> Shadows of Darkness, Flames of Courage
>  by SuperPinkBrony12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Leader is Taken
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                (In an unknown universe) 

A mysterious figure was talking to itself. "Everything is in place" the figure said "At long last I will finally have my revenge. And by the time it's over everything will belong to me! Plus I'll make sure to destroy those goody twoshoes once and for all! And the best part is, nothing wlll go wrong! I won't allow it!"

(In Odabia, Tokyo)

Any thoughts of evil forces were far from Tai's mind as he finally finished unpacking his backpack, full of heavy textbooks. He was glad to finally be on break once again. Studying to become a diplomat was hard work, but it was worth it for a chance to make the world a better place. Having seen firsthand in the Digital World just how much pain and suffering could come from fighting, Tai wanted nothing more then to play a part in ensuring that stopped. Both in his world, and the Digital World.

"Hard to believe how fast time has gone by since that 'extended stay' in Equestria." Tai thought to himself. He could still well remember what happened over the previous spring break, when he and his fellow digidestined had been teleported to Equestria, alongside their partner digimon. They had battled against several foes they'd thought they'd seen the last of, and Tai had fallen in love with Twilight Sparkle. But despite his best efforts he had been unable to stay in contact with her, largely due to the difficult homework in his classes. And now he was finally going to get the chance to play catch up. He had no idea how much time had passed in Equestria, and he had no way of knowing just how much had changed in the time since his visit.

Placing the last textbook down on the floor and setting the backpack aside Tai now turned his attention to the computer. He could still remember back to that time when he was 10, and had somehow traveled into the
Internet to fight Diaboromon. It was hard to believe over three and a half years had passed since that battle. It still seemed so recent to Tai. That had been the first time where he was forced to confront the possibility of not being able to save someone he cared about, even if he did everything he could.

Tai quickly pushed the memories from his mind. He did not like to relive the events of the past. Time and time again all it did was make him feel bad, and sometimes give him nightmares. He focused on why he had wanted to approach it in the first place. He was really looking forward to talking with Twilight once again, perhaps even arrange for a trip to Ponyville for the duration of his break.

After booting up the computer Tai checked his e-mails. To his surprise there was an unknown one waiting at the top of his list, and it had just been sent today if the date was to be believed. Normally this would've seemed odd to Tai, and likely raised a red flag in his mind. But he remembered that all of Twilight's e-mails had been marked as unknown, because it did not recognize Equestria as an actual place.

The e-mail read:

Dear Tai,

How has life been for you over the past few months? I haven't heard from you in so long. I hope you haven't forgotten about me.

You would not believe what's been going on in my life since you last showed up. I could go on and on talking about what you missed out on.

But I shan't bore you with the details.

Could you please come to Ponyville again for a while? If it isn't too much to ask of course.

I know this may seem selfish but I really miss you, and I want to see you again so badly. I spoke with Princess Celestia and she said it was okay, and Gennai has agreed as well.

So can I expect to see you again soon? I hope that you say yes, but I'll understand if you say no.

Love,

Your marefriend for life, Twilight Sparkle

Tai smiled as he read the e-mail again. He was pleased to see that Twilight wasn't mad at him for not staying in contact, and that she missed him so much. 

He felt tempeted to reply and say yes right then and there. But something stopped him. He remembered that he had those who cared about him in this world. These included, his mother and father, his partner digimon Agumon, his fellow digidestined, and his little sister Kari. All of them would surely panic if he just up and left without saying goodbye, or at least writing a note explaining where he was going.

"I won't be gone for too long." he thought to himself as he quietly tiptoed out of the computer room. He went to the kitchen and opened one of the drawers. Inside was a stack of sticky notes, just the thing for a quick little message of reassurance.

On his way back to the computer room Tai stopped for a moment. He made a small detour and went into the bedroom that he and his sister still shared after all these years. He looked down at the bottom bunk and saw Kari and Gatomon fast asleep. Gatomon was curled up beneath Kari's arm, which held her tightly. Almost like a stuffed animal. And above them, on the top bunk Agumon was snoring away. They all looked so peaceful. It pained him greatly to leave them all behind, even if it was only for a few days. But they were resting peacefully, and he didn't want to wake them up. They deserved to rest, they had all been helpful in protecting the real world, the digital world, and Equestria. If they really missed him that much they could always come to Equestria themselves.

"Sweet dreams guys. Try not to worry too much about me. I promise I'll be back before long." Tai thought to himself as he headed back to the computer room. He quickly wrote down a message on the sticky note, he made sure to mention where he was going and when he would be back.

With that done he set the note aside and typed up his reply to Twilight's e-mail.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Hello again, it's me Tai. I've missed you as well. Sorry I haven't contacted you for so long, but I've been very busy,

I've got some good news though. I'm currently on break and I figured Ponyville sounded like the perfect get away destination. 

So I'll gladly accept your offer, hope to see you real soon.

Love,

Your coltfriend for life, Taichi Yagami Kamiya"

The instant Tai hit "send" the trouble began. Without warning the computer began to emit weird sounds. Within seconds the screen turned an ominus red. Tai blinked, and before his eyes he saw what looked like a digiport appear on the screen. Something was not right here, but the instant he tried to rise up from the chair some unknown force pulled him down, and glued him to the seat. He couldn't move.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! WHAT KIND OF CRAP HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!" he shouted, hoping that someone would hear him. Alas noone did.

Tai gasped as he suddenly felt himself being pulled into the computer. He tried to resist, to no avail. The unknown force refused to let go. "WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!" Tai shouted as he shut his eyes. A moment latter the leader of the digidestined, and the bearer of the Crest of Courage was gone.

(In the land of Equestria)

Twilight Sparkle awoke with a start. Outside there came a bright flash of light. "That's weird." she said to herself "The pegasi didn't schedule a storm for tonight." Her curioisty getting the better of her Twilight threw her bedsheets up into the air and bolted out of bed. Waking Spike up in the process.

"Are you okay Twilight? You look worried." Spike said.

"I just got a feeling that something really bad just happened to one of our friends." Twilight said, racing downstairs.

"Do you know who it is?" Spike asked. Needless to say he was worried.

"I think so." Twilight said, using her magic to open the front door and race outside. Not far from the library she spotted something. The sight caused Twilight to let out a gasp.

There, laying helpless and unresponsive was an orange peagsus stallion. His brown mane and tail done up in a seemingly familar spikey style. On his flanks was emblazoned an orange swirl with 8 triangles surronding it.

"Who is this guy?" Spike asked "And why does he look so familar?"

"I don't know Spike. But we need to get him inside quick! He needs our help!" Twilight said. He proceeded to pick up the pegasus with her magic and carried him into the Ponyville Golden Oaks Library. She quickly brought him upstairs and placed him on the guest bed.
> Waking Up A Little Different
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                Twilight was relieved when she heard the sound of deep breaths coming from the mystery stallion. For a moment there she had been very worried. But the stallion remained in his current state. He was breathing, but apparently he would be out cold for some time.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Spike asked anxiously.

"I think so Spike." Twilight replied "But something must have taken a lot out of him, he's out like a light."

"Well what are we suppose to do now?" Spike asked.

"All we can do is keep a close eye on this guy until he wakes up. If anything happens to him we'll need to be ready." Twilight said.

"Shouldn't we take him to the hospital?" Spike asked "I'm sure they're better equipped to deal with this type of situation."

"It's nothing serious Spike." Twilight said "He can breath on his own, he's just in a really deep sleep. If he doesn't wake up tomorrow though we may have to take him in after all."

"What about our friends? Shouldn't they know about this?" Spike asked.

"It's the middle of the night Spike, everypony is asleep. We shouldn't wake them up unless things go south." Twilight said "What we'll do now is we'll take turns keeping watch over this stranger. And if anything changes we notify the one who's sleeping."

"I guess that make sense." Spike said "But you have to promise me that if he doesn't wake up by tomorrow morning you have to get help."

"I promise Spike." Twilight sad "Now try to get some rest. I'll take up the first watch."

"Okay. Guess I'll try to catch some shuteye." Spike said "Maybe I'll have that ice cream dream again."

All throughout the night Twilight and Spike took turns keeping a close vigil on the mysterious stallion. Luckly the stallion seemed to sleep comfortably, and no complications arose. 

The next morning however the orange pegasus had still not woken up. Twilight instructed Spike to stay behind while she went to get help. Spike was more then a little worried about Twilight, but she reassured him that she would be fine. She was just about to leave when Spike shouted out "Twilight come quick! He's waking up!"

Twilight bolted back upstairs as fast as her hooves could carry her. Sure enough the mystery stallion began t moan, and slowly but surely he began to open his eyes. Twilight was surprised to see they were a familiar brown, as if though she'd seen them before.

Tai had no idea what had happened to him. The last thing he could remember was him shutting his eyes as he was sucked into what was seemingly a digiport. He yawned as he slowly opened his eyes, he felt very groggy. "Oh man, I am so out of it." he said to himself.

"Good morning sleepyhead, sleep well?" a female voice asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." Tai said. Then he realized something, he'd heard that voice before. "Twilight? Is that you?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? And how do you know my name?" Twilight asked.

"Don't you remember me? I was that human you fell in love with last time I came here." Tai said.

"But that can't be, you're not human." Twilight said.

"I'm not human? What do you mean I'm not human? Of course I'm human. Look at me!" Tai said. He gasped as he opened his eyes all the way and saw what was right in front of him. An orange hoof, where there should've been a hand.

"Do you see now?" Twilight asked.

"I see it, but I don't believe it!" Tai said "This can only mean one thing! I'm a pony now!"

"Indeed you are!" Twilight said "Just take a look!" Using her magic she held up a small mirror. Tai blinked and rolled his eyes as he saw an orange pegasus stallion with brown eyes, and a spikey brown mane and tail starring back at him. There was no denying it now, he was no longer human.

Tai wanted so badly to scream to the heavens at the top of his lungs at that moment. Twilight recognized the signs of trouble at once. "Calm down!" Twilight said "Here, let me show you a little trick that Cadence thought me." Twilight proceeded to take a deep breath, and slowly let it out. "Now you try it. Trust me, it will make you feel a lot better." Twilight said.

"Well, okay. Here goes." Tai said and proceeded to repeat the steps that Twilight had shown him. Just like Twilight said he felt a lot better now. Then he noticed something else. Was it his imagination or was Twilight suddenly taller? For that matter why did her horn suddenly seem bigger, and why did it look like she had two wings on her back? "What happened to you Twilight?" he asked "You look, different."

"So you finally noticed huh? Man you must have really slow reflexes or something." Spike teased.

"Spike!" Twilight scolded.

"No, no, it's okay." Tai said "But seriously you weren't like this the last time I saw you."

"Well you're not going to believe this, but you are looking at Equestria's newest princess." Twilight said "I'm an alicorn now."

"Oh an alicorn, is that all. Well that's just fine and dandy...wait what? Are you joshing me or something?" Tai asked.

"I'm not." Twilight said "What you see is what you get."

"But when did that happen? The last time I heard from you you were about to work on Star Swirl's incompleted master spell. You were still a unicorn. When did that change?" Tai asked "Explain!"

"Well it's a long story so I'll just give you the shortened version." Twilight said "I cast the spell and accidentally switched the Elements of Harmony, and my friends cutie marks. They all thought they had different talents, ones that they weren't good at. I managed to remind them of what our friendship means and undone the damage. And then something inside of me got one of those 'Eureka!' moments. I finished the spell and the Elements of Harmony somehow reacted to them. I was blasted with them, and I think I might have died."

"Well obviously you didn't, or else you wouldn't be here telling me all this." Tai said "Anyway continue."

"The next thing I knew I was in some sort of place that according to Cadence only Princess Celestia had ever been to. Princess Celestia told me that I was ready for a new change, and then poof. I was teleported back to Ponyville with a new pair of wings to boot. And thus I became the princess of magic." Twilight continued.

"That's quite a story." Tai said "But there's one thing that bothers me."

"And that is?" Twilight asked.

"If you're a princess then why don't you have some sort of castle or palace? I mean don't all princesses have to have one?" Tai asked.

"Yes." Twilight said "The only thing is there aren't exactly a lot of suitable loctations for a castle. I don't live in Canterlot so I can't use the royal palace there. The Crystal Empire is too far away, not to mention it's already in good hooves. And the Castle of the Two Sisters still lies in ruins. I visited there just recently and the whole place was still falling apart. Rarity and I have been doing our best to try and restore it, and so have our friends, but I think we're fighting a losing battle. As luck would have it though Rarity has been taking the time to try and spruce this place up a little. Make it feel like more of a palace."

"I see." Tai said.

"There's a lot you missed out on. But I'll gladly fill you in on the details at breakfast." Twilight said.

Upon hearing the word "breakfast" Tai's stomach began to rumble. Breakfast sounded good.

"Come on downstairs and I'll get breakfast going." Twilight said.

"Okay then." Tai said. slipping off the bed. It took some effort to get use to standing on four legs instead of two, but he eventually got the hang of it. Slowly but surely he went down the steps to the main floor of the library.
> The Search Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

              The mysterious force that pulled Tai from his own world and planted him in Equestria made sure to leave behind no traces of its work. It made sure that the note Tai had written disappeared for good. Now noone would know where he was, and they would all search helplessly for him. Everything was going according to plan.

At first not even Agumon and Kari were worried about the fact that Tai was not asleep on the top bunk. He had always been an early riser after all.

Breakfast began as it usually did, without any thoughts whatsoever of where Tai might be. 

Yuuko had wanted to make breakfast, but her husband Susumu wouldn't let her. He knew all too well how much his wife loved to experiment with new recipes, none of which ever ended well. Susumu was surprisingly enough a very skilled cook, but then that was to expected when one had a wfie like Yuuko.

