Chapter Two: The First Champion
Twilight led the group of newly-christened adventurers as they continued to trek through the jungle of File Island, their new partners keeping the same pace. They had been walking without rest since the encounter with Cyclomon, and the fatigue had begun to show in their faces.
“How much longer must we keep this up?” Rarity complained. “The jungle floor is murder on my hooficure!”
“This is an island,” Twilight informed her. “It stands to reason that, if we travel long enough in a straight line, we’ll inevitably reach the shore.”
Rainbow Dash gave Twilight an inquisitive stare. “What’s at the shore?”
“I’d like to find out,” Twilight replied. “At the very least, we’ll be out of the jungle.”
“We’ve been walkin’ for hours, though,” Applejack remarked. “This must be a mighty big island if’n there’s this much jungle.”
“Fine by me,” Labramon declared, his tail wagging behind him. “This is the first time I’ve had enough leg muscle to take a good walk like this. I almost don’t want it to end.”
“Well, we’re moving north-ish, right?” Terriermon inquired, shifting his position atop Fluttershy’s head. “We can’t be too far from the Great Canyon.”
“A canyon?” Twilight responded, incredulously. “Right next to a jungle?”
“The island is very geologically diverse,” Fluttershy replied. “At least, that’s what Terriermon told me. There’s supposed to be a frozen tundra on the northeast end.”
“I find that very hard to believe,” Twilight stated. She then turned to face Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, can you fly up above the trees and tell me if you can see water from here?”
“I’m on it!” Rainbow confirmed. “Ryudamon, hop on!”
“I, uh...” Ryudamon countered. “I might be a bit too big now. And too heavy, with all this armor.”
Rainbow Dash stared awkwardly at Ryudamon for a moment, clearly having forgotten how drastically evolution had changed his body. Ryudamon just gestured his head upward, to the line of trees above, and Rainbow Dash nodded and took off to survey the land from overhead.
“What do you think she’ll see?” Palmon asked, wrapping her arm around a reluctant but welcoming Rarity.
“Well, Terriermon’s the one that knows the place,” DORUmon replied. “If he says there’s a canyon, I bet there’s a canyon.”
“And I say that’s not possible,” Twilight retorted. “The climate required to sustain a jungle and that required to sustain a canyon aren’t even remotely similar, so having one right beside the other is—”
“Exactly what’s going on,” Rainbow Dash called from above. “The trees cut off in a few hundred feet, and it’s all rock from there!”
Twilight swore she could hear her brain sizzling.
If Trixie didn’t hate mountains before, she did now. The trek down to the bottom of what Impmon called “Infinity Mountain” was proving to be much more trouble than it felt it should have been. For Celestia’s sake, she was going along with gravity; why was that so difficult!?
This was not how she expected to begin a game of conquest. It stood to reason that she would begin with limited resources, but an electronic trinket and a single ally being the extent of those resources seemed ridiculous. She did not intend to live off the land like some primitive lowlife; then again, she also didn’t intend to slide down a mountain on day one, but here she was, latching onto any ledges that her infernal tagalong suspected would hold her weight.
“Come on, keep up!” Impmon called from below. “Seriously, it’s like you’ve never climbed down from a mountain peak before!”
“Of course not!” Trixie hollered back. “Trixie is a respected showmare, and activities like this are far beneath her!”
“Again with the third person!” Impmon scolded. “You know, there’s nothing stopping me from just going off on my own and abandoning you if you keep doing that! It’s annoying, and it’s creepy!”
Trixie groaned. “I thought I was the one in charge here!”
“Do you even know what ‘partner’ means? We work together! No one’s in charge!”
“I didn’t even ask for this partnership!” Trixie retorted. “I have always worked alone!”
“Well, you’d better get used to me,” Impmon snapped, “because you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Says the one who threatened to leave a moment ago...” Trixie muttered, resigning herself to her fate. There was still a great deal of mountain left below her, and she was stuck with Impmon the rest of the way down.
She supposed having someone standing by in case she tripped up would be beneficial to her ability to not die on the first challenge. It would be disgraceful to fail at the tutorial. In addition, he seemed relatively nimble, had basic knowledge of the layout of the mountain, and could hurl ice and flame on a whim. Combined with her natural magical proficiency, she figured they might work well together, to some extent... for as long as he was useful. She would not even need him if she still had the Alicorn Amu-
No. That amulet had poisoned her mind. She discarded the thought as soon as it arose, simply letting Impmon guide her down Infinity Mountain and to the cave that he claimed lay beneath them.
“Look, guys! If I stand right here, I’m in the jungle and the canyon at the same time!”
“Come on, Pinkie Pie,” Gaomon urged from up ahead, where everyone else had already begun advancing into the Great Canyon. Pinkie simply shot her partner a toothy grin, bouncing along to keep up with her friends.
The canyon expanded as far as the eye could see, aside the jungle immediately behind the group. The air was dry, the ground was cracked and nearly barren, and it frequently gave way to gaping chasms that, given the fact that they were on an island, made some of them wonder how high they were above sea level. The landscape was littered with a plethora of rocky formations that rose up several stories above them, so prominent that it made the density of the jungle’s trees that much more staggering to have hidden them completely.
Twilight and DORUmon led the group towards a particular mesa, hoping to get to higher ground and look for anything that could get the ponies back home. Every time Twilight glanced down at DORUmon, however, he looked troubled, almost contemplative. This wasn’t a particularly new look on him, she noted; he’d been like this ever since he took a look at his reflection in Cyclomon’s tail. Her focus had been on finding anything that could help her and her friends get home, but now she felt compelled to talk to him about his state.
“DORUmon?” Twilight asked, prompting her partner to look up at her. “Is something the matter?”
“No, it’s fine,” DORUmon insisted, though he shied away from Twilight’s gaze as they walked. “Let’s just worry about getting you where you need to be.”
