followed after her. As he stated, he had no trouble walking with the three baskets over his head. His gait never wavered nor swayed as he walked after Cutie. As they went he spoke up, “Hey, I wanted to ask, you remember those Gazimon we fought? What happened to their eggs? Last I saw, Twilight took them with her to study them or something. I asked RD after our daily workout, but she just shrugged.”

Cutie turned around and started walking backwards as she spoke, “Oh, right. Twilight held onto them for a bit until Cornelius explained how Digitama needed a proper nursery to grow hatch. She didn’t really have room for nursery in her home, so she decided to find one for them. And what better pony to watch after them than Fluttershy? So, they’re all in her house being cared for by her and Lucey.”

Squirt smirked as he nodded, “Hmph, cool. Wonder what they’ll come back as?”

“Don’t know, but I hope they’re nice Digimon. We could always use some more friends,” Cutie said as she turned her back to Squirt again, “Who knows? Maybe you and Rainbow will get another Digimon to train with you.”

“Ha! Doubt it! It takes a lot to keep up with just one of us,” Squirt bragged with his head held high. Cutie rolled her eyes but kept a smile on her face. The two eventually made it to Sugarcube Corner where Squirt asked, “Okay, we’re here. Where do you need these?”

Cutie pointed at the ground to the left of the entrance door, “Oh, you can put them right there. I’ll call Pinkie and she’ll help me bring them in.”

“K,” Squirt grunted as he carefully put the three baskets down. After dusting his hands off, he leaned against the baskets and jerked his head toward them, “So, what’re ya gonna use these for again? New cakes or something?”

Cutie smiled and nodded, “Yeppers! Though, it’s mainly so we can recover our stocks. That party we made for Gilda took a quite a bit from our supply.”

At the mention of Gilda, Squirt’s expression fell. He grimaced and looked at the ground. His voice rumbled as he spoke, “Oh, right. That. Can you believe her? Some friend she was, right?”

Cutie didn’t seem to understand what Squirt was saying, as she just shrugged, “I guess. She was a bit of a meany. Trying to monopolize Rainbow Dash all to herself, bullying me and Pinkie for trying to be friends with her, and getting mad at Rainbow at the end of the party. It was upsetting, but I’m hoping she comes back.”

“What?!” Squirt said, surprised at Cutie’s words.

Cutie turned around and nodded, “Yeah. The next time she comes to Ponyville, I bet she’ll want to be real friends with us instead of being all grouchy and mean. If she was Rainbow’s friend before then she has to-“

“Are you nuts?!” Squirt interrupted Cutie, stepping forward and throwing his arms in the air, “Don’t you remember what she did?! You told me she popped Pinkie’s balloon and threatened the both of you if you didn’t stay away from Dash!”

Cutie flinched, shocked at Squirt’s sudden increase in volume. She took a step back and stammered, “W-W-Well, yes. She did but-“

“And I told you what she did to me, right? When Dash invited me to join the two of them for a race, she threw dirt in my face to make sure I tripped and lost! And when RD wasn’t looking, she tried to threaten me into backing off! Called me a ‘little baby blue buzz-kill’!”

“Y-Yes, you did tell me that. B-But I don’t think we should hold those things against her. She just thought that her old friend was being taken away and-“

Squirt scoffed and waved Cutie off, “Don’t make excuses for her! You can think what you want, but as far as I care, that overgrown chicken better stay the heck away from Ponyville! If she ever comes back, I’ll make sure she regrets showing her stupid face here again.”

Squirt shadowboxed at the air to punctuate his statement. After that he turned around and walked away from Cutie, muttering more insults at Gilda as he went. Cutie stared after his retreating back, worry all across her face. The door to Sugarcube Corner opened and Pinkie Pie poked her head out the door. She quickly hopped over to Cutie upon seeing her and said, “You made it back, Cutie! How’d the trip go? Didya have a lot of-woah! Why’s your smile all upside-downy like that? Did you step in something on your way here?”

Cutie shook her head and looked over to Pinkie, “No. It’s just...Squirt was here and...I think he might be holding a grudge against Gilda.”

Over in the Everfree Forest near Ponyville, another hole in the world opened up. From within a single creature fell through and landed somewhere in the forest. Its eyes burning with purpose, it immediately set off for Ponyville. It knew its mission and wouldn’t let anything get in its way.

“You alright there, Squirt? You’ve looked mad since I saw you this morning,” Rainbow Dash asked as she trotted alongside her Digimon. Said Digimon was on her right, his face twisted into a scowl and arms crossed. The two of them were walking side by side outside Ponyville. There was no real reason other than the two of them just hanging out for today. Rainbow had taken care of all her pegasi duties, and Squirt was done with his daily training regime. So, they had no other appointments to worry about. When Squirt didn’t answer her, Rainbow lightly pushed his shoulder with her hoof, “Come on, Squirt. Your face is gonna stay like that if you don’t loosen up. What’s going on with you, huh?”

Squirt blinked then looked over at Rainbow Dash. He uncrossed his arms then shook his head, “It’s nothing, RD. Just...so you remember all the stuff Gilda did yesterday, right?”

Rainbow winced and lowered her head a little, “Uh, yeah. Really uncool of her to act that way. I still don’t get why she did all that to you guys. Maybe she got a few too many feathers plucked back in Griffonstone.”

Squirt’s mood visibly improved with every word Rainbow said. He nodded his head and said, “Yeah, can you believe her?! And earlier today, Cutie told me that her and Pinkie were hoping she comes back! They think they’ll be able to be friends with her if she does! Crazy, right?”

“Of-wait, what?” Rainbow Dash shook her head in surprise at Squirt’s statement.

Thinking that she was agreeing with him, Squirt continued, “I knew you’d agree. That grouch of a griffon shouldn’t show her stupid beak around here ever again. Otherwise, she’ll be eating a Vee Uppercut right to the face. Like, bam!”

Squirt mimed hitting Gilda with a right uppercut. He was smiling as he turned to look at Rainbow Dash, expecting to see her smiling too. But his expression fell as he saw the shock and surprise on her face. He stopped walking and said, “Wait...Rainbow do you...do you think we should be friends with Gilda, too?”

Rainbow put a hoof behind her head, “Uh, kind of?”

“What?! Why?!” Squirt sounded incredulous, throwing his arms in the air in disbelief.

“Well, Gilda was my friend before I came to Ponyville. And she was really nice back then. While I don’t think what she did was right, just shutting her out is uncool,” Squirt could see the conflicted expression on Rainbow’s face.

He grimaced as he said, “So, what, we’re just gonna forget everything she did?!”

“Squirt, calm down,” Rainbow frowned at her Digimon, “She was mean, but she didn’t do anything really bad. Just some pranks like we were doing. You’re acting like she stole something from you.”

“EEEEKKKK!~”

The sound of a mare screaming in terror made both Squirt and Rainbow’s ears stand up. Without waiting the two of them ran toward the source of the scream, with Rainbow taking to the air to move faster. The two arrived in front of a mare’s flower stand, with said mare sitting nearby and crying into her hooves. Her stand had been destroyed with flowers scattered across the street in heaps. A few ponies had come by to help with the clean up, so Rainbow and Squirt went to check on the white colored mare with a single rose as her cutey mark.

“Roseluck, what happened?” Rainbow Dash asked while trying to comfort the distraught mare. Squirt was moving through the destroyed stand, trying to find some kind of clue they could use.

Roseluck dried her eyes and said in a shaky voice, “S-S-Somepony came out of nowhere and-and destroyed my flowers! I-I-I didn’t even see them coming! I just saw this blur and-and-they were just so fast!”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes while patting the mare on the back, “Well, don’t you worry! Me and Squirt will find who did this! We’ll make them come back and say sorry! Right, Squirt!?”

Rainbow looked up only for confusion to fill her as she saw Squirt. The Digimon was crouched down with his back to her, but she could clearly see him vibrating in place. She spoke up, “Squirt? You heard me, right?”

“Rainbow,” Squirt growled as he stood up with his hands in front of him. Then he turned around, his eyes ablaze with anger as he presented her with what was in his hands. The sight made Rainbow Dash gasp in disbelief.

Because in V-mon’s hands were two yellow feathers.

Bird feathers.

“Gilda’s back. And I don’t think she’s here to be friends,” V-mon growled as he gripped the feathers tight enough to make them shake.

“Steady, steady,” Cutie said, sweat pouring down her face as she watched Pinkie operate. She swallowed hard trying to guide Pinkie with her clawed hands, “We have to get this jjjuuussttt right.”

Pinkie hummed in affirmation, her hooves moving slowly as she lifted a pair of tongs into the air. Within the clear plastic items sat their precious cargo. The mask on her face wrinkled as she frowned as she slowly moved them to the side. She remained completely silent as she worked with Cutie moving to keep an eye on her movements. Both continued to sweat as Pinkie moved the item to its destination. Cutie started to bite her claws as her friend lowered the item to its target-

“Pinkie! Cuite!”

Both Digimon and pony nearly jumped out their skin at the combined sound of Sugarcube Corner’s entrance being slammed open, and their friends’ voices calling for them. The cherry Pinkie was carrying in the tongs flew out and flipped through the air. Instead of heading for the double-decker apple pie it was supposed to top off, it started to fall toward the floor. Panicking, Cutie dived forward and cupped her hands in front of her. Right before the cherry hit in the floor, her cupped hands moved under it and caught it before it could hit. Landing on her belly she let out a sigh of relief and held the cherry up like it was a prized treasure. Pinkie clapped for her as Cutie got to her feet.

Rainbow and Squirt slid into the kitchen, both rushing in with worry on their faces. Squirt looked around the kitchen, his eyes alight with the fires of rage while his right hand held the feathers from the destroyed stand. Rainbow moved to Squirt’s side and said, “Calm down, Squirt! We don’t know if it’s really her.”

“Who else could it be?! It perfectly matches the kind of ‘pranks’ that bird brain would pull!” Squirt shouted as he kept looking around the room.

Curious as to what was going on, Cutie placed the cherry onto the pie with the tongs before her and Pinkie headed over to Squirt and Rainbow Dash. Pinkie shouted, “Hiya, Rainbow Dash and Squirt! What’s got you two all in a tissy?”

“Is something wrong? You two seem kind of stressed,” Cutie asked while staring at the agitated V-mon. Her ears were drooping in worry while her friend kept dashing around the kitchen, looking in cupboards and sinks.

Rainbow Dash grimaced as she responded, “Somepony knocked over and destroyed Roseluck’s flower stand today. We’re trying to find them.”

“What? Who would do something like that? Roseluck’s got, like, some of the tastiest flowers in Ponyville,” Pinkie asked.

“Well-“

“Who do you think?!” Squirt interrupted Rainbow and stomped his way over to his three friends. Prominent frown on his face, he just about shoved the feathers he got from the stand in front of their faces, “A certain prank pulling griffon named Gilda!”

Pinkie let out a hoarse gasp while Cutie just looked confused. She looked at Rainbow who winced, “Yeah, Squirt thinks that Gilda came back and busted up Roseluck’s stand. It’s why he ran over here. He figured Gilda would go after you two next.”

“Why would she do that?” Cutie asked, clearly confused.

“Because,” Squirt said as she kept holding the feathers out, “she’s here to get back at us for sending her away! So, she’d be coming after you guys next!”

“But if she’s here for revenge, why did she go after Roseluck’s stand?” Cutie asked as she gently took the feathers from Squirt’s outstretched hand, “Why didn’t she go after you and Rainbow Dash? Or why didn’t she go after any of our other friends?”

Pinkie patted Cutie on the head and nodded, “That’s using your noggin’ there, Cutie. Gilda was a meanie, but she was only a meanie to us. I don’t even know if she knew Roseluck’s name. Though she might’ve if she paid attention during that party. I’m preetttt~ty sure that you can see Roseluck in the background somewhere if you look really hard.”

While Rainbow blinked at trying to understand what Pinkie meant, Cutie just nodded in agreement. However, Squirt scoffed, “Obviously it’s because she knows that going after us won’t do anything. We’d tell her off. So, instead, she’s going after Ponyville to make us feel worse.”

“But wouldn’t she just try to prank Twilight or Rarity, Squirt?” Rainbow pointed out with a shake of her head, “I just don’t see how-“

They heard the entrance door to Sugarcube Corner burst open and they all heard Mrs. Cake scream. They made their way out the kitchen and into the entrance room, hearing the sound of glass breaking and then a soft thumping noise. They caught sight of a black and white blur rushing out the door, leaving it open and letting the sunlight in. Pinkie and Rainbow went to check on Mrs. Cake, while Squirt and Cutie checked the area. The place looked like a small storm had been through. The glass displays for their desserts had been shattered, with cupcakes and more having been tossed all over the floor. A sack of flour had thrown onto the floor at some point and now a thick layer of white covered the floors.

