Alright first action scene. Let’s get it going. I only own the plot of this story. MLP FiM is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Digimon is owned by Bandai. Enjoy!
Taming Equestria
A Digimon Story
Chapter 8: Growl of the Wolves
Equestria – Ponyville – Sweet Apple Acres – 12:30 AM
Within the Apple Family home, all four members residing within were sound asleep, waiting for the next day to come. Applejack’s room was dead silent. Turned onto her side, the country mare was snoozing away, dreaming of new ideas she could make with her respective fruit.
*RATATATA*
The noise was out of nowhere and was starting to stir her from her slumber.
*RATATATATATA*
Again, the noise caused her ears to twitch. Grumbling in her sleep, Applejack turned to the other side, trying to avoid the noise.
“WAKE UP!”
That however could not be avoided. A loud voice startled Applejack right out of her bed. With a thud to the floor, she was now awake and rubbing her eyes. Looking around, she didn’t see the culprit’s voice anywhere in her room. But then another tap at the window came. Turning to it, she saw a familiar face. One she didn’t expect to see.
“Calumon?”
The tiny little Digimon had his ears extended and was literally hovering outside her window. He looked like he was frightened. But being mostly asleep, Applejack couldn’t notice that as she walked to the window and opened it up. As she did, the door to her bedroom opened up and the rest of her family walked in.
“Applejack?”
That was her younger sister talking. Frantically, she tried to cover hide Calumon by standing upon her forelegs.
“Applebloom! What are ya doin’ here? Wait. What are all y’all doin’ in here?” She questioned her sister, brother, and grandmother.
“We heard a noise.” The younger apple rubbed her eyes. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Hey! Turn around! There’s trouble!”
The sound of a voice that belonged to none of the Apples caused confusion to rise. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom all looked around the room but found nothing.
“Who in tarnation was that?” Granny Smith demanded. “Applejack what’s behind ya?”
“What? N-nothing! Ah swear Granny you’re startin’ to hear things!”
She was not a good liar. Almost anypony in Equestria could vouch for that face. The performance she was giving here to try and conceal the little Digimon behind her just added on top of that proclamation. Standing on both her hind legs, her front ones extended out to try and cover the window. It was like she was being possessed by a ghost.
And Granny Smith wasn’t going to have any of it.
“Applejack, what are ya hidin’?” Her tone grew stern. “And don’t try lyin’ again.”
Knowing none of them were going to let up, Applejack relented and fell back down to all fours. Once she did, Calumon flew inside and landed atop her head. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith went wide eyed at the arrival of this new unknown creature. Applebloom however…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!”
The young crusader was immediately lost in the cuteness that was Calumon. Without even thinking, she rushed up to get a closer look at him. She almost wanted to take him into her arms right there and hug him.
“Who’s this little guy?” She beamed.
“His name is Calumon.” Applejack replied. “And he was the one who rudely woke us up.”
“I’m really sorry I did, Applejack.” The tiny Digimon did sound like he was legitimately sorry. “But those big wooden wolf things are running around the town!”
Immediately his fear spread to the four ponies in the room with him.
“Timberwolves? In town?!” Applejack stood back up and looked out the window.
“Zap Apple Season just ended a month ago.” Granny Smith stated. “What coulda possibly roused them up?”
Calumon didn’t know what zap apples were. Only that they sounded tasty. Before he could get lost in his love of food he turned back to Applejack who was still looking out her window. In the distance she could see Ponyville. She was starting to pick up a scent in her nose. And it was nasty. Only one thing in Equestria had breath that fowl. Then she heard it.
“AAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”
The howl. That was all she needed to hear. Resting her hat on her head, she bolted out the door.
“Big Mac, hold the fort here in case they come!” She called back.
“Eeeeeyup.” The elder sibling muttered.
The youngest Apple went up to her sister’s window and watched her run out and into Ponyville with that cutie Calumon flying behind her. She was focusing more on the latter. What the heck was that little thing? And how tight could she hug it before it burst?
Usually nights in Ponyville were peaceful. Ponies would sleep, Princess Luna would come into their dreams, ward off any nightmares, and so on. This night however, the nightmare was not in the dream realm. Screams filled the air in town as ponies either were running from their homes or bolting the doors shut. A pack of five timber wolves had emerged from the Everfree Forest and was now walking through the streets leaving giant wooden paw prints in their trails. Nopony had any clue why they were here. Timberwolves never came out of the forest unless something had bothered them. So what was the cause here?
As one of them walked into town square, it looked around for what it sought. Upon not seeing it, the creature only grew angrier and growled towards its pack mates as if giving them orders. After it did, it turned to walk in another direction but was instead met with a blast of cake batter to its face.
“BAD TIMBERWOLVES! BAD! GO BACK TO THE FOREST!”
