Name: Nefertimon
Level: Armor
Attribute: Vaccine
Attacks:
- Rosetta Stone
- Queen’s Paw
- Cat’s Eye Beam
Sweetie Belle yawned, dragging her hooves in the dirt as she followed the rest of her friends.
“You alright, Sweetie Belle?” Palmon asked.
“I’m just a little tired, that’s all,” Sweetie Belle replied.
“You and me both,” Diamond Tiara yawned. “I think that fish gave me weird dreams.”
“Me too,” Sweetie Belle nodded. I was back in Ponyville, wandering through town. Everypony was just going about their everyday lives, talking and working. But something felt weird. I was just kind of hovering around like a ghost.
“Huh...that sounds kinda like how my dream played out,” Diamond Tiara stared at Sweetie Belle. “It’s like I was a ghost tourist wandering through my mansion and Ponyville.”
“I think you two are overthinking this,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “They’re just dreams, so just forget about them.”
“Are you getting hangry again?” Apple Bloom asked. “I know we didn’t have any breakfast this mornin’, but there’s not much we could do about that.”
“Kinda hard when the only options on the menu are leaves and poisonous mushrooms,” Armadillomon agreed.
“No! I’m more upset over the notion that food can cause dreams. I mean, that makes no sense! Who believes that?”
“Clearly, you’ve never had my mother’s Saturday Night Saddle Arabian Fusion Surprise,” Sweetie Belle muttered with a shiver.
“Riiiiiiight…” Scootaloo drawled. “How much further to Melas?”
“Shouldn’t be too far,” Apple Bloom pulled up her map. “At this pace, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Sure enough, the town of Melas soon came into view. Unlike the last two places they visited, this town was closer to normal in the ponies’ eyes. Simple one and two-story houses lined the roads. Down one street, they could see the makeshift stands of a marketplace. Down another, they could see an ornate-looking building, maybe a library or church. Save for the lack of heart-shaped architecture; it reminded them of Ponyville.
“Alright then,” Diamond Tiara walked forward. “I say we stock up on supplies first, grab a bite to eat, and see if we can’t find...whatever it is Anahita wants us to find.”
“I agree,” Apple Bloom nodded. “Last time we put that off, we almost got captured by those goons.”
“Hopefully, we can find a stand that doesn’t try to rip us off again,” Sweetie Belle grumbled.
“Can’t we get somethin’ to eat first?” Guilmon pouted. “I’m hungry.”
“We’ll eat soon, buddy,” Scootaloo patted her partner’s leg. “But right now, we need to...are you listening?”
But Guilmon’s eyes were closed, his boxy snout twitching as he sniffed the air. A smile grew on his face, and his massive tail started to wag like a dog. Then he started wandering down a street away from the marketplace.
“Guilmon? Where are you going?” Scootaloo asked, but he ignored her. “Guilmon, wait!”
Scootaloo chased Guilmon through the streets, the others not far behind her.
“Scootaloo, where’s he going?” Babs Seed asked, trotting up alongside Scootaloo.
“I don’t know. He won’t tell me any—” Scootaloo paused. “Wait...does anypony else smell that?”
As the chase continued, others began picking up on what Scootaloo was talking about. It was small at first, but they started smelling faint whiffs of delicious smelling aromas coming from somewhere close by.
Soon they arrived at the source, a small diner near the center of town.
Armadillomon took a deep breath. “Y’all smell that? Doesn’t that smell so good?”
“Okay, so we know where we can grab a bite to eat,” Silver Spoon nodded. “But I still think we should—”
Before she could finish, Silver Spoon looked up to see Guilmon’s tail vanish through the diner’s front door. “Is he serious?” Silver Spoon turned to Scootaloo.
“Hey, you wanna try stopping a hungry Guilmon? Be my guest,” Scootaloo shrugged before following him in.
Silver Spoon looked from the diner door to the group and back, various degrees of disbelief written across her brow. Before she could utter an argument, her stomach growled.
“Alright, fine, let’s grab something to eat,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes.
Everyone happily walked into the diner, with a few Digimon eating at scattered tables and booths. A waiter brought them to a group of tables, which they pushed together to form one bigger one.
After taking a seat and receiving menus, Silver Spoon still looked distressed.
“Silver Spoon, what’s wrong?” Apple Bloom looked over from her menu.
“Why would you think something’s wrong?” Silver Spoon asked, not even looking up from her menu.
“Probably because your left eye is twitching,” Diamond Tiara noted. “You always do that when you’re stressed.”
Silver Spoon dropped her menu, turning to her best friend with a look that mirrored betrayal. Diamond Tiara just looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. “How can you all be thinking of grabbing a bite right now?” Silver Spoon gestured to everyone.
“Well, we missed breakfast. So, is it really that hard to believe?” Sweetie Belle shrugged.
