The trip back to the digiport was relatively uneventful. The group traversed the now-empty town in silence, and before long they were standing in front of the familiar television screen.
“Ready whenever you guys are!” said Davis, holding his digivice out. “Digiport-”
“Wait!”
The group’s attention turned to the source of the sudden cry. Staring at the rest of them was Pinkie Pie, looking both figuratively and literally deflated.
“Pinkie?” said Kari. “What’s wrong?”
“I... I don’t know,” Pinkie replied, devoid of enthusiasm. “I’m just... worried, I guess.”
“Worried about what?” Kari asked.
“Everything!” said Pinkie. “I just... I thought that saving the Digital World would be fun! Sure, we might run into danger, but together we’d always make it through no matter what! That’s what friends are supposed to do, right?”
“Of course,” said Kari, giving Pinkie a concerned look. “What’s the problem, though?”
“It wasn’t like that at all!” Pinkie cried out. “Petermon was scary! He killed someone right in front of our eyes, and when it was over, everyone started fighting! You were all looking at each other like you hated each other!”
Kari approached Pinkie Pie, kneeling down. She rested a hand against Pinkie’s head, smiling at her warmly. “Pinkie... you don’t think we’d really hate each other, would you?”
“W-well... I don’t know,” she said, sniffling slightly. “I’m just afraid I’ll end up losing everyone. When we first met, I thought I’d never see the rest of my friends again! What if someone gets hurt, or... or worse? What if something happens that brings us apart?”
“Pfft, that’s what you’re worried about?” Rainbow teased. “Come on, Pinkie, do you really think we’d be brought apart so easily? Even Discord couldn’t stop us being friends!”
“Yeah, but...”
“Hay, remember when we split up when going after Queen Chrysalis on that rescue mission?” Applejack said. “Didn’t take long for us to get back together then, did it?”
“I... I guess not,” said Pinkie. “Still, I don’t think we’ve ever dealt with anything so dangerous before. I hadn’t really thought of it at the time, but we could have easily died today! I just... I want everyone to be safe, and to be happy, and to not be mad at each other! Is that too much to ask?”
“Of course it isn’t,” said Kari. “It’s understandable to be worried about your friends. But there’s no reason to let it eat you up on the inside, is it? We want you to be happy too, Pinkie.” She gave Pinkie a scratch behind her ear. Pinkie shuddered slightly at the sensation, relishing in the strange feeling.
Pinkie sniffled, using a hoof to wipe off the tears that had just begun to pool in her eyes. She looked back up at Kari’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks. I needed that.”
“No problem,” Kari replied. “What are friends for?”
With the suddenness of a spring, Pinkie suddenly jumped into the air, with an enormous grin appearing across her face. “Wow, I feel better already! Come on everyone, let’s go!”
Kari stepped back in surprise as Pinkie eagerly bounced closer the Digiport right by Davis and Veemon.
“Well, you heard her!” said Davis. “Digiport open!”
———————
“...I’m just saying, we don’t really seem to have much to do with anything anymore,” Joe spoke to an audience of bored-looking humans and digimon.
“Vespimon did take plenty of steps to keep us from interfering,” Izzy responded. “She’d probably anticipated that we’d be a threat to her operations.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s not just that,” said Joe. “I’m probably just being paranoid, but it almost feels like we’re being pushed aside so the others can take the spotlight.”
“Aww, don’t look so glum, Joe,” said Gomamon. “Everyone gets a chance to be the hero of their own story, don’tcha know!”
Joe sighed. “Knowing me, I’d probably spent most of it worrying about school.”
Suddenly, the computer monitor began to glow with an intense light. Startled, the gathered Digi-Destined and their partners pulled back, and another group burst forward, coalescing into solid form just in front of the computer.
“Whoa! You’re back already?” Izzy exclaimed.
“Huh?” said Yolei. “What do you mean, ‘already?’ We were gone for at least two hours!”
“More like two minutes,” said Matt. “What’s the deal anyway? You guys didn’t just give up that easily, did you?”
“Excuse me?” said Rainbow, swooping in the air to glare at Matt. “Are you suggesting that I’d give up on Fluttershy!?”
“No,” said Matt, “I’m saying you were gone an awfully short time to have found what you were looking for.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Tai interrupted. “The last thing we need right now is another fight.” He ignored Matt’s exasperated look at his comment, and continued. “Rainbow Dash, you said you were gone for two hours, right?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Sounds about right, yeah.”
