Chapter 7: The Grey Lord's Mansion
Just putting the bow on this, and...done! Okay, I'm all finished wrapping my Christmas presents. Feel free to open this one a day early!
Happy Holidays Everypony!
The walk to Mt. Panorama was different for the ponies the second time around. Some found comfort in the familiarity of the trail. Others took in the sights of the beautiful flora, and the random roads signs that had no place in the forest. A few were simply grateful to have their hooves on the ground this time around. But overall, there was a sense of determination in the air. Determination to uncover the true nature of the attacks on the sacred Village of Beginnings, and to put a stop to them once and for all.
“So, ponies can’t digivolve?” Guilmon asked, determined to find answers to an entirely different subject.
“No, we can’t,” Scootaloo said.
“And you don’t have any Special Attack?”
“Nope.”
“Then what do ponies do when they’re being attacked by evil ponies?”
“Yeah, I’m a bit lost too,” Veemon chimed in. “If someone decides to barge in on your territory, do you just roll out the red carpet and give it to them? Because from the sound of things, ponies can’t defend themselves.”
“Hey, that’s not true!” Babs Seed said. “We can defend ourselves. Remember in the prison? I held my own against that Gazimon for awhile.”
“Yeah, you got a few punches in before getting knocked flat on your back,” Veemon snickered.
“Oh yeah? And how many hits did you get in before getting knocked back on your’s before you became Veemon?”
Veemon paused for a moment, his lips mimicking a fish on land as he tried to find an answer. Eventually, his only response was to keep his mouth shut, his eyes forward, and to keep walking.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Babs Seed smirked.
“Well, to answer your question Veemon, ponies don’t quite establish territory per se,” Sweetie Belle began. “Most ponies live in some type of a community, like a town or a city. And we live in some kind of a home with our families. And usually—”
“What’s a family?” Armadillomon asked. Everypony stopped, turning to Armadillomon in disbelief. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s not that,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s just, how do you not know what a family is?”
“I don’t know. How do you not know about digivolution?”
“Well…yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there,” Apple Bloom shrugged.
Silver Spoon put a hoof to her chin. “I guess you could see a family as a group of ponies who live together in a home. And now that I think about it, you could see our homes as our “territory” in a sense. We don’t usually let other ponies in unless we invite them, or they’re a part of our family.”
“Oh…” Terriermon nodded. “So a family is like a pack, or a herd?”
“I mean...kind of, I guess?” Silver Spoon shrugged.
“How can you say that!” Apple Bloom asked. “Family is so much more than that!”
“Alright then smartie pants, how would you describe it?”
“Well, it’s not just about a group of ponies livin’ together,” Apple Bloom began. “It’s the ponies you grow up with. The ponies who take care of you, who guide you, who help you whenever you make mistakes, who...always love you no matter what,” Apple Bloom looked back to Armadillomon with a warm smile. “Yeah, that’s what a family is. A group of ponies who love, trust, care about, and look out for each other.”
“That’s…” Armadillomon smiled. “Really sweet.”
A sniffle made everyone look to Sweetie Belle, who was sitting down with her ears folded back. “Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong?” Palmon asked.
“I just...I miss my parents and my sister,” Sweetie Belle sniffled, her eyes beginning to water.
Everypony’s gaze lowered to the ground as their shoulders slumped, a blanket of melancholy gently swaddling them all. “Yeah, I hear ya girl,” Apple Bloom muttered. Scootaloo nodded her head as she trotted over to Sweetie Belle.
“Hey, I miss my folks too,” Scootaloo admitted, putting a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s foreleg. “But we can’t spend all day being sad about it.”
“I know, I know,” Sweetie Belle nodded. “It’s just that, I’m wondering if they know we’re missing yet. I can’t stop thinking about how my parents are probably worried sick. And Rarity, I can’t imagine what’s going through her—” Sweetie Belle looked up, a look of horror written across her face. “Oh sweet mother of Celestia, how many cartons of vanilla oat swirl has she gone through by now?”
“Uh...what?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yeah, she does this thing when she gets really upset. She starts eating vanilla oat swirl ice cream out of the carton and—” Sweetie Belle shuddered. “Trust me, it’s not pretty!”
Bearmon coughed. “So, uh...ponies can defend themselves pretty well? Even without digivolving or Special Attacks?” he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the gloom.
“Well, yeah,” Apple Bloom nodded. “I mean, sometimes ponies might be attacked by something that has to be handled by the police or Royal Guard.”
“And if that doesn’t work, usually Princess Twilight and her friends are called in to save the day!” Scootaloo finished proudly.
“Cool!” Guilmon said, eyes sparkling. “So, how do they fight the bad guys that no one else can fight?”
“Oh, they have their ways,” Scootaloo said. “But in worst case scenarios, they end up blasting it with friendship lasers.”
Most of the Digimon stumbled to a halt. “I...forgive me. But did you just say they blast the bad guys with...friendship lasers?” Hawkmon asked.
“Um...yeah?” Scootaloo nodded.
“Pfffftttt…” Scootaloo looked over to see Veemon putting a hand over his mouth, and his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold back his laughter. Despite his best efforts though, a few chuckles escaped, and began to spread faster than a cold during the Fall.
“What? It’s true!” Scootaloo protested.
“What...what does that look like?” Terriermon giggled. “A big rainbow colored laser blast?”
“Yeah!”
There was a pause before the air was filled with laughter. Terriermon and Veemon were both on their backs, most of the other Digimon were starting to laugh, even a few of the ponies couldn’t resist chuckling.
“What’s so funny!” Scootaloo shouted, her cheeks starting to turn red as she glanced to Apple Bloom, who had her face in her hoof as she giggled. “Your sister is one of the ponies who can do that you know!”
“I know,” Apple Bloom giggled. “I ain’t laughing at that. It’s the way you said it, it was just so...blunt.” Scootaloo turned away from everyone in an effort to hide the blush that was spreading to the rest of her face. “Aw, come on Scoots. Don’t be like that, we ain’t laughin’ at you.”
“Hmpf…” Scootaloo grunted.
“Come on ya’ll, that mountain ain’t gettin’ any closer,” Apple Bloom said, shaking off the last of her chuckles.
Scootaloo heard the crunching of leaves going behind her as she waited for her blush to go away. A tap on her shoulder made her glance behind her to see Sweetie Belle offering a warm smile. “Thanks Scootaloo. I really needed that.”
As Sweetie Belle trotted off, Scootaloo felt the corners of her mouth turn into a brief smile. “Happy to help,” she muttered before trotting after Guilmon.
Before long, the team found themselves standing before the mouth of the Mt. Panorama cavern once again. Babs Seed stared into the darkness, unable to hide the shiver going down her spine.
“Babs, are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah, just...bad memories is all,” Babs Seed nodded.
“Well, last time we saw this place, we were being dragged into it kicking and screaming,” Silver Spoon gulped.
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Veemon cracked his knuckles. “If anyone’s here, we can take em’!”
“Yeah, and if we can’t, we’ll just shoot them with friendship lasers. Right Scootaloo?” Terriermon giggled.
“Ugh,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she followed everyone inside. “Why do I get the feeling that I’m not gonna hear the end of that for awhile?”
“Because you aren’t.”
“Great…”
Everyone walked down the tunnel branching to the left, which led to a large barrack. Scattered around the room were several uncomfortable looking cots, a couple of overturned tables with playing cards and dice nearby, and a few wooden bowls and eating utensils.
“Sheesh, what a mess!” Diamond Tiara said.
“Looks like they all left in a hurry,” Armadillomon said.
“Well, we did kinda storm the place,” Palmon shrugged.
Diamond Tiara trotted towards the back of the barrack while everyone else looked around the room, where two doors were opened. A peek into one of them revealed a dark, empty room with a few scraps of old food lying around. Must have been the pantry or something, she thought. She pushed open the other door to reveal a small bedroom. Inside was a slightly nicer bed than the ones outside, a wooden desk, a lantern, an ink bottle and quill, and a leather bound book.
Diamond Tiara walked up to the desk and opened the book, the musky smell of aged paper filling the air. “What the hay is this?” Diamond Tiara asked to no one in particular. The pages were filled with strange symbols. “It doesn’t look like Ponish, that’s for sure.”
Hawkmon came up behind her to take a look. “It’s written in Digicode. May I see it?” Diamond Tiara hoofed him the book. Hawkmon leafed through a few of the pages, eyes narrowed. “Looks like some kind of ledger. There’s a record of the Digimon they kept locked up here, the ones they sent down the tunnel, and a few other notes. There are a few mentionings of “the Boss ‘Mon” wanting a few Rookie Level Digimon along with the In-Training and Fresh Digimon they normally ship out.”