“Are you alright, Mrs. Cake?!” Pinkie and Rainbow asked the blue mare as they helped her to her hooves. She had fallen over and shook her pink mane out while her eyes rolled in her head.

After blinking to get her senses back, she looked up and said, “Oh, thank you dearies. Yes, I’m fine. Somepony just burst in her and started destroying everything. I threw that flour bag at them and then they ran off, but...oh. All our sweets....”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Cake! I’ll help you clean it all up ASAP!” Pinkie dashed away and quickly returned with a broom and pan. As she got to work, Rainbow Dash flew up to get a bird’s eye view of the situation. While Squirt and Cutie continued to examine the area, she spotted something out the corner of her eye. Flying down she got a closer look and said, “Hey! I think I found something. Looks like...hoofprints?”

Squirt and Cutie came over to check what Rainbow had found. As soon as they saw what she did, anger filled Squirt’s face. He ground his teeth together as he said, “Not hoofprints. A bird made these.”

It was true. The prints had two long talons pointing forward and one pointing back. Along with the single dot in the center of the print, they looked very much like a bird’s talons. There were two of them, with one being a bit further up then the other, with more leading out the door. Before anymore could be said, Squirt ran after the trail of prints leading out the door. Rainbow Dash called after him as she shot off to follow. Cutie’s eyes darted from the door to Pinkie and back again, silently wondering if she should go with them. Pinkie nodded to her and said, “Go on, Cutie. If those two get any ouchies, they’ll need you to fix ‘em up! I’ll catch up after I finish cleaning here.”

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie!” Cutie said as she ran after the pegasus and V-mon.

“The tracks lead into the Everfree! I’m going in, Rainbow!” Squirt shouted as he ran after the tracks. The flour had since ran out but he could still see the tracks in the dirt. He kept running after them with a blazing anger in his eyes.

“Squirt! Wait!” Rainbow yelled as she flew down to be heard, “If this is really Gilda, why do the hoofprints only have two talons? You know Gilda’s got like four, right?”

“Well, maybe she had someone help her! To make it easier for her!”

“But then where are the other four prints? She’s got four legs too, ya know!”

“I-I don’t know, but that doesn’t matter. The fact is that she’s responsible for this and I’m gonna make her pay!” Squirt yelled as he broke through the threshold separating Ponyville from the Everfree. Rainbow followed but was forced to slow down due to the tree branches getting in her way. She shouted Squirt’s name, but he ignored her and kept running. He hopped over roots and bursts through bushes as he went. His eyes were firmly set on the tracks in front of him with nothing else distracting him.

The trail eventually ended in the center of a small clearing. He skid to a halt as his head swiveled back and forth, eyes wide open as he searched for his quarry. After a few moments of silence he yelled out, “Gilda! I know you’re here! Come out and face me like a...uh...like a lion-bird you coward!”

At first, nopony seemed to hear his call to battle. But then he heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes to his left. He got into a fighting stance, raising his fists and spreading his feet out to prepare for battle. After a few seconds, sompony unexpected came out of the bushes. He wasn’t a griffon nor a pony, but a Digimon. He looked like a large bird and stood on two long talons. His wings were a bright combination of yellow and red. He kept them folded against his side but Squirt could tell they were ready to be used. He wore a strange purple outfit with a black shirt underneath it. His neck was covered in the same black material, while a yellow scarf hung off his collar. Sharp blue eyes sat above his curved beak observing Squirt with a strange glint to them.

Squirt’s eyes widened in shock as he beheld the newcomer. He said out loud, “A-A Digimon? Bu-But what are you doing here?”

The Digimon tilted his head to the side before speaking in a deep voice, “I came from the Digital World. I assume that same is true for you?”

“W-W-Well, yeah but that’s not what I meant. Why are you out here? What are doing in the Everfree?”

The Digimon shrugged, “I am simply here. If you mean in this clearing specifically, I came out because you were calling someone’s name. What was it again?”

“Gilda. I was calling for-hey, wait,” Squirt narrowed his eyes and adjusted his stance, “Do you know Gilda? Are you the one that helped her destroy Roseluck’s stand, and broke into Sugarcube Corner?”

“Who is...,” the Digimon’s eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment. Then his beak curled into a strange looking smile, “I mean, yes. Yes, I do know of this person. Gilder.”

“Gilda.”

“Right, Gilda. I know her. She was the one who asked me help her attack those places you mentioned. We were just resting when we heard your voice. Then she told me to come check this clearing out. Something about a foolish little Digimon asking for a fight. She couldn’t be bothered with it, so she told me, Peckmon, to come handle you in her stead,” the now named Peckmon flared his feathers while raising one of his talons.

Squirt’s eyes widened before he charged at Peckmon, “Oh yeah?! I’ll show here! I’ll beat you down then get her for this! Hopping Kick!”

Squirt jumped into the air then curled both his legs inward. With a grunt he dived forward, kicking both his legs out at Peckmon. However, Peckmon easily stepped to the side to dodge the attack. After landing on the ground, Squirt got to his feet and ran after the other Digimon. He threw numerous punches and kicks at the bird like Digimon, but not a single one landed. His opponent seemed to react long before he threw any attack at all. He tried to punch Peckmon’s chest, and he would flap its wings to get distance. He tried to kick Peckmon’s legs, and he would jump to avoid it. Frustrated, Squirt hopped back while gathering energy into his mouth. With a cry of “V-Shot!” he launched multiple balls of energy at Peckmon.

His opponent casually stepped between the rain of shots before dashing forward and stopping just behind where Squirt landed. Before he could react, Peckmon raised his right leg and struck out at Squirt’s back.

“Maegeri!”

The attack landed and sent Squirt reeling. He slid along the ground and barely managed to regain his footing. Groaning at the pain, he forced himself to his feet and glared at Peckmon, “Ah, I got it now. Didn’t notice it before cause I was too busy thinking about Gilda. But you’re a Champion, aren’t you?”

“Hmm, Gilda was right. You are rather slow, aren’t you?” Peckmon said mockingly as he began to circle around Squirt, “So, what do you plan to do now? You know you can’t beat me as you are.”

“As if! Just need to get a good hit on ya!” Squirt said as he got to his feet and raised his fists for another exchange.

“Squirt!” both Digimon looked up at the yell, which was followed by Rainbow Dash darting into the clearing. She looked between the two Digimon with her eyes wide. She focused her gaze on Squirt and said, “Wh-What’s going on?! Who is that guy, Squrit?!”

“He’s a Champion named Peckmon! He’s been working with Gilda and is responsible for the stand and what happened in Sugarcube!”

“Wait, what?! He know’s Gilda?! But then-“

“No time! We need to digivolve, now!” Squirt didn’t take his eyes off Peckmon as he shouted. Confused but wanting to help her friend, Rainbow Dash raised her digivice. She tapped away at the screen before finding Squirt’s image. After holding down on it for a few moments, she slapped the image of V-dramon once it appeared. A light shined from the digivice and engulfed Squirt as he began to change.

“V-mon! Digivolve to-“

“V-dramon!” Squirt roared as he entered his Champion form. Now he was far larger than Peckmon, towering over the bird Digimon without effort. Smiling he wasted no time rushing in to battle. He reared his right fist up and aimed it right at Peckmon, before bringing it down as quickly as he could.

“Hammer punch!”

Peckmon remained where he was with his eyes focused on Squirt’s oncoming fist. Right before the attack connected, he dashed to the side and then ran in until he was right in front of Squirt’s chest. Rearing his right foot up further he kicked out at Squirt’s stomach.

“Tsuyoi Maegeri!”

Squirt grunted as the blow landed, leaving a talon print on his stomach. Growling he reached down to grab the smaller Peckmon in his claws but the faster Digimon hopped up. Flapping his wings he took to the air until he was just above Squirt’s head. He crossed his wings in front of him, the light glinting off something metallic within them.

“Kunaibane!”

He opened his wings and launched a rain of steel feathers at Squirt’s face. Squirt cried out in pain and stepped back due to the onslaught. Peckmon smiled at the sight but then saw something heading towards him out the corner of his eye.

"Leave my buddy alone!" Rainbow shouted as she charged into Peckmon's left side. The Digimon clicked his tongue as he moved his left wing to defend himself. He got pushed to the side as Rainbow's attack knocked him away. She doesn't stop the assault, repeatedly dashing away to charge back in and ram him away. Peckmon flapped his left wing to keep himself aloft, and finally blocked one of Rainbow's charges with his other wing. With a grunt he pushed the pegasus away, sending her spinning while he got his bearings.

“Dash!” Squirt yelled before growling and holding his hand up like a knife. Air gathered around his fingertips before he sliced diagonally toward Peckmon.

“Cutter Shoot!”

A blade of air pressure shot toward the airborne Digimon. However, Peckmon simply dove out of the way, getting higher as he went. Once he was high enough, he held his wings out and pointing both his talons at Squirt. He struck his talons together and with a single spark they ignited into flames. He began to spin as the flames traveled upward until they engulfed his whole foot. A second later he dove down, aiming straight at Squirt..

“Burning Spiral!”

Squirt’s eyes widened and he raised his arms to block the oncoming attack. He crossed his arms in front of his head while keeping enough space to allow him to see what was coming. Just as he thought Peckmon would hit his guard, he realized he had made a mistake. Peckmon wasn’t aiming for his head.

He was aiming just above it.

Peckmon used his wings to arrest his movement, flipping in mid air until he was upside down with his beak aimed directly at the back of Squirt’s head. His head suddenly shot forward a thousand times in a second as he beak repeatedly struck its target.

“Thousand Beak!”

Squirt yelled in pain and stumbled forward, taking a knee as he tried to fight off the pain. Rainbow Dash called his name and landed in front of him. She used her hooves to hold his head and asked, “You okay, Squirt?!”

“U-Urgh. Head hurts. Feel...sick. Get back...Rainbow,” Squirt said as he tried to get to his feet, only to fall back onto one knee.

A dark chuckle made both of them look toward Peckmon. The Digimon had landed and was slowly making his way toward them, “Well, this was rather fun. But I need to be going soon. Ponyville’s food supply isn’t going to destroy itself, now will it?”

Rainbow jumped out and glared at Peckmon, “So, that’s it then. That’s why you attacked Roseluck’s stand and Sugarcube Corner. You’re going after our food. Why?”

“Why else? To weaken you for the Dark Area Invasion. You ponies have proven yourselves to be more trouble than we original thought. So, we’re going to weaken you before we fully commit to an assault.”

“An-And what does Gilda have to do with all that?” Squirt yelled, one hand clutching the back of his head.

Peckmon scoffed, “Please. As if I’d tell you the answer. I’m not one to give information like that out for free.”

“Hey, feather’s for brains! You just told us your plan!” Rainbow pointed out with a smug grin on her face.

But Peckmon responded with a grin of his own, “Yes, I did. Because I know neither of you can stop me. Because neither of you will be leaving this place alive.”

He raised his talons as they glinted in the sunlight. Rainbow stood her ground but she could feel her legs shaking. She couldn’t take her eyes off those sharp talons. Her mind and heart raced as she tried to think of what to do. Meanwhile, Squirt was trying to figure out why he was losing so badly. They were both Champions and he was bigger and stronger than that Peckmon. He should be winning! It couldn’t have been experience. If that were the case, then Peckmon wouldn’t have been blindsided by Rainbow Dash. In fact, why did that happen? How could she land hits yet he couldn’t? What was going on?

His train of thought was interrupted as Peckmon raised his wings for another attack. Squirt and Rainbow braced for combat.

“Supersonic Wave!”

“Huh!?” Peckmon shouted but was unable to react as a wave of sound slammed into him from the right. He cried out in pain as he was sent skidding away from Rainbow and Squirt. The pony and her Digimon both looked to the right, gasping as Cutie dove out of the cover of a bush. The little rabbit got to her feet and glared at Peckmon. He took one look at Cutie and his confidence seemed to wither away. He backed away from her and clicked his tongue. Then he flapped his wings and flew into the air, “Damn. Don’t think this is over! I’ll get you all yet!”

“Oh no you-!” Rainbow made to chase him, but then heard the sound of a large body hitting the ground. She turned and shouted, “Squirt!”

Her Partner was lying on the ground with his face against the ground. His body trembled before it was engulfed by a dull white light. Within a moment, he had returned to his V-mon form. Cutie and Rainbow Dash ran to his side as his eyes fluttered closed. By the time Cutie started healing him, he had already passed out.

