• Published 28th Mar 2013
  • 10,429 Views, 917 Comments

Digital Harmony - Zennistrad



When Princess Twilight Sparkle creates ENEIGHAC, the world's first computer, she inadvertantly opens a gateway to the Digital World...

  • ...
30
 917
 10,429

PreviousChapters Next
Shine On, Miracle Maker

Armadillomon, Cody, and Rarity steadily hiked through the forest, making their way towards the control spire. The entire trip so far had been suspiciously uneventful; aside from the constant irritation from various insects nothing had bothered them. Not once, however, had any of the three let their guard down, they knew something could come out of the forest and attack them at any moment. Cody’s eyes nervously scanned their surroundings, while Rarity’s ears twitched, trying to pick up the sound of any hostile digimon that might be nearby.

Eventually, the three reached a clearing in the woods, where they saw the massive control spire standing in the center. Rarity shuddered at the sight of the black tower, she could feel its dark aura reverberating with her soul; it felt to her like the same darkness that had taken ahold of her as Nightmare Rarity. Steeling her nerves, she reminded herself that she would never let that darkness take hold of her again.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked, looking at Cody expectantly.

“Simple,” replied Cody, “we destroy it. Are you ready, Armadillomon?”

“Ah’m ready whenever you are,” replied Armadillomon.

Cody nodded, and reached into his pocket. His action was swiftly interrupted when a series of loud crashing noises echoed through the surrounding forest.

Rarity yelped in surprise, jumping almost a foot into the air. “W-what was that?!”

“I don’t know,” replied Cody nervously, “but I think we’re about to find out!”

The crashing sound quickly grew louder as whatever was making it rapidly approached them. The human, digimon, and pony instinctively backed away as the source of the sound grew closer.

Suddenly, a massive lobster creature exploded into the clearing, knocking over several trees in the process. Its eyes glowed red with malice, and around its left arm was spiraling band of black metal.

Rarity let out a high-pitched scream as the lobster snapped its claws menacingly. “What is that thing?!

“It’s an Ebidramon!” replied Cody. “And it’s got a dark spiral! Change of plans, Armadillomon! We’ll need to take care of him first!”

Without hesitating, Cody swiftly pulled out his digivice, and held it out in front of his partner, speaking the command words to activate his digivolution.

Digi-Armor Energize!

Rarity watched with fascination as Cody’s digivice emitted a bright light, and a small object roughly the size of a hoofball emerged from the plastic screen. It was golden-yellow in color, and had a flat bottom, with the top tapering to a point where a metal spike stuck outwards. Both Armadillomon and the object glowed intensely as they merged, causing Armadillomon’s body to transform.

Armadillomon, Armor Digivolve to: Digmon, the Drills of Knowledge!

As the transformation completed, Rarity couldn’t help but stare at the digimon that was standing before her. Instead of an armadillo, there was a six-foot tall beetle with a yellow exoskeleton, two legs, and four arms, two of which had large, drills for digits. On the front of its face was another drill which served as a nose. The Ebidramon’s eyes narrowed dangerously as it regarded its newest target.

“Alright, you oversized crawdad!” exclaimed Digmon “Let’s rodeo!” Rarity was quick to note that Digmon’s voice was different from his other forms, though he still kept Armadillomon’s cowboy accent. He swiftly leapt into the air, and with a shout, launched his attack.

Gold Rush!

The numerous drills on Digmon detached from his body, spreading out in multiple directions as they rocketed towards the Ebidramon and zeroed in on it dark spiral. The lobster digimon reacted swiftly, and with a swipe of his claws, swatted the drills aside. Before Digmon’s drills could replace themselves, the Ebidramon countered with its own attack.

Twin Scissors!

Its claws glowing white with energy, the Ebidramon charged forward and tackled Digmon, pushing him to the ground. Rarity let out a gasp of fright as both the Ebidramon’s claws wrapped around Digmon’s body, and he struggled desperately to avoid being crushed altogether.

“Digmon!” Cody cried out for his partner.

Digmon grunted in pain as the Ebidramon kept him pinned to the ground, its reddened eyes staring him straight in the face. His eyes hardened in determination, and with a forceful shout, he kicked the Ebidramon in the center of its body. The force of the kick caused the lobster to release its grip as its body began to flip over backwards, its body sticking straight up into the air. Digmon quickly crawled out from under the Ebidramon, which fell back onto its legs and glared at Digmon, snarling with rage. Ignoring the multiple bruises on his body, Digmon matched his opponent’s glare with his own, his drills quickly growing back to replace themselves.

Rock Cracking!

Digmon’s drills rotated as they plunged straight into the ground, causing a large fissure to appear in the earth, expanding outwards towards his foe.

Lobster Step!

