> Our Digital Friends (MLP X Digimon)
>  by DontFearTheSuperman
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 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.
> 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.
> 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.
> 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.
> 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.
> 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 hand 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.