//------------------------------// // E.V.O. // Story: Digital Harmony // by Zennistrad //------------------------------// “Look out!” T.K. desperately called out to his partner as the MegaSeadramon roared, lashing outwards with its tail. Pegasusmon swerved wildly in the air, nearly throwing off his riders as he barely dodged the attack. “T.K., what’s going on?” said Applejack, “Ah thought you said that control spire was what controlled them dark rings!” “That’s not a dark ring, that’s a dark spiral! They don’t need- whoa!” T.K. cried out in surprise as the MegaSeadramon’s jaws closed on the empty air that Pegasusmon had occupied just moments ago. As Pegasusmon swerved wildly in midair, T.K. was thrown to the side, off Pegasumon’s back. “T.K.!” Thinking quickly, Applejack reached over Pegasusmon’s side with her front hooves, extending them towards T.K. Acting purely on instinct, T.K. reached out and grabbed Applejack’s hooves tightly, leaving him hanging precariously over Pegasusmon’s side. Applejack grunted in exertion as she tried her best to lift T.K. up, but without her natural earth pony strength the human was simply too heavy. Pegasusmon’s wild movements in the air didn’t help matters any. “Lightning Javelin!” The MegaSeadramon’s horn quite literally surged with power as a spear-shaped burst of electricity shot forth from it. The attack flew past Pegasusmon as he dodged, the lightning spear just barely missing his wing. The sudden maneuver threw off T.K. further, causing his left hand to slip and release its desperate grip on Applejack’s hoof. “Consarn it, Pegasusmon! Ah can’t pull T.K. up if you keep flailing around like that!” “We’ll be killed if we don’t keep moving!” Her mind ablaze with panic, Applejack looked pleadingly at Pegasusmon, and then back to T.K. She desperately tried to think of a solution, something that would help the three of them escape danger, but in her adrenaline-fueled state she found it hard to focus. Think, Applejack! There’s gotta be a way out of this! Applejack desperately searched her mind for answers, but she found herself unable to find any way of escaping their current situation. All the while Pegasusmon frantically maneuvered around the MegaSeadramon, leading T.K.’s weakening grip to fail even more rapidly. It’s no use! There ain’t no way Ah can stop him from falling now! There ain’t nothing Ah can- Applejack’s eyes suddenly lit up as she came to a sudden realization. “T.K.! Ah think Ah have an idea!” “Well don’t just sit there!” T.K. shouted back, “tell me what it is!” “Well, this might sound crazy, but Ah think Ah’m gonna need you to let go!” “What?!” exclaimed T.K. “You’re right, that does sound crazy!” Applejack looked down at T.K. pleading.. “T.K., listen to me! There ain’t no way we’re gonna make it out of here alive otherwise! Ah promise everything will be alright!” T.K. let out a small, humorless chuckle. “Heh. Well, It’s not like I have much choice in the matter now.” As his grip loosened, he looked upwards at Applejack, and smiled warmly. “I can’t say why, but even though I haven’t known you long, I know that I can trust you on this.” Finally, T.K. released his grip on Applejack’s hoof, and promptly fell towards the surface of the lake. Applejack reacted quickly leaping downwards from atop Pegasusmon’s back. She swiftly reached out and caught T.K. in her front hooves, pulling the human towards her in a tight embrace. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they plummeted towards the lake’s surface. Still holding T.K., Applejack twister her body in midair, maneuvering herself so that she was directly below T.K., both of them parallel to the lake’s surface. A loud crash sounded as the two impacted the water’s surface, before sinking into the murky depths of the lake. After the initial shock, T.K.’s eyes opened to find himself surrounded by water, a dull pain felt across his entire body from the impact. Through the murky waters he could barely make out Applejack, her unconscious body rapidly sinking through the water. Applejack!? Why did she do that? The answer came to him quickly, however, and his eyes lit up in sudden realization. I don’t believe it. She cushioned the impact with her body. T.K. decided there was no time to admire Applejack’s selflessness as she continued sinking into the depths. He quickly swam towards Applejack, and began carrying her to the surface. Applejack’s hat and saddlebags had both fallen off from the impact, leaving her with nothing but the strange device on her front ankle. T.K.’s lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, and from the exertion of carrying Applejack, but his resolve remained strong as he slowly but steadily pushed himself upwards through the water. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally broke the water’s surface, desperately gasping for air. Applejack let out a slow, shuddering breath, and her eyes gently fluttered open, resting on T.K. as he carried her on the lake’s surface, away from the rampaging MegaSeadramon. “Don’t worry, T.K., Ah... Ah’ve got you.” Applejack coughed violently as she spoke, spitting up some of the water that had forced its way into her windpipe. “Applejack’s hurt, Pegasusmon!” T.K. cried out. “I need you to distract MegaSeadramon so I can get her to safety!” “I’ll see what I can do!” replied Pegasusmon, “Star Shower!” Pegasusmon unleashed a torrent of shooting stars from his wings, but the MegaSeadramon reacted quickly, coiling its body to guard the dark spiral. The sea serpent hissed in irritation as the stars harmlessly impacted its body. With a vicious snarl, it lashed out with is tail, grazing Pegasusmon’s wing as he frantically dodged the full force of the attack. “Pegasusmon!” T.K. cried out. As Pegasusmon was struck, he began to spiral out of control, plummeting towards the surface of the lake. He quickly righted himself before hitting the water, flying back upwards in the air. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up!” T.K. frowned worriedly for his partner. This doesn’t look good. I could have him digivolve to Angemon, but that’d leave him vulnerable while doing so. Great, now what are we going to do? “Hey, T.K.” “Huh?” T.K. was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of Applejack’s voice. “Ah just wanted to say, Ah’m sorry for getting y’all into this mess. Ah promised everything would be okay, but...” Applejack briefly lapsed into another fit of violent coughing, splattering a small amount of blood on T.K.’s shoulder. “Ah guess what Ah’m trying to say is, Ah’m sorry for making a promise Ah couldn’t keep.” “There’s no need to apologize, Applejack. If anything, I’m the one that dragged you into this.” T.K. struggled to stay afloat as he spoke, the task of carrying his passenger making it all the more difficult to hold a conversation. “You did everything you could to help, and I’m grateful for that. You said I’d be fine if I let go, and I am, for now at least. As far as I’m concerned, you were being completely honest with me.” Applejack looked down at T.K. and smiled softly. “If we don’t make it T.K., Ah just want you to know, Ah’m glad Ah met you. Thank you.” A single tear formed in her eye and fell on T.K.’s shoulder, indistinguishable on the soaking wet fabric of his shirt. Suddenly, Applejack began to feel a peculiar sensation on the device that was strapped to her front ankle. A brilliant glow suddenly burst forth from the screen, and Applejack leapt into the air, her entire body becoming engulfed in a bright glow. “Execute! Harmonic Evolution!” Numerous leaves and pine needles appeared in the air around Applejack, surrounding her body in a swirling vortex of green as. The storm of leaves quickly grew larger and more intense before vanishing, revealing Applejack’s transformation into a much larger creature. In place of her pony body was one of a massive wolf, roughly the size of a full van. Her fur was a muted orange with brown stripes, and covering her torso and legs were plates of armor carved from wood. A wooden mask covered her eyes, and sticking out of her front shoulders were thin tree branches, dotted with small leaves. Her tail resembled her tail as a pony, but was more frizzy and unkempt, tied near the end with a light brown tie. “TimberGarurumon! The Honorable Wolf!” ========== Digimon Analyzer: TimberGarurumon Type: Animal Attribute: Vaccine Level: Hybrid (Champion Equivalent) Special Attacks: Forest Fire, Tempest Leaf ========== “What the heck!?” T.K. cried out in shock. “Applejack?!” Her transformation completed, TimberGarurumon landed in the lake with a splash, and looked back at T.K, treading water with her paws. “Ain’t no time to question it, T.K.! Ah gotta go help Pegasusmon!” TimberGarurumon quickly swam through the water, towards the MegaSeadramon. The MegaSeadramon in turn faced the new arrival, its eyes glowing red with malice. “Tempest Leaf!” The branches on TimberGarurumon’s shoulders glowed green, and a series of glowing, razor-sharp leaves shot forth towards the MegaSeadramon. It snarled in irritation as the leaves impacted its body, but otherwise left it unharmed. Wasting no time, TimberGarurumon quickly followed up with another attack. “Forest Fire!” TimberGarurumon exhaled a breath of blazing hot fire, sending a steady stream of bright orange flames towards the MegaSeadramon. “Mega Ice Blast!” The MegaSeadramon retaliated with its own attack, exhaling an intense blast of ice from its gaping mouth. The stream of ice met