Scootaloo began to feel her limbs once more. Every inch of her body, from head to wings to hooves, felt sore and numb. Her mouth felt like cotton, her tongue like sandpaper. Her eyes creaked open, her vision foggy. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to wake up to; if she ever woke up. The hot desert sun cooking her to a crisp. Or the sight of some kind of vulture Digimon hovering over her and her friends. But she didn’t expect to wake up beneath a whitewashed gazebo, feeling a cool breeze blow across her fur.
She glanced around the gazebo. Lush greenery surrounded her and the smell of scented candles filled the air. Where am I? she thought as she looked to a stick of burning incense. Am I dead? Never thought Heaven would look like some kind of outdoor spa.
A sharp pain lanced through her head. Wincing, she reached up to her forehead to find a cool, damp rag laying across her brow. Her goggles and Digivice lay next to her, but she still felt her Tag hanging around her neck. She could see a collection of soft white pads circling the gazebo, much like the one she was laying on now.
“Scootaloo?” she glanced off to the side to find Guilmon laying down next to her. He propped himself up and scooched closer to her. “You’re okay!” he smiled as he nuzzled Scootaloo.
“Hey buddy,” Scootaloo smiled as she petted Guilmon’s head. “Good to see you.”
“When you fell in the sand and wouldn’t wake up…” Guilmon trailed off, his smile vanishing and his ears drooping. “I was so scared. I thought…”
“Shh…it’s okay Guilmon,” Scootaloo whispered. “It was scary for me too. What about the others, are they—”
Scootaloo coughed before she could finish. “Are you alright?” Guilmon sat up.
“I’m fine, just a little hoarse,” Scootaloo chuckled. “Is there any water?”
“Uh-huh,” Guilmon nodded. He walked over to a nearby pitcher and poured a glass of water. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” Scootaloo grabbed the cup with shakey hooves and brought it to her lips, taking small sips. “Anyway, what about the others? Are they okay?”
Guilmon nodded. “Yep, most of them are at the swimming hole. Except for you, me, Armadillomon and Apple Bloom.”
Scootaloo looked past Guilmon and spotted Armadillomon sitting next to Apple Bloom.
Still feeling a bit weak, Scootaloo got back on her hooves and hobbled her way over to Apple Bloom.
“How’s she doing?” Scootaloo asked.
Armadillomon glanced over to Scootaloo for a moment. “She’s breathin’ alright, and I replaced her rag recently.” Armadillomon nodded to the wet rag on Apple Bloom’s forehead, dripping with cool water.
“Any idea who rescued us?”
But before Armadillomon could say a word, Apple Bloom began to stir.
“Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo whispered, gently placing a hoof on her shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“Mama?” Apple Bloom whispered under her breath as her eyes began to open.
“What’d she say?” Guilmon whispered.
Scootaloo shrugged before turning back to Apple Bloom. “Hey, wake up. It’s me.”
Apple Bloom managed to open her eyes. “Oh...S-Scootaloo?” she said with a small blush. “You’re okay!”
“Well duh! You didn’t think that heat would be enough to keep me down forever did you?” Scootaloo smiled.
“Oh shut up and come ‘ere,” Apple Bloom lifted her foreleg, and the two embraced.
“Hey, it sounded like you were sayin’ somethin’ when you were comin’ around,” Armadillomon said. “What did ya say?”
“Oh...nothin’,” Apple Bloom turned away with a blush. “Where are the others? Did they make it out too?”
“Guilmon, didn’t you say something about a swimming hole?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yeah, it’s right over this way,” Guilmon gestured towards a dirt path heading into the foliage.
“Alright then, let’s go,” Apple Bloom said as she pulled the cloth off her forehead.
Scootaloo walked over to where she woke up and grabbed her goggles and Digivice. As she went to leave the gazebo, her legs turned to jelly and she fell onto her side.
“Scootaloo!” Guilmon dashed over to her side.
“I’m alright. I just need to…” she trailed off as she tried to push herself back up. Try as she might though, Scootaloo couldn’t get her legs to respond, save for a few weak twitches and kicks. “Ugh! Give me a second, let me...whoa!” Scootaloo cried out as she was lifted off the ground.
“I got you Scootaloo,” Guilmon smiled as he cradled her in his arms.
“Guilmon, come on!” Scootaloo whined as she tried to squirm out of his grip. “Do you have to carry me like this? I’m not a baby!”
Apple Bloom and Armadillomon chuckled as they watched Scootaloo writhe in Guilmon's arms. “Come on, let’s go,” Armadillomon said, letting Apple Bloom lean on his shell as they walked.
After a short walk, the four of them arrived at a large swimming hole filled with crystal clear water. After taking a moment to admire its sparkling beauty, they made their way to the shallow end of the hole.
Palmon, who was soaking up moisture from a nearby patch of soil, was the first to spot them. “Hey guys, they’re up!”
Everyone turned towards the shore, smiles adorning their faces.
Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her mouth in a vain attempt to suppress a chuckle when she saw Guilmon and Scootaloo. “Aww, that’s adorable,” she gushed.
“Please don’t…” Scootaloo huffed, a blush quickly spreading across her face.
“Nice of you to join us,” Rumble said. “Come on in, the water’s great.”
Guilmon gently lowered Scootaloo into the water. Her cross expression melted away when her hooves touched the water. The water was as great as Rumble said it was, comfortably cool and refreshing. As she laid her head back against the edge of the swimming hole, Guilmon and Apple Bloom joined her. Armadillomon was content to let his two front paws soak in the water beside Apple Bloom.
“Oh, girls…” Apple Bloom smiled. “I’m so happy to see ya’ll are okay.”
“Same here Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon nodded in agreement.
“Hey! What about me?” Rumble threw his hooves up. “You’re happy to see the girls, but what about me?”
“Meh,” Apple Bloom shrugged.
“Oh, you all suck!” Rumble turned away with a huff, prompting laughs from all around the swimming hole.
“I’m only kiddin’ Rumble,” Apple Bloom laughed. “Seriously, I’m glad to see you’re alright too.”
Rumble huffed as he looked down into the water, but Bearmon caught the smile on his face.
“So...does anyone know how we got here?” Apple Bloom asked.
“The last thing I remember was you crawling off into the desert by yourself,” Armadillomon said. Heads turned towards Apple Bloom.
“You did what?!” Scootaloo shouted. “Why would you do that?”
Apple Bloom sank a little further into the water. “Because I...I saw my sister.”
Sweetie Belle stood up. “Applejack was here? She was really—”
“No…” Apple Bloom shook her head. “It was a mirage. I...I got so close to her. But when I reached out, my hoof just…” She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately holding back her sobs.
Everypony sank back into the water sullenly. “I’m sorry Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said. “That’s...cruel.”
“I said it before…” Scootaloo growled. “Deserts were made by Discord.”
“It’s alright y'all,” Apple Bloom looked back up. “I should’ve known better.”
“Oh don’t kick yourself,” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t tell the difference between a pile of rocks and a snow cone stand back there.”
Apple Bloom laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“So, what happened before then?” Bearmon asked. “I remember hearing that you were going to search for the Crest before I blacked out.”
“Yeah, a few of us looked around the sphinx for a bit, but we couldn’t find nothin’. We must’ve looked over every inch of that darn thing, and we couldn’t see anythin’ that even looked like a Crest.”
“Nothing? So the whole thing was a wash?” Diamond Tiara asked.
Apple Bloom sighed. “I thought I saw somethin’ in the sphinx’s beard, but it was gone after the sun got in my eyes. Just another mirage I guess…”
Babs Seed looked up. “Wait, this thing...did it look like some kinda gem? Lookin’ a bit like a heart?”
“A heart?” Hawkmon sat up. “Could it have been the Crest of Love?”
Apple Bloom slowly turned to Babs. “Y-yeah! How’d you—”
“I saw it too!” Babs said, excited.
“So, the Crest WAS there after all?” Scootaloo looked around frantically. “But, did we get it? I don’t see anypony with a new Crest in their Tag!”
Everypony looked around, checking each other’s Tags. But they could only find the Crests of Courage and Friendship.
As panic started to settle in, Scootaloo stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. “Okay, don’t panic. Maybe whoever rescued us can guide us to the sphinx for a moment. We can still—”
Apple Bloom interrupted Scootaloo with a light jab to her side. “Jeez Scoots, ya almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Ow!” Scootaloo rubbed her side. “What was that for?”
