//------------------------------// // Growl of the Mon // Story: Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story // by AutoKnight01 //------------------------------// Part two of the fight is here! Enjoy it! I only own the plot of this story. Digimon is owned by Bandai and MLP is owned by DHX, Hasbro, and Lauren Faust. Taming Equestria: A Digimon Story Chapter 9: Growl of the Mon That light. That was all anypony inside their homes or outside could see for probably miles it felt so bright. The seven mares that were dedicated to keeping their home safe had their hooves cover their eyes. Their ears however heard something different. It sounded like Guilmon but his voice seemed to grow just the tiniest bit raspier than usual. Then, from the inside of their shut eyelids, they could all tell the light was starting to dim. Each of them opened their eyes to see what it was that Guilmon and Takato had just done. They mostly just surmised it was another attack. The sight before them proved otherwise. Fluttershy had instantly been rendered catatonic as she now had to look upwards to the Digimon that was standing not too far away from them. Pinkie’s jaw had hit the ground so hard it cracked around her jaw. The five other mares too had their mouths open and their eyes bulging as the dim sound of growling emanated from the creature. On the other side however, the other Digimon merely stood there surprised that their friend was able to pull off what he just did, but were glad either way. Now this could end quickly. Though shocked, and a tiny bit frightened, the ponies looked over this new form. Rather than near his partners height like they had seen before, Guilmon had grown. He was about as tall now as the average Ponyville house. Two horns were now protruding out of the top of his head as well as a bushy head of white hair. His large arms each had a red spike poking out of the side. And lastly they noticed the symbol that was on Guilmon’s chest was now on both of his shoulders. “Wha….what…..what the…...” Twilight had found herself unable to form a complete sentence at this time. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Not only were she and her friends completely taken aback, the sight of this new monster made them all slightly tremble. Takato on the other hand was beaming as wide as the first time he had ever seen this phenomenon happen. “YES! GO, GROWLMON!” All it took was one of the timberwolves to move for the bigger Digimon to react. Surrounded by five wolves, when the first one lunged, he moved faster. One of his now huge claws swatted through the wooden creature and shattered it like it was held together by cheap glue. Then when the next one came, Growlmon’s other claw repeated the action, turning the wolf into a log pile. The third one roared thinking it would succeed where its pack mates failed. It was wrong. Still in momentum from his last swipe, the red Digimon’s tail swung with him. It struck through the timberwolf’s body and it too crumpled to sticks. Then the last two standing wolves decided to try attacking together to even the odds. Together they charged and jumped, but it was no use for them. With a ferocious roar of his own, Growlmon timed his attack just right and brought his claws up at the same time. Grabbing the sides of the wolves heads, he smashed them together and thus, there were now logs of destroyed timberwolves all around his feet. Snorting smoke out of his nostrils, he considered his work done and turned away. As he walked back to his cheering tamer, it took a few more steps to realize that Takato and his other Digimon comrades were the only ones smiling. The seven ponies however all stood with mixed expressions. Twilight and Starlight both had their horns ignited and pointed right at the larger Digimon ready to fire if he made a move they didn’t like. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both were leaned over and ready to charge themselves. Rarity wasn’t entirely sure what to do. All she did was take a nervous step back. Pinkie Pie had her party cannon primed and itching to blast. Fluttershy on the other hoof had to be checked by Terriermon if she had blinked in the last two minutes. She hadn’t. “Takato, step away from him.” Twilight warned. “What?” Turning back, Takato saw all of their expressions and held up his hands in defense. “Whoa whoa whoa! Stop! What are you doing?!” “Did you NOT see what just happened?!” Rainbow Dash had both of her hooves pointed to the monster behind the human. “Look what happened to Guilmon!” “He could be dangerous now! Get away from him!” Starlight’s horn flared a bit brighter. Seeing all of the unhappy faces caused Growlmon to halt in place. His face slowly turned from one that looked like he was ready to tear something apart, to that of a frightened child. “Why are they looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong, Takato?” Even his voice, which hadn’t changed a bit, seemed to have the inflection as if he were a kid being scolded by his parents. This caught the seven ponies off guard. Never in a thousand years would they have ever imagined a creature like THAT to ever have a voice that high. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Growlmon.” Takato softly acknowledged his partner first before turning to his hosts with a bit of a glare. “All of you stop looking at him like that! He’s not dangerous! He’s still the same Digimon from before! He’s just bigger….and….a little scarier but still all the same!” He did have to give them a little leeway here. Takato flashed back momentarily to the first time he ever encountered Growlmon in his new size during the battle with Devidramon. He was scared stiff as well, thinking his friend was going to devour him whole. But he soon learned that wasn’t the case. Even in his new look, inside he was unchanged. The ponies however were still caught in their apprehensive state as they stared up at the big red beast. The tamer’s words were barely enough to make them lower their guard slightly. It sounded like Guilmon alright but what they just saw him do and how easily he did it; they needed more than just the words of a human child to convince them. “Uhhhh….guys?” Terriermon’s voice called over. “They’re doing the thing again.” First all seven ponies looked to the small Digimon and saw him pointing past Growlmon. Following his point led them to look at the pile of logs that was the herd of timberwolves, only now they were glowing again and starting to put themselves back together. This time however the rebuilding process seemed to go a little differently. Rather than start to form five normal sized wolves, all the pieces began to merge into one being. “Oh no. They’re starting to combine.” Starlight observed out loud. Now Takato looked over and his face dropped when he saw Starlight was correct. “They can do that?” He asked now a little afraid himself. “Man where’s bio-merging when I need it?!” Growlmon was able to hold off five small wolves on his own but there was no guarantee that he would be able to hold out against them formed up into one being. He had to think fast. “Brace yerselves, y’all! This is gonna be a long one!” Applejack was no longer focused on Growlmon and was readying herself, rope in mouth. The other Digimon seemed to be raring to go too. But Takato was still thinking as he looked around the area, turning in a circle as he surveyed the nearby buildings, the open space, his champion level partner, and the massive timberwolf that was constructing itself like something out of a fantasy book. Then he saw through the windows of those buildings, faces. Scared faces of ponies who were unsure of what was about to happen. He had soon those faces many times already back home when wild Digimon crossed over, and again with the D-Reaper. “Is there an open area nearby?” The question from the tamer made every pony and Digimon look to him again. “Why are you asking that? We kinda have bigger things to worry about.” Rainbow Dash said as if it were obvious and Takato couldn’t notice. He did notice. He noticed a bit more than the flyer did. “We can’t keep fighting that thing here. The longer we do the chances of houses getting destroyed and peop-er, ponies getting hurt just go up. We need to lure it somewhere that has no risk of causing any collateral damage. Is there anywhere around here that fits the bill?” Twilight’s horn stopped humming as she looked at the boy impressed with his idea. She hadn’t even considered that. Usually the repairs can and mostly are solved with magic but preventing damage from happening in the first place was a much better idea. Not to mention the strain on the ponies doing it comes at a stressful toll. “Y-yes.” The first reply came from Fluttershy, finally finding her voice and pointing north. “That way. The outskirts just outside of town are wide and open. Rainbow Dash practices flying out there all the time.” “Good enough for me!” Turning around, the ponies yet again were met with confusion and surprise as Takato turned away from them and started climbing up Growlmon’s leg and onto his back. “Takato, what in Equestria do you think you’re