Squirt slowly opened his eyes then winced as a bright light hit them square on. He groaned and put his arm over his eyes to block out the light. As his senses returned he became aware of the soft bed he was laying in, as well as the soreness in his joints. His eyes roamed the immediate area, swiftly taking in the room he seemed to be in. The walls were a bright green color along with the bed sheets, and there was a single door leading outside. Sunlight came in through the single window and bathed him in its warmth. He pushed himself up and shook his head to get his focus back, “Urgh, where...where am I? What-“

The door opened up and a familiar looking pink rabbit walked into the room. She had a nurse’s hat on her head and was carrying a few towels in her left hand. When she saw that Squirt was up and about, she gasped with happiness. She put the towels down on a stand and ran over to the left side of his bed. She climbed up onto the bed with him and grabbed his arm, “Squirt! You’re awake! How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve got a killer headache,” Squirt admitted while rubbing at his head with a hand, “What happened? Wait?! Where’s Rainbow Dash?! Or that Peckmon?!”

Cutie patted his shoulder comfortingly, “It’s alright, Squirt. Calm down. Rainbow Dash is fine. After I showed up, the Peckmon flew off and you passed out. Rainbow told me what happened while I was healing you. Not wanting to stay in the Everfree, she carried us both to Sweet Apple Acres. Once we told Applejack and Loo what was happening, they went off with Rainbow to get Twilight and the others.”

“W-What about the rest of Applejack’s family?” Squirt said as he felt his strength returning. He winced as a bit as pain flared up in his stomach, “They’re in danger. That guy and Gilda plan to go after anywhere that makes things ponies can eat. Meaning they’ll come for Sweet Apple next.”

Cutie gently placed her hands on Squirt’s arm. Her palms glowed with a green light as she used her healing power on him. As the green light soothed his pain, Cutie shook her head, “It’s fine, Squirt. Granny, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom are all in Ponyville right now. It’s just us.”

“Then we need to get ready. Gilda will be around any minute.“

“Why do you think Gilda will be here?” Cutie asked, frowning at Squirt.

“Because, that Peckmon said that he knew her! That the two of them were working together! She’s thrown her lot in with the Dark Area and I-“

“Squirt,” Cutie interrupted, shaking her head in disappointment, “I don’t think Gilda would be working with somepony like that.”

“Unless she wants to really hurt us! Make us starve and let the Dark Area get us!” Squirt said as he tried to climb out of bed. But he found himself held in place by Cutie’s gentle grip. He looked over and saw her glaring at him. He frowned as he responded, “Why are you defending her?! She was such a jerk before! Is this just because you want to be friends with her later?!”

Cutie slowly removed her hand from Squirt’s arm and sighed, “No, Squirt. At least, not entirely.”

“Huh?”

“Gilda wouldn’t be working with Peckmon. He showed up long after her party was over, and I doubt she stuck around here for even a moment after that. If she’s fast enough to at least keep up with Rainbow, then she’s probably far away from Ponyville and the Everfree by this point. In order for her to met with Peckmon she’d have to, for whatever reason, stop nearby or in the Everfree to run into him. It just doesn’t make sense for the two of them to be working together.”

“B-But he said-“

“Peckmon attacked you and is with the same group as those Gazimon. Why would he tell you the truth? He’d say whatever he could to take advantage of you and that grudge of yours.”

Squirt scoffed, “Grudge? I don’t have a grudge.”

“You saw some feathers and immediately assumed it was Gilda,” Cutie deadpanned.

“Yeah, but they were bird feathers! Who else would have bird feathers around here?”

Cutie raised her claw and started to count, “Oh, I don’t know. Some of the pegasi, Fluttershy’s birds, Lucey, Pinkie when she’s wearing her chicken costume, Peckmon.”

Squirt threw his hands up, “Alright! But what about the bird tracks?! Those were talons!”

“Yeah...with three talons on them. Gilda had four or five talons last I checked. And four legs. Not two.”

Squirt could feel his arguments swiftly falling apart. He kept opening his mouth to rebuke Cutie but couldn’t find any response. He sat down and crossed his arms in both embarrassment and indignation. Cutie’s lips curled into a small smile, “I understand you don’t like Gilda, Squirt. But that doesn’t mean you should blame her for everything and anything. That grudge is just going to keep stopping you from seeing what’s in front of you.”

“So, what? I should just be like you and forget everything that Gilda did? Act like she wasn’t a jerk to us if she ever comes back?” Squirt gripped his arms hard as his anger began to rise.

Cutie remained silent for a few moments to let Squirt stew in his anger. Then she said, “I haven’t forgotten what Gilda did.”

“Wh-Then, why do you-“

“Because...I-“

Before she could finish, Cutie felt her ears twitch. Her body tensed and her instincts screamed for her to look at the window. When she did, her eyes went wide upon seeing a familiar bird-like shadow flying in front of it. Along with a glint of steel underneath its wings.

“Get down!” Cutie threw herself at Squirt and knocked him off the bed to the floor. A second later, a storm of steel like feathers crashed through the window and into the bedroom. Glass went everywhere along with the stuffing of the bed and pillows. Squirt and Cutie kept their heads down to avoid the assault. Only when it had abated did they both get to their feet. They wasted no time leaping out the window and rolling once they hit the ground.

Once they got to their feet they both looked up to see their assailant.

“Peckmon!” Squirt shouted upon seeing the purple clad Champion flying in the air. He curled his hands into fists, “So you finally came here! That was a cheap shot you coward!”

“Forgive me if I don’t feel very remorseful for attacking my enemies when they’re guards are down,” he said as he landed on the ground. He looked between Squirt and Cutie, narrowing his eyes at the latter, “I was hoping you’d have been left alone. Having her here isn’t ideal, but it won’t matter. I should be able to handle you two little Rookies.”

Cutie got to her feet and glared at the Peckmon, “Why are you going after us? Aren’t you here to destroy the Apple Family’s apples?”

“Yes and I was on my way to do that. But then I noticed you two in that room and knew you’d get in my way if you found me. So, I’m cutting off that little thread by destroying you here and now,” he raised his wings and shouted, “Kunaibane!”

A wave of steel feathers shot toward Squirt and Cutie. Both dived to the left and right respectively, with Squirt rolling onto his feet. He charged at the Peckmon with his head lowered and aimed at his foe.

“Vee Headbutt!”

He shouted as he dove at Peckmon with his hard head. However, the Champion easily deflected the attack with his wing before landing a clean kick to Squirt’s stomach. While Squirt was sent to the ground, Cutie came from Peckmon’s back.

“Supersonic Wave!”

Peckmon tried to turn and block, but he was too late. The attack hit him dead on and sent him into the dirt. Seeing an opening, Squirt got to his feet and ran at the fallen Peckmon. He threw a punch at the Champion’s lowered face, but even dazed Peckmon managed to move his head out of the way. Squirt threw three more punches but each was dodged until Peckmon managed to get back on his talons. He reached out with his talon just as Squirt tried to jump away, grabbing him in his talons. Standing on his other leg, he threw Squirt at Cutie before taking to the sky. Cutie grunted as Squirt hit her and sent the two of them to the ground.

Squirt pushed himself up and rolled off Cutie. He glared up at Peckmon and shouted, “Where’s Gilda at you jerk! Why is she working with the Dark Area?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s recognized the winning side. You fools would do well to follow her example,” Peckmon chuckled as he saw Squirt’s frustrations rise.

Before Squirt could say anymore, Cutie shouted at him, “Hey! Peckmon! Who’s Gilda’s best friend?!”

“...Huh?”

“Huh?”

Squirt and Peckmon both looked at Cutie, confusion evident on their faces. She was undeterred as she said, “You heard me. Who’s Gilda’s best friend? The one she’s known since she was a filly? You’d know that, cause she would’ve told you who she wanted to get back at, right?”

“Cutie, of course he knows it’s-hmmph!” Cutie quickly covered Squirt’s mouth to stop him from continuing. While he struggled against her hands, she kept glaring at Peckmon.

Peckmon’s eyes widened in worry as he continued to flap his wings, “Uh, um, right. She...She did tell me that. Um, uh...his name was...Pegu Guy. And...he...uh...bullied her, yeah, yeah that’s it!”

“...What?” Squirt sounded incredulous, Cutie removing her hands from his mouth so he could speak. He got to his feet and said, “Bu-But, no. That’s not it. Her best friend is Rainbow Dash. My partner.”

“Her friend is that winged pony with the stupid colored hair?” Peckmon frowned before realizing what he just said. He panicked and tried to backtrack, “I-I-I mean, of course it is! I knew that! The two of them, uh, used to go swimming together and-“

“You don’t know who Gilda is do you,” Cutie said plainly.

Peckmon tried to keep his composure...but then groaned and shook his head, “Damn it! No! I don’t, okay? Why would I even bother to know the name of someone that will be conquered soon enough?!”

“Bu-But why’d you lie to me?!” Squirt shouted, trying to make sense of what was going on.

Peckmon scoffed, “I suppose it doesn’t matter if I tell you. You won’t be leaving here alive anyway. Before I arrived here through the Digital Gate, my masters bequeathed me with a special power. One that allows me to sense the malice and grudges of those I fight. Whenever you fight you put your feelings behind every attack you make, and by reading the flow of your hatred and grudge, I can predict where you will attack. This power would make me invincible...anywhere but here!”

He spat on the ground in disgust as he continued, “This damn world! It’s filled with nothing but...but...happiness! I hardly feel any malice at all! Only small pockets that are nowhere near here, or are so weak that they’re barely worth the effort of caring about! I thought that my powers would’ve gone to waste...until I met you, little V-mon. That grudge you’ve been nursing towards Gilda is perfect for my needs. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Rookie or Champion! As long as I can read your moves, you won’t be able to touch me! But enough talk! Time to end this!”

He placed both his talons together and they were soon covered in flames as he started to spin in mid-air.

“Burning Spiral!”

The two Rookies barely had time to react as Peckmon dived toward them with his talons aflame. Cutie ran forward then took a deep breath. Facing the oncoming attack she shouted, “Ultrasonic Wave!”

A much louder sound exploded out of her mouth, aimed directly at Peckmon. The Champion’s attack was halted as the wave of found crashed into his stomach. His beak opened in a silent gasp as the force of the attack launched him up and over the Apple’s house. Flames erupted on his clothes while he flew over the home, landing on the other side with a loud thud. Cutie stopped screaming but slumped while panting in exhaustion.

Squirt was stunned silent as he tried to process what he just learned. Then he looked over at Cutie and said in a defeated voice, “You-You were right, Cutie. He-He did lie. I...I can’t believe I fell for that. I’m so stupid!”

“At least-At least you’re able to recognize it,” Cutie said as she walked over to him, “Now, come on. He’s not gonna be gone for long.. We don’t need to beat him. We just have to hold him off until the others show up. Then we can Digivolve and stop him.”

“I-I can’t.”

Cutie looked confused, “What do you mean you can’t? You know what he’s doing now. You can beat him.”

“No I can’t!” Squirt shouted while shaking his head. He put both hands on his head and grit his teeth, “Yeah, I know what he’s doing but...but I can’t just let go of my grudge!”

“Bu-But you know that Gilda-“

“I know! I know she’s not responsible for any of this! But that wasn’t why I’m mad at her! I’m mad at her for what she did! To you, to Rainbow, to Pinkie, to everypony! I’m angry about how much a jerk she is! I’m angry that she acted that way when all Rainbow wanted to do was catch up with an old friend of hers!” Squirt shook his head and sighed, “I...I can’t just forget about it like you, Pinkie, and Rainbow can. I...I’ll just be a burden if I fight.”

Squirt couldn’t look Cutie in the eye. He felt an ache in his heart from admitting this to her. He didn’t want to say these things, but he knew they were the truth. He could still feel the grudge festering within his heart. Even if he tried to suppress it, he had no doubt that Peckmon would still be able to use it against him. It would be better if he just stayed out of the fight.

“...I haven’t forgotten.”

Squirt blinked, body going rigid as those words entered his mind. He slowly looked at Cutie, seeing her frowning face. He said the only word that he could think of that that moment, “What?”

Cutie kept her eyes on the ground as she continued, “I-I haven’t forgotten what she did. And it still makes me mad. I didn’t like it when she popped Pinkie’s balloon. I didn’t like it when she threatened us. I didn’t like it when her pranks went a bit too far, or when she was mean to the other ponies. Those things haven’t changed.”

“Bu-But then how can you still hurt Peckmon?” Squirt asked, clearly confused.

Cutie was silent for a few seconds. Then she looked at him as her lips curled into a small smile, “Because...I want to give her a chance if she comes back. I think...I think there’s a chance that when she returns to Ponyville, she’ll actually want to be our friend. And she’ll want to be a better pony. That she’ll want to make up for what she did. And if we just turn her away because of what she did before...then we’ll be the jerks. And she might go back to being how she was yesterday. So, yeah. I don’t want to hold a grudge against her.”

“But what if she comes back and is still mean?”