“Even though we’re here on a mission and—” Silver Spoon looked over her shoulder before dropping her voice. “And in case you forgot, we’re all considered wanted criminals!”
“I didn’t see any wanted posters on the way here,” Hawkmon said. “We might be in the clear in this town.”
Apple Bloom smiled. “I get how ya feel, Silver Spoon, but we can’t go all day on an empty stomach. So, just take a moment to relax and focus on—” Apple Bloom’s gaze drifted left. “Focus on…”
Silver Spoon turned around to find one of the Digimon waiters carrying the thickest pancake she had ever seen. It had to be almost two inches thick! It looked like someone had taken pancake batter, filled a small pan to the brim with it, and somehow scooped out a thick but fluffy pancake.
Silver Spoon turned back to Apple Bloom, her mouth agape. “Did you see that? That thing was huge!”
Apple Bloom shook her head. “Oh...I gotta get one of those!”
“Um, yes, please!” Rumble picked up the menu and quickly scanned it. “Looks like you can get it with your choice of berries, chocolate chips, whipped cream, even honey.”
Bearmon’s ears perked up. “I’m sold!”
“Wait!” Babs Seed put her hoof up, blew a lock of her hair out of the way, and sniffed the air. “Is that pizza? Are they makin’ pizza right now?”
“Why yes,” a passing waiter quipped in. “We always serve items from our breakfast and afternoon menus during this hour. Lots of Digimon come in for our brunch hour.”
“Yes, yes, thousand times yes!” Babs Seed picked up her menu, licking her lips in anticipation.
Seeing her hungry friends getting excited over the menu, in some cases literally drooling, Silver Spoon took another look at the menu. Already she spotted a few choice items that made her smile widen and her stomach growl.
“Oh...I’m stuffed,” Sweetie Belle happily sighed while rubbing her belly.
“That was delicious,” Scootaloo grabbed her drink to take a swig. “What do you think, buddy? How was yours?” Scootaloo gently patted Guilmon’s stomach.
“So good…” Guilmon smiled, struggling to not fall asleep into the remnants of his brunch.
“After eating freeze-dried stuff and whatever we could find on the trail for so long, eating a meal like that was amazing!” Rumble leaned back in his chair.
“Hello there, did you enjoy your meal?”
Everyone turned to find a small Digimon gazing up from the side of the table. He looked like an egg that stood atop two tiny dinosaur legs poking out of the shell. Towards the top, a small hole in the egg revealed two yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. “My name is Digitamamon; I’m the owner of this fine diner. I do hope everything was to your liking.”
Apple Bloom looked to the scattered plates and bowls, containing only scraps and pieces of their meals. “I think it was, thank you,” she smiled.
“Well, here’s your bill,” Digitamamon placed a slip of paper and an empty pouch on the table.
Silver Spoon picked up the bill, her eyes widening. “Whoa! Maybe we should’ve paid more attention to the dish prices.”
Digitamon’s eyes narrowed, glancing to the Digivices on the ponies’ forelegs. “Is that going to be a problem?” he sighed, slightly irritated.
“Hold on a second,” Silver Spoon calmly opened her inventory, bringing out a coin purse. Everyone watched with bated breath as she pulled out various coins. She pulled out a few megabytes and even a couple of terabytes. Silver Spoon deposited the coins into the empty pouch a few tense moments later and gave it to Digitamamon. “There, that should cover it.”
Digitamamon stared at the coin pouch, gently picking it up. “You’re...DigiDestined, right? I’ve seen Digivices like that before. Are you really DigiDestined?”
Silver Spoon glanced at her Digivice. “Well...yeah. Actually, we are.”
Digitamamon’s eyes lit up like he was smiling. “I never thought I’d see the day. DigiDestined in my restaurant...who actually paid their tab!”
Digitamamon skipped away into the kitchen, humming a cheerful tune to himself, leaving behind a perplexed group of ponies and Digimon.
“Okay…” Silver Spoon shrugged. “So, what’s our next move?”
Apple Bloom belched, drawing a few looks from her friends. “Well, we need to take a look at what we’ve got and what we need.”
“Yeah, well, I hate to—” Silver Spoon started.
The door to the diner opened, and everyone inside fell silent. The DigiDestined looked over to find a humanoid Digimon walking towards the kitchen window. He wore a yellow and red full-body suit with zippers all over it, which looked like mouths, and a red vest. He had an indigo cape with DigiCode embroidered inside, which flowed down to his brown gloves and matching brown shoes with crescent moons on the ankles. Atop his head sat a pointed indigo hat with a skull on it. His face was obscured by the collar of his cape and hat, leaving only his green eyes and blonde hair to be seen.
The mystery Digimon barely spared any of the other customers a glance as he walked through the diner, as other Digimon tried to avoid eye contact or inch further away from him.
“Excuse me? Is Digitamamon around?” the Digimon asked in a calm, smooth voice.