doing?!” Rarity cried. “Growlmon and I are gonna get it to chase us. Then once we’re outside of town, we can finish the job. Right, boy?” “Right, Takato!” The big red dinosaur began to turn around and face the forming creature once more. “Takato, wait!” The lavender alicorn flapped her wings and ascended up to Growlmon’s back, hovering just a few feet away from the boy with a look of fear still on her face. “This is crazy. You’re just a kid. You can’t just throw yourself in danger like this. You could get hurt. Or worse! And it would be my fault!” “Wha-your fault? How would it be YOUR fault?” This was a question that everypony and Digimon present wanted an answer to. “Because I’m responsible for you, Takato! You showed up in my castle! I gave you a room to sleep in! That means you’re under my care until I can get you back home! I have to keep you safe! Your friends and family are probably worried sick back home and I can’t send you back if you’re hurt or worse! Please just get down!” That face. Her tightly closed eyes fighting back tears and the fear of him getting hurt. Takato had been in this exact spot before. First with Miss Asaji on his “last day of school”, and then again later that same day with his mother. The former of which said something very similar. That he was her responsibility. As a teacher she had a right to feel that. And in a sense, Twilight kind of had a right to feel it too. She took the kid in and gave him food and shelter. She even promised to work her flank off to get him back home. She definitely considered herself his guardian for however long the duration of his stay was in Equestria. None of them could think of anything to say. Twilight was about to keep talking but something stopped her. She felt something clench softly around her right front hoof. Looking down and opening her eyes back up, she saw that the young tamer had reached out and grabbed hold of her, looking at her with a soft smile. “Twilight, it’s okay.” He softly said. “Besides. Look around you. Look in the windows and see the faces.” She had no idea what he was talking about. But she took a quick look anyways because she was curious as to where he was going with this. Looking around at the nearby houses, the alicorn did see faces in the windows. Those faces belonged to the ponies of Ponyville. Her little ponies. And they were scared. “You’re responsible for them right now, Twilight. Not me.” Takato went on. “They need you a lot more than I do. Growlmon and I can lure the timberwolf away from the town and finish the fight. But you have got to be there for all of them right now.” “B-but-“ “He’s right, Twilight.” The alicorn twisted around to look back down and directed her sight to Applejack. “Now granted Ah don’t really know the boy, but he and this here dragon seem to be able to handle it. What we need to do is calm Ponyville down and explain to them what’s goin’ on.” “If that’s the plan then we better do it fast! The walking log cabin is almost rebuilt!” Terriermon shouted. Looking back over, everyone there saw that the white and green monster was right. The four legs of the merging wolf’s body had been formed and the torso was halfway complete. With unease still present on her face, Twilight turned back to look at Takato. “You’re SURE you can handle this?” “I’ve done this plenty of times before, Twilight. Trust me. I got this.” The confident smile and the firm grip he had on her hoof wasn’t entirely enough to make the alicorn one hundred percent on board with this. But taking into account that he wouldn’t be alone, and that he had experience in this sort of thing, she relented. She quickly closed the gap and gave the human child a quick hug before lowering herself back down to the ground with her friends. “Please be careful.” With a nod, Takato looked back to the other Digimon. “Alright. It’s gonna come after me and Growlmon. I know your tamers aren’t here but I’m gonna need all of your help to make sure it doesn’t cause damage on our way out of town. Can I count on all of you?” One by one, all of them gave Takato their assurance that nothing and no one would get scratched. “Alright then. Let’s do this. Growlmon?” “Right!” With a thunderous step, the giant red champion turned to face the giant wooden wolf which had now finished completely re-forming itself. A mighty roar was let out for the sole intent to strike fear into whoever dared face it. “Hey! Over here, you walking matchbox!” The timberwolf looked over to see its target clad in red and seemed to be waving its arms to taunt it. “You want me? You have to catch