“For makin’ us panic when there ain’t no reason to!” Apple Bloom sat back down in the water. “It’s alright everyone, we got the Crest.”
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo looked around. “Who has it? I don’t see it in anypony’s Tag.” Apple Bloom snickered beside her. “What?”
“Ya sure you checked everypony’s Tag?” Apple Bloom glanced at Scootaloo’s chest.
Scootaloo slowly looked down, lifting her Tag to find the Crest of Love staring back at her. “Wait...what?” Scootaloo blinked. “I have the...Crest of Love?”
“Is something wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I thought you’d be more excited.”
“I don’t know. I guess I was...hoping for something cooler?” Scootaloo shrugged.
“An artifact of great power that hasn’t been seen for centuries chooses you as its bearer. And you’re complaining because it’s not ‘cool’?” Hawkmon deadpanned.
“Courage, friendship, love, sincerity, hope, knowledge, and reliability,” Sweetie Belle said. “Which one of those sound cool Scootaloo? I mean, it’s not like there’s a Crest of Scooter Stunts.”
“Alright, maybe ‘cool’ wasn’t the word I was looking for!” Scootaloo argued. “I guess I wasn’t expecting mine to be the Crest of Love.”
“Well, what were ya expectin’?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo held her mouth open for several moments as she wracked her brain for a response. “I...don’t know actually.”
“If it helps, I wasn’t exactly expectin’ to get this eitha’,” Babs Seed held up the Crest of Friendship. “I was thinkin’ I’d get somethin’ like Hope or Sincerity? I don’t know, this whole thing didn’t give us a lot of time to process this, ya know? After Rumble found the Crest of Courage, I was thinkin’: ‘Okay...this is happenin’!’”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Scootaloo nodded. “I’m just wondering why Love, out of all seven of them. I’m trying to think of what I did that would make it choose me.”
“Well, maybe it’s not something you did,” Guilmon suggested. “Maybe it’s something you’re going to do?”
Everyone looked to Guilmon, surprised at the sudden insight from the childlike dinosaur. “What?” he asked.
“I never thought of it like that,” Scootaloo said.
“Same,” Babs Seed nodded.
“You’re just full of surprises aren’t ya?” Armadillomon said.
Guilmon smiled, feeling a little embarrassed from all the praise he was getting.
“Well, sounds like everyone’s recovering nicely over here,” a voice called out.
Everyone turned to see a new Digimon hovering near the swimming hole. Apple Bloom recognized him as the figure who came to her in the desert. He was a small Digimon who looked like a large parasprite, with his round body and large insect wings. Pink fur covered most of his body, save for his feet, hands, and face. Despite his less than intimidating appearance, Apple Bloom noticed his wings looked tattered. Stitches held them together in some places. Whoever this Digimon was, it was safe to assume that he’s had more than his fair share of battles.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” the fairy Digimon smirked. He placed a few towels and a small cooler on a nearby rock.
“Um...thanks?” Apple Bloom said. “You’re the one who saved us from the desert?”
“That I did. The name’s Piximon.”
Veemon shot up out of the water. “Wait, Piximon? As in...THE Piximon?!”
Piximon pulled a small spear from behind his back, twirling it a few times before striking a pose. “None other!” Piximon smiled.
“No. Way!” Veemon grinned. “This is amazing!”
“Uh...Veemon are you okay?” Babs Seed asked.
Veemon stopped dancing in place for a moment, noticing the looks from everyone around him. “Wait...do none of you know who Piximon is? Have you all been living under a rock?!”
Babs Seed booted up her Digivice analyzer. As she put Piximon in the crosshairs, Veemon pushed her leg down. “Put that thing away,” Veemon chided. “I can tell you more about Piximon than that thing ever could.”
“Oh boy, here we go…” Bearmon buried his face into his paw.
“Piximon helped forge some of the greatest fighters in the Digital World. The Leomon of the East Wind Pride, Grademon the Wanderer, Mistymon the Battlemage. Piximon trained them all! They say he’s even helped train past generations of DigiDestined. I’ve always wanted to meet him!”
“Sheesh, if you love him so much why don’t you marry him,” Babs Seed muttered.
Veemon snapped out of his reverie. “You want me to...what?”
“Marry him,” Babs Seed repeated. Veemon stared at her. “You know...marriage?”
“Marriage, what’s that? Sounds like some kind of steak.”
“The heck is steak?”
“Well, thank you so much for savin’ us back there Mr. Piximon,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s a real honor to be rescued by someone so famous.”
“Oh, well thank you,” Piximon bowed. “I would like to say the feeling is mutual, being able to help such esteemed heroes like the DigiDestined. But...that would be a lie.”
Apple Bloom heard a record scratch somewhere in the back of her mind. “Beg yer pardon?”
“The DigiDestined are heroes who will work to bring light and peace to the Digital World. They face every challenge with every bit of their wits, cunning, and strength,” Piximon said. “From what I’ve seen so far, you have escaped from every obstacle through sheer dumb luck.”
“Please, dumb luck has nothing to do with it,” Rumble scoffed. “Sure, we’ve gotten into some tough scraps but we came out alright. Right Bearmon?”
“Well...yeah?” Bearmon hesitantly answered.
“We work pretty well with our partners,” Scootaloo gestured to Guilmon. “Isn’t that what being DigiDestined is all about?”
Piximon turned to Scootaloo. “A fair point,” he nodded. “But answer me this: how well do you work with each other?” Piximon gestured to the other ponies in the water with his spear.
Scootaloo followed the tip of Piximon’s spear. She knew that she worked well with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. But, everypony else? She considered Babs Seed a friend but barely knew her save for what she heard from Apple Bloom. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon may have stopped being complete jerks, but they didn’t hang out that often. And Rumble… he was always just there.
Scootaloo thought back on the last couple of weeks since they arrived in the Digital World. She realized that aside from working to help set up camp, there were few times where they worked together. The last few days, in particular, consisted of a lot of stress and arguing.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Piximon nodded at the silence. “And I will admit that so far, your partners have done pretty well for themselves here on Server. But I still stand by what I said; sheer dumb luck. How long did you lot spend on File Island before coming here? How long were you in your Rookie Forms?”
The Digimon looked to one another.
“Well…” Guilmon began. “Scootaloo helped me digivolve to Guilmon when we met.”
“Same,” Armadillomon and Veemon answered.
“A couple of weeks while I was helping Elecmon at Primary Village?” Bearmon guessed.
“Most Digimon spend at least a year on File Island, training and absorbing data,” Piximon said. “The only reason you've survived this long is that you have a shortcut most Digimon don’t.”
Bearmon bit his lip, thinking about his fight with Ogremon when they first came to Server.
“So we don’t always get along, so what?” Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Nopony’s perfect.”
“Have you heard some of the stories about the generations of DigiDestined who came before you?” Piximon asked. “Not a single one of them tells the story of ONE DigiDestined. There is always a group of them, whether it’s three, seven, or whole scores of them. Now, why do you suppose that is?”
Diamond Tiara was quite stymied by that and couldn’t come up with a suitable response.
“Alright, here’s the deal,” Piximon fluttered around the swimming hole. “You all came here to fight dark forces, some evil mastermind, or something of the sort. But, the further you go into the Server continent, the more powerful the Digimon become.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Sweetie Belle put a hoof up. “How do you know how well we did in all our past battles here?”
“That’s not important,” Piximon brushed her off.
“I disagree!”
“My point is that you aren’t prepared for whatever comes next,” Piximon continued. “But if you allow me to train you then it’ll at least put the odds better in your favor. What do you say?”
Veemon’s eyes lit up. “For real?” he squealed. “Uh, yea—”
Babs Seed stuck a hoof into Veemon’s mouth. “I’m gonna have ta ask ya to hold the hay up and dock your hype train inta Chillsville. Don’t ya think this is somethin’ we should discuss as a team? Everypony huddle up.”
Everyone waded over towards the shore and gathered around.
“What’s there to discuss?” Veemon asked. “THE Piximon is offering to train US to be better fighters. Do you have any idea what some Digimon would do for a chance like this?”
“Do you know what his training is like?” Babs asked. “How intense is it? What’ll he have us do?”