“So Vilemon was taking Digimon for someone else?” Diamond Tiara asked. “Does he mention who?”
Hawkmon leafed through several pages until he hit the remaining blank pages. “Doesn’t look like it,” he shook his head. “He just keeps calling him things like The Boss ‘Mon, the Head Honcho, Master, but nothing specific.” Hawkmon closed the book and tossed it back onto the desk before walking out.
Diamond Tiara followed him out to the barrack, meeting up with everyone else as they turned the place over for clues. “We found a ledger detailing the Digimon kept here but not much else.”
“There’s nothing in here except for playing cards and these cots,” Sweetie Belle said, tossing an empty cup behind her.
“Well, I guess that leaves only one more place to check out,” Apple Bloom trotted out of the barrack, heading towards the cells. As everyone followed her, Babs couldn’t help but sneak a glance towards the cell she and Silver Spoon occupied yesterday.
Everyone gathered at the end of the hall. Before them was the entrance to a large, dark tunnel. Nearby, a large cage sat on the minecart tracks coupled to a pump trolley. “They must have used this to transport Digimon down the tunnel,” Silver Spoon surmised. She squinted trying to see further down the tunnel, but she could only make out so much of the tracks before they were swallowed by the darkness. “Maybe we could take this thing to the other end?”
Veemon looked to Bearmon, motioning towards the pump trolley up front. They hopped up onto the cart, getting on opposite sides of the seesaw-like arm. Bearmon grunted as he struggled to push down on the handle. A few moments later, the arm moved down, screeching in protest. Veemon and Bearmon began to alternate pushing the seesaw arm up and down, but every motion was accompanied by a loud screech. The ponies folded their ears back as the cart agonizingly made its way down the tracks. The cart made it a few feet before Bearmon and Veemon got off.
“Seriously, when was the last time they oiled that thing?” Veemon panted. “It feels like it’s just about ready to fall apart.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Well, then it looks like we’re hoofin’ it.”
Scootaloo looked down the tunnel, which seemed to stretch longer after Apple Bloom said that. “Um...maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” she gulped. “We don’t know how long this thing goes, or what could be in there.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Would you relax Scoots? If there was somethin’ in there, do ya think the Gazimon would have used it in the first place?”
“Still…”
“I don’t think any bears would live in there if that’s what you’re worried about. The only bear in here is standin’ next to Rumble.”
“No, I can level with Scootaloo on this one,” Armadillomon said. “Something about this tunnel doesn’t feel right.” A few of the other Digimon nodded.
“Well we’re not going to find out anything standing here,” Rumble said, turning on his Digivice’s light. “Let’s just go in and get this over with.”
The DigiDestined had been walking down the tunnel for almost an hour, following its every twist and turn as it brought them deeper into the mountain. The farther they walked, the cooler the air became. And despite having the light from their Digivices to aid them, the darkness seemed to swallow the light after a few feet.
“How far does this go?” Palmon wondered aloud. “Feels like we’ve been walking forever.”
“Well, the Gazimon did say it cuts through Infinity Mountain,” Hawkmon reminded her. “So, I’d say quite a while.”
“Can we stop for a moment?” Diamond Tiara said. “I need a break.”
“Yeah, I could use a breather too,” Sweetie Belle nodded.
Everyone got to finding a place on the cold cave floor, or a wall to lean against. “Brrr,” Apple Bloom shivered. “A bit chilly down here ain’t it?”
“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded. “The air’s pretty damp too.”
Apple Bloom looked over to Armadillomon, who kept glancing every which way. “What’s wrong Armadillomon?”
“I don’t know,” Armadillomon said. “I just can’t shake this feeling that something’s watching us.”
“Yeah,” Veemon agreed, rubbing his arm. “It’s almost like something’s breathing over my shoulder.”
Scootaloo whimpered a little, scooting closer to Guilmon. “Knock it off guys.”
“Oh come on Scootaloo, stop being such a worry wart,” Sweetie Belle said as she leaned against the side of the tunnel. Instead of feeling the cool, damp surface of the cave wall however, she felt something dry and rough. Training the Digivice’s light onto the wall, she saw that she was leaning on a hastily made wooden barrier. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the wooden planks she was leaning on had signs of rot before she felt them start to give. The sound of splintering wood preceded a squeal as Sweetie Belle fell through the barrier.
“Gah!” Scootaloo shouted, jumping up and latching onto Guilmon’s neck. “It took Sweetie Belle!”
Apple Bloom dashed over to the hole in the barrier. “Sweetie Belle! Can you hear me!”
Through the sawdust, Apple Bloom could make out the blue light from her Digivice. “I’m alright,” Sweetie Belle coughed. “I just slipped.”
Sweetie Belle got up, dusting herself off before looking behind her. “Hey, I think there’s another tunnel here.”
Apple Bloom peered through the dust to see that there indeed was a smaller tunnel branching off from the main one. As Sweetie Belle ventured further, Apple Bloom motioned for the others to follow.
Silver Spoon glanced back to Scootaloo, who was still clinging to Guilmon’s neck. “Uh...are you alright?” she asked.
Scootaloo stopped shivering, seeming to only now just notice that everyone was on the move. “Yeah, totally,” she said as she climbed off of Guilmon and caught up with the others.
After a minute of walking through the narrow tunnel, Sweetie Belle held up a hoof. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Does anyone else hear that?”
Everypony looked around, their ears erect. “Hear what?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I don’t know. It sounds like machines.”
Sweetie Belle crept along the tunnel, the others following in silence. As they went deeper, they began to hear the steady sound of heavy, metallic clicking. Soon, the tunnel lead into a larger chamber, where the sound had reached a crescendo. Scattered around the chamber were old lamps, crates, and pickaxes. Sweetie Belle turned to a large crack in the cave wall, where several large, dark purple gears turned beneath the rock face.
“And just when you thought this place couldn’t get any weirder,” Rumble shook his head with a chuckle. Rumble turned to Bearmon, who looked like he had seen a ghost. “Bearmon, you alright?”
“H-Hawkmon?” Beamon stuttered. “Are those...what I think they are?”
Hawkmon nodded. “Those are Black Gears.”
Sweetie Belle took a step closer to the crevice. “They don’t look black, they look more like purple.”
“Sweetie Belle!” Palmon hurried towards her.
“I’m just saying,” Sweetie Belle shrugged.
Scootaloo watched Palmon gently pull Sweetie Belle away from the crevice. “What’s the big deal? I mean, yeah this is weird, but we passed by quite a few street signs on the way here and you didn’t say anything.”
“The big deal is that those Black Gears are bad news!” Armadillomon shivered.
“Do you remember the story Elecmon told?” Hawkmon asked. “About how Devimon sought to control File Island? Well, this is how he did it.”
“They say that if a Black Gear so much as touches you, you go berserk!” Bearmon shivered.
“I thought that only happened if it gets lodged into a Digimon,” Veemon said. Everyone turned to him.
“That’s...pretty messed up Veemon,” Babs Seed said.
“It’s just what I heard...” Veemon shrugged.
“In any case,” Hawkmon continued. “Devimon used these to manipulate other Digimon into doing his bidding.”
“Do you think they found these by accident and decided to seal the place up?” Sweetie Belle wondered.
“I don’t think so,” Hawkmon looked at the size of the crevice in the rock face. “Any sane Digimon would turn around the moment they saw one of these things. It looks like they were trying to dig for these gears.”
“Who would be stupid enough to look for these things?” Terriermon asked. “I mean, from the way you put it, they’re worth nothing but trouble.”
Hawkmon nodded. “That’s what worries me.”
After leaving behind the abandoned excavation, the group continued their way down the tunnel with haste. Before long, they reached the end of the tunnel, emerging into the light of day once again. Before them was a forest darkened by the shadow cast by Mt. Infinity, and blanketed in a dense fog. Despite the ominous atmosphere surrounding the woods, the group pressed on.
“This fog is as thick as peanut butter,” Guilmon said after a few minutes of walking.
“I think you mean pea soup,” Diamond Tiara corrected.
“You eat what you like, and I’ll eat what I like.”
“Honestly, is there any food that you won’t eat?” Terriermon asked.
“I’ve seen him sneak into the pantry and eat quite a bit when he was Gigimon, so that’s probably unlikely,” Hawkmon said.