Yuuko meanwhile was relaxing on the couch, watching the morning news with Agumon and Gatomon. She had surprisingly warmed up to them quite a bit since they first revealed themselves to her. In a way they were part of her family. 

As for Kari, she was taking her daily morning shower. She was looking forward to meeting up with her friend Yolei later on to go shopping. Her boyfriend T.K.'s birthday was coming up and she wanted to get him a present. A very special present that would say "Thank you for being my boyfriend." Just as Kari stepped out of the shower Susumu called out "Breakfast is ready! Hope you like pancakes!"

Those words set off a frenzy of sorts within the Kamiya household. Kari quickly got dressed into her clothes, Yuuko shut off the t.v., and Agumon and Gatomon sprang off of the couch as fast as their legs would let them. A moment later everyone was seated at the table, except for Tai. Now worry began to set in, it wasn't like Tai to miss breakfast when his dad was cooking. Heck sometimes he was even willing to try one of his mother's recipes if he thought it sounded good enough.

"Tai! Breakfast is ready! Come and get it before it's all gone!" Yuuko called out "It's buttermilk pancakes, your favorite!" There was no reply.

"Oh well, you snooze you lose." Agumon said and scarfed down his plate the instant it was placed in front of him. He licked his lips to get some of the delicious maple syrup off of his snot, and into his mouth. Then he let out a loud belch.

"Agumon!" Gatomon said angrily. Needless to say she was ashamed of his childish behavior.

"Excuse me." Agumon said. Gatomon shot him a death glare that would've made her "Cat's Eye Hypontism" look tame by comparison.

"That's a start." Kari said "But try not to be eat so fast next time. You eat all those pancakes like that and you'll get a wicked bad tummy ache. I mean it."

Agumon felt so tempted to say "Forget you! I can eat all these pancakes!" but he held his tongue. As he did so he started to grow even more worried. Tai had to be up by now, there was no excuse for him missing out on pancakes.

Once breakfast was over Tai still had yet to appear. Everyone in the Kamiya household began to panic, where could Tai have disappeared to? Was he alright? Had he been hurt? Was he in danger? Did something bad happen to him? Had he slipped out and forgotten to mention where he was going? No one knew the answer, and as time passed without any sort of leads their worry only grew.

At last the Kamiya's gave up. They had searched every square inch of the house and had not found anything. If Tai had gone somewhere they had no clue where. All they knew was that Tai was missing, and he had to be found at all costs.

"Where could my little boy have wandered off to?" Yuuko asked, trying not to cry. It was no use, she was becoming more and more of a wreak with each passing second.

"Tai! If you're here now please come out! This isn't funny anymore!" Susumu said. He was trying to comfort his sobbing wife, to no avail. Agumon and Gatomon tried the same, as did Kari, but it was no use.

Eventually something inside Kari snapped. "Enough is enough!" she said sternly. Her usual cheerful simle had faded, she now looked quite serious. "I don't know where Tai is but we can't give up hope! We must mount a search party at once!"

"But how?" Yuuko asked in between sobs "We have no leads at all. The police will just dismiss it as a lost cause."

"I have an idea." Kari explained "Mom and dad, you stay here in case for some reason Tai calls or he shows up at the door. Agumon, Gatomon, you're with me! We're going to find Tai if it's the last thing we do!"

"Where you are going Kari?" Susumu asked.

"I'm going to meet up with out friends! And with their help we're going to comb the digital world, and perhaps even all of Equestria until we find Tai! And we will not rest til he is safe and sound!" Kari said and with that she, Gatomon, and Agumon bolted out the front door.

They ran into Yolei on the way and explained the situation. Yolei wasted no time in rounding all of their friends, human, and digimon. Except for Mimi who was back in America. They all gathered at the Inoue family convenience store in Yolei's room.

"Tai is missing?!" they all gasped when Yolei explained.

Kari nodded her head. "And we're going to find him, no matter what it takes!" she said with determination.

"So are we gonna sit just around talking or are we going to raise some hell?!" Davis shouted.

"Yeah!" everyone shouted.

"All right listen up!" Kari said "Gather up your supplies and be back here in half an hour! Yolei you need to contact Mimi and notify her of the situation!"

"Can do!" Yolei said.

"I don't know how long we'll be gone so don't be afraid to pack heavily." Kari said "But try to remember to only bring the essentials. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Ma-am! Yes ma-am!" everyone else replied.

Half an hour later the digidestined and their partner digimon all gathered back together and with a cry of "Digiport open!" from Izzy they were whisked into the digital world.

"Hang on onichan." Kari said "We're coming to save you!"
> Equestrian 101
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                Twilight was no slouch in the kitchen. Within minutes she had whipped up a batch of delicious buttermilk pancakes. 

"Really Twilight, you shouldn't have." Tai said as he chowed down on the waffles.

"Oh I assure you it's nothing." Twilight said "Seeing as you're stuck here for the time being it's the least I could do."

Those words caused Tai's mood to sink. It hadn't dawned on him til just now, but Twilight was right. There was no way he could get back to his own world. At least for the time being. He could already imagine the panic and worry his disappearance had caused. And all because of one e-mail from someone he thought he could trust. Worse then the time when Matt had fought him against him, beliving that Tai was unfit to be leader, this seeming betrayal stung worst of all.

Twilight quickly took notice of Tai's mood. "Cheer up." she said "Equestria is nice this time of year. There's a lot to see and do."

"I'll bet there is!" Tai snapped "Because you don't want me to leave! Ever!"

Twilight was shocked to hear those words from Tai, even if this wasn't the first time she'd made him angry. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's simple, you must think I'm stupid not to notice. You wrote that e-mail knowing that I would be unable to resist it. You brought me here because you can't stand to be without me. And here I thought I told you to move on with your life. I'm ashamed of you Twilight, and I'm ashamed to be your coltfriend!" Tai said angrily, he could already feel the anger welling up inside him, waiting to be let out.

"But I didn't send you an e-mail!" Twilight replied.

"Liar!" Tai shouted.

"She's telling the truth Tai. You've got to believe her." Spike said.

"Stay out of this Spike, this doesn't concern you!" Tai said.

"Tai, please stop! This isn't you!" Twilight said, Her words fell on deaf ears.

"You'll regret sending that e-mail!" Tai shouted, without warning he lunged forward and tackled Twilight hard. Poor Twilight had no idea what do. "This is gonna hurt me more then it's gonna hurt you!" Tai said, bringing up a hoof "And trust me when I say this will hurt quite a bit!"

"Don't do it!" Spike shouted.

"I told you to stay out of this Spike!" Tai said. And with that he prepared to strike Twilight hard. But just as his hoof was about to make contact with Twilight's face he stopped. Twilight was laying there, helplessly on the floor. Looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" Twilight asked "Hit me! You know you want to!"

"I-I...... I.... can't." Tai said, lowering his hoof and hanging his head in defeat.

"Now there's the Tai I know and love." Twilight said, rising up and planting Tai a kiss on the cheek. Tai blushed so hard his face turned almost entirely red.

"Why did you do it? Why did you stop?" Spike asked.

"Because I could feel the sadness in Twilight's heart. And I realized at that moment that she couldn't be behind that e-mail. Because if she was why would she break down into tears?" Tai explained.

"That makes sense I suppose." Spike said "Just don't ever do that again. You really scared me."

"Sorry about that Spike." Tai apologized, then he turned to Twilight "And I'm sorry to you too Twilight. I overreacted to the situation. Even if you did send that e-mail, which I know you didn't, that didn't give me the right to hit you. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do, I can't stay mad at you for long." Twilight said. She and Tai then hugged each other tightly.

"But then, if you didn't send that e-mail, who did? And why?" Tai asked.

"I don't know." Twilight said "But we'll correct this mistake soon enough. I'll just contact Gennai really quick and tell him where you are. Then your friends and family can come and get you." Using some of her most powerful magic Twilight attempted to contact Gennai. But minutes past without any sort of acknowledgement. "I can't contact Gennai." Twilight said at last "Something is blocking communications with Equestria and the Digital World. No doubt whoever's behind all of this is the same so and so that tricked you into coming here."

"Well, looks like I really am stuck here, for now at least." Tai said "Which reminds me. Where am I suppose to stay?"

"You could stay here with me and sleep in the guest bed." Twilight offered.

"No thanks. With this place serving as your palace it would be too akward if the media caught wind of me living here."

"Perhaps you could stay one of my friends houses." Twilight offered.

"Well let's see, I don't really like it roughing it so Sweet Apple Acres is out of the question. I could try Carousel Boutique but something tells me Rarity would be constantly insist on making me dresses. Rainbow Dash's cloud house sounds good, but something tells me she snores, a lot. Fluttershy's cottage is sure to be overflowing with animals, some of which may not be friendly. And I think the Cakes have enough mouths to feed as it is, so Sugarcuber Corner can also be scratched off." Tai said.

"I have an idea of where you can stay!" Pinkie Pie shouted, popping up from out of nowhere.

"Oh, hello again Pinkie Pie. What brings you here?" Twilight asked.

"My 'Pinkie Sense' told me that there was a new pony in town, and I just had to meet him." Pinkie Pie explained.

"So what did you have in mind for my living quarters?" Tai asked. "And for that record, how the hay did you recognize me?!" Tai gasped as he realized  what he'd just said. He'd meant to say "Heck", but it had slipped out as "Hay"

"Anyone could recognize a voice like yours." Pinkie Pie said "Anyway Rainbow Dash recently told me where Scootaloo live,s and she could really use a big sister. She's an only child after all."

"But isn't Rainbow Dash taking that role?" Tai asked.

"To some extent yes. But Scootaloo needs someone when Rainbow Dash isn't around." Pinkie Pie said.

"Well, I guess that sounds like a good idea." Tai said "Twilight what do you think?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you live with Scootaloo." Twilight said "Just try to keep the foul language to a minimum, Scootaloo is still just a child after all."

"Can do." Tai said.

"Oh I'm so glad I'll have somepony to live with me! Even if it's only for a little while." Scootaloo cheered as Tai, Twilight, and her friends finished getting everything set up.

"Hey, do you know what this call for?!" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I think I do, but just in case, tell us anyway." Rainbow Dash said.

"A party!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Called it!" Applejack said.

A short time later Pinkie Pie threw a "Welcome back to Equestria Party" and a "Congrats On Becoming a Pony Party" for Tai. Everypony who was anypony was in attendence. Most of them quickly warmed up to the "newcomer".

Several hours later the party was over and everyone left for the night. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight all took the time to warn Tai what would happen if he hurt Scootaloo in any way. shape, or form.

Tai had just finished climbing into bed when an unusual melody rang out across the night sky. "Shoop be doo, shoop-shoop be doo." it repeated over and over again. "What is that? And where is that music coming from?" Tai asked Scootaloo.

"Oh that's just Lyra practicing her lyre." Scootaloo said "I have no idea why she would sing that song though. I've heard someponies say Lyra is a seapony, and that her marefriend Bon-Bon caught her as a seapony in the shower onetime. But that sounds ridiculous."

"I'll say." Tai said. The song faded soon afterward, and Tai and Scootaloo went peacefully to sleep.

              
> First Night in the Digital World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                (Digital World)

Gennai was waiting for the digidestined when they arrived. "I'm glad to see you're all okay. I have not been able to find any leads on Tai's whereabouts." he said.

"Then perhaps he's in Equestria." Yolei said.

"If he is there's no way to reach him. Contact with Equestria has been lost." Gennai said "The last thing I heard from that place made it sound as if though everything was okay."

"Well that's just great." Matt said sarcastically.

"Then there's only one thing we can do." Kari said "We'll have to search every square inch of this place."

"And then what?" Gatomon asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Kari said "Now let's split up. That way we'll be able to cover more ground."

"How are we going to split up?" Joe asked "How do we decide who's going with who?"

"We'll draw straws." Kari said "Or in this case, sticks."

"I don't get it." Mimi said.

"You will in a second." Kari said "Gatomon, think you can trim some of those branches on that nearby tree?"

"Of course." Gatomon said. She raced over to the tree, and attacked it. A few seconds later a pile of sticks fell to the ground.

"Now then, we'll partner up into groups of three based on who shares the same sticks." Kari said "And do not under any circumstances separate from your assigned group!"

"Okay then, allow me to go first." Davis said, and pulled out a stick. One by one each of the digidestined did the same.

Just as the last stick was being drawn a familar voice called out "Did you guys forget about me?" A moment later a young man wih shaggy blond hair and blue eyes appeared. Next to him stood a small light green rabbit with green patches on the sides, and a small horn sticking out on top.

"Willis? Terriermon? What are you two doing here?" T.K. asked.

"Mimi contacted me and told me what happened about Tai." Willis explained.

"And you know the old saying. A friend in need is a friend in deed." Terriermon said.

"I hope I'm not too late to join in." Willis said hopefully.

"You're not." Kari said "Why don't you go join Matt and Sora?"

"Sure thing, Come on Terriermon." Willis said. And he and Terriermon joined Matt, Sora, Gabumon, and Biyomon. 

The groups were now set. Group 1 (the shortest sticks) consisted of Izzy, Joe, and Mimi. And their digimon parnters, Tentomon, Gomamon, and Palmon. Group 2 (the second shortest sticks) consisted of Davis, Ken, and Yolei. And their digimon partners, Veemon, Wormmon, and Hawkmon. Group 3 (the second tallest sticks) consisted of Kari, T.K., and Cody. And their digimon partners, Gatomon, Patamon, and Armadillomon. They also decided to bring Agumon into their group. And Group 4 (the tallest sticks) consisted of Matt and Sora, as well as Willis who had been added in. And their digimon partners, Gabumon, Biyomon, and Terriermon.