“Well, I don’t know. But given how strong Digimon become afterward, I’d imagine it’d be pretty intense.”
“Do you think intense training is such a good idea? Not a day after what we went through?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“Maybe?” Rumble shrugged.
Everyone looked at Rumble. “Did you lose your marbles in that desert Rumble?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Think about it. The Digimon here are much more experienced than on File Island. Bearmon, I know you and Veemon have been doing a bit of sparing in your spare time. But I still remember how Ogremon almost destroyed you.”
“Don’t forget Sandiramon,” Sweetie Belle shuddered. “That was one tough snake.”
“Hey, we came out okay in all those battles, right?” Terriermon smiled. “I don’t think we’re doing so bad.”
“Well…” Hawkmon looked down. “I’m starting to think so far we really have been lucky.”
“What do you mean?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sandiramon was an Ultimate level Digimon. And Ogremon was quite strong for a Champion level. Both of those battles involved Veedramon. When backed into a corner, they're said to be stronger than Ultimate Level Digimon."
Veemon beamed at this.
“Well, what about the Pteramon and Airdramon?” Diamond Tiara asked. “You helped win some of those battles.”
Hawkmon nodded. “Yes, but the Pteramon were Armor level; stronger than Rookie but not quite Champion level. And as for Airdramon, we were lucky because it was only one of them. Usually, Airdramon travel in flocks.”
Everyone looked to one another as Hawkmon’s words sank in.
“Uh...I reckon we wouldn’t have lasted long if a whole flock of them found us,” Armadillomon piped in. “We were about ready to keel over right there and then!”
“Well, when ya put it that way…” Apple Bloom looked down into the water. “It might not be a bad idea to let Piximon help us.”
“We need all the help we can get,” Scootaloo nodded.
“Well, if it helps us get stronger...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” Palmon shrugged. Everyone nodded in reluctant agreement.
“Alright, we’ll do it!” Apple Bloom nodded.
“Excellent!” Piximon reached into the cooler he brought and pulled out a small bottle of yellow liquid. “Here, drink this,” he said as he tossed a bottle to Apple Bloom.
“What is it?”
“Something to help with your recovery,” Piximon said as he handed out a bottle to everyone. “You just spent a couple of days in the desert. I’ve done everything I can to help you recover. But you’re probably still feeling the effects of dehydration and exhaustion. This’ll help fix that, replenish your electrolytes and all that other good stuff.”
Scootaloo opened the bottle and took a sniff. It had a distinct citrusy smell, and a bit of a fizz. Shrugging, she tilted the bottle back and downed the contents. “Not bad,” Scootaloo nodded.
A few minutes after everyone finished their drinks, Scootaloo felt the effects. The feeling began to return to her legs, and she hardly felt sore anymore. She was also more awake and had a bit of a spring in her step compared to when she woke up. Judging from the smiles from everyone else, whatever was in that bottle was working for them too.
“Alright then, everybody ready?” Piximon asked. “Good, then let’s move out!”
Piximon led everyone out of the swimming hole, and down the dirt road. As they marched on, something caught Terriermon’s eye.
“Hey, check it out,” Terriermon pointed towards the opposite end of the path. Everyone was shocked to see the desert beyond the treeline.
“What the…” Apple Bloom trailed off, staring at the distant sphinx. “Are we still in the desert?”
“Well, yes and no,” Piximon said. “Right now, we’re all in my dimension, protected by my magic.” Piximon fluttered up to the treeline, where the ferns meet the sand. He tapped the air with his spear, revealing a shimmering barrier. “Geographically, yes we’re in the desert. But to anyone outside this barrier, this place may as well be a stretch of sand and rock.”
“If you say so,” Apple Bloom said.
“Alright, no more detours!” Piximon ordered. “Let’s keep moving! Hut hut!”
Piximon continued to lead them further down the dirt road, shouting for some of them to pick up their pace.
“So uh, where exactly will we be training?” Babs Seed asked as they reached the end of the road.
Piximon smiled and gestured upwards with his spear. Everyone looked up to see a staircase at the end of the road wrapping around a mountain that pierced the clouds. Some could make out a large building resting at the peak of the mountain, shrouded by wisps of white.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Silver Spoon balked.
“You mean we gotta climb all the way up there?!” Apple Bloom cried out.
“Heh, no problem!” Rumble smirked as he spread his wings. “See you suckers at the top!” Rumble launched himself into the air, soaring up the first few steps. Before he could get any higher though, he felt a strange tingling sensation in his wings. As he turned to investigate, he lost his air and tumbled back down the steps.
“Ow...ow ow ow!” Rumble whined. “What the heck was that?”
“Um...Rumble?” Bearmon stuttered.
Rumble looked back to find everyone staring at him in shock. “What?” he asked. “Do I have something on me?”
“No, that’s kinda the problem,” Babs Seed said, staring at Rumble.
“What are you talking about?”
Bearmon gestured to Rumble’s back with a shaky paw. Rumble felt along his back, running a hoof from neck to tail, but couldn’t feel anything.
Rumble’s heart stopped for a moment. He couldn’t feel anything along his back, two very specific things seemed to be missing. He looked down at his back, and let out a high pitched scream at what he saw.
“My wings! Where are my wings?!” Rumble shrieked at his barren back.
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom cried out.
“What?” Scootaloo whipped around. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both staring at her back. When she felt a tingling in her wings, she looked back in time to see both her wings vanish in a glitch of data. “Hey! What gives?!” Scootaloo shouted in a panic.
“Are you two done?” Piximon asked.
“What did you do?” Rumble asked as he tried to slow his panicked breath.
“I took your wings away. Was that not obvious?” Piximon deadpanned. “Don’t worry, this is only a temporary setup. During my training, there will be absolutely no flying!”
“Then what about Hawkmon?” Rumble pointed to the Digimon in question.
“Maybe because they’re also his arms?” Diamond Tiara responded wryly. “Come on, use some common sense.”
“Oh...right,” Rumble slouched. “Sorry about that, I guess I’m a little frazzled. What with my wings MAGICALLY DISAPPEARING ON ME!”
“Alright, alright,” Diamond Tiara relented. “Sheesh, take a chill pill.”
“No one said you were lacking in the observation department,” Piximon said. “Hawkmon’s wings are also his arms. Taking those away would make his training more difficult than it already will be.”
Everyone got a little nervous after hearing that.
“That being said...” Piximon continued as he hovered up to Hawkmon’s face. “IF he does fly at any point during his time here, he is going to be very, very...VERY sorry. Do I make myself clear, featherhead?”
“Y-yes sir! Crystal!” Hawkmon gulped.
“Goodie!” Piximon smiled. “Now then, enough chit-chat. Everyone upstairs, today! Let’s go!”
“It’s gonna be okay Rumble,” Bearmon put a paw on his partner’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, even without your wings.”
“Not like mine were gonna do me much good anyway,” Scootaloo grumbled. This prompted a few awkward glances from her friends. “Girls, you’re not saying anything, but I can still hear you. Please don’t turn this into a big deal right now. I’m fine. Let’s not turn this into a ‘pity Scootaloo fest’, alright?” Scootaloo looked back with a small smile.
“Well...alright then,” Apple Bloom nodded before heading to the stairs.
As everyone made their way to the base of the stairway, Diamond Tiara quietly hurried to Scootaloo’s side. “One day,” she whispered.
“Huh?” Scootaloo turned to Diamond Tiara.
“You’ll get up in the sky one day, I’m sure.”
Scootaloo was at a loss for words. Here was the pony who at one point made her question her value as a Pegasus pony. And now she was offering words of encouragement?
“You...you mean it?” Scootaloo asked, getting a little misty-eyed.
“Well, yeah. I mean, even if it’s not your wings that get you up there, I’m sure you’ll concoct some crazy way to do it. I already know how you got to Cloudsdale for that class report.”
Scootaloo nearly tripped on herself. “Wha-what are you talking about?” Scootaloo chuckled nervously. “I don’t know anything about a giant slingshot, you’re crazy!”
“Right…” Diamond Tiara smirked.
Silver Spoon chuckled at the exchange. But then she looked back up the mountain and felt her heart sink to her gut.
“You sure there’s not a service elevator we can take or something?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Oh come on silly Sil, moumentai,” Terriermon hopped up the first few steps. “Sure, it looks tough right now, but so was the desert. And we made it through alright, didn’t we?”
