//------------------------------//
// Hunting in a Winter Wonderland! Chilly Encounters on Mount Canter! Pt. 2 
// Story: Hunt them Down! The Devilish Digimon Hunter! 
// by Dark Star the Crazed 
//------------------------------//


With Indigo and Sonata.


As they sat on the ski lift heading to the top of the most dangerous slope at the resort, Indigo was clinging to Sonata for dear life. The moment that they reached the top Indigo got out of the seat and noticed two more of the Wondercolts who took part in the Friendship Games. "Race you to the bottom."

Rainbow turned to look at her challenger and scowled at the sight of Indigo. "You're on. I'm gonna crush you just like we did at the Friendship Games."

"You didn't 'crush' us. The judges declared a tie, aka both schools lost... So technically..." Indigo pulled her googles down over her eyes as she hooked herself into her board. "You talk an awful lot for a school that never wins~" Rainbow growled and pulled her own goggles down before both girls went forward and shot down the slope at dangerous speeds.

Sonata, who had walked up next to Pinkie Pie, turned to look at her fellow 'scatterbrain'. "Did I miss something or...?"

Pinkie, who had realized that Sonata wasn't a bad person shortly after the battle of the bands, nodded her head. "Our schools are kind of rivals and Rainbow's really competitive."

"Oh."

The two just stood there, staring at one another. "Soooo... What was with the whole causing everybody to fight thing? Princess Twilight said you did it to cause chaos and try to conquer the world but..." But something about that had never seemed right to her.

Sonata snorted. "Of course she did, she's a pony."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Sonata stared at her in confusion. "Uh, you do know that ponies are like, insanely racist, right?"

Pinkie frowned. "Uh... No they aren't."

Sonata looked at her as if she was crazy. "They were the last time I was in Equestria. We got banished because they assumed we were causing trouble for the fun of it, because we were different."

"So you three weren't trying to take over the world?"

Sonata shook her head. "Well, I don't know about Adagio and Aria, but I was just trying to survive."

Pinkie felt bad all of a sudden. "Survive?"

Sonata's jaw clenched and she strapped on her skis. "I don't want to talk about it." With that the Siren shot down the slope, leaving bind a worried human with the power of explosion inducement.

Pinkie didn't need Sunset's empathy power to tell that Sonata had a mixture of anger and depression rooted deep in her heart. She had suffered with something similar during her childhood, eventually overcoming after years of therapy and medication. She knew how unhealthy it was to try and bury those emotions, that it could lead to something you would regret. She made up her mind, she had to help the blue skinned girl.

The bubbly girl who was lost in her own thoughts almost didn't notice when she slipped into DigiQuartz. The pink skinned girl blinked and looked around, seeing the glowing green moss like data on the ski lift near her and the trees farther up the mountain. Pinkie looked up at the dark pink sky and whistled. "Whoa... That's a lot creepier when you aren't expecting it."

"Expecting what, koe?" Pinkie turned around, only to see Rainbow and Indigo, the former who was reaching for her.

Rainbow flinched back at the sudden movement. "Whoa, you ok Pinkie?" Pinkie blinked and giggled a moment later.

"I'm superriffic! So... Who won?" Rainbow immediately scowled and began to mumble to herself. "So I'm guessing Indy won than?" Indigo smirked and made a smug sound.

Rainbow spun around and pointed at the Shadowbolt. "Two out of three!"

"You're on!" This time there was amusement in both girls' voices, which cold only mean one thing in Pinkie's mind. 

"Yay! Friendship!" The girl leapt at the two, wrapping them both in a hug and knocking them over. None of the girls noticed the small shadowy figure that was watching them from a distance.





Back at the Lodge.





The moment Sunset and Applejack had finished talking with Snowball the sound of screams started coming from the direction of the lake where people could ice fish. The two teens took off, Snowball running after them, Sunset holding her arm out to stop a woman running away from the lake as they got closer. "What's going on!?"

"S-shadow! The ice just started exploding in random places, and then it all cracked and sank into the water and there was a giant shadow on the surface of the lake!" Sunset let the woman pass and looked at Applejack.

"Digimon." Applejack nodded and they both took out their Xros Loader, Snowball doing the same as she and the two teens raced up to the lake's edge, just in time to see Sonata Dusk hop into DigiQuartz. 