“Then I’ll tell her off. I haven’t forgotten what she did. And because of that, I know what to do if she starts acting like that again. I’ll stand up to her, tell her to stop, and if she doesn’t? Well...I’m pretty sure I’m strong enough to drag her out of town,” Cutie chuckled and patted Squrit’s shoulder. Squirt’s mouth remained open, his eyes blinking repeatedly as he took in what Cutie had said. Then he closed his mouth as realization slowly made it way into his mind. He started to nod as expression turned from shock to understanding.

“Enough!” Squirt and cutie both looked up at the sound of Peckmon’s voice. The Champion was standing on the edge of the roof of the Apples’ house. His talons dug into the tiles as he glared death at the two Rookie Digimon, “No more of this! Grudge or not, I’m ending both of you, here and now! Let’s see you survive an unending storm of steel!”

He raised his wings once more, getting ready to make good on his words. Squirt and Cutie separated as they prepared for what was coming next. Both of their faces were furrowed in concentration...but soon turned to confident smiles when they saw a familiar shadow fall over Peckmon from behind. Peckmon narrowed his eyes and was about to ask them what they were smiling about, when he heard someone clear their throat right behind him. He turned around to see see who it was...then felt his blood run cold, “L-L-Lucemon?!”

“Hey,” Lucey smiled and waved at Peckmon, “I’m Lucey. I heard you were trying to hurt my friends. I don’t very much like that.”

Smile still on his face, Lucey’s right arm shot forward as he aimed to grab Peckmon’s neck. Peckmon squawked with fear as he jumped away, immediately trying to take to the air and get away. But before he could get far, a purple aura encased his leg and dragged him back to earth. As he hit the dirt, Squirt and Cutie looked to the left to see Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack rushing toward them. Cornelius and Loo followed behind them, both in their Champion stages as they rushed into Sweet Acres. Rainbow landed next to Squirt and Pinkie quickly bounced her way to Cutie. When the pink pony laid her eyes on Champion she tilted her head to the side, “So, this is the big meanie pants that caused all that trouble? A birdy running around on two legs? Boy you Digimon can be really weird! I like it.”

Lucey floated down from the roof to land by Fluttershy’s side as the ponies and Digimon rendezvoused. Twilight looked at the Digimon who had been fighting him and asked, “Cutie, Squirt, what happened?”

“That guy attacked us while we were in Apple Bloom’s room. He threw a bunch of sharp feathers at us and tore the place up. We’ve been fighting him ever since,” Cutie explained as Peckmon got to his talons.

“What?! That darn bird-brained tore up ma’ sister’s room?!” Apple Jack snorted while digging her front hoof into the dirt, “Well, now you’re gonna get it you feather-brained gremlin! Ya’ll ready, Loo?”

Flames fell from Loo’s muzzle as he nodded, “Just say the word and I’ll fry this chicken.”

“Everypony, wait!” all eyes turned to Squirt as he raised his hand up. He took a step forward, eyes not leaving Peckmon as he spoke, “Can...Can you all stay back and leave this to me? I’ve kind of got a score to settle with this guy.”

Most of the ponies and Digimon mumbled in confusion. Rainbow moved to Squirt’s side and asked, “Squirt, what are you talking about? Last time you fought that guy, you got seriously hurt. You sure you want to fight him after that?”

Squirt looked over at Rainbow and nodded, “Positive. This guy...he lied about knowing Gilda. And I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. And I won’t feel better unless I do something about it myself. So, please...let me.”

Rainbow stared at Squirt with a her mouth hanging open. But as she stared at Squirt’s face, she slowly understood what he was saying. Then she nodded and took to the air before turning toward her friends, “You heard the guy, girls. You all hang tight. Me and Squirt’ll take care of this guy.”

Squirt looked surprised as Rainbow Dash landed to his left. At his gaping mouth she lightly punched his shoulder, “You didn’t seriously think that I wasn’t gonna help you, did ya? We’re Partners, right? I won’t let ya handle stuff like this alone. Right?”

Squirt’s lips curled into a smile. Then he returned Rainbow’s light punch with his own, “Right. Everypony else?”

“Go for it you two! Me and Cutie will cheer you on!” Pinkie said while raising up a pair of pom-poms that she got from...somewhere. Cutie had the same yellow and blue pom-poms on her claws...along with a sign that had the word “GO!” written on it with blue marker.

While Twilight tried to make sense of what Pinkie was doing, Cornelius said, “If you’re both certain. Just be careful. And if things get too bad, we’ll interfere.”

“T-T-Try not to h-h-hurt him too bad. An-And make sure not to break the egg!” Fluttershy said, trembling while trying to avoid looking at Peckmon.

Apple Jack tilted her hat and said, “Fine. Just give ‘em one for me and ma sister, got it?”

With their friends’ approval, both Rainbow and Squirt marched toward Peckmon. Rainbow took to the air and smacked her digivice. In seconds, Squirt changed from V-mon to V-dramon, the large dragon pounding his fists together. Peckmon began to laugh, “Ha, ha, did my last attack knock the sense out of your head? You can’t beat me, idiot! Champion or not, my powers mean you won’t be able to touch me!”

“You think so? How about we put that to test?” Squirt said confidently as he spread his legs out and got ready for a fight. Peckmon prepared for battle but paused as he observed Squirt. Something felt...different about him. He could still feel the grudge towards Gilda in his heart, but it didn’t feel the same. It felt...weaker?

Peckmon shook his head. No, that was impossible. Someone couldn’t have lessened their grudge against another that quickly. It just didn’t work that way. His grudge should still be strong enough to guide his actions. He could use his power to predict where his attacks would come from. Then he’d take him out and run away.

Confident in his victory, Peckmon sent a storm of steel feathers at Squirt. Squirt put his arms together and blocked the attack while Peckmon ran forward. He jumped off the ground and pulled his head back, ready to launch his first assault.

“Thousand Beak!“

“Magnum Punch!”

Squirt quickly lowered his right arm while keeping his left up to block. His fist glowed a bright white as he struck out at the airborne Peckmon. The two’s attacks looked like they were going to clash...until Squirt’s fists moved slightly below where Peckmon was aiming. And his attack was faster.

“GAH!” Peckmon squawked as Squirt landed a clean hit on his stomach. His beak hung open in pain but he wasn’t allowed to rest. With a roar, Squirt launched a second Magnum Punch with his left fist, uppercutting his foe in the chin.

“Rainbow! Get him!” Squirt shouted as Peckmon was launched into the sky. A rainbow colored blur shot toward the airborne Digimon. Rainbow pulled back her right front hoof and punched Peckmon square in the face.

“That’s for Roseluck’s stand!” she shouted as she rocketed past Peckmon. As Peckmon flipped in the air, he was suddenly struck by a blade of air pressure. Multiple feathers flew from his body as a cut appeared in his purple suit.

“That’s for wrecking Sugarcube Corner!” Squirt said as he turned his knife hand back into a fist.

Rainbow came back around and drop-kicked Peckmon in the back, propelling the Digimon’s body toward Squirt, “This is for destroying Apple Bloom’s room!”

As Peckmon tumbled from the sky toward Squirt, Rainbow swooped down and hovered beside Squirt's head. The two exchanged glances, nodded, and prepared for action. Squirt drew back his right fist while Rainbow did the same with her left hoof. As Peckmon approached, they yelled in unison, “And this, is for lying about Gilda!”

They simultaneously punched the Digimon in the face. An audible crack echoed through the air as Peckmon cried out in pain. Fluttershy and Applejack winced, while Pinkie jumped into the air, spelling out Rainbow Dash's name with her surprisingly elastic body. As Peckmon soared into the sky once more, he did not come back down this time. Instead, he remained suspended in the air, his head tilted back. His eyes widened in shock as he spoke, “Im-Impossible. I...I couldn’t sense your malice. I-I couldn’t read your attacks. The Rainbow one I get but...but why you? Your grudge isn’t gone. How could I not predict your movements?”

Squirt huffed and crossed his arms, “Yeah, I still have a bit of a grudge against Gilda. But...I’m not gonna let it control me anymore. Especially not when someone like you was using it to beat me up. If Gilda ever comes back, I’ll...I’ll try to be her friend, if she wants to be friends. But if she doesn’t, well, I’ll figure something out.”

“That’s more like it, Squirt,” Rainbow praised, rubbing his large head with a hoof, “That’s much cooler than holding a grudge.”

“Bu-But that’s impossible! You can’t just decide that and have it be true immediately! That’s not how it works!”

“Sounds like you believe that. But hey, you’re the stupid one who chose to fight instead of doing what you do best: running away. So, I suppose that’s to be expected,” Squirt chuckled as he prepared for what was to come next. Completely defeated, Peckmon let out one final gasp as a blue ring of data materialized around his body. Squirt opened his mouth and shouted, “Fractal Code, Digitize!”

A second later, all the blue code flew into Squirt’s open mouth. Once it was gone, a solid purple digi-egg appeared where Peckmon had been. Lucey quickly flew over and snatched the egg before it could hit the ground. Squirt turned to Rainbow and gave her a thumbs up, “Thanks for the help, RD. Though I could’ve taken him by myself.”

“Oh? Really?” Rainbow crossed her hooves and leaned into Squirt’s face, “I seem to remember somepony getting his butt whooped the first time around. Who says it wouldn’t have happened again if I wasn’t here to bail you out?”

“Bail me out? Please. We both know he would have destroyed you if I weren’t here,” the two continued to banter as Lucey brought the egg over to Fluttershy.

“It seems we have a new guest for our little nursery, Fluttershy,” he said, handing the egg to her, “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’d love to take care of these little eggs until they’re ready to hatch and find a good home,” Fluttershy giggled, gently rubbing her hoof over the egg.

“Well, ‘ah guess that takes care of that,” Applejack said with a relieved sigh, “Though, it’s gonna be mighty tough to fix up Apple Bloom’s room. Hope Granny Smith don’t get too mad ‘bout it.”

“Actually, we aren’t finished yet,” Cornelius said, capturing everypony’s attention. He turned to Squirt and inquired, “Rainbow Dash told us that Peckmon claimed to be part of the Dark Area Invasion Army. If that’s true, this marks the second time Digimon affiliated with them have appeared out of nowhere to cause trouble. Couple that with how we all arrived seemingly out of nowhere, and it suggests that there is someway to travel between Equestria and the Digital World, and it’s likely located near Ponyville.”

Twilight nodded, “Right. But we still don’t know where it is or what it could be. If we only had that information, we would be able to do something about it.”

“Oh!” Cutie shouted, getting everypony’s attention. She climbed onto Pinkie’s back to ensure she could be heard by all in attendance, “Actually, we might know what they’re using. Peckmon mentioned that he got here through a Digital Gate before we fought each other. Maybe that’s how they’re getting to Equestria?”

“Digital Gate?” all the ponies said in unison.

“A Digital Gate,” Lucey began, raising a finger to get everypony looking at him, “is a mechanism that can be used to transport things between the Digital World and a different world. Some gates are two-way, while others are only one-way. There isn’t a specific location where they can manifest; they simply appear at random. However, they typically remain in one location once they ‘attach’ to an area.”

“And y’all know this why? Ah thought y’all couldn’t ‘member nothin’ of your past,” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at Lucemon.

“Because they’re Champions now, Applejack,” Twilight explained, already committing what had been said to memory for later, “Cornelius and I theorize that evolving has unlocked some of their latent memories. The knowledge of Digital Gates is likely related to that.”

“So, what? There’s some weird gate thing somewhere near Ponyville? Then let’s go find it! We need to stop these jerks from getting here!” Rainbow Dash said, getting ready to fly off after the Digital Gate.

“I wouldn’t, Rainbow Dash,” Cornelius stated, rubbing his chin, “Digital Gates can’t be seen with the naked eye. They typically require a trigger of some sort to be made physical. A type of ‘key’ if you will. And that key can be anything.”

“So, we can’t do anything about it?”

“Not necessarily. One thing we can do is make an accurate guess as to where the Gate may be,” Cornelius began, raising his finger, “Considering that both the Gaizmon and Peckmon appeared close enough to Ponyville to reach the town within minutes of arriving in Equestria without anypony noticing, it must be located somewhere near the edge of town, but not so close that anypony could see it opening. This means it’s far from Sweet Apple Acres, the school, or Fluttershy’s cottage. Therefore, only one possible location remains.”

Cornelius pointed his finger to the west...right above the Everfree Forest.

All the ponies gulped in fear.

“Hmm, Ponyville, huh? Perfect! This shall be the next town to be graced by The All Powerful Trixie! And her wonderful assistant! Are you ready to put on a show, my dear companion?”

“As always, All Powerful Trixie. Let’s go knock some backwater Ponies dead!”

A pair of haughty, confident laughs could be heard far away from Ponyville. One laugh belonged to a light blue unicorn dressed in a wizard's costume, while the other came from a peculiar witch draped in a red cloak.