“Do you even have a favorite food, or is your favorite thing just food?” Armadillomon asked.
“My favorite food? Hmm...” Guilmon put a claw to his chin. “I’d have to say peanut butter sandwiches.”
“What a shocker!” Veemon said, deadpan. “Peanut butter sandwiches are the favorite food of the Digimon known throughout Primary Village for his appetite for peanut butter and bread.”
“With that bread that Elecmon made last month,” Guilmon added.
“Alright, I can agree with that,” Veemon nodded.
“My dad makes the best grilled vegetable kabobs ever!” Sweetie Belle smiled. “Sprinkles some lemon juice on it afterwards. That’s my favorite to have during the summer.”
“My butler Randolph makes some amazing crepes every now and again,” Diamond Tiara said. “Powdered with some sugar and strawberries on the side.”
“Stop, you’re making me hungry!” Armadillomon laughed.
“You ever have breakfast for dinner Diamond Tiara?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Breakfast for dinner?” Diamond Tiara looked over to Apple Bloom with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah! Have some flapjacks, some toast, strawberries and the like for dinner. One thing that I’ve really started takin’ a liking to is pancakes topped with a bit of pear jam!”
“What about you Scootaloo?” Guilmon asked, looking to his right. “What’s your favorite—” Only Scootaloo wasn’t there. “Um, where’s Scootaloo?”
Everyone looked around, noticing that Rumble and Bearmon were missing as well. “Scootaloo? Rumble? Where are you?” Sweetie Belle called out.
“Over here!” called out Scootaloo, emerging from the fog looking exhausted. Rumble appeared behind her in a similar state, a concerned Bearmon walking alongside him. “Just...give us a minute,” she panted, collapsing to the ground.
“We just took a break half an hour ago,” Diamond Tiara pointed out. “How are you so beat?”
“It’s not the distance, it’s this fog,” Scootaloo cut in.
“I don’t get it,” Babs Seed said. “You scared of somethin’ comin’ out of the fog?”
“No, it’s just that—” Scootaloo sighed. “Alright, pop quiz: what can Pegasus ponies walk on that other ponies can’t?”
“Uh, clouds?” Sweetie Belle shrugged.
“And what’s fog?”
“Well it’s a—” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. “Oh…”
“Yeah, it’s a cloud on the ground,” Scootaloo nodded. “So, you all can walk through this no problem. But for me, it feels like I’m walking through molasses!”
“Yeah, check this out,” Rumble said reaching into the fog. Instead of passing through the fog, Rumble’s hoof seemed to sink into it, like it was a large pillow.
“Wow,” Bearmon said. “That’s neat.”
“That’s not the term I would use to describe this situation right now, but thanks.”
Scootaloo looked around at everypony else. If Apple Bloom biting her lip or Diamond Tiara rolling her eyes was anything to go by, this new development brought more than a bit of mild annoyance. She couldn’t help it if her innate Pegasus magic had the effect to make fog more of an inconvenience to her than most ponies. Often during the Spring and Fall, when fog was most prevalent, she would have to wear a poncho to get to school, and even then the walk would sometimes be difficult.
As she thought back to a foggy period early this Spring, Scootaloo’s ears perked up as she remembered bumping into Rainbow Dash clearing the fog one day. Why didn’t I think of it sooner? she thought. “Hold on a minute, let me try something.”
All eyes were on Scootaloo as she got back up, eyes focused ahead of her. She spread her small wings, giving them a flutter. She closed her eyes, taking two deep breaths before taking a third and holding it. As she slowly released her breath, the fog surrounding the DigiDestined seemed to withdraw a few feet, as if a bubble had suddenly been blown around them. Scootaloo opened her eyes, smiling at the results and the impressed looks on her friends faces.
“Whoa,” Apple Bloom said. “Scoots, are you doin’ this?”
“Yep,” Scootaloo smiled, but refusing to turn her head anywhere but forward. “Rainbow Dash taught me how to do this little trick. Took me awhile to get down, but now I can say I know how to use some Pegasus magic.”
“How long can ya keep—” Babs Seed started.
“I’d love to tell you all about it, but I also need to focus on this. So, how about we keep moving, and I’ll tell you all about it later?”
“No arguments here,” Rumble said, getting back up and keeping pace with Scootaloo as they ventured out once more. “Hey uh...you think you can teach me how to do that?”
Making there way through the forest, the fog soon parted to reveal an old iron fence and a tall gate guarding a graveyard. Pushing open the large squeaky gate, the group quietly crept through the graveyard, the fog and overcast weather amplifying the already creepy atmosphere. The further they walked, the darker the sky seemed to get.
Eventually, the group stood before a large, decrepit mansion. Dingy grey paint was peeling off the walls, which were being assaulted by the vines creeping up the sides. No one could see through the windows smeared with dirt and age, save for the soft glow of light coming from within the mansion. The front door was flanked by two gargoyles, their eyes glaring down at the ponies and Digimon, poised as if the slightest movement would make them swoop down from their perches and tear them to shreds.
The first one to speak up was Diamond Tiara, who summed up the place perfectly in a single word. “Creepy…”
“This looks like something out of Elecmon’s ghost stories,” Bearmon shivered.
“Yeah, what was the name of that one story?” said Veemon, who had a hand to his forehead. “Oh yeah!” He grinned and lowered his voice to a level that reminded Scootaloo of Rainbow Dash’s “Spooky Story Voice”.
Veemon cackled and said, “The Haunting of...The Grey Lord’s Mansion!” A flash of lightning made everyone jump. Veemon’s eyes darted back and forth across the sky. “Okay...that was weird.”
“Please don’t tell me we have to go in there,” Palmon shuffled.
“There’s nowhere else that they could have taken the Digimon after the tunnel back there,” Scootaloo reasoned. “So this has to be the place.”
“Right,” Apple Bloom nodded, looking to the front door with determination. Taking a deep breath and puffing out her chest, she said, “Here we go!”
A few moments of silence passed. In her peripheral vision, Apple Bloom saw that everyone stayed rooted to their spots. “Um...I think we were supposed to all walk inside,” said Armadillomon.
“Yeah, uh...let’s try that again,” Apple Bloom cleared her throat, puffing out her chest again. “Here we go!”
A few more moments, and no one dared to step forward. “Well, are you gonna go in or not?” Diamond Tiara.
“You wanna go in first? Be my guest.”
“What, me? No thank you!”
“Ugh! Babs, you go first.”
“Huh?” Babs Seed looked around. “I’m confused, is there another Babs around here? I know you’re not talkin’ to me.”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Sweetie Belle, you wanna—”
But Sweetie Belle was a little busy shivering in place behind Palmon.
“Scootaloo…” Apple Bloom pleaded to the orange Pegasus.
“Uh...sure,” Scootaloo chuckled nervously. “I’ll go into the old...spooky, not-at-all haunted mansion first!” Her heartbeat raced as she looked up at the mansion. She slowly raised a foreleg, feeling the gaze of everyone around here. “After you Guilmon!” she nudged Guilmon.
“No,” Guilmon quickly said, not taking his eyes off the mansion.
“Why not?” Scootaloo hissed.
“Because it’s old and looks spooky.”
“And…?”
“And um...I’m allergic to old spooky places,” Guilmon coughed weakly.
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. Before she could nominate somepony else to take the first step, a sound reached her ears, one that made them twitch in anger.
“Baawwk bock bock bock…”
Scootaloo whipped her head back, trying to find the source of the chicken impersonation. But everyone seemed to be staring at the mansion doors. The moment she turned her gaze back to the mansion however…
“Bock bock bock…”
“Who’s doing that!” Scootaloo growled. The voice sounded like either Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, which wouldn’t surprise her. But the two ponies looked around to everyone else, trying to find the culprit. Giving up, she turned back to the mansion, shooting glances at the two rich ponies.
A few moments passed in relative silence. The moment Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something however…
“Bock bock bock begowwwwk!”
“Oh for crying out loud, fine!” Scootaloo shouted as she walked towards the front steps. The moment she put a hoof on the step though, the anger that gave her strength quickly began to make way for fear. Even so, it was too late to turn around now. “I mean come on, we’ve been in scarier places before. We went into the Everfree Forest a few times.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom nodded, making the harrowing climb up the mansion’s front porch. “We even went to the Castle of the Two Sisters on that scavenger hunt, remember? When we got that fake clue?”
“Oh yeah, we did didn’t we?” Scootaloo chuckled. She turned back to level a glare at Diamond Tiara. “By the way, thanks for that!”