me first!” Turning around, Growlmon began to take off as fast as he could down the open streets of Ponyville. Taking the bait, the timberwolf took chase after him with a snarl that all could hear. “Remember! No damage! Let’s go!” After that reminder from Renamon, all the present Digimon ran as fast as they could over the rooftops to try and cut corners to catch up. There was one exception however. Calumon instead of joining them, remained on Applejack’s head. “Aren’t you going to go with them and help?” Rainbow Dash asked the small Digimon. “There’s nothing I can do to help.” He replied sadly. “I’m not like them. I can’t digivolve or have any attacks.” “Maybe that’s a good thing.” Starlight had a thought as she approached. “You stay with us. We may need your help with our side of the plan.” The others, especially Twilight were interested to see where Starlight was going with this. Calumon was just smiling with genuine happiness knowing that he could still help in some way. As the doors of the surrounding homes and buildings began to open up, ponies began to flood out and head in the direction of the mane seven. Several questions were filling the air in seconds. Before any of them were answered, Starlight’s magic grabbed hold of Applejack’s hat and adjusted it so Calumon was hidden from view. “Stay under there and don’t come out until we tell you to. Okay?” “It’s kinda smelly in here but okay.” Applejack blushed a bit from that. Working in that had did give it an odor. But back to present matters. As most of the townsponies began to circle and surround the seven ponies, Twilight flapped her wings so she could look around and address all of them at once. “Please everypony! Calm down! I know what you just saw but I can explain what’s happening!” “Why are the timberwolves attacking?!” “Are the dragons and timberwolves in a war and we didn’t know about it?!” “No! No that’s not what’s happening at all I can assure you!” “Rarity!” That last call came from a certain white and pink filly that squeezed out of the crowd and ran towards her older sister. “Sweetie Belle!” Catching the filly in a tight hug, Rarity inspected her to make sure she was ok. “Are you alright, dear?” “I’m fine, I’m just scared! First the timberwolves then the thing with my horn happened, and now this dragon and I-“ “HOLD IT!” Rarity’s shriek was enough to shut everypony around her up. One of the points her younger sister made, she wanted to address. “What thing with your horn, Sweetie?” “W-well….I don’t know exactly what happened. It just started glowing all by itself. I wasn’t casting a spell or anything.” “Hey! My horn did the exact same thing!” That voice came from Lyra in the crowd with Bon Bon nodding next to her as confirmation. “Vinyl’s did it too!” Octavia cried out. “So did Dinky’s horn!” Derpy added in holding her daughter tight. All at once, all the unicorns of Ponyville sounded off saying that all of their horns lit up as well with no warning whatsoever. Rarity, Starlight, and Twilight all shared equal looks of concern. That light shined the same time Growlmon digivolved. So there definitely was a connection. They just weren’t sure what it was. “We can discuss the horn thing later, everypony! Right now I need to explain to you just who that red dragon is!” As she began to do just that, the thundering stomps of Growlmon and the trimberwolves shook the ground as they ran by the houses and businesses. While Growlmon was the primary target keeping the wolf’s attention, the other Digimon were not far behind. Renamon had Impon on her back as she sprinted and leapt from roof to roof with sharp precision. Terriermon and Lopmon were both using their large ears to glide and keep up. Marineangemon was flapping his little wings as hard as he could and kept up just fine. Kokuwamon had to use a bit of his own electrical power to give himself a boost in the air. While down below, Monodramon had taken his own path through the other streets to try and cut corners where he could. Each of them were using their own attacks to knock it away from the buildings whenever it got too close. “Keeping going, Growlmon! We’re almost out of town!” “I’m trying, Takato! But he’s gaining on us! It’s not fair! He has four legs and I just have two!” Looking back, the goggled Tamer saw that indeed the wolf was gaining on them but hopefully it wouldn’t be too long now. He could see the outskirts of town exactly where Fluttershy said they were. They just had to press for a few moments longer then they could start the real challenge. “Come on, pineapple head! Put your