//------------------------------//
// Chapter 31: BlackWarGreymon’s Ascension 
// Story: BlackWarGreymon: Warrior of Harmony 
// by I-C-U-P 
//------------------------------//

Hidden lair, unknown location

King Sombra was sure. He was so certain of his idea, he didn’t foresee any miscalculations. He planned to create a dangerous storm to put pressure on BlackWarGreymon. Making him so concerned for the safety of his pony friends that he would make a dreadful mistake. Make him think that protecting the innocent would not be worth for all the trouble.

But what he underestimated, was BlackWarGreymon’s newfound loyalty to the ponies. The king didn’t know him in the way the Mane Six and the Royal Sisters did. Upon realising that the bond between the good and the Digital Monster couldn’t be shattered by his storm, Sombra retreated.

Back in the evil hideout with Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army, their dark master was not pleased.

“I trusted you, Sombra. You said you could do it, and I put my faith on it. And you failed me! So tell me, how is it that an experienced sorcerer like you, failed to perform one simple task?”

Though King Sombra tried to hide it, and once denied it, but even he was terrified of the evil Digimon. Especially when he gets angry.

“I’m sorry, my lord. I tried my best to create such a dreadful storm. But BlackWarGreymon… is unpredictable.”

Before he carried out his plan to create the storm, King Sombra believed that BlackWarGreymon was a weakling. But after seeing him bested his storm and, despite being so far away, giving him a fierce hate-filled glare of his yellow eyes, the Unicorn learned not to underestimate him.

But what the evil Digimon said next made Sombra on edge.

“Maybe it’s your motives we should be examining.”

“Wha… what do you mean!? I am loyal only to you, my lord. At least my storm had weakened BlackWarGreymon.”

But the Digimon didn’t agree to Sombra’s last statement.

“So, you hadn’t felt it then.”

“What do you mean? Felt what?” The confused Shadow King asked. With the dark being answered back to him.

“BlackWarGreymon’s surge of power. I felt it even from here. You said your storm had weakened him. But it was the exact opposite! All your storm had done was made him stronger!”

Sombra gawked at what he just heard. It even made him panic.

“It… IT DID!!? Uhh… I’m dreadfully sorry, my lord!! But rest assured, I will not fail you again!” He said as he bowed.

The dark being glared his frightening yellow eyes towards Sombra before speaking. His sinister smile hidden in the shadows as he planned to threaten the Lord of the Shadows as punishment.

“You better not, Sombra. Let’s not forget that it was I who gave you life.”

To Sombra’s confusion, the evil Digimon raised his huge open hand towards him. As it slowly grew closer, the Digimon’s index claw-like finger emitted a green glow. As it did, King Sombra suddenly felt as if his whole body was being pinched and crushed all at the same time. He felt like his insides were being both burned and caved in. As if his entire body just gave up on him. He even lost all feeling in his legs as he collapsed onto the floor, trying desperately to breathe. But he could feel his lungs practically failing!

Chrysalis and the Changelings watched on in horror as the Digimon’s glowing finger drew closer to the Unicorn, magnifying the pain of Sombra’s failing body.

He then continued to speak, almost like a growl.

“And I can take it away just as easy.”

As Sombra felt his body dying, the being asked him a question.

“Is that what you want? Is it?”

With the last of the air he had, the fearful Sombra gave his answer.

“N…n…no.”

As he almost lost consciousness, King Sombra no longer felt any pain. It just stopped. He quickly took deep breaths to get more oxygen in his system. His master’s finger had stopped glowing as he retracted his hand.

“Good boy.”

He then turned his back to the dark Unicorn as he continued.

“Now go pack your things. You’re going to the Crystal Empire.”

After he got his breath back, King Sombra rose back on his hooves as he gave is master a questionable look.

“For what reason, my lord?” He asked, feeling that it was too soon to start invading.

Then the evil Digimon explained.

“Digimon have far greater senses than ponies do, Sombra. It’s possible that during your little storm, BlackWarGreymon had sensed your presence. Undoubtedly he will inform his pony friends of your dark magic and they may suspect your existence. I reckon they will head off to the Crystal Empire to confirm it.”

Sombra understood what his master was saying.

“Ahh, I see. And you want me there to… say hello?”

“Precisely. But you may need some assistance.”

“Assistance?” King Sombra asked.

Then to the surprise of the Unicorn and the Changelings, the dark Digimon tapped his finger on a wall of the lair, creating a portal to another location.

“Master, is that…?” Chrysalis asked, feeling of what was on the other side of the portal.

“Yes. Tartarus.”

The dark being then told Sombra of the task at hand.

“Sombra. Deep within the vaults of Tartarus, are the dark spells that Princess Celestia had sealed away. For fear of the great damage they could do if they fell in the wrong hands. I want you to go to the volts and retrieve a spell that could help you.”

Sombra felt excited. He could get to use evil magic that even he may not know about. And there was more than one.

“So, which spell can I use?” He asked.

“I don’t care which one you use. It’s no matter. As long as it gets the job done.” The master responded.

The dark Unicorn felt like a kid in a candy shop. He could get to use any spell he wanted. After showing an insane grin, King Sombra changed into his shadow form and flew into the portal.
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Canterlot

With the threats of the storm and the rockslide long over, the citizens of Equestria’s capital finally settled down and left for their homes. If it hadn’t been for BlackWarGreymon’s timely rescue, the destruction would had been catastrophic, and many innocent lives would had been lost. All would sleep peacefully, knowing that they were under protection of their black-armoured saviour. Whom they were thankful for.

The only ones who remained near Canterlot’s edge were the Mane Six and the Alicorn Sisters. All waiting for BlackWarGreymon’s return from Ponyville.

All of them were shocked to the core when they saw the Digimon shattering a town-sized bolder with a single punch. As the environment around them calmed down, all of them questioned on how in Equestria it was possible for BlackWarGreymon to do something… so unreal.

All…except Princess Twilight Sparkle. Whom told them what she saw back during the storm. Something that may had triggered BlackWarGreymon’s burst of strength.

Their reactions were of great confusion.

“Woah, woah, Twilight. Could you repeat that one more time?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yes Twilight, what… happened with BlackWarGreymon?” Celestia joined. Leaving Twilight to explain.

“I… I don’t exactly know myself. Or how it worked. Or how it even happened! It was so strange. Before I could help BlackWarGreymon lift that giant bolder, a red energy orb just appeared in front of me out of nowhere. And then several more appeared all around me. And then… somehow… they all fused into BlackWarGreymon’s body! I think that’s how he’s gotten stronger in an instant, because he then lifted that bolder up with total ease.”

“Amazing. Suppose you think that he’s gained a new ability?” Luna asked.

“I’m not very sure, Luna. Those energy orbs didn’t felt like they belonged to him. Call me crazy but, they felt more like magic,” Twilight answered, wondering if it was indeed so.

“Well, you did say that the magic of Equestria is making him stronger. Maybe it has something to do with that?” Rarity said.

