The streets of Ponyville were filled with all kinds of ponies, for today was market day in the town centre. Stalls that stretched a far as the eye could see were full of either delicious food of items of interest, and all with reasonably good prices. Well… all except for that one cherry stall.
Nearby was a mare sitting on a bench, away from the loud noise the market was making. Just as she was about to take a sip of water from her cup, she heard something that sounded like distant footsteps. Then after a second later, she heard it again. Unsure if it was just her imagination, she looked at her cup of water and as soon as she heard it again, ripples moved along the water surface. Her eyes widened after seeing it again, realizing that it could only mean one thing. That a big creature was near, if not, in town. What made it even more unsettling for her was not just the ripples getting bigger, but the noise in the market had died down. Quite dramatically.
When she went in the market to see what’s going on, she noticed that everypony had stopped walking and were all looking in one direction. All with wide eyes and gaping mouths. When she looked in the same direction as the rest, she too saw a sight she never thought to see. Coming up the road was the Mane Six and behind them was BlackWarGreymon, who to them looked like a tall, fierce looking black armoured dragon. Just as they were about to panic and flee to their homes, Princess Twilight Sparkle spoke up to reassure them.
“Remain calm citizens, there’s nothing to fear. He is not a threat, he’s our friend.”
Although some ponies calmed down at hearing Twilight’s announcement, it doesn’t seem to be helping most others. But as they got a closer inspection of their scary visitor, they noticed Fluttershy, who they knew as a Pegasus who’s scared of her own shadow, was resting on his shoulder and smiling.
This was truly a sight they never expected, a usually timid pony socializing with a fierce creature. With this and Twilight’s announcement, the ponies of Ponyville subconsciously believe that he really was friendly and ok to be around with. Despite this, they couldn’t help but stare in awe and now a little bit of fear as he and the Mane Six made their way through the market, with Fluttershy finishing up a story she and her friends were telling him.
“…and that’s how we got our cutiemarks.”
BlackWarGreymon was mind-blown at the story he heard.
“Impressive, so you all found your special talents moments after Rainbow’s first Sonic Rainboom?” He asked, with the girls responding with a simple nod.
“Yep, that’s how awesome I am,” Rainbow Dash gloated while flying over her friends. After rolling his eyes in annoyance, the Digimon spoke again.
“Sounds to me that your friendship with one another was destined to be.”
The Mane Six were heart warmed at hearing that.
“Awe…that’s mighty sweet of ya to say that, sugar cube,” Applejack complemented, with Rarity following.
“I agree, you’re quite a sweet talker, darling.”
BlackWarGreymon again briefly flinched at being called ‘darling’ and now ‘sugar cube’.
Unknown to him, though out the entire conversation, Fluttershy kept placing her hoof in his hair every now and then. She still couldn’t believe how soft and pleasant it was for a being so strong and powerful. She even constantly had to resist the urge to nuzzle her face in his yellow locks.
“Hey I know you can fly and all, but how fast can you fly?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never pushed myself to the limit, but I do remember I can fly very fast,” The Digimon answered back, while Rainbow Dash grew a smirk on her face.
“Ok, how about you put that to the test…by having a race against me?”
BlackWarGreymon took a moment to think about it. It would be nice to test his true speed. To see how fast he can really go.
“If that’s a challenge, then I accept,” He said with a hint of determination.
Before they could continue with their conversation, BlackWarGreymon heard loud grumbling noises coming from the six mares. The Mane Six all blushed as they knew what it means.
“Maybe we should get a bite to eat first,” Twilight said while seeing all her friends nodding in agreement. That was when they heard a very loud rumble, coming from the armoured Digimon.
For the first time in his life, BlackWarGreymon was hungry.
He was surprised as he put his hand on his stomach to sooth the rumble, never before he had the urge to eat.
“Sounds like the big guy’s hungry. Maybe we should feed him something before he decides to eat us,” Rainbow Dash said in a joking manner, making the other girls laugh. BlackWarGreymon however was not amused.