“Oh, you mean the desert we almost died trying to get through?” Silver Spoon deadpanned.
“Yeah…okay maybe that’s not the best example. My point is that ya can’t just not face a challenge because it looks daunting. Sure, it’s a tall mountain. But come on, they’re only stairs.”
“Only stairs huh? Did you lose count?” Silver Spoon asked her currently wheezing partner. “Well, I didn’t! Three thousand five hundred ninety-five, three thousand five hundred ninety-six, three thousand five hundred ninety-seven, and we made it!”
“Okay...I’ve been wrong...before...whew!” Terriermon wheezed.
All around them ponies and Digimon were on the ground, gasping for air as they waited for everyone else. The next one to make it up was Veemon, who looked all the chipper despite the long workout.
“Whew!” Veemon stretched. “That climb up the mountain was exhilarating, wasn’t it B?” He turned around, but the city filly was nowhere in sight. “B? Babs are you alright?” He called back down the stairs.
A few moments later, an amber hoof shakingly reached up the edge of the last step. An exhausted Babs Seed was pulled up behind it, in a manner akin to a zombie dragging itself from the grave.
“We gotta go back,” Babs wheezed. “I’m pretty sure...I dropped a lung.”
Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, and their respective partners were the last to join them. After a few minutes of recovery, Diamond Tiara was the first to speak up.
“Why is it...so hard...to breath?” she asked.
“Yes, the air gets a little thin up here,” Piximon commented. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”
As everyone sat and recovered, Scootaloo took in the large building in front of her. It reminded her of pictures of ancient Eastern Equestrian architecture. It was a large building made of wood, save for the walls, which were made of paper lined with wooden frames. They almost looked like a bunch of sliding doors stitched together to form a wall.
“Welcome to my dojo,” he said as he led them inside. The term “inside” was subjective though. Beyond the doors was a well-kept garden, open to the mountain air. A wooden walkway surrounded the garden, a pavilion protecting it from any rain. There were a few small cherry trees in full bloom, a few patches of flowers, and a small koi pond. There was also a large statue of Piximon in the center. “So, what do you think?”
“Impressive,” Hawkmon nodded.
Piximon led them to a section of the walkway lined with several rooms. Some of the ponies stopped to admire the simple, yet beautiful designs of nature on the paper walls. Images of trees, ponds, and lotus flowers swirled over the walls and sliding doors to create a mural. Piximon opened one of the rooms’ sliding doors to reveal a dark, dusty room. “Well, I’m glad you do, because this will be your first task. You must scrub the walkway surrounding the garden, as well as dust the rooms along here before dinner.”
“Wait, what?” Diamond Tiara scowled. “I thought we were training.”
“Yeah, no offense, but we didn’t climb all the way up here to do chores,” Rumble argued.
Piximon sighed. “Well, let me make this very simple. You can either clean this up or sleep in it. Because that’s where your beds are going to go.” He gestured to the empty rooms along the hall. He twirled his spear, and a series of cleaning supplies appeared before everyone. “I’d get started if I were you.”
Everyone groaned as Piximon left, but picked up sponges, brooms and feather dusters.
“Stay. In. The. Garden!” Rumble growled, brushing another collection of cherry blossom leaves into the garden.
“I never thought something so pretty could make such a mess,” Bearmon sighed, leaning on his broom. The work itself was tedious enough, but the high altitude made everyone tire easily. And that made some ponies a little moody.
“I thought we were supposed to be getting help from this guy,” Babs Seed angrily scrubbed the floor. “Instead he’s got US cleanin’ his place! Why do you like this guy so much V?”
“I’m not one to say there ain’t no value in a hard day’s work,” Apple Bloom said as she dusted one of the rooms. “But I don’t see how this helps us’.”
“Hey, I’m sure this is all a valuable part of our training,” Veemon said.
“And how’s that?”
Veemon stood with his mouth open for a few moments. “Maybe...there’s a kind of fighting style that uses the movements we’re using to clean?” He picked up the rag he was holding and made the circular motions he was using to dust as though he were in a fight. “That makes sense, right?”
Babs Seed raised her eyebrow.
“Yeah, that's stupid isn’t it?” Veemon slumped forward and got back to dusting.
“Hey, Armadillomon?” Terriermon called out, picking up a wet, soapy sponge. “Wanna race?”
Armadillomon watched Terriermon move to one side of the hall. Placing his sponge in front of him, he crouched into a racing position. “Sure, why not?” Armadillomon smiled. He picked up his sponge and took a position next to Terriermon.
“On your mark, get set, GO!” Terriermon shouted. The two raced down the hall, leaving a trail of sudsy water in their wake.
“Hehe, that’s a good idea,” Scootaloo nodded. She picked up four brushes and secured them to her hooves. She got into a racing position near the start of the soap trail, a cocky grin on her face. A few seconds later, she leaned forward, skidding forwards a few inches before coming to a stop.
“What the…” Scootaloo squinted forward. She kept her legs rigid as she willed her wings to push her forward. “Come on, come on!” She whipped her head around. “What’s the matter with—” she started. But her eyes fell across nothing but her bare back, not a feather in sight. “Oh, right...pony feathers,” she muttered.
Hours later, the space was clean. After being given a light dinner, everyone limped towards their rooms.
“So...sore,” Sweetie Belle moaned.
“I’m gonna be feelin’ this in the mornin’,” Apple Bloom winced as she stopped to massage her foreleg.
Silver Spoon opened the door to the room she and Terriermon helped clean. In the center of the room where two thin mattresses, which Piximon had called futons, a blanket, and a pillow.
“He expects us to sleep on these things?” Silver Spoon whined as she limped over to one of the futons and collapsed. “We’re pretty much sleeping on the floor! How am I supposed to get a good night’s sleep like…” Silver Spoon’s complaint trailed off into a snore.
Diamond Tiara slid the door shut as Terriermon gently laid a blanket onto Silver Spoon. Everyone followed suit, going to a room and collapsing onto a futon, looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
The sound of a gong shocked Babs Seed out of dreamland and into the waking world.
“Alright everyone, up and at em’!” Piximon shouted outside.
Babs Seed checked her Digivice. It was six o’clock in the morning. She groaned as she pulled the blanket back over her head. Babs considered herself a lot of things, but a morning pony was NOT one of them.
The door to her room slid open, letting a dim ray of sunlight in. “Come on you two, let’s go let’s go!” Piximon shouted. Babs heard Veemon pick himself up and quickly shuffle out the door. Then she felt the blunt end of Piximon’s spear poking her side. “That means you too. Up! Arise! Vamanos!”
“No!” Babs groaned, blindly waved her hoof around. “Ten more minutes.”
“Alright then,” Piximon sighed. The fluttering of wings announced his exit.
“Glad you understand,” Babs Seed smiled as her eyes drifted shut again. Before she could get comfortable though, she heard him hovering inside her room again. It sounded like he was carrying something heavy, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on what. The next moment, she felt water dumped all over her. She leaped out of bed with a loud squeal. When she finally landed, her whole body shivered as water and ice cubes dripped out of her soaked mane and coat.
“Oh hey, looks like you’re awake now,” Piximon smirked, swinging an empty bucket back and forth. “Hang your futon out to dry and you might be ready in time for breakfast.”
“Ugh, I could NOT get comfortable last night,” Rumble groaned in the hallway. “It felt so...weird without my wings.”
“Tell me about it,” Scootaloo said, sounding like a zombie. “Every time I turned onto my side, I kept expecting to feel my wings against the blanket or something. Instead, there was just...nothing.”
Babs Seed trotted into the dining room, leaving a small trail of dripping water in her wake.
“What happened to you?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Don’t ask,” Babs grumbled while going to the last open spot. She found herself facing down a small bowl of oatmeal and milk, just like everyone else. “Seriously? This is it?”
“Hey, the last thing you want to do before training is eat something big,” Piximon said. “Anyway, the sooner you finish up, the sooner we can get started.”
After breakfast, Piximon had everyone do a variety of exercises. A few laps around the mountain path, some pushups, sit-ups and stretches. As everyone caught their breath, Piximon tapped his spear on the ground.
“Alright, listen close,” Piximon announced. “For this next part, we’ll be dividing into two groups: Digimon and ponies.”
