//------------------------------// // Eventful Mornings // Story: Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story // by AutoKnight01 //------------------------------// As always MLP FiM is owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Digimon is owned by Bandai. Enjoy! Taming Equestria A Digimon Story Chapter 3: Eventful Mornings Earth – Tokyo, Japan - Nonaka Residence – 9:00 AM Saturday. The day all kids still in school lived for. Having no school and not having to worry about school the next day was the perfect combo. Rika Nonaka was no exception to that rule. Beginning with a mumble, the redhead began to rise back to consciousness. The previous night she had been out with her mother and grandmother for a family dinner together. The food was so good she almost didn’t want to stop eating. When she got home she noticed that her phone’s battery had died and needed a recharge. Before she went to bed, she plugged it in and decided to keep it charging until she woke up. Sitting up, she greeting the coming day with a big stretch of her arms and a yawn. Another day without her partner that is. Pushing that thought out of her head, she got out of bed and walked over to the small sable she had up against the wall. Her phone was now fully charged and sitting right next to her blue colored D-Ark. The phone turned on with a buzz and small music chime before the screen lit up. The screen showed that she had a ton of missed messages, both text and voicemail. “Whoa. I’ve never had this many messages at once before. Something big must be happening.” She decided to take care of the voice messages first. Pressing a few buttons, she held the phone to her ear. The first message she recognized as Takato’s voice. After it got done playing, the phone fell out of her hand almost landing on top of her foot. For a moment she seemed like she had entered a sort of catatonic state. Those words Takato said through her phone hit her like a ton of bricks. “The portal……it’s open?” She whispered. She needed to know more. There were more messages. Maybe Takato had left her some more details. Snatching it back, she started the next message. This one was from a frantic sounding Henry. “This better not be some sort of practical joke.” She said as she started listening. Meanwhile in the kitchen of the house, Rika’s grandma, Seiko, was cooking up a nice healthy breakfast for her beloved family. Even before the Digimon thing, she had always enjoyed spending time with Rumiko and Rika, despite their strained relationship at the time. Then after the D-Reaper event, the three girls were all closer than ever. It absolutely warmed her heart to just think about it. Rika WANTED to spend time with them and didn’t just go along because she felt forced to. Rumiko had also backed off when it came to Rika’s style and stopped trying to push those frilly outfits on her. She had finally learned that a good parent doesn’t try to make their child try to be like them, but rather embrace their differences and let them become their own person. Rumiko was still asleep and Seiko was sure Rika was too. She wanted to surprise the two of them with a nice Saturday breakfast. However- “HOW CAN THAT GOGGLEHEAD BE SO FREAKIN’ STUPID?!??!?!” It seemed that it would have to be put on hold. Seiko immediately turned off the stove so the food wouldn’t burn and rushed to Rika’s room. Opening the door she saw Rika from behind but could tell by her clenched fists that she was angry. When she started approaching her granddaughter, she noticed something else. Her whole body was trembling. This wasn’t just anger. Rika was absolutely livid. “Rika? What in heaven’s name is wrong?” Seiko asked begging to know. “The portal to the Digital World is open again.” Rika growled back. This did nothing to calm down Seiko. If anything it only made her more confused. “But isn’t that a good thing? Doesn’t that mean you can get Renamon back?” “It does and I’m happy about that but there’s a problem.” The redhead finally turned to face her grandmother. “Takato went through the portal, Grandma. He snuck out of his house last night and went through it alone!” Seiko was taken aback by that fact. She had met Takato many times and he always seemed like such a well behaved young man. To hear that he would do such a thing like that seemed so out of the ordinary. “Why would he do this?” Rika asked both herself and her grandma. “I mean I could understand Kazu or Kenta being this dimwitted but Takato? I missed Renamon too but not enough to go dropping into the Digital World by myself. It was bad enough there the first time when we had each other as backup! I swear if he ever does get back I’m gonna murder him myself.” She was going to keep on ranting, but the hand of