Dark lair, unknown location
Morning. It’s been several hours since the invasion of Ponyville ended in failure. And before the morning started, it wasn’t a good day for Garble.
In fact, perhaps the scariest day of his life.
Yes, it’s true that he attacked Ponyville for his own reasons, but the real truth was that he was ordered to do so. Ordered by a creature who was far from being a dragon. A force that originated from a different world altogether. A being so strong, so evil, so intimidating that not even BlackWarGreymon could measure up to his level. True, the red dragon got beaten by the Artificial Digimon on the day before. But compared to his ‘boss’, he’s only a close second.
The day Garble first met the creature, just the sight of him made the dragon literally freeze in terror. And the sound of his voice almost made him wet himself like a hatchling.
If it weren’t for the fact that Garble despise ponies and their way of life, the horrifying creature would’ve killed him.
Knowing that ponies were weak and that dragons eat flesh as well as gems, the beast gave Garble a deal. Destroy Ponyville and become a member of his ranks. But there was a catch.
Failure was not an option.
Even though he failed, Gable had to face the creature. Because he said that if he didn’t for whatever reason, he would track the teen dragon’s family down and would slaughter them all without mercy, pity or compassion.
Traits of a pure, heartless monster.
There Garble stood, shivering in utter terror just as he told his boss that the raid in Ponyville was unsuccessful. After grunting in anger and tightly clenching his huge hands, the being made his way towards Garble. The terrified dragon tried to step back but found himself with his back against a wall. Garble’s feet were scraping on the ground as if to try to gain more distance. But he cannot escape from the being’s terrifying gaze.
“You had Ponyville within your grasp, and you let it slip!”
His voice ripped through Garble’s ears and sent a dead cold chill through his entire body. The drake tried to explain but his fear only made him stutter and mumble.
The evil being only grew inpatient as he reached out and grabbed Garble by the neck. The dragon tried to squirm and wiggle free as he was hoisted off the ground. But the grip of the huge hand was solid as rock.
Before Garble knew it, he found himself lifted to the beings’ eye level, staring into his hellish yellow eyes. The creepiest part about his eyes was the pupils themselves. The way they looked was like they could penetrate skin and bone, and see into the very soul itself.
“You pathetic oversized gecko. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t skin you alive.”
Garble responded back.
“B-Because I-I don’t have skin. I-I have scales,” He said, trying to humour the monster.
But it only made things worse.
“DON’T BE FUNNY WITH ME!!” The being shouted as he tightened his grip on Garble’s neck. His claw-like fingers digging into dragon scales and slowly into the soft tissue inside.
As Garble tried to fight for air, he pleaded for his life.
“NO WAIT!! PLEASE!! IT’S NOT MY FAULT! I SWARE! I SWARE IT!! We were beaten in a fight! We weren’t prepared!!”
Garble’s choice of words made the creature pause his hand clenching. But what he said in response was evident that he was more infuriated then before.
“Are you telling me… that you were BEATEN… BY WEAK… DEFENCELESS… PONIES!!?”
He then clenched his hand again, strangling Garble in the process. As tears fell from the dragon’s eyes, he pleaded again.
“But they’re weren’t defenceless! A creature came out of nowhere and helped them!!”
Upon hearing the new information immediately made the evil being loosened his grip slightly. Not chocking Garble but holding him by the neck.
“I’m listening,” The being said, making the teen explain what happened.
“We…we were doing just fine, according to plan. But we were attacked by… some kind of black dragon. But he’s no dragon I’ve ever seen. He fought like a demon. Even with my whole crew, we couldn’t beat him. He’s too powerful.”
The creature turned his head aside in thought, taking in the useful information. Then as he faced the dragon again, Garble panicked.
“I-It’s the truth I tell you! I swear it! Please don’t hurt me!”
After pondering of what to do with Garble, the monster made a decision.
“If I wanted to, I would’ve turned you into a leather jacket. But thanks to your information of this… ‘black dragon’, I’m now in a good mood.”
With this statement made, he threw the confused dragon near the exit of his lair.
“Now leave and never return. Oh, and by the way. If you ever tell anyone about me or this place, I will hunt you down and make you watch as I destroy everything you love. EVEN your precious family. Understand!”
Garble responded with several quick nods of understanding and took off towards the exit, crying all the way out.
Then, in the darkness behind the powerful being, a mass of dark magic began to gather silently. In a form of a living shadow, the dark energy began to mould itself into a pony-like figure, and then it took physical form.
There stood a dark stallion. Roughly the same height as Princess Luna. While he had grey fur, his black mane and tail swayed around from the energy within him. Metal plates adorned his body while a red robe covered his back. Being a Unicorn, he had a horn. But unlike a normal Unicorn horn, which was like a spiral cone and the same colour as the pony fur, his was red and curved like a dragon’s. Bizarrely for a pony he had fangs, and his eyes were green and red, with purple misty energy escaping from them.
The evil being didn’t need to see the dark pony to know that he was behind him.
“I figured you would be nearby.”
The pony answered back.
“How could I resist. It’s rather refreshing to see you threatening that dragon the way you did.”
The dark being let out an amused chuckle before he spoke.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you, King Sombra.”
The pony, identified as the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra, pondered on the description Garble told.
“Seems Tirek was right. There is a new force in Equestria.”
The dark being let out another chuckle.
“You speak as though I didn’t believe that pathetic Centaur. But I did.”
“So you think it’s from the same world where you come from?” Sombra asked, eager to know.
“No doubt about it. Only a Digimon could defeat Tirek so easily.”
As the evil Digimon went on, Sombra patiently listened.
“The description of this Digimon is almost identical to the one I fought in the past. But his colour scheme is completely off. It’s a new one even for me. I remember him being gold, not black.”
“You think this… Digimon could pose a problem for us?” Sombra asked.
But his answer was a confusing one.
“I’m not entirely sure, Sombra. So far, his actions are of a hero. But I can sense his energy. It’s too dark to be from a true hero.”
“So what do you want me to do about him… m…my lord?” Sombra asked, slightly hesitant at calling the one before him his lord.
“Nothing yet. I still need to decide if he’s friend of foe. But there is something I want you to do.”
Sombra payed full attention.
“What may that be?” He asked.
“Go to the furthest edges of the Everfree Forest, and find the Changeling hive.”
The Digimon then looked at his open palms as he was deep in thought.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen their queen.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………...................
Ponyville, Twilight’s castle
BlackWarGreymon, a Digimon who called Equestria his home, was standing on the roof of the highest crystal tower. He first went up to the top to watch the morning sunrise, which turned into enjoying the view of Ponyville below.
Yesterday was quite an eventful day for BlackWarGreymon. First being royally introduced to the citizens of Canterlot by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, then doing combat training with the royal guards, flew to the Everfree Forest to encounter the Royal Sisters’ old castle and the Tree of Harmony, the elements included. And to top it all off, saving the town from a large group of teenage dragons.
He then remembered the events after his victory over the reptiles. The Mane Six, along with himself, Spike and the whole town all rallied what was left of the beaten drakes and chased them out of town. And those whom were knocked out, BlackWarGreymon personally and literally threw them out like trash bags.
Day gave way to night after the clean-up and the Digimon decided to try sleep again. Although new to him, he found sleeping very relaxing. It also gave him time to think things over.
Once such subject to think about was the voice he heard that led him to the Tree of Harmony. It was definatly a voice he had never heard before. And despite being around others at the time, only HE heard it. And when he touched the tree, it reacted to his very being. But one question dominated all, how did the voice know his name?
He needed answers, and he knows just the pony to talk to.
………………………………………………………………………………………….......................
After finishing her breakfast, Princess Twilight went back to the task of re-organizing her study room. It being one of her best hobbies, other ponies felt that she was too organized. Even Spike would agree, but being by her side since he hatched, he had come to terms with it. After all, he was her number one assistant.
Speaking of the young purple dragon, Spike arrived at the study room with one of his comics grasped in his claws. He planned to spend half the day helping Twilight, and the other half reading, eating and napping.
Before he got to sit down however, Twilight spotted him.
“Oh Spike, can you come over here for just a minute?”