“Wait, we’re gonna be separated for this next part?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“For the rest of the day,” Piximon confirmed. “You’ll each have your own training to attend to, and then we’ll reconvene here for the evening jog and dinner.”
“Wait, you said we were going to be training separate for the rest of the day?” Rumble asked. “How do you plan to manage that? I didn’t see anyone else here.”
Piximon smiled to himself, then twirled his spear in a series of complex motions. At the end, his body began to glitch for a moment. Everyone watched in awe as the glitched turned into an outline of Piximon, separated from him, then resolidified into an exact copy of Piximon.
“Alright, have them wrap up before sundown,” Piximon said to his doppelganger, who gave a sharp salute.
“Alright, you heard the handsome devil,” the Piximon clone said. “All Digimon this way. Come on, let’s go!”
As the Digimon were marched away, the ponies followed Piximon towards the front of the dojo. He led them to a series of flower beds leading towards the front doors.
“Alright then, your next task is to take care of the weeds in the beds here,” he gestured around the flower beds. The garden looked like a battle for territory as the ugly weeds tried to choke the colorful flowers.
“Yikes, when was the last time you took care of this place?” Silver Spoon asked.
“That’s not the question you should be asking. What you should be asking is, ‘Where are the gardening tools Piximon?’ To which the answer is: right over that way.” Everyone looked to the small, run-down gardening shed he was pointing to. “Just remember to remove them from the root. They don’t like being pulled at.”
“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours, do be careful,” Piximon said as he fluttered away.
Everypony grabbed a gardening tool of their choice and got to work. As Scootaloo was busy cutting a few weeds something poked her shoulder.
“What is it Sweetie Belle?” she asked in annoyance.
“Uh, I’m over here,” Sweetie Belle, said waving a bit further away.
Scootaloo then slowly turned around and saw one of the weeds had extended to massive size. She screamed as it grabbed her hoof and suspended her in the air, hanging upside down. “Somepony help me!”
Sweetie Belle grabbed a pair of cutters and went on the attack. “I got your back!” As she was trying to cut through the weed, another one was constantly tripping her up. Whenever she got close, it would drag her back a few feet. “Why you stupid little…” She then turned her attention to the weed tripping her up and mauled it with her cutters. She then turned her attention back to the weed holding Scootaloo.
Sadly though, those two seemed to have it easy, everyone else had their own issues to deal with. Silver Spoon was trying to get her sunhat from a pair of weeds that were playing a game of Monkey in the Middle with her. Or Pony in the Middle as the case was. Diamond Tiara was trying to cut down weeds but they kept grabbing her tools and tossing them out of the garden. When she ran out of tools, they grabbed Diamond Tiara and tossed HER out of the garden. Babs Seed had it worst of all though. She was tied up and the weeds were… tickling her hooves incessantly. She was laughing to the point of tears. Thankfully, Rumble was able to free her from her torment.
“Come on, let’s do some weed whacking!” He said as he handed Babs a huge pair of cutters. The two then turned to the giant weeds approaching them. One of them picked up a stick and twirled it around like a sword. While one vine leveled the stick at them, another rose beside it, beckoning the ponies to attack. With a fierce battle cry, Babs Seed and Rumble charged into the weeds.
Meanwhile, Piximon II led the Digimon towards another section of the dojo. He led them into a room that did not feature the paper sliding doors like the rest of the place. Instead, it only had a few windows with thicker paper shades. The room itself was empty, save for a rubber mat that covered the entire floor, and some candles that lit the room.
“You all know how to handle yourself in a fight, that much is clear,” Piximon said as he shut the large wooden door. “But tell me, where did these fights take place?”
Hawkmon put a feather to his beak. “Most of them took place in the open, outdoors, we had room to move around.”
“Except for the fight with Sandiramon,” Bearmon pointed out. “That took place in a cave, remember?”
“Well...that cave we fought in was still pretty open,” Palmon rubbed her arm, still sore from the morning workout.
“So in other words, the fights were more or less on a fair playing field?” Piximon asked.
“More or less,” Veemon shrugged.
“Yeah, I figured as much. Well, answer me this: what do you do if your opponent meets you on a battleground that benefits him more than you?” Piximon asked. He flicked his staff, and a breeze shut the windows. The thick shaders suffocated the incoming light and dimmed the room. “Or if he had some means to rob you of one of your senses?” he added. Another flick of his spear and another breeze extinguished many of the candles in the room. “Specifically, the sense you rely on the most.”
“U-Um…” Bearmon stuttered.
Piximon picked up the last lit candle, bringing it up to his lips with a maniacal grin. “Why don’t we find out?” he asked before blowing out the candle and letting it fall to the floor.
Everyone glanced at the candle as it hit the ground. When they looked back up, Piximon was gone.
“Gah!” Bearmon looked around frantically. “Where did he go?”
Everyone looked around the room, but could hardly see anything. The light that streamed through the window shades was a sickly yellow glow, and only lit up small parts of the room. The wind blew the trees outside, creating shadows that danced around the dark arena.
“Yes, where did I go?” a voice said from behind. Everyone whipped around but found nothing. “Oh where oh where has Piximon gone?” he sang out quietly, this time from above them.
Bearmon began to grow restless. “Guys...I don’t know if I can do this,” he whimpered.
“Stay cool Bearmon!” Veemon said, his eyes scanning the room. “I know you don’t like the dark, but if we stick together—”
“No...I-I can’t do this,” Bearmon began to hyperventilate. Before anyone could stop him, he ran for the direction of the door, into the blackness. A moment later, they heard the sound of someone pulling on the door. “It’s locked! We’re trapped in here!” he cried. “Wait...did you hear something?”
The sound of fighting and Bearmon’s high pitched squeals filled the room for a few moments. Then, everyone heard something large hitting the floor.
“Bearmon?” Veemon called out. “You uh...okay buddy?”
Bearmon’s cap was flung from the direction he fled in, coming to rest by Guilmon’s foot.
“One down, six to go,” Piximon chuckled.
The remaining Digimon stood back to back, glancing at every shadow that moved. “Here I am!” Piximon whispered from behind Veemon. Veemon spun on his heel and did a high kick in the direction of the voice. But his kick connected with the back of Hawkmon’s head instead, knocking him out cold.
“Oh shoot!” Veemon grabbed his head, clawing at non-existent hair. “Sorry, Hawkmon! I didn’t mean it…”
“Well, that’s embarrassing,” Piximon taunted from the far left of the room.
“PYRO SPHERE!” Guilmon launched a fireball towards the corner of the room, lighting it up for a moment. In the second before the flame vanished, a small shadow darted towards the other side.
“I understand that this is a fight,” Piximon sighed. “But I would appreciate it if you would try to avoid setting my home on fire.”
“Oh…” Guilmon’s ears dropped. “Sorry, Pixim—”
Piximon darted out of the shadows, slamming into Guilmon’s gut. The second he doubled over, Piximon moved behind him, striking the back of his head with the blunt end of his spear. He then retreated into the shadows before Guilmon hit the floor.
“Apology accepted,” Piximon said. “For Azulongmon’s sake, I only made it difficult to SEE me! You still have four good senses, do you not? Use them if you want to walk out of here instead of crawling out.”
Veemon took a deep breath and focussed. He could see the occasional shadow flitting across the walls. Or hear the fluttering of Piximon’s wings. The only problem was that they moved so fast, it was hard to pinpoint where he was. Then Veemon began to notice a pattern in his movements. He would dart to the far east, before fluttering above them. From there, he would get close to the south wall near the door for a moment. Then, he would move to the far western corner, close to the ceiling. As Veemon planned his attack, he felt the tip of Piximon’s spear touch his neck.
“You were thinking too long,” Piximon teased. He then spun his spear around and knocked Veemon out cold.
The ponies spent a couple of hours cutting down all the weeds toying with them. By the end, they were all collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted. The gardens were a mess of broken weeds and thrown soil.
"Had enough?" Apple Bloom glared at the weeds.
One of the defeated weeds pulled a white cloth from out of nowhere and weakly waved it in the breeze.
"Good!" Apple Bloom sighed as she collapsed next to her friends.
Piximon came back soon after and saw that the work had been completed. “Well done ponies. I do believe you’ve earned some lunch.”
