//------------------------------//
// The First Hunt! Beware the Forest of Petaldramon! Pt 2. 
// Story: Hunt them Down! The Devilish Digimon Hunter! 
// by Dark Star the Crazed 
//------------------------------//


That Night.




Sunset sighed as her friends stared at her like she had grown a second head. The moment they had woken up she had promised to explain things that night, and so here they were, she had told them about how she had been dragged into the Digimon Hunt. "So let me get this straight, for the past three weeks you've been going into another dimension you call 'DigiQuartz' and hunting monsters called Digimon. You do this with the help of your Digimon 'partner', who is a little bipedal lion with red fur, that has a tail that's constantly on fire. You hunt them by engaging them in battle, whereupon defeating them you capture and add them to your 'collection', and to access this alternate dimension, you hold out this device, which you called a 'Xros Loader' and say 'time shift'." They all looked at the Xros Loader in Twilight's hand expectantly, only for nothing to happen, which Sunset was thankful for. "Do I have that right?"

Sunset looked at them and nodded. "I didn't want to get you girls involved because Coronamon and I haven't managed to capture a single Digimon yet and I don't know how Equestrian magic will effect Digimon, for all we know, it could turn them into unstoppable juggernauts or tear the universe apart."

Things were silent for a moment before Rainbow smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, let's see it then."

Sunset blinked. "Huh?"

"This DigiQuartz place, even if it's dangerous, we'll only be there for a second, so what's the worst that could happen?"

"As rare as it is for me to say this, I agree with Rainbow darling. You're our friend and we trust you but..." Rarity tapped her chin, looking for a way to tell Sunset she sounded like she was insane in a ladylike way.

"You sound like you're drunker than' Cooter Brown on the Fourth of July." Applejack's bluntness was enough to get the point across, they wouldn't believe her without proof, even though they had seen Sonata's Digimon partner.

Sighing, Sunset stood up. "Fine, but not here, too many witnesses." The group managed to sneak out of camp, nearly getting spotted by Vice Principal Luna in the process when Fluttershy was spooked by a squirrel. Once they were in the woods Sunset held out her Xros Loader. "Time Shift." As soon as the portal opened Sunset ran through and quickly looked to see if there were any Digimon nearby, but there were none in the area. 

"Woah..."

Sunset turned around and smirked. "Now do you believe me?" The girls all nodded, still looking around. "Good, now we're leaving!"

Rainbow's head snapped towards Sunset. "No way! Not until I see one of these Digimon things!"

Sunset grunted but held out her Xros Loader. "Reload, Coronamon!" A stream of data emerged and took shape before solidifying into her partner. "Girls, Coronamon, Coronamon, Girls."

Coronamon smirked and waved a paw. "It's nice to meet you."

The girls all had different reactions to it, but Rainbow's seemed to leave the most impact on the tiny lion.

"Uh... Are they all this... Small? It doesn't look all that tough..." Sunset got the idea that she wasn't trying to be offensive, but Coronamon took offense anyway.

"Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't fight!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, which made the tiny Digimon cross his arms and sit on the ground, a pout on his face. "You'll see, when I Digivolve I'll be able to take on anything!" The Digimon suddenly perked up and jumped over to Sunset, pulling on her arm. "Come on! Lets go hunt down the Digimon possessing the Camp Director!"

Sunset was going to respond that they'd do it when the girls were safely outside of DigiQuartz, but she was interrupted when Twilight asked Coronamon to repeat himself. That lead to Sunset having to explain how Digimon were attracted to the power of the human heart, and that at times they would act like their name suggested and attack people without a second thought to get that power.

Things remained quiet for a while after that, the girls processing what they had just heard, occasionally shooting glances at Coronamon, who, in an effort to become stronger, had started doing sit ups.

Sunset knew what they were thinking, and she didn't like it. The Digimon Hunt was dangerous, she had nearly been maimed several times. "Girls, I know what you're thinking, but..."

"How do we join?" Everyone's eyes shot toward the source of the voice and while Fluttershy would normally draw back with a shy squeak, she stood firm this time. "I know that you said it was dangerous Sunset, but if there are some of these Digimon out there hurting people, I can't just ignore it." The others shared their thoughts, which were all along same lines as Fluttershy's.

"Girls, I..." Sunset wanted to tell them no, she really wanted too, but she couldn't. She hung her head with a sigh. "I... I'll ask Ren the next time I see him, but until then..."

Pinkie became serious when she heard the boy's name. "Who is he anyway? He seemed like kind of a meanie."

Sunset shrugged. "I don't really know, he, Sonata and Indigo saved me from a trio of Digimon when I stumbled into DigiQuartz for the first time, and then he asked me to join the Hunt. When I said yes, he gave me a rulebook and my Xros Loader... I guess he might be some kind of recruiter of overseer for the Hunt, considering he was able to let me join." She made note to ask him about himself the next time she saw him during a hunt. "Come on, lets head back, until you girls get a Xros Loader and partner, it isn't safe for you here." 

The girls, especially Rainbow, reluctantly agreed, following Sunset back through the Time Shift, Coronamon going along with them, none of them noticing the large glowing yellow eyes watching them from deep inside the forest.





Roots began to emerge from the ground and head towards the camp inside of DigiQuartz, making their way to the Councilor's Cabin and wrapping around and burrowing into the leg of Gloriosa Daisy when she, for a mere moment of desperation, begged for help to keep the camp open from whatever beings would bother to listen. Her eyes glazed over and her head turned toward the forest, seeing a faint pair of yellow lights, not even acknowledging the glowing green moss on the cabin walls that appeared out of nowhere. She stood and walked toward the source of the lights, eventually reaching the edge of the forest. "Protect?"

The voice was loud and gruff, but at the same time, it was comforting to the distraught woman, who understood what it meant. "Yes! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you, just help me! Please!"

The being responsible for the roots remained quiet for a moment before a root emerged from the ground once more and wrapped around Gloriosa's wrist, before starting to pull her into the forest in the direction of the old abandoned rock quarry. "Power. More. Find."

Gloriosa nodded and allowed herself to be lead into the forest. She would do anything to keep the camp open. Anything.