//------------------------------// // Interlude 2: Pony Vs. Wild // Story: Digimon: A New Legacy of DigiDestined // by ShadowBolt96 //------------------------------// Rumble peered out between the branches of the tree he was perched upon, his monocular over his eye as he scanned the horizon. In the distance, he could see the edge of the scrapyards where Scrap City resided. He slowly swept back and forth along the path his friends and he had run on for the past hour and a half.  “Rumble? Is everything alright?” he heard Bearmon’s voice echo in his head.  “Yeah, I think so,” Rumble pushed his monocular up before jumping out of the tree and gliding back down. He touched down to find his friends sprawled out on the ground and leaning against tree trunks as they all caught their breath. After running for so long, the group had managed to make it to a clearing next to a river. “Looks like we weren’t followed.” “Oh thank goodness!” Sweetie Belle slumped against Palmon. “I don’t think we could’ve run that far if Piximon hadn’t made us run all those drills.” Scootaloo nodded. “Trying to find our way out of the sewers was tough on its own. But having to get out of the scrap fields on top of that?” Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom. “I am so glad you were paying attention during those orienteering lessons in Filly Guides.” Apple Bloom chuckled.  “Well...I don’t know about anypony else, but after walking through a maze of slimy tunnels and a dump, twice, I need a bath,” Diamond Tiara opened her Digivice’s inventory and brought out a plastic container holding a bar of soap.  “Same,” Babs Seed stood up and stretched before opening her Digivice. “Mind if I join ya?” “As long as you don’t go upriver,” Diamond Tiara grimaced. “If the whole point is to get clean, I don’t want your filth flowing down onto me.”  “You’re exaggerating’” Babs Seed deadpanned. “Hey cuz’, wanna go for a dip?” “In a bit, I’m gettin’ kinda hungry,” Apple Bloom sat up. “Hey, Sweetie Belle, what do we got in terms of grub?” A few moments of silence passed. “Sweetie Belle?” Sweetie Belle stared at the screen projected over her Digivice, her face looking a little pale. A feat that Rumble didn’t believe was possible.  “Um…” Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom. “So, remember how our plan was to restock our supplies back in the city?”  “Oh no…” Apple Bloom slowly got up. The rest of the group turned to Sweetie Belle.  “And remember how we were all chased out of town before we could do that?”  “Oh no no no…” “Sweetie Belle...don’t tell me we’re out of food!” Scootaloo begged. “Oh...then maybe I should stop talking,” Sweetie Belle shrunk back.  “You can not be serious!” Scootaloo grabbed her hair. “We really have nothing to eat!” “Oh boy, here comes hangry Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom sighed. “What was that?!”  “Nothin’...”  “No, come on. Somepony’s gotta have somethin’!” Babs rapidly scrolled through her Digivice inventory.  All around, everypony was frantically checking their Digivices for even a scrap of food. Before panic could set in, Apple Bloom banged her hoof on a rock to get everyone’s attention. “Everypony calm down!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Let’s just take a moment, assess the situation, and figure out what to do, okay?”  “Well, the situation is that we’re out of food, and we’re gonna starve,” Silver Spoon deadpanned.  “Okay, partially true, and not very helpful,” Apple Bloom said. “So, what can we do about it?” “Well, we can’t go back to Scrap City, they’ll be lookin’ for us there,” Armadillomon reasoned. “Maybe we can try lookin’ around here for some grub.” “There we go!” Apple Bloom patted Armadillomon’s shell. “We’ll look around, and see if we can find some berries or somethin’, just like we did on File Island.” Diamond Tiara looked around the surrounding woods. “You really think we’ll find something out here?” “We won’t know unless we try.”  Everyone stared at their pitiful bounty that they had spent the last half hour collecting: a small pile of berries.  “That’s it?” Scootaloo asked. “That’s all we could find?” “Well, it’s better than nothing,” Sweetie Belle forced a smile.  “Hey everyone,” Apple Bloom trotted up to the group carrying something bundled in her bandana. She placed it over next to the pile of berries, revealing a small collection of large brown mushrooms. “I found a patch of these over by a tree back there.”  “Mushrooms? Ew…” Diamond Tiara scrunched her face. “I’m not eating raw mushrooms.” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and picked up a mushroom. “Well, if you want to roast ‘em later, you can. But I’m hungry now.” Before she could put it in her mouth, however, a leafy hand knocked it out of her hoof. “Palmon? What the hay?!” Palmon grabbed Apple Bloom’s face, a panicked look in her eyes. “You didn’t already eat some of them, did you? Did you?!”  “What? No!” “Are you sure?” Palmon turned to Armadillomon. “Did she eat any of them?” “No,” Armadillomon shook his head. “We just found ‘em and brought them here.” Palmon let go of Apple Bloom’s face, and let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. We need to get rid of those, now!” “Palmon, what’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Those are Memory Mushrooms. You eat them, you’ll want to eat more and more. And the more you eat, the more memories you’ll lose. Eventually, you’ll just be an empty shell with mushrooms growing out of you.” Everyone looked at the gathered mushrooms in horror. “Oh...okay,” Apple Bloom quietly said. She gently picked up the mushrooms and tossed them back into the woods.  “Wait, what about the berries, are they any good?” Rumble stepped away from the berries in question.  Silver Spoon took out the book they bought from the Sleepy Pine Trading Post. She flipped through a few pages before coming to a picture of the red berries they had gathered. “Yeah, they should be fine.” Sweetie Belle looked at the meager pile of berries. “Is that gonna be enough for all of us? It doesn’t look like a lot.”  A grumbling noise made Silver Spoon turn to Terriermon, who was gently clutching his stomach. Silver Spoon looked back to the berries and sighed. “I think we should give most of it to the Digimon.” “Wait, what?” Babs turned to Silver Spoon. “Why?” “Remember back at the prison on Mt. Panorama? Digimon can’t fight on an empty stomach. We’ve got Digimon potentially hunting us down. If they find us, our Digimon need to be able to put up a fight.”  Babs looked between the food, her partner, and her own grumbling stomach. After a while, she sighed. “Yeah, you got a point.” The food was divided out and given to everyone. Everyone reluctantly agreed that the Digimon would get slightly bigger portions. Even then, it wasn’t nearly filling enough for anyone.  Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her still-grumbling stomach. “So what are we going to do now?” Apple Bloom bit her lip. “Well, we could keep searchin’ for more berries. We might get lucky and find somethin’ else worth eatin’. But...there’s a possibility that we might go a night without food.” Everyone looked down, trying to imagine a night without a meal, and not liking the idea one bit. SPLASH! Scootaloo’s ears perked up, and she turned to the river. Trotting over to the riverbank, she peered into the shimmering water. A dark shape swam towards a few more of its kind before gliding downstream. “We might not have to,” she smiled.  “What are you talking about Scootaloo?” Guilmon leaned over Scootaloo and gazed into the water.  “I’m saying we can go fishing for our food,” Scootaloo smiled.  “I’d be alright with that,” Rumble nodded.  “Same!” Bearmon’s eyes lit up.  “Uh...I don’t know,” Sweetie Belle rubbed her foreleg. “I’ve never had fish.” “Silver Spoon said it herself, ponies can digest fish,” Scootaloo gestured to Silver Spoon. “And honestly, it’s pretty good.” “Um...I don’t know if I’d like the taste, I might not eat any of it,” Diamond Tiara made a sour face. “You’d be surprised how great it might taste when you’re starving,” Rumble gave Diamond Tiara a flat look. “Besides, does anyone else have any better ideas?” Everyone looked at each other.  “Didn’t think so,” Rumble turned to Scootaloo. “So, what do you say? Up for a little fishing?” “You bet!” Scootaloo raised her hoof, meeting Rumble’s in a hoof bump.  While Rumble and Scootaloo went fishing, the rest of the group began setting up camp. Babs Seed finished setting up her hammock and was about to start with Veemon’s. She stopped and looked around the camp for her partner. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were working on the fire, Diamond Tiara was drying herself off after a dip in the river, and Silver Spoon and Terriermon were looking for more berries.  A fluttering noise made Babs look up to see Hawkmon land on a nearby branch. “Well, I couldn’t find anything to eat nearby. But there’s also no sign of any Digimon following us. So, there’s something good, I suppose.”  Babs Seed looked around while Hawkmon preened himself. “Hey, Hawkmon? Have you seen Veemon anywhere?”  Hawkmon stopped. “He’s uh...coping in the woods back there.” Babs Seed got up and ventured into the woods. “V? Where are you? Everything alright?”  After a few moments, she got no response. She closed her eyes, focusing on Veemon in an attempt to see through his eyes. But when she felt the presence of Veemon’s mind, she felt a solid brick wall separating the two of them.  Babs Seed opened her eyes, and shook her head. Keeping her eyes and ears peeled, she wandered the woods until she heard shouting and some pretty hard impacts. Brushing aside some branches, she found Veemon punching and kicking a dead tree. Judging from the sizable dents in the front and sides of the trunk, he had been training for a while, and pretty hard too.  Babs watched as Veemon threw punches and kicks on precise points of the tree trunk. After a while, Veemon threw a strong roundhouse kick that knocked a chunk of wood off the trunk. He stared at the ruined trunk, panting heavily as he caught his breath. “Is something wrong, Babs?” Veemon said without turning around. “I just...wanted to check on ya,” Babs Seed rubbed her leg. “Ya kinda disappeared after we started settin’ up camp.” Veemon nodded. “I just needed some time alone. Had to clear my head, that’s all.” Babs Seed sighed. “Is this about what happened in the scrap yards? With Andromon?” Veemon clenched his fists. “I’ve...never lost a fight like that before. The Goblimon managed to get the drop on me, and Andromon kicked me to the side before I could even do anything!” Veemon punched the tree, letting out a cry of frustration.  Babs waited for a few moments before walking up to Veemon and putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, you got knocked down in the train car. But ya got back up, right?” “Huh?”  “I’m gonna tell ya something my sista told me. Sometimes, you’re gonna get knocked down. And believe me, odds are ya won’t look good while doin’ it,'' Babs laughed. “But all that matters, is ya get back up and learn from it.” Veemon turned to Babs. “And what could I learn from getting my butt kicked like that?”  “Well for one, you could stop and think before rushing into fights. I’m not sure if you realize this, but you have a tendency to charge headfirst into fights. Literally. And what happens next is usually a coin toss. You either come out ahead or get knocked on your tail. Maybe, just maybe, if you think before ya charge, you can rig the coin to land on heads whenever you want.” Veemon looked back to the damaged tree stump and sighed before turning back to Babs. “But...what if I chose tails instead of heads?” Babs stared at Veemon for a few moments before slamming her hoof into her face. “Ugh! V, you’re killin’ me here! I’m just tryin’ ta—” Before she could blink, Veemon had an arm around her neck, laughing as he gave her a playful noogie. “I’m just messin’ around with ya, B.”  Babs Seed squirmed her way out of her partner’s assault on her noggin, chuckling as she fixed her mane.  “Ya know somethin’?” Veemon asked. “I’m really lucky I got ya as a partner. You don’t show it often, but I guess you really do have a fighter’s spirit deep down.” Babs Seed playfully shoved Veemon. “I should be offended that you would think otherwise,” she chuckled. “Now come on. Why don’t you stop moping around and help set up camp?” Veemon massaged his knuckles. “Sounds like a plan.”  Rumble tightened his grip on his makeshift fishing spear as he hovered over the river. “Alright Rumble, focus!” he whispered to himself. “I am one with my Pegasus heritage. I am a hunter in my element. And this fish...is mine!”  