“Well one thing is for sure. We’ll find out when he gets back,” Celestia said to the group. She too was curious on what was going on with BlackWarGreymon.

As luck would have it, BlackWarGreymon himself showed up just in time. Having flown all the way from Ponyville, he landed beside the smiling faces of his friends.

“I’m back. Ponyville is safe now,” He said, acknowledging his presence.

But as he looked at them, the mares were silent as they gave him warm loving smiles.

“What is it?” He asked, confused at their silence.

Even though the Mane Six and the Royal Sisters wanted to bring up the subject of the Digimon’s recent power boost, but just simply looking at him reminded them about how many lives BlackWarGreymon had saved. And when the threat was over, the being whom was created to destroy, had brought happiness to the citizens of Equestria.

Celestia was right to call him their saviour.

Then Twilight broke the silence.

“That was a very brave thing you did back there. Really it was.”

Her voice was as soft and warm as her eyes.

Then Rarity joined in.

“Even if it meant hurting yourself, you were so determined to keep us safe.”

“Ah bet ya can even move a mountain just to save us,” Applejack added, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy expressed their feelings by running up to hug the Digimon’s legs.

BlackWarGreymon felt a little stunned at how thankful his friends were. It may had been some of the nicest things they had ever said to him.

With his clawed gauntlets and his black shield still on the rooftops, BlackWarGreymon didn’t felt cumbersome as he knelt down to get closer to his friends.

“Of course, and I’ll keep on doing it. I’ll do anything to protect my friends.”

The mares’ eyes widened in delight. His words felt pure and true. They felt appreciated that he called them his friends. Something that was quite obvious from the moment they meet.

Then it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to speak. Though it was more like a praise.

“Dude…you…are…so…AWESOME!!! I mean, couldn’t you be any more awesome than you are now!? You were like…twenty percent cooler then you were half an hour ago! I mean, you totally kicked that storm’s butt! And to end it… you shattered the biggest bolder ever into pieces…WITH JUST A SINGLE PUNCH!!! I didn’t even know you were THAT strong! How did you even do that!?”

Without even knowing, the blue Pegasus had brought up the subject the other girls wanted to know. Then Twilight reinforced the question.

“Yeah, BlackWarGreymon. What happened back there?”

After getting over the embarrassment he felt from Rainbow Dash’s words, BlackWarGreymon took a moment to think the question over. But all he came across was confusion.

“I…I have no idea, Twilight. It never happened to me before. One moment I was fine, then the next I was like… nearly ten times stronger. I didn’t even know how it happened.”

“You mean you didn’t see the red energy orbs?” Luna asked, which caused the Digimon’s eyes to be widened as he looked at her in confusion.

“What red energy orbs?”

Then Fluttershy spoke up.

“Well… Twilight said she saw some orbs of light appearing out of nowhere, and that they all merged with your body.”

The shocked Digimon then turned to the purple Alicorn.

“W-What!? When did this happen, Twilight!?”

“It was when you held that giant bolder over your head. One moment you were struggling, then after those orbs merged into you, you suddenly had the strength to lift the bolder high off the ground. I think that’s where you got your sudden energy boost from.”

Then BlackWarGreymon was hit with realisation.

“Well…now that you mention it. While I was holding that bolder, I did felt something. It was like a sudden surge of energy flowing through my body. I must have had my eyes shut because I was too focused on saving that pony to notice these… energy orbs.”

As the group talked to each other, Princess Celestia was the only one who remained silent. Ever since she and the others discovered that the magic of their world was making BlackWarGreymon stronger, she became curious. But hearing about the mysterious energy orbs that enhanced his strength even further was the deciding factor. The Sun Princess really wanted to see what the Digimon was capable of. By putting him through a test she hadn’t used in a very long time.

But first, she wanted to see how she fairs against a powerful being like BlackWarGreymon.

“Everypony, stand out of the way.”

The Mane Six and Princess Luna looked over to Celestia in confusion. Her voice was stern and her expression was blank. Nevertheless, the ponies did what she said.

With the others out of the way, Celestia had a good view of BlackWarGreymon. Whom was twenty feet away from her.

“What’s wrong?” The Digimon asked, unsure why Celestia was acting so serious all the sudden.

But the White Alicorn answered his question with another question.

“BlackWarGreymon. How much do you trust me?”

The Mega was taken back slightly. There had to be a reason she was acting serious and a tad bit harsh. After regaining his composure, he answered.

“After everything we’ve been through since I got here, I trust you greatly. You are my friend after all.”

Then to BlackWarGreymon’s relief, Celestia smiled warmly at hearing his words. Twilight, Luna and the others also felt relieved.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear from you. Because I want you to stay perfectly still for me.”

Again, BlackWarGreymon was confused at her choice of words.

“Come again? What do you mean ‘stay perfectly still’?”

Celestia answered his questions not by speaking, but by showing. After closing her eyes, her long horn glowed gold as she focused her magic into it. Her closed eyes clenched more as she summoned a powerful spell, solar energy flowing through her body.

Then to everyone’s confusion, a bright golden orb formed at the tip of Celestia’s horn. It grew bigger as she focused more of her energy.

“Celestia? Why are you summoning an attack spell!?” Twilight asked. Worried of what her mentor had in mind. Luna too felt conflicted at what was going on.

It indeed was an attack spell. But by continuously charging her magic, she wanted her spell to be the strongest possible. Even though it was still night-time. In the day, the sun would’ve given Celestia added power.

BlackWarGreymon knew the white Alicorn was about to launch an attack at him. But he didn’t know why. Or why he had to stay still. Or what did trust had to do with it.

But after a brief second, he figured out why. Celestia only wanted to test out his strength. Since a lot of recent things had happened that involved him. 

As to not disappoint the white princess, the black Digimon raised his arms open to his sides. Making himself an easier target to hit.

“I know what you’re planning, Celestia. So I’ll do as you wish,” He said, causing the rest of the group to look at him in confusion.

To them, it seemed BlackWarGreymon was the only one who figured Celestia out.

Celestia herself smiled when she heard him. With the spell complete, she raised her head back. Preparing to fire.

“Sister! Just what are you doi…”

Luna’s voice was cut off when Celestia threw her head back down, firing a massive golden beam at BlackWarGreymon. With her magic derived from the sun itself, it was said that Celestia’s attacks were as hot as the sun’s surface. With heat intensity that matched her possible anger.

Despite all her years as her student, Twilight had never seen Celestia’s attack so large.

The Mane Six and Luna watched on in worry as the golden beam of solar energy collided into the awaiting BlackWarGreymon, exploding on impact. The explosion looked like a miniature sun as the ground shook for a brief moment.

As the explosion faded into nothing, all what’s left was a massive dust cloud. Along with the rest, even Celestia looked worried at the absent sounds of the Digimon. She even thought that she had over-done it.

But to their amazement in a collection of relieved gasps, when the dust faded, BlackWarGreymon was revealed. Standing in the exact same spot, completely unharmed while the smoke seeped from where he had been hit.

“I’m impressed, Celestia. That attack sure packed a punch,” He said, admitting that he had felt the power of the attack.