Sunset preformed a time shift and the three hunters hopped through, their partners materializing just in time to see the Digimon in the lake surface. It was large, covered in thick white fur with a large horn in the middle of it's forehead and walrus like tusks. "Whoa."

If Sonata heard Snowball's exclamation of wonder she didn't  acknowledge it, instead she  looked down at her partner, Otamamon, who seemed to be fine despite their thin skin and the freezing temperatures. "So, do you recognize it?"

The tadpole Digimon nodded, at least as well as his body would allow him to. "That's an Ikkakumon. You should watch out while we fight, they can fire their horn like a missile. Although, I suppose you could blow it up if you used that."

Sonata nodded, watching as the Digimon swam around in circles. "Will you be able to beat it on your own or...?"

Otamamon nodded. "I should be, but if you think I'm in danger at any point, I wouldn't mind a DigiXros."

Sonata nodded and tightened her grip on her Xros Loader as a glowing gold ring appeared around both her hand and Otamamon. "Well then let's go! Otamamon! Super Digivolution!" She hopped from one foot to the other holding her Xros Loader to the sky as she did a pirouette leaping into the air when she did a kick and snapping her arm like she was using a whip, a blue beam of energy surrounded with golden rings emerging from her Xros Loader, before landing and doing a curtsy, 

Otamamon's skin was torn away, leaving a digital frame that began to extend and grow wider, his legs and arms vanishing into the expanding mass that continued to grow before two appendages grew in the center of the frame, taking the shape of fins. His white tailfin turned a deep red as it began to extend at the end, losing it's rounded edge and becoming pointed as the front end of the digital frame narrowed, turning into a snout before splitting down the middle horizontally, forming a mouth. On the upper part of the snout, two eyes formed, with two more fin like appendages emerging slightly behind them before spreading out and showing that they were fins. At the end of the serpent like body, just in front of the tailfin, blue green scales began to appear and then more started to cover the rest of the frame, with an occasional ring of red scales forming around the body as well. His head began to glow and then exploded in a shower of light, revealing an almost helmet like growth over his head the color of gold. "Super Digivolution! Seadramon!"

The Ikkakumon, annoyed by the shouting, turned to face the shore, eyes widening slightly at the sight of a Seadramon in the cold waters, a human on the shore next to them. "Would you be quiet? I'm trying to relax!"

Sonata took a step toward the water. "Sorry, but you need to leave. There were people ice fishing on this lake in the real world, and they nearly got hurt." When the Digimon made no move to vacate the lake, Sonata nodded at Seadramon before looking back. "Last warning, leave, or we'll make."

The Ikkakumon scoffed and pointed his horn at the blue Siren. "Harpoon Vulcan!" There was a flash at the base of the Ikkakumon's horn as the appendage made of mithril shot toward Sonata, who simply stood there, Seadramon dodging out of the way and launching himself at their opponent.

Applejack covered Snowball's eyes as the attack got closer, preventing the girl from seeing a possible death. Sunset, however, charged forward, Coronamon Digivolving as he ran along side her. Even if the blue skinned girl was a Siren, she wasn't about to just let her die. "Sonata! Move! Get out of the way!"

Sonata just stood there as the missile approached and as she did so, her eyes began to glow and she opened her mouth. Then she did something Sunset knew shouldn't be possible. The former Siren released a shriek, one that made everyone throw their hands over their ears and collapse to the ground. Sunset could hardly believe her as she watched the Ikkakumon's horn stop in midair and start vibrating. Cracks began to form in the horn made of mithril before it just shattered and fell onto the snow at Sonata's feet. 

The Siren's eyes stopped glowing as Seadramon breached the surface, his body wrapped around the Ikkakumon. As the serpent tightened his grip on the furred Digimon he lifted his head and looked directly into Ikkakumon's eyes. "Ice Arrow!" Seadramon opened his mouth to reveal a shining blue light that shot forward with a unbelievable speed and fully pierced his enemy. The Ikkakumon glitched before turning into motes of red light as a purple ring materialized around him.

Sonata smirked and looked at her Xros Loader as the miniature figure of Ikkakumon appeared in the transparent purple cube. "Digimon capture complete." Sonata began hopping up and down like she was on a trampoline and caught Otamamon in her arms as he finished Dedigivolving.  "Good job!"