“But for us, it’s only been about two minutes,” said Tai. “Everyone can agree on that, right?” He glanced at each of the older Digi-Destined in turn, a worried look crossing his face.
“Well yeah,” said Sora. “But why...” She suddenly froze, her eyes going wide. A dreadful silence hung over the room, the weight of realization pressing down on every human and digimon present.
“Everyone out of my way!” shouted Izzy, forcefully pushing himself towards the computer that had served as the Digiport
“Hey, what gives?” Davis protested.
Izzy ignored the complaint, positioning himself directly in front of the monitor. He leaned in close, typing frantically on the keyboard, the image on the screen obstructed from everyone else’s view by his own body.
“Izzy, you don’t think this is what I think it is, do you?” said T.K.
“It’s exactly what you think,” said Izzy, voice trembling with worry. “How could I have not seen it sooner, though? Everyone knows the most accurate mathematical model of space and time combines them into a single manifold!”
“Er... Ah beg your pardon?” said Applejack.
“I think I get it,” said Davis. “You’re saying space and time are part of the same continuum, right?”
Izzy went silent once again, his jaw hanging agape. His expression was matched by several others in the room, including Veemon.
“That’s... that’s right,” Izzy finally managed to articulate. “How did you...?”
“Duh!” said Davis. “I read it in a bunch of science fiction.”
All at once, all the humans and digimon gathered let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Yolei exclaimed. “You almost had me worried something had happened to the real Davis!”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Oh, don’t you two start,” Cody chided. “We still have that spacetime thing to worry about, remember?”
“He’s right,” Izzy continued. “In case it wasn’t clear to everyone, it seems time is now passing at a different rate in the Digital World than it is on Earth. If what you said is any indication, it seems every minute here is an hour in the Digital World.”
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all let out a collective gasp in shock. Twilight, for the most part, seemed unsurprised.
“Oh dear me, this is dreadful!” said Rarity. “However are we going to stop Vespimon’s evil from spreading now?”
“Yeah, and what about Fluttershy!?” said Rainbow. “Every moment we spend here is another moment she’s in danger!”
Twilight turned to face her two friends, concern deeply reflected in her eyes. “I know you’re worried,” said Twilight, “but we won’t be able to stem the darkness by tackling it all at once. Before we arrived at Port Digital, Izzy told me about something like this happening during his first adventure, at the hands of a group of evil digimon known as the Dark Masters. The only way to stop the distortion in time is to defeat whatever’s causing it.”
Ken nodded solemnly. “Right. So our top priority is finding and defeating Vespimon.”
“That won’t be easy, I’m afraid,” said Izzy. “The spacial distortion around her lair is almost certainly the cause of the time difference as well. We’ll need to find that energy signature I was tracking before.”
“Understood,” said Ken. “Can you tell us where it is now?”
Izzy began to type on the keyboard again, a series of rhythmic tapping noises carrying across the room. “No dice. It’s not where it was when you entered the Digital World, and its position is moving too far all over the place for me to track it. I can program a search to look for it, but it won’t be able to get a precise location for some time.”
“How long will it take?” said Ken.
“Anywhere from one to seven days,” said Izzy.
“Seven days?!” Rainbow suddenly shouted. “We don’t have that kind of time! If... if one minute here is one hour in the Digital World, then... then...” She paused, apparent in the way her brow had furrowed that she was painstakingly and painfully doing the math in her mind. “Oh dear Celestia, she’d have to be imprisoned for more than a year! And that’s just if we wait one week! I... I...”
Whatever Rainbow was going to say next was left unsaid. Suddenly and without a touch of grace, she landed on the floor in a heap, her words turning to incoherent sobs.
“I... I... I c-can’t....”
“Rainbow Dash...” Yolei approached the distraught pegasus, only to back off at the sound of shriek directed at her.
“Leave me alone!” Rainbow screamed. “I... I’m s-supposed to be cool and brave! I... I can’t be seen like this! J-just... pretend I’m not here!”
Once again, the room feel quiet. All of the others looked on Rainbow Dash with sympathy, the pain of seeing their friend suffer apparent on each of their faces, yet unsure whether to speak to her.
Finally, after a prolonged silence, a single digimon approached.
“Huh?” said Sora. “Biyomon, wait!”
Biyomon ignored her partner’s call, and sat down beside Rainbow, gently stroking her mane with a wing.