After collecting her thoughts, Celestia spoke up. Though slightly surprised that the armoured Digimon withstood her full power.

“It seems you have gotten stronger. Now to see what you’re capable of, I’m going to put you through a test.”

While the Digimon expected that the test had to involve combat, Luna and the Mane Six looked at the white Alicorn in confusion.

“What kind of test?” Twilight asked.

Instead of answering the question, Celestia turned around and was about to head back to the castle.

“All of you, follow me.”

Unsure of what Celestia had in mind, BlackWarGreymon, Luna and the Mane Six followed her towards the castle.

On the way to the palace, BlackWarGreymon spoke up.

“Celestia, where are you taking us?”

After a brief moment of silent thinking, Celestia responded.

“I’m taking you to the old Canterlot training chamber.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she recognized the name.

“Oh yes. I’ve forgotten all about that.”

“Of course. I last used it over a thousand years ago,” Celestia added, mentioning that it was at the time before Luna became Nightmare Moon.

“Uhh…Celestia? What exactly is the Canterlot training chamber?” Twilight asked. She had been living in Canterlot most of her life, but she had never heard of the chamber.

Turning around to look at her former student, Celestia explained herself.

“The Canterlot training chamber is where I train the strongest of my royal guards. I put them through ten levels of my test, to see if they could over-come them. But nopony had ever succeeded in passing level nine. Eventually it became too dangerous, so one day I decided to abandon the test and stuck back to the traditional training.”

“Forgive me for intruding, Princess. But what do you mean by…dangerous?” Rarity asked. The others also seemed keen on the reason.

“The test pits one against copies of the most dangerous creatures throughout Equestria. Or duplicates if you will. But the duplicates of the creatures are just as vicious as the creatures in real life. And the danger anypony would go through would be very real. I thought by coming up with it would toughen up the guards. But it later became too risky, so I stopped it altogether,” Celestia explained.

BlackWarGreymon remained silent as he listened. To him, the test sounded exciting. The instincts of a warrior flowing back to him.

“And you chose me because you think I can hold out,” He said.

“In fact, I’m certain that you would not only hold out, BlackWarGreymon. You could be the first to pass it,” Celestia said, glad to see that the Digimon had taken interest.

Before the group entered the castle, BlackWarGreymon quickly recovered his Dramon Destroyer gauntlets and his Brave Shield.

As the group trekked deeper into Canterlot castle, going through passage ways where hardly anypony had ventured, they came across a large metal door with a magical seal on it. Being the only one who could break it, Celestia used her magic to break the seal.

However to everyone’s shock, mostly Celestia’s, when she opened the door, they found the familiar Draconequus sweeping the stone floor.

“Winter Wrap up, Winter Wrap…”

His singing was interrupted when he saw BlackWarGreymon, the Royal sisters and the Mane Six.

“Ohh! Hello there, everypony,” He said while waving.

Everyone just stared at him in confusion.

“Discord! How did you break through my seal!?” Celestia snapped.

Discord took offence to her outburst, but then smirked at her.

“Well it was rather easy really. I went through that quicker than you going through cakes.”

Celestia blushed in embarrassment when Discord mentioned her favourite food. Then Twilight spoke up.

“Ok. But what are you doing here?”

“Alright, alright. Don’t get your horn in a twist,” Discord said to calm her down. He then explained himself.

“You see. I was on my way here to see my dear friend Fluttershy. But then I overheard Celestia talking about some kind of ‘dangerous test’ for BlackWarGreymon here. So I decided to tag along, because I HAD to see this test for myself.”

As he finished, the Spirit of Chaos crossed his arms in victory while looking smug.

“Umm…princess. Is it alright for him to watch the test with us?" Fluttershy asked Celestia.

After some quick thought, Celestia gave her answer.

“I don’t see why not. So yes, he can join us,” She said with a smile.

“As long as he doesn’t cheat,” Applejack said, hinting about Discord’s powers of mischief.

“What! I never!” Discord retorted back.

As the group settled down, Celestia lit up her horn, and all the lights in the chamber lit up. Illuminating the once pitch-black chamber. All eyes stared in amazement, the chamber was gigantic! Big enough to keep a fully-grown hydra as a pet. While the whole room was completely circular, it had only one view port. It was where Celestia stood to witness the test while staying out of harm’s way. The view port itself was built into the wall high above the ground, giving a good view of above and below.

“Wow, Celestia. If you ever want to hire an interior decorator, I may know a guy,” Discord said, he too was in awe at the size of the room.

As he looked around his new surroundings, BlackWarGreymon had one thought crossed his mind.

‘Well, this is going to be fun.’
………………………………………………………………………………………...........................................................................

After remembering the procedure of her test, Celestia had BlackWarGreymon standing in the middle of the massive chamber. While she, Luna, Discord and the Mane Six all stood inside the view port.

“Celestia. Can you explain exactly what’s about to happen?” BlackWarGreymon asked.

High above him in the view port, Celestia explained how the test worked.

“Very well. You see those diamonds all over the ceiling?”

She then pointed her hoof towards the ceiling, showing the Digimon the countless diamond objects imbedded in the concrete.

“They are self-magically charged. When I give the command, it is those diamonds that create the duplicates. All you have to do is destroy the duplicates.” 

“Ok, I got it,” The Digimon said, understanding how the system works.

Then Celestia turned her attention to the Draconequus.

“Good thing you’re here, Discord. Because I would like you to put reinforcement spells on the diamonds,” Celestia said. Believing by making the duplicates stronger, they could at least survive a single punch from BlackWarGreymon.

“Oh…very well,” Discord said as if he wasn’t bothered.

By putting a spell on the magical gems, the diamonds gave off an impressive glow. Lighting up the ceiling like glittering stars in the night sky.

“Ooohh! How fabulous!” Rarity said, liking the light show.

‘Background music’ ‘Shot in the Dark by Within Temptation’

“Ok, now we begin. Because of BlackWarGreymon’s strength, I’m going to combine levels one, two and three into one,” Celestia declared as her horn began to glow. After sending commands to the diamonds above, the magic filled gems summoned golden replicates of a manticore, a chimera and the Bugbear.

Not seeing the chimera before, BlackWarGreymon saw that the fake creature had three heads. One of a goat, one of a saber-toothed tiger and instead of a tail, it as a snake’s head.

The chimera charged first, and prepared to pounce on BlackWarGreymon head on. But as it leapt towards him, the Digimon caught it by the scruff of its tiger’s neck and threw it over-head behind him. When the chimera crashed into the wall, its body shattered into nothing.

As the Bugbear replica charged forth, BlackWarGreymon threw his right arm out. The fake beast was sliced in half by the Chrome Digizoid claws before disappearing from sight. Finally, when the manticore charged, BlackWarGreymon karate-chopped its head, sending it to the ground. He then finished it off with a quick stomp to the head.

‘This is like fighting Artificial Digimon,’ BlackWarGreymon thought to himself.