Twilight sighed and shook her head. DORUmon had claimed to have been waiting for her arrival all his life, and yet he was closing himself off and being elusive, neither of which were conducive to a successful partnership. For the time, however, she put it out of her mind; they had reached the mesa she’d been leading the group towards.
Signalled by a quick nod from Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy took their partners and flew to the top of the elevated mass, with some difficulty on Rainbow’s part due to Ryudamon’s newfound mass. The alicorn summoned her magic to teleport herself and everyone else to the top edge to meet them, looking over the edge as she arrived.
She had to admit, it was a spectacular view, even more so with the setting sun, and she could see just how expansive the canyon segment of the island was. The only other area she could see from her vantage point was the jungle they’d just arrived from, as well as the mountain that was visible from the clearing in which they’d found Fluttershy. Unfortunately, as stunning as the canyon looked, there was nothing in sight that looked like a way back to Equestria.
She sighed, turning her head away from the mesa’s edge and shaking her head dejectedly. Before she could start leading the group away, however, she heard Fluttershy call out, “Over here! I found something! It looks like another monster, and it looks hurt!”
Twilight turned to the source of the cry, and sure enough, Fluttershy and Terriermon stood beside another large creature lying on his back in the shade of another protruding landmass. He looked like a bulky, bipedal, wingless dragon, primarily colored blue with a white belly. His body was covered in battle scars old and new, and his chest bore a blue V shape.
“Veedramon,” Twilight heard her Digivice exposit. “Vaccine-type Mythical Dragon Digimon. Champion level. A very rare and elusive species known for its immense power. Signature move is V-Nova Blast.” Every word came with an echo as the other nearby Digivices relayed the same information.
“Oh, you poor thing!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What happened?”
“Territorial dispute,” Veedramon said dismissively, even as he clutched his stomach. “It’s not serious, the issue or the injuries. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?” Terriermon asked, tilting his head. “You look like you got pretty roughed up.”
“I’m fine,” Veedramon insisted. “I’ve had worse. The guy just blindsided me, is all.”
“So it was another creature that did this to you?” Rarity asked, looking the injured dragon over.
“The term we use is ‘Digimon,’ actually,” Veedramon corrected. “Short for ‘digital monster.’”
“Is that what it means?” Twilight exclaimed, somewhat excited from the newfound sense of understanding. “My Digivice had been saying that every time we met a new one! DORUmon, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
DORUmon shrugged. “I thought I started to. You didn’t question it when I used the term myself. Plus, if you’d given it thought, it wouldn’t be hard to put two and two together.”
“That was furthest from my mind this whole time,” Twilight replied. “I’ve been focused on trying to get us out of this place and back to Equestria.”
“I figured you weren’t from around here,” Veedramon interjected. “Didn’t even know what ‘Digimon’ were... you sound like a gang of tourists.”
“Alright, drop the attitude,” Rainbow chastised, with a fair amount of her own attitude. “Do you know any way back to our world or not?”
Ryudamon promptly pulled Rainbow back before she could get in Veedramon’s face. “You cool it too.”
The injured dragon huffed, then tried to sit up, grunting in pain before falling back to the ground with a decent thud. Within seconds, Fluttershy was right back at his side, ruffling through her saddlebags. “Please, don’t try to move too much. You’re hurt.”
“I told you I’m fine,” Veedramon snapped, successfully but strenuously getting into a seated position. Fluttershy, however, pulled out a first-aid kit from her bag and started treating his wounds, Applejack rushing over to help with her own kit. The others all sat back and watched, the other ponies in the group wondering why the two thought they’d have needed the kits in the first place.
“Atta boy,” Applejack exclaimed as the last bandage was wrapped. “All patched up, and hopefully ya won’t get more of them nasty scars.”
“You’d think healing items would work faster, though,” Pinkie commented, noting a spot of blood on the bandages on his stomach. Gaomon started to object, but shook his head and sighed, letting her have her moment.
Veedramon huffed indignantly and shot a glare at the ponies who treated him. “I said I was fine. I can’t get stronger if I rely on the kindness of strangers.”
Fluttershy frowned. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to the ponies who helped y—”
“Even though I told them not to. I’ve gotten by on my own power all this time, and I don’t appreciate you butting in.”
The farm pony scowled at her ungrateful impromptu patient, but Labramon walked up and gave her a comforting nuzzle. “Relax, Applejack. Lots of Digimon are like that.”
“Do you know how to get our partners home, Veedramon?” Palmon inquired, repeating the question that his efforts to sit had left ignored.
“Not even a little,” he responded bluntly, leading to a collective groan from the group. “I don’t even know how you got here in the first pla—”
Veedramon stopped short, however, his attention leaving the gathered ponies and Digimon as it drifted above and behind them. “Ah, great. He’s back.”
“Who’s back?” Twilight inquired, then looked up to follow Veedramon’s gaze. Sure enough, there was something in the distance, hovering in the sky and looking down at the group. It looked like a flying dinosaur, perhaps a pteranodon of some sort, but the way the sunlight gleamed and reflected off of its blue body made it look metallic. She was able to say for sure that it was metallic, however, once it started flying closer.
“What is that?”
“What is that?” Trixie inquired, staring in confusion at the small mechanical creature that greeted her and her partner at the entrance to the cave in Infinity Mountain. His form was cylindrical, with glass casing protecting the top of his head, and he had two long arms and four short legs. Much of his body looked damaged, especially on the left side of it, where the glass was cracked open and the metal gave way to show an organic-looking red eye contrasting the robotic yellow one.
“Datamon,” Trixie’s Digivice revealed. “Virus-type Machine Digimon. Ultimate level. Able to hack computers and alter data on a whim. Signature move is Digital Bomb.”
“A Digivice?” Datamon remarked, looking at the contraption around Trixie’s leg. “Interesting. At the very least, it saves me the hassle of an introduction.”
“You look worse for wear,” Impmon noted, looking at all the structural damage on Datamon’s form. “What’s all that?”
“Something we are not discussing,” Datamon snapped.
“Impmon...” Trixie inquired, slightly concerned. “Who exactly is this?”