her grandmother resting on her shoulder made her stop. “It’s okay to admit you’re scared for him, Rika.” Seiko murmured with a soft smile. “There’s nothing wrong with it.” It wasn’t wrong to Rika either but despite being through so much with Takato and the others, it was still scary for her. When she was just a lone wolf, she only had to worry about herself. Now with all these friends she had people to care for and laugh with. But it also meant she had more people around her that she could lose if things got too hairy. People to cry over if they got hurt or worse. The whole thing made her head feel funny. “I know he wanted to see Guilmon. I understand that. But he still shouldn’t have gone off alone.” “I agree with you.” Seiko soothed her. “But standing here feeling angry at him isn’t going to do anything.” Expelling a sigh, Rika placed her own hand on her grandmother’s and gently squeezed it. “You’re right, Grandma.” Looking back to her Digivice, she tried her best to push out the negative thoughts going on now and thing of the positives. The portal was open. She could get her best friend back. And this time, she would be there to stay. “I better get together with the others to discuss what we’re going to do.” “Just let me and your mother know if you decide to head out again, okay?” With a soft smile to mimic Seiko’s, Rika turned and hugged her. “Promise.” Wong Residence – 9:30 AM “But Henwy!” “I said NO, Suzie!” The indigo haired tamer raised his voice to his older sister for probably the tenth time that morning. And he hadn’t even been up for that long. He already had enough on his mind. This was not at all how he wanted his Saturday to start. First he gets abruptly woken up by a call from Takato’s parents asking a zillion questions about Takato and if Henry knew about that note. Once he heard what was going on, he jumped out of bed and rushed to the phone. He never played the messages on the answering machine when they came home from being out. But once he played the one Takato left for him, a million feelings rushed into his head at once. Joy at the prospect of being reunited with Terriermon, curiosity about why the portal opened now, and anger at Takato for leaving without them after saying he wouldn’t. If only he hadn’t gone to that low quality play that his older sister was part of, he would have been home when Takato called and this whole thing would've been avoided. Now he sat at his computer typing away trying to think while all the while, his younger sister and fellow tamer, Suzie, was behind him trying to make her case for why she shouldn’t be left out of the inevitable trip back to the Digital World. “It’s not fair! How come you get to go and get Tewwiermon but I can’t come with you to get Lopmon?!” “I’m not going to tell you this again, Suzie. The Digital World is too dangerous even for something as simple as going to get someone to bring them back. The first time we went it was for that same reason. And you didn’t even see the stuff that happened before you showed up there. So once more my answer is no. You can’t come.” Henry did speak with logic. But unfortunately he forgot he was trying to reason with a seven year old. And to a seven year old, logic has no meaning. Stomping her foot, Suzie’s voice carried throughout the apartment once more. “But I still wanna come! I miss Lopmon and I know she misses me! I need to go! I just gotta!” Growling, Henry turned around with the full intent to start yelling again but stopped himself when he saw their mother, Mayumi Wong, standing in the doorway. “Finally some backup.” “Mom, help me out here. Tell Suzie she-“ “She can go, Henry.” Suzie’s attitude performed a complete one-eighty after hearing her mother sign off on her going. Henry on the other hand was stunned. His mother was actually ALLOWING Suzie to come to the Digital World? Just like that? “YAY! I’m gonna go start packing! I need another jacket after that mean birdie tore up my other one!” The young tamer ran out of her brothers and straight to her room to begin packing, leaving Henry alone with his mother. “Mom, why did you say she could go?” He was practically begging for an answer. “Because while the way she said it may have been childish as is her nature,” Mayumi replied as she sat down in front of her son. “, she’s also right. It’s unfair for you to go to get Terriermon but she has to wait her for you to bring Lopmon back to her.” “But that doesn’t make what I said any less true.” Henry argued. “We’re going there to FIND our partners and bring them back. When we go, it’s just going to be us without them. We’ll have no one to protect us until we do find them. And there’s no telling how long that will take.” “I know. I know about all of that and even while I say