“Oh come on!” Diamond Tiara threw her hooves up. “Do you have to go opening old wounds? That happened ages ago.”
“It was last year,” said Sweetie Belle, deadpan.
“Whatever.”
Scootaloo pushed open the large oak doors, which creaked as they swung open. “Hello?” she said softly. “Is anypony home?” Pushing the door open some more, she crept inside, the others close behind her.
The DigiDestined entered a large open foyer. A red carpet ran down the center of the room, going up a staircase to a balcony which split off to either side of the room. Flanking the stairs were two statues of serpent creatures wrapping around a crooked spire. Two small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, giving the room some light. The ponies could see five doors, two on the right side of the room, two more on the left, and one towards the back of the room on the right side of the staircase. They could also spy three doors on the second floor balcony, one on the left and two on the right.
“Huh, this isn’t so bad,” said Sweetie Belle. “It looks kinda nice actually.”
“I don’t know…” said Apple Bloom as she traced the ornate patterns on the balcony. “It still feels a mite bit creepy.”
“Oh yeah,” Sweetie Belle nodded. “It’s still creepy but it doesn’t feel haunted.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth when the door slammed behind them, causing everyone to jump. “I knew it!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. “This place is haunted! We’re trapped!”
Guilmon ran over to the door, gripped the handle and pulled. Expecting resistance, he was surprised to feel the door open, the force of the pull sending him on his back. Everyone stared at the open door for a moment before Guilmon got back up and closed it again.
“Oh...nevermind,” Sweetie Belle blushed.
“It was probably a draft or something that made the door close,” Silver Spoon thought aloud.
“Yeah, everybody moumantai,” said Terriermon as he clutched on to Silver Spoon’s tail like a security blanket.
“Yeah, mouma...um, what he said,” Silver Spoon nodded. “Could you please let go of my tail, by the way?”
“Oh uh...sure thing,” Terriermon chuckled, gently releasing his death grip on her tail. “Sorry.”
“So…” Babs Seed coughed. “Should we split up and search for clues?”
“Oh no!” Diamond Tiara protested. “No way! That is the last thing we should do in this situation!”
“Why not?”
“I’ve seen horror movies, I know how this plays out. First we all split up, then the evil spirits haunting this place will start picking us off one by one! Probably starting with me!”
“Why do you think you’ll be picked off first?”
“Uh hello, the pretty one is almost always the first one to go in horror movies.”
Babs Seed stared at her for a few moments. “So...why do you think you’ll be the first one to go?”
Diamond Tiara gasped. Hearing a few snickers coming from the rest of her “friends” only made angrier.
“Yeah, I think you’ll be alright,” Rumble chuckled. “Besides you’ve got it all wrong. Usually, the first one to get crossed off the list in a horror flick is one of the side characters for the sake of comic relief,” Rumble suddenly stopped laughing. “Wait...am I side character?”
“What?” Scootaloo asked.
“Like, what if this was a movie? Would I be a side character? You ever think about stuff like that?
“...No.”
“Alright, let’s all just calm down for a moment,” said Apple Bloom. “Much as I don’t like the idea, it might be best if we split up to cover more ground. This place looks pretty big. Armadillomon, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and I will take the second floor. Everyone else, check things out here on the first floor.”
Apple Bloom led her team up the stairs, turning right on the balcony and entering a library. Everyone quietly checked the books on the shelves. “Can anypony read this?” she asked.
“No, it’s all just a bunch of weird symbols,” Scootaloo sighed, walking over to Silver Spoon and Terriermon. “Terriermon, do you know what all this is?”
“Looks like a bunch of memoirs, poetry books, and old plays,” Terriermon shook his head. “Sheesh, you’d think someone could die of boredom in here.”
Scootaloo nodded. She never was much of a fan of libraries herself. Looking over the bookshelves, one of the books caught her eye. The book had a dark blue cover, on its spine was an image of a golden sword, flames licking the blade.
“Hey, check this one out,” Scootaloo pointed to the book in question. “What’s this one?”
Terriermon climbed on top of Silver Spoon’s back to get a better look. “I don’t know, it doesn’t say anything on the spine.”
“Hmm,” Scootaloo grabbed the book. She managed to pull it halfway off the shelf when she heard a soft click. Before she could wonder where the noise came from, a trapdoor opened beneath her hooves. All three of them gave a short scream as they fell, the trapdoor quickly closing behind them.
Everyone else quickly looked back. “Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked nervously. “Where’d you go?”
“Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara asked, running over to where they were a moment ago. “You see? This is exactly what I was talking about!”
“You sure it came from here?” Sweetie Belle asked as she followed Babs Seed to the door at the back of the foyer, the others just behind her.
Babs Seed nodded, “Yeah, I heard a scream comin’ from in here.” She crept towards the door, opening it just a crack. Peeking into the small room, she saw a stairway towards the back of the room, a few barrels in the corner near a door, and Silver Spoon, Terriermon, and Scootaloo in a pile in the center. “Scootaloo, Silver Spoon!” Babs Seed threw the door open, rushing to their side.
“Ugh, Babs?” Scootaloo said, rubbing her head. “Where are we?”
“Downstairs, how’d you get here?”
“I—”
A trapdoor in the ceiling suddenly opened, sending a screaming Guilmon falling on top of poor Scootaloo. “Guilmon?” Sweetie Belle said. “What the hay!”
Guilmon sat up, shaking his head clear. “Scootaloo, where’s Scootaloo!” he asked frantically. A groan drew his attention downwards.
“Hey buddy,” Scootaloo groaned. “Do you know how heavy you are?”
“Scootaloo, you’re okay!” Guilmon cheered.
“That’s a matter of opinion right now.”
“Well, it’s good to see ya’ll are alright,” said Apple Bloom, who was holding the trapdoor open. “Babs, you find anythin’ yet?”
“We found a steel door with a keypad back there,” Babs Seed said. “Not much else. But I do see a staircase going upstairs here, think I’ll go check it out.”
“I’ll go with you,” Rumble offered.
“Hey Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle said. “You want to search with us? I mean you’re already down here, so…”
“Sure thing,” Scootaloo nodded.
“Alright, let’s meet up in the foyer when we’re done,” Apple Bloom said. After getting a few nods of confirmation, she released the trapdoor, allowing it to close again. “Let’s get a move on.”
“Wait a minute,” Diamond Tiara held a hoof up. “So, this trapdoor just leads to a room on the first floor? A room that someone could easily walk out of?”
“So it would seem,” Hawkmon nodded. “What’s the matter?”
Diamond Tiara gestured to the trapdoor with a puzzled look. “What is the point of this thing?”
Babs Seed and Rumble climbed the stairs, their Digimon partners just behind them. They found themselves in what appeared to be the mansion’s attic. In the dimly lit room, pipes and cables ran every which way, and complex machinery lined the walls. The centerpiece of the room was a small collection of four massive generators, which hummed with energy.
“Well, guess we know why the lights are still on in this place,” Veemon noted.
“Yeah, but do they need generators this big just to run the lights?” Babs Seed asked, walking towards the machines in question.
“What do you mean?” Rumble asked.
“These look like the kinds of generators you’d see in a power plant. Remember the generator back in the lab under the shack? That one wasn’t nearly as big as these things.”
“But that was just for one room. We’re talking about an entire mansion here,” Rumble pointed out.
“Yeah, but I feel like just one of these would be enough. This looks like enough to power a small neighborhood.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“One of my friends, Lightning Rivet, his father works at the Manehattan Power Plant. He brought in some pictures for a school project; the generators they used at the plant looked a lot like these.”
Bearmon put a paw to his chin. “So what you’re saying is, we have more than enough power here to light up the mansion?”
Babs Seed nodded. “Too much power.”
“Then what else do you think they could be powering?”
“You got me there,” Babs Seed shrugged. She and Veemon walked around to the other side of the generators, not thinking about how old this mansion could be, or how sturdy the floor beneath them was.
A creak in the ceiling made Diamond Tiara jump. “What was that?”
“Ugh, it’s probably just the house,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, trying to focus on the study they were in. A few bookshelves lined the walls, along with a couple of window with a view of the graveyard. Aside from the door that led to the foyer, there was another door towards the right side of the room. The most notable piece of furniture was the mahogany desk towards the left side of the room, which had a small pile of books and two lamps.
“What do you mean “just the house”?” Diamond Tiara looked around frantically. “Something had to have made that sound, right? Houses don’t just make noise for no reason!”