The Digimon in the kitchen flinched for a moment and tried to stay focused on their cooking.
“Ah, Wizardmon,” Digitamamon emerged from the kitchen, his eyes hinting at a smile. “What brings you here? Was something wrong with your delivery?”
“Oh no, the food was delicious as always,” Wizardmon said as he pulled a small pouch from beneath his cape and placed it on the counter. “It’s just that the courier seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. He just dropped the food off and ran without collecting his pay.”
Digitamamon glanced back into the kitchen, toward a smaller Digimon cowering behind a box of spices. “I’m sorry about his behavior, Wizardmon,” Digitamamon sighed. “I’ll have a talk with him.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing I’m not used to,” Wizardmon shook his head. “Thanks again for the meal.”
“Always good to see you,” Digitamamon nodded.
Wizardmon gave a slight bow before walking out of the diner. In a few seconds, the tension in the air began to deflate.
“That was...weird,” Palmon shivered.
“Why was everyone else acting like that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Silver Spoon shrugged. “As I was saying. I hate to break it to everyone, but that little feast of ours put quite a dent in our funds,” Silver Spoon dropped the now much lighter coin purse on the table. “We still have some money, but I’m not sure how far it will take us.”
“Don’t ya think we oughta focus on findin’ Mephistomon?” Apple Bloom asked.
“But we don’t even know if Mephistomon is here. Anahita said he could be working through other Digimon,” Rumble noted.
Hawkmon put a feather to his beak. “And if that’s the case, I doubt that they would make their intentions open. We’d probably have to conduct a lengthy investigation.”
Palmon leaned forward. “Which means we could be here for a few days…”
Silver Spoon gently weighed the coin purse in her hoof. “Let’s see. We’re gonna need food, supplies, and if we’re staying here for a few days, a place to sleep.”
Everyone began debating on what action to take next. Some wanted to start searching for Mephistomon’s agents as soon as possible; others wanted to focus on getting supplies. And then there was the question of money and how to get more of it. A couple of minutes later, the debate turned into a full-fledged argument, drawing attention from the other customers in the diner.
Diamond Tiara took a deep breath, then looked through her inventory. She pulled out her tiara, fixing her hair before placing it gently atop her head. “Alright, everypony, listen up!” Everyone turned to Diamond Tiara. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll all split up and take odd jobs here and there across town. This way, we can get the lay of the land and earn some money.”
“That’s...not a bad idea,” Apple Bloom nodded.
“It would solve a number of our dilemmas,” Hawkmom agreed.
“Hmm…” Babs Seed’s gaze drifted around the diner. Her eyes landed on a poster near the front door with the words “Help Wanted” written in DigiCode. “Maybe we could work here?”
“Maybe, but we should take some more jobs across town if we want to get as much information as possible,” Diamond Tiara swirled the ice water in her cup. “A wider net catches more fish after all.”
“When did you get into metaphors?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Also, why did you put your tiara back on?”
Diamond Tiara adjusted her tiara. “I don’t know. Just kind of felt like it would help me focus. Get me into that commanding mindset, you know?”
“I guess that makes sense,” Scootaloo shrugged. “Hey, Silver Spoon, wanna see if they’ll let you work in the kitchen?”
“That would be an interesting experience. Sure, why not?” Silver Spoon nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll join ya too,” Babs Seed said. “It could be fun.”
“Oh, can I go too?” Guilmon asked.
“If he’s going, then so am I,” Scootaloo added. “Someone’s gotta reign this lug in around all that food.”
“Alright, you’ll check this place out. The rest of us will search for jobs in town,” Diamond Tiara gently dabbed her lips with a napkin before hopping out of her seat. “Everyone ready to go?”
After finishing their brunch, the gang split up into groups to look for jobs, as Diamond Tiara suggested. Silver Spoon, Scootaloo, and Babs Seed stayed at the diner. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara ventured into the town’s market with their partners.
“You think we’ll find jobs here?” Apple Bloom looked around the streets lined with makeshift stands. “Most market stalls back home usually have one pony sellin’ things. The only time you’ll see more than one pony per stand is if they’re close friends or family runnin’ a bigger stall.”
Diamond Tiara fixed her hair, now without her tiara. “I know. But there’s usually more to a stand than just a sales pony selling things. We could get odd jobs at some of the bigger stands. If nothing else, we’ll get an idea of who to buy supplies from when we’ve got the money.”
“Okay, but what about finding clues about Mephistomon?” Hawkmon asked.
“Well, if the market here is anything like back home, then it’ll be a popular meeting place,” Diamond Tiara reasoned. “If we’re lucky, we might be able to pick up on some gossip that could point us in the right direction.”
Apple Bloom stared at Diamond Tiara. “Wow...that’s pretty clever.”
“Ya really thought this through, didn’t ya?” Armadillomon said.
“Well, what can I say?” Diamond Tiara smirked. “I can be full of good ideas.”