"Well, no point in standing around here." Izzy said "Let's get to work. The sooner we begin this search the better." And each of the groups set off to search various areas of the Digital World. Group 1 rode on Kabuterimon down to the beach area. Group 2 rode on Aquilamon up to the mountain area. Group 4 rode on Birdramon to the industrial area near the dessert. And Group 3 rode on Angemon to comb through the forest and grassland area. Gennai promised to contact them at any point if he established contact with Equestria. And warned the digidestined to be careful.

Each of the groups made sure to keep in frequent contact through their D-Terminals and Digivices, and filled each other in on anything they found out while combing through the digital world.

Hours passed but noone managed to find any leads at all. The search was postponed at sundown, simply because the groups all agreed that they could not afford to overexert themselves in their search for Tai.

All four of the groups were able to find a suitable place to spend the night. And as luck would have it each of the groups had one member who had remembered to pack a tent (Mimi for Group 1, Yolei for Group 2, Cody for Group 3, and Willis for Group 4), and everyone had also brought along sleeping bags.

Sleep came pretty easily for Groups 1, 2, 4, and most of 3. But Kari couldn't sleep, she was still extremly worried about Tai. She had come to learn that her big brother wasn't perfect, and that she shouldn't always measure her worth in comparison to his. But she still looked up to him quite a bit. She knew he was strong, and that he was more then capable of fending for himself. But she just couldn't help but worry. What if they never managed to find him? What if something happened to him before they could reach him? What if they were unknowingly walking into a trap? What if Tai didn't want to leave? What if they lost someone else while searching for him? All those what ifs, and the fear of them coming true made Kari feel uneasy.

T.K., Agumon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Armadillomon were all sound asleep and Kari didn't want to wake them up. That left only one option, Cody. Kari didn't really Cody that much on a personal level, she only knew that he was an only child, and that his father, a policeman, had been killed in the line of duty when Cody was very young. She knew he was wise beyond his years, but she also knew he could have a bit of a short temper if provoked. Often because he kept his feelings to himself until he couldn't hold them in any longer.

As if though Cody could sense how Kari was feeling he rose up and looked at her. "Couldn't sleep huh?" he asked.

"No." Kari said.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Cody asked.

Kari couldn't believe what she was hearing. Cody usually didn't like getting involved in other people's problems, so the fact that he was outright willing to let Kari tell him why she couldn't sleep seemed weird. All the same Kari couldn't afford to look this gift horse in the mouth. She sighed and explained "It's about Tai. I just can't help but wonder if he's okay. I know it probably seems selfish of me to be so worried about him, but he's my big brother and we've always been there for each other when we need support. What if we don't find him? Or what if something bad happens to him, or to us?"

Cody was silent for a long time. His face, which usually showed how he was feeling, was impossible to read. Kari was worried about he would say. At long last he spoke up. "I know it's hard to lose someone you hold so dearly. Even if in this case it's not forever. And I know it can be hard to think about life without that someone. But you have to ask yourself 'What would that someone want me to do with my life?'. Chances are the answer will be 'That someone would want me to move on and be happy.'. I'm not saying you should embrace the fact that we may never find Tai, or to forget about him altogether. But try not to worry so much about him, because that's not what he would want. If you do that, and never give up hope then you'll probably feel a lot better."

"Thank you Cody." Kari said "I needed that, more then you may ever know."

"Think nothing of it." Cody said "Now let's try to get some shuteye. After all tomorrow is another day." And with that both he and Kari drifted off peacefully to sleep.

                
> Greetings from The Maker of Chaos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                Sleep was not a problem for Tai. Pinkie Pie's party had worn him out, so it was no surprise that he slept for quite a while. The sun was already rising by the time Scootaloo woke him up. 

"Rainbow Dash says she has something special planned for us today!" Scootaloo said excitedly.

"What is it?" Tai asked, still half asleep.

"She wouldn't say." Scootaloo said "She just said she was sure we were going to like it. Oh I'm excited just thinking about it! Now come on, we've gotta get ready! We only have one hour!"

"Alright. Alright." Tai said "Why don't you go ahead and freshen up? And when you're done I'll take a quick shower."

"Sure. Do you know where the bathroom is?" Scootaloo asked "If not I'd be more then happy to show you."

Half an hour later Tai was fully awake, and despite a little bit of difficulty managed to take a shower. Scootaloo had already done the same. Just as he finished drying off Scootaloo called out "Breakfast is ready!" Breakfast wasn't anything special. It consisted simply of oatmeal and fresh squeezed orange juice, not that it didn't taste good. Scootaloo's parents took the time to get to know Tai on a personal basis. They were pretty friendly, if perhaps a bit too lovey dovey. And they seemed to love to unintentionally embarass Scootaloo. Small wonder why she never really talked about her parents.

"Remember to be back by sundown!" Dizzy Twister said, as Tai and Scootaloo left the house to meet up with Rainbow Dash.

"We will mom." Scootaloo called as she hopped onto her scooter "We promise." She led Tai down to the park where Rainbow Dash was waiting.

"Right on time." Rainbow Dash said "Guess you guys can't wait to see what my surprise is huh?"

"You betcha!" Scootaloo said.

"Well hop aboard Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash said "And Tai, you know to how flap your wings, right?"

"I think so." Tai said "Twilight gave me a couple of pointers yesterday."

"Then follow me! Don't worry, I won't fly too fast. Not with a passenger onboard." Rainbow Dash said. And once Scootaloo was safely aboard she took off into the sky. Tai followed, a bit slowly. He was able to flap his wings enough to keep himself airbone, but he didn't dare try to flap them any harder for fear of losing control.

"Pardon me Rainbow Dash, but where are we going?" Tai asked.

"We're going to Cloudsdale to see The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said.

"The Wonderbolts?!" Scootaloo asked excitedly.

"The one and only!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Are you sure they're going to want to see me?" Tai asked.

"You betcha!" Rainbow Dash said "Now come on! Time waits for noone!"

What Tai didn't know was that Twilight had specifically arranged for Rainbow Dash to take him and Scootaloo to Cloudsdale. She didn't want Tai to be around for this. "Now I just have to remember that spell." Twilight thought to herself. She carefully began to charge up her horn, after a few minutes of building up power she cast an extremly powerful violet red blast at the ground. There was a blinding flash, and then a familiar figure emerged.

"Come on everypony. Smile, smile, smile. Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine. All I really need is a-" Discord sang. He had been taking a shower just a moment ago, but now he realized he'd been summoned by Twilight. "Hey! Seriously Princess! Why must you always insist on summoning me at times like this?" Discord said "Surely it wouldn't hurt to give me a little warning the next time."

"Enough games Discord! I called you here for a reason!" Twilight said.

"Well obviously. I mean it's not like this how is you get your kicks or anything." Discord teased. Twilight growled at him. "Okay, okay. Sheesh, can't you take a little joke?"

"Stop fooling around Discord!" Twilight ordered.

"You're no fun." Discord said "Anyway what are you trying to blame on me this time? Whatever it is I didn't do it."

"Oh really? Well then how else could the connections between Equestria and the Digital World suddenly be cut off? And how else could Tai have been brought here and turned into a pony?" Twilight asked "Surely you must know something about this." Twilight said.

"I don't even know who this 'Tai' is that you speak of." Discord said.

"Don't play dumb with me. You said it yourself that you could overhear everything that went on around you while you were trapped in stone." Twilight said "Surely you have to know about Tai."

"Even if I do, which I don't, I couldn't be responsible for bringing him here." Discord said "Abducting other living creatures isn't really my style. I mean, where's the fun in that?"

"Well if you didn't do it then who did?" Twilight asked.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that." Discord said "Even as a spirit of chaos and disharmony there's only so much that I can do. Not to mention there are things that even my powers don't grant me. Like for example, I can't kill anyone, not that I would want to. Whoever, or whatever did this has powers that exceed even my own. Trust me when I say it pains me to admit that."

"So I guess asking you to send Tai back is out of the question, correct?" Twilight asked.

"Ooh! Look at the big brain on Twilight!" Discord teased "But seriosuly, you are correct."

"Just great." Twilight said sarcastically "Some ally you're turning out to be."

"Well excuse me pr" Discord said.

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" Twilight said "I've heard that joke before, and it wasn't funny the first time."

"You never let me have any fun!' Discord pouted.

"I'm not trying to be mean Discord." Twilight said "But my patience with you is growing thinner by the moment."

"Look I'm really sorry okay. I mean it. This whole 'reformed' thing isn't as easy as it looks. I'm trying my best. So I would appreciate it very much if you would cut me a little slack." Discord said "If you want I could offer to see if I can find out anything, but only if you stop picking on me all the time. So can we agree to 'bury the hatchet' as it were?"

"I guess we could do that, for now anyway." Twilight said "But don't try anything funny."

"Oh believe me princess. If I try anything, it won't be funny." Discord said.

"I guess I should consider that a compliment." Twilight said.

"Indeed. Now then I must be off. See you later, and good luck." Discord said, and with a snap of his fingers he was gone.

Tai never knew about Twilight's little "chit-chat" with Discord. He and Scootaloo had spent the entire day with the Wonderbolts. Tai especially found himself getting along nicely with co-captain Soarin. The guy reminded him a lot of himself.

Of course Tai still befriended the others Wonderbolts as well. Fleetfoot challenged him to a race, which to his surprise he won. Spitfire gave him some great advice on how to build up his wing muscles (she also did the same for Scootaloo). And Misty Fly showed him how to make the most of his pegasus magic.

All were sorry when it was time to leave. "Do come back and visit us again soon." Fleetfoot said.

"Maybe next time you're here we can have a pie eating contest." Soarin said "And I should warn you, I'm pretty good."

"Remember what I told you about your pegasus magic." Misty Fly said.

"And don't forget those excersie routines. They'll come in handy sooner then you might think." Spitfire said.

"I'll do my best to remember you all, and everything you taught me." Tai said. And with that Scootaloo climbed onto his back and the two of them set off for home.

Tai was finding life as a pony to be pretty simple so far. Of course he knew that fate often had a strange way of making things that seemed simple anything but.
> Return of the Armor Evolutions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

               Daybreak brought no news at all to the surface. As far as the digidestined and their partner digimon knew Tai was still missing.

As each of the groups woke up, ate breakfast, and prepared for the day they discussed their next phase of action.

"Groups 2 and 3 are nearing the area where the Digimon Emperor's base still lies in ruins." Izzy said, looking over the map "Intrestingly enough the base still seems to be transmitting a faint signal of some sort. It's possible that it could be attempting to contact other worlds. In any case we should look into this. Who knows? This could just lead us to Tai."

"So you want me, Ken, and Yolei to work alongside Kari, T.K., and Cody and investigate that place?" Davis asked.

"That's the idea." Izzy said "I'll probably stop by with my group later to see how things are coming along. But be careful, that base has not been touched for a very long.There's no telling what could've made that place its home in the time since our last visit."

"Gotcha Izzy. We'll be careful." Kari said.

"See that you do." Izzy said "Best of luck."

Kari quickly relayed the orders to T.K., Cody, Agumon, Patamon, Gatomon, and Armadillomon. T.K. and Cody weren't exactly thrilled with them.

"Do we really have to go back to that place?" T.K. asked.

"Yeah. I mean what if we get ambushed or something?" Patamon asked "What happens then?"

"We'll just have to keep our guard up." Kari said.

"For all the good that will do us. Besides that place is nothing but a reminder of what the forces of evil can do." Cody said "If you ask me I say we should just not bother with it and continue our search as it was."

"Well I'm sorry guys, but orders are orders." Kari said "And I can't do this alone. So are you with me?"

T.K. and Cody reluctantly decided, against their better judgement to say yes. Soon everyone had hopped aboard Angemon, and they set off for the base.

No one was surprised to see how run down the former base looked when they arrived. It had been sitting there, decaying for almost a year by now. But simply looking at it brought back painful memories of Ken's time as the Digimon Emperor.

"Well... here we are." Davis said reluctantly.

"Hey look, there's group 3!" Yolei cried out. She promptly waved them over to where she, Ken, and Davis were standing.

"So, who's going to take the lead here?" T.K. asked.

"I say we let Ken lead." Wormmon said "He probably knows this place inside and out."

"That's some sound logic there Wormmon." Agumon said.

"All in favor say 'aye'." Kari said. Everyone except for T.K., Cody, Yolei, and Ken himself, did so.

"Sorry Ken, but the 'ayes' have it." Gatomon said.

"I know." Ken said with a sigh "Well, the sooner we go inside the sooner we can leave." And with that he led Davis, Veemon, Yolei, Hawkmon, Wormmon, Agumon, Kari, Gatomon, T.K. Patamon, Cody, and Armadillomon into the base.

The inside wasn't much better then the outside. Broken and rusted machinery of all shapes and sizes littered the hallways, and were it not for the flashlight that Ken was using it would've been impossible to see anything. But everyone could still hear what sounded like the faint hum of a generator. Clearly someone, or something was still active in this place. And they were going to find out who, or what that was.

But as they rounded a corner they found their path suddenly blocked. A massive pile of debris made it impossible for them to go any further. But they could see a light in the distance. They could not afford to turn back now.

"I'll clear this rubble in no time flat!" Veemon said. He tried to digivolve, only to find that he couldn't. He didn't have the strength.

"Well this isn't good. Ex-Veemon is the most powerful lifter in our arsenal. Now what are we suppose to do?" Yolei asked.