Apple Bloom groaned, turning to look Diamond Tiara in the eye. “Diamond Tiara, listen to me. This here house is old. Odds are it’s gonna make some creaky noises, ‘cause that’s what old things tend to do. Kinda like Granny Smith.”
“What?”
“Yeah, she’s old, creaks and groans every now and again. But that don’t make her scary now does it?”
Diamond Tiara chuckled. “Well, when you put it that way…”
Apple Bloom gave a chuckle of her own. “So just ‘cause you hear this house making creepy noises, that don’t mean ya gotta go around yellin’, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"”
As soon as Apple Bloom finished talking, the sound of cracking wood and a couple of screams made everyone look up. A portion of the ceiling collapsed above the desk, creating a small plume of dust. For a few moments, everyone stared at the new hole in the ceiling, waiting for the shock to wear off.
A cough made Apple Bloom turn back to the dust cloud on the desk, where she saw two forms moving around. One of said forms stared back with two green eyes looking past a bright pink mane. “Babs?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Oh, hey cuz’,” Babs Seed coughed. Beside her, the other form revealed itself to be Veemon, who was trying to wave away the remaining dust.
“What happened?”
“Oh you know, just figured I would drop in and check how you were doin’.”
“Hey! You two alright?” Everyone looked up to see Rumble and Bearmon looking down through the hole.
“Yeah, fantastic,” Veemon groaned, giving a thumbs up. “The desk broke my fall.”
Rumble gave Bearmon a lift down into the study as Veemon and Babs Seed dusted themselves off. After making sure everyone was alright, Apple Bloom led them through the only remaining door in the room. What was beyond it made her blood freeze.
Towards the back of the room was what appeared to be a four poster bed with crimson curtains. Except in place of a nice fluffy mattress, there was a jet black coffin lined with gold fringes and a gold bat symbol emblazoned in the center.
“What. The. Feathers?” Rumble whispered. “Who would put a coffin in a bedroom?”
“A vampire,” Diamond Tiara shivered.
“Don’t be stupid, vampires aren’t real,” Babs rolled her eyes.
“You’re right. They’re about as real as giant red killer stag beetles or deranged mountain lion-rabbit monsters,” Diamond Tiara retorted.
“Point taken.”
“So, who’s gonna open it?” Armadillomon asked, earning stares from everyone in the room.
“Have you lost your marbles?” Apple Bloom asked. “Why would we open that thing?”
“Are we not investigatin’ this place?”
“Well yeah, but—”
“Why would we open a coffin?” Diamond Tiara interrupted. “There’s either going to be a vampire in there, or a dead body. I don’t wanna see either of those!”
“If there was someone in here, they probably would have heard Babs Seed’s and Veemon’s “grand entrance” back there,” Hawkmon reasoned. “And a Digimon’s raw data disperses upon death, so there wouldn’t be a body to put in that coffin.”
“Okay…” Diamond Tiara relented. “So, who’s going to open it?”
Silence filled the room for a few moments, no one volunteered. “Ugh, this song and dance again,” Rumble muttered. “Look, we can settle this in a quick and simple way.”
“How’s that?” Apple Bloom asked.
Rumble then invoked one of the oldest rituals of assigning somepony an unwanted task. A ritual shared among school ponies, and often witnessed in place of drawing straws. “One two three, nose goes!”
The moment that Rumble brought a hoof to his nose, everypony had instantly followed suit, knowing the severity of the consequence that came with being the last one to do so. The Digimon were confused at first, the proceedings of this rite foreign to them. Due to the ritual’s unofficial code of silence however, the ponies could only communicate via glances. This proved to be enough as the Digimon mimicked the ponies and put a finger, or claw in the case of Armadillomon, to their noses. Everyone turned to the last unfortunate soul to catch on to this.
“Welp, looks like you’re up Veemon,” Apple Bloom said.
“Wait, what!” Veemon cried. “Come on guys, I just fell through the ceiling! I think it’s someone else’s turn in the barrel.”
“Hey, don’t worry,” Bearmon put a paw on his shoulder. “I’ve got your back. If anything happens, I’ll be there to back you up.”
Veemon shifted around, looking towards the coffin and back to everyone else. “Alright...fine,” he sighed.
Veemon slowly approached the side of the coffin, with Bearmon standing a few feet behind him. Armadillomon stood near the ponies, ready to fight. Hawkmon drew the feather from his headband, twirling it in his fingertips as he got ready to throw it at a moment’s notice. Veemon tiptoed up to the coffin, carefully grabbing the lid. No one dared to breath as the lid creaked open. Veemon peered into the coffin, what he saw made him gasp in horror.
“What? What is it?” Bearmon asked, getting into a fighting stance.
“Is it a vampire?” Diamond Tiara stepped towards the exit, getting behind Apple Bloom.
“Worse!” Veemon quickly reached into the coffin, pulling out a black book and holding it as far away as possible. The cover of the book featured two pale hands gently holding a dark red apple, as if it were the most precious thing in the world. “Vampire romance novels!” Veemon shrieked, flinging the book to the corner of the room.
Silence reigned for the better part of a minute before being broken, mainly by Bearmon’s paw making hard contact with his face. “Are you serious?” he groaned. Towards the door, everyone else felt the tension in the room deflate like a pierced balloon. Whether it was from relief or disappointment would be another matter entirely.
“Well that was...kinda anti-climatic,” Armadillomon stated.
“What are vampire romance novels doin’ in a coffin?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I can think of a few reasons,” Babs Seed muttered, deadpan.
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you what we NEED to do!” Veemon said, pointing to the coffin. “We need to burn these abominations of literature and scatter the ashes at a crossroads! Maybe drive a wooden stake through the covers for good measure.”
“You do know they’re just books and not actual vampires, right?” Hawkmon asked.
“They might as well be! They suck the life out of the word “vampire”, and any reader’s sense of good taste in books,” Veemon glared at the coffin. “Seriously, just looking at this garbage is making me feel...hold on a second. What’s this?”
Veemon reluctantly reached back into the coffin. Babs Seed tried to peek into the coffin but could only hear him knocking books aside. Before Babs could say anything, Veemon backed out of the coffin, gasping for air. In his hand, he clutched a small slip of paper. “What is it Veemon?” Babs asked.
Veemon unfolded the slip of paper, which had a sequence of five numbers: 42465. “Just a bunch of numbers. Doesn’t say what they mean though.”
“Better hold on to it just in case.”
“But, it was in one of those books, I don’t wanna touch it!” Veemon whined.
“Oh grow some thicker skin!” Babs Seed rolled her eyes as she followed Apple Bloom out of the room.
Sweetie Belle looked at the statues at the base of the stairs, trying to decide if the thing wrapping around the spire was a snake or a mutant eel, when Apple Bloom and the others came downstairs. Everyone shared their findings, including the generators in the attic, and the coffin in the master bedroom.
“So in short, this place could have potentially been the home to a vampire,” Silver Spoon began. “This place has a small power station just upstairs, and there’s no sign of any Digimon being here recently. And the only other thing we’ve managed to find is a string of numbers?”
“There has to be something we’re missing,” Sweetie Belle thought aloud. “Why are there four generators being used to run this place if no one’s here?”
“Well there was that trap door in the library…” Scootaloo started.
“Which I still don’t get,” Diamond Tiara mumbled.
“Maybe this place has other secret passages?” Scootaloo suggested.
“So what, ya wanna start pullin’ every book on the shelves, or try to push every tile in hopes that something will happen?” Babs Seed asked. “Have fun with that.”
“What about the numbers?” Rumble suggested. “They have to mean something, right? Does it say anything else on the slip?”
“No, it’s just the five numbers,” Veemon pulled out the slip of paper in question. “Doesn’t say what they’re for. For all we know, it could just be—” Veemon stared at the slip of paper for a moment. “Wait a minute…”
“What’s up Veemon?” Babs Seed asked.
“Wasn’t there a door down here we couldn’t get into?” Veemon asked no one in particular. Rather than wait for an answer, he walked towards one of the doors on the right side of the foyer. Everyone followed him into a small room that looked like a storage room. There were a few pieces of old furniture strewn about, some old painting frames, and what looked like a gutted piano. Towards the back however, was a steel double door with two red arrows pointing down, and a green keypad off to the right side of the door.
“We couldn’t get into this area here because it needed an access code,” Veemon pointed to the keypad. “But what if this is…” Veemon walked up to the keypad and typed in the numbers: 42465. The keypad gave a chirp, and the sound of whirring machinery was heard behind the door. A few moments later, there was a soft *ding* before the doors opened to reveal a tiny, featureless room.