legs into the next gear already!” The “encouragement” from Impmon was of no help whatsoever. Growlmon’s legs were already being pushed to their limit. Sure enough, they did reach the edge of town and broke free from the line of buildings. Right as they did though, the wolf behind them made a powerful lunge for Growlmon’s back and managed to tackle him. Takato was sent hurdling into the air like a rag doll, screaming for his life. The first to reach him was Renamon who caught him in her arms and landed on the ground gracefully. “Thanks, Renamon.” The boy was grateful as he got back to his legs and turned back to his partner. Growlmon skidded on the ground a bit before turning into the tackle and reversing it. He grabbed the wolf by its body and rolled to throw it away from him. The timberwolf hit the ground but stayed together in one piece before getting back up and snarling at Growlmon. The red champion wasted no time in repeating the action himself. Now he didn’t have to hold back. There was nothing and no one around him that could be hit by him. It was monster on monster. The two began to slowly circle one another in a stare down. All the while the other Digimon landed or stopped near Takato and looked onto the battle about to come. “Come on, Growlmon! Turn him into a big campfire!” Terriermon shouted. “Wait for your moment, then strike!” Lopmon cried beside her look alike. His giant footprints trailed behind him as Growlmon slowly waited. The timberwolf slowly mirrored his actions for a few more moments until finally, it stopped. Not even a second later, it sprung forward towards the champion. Narrowing his eyes, Growlmon closed the gap and round two was underway. *MEANWHILE BACK IN THE CENTER OF PONYVILLE* “So you see, everypony, what I told you earlier today was indeed true. Takato came here to look for his friend and he ended up finding him. He’s….well…just not what we all expected him to be.” Twilight was trying her best to explain the situation as best she could to Ponyville, but was having trouble finding the right words to use. How can she fully explain something when she’s also trying to explain it to herself at the same time? She thought she had most of the details down but this weird Digivolving thing had taken her for a spin. Not to mention everypony with a horn lighting up at the same time it happened was no coincidence. “His friend is a dragon?!” Scootaloo shouted from the crowd. “That’s so cool!” “It is most certainly not!” Spoiled Rich called out. “That monster almost destroyed our town!” “Calm down, please!” Twilight held her hooves up to try and stop that train of thought in its tracks. Spoiled Rich was very known for not liking certain things…..like ponies “below” her, or other species. She noticed the dirty looks she gave Spike whenever they passed her by. “You don’t know Growlmon! None of us know Growlmon! And right now he’s right outside town fighting a giant timberwolf trying to protect us! That alone should be enough of a reason to give him, and all the other creatures who helped defend us against them a chance!” “Yeah! Plus they’re like, totally awesome!” Rainbow Dash took a turn to speak as she hovered above the crowd. “They’re called Digimon and they deserve to be treated fairly!” A lot of murmurs was heard from the large group of ponies as they let the words process. The mane seven all knew that there were going to be some naysayers like Spoiled Rich and maybe a few others. However, if the majority was in favor of giving them a fair chance to be friendly, then it was a victory. Applejack took a step forward. With the crowd calmed down a bit, this seemed like as good a time as any to try Starlight’s plan out. “That Growlmon fella y’all saw is a big un’. But he’s just a puppy on the inside. And not all of them are scary like he is.” Her eyes looked up to the rim of her hat as she nudged it up a tad with her hoof. “Alright. Ya can come out now, Calumon.” The crowd began to feel a little more uneasy as Applejack’s hat began to stir completely on its own. Then it raised up and a tiny head poked out. Once in view, Calumon’s eyes looked left and right seeing nothing but ponies wherever he looked. Emerging fully from Applejack’s hat, his ears extended out to their long length and he began to take a few steps towards the front row. “Hi there! Are all of you out here because you wanna play?!” Ponyville wasn’t sure what to think about Growlmon at the moment. Calumon was a different story entirely. His look, and the way he spoke with one sentence was enough to convince them he wasn’t a