“We’ll be...right there,” Apple Bloom said between pants. The ponies were able to pick themselves up after a bit and were treated to a few simple sandwiches.
After they finished their lunch Piximon began leading them to a new area. “So where are we headin’ to anyways?” Babs asked
“We’re heading towards the playground.” Everypony's expressions perked up. After the long day they had, some time on the swings or going down some slides sounded perfect. As they arrived, however, all that joy quickly evaporated. What they saw wasn’t a park filled with swing sets, slides and other fun commodities. Rather it was a large, complex obstacle course.
The course sat in a triangular area, which was divided into three different areas. In one area, a series of towers stood over a pool of water. They were connected by bridges, suspended platforms, and rope ladders. Another area had a large web of rope tunnels crisscrossing over one another. The tunnels weaved together into a maze suspended by a series of poles. The third area was a mud pit with a maze of dark tunnels intersecting with each other and meeting in the middle. In the center, a pillar with a keypad and a lockbox stood tall. In the center of the triangle sat a solitary tower with a golden brazier at the top.
“This is the playground?” Diamond asked, a little appalled at the sight. "This is insane!"
Scootaloo stared at the section with the towers and platforms. "I don't think I've ever heard of a playground that had its own high ropes course!"
"Everyone listen close!" Piximon ordered. "There are three keys hidden in the playground, one in each section. Your task is to traverse the obstacles in each section and find them. Once you have them, bring them to the base of the tower, and put them in their respective locks."
“Well that doesn’t sound so bad,” Scootaloo smiled.
“One more thing. There will also be a time limit. You will have ten minutes to finish. If you fail to get all three keys, you'll have to try again tomorrow.” Piximon hovered towards a large hourglass.
“Me and my big mouth,” Scootaloo groaned.
“Everyone get ready!” Piximon pointed to the starting line of the obstacle course and everypony went over to it. “Now you will begin on three. One. Two. Three!” he shouted as he flipped the hourglass.
On Piximon's signal, the ponies split up towards different sections of the playground. Apple Bloom scampered over to the rope tunnel maze, crawling in through one of the entrances. After taking a few turns, she thought she could see a key hanging from deep within the web of tunnels. As she crawled to an intersection, she spotted Scootaloo and Babs Seed moving across one of the bridges in the high ropes course. They stopped for a moment to wave to Apple Bloom. As she lifted a hoof to reply, the bridge that they stood on flipped over, sending them plummeting into the water.
“Oh, sweet Celestia!” Scootaloo cried out as she flailed above the water. “It’s freezing!” The two waterlogged ponies paddled to shore and shook themselves dry.
“I’m gonna have hypothermia before the end of today!” Babs Seed shivered.
Everypony else struggled through various portions of the course. Some got tangled in the rope maze, others got lost in the dark tunnels, and a few more were flung off the tower obstacles. Ten minutes later, a loud foghorn sounded over the course.
“That’s time!” Piximon shouted through a megaphone. “Everyone out!”
Everyone crawled out of the obstacle course, out of breath and covered in sweat.
“Well, that was a big bust,” Sweetie Belle frowned. “Hey Scootaloo, how are you holding up? You look like you and Babs took a pretty big tumble back there.”
Scootaloo wasn’t listening though. She was too busy watching Diamond Tiara trying to drag Silver Spoon out of the muddy tunnels. “I never thought I’d see this,” she whispered to herself with a smile as they slipped on each other.
“Really Scoots?” Apple Bloom glared. “That’s really petty of you.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Scootaloo sighed before walking over to help the two clumsy fillies.
After a short break, everyone was reunited with their equally exhausted partners. After their evening jog and a short dinner, they dragged their sore, battered bodies to bed.
“Ten, eleven, twelve,” Piximon counted as everyone did crunches the next morning.
“So, he had you all fight him in the dark?” Rumble asked Bearmon as he pulled himself up. “But, you’re not afraid of the dark are you?”
“Well...it’s not so much the dark itself,” Bearmon said as he raised and lowered himself with Rumble. “I’m more scared of things moving around in the dark.”
“Yeah, Elecmon’s ghost stories would usually do a number on you,” Veemon said.
“Not just Elecmon. You would always make scary noises near my bed the same night he told them!” Bearmon glared at Veemon.
Babs Seed stopped doing crunches for a moment to glare at Veemon. “Seriously?”
“Uh...maybe?” Veemon sweated. “Oh come on, you knew I was just playing with you, right? It was all in good fun.”
“I wasn’t laughing,” Bearmon huffed.
“Hey, less talking more crunching!” Piximon ordered. “Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one…”
Back at the playground the ponies were once again tasked with grabbing the keys. Scootaloo tried to conquer the high ropes course once again. She made some decent progress, making it halfway through the course. She looked to the tallest tower as she climbed up a rope ladder of an adjacent one. She could see the key dangling in the wind at the top.
"Almost there!" Scootaloo grinned. As if to dash that hope, however, the rope ladder began to spin around the tower. She managed to hang on for a decent while before finally being flung off into the water. She crawled out of the water shivering once again and completely dejected.
Scootaloo looked to the other areas to see if anypony else had any better luck; though it seemed to be more of the same. Apple Bloom was lost in the rope maze and looked a bit dizzy from trying to find her way. She could also hear Sweetie Belle’s groans of frustration from the dark tunnels.
Diamond Tiara had told them about the dark tunnel maze over dinner last night. The maze itself wasn’t that complex, in fact there were several paths to reach the center. The challenge was the lockbox in the center. The keypad demanded a four-digit code to open it. Silver Spoon noted that she stumbled on a panel that flashed a number on the way to the center.
“Alright, time’s up!” Piximon shouted, snapping Scootaloo from her train of thought.
“I thought I had that key for a moment!” Scootaloo groaned as she joined the others.
“He has us cleaning the place up, and then he puts us through somethin' like that?” Apple Bloom sighed. "I'm sure the Digimon don't hafta put up with stuff like this."
Armadillomon was on the ground completely out of breath. “This is ridiculous!”
He and the other Digimon were currently in a game of extreme dodgeball. Piximon was on one side of the room with several automatic dodgeball launchers. All around him, the other Digimon were ducking and diving to avoid getting slammed.
“I bet our partners don’t have to put up with stuff like this,” Armadillomon panted.
“Given the state they were in last night, I'd say Piximon's not going easy on them either,” Hawkmon said. A red dodgeball slammed him in the gut, knocking him back several feet and knocking him out.
“Less talking, more dodging!” Terriermon said while using his ears to vault himself into the air.
The gong sounded off once again, signaling the start of another day of rigorous training. Everyone filed out of their rooms, wincing as they felt the aches and pains of the past few days. Babs Seed stopped for a moment to stretch her legs. That's when she noticed Piximon lingering by Rumble and Bearmon’s room.
“Let’s go! Time’s a-wasting!” Piximon shouted into the room.
Babs noticed a bucket of ice water off towards the side of the walkway. And when Piximon fluttered out of the room without Rumble and Bearmon, she knew what was about to happen. She continued doing her stretches, bringing her hind leg around to knock over the bucket of water.
“Oh no, I’m such a klutz!” Babs Seed said in robotic panic.
“What happened here?” Piximon sighed.
“I...I don’t know. I was just stretching, I didn’t even see that. I’m really sorry Piximon.”
Piximon smiled. “It’s alright, accidents happen. Grab a mop from the closet and clean it up before breakfast, it shouldn’t take too long. We don’t want it soaking into the boards and leaving a stain.”
“Of course,” Babs Seed nodded. As she turned towards the broom closet, she allowed herself to have a small, triumphant grin. While she grabbed a mop, Piximon dug through a chest until he pulled out a megaphone. “Um...wha-what’re ya gonna do with that?”
Piximon fluttered out of the closet and back over to Rumble’s room. He hung back by the door, brought the megaphone up in front of him and switched it on. He let it run for a few moments, letting it drone on with its electronic whine. Then he pulled an air horn out from behind his back, brought it up to the megaphone mouthpiece, and squeezed it.
Still feeling a ringing in his ears, Rumble continued to push through the rope tunnel maze. He had made it far ahead of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle and had begun to see it as a race. As he got closer to the key his determination grew larger and larger. Looking to his side towards the high ropes course, he saw Scootaloo and Babs falling into the water again. He chuckled a bit at their expense before managing to nab the key.