“Our eyes and ears,” Impmon replied. “Datamon has the single most thorough surveillance system in the entire Digital World. We’re gonna need to start keeping tabs on the goings-on of the world if you wanna conquer it.”
“You say that like I’ll just let you use me,” Datamon remarked, a hint of scorn in his voice. “I can’t allow that. Not unless I can be sure you’re trustworthy.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Impmon jovially replied, giving Datamon an unwelcome pat on the back. “I know I’m a stand-up guy for sure, and I’m willing to vouch for Trixie here too.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is perfectly capable of speaking for herself!” Trixie declared, turning up her nose.
Datamon groaned. “She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Impmon admitted. “But we’re stuck with each other, so I’m trying to grin and bear it.”
“So why should I trust either of you?” Datamon asked, almost accusingly.
Impmon paused for a moment, apparently trying to think of something that would convince Datamon to lend them aid. Trixie simply huffed and turned away, unsure of why her so-called partner was even making the effort. She didn’t even want his help, and now he was tying her to yet another individual? Did he even know who she was?
Ultimately, however, she decided to withhold her reservations. Impmon was right, as much as she hated to admit it; global conquest could be thwarted by ignorance, and she would need a way to watch over the world that was soon to be hers. Her partner clearly knew a way to watch over the land, and if that meant another temporary alliance, then so be it.
Finally, Impmon was prepared to speak. “Well, I think you can vouch for me as not being a threat. I mean, you have to have been looking at me through your little system. And Trixie here... she’s my partner, so I’ve gotta trust her. And all we want is help in our goal to take control of the Digital World.”
“Sounds ambitious,” Datamon noted. “Not exactly a noble ambition, either. I’ve heard that goal plenty of times before, and other than this one loudmouth punk, it was never good.”
“I promise benevolence,” the unicorn mare swore. “While I do want to take control of this ‘Digital World,’ I would rather not be overly cruel about it. Historically, there is no gain from ruthless rulership.”
Datamon regarded Trixie for a while. The sight of his mismatched eyes fixed right on her made her rather uncomfortable.
After a moment of thought, Datamon nodded. “Alright.”
“Alright what?” Trixie inquired. “You will help us?”
“Yes,” Datamon confirmed. “I’m willing to work with you. In fact, you can call all the shots. I work better when given direction than I do when giving it. But...”
Datamon locked eyes with Trixie, then raised his hand to her. In an instant, she was overcome with a dull but building pain. Her body felt sluggish as she tried to back away, almost as if... as if it were lagging.
“I don’t know what you’re made of where you’re from,” Datamon stated coolly, “but here, you’re just data, like everything else. I can stuff your body with all sorts of viruses. If I catch wind of anything resembling treachery, if I even think you’re trying to dispose of me, I will crash you. Are we clear?”
Trixie nodded as well as she could, and Datamon regarded her for a moment longer before dispelling the virus. Trixie collapsed to the ground and panted heavily, looking up at Datamon with unexpected fear as Impmon rushed to help her to her feet. Her Digivice had referred to him as Ultimate-level, and if this is what Ultimate could do, she could not comprehend the possibility of anything above it.
It appeared her mind was made up for her. She would not be disposing of this Datamon, not even if his usefulness was outlived. If this was his power, she could not imagine him possibly outliving his usefulness. She sighed, extending a hoof for Datamon to shake, and his reciprocation marked the beginning of an alliance that she, for fear of her well-being if she betrayed him, did not intend to dissolve.
“Now then, why don’t we step inside?” Datamon invited. “I’ve got a lot of cool toys to share.”
“Pteramon. Data-type Winged Dragon Digimon. Armor level. Dive-bombs enemies from enormous heights with Beak Pierce.”
“Oh, thanks a lot!" Rainbow shouted at her Digivice, eyes set on the monster flying overhead. With a hard beat of its wings, the silhouette tore through the air towards them, a shriek piercing the ears of everypony. Rainbow chucked herself to the side, shouting "Scatter!" as she shoved Fluttershy away.
Everybody took the hint and booked it as the shriek of air became furious, and the beast hit the ground beak-first, tossing rocks and a choking cloud of dirt up around it. The monster's wings desperately beat as it tried to yank its buried beak out of the ground, grunting before the earth finally let it go. It took one look around before stomping hard, shrieking. "More trespassers on my territory!?"
All eyes set on the injured Veedramon, who just looked back at everyone, raising his eyebrow in confusion.
"Ya mean that 'territorial dispute' was 'cuz you walked in like ya owned the place!?"
"It was the only way I could get him to fight me!" Veedramon raised his hands in defense, brow furrowing. "I wanted some practice on armored opponents and flying ones, and Pteramon covers both bases, so...”
"Hey, if the NPCs wanna level up, I won't argue!" Pinkie declared with her trademark grin, raising her brow a bit as she earned bemused stares from everybody present. However, at the sound of a hissing roar, they all collectively turned to see something white and on fire suddenly speeding towards them.
"Missile!" Ryudamon shouted, shocking everyone out of their stares and setting them on the move, though it was too little, too late, as the missile slammed into the ground and outran them all with the blast wave. The ground shattered as fire shot out from the impact, and everyone was sent flying through the air, trying to recover before they all slammed into the ground. Pinkie spent it laughing and flipping through the air, eventually landing on her hooves as AJ hit the ground beside her, spinning around, just to get knocked over from Veedramon crashing into her face-first.
"Ghfik!" Was all she managed before tumbling away.
Pteramon scowled at the near-miss, cursing the wind for throwing his aim off before propelling himself enough to steady in the air and taking aim again. His scowl changed to a smile as a bouncy, hot pink dot on the ground made itself a prime target, and a pleasant 'fwoosh' ripped the air beside him as another missile flew off from his other wing.