“Ha, ha, ha,” He said plainly before continuing. “But the thing is I never eaten anything before.”
This surprised the Mane Six.
“Really!? Not ever!?” Pinkie Pie shouted.
“No, I never had the need to eat. I guess being in this world changed that,” BlackWarGreymon stated, thinking that he might be right.
Soon Pinkie Pie saw something in the distance.
“Oh, oh, look! Mr and Mrs Cake have a stall of their own! We can get something to eat there!”
Twilight and her friends looked over to where Pinkie Pie was pointing and realised she’s right. Mr and Mrs Cake had their own stall at the end of the market selling cakes, pies, pastries and all kinds of desserts. Eager to see them, the Mane Six decided to pop over to their stall, with BlackWarGreymon following behind him.
After selling a pie to a customer, Mr and Mrs Cake saw Twilight and her friends next in line.
“Why hello Princess Twilight, it’s so good to see you again,” Mrs Cake said, glad to see her and her friends.
“It’s good to see you as well. I see you’ve got your own stall,” Twilight said while looking at the desserts.
“Oh yes, we think it would make quite a profit for our business at Sugar Cube Corner. So what can we get you?” Mr Cake asked.
“Well…” Before Twilight could finish, Pinkie Pie jumped in front of her.
“Oh, oh, we would like some pancakes, with whip cream, berries, syrup and sprinkles!” She ordered, but got no response. “Un, hello, did you get that?” She asked, but still got no response.
That was when the Mane Six noticed Mr and Mrs Cake staring in fear at something behind them. Twilight turned around and saw BlackWarGreymon, who caught up with them.
“Oh, it’s ok. He’s with us,” Twilight said in reassurance.
“Well…ok. W-what can we g-get for you s-sir?” Mrs Cake asked in a very nervous tone.
BlackWarGreymon took a moment to think about it. Since this would be the first time he’d ever tried food, he had to make his first choice good. He started to think back to a name of a dessert Agumon mentioned a while back.
“Do you have lemon pie?” He asked, officially making it his first.
After the food options were payed for, the Mane Six and BlackWarGreymon sat around a bench, in the shade under a big tree. Realizing he would crush the small chair just from sitting down, the armoured Digimon decided to sit on the ground.
“Um, BlackWarGreymon? Don’t mind me askin’ but…since you never ate before, why did ya chose lemon pie to be ya first?” Applejack asked, she and the other mares were eager to know the reason for his choice.
“A Digimon named Agumon, mentioned about it before. He seemed to love it a lot,” BlackWarGreymon answered.
“Who’s Agumon?” Rarity asked with a questionable look.
“One of the three Rookie Digimon who gave me advice about friendship. He was also the first Digimon who wanted to be my friend,” He answered while thinking back to his first meeting with the little yellow Digimon.
The girls were amazed to hear this.
“Well, did you became friends with him?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Well…not at first. But I think we did in the end,” He admitted while looking at his dessert.
He soon looked over and noticed Rarity was eating her pancake with a fork.
“Do you have another fork I could use?” He asked her.
With a smile, Rarity used her magic to pick up another fork and placed it in the Digimon’s pie.
“There you go, but how can you pick it up with those claws?” She asked while pointing at his gauntlets.
“Simple,” BlackWarGreymon said before impaling his right claws in the ground next to him, loosened his grip and slipped his arm out of the gauntlet, revealing his five digit hand.
The Mane Six went wide eyed at seeing this.
“What, have you never seen a hand before?” He asked the six mares.
“But, I thought those were your hands,” Twilight stated while looking at his gauntlets, clearly surprised.
“So did everyone else, those gauntlets are known as Dramon killers,” BlackWarGreymon said while lifting his left arm. “I rarely take them off.”
After that had been cleared, BlackWarGreymon proceeded to pick up the fork with a piece of lemon pie on it. That was when Rainbow Dash noticed something.
“Wait a minute. You don’t have a mouth! So how is it you’re able to speak, let alone eat!?” She stated, making the others mentally kicking themselves for not realizing it earlier.