The Ebidramon swiftly jumped over the fissure, its body surrounding itself with water-like energy as it moved to crush Digmon under its weight. Digmon managed to move out of the way, but a shockwave of fire generated from the landing knocked him backwards, injuring him.

“Cody, look out!”

“Huh?” Before Cody could make sense of Rarity’s warning, a small rock flew out straight towards him, no doubt launched by the force of the Ebidramon’s attack. He cried out in pain as the stone struck him on the shoulder, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Cody!” Rarity shrieked, quickly rushing to his side. Cody grunted in pain as he struggled to sit up, clutching his now-bloodied shoulder with his arm, only to fall to the ground again.

“Please,” she insisted, “you must hold still!” She gently prodded Cody’s shoulder with her hoof, eliciting a soft “ow” sound from him. “Good, nothing broken. Now let’s get that wound of yours cleaned up.”

Rarity grunted in exertion as her horn glowed, causing an aura of blue light to surround the saddlebags on her sides, the buttons coming undone as the flaps opened. Breathing heavily, she set the bags on the ground, casting a worried glance towards Digmon, who continued to fight a losing battle against the Ebidramon.

Why am I having such a difficult time with my magic? Quickly pushing the thought aside, she rummaged through the bags, desperately searching for something to help Cody’s injury. She let out a frustrated sigh as she found that the gauze and bandages she packed had been completely soaked by her nearly drowning in the lake, turning them into pulpy wads of ruined fabric.

I can’t use these, she thought, they’d tear as easily as wet tissue paper. But... I can’t let Cody go unattended, either... He saved my life! I have to do something!

Thinking quickly, Rarity sorted through her saddlebag, through the various fabrics she’d brought in case one of her friends needed to look nice for anything. With some improvisation, they could be used as a makeshift bandage. Much to her dismay however, all of her extremely delicate fabrics had been ruined her extended dip in the grimy lakewater.
.
All except one, she thought, and it’s the most valuable one I have. Her face twisting into a grimace from the exertion, she lifted the roll of fabric with her magic, along with a pair of scissors and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and turned towards the injured Cody.

“Alright, now let’s see what we can do about that nasty wound of yours.” Before Cody could question her, Rarity carefully rolled up the sleeve on his shirt with her magic, revealing the bloodied shoulder underneath.

Cody took notice of Rarity’s strained expression as she struggled to keep the items in her magical grip.

“Rarity, please, you don’t need to do this for me!”

“Nonsense, darling, I couldn’t possibly leave you like this on good conscience, especially after you saved my life. Now hold still.” Holding Cody’s arm in her hoof, she gently applied a small splash of peroxide to the wound, causing Cody to flinch slightly as the peroxide bubbled against his skin. Setting the bottle down, Rarity then carefully cut a small amount of fabric from the roll with her scissors, and wrapped it around Cody’s shoulder, before tying it together in a knot.

Rarity stepped back as Cody sat up gently, carefully running his fingers over the makeshift bandage.

“Is this silk?”

Sea silk.” replied Rarity. “It’s an extremely valuable fabric, made from a fiber that shellfish use to attach themselves to the sea floor. It’s lightweight, durable, finer than regular silk, and most importantly, waterproof.”

Cody stared at Rarity incredulously. “But... Why? Why waste something so valuable like this?”

“Well, it seems that my bandages were ruined by my unwanted bath, as were most of my other fabrics. But that’s not what really matters, is it? What’s important is that you’re going to be alright. I wouldn’t trade your safety for all the fabric in the world.”

Cody looked up at the white unicorn, still trying to process what he had just heard from her.

“Rarity, I... I don’t know what to say...”

Rarity smiled. “No need to say anything, Cody. I’m perfectly fine just knowing you’re alright.”

Twin Scissors!

Cody and Rarity’s attention was suddenly pulled towards the Ebidramon, who had once again pinned Digmon to the ground, attempting to crush him in its massive claws. Digmon struggled wildly, but didn’t seem to be able to shake the Ebidramon off of him.

“Digmon!” Cried Cody. “Rarity, what do we- huh?” He found himself unable to complete his sentence as he noticed the digivice on Rarity’s foreleg glowing brightly. He shielded his eyes as the light intensified, Rarity’s entire body beginning to glow as well.

“Execute! Harmonic Evolution!”

Cody stared in disbelief as a swirling vortex of water appeared around Rarity’s body, causing him to be splashed by droplets that flew out in all directions. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the waterspout around Rarity vanished. As it did, she revealed herself to be a much larger unicorn, with the proportions of a full-sized horse. The front of her body was covered in crystal blue armor, with a large metal dorsal fin sticking out the back. Her head was covered by a blue helmet, similar to Pegasusmon’s, with massive white horn sticking out the forehead, and a dripping violet mane sticking out the back. At the end of her body was a long, fish-like tail with a violet fin.