"Thanks Sonata, but..." The tadpole motioned for her to turn around as best her could, the Siren did as he suggested and spotting the other three Hunters and their partners.

"Oh..." If it wasn't for the cold temperatures, the Siren would have started sweating. "Ren's gonna yell at me..."

Sunset and Applejack approached after the country girl told Snowball that they had to have a 'grown up talk' with Sonata. In an effort to keep the Siren from freaking out and retreating, or refusing to answer their questions, Sunset decided to take the soft approach. "Sonata..."

"I hope that you won't mind me being the one to explain what you just witnessed." Sonata flinched as Sunset and Applejack glanced behind them, seeing both Ren and Indigo.

Sunset frowned and looked Ren in the eyes. "I thought you said that you three couldn't use magic back at Camp Everfree."

Ren shook his head. "Incorrect, I said that magic isn't our area of expertise, not that we couldn't use it. Each of us started showing signs of having abilities shortly after joining the Hunt. I theorized that Sonata's abilities took shape from her previous state of being, while the powers Indigo and I have were influenced by our partner's evolved forms."

Applejack frowned and pushed he hat up a bit. "Wait, so you knew about magic, and about her bein' a...?"

"A mutant form of the common Seapony, born from the influence of chaos magic in a pregnant mare, more commonly known as a Siren? Yes, yes we did." Ren nodded, and at the wide eyes Sunset was giving him, he explained further. "Yes, we know about Equestria, she explained about how she and the other two were banished." The two just kept staring at him.

Indigo walked up and waved her hand in front of their eyes. "I think you broke them." 

Her theory was disproven when Sunset shook her head, and looked directly at Ren. "Wait, you said that you and Indigo have magic too?"

"We do. If you want me to be more accurate." He pointed at Sonata, who gave a weak smile. "She seems to have the power of sonokgenesis." He moved his finger in the direction of Indigo. "Indigo has the ability to redirect energy, though it seems she is able to do it more efficiently if it is kinetic force. I myself..."

Sunset raised her eyes when Ren seemed to hesitate to reveal his own abilities. "And you?"

"My power seems to be twofold. Firstly, I seem to be able to sense and steal the energy of others created by what they see as sins they've committed, and become more powerful as a result." He completely understood how his powers worked, but they didn't need to know that. He knew that he absorbed the guilt and regrets of the people he touched, as long as they weren't sins like murder or... Getting into someone's pants impolitely...

Applejack started scratching the back of her head in confusion. "Wait an applepickin' minute, you steal sins? Howzat even work?"

"Well, I suppose that it would be more accurate that to say that I take the sins of others onto myself." Ren pulled his hat down over one of his eyes and smirked. "Observe." Before the girls or their partners could react, he reached out and grabbed Applejack's arm. The country girl's eyes glazed over and Ren winced as he felt the energy created by every action Applejack had ever taken that she herself considered a sin flowed into his body. He released her arm and her eyes went back to normal. "So how do you feel?"

Applejack blinked and rubbed her forehead. "I... I feel great, actually I feel better than before you did... Whatever that was." She wasn't really paying attention, everything felt a bit fuzzy, as if she was in a haze.

Sunset put her finger to the tip of her chin and her eyes widened. "I think I understand... And if I'm right..." Sunset went quiet as she began to contemplate something.

Coronamon looked up at his partner worried at the sudden pause in her speech. "Sunset, you ok?"

"Try it on me."

Ren raised an eyebrow under his hat. "Excuse me?"

"Try to use your power on me, I think I might understand what it does." Ren shrugged and obliged, knowing that he would gain a massive power boost due to all the things Sunset had done when she first entered the human world. Reaching out and grabbing the girl's arm, seeing each and everything she regretted and felt guilty about, dragging the energy into his body. When he let go, Sunset stumbled forward, catching herself before she fell.

"Wow that's... Wow." She hadn't felt this good since she came to the human world, she felt as if the weight of an entire train had been lifted off her shoulders, but everything was fuzzy, as if she were in a haze.

Seeing that the two of them weren't paying attention, Ren turned toward his team. "Let's go!" With that the boy pulled out his Xros Loader, which had a glowing purple aura surrounding it, and opened a Time Shift portal before racing through, Indigo and Sonata following behind him.