Author's Note

Finally got this done. As you can see, it took so long as I wrote 10k words for this. I hope you all enjoy. As of now, I'm about half way through Season 4. I will admit, I'm seeing the quality of episodes dip somewhat, but I still want to get through it. I've also seen the first Equestria Girls movie.

See you all next time!

Digimon Appearing in this Chapter:

Peckmon:

https://wikimon.net/Peckmon

Boasting and Regrets

“I’m still shocked, Twilight,” Spike said as he ran ahead of the unicorn in question, “You’re the best magic user in Equestria, managed to perform all twenty five of those tricks with ease, and you’re Celestia’s personal student. How could you not figure out how to cast spells like Cornelius does?”

Twilight had a thoughtful frown on her face as she walked alongside the baby dragon. She was going over the previous events of the day in her head as she said, “That’s likely because I was working with a different kind of magic than what I’m use to. I might as well have been trying to understand an alien language. While the magic Cornelius uses seems similar to ours, the way it works is entirely different. Right, Cornelius?”

Twilight and Spike both looked up at the Digimon in question. Cornelius was in his Wizarmon X form, walking alongside his Tamer and her baby dragon friend. He looked down at them and nodded, “I believe that is the case for both of us. In particular, there seems to be a distinctive difference between how we gather our magical power and how we project that power into the world.”

“What. Cornelius. Mean?” Babs asks, the Dracomon X flapping his wings as he hovered just above the group. The four had just left Twilight’s home after said unicorn had finished performing the twenty-fifth trick in a spell book she had. Said spell was a growing spell that gave Spike a mustache, though she had already removed it. After that, Cornelius and Twilight decided to see if either of them could perform the same magic spells that the other could. But what they found was something much more complicated.

Cornelius hummed then snapped his fingers, “Ah, how about a demonstration? Twilight?”

“That sounds good,” the group stopped walking and Twilight looked at Spike, “Mind helping us out, Spike?”

“No problem!” Spike moved to stand in front of Twilight and Cornelius. As he did, Babs flew down to stand beside him.

When all eyes were on him, the Dracomon X said, “I. Help. Too. I. Ready.”

Spike smiled then held his arms out, “You heard him. Give us your best!”

“Right. I believe that we should start with a simple comparison of our telekinetic abilities. Ready, Twilight?” Cornelius asked as he summoned his staff. It appeared in his right hand right when Twilight’s horn started to glow. The two focused on the small dragons in front of them, with a purple glow surrounding Twilight’s horn while an azure one surrounded the top of Cornelius’ staff. A purple aura surrounded Spike and lifted him into the air, while an azure one did the same to Babs. The two dragons both cried out in excitement as they floated above the ground. Cornelius spoke first, “As you can see, it is relatively simple for the two of us to accomplish a basic feat of telekinesis. However, the difference is in our capability. Twilight?”

“Right,” Twilight said, before walking away with her back turned to Spike. She stopped ten steps away from the floating dragon, but her hold on him didn’t waver in the slightest. She turned back around and then nodded at Cornelius. The Wizarmon X turned his back on Babs and walked towards Twilight. Immediately, the aura around Babs began to shimmer and fade away. By the time he had taken five steps, the aura around Babs disappeared and the Dracomon X could move on his own again. He flapped his wings to keep himself in the air as Twilight lowered Spike to the ground.

Once Spike was free of Twilight’s hold he asked, “Woah! What happened?! Why did Cornelius’ spell fail so quickly?”

“Because his magic isn’t suited for it,” Twilight explained as she trotted to Cornelius’ side. The Wizarmon X turned back around to face Spike as Twilight continued, “Utility spells don’t seem to be his strong suit. He can use them, but not for long nor without direct concentration. Unlike unicorns and alicorns who can keep a basic telekinetic spell like that going for a while.”

“However, I do have my own specialty,” Cornelius twirled his staff then aimed it toward the sky. He seemed to concentrate for a moment, before letting out a short grunt. There was a booming sound as lightning jumped from his staff and into the air above. It continued on until it almost hit a passing cloud, at which point it split into electric particles. A few pegasi got scared and flew off but didn’t notice that the source of the bolt was Cornelius.

Babs “oohed” while Spike clapped his claws together, “Wow! Yeah, I don’t think Twilight can do anything like that.”

“Exactly, Spike!” Twilight said while nodding her head, “That’s because Cornelius’ magic is more suited to controlling elemental forces directly. He seems to have an affinity for lightning, fire, and earth specifically. When he uses spells that fall under one of those categories, he’s able to exert a much finer control over them with less concentration required.”

“Why. So. Different?” Babs asked with a tilt of his head.

“That is because of what Twilight and I discovered when were comparing our magic; The sources of our power and the methodology behind how we use it are completely different. Mine is external while Twilight’s is internal.”

At the confused look on the dragons’ faces, Twilight stepped in, “The magic that ponies use comes from within their bodies and souls. We are all born with innate magical power that we use in different ways everyday. From earth ponies manipulating the land to grow crops, pegasi moving clouds and creating rain, to us unicorns using our horns for more direct applications of magic. We use the magic power within ourselves to change the world around us by exerting our will upon it through spells and otherwise.”

“In contrast,” Cornelius began, “we Digimon have our own innate powers that we are born with, but those powers are not necessarily magical in nature. They are, instead, simple abilities that come with our various forms and bodies. Much like a dragon’s fire breath or a bee’s stinger. The magic that I use is based off a specific practice known as ‘High Programming Language’. To put it simply, I change the world around me by manipulating the basics building blocks of the world in order to cast my spells. When I created that lightning bolt, I wasn’t using the innate power within me to summon the lightning like a pegasus would. I, instead, shifted the basic elements of the world above me in order to create a bolt of lightning.”

“...Huh?” both Spike and Babs said in unison.

Cornelius and Twilight both rolled their eyes at the same time, though neither looked upset. Twilight stepped up, “Put simply, Spike, I use my own innate powers to change the world around me and do magic, Cornelius changes the world around him first in order to do magic.”

“Oh! Okay,” Spike nodded his head with closed eyes as if he understood. Babs copied him, though neither looked like they really got it. Spike opened his eyes and looked at Twilight, “So, what does that have to do with Cornelius not keeping his telek-whatsits up?”

“Telekinesis, Spike,” Twilight corrected, “and it’s because of how his magic works. It’s a lot easier to keep control over something that is fully under your power, or comes completely from yourself. My telekinetic holds are things that come from me, and thus I have full control over them, for the most part. This makes it easy to keep concentration up and hold it steady even when I’m not looking at it.”

“Something I cannot do. Because I am changing reality itself, my magic is not always fully under my control. There is always a little bit of it that I can’t control, and if my concentration on it lapses even slightly, it will fall apart,” Cornelius tilted his hat as he continued, “However, it does afford me something Twilight doesn’t have; Offensive power and stamina. My offensive spells are much more potent and less costly, as they do not directly come from my inner source of power. Though I am not necessarily proud of that. I would much rather be able to use the utility spells the same way Twilight can.”

Twilight’s smile grew wide as she trotted over to Cornelius, “Then, how about I teach you?! We can make a day out of it! You help me learn about Digimon magic and this ‘high programming language’ and I’ll teach you about Equestrian magic.”

“Why that sounds lovely, Twilight. I’m looking forward to it,” the two shared a smile while Spike rolled his eyes. Babs looked confused but copied Spike anyway.

“Gang way!/Coming through”

The four were suddenly broken from their reverie as two unicorn stallions charged toward them. One was small and stout with a large head and light blue coat, while the other was tall and lanky with a deep orange coat. The former ran into Spike, accidentally picking the baby dragon up as he galloped away. Babs called Spike’s name before flying after the two ponies. Wanting to check on Spike and see what the commotion was about, Twilight and Cornelius ran after the two.

“Snips!? Snails!? What’s going on?!” Spike cried as he was carried along by the smaller unicorn.

The two unicorns came to an abrupt stop, sending Spike flying as they did so. The orange one, Snails, didn’t seem to mind as he spoke, “Haven’t you heard? There’s a new unicorn in town!”

The blue one, Snips, hopped up and down as he said, “Yeah, yeah! They say she’s got more magical power than any unicorn ever!”

Twilight and Cornelius came up to the group just as Snips finished talking. Babs flew over to Spike’s side, making sure the baby dragon was alright. A concerned look flashed across Twilight’s face as she asked, “Really?”

“Unlikely,” Cornelius stated plainly, “for such a claim to be true would require said unicorn to be able to overcome the combined magical prowess of unicorns both past and present. And I doubt any unicorn could match, say, Starswirl The Bearded in power. At least if the stories I have heard about him are true.”

Spike nodded, “Yep. And besides, that honor goes to Twilight here.”

He waved his arms at Twilight and Babs nodded in agreement. Twilight looked bashful while Cornelius remained still. Then Twilight asked, “Where is this unicorn?”

“Ah, she’s in the town square, come on!” Snails said, galloping away.

“Yeah, hehe, come on!” Snips said, following his friend.

Twilight, Spike, Cornelius, and Babs all shared a look. Then they all moved to follow the two unicorn stallions.

“Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic, of The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The stage wagon that had been set up in the middle of the town square unfolded. The front became a stage, the sides opened to reveal musical horns, and multiple stage decorations popped out from the roof. A moment later, in a bright flash of smoke and light, a dark blue unicorn appeared. Her pure white mane was covered by a purple wizard’s hat covered in gold and blue stares. A blue gem clasp kept her similarly colored cape attached to her, while her pure white tail hung behind her. She smiled while her purple eyes stared out at the crowed of awed ponies before her. The crowd included Twilight and the rest of her friends, along with most of their Digimon. Loo, Cutie, Squirt, and Babs were all in their Rookie forms. Loo sat next to Applejack his expression stoic as he beheld the new unicorn. Squirt looked unimpressed, leaning against Rainbow Dash’s side and yawning with boredom. Cutie was hanging off Pinkie Pie’s back, carrying a cupcake she had brought from Sugarcube Corner in one hand. Babs flapped his wings and hovered just above Spike, eyes sparkling at Trixie’s magic.

Cornelius was the only one in his Champion form. He stood next to Twilight at the front of the crowd with the rest of her friends. He raised an eyebrow at Trixie’s entrance while trying to gauge the unicorn’s magical ability.

Trixie continued, her voice loud and proud, “Watch in awe, as The Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!” She held her hooves out wide as her stage’s pyrotechnics went off all around her.

Rarity was as unimpressed as Squirt and said, “My, my, my, what boasting.”

“Come on,” Spike began with a frown on his face, “No pony is as magical as Twi-“ he suddenly stopped as he remembered who he was talking to. After stuttering a bit, he said something about a mustache and dashed way. Babs didn’t follow him, eyes completely locked on Trixie’s show.

“There’s nothing wrong with being talented is there?” Twilight asked Rarity, sounding a bit concerned.

“Nothin’ at all,” Applejack answered, before turning back to Trixie and frowning, “ ‘Ceptin’ when somepony goes around showin’ it off like a school filly with a pair of fancy new ribbons.”

“Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic doesn’t make one better than the rest of us,” Rarity answered, though it didn’t seem to make Twilight feel better. Her ears dropped and she lowered her head in shame.

Noticing this, Cornelius spoke up, “Twilight, being talented or being good at something isn’t a problem. Neither is being proud of it. The problem comes when one decides to act as if it makes them better than everypony else. For instance, I can cast healing spells to help with wounds. But my ability to do so is nowhere near Cutie’s Healing Glow power.”

He pointed his staff at Cutemon with Twilight, her friends, and their Digimon turning to see what he meant. Suddenly finding herself the center of attention, Cutie could only smile and wave at everypony looking at her. Pinkie, meanwhile, bounced up and down while saying, “You hear that, Cutie?! He says you’re real good at fixing up owchies!”

“I-I-I know. But it’s not that big a deal,” Cutie said, trying to hide the blush on her face.

“See? Humility. Having humility when it comes to your powers is a virtue. But boasting and showing no humility...well, that leads to claiming you somehow have more magical power than any unicorn in the world,” all eyes turned back to the stage, where a certain “Great and Powerful” mare was glaring at them.

She huffed and spoke in a frustrated voice, “Well, I see we have a few naaaayyyyysayers in the crowd! Allow The Great and Powerful Trixie to show the magical prowess of not just herself, but her equally wonderful assistant!”

“Assistant?” Twilight and her friends said in unison, looking around for whoever Trixie was talking about.

Everypony watched as Trixie’s horn glowed a bright pink color. She waved her hoof up in the air as her magic opened a large trap door to her left. Her cape fluttered as she spoke, “Consider yourselves honored, for you all get to bare witness to The Great and Powerful Trixie’s, Amazing and Beautiful Assistant; Witchmon!”

“Witchmon?!” all the Digimon said in unison, their eyes going wide as something flew out of the trap door. Trailing red smoke and glitter behind it, the newcomer became a red blur as they flew into the air.