Pinkie Pie was wide awake. And she was not happy about these big wooden dogs trampling in and ruining everypony’s beauty sleep. Oh no. She was not going to have it. With her party cannon loaded with whatever she could cram in there, the busted out of the Sugarcube Corner and went off to do her job as one of the Elements of Harmony and protect her home. She knew it wouldn’t be long before she got help from her friends. But she did hope it would come sooner than later as the timberwolf she fired at shook the batter off its face like it was nothing.
The creature then looked down at its assailant with an angry snarl. Sure the blast of undone cake did nothing to it, but this pony was getting in its way. This meant she needed to be removed in order to carry out its mission. A bit unnerved by the slow approach of the creature, Pinkie held her cannon out in front of her while backing away.
“Uhh….heehee. Niiiice doggy.” Pinkie nervously muttered.
The timber wolf raised a wooden paw to swipe at the party planner with a raised wooden claw but was instead broken apart due to the force of a cyan blast of magical energy. The shot soared above Pinkie’s head and made contact with the very cent of the wolf’s chest. As it fell into a bundle of logs before her, the pink earth pony turned around and smiled at Starlight Glimmer who still had her horn glowing and ready to fire another shot.
“What’s going on, Starlight?!” Pinkie asked, hoping the smart unicorn would know.
“I have no idea!” Unfortunately, Starlight was as clueless as everypony else. “But we have to find a way to make them go back to the forest!”
Twilight came flying in besides her folding her wings back to her body as she touched back down.
“And we need to make sure they don’t hurt anypony.” The alicorn added on.
She knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the girls would be in town and ready to help how they could. Hopefully it wouldn’t have to be a long wait. The timberwolves were starting to spread out all over town which made keeping tabs on all five of them harder. Not to mention she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could.
Looking back to her home, she prayed that the wolves didn’t reach it. The last thing she needed was an injured human on her conscious. What would she tell his parents if she ever could get through to them?
She couldn’t think about that now. First wolves, then Takato. Her horn flared to life in a flash of magenta as she hovered above the ground with her wings flapping again. Seeing the three ponies in front of the wolf made it angry. These ponies were getting in the way. To show it was ready to fight them, it let out a mighty roar to intimidate them.
Meanwhile back at the castle, Spike stood in front of Takato’s door and listened inside for any sign of noise. There was nothing. He didn’t know why Twilight asked him to not let the tamer know about what was happening. He thought the Digimon could help. They were able to ward them off in the forest. But he still trusted Twilight’s judgment so he did as he was told. The distant but audible howls and roars of the timberwolves did make him tremble a bit. He remembered the last time he encountered one when he was pledged to Applejack because of his dragon code. They were scary then and they are still scary now.
Inside the room, the Digimon were sound asleep in their spots save for the absent Calumon and Renamon. Guilmon’s snoring seemed to echo around the room. Thankfully for him and the others, they were all deep sleepers. Then suddenly, the noise just stopped. Guilmon twitched as the faint sounds of a roar went into his ears. The snoring was replaced by smelling. After a few sniffs from the red Rookie’s nose, his eyes opened up and the pupils were now as small as pinpricks.
The motion of him jumping off the bed was enough to wake his partner up, rubbing his eyes, he saw Guilmon staring at the window and growling.
“Guilmon, what’s going on?” he asked.
That pose and growl meant one thing: Trouble. Yet how did he know? Guilmon could only smell Digimon. As the growling grew louder, the other Digimon were stirred from their own rest and woke up to see that Guilmon was battle ready. But ready for what?
“What’s goin’ on with pineapple head?” Impmon asked, not liking the rude awakening.
His answer came to him when Renamon performed her trademarked entrance and phased into the room.
“There is a pack of timberwolves in town right now attacking. For what reason, I don’t know.” She told them.
This brought a sense of alert to all of them, especially Takato.
“You mean those huge wooden wolves from the forest?! We gotta do something!” He jumped out of bed and looked around for his shoes and socks.
“That’s why I’m here.” Renamon said. “The ponies are trying to push them back but they’re struggling. They need help.”
“And they’re gonna get it!” Takato shouted, determined to help the ponies who were helping him.
With his footwear on and short sleeved hoodie back on his torso, he grabbed his Digivice and deck of cards and looked to Guilmon.
“You ready, boy?”
“Let’s do it, Takato.”
He needed one last thing. The goggles. Putting them back on his head, he turned to the rest of the Digimon who were all wide awake.
“I know your tamers aren’t here. But do you think you could-“
“Absolutely!”Terriermon shouted with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for a while to get back to rumbling! And what better way to do it on some big wooden doggies?!”
“These ponies are peaceful.” Kokuwamon concurred with Terriermon in a different way. “We must do what we can to help them.”