“Or full of hot air,” Apple Bloom whispered to Armadillomon, who gave a quiet chuckle in response.
The four friends wandered through the bazaar, weaving through market stalls and dodging hawkers selling trinkets that no one needed. Eventually, their search brought them to a lonely corner of the bazaar, where they spotted a familiar-looking Digimon.
“Come check out Bits and Baubles,” said a small turtle-like Digimon. “From basic to beautiful, to everything in between, I’ve got it all.” The Digimon adjusted his oversized metal helmet before locking eyes with Apple Bloom.
“Kamemon? Is that you?” Apple Bloom smiled.
“Oh, hey!” Kamemon smiled. “It’s Apple Bloom, right? It’s been a while. How are you and your friends doing?”
“All things considered, we’re doin’ pretty well, how ‘bout you?” Apple Bloom looked at Kamemon’s stand. “Settin’ up a new shop?”
“It’s a little...humble compared to your old trading post,” Diamond Tiara grimaced.
“Every great tree sprouted from a tiny seed,” Kamemon smiled. “And yeah, it’s been difficult starting a shop from scratch this far away from my old trading post, but I’ll get by. But enough about me. What brings you to Melas?”
“Well, we’re here to—” Apple Bloom started.
“We were passing through to pick up some supplies,” Diamond Tiara interrupted.
Apple Bloom glanced at Diamond Tiara. “Yeah, why don’t we take a look at what we got for a second.” Apple Bloom motioned for Diamond Tiara to come over. Apple Bloom booted up her Digivice’s inventory, keeping their backs to Kamemon. “What the hay, Diamond Tiara?” Apple Bloom whispered. “Why don’t we tell him why we’re here? He might be able to help us.”
“First off, because he might not believe us,” Diamond Tiara whispered back. “And two, I’m not a hundred percent sure we can trust him. I mean, remember what happened the last time we got supplies from him? He drugged us to try and pay off his loan shark debts!”
“Oh come on, he said he was sorry about that,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
Diamond Tiara turned away with a pout. “Still pretty angry about it, though.”
“Look, at the very least, we can get supplies and information from him. Maybe even a job?”
Diamond Tiara glanced back to Kamemon, watching as he showed his merchandise to Armadillomon and Hawkmon. “Alright, fine. But if he offers us any baked goods, all bets are off.”
“Fair enough,” Apple Bloom agreed.
The two fillies turned back to Kamemon, smiles on their faces. “As I was saying, we need to pick up some supplies,” Diamond Tiara continued.
“Yeah, but we’re a bit worried that we might not have enough money,” Apple Bloom scratched the back of her head. “And we might be in town for a few days, so we were lookin’ for odd jobs around town.”
“Really?” Kamemon rubbed his chin for a moment. “Well, maybe I can give you something to do. If you can help me with advertising and selling my merchandise, I can pay you a small salary at the end of the day.”
“Yeah, we could do that,” Apple Bloom nodded.
“Yeah, sure…” Diamond Tiara said, looking over her shoulder.
“Is something wrong?” Hawkmon asked.
“It’s just...I’m worried that someone here will recognize us,” Diamond Tiara whispered. “Silver Spoon might be a bit paranoid, but she has a point. We forgot about that in Scrap City and nearly got caught. How long until somebody sees a wanted poster?”
Kamemon chuckled. “Oh...I don’t think you need to worry about that.” Making sure no one was looking, he reached under the counter and pulled out a wanted poster, just enough for the fillies to see a portion of Diamond Tiara’s crudely drawn face. “I’ve only seen them a few times, but I take them down when no one’s looking. They make for some excellent kindling,” Kamemon said as he quickly put the poster away. “As far as I’m concerned, the things they’re accusing you of are untrue.”
Apple Bloom smiled. “Thanks, Kamemon. So, where do we start?”
Meanwhile, Rumble and Sweetie Belle wandered from building to building towards the center of town, looking for potential jobs. It wasn’t going well.
“Ugh, this is getting stupid!” Rumble sighed. “I know I’m not the best at reading DigiCode, but I could’ve sworn that the sign said: Help Wanted!”
“No, it did,” Bearmon assured him. “It was weird, though. The Digimon at the florist seemed like he was ready to hire us.”
“Yeah,” Palmon nodded. “But then his tone seemed to change after Sweetie Belle caught that falling vase with her magic.”
“His tone didn’t just change; he flipped out!” Sweetie Belle threw her hooves up. “He practically chased us out with a broom.”
“Hmph...weirdo,” Rumble shook his head. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find a job run by someone who doesn’t have issues.”
With Sweetie Belle still fuming, the group wandered through town. Eventually, they came across a town square, with a giant statue standing proud in the middle of it. The figure was a regal humanoid Digimon with a canine head and two large, feathered wings.
“Wow, look at that!” Sweetie Belle galloped over to the statue. “Who is this?”