Spike, being one of Twilight’s closest friends, had to push aside his own needs to help the Alicorn in any way he could. Being loyal and faithful. Even if the ‘minute’ turned out to be hours.
“Yes Twilight?” Spike said as he rushed to her side.
“I’m going to re-organize this shelf, can you help me pick up all these scrolls?” She asked while pointing to a bunch of scrolls scattered around the floor.
“Yes mam,” Spike answered before picking up the scrolls.
As he picked them up, he briefly spotted BlackWarGreymon’s name in one of the scrolls. Curious to find what it was about, Spike unrolled the scroll and noticed that the page was completely blank. All what’s on it was the title.
“BlackWarGreymon’s maximum strength?” He read out in confusion. He then unrolled another scroll and read from it.
“BlackWarGreymon’s top flight speed.”
Then another.
“BlackWarGreymon’s true power output.”
Then the curious dragon got Twilight’s attention.
Umm, Twilight, what’s this about?” He asked her while showing her one of the open scrolls.
Twilight explained.
“Well Spike. Since BlackWarGreymon’s staying in Equestria, I’d like to learn more about him.”
“So you’re going to study him? Now I feel sorry for BlackWarGreymon,” Spike said, the last sentence he said was to himself. But Twilight heard a bit of it.
“What was that, Spike?” She asked with a suspicious raised eyebrow.
“Ohh…nothing,” Spike said in a mild panic. He then continued.
“But what else is there to learn from him? He’s like an awesome super hero who goes around saving the world.”
Upon hearing the comment made Twilight Sparkle nervously chuckle.
“Funny thing is Spike, he wasn’t originally like that.”
Spike looked at the Alicorn in confusion.
“Huh? What do you mean, Twi?”
“Well… you see… he was in fact opposite.”
Spike froze from hearing the answer. An opposite of a hero could only mean one thing.
“WAIT… he was evil?”
Despite the hint of fear in Spike’s voice, Twilight answered as if she wasn’t worried at all. In fact, she was calm about it.
“Mm-hmm.”
“And now… he’s good?”
“Yep.”
Spike blinked in bewilderment.
“Woah… he sounds like Discord. But wait. How is it that you got used to BlackWarGreymon much quicker then Discord?”
Twilight answered what was in fact a very good question.
“Because Spike, Discord was evil because he enjoyed spreading chaos and disharmony. BlackWarGreymon only did it because he thought it was the only path to the meaning of his existence.”
Such an answer only confused Spike even more.
“Huh?”
Twilight explained once more.
“You see Spike, BlackWarGreymon… is like a child. An incredibly powerful child. He was created in a world he didn’t understand, and tried to solve his problems on his own. Because he didn’t know what was right and wrong, it lead him being very destructive. Even becoming a great threat to his entire world.”
Spike froze in place. Understanding BlackWarGreymon was one thing, then hearing the fact that he was a threat to his world was even more startling. But Twilight carried on.
“But it was when he stopped and listened to other Digimon, he discovered that there was a whole lot more to life than being the strongest of all. BlackWarGreymon became good and even accepted friendship.”
“Woah, that is deep,” Spike said in awe.
They were then interrupted when they heard someone flying through an open window and landing on the crystal floor behind them. Turning around, Twilight and Spike saw that it was none other than the Digimon himself.
“Oh, hay BlackWarGreymon. We were just talking about you,” Twilight said. She then noticed that he looked a little serious about something.
“Is something the matter?” She asked.
“Twilight, I need to ask you about something?” BlackWarGreymon answered.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Well, it’s about the Tree of Harmony.”
Twilight immediately paused her organizing and, with wide eyes in shock, stopped moving altogether. Yes, she and her friends told him about the Elements of Harmony, but they never mentioned about the tree itself. Spike, who was just as surprised, broke the stunned silence.
“Wait, how did you know about the tree?”
“Because I’ve seen it in a cave at the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight, while startled, faced BlackWarGreymon.
“B-But how did you find it? Although I did mean to tell you about it sooner, but I don’t remember telling you where it is.” She said before drinking her glass of water she was saving.
“You didn’t. The voice from the tree spoke to me and I followed it.”
Hearing what he said surprised Twilight so much, she spat out the water she drank. Accidently soaking poor Spike. BlackWarGreymon didn’t know why Twilight was acting up suddenly, but what he said clearly startled her.
After stuttering to herself, failing to make a word, the Alicorn stared at the Digimon in disbelief.
“A…A…A voice? The...the tree…SPOKE…to you!?”
“Well… yes. Yesterday I heard it from Canterlot, followed it to the Everfree and found that it came from the tree.”
Twilight couldn’t move a muscle. The revelation of what she heard was new even for her.
‘This won’t end well.’ Spike thought to himself.
“And since you’ve seen and been around the tree before, I thought that you’d know something about it,” BlackWarGreymon continued.
However, instead of answering, Twilight rushed like a roadrunner to a nearby shelf and franticly looked through her books and scrolls.
While Spike had seen Twilight acting up in a similar fashion, BlackWarGreymon only blinked in surprise and confusion. He was unable to figure out why she was behaving so oddly. Until he heard her talking to herself.
“No, no, no. How can that happen? I don’t understand. It makes no sense.”
“What’s wrong? Are you ok, Twilight?” He asked, but Twilight was too distracted to listen.
“I don’t get it. I’ve read and studied as much as I could about the Tree of Harmony. Even Celestia lent me her information about it. But I’ve never read or heard anything about hearing a voice.”
Becoming more determined to find answers, BlackWarGreymon rushed to her side and knelt beside her.
“Wait! You’re telling me that neither you or your friends heard the voice like I did?”
The frazzled Twilight answered.
“No… never. But I’ve used one of the elements and help re-energize the tree. It even gave me a chest that later turned into this castle. And not once I’ve heard a voice.”
BlackWarGreymon too was confused. He was sure it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but the voice sounded too real.
“Then… why is it that only I heard it?”
Twilight then became more intrigued by the new information.
“I don’t know, but… what did it sound like?”
BlackWarGreymon then remembered hearing the voice, and then described it.
“Well… it was definatly of a female. It was soft and calm. Kind of like a wind chime in a cool breeze. It sounded both young and old at the same time, as if it’s all-knowing. All I could say is that the voice sounded warm and inviting.”
Twilight was amazed at the description. Making her wish that she could hear it.
“Sounds like the voice was beautiful,” Twilight said.
Then BlackWarGreymon felt something tapping his right leg. Looking down he saw Spike, trying to ask him something.
“Umm, BlackWarGreymon. I’m just throwing it out there but, can I try wearing that?” He asked while pointing at one of the Digimon’s Dramon Destroyers.
While the question may had spoiled the feeling of mystery just seconds ago, BlackWarGreymon allowed it anyway.
“Suit yourself.”
He then laid his right arm down and slid it out of the gauntlet. Spike then walked over and slipped his right arm into it. Eager to feel what it was like to wield such a weapon, he tried to lift it. But the gauntlet didn’t even move so much of an inch. He tried to lift it again, even resorting to use both his tiny arms in the Digizoid weapon. But try as he might, he couldn’t even make the thing budge.
“Wow. This…is…very…heavy,” The young dragon said in-between attempts to lift the gauntlet.
“Yeah. My Dramon Destroyers are heavier then they look,” BlackWarGreymon said.
The unusual use of words caught Twilight’s attention. Turning her away from her work.
“Dra-what Destroyers?”
“Oh. Dramon Destroyers is what my gauntlets are called. Although I use them against all my opponents, they’re very effective against dragon-type Digimon. In fact, the name means Dragon Killer”, BlackWarGreymon explained.
Upon hearing every detail, Spike froze. After adjusting his eyes so his sights fell upon the clawed weapon, he immediately backed away from it. Almost in a panic.
Before they could carry on, Rainbow Dash flew in through an open window to great the three.
“Hey guys.”
Although slightly startled from the entry, Twilight, Spike and BlackWarGreymon spotted the hovering Pegasus.
“Hi Rainbow dash. What’s up?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, I just dropped by to see how the big guy’s doing,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“I’m doing just fine,” BlackWarGreymon assured before asking her a question.