Looking around, he saw and heard all the other Digimon voice their approval and readiness to fight. Turning to Renamon for the final vote, she nodded in agreement. Smiling, he looked to the door.
“Then let’s go.”
He swung the door open and was prepared to run right out of it. But all of them stopped short when Spike was found to be standing on the other side with his arms extended out.
“Ummm….Spike? Would you mind moving? It’s kind of an emergency.” Takato asked nicely.
“Sorry, Takato. But Twilight told me to make sure none of you left.” Spike said with a flat tone.
As the dragon said that, Spike realized he had a problem with fulfilling that request. If it were only Takato, that would be one thing. Instead he found himself proclaiming not only to the human, but to the seven Digimon that were standing behind him. He had no idea how he was going to do it. But he promised Twilight that-
“Wait. There’s only seven? I thought I heard-”
“GYAH!”
Before the young dragon even knew what was happening, he found himself behind hoisted up off the ground by his own tail. Hanging upside down, he saw that the one holding him was Renamon. And the bipedal vulpine looked like she was in no mood to be told what to do. Then again she always had that look.
“Listen, lizard boy. I know you have your orders from the princess. But we’re going out there whether you like it or not. And I think you know you don’t have enough power to stop us.”
He didn’t need to be told. As soon as he found himself hanging like a bat, Spike knew there was no way he could keep them contained like Twilight wanted.
“Renamon, put him down. We gotta go.” Takato said.
Following his request, Spike had no choice but to watch as all the Digimon rushed out of the room to find the front door. Takato was the last to exit. Instead of following them, he knelt down and helped Spike stand up straight.
“Sorry about this, Spike. I’ll tell Twilight it wasn’t your fault. I promise.”
With that said he stood back up and rushed after his partner leaving Spike there to wonder just what they could do to stop a whole pack of timberwolves. Yet as he saw Takato leave, he saw that the human seemed to have no hint of fear anywhere on him. He had almost forgotten that Takato had told some harrowing tales of his own adventures with his friends. He hoped it was enough as he heard the door to the castle shut with a thud. The young dragon stood in the hallway contemplating going after him. Two steps into that march another howl sounded out making him stop.
“You know what? Maybe he’ll do okay. He has a dragon with him.”
Back out in the town the streets were empty now save for five timberwolves seemingly on the hunt for something, and seven ponies trying to redirect them back to the Everfree. No matter what they shot at these things, they just kept on rebuilding themselves and continuing their rampage.
“Darn it! These things just keep getting back up!” Rainbow Dash cried from up above.
She didn’t have much when it came to magic or that earth pony strength. But what she did have was speed and acrobatic skill. It came with being a Wonderbolt. What she would do is lure the timberwolves into following her and then lead them down the streets where she would pull up and make them collide with yet another one. The results were as effective as anything else that was thrown at these things. They’d break apart for only a few seconds, and then they would reassemble.
Being the air support, Rainbow Dash quickly thought about plans to get these things to leave but her brain came up with nothing solid.
“RAINBOW DASH!!!!!”
The pegasus’ ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice. It wasn’t any of her regular friends. It was rather a friend of hers from the weather team. The only pegasus pony in town who had wandering eyes. And she looked like she was scared out of her mind as she flew in and hovered in front of Rainbow Dash panting her lungs out.
“What the-Derpy! What are you doing out here?! It’s too dangerous!” Rainbow knew Derpy Hooves was a bumbler but she had to have SOME sense right?
“It’s Dinky! I can’t find her anywhere! My little muffin is out here somewhere!” The gray pegasus’ eyes began to leak.
Rainbow let loose a small gasp. Of course that’s why Derpy is out here. Her daughter is missing. Any mother would do the same. There wasn’t any question of it now. Rainbow Dash had a filly to save on top of saving Ponyville from timberwolves.
“Don’t worry, Derpy! I’ll find Dinky! You just stay up here and away from all that!” Rainbow Dash flashed her cocky smirk and flew back down into Ponyville.
Derpy took a sigh of relief knowing Rainbow Dash was on the job. She watched from up above as that rainbow streak went whizzing through every street at high speed. Rainbow may have been flying too fast for any normal pony to look at the same time, but she was no ordinary pony. She could multi task. And she was on a mission. Dinky wasn’t just the daughter of one of her old friends, but also one of Scootaloo’s classmates. She couldn’t let anything happen to the little unicorn. First thing was first though. She had to find the filly.
“Dinky! Where are you?!” She called out hoping for an answer.
“HEEEEEEEEEELP!”
Lucky for the cyan pegasus she got one. That scream was way too high pitched to be either Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy. That kind of high note only comes from a child. Heading to the left, the found the voices owner.
Dinky’s coat and mane almost matched her mother’s perfectly. But right now she looked as if she could be pure white with all the fearful shivering she was doing. One of the timberwolves had found her and backed her into a corner.