TimberGarurumon’s fire breath in midair, and the two opposing streams pushed against each other. MegaSeadramon’s attack quickly began to overtake TimberGarurumon’s, the blast of ice rapidly pushing through the fire towards her body. “Now, Pegasusmon!” T.K. shouted. “Mane Wind!” With a mighty shout, Pegasusmon swooped down from above, firing a blast of needles from his mane at the MegaSeadramon, causing the dark spiral to shatter. The MegaSeadramon hissed and recoiled in shock, while TimberGarurumon halted her attack, leaving MegaSeadramon to come to his senses. With a low growl, the massive sea serpent quickly recoiled, and dived back underneath the lake. TimberGarurumon quickly swam back to meet T.K., Pegasusmon flying next to her above the water. With her massive snout, she lifted T.K. out of the water, allowing T.K. to climb on her back. “Ah gotta admit, Ah wasn’t expecting anything like this,” she said. “Y’all okay up there?” “Yeah, I’m fine,” replied T.K., “just a little bit of déjà vu.” ———————— Applejack, Patamon, and T.K. soon arrived back at the edge of the lake, the former two reverting to their base forms. Amidst the crumbling stone huts, the Bakemon floated freely, having awoken from unconsciousness. They now wandered the cave, directionless, making somewhat less that spooky ‘ooo’ noises. T.K. sat on a rock, trying to shake out the pools of water that had collected in his shoes. To the side, Applejack let out a heavy sigh as she sat on her haunches. “You alright there, A.J.?” asked T.K., wringing out the water from his soaked felt hat. “Huh?” Applejack looked up to see T.K. looking at her, an expression of concern crossing his face. “Ah’m fine... Ah just miss mah hat. Pa gave it to me when Ah won an apple-eating contest when Ah was a filly.” She trailed off, ears folding back on her head as she lowered her gaze towards the ground. “I’m sorry about that, Applejack. I know it must mean a lot to you.” He reached out and gently scratched Applejack behind the ears. She closed her eyes and shivered slightly at the sensation. Oh wow, that feels nice... “We should talk to these Bakemon and see what happened,” said T.K., lifting his hand off of Applejack. A pink flush appeared on her cheeks as she realized how much she’d been enjoying herself. Applejack coughed nervously. “Right, let’s get going.” “No fair!” Patamon complained, “Why does she get to have her ears scratched?” “Don’t worry, Patamon, you’ll get your turn. I can carry you until we exit the cave, how about that?” “Really? Thanks, T.K.!” Patamon flew down to meet T.K., allowing him to carry Patamon in his arms. Patamon smiled contentedly as T.K. gently scratched him behind the ears. Applejack couldn’t help but smile at T.K.’s display of affection for his partner. “Well ain’t that just adorable? Come on, T.K., let’s go talk to some of them ghosts.” T.K. turned towards a nearby stone hut, where several Bakemon hovered above them. “Hello?” he called out, “Excuse me!” The Bakemon ignored him, continuing to float about the area. “Hello? Can I talk to someone, please?” One of the Bakemon spoke as it floated by overhead. “Can’t talk, haunting. OOOOoooOOOOoo...” T.K. glanced at Applejack, both sharing a look of confusion. How were these idiots ever a threat to us again? “Something tells me they ain’t gonna tell us anything worthwhile,” Applejack chimed in, “We should get going, Ah’d like to meet back with Twilight.” “Wait!” A voice yelled out from the lake, sporting a foppish accent. Applejack, Patamon, and T.K. turned in the direction of the lake in time to see the MegaSeadramon’s massive upper body emerge, causing them to flinch as they were splashed with water.  It bent its long neck downwards, lowering its head to meet the three as they sat by the edge of the lake. “My apologies for interrupting you, I just wanted to tell you all how grateful I am that you helped me. Can you imagine if I’d spent the rest of my life as a slave to that so-called Digimon Queen? Oh, it would have been dreadful!” T.K. blinked. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the MegaSeadramon’s foppish mannerisms, which sharply contrasted to his fearsome appearance. “Wait, what’s this about a Digimon Queen?” he asked. “Well, I’m not entirely sure who she is myself. When that ugly control spire appeared, dark rings appeared and enslaved the Bakemon, and I found myself within the clutches of the nefarious dark spiral! I was utterly helpless to defend the poor digimon who haunt this ghost village! “As I was consumed by the spiral’s power, I could hear her speaking to me, with a voice like that of a demon. She commanded me to do unspeakable things, and I was given no choice but to obey her wishes! To her, my very life was nothing more