threat. “CUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!” Before he knew it, Calumon was hugged from behind by the tiny form of Sweetie Belle like she just found a new stuffed animal. “Oh my gosh you are so adorable! I just want to take you home with me!” “Sweetie Belle! Let the poor dear breathe!” Glancing briefly at her older sister, Sweetie Belle gasped when she turned back and saw clearly that Calumon was having trouble breathing thanks to her tight grip. Immediately she let him go and he began to take in air again. “Hehe…sorry about that.” She meekly apologized. “I’m all for playing and having fun but not so hard next time.” Calumon answered back. “Ya see? These Digimon here are friendly. We all can assure you they mean us no harm whatsoever.” *BOOOOOOOM!!!!* The very loud noise was enough to distract everypony from the speech given by the harmonic bearers and turn their heads in the direction it came from. Right where the fight was happening. “That didn’t sound good.” Starlight commented. “Takato!” Her worry coming back full force, Twilight’s wings spread and she took off like a shot with her friends in tow. Calumon was left behind more curious than worried. “Where are they going?” Sweetie Belle asked him. “I guess to make sure Growlmon is ok.” The small Digimon guessed. Out of the corner of her eye, Sweetie Belle noticed somepony trying to sneak away from the crowd in the very direction the fight was at. Pushing her way through the crowd with Calumon behind her, the small unicorn ran into Scootaloo before she could take another step. “Where you YOU going?” She questioned, already not liking what the answer might be. “It’s a dragon fighting a giant timberwolf! Where do you think I’m going?!” The orange pegasus looked at Sweetie Belle as if it were obvious. “Are you out of your mind? I kind of like living, Scootaloo!” “Fine! YOU go home! I’m going to go watch!” With that, Scootaloo turned and ran, determined to see this up close. “Scootaloo! Don’t-uuuuuuuuuuuughhhh! I swear that pony is gonna kill me one day!” “Why would she kill you?” Calumon asked. She didn’t answer. She was too busy chasing after her and Calumon was right on her tail. Weaving her way over the rooftops of Ponyville, Twilight tried her best to not think about all the possible ways Takato could be mangled right now. He was perfectly alright. He had to be. He promised he would be. There was no chance he was a pile of goop underneath a timberwolf’s wooden paw. No! He was not that! And boy was she relieved when she broke the town’s borders and saw him standing there alongside the other Digimon, not a scratch on him. “Takato!” She swooped down and landed right by his legs looking frantic all over. “We heard the loud noise! What’s happening?!” She received no answer. Takato and the others kept their eyes glued to the sight before them. Turning their heads, she and the other ponies took their turn to survey the area. The fight was still raging between Growlmon and the timberwolf, and the former was starting to look tired. “Growlmon doesn’t look so good.” Pinkie Pie commented. “Yeah! Come on, dragon guy! Whoop that wolf’s butt!” Everyone was distracted by the new voice and turned 180 degrees to see where it came from Takato recognized them from earlier today in the crowd of ponies he was introduced to. Renamon remembered them too from their rescue, but the two fillies didn’t recognize her. Calumon buzzed past them and landed back on Applejack’s head. “Sweetie Belle! What in Equestria are you doing here?!” Rarity rushed over to her sister. “Scoots this place is so not safe. You should head back to your aunts’ house.” Rainbow agreed with her friend. “I just followed her because I was trying to get her to turn around! Honest!” Sweetie Belle cried. *THUD!!!* Once again the ground trembled as everyone’s attention was turned back to the fight. Growlmon had been struck hard and sent skidding across the ground, destroying the terrain in his slide. The big red champion was not looking like he had a lot of fuel left in his tank as the wolf cave a howl of victory. The giant wooden creature then lunged once more and jumped, bringing down its wooden paws with the intent to slam into Growlmon’s face. Raising up his own arms, Growlmon was able to keep them from making impact with his body. But the timberwolf was leaning down with his jaws wide open, ready to bite down and let its teeth do what his legs could not. All the while that rancid smell came pouring out of its mouth like a fountain all over the reptilian Digimon. “Blech! Seriously! Eat a