“An elevator?” Babs Seed thought aloud. “I guess there is more to this place. Nice job Vee.”
“I do my best. Really wasn’t that hard to—” Veemon paused. “Wait, what’d you call me?”
“Vee, or maybe just V?” Babs Seed asked, getting into the elevator. “You know like a nickname. V, short for Veemon?”
“Hmm…,” Veemon put a hand to his chin. “That does sound kinda cool. So, would it be alright if I sometimes called you B?”
“B and V,” Scootaloo thought aloud, hitting the down button in the elevator. “That does sound cool. Sounds like a name for a band.”
“Yeah, totally,” Veemon nodded as the doors closed. “What’s a band?”
The elevator quickly brought the DigiDestined down to a massive underground lab. The floor and walls were mettalic, and the room was filled with massive, complex machinary. Scattered around the room was a mess of tomes and papers with Digicode scribbled all over, covering the tables and the floor in equal measures.
“Is anypony else getting a case of deja vu here?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah,” Babs Seed nodded. “Probably best if we don’t touch anything. That goes double for you Scootaloo.”
Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at Babs Seed.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes as she trotted towards the center of the lab, where a massive machine towered over the rest of the equipment. The machine had a massive glass cylinder which stood atop a metal base. A few circular slots stood out from the base, and several cables snaked out towards a screen nearby. A few pipes ran from the cylinder to a smaller, rectangular machine, somewhat resembling an oven. A few whiteboards stood towards one side of the lab near the machine, all of which had complex formulae written in Digicode. The one that stood out to Apple Bloom had a diagram of a large gear, with several blocks of Digicode pointing to different parts of it. It was the sort of thing that one would see on a science fair project.
“Is this supposed to be a Black Gear?” Apple Bloom pointed to the large whiteboard.
Armadillomon walked up to Apple Bloom, looking over the whiteboard. “Looks like it. But I don’t understand a lot of what this thing is goin’ on about.”
Terriermon’s ears suddenly perked up. “Uh oh, we’ve got company!” he whispered.
“Quick, hide!” Sweetie Belle whispered as she dove behind a stack of crates with Palmon.
“To heck with that! I’m itching for a fight—OW!” Veemon yelped.
“Not now Veemon!” Babs Seed hissed as she hid behind a bookshelf, dragging Veemon by his tail.
As the last of the DigiDestined managed to find a hiding spot, a metal door slid open, and two ghost Digimon floated into the room. The first one looked like something straight out of a Nightmare Night story. It was covered in a tattered white cloth, had two eyes that were darker than the blackest night, and had a mouth filled with pointy curved teeth. The other one that was with it looked exactly the same, except for the large black hat that covered its eyes.
It was as though two evil spirits had decided to possess a couple of cheap ghost costumes that were thrown in the back of somepony’s closet. And for the sake of not being dressed the same, one of them decided to steal a hat from a witch’s costume. The ghost without the hat pushed a small cart with four jars of dark purple pixels into the lab, the other ghost floating just behind him.
Once they got close to the machine, the ghost pushing the cart began placing the jars into the receptacles in the machine, while the one with the hat floated towards the screen. Babs Seed was able to scan them with her Digivice as she peered between two books from behind the shelf.
Name: Soulmon
Level: Champion
Attribute: Virus
Attacks:
- Necro Magic
- End Trance
- Dark Claw
Name: Bakemon
Level: Champion
Attribute: Virus
Attacks:
- Dark Claw
- Nightmare Wave
- Evil Charm
A hiss made Babs Seed look up from her Digivice, quickly turning it off. The machine began siphoning the pixels from the jars into the large glass cylinder, where they swirled in a nebulus mass. The Bakemon watched the cylinder while the Soulmon watched the screen.
“Okay,” Soulmon began. “The data appears to be intact, no sign of degradation either. Looks like the adjustments we made to the harvest ritual worked out perfectly.”
“Mmmhmm…” Bakemon muttered, content to watch the data turning in the cylinder.
Soulmon looked over toward his hypnotized partner, shaking his head with a long sigh. “Well then, let’s get started.”
This seemed to snap Bakemon out of his gaze as he quickly drifted over towards Soulmon. “Oh, can I pull the lever this time? Please? You said I could if I did my job quietly, and did what you said. Please?”
“Yes, you can pull the lever,” Soulmon sighed.
“Thanks pal!” Bakemon cheered, floating over towards a lever on one side of the machine.
“I told you not to call me that!” Soulmon growled.
Bakemon ignored him as he grabbed the lever and pulled. The machine whirred to life, as the dark pixels swirled around and around, forming a small tornado in the cylinder. Soulmon raised his clothed arms up, uttering a chant under his breath. Above the machine, a spell circle lit up on the ceiling, which then began channeling dark energy into the cylinder. Purple lightning began to strike the purple pixel tornado, causing the data to turn into fine particles, forming together into a mist.
“That’s enough!” Soulmon shouted. Bakemon quickly pulled the lever back up. The machine slowed to a halt. The data in the cylinder had been turned into a familiar purple smoke.
That looks like the smoke that we saw when we defeated the Gazimon in Primary Village! Babs Seed thought. He looked to Silver Spoon, who was hiding behind the bookshelf with her, along with their partners. From the looks on their faces, they seemed to have arrived at a similar conclusion.
Soulmon went back to the screen as a green ring scanned the inside of the cylinder. “Alright, looks like all the data was successfully processed.” He looked up to the purple mist swirling in the tube. “All of the requested adjustments went through as well. This is a significant improvement compared to the previous strain. I think Master Mephistomon will be quite pleased, along with his little pet,” he said, his last few words filled with venom.
Soulmon looked to Bakemon, who was once again lost in the swirling contents of the tube. “Hey, numbskull!” Soulmon shouted. “We’re not finished here yet!”
“Huh?” Bakemon turned back to Soulmon.
“How many times have we done this? What comes next?”
“Um…” Bakemon looked down for a moment before shooting back up. “Oh, right!” He floated over to the stack of nearby crates. The same crates that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were hiding behind. The two fillies held their breaths, looking towards their partners and each other as the temperature seemed to drop the closer Bakemon got. Babs Seed tensed from her hiding spot as Bakemon reached for a crate that Apple Bloom was hiding behind.
“Wrong one,” Soulmon groaned. “To the right.”
“Oh, right,” Bakemon said, drifting towards a stack on the right. He looked from crate to crate, reaching for a wooden crate.
“No…”
Bakemon drifted further down, towards a stack of sealed plastic crates.
“Getting warmer…”
Bakemon hovered around the area until he found a crate with a crystal printed on the top. “Found it!”
“And it only took fifteen seconds longer than last time.”
“Hey, come on,” Bakemon whined as he brought the crate over to Soulmon. “You know I’m not as bright as you.”
“Sometimes I wonder if the lights are even on,” Soulmon muttered under his breath. Opening the crate, he took out several small, translucent crystal and placed them into the machine connected to the cylinder.
“Hey, can I—” Bakemon began.
“No!” Soulmon said. He went back over to the cylinder, pressing a few buttons. The machine began to hiss again as the smoke began to turn into a small tornado once more. The pipes connecting the two machines shook as the smoke was siphoned into the second machine. As the last of the smoke was drained, Babs Seed could only think of the water draining out of a bathtub.
Soulmon pressed a few more buttons, shutting the machine down before floating over to the second one. As Soulmon opened it up, steam escaped from the machine as it depressurized. As the steam cleared, the once translucent crystals were now a dark purple as dark energy swirled inside of them. Soulmon carefully removed the crystals from the machine, and placed them into a metal case, which had a black ram skull painted on it.
“Well, that’s another batch ready for use,” Soulmon said as he clicked the case shut.
“Does that mean we’re done for today?” Bakemon asked.
“No, the others are preparing for one more harvest before we’re done,” Soulmon said, floating towards the door with the case. “We should get going.” Bakemon quietly followed Soulmon out of the lab.
Apple Bloom peeked out from behind the crates. “That was way too close…” she whispered. “Is everyone good?” Babs Seed and Silver Spoon emerged from behind the bookcase with their partners. Apple Bloom looked behind her to see Sweetie Belle come out from behind the crates with Armadillomon and Palmon. Everyone jumped back as Bearmon dropped down from the ceiling along with Rumble, who both managed to hide atop some of the pipes along the ceiling. “Scootaloo, where are you?” Apple Bloom asked.