“How’s Ponyville?”
“Well the town took some damage, but it’s nothing we can’t fix,” Rainbow Dash answered. Then after a second of silence, she let out a squeal of excitement. Which caught the three off-guard.
“But you were so awesome yesterday! The dragons never saw you coming! You jumped into danger! You can take a hit! You just kept on coming! I mean you took a huge dog pile, being engulfed in flames and had a building collapsed on you! And yet you walk out of it like it was nothing! Sweet Celestia you’re so cool! If somepony wrote a story about you, I would definatly read it!”
Twilight and Spike paused in awe. The last time they’ve seen Rainbow Dash like that was when she read her first Daring Do book. Then meeting the treasure hunter herself. BlackWarGreymon meanwhile paused for a different reason. Being liked and thanked was one thing, but being praised was another.
Seemed as though the Digimon has got himself a little fan.
“Uhh……thank you?”
Just as it seemed Rainbow Dash got her excitement out of her system, she spoke again.
“And it’s not just your strength. But I bet that the thing that makes you even more awesome is your super powers! You can even make fire that not even dragons can withstand!”
“Yeah, and we dragons can swim in lava,” Spike joined, he too was surprised at what the Digimon could do.
It was also the kind of topic that got Twilight interested.
“I’m glad you mentioned it Rainbow, because I’ve been meaning to ask you something BlackWarGreymon?”
All eyes turned to the Alicorn.
“Your powers aren’t magic based. So how is it that you can use them?” She asked the Mega.
Feeling ok to share knowledge about himself to his friends, BlackWarGreymon answered.
“Well, I could tell you how my Terra Destroyer attack works.”
In response to the new lesson, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike sat in front of BlackWarGreymon while he explained.
“You see, because I’m made from Control Spires, my entire body contains negative energy. And I use this energy to draw in all the negative emotions around me, and then focus it into a sphere of super-heated energy. Because I have complete mastery of this technique, I can even control the size of it. I could make it as small as a ball or as big as a building.”
“Interesting,” Twilight said, clearly fascinated by the information.
Rainbow Dash and Spike however were confused.
“Sorry. I kinda got lost after the negative energy bit,” The Pegasus said.
“Yeah, I didn’t get it either,” The young dragon joined.
After releasing a sigh, BlackWarGreymon explained it much simpler.
“Basically, I put all the energy from the atmosphere into a big ball of total annihilation.”
“Ooh,” Rainbow Dash and Spike said, finally understanding.
Then BlackWarGreymon knelt to one knee in front of his friends.
“Allow me to demonstrate.”
He then raised his free right hand in front of him and opened his palm. Then after a brief second, red light gathered above his hand and a small orb appeared. Not wasting such an opportunity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike went up to BlackWarGreymon’s hand for a closer look. Even though it was half the size of Spike, the tiny sphere was giving off great amount of heat.
“That’s so awesome,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered above the sphere.
“Woah,” Spike said, almost mesmerized by the red light.
Although mesmerized herself, Twilight had another question.
“BlackWarGreymon, what do you mean by negative emotions?”
“You know, emotions that bring out your negativity. Like fear, hatred, anger and guilt” BlackWarGreymon answered.
“Luckily somepony as cool as me is hardly like that. I’m always positive,” Rainbow Dash said with a smug grin on her face. Only for it to disappear from the truth that the Digimon spoke of.
“Pride counts as a negative, Rainbow.”
“Wha!? It does!?” She moaned, making Twilight and Spike quietly chuckle.
Then BlackWarGreymon thought of another demonstration.
“Ok. I want you three to close your eyes and think of something that makes you angry or scared. Then watch the sphere.”
Wanting to see where the little test was going, the two ponies and the dragon closed their eyes and concentrated. Twilight thought of what would happen if she lost her friends or lost the bond of friendship he had with them. Her fear. Spike focused on the thought of being kicked out of Twilight’s home and her life. His fear. Rainbow dash simply thought of the time when Discord messed up her friendship with her friends. Her anger.
Just as the three opened their eyes at the tiny Terra Destroyer orb, the instantly noticed that it grew bigger by a couple of inches.
“Wow, it worked!” Twilight said with glee, happy that BlackWarGreymon shared the information with her.
“Yes. And with the magic of your world enhancing my abilities, this small ball alone is very destructive. It could even destroy a small building,” The Digimon said before focusing his energy to make the orb disappear from his hand.
As BlackWarGreymon reached around to put his right gauntlet back on, Rainbow Dash said something that caught his attention.
“Seems the Demon Lord’s living up to his name with that kind of power.”
BlackWarGreymon turned to her in confusion.
“Demon Lord?”
Their conversation also brought the attention of Twilight and Spike.
“Oh. During your fight with the dragons, I overheard one calling you the ‘Demon Lord’. Now that’s a cool nickname for you,” Rainbow Dash continued.
“I don’t think that’s a nickname, Rainbow,” Twilight spoke up, bringing everyone’s attention to her.
“You know about the Demon lord?” Spike asked.
“Our knowledge of the dragons is limited. But I think I have something from Celestia’s old castle.”
Knowing that she read about it before, Twilight used her magic to look through a stack of books. After putting the rest back in their place, only one book was left in front of her.
“Here,” She said, with Spike reading the title of the book.
“The book of dragon folk lore.”
“Yes. It holds all the tales and legends that dragons beyond Equestria believed in. Some tales were over a thousand years old,” Twilight said as she set the book down for her friends to see. Then skipping through pages to find the one she was looking for.
After a brief moment, Twilight found the page.
“Here it is.”
She then read out loud what the page said.
“The Demon Lord.
A strong dragon-like entity with power unrivalled by many of his time. Thousands of years old, it is said that he was an offspring of fire and Tartarus itself. Wearing impenetrable armour forged from a world unknown. And powers that destroyed the land around him. Known as the God of War, he was feared by both Alicorns and elder dragons. According to legend, he took on an army of demons forged from dark magic. And prevailed.”
The three who were listening couldn’t believe it. Even BlackWarGreymon was impressed by how strong the Demon Lord was.
“What else is there about him?” Spike asked.
“Well there’s not much. All what’s left is that one day the Demon Lord disappeared without a trace. And as time went on, he just became a legend. An old dragon’s tale,” Twilight answered, almost disappointed that not much was said in the book.
“Well… I may not be that Demon Lord, but I do like the name,” BlackWarGreymon admitted.
“See. Doesn’t hurt to have a cool nickname,” Rainbow Dash said.
Afterword’s, BlackWarGreymon stood back up and made his way towards the exit of the study room. Twilight caught on.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
The Digimon paused and looked back at the Alicorn.
“If you don’t mind Twilight, I’m just heading out to explore Ponyville some more.”
“Ok. Have fun.”
As BlackWarGreymon headed towards the gates that lead outside, Rainbow Dash appeared above his head.
“Mind if I tag along?” She asked while flying upside down. Knowing how long it would take for Twilight to re-organize her study room.
“Don’t see why not,” The Digimon answered. Not minding some company.
With the blue Pegasus by his side, the pair passed through the gates and left Twilight’s castle.
As the two walked down the short path to the town, Rainbow Dash asked BlackWarGreymon something.
“Just out of curiosity, why do you shout out the names of your attacks when you use them?”
It was a question BlackWarGreymon had to think about.
“You know something, I don’t actually know. All Digimon do it. I guess we say it because we want the names to strike fear into our enemies when we defeat them,” He answered. Although he was unsure but it was the best answer he could think of.
But it was enough to amaze the blue pony.
“Wow. Sounds cool.”
After their conversation, the pair entered Ponyville. BlackWarGreymon’s presents alone made everypony around him pause and look at him in awe. Then after their stunned silence, the ponies began to happily gather around the Digimon while all talking at the same time. Although he knew that they’re only being friendly, it remained new to BlackWarGreymon. It was evident by the puzzled expression in his eyes. Rainbow Dash noticed it and elbowed his arm to get his attention.
“Don’t worry big guy, you’ll get used to this,” She said, clearly from experience.