this the inside of my mind is screaming at me to do the opposite. But….” Slowly, she reached over to Henry’s desk, taking his green D-Ark off its resting place and holding it in her hands. “…I know it’s going to do nothing to stop either of you from going. You haven’t said anything about it much but I see it on your face. You and Suzie have been waiting for this day to come ever since they left.” Her finger’s traced over the rubber buttons while her face tilted up to look her son in the eyes. “And you won’t be alone. All of you will have each other. You all deserve to go and reunite with your partners together.” Henry sighed. She was right. He knew she was right. It was going to be a hassle having to watch Suzie all the time while there but it was the right thing to do letting her come and get Lopmon. “Alright. I promise I’ll look out for her.” He said as he reached for his Digivice. But Mayumi pulled it away. Her face turned a bit stern, an expression Henry wasn’t used to seeing from his mother. “But before you go, you know what I want you to do.” The tone didn’t convey a request. This was an order. And Henry knew what it was. For three months now his relationship with his father, Janyu, had been reduced to barely speaking one sentence to each other a day. He had tried a few times to apologize to his son for the part he played in sending his best friend away but it was always the same result. Henry refused to accept his apology. He was too lost in his anger and sadness to even try and see reason. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to be mad. “Alright.” He said with a sigh. “I’ll talk with Dad.” “Thank you.” With that, Mayumi held out his Digivice for him to take which he did. Despite it all, he was still psyched to be reunited with his partner again. “Just hold on, Terriermon. We’re coming for you. We all are.” Equestria – Ponyville – The Castle of Friendship – 10:00 AM “Okay….Twilight? How hard did this kid hit his head when he fell?” In the map room of the crystal tree-castle, Starlight and Spike had just finished hearing Twilight explain to them what Takato had told her. Spike was in awe, thinking that these Digimon, whatever they were, sounded pretty cool. Starlight however was having a hard time believing a single word of this. Monsters from another world made entirely of computer information? And he got there through what? One of those tiny screens she saw Sunset carrying around? “Starlight, I know it all sounds hard to swallow but think about it.” Twilight reasoned. “He’s just a kid. He’s all alone. And the only thing he brought with him is a few pieces of clothes and some loaves of bread.” “Bread?” Spike wondered. “Why bread of all things?” “I don’t know I never asked him that.” Twilight shrugged. It confused her too but it wasn’t the most important of things she wanted to know.”The point is he doesn’t have a reason to lie to us. He wouldn’t gain anything out of it.” Starlight had to concede there. But she still wasn’t completely on board with this. They all did agree to get him home as soon as they possibly could. “Still no word back from Celestia?” Starlight asked. “Not yet.” The alicorn replied. “Maybe I should send a letter to Cadence too. The mirror was kept in the Crystal Empire before it was moved here. Maybe she knows a few things about it.” “It’s definitely worth a try.” Her student agreed. “Let’s just hope we can get this figured out without too much trouble.” “It would be a nice change of pace.” Spike shrugged. “Twilight!” That fourth voice sounded in the distance when it rang out. Starlight and Spike looked around wondering who it was while the princess already knew who it was. “Twilight! Where are you?!” “Umm…Twilight is that-?” “Yes it is.” She answered the dragon before he could finish. She then turned her head to the door. “In here! Just follow my voice!” A few seconds later, the sound of footsteps could be heard getting closer to the door. Then it opened revealing the human out of breath. His shoes were back on his feet and his goggles were once again strapped to the top of his head. Both Spike and Starlight had seen human beings before. But this one seemed…..different. They couldn’t pinpoint what exactly what it was. Just the overall appearance of this human seemed off from the ones they saw in the mirror world. As Takato caught his breath, he looked up to see that Twilight was not alone in the room. She was joined by a purplish-pink unicorn and a tony purple and green reptilian creature. “Is that the dragon Twilight told me about? Thought he’d be taller. Oh well.” A bit of his energy was regained as he walked over to the chair Twilight was sitting at. “Is everything okay, Takato?” She asked concerned. “Why were you yelling? And were you