than a tool for her amusement! Oh, the horror! “But thanks to your brave efforts, both myself and the Bakemon have been restored to their former selves! They are once again free to haunt the village as they wish, and I am once again free to enjoy the lake at my leisure.” The MegaSeadramon bent over, lowering his head in an approximation of a bow. “I am eternally in your debt. If there is anything you need from me, simply ask, and I will oblige.” “Hey, there’s no need for that.” Applejack suddenly spoke up. “It was nothing. Really.” Dear Faust, please don’t put me through that load of horseapples again. “Actually,” said T.K., “Maybe there is something you can do for us. Applejack lost a few of her things in the lake while we were fighting. If it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could find them?” Applejack looked back at T.K. in surprise. “Y’all really think he’ll be able to find mah hat?” “It certainly wouldn’t hurt to ask,” replied T.K., “So, MegaSeadramon, do you think you’ll be able to find it? It’s a brown cowboy hat, and there should be a pair of saddlebags next to it.” “Ah, but of course!” the Megaseadramon exclaimed, quickly retreating back into the water. “We should let the others know what happened while we’re waiting,” said T.K., “I’ll message them about the control spire, and tell them that I’ve found you. Sorry, buddy, but I’m going to have to let go of you now.” “Aww...” Patamon sighed in disappointment as T.K. gently placed him on the ground. Reaching into his pockets, T.K. pulled out his D-Terminal and flipped it open, inspecting it carefully. He hesitantly pushed a few buttons on the front, and his eyes lit up in satisfaction as the machine responded. “Wow, this thing’s durable. Even after all that, it’s still working. Now let’s see if I can still send messages...” Applejack stared curiousy at T.K. as he began typing out a message on the unfamiliar machine, his eyes focused on the D-Terminal’s screen. Finally, after a lengthy typing session he placed the D-Terminal back in his pocket. “Hey, A.J. Good news, I-” “I found them!” The MegaSeadramon burst from the lake excitedly, practically singing as it spoke. The others flinched as they were once again splashed at the ruptured water. T.K. glared at the MegaSeadramon in disapproval. “Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry,” said the MegaSeadramon, “I just wanted to let you know that I’d your hat and saddlebags. Here you are!” The MegaSeadramon’s long tail extended from the water, its green tail fin carefully rolled around another object. He extended the tail towards the others and placed the fin on the ground, unrolling it to reveal Applejack’s saddlebags, as well as her trademark stetson. “Mah hat!” Applejack nearly squealed in joy as she ran up and grabbed the hat, placing it back on top of her head. She then lifted her saddlebags off of MegaSeadramon’s tail fin and opened them, quickly inspecting the content. “Well, shoot, Ah don’t think Ah’ll be able to use much of these what with all that water. Ah’ll have to look through them later. Still, Ah’m glad you could find mah hat.” “It was my pleasure, miss,” replied the MegaSeadramon, “Is there anything else you might need from me?” “No!” The others all stared at Applejack in confusion in response to her sudden outburst. Applejack shifted uncomfortably as she felt the weight of their gaze centered on her. “Uh, Ah mean, no thank you. It’s fine, really. No big deal.” “Alright, but if there’s anything you need from me, you know where to find me! Toodles!” With that, the MegaSeadramon retreated back into the lake’s waters, quickly descending below the surface and out of sight. “What was that about?” asked T.K. Applejack rolled her eyes. “It’s a long story. Now what was that good news y’all promised?” “Well, as it just so happens, we’ve managed to find some of your other friends. Cody found a unicorn named Rarity, Kari found a pony name Pinkie Pie, and Ken and Yolei found a pegasus named Rainbow Dash. That ringing any bells?” “They’re alive? Yeehaw!” Applejack briefly reared on her hind legs as she cried out in joy. “This is great, T.K.! With all of us together, we’ll be able to rescue Fluttershy no problem!” T.K. frowned. “Right, we still have to figure out what we’re going to do about her. And for that matter, we have to figure out where you all will be staying in the meantime. We should head out to meet the others so we can work thing out, they should all be heading for the DigiPort by now.” “Sounds good to me,” said Applejack, “Ah’d hate to keep them waiting.” Patamon and Applejack followed T.K. as he turned around towards the chamber’s entrance, leading them past the wandering Bakemon, out of the village, and to the cave’s exit.