"Maybe Ankylomon can help us." Armadillomon said.

"It's worth a shot." Cody said "Go for it!"

(Digivolution)  

Armadillomon, digivolve to, Ankylomon!

(Digivolution complete)

"Stand back! Tail hammer!" Ankylomon shouted. He swung his tail hard at the rubble, but it refused to budge.

"This isn't working." Yolei said.

"We can't around it. We can't get rid of it. And we can't go over it." Ken said "That means there's only one option left. We'll have to go under it."

"How are we gonna do that?" T.K. asked "Ankylomon's not much of a digger. Heck none of our digimon are."

"If only we still had the digi eggs. I could armor digivolve into Digmon." Armadillomon said, changing back from Ankylomon.

"But we don't. We lost them in that mysterious dream world when we fought MaloMyotismon remember?" Kari said.

"I know." Cody said.

"Well this is just great. We're stuck!" Yolei said.

"Guess we'll just have to turn back and tell Izzy the bad news." Ken said.

"Don't give up just yet digidestined." an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Who said that?" T.K. asked.

"I did." the voice said. Everyone blinked as a mysterious white orb suddenly appeared before them.

"Who are you? And how do you who we are?" Cody asked "Are you with us? Or against us?"

"Relax." the voice said "I am a friend. I cannot show you my true form in this world, but I wish to help you in your quest."

"How so? And how do we know we can trust you?" Ken asked. He had the strangest senesation that this voice knew more then it was letting on.

"I shall restore your ability to armor digivolve. All I ask in return is that you restore this base completely." the voice said.

"And if we refuse?" Kari asked.

"Then you guys are on your own." the voice said "The choice is yours."

"I don't trust this voice. Something feels off about it." Gatomon said.

"No kidding." Patamon said.

"But this could be the only way to find Tai. We have to take the risk." Kari said "We accept your offer."

"Excellent." the voice said "You have chosen wisely." There was a blinding white flash. "You should have all of your digieggs back now. Don't forget our little deal. Take care, and best of luck."

"Well, only one way to find out if he kept his word." Cody said "Digiarmor energize!"

(Armor Digivolution)

Armadillomon, armor digivolve to, Digmon! The Drill of Knowledge!

(Armor Digivolution complete)

"Oh yeah! I'm back!" Digmon said.

"Indeed you are. Now how's about putting that drill of yours to good use?" Cody said.

"You betcha! Rock cracking!" Digimon said, and he began to tunnel underneath the rubble.

The digidestined didn't know this at the time, but their newly restored armor evolutions would come in handy in the near future. And in more ways then one.
> Nightmare, or Sign of Things To Come?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

              Scootaloo was sleeping soundly. The same could not be said for Tai. If Scootaloo were awake she would've seen Tai tossing and turning in his sleep. 

(Tai's Dream)   

"I'm human again?" Tai asked as he observed himself. He was no longer an orange pegasus.

"Tai, thank goodness we found you." a voice called out.

"Guys?" Tai asked as he saw all of his friends and family appear before him "What are you doing here?"

"We've been looking all over for you." Matt said.

"We'e missed you so much." Agumon said.

"Well I'm here now. So you can stop worrying about me. Let's go home." Tai said.

"No Tai. You must stay here." Matt said coldly.

"Wait what?" Tai asked.

"He's serious Tai." Sora said.

"Why would I be better off here?" Tai asked "Don't you guys need me?"

"We do. And that is why we need you to stay here." Izzy explained "If we take you back with us we'll only be delivering you into the hands of whatever evil force is trying to kill you."

"So we voted, and we've decided that you'll be safer here. At least until we defeat the evil force that brought you here." Davis said. It seemed obvious that he was trying to hold back tears.

"You don't have to do this guys! I can't ask you to put yourselves in danger for me!" Tai said.

"Sorry onichan, but our decision is final." Kari said.

"Don't forget about us. And don't worry, we'll be back for you. We promise." Agumon said.

"How can you do this to me? Don't you guys care about the faith of our world, and the digital world?" Tai asked. 

"We do." Ken said as he hung his head "And that's why we have to do this. Goodbye Tai." And with that the digidestined and their parnter digimon vanished, right before Tai's eyes.

"No! Don't go! As your leader I order you to turn around this instant! Guys? Guys!" Tai shouted. It was no use. "I'm all alone."

"Just the way I like it." an evil voice said "Noone can save you now!"

"Who are you? Whoever you are, please leave me alone! I don't want any trouble!" Tai pleaded.

"Too bad for you. I do things my way." the evil voice said.

"What do you even want from me in the first place?" Tai asked.

"The obvious answer is revenge! You ruined me!" the evil voice said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tai said. Somehow he felt like that was actually a lie, but he didn't know why.

"Oh, you know all too well what you did." the evil voice said "But I shan't say anymore! There's no where left for you to run! And noone's gonna miss you! GOODBYE FOREVER CHILD OF COURAGE! SAY HELLO TO DEATH!"

Tai shut his eyes and waited for the end to come. But it never did, there was a loud noise, and a sudden blinding flash. When he opened his eyes there stood a familiar face. A dark blue alicorn with a flowing purple and blue mane and tail. "Princess Luna?" Tai asked.

"Indeed. I see my appearance pleases you greatly." Princess Luna said calmly.

"It sure does." Tai said "But why are you here?"

"As you know I am the princess of the night. One of my duties is to visit the dreams of my subjects, and help them out. And from the looks of things I'd say I was just in time." Princess Luna explained.

"So this is all a dream?" Tai asked.

"Indeed it is." Princess Luna said "Touch your surrondings if you don't believe me."

"I think I'm good." Tai said. Then a thought came to him "So where were you the last time I was here and I was having a bad dream? Shouldn't you have helped me then?"

"I am afraid that I could not enter your dreams last time, because you were not one of my subjects." Princess Luna explained, a hint of sorrow in her voice "This time is different. For some reason, now that you are a pony I am able to enter your dreams. And it looks like you have quite the intresting ones. Then again I suppose that is to be expected with all of the adventures you've been on."

"No kidding." Tai said. He felt much better now that Princess Luna was around.

"But I'm afraid I can't stay for much longer. There are other ponies who need my help with nightmares." Princess Luna said "So I shall leave you with the same message I gave to Scootaloo. You must face your fears, or thse nightmares will continue."

"What fears?" Tai asked.

"You should know what they are by now Taichi Yagami Kamiya." Princess Luna said sternly. 

"You know my full name?" Tai asked.

"Indeed I do." Princess Luna said "Now I must be going. Remember, you must face your fears!" And with that the princess of the night disappeared. Tai awoke with a start.

"Are you o.k. Tai?" Scootaloo asked innocently "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Well I didn't see a ghost, but I saw something just as shocking." Tai said.

"Let me guess Princess Luna visited you, didn't she?" Scootaloo asked.

"You know?" Tai asked.

Scootaloo nodded. "She comes to visit me in my dreams on occassion. Sometimes to help me out, and sometimes just to talk." she explained "Just recently she told about this really weird dream Twilight had. It involved a magic mirror, and humans."

"Sounds like my dream about that Willis kid." Tai said.

"Yeah." Scootaloo said "And get this. Lately all of Spike's dreams involve these so called 'Power Ponies'. Because he actually got sucked into a comic book featuring them."

"I never knew Spike was into comics." Tai said.

"Well he is. But that comic book, and the place it was published disappeared after Spike got back." Scootaloo said.

"Intresting." Tai said.

"Yeah. But I've talked too much. Let's go back to sleep." Scootaloo said.

"Or at least try to." Tai said. Princess Luna's advice still lingered in his mind. Just what did she mean by "face your fears"? What sort of fears did she mean? And could it that nightmare have been a sign of something?

"Curses." an unknown voice muttered to itself "And I was so sure I had him. But that puny Princess Luna got in my way! Oh well, this is only a minor setback. My plan is almost complete anyway."
> Good News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

               With help from the recently restored armor evolutions Groups 2 and 3 managed to make quite a bit of progress in repairing and restoring the base. Izzy was quite pleased to see the work coming along so nicely when he stopped by at the end of the day. But he was shocked to learn about the restoration of the armor evolutions.

"You really shouldn't look this gifthorse in the mouth Izzy." T.K. said "Without it we wouldn't be so far along."

"I know. But I just can't help but feel like there's something strange about that voice. Whoever it was." Izzy said.

"Well we'll keep our guard up. But for now we've gotta focus on the bigger picture." Kari said "Something tells me that this base is our best shot at solving our problems."

"How so?" Agumon asked.

"It seems that for some reason this old base appears to have stronger connections with other universes. Like Equestria for example. So if we can find a way to boost the signal we might be able to reestablish contact. And if we can do that we're sure to find Tai." Kari said.

"Sounds like a long shot if you ask me." Izzy said.

"Well that may be so, but long shot or not we should at least give it a try. We owe it to Tai to do so." Kari said.

"I guess when you put it that way you're right." Izzy said "But fo the record I think this is a bad idea."

"Trust me when I say we wouldn't bother with this if there was any other way." Kari said.

"I know." Izzy said.

"Good." Kari said "Now then, how do you suppose we should go about boosting the signal?"

"I'm not sure. But it's getting late. I'll call the other groups over here so we're all together for tonight. And in the morning perhaps I'll have the answer." Izzy replied. And he did just that.

The night passed uneventfully. Everyone, including Kari slept peacefully. The next morning Izzy contacted Gennai to provide an update.

"Connections between the digital world and Equestria are still down." Gennai said.

"That's alright." Izzy said, and filled Gennai in on what had happened over the course of the past day. Gennai took the news surprisingly well.

"So it was a mysterious voice that restored the armor evolutions huh? Well last time I checked that old base was desserted. It's possible we might have missed something, but not likely. Just be careful, and keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. If you suspect anything at all contact me right away! Got it?!" Gennai said.

"Will do Gennai." Izzy said.

"Good. I'll contact you again if anything pops up, and I trust you'll all do the same. Gennai out." Gennai said. Izzy shut his laptop and joined the others for breakfast.

Everyone was amazed at how good of a cook Willis was. He could whip up eggs in any sort of style with no trouble, and he knew how to boil both tea and coffee. Clearly he knew his way around the kitchen. 

"I took a wilderness survival course in school once." Willis explained "One of the requirements for passing was being able to cook your own food. They showed you the basics, but the rest was all up to you. Needless to say with skills like these I got an A+ and passed with flying colors."

"No kidding." Davis said in between bites "This stuff is way better then that crap my sister calls food."

"It's better then Yuuko's cooking, that's for sure." Gatomon said. She could well remember what Mrs. Kamiya's cooking had done to her. She quickly shook her head, she vowed to never relive that dreadful memory.

After breakfast was over everyone set to work. But before long they hit a roadblock. Noone knew how to boost the signal that the base was transmitting. They had little time to think when there suddenly came a fierce roar.

"What was that?" Terriermon asked.

"I don't know." Matt said.

"Whatever it is it doesn't sound friendly." Joe said nervously.

"Look, over there!" Sora cried out. And she pointed to some nearby shrubery which was rustling violently, almost as if something was lurking in it. And indeed there was. 

A gaint green, humanoid digimon with white hair, thick scales, two sharp horns, and a bone club sprang out a moment later. Mimi, Joe, Palmon, and Gomamon recognized who it was. "It's Ogremon!" they gasped.

"But what's he doing here? Leomon isn't around. And besides he changed his ways." Joe said.

"Then why is he attacking us?" Mimi asked.

"I don't know." Joe said "He can't be doing it willingly though. Something's got to be controlling him."

"Hey, tell me if I'm seeing things but it looks like there's something stuck in his right arm." Hawkmon said. And there was. It was a long dark spiral, except it looked red instead of black.

"What's a dark spiral doing on Ogremon? For that matter where did he find one?" Ken asked.

"Pummel Whack!" Ogremon shouted, swinging his club at the digidestined. They barely dodged it.

"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon shouted, aiming a green vortex of fire at the dark spiral in the hopes of of knocking it off. It didn't work.

"Attacks like that won't do a thing against him." Izzy said "We need more power."

"Terriermon watch out!" Willis shouted. Terriermon didn't notice until too late that he was directly in Ogremon's path.

"Say goodbye kid!" Ogremon shouted "Bone Cudgel!" He put both hands on his club, and brought it down with the intent of crushing Terriermon. Who stood there, frozen in fear.

"Terriermon!" Willis shouted. Suddenly his digivice began to glow. Terriermon was surronded by a glowing orb of energy.

(Digivolution)   

Terriermon, digivolve to, Gargomon!

(Digivolution complete)

"Leave this to me guys!" Willis said "Go get Gargomon!"

"Right!" Gargomon said, and blocked Ogremon's attack with ease.

"What?!" Ogremon said.

"Gargo pellet!" Gargmon said, firing off ammunition from the machine guns mounted on his forearms. Ogremon flinched as the attack struck him, but he still remained standing.

"Pummel Whack!" Ogremon shouted, swinging his club at Gargomon. Gargomon blocked it and fired off more rounds. 

"This isn't working!" Izzy said "You've got to go for the dark spiral on his right arm! It's the only way you can defeat him!"

"No sooner said then done Izzy." Willis said "You know what you have to do Gargomon."

"Roger!" Gargomon said "Bunny Pummel!" He raced forward, putting his machine gun arms out in front of his body. He charged straight at Ogremon, like a football player about to tackle a quarterback. Ogremon attempted to counterattack, but it did no good. Gargomon suddenly sprang up, before going into a dive bomb like formation. He struck the dark spiral head on, shattering it into a million pieces.

"Alright!" Willis said.

"Whoo, that was exhausting." Terriermon said wearily, reverting back from Gargomon.