Despite the growing crowd and the increasing voices, most of what the Digimon got out of them were mainly ‘thank you’s’.
“Uhh… all of you are very welcome. I just did what had to be done,” BlackWarGreymon said, feeling awkward from what was happening in front of him.
Rainbow Dash could literally feel the awkwardness coming from BlackWarGreymon, meaning that it was his first time being praised in such a way.
“Ok everypony. The big guy knows you’re all thankful. Please give him some room.”
Knowing that they’re making him uncomfortable, the ponies took a few steps back while looking at him in awe once more.
“So this is the first time this happened to you?” Rainbow Dash asked BlackWarGreymon.
“Definitely.”
Then the two continued on their way. As they walked through town, ponies kept looking at their saviour. Giving him warm smiles of gratitude. Like before, BlackWarGreymon felt good that everyone around him liked him instead of feared him.
Just as he was getting comfortable, he heard short screams of joy in front of him. looking ahead, he saw a group of fillies running towards him. BlackWarGreymon had to stop. The last thing he would want was to step on one of them. Completely still, the powerful Digimon could only watch as five fillies playfully ran around and in-between his legs.
Rainbow Dash, as well as other ponies around her, couldn’t help but snicker in laughter as they watched the young ponies having fun with BlackWarGreymon.
It was also new to the Mega. Young ones playing near him.
After their little game, the laughing fillies climbed on BlackWarGreymon’s feet and gave him a quick hug before running off.
“Hah, even the kids like you,” Rainbow Dash said while the Digimon kept looking in the direction where the fillies ran off to.
“Hmm.”
Not far away from them, Pinkie Pie left Sugar Cube Corner with a cupcake on top of her head. Flinging her head back, she tossed the tasty treat in the air and then let it fall into her wide gaping mouth. Then without chewing, she swallowed it whole.
After she had her little snack, Pinkie Pie spotted Rainbow Dash and BlackWarGreymon heading in her direction. Releasing a loud gasp of excitement, she ran as fast as she could towards them.
“Hey guys!” She shouted as she came to a screeching halt in front of her friends.
“Hey Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash greeted back.
“So you’re enjoying your stay, BlackWarGreymon?” The pink pony asked.
“As a matter of fact, I am,” BlackWarGreymon answered, making Pinkie Pie’s smile bigger. Then she let out a gasp.
“Oh, how could I forget. I forgot to welcome you to Ponyville.”
What she said left the tall being confused.
“I thought you already did.”
“No silly. I mean the official welcome!” The pink mare said as she reached behind a stray crate and brought out her pink party wagon. It had an oven in the middle and several tall tubes sticking out which were in fact confetti cannons.
“I use this to welcome newcomers,” Pinkie Pie said.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” BlackWarGreymon said, thinking that he had been welcomed enough.
“Plleeeeeaaasse.” Pinkie Pie pleaded as she tried to use her cute puppy eyes and quivering lips.
Rainbow Dash giggled at seeing the pink mare trying to pull such a trick on BlackWarGreymon.
But the Digimon didn’t want to upset one of his new friends. After releasing a sigh, he gave in.
“Ok then.”
“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie Pie said as she gave BlackWarGreymon’s leg a quick hug.
Then she rushed back to her wagon and pressed a button.
Then to the Digimon’s surprise, the wagon started to bounce on its own and several flags popped out and waved. Not only that, music seemed to play out of it.
Then along with the music, Pinkie Pie sang her welcome song.
“Welcome welcome welcome, a fine welcome to you.
Welcome welcome welcome, I say how do you do.
Welcome welcome welcome, I say hip hip hurray.
Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville today!”
During the course of her musical singing and dancing, she somehow managed to put a party cone hat on BlackWarGreymon’s head.
Before the Mega could even comprehend what just happened, Pinkie Pie spoke.
“Wait for it.”
‘Wait for what?’ The Digimon thought to himself as he looked at the pink wagon.
Then an on cue, the oven dinged and a cloud of confetti came bursting from it. As the confetti passed BlackWarGreymon, the surprised Digimon noticed that the tubes on the wagon suddenly bulged and then fired what looked like uncooked cake dough in the sky. Unfortunately for him however, the dough passed above his head and came raining down on him. Completely covering him and Pinkie Pie in cake mix.
“Guys?” Rainbow Dash said after a long silent pause.
Then Pinkie Pie shook the cake mix off while laughing at herself.
“Oops, silly me. I must’ve put the confetti in the oven and the cake in the party cannon. Again.”
After the party pony ate what was left of the dough on her, she and Rainbow Dash looked at BlackWarGreymon. The only thing not covered in cake dough was his yellow eyes. The way they looked showed that he was not amused.
Nevertheless, Rainbow Dash tried her best to not laugh out loud by the way the Digimon looked.
“Oops… sorry,” Pinkie Pie said, her voice sounding innocent.
Though he didn’t say a word, BlackWarGreymon forgave her. As he tried to wipe the dough off his body, he heard a voice.
“Don’t worry!”
BlackWarGreymon saw something moving over his head. Looking up, he saw it was a Pegasus pushing a cloud over his head.
The Pegasus mare had blonde mane and tail, light grey fur and series of bubbles for a cutiemark. What was strange about her was that her eyes were looking in separate directions.
Her name was Derpy Hooves.
The cloud she was pushing was suspiciously dark as she placed it over Digimon’s head.
“I’ll wash it off,” She said as she prepared to kick her hind legs into the cloud.
Her plan was to use the rain to wash the cake dough off BlackWarGreymon. But Rainbow Dash realised that the cloud looked suspicious for a reason.
“Wait Derpy! That’s not a rain cloud, that’s a thunder…”
She was cut off when Derpy kicked the cloud. Instead of rain, it released a thunderbolt on BlackWarGreymon. As it made contact with him, it gave off a blinding light. Then as quick as it came, it faded. Revealing to the ponies what happened to the Digimon.
Although BlackWarGreymon was unharmed by the thunderbolt, the high temperature from the voltage literally cooked the cake dough on his body. The result left him resembling a cake version of himself.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was too much for her to cope. She fell to the ground laughing while holding her stomach.
“Don’t tell me! You…you’re a BlackWarGreymon cake!” She said while continuing to laugh her head off.
While Pinkie Pie giggled at the sight and the joke Rainbow Dash made, Derpy flew to BlackWarGreymon’s shoulder and took a bite on a lump of thunderbolt roasted cake.
“Mmm… it tastes like muffins.”
“Very funny,” The Digimon plainly said as he wiped off the cake from his body. As he tried he still had large clumps of cake stuck to his armour and his hair.
It was at the moment when Rarity arrived. She gasped from the site of BlackWarGreymon in such a state.
“BlackWarGreymon darling, what in Equestria has happened to you?”
Before the armoured being could answer, Rarity herself answered her own question.
“Wait. Don’t tell me. Pinkie Pie happened.”
“Yes,” BlackWarGreymon said.
“Well today you’re in luck. I happen to be on my way to the spa to freshen up, and I insist that you come and join me,” Rarity said while giving the Digimon a look that said that she would not have a ‘no’ for an answer.
The thought of him being cleaned up from the cake bits, as well as never been to a spa before, made BlackWarGreymon consider the offer.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try,” He said, earning a satisfied smile from Rarity.
“Splendid.”
“Hay Rarity. Is it ok if I join you?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Of course, I would be delighted. You coming too, Pinkie?” Rarity asked the pink party pony.
“Love to. But I have a few things to pick up. So maybe later,” Pinkie Pie answered, slightly feeling guilty that she couldn’t join. But she had a few things to do.
“Very well. See you later, Pinkie,” Rarity said as she walked on with BlackWarGreymon and Rainbow Dash.
“Ok, see you three later!” Pinkie Pie called out, suddenly back to her usual happy mood.
As the three made their way to the local spa, Rarity spoke up.
“Oh, BlackWarGreymon. I just like to thank you for saving me and Sweetie Belle yesterday. It was very brave of you to fight so many dragons by yourself.”
“You’re welcome. Though it wasn’t really a tough challenge for me. I’ve faced far worse,” He said.