Kelpiemon! The Generous Guardian of the Lake!

==========
Digimon Analyzer: Kelpiemon

Type: Mythical Animal

Attribute: Vaccine

Level: Hybrid (Champion Equivalent)

Special Attacks: Hydro Surge, Mystery Blade
==========

Cody’s draw dropped at the sight of Rarity’s transformation, an expression that was matched by the both the Ebidramon as it glanced at the new arrival. Digmon appeared similarly shocked, though it was slightly harder to tell due him being pinned on the ground, as well as his lack of any mouth to speak of.

Rarity?!” Cody exclaimed.

Kelpiemon turned her head around, and examined her new body, giving an experimental flick of her tail. “Oh, my... Well, isn’t this something!”

Cody paused, not quite sure what to say. “I... What? How?”

“No time for questions, dearest! Digmon needs my help!” Kelpiemon turned to the Ebidramon, and looked it straight in the eyes. “Alright, you ruffian, it’s time I taught you a lesson! Hydro Surge!

Spinning around with her back to the Ebidramon, Kelpiemon delivered a powerful kick with her hind legs, sending out powerful jets of water from her rear hooves. The streams of water struck the Ebidramon square in the face, causing it to release its grip on Digmon as it was pushed over and flipped onto its back, flailing its limbs in the air.

Digmon picked himself off the ground and turned to face Kelpiemon. “Well, butter mah drills and call me a biscuit! You did it!”

“You can thank me later, Digmon, we still haven’t finished what we started. Go take care of the control spire, I’ll free that poor creature!”

“Got it!” replied Digmon. He turned to the face the spire, and in a single attack, caused it to collapse on itself and disintegrate.

Gold Rush!

With the spire destroyed, Kelpiemon turned to face the Ebidramon, which rolled over onto its legs, brandishing its claws. Galloping forward at full speed, she raised her head high into the air as she called her attack.

Mystery Blade!

Kelpiemon’s horn glowed with a brilliant, crystal blue light, which quickly grew into a massive blade of energy. Leaping into the air, she performed a downward slash with her blade, sending a crescent-shaped shockwave that destroyed the dark spiral with perfect precision.

As the red glow in the Ebidramon’s eyes faded, Kelpiemon gracefully landed behind it, her hooves lightly touching against the ground. She looked back at her work and struck a pose, certain now that she’d gotten the others’ attention. She and Digmon them glowed as they reverted to their base forms, having spent their energy, and went back to meet with Cody.

“That was amazin’, Rarity!” exclaimed Armadillomon.

Rarity smiled. “Please, it was nothing.”

“I’d say it was something,” said Cody, “though I’m still not sure what it is.”

“We can probably worry about that later,” said Armadillomon. “Why don’t we go over there and help that poor sea critter?” He pointed to the Ebidramon, which groaned in pain as it massaged its forehead with its claw.

“Oh dear,” said Rarity, turning towards the Ebidramon, “are you alright? I’m terribly sorry for hurting you like that.”

“Uh... Huh? No, it’s fine!” replied the Ebidramon, shaking its head, “You saved me from that dark spiral. If anything, I should be thanking you!”

“Oh, that’s quite alright. I couldn’t have simply let you go about being controlled by an evil artifact, now, could I?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Do you know who it was that did this to you?” asked Cody. “We need to figure out who’s behind all of this.”
“I don’t know who it was exactly,” replied the Ebidramon, “but I remember hearing a voice in my head calling itself the Queen of the Digital World. She told me to seek out and destroy her enemies, and I couldn’t help but go after you guys.” The Ebidramon looked apologetically at Cody and at his bandaged arm. “I’m sorry for what I did to you guys.”

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault,” replied Cody.

“Yeah, I know.”

“What Ah wanna know is, what were you doin’ in that there lake?” asked Armadillomon, “Ah thought Ebidramon were saltwater digimon.”

The Ebidramon’s eyes widened in shock as it glanced around nervously. “Uh... Would you look at the time! I’ve got to get going! Bye!” Not wasting another moment, the lobster digimon turned around and ran off into the forest as fast as it could, heading for the island outskirts.

————————

After leaving the Ebidramon, the three continued to the village where they took a short break before deciding to head back to meet with the others. The Numemon had offered to let them stay as long as they wanted, but Rarity had politely declined.

As the sun crept further downwards toward the edge of the horizon, the three made their final preparations to leave. After saying goodbye to the Numemon, they headed towards the docks so they could return to the Digiport.

Suddenly, a loud beeping sounded from Cody’s pocket, indicating that he’d received mail. He pulled out his D-Terminal and read the message displayed on the screen.