Recovering from his sudden date with the cruel ground, Gaomon rubbed his face and got to his feet, vision blurred slightly from hitting his head. His eyes locked on a bright light in the sky and the screech of a missile tearing through the air, and looked for where it was headed. Before he knew what was happening, he was already charging for Pinkie, and he leapt into the air, heart stopping for just a moment as he shut his eyes, body thrown between the mare and the explosive.
His ears registered a deafening bang as the missile went off... but where was the hit? The blast wave? Where was the searing pain? Hitting the ground answered that last question as he winced, a bruise on his shoulder igniting as it rubbed against a sharp rock, but he quickly stood back up and looked back, eyes going wide.
Veedramon had put himself between Pinkie and the missile, bandages either blown clear of his body, burned, or still on fire around his wounds, arms raised and crossed in defense. He stumbled back a bit before throwing his arms out and roaring, glaring up at his opponent. "This isn't their fight!" His foot slammed into the ground, standing fast against Pteramon. "This is you and me! Stop getting them involved!"
Pteramon glared at the stubborn foe. “They’re trespassers, the same as you. And if you don’t leave, I’ll run you all through!”
A roar answered the threat as Veedramon’s maw opened, a bright blast of perfectly V-shaped light firing out as his legs braced against the recoil. Pteramon lurched as he was hit in the chest, wings halfway through their flap to get him out of the way, hairline splits breaking out across his armor from the impact, wings stalling as shock overtook his senses.
“You’re trespassing on my territory!” Veedramon slammed the ground with his foot and braced, launching another flare of energy as Pteramon righted himself in the air, narrowly missing his head as his opponent jinked to the left. “Buzz off, trash can!”
“C’mon, let’s get out of here!” Twilight shouted, dragging the dazed AJ over to her as everyone else started heading away from the battlefield. She kept AJ hanging in the air with her magic, only registering the faint grunts of somepony getting tumbled around in a dryer.
Pteramon ducked under a third blast, leering for a moment at his opponent before looking away, sneering. He focused back on his opponent, smiling just a bit as he flapped into the air and launched two missiles at the escapees.
Veedramon’s eyes locked onto the flying bombs and quickly focused a blast on one, shooting it out of the air before running towards the group. With a leap, he snatched the other from the air and twisted with the missile’s thrust, throwing it off into the air.
His eyes locked on Pteramon’s, the speeding predator rocketing straight for him, beak outstretched like a javelin. He swiftly slammed his claws together, trapping the speeding lancer’s beak between them and taking off with his enemy, flying past the ponies. He jerked and twisted, trying to throw the bird to the ground, while Pteramon fought to get his mouth open. Quickly tilting his head down and slamming his own claws into Veedramon’s stomach, he slammed the dragon to the ground, sliding along the jagged rocks and dirt, a cry of agony and a loosening of the grip around his beak following.
With a smirk, his beak snapped open and a shining ball of energy collected, aimed straight at Vee’s horned face. He braced for the point-blank blast, rearing back for a punch...
Just to see his beak snap shut in a weird purple gas, and hear something explode inside the bird’s maw.
Pteramon leapt off his opponent, shrieking in pain as he clawed at the inside of his beak, Veedramon wincing at the visible burns inside it. “Ahhh, that burns!” The lavender aura faded as Twilight rushed in, breaking off from the group while the others ran for safety, AJ recovering from her daze and subsequent magic rattling. Several bolts launched from her horn, bouncing off the monster’s armor as he winced from each hit, a cruel eye focusing on her. He growled and turned, rushing for Twilight with rage burning in his eyes.
Veedramon fought his way to his feet, eyes locked on Twilight and Pteramon slashing and punching at each other. His mouth opened, mentally grinning at his chance to bring down his “training dummy,” and another bubble of energy collected in it. He put all the strength he could into it before taking a breath and firing.
A light caught Pteramon’s attention out of the corner of his eye, and he leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the furious blaze of light. Twilight shrieked as she didn’t get so lucky, the searing light dragging a black line across her side, her legs throwing her to the side on sheer instinct.
“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, Fluttershy squealing at the sight. Pinkie’s smile faded for just a moment before shaking her head, zipping over to Fluttershy.
Putting all her typical glee into her words, Pinkie patted Fluttershy on the back and grinned. “She’s fine, don’t worry!” A gust of wind blasted her mane into disarray as Rainbow shot off towards the battle, only to jink as a missile screamed past her. She took her eyes off Pteramon, fear in her eyes as she locked onto the bomb soaring by.
With his enemies all distracted by the missile rocketing by, Pteramon latched onto Twilight hard with his talon and took flight, racing off. The dragon locked his eyes on the escaping foe, roaring as he forced his weakened form to charge one last blast. “Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!” The recoil nearly knocked him over as he fired, energy flaring out towards Pteramon. His enemy rolled out of the way, a stagger knocking the dragon’s aim off even farther as he fell to a knee.
DORUmon winced as the missile made landfall far off, but the explosion barely registered as his eyes locked on his unconscious partner being carried off. “No! You aren’t taking her away, darn it!” He took off after the monster, firing cannonball after cannonball at him in a blind fury. Pteramon rolled left and banked right, beak gnashing together as he glared back.
“Buzz off, bug!” He shrieked, before a ball of energy shined in his mouth. A blaze of energy shot out and carved a line in DORUmon’s path, the heat haze shoving him back as the ground melted from the attack. With the last threat taken care of, he raced off for home. Bah, retreat for now and reload. I got one of them, and I’ll get the rest later.
As he flew, though, he failed to notice a shining light coming from Twilight, her Digivice flaring powerfully as DORUmon started to panic. With a primal roar of unbridled rage, his body transformed and grew in his partner’s light. His tiny wings extended sideways and jutted straight out like airship wings, and an enormous dorsal fin appeared on his back. His torso and arms gained a large amount of mass as they became weighed down with Chrome Digizoid armor. Once the light faded, he looked like a draconic yellow cyborg. The rest of the group looked upon him in awe, apparently shocked that DORUmon could evolve a second time.
With his prey in sight and his goal clear in his mind, Raptordramon took to the skies.