mint!” Growlmon snarled. “I don’t think this is gonna end well!” Starlight cried. “No it’s not.” Takato stated. Right after he did, all the ponies both young and not watched him reach into his pocket and fish out another card from his deck. “Not for the wolf anyway.” His D-ark in his other hand, Takato raised both small objects over his head and swiped the card through it, causing the device to light up yet again. “DIGI-MODIFY! POWER, ACTIVATE!” Not even a second past before the actual growl of Growlmon began to grow in volume. His teeth gritted. His muscles bulged. His arms began to push back against the creature with ferocity. He pushed them back enough to the point where he was back on his own two feet and the timberwolf had been forced to stand on its hind legs. With a mighty roar, he pushed the wolf back with all of his now recharged might, causing it to topple backwards. “DO IT, GROWLMON! END THIS!” The young tamer screamed. “YOU GOT IT!” The Digimon called back, in sync with his partner. Crossing his arms, the two spikes on Growlmon’s forearms swiftly stuck out at a right angle and began to glow in a dim white power. “DRAGON SLASH!” Charging, Growlmon slashed twice with his arms and severed two of the wooden legs from the creature. Both crashed to the ground with a loud noise accompanying them and the painful howl of the wolf to follow. It didn’t have long to wail, for Growlmon wasn’t done. After his up close attack, it was time for the final blow. Turning back around, the timberwolf, and the spectators all saw the inside of Growlmon’s mouth begin to shine a dim orange. “PYRO BLASTER!” Opening his mouth all the way, a huge torrent of fire erupted from Growlmon’s jaw and flew right for the very big and very flammable wooden creature. It had to time to dodge with two legs down. All it could do was stander there and be engulfed by the high powered flames. The pillar of fire completely covered it from view while the other Digimon, and the spectator ponies just watched in awe at the true might of a Digimon, and his partner. A few more seconds passed by before Growlmon closed his mouth and the bright light from the fire finally died down. Laying in the center of a patch of burnt grass and dirt, laid a pile of ash, ash that used to be a small herd of timberwolves, now being carried away by the passing breeze into the night. The seven equines took their own turn to glance back and forth between Growlmon and Takato. Timberwolves were powerful-no, VERY powerful creatures on their own. To take on one by itself let alone five of them combined into one was almost like courting death itself. Yet Growlmon was able to take it on and come out victorious like it was barely a challenge at all. And he didn’t do it alone. Takato, that scrawny little kid was in that fight just as much as Growlmon was. They just weren’t aware exactly how much that thought held true yet. But for now, he was there. He stood right alongside his partner and gave him the help he knew he needed right there in the moment. He was indeed telling the truth. Takato was a seasoned veteran when it came to this kind of stuff. His attitude and skill with the cards proved it. Walking back towards the rest of the crew, everyone could tell Growlmon was beginning to look a little tired after unleashing those attacks. “Takato? I think I need some of that bread you promised me right now.” Without another word, Growlmon’s whole body began to glow the same way it did when he was fist Digivolving. Rather than grow, this time his size shrank down. And it kept going down until finally, when the glowing stopped, Growlmon was nowhere to be seen. In his place stood Guilmon once more. The first to rush him was obviously Takato who wrapped his arms around his big neck with a happy laugh. The bread loving rookie reciprocated the action without any hesitation. “You were awesome, boy!” The young human was quickly joined by the other Digimon. “Way to start a campfire, pineapple head!” Impon was grateful for his life being saved but always expressed it in his own way. “And no one here got hurt. A successful battle indeed.” Renamon stated. “Let’s just hope nothing else like that happens for a while. We can’t put the stress all on Takato and Guilmon.” Monodramon gave his two cents. Looking over Takato’s shoulder, Guilmon noticed that they were being watched by nine ponies now. All of them were varying degrees of, “What just happened?” to “That was insane!”