running?” “Yeah I had to find you.” He said before turning quickly to Starlight and Spike. “Sorry about this. I’m Takato.” “Hello there.” Starlight waved her hoof unsure of this creature. “I’m Starlight Glimmer.” “My name’s Spike!” He stood up in his chair trying to act tough. “I’m the toughest dragon you’ll ever meet.” The response he was expecting was one of intimidation and maybe a step back to save his own life. “Cool. Nice to meet you.” He quickly said before turning back to Twilight. The one he got was not at all what he or even Starlight was expecting. Any normal human would freak out upon coming face to face with a dragon now matter what the size was. And this one just shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal. “Twilight, you’re not gonna believe what happened. Look!” The tamer held up his Digivice for Twilight to see. The screen of the small contraption seemed to have changed from what she saw it look like before. There was an arrow on it now and it was pointing south. Curious themselves Spike and Starlight walked over to take a look. All three of them seemed to have a similar opinion towards the reason for Takato’s excitement. “I think it’s broken.” Starlight said as she pointed her hoof to the left. “North is THAT way.” “No no no. You don’t understand.” He said to the unicorn before addressing the princess again. “Twilight, I never told you what my Digivice does did I?” Twilight’s head perked up upon realizing he was right. She had asked what the thing was and what it did but he never answered her. “That’s right. So what is it?” She asked now ready to hear the answer. As he went on to explain the function of his little device, they could all hear the excitement rise in his voice. “Well, Digivices are what connect a Digimon and their partner to each other. They allow us to share our power with our Digimon allowing them to become stronger.” “Interesting.” Twilight muttered as she kept staring at the thing. “Such a powerful little thing. Who made it?” “That’s…..kind of a long story. Not really the point.” Takato shook his head. “It has other features in it to. But the most important one now is this one. It does work like a compass but it doesn’t point north. “ “Then what does it point to?” Spike wondered. His smile looked as if it was about to match a certain pink pony’s width. “It points to Guilmon. Normally if he weren’t within range the arrow would just rotate around in a circle. But look. It’s pointing that way. Twilight I have no idea how but Guilmon is here. He has to be.” This seemed to rouse various reactions between the three of them hearing this. Twilight was doing a million calculations in her head trying to even fathom that possibility. Starlight was thinking it just flat out wasn’t possible. And Spike got excited to wanting to meet these Digimon creatures. “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here.” Starlight went first. “You told Twilight that your friend Guilmonwas returned to the Digital World. How is it even possible that he could be here?” “I don’t know.” Takato responded. “But I jumped through the same portal that was supposed to take me to the Digital World and it brought me here instead. Isn’t it possible that the same thing could’ve happened to them?” Being reminded of that fact made Starlight second guess her stance. This was true. The portal didn’t take Takato to his intended destination. So that did open up the slim possibility that maybe his friend Guilmon had the same thing happen to him. “So you’re going to try to find him?” Spike asked. “You bet I am!” He said almost shouting. “If Guilmon is here then I have to find him. And nothing is gonna stop me!” “Hold on one second, Takato.” Twilight held up a hoof both to stop him from just running out the door and to stop him from talking. Takato was feeling kind of concerned now that the princess was gonna order him to stay put or something. “I understand you want to find your partner, but there a few things to consider. The first and most obvious one being, you aren’t a pony. That alone is still shocking to me. Usually whenever someone comes through the mirror from the human world they turn into a pony themselves but you didn’t. So we have to work with that. Also the citizens of Ponyville have never even seen a human before. So there’s no telling how they might react to seeing you walk around.” As she said that, she flashed back to when she was still new in town and remembered how they all reacted to Zecora. All of them locked up their doors and hid away from her like she was carrying the plague inside of her. Sad to say, she bought into some of those rumors after the poison joke thing. Who knows how they would react to something like Takato. The explanation was meant