“How can all of this fit in here!?” Trixie exclaimed the moment she entered her new ally’s cave.
“You realize this is a mountain, right?” Datamon replied incredulously.
The mare didn’t bother to retort, as her attention was grabbed wholly by Datamon’s lair. The entire layout, aside from the door on one end and a console on the other, was filled with screens upon screens of surveillance footage. With the level of coverage displayed, it had to have covered the entire world, not just File Island. Every screen showed a different terrain, most of them with some sort of commotion going on involving other Digimon.
“This is... excessively thorough.”
“You wanted global coverage,” Datamon reminded her. “You won’t get it anywhere else.”
“Wow,” Impmon remarked, soaking in the view for himself. “I know I talked you up as this big watcher guy, but looking at all this kinda makes me think you’re way paranoid.”
“Call it paranoia if you will,” Datamon began. “I see it as being careful. I need to know who’s worth trusting. You see...”
As Datamon explained exactly why he felt the need to keep tabs on the entire Digital World, Trixie spaced out, just staring at the wall of screens. So much care went into the design of this game, as evidenced by the diversity of the creatures and terrains shown. They were all displayed in crystal-clear resolution, a level of detail that suggested to her that all of these were areas that could be visited during her playthrough.
Suddenly, one screen in particular caught her eye. She wasn’t sure what drew her to it, but she fixated on it the instant she saw it. It was well above eye level, but she could still clearly see what looked to be two large metal dinosaurs staring each other down in midair. The moment she saw them speeding towards each other, she knew she had to watch.
“Switch to that screen,” Trixie commanded, interrupting Datamon’s speech with a pointing hoof. “It looks like we’ve got ourselves a dogfight.”
Twilight’s vision swam and blurred, a quiet groan escaping her as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. She saw her hair blowing around in a powerful wind, eye squinting in the force of the gale, and felt a lurching sensation of her body being forced up and down, like something was carrying her. Her breath caught as her senses came back, and her eyes turned upward, seeing the beating wing of a massive beast, and when her eyes turned back down, vertigo hit her like a train as she saw the ground far below her.
Her lungs stalled for a moment as fear lanced into her mind. Did... did I get abducted? And... with something this big, it can’t be because I’m a hostage... She gulped, whimpering softly.
A sense of dread nestled in her mind. She closed her eyes and started making her peace before a voice caught her attention, eyes turning to her foreleg, and the Digivice resting on it.
“Raptordramon. Vaccine-type Cyborg Digimon. Champion level. Extremely predatory and modified to kill targets efficiently. Signature move is Crash Charge.”
“Raptor—”
As soon as the word left her mouth, something heavy and extremely fast crashed into Pteramon’s side, knocking Twilight loose with a shriek as the monster was thrown off, rolling through the air. Twilight’s eyes locked on the ground as she flailed, and she did what any sensible pony would do in that situation.
She started flailing and screaming at the top of her lungs.
Her appointment with death was postponed, however, as something snatched her out of the air, and that gale force wind blowing through her mane returned to its thankfully horizontal direction. She coughed, catching her breath as the impact winded her, looking around in terror. Oh Celestia, what’s got me now!?
She almost started smacking the new beast on the chest before her ears registered a familiar voice. It came deeper and with a much more noticeable growl, but it definitely rang true to her.
“Sorry for the wait, Twilight. I gotcha!”
She quickly turned her head to the new arrival, eyes wide in shock. “D-DORUmon...? Is that you!?”
The beast offered her a smirk, eyes hidden in a terrifyingly spiky helmet. “It’s me, yeah. You’re safe.” His smirk vanished in a gag as Twilight suddenly latched onto his neck, a bone-crushing hug forcing his windpipe to look more like a crumpled copper pipe than an air passage. “Ack! Twilight, too tight!”
“S-sorry!” Twilight grinned sheepishly as she loosened her hug, though she grinned all the same. “Thanks! Um... what happened to you, though?”
Raptordramon scanned the skies for the monster who snatched his partner as he flew towards the ground, slowing and landing down on his heavy feet. “I’ll explain later. Rainbow’s right behind me, and she’ll take you back to the others.”
“That doesn’t answer the question, though!” Twilight furrowed her brow in indignation as she got placed on the ground, earning a smile from the dragon. That only made her stomp the ground and grit her teeth, frustrated by his refusal to cooperate.
“Just know you made me a whole lot stronger than I used to be. Just like the first time.” With that, he turned and spotted a dot racing through the air, banking left with a small light in its mouth. “Now run! He’s not done!”
“But wait, I can help you!” Twilight winced as her partner’s wings flapped once, the blast of wind nearly knocking her on her rump.
“I’m not putting you at risk again. Now go!” With a heavy flap of his wings, he tore off through the air towards the circling Pteramon, narrowly avoiding a blast of heat from his enemy. The shot was too high to hit Twilight, blowing a hole in the earth some distance behind her. She winced slightly, but that was all the reaction she got as her eyes locked on her partner racing off, even as Rainbow landed next to her and lifted her up.
“C’mon, Twi’, leave it to him! Those burns of yours aren’t gonna fix themselves.” Not waiting for a response, Rainbow turned and threw Twilight onto her blue back, and flew off towards the group. Twilight’s eyes stayed on her partner, a feeling of helplessness weighing on her heart.
Stay safe, DORUmon...
The wind ripped as another beam of energy tore through the air, Raptordramon rolling out of the way and rocketing towards his enemy. His fangs gnashed together with the effort of closing the gap with Pteramon, who kept the distance, launching blast after blast of searing energy to throw his enemy off. With a grunt, he narrowly dodged another blast, flying down under Pteramon while shouting upwards. “Nasty little flashlight, aren’t you!?”
“Flashlight?!” Pteramon shrieked back, pivoting and diving down towards Raptordramon, beak opened for another flare. “Flashlights blind you! I burn you alive!” With a high-pitched cry, the beam launched out of his beak, narrowly missing Raptordramon as he rolled to the left and pitched up hard, flapping his wings like a mad-Digimon to close the gap with his enemy. Pteramon flapped back and flipped over, soaring away from his enemy, but quickly found himself being chased. “Buzz off, fangs!”