The spectators were in awe at the sight. Celestia was surprised how quickly BlackWarGreymon passed three stages at once. It’s as if Discord’s reinforcement spell hardly made any difference.

“Well done, BlackWarGreymon. Now to combine level four with level five,” Celestia said before giving another command to the magical diamonds.

Suddenly, all around the Digimon, a large group of teenage dragons and a small swarm of Changeling solders were summoned. All retained their golden appearance just like the three beasts before.

Ass all the fake monsters flew above BlackWarGreymon’s head, the Digimon gave out a small chuckle.

“Sorry Celestia, but this is too easy. Black Tornado!”

BlackWarGreymon immediately spun around with his arms pointing upwards while flying towards the horde of beasts. A vortex of black energy instantly formed around him as he got in close. The Changeling and dragon replicas tried to avoid the tornado, but most of them were caught among the currents. Their bodies popping like bubbles as the winds sliced through them.

After taking out two thirds of his opponents, BlackWarGreymon disengaged his attack, flew towards one of the fake dragons and slammed his left foot into it. The attack forces the dragon back into three more dragons, then all four of them shattered from the impact. After flying back up, one by one BlackWarGreymon slashed any duplicate that was in his way. He then performed his Dragon Crusher attack, the energy wave slowing down the approaching fake dragons, then a wave of intense fire vaporized them.

BlackWarGreymon then finished off the remaining bunch by throwing a Terra Destroyer sphere into the group, then firing several shots of his War Blaster at the others. The attacks made the duplicates disappear from existence.

Seeing how easily BlackWarGreymon made it through half-way her test, Celestia decided to again combine two stages into one.

After the Artificial Mega landed back on the ground, he turned to see his next opponents. Consisting of only four. By combining level six and seven together, the enemy replicas were three full grown dragons, and behind them was a wild version of an Ursa Minor. A young gigantic bear with stars on its forehead.

Twilight and her friends began to understand why Celestia abandoned the test. By involving replicas of huge deadly creatures, it was obvious.

The four huge beasts roared as they charged at their powerful foe, but BlackWarGreymon remained calm and still. When the first dragon replica tried to take the first bite, the Digimon reached out and grabbed the beast’s mouth and, to the amazement of his friends, tossed the giant dragon over his shoulder like a rag doll.

He then leapt forward and spun around as he got close to the second dragon. After timing his actions, the Digimon swung out his leg and slammed the back of his left heel into the dragon’s face. The force of the blow broke the dragon’s jaw and sent it flying into the wall. But enough damage was done, because the body of the fake dragon fell apart soon after.

“Mega Destroyer!” BlackWarGreymon said as he flew towards the third dragon, whom was airborne. The Digimon’s body ignited into mists of dark energy.

Before the dragon replica could react fast enough, BlackWarGreymon collided head-first into the belly of the beast. Both the energy and the physical attack destroyed the third dragon. 

He then flew down towards the angry Ursa Minor, whom threw its left paw out to smack the Digimon. But the armoured being was too quick for the duplicate. First he ducked beneath the bear-like claws and impaled his right gauntlet with enough force to send his entire arm into the golden body.

Imitating as a real-life creature, the fake Ursa Minor roared out in anguish as its body disintegrated from the major internal damage.

The unstoppable BlackWarGreymon then turned to face the first dragon, who recovered from being thrown earlier. To start with, both the dragon and the Digimon charged at each other at the same time. But as they got in close, the flying Artificial Mega looked as though he just disappeared from sight. Moving extremely fast, he moved behind the golden dragon and grabbed the back of the fierce reptile’s head. Then with a forceful yank, he twisted the giant head in a way to snap the neck. The actions ended the duplicate dragon.

Again, Discord, the Royal sisters and the Mane Six were stunned at how easily BlackWarGreymon was progressing. It was as if he wasn’t even trying! Just shows how powerful he was compared to her guards. Seeing that combining stages had brought out the fighting spirit in her friend, Celestia again combined two levels into one. By including level nine, they were at the stage where so few had reached, but none had passed.

Level nine was dangerous enough, but with the addition of level eight, it would be even more dangerous. Probably fatal to an ordinary pony.

After landing and turning around, BlackWarGreymon saw three more beasts summoned into the fray.

The three golden duplicates were the giants of Equestria. An elder dragon hovered in the sky while bellowing its roar. A full grown saber-toothed Ursa Major and in front of it, an adult hydra, all roared out the moment they appeared.

The spectators couldn’t wait to see how their digital friend would face the giant three.

After silently staring at them, BlackWarGreymon leapt through the air at high speeds towards his first target. As he flew in-between the hydra’s four necks, his Digizoid claws sliced through one of them. Causing the head and the whole neck to burst apart.

As BlackWarGreymon left the recently three-headed hydra, he quickly flew behind the Ursa Major and performed his Black Tornado attack into its back. And like a drill, continued onwards. The giant bear-like replica roared in defiance as the spinning Digimon went straight through it and then burst out of its chest. He then immediately flew up to the unsuspecting dragon and slashed his right arm upwards.

To the amazement of the ponies and the Draconequus, a bright vertical line was briefly seen on the dragon’s body. As the dragon stayed motionless, one half of its body started to slide away from the other. With major damage done to their bodies, both the Ursa Major and the elder dragon disintegrated.

After flying high above the hydra’s three remaining heads, BlackWarGreymon quickly created a mighty fifty-foot-wide energy orb as he raised his arms above his head.

“Terra Destroyer!”

He then threw the giant red sphere directly at the hydra’s center, the collision and the blast eradicated the fake reptile in a near blinding light.

Though Celestia wasn’t entirely surprised, but she couldn’t help but be stunned. BlackWarGreymon had beaten the level that was near impossible for ponies in record-breaking time. He may be far younger then the Alicorn, but he fights like a true veteran.

“This is perfect. I always wanted to see what level ten was like.”

Celestia’s horn began to glow bright as she sent a new command to the magical diamonds.

“Now I’ll get to see what THIS creature looks like outside of my mind.”

All eyes looked at the white Alicorn in confusion.

“What creature is it exactly?” Twilight asked.

Celestia explained.

“An imaginary monster I came up with. It was my very first nightmare. It haunted my dreams when I was just a filly. The dream doesn’t bother me anymore because it doesn’t exist.”

Having been a filly at the time of the dream of the so called ‘monster’, it was a time before Luna was born. The reason why she had never heard of the nightmare.

“What is this creature called?” The confused Luna asked.

As golden light descended upon the ground, Celestia spoke of the name of her first nightmare.

“The Ursa Hydragon.”

On the ground below, BlackWarGreymon stared in fascination at the swirling cloud of golden magical energy. Soon merging together to create the embodiment of Celestia’s monster.

It was lucky that the room it was in was so huge, the fake monster measured nearly one hundred and forty feet tall! But if it reared up on its hind legs instead on all fours, it would’ve been two hundred feet tall! Its gigantic body looked almost identical to a Ursa Major, the same with its saber-toothed head. But it was the central head, because attached to its shoulders were a pair of long necks with heads of a hydra. On the back of the beast, were huge wings of a dragon. Also like a dragon, it had a long spiky tail and long razor-sharp claws on its bear paws.