“Dinky, hang on! I’m coming!”
The wonderbolt dashed forward making a bee line straight for Dinky. With her forelegs stretched out all the way in front of her, she was ready to swipe the filly off the ground and curve up into the sky where her mother waited for her with open hooves.
“GYAH!!!!”
Unfortunately what ended up happening was, one second into her approach, she was slammed into the ground underneath the paw one of the timberwolf’s pack mates. With her wings pinned down underneath its wooden paw, and her hoof strength nowhere near as strong as an earth pony to push herself up, Rainbow was trapped.
“GRRRGH! AAAGGGH! Let me go you walking pile of tree bark!” Rainbow angrily shouted.
It was no use. She could only struggle and watch as Dinky only screamed her little lungs out. The wolf in front of her began to lean down and open up its jaws, ready for a snack.
“DINKY! NOOO!!!!
“TERRIER TORNADO!”
Rainbow Dash was the first one to jerk her head in the direction of that call. The wolf that was about to chomp Dinky into mush turned away for just a moment only to see a miniaturized green twister flying towards him at a speed to fast to dodge. The twister hit the side of the wolf dead on causing it to fall apart like usual.
“POWER PAW!”
A yellow and purple blur flew in from overhead nailing the wolf that had Rainbow pinned down in the side of the face. Rather than bursting apart, the wolf was merely knocked to the side. The paw came off of Rainbow’s body and she made a speedy getaway. Speeding towards Dinky, she sweeped her up off the ground and into the sky. Derpy was elated to see her daughter be put back into her forelegs. The reunion between the mailmare and her child was a smile inducing sight indeed, but Rainbow Dash had her attention diverted when she remembered those two voices.
Down in front of the now two timberwolves, the previous one having rebuilt itself again, were Terriermon and Renamon. They were hunched over in fighting positions as the wolves just growled at them to intimidate them. The tactic was ineffective against them. They were then joined by the pegasus who flew down and joined them on Renamon’s left side.
“Thanks for the save.” She said to both of them. “But you two should get out of here. We don’t want anypony seeing you.”
“Are you kidding?! No way!” Terriermon shouted. “We’ve been itching to get back into the ring for a long time!”
“And it seems like you could use all the help you could get.” Renamon added.
As she spoke, the vulpine Digimon crossed her arms in front of her chest. Before Rainbow Dash could argue back, Renamon leapt up and towards the two wolves. Seeming like she was now hovering in mid-air, she lashed both her arms out to her sides. Out of seemingly nowhere, a wide array of white glowing spikes appeared underneath her arms. The wolves just let out a snarl of confusion at the sight.
“DIAMOND STORM!”
One at a time at a pace too fast to track, the spikes all shot towards the two wolves and they both found their faces seconds later, to be stung with the sharp projectiles. Roaring, both of them started shaking their heads to free themselves from the shower of spikes while Renamon landed back on her feet. Terriermon was all the while laughing at Rainbow Dash who had her jaw dropped, completely stunned at what Renamon just did.
“So you thought that was cool, huh?” He said as he took a step forward. “My turn.”
His first move was taking in a deep breath and taking aim at the wolf on the right.
“BUNNY BLAST!”
Right after seeing Renamon let loose an attack of flying jewels, Rainbow Dash then turned to see little Terriermon unleashing a rapid fire barrage of tiny green bolts of energy from his mouth. Every single shot landed directly on the side of his intended target’s face. The force of the blow may not have been much but it was enough to catch the wolves’ attention.
“Wha…..what?”
Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words. Diamond Storm? Bunny Blast? What the heck were these creatures? She heard Takato explain it a couple times today but hearing explanations and seeing demonstrations were two very different things.
“Rainbow Dash, Terriermon and I can handle these two.” Renamon advised the pegasus. “You should go and help one of your friends.”
Shaking her head, Rainbow snapped out of her stupor and looked to the bipedal vulpine.
“Are you sure?” She asked her.
“Momentai.” Terriermon smugly replied. “I’m gonna teach Rover here some new tricks.”
The pony was about to protest but then she did a little bit of quick thinking and found that Renamon had a good point. With her and Terriermon keeping these two busy, she was free to help out with another friend who needed it. Her wings began to flap and she lifted off the ground.
“Alright. Be careful you two.” She wished them before taking off further towards Ponyville’s center.
Meanwhile in another part of the town, another wolf was slowly walking through the street turning its wooden head back and forth searching for something its nose was picking up on. It was getting closer too. Turning another corner, it saw prey. It wasn’t the same scent it was locked onto, but it would be a good enough snack before feasting on its main target. This prey was a yellow pegasus who was leading a band of baby ducklings separated from their mother into a bush to hide.