“No way, not now!” The beast gnashed his fangs together, sparks flying from the silvery metal. “I’m gonna teach you a lesson about picking fights with everyone who comes by!” With a sudden burst of strength, his wings threw Raptordramon forward, quickly picking up speed and closing the gap with his foe.
Pteramon’s eyes locked on his enemy, panting a bit as he fought to keep away from the dinosaur, those shimmering fangs instilling a sense of dread in him. Gotta keep away from that mouth of his. Maybe...? He quickly scanned the sky before rolling and pitching downwards, rocketing down towards the ground. Raptordramon tracked his enemy with steely eyes and flew down after him, closing his wings to increase his freefall speed. The wind whistled past them as the ground raced upwards, jagged rocks below just begging to make their faces’ acquaintance.
With a last look pointed back at his enemy, Pteramon looked down at the ground, noting the gap still closing between him and the fang-filled monstrosity. Checking his distance, he took a sharp breath and snapped open his wings, throwing himself aside as Raptordramon blasted past him like a missile, still flying towards the ground. With a smirk at his plan working, two locks clicked under his wings, and the bombs held by them started falling as well. He quickly turned and flew off and away, looking back at the falling munitions.
At the point he passed Pteramon, Raptordramon grimaced and looked back, throwing his own wings open and slowing to a halt just above the ground, his weight making ascent a little harder. The whistling of something else falling through the air caught his attention, and his eyes widened as he looked to the side, a rather large bomb falling past him.
Oh cru—
His thought was cut off by the deafening blast of two bombs hitting the ground and going off, consuming his form in raging fire and dust blown clear by a huge shockwave. His roar was muffled by the shock of sound, curling up to defend himself as burning gas seared his exposed skin and heated his armor, turning it red with blazing fury. Pteramon let out a shry cackle as he observed his prey, circling over him and getting ready for another bombing run. “What’ve you got to say now, fangs!?”
His eyes then snapped wide as something blasted out of the cloud of dust, his enemy now a visage of pure rage as he quickly shot towards Pteramon. “What’ve I got to say now!?” Raptordramon roared a deafening roar as he opened his maw wide. “I’m hungry!”
Taking that as a cue to leave, Pteramon quickly turned tail and started flying away from the manic Digimon he’d just tried to blow up, arming two more missiles as he fought to keep the distance gap relatively wide. Their wings beat with crazed abandon as the distance gap shrank ever so much, more and more, Raptordramon’s narrow, predatory eyes fixed on his enemy as he bared his fangs. “Get back here, chicken!”
Pteramon grimaced back, eye twitching at the insult before suddenly spinning around, darting back towards his enemy. Raptordramon rolled to the side, Pteramon rolling as well, a flare of energy appearing in his opened beak. “I’ll show you who’s— ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” The flare vanished as Pteramon shrieked hard, yanked back by the powerful fangs latched onto his leg.
Raptordramon steadied himself, snarling hard as he bit down harder, armor cracking under the force of his jaw. He started whipping his head back and forth, trying to get his screaming prey to shut up, snarling and growling to try and show his foe who’s boss. “Quiet!”
Pteramon suddenly perched up and jammed his beak up where the sun doesn’t shine, Raptordramon grunting with every renewed, forceful slam against his armor. He thrashed his enemy around some more, before roaring in agony as Pteramon finally found his mark and stabbed the dinosaur in the leg, something cracking a bit under the force before he started falling. The beast clutched his leg as he righted himself with the other, glaring up at the yellow monster that had so deftly ruined his protective shell.
Raptordramon sneered and gritted his teeth, holding his open wound in a claw as he glared at his prey, snorting hard. “You tasted horrible, y’know that?”
“Yeah, I do. Something else you should know!” Pteramon threw himself upwards with a beat of his wings, opening them to reveal the munitions under them. “When I’m this close to you, it gets really hard to miss!” Not wanting to see another devil spring from a cloud of destruction, numerous locks unclipped and released the remaining missiles under his wings, Pteramon fully set on making sure there’s nothing left of this predator. This has to take him down! It has to! For good measure, he fired several energy blasts as well, his foe’s armor taking the hits well before the missiles flew up.
Raptordramon, in response, snapped his wings closed. Two of the missiles narrowly missed him while the other five flew off into the sky, red-white trails left behind as they flew away. Once they were gone, his wings snapped back open, and he stared at his opponent. The distant explosions barely fazed him as his glare intensified, filling with a predatory hunger that would paralyze lesser creatures. “Thanks for ringing the dinner bell.” He bared a fang-filled grin as his claws scraped together. “Now c’mere.”
Pteramon... squeaked. The sound stunned both of them for just a moment before he turned tail and flew off, Raptordramon’s eye twitching. “Why. Won’t. You. Give. Up!?” His wings flapped hard as he tore off after Pteramon, enraged by both his predatory instincts being inflamed from an elusive prey, and his plain anger at his enemy not surrendering without a proper beating. “Get back here and let me properly chomp you!”
“What’s with you?!” Pteramon cried out, pitching down and out of sight. Raptordramon’s furious eyes scanned around, looking down under him to see his enemy flying upside down and aiming another blast at him. Throwing safety to the wind, Raptordramon pitched down hard and flew down towards his enemy, the distance gap closing faster than a bakery at rush hour. The two slammed into each other, Raptordramon quickly sinking his fangs into Pteramon’s shoulder and biting down with all the force he could muster, snarling as he felt the armor crack and give. His weight thrown into the equation, nothing could be done with Pteramon’s rampant wing flaps throwing them into a spiral as they dropped towards the ground like a rock.
Just before touching down, Raptordramon’s wings shot open and flapped several times, slowing their descent until the hit the ground. Enough force to knock the wind out of Pteramon, but luckily not enough to make a crater out of their bodies. The yellow monster’s heavy foot stepped down on Pteramon as his fangs finally let go, head raising to glare down at his enemy.