BlackWarGreymon, Discord, the Royal sisters and the Mane Six all stared in awe at the fake hybrid monster. The fusion of an Ursa Major, a hydra and a dragon.

THE URSA HYDRAGON!!!

The moment its body gained physical form, the three-headed monstrosity bellowed its mighty roar.

“That is so cool!!” Rainbow Dash said as Fluttershy hid behind her. But with the others, she was watching the fight.

The monster made BlackWarGreymon look puny. But despite the creature’s fearsome appearance, its gigantic size and its frightening roar, the Digimon remained firm. Despite the obvious size difference, he was completely unafraid.

Plus, realising that it was the last stage of the test, he wanted to finish off with a ‘big bang’.

After taking in a deep breath, BlackWarGreymon closed his eyes and placed his hands close together. Concentrating the negative energy within him and the surrounding area to form a small Terra Destroyer sphere. As he focused more, the orb slowly grew in size.

The onlooking group were confused. They knew that the Digimon could create his signature attack much quicker and much bigger then what he was doing. Why was he doing it slowly?

Wanting to see what he was up to, Celestia commanded the Ursa Hydragon to stay put.

But she and her friends only became more confused. Because as the energy sphere reached six feet in diameter, BlackWarGreymon raised his arms above his head. With more room to grow as it was above the Digimon’s head, the red glowing orb quickly grew to ten feet, then to fifteen feet. As it grew in size, the Mega slowly moved his arms apart, causing the ball of energy to become twenty-five feet wide.

While still holding his attack, BlackWarGreymon began to levitate high off the ground. His actions caused the Terra Destroyer orb to expand much quicker. To the surprise of the group, it exceeded the fifty feet mark. But as the sphere reached just over sixty feet wide, its growth slowed to a near halt. His closed eyes could be seen squinting, trying to build up even more energy into his attack.

The group realised something wasn’t right. BlackWarGreymon had just formed the biggest attack he had ever done. But why hadn’t he thrown it yet? Why was he trying too hard?

‘What is he doing? Why is he holding back?’ The concerned Luna thought to herself. The others felt the same way.

While Discord was slightly calm, the mares began to feel worried. Concerned as to why their digital friend was delaying his attack.

But before they could do something, to their complete utter surprise, a ball of red energy suddenly formed in front of them. Twilight gasped when she saw it. It looked just the same as the ones before.

“Hay! It’s these orbs of light again!”

The whole group looked at the floating red ball in amazement and fascination. But then just as quickly it came to existence, it shot away from them and towards BlackWarGreymon. But unlike the first time, where it were only a few of the orbs, something new happened. All around them, throughout the entire training chamber, countless more of the orbs simultaneously formed out of thin air. Then one by one, they all flew through the air to merge with BlackWarGreymon.

“What’s going on!?” Fluttershy cried out. But everyone else stared silently at the spectacle.

Even Celestia, Luna and Discord were speechless. Throughout their long lives even they had never seen anything like it.

All of them were quiet, listening to the energetic whistling noises as more orbs formed randomly. All they knew was that all the energy orbs were being gathered, and then all converged to the Mega.

The group all stared at BlackWarGreymon in anticipation of what was about to happen. Seeing countless streams of energy all merging with his body. It looked as though he was… charging up for something. Twilight also had a weird feeling. If her friend became incredibly strong from absorbing just six orbs, just what would happen to him if he absorbed hundreds!?

Within seconds, the impressive light show ended. As the last of the energy orbs fused into his body, BlackWarGreymon hunched over slightly from feeling so much excess energy entering his very being. And to top it off, multiplying his already massive power level. Then as he quickly threw his body straight, he released a very loud yell. And as he did, all the energy within him exploded from his body in a blinding red light! Through the worried group had to shield their eyes from the light, they just saw what happened.

Due to the sudden energy rise, the Terra Destroyer sphere that BlackWarGreymon held doubled in size! Measuring up to a staggering one hundred and twenty feet wide! Also the appearance of the sphere had changed. Whereas before it was negative red, it took on a more fiery look. As if one would look into a lava filled volcano! Even the way it shined looked as though it became the sun itself!

The blinding light from BlackWarGreymon’s form kept his friends from looking at him. They were scared. But not from fright, but from a fact that what was happening had never happened before. It was all new!

Although they couldn’t see him, they could definatly hear him.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…!!!!!!

But his screams were not of pain and agony, it was purely from the amount of power that was flowing through his body.

As the light dimmed enough to see, the mares and the Draconequus finally got the chance to see what happened to their friend from the Digital World. And they couldn’t believe what they saw.

Whereas before, Twilight saw a very faint red glow around BlackWarGreymon. But in front of her was the same coloured glow, but it engulfed around the Digimon in a form of a powerful aura. Waves of energy flew upwards as BlackWarGreymon’s new power was surging through and out his body. The unknown energy even caused his yellow hair to wave upwards. What was startling to those whom were watching was that his eyes were wide open. But his entire eye sockets were replaced by blinding light. Much like the times when he unlocked Dragon Crusher and War Blaster, except much brighter.

Then a brief shiver went through the whole group. But since Rarity, Twilight, Luna, Celestia and Discord were magic users, they were the only ones to sense the Digimon’s energy. They were shocked beyond belief at what they sensed. BlackWarGreymon’s power was rising in magnitudes!

As he continued to yell from what felt like the biggest adrenalin rush he ever had, BlackWarGreymon too could feel it. His power rising beyond even his comprehension. And all that power had super charged his Terra Destroyer attack. After he finally stopped screaming, the super Digimon glared down at the Ursa Hydragon. The one who was about to feel the power of his new form.

“TERRA DESTROYER!!!”

With a mighty one-armed throw, BlackWarGreymon sent the colossal Terra Destroyer sphere directly at the Ursa Hydragon. The fake giant reared on its hind legs in an attempt to catch the energy orb almost half its size. But the searing heat of the attack melted straight through its clawed paws, and then pressed into the chest of the beast.

The beast tried to hold firm as the super Terra Destroyer attack continued deeper into its body. But the fake monster could only cry out in anger, pain and defiance.

As the sphere prepared to detonate, a blinding light could be seen shinning out of the gaping hole, the beast’s eyes and its maw. Then within very short moments, the super Terra Destroyer orb exploded within the Ursa Hydragon. The power of the explosion was so strong, that it not only obliterated the fake monster into nothing, the blast wave itself almost reached the viewport!

Seeing how close they were to the explosion, the surprised Celestia immediately put up a magical forcefield in front of the viewport, protecting her friends. Luna, Twilight and Discord reinforced the barrier by adding some of their own magic into it. But as the blast wave hit, the entire viewport was shaken as if it was going through an earthquake. But to their fright, the force of the blast had even caused their barrier to crack! Scorching light seeped through the cracks, causing burns on the ground wherever they touched.