“Now you stay there and stay hidden. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.” She softly said to the baby ducks.
The sound of growling and the stench of a monster’s breath caused Fluttershy to go stiff. She could barely manage to even turn around to look her assailant in the glowing eyes. She wanted to use her ability to talk with the timberwolf and plead with it to leave her alone but she knew these creatures were one of the few who didn’t care that she could talk to them. So it was wasted on them.
The wolf took more steps toward her. The ground shook underneath her hooves. Then the wooden creature began to lean its head down to take a bite into its snack.
“BEAT KNUCKLE!”
It didn’t even get close before a purple blur flew over Fluttershy’s head and smashed its right three claws into the timberwolf’s nose. The force of the blow was enough to send the monster sliding back in the street, leaving two big ruts in the ground. Snapped out of her feared stupor, Fluttershy was instead stunned when she saw her savior land on both of his feet and flex his purple arms, ready for more.
“Monodramon?” She muttered.
Hearing his name, the dragon Digimon turned his head and smiled at the yellow pony.
“Are you alright?” he asked genuinely concerned.
The demure pegasus could hear the sincerity in his voice. While relieved that she was saved by him, it only made her feel worse about her fear about him. He was a dragon, but he was a lot like Spike. He just saved her life. He wasn’t greedy or a brute or anything like that. Monodramon was just being a friend.
“I’m….I’m fine.” She replied. “Thank you, Monodramon.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The Rookie said back. “But you better get away. It’s not going to get any safer here.”
“You’re sure you can handle it on your own?” She suddenly grew worried again.
“If I were Cyberdramon, this would already be over.” He turned his head back to look at the recovering wolf. “But I can take this guy.”
Cyberdramon? Fluttershy had questions in her head about who that possibly could be but she shook them out. She heard Monodramon could take this guy on his own, and that was all she needed to hear. Pulling up on the bush where she just hid those ducklings, she gestured for them to come back out.
“We’re not safe here. I’ll take you somewhere else.” She crouched down for them to hop on her back.
One by one, the ducklings hopped onto her back. When all four of them were there, her own wings spread out and she took to the skies.
“Good luck, Monodramon!” She cried back to her hopefully future friend.
As she flew overhead, Fluttershy could see that the other Digimon had joined the fight as well. Lopmon and Kokuwamon were partnered together fighting one alongside Applejack and Rarity. MarineAngemon, the tiny little thing, was blowing heart shaped bubbles at the same one. Strangely enough, it was working. And Rarity could not have been more confused as to how that was possible. She was the one standing next to the small Digimon after all.
The only ones that Fluttershy couldn’t see or hear from above were Guilmon, and Impmon. If the others were there, that meant they had to be somewhere too right? Unless a wolf already got them before they had a chance to help. Shaking her head, she threw those thoughts out of her head and turned to the right to find a place to set these ducklings down in a safer place.
Back on the ground, Twilight, Starlight, and Pinkie Pie were each trying to handle the one wolf that had the scorch mark on the side of its face. No matter how many times they blasted it apart, they could not find a way make it stay down or make it change its direction back to the forest. For the two ponies sporting magical horns, they could keep trying. But the same could not be said for Pinkie whose party cannon fired off a dud.
“Girls! My party cannon is out of ammo!” She cried to them.
Without her cannon, Pinkie was pretty much useless. She didn’t have earth pony strength on the same level Applejack did. And Sugarcube Corner was too far away to go and resupply.
“This thing just won’t give up! What did it even come here for?!” Starlight asked again.
“I have no idea!” Twilight responded, wracking her brain to think of a plan.
“INFERNAL FUNNEL! FIRE!”
Turning their heads, the wolf, and the three ponies present saw a ball of fire about the size of a dodge ball fly towards the creature of wood. The wolf just barely ducked it and watched as the ball of flame soared into the sky for a few moments before dissolving.
Turning back, the wolf’s snout picked up the scent it had been following. Only now it was ten times stronger. Its intended prey was there. The trip of mares saw him too. Impmon was standing there with his arms extended after throwing that fireball.
“Didn’t learn your lesson back in the forest now, did ya?” Impmon taunted. “Looks like I’m just gonna have to give it to ya again!”
The response was not what the small virus type, or the three ponies expected. The timberwolf raised its head to the sky and let loose a loud howl. Throughout the town the other wolves heard the call and turned away from their current fights and started to run towards town square, where their leader was waiting for them.
“Where on Earth are they going?” Kokuwamon wondered.
“Ah don’t know.” Applejack answered the machine Digimon. “But we better follow em’.”