. Slowly, Takato noticed himself and turned back around to face them all, as did the other monsters with him. “So….uh…..hi.” The gogglehead had no idea what to say. “Takato……that…….was…….AWESOME!” The cyan pegasus pony was now hovering right in front of Takato’s face with the biggest smile on her own. “You and Guilmon are totally like in sync with one another! And the way he threw that wolf to the ground and finished it off! Just…uh! WOW!” “Ah gotta hand it to ya both.” Applejack approached. “Ah didn’t think you were gonna win, but you were just waitin’ for the right time to use that card to charge him up. Weren’t you, Takato?” The human nodded and tapped his finger against the screen of his digivice. “Sure did. Just swiping card after card wouldn’t do much good in battle.” He rubbed the back of his head remembering the battle with Devidramon. Standing next to each other, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo slowly walked towards the group of aliens. Sweetie Belle was just a hoof-length behind her friend, still a bit hesitant to meet these people, especially the red reptile. There was no going back when they all locked eyes with each other. “I remember you.” Takato spoke first. “You were in town earlier today when Twilight introduced me.” “Sure was!” the orange filly hopped up, her wings buzzing like an insect. “I’m Scootaloo and it’s so awesome to meet you! That size changing thing was so cool! Can you do it again?!” “Eeeeeeeeeaaaasy, Scoots. Breathe.” Rainbow Dash chuckled and put her hoof around her honorary sister’s back. Seeing as she was still hesitant to speak, Rarity walked up to her little sister and mirrored Rainbow’s action. “Takato, this here is Sweetie Belle, my younger sister.” “H-hi.” “As nice as introductions can be, don’t you think we should go back into town?” Lopmon suggested. “I think the town might want an explanation from us.” That reminder came crashing down on all of them like a ton of bricks. The fight was over with the wolf, but there was still one more thing to win: Ponyville’s trust. “And they’ll get one, but not tonight.” Twilight stated firmly. “Starlight, you teleport Takato and the Digimon back to the castle. I’ll head be there after I finish calming everypony down.” “What about the rest of us? What do you need us to do, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie asked, always ready to lend a hoof. “I need you all to go back home and get some sleep. Now that Ponyville knows Takato and the Digimon are here, and Celestia is coming tomorrow to see them, I think we’re going to need all of our energy to get through the many talks that are on the way.” She smiled as she looked to her best friends. “Can you all do that for me?” “You had me at ‘go back home’.” Rainbow responded with a yawn. “Come on, squirt. I’ll get you back to your aunts then I’m crashing for the night.” As they all began to separate, the Digimon grouped with Starlight. Calumon didn’t want to leave but he relented and flew off Applejack’s hat and landed on Guilmon’s head. As Starlight’s horn began to charge up, she conjured up a teleportation spell. “Wait!” That call came from the yellow pegasus who had barely said anything throughout all of this. During the fight she was petrified. Growlmon battling that wolf had her heart beating a thousand times a second. Then when it finally ended, she thought she was going to die right there when Growlmon approached. Then…..he just turned back. It was amazing. That ferocious fire breathing monster was really just an adorable puppy on the inside with a love of bread. It didn’t seem logical in any way. But there he was, hugging his human partner as if they had been brothers their whole lives. It made her relieved but it also made even more guilt crawl into her. She had been so fearful and distant of not only him but also Monodramon because of looks alone. She hadn’t been fair and now was a good time for her to start changing that. “Thank you so much for saving us, Guilmon. And all of you as well.” She softly said. The other Digimon smiled her way or nodded their heads in acknowledgement of her words. “You’re welcome.” Guilmon replied with that goofy smile of his. With that, Starlight finished the spell and she, with the Digimon, all vanished in a burst of teal light. The rest of the ponies present all went their separate ways for the night after that. It took a bit of effort but Twilight was able to convince Ponyville that the threat had been taken care of. Soon after, the town of Ponyville were all back in their homes, safe and sound and back into the world of slumber. Her job done, Twilight returned home to her castle and let loose a giant sigh. Tomorrow was another day.