"You did great Terriermon." Willis said.

"Ow, my aching head!" Ogremon said "Wait a minute! Where am I?! How did I end up here?!"

The digidestined quickly explained what had happened.

"Aw man, I can't believe I let that happen!" Ogremon said.

"Do you have any idea as to how you got that dark spiral?" Joe asked.

"This is gonna sound stupid but I haven't even the slightest idea." Ogremon said "I was just out and about for a stroll. Minding my own business. You know, the usual. When all of a sudden something jumped me. I couldn't see who or what it was. The last thing I remember was a nasty blow to the head, and after that nothing. I blacked out. And when I came to I was standing right here."

"Well, it looks we've got two mysteries on our hands now." Izzy said.

"Yes. The question is, are they connected?" Cody asked.

"It's anyone's guess, but we can't waste time thinking about it." Yolei said "For now we need to focus on why we came here."

"Hey, if you guys need any help I'd be glad to lend a hand." Ogremon said.

"You, of all digimon, want to help us?" Palmon asked.

"But why?" Gomamon asked.

"It's the least I can do after you guys freed me from whatever it was that was controlling me." Ogremon said.

"Well the more the merrier I suppose." Joe said.

With Ogremon's help the digidestined managed to boost the signal, and establish a firm connection with Equestria. Princess Celestia quickly helped them to locate Tai, and even vowed to help them bring him back. It seemed like everything was going to work after all.

"Excellent. Now to put the final phase of my plan into action." the mysterious voice said.
> Homeward Bound?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Tai woke up the next morning to an unfamiliar sound. It sounded very happy, perhaps a bit too happy. But he couldn't figure out where it was coming from, or what the source of it was. Then, as if to answer his questions, a plum colored earth pony mare, with a redish purple mane and tail, and a cutie mark depicitng grapes and a strawberry appeared. And she was singing a little song, which went something like this.  

"Just who is that mare?" Tai thought to himself.

"I see Berry Punch is at it again." Scootaloo said, waking up. 

"Berry Punch?" Tai asked.

"Yup." Scootaloo said "She always seems to be drinking all those weird beverages that the grownups say I'm not allowed to drink."

"Is she always like this?" Tai asked.

Scootaloo nodded. "You'll get use to it though. And most of time she's actually quite nice. In fact she even has a unicorn filly named Ruby Pinch. And she's very overprotective of her." Scootaloo said.

"How can an earth pony have a unicorn daughter?" Tai asked.

"The same way two earth ponies can have twins who are a pegasus and a unicorn." Scootaloo said.

"Who's the father?" Tai asked.

"I don't know." Scootaloo said. She didn't wish to mention to Tai the rumors she'd heard about Berry Punch, and how she'd gotten pregnant with Ruby Pinch as a result of one of her more "personal" moments. Scootaloo's parents always told her it was not nice to talk badly about other ponies.

After breakfast Scootaloo took the time to introduce Tai to her favorite (and only) book series. Daring Do. She alos let slip a very intresting fact that she'd learned about the author, A. K. Yearling.

"So you're telling me that all these stories are true? And that A. K. Yearling is actually Daring Do in disguise?" Tai asked.

"Yeah. Rainbow Dash told me herself. Heck she even got herself featured on the cover of the latest book because of her help!" Scootaloo said "Here I'll show you." She went over to her bookcase and pulled out Daring Do and The Ring of Destiny. Sure enough Rainbow Dash was pictured on the cover, right besides Daring Do.

"That must've been amazing. I can't imagine how awesome it would be discover your favorite book character actually exists!" Tai said.

A little later Twilight arrived. She seemed to be very happy. "Good news Tai." she said "Princess Celestia just contacted me. Your friends have managed to locate you, and they're ready to bring you home."

"Does this mean you have to go away?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm afraid so Scootaloo." Tai said.

"Aw. There's still so much we haven't gotten the chance to do." Scootaloo said. She was trying not to show how upset she was.

"Cheer up Scootaloo. I promise I'll come back again someday. Hopefully under much better circumstances." Tai said "But for now why don't you and I share one last hug? For the road?"

"Okay." Scootaloo said. Using her wings she hoovered off the ground and embraced Tai in a hug. Tai returned the favor full force.

When that was done Twilight led Tai to the center of town. "He's here. Do your thing." Twilight said. 

"Right." Izzy said "We're opening the portal now." A moment later a bright purple portal appeared in the sky.

"Is that it?" Tai asked.

"Yup." Twilight said "It was nice to see you again. Hopefully next time we won't have to wait so long to see each other."

"I can't make any promises. Real life is kicking my plot." Tai said. He quickly realized what he'd just said "Man, being a pony is really starting to change me. Next thing you know I'm going to start thinking I've lived in Equestria all my life or something." He and Twilight shared a good laugh at that.

But just as Tai prepared to take off and enter the portal an unfamiliar voice spoke up. "You fools! You've done exactly what I wanted you to!"

"What's going on here?! Hey what are you doing?!" Izzy asked.

"Izzy, what's going on?!" Tai asked as the portal began to change colors.

"I have no idea!" Izzy said "Someone else is calling the shots around here now!"

"Precisely!" the voice said "I've waited a long time for this! And now I will finally have my revenge on all of you!"

The portal, now completly black expanded rapidly, and began to pull not just Tai, but Twilight, and Spike into the air.

"Tai!" Twilight screamed.

"Twilight!" Tai shouted, barely able to hear himself over the roar of the wind.

"Hold on Twilight we're coming!" a familar voice shouted. A second later Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all appeared. Applejack quickly threw a lasso around Twilight.

"Oh no you don't!" the voice said "You fools will not ruin my plans! In fact my revenge wouldn't be complete with you! So why don't you all come along for the ride?!"

"What the hay is this guy talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't know." Applejack said "But whoever or whatever it is they're strong. I can't keep my hooves on the ground!" 

"A.J.!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She promplty grabbed hold of Applejack's tail. But this only served to start a chain reaction that eventually pulled not only Twilight and Applejack, but also Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie into the portal, alongside Tai. 

On the other side of the portal all of the digidestined and their partner digimon fell victim to the same thing.

"At last! All living creatures will bow to me!" the mysterious voice said. A moment later the portal sealed itself shut.
> The Mastermind Reveals Himself
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                Tai slowly opened his eyes once again. The last thing he could remember was being pulled into the violet portal, and then suddenly getting a good conk on the head. For some reason he felt very groggy, as if though he had been drained of energy. To make matters worse, as he took in his surroundings he could not piece together where he was. 

Something about his location did not feel right however. The world all around him looked dreak and bleary. It almost looked like something out of those old black and white movies he'd seen his folks watch on t.v. sometimes.

Just then Tai became aware of a sharp pain in his forehead. He groaned and brought a hand up to it to try and control the pain. When he realized what now lay in front of him he blinked. But sure enough a hand with fingers, instead of an orange hoof, greated his sight. There was no denying it, he was human again. But why? "I'm human? Yes, but how? And why? For that matter just where the hell am I?! Where is everybody?!" He slowly rose to his feet, a task that seemed to be rather difficult to do for some reason.

Now he got a good look at where he was. This place, wherever it was, seemed to be some sort of beach. A gaint body of water could be seen not too far away. Up ahead there lay a small boardwalk, but where one would expect to see a lighthouse of some kind there was nothing, except for a small base of sorts. As if though there had at one point been a building, but someone or something had knocked it down.

All of this only made Tai feel very uneasy. Something about this "ocean" felt very wrong. As if though there was something lurking, waiting for the right moment to spring out and attack. Carefully, but quickly Tai walked along the beach, looking for any signs of life. "Hello!" he called out. All he heard in reply was his own echo. But he kept on trying, he was hoping to get through to someone. "Hello!" he called out again. "Hello! Is anyone out there?! Anyone at all?! If you can hear me please say something! Anything! Anything at all! I-I mean no harm! I come in peace!"

Suddenly, Tai saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Could it be?" he thought to himself. Using all of his strength he raced over to where he saw the figure laying face down. As he got closer he saw that the figure was actually a whole bunch of figures. All of them familiar. They were his fellow digidestined, and their partner digimon. His team. He'd found them! "Guys!" he shouted "Guys! It's me Tai! I'm so happy to see you!"

"Tai?" Matt asked, the first of the digidestined to wake up. "Is it really you? You pulling my leg or something?"

"Come on Matt, quit with the jokes. This is serious business. It's really me." Tai said.

It took a moment for Matt to fully awaken. But when he did he saw that, sure enough, he was looking at his fellow leader, and close friend. "It really is you!" he shouted, wrapping his arms around Tai "Good to see you again! Where you've been buddy?! We've been looking all over for you."

"I'm sure you were. And I can explain everything." Tai said happily "But for right now we need to figure out where the hell we are!"

"I haven't even the slightest idea." Izzy said, waking up a moment later.

"That's just great!" Tai said sarcastically. But his mood improved slightly as the rest of the digidestined and their partner digimon woke up.

"Tai!" Agumon shouted, giving his partner the biggest hug he possibly could "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too Agumon, but now I'm back!" Tai said happily.

"Not that this isn't happy, but just where are we?" Davis asked.

Kari suddenly gasped as she observed her surroundings. This place was all too familiar to her. She'd been here before, and it hadn't been a very enjoyable experience. "This isn't the digital world, Earth, or Equestria." she said glumly.

"But then that means we're in the," Ken said, he gasped as the realization hit him "The Dark Ocean!"

"The Dark Ocean?" Tai asked.

"Yes." Kari said.

"Oh, so that's what you call this place." a voice called out. Tai recognized it at once. 

"Twilight? Is that you?" Tai asked.

"Yup. And my friends are here too." Twilight said, stepping forward. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all did the same.

"So we're all together, and we know we're in the dark ocean." Tai said "That still leaves the question of what we're doing here."

"It's simple." an ominus voice said "You're here because I want revenge!"

"Revenge?" Joe asked.

"Yes. Revenge." the voice said. 

Twilight quickly realized who the voice belonged to. "King Sombra?" she asked, she was hoping beyond hope that she was wrong. But in her heart she knew she wasn't.

"Indeed. So nice to see you recognize me, even after all this time, princess!" King Sombra said, revealing his shadowy form once again.

"Why can't you ever just stay dead?! No one likes you!" Rainbow Dash said, striking a fight pose.

"You think you're so tough!" King Sombra said "But you'd freeze right in your tracks if you actually had to fight me alone! Thankfully that's not an option this time. Because this time I'm not alone."

"What the hay are you talking about?" Applejack asked.

"Who could possibly want to work with a big old meanie pants like you?" Pinkie Pie asked.

King Sombra laughed. "You would be surprised at how much help you can find in a place like this. And I have all of you to thank for it. If you hadn't defeated me in our last encounter I wouldn't have been able to find my way into this 'dark ocean'." he said happily. 

"You still didn't answer our question." Rarity said.

"Not that we really want you to." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah. I don't think we want to know who in their right mind would work with the likes of you." Spike said nervously.

"Well I'll spare you all the suspense. Since you're all here, gathered together in one place." King Sombra said "Allow me to introduce my 'helpers'. And I have a feeling they'll ring a bell for you, digidestined! Because these guys have an old score that they've been itching to settle. Now, finally, that chance is upon them!" The sky darkened as King Sombra continued "Say hello to, Daemon, and Dragomon!" In two bright flashes of light two figures appeared. One to Sombra's left, and one to Sombra's right.

The figure on the left wore a red cloak that obsecured his entire body, including his face. The only features that stuck out were two white horns, and two devil like wings of black and purple. The figure on the right looked almost like a sea serpent. Except it had a human face. It's enire body was a scaly dark green, with blood red eyes. Dark yellow fangs hung neatly in a row. They were Daemon and Dragomon.

"Hello again digidestined." Daemon said "I hope you thought you hadn't seen the last of me. Because thanks to King Sombra I can finally have my revenge. I'll make you regret ever banishing me to this place!"

"And while we may not have met face to face until now digidestined, rest assured that I know all about you." Dragomon said "I am the ruler of this here Dark Ocean. Everything that lives here bows to me! And I don't take kindly to the fact that one of you attempted to assist a rebellion that intended to overthrow me. Without my rule this place would descend into anarchy and chaos."

"It is with the help of these two that I was able to bring you all here." King Sombra explained. Tai quicky realized where Sombra was going with this.

"So that e-mail, was from you?" Tai asked.

"Bingo!" King Sombra said "You were the perfect bait to bring everyone together. And you played your role perfectly. Only a fool like you could've fallen for such a thing."

"Don't listen to him! He's just trying to play mind games with you!" Twilight said "Sombra always prided himself on his silver tounge. He'll say or do anything to make you believe him. Just tune him out!"

"I see you are wise to my tricks." King Sombra said to Twilight "But this time even your magical know how will be useless to you!"

"What?!" Twilight gasped.

"I've got a bad feeling about this!" Cody said.

"I'm going to fuse myself with Daeon and Dragomon. Creating a new ultimate creature of darkness. And then I'll destroy you all!" King Sombra boasted.

"We will never fuse with the likes of you!" Daemon said.

"Especially considering this wasn't in the terms we agreed to!" Dragomon said.

"Well I regret to inform you, gentlemons, that the terms are subject to change. Starting now!" King Sombra demanded "The two of you WILL fuse, and you WILL allow me to fuse with you when you're both done!"

"I won't do it!" Daemon said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Me neither!" And you can't make us!" Dragomon said.

"I wouldn't be so sure." King Sombra said with a smirk. He began to cast some of his dark magic onto the two evil digimon. "I'm sure you'll find that I can be very persuasive when the situation calls for it."