No need to argue with that. She was right and they knew it. They all took off after the wolves and ran into Rainbow Dash along the way. Terriermon was floating alongside them using his ears as makeshift wings like Calumon could. Who by the way was underneath Applejack’s hat the whole time. Renamon was hopping along rooftops in pursuit of her fleeing opponent. When they came to the clearing that was town center, they saw all five wolves together once again and slowly closing in on their primary target. And that target was the small purple mischievous virus type.
“Uhhh….hehe…..oh boy.”
Nervously, Impmon began to back away from the five wooden creatures approaching him with their fangs bared.
“Impmon? They’re here for Impmon?” Terriermon couldn’t grasp it.
But Twilight could. A small gasp escaped her lips as she cracked the equation in her head.
“That wolf. With the scorch mark. It’s the same one Impmon must have burned earlier today in the forest. It came here for revenge.”
“Well that’s not going to happen.” Dashing forward, Renamon jumped up high and lashed out her arms again.
“DIAMOND STORM!”
Rarity was not the only one stunned to see Renamon’s fierce attack be unleashed. Rainbow Dash was the only pony who had seen it until now. However the attack itself did nothing this time around. The shower of spikes only stuck into the creatures wooden backs. None of them even flinched. After she landed back on her feet, Renamon started sprinting forward, looking for a gap in between the wolves to get to Impmon.
“SOMEBODY GET THESE MUTTS AWAY FROM ME!” Impmon shouted.
All five of the wolves began to lean down to finish the virus type off.
“PYRO SPHERE!”
A dim orange light came from the right side, catching the wolves’ attention. Another fireball, much bigger than any Impmon had been seen thrown, buzzed by their heads and just barely missed them when they ducked out of the way. Growling, they turned to see who it was that had just fired that shot at them. The Digimon already knew by the attack call out alone. But the ponies all turned their heads in kind with the timberwolves and were all giving off mixed expressions as to what they saw. Twilight for one was downright terrified.
Guilmon was standing there, hunched over and his pupils still shrunk. His fangs were bared and his claws looked about ready to slice through anything that came his way. Standing right next to him was his partner. His face was flat as he looked upon the five timberwolves with interest. But his main goal was now only to beat them. Determined to carry it out, he looked to his partner.
“Go get em’.”
The rookie didn’t need to be told twice. He lunged forward growling with every step he took while Takato remained where he stood.
“Takato!”
The young tamer looked over to see Twilight fly over looking frantic. Her friends and his friends were both in tow with her save for Renamon and Impmon.
“What are you doing out here?! You have to get back to the castle! It isn’t safe here!” The alicorn cried as she gestured Takato to head back.
The movements she got were not the ones she was expecting. Instead of turning around, the human just turned his eyes back to his partner. Then his hand went to his back pocket and came out holding one of the cards from his card game. In his other hand was his Digivice.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
All seven present ponies just looked at the card with nothing but confusion. Was this kid out of his mind? Then they saw the boy hold his Digivice above his head and the card was soon to follow. He looked confident but inside he was just repeating over and over.
“Please work, please work, please work, please work!”
As soon as the edge of that card was inserted into the slot on the right side, a series of bright white sparks began to fly out of it. The Equestrians were now completely lost as they watched Takato swipe the card all the way through.
“DIGI-MODIFY! HYPER SPEED, ACTIVATE!”
Not keeping his eyes anywhere but on his partner, Takato smirked when he saw Guilmon’s legs began to move faster. Then faster. Then he picked up speed again. Before he knew it the Digimon was a blur sped through the legs of the timberwolves. They couldn’t even twitch before Impmon was caught in Guilmon’s arms and in a flash was set down in front of Twilight and the others.
“Whew. I am so glad that worked.” Takato said to himself before speaking out loud. “Good job, Guilmon.”
“Yeah. I owe ya one, pineapple head.” Impmon thanked his savior.
Nodding, Guilmon turned around and began to charge back to the wolves. The other Digimon thought it would be best to leave this fight to him from now on since he was the only one who had his partner here to assist him. Renamon was in agreement as she retreated back and stood by Monodramon’s side. Takato turned his head to follow him with his eyes but stopped when he saw all seven Equestrians staring at both him and Guilmon with various levels of stupor.
“Wha…huh?” Twilight raised a shaky hoof, trying her best to point at the card in Takato’s hand.
“What?” The human had no idea what was wrong.
“You told us those were just playing cards for a game!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You didn’t tell us they could power Guilmon up!”
“I didn’t?” Takato thought back to his explanation and tried to remember if he did or didn’t disclose that detail.
“Um….now may not be the time to get into this.” Rarity observed as she watched Guilmon close in to the five timberwolves.
The tamer agreed whole heartedly and returned the hyper speed card to his pocket before pulling out a few more and searching through them, trying to pick out another one to use.
“What other cards you got?” Rainbow Dash was now looking over Takato’s shoulder at the cards.