to make Takato understand that he couldn’t just go out and about whenever he wanted. But all it seemed to do was confuse him. “But you’re the princess around here. Can’t you just tell them I’m not a threat or anything?” Suddenly Twilight felt not only Takato’s eyes on her, but also Spike’s and Starlight’s as they agreed with the tamer’s question. She began to think. She was a princess after all. One of the most regarded ponies in Equestria. Surely if she gave Ponyville a heads up about Takato it would be a huge help. And there was still no response back from Celestia telling her what to do about the matter. So it was at the moment all in her hooves. In her head she was quickly trying to come up with the positives and negatives of letting Ponyville know about Takato. The pros were easy. It would eliminate up front any fear anypony might get if they just saw him without any forewarning.Not to mention it may be good for him to not be cooped up in the castle for however long he was here. There were a few cons too. The big one being, if the Digimon WERE here in this world, then she would have to give ANOTHER warning about them. And according to Takato, these creatures had many looks ranging from cute and cuddly to incredibly fierce.How would the public react to them? She took a moment to weigh out the list but eventually the pros won out. “Alright. I’ll gather Ponyville in town square and publically announce your presence. After that is over, then you can go looking for your friend. Sound agreeable?” She held out her hoof, a gesture which Takato recognized. Smiling, he reached out, grasped the end of her hoof, and shook it. “Deal.” He agreed. “How long do you think it’s gonna be?” In order to properly answer that question, she first needed to ask another one. “Spike, what’s on our to-do list for today?” The princess looked to her number one assistant. The young dragon reached for a scroll that was resting on top of the table and unrolled it, revealing a short list of things to do on it. His finger traced down the list as he read it in his head. “Not a lot, Twilight.” He answered. “Pretty much just going through a few documents for filing but that shouldn’t take too long.” “Alright then.” She turned to both Spike and Starlight with a smile on her face. “Spike, bring me those papers and we’ll get started right away.” With a small salute, Spike rushed off to fetch what was needed. “Starlight, I want you to meet up with the girls and spread word throughout Ponyville that I will be making an announcement at noon sharp in town square. Don’t tell any of them about Takato yet.” “You got it.” Closing her eyes, Starlight’s horn flared to life with an aqua colored aura surrounding it. A moment later, she vanished in a burst of the same colored light. With both of them gone, Twilight turned back to the human. “As for you Takato, just make yourself at home. Walk around the castle. Explore. And once the announcement is over, my friends and I will do everything we can to help you find your friend again.” Not only was he going to be allowed to leave the castle, but the princess was personally offering her help in finding Guilmon. Another huge smile spread across the tamer’s face as he rushed in and gave the pony a hug. “Thank you, Twilight. Thank you so much.” With a smile of her own, Twilight returned the gesture. “You’re welcome.” Everfree Forest – Zecora’s Hut – 10:25 AM Deep within the only place in Equestria where the weather magic had no effect, three small fillies exited a hut built into a large tree. The home of Ponyville’s go-to healer for exotic ailments, Zecora the zebra. The stripped equine had just finished wrapping up a small visit from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As they left the hut, a crate of apples was left in the hut as they all waved goodbye and began to make their way back to Sweet Apple Acres. “Thank ya both for helpin’ me deliver Zecora’s order of apples.” Applebloom said to her two friends. “Hey it’s no problem.” Scootaloo said. “The sooner you get done with your chores, the faster we can get back to the clubhouse.” “Who are we supposed to help today anyway?” Sweetie Belle wondered momentarily forgetting the list of appointments they had for today. “I think we were supposed to meet with Pipsqueak again. He wants to try his hoof at art this time.” Scootaloo answered. “Didn’t we already try that with him?” Applebloom asked as she tried to remember. “Ah’m pretty sure we did.” “No I don’t think we did.” Sweetie Belle at least remembered that. As they kept talking about their appointments for today, the three fillies seemed to stop paying attention to what direction they were walking. As their hooves kept moving, sunlight around them seemed to darken. “So