“Ohohohohoho!” A confident, feminine laugh echoed through the air as the newcomer circled above the stage. Her figure came into view as she stopped right above the roof of the stage wagon. She wore a deep crimson dress with a similarly colored witch’s hat atop her head. Her dressed covered her from her collar to her hands, with the bottom of her skirt open to let her pointed shoes poke out. A black cape fluttered behind her, the same color as the strange black cat that almost looked attached to her left arm. A tiny bit of blonde hair peaked out from beneath the hat, hanging over light blue eyes with slitted irises. Her mouth was open in a wide toothed grin, revealing the sharp fangs that were her teeth. She rode atop a broom that seemed to fly on its own.

With another laugh she floated down to the stage, gracefully landing feet first next to Trixie. Applejack looked over to Loo and said, “Ahm gonna take a wild guess and say that there’s another Digimon?”

“Yes! And a Champion at that,” Loo stated, frowning in confusion, “Why is she here?! Is there another Digital Gate somewhere out there?!”

“I’m more worried about what Trixie said about her being an ‘Assistant’. Are the two of them friends or something? Or is she...one of them?” Squirt didn’t have to clarify what he meant. If she was part of the Dark Area Invasion Army then...

“What do you think, Cornelius? Cornelius?” Twilight asked, looking up at her Digimon in confusion. Said Digimon was completely silent, his eyes locked on the Witchmon standing next to Trixie. Twilight called his name again, but he ignored her and slowly started walking toward the stage.

The Witchmon stood to her full height, the cat on her arm climbing up to her hat. She made a show of looking out at the crowd. She stuck her tongue out while leaning forward and said, “Hmm, quite a crowd we’ve got out here today, Great and Powerful Trixie. So many have come to see the greatest feats of magic in all of Equestria! It’s clear that these Ponies have immaculate tastes, is it not?”

Trixie smiles and steps up next to Witchmon, making sure to flutter her cape as she speaks, “I can only agree my Amazing and Beautiful Assistant! However, it seems there are a few Ponies who are determined to interrupt and discredit our abilities.”

“Is that right?” Witchmon flourishes her broom, smile turning mischievous as she begins to scan the crowd, “And where are these naysayers that are so sure of themselves?”

Trixie points in Applejack and Rarity’s direction with a smug look on her face. Witchmon turns her attention to the front of the crowd which is when she notices Cornelius walking toward the stage. Her entire body goes rigid, even the cat suddenly standing at attention. A strange silence falls over the crowd as everypony watches the two Champions in confusion. Twilight trots over to Cornelius and pats him on his leg, “Cornelius? Are you alright?”

“Assistant Witchmon? What are you doing?” Trixie asked while her eyes darted from her Digimon to the crowd, “This is taking time away from our show.”

Neither Cornelius nor Witchmon seemed to hear either of the ponies. The world itself seemed to have fallen away as the two of them stared into each other’s eyes. The pause was so poignant that a few ponies in the crowd began to wonder if it was part of the show. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the two Digimon broke from the trance they were in.

The first to speak was Cornelius...who’s brows furrowed into a frown, “What are you doing here, Witchmon?”

Witchmon’s lips curled into a smug smile as she leaned down to look Cornelius in the eye, “I could ask you the same question, you walking scarecrow.”

“Scarecrow? Really? That the best you could come up with?”

“Oh, please. As if I would use any of my prime material on someone who’s head is filled with straw.”

“Better straw than having all the blood flow be constricted by my clothes. Really, what is with that outfit? No one save you would be caught dead wearing it.”

“Ohohoho! Is that jealousy I hear? Is someone upset that I happen to have a much more refined fashion sense than you? Well, that’s only natural. I’d feel the same if all I had to wear was my pajamas.”

“Pajamas?” Cornelius grabbed at his clothes and glared at Witchmon, “These are a professional wizard’s robes. Their stitching is a status symbol to show how I am now an accomplished mage! Unlike you! How many years did it take you to graduate again? I think it was ten before I left!?”

Witchmon’s right eye twitched at Cornelius’ retort. The cat standing on her head hissed and bared its claws at Cornelius while its owner continued, “It was five years. And it was entirely by choice. Unlike some of us, I actually wanted to fully understand how to use my magic. Rather than rely on guesswork and theories like some people.”

“Are you insinuating-“

And so the bickering went. The ponies, totally confused at the argument, could only stare at what was happening in front of them. Their eyes moved from Cornelius to the Witchmon then back, to the point that Pinkie’s eyes actually rolled into her head. Cutie grabbed the sides of Pinkie’s head and her eyes returned to normal. Eventually, Twilight stepped between Cornelius and Witchmon. She looked up at her Digimon and asked, “Wait, what’s going on? Cornelius, do you know her?”

Cornelius blinked, as if he just now remembered that Twilight was there. After a few moments he gasped, “Ah! Apologies, Twilight. I, um, ahem. Yes, I do know her. In a sense.”

“I’d like an explanation as well, Assistant,” Trixie said while waving her hoof at Cornelius, “How do you know this lesser magician?”

Ignoring Cornelius muttering “lesser” under his breath Witchmon turned to Trixie with a smile. She waved dismissively at Cornelius and said, “Don’t worry, my Great and Powerful friend. This man is merely a third rate mage that I knew from my school days. A self-professed rival of mine that believes his magical abilities are in anyway equal to me.”

“That’s a lie and you know it,” Cornelius said before turning back to Twilight, “She’s a Witchmon, Twilight. A Champion Stage Digimon. We both come from a place known as Witchleny. That is where one goes to learn high programming language. And we consider each other rivals.”

“Is that why you were insulting each other earlier?” Twilight asked, looking between Witchmon and Cornelius.

“Yes. And it was unbecoming of me,” Cornelius approached the stage and spoke, “Witchmon, allow me to apologize. I didn’t mean to insult you like that. Would you perhaps be willing to talk about-“

“Ohohohohoho!” Witchmon suddenly interrupted, leaning toward Trixie and speaking, “You see, Trixie? Not even a minute since we’ve seen each other, and he is already begging me for forgiveness. This is how things usually go between us.”

Trixie’s smile was identical to Witchmon’s as she spoke, “Why of course! It is only natural that the Assistant to The Great and Powerful Trixie have so called ‘rivals’ who nonetheless know their place.”

“That’s not right, Trixie,” Twilight frowned as she stepped up to the stage, “Cornelius was trying to say sorry and find some common ground. There’s a lot that’s going on and it’s all connected to these Digimon. If the both of you would take some time to talk to us, we could explain.”

Trixie huffed at Twilight and turned her head away, “Hmph! And who are you supposed to be?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and I-“

“-am the companion of this ‘Cornelius’ I presume? Why would I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, even consider associating with a rival?”

“But we’re not rivals. We can-“

“Not rivals? Ha!” Trixie stepped away from Twilight and flipped her mane with a hoof, “If our Digimon are rivals then we are rivals. After all, why would I work with a pony who would tell my Assistant’s secrets to her rival?”

Twilight looked confused as she shook her head back and forth, “What? Why would I ever do that? I have no reason to.”

“That’s your companion, Cornelius?” Witchmon said his name like it was garbage in her mouth, “Typical. You would choose somepony who is not only foolish, but naive as well. No wonder she chose you to accompany her. After all, only the unwise would believe having a Wizarmon as their companion was any great feat.”

A gasp echoed through the crowd and Twilight looked shocked. She stepped away from the stage while Cornelius stepped forward. Behind him, Twilight’s friends and their Digimon also moved up. Pinkie Pie and Rarity moved to comfort her, while Applejack and Rainbow glared at Trixie and Witchmon. Cornelius’ voice was filled with frustration as he spoke, “How dare you! Twilight is neither naive nor a fool! She is a wonderful mare who is as smart as either of us!”

“She can’t be that smart, considering she’s associating with you. A foolish wizard who can only dream of being my equal in the magical arts.”

“Hey! Back off!” Squirt shouted, waving his fist at the Witchmon, “Cornelius is a way better magic user than you!”

“Yes! He. Great. Can. Summon. Lightning,” Babs said in support of Squirt’s praise.

Loo had moved to Cornelius’ left side and looked up at the Wizarmon X. Cornelius was glaring at Witchmon with his hands clenching into fists. Worried, he put one of his paws onto his friend’s left leg, “Don’t let her get to you, Cornelius. She’s just trying to rile you up. Nothing she says is worth worrying about.”

“That goes double for you, Twilight darling,” Rarity said while patting Twilight on her back, “Someponies simply can’t feel better about themselves without making others feel worse.”

“And those are some of the most boring ponies in the world! Like, who doesn’t have fun when other ponies are having fun?! Boring ponies, that’s who!” Pinkie said with her trademark smile on her face.

Twilight lifted her head as her lips curled into a small smile, “Thanks, girls. You’re right. I shouldn’t let her get to me.”

While everypony nodded in agreement, Witchmon let out another shrill laugh. Her and Trixie stood back to back as Witchmon said, “Ah, how adorably pathetic, my dear rival! You need others to make you feel confident about yourself? I wonder what our peers would think if they saw you now?”

“Probably that he’s a sorry excuse for a magician. And that he should simply give up on ever being even nearly as great, as the Great and Powerful Trixie’s Amazing and Beautiful Assistant!”

Cornelius huffed at the responses and turned his back on the two, “Forget it. These two clearly don’t want to have a civil conversation. Let’s get out of here, everypony.”

“Ah, leaving so soon, my dear rival?” Witchmon called at Cornelius retreating back. As Twilight and everyone else started to leave, her lips curled into a devious smile, “It is expected. Though some advice for your companion, Twilight, was it? I would highly recommend that you find a new compatriot. After all, him choosing to ignore me shows what a coward he is. And that, when it comes down to it, he will leave you behind. But I guess that’s to expected of a fool like her.”

Cornelius stopped in his tracks. Before anyone could say anymore, he whirled around and glared at Witchmon. He gripped his staff tight as electricity sparked along his gloves. He stomped his way back to the stage and shouted, “That’s it! I’ve had enough of your nonsense! Twilight, come! Let’s teach these arrogant witches some manners!”

“C-Cornelius! Wait, don’t!” Twilight cried while galloping after Cornelius. But he ignored her as he stepped up onto the stage. Loo tried to stop him by grabbing his cape in his teeth but ended up losing his grip when he got on the stage. Squirt and Babs were cheering him on alongside Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight hopped up onto the stage and ran over to Cornelius’ side. She frowned up at him and shook her head, “We shouldn’t be doing this! There’s no reason to engage in their taunting.”

“Twilight, these two may say whatever they want about me. But insulting you is the one thing I will not allow,” he stepped over to the other side of the stage flourishing his cape to make it flutter as he prepared his staff. The crowd of ponies had risen in size by this point. Many had heard the commotion and had come to see what was happening. Cornelius ignored them and paid no heed to Twilight as she yelled at him from his left side. He only had eyes for Witchmon and Trixie, “Our competition will be a simple one. Twilight and I will cast our magic spells on you and Trixie. Each side will attempt to hit the other one with a simple, non-damaging spell. Any spells meant to actually harm another will lead to immediate disqualification. We’re going to the best of three rounds. Are these rules satisfactory?”

“Indeed they are,” Witchmon said as she twirled her broom in her hand. She pointed the brush end at Cornelius while her cat traveled up to her hat, its eyes bright as it glared at Cornelius, “I look forward to embarrassing you in front of your companion. Have at you!”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie agrees to these terms as well,” Trixie’s horn started to glow as she glared at Twilight, “Let us see if you are truly as skilled as your comrade says you are.”

Twilight flinched and tried to shake her head, but Cornelius was already moving. Five playing cards appeared in his right hand and he quickly tossed them at Witchmon, “Magic Game!”

The cards flew toward Witchmon before splitting into five more cards, creating ten total heading toward the other Champion. With a huff Witchmon waved her broom through the air and shouted, “Baluluna Gale!”

A vortex of wind shot forth from the end of her broomstick. It gathered up the cards from the air, twirling them up in its gale and sending them back at Cornelius. Before the cards could reach him, Cornelius lifted his left hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the cards exploded into golden dust, the force dispelling the wind before it could touch him. The ponies in the crowd clapped at the display while Cornelius frowned, “Hmm, you’ll have to do better than that you crimson clad reject”

“If you believe that is my best, scarecrow, you are more of a idiot than I thought,” Witchmon responded with her teeth bared. Next to them, Trixie’s horn glowed as a beam shot out of her horn at Twilight. Twilight, caught off guard, took a direct hit. She landed on her rump and shook her head, both hooves going to her mane. The crowd gasped as they saw that her hair had been turned from its normal purple to an ugly yellow color. Rarity fainted at the sight of the crime against fashion while Twilight used her magic to turn her mane back to normal in a poof of smoke.