“That’s Anubismon, judge of the Digital World,” Palmon said.
“Oh yeah, Elecmon told us about him, didn’t he?” Rumble put a hoof to his chin. “He’s the guy who decides whether Digimon get to come back to life or get sent to the Dark Area, right?”
“That’s right,” Bearmon nodded. “A lot of Digimon see him as the avatar of justice.”
Everyone spent a few moments admiring the statue before continuing on. Around the corner was a large ornate but old-looking building. A few Digimon hung out outside, and a few were seen walking in and out of the building.
“What is this, a library?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“It has to be,” Rumble sniffed the air. “I can smell the musty pages and boredom from here.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes before trotting up the steps. The interior was well kept, with a relatively spacious lobby. A massive chandelier hung above them, with two balconies showing peeks of a second floor filled with bookshelves. A circular counter made of marble sat where a large Digimon returned a book to the right.
She was a white sphinx Digimon, her hind legs were that of a ferocious cat, her front was covered in shimmering silver armor with golden accents. Her face was hidden behind a mask displaying an expression that conveyed no emotion.
“Wow, she’s beautiful,” Sweetie Belle smiled as she brought up her Digivice.
Name: Nefertimon
Level: Armor
Attribute: Vaccine
Attacks:
- Rosetta Stone
- Queen’s Paw
- Cat’s Eye Beam
“Oh, she’s an Armor level Digimon?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That’s neat.”
“Sweetie Belle?” Palmon gently nudged her.
“Yeah?” Sweetie Belle switched off her Digivice and looked up to find Nefertimon staring down at them. “Oh! Um...hi there.”
Nefertimon stared at the little ponies and their partners for several moments. “Why hello there, little ones,” she said in a neutral but friendly voice. Sweetie Belle could easily imagine a small smile behind her mask. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. What brings you to our lovely library?”
“Oh, um…” Sweetie Belle started.
“Just some tourists exploring the town,” Rumble smiled.
“Hmm,” Nefertimon nodded. “Well, I have some business to attend to. But please, do enjoy the library,” she said with a flourish of her wings.
Sweetie Belle watched as Nefertimon left the building, other Digimon giving her a respectful berth.
“She seems nice,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yeah, and did you see how those Digimon would give her space like that?” Bearmon said.
“Is she some kind of celebrity or something?” Rumble asked.
“Mayor, actually,” a small voice said from behind the library counter. A tiny, green caterpillar Digimon crawled onto the countertop. “That was the mayor of Melas. She came by to return a book on our town’s founder.”
“And you are…?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I’m Wormmon, the librarian,” the Digimon answered proudly.
Rumble snickered. “So, the library is run by a literal bookworm?”
Rumble’s laughter quickly wilted under Wormmon’s flat gaze. “Wow…” Wormmon sighed. “I swear if I had a megabyte for every time I heard that joke, I could single-handedly fund a new wing of the library.”
“Oh, come on, I meant that endearingly,” Rumble chuckled. “Come on, Bearmon, back me up here.”
“Um...I’m not getting involved in this,” Bearmon bashfully adjusted his cap.
“Bad puns aside—” Wormmon shot a glare towards Rumble. His expression softened when he turned back to Sweetie Belle. “How can I help you today?”
“Well, we’re going to be staying in town for a while, and we were looking for ways we could earn some money while we’re here,” Sweetie Belle said. “Is there some kind of job board or something around here that we could look at?”
Wormmon closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. “Hmm...well, we have a few assistant jobs right here. If you can follow our rules, keep things in an orderly fashion, and cut down on the librarian jokes, we’d love to have you.”
Rumble raised his right hoof, placing his left one over his heart. “I promise only to try,” he smiled.
“We’ll help in whatever way we can,” Sweetie Belle assured him. “So, where do we start?”
Wormmon pointed to a cart of books beside the desk. From what Sweetie Belle could tell based on the titles, they consisted of history, non-fiction texts, and a cookbook or two. But there were also a lot of books that detailed various areas of magic. “You see those books? They need to be put back on their proper shelves. If you follow me, I can show you how our sorting system works.”
Later that evening, everyone met up in the center of town, near the Anubismon statue. Sweetie Belle and Rumble were the first ones, followed by Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, Armadillomon, and Hawkmon. “So, how did everyone do?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We managed to get jobs at the library.”
“I never thought I’d stoop so low,” Rumble groaned.
“Quiet you!” Sweetie Belle jabbed Rumble. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“I thought it was kind of interesting,” Bearmon smiled. “Did you know that it’s one of the oldest libraries on the Server continent?”
“See? We’ve been there for less than a day, and it's turning my partner into a fuzzy nerd!” Rumble threw his hooves up in exaggeration.
“Hey!” Bearmon whined.
“At least you were inside most of the day,” Diamond Tiara wiped her brow. “Kamemon had us running deliveries and helping around his market stall all day.”