that’s what we’ll try when we meet up with him today. Agreed?” Scootaloo looked to the two of them. “Agreed!” Both Sweetie Belle and Applebloom sounded off. Finally, the three of them looked forward and realized they were no longer on the path back to Equestria. A fact that caused all three of them to grow a bit scared. “Uhhh….weren’t any of you watching where we were going?” Sweetie Belle asked as she looked around trying to find the way back. “No. Ah thought you were.” Applebloom was mimicking Sweetie Belle’s movements. Before Scootaloo could chime in, a familiar sound was heard. It sounded like a squawking sound like that of a certain farm animal. “W-w-w-was that a…chicken?” Applebloom began to shiver. “There aren’t any chickens out here in the forest….except for….”Scootaloo couldn’t bring herself to finish. “Oh no.” The small unicorn muttered. They knew what it was. They had only one encounter with it before. This time though, Fluttershy wasn’t there to save them from it. As the sound rang out once more, they turned around to see the creature they feared start to advance on them. The thing sported the head of a chicken, albeit with a beak that had sharp teeth. Its talons also seemed normal like a chicken’s. The rest of it was reptilian. A round green scaled body with a long red spiked tail and wings. “Hehehehe…..n-n-nice cockatrice….” Sweetie Belle fearfully said as all three of them began to cower back from the creature. The cockatrice had its eyes on not one but three new victims it had been a while since it had any. It was prepared to turn them into stone using only its eyes. The crusaders wanted to run but there seemed to be nowhere TO run. They were cornered. The bushes behind them were too thick to try and break through. Sweetie Belle didn’t know any magic that could get them out. And Scootaloo was incapable a flight. A fact she was really resenting right now. The creature closed in with its wide opened eyes ready to unleash its power. “Pu!” The unfamiliar sound was what made it break its concentration and look up. From the bushes behind the three fillies, a blue heart shaped bubble floated out stopped in front of the cockatrices beak before popping. It didn’t know what was in that bubble, but it was enough to make it back off. “Pu!” The sound rang out again, and even more bubbles came out of nowhere and surrounded the creature. When they popped the cockatrice seemed to grow more and more alarmed. The fillies turned around, wondering where and what the bubbles were coming from. The cockatrice had enough. It turned around and ran off leaving the girls alone. “What….just happened?” Scootaloo asked anyone. “It was scared off…..by bubbles?” Sweetie Belle had no other words. “What kinda bubbles could do that? Was it some kinda magic?” Applebloom wondered. Before they even knew what was happening, the bushes began to rustle again and something that couldn’t be made out rushed towards them and scooped them all up in its grasp before jumping away. Once again the girls all thought they were in grave danger and were never going to be heard from again. Instead, moments later, they found themselves released from whatever it was that had them, and they were back on the path the led straight to Ponyville. Confused more than anything now, all three of them looked around for any sign of whatever it was that seemingly helped them. “Well….that happened, I guess.” Scootaloo said as she rubbed her head. “Think we should tell anypony about this?” Sweetie Bell asked her two friends. “Let’s keep it to ourselves for now.” Applebloom suggested. “Ah don’t think there’s any reason to make our friends worry about this.” Agreeing with her, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed her on the way back to Ponyville as they talked more about who they were going to help today. As they did, two figures from the tree line leaned out from the shrubbery to watch them leave. One of them was a small fairy like creature with a red heart on its chest, small pink wings, and what appeared to be two small antennae coming out of its head. The other was a very tall yellow fox-like creature standing on two legs. On its front arms, it wore purple gloves that went up to its elbows, both emblazoned with yin-yang symbols. “We arrived just in time.” The fox spoke with a deep feminine voice. “Those three really should watch where they’re going next time.” “Hehe. Small ponies silly.” The little fairy creature spoke with a high pitched voice. “Let’s find some food and return to the others. We shouldn’t be gone too long.” The fox suggested. Agreeing, she and her small companion disappeared back into the depths of the forest in search of something good to eat. The forest was quiet once more as the day continued on.