If Twilight hadn’t told Rainbow Dash and Rarity about her trip through BlackWarGreymon’s past, the two would’ve thought the Digimon was being boastful.
Then before they knew it, they arrived at the spa. Walking through the front door was easy for the two ponies, but BlackWarGreymon had to knell down just to fit through.
As the Digimon looked around his surroundings, Rarity and Rainbow Dash went up to meet with Lotus Blossom. One of the spa ponies.
“Good morning. How may we help you?” Lotus asked the two.
“Yes. I would like to have the usual, thank you,” Rarity answered.
“I’ll just have a warm bath,” Rainbow Dash joined.
It was then that Lotus saw BlackWarGreymon approaching from behind. She also took note that he had bits of cake stuck to him.
“And would you like a bath too, brave sir?” She asked him with a smile.
“I would, thank you.”
“Would you also like a free massage?” The second spa pony named Aloe asked as she appeared behind Lotus.
“Really? A free massage?” Rainbow Dash asked. She and Rarity were both surprised by the sudden offer.
“Of course. It’s the least we can do after he saved us from that dragon,” Lotus added.
BlackWarGreymon was also surprised. But he never had a massage before.
“Well… if you two don’t mind, then thank you for the offer.”
Although the spa ponies didn’t expect BlackWarGreymon to arrive, they were more than happy to make him feel relaxed and comfortable.
As the trio made their way to one of the rooms, they found two ready-made pools of warm steamy water. It was decided that Rarity and Rainbow Dash would share one tub, while BlackWarGreymon would have the other.
As the blue Pegasus and the white Unicorn slipped into the bath, they felt the warm water against their bodies. Making them feel relaxed.
As they enjoyed themselves, BlackWarGreymon took off his Dramon Destroyers and his Brave Shield. After leaning them against a wall, the Digimon climbed into his bath. The moment he felt the water’s warmth, his entire body suddenly felt relaxed as he sat in the tub. Resting his arms on the side of the tub, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes as he felt the warmth of a spa bath for the first time.
Rainbow Dash and Rarity noticed it and gained his attention.
“Wow BlackWarGreymon, even when you’re relaxed you still look fierce,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I bet I look fierce even when I’m asleep,” The Digimon replied.
“And I know you took off some of your armour. But what about your helmet? Don’t you want to wash your face?” Rarity asked, unaware of the truth BlackWarGreymon was about to tell.
“This helmet IS my face.”
“Really!?” Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash asked, both were actually startled to hear that sort of thing.
“Yes. Not all Digimon have fleshy faces. Some even have masks which are in fact their faces,” BlackWarGreymon explained.
As the three continued relaxing in their baths, the pink furred blue maned spa pony Aloe approached the Digimon.
“Are you ready for your massage?” She asked him, slightly shy.
“Knock yourself out,” BlackWarGreymon answered. Allowing the massage to start on him.
Because he had never been massaged before, he was going to relax and let the professional do her thing.
Because the armour on the Digimon’s shoulders couldn’t be removed, Aloe started her work on his arms. The second the mare rested her hooves on BlackWarGreymon’s upper right arm, she paused for a moment as a small blush formed on her face.
‘Wow, such muscles.’
Aloe had to admit it. Even though BlackWarGreymon likes like a dragon and was from another world, he did look handsome. A fact that Lotus would agree on. As she kept working on his right arm, feeling his muscles, her blush deepened to a point that it was visible through her pink fur. Despite Aloe feeling shy, BlackWarGreymon seemed to be enjoying the treatment.
“You’re very good at this. I feel so relaxed.”
BlackWarGreymon’s complement caught the spa pony off-guard.
“Oh…um…you’re… very welcome,” She responded with a shaky voice as she worked on the Digimon’s left arm.
After she finished working on his arms, Aloe decided to wash BlackWarGreymon’s hair. As she placed her hoof in the yellow hair, the feel of it was something she truly didn’t expect.
To a point where she rushed over to Lotus as she washed and cleaned BlackWarGreymon’s shield.
“Hay Lotus,” Aloe whispered, trying not to draw attention of herself to others.
“Huh? What is it Aloe?” The blue pony asked.
“You have to feel this,” The pink pony said, but only brought confusion to Lotus.
“Feel what?”
“Just follow me.”
After leading Lotus behind BlackWarGreymon, Aloe motioned her hoof at the Digimon’s head. Urging her to touch his hair.
Wondering what the big deal was, Lotus went ahead and put her hoof in the yellow hair. She too was surprised by the way it felt.
“Wow. It’s so soft,” She said as quietly as possible.
“I know.”
Despite it seemed that he was oblivious to what was going on, BlackWarGreymon was well aware of what was transpiring.
‘Again with the hair.’
Despite it, he chose not to intervene. Just relaxing and letting the two girls touch his hair.
In the bath tub next to his, Rainbow Dash peeked over her shoulder to see how her Digimon friend was doing. Although a little surprised at the sight of Aloe and Lotus enjoying themselves while touching his yellow hair, it got her thinking.
“Hay Rarity, do you remember what Pinkie Pie said about BlackWarGreymon’s hair?” She asked her Unicorn friend.
After thinking back to the day they first met the Digimon, Rarity remembered.
“Why yes. She said it was surprisingly pleasant to the touch.”
“Well it seems it’s true. Even the spa ponies are touching the hair,” Rainbow Dash said as she motioned her hoof over her shoulder.
Looking to where the Pegasus was pointing, Rarity too saw the scene. Though just as surprised, she also became interested.
“Is it really that soft?” She asked herself but Rainbow Dash caught on.
Curious to find out for themselves, Rarity and Rainbow Dash climbed out of their bath and walked over to the spa ponies behind BlackWarGreymon.
With Aloe and Lotus stepping aside to make room, Rarity and Rainbow Dash felt BlackWarGreymon’s hair. To their surprise, Pinkie Pie was right about the hair.
“What’s with you girls and my hair?” The Digimon asked, knowing that his two friends had joined in.
“Well… it’s just bizarre that a hard-core fighter like you has hair so soft. It feels almost like a cloud,” Rainbow Dash admitted while feeling the Digimon’s hair.
“As well as showing off your warrior side, to have hair as soft as yours is to die for,” Rarity joined while stroking the yellow locks.
It left BlackWarGreymon puzzled by one fact.
‘Was my hair always this soft?’
…………………………………………………………………………………………................
It had been over an hour at the spa. Since Rarity’s ‘usual’ spa treatment took a great amount of time, BlackWarGreymon and Rainbow Dash were first to leave. The blue Pegasus’s fur was clean and soft while the Digimon was free from cake crumbs. That and his armour was sparkling clean.
While BlackWarGreymon inspected his gauntlets, Rainbow Dash spoke.
“So, what you’re going to do now, big guy?”
“I’m not sure. But where’s Applejack and Fluttershy?” He asked her.
“Well if I know Applejack, she’s probably doing chores at Sweet Apple Acres. And Fluttershy’s more likely at her cottage.”
BlackWarGreymon was then in thought. He hadn’t been to either of the places mentioned. He didn’t mind seeing them for himself.
“Which is the nearest one from here?” He asked.
“That would be Fluttershy’s cottage,” Rainbow Dash answered while pointing the way.
Knowing where to go, BlackWarGreymon was on his way.
“Thank you,” He said as looked over his shoulder to see the blue Pegasus.
“I would join you, but I’ve got some things to do. See ya.”
Rainbow Dash then took off to the clouds, leaving BlackWarGreymon walking towards his next destination.
…………………………………………………………………………………………....................
At the cottage on the edge of the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy was trying to settle an argument between a full-grown brown bear and Angel. Fluttershy’s pet white rabbit.
“Now Angel, you know you supposed to share your food with others. Like Pinkie once said, sharing is caring.”
Angel’s reaction was opposite to what the yellow pony had hoped. He blew a raspberry at the bear, meaning he didn’t like the idea. The bear resorted in turning his head away and crossing his arms.
“Angel! That’s not very nice!” Fluttershy sad, offended by the rabbit’s attitude.