“Yeah, it got pretty hot today,” Apple Bloom nodded.
“Wait, Kamemon?” Bearmon looked up.
“As in, the turtle Digimon who drugged us in his basement?” Rumble asked skeptically. “You’re working for him?”
Before Apple Bloom could elaborate, Veemon walked in with Babs Seed in tow. Babs was wearing a small billboard with the words “Half off this weekend!” written in Digicode, which awkwardly hung across her barrel.
Babs let out a long sigh. “I look ridiculous,” she groaned.
“Hey, at least you didn’t have to lug a bunch of crates full of ingredients back and forth all day,” Veemon massaged his muscles before chuckling. “And you didn’t have to spend all day in what Scootaloo was wearing.”
“I was about to ask, where are Scootaloo and Guilmon?” Sweetie Belle asked.
A moment after she said that, an exhausted-looking Guilmon trudged up to the group wearing an advertisement like Babs Seed was. Behind him came Scootaloo, wearing a chicken costume that covered everything but her legs, advertising a massive sale on fried chicken.
Barely suppressed chuckling began making its way around the group.
“Hey Scootaloo,” Diamond Tiara chuckled. “That costume—”
Scootaloo lifted the beak of her costume, revealing a glare that could turn one to stone. “Make a snarky comment about the costume; see what happens!” she growled.
“Right, shutting up now,” Diamond Tiara shrank back.
“Why would you of all fillies wanna wear that thing?” Apple Bloom said in between snorts and chuckles.
Scootaloo slowly turned her glare towards Babs Seed.
“Hey, don’t give me that look. You lost the coin toss,” Babs Seed shrugged. “Coin toss is sacred, you know that.”
“Hold up,” Rumble counted the present members of their party. “Aren’t we short somepony?”
“Yeah, where’s Silver Spoon and Terriermon?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Can’t feel my legs!” Silver Spoon gasped out from behind Sweetie Belle, making her jump. She had just enough time to get out of the way before the gray filly collapsed next to her. She was wearing a tiny apron and a hair net.
“What the—” Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Where did you come from? Do ponies just appear when I mention their names?”
“Sil? You uh...you okay?” Diamond Tiara asked as she helped up her friend.
“So many plates…” a voice said behind them. Everyone looked to see Terriermon slowly walking towards them, seemingly in a trance. “Soap, scrub, rinse, repeat. Soap, scrub, rinse, repeat.”
“Uh...Terriermon?” Armadillomon walked up to Terriermon as he continued his mumbling.
“Geez, what happened at that diner?” Rumble stared at Silver Spoon and Terriermon with wide eyes.
“Digitamamon had us cleaning for most of the day,” Silver Spoon sat up. “Terriermon was doing dishes. I was scrubbing the floors and countertops. And in a kitchen like that, we were definitely busy.”
Armadillomon nudged Terriermon, causing him to jolt. “STAINLESS STEEL POTS!” he shouted, making Armadillomon stumble back and curl up into a ball.
“It’s alright, Terriermon, calm down!” Bearmon glanced around. “You’re starting to make a bit of a scene here,” he whispered.
Everyone looked around to find other passing Digimon giving them odd looks.
“Uh, sorry,” Terriermon shook his head with a laugh. “It’s all good, moumentai!”
“So, did we all get paid?” Apple Bloom asked. “‘Cause Kamemon paid us today.”
“Same here,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yep,” Babs Seed pulled out a small pouch of bytes.
Palmon looked over her shoulder before lowering her voice. “Don’t suppose any of us found anything about you-know-who?”
“Nope,” Diamond Tiara shook her head.
“All we heard were talks about good food and hot tempers,” Babs Seed shrugged.
Everyone else voiced their findings or lack thereof in this case. Afterward, they counted their money. “Reckon this is enough to get us some supplies?” Apple Bloom asked.
“It’s definitely a good start. We should be able to get some food for the next day or two,” Hawkmon nodded. “But we should probably keep working while we search.”
“Fine, but I’m gonna have a serious talk with Digitamamon about this stupid costume!” Scootaloo growled as she wrestled the degrading outfit off of her. “So, any idea where we’re gonna sleep while we’re here?”
“Any good hotels around here?” Veemon asked.
“Well, there was an inn that was supposedly pretty cheap,” Apple Bloom scratched her head. “But it’s goin’ through some kinda renovations.”
“I checked out some other decent places, but they’re pretty expensive,” Diamond Tiara noted. “Even if we get a room at the less costly places, it’ll put a steady drain on our money.”
“So...that really leaves us with one option,” Apple Bloom sighed.
Everyone looked at each other and sighed.
Having found a suitable spot outside of town, the group set up camp. Using their tarp and any other nearby material, shelters were built. Unlike the previous evening, this campsite was set up for an extended stay, rather than a single night. Although everyone had been cheated out of spending the night in a soft bed, they were determined to make the best of their situation.