"What is he doing?!" T.K. asked as he observed the scene.

"I have no idea!" Twilight said "This is strange, even for him! Princess Celestia never said King Sombra was capable of this."

"That's because I was wise enough not to reveal my entire bag of tricks when I fought the royal sisters all those years ago." King Sombra explained "This is just one of the many things that noone has known about me until now. As long as there's a sizeable amount of darkness in the heart of any living creature I can manipulate it. And since these two morons refuse to obey my orders, I am simply helping them make up their minds."

"That's low, even for you!" Twilight said.

"Why thank you." King Sombra said "Now then, let's try this again. Daemon! Dragomon! Combine yourselves into one! Now!"

"Yes master." the two evil digimon replied.

"Good." King Sombra said.

"This is bad!" Tai said.

"We've got to stop this! Ready Patamon?!" Gatomon asked.

"Ready and waiting!" Patamon said.

"Let's go!" Gatomon said.

(Digivolution)

Gatomon, digivolve to

Patamon, digivolve to

"I don't think so!" King Sombra said "Transformation is not a free action for you anymore!"

Gatomon and Patamon suddenly winced, and shrieked in pain.

(Digivolution failed)

"This is not good! Now we can't even digivolve!" Joe said.

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" Davis said.

"SILENCE!" King Sombra shouted "Daemon! Dragomon! Hurry up and fuse already!" The two evil digimon did so.

(Dark DNA Digivolution)

Daemon!

Dragomon!

Dark DNA digivolve to, Chaosmon!

(Dark DNA Digivolution complete)

Now standing before everyone was a creature that seemed to combine Daemon's cloak, horns, and wings, with Dragomon's body,. eyes, fangs, and tail. The only thing that was new about it was the color of its scales, which were now a midnight purple, boardering on completely dark.
> From Bad to Worse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                (Digimon Analyser)

Hahaha! Chaosmon is more then a match for all of you! A merger between two of the greatest evil rulers of all time has resulted in the birth of one of the greatest evil digimon ever to exist! And if you think that's bad you haven't seen anything yet!

(Digimon Analyser complete)

"Say hello Chaosmon." King Sombra said. Chaosmon only roared. "Close enough."

"You WON'T get away with this!" Tai said, curling his hands up into fists.

"Oh but I will." King Sombra said "Now to complete my revenge. Chaosmon, merge with me! And together we will destroy everything that stands in our way!" King Sombra turned into a shadowy mist, just like he'd done when merging with Armageddemon.

"This can't be happening." Spike said.

"And yet is." Yolei said.

King Sombra flew into the mouth of Chaosmon. Chaosmon's eyes began to glow.

(Dark Digivolution)

Chaosmon, dark digivolve to, Sombramon!

(Dark Digivolution complete)

Sombramon looked almost exactly like King Sombra, except instead of being a pony his entire body was more like that of a dragon. Nestled atop his head was a crown, made entirely of black. And he wore his trademark red cape around his body, except now it was modified to accomdate his new wings.

"Oh this is bad! This is bad! This is just so bad!" Fluttershy said.

"I think we're in big trouble." Izzy said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Your ban on digivolution has been lifted. Aren't you going to stop me?" Sombramon teased.

"You're darn right we will!" Tai said "Okay guys, let's bust out Imperialdramon Alicorn Mode and take this sucker down!"

"Uh, about that." Twilight said "I know this is a bad time to just now reveal this, but we don't have the Elements of Harmony anymore."

"What?! You can't possibly be serious!" Tai said.

"It's true." Twilight said "I meant to tell you this a lot sooner, but it completly slipped my mind. It happened not long after I became a princess. We were forced to give the Elements of Harmony back to the Tree of Harmony to protect it."

"Why would you do that?" Tai asked "How could you possibly expect to protect Equestria without the elements?"

"We had no other choice." Twilight said "All of Equestria would've been overrun with evil vines if we hadn't saved the Tree of Harmony. As for the elements, the tree left us a box of some kind, and I have reason to believe that what ever's inside it could help us. It's just too bad we haven't found the keys to it yet."

"That's just great." Tai said sarcastically. "We're sunk. Without Imperialdramon Alicorn Mode we don't stand a chance."

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. We'll just have to try and wing it as best we can. Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky." Pinkie Pie said.

"That will never work!" Tai said.

"So, what then? Is this how it all ends?!" Davis asked.

"Sure looks that way I'm afraid." Tai said "Unless anyone has any bright ideas."

"Fear not, digidestined, help is on its way." an unfamiliar voice (at least to Tai) said.

"That voice. That's the same voice that offered to restore our armor evolutions." Ken said.

"But what's it doing here?" Kari asked.

Fluttershy recognized the voice at once. "Discord?" she asked.

"The one and only." Discord said "Thank goodness I'm able to reach you."

"Oh no, now we've got Discord to contend with as well. This day just keeps getting better, and better!" Tai said.

"It's okay Tai, Discord's on our side now. He's 'reformed'." Fluttershy said.

"For real?" Tai asked "Cause I find that hard to believe."

"You're not hearing things. Discord isn't evil anymore," Twilight said "And it looks like he's come to help us again."

"I can't believe this is happening. I never thought I'd need help from someone like him!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well like it or not we have to accept it." Rarity said.

"At this point we need all the help we can get." Applejack said.

"Besides, we might get some chocolate rain." Pinkie Pie said, and promptly licked her lips.

"Stay out of this Discord!" Sombramon bellowed "This doesn't concern the likes of you!"

"Oh but it does. You're messing with my friends, and when you mess with my friends you answer to me." Discord said "Besides, someone's got to stop you. What kind of fun would there be if every universe was encased in eternal darkness? That would be boring."

"You're just trying to cover up your own mistakes!" Sombramon bellowed "If it wasn't for you, none of this would've happened! Dont deny it, you know what I'm talking about!"

Discord was silent for a moment. Then he said "Shut up! I'm not going to hear anymore of this! Digidestined, you must listen to me. I want to help you."

"What kind of help do you have in mind?"  Tai asked.

"That's what I wanna know." Matt said "And for that matter, can we really trust you?"

"If you don't want my help that's fine. But I'd reconsider if I were you." Discord said.

"Well, what do you guys think? Can we trust him?" Tai asked.

"I guess so." Izzy said. The rest of the digidestined, and their partner digimon nodded.

"Excellent." Discord said "Now listen carefully. I can temporarily 'convince' the Tree of Harmony to give up some of its power, but you will need to be quick about using it. After a while the power will have to be returned to the tree, and then you'll be on your own again."

"Sounds like a plan, I guess." Tai said "Don't give us the power of the Elements of Harmony just yet though. Wait until we've busted out Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, and then give us as much power as you can."

"Okay. Best of luck. You'll most certainly need it." Discord said.

"Alright guys, you know what to do." Tai said "It's time to digivolve!"

(Digivolution)

Agumon, warp digivolve to, War Greymon!

Gabumon, warp digivolve to, Metal Garurumon!

Veemon, digivolve to, Ex-Veemon!

Wormmon, digivolve to, Stingmon!

(Digivolution complete)

(DNA and Warp DNA Digivolution)

War Greymon! 

Metal Garurumon!

Warp DNA digivolve to, Omnimon!

Ex-Veemon!

Stingmon!

DNA digivolve to, Paildramon!

(DNA and Warp DNA Digivolution complete)

(Digivolution)

Paildramon, Mega digivolve to, Imperialdramon!

(Digivolution complete)

(Mode change)

Imperialdramon, mode change to, Fighter Mode!

Omnimon's arms split off and turned back into Agumon and Gabumon. Omnimon's body became a holy ring, and eventually the Omni Sword. It flew up into the sky, and then flew back down, and wedged itself into a rock. The sky darkened.

Imperialdramon noticed the sword, and walked over to it. He proceeded to try and pull it out.

Imperialdramon, mode change to

As Imperialdramon tried to pull the Omni Sword out the sword cast bright flashes of light, which began to turn Imperialdramon's jet black coat, into a pure white one.

Finally Imperialdramon pulled the Omni Sword out and swung it round once to confirm he could properly weild it. The sky now shone brightly.

Paladin Mode!

"Do it now Discord!" Tai shouted.

"Okay, here goes." Discord said "You guys know what to do."

Tai and the other digidestined, minus Willis, all called out their crests. They shot into the sky, forming a multi colored rainbow. Twilight and her friends did the same for their respective elements. They also shot into the sky, forming a regular rainbow. The two rainbows rained down on Imperialdramon.

Imperialdramon, mode change to

There was a blinding flash of light. Imperialdramon's body began to change. Suddenly the flash faded. Imperialdramon now stood before the digidestined, digimon, and ponies, in a more equine form. The Elements of Harmony were attached to him in six locations. Tucked into his belt was the Crystal Sword. His whole body was now rainbow colored.

Alicorn Mode!

"What?!" Sombramon shouted.

"Go get em guys!" Discord said.

"Thanks for the help Discord. Leave the rest to us." Tai said.

"Your reign of terror ends now Sombramon!" Imperialdramon shouted.

"You won't defeat me that easily!" Sombramon shouted "Taste the power of my dark magic blast!" An insanely powerful blast of dark magic shot out from Sombramon's mouth. Imperialdramon dodged it, just barely.

"This is the end for you!" Imperialdramon shouted, and thrust the Crystal Sword into Sombramon. Sombramon shrieked in pain as the blade dug itself deeper and deeper into his head. But when Imperialdramon finally pulled it out a crack didn't form. Sombramon had survived.

"Did you fools honestly think the same thing would work twice?" Sombramon asked.

"Um....maybe?" Spike said innoncently.

"Well it didn't work, now did it?" Sombramon said. "Just for that, your punishment will be ten times worse then it would've been had you just layed down and accepted defeat. Now witness my ultimate attack! Flaming Darkness!" A streak of flames, coated with Sombramon's dark magic shot out, and began to burn Imperialdramon harshly.

"This is bad!" Terriermon said.

"But what can we do?" Willis asked "We don't have a crest, and Gargomon wouldn't last five minutes."

"Fear not Willis." Discord said "I shall temporarily grant you the ability to use the Golden Digiegg of Destiny. Consider it my way of letting you have some fun."

"Thanks Discord." Willis said. Already he was having flashbacks to that dream he had supposedly been a part of. Where he and Davis had battled against a rabid Kokomon. He could still remember what he had to do to make the Golden Digiegg work. "Here goes nothing." he said "Golden Armor energize!"

(Golden Armor Digivolution)

Terriermon, Golden Armor digivolve to, Rapidmon!

(Golden Armor Digivolution Complete)

"Hang on guys! Help is on the way!" Willis said "Go get em Rapidmon!"

"With pleasure." Rapidmon said. And set off for the battle site.
> Golden Hope Spot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

              "Do you see now? You are no match for me." Sombramon said as he continued to breath his firey breath onto Imperialdramon. Imperialdramon said nothing, he was in too much pain. Sombramon relished in this fact, and thus he failed to notice Rapidmon sneaking up on him "What's the matter? No pity comeback? No bold yet cheesy one-liner? No boasting of any sort? Have you lost the will to go on?"

"How? How can this be happening?!" Tai said "This doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh, but it does." Sombramon said "Who do you think is responsible for all those major threats to Equestria? Surely you didn't think Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Queen Chrysalis did what they did on their own, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Do we even want to find out?" Spike asked.

"You do, but you should be very afraid." Sombramon said "Allow me to explain. It was I who accelerated Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon. Oh sure, she'd been feeling underappreciated before, but it was only after she got a taste of my dark magic that her eventually downfall was assured. Not to mention it was my dark magic that made her so easily open to the influences of the nightmare forces. My dark magic was also at work with Discord's release. After all you should know Princess Celestia enough to know that she wouldn't have waited until Discord was already free to tell you about him. The only reason she did so is because Discord escaped sooner then she anticipated. And it's all thanks to me and my dark magic. Speaking of dark magic, that's exactly what influenced Queen Chrysalis and her changelings into invading Canterlot. They were originally going to invade Ponyville, at a gradual pace."

"But how could you have done all of that if you were sealed away for 1,000 years?" Twilight asked.

"It's simple, your majesty." Sombramon said "Even while sealed away a part of my dark magic remained active. Something that even your precious princesses didn't know."

"That may be, but you will still lose!" Davis said "We beat you once and we can beat you again!"

"Foolish human! Your belief is pathetic, and absurd!" Sombramon bellowed.

"Oh really? Then what do you think of this?! Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon shouted. He shot off missiles from his cannon like arms. Both of them hit Sombramon square in the face. This disrupted his concentration, ending his attack on Imperialdramon, and freeing the powerful Mega.

"Rapidmon?" all of the digidestined except for Ken asked. They could only remember him from that supposed dream.

(Digimon Analyser)

I, Rapidmon, am the fastest Armor digimon you will ever lie eyes on. Few can match my speed, and even fewer can top it. But that's the power of destiny for ya! 

My Rapid Fire attack shoots out missiles at a break neck speed. Once they've locked onto a target there is no escape!

(Digimon Analyser complete)

"I hope you like it." Discord said "Just another thing you can thank me for later."

"Are you okay Imperialdramon?" Rapidmon asked.

"I'll live." Imperialdramon said, groaning in pain "Barely."

"Looks like I was just in time." Rapidmon said.

"Indeed." Imperialdramon said "Sombramon packs a wallop!"

"So it seems." Rapidmon said.

"But I think if we work together we can take him down!" Imperialdramon said.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Rapidmon asked "You took quite a beating."

"I'll manage. Somehow." Imperialdramon said "All the same why don't you lead off?"

"Well if you're sure." Rapidmon said "Don't push yourself too hard now you hear?"