“That’s one for us!” Trixie gloated, sharing a smile with her Witchmon.

“Pay attention, Twilight!” Cornelius growled at the purple unicorn as she got to her hooves, “We cannot afford to lose this!”

“I-I’m sorry! I-I was just surprised,” Twilight said, body shaking as she tried to get her nerves under control. She looked at Trixie with a furrowed brow and aimed a shot of her own at the other unicorn. A beam of light shot back at Trixie, but the blue unicorn created a shield and easily stopped the attack.

“Is that your best?” Trixie said while looking down her muzzle at Twilight, “How disappointing. Please do try to at least entertain our audience, Twilight Sparkle.”

“How’s this for entertainment?” by the time Trixie looked over at Cornelius, it was already too late. A small bolt of lightning flew from his staff straight toward her. It struck her head on, zapping her and making her body jerk to and fro. Her mane and tail stood on end as the lightning ran itself through her system. The crowd laughed at the funny poses Trixie made as the lightning ran through her. Cornelius’ smug smile was hidden beneath his mask and he looked at Twilight for praise. However, Twilight just looked confused and disturbed by what was going on. Trixie eventually stopped jerking around as the lightning left her. She hopped to her hooves and spat out a cloud of black smoke.

Witchmon waved a hand and conjured a gust of air that blew the black soot off Trixie’s body. She glared at Cornelius and replied, “You snake! How dare you attack my partner while my back is turned!”

Cornelius shrugged, “Don’t know why you’re getting so upset. We never said anything about needing to wait for the other side to be ready before making a move.”

Witchmon spun her broom around and pointed its other end at Cornelius, “Then you won’t mind if we don’t give you a moment to recover. Trixie, would you do me the honor of helping me teach this straw-head some manners?”

“As if you even need to ask, Assistant!” Trixie’s horn began to glow as she turned her attention to Cornelius.

As the two readied themselves to attack, Cornelius lifted his staff and leaned toward Twilight. He spoke softly as he said, “Okay, Twilight. While I’ve got them distracted, you need to blast both of them with your magic. That’ll get us the last two points and we’ll win this.”

“Wh-What! No, I-I don’t even want to do this, Cornelius! Why are we even fighting them?!” Twilight kept looking between Cornelius, Trixie, and Witchmon. Anypony looking at her could tell she was nervous, confused, and unsure of what was going on.

Anypony...except Cornelius.

Ignoring her protest he turned to face Witchmon and Trixie, fully confident that Twilight would do as he asked. With a cry of “Aquary Pressure!” a blue magic circle appeared on the end of Witchmon’s broom. A stream of crystal clear water blasted out of her broom at a high speed. At the same time, Trixie fired a beam of magic at Cornelius from his right. Cornelius swiftly responded by moving his staff to his left hand while holding his right hand, palm up, toward Trixie’s blast. A shield shimmered into existence on the palm of his hand, while he pointed his staff toward the oncoming wave of water.

“Thunder Cloud!” he yelled, a black cloud appearing at the tip of his staff. It expanded until it was big as his hand, blue electricity crackling within. A second later a blast of lightning shot out of the cloud and crashed into the stream of water. They clashed, creating a dazzling display of shining reflective water and a electric sparks. The crowd clapped and cheered at the action in front of them, still seeing this as part of the show. As Cornelius continued to block the streams of magic, he looked over at Twilight and said through grit teeth, “Now, Twilight! I can only hold them off for so long!”

“Wh-Bu-But I-“

“Do it, now!”

Shocked by Cornelius sudden tone, Twilight panicked and shot a random blast of magic in the vague direction of Trixie and Witchmon. The blast flew passed Trixie, was reflected by the edge of one of the horns, bounced off a building’s window, and flew right at Cornelius’ face. Eyes widening, he instinctively lifted his right hand to block the oncoming blast...which left him open for Trixie’s own shot. Witchmon stopped her gale as Cornelius was swiftly hit by both Trixie and Twilight’s beams at the same time. A gasp ran through the crowd as all eyes focused on Cornelius. Rarity had gotten back on her hooves, head darting around in confusion, “What? What happened? What did I miss?”

Her eyes eventually landed on the stage again...which let her see what had become of Cornelius. His cloak had turned from a tasteful yellow, into a vomit colored green. His gloves were smaller than before and were now a distracting red color. His hat was way bigger than his head and fell over his face. The stars had turned from white to a tacky red. Spike just happened to appear with a new mustache right when Rarity fainted again. He managed to grab the passed out mare, but was confused by what was going on.

Witchmon and Trixie didn’t hold back. Both began to laugh at Cornelius’ “new look”, the Digimon holding her sides and nearly doubling over in humor. Trixie did the same, needing to hold her hat down to keep it from falling off. Cornelius’ face turned red underneath his hat. He tapped his body and head with his staff and turned his outfit back to normal. Then he rounded on Twilight and shouted, “What was that?! Weren’t you paying attention?! You were supposed to hit Trixie and then Witchmon! Not me!”

“I-I-I’m...,” Twilight tried to explain, backing up at Cornelius burning glare.

He interrupted her, throwing his arms into the air, “Are you even trying to help, Twilight?! Cause if you are, then stop helping! Just stand there and let me do all the work! Unless you want to prove those two right about the both of us!”

Cornelius turned back to face off against Witchmon and Trixie. His mind was completely overcome by a haze of anger and indignation. The only things he could see where the insulting faces of Witchmon and Trixie. The only sounds he could hear was their incessant laughter.

...But then something broke through the haze.

A sobbing sound.

He glanced toward Twilight and suddenly felt all his anger melt away. In its place was a mixture of panic, worry, and shame. What else could he feel after seeing the tears falling down Twilight’s face. She managed a soft, “I-I’m sorry.” before turning and running away from him and the stage. Ponies cleared the way to let her through as Cornelius held out his hand while calling her name. She didn’t seem to hear him, continuing to gallop off into the distance toward her home.

An awkward silence fell over the stage wagon and audience for a moment. Trixie and Witchmon had stopped laughing, though neither looked very sorry for what had happened. They just looked at each other and nodded at a job well done. Cornelius, meanwhile, was looking over his actions and trying to find out what had gone wrong. That is until he suddenly felt the glares from the crowd focus onto him. Judgmental glares from ponies, Twilight’s friends, and even the other Digimon all fell upon him. He flinched away from their stares, refusing to meet their eyes as he slowly left the stage.

“I messed up,” Cornelius sighed and leaned back against the wall of Ponyville’s Town Hall. His head hung low and staff laid across his lap. One hand loosely held his hat while the other was holding his shaking head, “I messed up, bad.”

Celestia had lowered the sun long before and Luna’s moon shined down from below. Though he knew it wasn’t true, it almost felt like the pale light was meant for him. Specifically, to remind him of his mistake. His mind kept returning to what happened at the stage wagon, but not to what he thought he would remember. The thoughts of Witchmon and Trixie’s insults were far from his mind. He could barely even recall what the two had said that led to the impromptu “duel” to begin with.

The only thing that he could recall with clarity was Twilight’s fact streaked with tears.

He squeezed his eyes shut and lightly tapped his fist against his head while muttering, “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” to himself. When he opened them again he lifted his head to star at the stars above. He sighed again before speaking to the open air, “What is wrong with me? I’m the one who said to not let those two’s words get to us. And then what do I go do? Let their words get to me and drag Twilight into a fight she didn’t want. Then I went and yelled at her for not fighting when she didn’t want to. Witchmon was right. Twilight would be better off with a different Digimon.”

He lowered both his head and hand, shame and self-loathing filling his heart. He didn’t know how long he sat there criticizing everything he had today. But, eventually, the sound of wing beats overhead made him look up. There he saw a familiar, blonde haired Digimon floating down from on high with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

Cornelius lowered his head again, his voice despondent as he spoke, “Hey, Lucey.”

“Hello, Cornelius,” Lucey said, lightly landing on his feet in front of the Wizarmon X. He kept his arms crossed and tilted his head to the side, “What are you doing here?”

“Beating myself up for making Twilight cry and being a dragon sized idiot,” Cornelius responded, waving his hand through the air, “What about you?”

“Looking for you,” Lucey let his arms relax and folded his wings behind his back. He walked over to Cornelius left side then sat down next to him. He pulled his knees up and hugged them while staring at Cornelius, “You know everypony’s wondering where you went.”

“That so? No doubt cause they all want to give me a piece of their minds. It’s what I deserve,” Cornelius said, trying to keep from looking Lucey in the eye.

Lucey shrugged, “Not really. Their all just worried about you. Though everyone is trying to keep you away from Twilight right now. Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are keeping her company. Cutey and Ampurley are helping them in their own ways. Everypony else is standing outside Twilight’s home on the lookout for you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I told them I was gonna go look for you. See how you’re doing and make sure you’re alright. They mostly just want to keep an eye out for when you come back to Twilight’s home.”

Cornelius let out a sad chuckle, “Who’s to say I’m coming back? I’m not even sure if I should.”

“Of course you should. You’re Twilight’s Digimon. And her friend. Why wouldn’t you come back?”

“I made Twilight cry, Lucey,” Cornelius put his head in his hands, “That’s not what friends are supposed to do. I-I was a fool. I let myself be drawn in by Witchmon’s taunting, dragged Twilight into a duel she didn’t agree to, then blamed her when she did nothing wrong! What kind of Digimon am I when I do something like that?!”

He hit the ground with a fist to let out some of his frustration. Silence descended on the two of them for a moment. Cornelius was still while Lucey continued to stare at him. Then Lucey said, “Okay, yes. You did do all of that...so what are you going to do now?”

“...Huh?” Cornelius took his head out of his hands, eyes looking at Lucey with confusion, “What do you mean?”

Lucey straightened out his legs and sat up straight, “What are you going to do now? Yeah, you made Twilight cry, let Witchmon taunt you into a fight, and made a mess of things. So, what now? Will you sit here and continue beating yourself up over something you did? Are you going to leave Ponyville and Twilight Sparkle behind cause you made her cry once? Or are you going to stand up, walk back to Twilight’s home, apologize and ask for her forgiveness? Personally, if I were in your position? I’d choose the last option. After all, that’s the only one where I get to stay with my friend.”

Cornelius blinked in shock as Lucey got to his feet. The Lucemon stretched his arms and wings toward the sky as Cornelius went over his words in his mind. Then he looked up at Lucey and said, “But, do I even deserve to be forgiven?”

“That’s for Twilight to decide.”

“And...what if she says no?”

Lucey shrugged, “Then you figure something else out. You’re smart, Cornelius. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Besides, it has to be better than sitting around here doing nothing, right?”

Cornelius stared up at Lucey with wide eyes. Then he chuckled while nodding his head, “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Grunting, Cornelius got to his feet. He grabbed his staff with his right hand and patting his hat down onto his head with his left hand. He stood up straight and said, “It’s about time I got going, then. You gonna come with me?”

“I’ll go on ahead. Let everyone know you’re on your way. I’ll be rooting for you, Cornelius,” Lucey winked before swiftly taking to the skies and flying off. Cornelius followed him with his eyes for a few moments before closing his eyes to ready himself for what was to come. Turning around he retraced his steps back to Twilight’s home. It didn’t take him long to find the large tree set near the center of Ponyville. And it certainly didn’t take long for those posted outside the treehouse to notice him. To his left sat Squirt and Loo, both in their Champion forms, watching as he approached. Squirt had his arms crossed and glared at Cornelius, while Loo was completely relaxed and even gave him a slight nod. Babs and Lucey hovered in the air, the large dragon Digimon looking nervous while Lucey just nodded at Cornelius. As Cornelius reached the halfway point he was suddenly blocked by familiar orange and blue mares.

“Woah there,” Applejack said, marching up to Cornelius, “Where’d ya’ll think yer goin?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash flew close to Cornelius’ face with her hooves crossed, “If you think we’re gonna let you see Twilight after you made her cry, you’d better think again! Unless you’re planning to apologize!”

“That’s exactly what I’m here to do,” Cornelius replied, not intimidated in the slightest.

“Well-Oh,” Rainbow Dash, surprised, backed off and landed on the ground, “Ah-Right! Course you are! AJ, let ‘em through.”

AJ rolled her eyes but moved out of the way along with Rainbow. Cornelius thanked the two of them as he headed up to the treehouse door. He climbed the stairs, knocked on the door, and said, “Twilight? It’s me, Cornelius. I’d like to say I’m sorry. Can I...Can I come in?”

There’s was silence on the other side of the door for a few moments. Then the door slowly creaked open as a familiar purple dragon peaked out of the opening. Spike glared up at Cornelius then said, “You can come in. But you better be on your best behavior. If you make Twi cry again, you’ll be sorry.”