Rumble thrust his spear into the water, and watched as the fish in question darted away. “Alright, you win this one. Come on...here fishy fishy fishies…” Rumble thrust his spear into the water. “I gotcha! Dang it...he got away!” He thrust his spear in the water a few more times, each time missing his mark.  “Hey!” Rumble turned to the shoreline to find an unamused Scootaloo sitting beside Guilmon. “Knock it off dude, you’re scaring off the fish!” Rumble flew over to Scootaloo, dropping his spear next to hers before landing. “I don’t see you doing any better.”  Scootaloo rolled her eyes and adjusted her fishing rod, a line of plastic thread tied to the end of a stick.  “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, where’d you get the string?” Rumble asked. “Found a couple of spools of it in the abandoned foundry. Thought it might come in handy if we needed to tie something.” Rumble nodded. “Good thinking. Certainly looks more durable than vines.” Scootaloo smiled. “Thanks, Rumble.” “Um...Scootaloo?” Guilmon pointed to the end of the fishing pole, which was beginning to twitch. “I think I got a bite!” Scootaloo grabbed the line and started pulling it in. “Here comes dinner, baby!” Scootaloo reeled in her catch, and frowned. “Amazing…” Rumble deadpanned. “You caught the elusive aquatic hiking boot.”  Scootaloo made a sour face as she peeled the shoe off the makeshift hook.  “Hey, Rumble? Where’s Bearmon?” Guilmon asked.  “He’s right—” Rumble turned around, but couldn’t find his fuzzy partner. “-here?”  Rumble put a hoof to his temple and reached out to Bearmon. “Bearmon? Where are you?”  A loud whistle made everyone turn upstream to find Bearmon waving down to them. “Hey, Rumble. Grab Scootaloo and Guilmon and follow me, I could use your help.” Rumble turned to Scootaloo. “Bearmon says he needs our help, come on!” Rumble grabbed his fishing spear, with Guilmon carrying the extras, while Scootaloo put her fishing pole in her Digivice inventory. They followed Rumble further upstream to a part where the river narrowed a bit. There, they found Bearmon carrying a few large sticks towards a V-shaped cage in the center of the river, near a collection of boulders emerging from the water. It was arranged so that the current flowed into the top of the V. “Looks like you’ve been busy,” Rumble whistled. “What is this?” “This—” Bearmon gestured to the cage. “-is a fishing weir. Basically, fish will swim into the large mouth, and they won’t be able to escape through the other end. The current will keep them from going out the way they came in.”  Scootaloo looked at the cage as Bearmon stuck a few more sticks into the riverbed. “That’s pretty clever.” “Hey, no one stands between this ‘Mon and a catch of fish!” Bearmon licked his lips. “Now, we just need to herd a school of fish into the trap. Rumble, how about you fly over the river and look for fish?” “Sure thing,” Rumble grabbed a spear and hovered in the air. “It’s funny, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take charge of a situation like this before. It’s actually kind of cool.” Bearmon blushed as Rumble took off.  Rumble slowly flew over the river, scanning the water. Soon, he found a small group of dark shapes swimming in the water. “I found some fish!” Rumble told Bearmon. “Alright, I sent Guilmon to help you send them this way.” “Wait, how is he gonna—”  “Yahoo!” Guilmon cheered as he leaped from the riverside, creating a large splash. The school of fish darted downstream. Rumble flew over the school, jabbing his spear into the water a few times in an attempt to herd them towards the weir. He flew ahead, watching as the water in the jerry-rigged trap was filled with the splashing of desperate fish. “Yes, it worked!” Bearmon pumped his fists into the air.  “Woohoo!” Rumble landed on a rock beside Bearmon. “Look at all those fish.” “Look at them making a break for it!” Scootaloo pointed at the edge of the weir. A few of the fish were either swimming through the small opening in at the other end of the weir, or jumping out through gaps in the sticks. One large one jumped out towards Bearmon, ricocheting towards Rumble after knocking the poor Digimon into the water.  “Gotcha!” Rumble caught the fish upside down. “You’re mine now, you scaly little—”  The fish rapidly slapped the colt in the face with its tail, knocking the words from his lips. Rumble dropped the fish onto a rock near Scootaloo while he recovered from the onslaught.  “Oh no, you don’t!”Scootaloo pounced on the fish like a cat. It slipped out of her hooves and was flopping away from her. Thinking quickly, she grabbed one of Rumble’s extra fishing spears and without hesitation, thrust it into the fish. It flopped in place a couple times, before laying still on the rock. “I got it!”  “Blegh!” Rumble shook his head. “My lips taste like scales. Bearmon, you alright?” Bearmon pulled himself out of the river, soaking wet. “Just great,” he deadpanned as he wrung his baseball cap out.  “Nice job Scootaloo,” Rumble grabbed his spear. He looked over to Scootaloo to find her still staring at the dead fish, her mouth hung open a little. “Scootaloo, you good?” Scootaloo slowly turned to Rumble. “I...I killed it,” she breathed. “It’s dead.”  Rumble looked from Scootaloo to the fish. “Have you...ever gone fishing before?”  “Once or twice with my aunts. But we would always throw back the fish we caught, we would never kill them.” Scootaloo looked at Rumble. “Wait, have you ever…”  Rumble nodded. “Thunderlane took me fishing to help get some dinner once. My dad loves putting them on a smoker, and he insisted that it always tasted better when you catch it yourself.” Rumble looked at the dead fish and sighed. “Look, I guess I can understand why you’re shaken up by this, but think about it. We were planning on eating it, right?” “I guess so…”  “Look, if you need to sit this out, then I guess Bearmon and I can—” “No!” Scootaloo took a deep breath and pulled her spear out of the fish. “No, I think I’ll be alright.” “Okay, good.” The snapping of sticks made him turn to the weir. “Because I’m not sure how long this thing will hold up. We need to snag as many of these guys as we can.” Rumble was about to toss an extra spear to Bearmon, when he saw him reach into the splashing mass of fish, pull one out, smack it with a rock, and laid it next to three other fish. “Wow...he’s good.”  Rumble and Scootaloo took positions on opposite ends of the weir. “You ready, Scootaloo?” “Let’s do this!” Scootaloo took a deep breath, then thrust her spear into the school of fish with a fierce battle cry. Apple Bloom leaned back away from the embers as Babs Seed thrust a large stick into the fire.  “Easy there, Babs,” Apple Bloom said. “Ya don’t wanna smother it.”  “Oh, come on,” Babs Seed rolled her eyes. “It’s getting cold out here.” Silver Spoon angrily marched into the campsite and sat down by the fire. “We combed this area three times over, and found nothing to eat!”  “Hey, come on Silver Spoon,” Terriermon sat down next to her. “Moumen—” “Oh, moumantai yourself, Terriermon!”  “Sheesh, somepony’s hangry,” Babs whispered to Apple Bloom.  “I’m absolutely hurious!” Silver Spoon shouted. Everyone stared into the campfire, a few grumbling stomachs sounded around them.  “Have no fear everyone!” Everyone turned to find Bearmon and the rest of the fishing party returning with a small bounty of fish, tied up by their tails. Bearmon held up their catch triumphantly. “Tonight, we eat like kings!”  Veemon dropped to one knee and bowed to Bearmon. “All hail Sir Bearmon!”  “Wow! Y'all caught quite a bit!” Armadillomon smiled. “Isn’t that great Apple Bloom?” “Yeah...great,” Apple Bloom forced a smile.  Armadillomon gave Apple Bloom a glance. “Don’t be a sour puss. You might like it.” “You got a fire started? That’s good,” Rumble nodded. “We’re gonna go prep the fish. We should be done in about an hour.”  “Wait, what do you mean by ‘prep’ them?” Scootaloo asked.  “Follow me, I think that spot where we were fishing earlier should do just fine,” Rumble gestured downstream. Scootaloo, Guilmon, and Bearmon followed Rumble to a spot near the river, sheltered by a few boulders.  Bearmon hung the bundle of fish from a nearby tree branch, removed a couple of them and placed them on a flat rock next to the river.  “So, what did you mean by ‘prepping’ the fish, Rumble?” Scootaloo asked. Rumble peered into the water, carefully selecting a collection of sharp rocks. “Yeah...this is the hard part of fishing for food. Let’s just say that if you were having trouble killing the fish, then you might not be able to handle this next part.”  “You see, we gotta get the guts and intestines out of the fish before we can eat them,” Bearmon explained. “And...there’s really only one way to do that.” “And that is…?” Scootaloo rolled her hoof.  Rumble picked up one of the rocks, which curved almost like a sinister knife, and brought it to the fish’s belly.  Scootaloo’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks. “Oh…” Everyone looked at the now scaled, gutted, and skewered fish as they cooked around the fire. Rumble had just finished recalling their hunt in all it’s detail.  “I’ll admit, I was surprised Scootaloo was able to see the whole thing through to the end,” Rumble laughed. “Especially when we had to gut them. You were looking a little pale halfway through.”  “Hehehe...yeah,” Scootaloo nervously chuckled.  “Was it really necessary to tell us that part?” Diamond Tiara looked sick.  “Well, now we get to enjoy the spoils of our fishing trip,” Rumble grabbed three cooked fish, passing one to Bearmon, and another to Scootaloo.  Scootaloo barely spared the fish a glance before biting a sizable chunk out of it. She closed her eyes as her smile grew wider and wider. “Mmm! This is amazing!”  “Tastes better after you catch it yourself, right?” Rumble smiled.  The Digimon all grabbed a fish, voicing their elation after tasting such a flavorful morsel. The remaining fillies were still hesitant, however. As Babs watched Veemon gorge himself on his fish, her own stomach growled in response.  “Oh...to hay with it!” Babs Seed reached in and grabbed one of the skewered fish. She stared at the creature’s empty eyes for a few moments before glancing towards Veemon, watching as he carefully ate around the fish’s underbelly, in a way similar to the way she would if she were eating an ear of corn.  Taking a deep breath, Babs brought the fish to her mouth, taking a small bite out of its belly. Feeling everyone’s eyes on her, she slowly chewed the morsel before swallowing it. “Well?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Is it any good?”  “It’s...tender,” Babs Seed nodded. “And it’s got a nice smokey flavor. And, well...it’s actually not bad.” She finished her quick review by taking another, slightly bigger bite out of her fish.  The other fillies looked at each other before reaching for their own skewers.  “Mmm! This is actually pretty good!” Apple Bloom smiled.  “Just watch where you bite, you don’t wanna get a bone between your teeth,” Scootaloo cautioned.  Sweetie Belle stopped before she took a bite, suppressing a shudder. “Thanks for that,” she muttered before taking a careful, mouse sized bite.  Silver Spoon slowly chewed her fish, her eyes closed in a look of careful analysis. “It does have a nice smokey flavor. But I think it could also use a little seasoning. Maybe lemon, or basil?”  Rumble starred at Silver Spoon. “When did you become a food critic?”  Silver Spoon gave Rumble a blank look and pointed at her Cutie Mark.  “Oh, right. I forgot your special talent has to do with cooking.”  “You know it’s funny, I never would’ve guessed that your talent would involve cooking,” Apple Bloom smiled before taking a bite out of her fish.  “Well, if I wasn’t there when you got yours, I probably wouldn’t think that your Cutie Mark symbolizes helping other ponies understand their talents.”  Apple Bloom paused before looking at the tri-colored shield emblazoned on her flank. It was just as unique as she was, no doubt. And the fact that she shared a similar mark with her best friends made it even more special. But nothing about it gave any indication about her talent for helping ponies earn and understand their Cutie Marks.  “Huh...I guess ya got a point there,” Apple Bloom shrugged before turning back to her dinner. Before she could take another bite, a series of beeps came from everypony’s Digivices.  Everyone looked down to find Anahita’s symbol appearing on their screens. “Hello, DigiDestined,” Anahita said. “Good to see you’re all still going strong.”  “Oh, look who’s graced us with her presence,” Terriermon chuckled as he climbed onto Silver Spoon’s shoulder. “Come to give us some more cryptic nonsense before disappearing again?” “Why are you on my shoulder?” Silver Spoon grumbled. “I’m not a jungle gym.” “I apologize for my lack of communication,” Anahita said. “But understand, I can only maintain a secure connection for brief periods of time. And even then, I worry Mephistomon may be listening in.”  Apple Bloom looked to the woods behind her, suddenly fearful of any potential attackers lurking in the growing shadows.  “Anyway, I have a favor to ask of you,” Anahita continued. “I have learned of a nearby town that caught Mephistomon’s interest.” Moments later, the map function activated, and a marker appeared over an area a few miles away from their camp.  “Um, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo turned to her unicorn friend, who was scrolling through her inventory.  “I’m on it!” Sweetie Belle brought out their printed map, and compared it to the holographic one projected by her Digivice. “Hmm...looks like a small town. Has kind of a weird name: Melas.”  “That’s right,” Anahita said. “I need you to go there and investigate. Find out what Mephistomon is scheming, and put an end to it. It’s highly likely that he’ll be acting through local agents and proxies, so stay vigilant. Good luck!”  Anahita’s symbol winked out of existence, and the sound of the running stream and campfire filled the ensuing silence.  “What do you think Mephistomon plans on doin’?” Apple Bloom asked. “I mean, it looks like a small town,” Sweetie Belle looked at the map. “Wonder what’s so important about it.” Babs Seed rolled her eyes. “We’ll worry about that tomorrow.”   Veemon tossed the remnants of his fish into the fire, and grabbed another one before lifting it up. “Well in the meantime, I propose a toast to our valiant fishers,” he gestured to Rumble, Scootaloo, and their partners. “Without them, we wouldn’t be enjoying this delicious meal tonight. So, here’s to them!”  “Here, here!” everyone cheered.  “I gotta say Rumble, despite our problems earlier, you’re a pretty good fisherpony,” Scootaloo said. “Maybe you’ll get your Cutie Mark in that?” Rumble shrugged. “Meh, I don’t really care about getting my Cutie Mark.” Sweetie Belle spat out the water she drank from her canteen, and Apple Bloom almost choked on a piece of fish.  “WHAT?!” the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted. “Oh boy, here we go…” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes before taking a long swig from her canteen.  As the sun descended, the DigiDestined feasted on their aquatic dinner, chatting and laughing around the campfire until they were full. As the campfire quietly burned to cinders, everyone fell asleep in their hammocks.  Among the shadows dancing around the campsite, a lone Tapirmon with blank eyes quietly drifted over to Sweetie Belle. He quietly brought his paw up to his right ear, where an earpiece hung. “Master, I have acquired the targets,” Tapirmon whispered. “Commencing dream infiltration.” “Good,” NeoDevimon’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “Get whatever intel about their world you can get from their subconscious. Report back with anything of interest.”  “As you wish, my master,” Tapirmon whispered. He then turned back to Sweetie Belle’s sleeping form. He closed his eyes and put his paws together, adopting a meditative pose. Tapirmon took a deep breath, then exhaled a cloud of mist that swirled around Sweetie Belle before seeping into her ear.  NeoDevimon turned to Mephistomon, having just finished his conversation with Tapirmon. Mephistomon was focusing on a holographic screen, replaying the audio file they intercepted.  “I need you to go there and investigate. Find out what Mephistomon is scheming, and put an end to it. It’s highly likely that he’ll be acting through local agents and proxies, so stay vigilant. Good luck!”  Mephistomon turned to NeoDevimon. “So, Anahita is guiding those little pests.” “And she has intel on our next move,” NeoDevimon’s eyes glowed. “This could be a problem.” “That town contains a critical part of our grand design. If we lose it, our timeline could be pushed back exponentially,” Mephistomon stroked his chin. “Do you have any ideas?” NeoDevimon asked. Mephistomon brought up a map of Melas, stared at it for a couple of minutes, then grinned.