"Rapidmon's right." Tai said "You're our most powerful weapon, we certainly can't afford to lose you. Be careful."

"Okay then. Let's go give Sombramon what he deserves!" Imperialdramon said, flying off.

"With pleasure!" Rapidmon said, also flying off.

Sombramon quickly noticed the two digimon flying towards him. "So there's two of you huh? Well it doesn't matter. You will still lose! Flames of Darkness!" he shouted, spewing out his firey breath. Both Imperialdramon and Rapidmon dodged it. Rapidmon did so easily, but Imperialdramon struggled.

Sombramon noticed this and began to foucs most of his attacks onto the weakend Mega. His intent was to destroy the weak link, and bring everything crashing down. 

Imperialdramon dodged as best he could. Sombramon kept him on his toes with his frequent attacks.

"This guy's got some nerve picking on a weakened opponent!" Cody said "That's far from fair!"

"Whoever said I like to play fair?" Sombramon asked "If there's one thing you must know about me, it's that I love to play dirty. Especially when it comes to mind games."

"I've heard enough!" Rapidmon shouted "Ready Imperialdramon?!"

"You betcha!" Imperialdramon said "Let's show this sucker we mean business!"

"Miracle Missile!" Rapidmon shouted. Launching two gigantic rockets from his arms. He also fired off several rounds worth of machine gun fire from the turrets mounted on his shoulders.

"Giga Crusher! Full power!" Imperialdramon shouted, channeling the power of the Elements of Harmony, and the Crystal Heart, into his attack.

"DIE SOMBRAMON!" Rapidmon and Imperialdramon shouted at the top of their lungs as their attacks merged.

"What's this?!" Sombramon asked as the attacks struck him. A blinding explosion ripped through the Dark Ocean, sending shockwaves in every direction. The vibrations brought all of the digidestined, their partner digimon, Twilight, Spike, and their friends to their knees.

"This is crazy, even by my standards!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"What the hay's going on?!" Applejack asked.

"I have no idea!" Izzy said "I can't see or hear a thing!"

The explosion lasted for quite a while. At least to everyone observing it. Rapidmon and Imperialdramon were panting heavily as they observed their handy work. They could only hope for the best.

At long last the explosion subsided, and the smoke began to clear.

"Did we get him? Did we win?! Is it all over?!" Joe asked.

"Oh I hope you did." Fluttershy said.

"No one could've possibly survived something like that!" Davis said "Sombramon is history!"

"Don't be so sure of yourself, child of miracles!" a familiar voice said "Because history repeats itself, especially when you're not careful!"

"That voice! No, it can't possibly be" Tai and Twilight both said.

"Hi." Sombramon said as the smoke cleared all together. He looked a lot worse for the wear, but he was still standing.

"You survived?!" Pinkie Pie gasped.

"Indeed. Just barely." Sombramon said "Once again my beautiful body that I worked so hard to achieve has been ruined! And it's all thanks to you, you goody goody twoshoes and horseshoes!"

"But that can't be. We put everything we had into those attacks." Rapidmon said.

"We're finished." Imperialdramon said.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Sombramon said "Now, it's time to say goodnight. Dark Magic Blast!" Beams of dark magic shot out from Sombramon, striking both Imperialdramon and Rapidmon and bringing them down.

"No! This can't be happening!" Tai shouted.

"Do you see now? It's hopeless. You don't stand a chance!" Sombramon gloated.

"That does it! Let's show this joker a thing or two! Ready Patamon?!" Gatomon said.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Patamon said.

"Then let's do it!" Gatomon said.

"Alright!" Patamon said.

"Are you two nuts?! You won't last five minutes against Sombramon! Even in your Mega forms!" Izzy said.

"We know that." Gatomon said.

"We're doing this to buy you guys some time." Patamon said.

"But what can we do? We've exhausted all our options. We threw everything we had at Sombramon and he survived it." Mimi said.

"Not everything. You still haven't invoked the full power of fusion." Gatomon said.

"What do you mean?" Tai asked.

"It's simple. Fuse Imperialdramon and Rapidmon together. It's your only hope." Patamon said.

"And you think that will work?" Tai asked.

"Well if you've got a better plan I'm all ears." Gatomon said. Tai didn't reply.

"Exactly." Patamon said "So stop talking and start fusing. We'll hold off Sombramon for as long as we can, but the rest is up to you."

"I suppose we've got nothing to lose. Willis, you do think you're up for this?" Tai asked, turning to Willis.

"I guess." Willis said.

(Digivolution)     

Patamon, digivolve to, Angemon!

Gatomon, digivolve to, Angewomon!

Angemon, warp digivolve to, Seraphimon!

Angewomon, Mega digivolve to, Magnadramon!

(Digivolution complete)

"Remember the plan guys!" Seraphimon said.

"We'll do our part, but you have to do yours." Magndramon said. And with that the two Megas flew off to confrot Sombramon.
> Light v.s. Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                "Twilight, listen to me very carefully. I want you and your friends to stand back. I don't know what will happen." Tai said.

"Well, if that's what you want. Come on girls let's give him some space." Twilight said. She and her friends, as well as Spike, did so.

"Okay then, let's give this a whirl, and see what happens." Tai said "You ready to do this Willis?"

"Yes. Are you?" Willis asked.

"Like hell we are!" Davis shouted "The time for talk is over! Now's the time to kick ass!"

"Then let's do it!" Willis said.

(Cue the music)


(DNA Digivolution)

Imperialdramon!

Rapidmon!

DNA digivolve to, Celestiamon!

(DNA Digivolution complete)

Standing before the digidestined was a much more equine like version of Imperialdramon, clad in golden armor. Atop his head rested a crown with the symbols of the crests, and the Elements of Harmony emblazoned upon it. He also had what looked like a cross between Imperialdramon's blaster, and Rapidmon's blasters.

"It worked! This is so cool!" Tai said.

(Digimon Analyser)

I am the mighty Celestiamon! The ultimate being of light! No evil force escapes me! My holy powers make me a force to be reckoned with. Especially when I dole out justice with my Harmony Blast!

(Digimon Analyser complete)

"Seven Heavens!" Seraphimon shouted, launching seven fireballs from above.

"Fire Tornado!" Magnadramon shouted, unleashing a firey vortex. Both her attack and Seraphimon's attack hit Sombramon head on. He didn't simply shrug them off, but he survived them without too much trouble.

"You fools! You just don't get it do you?! I am Sombramon, no one can stop me! Not even the likes of you!" Sombramon bellowed.

"We know that." Seraphimon said.

"Then why do you insist on fighting me?" Sombramon asked.

"As if we'd tell the likes of you. All you need to know is that even if you strike us down you won't win. Your time is up." Magndramon said.

"Fools! Both of you!" Sombramon said "Perhaps you need to get a grip on your surroundings! Dark Magic Blast!" 

Seraphimon and Magnadramon knew they couldn't dodge the attack, and accepted their fate with dignity. They didn't even flinch as the attack overwhelmed them.

"Yes!" Sombramon said "It's like I said, no one can stop me!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch Sombramon!" Celestiamon said, flying towards the battle sight.

"What?!" Sombramon asked. 

"It's all up to you now Celestiamon." Patamon said wearily, as he reverted back from Seraphimon.

"Go get em big guy." Gatomon said, also wearily, as she reverted back from Magnadramon.

"Sombramon, you have prooven to be a very powerful, and dangerous threat. Therefore you must be punished, and defeated! Perhaps even destroyed!" Celestiamon said calmly, yet powerfully "And I am just the digimon to do it."

"Do you honestly think you can stop me?" Sombramon asked.

"Indeed I do." Celestiamon said.

"Then by all means, try." Sombramon said "Don't think it's gonna be easy though. Flames of Darkness!" He promptly spewed out his firey breath. Celestiamon dodged it with ease.

"Is that the best you can do?" Celestiamon asked "And I was told you were strong."

Sombramon began to lose patience "Oh yeah? Well see what you think of this! Dark Magic Blast! Full power!" He then unleashed an extremly powerful blast of dark magic.

Rather then dodge it Celestiamon flew straight into it. There was a blinding explosion.

"You were a fool to do that Celestiamon." Sombramon said "Oh well, we all live and learn. It's a pity though, I was starting to enjoy myself."

"Then you're gonna love this." Celestiamon said, emerging from the smoke with only a few dents to his armor.

"What?! But how did you" Sombramon said, he began to growl and sputter, unable to form the words he wanted.

"This fight is over! You have lost Sombramon!" Celestiamon said "Now the time has come for you to face the music, and pay for your sins!"

"How are you suppose to do that? You don't have the Crystal Sword, or the Elements of Harmony." Sombramon said with a smirk.'

"Don't be so sure." Celestiamon said "See what you think of THIS! Harmony Blast!" Beams of rainbow colored light shot out from Celestiamon's blaster arms, they soon turned into chains. Holding Sombramon down and preventing him from escaping.

"You can't stop me! YOU CAN'T!" Sombramon bellowed.

"I can, and I will." Celestiamon said. His horn promptly lit up, a familiar golden glow appeared around it. Suddenly, down from the sky descended a much more powerful, and much more dazzling crystal sword. 

Sombramon gasped. "This can't be happening! Not to me!" he said.

"Prepare to face judgement! This is the end of the line for you!" Celestiamon said, and without further ado he thrust the crystal sword directly into Sombramon's head. Sombramon could only wiggle in vain as he tried to no avail to escape his fate.

"NO! SPARE ME! SPARE ME PLEASE! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING! JUST SPARE ME!" Sombramon pleaded.

"You will recieve no mercy Sombramon. And do you know why?" Celestiamon asked, just before the crystal sword was fulled embedded "It's because you've never shown mercy to anyone! Not even once! And with the power of this sword, you will never again threaten anyone!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sombramon asked.

"It's simple. I'm going to split you back into the three evil forces that you are composed of. Daemon, Dragomon, and King Sombra. Then all three of you will be dealt with accordingly!" Celestiamon explained.

"NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sombramon yelled, as the crystal sword worked its magic. Sure enough Sombramon reverted back to the three creatures of darkness that had created him in the first place.

"Now for your punishment!" Celestiamon said. He turned to Daemon. "Daemon! You have prooven to be far too dangerous to be kept alive! Therefore you will suffer the worst fate, you will be terminated! Now!"

"NO! NOT ME! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Daemon pleaded, to no avail. Celestiamon charged up a blast from his hands and fired it at Daemon. Obliterating Daemon all together. The ruler of the once proud Daemon Corps disappered forever with one last scream of pain. Celestiamon then absorbed his data, thus ensuring he could never return.

King Sombra didn't even flinch at he'd just witnessed, as far as he was concerned Daemon had outlived his usefulness. And even when he hadn't he was little more then a pawn. a tool to be used and then tossed aside without fanfare.

Dragomon however was worried. Celestiamon had just killed Daemon, and without even batting an eye. What if Celestiamon did the same to him? He turned to King Sombra, hoping to see some sign of hope. But he all saw was a cold stare of rejection. At that moment it dawned on Dragomon that King Sombra never cared about him. And indeed it was true. Just like Daemon Dragomon had been little more then a pawn for King Sombra to use as he saw fit. And to think Dragomon had trusted him, how stupid he had been. But it was too late to undo his mistakes.

"Dragomon!" Celestiamon said "You shall be allowed to live." Dragomon breathed a sigh of relief. "However." Celestiamon continued "You will stripped of all your power, and will be forced to step down. No longer shall you rule this Dark Ocean. All those who call this place home shall finally be free from your tyranny!"

"Very well then." Dragomon said "At this point anything is better then death. But I hope you realize that you are only dooming this place to eternal damnation as a result." And with that the now former ruler of the Dark Ocean vanished without a trace.

King Sombra still didn't care about the fate of either of the evil digimon he had worked with. In fact he was pleased to have Celestiamon take care of them for him. It saved him a lot of trouble. But when Celestiamon finally approached him Twilight could've sworn she saw signs of worry appear on King Sombra's face.

"King Sombra!" Celestiamon said "Once again you have caused a great deal of trouble, and all for your own selfish desires!"

"Go ahead, lay it all out, see if I care." King Sombra said "I'll have you know that I've come to terms with what I've done. And frankly I don't really care anymore. I lost the ability to feel any sort of sympathy long ago. And it's all thanks to the very creature who has aided you in this battle."

"Be that as it may your sins are far greater then any other evil force that has ever threatened any part of Equestria, as well as the Digital World." Celestiamon said "However, there is not much that I can do."

"Glad to see you realize that." Sombramon said "As long as darkness thrives so do I."

"But don't think you're getting off the hook for what you've done. You will still be punished! You will not be allowed to return to the Dark Ocean ever again! And you will be tracked whenever you appear in either the digital world, or Equestria. Never again will you have the element of surprise!" Celestiamon said.

"Hmph. That won't stop me." King Sombra said "All of you had better sleep with one eye open. Because one day, when you least expect it I will be back. Until then, farewell." And with that King Sombra disappeared, Twilight could've sworn she saw a hint of regret reflected in his eyes.

And just like that, it was all over. The day was saved once again.

"Now that was sweet!" Davis said.

"I'll say." Matt said.

"I'm just glad we've seen the last of Daemon." Ken said.

"And Dragomon." Kari said "Maybe the next time I visit this place it will be a lot nicer."

"Anything's possible if you believe." Gatomon said.

"Bravo digidestined, bravo! That was an outstanding performance!" Discord said "And not a moment too soon I might add. The Tree of Harmony needs the elements back now."

"I shall gladly relinquish my power for a worthy cause." Celestiamon said. A blinding flash later and an exhausted Veemon and Wormmon showed up.