“It’s from Davis. He says he and Twilight destroyed the control spire, and will meet with us back at the DigiPort.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” said Rarity. “But what about the others? Have they been found?”

Cody shook his head slightly. “I’m afraid he hasn’t said anything about them.”

Rarity was visibly saddened by this, and her ears flattened against her head. “Oh... I see.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find them. I’ll tell everyone I found you, and to keep an eye out for the others..” Holding out his D-Terminal, Cody began composing a message.

As Cody continued typing, Armadillomon approached Rarity, and looked up at her reassuringly. “Listen, Rare, Ah know you’re worried about your friends, but there ain’t no sense getting all out of sorts about it now. Y’all just gotta keep looking for them and hope for the best.”

“I know, Armadillomon,” replied Rarity, “but I can’t help it. They’re my best friends. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t care for their safety?” She looked away as tears began to form in her eyes once more, unable to stand the thought that she might never see the others again. Armadillomon reached up with a claw and placed in on her shoulder, reassuring her. They were soon interrupted, however, when Cody called out to them.

“Hey Rarity, good news! The others have found your friends!”

Rarity perked up almost instantly. “Really? Everypony’s alright? All my friends are safe?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve communicated with the others, and they’ve each found one of your friends. I think their names were Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news! I’m so glad to hear that they’re safe! I can’t begin to thank you enough for this, Cody. But what about Fluttershy?”

“I haven’t heard anything about her,” replied Cody, “but if I had to guess, I’d say her disappearance has something to do with the new control spires.”

“You mean you think whoever’s building these new control spires might be responsible for Fluttershy?” asked Armadillomon.

Rarity's eyes hardened, her expression suddenly turning into a scowl. “I most certainly hope not. I'd sooner die than let the forces of evil take my friends."

Cody stared blankly at Rarity's sudden mood shift. Where did THAT come from?

"Well, we still don't know that yet," he replied "we can discuss it later with Twilight and Davis, hopefully we'll be able to figure it out then."

Rarity sighed worriedly, "I suppose that's better than nothing," she said, "shall we be leaving, then?"

“Ah’m ready to go when you are,” said Armadillomon.

“Me too," said Cody.

"Good," replied Rarity, "then let us depart."

With that, the three made their way toward the edge of the dock, where Armadillomon jumped into the water as Cody activated his Armor Digivolution.

Armadillomon, Armor Digivolve to: Submarimon!

Submarimon’s cockpit opened and Cody climbed in and sat down in the controls. Rarity stood by the edge of the dock and looked at them curiously.

“Well?” said Cody, “are you getting in?”

“Actually,” replied Rarity, “I don’t think that will be necessary. If you don’t mind, I’m going to try something.”

“Huh?”

Rarity gave a knowing smile, and raised her hoof into the air, showing her Digivice.

“Oh.”

Harmonic Evolution! Kelpiemon!

As her evolution completed, Kelpiemon jumped into lake, treading water next to Submarimon.

“Shall we be going?”

Cody looked at Kelpiemon worriedly. “Are you sure you’ll be able to do this?”

“Of course, dear. I think you’ll find I’m rather skilled at swimming in this form.”

“Don’t worry about it, Cody,” said Submarimon, “if she starts drowning again I’ll catch her.”

Kelpiemon glared at Submarimon threateningly. “I beg your pardon?

Cody sighed. “Let’s not argue now, okay? We should get going.”

“My apologies,” said Kelpiemon, “I just don’t wish to recall that particular experience so soon.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Cody, “we just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I understand if you’re concerned, but I assure you it won’t be a problem. Now, let’s get going, shall we?”

Cody nodded, and with a push of a button, closed Submarimon’s cockpit. Remaining half-submerged, they began heading out towards the edge of the lake, where they would continue on land to the DigiPort.

Kelpiemon quickly followed, diving under the surface and swimming after them, her new form allowing for her to easily breathe underwater. She looked forward to seeing her friends again, and hopefully finding some answers to what was happening.

Author's Note:

And, we're back!

So yeah, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. More callbacks to the IDW comics, specifically Nightmare Rarity. Understandably, she doesn't seem to take to kindly to the idea of the forces of evil taking her friends.

Rarity's digimon form, Kelpiemon, is based off of the Kelpie, a supernatural creature from Celtic myth that took the form of a lost pony, and lived inside a lake. Kelpiemon's attacks are a shout out to another character from a popular franchise that's also based off of the Kelpie. Can you guess who it is?

I've also gone back and edited the chapter with Vespimon's first appearance to include her portrait. Here it is again for those of you who read the chapter before the edit:

Credit as usual goes to C8lin-the-Hedgie for the art.

PreviousChapters Next