Although trying their hardest to stand up straight, the group backed away from the barrier. In case if it shattered. The spell casters were feeling heavy strains from trying to hold the barrier together.

Luckily, the barrier held up enough for the light to die down and the violent earth shaking to stop. Even the force of the blast had suddenly died down.

Feeling that the unexpected danger was over, the three princesses and Discord dropped their barrier spell and went to the edge of the viewport to see what had truly happened.

All they saw was a slowly diming light near the ground. They knew that was where the Ursa Hydragon once stood. The powerful attack had left literally nothing of it! All what was there was a massive burning crater, and the left-over energy from the explosion. Slowly fading out of existence.

The stone floors were cracked and scorched all over, mostly where the golden beast was. The same could be said for the walls. Even the magical diamonds that were imbedded to the ceiling were all cracked and broken. Their shattered appearances prevented them from creating any more duplicates ever again.

But the group didn’t bother looking at their surroundings. Because as the left-over light from the explosion faded, a second light shinned brighter and brighter. Gaining the group’s attention while making them gawk in disbelief at what they were seeing.

Slowly descending towards the ground, was the red glowing form of BlackWarGreymon. Whom was left completely unharmed from the blast. Due to the immense energy coursing through his body, the Digimon’s eyes remained pale white as his yellow hair continued to wave. But to the group, the part of him that really got their interest was his red glowing aura. The aura remained wild like fire as it surged all over his body. Looking as if it transformed BlackWarGreymon into something new.

While the others marvelled at the Digimon’s display of power, it was the princesses whom were trying to figure out what had happened to him. It was like Twilight said, the red orbs that started it all appeared around BlackWarGreymon. Meaning that they weren’t originated from him. Also the energy they felt from the orbs and the aura was suspiciously very familiar to what they were used to. At first, they couldn’t figure out what it was, but soon they had a possible answer.

But it would have to wait for a moment, because BlackWarGreymon had landed firmly on the ground. He then stood still in silence, the only sound he was making was his fiery aura.

‘Song end’

“Celestia. You… feel that right?” Discord asked her as the two stared at the blank eyes of the super Digimon.

“Yes… I do.”

Feeling that the worst was over and that the ground was cool enough to walk on without getting burnt, the Alicorns teleported the group out of the viewport and onto the ground. As they approached the energized Digimon, the red glow around his body slowly faded away as he lowered his power. His glowing eyes faded away with it and his hair returned to normal.

After reverting back to his normal state, the Digimon was suddenly hit with fatigue as he collapsed onto one knee.

“BlackWarGreymon!” Twilight said as she, Luna and the rest of the Mane Six rushed to his side. Celestia and Discord held back as they remained in thought.

“Are you feeling ok?” Fluttershy asked in concern. But her Digimon friend didn’t answer. He was taking in deep breaths as his eyes were widened in astonishment from what he felt before.

“Wow…unreal…”

“BlackWarGreymon?” Luna said, trying to get BlackWarGreymon to respond.

After he got his breath back, the black Digimon rose back up on his feet as he looked at his arms. Remembering the power he felt.

“I…I feel incredible! I never felt so strong!” He said, joy and amazement were hinted in his voice about the power he’d never felt before. His outburst briefly startled his friends.

“It happened again, BlackWarGreymon. Those weird energy orbs had done that to you again,” Twilight mentioned, with Rainbow Dash joining in.

“Yeah! I mean, I’m not an Alicorn, but even I felt that!”

Though he was glad that his friends were happy about his achievement, the Digimon was puzzled at the same subject that Twilight mentioned before. The red energy orbs.

“Yeah. But… I didn’t create those energy orbs like you said, Twilight. So…where did they come from? And what were they?”

His question was a good one, the Mane Six and Luna tried to think of what they could be.

Surprisingly, they were startled when Celestia spoke the answer.

“It was magic.”

All eyes stared at the white Alicorn in confusion. BlackWarGreymon and Twilight were the ones who were most confused.

“Wha…What do you mean?” The Digimon asked.

“How is that even possible?” Twilight added.

Though talking to BlackWarGreymon, Celestia answered both their questions.

“You said so before, BlackWarGreymon. The magic of our world is making you stronger. But what we saw…was probably the next stage. I don’t know how it was done. But somehow, the magic of Equestria fused with each other to take on a ‘physical’ form. Those spheres we saw… were pure magic. And all of them then merged with you, BlackWarGreymon. That’s why you are experiencing these changes.”

It may sounded hard to believe, but Twilight believed every word Celestia said. Being a much older Alicorn, she understood the properties of magic. No matter what form it took, she would definatly recognize that it was magic. Also as it relates to the fact that the digital warrior was gaining strength from the magic, he and the others believed her too.

Then Celestia had a stern look on her face.

“But one thing I don’t know, is WHY the magic of our world is affecting you like this in the first place,” Celestia said to BlackWarGreymon.

As he entered his trail of thought, the Digimon raised his right arm slightly and looked at his claws. Remembering the time when he first felt the magic entwining with his powers.

“I wish I had the answer, because I really would like to know myself.”

“Either way, it’s a good thing you’re getting stronger,” Luna said, then Rarity joined in.

“Yes. Especially for fighting off a storm like the one today.”

What the white Unicorn said caught Applejack’s attention.

“Now that ya mention it, Rarity. There was somthin’ strange about that storm.”

Twilight was next to join with the flow.

“Yeah, Applejack. In all the books I’ve read, I never heard about such a terrible storm.”

“That’s because it was created intentionally.”

The whole group stared at BlackWarGreymon in shock. Especially about the last word he used.

“Uhh…what do you mean ‘intentionally’?” Pinkie Pie asked. She and the whole group found the word quite suspicious.

“You mean, the storm was deliberately created by… somepony else?” Discord asked. Though he could be the one who was responsible, the group figured that it wasn’t his style. A type of storm he would create would be less life-threatening and more candy filled.

After some thought, all ears listened to what BlackWarGreymon had to say.

“During my time out there, while I was stopping the storm… I felt something. An energy that surrounded the city. It was definatly magic, but it was much darker than any I’ve ever felt.”

“Dark magic!?” Twilight gasped.

“Yes. And after I saved Ponyville, I saw a flicker of light in the distance. I’m certain that the light was a teleportation spell, very similar to that of a Unicorn,” BlackWarGreymon continued.

The whole group became silent as they took in the information. Trying to sum up the course of the storm, and who was responsible.

“A Unicorn…with dark magic. There is only one pony who could create such a storm,” Celestia said.

Luna and Twilight gasped as they looked over to Celestia in shock and disbelief.

“Are you sure, Sister!?”

“But it’s not possible! His body was destroyed!”

While Discord and the rest of the Mane Six looked at each other in concern (less so Discord) as they knew whom the princesses spoke of. BlackWarGreymon was puzzled.

“What? Who is it that you thought was destroyed?”

Celestia put on a serious look as she answered the Digimon’s question.

“The former ruler of the Crystal Empire. King Sombra.”