“All right, I got one!” Rumble said, beaming with pride. He then turned around to try and find his way back. Unfortunately, getting back out was about as challenging as getting to the key. Cursing himself for not paying attention, he darted through tunnel after tunnel. He managed to pass by Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom twice before time was up. Piximon guided the lost souls out of the web of ropes and sweat. Sweetie and Apple Bloom affixed Rumble with harsh glares as they left.
Before they left the playground, Piximon lifted his spear. The rope maze was engulfed in light for a moment. Once the light faded the ropes were completely rearranged.
“Hey, what’s the big idea? I was able to clear that maze!” Rumble whined.
“Exactly,” Piximon said. “It wouldn't be much of a challenge if you got through based on memory alone. That goes for every challenge. If you manage to finish one part, but the rest of the keys aren’t gathered, I will rearrange the areas you were able to beat.”
“That sounds pretty backward to me.” Silver Spoon said with a hint of bitterness.
“It’s not supposed to be easy. This course is designed to test your endurance and mettle.”
“What made ya think we were made of metal?” Apple Bloom said. “We ain’t THAT tough.”
“Wait, what? No, I said mettle, not metal.” Piximon stopped for a moment, then frowned. “Oh...yes, very funny. Come on, let’s get you to dinner.”
“I don’t get it, what’s so funny?” Apple Bloom asked.
Before everypony went with him Diamond Tiara stayed by the playground for a moment. Later that night, she pulled Silver Spoon and Rumble aside for a chat.
Over with the Digimon, they had moved on to some combat training. They felt confident when Piximon told them this, having had their fair share of battles. Unfortunately, they severely underestimated how much of a fight a little pixie can put up.
Hawkmon was trying to chase down Piximon but was having no luck. “Will you just stay still!”
“An enemy won’t stop moving just because you asked. You must learn how to outmaneuver any opponent!” Piximon said while keeping up his speed.
The others didn’t fare much better, all trying to attack their own Piximon copies, to no avail. “You are much too predictable. I could dodge your attacks while blindfolded!” Piximon said while fighting Palmon.
As if to prove a point, the Piximon clone fighting Veemon stopped to put on a blindfold before continuing.
“Why you!” Veemon growled before charging. Much to his frustration though, Piximon had no trouble blocking his flurry of punches.
The training continued well into the evening, and the Digimon collapsed on the floor. Only a few of them were able to land a glancing blow on Piximon.
Once more the ponies found themselves staring at the playground. It had been almost a week of exercises and doing various chores around the dojo. And yet they were still no closer to conquering the absurd jungle gym that stood before them. Each challenge had been rearranged at least once over the course of the past few days.
“Alright, everyone ready?” Piximon asked.
“Wait a minute!” Silver Spoon called out. “Could we have a few minutes to talk?”
Piximon looked to a pocket watch, then back at the obstacle course before nodding. Everypony huddled up.
“Alright, so I’ve been talking with some of you, and I think I may have an idea on how to solve the dark tunnels,” Silver Spoon said. Everypony glanced towards the muddy tunnels she was referring too. “We all know that there are panels inside that sometimes flash a number, right?” Everypony nodded. “Well, the keypad in the center requires a four-digit code. I think that the panels will tell us that code.
What I propose is that we have five ponies at that obstacle," Silver Spoon continued. "One will be at the keypad, the other four will be in the tunnels trying to find the panels. Once everypony finds one, they wait until they start flashing. Once they do, that pony shouts ‘Flash!’ to tell the pony in the center the order. Once the center pony figures out the order, they’ll tell the ponies inside to give them the numbers as they flash. We get the code, we get the key!"
“Wow, that’s a great idea!” Apple Bloom said. “But what about the high ropes course and the rope tunnels?”
“I have an idea,” Diamond Tiara piped in. “We divide and conquer! We’ll have the five ponies in the dark tunnels. Meanwhile, the other two will get a head start on the rope maze. That team will be the start of a daisy chain."
Everyone glanced at the rope tunnel maze as Diamond Tiara continued. "They go in together, staying on the same path. When they hit a certain point where they may get turned around, one pony stays behind to remember the way back. This way, if they do get the key they can get back to the start quickly. And if it's a dead-end the other pony can start down an alternate path.
“Once we have the key from the dark tunnels, one pony heads to the rope maze to help with the daisy chain. The other four head to the high ropes course in teams of two,” Diamond Tiara looked to everypony around her. “If we keep our heads cool, we can make it in time.”
Scootaloo glanced back towards the high ropes course. “That sounds good, but I think we should divert more horsepower to the rope maze. We all know that that maze can be a tough nut to crack. What if we have three ponies on the ropes course plan out a route before we start. That’ll leave one more pony for Diamond Tiara’s daisy chain.”
Everypony agreed on the plan and began dividing up into teams. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, and Rumble would tackle the tunnels. Silver Spoon would be the code-puncher in the center. Babs Seed and Sweetie Belle would get a head start on the maze. Afterward, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Rumble would make a dash for the high ropes course. The three ponies studied the towers, planning out the quickest route to take to the highest tower.
“Alright, ready or not here we go!” Piximon said. “On your marks, get set, go!”
Everypony galloped towards their respective starting points. Silver Spoon grit her teeth as she crawled on her belly through the cold, slimy mud. Luckily, this maze wasn’t as complicated as the rope tunnels. Silver Spoon emerged into the sunlight and ran for the lockbox.
“Alright, I’m here,” Silver Spoon shouted, taking a moment to wipe her glasses clean. “Everypony in position?”
“I’m ready!” Apple Bloom called out.
“Same here!” Diamond Tiara responded.
“Give me a minute!” Scootaloo called out. “No, Rumble you go that way, I’ll go this way.”
Silver Spoon began to fidget in place. “Come on, come on.” At the rope tunnel maze, she saw that Sweetie Belle had stopped at an intersection while Babs Seed went on ahead.
“Alright, found a panel here!” Scootaloo called out.
“Same!” Rumble shouted.
“Alright, let me know when your numbers start flashing!” Silver Spoon kept her ears erect.
“Flash!” Rumble shouted first. A moment later, Apple Bloom shouted the same thing. Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo soon followed.
“Alright, when Rumble shouts his number, everypony shout your number when they flash!”
After a few moments, Rumble shouted, “Five!”
“Seven!”
“Two!”
“Nine!”
Silver Spoon listened to the sequence one more time before punching the numbers into the keypad. She heard a few clicks before the lockbox door swung open, where a key hung off a hook. She grabbed the key before running over to one of the tunnel entrances. “I got it! Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Rumble, get to the high ropes course. I’ll see the rest of you at the rope tunnels.” She scurried through the tunnels, then dashed over to the central tower. She slipped the key into one of the keyholes and turned it into place.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo led Apple Bloom and Rumble to the high ropes course and began scaling a rope ladder. When they got to the platform at the top, they had two paths to choose from. One path was a bridge consisting of three ropes, one to walk on with their hind legs, and two to grab onto. But their planned route demanded that they take the second path, a bridge of padded platforms.
Scootaloo knew from experience that the platforms were rigged to throw them off in a variety of ways. The first would flip the platforms if they stood on them for too long, sending them tumbling into the water. The second setting made them move around in a particular pattern. Scootaloo gently placed her hoof on the first platform. A few moments later, she heard a small CLICK, and the platform flipped onto its side. But then, her heart sank even further as they slowly began to move from side to side.
“Alright, so this might be a bit tougher than usual,” Scootaloo looked back to Apple Bloom and Rumble. “I’ll go first, you two start as soon as you see an opening. Don’t wait for me to get to the other side!”
She waited until the first platform passed in front of her, then leaped forward. Her senses were on a knife’s edge as she navigated the craziest game of hopscotch she’d ever played. The moment she leaped towards the other side, she felt the platform start to tilt. The momentum had thrown her a bit to the side, and she landed just on the edge of the ledge. After regaining her balance, she allowed herself a moment to breathe.
Looking back, she saw Rumble and Apple Bloom making their way over to her together. The moment they joined her, Scootaloo motioned for them to head to the next obstacle on their path. While it offered a quick way to the key, it was also one of the obstacles Scootaloo dreaded the most. It was a large net that had them climb across to reach the next platform.