“Beats me,” BlackWarGreymon admitted before continuing. “But I have to at least try this out.”
He then raised the end of the fork between the lower part of his helmet and above his chin, the area he thinks where the mouth should be. He then brought it closer. Then the moment it made contact, the end of the fork with the piece of lemon pie, passed through his skin as if he’s a ghost. His eyes briefly went wide as he experienced the taste of lemon, if not the taste of anything, for the very first time.
The Mane Six were jaw-dropped at seeing this, never before had they seen anything like it. After a few seconds, he pulled the fork out to reveal the piece of lemon pie…gone!
“That was surprisingly nice,” He commented. Before he could have a second bite, Applejack spoke up.
“What the hay just happened there!?”
BlackWarGreymon looked at the orange Earth Pony with a questionable look. Then Rainbow Dash spoke.
“As creepy as that looked, that was awesome!”
“How…did you…do that?” Twilight asked him, definitely eager to know what just happened and how it was possible.
“I don’t know how it passed through, but I think when it did the food molecules turned into data,” He said before picking up a second bigger piece. “And it tastes good.”
With that said he ate the piece of pie in the same way again. The girls still had looks of confusion on their faces, but then decided to go with it and continued enjoying their food.
After they had their lunch, the Mane Six and their Digimon friend all went to town. The six element bearers decided that a tour would help BlackWarGreymon familiarize himself around Ponyville.
During their trip, BlackWarGreymon mentally noted down the key places in town. Twilight had shown him; Sugar Cube Corner, the local school, the flower shop, the spa, the bowling alley (surprisingly), a building where Rainbow Dash learns karate and Rarity’s home that has a name that the Digimon himself cannot pronounce. Although Twilight mentioned about Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy’s cottage, they haven’t been to those places yet.
As the tour reached its climax, they were all by the town centre.
“And here’s the Town Hall, where important announcements take place,” Twilight said while pointing at a large building in front of them.
Before Twilight could carry on, she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie’s gasping. She just realised that there was something she must attend to.
“Hay guys, this has been fun but I have to get back to Sugar Cube Corner.”
“Already,” Applejack asked her pink friend.
“Yep, I have to get everything ready for BlackWarGreymon’s welcome party!” She explained while throwing confetti in the air.
“There’s really no need for that,” The Digimon said in a slightly serious tone.
“Oh but there is. Everypony here seemed to have gotten used to you and a party would totally help out!”
She made a good point. Although ponies were still looking at him strangely, whey weren’t running or screaming. In fact, some weren’t all that afraid at all.
“Besides, you never had a party before. So you might even have fun!” Pinkie Pie continued.
Before BlackWarGreymon could protest, the pink mare quickly ran past him.
“See you all tomorrow!”
That was all she said before disappearing towards Sugar Cube Corner.
“Is she always like this?” BlackWarGreymon asked the other five mares.
“Ever since we first met her,” Fluttershy answered before continuing. “But I have to get going, the animals are going to miss me if I’m gone too long, and they would probably get hungry.”
“I better head off too, gotta save my strength for the race tomorrow,” Rainbow Dash said before hoof-bumping BlackWarGreymon on the shoulder.
“Ok, see you two tomorrow,” Twilight said before the two Pegasi took flight and headed off in different directions.
Not a moment too soon, the remaining group heard screaming. Up above was a small red hang glider and it was on a collision cause to the group, more specifically, BlackWarGreymon.
Before he could react, the hang glider harmlessly crashed onto the top of his head and three fillies came flying out. Two landed on the ground and one landed in the Digimon’s hair.
One was an Earth pony with yellow fur, red mane and a bow on her head. Her name was Applebloom. Next to her was a Pegasus with orange fur and a purple mane. Her name was Scootaloo. And the one who landed in BlackWarGreymon’s hair was a Unicorn with white fur and a striped mane with two different shades of pink. Her name was Sweetie Belle. All three of them didn’t have cutiemarks.