Then to Fluttershy’s surprise, both Angel’s ears pointed straight up as his face looked passed the mare and at the front door. The Pegasus could see that his face looked… startled. As if he could hear or sense something that she couldn’t. The confused mare looked to the bear and noticed that his reactions were the same as Angel’s.
Then the small white rabbit let out a loud screech of fright, startling the pony in front of him. Then like a white blur, he ran straight across the living room and under the couch.
The scared bear tried to follow suit. But his much larger body left the couch balancing on his back and blocking the back window.
Fluttershy knew that both the animals were terrified of something. Knowing what scares Angel was easy, but what would scare a full-grown bear? The last time the bear was so scared was when the Plunder Vines invaded Ponyville. But she knew that the vines were long gone.
Something else was scaring them and Fluttershy had to find out what.
“What is it? What’s gotten you two so scared?”
All of a sudden, loud cries of animals inside and outside the cottage were heard. All sorts of Fluttershy’s animal friends; otters, mice, squirrels, ferrets, chipmunks, rabbits, birds, and many more, either were rushing to a corner, hiding in their homes, or went straight out of an open window.
Seeing all her animal friends so scared made Fluttershy herself scared too. Although she wanted nothing more than to stay inside with them, she had to find out what was troubling them.
“Umm…uhh… I guess… you want me… to check it out?”
The animals didn’t answer, they were too busy trying to hide. Then Fluttershy let out a loud gulp before speaking.
“……ok,” She said quietly, taking it as a yes.
After walking quietly to the door, she slowly opened it a crack to peek outside. Many thoughts crossed her mind. What if it’s a creature her animals never seen before? What if it’s a dragon? Or an angry Manticore? Or a Hydra? What if it’s a dangerous animal that likes eating ponies? What if she gets eaten!?
All the negative thoughts terrified Fluttershy, and the thing was just on the other side of the rise where the path was.
However, luckily for her, emerging from the rise was someone she recognised. BlackWarGreymon.
Although she was relieved that it was just her digital friend, she let out a loud gasp when she remembered that the other day, Twilight told her and her other friends about her trip through the Digimon’s mind, and witnessing his life in the Digital World.
Moving in speeds that was rare for her, Fluttershy bolted out of her home and flew straight towards the black armoured warrior.
“BlackWarGreymon!”
Ahead of her, BlackWarGreymon saw her speeding towards him.
“Hi, Flutter…!”
He was cut off when the yellow Pegasus wrapped her hooves around his waist, holding him tight in an affectionate hug. Then to his confusion, he could hear her sobbing sadly as she nuzzled his chest.
“Oh BlackWarGreymon! I’m so sorry you had to go through it all!”
As the confused Digimon looked down at Fluttershy, to his surprise the Pegasus had tears in her eyes as she looked back at his own.
The teary Fluttershy continued.
“Twilight told us everything. About how you were created. What your life was like back in your world. The horrible horrible pain you went through. Even your…!”
Her talking was replaced by a loud gasp of shock when she realised what she was about to say. She even backed off with both her hooves covering her mouth as her watery eyes stared at BlackWarGreymon’s chest.
She then immediately flew in close and pressed her hooves on the Chrome Digizoid chest plate and the thick yellow cords attached to it.
“And how’s your chest!? Does it still hurt? Please tell me that you’re not hurting!?”
“Calm down Fluttershy. I’m perfectly fine now.”
BlackWarGreymon’s words calmed Fluttershy down. The Pegasus slowly landed back on the path while not tearing her gaze away from the Digimon.
The dragon warrior knew what Fluttershy was referring about, and immediately knew how she found out about it.
‘Guess Twilight’s told them about my past.’
As he continued to look at the upset pony, the once deceased Digimon spoke up.
“Yes Fluttershy. Everything Twilight said about me was true.”
Fluttershy let out another loud gasp of horror.
“You…you mean that… that you…”
BlackWarGreymon answered for her.
“Yes. Before I came here… I died.”
Fluttershy tried her best to stay calm and fight against the urge to cry. But it wasn’t working. Even as she closed her eyes, tears were flooding out of them as she sobbed. Just the thought of him going through death while in excruciating pain was too much for her to bare.
BlackWarGreymon again felt his heart ache at seeing his kind friend in such state. He then brought her attention by kneeling down on one knee and using his free thumb to wipe away her tears.
“It’s ok Fluttershy, it’s all in the past. What matters is that I’m here and still alive. So you don’t have to worry about my past, ok?”
His words seemed to brought comfort to Fluttershy. She stopped crying and wiped what was left of the tears on her face.
“Ok.”
Then BlackWarGreymon was curious about something.
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Oh. My animals must’ve sensed your power that you’re giving off, and it frightened them. So I opened the door to see.”
But what the Digimon said next really got her confused.
“I wasn’t giving off my power.”
“Huh? You weren’t?” She asked.
“No. I was aware that you had animals in your home. So I took precautions of hiding my power so they couldn’t sense me. I even walked all the way here instead of flying.”
BlackWarGreymon’s answer got Fluttershy asking one question.
“Then… then what was spooking the animals?”
Then to their surprise, the two heard a loud bear-like roar coming from the cottage. While BlackWarGreymon looked on in bewilderment, Fluttershy looked on in horror.
‘I know that roar!’
Thinking that it was what she was thinking, Fluttershy rushed back to her cottage. With BlackWarGreymon following behind.
Then the two heard the roar again. The sound came from behind the cottage, near the way to the Everfree Forest.
After making a quick run around the cottage, the pair saw what the commotion was about. But all they saw was a lone bear in the middle of the opening. One of Fluttershy’s friends. It was also the same one that was hiding earlier, but summoned the courage to step outside.
“She has a bear as a friend?” BlackWarGreymon said to himself, thinking that it’s rather odd for a timid pony like Fluttershy to be friends with a carnivore eight feet tall.
While BlackWarGreymon was focused on the bear, Fluttershy spotted something else. All her animal friends were hiding in the trees. Either in the leaves, under the roots or behind the trunks. Even Angel was seen in a berry bush.
“Please tell me it’s not what I think it is?”
Then the pony and the Digimon both heard a loud buzzing sound. The way it sounded was like one very big bug. Following the noise that lead to the sky, both Fluttershy and BlackWarGreymon looked upon a bizarre beast.
It looked like another large bear, larger than the one below. But the similarities ended there. Its entire body was separated to three sections, almost like an insect. Also like an insect, it had six limbs. Two legs and four arms. It had white and dark grey fur with black and amber coloured stripes. As well as possessing wings and antennae of a bumblebee, its dark crimson red eyes also belonged to a bug. Finally at the end of its abdomen section, it had a dangerous looking stinger.
The creature was called the Bugbear.
‘Oh no! Not that thing again!’ Fluttershy thought to herself. All the while BlackWarGreymon stared at the creature in confusion.
“What… is that thing?” He asked the small mare.
“It’s called a Bugbear. A nasty creature that looks like a bear but has traits of a bumblebee,” Fluttershy explained before talking further.
“But what’s it doing here? I thought Twilight sent it to Tartarus.”
Before BlackWarGreymon could question further, both of them heard a roar. But not from the beast from prison, but from the brown bear.
Fluttershy gasped as she knew what it meant.
“They’re going to fight!”
BlackWarGreymon knew that the stakes weren’t in the brown bear’s favour. With the Bugbear’s size, stinger, extra arms and flight capability, it was clear that it would triumph over the natural carnivore.
Before he could interfere however, the Bugbear flew down towards the bear, bringing forth its stinger. Amazingly, the brown bear reared up on his feet and caught the stinger in his claws. Then slammed the stinger point-first into the ground.
With the Bugbear impaled to the ground, the bear took advantage by slamming his paws in the evil creature’s face, then biting on one of its four arms.
‘Cleaver bear,’ The Digimon thought to himself, impressed by the bear’s intelligence.
But the Bugbear retaliated by biting its jaws on the bear’s brown furred shoulder and used its three other arms to push the bear away. It worked. The bear was forced to back off, leaving the Bugbear to pull its stinger free from the ground.