Recognizing the terror in Pteramon’s eyes, Raptordramon took a few calming breaths, his eyes going back from their bloodshot, knife-edge hunger to something more normal and less murderous. “I’m gonna say this once. You take in every word... got it?”
Pteramon just nodded his head, wriggling just a bit under the limb on his chest.
“This territory is mine. This land, is mine. And you aren’t welcome on my turf. Now you get out of here, and if I so much as catch wind of you coming near my partner, or her friends again...” His eyes widened and his fangs bared, he snarled. “I’ll rip you apart.”
Pteramon stared back up into the predator’s eyes, snarling back as best he could. “What’s stopping you from trying now? Suddenly lose all that bravado?”
“No, what’s stopping me is respect for myself and my partner. But I’ll make good on my promise if you cross into my territory again.” Pteramon’s head leaned back as the raptor’s own face moved in, fangs glinting in the light. “Do not. Test me.”
Finally getting the hint, Pteramon just fell silent and nodded, and Raptordramon stood back up. Taking his foot off his enemy’s chest, he just narrowed his eyes as the wounded Digimon got to his feet and spread his wings. The two locked eyes one last time before the wounded monster took flight, and headed off into the distance.
Once he was out of earshot, Raptordramon let out a heavy breath and wiped his brow. Seriously? Eat him? What am I, Keramon? He shook his head and looked back at the receding shadow of his enemy, eyes narrowing slightly. I think he got the message, though. Better head back... I wonder how long this form will last. I kind of like flying. With a smirk, he turned and took off back towards the group, wings beating to propel him along even faster. A smile grew across his face as the wind tore by, its apex predator heading back towards his friends.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.”
“You know her?” Impmon asked.
“Very well,” Trixie explained. “She is an acquaintance. Or rather, a rival; she has bested me twice with her displays of magic. If I tried to confront her the same way again in this world, especially with her ascension to royalty, I would surely lose a third time.”
She smirked, her sight never leaving the mare on the screen. “But we’re not playing by the same rules anymore. If she means to steal the ultimate prize from Trixie’s grasp, then Trixie will fight her another way!”
“Ooh, exciting!” Impmon exclaimed. “What did you have in mind? Hand-to-hand? Let me at her?”
“An army,” Trixie replied. “The aim is conquest, and conquest cannot be achieved without force. We need to rally an attack force to take this world over, and we will trample Twilight and her precious friends underhoof!”
“Now you’re talkin’!” Impmon shouted excitedly. His enthusiasm sapped after a moment, however. “Wait, how will you manage that? I don’t think a lot of Digimon would be up for that.”
“He’s right,” Datamon added. “A good number of Digimon are peaceful, and many of those who would willingly fight have too much pride to fight for someone else, let alone a pony.”
Trixie pondered for a moment. “I might have a way. Do you think you could beam a signal to other Digimon if I cast a spell to target them?”
“If I can’t, no one can,” Datamon boasted, cracking his metal knuckles. “Why? What’s the plan?”
“This world is made of data,” Trixie stated, her smirk widening into a cruel smile. “If they won’t come willingly, Trixie will have to do some hacking.”
Datamon met Trixie’s grin with one of his own. “Now that I can do.”
“Thank you so much, everyone!” Veedramon exclaimed. “I don’t think Pteramon’s going to be coming back anytime soon!”
“We’re not all to thank,” Twilight replied modestly as she gestured towards DORUmon, who had unfortunately expended all of the energy her Digivice had given him and reverted to his Rookie form.
“Oh, stop,” DORUmon retorted, waving his arm dismissively.
“Hey, that was still a cool trick,” Veedramon admitted. “Might be even cooler if you could stay a Champion.”
DORUmon simply shrugged. “Rookie’s a lot more manageable anyway.”
Veedramon rolled his eyes, which invariably led to them fixing on Twilight. “Also... I’m sorry about the burn thing.”
“It’s fine,” Twilight insisted, absently rubbing at the bandages around her torso. “I know it was an accident; it happens. At any rate, I think we’re all pretty exhausted. We’ve all been traveling non-stop for hours, and it’s getting dark.”
“Yeah, now that you mention it...” Rainbow stretched, her wings popping a bit. “We really should stop off somewhere.”
Veedramon nodded. “Make that somewhere here. You’ve earned it.”
“Thank you very much, Veedramon,” Fluttershy replied with a soft smile. She carried an already-dozing Terriermon on her back, setting up a resting area for everyone.
“I can help!” Palmon chimed, rushing over to do so. She stuck her vine-like fingers into the ground, and they emerged some distance away, intertwined in the rough form of a series of cots.
Rarity grimaced at the makeshift beds, thinking them to look messy and uncomfortable, but sucked it up and laid on the one closest to her partner. “Thank you for your assistance, Palmon. Will you require one for yourself?”
“Nope!” Palmon chimed, and promptly dug her rooted legs into the ground as well. “Yuck. This is all rock,” she added with a slight grimace.
Pinkie Pie giggled, leaping onto a vine bed of her own. “Saving station! Yay!”
Soon the other ponies and their partners traveled to the rest area, each finding beds beside each other. After a quick exchange of goodnights, most of them drifted off easily to sleep, finally getting the rest they needed and deserved.
DORUmon, however, couldn’t find solace in sleep. The events of the day were exciting, obviously. He met the partner he’d been conditioned from birth to wait for, he managed to maintain a stable Rookie-level evolution, and he even managed to reach Champion level. That sudden rush had made him feel like he had a role, an actual purpose, as a hunter and predator.
So why did he still feel unfulfilled? Why did it still feel like this was not what he was meant to be? He felt nearer to understanding, but still so very far.
With a heavy sigh, he stood up and left his bed, walking around the other sleeping ponies and Digimon. Veedramon sat away from the group, still awake, and the smaller Digimon approached him and sat beside him.
“Can’t sleep?” Veedramon asked, looking down at DORUmon.