The Mane Six felt a brief shiver at hearing the name. Remembering the events that happened when they first went to the empire. After centuries of hiding, the crystal city emerged. But with Sombra along with it. Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor were put in charge of the empire to protect it. But with the help of the Mane Six and with Sombra kept at bay, they found the artifact that ended Sombra and brought the empire to its former glory. The Crystal Heart.

It was the Crystal Heart’s power that destroyed the evil Unicorn for good. So to hear that he may had returned was unsettling. So Celestia had an idea.

“There is only one way to be sure if he is indeed alive again. Twilight, you and your friends must go to the Crystal Empire and investigate. And as an added measure, BlackWarGreymon will go with you.”

Despite the unnerving task, the Mane Six were excited to be going back to the empire once again.

“Celestia. What makes you think that King Sombra would be there?” BlackWarGreymon asked her.

“If Sombra plans on taking over Equestria, he would most likely start there. The empire was his home after all.”

She then turned to the Draconequus.

“Discord. I would like you to stay in Canterlot in case he comes back to try something else.”

“I suppose,” Discord replied. Not at all excited.

Meanwhile, outside the conversation, Luna’s face was serious while in thought. Long ago, it was she and her sister who fought against Sombra. And after a long battle, the evil stallion was banished. Sealed away in the icy tombs of the Frozen North.

However, her own thoughts turned its attention to BlackWarGreymon. Unlike Tirek or the dragons, whom relied on brute strength, Sombra was far more cunning. As powerful as he was, she was worried that BlackWarGreymon could fall victim to the Unicorn’s dark illusion spells, or even mind control.

Concerned for her friends, the Night Princess came to a decision.

“I’m going too.”

Although BlackWarGreymon was more than happy to have more of his friends with him, he and the mares looked at Luna with stunned eyes.

“You Luna?” Celestia asked. Then her younger sister explained.

“Well, although Twilight and her friends were the ones who defeated that tyrant, it was only you and I who faced him in a fight. If I go with them, my experience could prove useful. Also…”

Though Celestia understood that Luna was right about being the most experienced when against King Sombra, she was curious that her sister briefly paused before giving another explanation.

“Well… this will be BlackWarGreymon’s first time in the Crystal Empire, and the citizens there had never seen him before. So if they see me, one of the Alicorn sisters by his side, it could prevent any sort of panic. You see.”

The former explanation made perfect sense, but the latter was unusual to Celestia. There was a reason behind her suspicion. Princess Cadence was a very close friend of Princess Twilight, and Prince Shinning Armor was Twilight’s older brother. So if the crystal ponies saw the young princess beside the tall Digimon, then they would get the message that BlackWarGreymon was an ally. For he being a friend of the princesses. But to hear Luna say what she said, it almost sounded like only ‘she’ was up for the task. Not only that, while Luna mentioned about being ‘by his side’, Celestia could’ve sworn she saw a faint blush on the blue Alicorn’s face.

As a matter of fact, while Celestia was thinking about it, ever since Luna first met BlackWarGreymon, the younger Alicorn had been acting…out of the ordinary. The clues were there. Her long pauses whenever she talks about him, her jolting in surprise when he spoke to her, her concern for him even back when they were going through his memories. And the biggest clue however, was her dance with him at the Grand Galloping Gala.

Though Celestia ‘may’ had an idea about what was going on with Luna, to be sure, she agreed with her.

“Very well, Luna. You may go as well,” She said with a warm smile.

Admittingly, Luna was surprised. She thought that her older sister would be against the idea. But she was glad nonetheless.

“Thank you, sister. When will we be leaving?”

Luna’s question was answered, but not in the way she expected. After hearing collective yawns, Discord, Celestia, Luna and BlackWarGreymon turned to the Mane Six. All rubbing their eyes as they tried to stay awake.

“Sorry. But all the excitement from the Changelings and the storm kept us up so late,” Twilight said.

She was right. When the Changeling swarm attacked Canterlot, it was only just after sunset. All the commotion afterwards distracted the group from the time that passed.

“Maybe we’ll leave first thing in the morning,” BlackWarGreymon suggested.

“Now that’s a good idea, big guy,” Rainbow Dash said, trying not to drop out of the air.

With the whole group agreeing to set out for the Crystal Empire at sunrise, though Rarity wanted it to be at nine in the morning, they made their way out of the decimated training chamber.

Celestia didn’t mind though, she already wanted to turn the chamber into something else in the first place.

As the mares, Draconequus and the Digimon all walked across the hallway towards the bed chambers, Celestia was approached by a royal guard.

“Princess Celestia!” He called out.

“What’s the matter?” Celestia asked the guard as he bowed to her.

“Your highness, there have been startling reports of the castle shaking! All of Canterlot felt it! And all the Unicorn guards reported a massive power surge!”

While the guard seemed panicked, the group all knew what really happened. Then BlackWarGreymon confessed as he raised his left hand up.

“Sorry about that. That was me.”

“Nothing to worry about. You may stand down,” Luna said to the guard. Whom responded with a solute.

Before the guard carried on with his duties, he briefly stared at the Digimon in disbelief. All of Canterlot had felt something that HE done.

Then Applejack came clean.

“Alright, am I the only one who thought that was kinda’ scary. Ah mean, the whole city felt what BlackWarGreymon just did.”

What the orange Earth Pony said made the others realise it too. Then they all looked at their digital friend in disbelief.

“What? I didn’t know I was gonna be ‘that’ strong.”

Discord was alone in his thoughts about one subject.

‘He’s right. Just how strong is he really? And just how much stronger is he gonna be?’

He then had a brief shiver as a memory about a certain evil someone entered his mind.

‘I wonder if BlackWarGreymon’s stronger then him?’

As the group reached the end of the hallway, they went their separate ways.

“Ok everypony, time to get some sleep. You need to be ready for tomorrow,” Celestia said to the Mane Six as if she was their mother.

“Ok. See you in the morning,” Twilight said before letting out another yawn. Then she and her Ponyville friends retired into their selected bedrooms.

“I too must take my leave. With all the destruction the storm and the Changelings caused, I’m going to have a busy night,” Luna said as she walked down a different hallway. She also turned her head to smile back at her friends.

When she briefly looked at BlackWarGreymon, the Digimon nodded his head to her. Understanding her duties as the Night Princess. Luna felt her smile grew slightly bigger as she turned away.

“Well, I better skedaddle too,” Discord said as he prepared to disappear from view.

But before he did, Celestia stopped him.

“Hold on, Discord. We may need your help to clean up the damage outside.”

The spirit gawked at Celestia in disbelief. Like a disobedient child, he really wanted to avoid such a task. But knowing that the Sun Princess doesn’t give up so easily, the immature spirit sighed in defeat as he didn’t want to argue with her.

“Urhh… ok fine. But remember, I don’t do windows.”

As she watched Discord walking away, Celestia heard BlackWarGreymon talking to her.

“I would like to help as well.”

Celestia quickly stared at him in surprise. BlackWarGreymon had stopped a Changeling swarm, saved Canterlot from the worst storm in its history, and passed her test. And yet he remains active.