Near the whiteboards, a cardboard box began to shake. “Ow! You stepped on my foot,” the box spoke in a muffled Guilmon voice. “Sorry, just trying to get out of here,” it said, this time in Scootaloo’s voice. Eventually, the box’s occupants managed to lift the box up and throw it to the side.
“Present,” said Scootaloo, Guilmon just behind her.
“Alright, I think we should get out of here now!” Diamond Tiara looked towards the elevator.
“Why, there’s still more we need to find out!” Scootaloo argued.
“Like what?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We know that they’re making the purple smoke stuff here.”
“Yeah, but what are they making it from? And why did they have to abduct the Digimon from Primary Village in the first place?”
“But we almost got busted back there! This is getting really dangerous.”
“We’ve come this far already, we can’t give up now!”
“Pipe down, both of you!” Apple Bloom hissed. “I know we’re steppin’ in some mushy apples here—”
“Really?” Silver Spoon said, deadpan.
“But Scootaloo does have a point, there’s still a few things we need answers to. So let’s just keep low, find out as much as we can, and get the heck outta dodge!”
“What if someone spots us?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit,” Apple Bloom answered.
“Right, so just sneak through the evil lab, and if we get spotted, run like our tails are on fire?” Diamond Tiara summarized.
“Yep,” Apple Bloom nodded.
“Well when you put it like that, it sounds so easy,” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes.
“I know right,” Scootaloo nodded, heading towards the door. “So let’s get going!”
Diamond Tiara starred at Scootaloo. I lost the school election to a pony whose campaign was run by these three. How? she thought to herself.
Scootaloo opened the door, and the DigiDestined crept further into the lab. Making their way down a hallway, they passed by a few smaller research areas and storage rooms. Opening the door at the end of the hallway, they entered a large room that resembled an auditorium. Instead of a play however, something far more sinister was taking place down in the center of the chamber.
Five Soulmon surrounded a red magic circle while a few Bakemon hovered off to the side. In the center of the circle, several Black Gears spun in the air. The Soulmon began to mutter an incantation as the circle lit up. The Black Gears began to spin faster and faster as red lightning began arcing towards them. As the lightning grew in intensity, the gears began to pixelate before shattering into purple data bits.
The lightning eventually subsided, leaving a mass of purple data hovering in the circle like a swarm of bugs. The Bakemon wasted no time in swooping in close to the circle, wielding devices that made Apple Bloom think back to a nightmare she had once. The device had a large funnel with a hose connected to a machine with a glass jar coupled to it. The Bakemon used these devices to quickly vacuum up the data and store it into jars. As soon as the the last of the data was collected, the Soulmon began hovering towards the lab area while the Bakemon loaded the jars into a cart.
Scootaloo quietly motioned towards a door on the opposite end of the chamber. Following her lead, the DigiDestined moved further into the complex before the Soulmon made it up the stairs.
Creeping through a dark hallway, the DigiDestined made their way to a large cavern. A large stone walkway stretched towards an outcropping overlooking an abyss, where a large red fire burned in a brazier. The path was lined with torches which flickered with an eerie red flame. At the end of the path, a squad of five Gazimon stood quietly behind a larger, scarier Digimon. It looked like a bipedal ram, with purple fur covering its forearms, legs and torso, and a pair of black leather wings on its back. Atop his head was a pair of large, dark grey curved horns.
As everyone took cover behind some large rocks near the door, Apple Bloom scanned the large ram Digimon with her Digivice.
Name: Mephistomon
Level: Ultimate
Attribute: Virus
Attacks:
- Death Cloud
- Black Sabbath
“Ultimate level?” Apple Bloom whispered. “Is that a higher level than Champion?”
Armadillomon nodded. “Yeah, the Ultimate level is usually the highest a Digimon will reach.”
“Seems like we found their boss!” Scootaloo whispered.
On the outcropping, Mephistomon stretched out his arms before pushing his hands towards the brazier. The fire seemed to flicker in response to his gestures, turning from red to purple, the torches following suit. “Ialpor ialprg de oresa, solpeth en bial,” Mephistomon uttered. He spoke with a deep and smooth voice that echoed with power and authority. It sent a chill down everypony’s spine. “Esiasacache, solpeth en alonusachi, od zodamran emna!”
The purple fire flared as he uttered the last of the incantation, warping and twisting as it took the shape of a mask with two horns and six eyes that hovered over the flames. “Mephistomon,” the mask greeted in a distorted, yet equally chilling voice. “How goes things on File Island?”
“Everything is coming along nicely my friend. The experiment on Primary Village was...enlightening, to say the least.” Mephistomon snapped his fingers, motioning towards one of the Gazimon. He quickly placed a large device on the floor and switched it on. A large holographic screen was projected above the machine, which the flaming mask turned to with interest as it showed images of the Primary Village attack. The DigiDestined watched as it showed video footage of Gazimon attacking defenseless Digimon.
“This footage was captured by those mechanical Digimon you sent me, the Gizumon. I must say, they were exceptional at capturing all of this without being seen.”
“I’m more impressed about what I’m seeing right now. This is the first time your project has actually been used outside of a lab, correct? What did you call it again?”
“The Black Shadow Virus,” Mephistomon grinned. “It’s derived from the Black Gears here on File Island, and the right application of dark magic. And yes, what you’re seeing is the first field test.”
“Magnificent results,” the mask nodded. “But why have them destroy Primary Village?”
“The Gazimon had no qualms performing hit and run skirmishes in the past, but those were to either fetch us some In-Training Digimon or poach some DigiEggs. While both of them do serve as adequate test subjects, they don’t exactly do well in combat. I wanted to see how well it would work on Rookie level Digimon, and how obedient it would make them. After all, destroying Primary Village is whole leagues above stealing a few eggs. I doubt even the Bakemon I have with me would have the stones to destroy the birthplace of all Digimon.”
“And every single one of the Gazimon did it without any remorse?”
“Well, there were a few shall we say...deviants noticed every now and again,” Mephistomon gestured to the screen. It showed footage of two Gazimon senselessly beating each other with rubber chickens, a few banging their heads against plush buildings, and one Gazimon chasing its own tail like a dog. “Though this was to be expected, nothing this complex gets done right the first time. But we have made all necessary adjustments.”
“So the infected Digimon are now completely obedient? How can you be certain of this?”
“Don’t take my word for it, see for yourself,” Mephistomon turned to the squad of Gazimon behind him. He barely spared them a glance before pointing to the edge of the walkway and shouting, “Throw yourselves off the edge!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, all five Gazimon sprinted towards the edge and leaped into the abyss. Behind the rocks, the ponies and Digimon gaped. It was dark in the cavern, but as they had passed the torchlight, a few of the ponies saw the telltale purple veins around the Gazimon’s eyes.
Did that really just happen! Scootaloo thought to herself with a shiver.
Mephistomon turned back to the mask as five DigiCores floated out of the cave. “I believe the old saying goes: actions speak louder than words.”
The mask chuckled. “Indeed. So, does that mean it’s finished?”
“Well, I’m running some tests on some Champion level “volunteers” to make sure it will work on them. I might even gather a strike force to attack Toy Town. That place has always been a bit too...colorful and cheery for my tastes,” Mephistomon said with a grimace. “But enough about me, how are things on the Server continent?”
“I’m certain that what we’re looking for is here, but I can’t find an exact location. I’m searching for Digimon who know the ancient ruins around here, but Server is large. The search will take time, but in the meantime, I’ve found some Digimon who sympathise with our cause. And I’m certain we can utilize your Black Shadow Virus to build ourselves an army.”
“But Black Gears can only be found here on File Island. To set up a transportation route from here to Server would be costly, not to mention conspicuous. And to synthesize it purely out of black magic is difficult, not until we can find out how exactly the Black Gears work. On that note, why haven’t you given me anything that could help me in that regard? I thought you made the Black Gears.”
“Wrong, I found the Black Gears there and figured out how to manipulate them. But I did not create them, and I haven’t been to File Island in ages. As to your other concern, I do have a solution to that. During my search, I found plenty of remnants of Dark Rings and Control Spires. You should have plenty to work with. And I even found a Digimon who could possibly be “persuaded” to aid in your research.”
Mephistomon put a hand to his chin. “The Dark Rings and Control Spires, those were used during the reign of the so-called “Digimon Emperor”, correct? To think that long ago, a human child had the Digital World in his grasp, and let it slip through his fingers...pathetic!”