After setting up her shelter, Silver Spoon laid down on her blanket to catch her breath.
“Yeah, I feel you, girl,” Terriermon sat down next to her massaging his arms. “I’m still pretty sore from all that scrubbing. You think we should get different jobs tomorrow?”
Silver Spoon sat up with a smile. “Actually, as crazy as it sounds...a part of me is looking forward to going back to the diner.”
“Wait, what?” Terriermon leaned back. “You actually want to go back to scrubbing floors and dishes?”
“It’s not that. It was just interesting seeing a working kitchen like that. Sure, we were cleaning most of the time, but it was neat seeing everyone working together to get all those dishes out.”
“It was less nice when the dishes came back,” Terriermon grumbled.
“Oh, quit your griping,” Silver Spoon nudged Terriermon. “Wasn’t there anything you enjoyed about the job?”
Terriermon thought for a moment. “Well, I guess it did smell pretty nice in there.”
“Right?” Silver Spoon wrapped a foreleg around her partner’s shoulder. “And who knows? Maybe I’ll get a chance to help make a couple of dishes.”
“Hey guys, we’re back,” Diamond Tiara walked into the camp with Hawkmon, Sweetie Belle, and Palmon.
“Hey Diamond, how was the grocery shopping?” Scootaloo asked.
“It went pretty well,” Diamond Tiara said as she and Sweetie Belle began unloading groceries from their inventories. “Got some stuff to make stew for tonight and a few other things that should last for a while.”
Apple Bloom trotted over to help sort through the groceries when her eyes settled on a small, sealed brown plastic bag. She picked it up, read the label, and looked at Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle with a raised eyebrow. “Hot cocoa?”
Diamond Tiara shrugged. “Figured it’d be a bit less intense than coffee.”
“Yeah, we saw it on sale and thought it might be good on cold mornings,” Sweetie Belle smiled. “We even got a good deal on a camping coffee pot.”
Silver Spoon looked over the small collection of food when an idea came to her. “You mind if I borrow this?” she asked as she took a small tomato and put it in her inventory.
“What are ya gonna do with that?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Science experiment,” Silver Spoon said. “I want to see if food expires in the Digivice. If it preserves food, we might be able to cook a few good meals that don’t involve just boiling it in water.”
“Hmm...I like the sound of that,” Apple Bloom nodded.
“By the way, promise me you all won’t freak out, but I bought these at the market too,” Sweetie Belle smiled as she brought out a bag of marshmallows.
In the dark of the night, everyone was gathered around the light of a glowing campfire, roasting marshmallows after dinner.
“Sweetie Belle, these were a great find. Thank you,” Apple Bloom said.
“Yeah. I feel like it’s been ages since we all just roasted some marshmallows together,” Scootaloo said as she put a marshmallow on the end of her stick.
“Thanks, everypony,” Sweetie Belle smiled. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t get the rest of the stuff for s’mores.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it, girl,” Babs Seed said. “These are good on their own.”
“Really? Because honestly, I don’t get these things,” Veemon said as he pulled his stick out of the fire, watching his marshmallow burn. “You say you’re supposed to eat these things after you roast them?”
“Yeah, after ya roast them, not incinerate them,” Babs Seed chuckled. “Can’t really eat ‘em after they’re all black and charred.”
Veemon looked across the campfire. “Tell that to Guilmon.”
Everyone looked to see Guilmon pull a marshmallow out of the fire. He smiled as he watched it cook to a fluffy black crisp before plopping it in his mouth. “Mmmm...crunchy,” he smiled.
Babs shuddered. “To each their own, I guess. Here, let me show you.”
“So, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said while she focused on roasting the perfect marshmallow. “Rumble was telling me about some incident at the florist? The owner chased you out with a broom?”
“Please don’t tell me Palmon got into a fight with another florist,” Diamond Tiara groaned. “I really don’t want to have to put up with that again.”
“Don’t look at me,” Palmon put her hands up.
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened,” Sweetie Belle shrugged. “The Digimon there was a nice guy. But then I caught a vase with my magic, and then he looked at me like I was a ghost or something.”
“Yeah, the looks he was giving you kind of reminded me of the ones the diner was giving that Wizardmon,” Rumble stared at his semi-roasted marshmallow in contemplation. “Does everyone in this town just hate magic or something?”
“Actually, I think I might be able to answer that,” Bearmon said as he put a marshmallow on his stick. “I asked Wormmon some questions about the town. Turns out it has a bit of a troubled history with magic users. About a hundred years ago, there was some sort of scare about a group of amateur mages attempting some ritual to control the weather or something.”
“Wait, do Digimon really need to do some big ritual just to control the weather?” Scootaloo asked.
Palmon raised an eyebrow. “Well, I don’t know anything about magic, but I know the weather would be pretty difficult to control.”