After circling around each other, growling and snarling, the two charged at each other and began to bear-wrestle. All the while biting and hitting each other. But it was clear that the Bugbear was stronger. After wrestling the brown bear to the ground, the six-limbed beast grabbed the bear from behind in a head lock and flew to the sky. Carrying the bear with it.
As the bear struggled to break free while roaring in protest, the Bugbear grew a grin as it got its stinger ready.
Fluttershy gasped in horror at the site, the Bugbear was going to finish her friend off.
BlackWarGreymon decided that the fight between the two bears had gone on long enough. He began to raise his power level, only enough to get the Bugbear’s attention.
Being more sensitive than the other animals, the Bugbear picked up the sudden rise in power and turned to face its source.
“That’s right big guy. Eyes on me,” BlackWarGreymon said.
Sensing a much bigger challenge, the Bugbear slowly lowered itself from the sky and dropped the bear to the ground. All the while keeping its eyes fixed on the black Digimon.
Fluttershy knew that BlackWarGreymon did it to save the bear.
“Thank you, BlackWarGreymon. But what are we going to do about that thing!?” She asked while pointing at the Bugbear. Who was hovering in the sky while growling at BlackWarGreymon.
“This Bugbear wants a fight. So I’ll give it a fight,” The Digimon said as he took a few steps forward. His presence was seen by all the other animals in the area.
After stopping ten feet away from Fluttershy, BlackWarGreymon had an idea.
“But let’s make this interesting.”
He then impaled his gauntlets to the ground and slipped his arms out of them.
“I’ll fight it without my Dramon Destroyers and my shield. And I won’t even use my powers,” He said as he took off his shield, placing them on the ground.
“Just be careful,” Fluttershy said, feeling concerned for her animals, her home, even the Digimon himself. Then again, he had defeated every opponent he went up against so far. And if he’s willingly going to fight the Bugbear without his powers, then it must mean that he knew he can beat the beast.
BlackWarGreymon glanced up to the airborne Bugbear, a sign that he’s ready to fight. The creature answered the call with a roar, and dived straight at the Digimon.
As the Bugbear tried to tackle the dragon warrior, BlackWarGreymon braced himself and caught the bear-like beast by its middle arms. The Bugbear then tried to use its wings and body to move forward and wrestle the Digimon to the ground. But BlackWarGreymon held firm and threw the beast some distance away.
After getting control of its flying to stop falling over, the Bugbear let out a roar of surprise and rage at the unexpected strength of its opponent. Charging forth again, it intended on ripping its challenger apart. But as it got closer, BlackWarGreymon leapt out of the way and flew higher in the air.
Although surprised that its foe could fly, it did not put off the Bugbear’s anger. Changing course, it flew fast to intercept BlackWarGreymon. But the Digimon was more agile in the air then the Bugbear. He easily flew to the side, leaving the beast to slash its claws in thin air.
Every time the Bugbear tried to land a hit, BlackWarGreymon kept moving out of the way. Then the Digimon grabbed the creature’s arms and wrestled it to the ground. Fluttershy and the other animals watched as BlackWarGreymon pinned the Bugbear down.
Roaring in defiance, the Bugbear tried to use its extra two arms to punch BlackWarGreymon in the face. But to the monster, it was like punching a solid statue. Despite the hard punches, the Digimon wasn’t fazed at all. It was like the punches were doing absolutely nothing.
Then grabbing BlackWarGreymon’s sides and beating its wings as hard as it could, the Bugbear managed to turn over the Digimon. Pinning him down as it tried to lunge its jaws forward. But to its surprise, BlackWarGreymon slammed his head into the creature’s muzzle. Head-butting it with enough force for it to back off.
Then grabbing one of its arms, BlackWarGreymon threw the Bugbear over his shoulder and smashed it to the ground. To the surprise of Fluttershy and her animals, creating a large crater as the ground shook. While holding on to its arm, the Digimon threw the beast high in the air and then chased after it. Grabbing its leg, BlackWarGreymon then threw the Bugbear straight to the ground. Throwing up a dust cloud and sending another wave of tremors through the ground.
Fluttershy was amazed. BlackWarGreymon seemed to be winning with just his strength alone.
‘Wow. He would definatly give Iron Will a run for his money.’
Then the Bugbear crawled out of the same crater it made before. Covered in dirt and bruises, it was breathing heavily. But the battered monster wasn’t planning to give up. After seeing BlackWarGreymon landing in front of it, it let out a loud growl in rage.
“I admire your tenacity, Bugbear. But it’s clear that I’m the strongest out of the two of us. Give up now while you still can.”
But BlackWarGreymon’s warning was ignored by the Bugbear. Knowing that its stinger wouldn’t be able to puncher through the Digimon’s armour, it did saw that there were some parts on its opponent that wasn’t armoured.
It decided to go for it. Buzzing forward as fast as it could, the Bugbear grappled its four arms onto BlackWarGreymon’s arms, pinning them to his sides. Then with a mighty thrust, the beast from Tartarus jabbed its stinger on BlackWarGreymon’s left upper thigh.
“BlackWarGreymon!!” Fluttershy shouted in concern and alarm. Fearing that her friend was harmed by the stinger.
But to her confusion, there wasn’t a sound of pain. No cry of agony. It was absolutely silent. BlackWarGreymon didn’t made a sound. He didn’t move a muscle. Heck, he didn’t even flinch. He just stood firm with a blank expression in his eyes.
The Bugbear was also confused. Why wasn’t its foe in pain? Looking down to where its stinger was, it saw that it was on the exposed part of the Digimon’s leg. But to its shock, it failed to impale through it.
It then tried again, and again. But its weapon couldn’t penetrate through BlackWarGreymon’s skin. As the beast panicked, it left itself wide open for an attack. BlackWarGreymon slammed his right knee into the Bugbear’s chest. The beast felt air escaping its lungs and the pain shocked through its body from some of its broken ribs caused by the armoured shin guard.
The Bugbear was stunned from the sneak attack, grabbing its chest to hold itself together. But BlackWarGreymon then gave the monster an uppercut to the chin, sending it flying through the sky. Then the Digimon followed up by flying to the hurtling beast, and grabbed its hairy abdomen. Then raising the Bugbear over his head, BlackWarGreymon flew straight down with the beast in tow. Then he slammed it to the ground with enough force to create a few large cracks in the earth. Fluttershy tried her best to stay balanced as the ground rumbled beneath her. She just managed to stay standing when it stopped.
She stared at the dust cloud in anticipation and worry, hoping that BlackWarGreymon hadn’t hurt himself. To her relief, the Digimon jumped out of the cloud and landed in-between his impaled gauntlets, with his back to the pony and facing the dust cloud.
At first all was silent. Then with a loud desperate roar, the beaten Bugbear launched itself out of its crater and delivered a hard punch straight at BlackWarGreymon’s face.
Although the sound wave of the impact vibrated the nearby grass and bushes, BlackWarGreymon didn’t even move a millimetre of an inch. The only reaction after five seconds of silence was the Bugbear, wailing in pain as it clenched the hand that it used.
Fluttershy knew that BlackWarGreymon could take a lot of punishment and not be bothered by it, but she never knew that he could take a full-on punch and not reacting to it.
If Rainbow Dash was there to see it, she would be in awe that would last a very long time.
As the Bugbear tried to fight back the pain in its possibly broken fist, BlackWarGreymon formed his right arm into a fist of his own and pulled it back.
“You lose.”
Then with full force, BlackWarGreymon punched the Bugbear square in the face. Sending it flying over the Everfree Forest and through the distant horizon.
With the Bugbear gone and the fight over, BlackWarGreymon slipped his Dramon Destroyers back on and re-equipped his black shield. As he turned back towards Fluttershy, he was suddenly tackled by the yellow Pegasus as she hugged tight around his neck.
“Oh BlackWarGreymon!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You saved all my animal friends from that terrible Bugbear! It was so nice of you! Thank you so much!”
Then out of pure joy and happiness, Fluttershy did something that had never been done in both Equestria and the Digital World.
She kissed him on the cheek.
BlackWarGreymon’s body stiffened as his eyes widened in shock. Even his senses were put on immediate halt. Being hugged was one thing, being praised was another, but a kiss? It was on a whole new level that even he wouldn’t expect to happen to him. His mind froze as he tried to think, but it looked as though he couldn’t focus on anything.