“Quite right on all accounts. But his loss will be our gain. I have to go, I need to ensure our stronghold here remains hidden. Keep me posted on any new developments—”
“Actually, there is one other thing I should mention. During the Primary Village experiment, the village was defended by some very persistent Digimon.”
“And your point is…?”
“They seemed to digivolve without absorbing any data.”
“What! How is that possible?”
“I asked myself the same thing,” Mephistomon turned to the screen, tapping a few parts of it. “Then I found this.”
Mephistomon pulled up a video of Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and their Digimon partners defending the safe zone at Primary Village. Terriermon grew still, turning to the oncoming horde of Gazimon, stepping towards them as he was enveloped by an orb of green light. “Terriermon digivolve to...Gargomon!” The video paused as Gargomon prepared to fire. Mephistomon made a few more gestures on the screen, and the image zoomed into Silver Spoon, and the glowing Digivice on her foreleg.
“As far as I know, the only thing that is capable of doing something like that is a Digivice. And the only ones who can wield them are DigiDestined. But these creatures holding them, they’re obviously not human, so I’m not sure if they could be—” The fire behind Mephistomon blistered, causing him to turn back to the mask, whose eyes seemed to be trying to burn the DigiVice on the video. “What is it? NeoDevimon, are you alright?”
“How many were there?” the mask growled.
“Seven, I believe.”
“Show me!”
Mephistomon quickly brought up a picture of the DigiDestined eating dinner with Elecmon last night, much to the shock of everypony. “One of the Gizumon took this picture while scouting the village defenses. He also reported that the village caretaker called them “ponies”.”
“It doesn’t matter what they are! They are DigiDestined, I’m sure of it!”
“But there hasn’t been a DigiDestined in the Digital World for hundreds of years!”
“That’s not important. What IS important is that we cannot allow them to interfere with our plans.”
Mephistomon scoffed. “Please. Don’t tell me your worried about those tiny things getting in our—”
“Mephistomon! You are a skilled and intelligent Digimon, my most trusted ally. I know you will act in our best interests, but do heed my advice. Do not underestimate the DigiDestined! Many a Digimon have done the same thing...and that mistake has cost them dearly. Take all necessary precautions, I expect they’ll come for you sooner or later.”
“Of course,” Mephistomon nodded. “I’ll take my leave then.” And with that the flames roared, consuming the mask before settling back down into its original red. “TSUKAIMON! Where are you?”
A fluttering sound made Apple Bloom look up to see a small Digimon fly towards Mephistomon. Oddly enough, the Digimon resembled the Patamon she saw in Elecmon’s photo album. Only instead of white and golden brown fur, it had purple and white fur.
Name: Tsukaimon
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Virus
Attacks:
- Bad Message
- Friendly Fire
- Purple Haze
“You called master?” Tsukaimon fluttered towards Mephistomon.
“Tell the Soulmon to make sure we can evacuate on a moment’s notice. And have all the Bakemon not assisting with the harvests patrol the manor grounds above.”
“Understood, master!” Tsukaimon saluted.
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Hawkmon whispered, leading the DigiDestined back out the way they came in. As they made their way down the hall however, they heard voices coming from the door ahead of them.
“So, do you want to give him the report?” a voice said.
“Come on, you know that I get scared whenever I talk to him,” said another.
The DigiDestined stopped dead in their tracks. Their exit was blocked, and Mephistomon would come in from behind them any moment. Sweetie Belle looked to her right and found another door. She ran over to the door, flinging it open to reveal a staircase leading down into darkness.
“Quick, down here!” Sweetie Belle whispered, motioning into the doorway. Everyone hurried down the staircase, Sweetie Belle closing the door behind them. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Diamond Tiara was the first to speak up.
“I knew this was a bad idea!” she said. “We should’ve left when we had the chance!”
“We had to find out more about what was going on!” Scootaloo hissed.
“Does the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” mean anything to you?”
“Does the phrase “nopony likes a whiner” mean anything to YOU?”
Scootaloo yelped as she felt her tail being pulled. She looked back to see the back of her tail enveloped in Sweetie Belle’s magic. “Do we need to separate you two?” she asked.
“What are we gonna do now?” Babs Seed asked, looking up to the door with a panicked look.
“I’m thinkin’, I’m thinkin’!” Apple Bloom put a hoof to her head. A low growl made her whip around to Guilmon, who was growling at something behind them. When she turned around, she gave a small gasp in shock, which was quickly overpowered by anger. “You!” she growled.
Everyone turned around to see two Flymon shackled tightly to the ground, the same Flymon who took Silver Spoon and Babs Seed. “What are they doing here!” Silver Spoon stepped back.
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing,” one of the Flymon replied.
“Why’d you take my friends back in the jungle?” Apple Bloom demanded. “Why take all those Digimon in Primary Village? And what in tarnation are you doin’ locked up down here?”
The Flymon looked at each other before one of them sighed. “Well if you must know, we took them because we thought they were Rookie level Digimon. We took the Digimon because we made a deal with Mephistomon.”
“What sort of deal?” Bearmon growled, paws clenched into fists.
“My friends and I have been constantly pushed out of our territory. Every month we would come under attack by bigger, stronger Digimon. Every month our swarm would dwindle until there were only a handful of us left. That’s when Mephistomon came to us with an offer: we hunt down In-Training and Rooke Digimon and bring them to Mt. Panorama. Once he had enough, he would grant us power. We had the chance to become strong enough to take back our territory, we took it!”
“And how did that work out for you?” Veemon spat, glancing at the chains holding the Flymon down.
“Earlier today, Mephistomon sent for us,” the other Flymon started. “We met him here, and he told us that it was time for our reward. He waved his hand around, and then everything went dark. We woke up down here, chained up. Mephistomon came down here with...some kind of crystal. Broke it in front of our leader and this purple smoke seeped into him.”
“At first nothing happened,” his friend continued. “But then he started thrashing around angrily, sputtering off nonsense and trying to launch attacks everywhere until he deleted himself. Mephistomon took his data and said something about it being “a bit too strong”, and then just left!”
Apple Bloom thought back to the meeting a few minutes ago. These must be the “volunteers” that Mephistomon was talkin’ about!
“Please, you have to get us out of here!”
“What!” Veemon shouted. “Why would we do that?”
“You didn’t see what happened to my friend. The way he thrashed around and yelled, he went insane! Please, I don’t want to end up like that. We can help you escape!”
“And why should we trust you?” Scootaloo growled.
“Um, Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle started.
“These Digimon kidnapped baby Digimon! And for what? Just so they could be part of Mephistomon’s experiments?”
“But does that mean THEY deserve to be test subjects?” Babs Seed asked.
“Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to defend these creeps! They kidnapped you too!”
“Only because they were tricked into doin’ so,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“Yes, and we feel bad about what we’ve done,” one of the Flymon said. “Now please, let us out! We can make up for it by helping you escape. But you’ve got to get us out now, before Mephistomon shows up. Otherwise he’s going...to…”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked. But the Flymon only shook in their chains.
“Um...Apple Bloom,” Armadillomon poked Apple Bloom’s foreleg. “We m-may have a problem.”
Everypony turned around, and felt their blood freeze in their veins as they saw the large shadow that towered over them.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Mephistomon chuckled with a wicked smile. “By all means, give me some ideas.”
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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This is getting intense. And I love that last line. Really channels Freeza from TeamFourStar's DBZA.
I love that you went with my idea for a main antagonist. I told you it would work well
So this takes place after both Season 1 & Season 2 of Digimon and Devimon is BACK!!!!! I thought Angimon got rid of him for good! Man, he's like a rash you can't get rid of! But why do they need an army for anyway? What if they learn of Equestria and they plan to take it over?! Twilight and her friends along with the princesses won't stand a chance against an army of evil Digimon! Looks like Scootaloo and her team are both Earth, Equestria, and the Digital World's only hope! Good thing that Guilmon can Warp-Digievolve into Gallentmon and go into Crimson Mode! That's a ace in the hole!
Ah Fudge Pumps. Looks like Devimon finally Reincarnated, and even Digivolved!
8781321
oh Celestia...What if that NeoDevimon is actually DemiDevimon?!
Sometimes, Chicken Little knows what he's talking about.
I like that you included elements of Digimon World.
Is that... a TFS reference
8781321
If I recall... Devimon was discovered by Ken, during his dark rule, hiding under a fake ocean, STILL grievously wounded from his battle
9552587
Wasnt he eatten by VenomMyotismon?
Always did love that line.
Ohhhh that got me! Perfect Pear FTW