The other ponies gathered around, sharing Rainbow’s interest into Takato’s next move. Deciding on a card, he placed the other ones back in his pocket and kept on in his hand. In the center of it was a pictograph of six white bright wings.
“Let’s give them a tricky target.” The tamer repeated his action from before and raised both his Digivice and the card above his head as he swiped it through.
“DIGI-MODIFY! HYPER WING, ACTIVATE!”
In his sprint, Guilmon could feel a familiar tingling in his back. Seemingly from thin air, three pairs of white wings, mirroring the appearance on the card, materialized in his back and carried him into the air. Once again, the ponies were stunned at the power this kid and his Digital partner truly had together.
“YOU CAN GIVE HIM WINGS?!?!?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it. “AND THEY WORK?!?!”
“Sure can.” Takato replied as he slipped the card back. “Guilmon! Don’t let them cause too much damage!”
“Right!” the Rookie shouted back.
Curving upwards, Guilmon turned out of the way to avoid the many swiping paws that were trying to knock him out of the air. He barrel rolled out of the way of one more before he was high enough to the point where the wolves now had to leap to try and reach him. One of them tried to with open jaws and snapped them shut when it thought it was within range to bite. It missed by a mile when Guilmon swooped to the left. Then he began to dive down at high speed and drew back his right arm as he closed in on the head of the pack. That wolf with the scorch mark on its face.
“ROCK BREAKER!”
With a punching motion, Guilmon’s claw made contact with the side of the wolf’s face. It wasn’t strong enough to break it apart. But it was definitely packing enough power to send the creature off balance. Descending a bit more, Guilmon kept going and landed another Rock Breaker on another one’s leg. The leg did break apart causing the wolf who was hit to fall to the ground. Dodging again in mid flight, the virus type broke left and then made a hard right to avoid two incoming wolves. He just barely was able to avoid them and was able to make the two collide into each other and break apart.
While this was happening, the other Digimon just stood by and watched the show with satisfaction. The seven mares were all impressed by Guilmon’s ability to fly. Rainbow Dash was tempted to ask the Digimon to a race when this was all over using those wings. Meanwhile Takato was just watching with the knowledge that his partner was capable of finishing this on his own. With all the times he had used that hyper wing card on Guilmon, he was pretty much used to it being a part of him by this point.
The other ponies had to give Guilmon his props. Even though those wings were fakes he sure was good with them. And he was taking on five timberwolves on his own with them which was even more impressive.
“WOOO-HOOO!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “GOOOO GUILMON!”
As she cheered, the other Digimon fell into confusion upon seeing the pink pony wearing all sorts of articles relating to the one out there fighting. A red hat with ears resembling his was on her head, as well as a shirt with a symbol that matched the one on the Rookie’s chest. On both her hooves were a couple of red foam claws.
“Wha….where did she…?” Terriermon could not find words.
“Do yourself a favor. Don’t question it.” Starlight strongly advised.
The red Digimon adorned with fake wings began to curve upwards again as he prepared to curve around and launch another aerial attack. The sound of a roar that wasn’t his however caused him to tear away from his concentration and see the wooden paw coming in from the left. There was no time to react. Guilmon was swiped out of the air like a fly by the wolf he didn’t yet hit. He was beyond making a recovery in mid-air as he spun out of control and thudded into the ground. He slid in the dirt for a few moments before coming to a stop. He let out a painful groan as the white wings vanished off his back.
“Guilmon, no!” Takato began to dash for his partner.
“Let’s get back in there!” Impmon shouted.
The other Digimon were quick to agree and began to run right behind Takato. The seven mares were quick to follow. Their path however was quickly blocked by four of the five timberwolves. The ones that were busted apart had already reformed back together, much to all of their annoyance.
“Oh right….they can do that.” Takato had seem them perform that feat earlier in the forest yet had already forgotten about it.
With their path blocked, everyone who could moved forward to attack and clear the way so they could get to their downed ally. One by one, attack after attack was fired at the wolves, be it by magic or by Digimon. This time however, the wall of wolves would not stand for it. Every blast that was aimed at them, they avoided. Those that didn’t do much damage were merely brushed off. Some of the blasts whizzed past them and ended up impacting a few of the houses. Twilight and the others cringed. They didn’t want to break their town but these things couldn’t keep running rampant.
Meanwhile as Takato kept trying to find an opening through them, he could see through the other wolves that the pack leader was closing in on his partner.
“Guilmon! You gotta get up!”
“Takato, don’t get too close!” Twilight warned him from the distance.
She wanted to swoop in and grab him to pull him away from the wolves but unfortunately one had her hooves tied. Frantically, Takato began rooting around in his back pocket searching for a card to recharge him with. His thinking was turned away from his hand when he heard Guilmon cry out in pain. The wolf had slammed its paw down on his body rather harshly. With the Digimon incapable of movement, the timberwolf began to lean his head down and take a bit out of its next meal.