“Except it’s really not,” Rumble said. “My mom showed me how she waters her garden with a small rain cloud. Just position it over the plants and give it a soft kick.”
Armadillomon stared at Rumble. “Are you...pullin’ my paw right now?” He turned to Apple Bloom. “Can ponies control the weather?”
“Just the pegasus ponies,” Apple Bloom shrugged. “It’s kinda their thing.”
“So wait, no one controls the weather in this world?” Scootaloo asked.
“Um...excuse me?” Bearmon raised a finger.
“Oh, right,” Rumble blushed. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt you, Bearmon.”
“Anyway, the ritual went bad, and the village was hit with several natural disasters. A tornado, heatwave, flash flood, and a hailstorm. All in the same day.”
“Is that even possible?” Rumble leaned back.
Bearmon shrugged. “Magic finds a way, I guess. After that, most Digimon who use magic are confined to the eastern edge of the town. They’re allowed to come and go, but no one ever seems to trust them. Apparently, Wizardmon tried to help improve the town’s opinion on magic a couple of years ago.
“The story’s a little vague, but it involves a curio shop. It had opened about a week prior and hadn’t pulled in many customers. Wizardmon came along and offered to use some illusion enchantments to create a more interesting experience.”
“I’m guessing things didn’t go as planned?” Hawkmon asked.
Bearmon fidgeted with his cap. “Well, it started out alright. The illusions created a mystical atmosphere that really pulled in customers. But after a few days, they started harassing customers. Then they began spreading to neighboring houses, disrupting Digimon in their sleep. Eventually, they had to abandon that entire street, closing it down and labeling it as haunted.”
“Yikes…” Rumble idly poked his stick in the fire.
“Sounds like the aftermath of a Cutie Mark Crusaders shenanigan,” Silver Spoon muttered.
“Hey! When have we done somethin’ like that?!” Apple Bloom asked.
Silver Spoon gave her a flat look. “Summer Wrap-Up Festival, the fireworks catapult.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders shared awkward glances. “At least we got an award for that,” Apple Bloom muttered.
“Destructive good intentions aside, we should stay focused on our mission,” Hawkmon raised his finger. “If our foes are as crafty as we think they are, I can imagine they won’t hesitate to use this town’s paranoia for their own gain.”
“They did manage to frame us for destroying Candlelight Village,” Diamond Tiara remembered.
“Think they’ll try to destroy this town too?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Maybe…” Hawkmon rubbed his beak.
“What’s so important about this town anyway?” Rumble asked. “It’s like Sweetie Belle said last night. As far as I can tell, it’s just some ordinary town, nothing special about it.”
“I mean, there’s the library?” Bearmon offered. Rumble rolled his eyes with a groan.
“He’s got a point there,” Silver Spoon said.
“Whaddya mean?” Terriermon asked.
“Well, the whole attack on Candlelight Village was meant to draw unwanted attention to us, right? Is he going to try a similar frame-up here?”
“If that’s the case, we’ll be ready this time!” Scootaloo pumped her hoof up.
“In any case, we should keep our jobs and keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious,” Hawkmon concluded.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Afterward, the conversation turned to more casual topics before everyone went to bed.
The next day, everyone was on their way to their respective jobs while Babs Seed talked about a strange dream she had the other night.
“So, we were walkin’ through the woods. Our Digimon were with us, and we were havin’ small talk and all that.”
“But…?” Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow.
“But the Digimon could only talk by sayin’ their names or parts of their names. Like, Veemon would be sayin’ things like, ‘Veemon Vee, Veemon!’ And everyone else was actin’ like everything was normal, and I was just goin’ insane!” Babs put her hoof to her head. “Ya know what I mean?”
Veemon looked to Babs Seed and cocked his head. “Vee?”
Babs Seed blinked, then shoved her partner back. “That’s not funny!”
Veemon chuckled. “All joking aside, that sounds ridiculous.”
“Yeah, can’t imagine tryin’ ta have a talk with your partner when ya talk like that,” Armadillomon said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
As they drifted towards the center of town, the atmosphere grew tenser. Digimon rushed towards the town square, talking in hushed, panicked tones.
“What’s going on?” Rumble asked.
The DigiDestined followed the crowd, watching as groups of Digimon turned into small streams trickling towards the center of town. Pushing their way through the crowd, they made their way to the Anubismon statue. Someone smeared the statue with various graffiti, and a blindfold was placed over the statue’s eyes.
What drew everyone’s attention was the latest addition to the town square.
Apple Bloom leaned over to Sweetie Belle. “Is that…Melas’ mayor?”
“Uh-huh…” Sweetie Belle nodded, a slight quiver in her voice.
Beside the Anubismon statue was Nefertimon on her hind legs as if preparing to attack or recoiling from one. What sent chills through the crowd, though, was the fact that she stood frozen in that pose; every inch of her body turned to stone.
“And the plot thickens…” Rumble muttered.