Apple Bloom glanced down at the water below and paled a little. “You alright Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked.
“Y-yeah,” Apple Bloom nodded. “Come on, time’s a-wastin'!”
Scootaloo latched onto the rope web and began to shimmy her way across the net with Apple Bloom and Rumble. Stealing a glance back to the rope maze, she could see Diamond Tiara had reached the key. She was making her way back to Silver Spoon to hoof it off. Meanwhile, half of the sand had been drained in the hourglass.
As Scootaloo and the others reached the center of the net, she heard a series of creaks that made her stomach drop.
“Everypony hold on!” Scootaloo ordered as the net began to spin on an axis. The net didn’t spin very fast, but it created enough force to make the climb a lot harder. There was also the danger of having their bearings thrown off and coming off back at the start. Not to mention being thrown off themselves if they weren’t careful.
Rumble glanced down at the water as he crossed. “You know, this is actually kinda scary without wings.”
“Don’t think too much about it,” Scootaloo called back. “Worst case scenario: you fall and take a dip in some cool water. And if that happens, just try not to land on your stomach.”
After what felt like an eternity, Scootaloo managed to disembark on the other side. But as Rumble moved a little closer towards the edge of the net, his hoof slipped and he began to fall. Luckily, Apple Bloom managed to catch him just in time. But they had missed their stop, and the added weight was making Apple Bloom lose her grip. By the time the net swung by the starting point, she was hanging on by a hoof.
“Scootaloo! Get ready to catch him!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“Apple Bloom, no!” Scootaloo reached out.
“Just do it! I can’t hold on much longer!”
As Apple Bloom swung close enough to Scootaloo, she threw Rumble to her. While Scootaloo pulled Rumble up onto the platform, Apple Bloom tried to regain her grip. But the spinning net was too much for her, and she slipped and fell with a scream.
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo cried out.
“Keep goin’!” Apple Bloom shouted before she hit the water. A few moments later, she floundered to the water’s surface. “Sweet Luna on a tricycle that’s cold!”
“We gotta go, now!” Rumble reminded Scootaloo. They dashed over towards the final obstacle on their path. There were three routes up the final tower. First was a rock wall, which nopony had managed to conquer. The second was a knotted rope which was mounted on a wheel. Knowing Piximon it probably spun around like crazy if someone were to try and climb it. The third one was a pulley tied to a basket.
Their plan was to use this to reach the top of the tower and grab the key. But Scootaloo was starting to have her doubts now. Apple Bloom’s strength was a key factor in this part of the plan.
“I know what you’re thinking, and we gotta try it without her,” Rumble said as he trotted over to the basket.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it in time without her though,” Scootaloo fidgeted.
“I can hear ya up there ya know!” Apple Bloom shouted from the edge of the course. “Quit yer belly achin’ and do it already! That hourglass ain’t stoppin’ for nopony!”
Scootaloo glanced down at the hourglass. Piximon hovered next to it, and Scootaloo could’ve sworn that she saw something of a hopeful gleam in his eye. “Alright, time to buck up or shut up!” she grinned, hopping into the basket with Rumble.
With a nod, they got to work pulling themselves up. There wasn’t a lot of rope, but the weight of the basket and its occupants made the climb difficult. Time was running out, and they could hear everypony else cheering them on from below. Scootaloo caught Diamond Tiara putting the second key into its keyhole.
“It’s just us now!” Rumble said. “Come on, we got this!”
Scootaloo nodded. “Right, double time!”
There were two ponies in the basket, but they worked as one pony. When they reached the top, Rumble held the basket in place while Scootaloo grabbed the key. She latched onto a pole next to the tower and slid down like a firemare, landing in a soft pile of cushions. Pushed on by the cheers of her friends, Scootaloo galloped towards the central tower. She slid the last key into place and turned it.
The brazier at the top of the tower burst into flames, and fireworks launched from around the playground. The cheers of the ponies competed for dominance over that of the colorful explosions. Rumble did a backflip off the platform, cannonballing into the water below. As the fireworks faded and the ponies calmed down, Piximon hovered towards them.
“Well done everyone, well done!” he said as he clapped his hands. “It took a while, but you finally figured it out didn’t you?” Everyone stared at him for a few moments, too tired to speak. “The only way you would be able to beat the entire course was by working together as a team.”
Piximon gestured to the dark tunnel maze. “The only way for you to figure out the code was by communicating with each other clearly and effectively.” He then turned to the rope tunnels. “And navigating this maze is no easy feat. But once you found the key, you had to entrust its safety to your teammates to carry it out.” Finally, he pointed to the high ropes course. “And then there’s one of my favorite challenges. Even the best-laid plans often go awry. But an effective team is able to adapt to any bumps in the road that they may face.”
Piximon looked over everypony with a smile. “Communication, trust, and adaptability. These are the marks of an effective team. And whether or not you realize it, you’ve been improving these skills over the course of this past week.”
“Wait, does that include all those chores you had us do?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Because I can see that being the case with the weeding, the gutter cleaning, and the floor scrubbing. But what about when you had us repaint the fence?”
Piximon shrugged. “Well, you worked as a team to finish it, didn’t you? Besides, that fence desperately needed a couple of new coats of fresh paint.” Ignoring everypony’s groans, Piximon beckoned for them to follow him. “Come on now, it’s time for our evening jog.”
As everypony followed Piximon to collect their Digimon, a thought occurred to Silver Spoon. “Hey, how do you think our partners are holding up with their training?” she asked.
As they rounded the corner, a series of explosions rocked the dojo. A thick black cloud of smoke began to billow out of one of the larger rooms. A few tense moments later, their Digimon partners began filing out of the room, covered in soot and bruises. They all looked to each other for a bit before Hawkmon put out a small flame lingering in his tail feathers. “Well...that went a whole lot better than last time,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah!” Veemon pumped his fist. “We’re awesome!”
High fives were exchanged all around until Guilmon noticed that they weren’t alone. “Oh, hey Scootaloo,” he waved.
“Hey…” Scootaloo weakly waved back. “What happened to you guys?”
“Funny, I was about to ask the same thing,” Terriermon waddled up to Silver Spoon. “You have certainly looked better.”
“You don’t look like a basket of fruit yourself,” Silver Spoon laughed.
Terriermon held up his soot-covered ears and laughed. “No, I guess I don’t, do I?”
Everyone joined in the laughter as they all tried to determine which of them looked the worse for wear. Meanwhile, Piximon finished his conversation with his copy that oversaw the Digimon's training.
“Alright, change of plans,” Piximon said as his copy dissipated. “We’ll just do some stretches, and then I want all of you to hit the showers and get ready for dinner.”
When everyone returned from washing up, they were greeted to a buffet dinner. After having to survive off Piximon's small meals for the last week, the sight was enough to evoke tears of joy. Everyone sat at the table with a loaded plate and began stuffing their faces.
"Wow! This is all so good!" Sweetie Belle said as she took another bite of grilled squash.
“Well, after what you accomplished this past week, you deserve it, ” Piximon smiled. “Please, eat as much as you like.”
As they were eating Apple Bloom looked around and noticed something significant. “Would you look at us. Usually, we’re pantin’ up a storm after all that trainin’. But now, I feel great!”
“I know what you mean. I’ve never felt so pumped!” Rumble said with a huge grin before eating some more.
“I never thought all that exercise would actually be kind of fun in the end,” Silver Spoon said, sitting up a little taller alongside Diamond Tiara.
“I feel like I can take my cousins next time we wrestle at the family reunion,” Babs Seed said. "Just you wait Ginger Gold. Next time, you're goin' down!"
“We really want ta thank you for everthin’ Piximon,” Apple Bloom said. “After all that, I reckon we can take on anything right now.” Her comment was met with sounds of affirmation from the rest of the table.
“Hold on young ones, you didn't think you were all done, did you?” Piximon asked. Everyone stopped eating for a moment, confusion painting their faces. “Once you're done eating head off to bed. The next part of your training will continue tomorrow. You'll want a good night's sleep for what comes next.”
Despite the sudden announcement, the good food helped keep the worry at bay. Everyone shared stories of their training mishaps and triumphs. But while everyone was laughing and eating their fill, one thought dwelled in the back of their minds.
After a week of being pushed to their limits, what came next? The possibilities made everyone a little uneasy.