As the two fillies on the ground rubbed their heads to ease the pain, Applejack ran up to her little sister.
“Are you ok Applebloom!? Nothin’ broken?”
“Nothin’ broken I’m fine Applejack,” She then looked at Scootaloo. “Better scratch the hang glidin’ idea off the list.”
Scootaloo responded to Applebloom’s suggestion with a simple nod. Rarity was next to approach them.
“Girls, where’s Sweetie Belle!?” She asked in a bit of panic, but soon received an answer from a voice that sounds muffled, as if something’s blocking it.
“I’m up here!”
Hearing this made all the girls look towards BlackWarGreymon. Seeing the large Digimon for the first time made Applebloom and Scootaloo froze in place. They then saw something moving around in his yellow hair, then Sweetie Belle’s head and fore legs popped out. She also had a big smile on her face.
“Rarity, Scootaloo, Applebloom! You got to come up here! Whatever this yellow stuff is, it feels so soft and lovely!” She said while nuzzling her face in BlackWarGreymon’s’ hair, completely oblivious that she’s right next to the Digimon’s head.
When she looked down to see her friends, she noticed Applebloom’s and Scootaloo’s fear stricken faces as they appear to be staring at something next to her. When she followed their gazes she found herself looking into fierce yellow eyes.
Surprised by this, she screamed and fell to the ground, and with the other two fillies she ran and hid behind the older mares.
“W-what in tarnation is that thing!?” Applebloom asked while hiding under Applejack’s tail with Scootaloo.
“Applebloom, calm down,” Applejack said, trying to comfort her younger sibling.
“Now Sweetie Belle, is that anyway to treat our guest?” Rarity asked, earning confused looks from the three fillies.
“G-guest?” Sweetie Belle asked while popping her head around Rarity’s tail.
Twilight spoke up as she walked towards the Digimon.
“Girls, this is BlackWarGreymon, our new friend from another world.”
She then used her magic to pick up the fillies and place them next to her one at a time.
“And this is Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”
“Hi,” That was all BlackWarGreymon said.
Although the three fillies felt a bit awkward, Scootaloo was first to snap out of it.
“Wow. You…look cool. And the fact you’re from a different world makes it even cooler,” She said as she approached him, now knowing he’s friendly. Applebloom soon joined in.
“Yeah, and you look like you can kick anypony’s butt,” She said, seeing that he was unharmed from the hand glider crashing onto his head she can clearly tell that he’s really tough.
“Uhh… thank you?” The Digimon said, still not used to receive good complements. Sweetie Belle was next to speak.
“Umm, sorry for screaming at you earlier, Mr.”
“It’s ok, don’t worry about it,” BlackWarGreymon said.
“Exactly, I’m sure that in time nopony will scream at you,” Rarity said in support. Then Applejack remembered something.
“Wait a minute. Applebloom, what did ya mean by ‘scratch the hang glidin’ idea of the list’?”
Applebloom began to feel awkward as she spoke.
"Well, Applejack y-you see, um…” Before she could go on, Applejack already found the answer.
“Ya were trying to get Cutiemarks from hang glidin’, weren’t ya?”
“Yeah, we were, but obviously it didn’t work,” Scootaloo said while rubbing her head from the impact. BlackWarGreymon took the time to notice that the fillies didn’t have cutiemarks.
“Well, next time try to get ya cutiemark from something safer. I don’t my lil’ sister gettin’ hurt, ok?” Applejack asked while rubbing Applebloom’s head.
“Ok,” Applebloom said, keeping her promise. Not sure how long she’s going to hold it though.
BlackWarGreymon however was puzzled.
“lil’ sister?” He asked, Applejack looking back at him.
“Yep, Applebloom here is my sister,” She said while Applebloom waved her hoof at the Digimon, getting more comfortable around him. He then turned to Rarity, who was standing next to Sweetie Belle.
“And Sweetie Belle is my little sister,” She said while placing her hoof on her sister’s back. BlackWarGreymon then turned to Scootaloo.