"Weeh." Veemon panted "I'm bushed."

"Fighting evil forces, it sure does take a lot out of you." Wormmon said.

"Well the only question now is, how the hay are we suppose to get out of this place?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, do you have any bright ideas Discord?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"It's a long shot, but I think I can teleport all of you out of here." Discord said.

"Let me guess, this is one of those plans that's just crazy enough to work, right?" Twilight asked.

"How did you know?" Discord teased "But in all seriousness I've only got one shot at this. So all of you should huddle together, it'll make this a lot eaiser."

"Okay then." Tai said "Let's all stand together." And all of the digidestined, their partner digimon, Twilight, her friends, and Spike all did so.

"Okie dokie. Here goes." Discord said, under his breath he muttered "I hope this works!"

There was a blinding flash, and the Dark Ocean became empty of almost all life once again.
> Saying Goodbye
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                "Hey, they're waking up." a voice called out.

"About time, I was begining to grow worried." another voice said.

The digidestined, their partner digimon, Twilight, her friends, and Spike all slowly began to open their eyes. As they did they took in their surrondings. None of the digidestined, or their partner digimon recognized where they were.

"What is this place?" Matt asked.

"You're in the Crystal Empire." a female voice said.

"Crystal Empire?" Sora asked, not sure if she'd heard right.

"Indeed." the female voice said, revealing the being to which it belonged. Twilight recognized who it was in an instant.

"Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed happily. She raced forward, eager to perform her secret hoofshake with Cadence. But she found that she didn't quite have the energy to do so.

"Hey, don't forget about me Twily." Shining Armor said.

"It's good to see you too B.B.B.F.F." Twilight said happily.

"How did we get here?" Tai asked "The last thing I can remember was a blinding flash."

"I think you all know who to thank for that." a familiar voice said.

"Okay, enough with the suspense. I know you're there Discord." Fluttershy said.

"And here I was going to make my grand entrance. Oh well, no sense in hiding any longer." Discord said, and he appeared before the group in a flash of light.

"Looks like your plan worked. For once." Rainbow Dash said. Under her breath she muttered "Can't believe I just said that."

"Thanks for your help Discord." Tai said "Without you we wouldn't be here right now."

"Oh, don't mention it, really." Discord said "But as much as I would love to sit here and bask in your praise I really must be going. I'm a very busy spirit, got things to do, places to be, chaos to witness." And with that he disappeared. Fluttershy could sense that something was wrong with Discord however, and made a vow to talk to him in private the first chance she got.

"I am thrilled to see you are all safe and sound." Princess Celestia said, stepping forward alongside Princess Luna.

"Your majesties. It's so good to see you again." Tai said, and even though he knew they didn't want him to he bowed to them. It was his duty as an up and coming diplomat after all.

"Indeed it is." Princess Luna said "And we are pleased to report that the tracking spell cast on King Sombra by Celestiamon is working perfectly. The next time he tries anything funny, we'll be ready for him."

"That's good." Davis said "Sounds like it's all's well that ends well."

"Not quite." Princess Celestia said somberly. This attracted everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked.

"Yeah. Is it something we did?" T.K. asked.

"Whatever they did they didn't mean it." Rarity said.

"And we didn't do anything on purpose either." Pinkie Pie said.

"It is nothing that any of you did, or didn't do." Princess Celestia explained "It is the fact that King Sombra was so easily able to cause trouble, simply by exploting the fact that Equestria was now connected to both your world, and the digital world. It has become all too clear that there is too much potential for harm to come to Equestria, to allow the connections between the worlds to remain open freely."

"So then, we'll never get to come back to this place?" Ken asked "Not even once?"

"You will still be allowed to visit as you please." Princess Luna said "But"

"Outside of your family and Gennai, you will be the only ones allowed to know about Equestria." Princess Celestia continued "And from now on the connections between Equestria, Earth, and the digital world will be closely monitored. I know this may not seem fair, and indeed it isn't. If there was any other way to protect Equestria I would not do this. But the situation has forced my hoof, and I have been left with no other choice. I'm sorry it has to come to this, but it's the only way to ensure that no more harm comes to Equestria, or to your world. As King Sombra has shown there will always be those who will attempt to use the connections for evil, and from what I have seen of your race I'm afraid I have reason to believe they would do more harm then good."

"This isn't fair! You can't force this onto them just because of their race!" Applejack said.

"A.J.'s right!" Rainbow Dash said "There's got to be more humans like these guys who only want to help, not harm!"

"You must reconsider! You must!" Rarity pleaded.

Then Tai, to the shock of everyone said "No! The princesses are right. As I have come to learn the hard way we human beings fear what we do not understand. And even if there are humans like me who would do anything to protect you guys, there are those would only view you as threats. You would be targeted by all sorts of militaries, with weapons beyond anything you've ever seen. And there would be those that would surely experiment on you if they could catch you. If this is the only way to ensure that does not become a reality, then so be it."

There was a long and tense silence. No one dared to say anything. At last Princess Celestia broke the silence and said "I hate to acknowledge that someone else can see what I can see, but Tai has stated the facts. I know this does not sit well with all of you, but I am ony doing what I know is right. Perhaps, some day, things will change. Perhaps in the future if Luna and I should no longer rule Equestria, or if the humans learn to get along, these restrictions will not need to be in place. But for the time being they stand. Once again I am deeply, and truly sorry that it has come to this. Now all of you may leave, Luna and I need time to prepare the spell that will send you home, digidestined."

"You heard her guys, let's leave the princesses alone." Cody said "Why don't we go take in the sights a little?"

"Sounds like a good idea. I guess." Yolei said. And with that all of the digidestined and their parnter digimon left the throne room. As did Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight, her friends, and Spike.

But a moment later Tai snuck back into the throne room. He had a feeling that his prescence was needed. 

And he was right. There, standing in a corner was Princess Celestia. But Princess Luna was nowhere in sight. Tai could've sworn he'd seen the princess of the night walk past him on his way back here.

Princess Celestia did not look happy. In fact she seemed quite upset. "Yet again, I have failed to protect my country when it was in danger. Could it be that I am losing my touch with my old age?" she said to herself. She then began to sing. 

Tai listened to the whole thing. The song sounded so sad, almost mornful. As if though Princess Celestia was actually crying. And indeed she was. Tears streaked down the solar princess' face, staining the floor, not that she cared. After what seemed like forever, but was actually only a few minutes the song ended. Reluctantly Tai broke the silence. "That was a very nice song your majesty. So beautiful, and emotional." he said.

"You heard?" Princes Celestia asked, Tai nodded. "How much?"

"The whole thing. It sounds almost like you've just banished your sister to the moon again." Tai said "I take it that's how you feel right now, correct?"

"Indeed." Princess Celestia said sadly "I thought that I had finally conqured the guilt about what I thought was my greatest failure. And yet now I have once again failed to protect my country from harm. I knew that an era had ended when I banished my sister, and I knew a new one had begun when Twilight unlocked the Elements of Harmony. But could it be that I no longer serve a purpose? I couldn't stop Nightmare Moon. I was unable to help Twilight against Discord. I failed to notice the obvious signs of Queen Chrysalis. I was taken completly by surprise when the Everfree Forest attacked. And now even King Sombra has slipped past me. And every time it has been Twilight Sparkle who has saved the day, alongside her friends, as well you, and your teammates and partners. Has the time come for me to step down and give up my power?"

"Of course not." Tai said "You're a great leader Princess Celestia. Far better then any leader I've ever known back in my world. And certainly better then me."

"Then why do I feel so useless? Why does it feel like I'm not good for anything? What kind of ruler can't protect her country when it needs her most?" Princess Celestia asked.

"There's more to being a leader then just being able to protect the ones you care about. A good leader is a leader that can keep things running smoothly, no matter what." Tai said "And you seem to do a good job managing the day to day affairs of Equestria."

"That may be, but I still haven't able to do much when my country has come under attack." Princess Celestia said "Even Luna has shown signs of being more adept then I am. She actually managed to put up a fight against the dark weeds, whereas they simply caught me by surprise. Something that shouldn't have happened. I should've been aware of their prescence long ago."

"Look Princess, you did the best you could do under the circumstances in each situation." Tai said "I don't know what's like to be you. I don't know what you've been through. I can't say what I'd do differently if I were in your horeshoes, because I'm not you and you're not me. All those things you mentioned? They're in the past, and you can't change the past. No one knows that better then I do. You can only change the future. And you do that by learning from the mistakes you made in the past. That way you can make sure you will not repeat them. It is human, or in this case pony, to make mistakes and to learn from them."

"I suppose you bring up a good point." Princess Celestia said, wiping away tears "Perhaps I have been too hard on myself. If I stepped down now, just because of a few small mistakes that would be extremly selfish of me. My country still needs me, and I shall continue to serve it for as long as I can."

"That's the spirit Princess!" Tai said "As long as you believe that, no one can make you feel bad."

"Thanks for that pep talk." Princess Celestia said "I really needed it."

"You're more then welcome." Tai said, and he embraced the alicorn in a hug. He could feel the warmth reflected in it, and knew he had done good.

While Tai and Celestia had their discussion Fluttershy had her own story to tell. She managed to find Discord, hiding, in a remote part of the Crystal Castle. But something was off about him, he didn't seem to be smiling. In fact if Fluttershy didn't know better she would've thought the spirit was depressed. Plucking up courage she decided to confront him. "Discord?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh it's just you Fluttershy." Discord said "Why are you here?"

"I came here because something told me you needed my help." Fluttershy said "After all that's what true friends do."

"Well as you can see I don't need help," Discord said "Look at me. I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me." But he didn't pull anything out to pull off some sort of gag or joke. Fluttershy quickly noticed this. "There's no convincing you otherwise is there?" Discord asked. Fluttershy shook her head. "Should've known." he said "You want to know what's troubling me? Well I'll tell you, even though I really don't want to."

"And why is that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because what I'm going to say will ruin our friendship. You'll think I'm some sort of monster." Discord said sadly.

"I would never think that, I'm your friend." Fluttershy said.

"Oh really? Well how would you feel if I told you that Sombra was right? That he only became who he was because of me?" Discord asked. Fluttershy was speechless. "I thought so." Discord said "And I owe you the full story, it's not like I've got anything left to lose. Before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna confronted me all those years ago, I made sure to record some of my secrets. The idea was that in case I was ever defeated I would be able to leave behind something to train my successor. But after I was turned to stone the book disappeared. However, as you know being turned to stone didn't keep me from hearing, or knowing everything that went on around me. That book found its way to the Crystal Empire where it ended up in the hooves of a young colt named Sombra. He read it and became addicted to my teachings. They led to his experimentation with dark magic, that resulted in the creation of the demon you and the crystal ponies saw him as. And thanks to my chaos magic he lost the ability to feel anything other then fear, or anger. In short, I created a monster that even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn't defeat."

Fluttershy was silent as Discord finished his story.

"Well, there you have it." Discord said "Go ahead. Hate me, spite me, call off our friendship, have me sealed away again. Do whatever you want to me. Whatever it is I deserve it. It if weren't for me this empire would never have suffered, and it never would've disappeared for 1,000 years. Alas, even I can't change the past."

"I could never hate you Discord." Fluttershy said "And what happened wasn't your fault. There was no way you could've known that book would create such a demon. And even then it was Sombra who chose to read the book, he knew what he was getting into. What happened after that was his own fault."

"Not true. My chaos magic is addicting, one taste and you're all but hooked." Discord said.

"But you're reformed now. And you feel sorry for what you did." Fluttershy said "It's in the past, and like you said, you can't change it."

"That may be, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm to blame for creating a permanet threat to Equestria." Discord said sadly.

"And yet you were willing to do anything and everything in your power to help us stop said threat. In my book that more then makes up for it." Fluttershy said "Despite what you just told me my opinion of you hasn't changed. We're still friends, and we always will be. Nothing can ever break up true friendship."

"Oh Fluttershy, you're such a good friend. I don't deserve you." Discord said, trying and failing to hold back tears.

"There there, it's okay." Fluttershy said, hugging her friend "You're not bad. You made some bad decisions in the past, but that doesn't make you a monster. I've done things in the past that I'm not proud of, and my friends have always forgiven me. I couldn't say the same for myself if I wasn't willing to forgive you."

"Thank you Fluttershy." Discord said "I really needed this. I had no idea friendship could be this powerful. And it's strange, I feel so wam inside."

"That's a sign of true friendship." Fluttershy said "And don't worry. This will just stay our little secret, until we decide the rest of our friends are ready to know the truth."

"Indeed." Discord said.

"The portal is ready digidestined." Princess Cadence said.

"It is time for you to leave." Shining Armor said "But don't forget to write."

"And do come back again soon, we shall miss you very much." Princess Cadence said.

"We'll miss you too." Joe said.

"So this is huh? This is goodbye?" Twilight asked as she looked at Tai. She could still hardly believe that only a short time ago he had still been a pony.

"Not really. I can still come back and visit you. I'll just have to make sure that the next time I do so it's on my own terms." Tai said "Just like last time though don't try too hard to remember me. Just continue on with your life, and good luck searching for those keys. I know you'll find them eventually." And just like before he and Twilight shared one last hug.

"Are you ready to return to your world?" Princess Luna asked the digidestined and their partner digimon. They all nodded.

"Then I wish you all a safe trip. And we shall all look forward to your next visit." Princess Celestia said. And with that the digidestined and their partner digimon walked into the rainbow colored portal. Twilight, her friends, Spike, the royal sisters, the royal couple, and Discord, waved to them until they disappeared.

And when Tai returned home, the scene at the Kamiya family household was one that had to be seen to be believed.