The ponies and other Digital Monsters all looked on in horror on what looked like Guilmon’s final moments. Takato’s breathing began to rapidly increase in pace like crazy. This couldn’t be it. It just couldn’t be. They had just reunited after so long. This could not be the way it was supposed to end. Not like this.
“NOOOOOOOOOOO! GUILMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”
If the volume of his voice sure wasn’t enough to capture the attention of everything that heard it, the light erupting from the device he held in his left hand certainly did the trick.
*Residence of Lyra and Bon Bon*
Everypony in town was hiding in their homes trying to hide away from the rampaging creatures. Lyra and her roommate Bon Bon were no exceptions. Though the latter was a secret agent, she could not hold her own against five timberwolves. She thought it better to remain at home with her friend and comfort her until the princess and her friends could deal with it. She just sat there in her house, hugging her friend and roommate close all the while telling her things would be okay.
Her task got a bit harder when said friend’s horn began to flare in a bright golden yellow color.
“Wha-Lyra!” Bon Bon loudly whispered. “Turn your horn off! What do you think you’re doing?”
If she hadn’t said anything, the mint colored unicorn may not have even noticed. But now that she had, all Lyra did was look up at her forehead, absolutely puzzled. Like trying to turn off a loud noise, Lyra was furiously fumbling her hooves to her horn trying to stop it.
“Lyra, stop casting a spell! The wolves could see us!” Bon Bon scolded again.
“Bon Bon, I swear to Celestia! I’m not doing this!” Lyra frantically cried.
That only made the earth pony even more confused. Lyra had to be the one making her own horn glow. That’s how it works. The unicorn’s actions however were a compelling argument for unintentional.
“What is going on here?” she mumbled.
*Residence of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch*
Over in another part of town, it was the exact same story. The earth pony of the home was scolding her unicorn roommate for lighting up her horn at a very bad time.
“Vinyl, stop fooling around and turn off your magic! I don’t want to be timberwolf chow!” The cellist shouted.
“Octi, I don’t know what’s happening but this isn’t me! Honest!” The DJ was genuinely trying her best to turn off her magic.
It wasn’t just her. All throughout the town everypony sporting a horn was wondering why now of all times it had chosen to turn on by itself. The three ponies in town square that had that appendage were no exceptions. With the light from Takato’s hand blinding the timberwolves, all the ponies shied away from it and brought a hoof up to their eyes to shield themselves from its intensity.
Starlight was the first to notice when she peeked her eyes open just a bit to see what was happening. Just what was her teacher doing?
“Twilight? What spell is this you’re casting?!” She shouted, wanting an answer.
“Spell? What spell?” Turning her head, Twilight looked to her student with the same confusion she herself had. “What spell are YOU casting?”
“Me?”
Finally looking upwards, Starlight saw that Twilight was right. Her horn was glowing. But she wasn’t casting any sort of spell. Noticing the same happening with her own horn, Twilight began to panic.
“What’s going with us?!” She cried as she brought a hoof to her horn.
“I think we have the same problem!”
That third voice was from none other than Rarity. The only other pony amongst their group who had a horn and hers too was glowing in a dark azure aura.
“What the hay is goin on with you three?!” Applejack shouted as Calumon peeked out from underneath her hat. “What spell are ya castin’?! And where is that light comin’ from?!”
“Applejack, we aren’t casting any sort of spell!” Rarity cried back, wanting so badly to know why her horn was acting against her.
“That light though…” Starlight winced as she brought her hoof back to her eyes. “I think it’s coming from Takato’s Digivice.”
“Ooooooooohhhhh its happening.” Calumon said, cool as a cucumber.
That only brought more attention to him as all pairs of eyes that belonged to the ponies turned towards him.
“What are you talking about? What’s happening?” Rainbow Dash asked the small Digimon.
“Watch and see.” Calumon pointed to Takato.
The tamer himself just stood there, looking at his Digivice. He hadn’t seen light blast out of it like this in months. He wanted to question it. He wanted answers just as much as anyone else did right now. Right now however, in this moment, all he wanted was to save his friend. And the way to do it had come to him.
“DIGIVOLUTION.”
After that voice rang out from the small device, the same light coming from it enveloped Guilmon, causing the wolf to pull its head away and shut its eyes.
“GUILMON DIGIVOLVE TO…..!”
The timberwolf tried keeping its paw pinned down atop the lizard but for some reason found it harder to keep doing that. It felt it being pushed further and further back by the light and physical force until it had no choice but to release and turn away. Taking a few steps away, it growled in anger as the light continued to shine. A few moments later, the light from both Guilmon and Takato’s Digivice began to fade.
“…GROWLMON!"