“It surprises me that you can still be standing, despite all that happened today.”

BlackWarGreymon chuckled at what Celestia said as he walked past her.

“Don’t worry about me. You need to get some rest though.”

The Digimon had a point. It was Celestia, not he, was the one who was worn out from everything that happened.

“Very well. I’ll see you in the morning.”

As the two parted ways, Celestia remembered something.

‘Oh, and I better write a letter to Cadence.’

Outside the main gates of Canterlot castle, Discord and BlackWarGreymon got a good look at the task at hand. Though most of the streets were ravaged by the Changelings and the storm, thanks to the Digimon the city was still standing.

“Oh this is going to be so boring,” Discord moaned. Then had an idea on how to become a tease.

“Oh I’ve seen this before, my digi pal. Empty streets, debris everywhere, not a soul in sight. We may be expecting some…ghostly visitors,” He said, trying to creep BlackWarGreymon out. But he wasn’t easily scared.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost.”

“Oh, we’ll see.”

As Discord clicked his fingers, he began to magically tidy up the streets. While BlackWarGreymon took a different street, he briefly saw a flash of blue at the corner of his eye. Turning to where the blue light came from, he looked upon one of the tall towers of Canterlot castle. The blue light came from the top balcony. The Digimon sensed that the light was Luna’s magic at work.

It was an effective system. While Celestia looked after the citizens during the day, Luna looked after them during the night through their dreams. And with the drama caused by the recent events, Luna had to work hard to cleanse all the nightmares.

As he continued to look at the high balcony, BlackWarGreymon got lost in his trail of thought. His mind focused on what the blue Alicorn said about the reasons why she wanted to go to the Crystal Empire. The first reason was believable, for she had battled King Sombra before. But for some reason he didn’t understand, the second explanation she said felt strange.

Both reasons were the truth, but with one was the true answer.
……………………………………………………………………………………….....................................................

The Crystal Empire

Far away at the Frozen North, stood the magnificent kingdom made entirely out of crystal.

Despite the dazzling beauty of the empire, it had a very dark history. Caused by the evil Unicorn, King Sombra. But at the current moment under the night sky, the kingdom was at peace.

Just like all the other cities of Equestria, rumors of BlackWarGreymon had also spread to the empire. Despite the rumors, the crystal ponies carried on their happy lives. Enjoying both day and night since the empire reappeared on the map.

Since there were no rulers to look after the kingdom, Princess Celestia sent Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor to take over. Since day one, the crystal ponies preferred the two royals over their former tyrant king.

Even though the royal couple too had heard of the rumors, in their bed chamber, Shinning Armor was the one who took it seriously as he inspected the map of the empire.

“Ok. Maybe focus the guards at the main gate. And perhaps some patrols at the outskirts,” Shinning Armor said.

He was a white coated Unicorn stallion with a blue mane and tail that had darkened stripes. Plus a cutiemark of a shield. He was also the older brother of Princess Twilight Sparkle and before he became a prince, he was the captain of the Canterlot royal guard.

As he looked over the map, he heard a voice calling to him.

“Shinning Armor, you need to calm down and relax,” Cadence said, urging him to stop.

She was a pink Alicorn with cream, pink and light purple mane and tail. She also had a cutiemark of a blue heart that looked like it was made of crystal. She was also the wife of Shinning Armor and a former foal sitter of Twilight. By marrying Twilight’s older brother, that made them sisters-in-law.

Fearing that he may be scaring her, Shinning Armor stopped and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, Cadence. It’s just these rumors keep getting to me lately.”

Cadence spoke to him as she nuzzled his head.

“I understand, Shinning. But the rumors did say that this… being from another world is Equestria’s saviour. He was even thanked by Twilight, Luna and Celestia themselves.

Her soft words brought calm to the Unicorn. But he explains the true reason why he was on edge.

“I know that. But… just the thought of a being that could defeat Tirek so easily… and the fact that he is among us…is… kind of scary.”

Cadence smiled at her husband.

“I know it all sounds intimidating. But if the rumors are true, then this…BlackWarGreymon…is a friend, not a foe,” She then smiled when a little joke popped in her mind.

“And besides, I hear he’s kinda cute.”

Just as the chuckling Shinning Armor had left the room to get a refreshing drink, Cadence was startled when a scroll appeared right in front of her. As she looked at the levitating scroll, she recognised that it had a yellow royal Canterlot seal on it.

“It’s from Celestia,” She said to herself.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she used her magic to open the scroll and proceeded to read its contents. Some news made her smile, some made her frown in concern, but one made her gasp in fright.

Then Shinning Armor re-entered the room with a glass of water levitating by his side. He then saw Cadence with a scroll in front of her.

“Oh, another letter from Celestia? Or from Twilight?”

But his questions were unanswered. He then grew concerned of the Alicorn’s lack of response.

“What’s the matter, Cadence?”

After slowly turning around to face the stallion, the frightened princess spoke.

“C…Canterlot was attacked by a storm. And Celestia had reason to believe that it was caused by…K…King Sombra!”

The prince couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

“WHAT!!? But… how is that possible? He was destroyed?”

Cadence then went back to double check the letter.

“I’m not sure. But Celestia will send Twilight and her friends to investigate. They will be here tomorrow.”

The prince sighed in relief.

“Well that’s good to hear. Knowing Twily, things will turn out alright,” He said, showing confidence in his little sister.

As Cadence continued reading the letter, something that was written caused her to raise an eyebrow.

“Strange.”

“What? What is it?” Shinning Armor asked.

“It’s said that Princess Luna will also be joining them,” Cadence answered.

The prince was slightly startled, knowing that the Night Princess rarely leaves Canterlot. Other than royal visits or through dreams.

“Oh, well it has been a while since we’ve seen her,” He said as he started to drink his water.

As Shinning Armor was drinking his water, Cadence looked back at the letter. Her eyes widened as she silently read the part that might stress out her husband. Then again, it might also be funny. So with a bit of hesitation, she spoke to him.

“And that’s not all, it also says that… BlackWarGreymon will be coming.”

After hearing the news, the stallion spat out his mouthful of water in shock and alarm. He then coughed to stop chocking himself with the leftover water. Cadence couldn’t help but snicker at his reaction.

“W-What was that!? BlackWarGreymon!? The saviour of Equestria himself!? Is coming here… tomorrow?!”

“Well that’s what the letter says,” Cadence said as Shinning Armor went in a panic.

“We…we better get things ready. We don’t want to get him mad or anything. I better tell the guards.”

“Don’t forget, dear. He’s our guest,” Cadence said as she watched Shinning Armor rushed towards the door.

She then looked back at the letter in thought.

‘Wow. BlackWarGreymon himself. I wonder what he’ll be like.’

But then, her attention was brought to the last part of the letter.

“…furthermore Cadence, ever since my sister met BlackWarGreymon, lately she has been acting strange. Though I have my suspicions, I would like you to keep an eye on Luna and see what you make of it…”

The love princess raised an eyebrow at what the letter said. Wondering what was going on with Luna.