While hugging him, Fluttershy noticed BlackWarGreymon’s total lack of movement. She released her hold and saw his yellow eyes staring blankly at open space. As if he was in a trance.
“What’s the matter?” She asked him.
BlackWarGreymon then raised his right arm to his face and used his thumb to touch the spot where she kissed.
“You…you kissed me?”
Fluttershy was surprised when she realised what she just did. Though she understood why the Digimon was so startled. From what Twilight told her about BlackWarGreymon’s past, it was very likely that he had never been kissed before.
But still, it couldn’t stop Fluttershy from blushing in embarrassment.
“Ohh…uhh……I’m…I’m sorry. I just got carried away. I was just so happy that you helped, I didn’t think straight.”
As the surprised BlackWarGreymon continued stroking his cheek, Fluttershy then brought her attention to his leg.
“How’s your leg!? You were stung by that thing!”
BlackWarGreymon looked down at his unharmed leg and chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. It will take a lot more than that to hurt me.”
‘Wow, he must have really strong leg muscles,’ The mare thought to herself.
Seeing the usually timid pony they knew being friendly to the scary visitor, the animals that were hiding became less afraid. If Fluttershy could trust BlackWarGreymon, then they could too. The woodland critters slowly came out of their hiding places and one by one, they approached the pair.
After hearing noises beneath them, Fluttershy and BlackWarGreymon looked down and saw some tiny mammals. All staring at the tall Digimon.
Then Fluttershy introduced them to the artificial being.
“Oh! How rude of me. Little critters, this is my new friend. BlackWarGreymon.”
At first, the animals looked at the Digimon in awe. Then one brave squirrel jumped on his left foot, climbed up his leg to his chest, then settled upon his shoulder. All the while BlackWarGreymon watched the small mammal. Then the squirrel jumped in his yellow hair, disappearing from sight as it let out several chirps of comfort.
Fluttershy chuckled when she saw the playful critter poking his head out of BlackWarGreymon’s hair.
Then BlackWarGreymon saw a red bird hovering in front of his face. Then his head and eyes followed the bird as she flew around his head while letting out happy chirps. She then perched herself on one of the Digimon’s horns on the side of his helmet.
Fluttershy always wanted to see such a thing. In awe at the sight of an all-powerful being like him to be around her animal friends.
She then gasped in excitement when the rest of her animals approached from hiding. All of them either standing and looking at BlackWarGreymon or nuzzling his feet and legs in gratitude.
It was also new to the Digimon. Having animals liking him instead of running away in fear.
“Aww… they like you,” Fluttershy said.
………………………………………………………………………………………….......................
Sometime had passed since the events of the Bugbear attack. Knowing that the creature wouldn’t dare return for a rematch, BlackWarGreymon was at ease as he sat with Fluttershy in the garden. The animals around them had finally got used to the Digimon’s appearance as they either played beside him or rested upon him.
Fluttershy also introduced some of the critters to BlackWarGreymon. The animal who was next was a certain white rabbit.
“And this is my pet rabbit named Angel.”
All Angel did was just stare at the Digimon as he stared back. More likely intimidated by the being’s draconic look.
“It’s ok, Angel. He’s a friend. Now say hello,” Fluttershy said after noticing the rabbits lack of response.
After summoning enough confidence, Angel smiled as he leapt on BlackWarGreymon’s lap. He then waved his paw to say hello.
“Awe… isn’t he cute, BlackWarGreymon?” The Pegasus asked.
“Well… Spike did tell me about Angel, Fluttershy. But cute wasn’t the word he used. It was more like ‘stubborn’,” The Digimon answered, remembering that Spike once told him about the rabbit’s attitude problem.
Angel flinched from the remark and face-palmed himself, before jumping off and landing next to Fluttershy.
After the yellow Pegasus chuckled at Angel’s behaviour, her mind passed over to another subject. A subject that made her look at BlackWarGreymon in deep concern.
“So, uhh…BlackWarGreymon? When you were… you know. Were… were you in agony?”
BlackWarGreymon took notice of Fluttershy’s sudden change of mood, and understood perfectly what she was referring to. He looked down at his chest where he once received his fatal wound. He then raised his right gauntlet to his face and looked at his metal claws. All the while the expressions in his eyes were of sadness and pain as he remembered back. The look in his eyes made Fluttershy regret the decision of talking about what happened.
But before she could change the subject, BlackWarGreymon answered.
“Hmm… taking a blow from a blast that left a gaping hole in the chest. Yes, it was agonizing. Physically, it was the worst pain I’ve ever felt to this day. But mentally, it was a close second.”
Although feeling pity for him, the last sentence the Digimon said made the mare confused of its meaning.
“Close second? Then what caused you mental pain even greater then that?”
“The thought of my life without a purpose. Without meaning. A life without a destiny.”
Fluttershy was intrigued by BlackWarGreymon’s choice of words.
“Life without a destiny?”
“Yes.”
BlackWarGreymon began to think back to his past as he kept on staring at his raised gauntlet.
“Arukenimon may had created me with a purpose to destroy. But that was HER desire, not mine. The destiny that I wanted would be the one I choose. I may had made mistakes in my pursuit, but that was because I didn’t know what was the right path to my destiny.”
He then turned his sights to Fluttershy.
“It’s almost like getting your cutiemark.”
“Wow. If it’s like that, then it must’ve been very important to you,” Fluttershy said, seeing similarities between a pony finding their talent and BlackWarGreymon’s story.
“It was important to me, Fluttershy. Back then, I wanted it more than anything else. But now, it seems I may have finally found it.”
The Digimon looked at the ground with a rather determined glare.
“Evil may have created me… but it will NEVER enslave me.”
Fluttershy was impressed by BlackWarGreymon’s statement. Then another thing got her curious.
“So umm… if you were made to do evil, what was the first act of good you’ve done?”
Before he could answer, something in the meadow caught the Digimon’s attention. It was something he recognized. Looking as though he wasn’t listening to Fluttershy, he got up to his feet and walked to the middle of the meadow. What got Fluttershy more curious was that he then knelt down on one knee as he looked at something on the ground.
After walking to BlackWarGreymon’s side, Fluttershy saw the thing that got the Digimon’s attention. On the ground in front of him, was a tiny pink flower.
As the pony tried to puzzle what it meant, the warrior spoke up.
“To answer your question, my first act of good was protecting a flower that looks just like this one.”
The yellow Pegasus was amazed at what he said.
“You protected a flower? That’s so cute. But why?”
“I wasn’t entirely sure to start with. It wasn’t even accidental. When that Mammothmon was moments away from crushing that flower, I suddenly had the urge to protect it,” BlackWarGreymon said, secretly leaving out the part where he later crushed that very same flower.
Then he heard Fluttershy speaking to him.
“That sounds amazing. And you know what else is amazing?”
“What?” The Digimon asked.
“Well… Equestria and the Digital World are separate from each other. But you say this flower is just like the one you know,” She said as she pressed her nose to the tiny flower, smelling its scent.
Then a large pink butterfly caught her attention as it flew near her. Then it flew above her and in front of BlackWarGreymon. The Mega watched in interest as the butterfly hovered in front of his face and ten landing on his nose horn.
Fluttershy tried her best not to laugh at something as cute as what she was seeing.
As the butterfly perched on him, BlackWarGreymon looked at the sky and took note that the sun was slightly moving towards west.
‘Wow, it’s afternoon already?’
As the Digimon stood back up, he gained attention from Fluttershy.
“What is it?”
“The only place I hadn’t seen yet is Sweet Apple Acres. So I’m going to have a look,” He answered.
“Ok BlackWarGreymon. See you later, and thank you.”
After the butterfly flew off his nose horn, BlackWarGreymon took off the ground and started to fly away. But he then came to a halt when Fluttershy called out to him.
“Wait! Sweet Apple Acres is that way,” She said as she pointed her hoof in the opposite direction to where BlackWarGreymon was heading.
“Oh,” He said as he changed direction, leaving Fluttershy chuckling to herself.