“I take it that you’re a sister to Rainbow Dash?” He asked, earning a small giggle from the Pegasus filly.
“Well…no, but I’m like a sister to her,” She replied while mentally wishing that she was her sister.
“Fair enough,” He said, understanding what she meant by ‘like a sister’.
“So, what are you anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked him, but Twilight answered the question with great enthusiasm.
“He’s a species called a Digital Monster and he’s from a world known as the Digital World.”
Although the word ‘digital’ was unknown to them, but the three fillies felt slightly worried when Twilight said the word ‘monster’.
“Digital…Monster?” Applebloom asked in a confused tone.
“Or you can just call me Digimon for short,” BlackWarGreymon suggested, saying the word ‘Digimon’ a bit more clearer for the young ponies to understand.
“A Digimon. Now that’s a cool name,” Scootaloo complemented while walking towards BlackWarGreymon, with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom following.
“Yep, but almost as cool as you,” Applebloom said in honest truth to the Digimon.
“Hey, I bet we can get our cutiemarks for helping him,” Sweetie Belle said to the other two. “After all, we are…” The next set of words were said by all three of them.
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
Although slightly startled by their sudden outburst, BlackWarGreymon was touched. Never before he received this much kindness and love from anyone. The inhabitants of the Digital World hardly gave him any similar emotion a tall but here, they only just knew him for a few hours and now a few minutes, and they fully trust him.
One thing’s for sure, he’s definitely going to love his new life in this world.
Then he noticed that the crusaders were yarning, exhausted from their presumably long day. That’s when they all noticed that the sun was setting, a signal that the day was ending. The older mares took note of this as well.
“Well, I guess it’s time to head on home,” Applejack said with Applebloom approaching her.
“Big sis, is it ok if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo can come over for a sleep over?” She asked, hoping that Applejack would say yes.
“Well, I don’t have any problem with that. So yeah, I’m not stopping ya,” She replied, making the three crusaders smile in delight. Then Rarity went over and hugged Sweetie Belle.
“Hope you enjoy yourself, and have fun,” She said to her little sister.
“I will,” Sweetie Belle replied before joining Applejack, Applebloom and Scootaloo.
“See ya all later,” Applejack said while walking back to Sweet Apple Acres. The crusaders also joined her after waving their goodbyes to Twilight, Rarity and BlackWarGreymon.
“Well, I best be heading home too. A girls’ going to need her beauty sleep.” Rarity said while inspecting her mane.
“Ok, goodnight Rarity,” Twilight said as the white Unicorn turned to leave.
“Goodnight you two,” She replied back, leaving just Twilight and BlackWarGreymon. That’s when the Digimon finally realised something.
“Twilight, is it ok if I stay at your home? I don’t exactly have a place to live in.”
Twilight was surprised at first, but then realised that he’s right about not having a place to stay.
“Sure. You can stay as long as you like. And my castle is big so you don’t have to worry about space,” She said, and actually glad that he wanted to stay in her home.
BlackWarGreymon had a look of confusion.
“Castle?”
“Yes, it’s just over there,” Twilight said while pointing her hoof at a very large crystal palace.
BlackWarGreymon mentally cursed himself, this castle was big enough to be seen for miles, and he just noticed it now!
Twilight saw his expression and giggled.
“You mean to tell me that you haven’t noticed it before now?”
Jokes aside, BlackWarGreymon took a moment to process his thoughts.
“Does Princess Celestia live here as well?” He asked her.
“Oh no, she and Luna live in Canterlot castle up there,” She replied while pointing at the city that could be seen from Ponyville.
When the Digimon looked at Equestria’s capital, he took note that the city was definitely big and it rests on the side of a mountain, as well as a train track that connects Ponyville to Canterlot.
But then, a name that Twilight uttered crossed his mind as he turned to the purple Alicorn.
“Luna?”
“Oh, she’s Celestia’s younger sister, her duties is to raise the moon and bring night,” When Twilight finished explaining, BlackWarGreymon turned back to the view of Canterlot.
‘Princess of the night.’