“There, there...”
“Wha...? You...” Rainbow’s tear-soaked eyes looked up at Biyomon in amazement. All at once, her body began to tremble. With a sudden and spontaneous motion, she wrapped her forelegs tightly around Biyomon’s waist, burying her head into a feathered abdomen.
“I’m sorry!” she cried. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault!”
“Hey, don’t say that,” said Biyomon, stroking Rainbow’s mane. “It’s okay to worry about your friends, but you don’t need to blame yourself for every bad thing that happens.”
Rainbow Dash looked up, her tear-soaked eyes staring wide. “But I failed you! I... I turned my back on you! You got hurt because of me!”
“What are you talking about?” Biyomon countered. “You didn’t fail anyone. What happened to Fluttershy wasn’t your doing, was it?”
“Huh?” Rainbow’s grip loosened. She pulled out of the hug and blinked rapidly, sniffling slightly. “Well, n-no. I guess not.”
“And she wouldn’t want you beating yourself up over this, would she?”
“Um... no, not really. She’d probably want me to stop worrying, for my own sake.” Slowly, Rainbow Dash rose to her hooves, and looked Biyomon straight in the eye. “Thanks, Biyomon. I... I needed that.”
“Hey, no problem!” Biyomon replied. “What are friends for?”
Rainbow Dash let out a weak, humorless chuckle. “Heh, yeah. What are friends for...”
“Wow, Biyomon, that was very kind of you,” said Sora.
Biyomon flew over to her partner’s side, wrapping her wings around Sora’s shoulder. “Well, I did learn from the best!”
“Are you feeling alright, Rainbow?” Twilight approached her friend hesitantly, intense worry written across her muzzle.
“I... I’m fine,” she replied. “If it were up to me, I’d go straight back to the Digital World and rescue Fluttershy myself. But after the beating we took from CaptainHookmon, I... I just don’t know.”
“Ah reckon we’re doing everything we can, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured.
“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “And you can bet we’ll find Fluttershy no matter what it takes!”
“And with our combined power, no villain will be able to stand in our way!” said Rarity.
A smile crept its way across Rainbow Dash’s face. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”
“Do you want us to take a moment before we head back?” said Kari. “I understand it’s been rough, you could use a break before we hit the road.”
“Nah, it’s alright,” said Rainbow. “I’m still worried about Fluttershy... but I think it’d be best to get some rest so I don’t get myself killed. Plus Egghead 2.0 here will keep us updated if he finds that energy thingy, right Izzy?”
Izzy glared at Rainbow. “Egghead 2.0? Really?”
“Well, she’s not wrong,” Tentomon chimed in.
“You’re not helping, Tentomon!”
At that moment, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but laugh.
———————
“Hey T.K., wait up!”
T.K. had already bid his friends and his brother farewell and begun his walk to the subway station alongside Applejack, when he heard a voice calling behind him. He turned around to meet it, careful not to disturb Patamon from sitting atop his head. Heading towards him was a familiar goggle-headed boy and his bright blue digimon partner, alongside the only-slightly-less-familiar purple alicorn.
“Oh, um... Hi, Davis,” he said. “Jeez, it’s weird to hear you getting my name right.”
“Well, I figured the joke kind of wore a little thin,” Davis said. “I just wanted to say, good job in the Digital World. You really helped out a lot there.”
Davis reached out with his hand, grinning from ear-to-ear. Beside him, both Twilight and Veemon were visibly struggling to restrain their laughter.
T.K. crossed his arms. “Let me guess. It’s either a joy buzzer or a whoopie cushion.”
“Hey! What kind of friend do you take me for?” Davis objected. “It’s no trick, I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done!”
“Davis, you’re nearly as bad a liar as Cody is. Don’t think you can pull one over on me that easily.” He turned around and began to walk away.
“What? Aren’t you going to accept my thank you?” Davis called back. At this point, both Twilight and Veemon were beginning to audibly giggle under their breath.
“Okay, fine! You’re welcome!” T.K. shouted back. “Now go play your childish pranks on someone else!”
“No problem!” said Davis. “See you later, Takato!”
Weird, he actually used my full name, T.K. thought. As he continued down the sidewalk, he not only heard Twilight and Veemon bursting into uproarious laughter, but also Applejack and Patamon snickering as well.
The realization of what had just happened hit him with the force of a falling anvil.
“Goddammit, Davis!”