“I know. Thank you, Spike,” Cornelius lowered his head as Spike opened the door for him. He ducked to fit inside and took note of the inside. The only other person on the ground floor with him was Spike. Above him he could see three tails, one light pink, one deep purple, one a deeper shade of pink. Near the steps he saw Cutey in her Shortmon stage with a tub of ice cream in her arms. She looked over at him and the two locked eyes. She said nothing, but jerked her head toward the second floor before stepping aside to let him up. Cornelius thanked her before heading up the steps. As he crested the top of the stairs, he saw exactly what the situation was like.

Twilight was sitting up in her bed with her head hung low. She would sniffle every now and then, reaching a hoof up to wipe at her eyes. But each time she was stopped by Rarity, who was sitting behind her with her mane held in her magic. Next to Rarity was Ampurley who was gently using her claws to straighten out Twilight’s Mane. To Twilight’s right was Fluttershy held her hoof and said comfortable things to her, and to her left was Pinkie with at least three empty tubs of ice cream next to her. Whenever Twilight held her mouth open, Pinkie would quickly shove some ice cream into her gob. When she didn’t, Pinkie was eating the ice cream.

Cornelius coughed into his hand to get their attention. Pinkie was the first to notice and waved at him. She was about to say something, but Ampurley quickly wrapped her ribbons around Pinkie’s mouth. She shook her head and carried a muffled Pinkie off the bed and out of Cornelius’ way. Fluttershy looked between the two and was getting ready to say something, but Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head. The two walked away with Rarity cutting her eyes at Cornelius as she passed. Cornelius, though, only had eyes for Twilight.

Twilight kept her head down, eyes red and puffy from crying so much. Cornelius carefully walked toward the bed, kneeling next to it to be level with Twilight. Neither of them spoke to each other for a few minutes. Then, taking a deep breath, Cornelius looked Twilight in the eyes and said, “Twilight, I’m sorry.”

Twilight lifted her head, eyes focusing on Cornelius. When he saw he had her attention, Cornelius continued, “I-I messed up. I said not to let Witchmon or Trixie’s words get to you, only to let them get to me. But worse than that I didn’t listen to you. You made it very clear that you didn’t want to be involved in any kind of duel with those two. Yet I dragged you into it, completely ignoring your feelings. The exact opposite of what a friend is supposed to do.”

He bowed his head to Twilight as he continued, “It was stupid of me. Stupid and mean. I could promise that it won’t happen again, but I know that it might not really mean anything. All I can do is ask for your forgiveness. I’d understand if you said no and didn’t want to see me again. I just want you to know that, I’m genuinely sorry for what I did.”

Cornelius went silent and waited to hear Twilight’s response. Twilight has stopped sobbing and was staring at Cornelius with understanding in her eyes. She pulled herself over to the edge of the bed and tapped Cornelius on the shoulder with her hoof. When he lifted his head she reached out and pulled him into a hug. She held him close while saying, “Of course I forgive you, Cornelius. Thank you for saying you’re sorry and for coming here to tell me yourself. It really means a lot to me.”

Cornelius was so shocked that he didn’t immediately respond to her apology. He remained still with his eyes wide and mouth hanging open behind his collar. Eventually, he slowly put his arms around Twilight and leaned the hug, “Th-Thank you, Twilight. You won’t regret this. I promise you.”

The two of them remained like that for a few moments, until they both heard a chorus of “d’aaww”s coming from nearby. They turned toward the stairs and saw Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Cutey all standing on the top step. Joining them was the sound of wings flapping above their heads. Looking up the two saw Lucey and Rainbow Dash watching them hug. Lucey was smiling knowingly at Cornelius, while Rainbow as trying to stifle her giggles. Cheeks turning pink, Twilight and Cornelius quickly separated and looked away from each other. Speaking through her chuckles, Rainbow Dash said, “N-N-Now, now you two. There’s no need to stop your little hugging session just cause we’re all watching. Bwahahaha!”

She floated down to the bottom floor and Lucey quickly took her place, “Everyone’s downstairs waiting for you two. Come on down when you’re ready. Cutey, is there any ice cream left?”

“I’m insulted you think I wouldn’t have brought enough ice cream for everypony, Lucey. Who do you think I am?” Cutey said with faux indigence as everypony followed her down.

Once they were gone, Twilight and Cornelius shared a look. Cornelius cleared his throat and said, “W-Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up. Th-Thank you for giving me another chance, Twilight. I’m truly grateful for that.”

“Don’t mention it, Cornelius,” Twilight hopped off her bed and landed next to him, “Though something still doesn’t make sense to me. Why were you so hostile toward Witchmon? Wasn’t that the first time you ever met her?”

Cornelius got to his feet and said, “Yes and no, Twilight. In the Digital World, there are certain Digimon who have a...lets say instinctual relationship with each other. You remember how I stated that Witchmon and I both went to Witchleny to learn magic?”

“Yes. You said that the two of were rivals. Does that mean you argued a lot when you were in school?”

“In a manner of speaking. But what’s different about us Digimon is that it’s true for ALL of us. Every Witchmon went to Witchleny to learn magic alongside every Wizarmon. And every Wizarmon ends up in a rivalry with those Witchmon.”

Twilight’s eyes widen in awe, “Th-That’s statistically impossible! Taking into account possible population numbers, logic dictates that there should be a few outliers. Unless Witchleny is the sole place where Digimon can become Wizarmon or Witchmon, then there should be Wizarmon and Witchmon that aren’t rivals.”

Cornelius nodded, “You would normally be correct. Thus why I posit that the reason for it is engraved in our data. Something about the data that makes a Wizarmon a Wizarmon, and a Witchmon a Witchmon, is fundamentally designed to have the two of us be rivals. It’s not something we can’t overcome but it will likely color some of my interactions with her.”

A determined expression came over Twilight’s face, “Well, I think we know the first thing we have to do. You’re going to go and make up with Witchmon and Trixie.”

“I agree, Twilight. Besides, we need to speak with her about how she came to Equestria. Because if there are more Digital Gates out there then-“

Cornelius was cut off by a loud roar echoing through the air. It made the tree house shake and caused both of them to lose their balance. Rainbow Dash flew up to the second floor and shouted, “Did you two feel that?! Something’s going in Ponyville!”

“That sounded like a-oh no!” Twilight galloped down the stairs toward the door. Cornelius followed her once he got his balance. Once the two were out the door, everypony else followed after them. They heard another roar followed by the panicked screams of ponies all across the town. It didn’t take long for them to see what the problem was.

That being the massive, star covered bear that was running through the middle of town. It looked like it had fallen straight out of the night sky, its body the color of night and covered in twinkling stars. The muscles of its arms and legs flexed as it reared onto its hind legs. It roared with is head facing down, focusing on three ponies who it had backed against a wall. Two were the stallions Snips and Snails and the last one was Trixie without her hat. The three were cowering away from the large animal, the two stallions trying to hide behind Trixie.

“G-Go on, Great and Powerful Trixie!” Snips said through his chattering teeth.

“Y-Yeah! You vanquished an Ursa Major before, di-didn’t you?” Snails said trying to hide from the monster underneath Trixie’s cape.

Trixie’s eyes widened with fear as she stared into the angry eyes and sharp teeth of the predator before her. Her legs were shaking and her mind froze up. It didn’t take long for her to scream in response, “I-I can’t! I jnever have! No one’s vanquished an Ursa Major!”

As Snips and Snails gasped in shock, Twilight, her friends, and their Digimon ran over and stood protectively in front of the three. The Ursa Major roared again but before it could act Rainbow Dash and Lucey flew in front of its face. It started swatting at the two of them, while they drew it away from the group.

“You said you vanquished an Ursa Major?!” Twilight yelled at Trixie, incredulous at the show mare, “Why would you do that?!”

“I-I-I just didn’t want to look bad in front of everpony! I didn’t mean for it to get this bad! A-And these two were the ones who brought it to Ponyville!” Trixie pointed toward Snips and Snails who looked ashamed of what they had done.

AJ face hoofed and yelled at the two, “Are ya’ll crazy?! Do ya’ll have any idea what that thing’ll do to Ponyville if we leave it alone!?”

“Wait, so...the giant star bear thing is a normal thing here?” Squirt asked, pointing a finger at the Ursa. As all the ponies nodded and gave affirmatives, Squirt crossed his arms, “And you say we Digimon are weird.”

“Nevermind that. We need to do something about this!” Cornelius said as he hold up his staff, “Twilight what do we need to-“

“Ohohohohohoho! Aquary Pressure!”

A wave of pressurized water came out of nowhere and hit the Ursa right in its face. The bear roared in pain as it was sent flying back down the street it had come from. Lucey and Rainbow hovered in mid air as everyone’s eyes followed where the water and laugh had come from. Soon enough, Witchmon came flying in on her broom before stopping right in between Rainbow Dash and Lucey. She flipped some hair out of her face before turning toward Trixie, “I apologize for my tardiness, Great and Powerful Trixie. But now that I am here, there is no more need to fear this uncouth animal before you. You and those naysayers from earlier may sit pretty, while I give this beast what for.”

Snips and Snails cheered Witchmon on while Trixie stared up at her in shock. Then her shook her head and smiled before saying, “O-Of course! Go forth, my Beautiful Assistant! Show your might to all those who would doubt the two of us!”

“Witchmon! Don’t! That’s not a-“ but Twilight’s words fell on deaf ears. Witchmon was already flying toward the downed bear. As it got to its feet, it glared at Witchmon and let out a roar.

Witchmon pinched her nose with her left hand while holding her right toward the Ursa, “Oh! Your breathe smells awful! Here, let me help you with that! Balaluna Gale!”

A magical glyph appeared above her right palm and she quickly turned her hand until her palm faced the sky. A second later, a whirlwind big enough to engulf the Ursa appeared around its paws. The bear panicked, violently waving its paws around as it tried to get out of the swirling vortex. But no matter how hard it tried it couldn’t get out of the gale of wind. It growled in fear as it tried to escape, but Witchmon ignored its pleas and cries. She took her other hand off her nose and lifted the bear further into the air before pointing her other hand at it, “Now that we’ve got your breath taken care of, let me get you a more intensive bath. Aquary Pressure!”

This time the water that she summoned was formed into a sphere that quickly grew from the size of her hand to as big as a building. Once it was ready, she closed both her hands into fists. The vortex immediately dissipated. The Ursa floated in the air for a bit, before it realized that it was no longer buoyed by the wind. It panicked as it waved its paws through the air, before the sphere of water crashed onto its body. The weight of the water sent it hurtling toward the ground. Once it hit, the sphere exploded and covered the Ursa head to tail in water. The audience that had been observing the fight all winced as heard the bear hit the ground. Soaked to the one, the Ursa laid on the ground for a few moments. It blinked as if it was trying to understand what just happened to it. Then it did something that surprised all the Digimon.

It started to sob. Then its eyes filled with water. Then it began loudly crying. It put its paws on its eyes as tears fell across its face. It sniffled, sobbed, and curled up as it continued to growl and groan in pain. Witchmon floated above the animal and started to laugh at it, “Ohohohohohoho! I hope you have learned your lesson you beast.”

“Yeesh,” Spike said, wincing at what Witchmon had done, “Talk about cold.”

“She didn’t have to make it cry!” Fluttershy said, looking like she was about to go give Witchmon a piece of her mind, “Just cause it’s an Ursa Major doesn’t mean she had to hurt it!”

“How else was she supposed to stop it? One can’t expect an Ursa Major to leave simply because one asks it to,” Trixie said with her head held high.

“That’s not an Ursa Major.”

All eyes turned to Twilight who was not looking at the downed bear. Her eyes were focused on the horizon that led to the Everfree Forest. Trixie stepped up to her side and said, “Oh, what? Are you going to try and downplay my Assistant’s achievements by saying she didn’t really beat an Ursa Major?”

“Yes, because she didn’t. That’s not an Ursa Major. That’s an Ursa Minor. A cub,” Twilight clarified. Just as she finished speaking, all of Ponyville shook. All ponies and Digimon looked around to find the source but they didn’t have to look far. Because within moments the source cleared the edge of the Everfree forest. As soon as its shadow fell over Ponyville, all ponies and Digimon felt their blood run cold.

The Ursa Minor stopped crying and looked up at the newcomer. Witchmon, who was staring up at the figure with fear swore she heard it growl out a, “Mommy?”

“That,” Twilight audibly swallowed, “is an Ursa Major.”

Said Ursa Major roared loud enough to shake Ponyville.

Author's Note

Finally got this done. Sorry it took so long. Outside of all the other stuff I’m writing, I haven’t really had much time to write recently. Originally, this was going to include the rest of the episode, but I decided to end it here instead. I hope you all are still enjoying and like this new Chapter. Also, I am now on Season 6. And I have seen the first 3 Equestria Girls Movies.

Digimon Appearing In This Chapter

Champion:

https://wikimon.net/Witchmon