“No, I can’t,” the Rookie replied. “I kind of... wanted to ask you something.”
Veedramon shrugged. “Guess I could ask something myself while you’re here.”
“Oh. Well, you can go first.”
“Are you sure?” Veedramon inquired, slightly surprised.
DORUmon replied with a nod. “Mine’s not that important anyway.”
“Suit yourself,” Veedramon relented. He paused for a moment, regarding his fellow Digimon, before taking a deep breath.
“How do you work with others? How did you know about your partners?”
The question surprised DORUmon. It made sense that Veedramon wouldn’t understand the dynamic, but he didn’t expect the dragon to have any interest in it.
After a short while, however, he shook off the surprise and formulated his response. “Well... I was kind of expecting it from birth. Those other five were too. We were born knowing we were destined to meet them, and we waited our whole lives to meet them. It feels more right than anything else in my life.
“Which actually leads me to my question... when did you know what your purpose was?”
Veedramon simply shrugged again. “I didn’t have the patience to wait on others to see me through my life. I had to fight that sense of destiny so I could work to make my own, on my own.”
DORUmon was caught on Veedramon’s phrasing, his tone of voice. His words carried a bitterness to them that he wasn’t anticipating. The way he spoke of destiny, it sounded like...
“You’re supposed to have a partner too.”
The larger monster looked away, huffing. “He’s not coming. I got tired of waiting.”
DORUmon shook his head. “Ours did. Yours will too, someday. I have faith in that. Destiny will find a way.”
“Well, it’s taking its sweet time,” Veedramon growled, and promptly turned away from the smaller monster. With another sigh, DORUmon got up and walked off, returning to his partner’s side.
That told him nothing. He learned something very interesting about Veedramon, but it didn’t help him to understand himself any better. Veedramon’s purpose was found trying to spite the partner he thought would never come; DORUmon wasn’t going to do that to Twilight just to find his way. It would be extremely selfish, and he didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself.
Becoming Raptordramon gave him a love of the hunt, but he still felt incomplete.
“Are you alright, DORUmon?”
DORUmon sighed at the sound of Twilight’s voice. He was expecting her to still be asleep, but it seemed his activity roused her. He was ready to blow her off again, to keep her from worrying about him. However, after all they’d been through today, he supposed he owed her something.
He turned to face his partner, a conflicted frown on his face. “Honestly... I’m not sure. I’m still no closer.”
Twilight gave DORUmon an inquisitive look. “Closer to what?”
He couldn’t tell her. The words stuck in his throat when he tried, and even Twilight’s caring intentions weren’t prying them out. He would have liked for her to help, but if he still couldn’t bring himself to talk to her about it...
“Never mind,” DORUmon muttered, turning back away and trying to get to sleep.
Twilight sighed and shook her head, now unsure if she would be able to return to sleep. Something was troubling her partner deeply, and she still couldn’t press him to admit what it was. It could be viewed as progress that he confessed to there being something, but until he told her what that something was, she couldn’t help him. And she couldn’t stop worrying.
Her gaze drifted to her saddlebags, which lay on the ground beside her with her Digivice clipped to the latch. She opened the bag opposite the Digivice, retrieving her tablet. When she turned the device on, she noted the full charge it bore, absently wondering how long that would last her, even with the battery she modified for it.
She would make a journal of their encounters, she decided, and would update it nightly. She had a writing application installed that wouldn’t require online access to work, and she promptly opened it to start transcribing. It took her about an hour even with the speed at which she typed, and as soon as she finished and saved her journal log, she powered the device down and returned it to her bag.
With another sigh, Twilight laid herself to rest on the bed of vines again, careful to mind her injury, and attempted to sleep. This wasn’t how any of them expected to spend their day out.
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Nice continuation. Now I need to reread the story to remind myself what's going on.
That chapter was awesome! So Veedramon has a partner waiting for him huh? Wonder who it could be and why they haven't yet met?
....The hell? Did we just fight Meta Ridley?
Also:
EDIT: And now I just noticed the reference to save stations.
You did that on purpose, didn't you.
5005544 Actually, no. And I didn't make the connection to Meta Ridley either.
Wow, I've done a LOT of accidentally smart/clever things in my writing. I think my subconscious is doing more thorough work than I am.
5005735 mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw5485-Discord_just_as_planned.gif
Well, something tells me that Veedramon's name is Zeromaru.
Wonder why DORUmon is feeling so unfulfilled?
Trixie needs to realize that she and Twilight are in the same boat. They're all trapped in an unfamiliar and dangerous world, and they don't even know how to get back home. So working together would be a much better idea then fighting against her again.
And Pinkie, when will you get it through your thick head that this is no game? If you get killed here, that's it. No continues, no extra lives. Seriously.
5005037 Ever heard of the V-Tamer manga? Something tells me that Veedramon is Zeromaru.
5009506 I think I read it. Was that the one with That Arkadimon digimon who's name never changes as he digivolves or was that another Digimon manga I'm thinking of?
5009500 No, this isn't Zeromaru. Though as I've stated in the comments previously, you WILL be seeing UlforceVeedramon in the future. Assuming I can reliably update to that point.
Under that same assumption, Trixie and Pinkie's wake-up calls both come within the first act of the story. You won't have to put up with their attitudes for long, but Trixie still sort of has to fill the role of Ken from Adventure 02, and in a way, Yuu/Ewan from Xros Wars/Fusion. Except without being flat-out abusive to Impmon. That's later.
Also, I COULD answer the inquiry about DORUmon in PM's if you don't want to wait for the story to cover it. Otherwise, I leave you to your suspense.
5009556 Yeah, I looked it up. That's V-Tamer. Also, Arkadimon's awesome.
5010701 Cool I was right. And agreed that was one dangerous digimon. He killed a Piedmon at what, champion level?
Wow, Raptordramon. Wasn't expecting that. What made you choose him over Dorugamon?
5057430 I need the Alphamon line. Plain and simple.