At last, after the long journey across the digital sea, Whamon arrived at the server continent's small dock, much to Gigimon purest excitement. Immediately, he jumped off Whamon and hopped up and down on the wooden dock with a big smile on his face. Scootaloo slid down the whale Digimon's back as well, though less to marvel at the new land and more to go and make sure Gigimon didn't get hurt. She picked him up with her front hooves and placed him on her back.

Now Scootaloo had a chance to look at the new land she and her partner arrived in. The land in front of her was a wide plain with a forest in the background. She squinted her eyes. A large stone brick building was way deep in the forest, filling the air with the cheers of a large crowd. If nowhere else, that was probably where her friends were.

"Thank you so much, Whamon!" she turned back to the large Digimon and nodded.

"No need to thank me, my child, I was simply upholding the deal" Whamon responded "Now remember; the server continent takes up a majority of the digital world. It will be tough to trek through it without companionship. Gigimon, I want you to defend Scootaloo on your adventure."

"Sure thing, Whamon!" Gigimon excitedly said, hopping up and down.

"Scootaloo, come closer, child" Whamon spoke as quiet as he could, making sure Gigimon was still distracted by his excitement "You know Gigimon is far too young to be a guardian quite yet, but with a bit of love and patience, he'll become something of a hero, I can assure you. Until then, keep him safe and guard him with your life."

"I will" Scootaloo nodded and smiled before looking back at Gigimon, still excited he was able to do something on his own for a change "Y'know, he really is cute."

"He's going to become big quickly" Whamon stated "And that's not just a saying."

"W-Wait, really?" Scootaloo's eyes widened "How much bigger?"

"Much bigger than you. Ten times over, perhaps" Whamon explained.

"I'll... I'll be sure to keep that in mind..." Scootaloo nodded "Anything else I should know before heading out?"

"Hmm... Well, I needn't mean to worry you..." Whamon pondered before deciding to explain his thoughts "There have been a few rumors arising that state of a Digimon that is so powerful, it has the ability to eliminate the digital world simply by existing. However, there is little to fear. These are simply rumors, and I doubt they're actually real."

"Good to know..." Scootaloo let out a nervous sigh.

"C'mon, Scootaloo!" Gigimon finally stopped his little excitement trip "We gotta go find our friends!"

"You mean my friends?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Well when I finally get to meet them, they can be my friends too, right?" Gigimon cheerfully hopped "Is that okay with you, Scootaloomon?"

"Scootaloomon?" she questioned, feeling a little confused "Gigimon, you know I'm not a Digimon, right?"

"I know!" he nodded "But Whamon said that when two Digimon get to know each other a lot, we can talk with our heads without having to say anything. That would be super cool, so I wanna call you Scootaloomon until you turn into a Digimon so we can be friends all the time!"

"Gigimon, I..." Scootaloo was about to explain to the child the truth before she stopped herself and sighed a bit, letting a small smile escape her lips "Y'know what? That sounds cool! I'd love to be able to talk with you with our minds!"

"Yeah, me three!" Gigimon giggled "Then from now on, you're gonna be named Scootaloomon!"

"Yes, okay..." Scootaloo sighed with a defeated smile. She shook her head a bit before focusing on the task at hand. She grabbed Gigimon gently with her hooves before placing him on her back. With a final wave of farewell to Whamon that seconded as a thank you for carrying them over, Scootaloo began running across the plains toward the stone building.

"Yay! Let's go and find our friends!" Gigimon cheered, holding onto Scootaloo's back tightly.

"Don't be gone for too long!" Whamon called out behind them before finishing what he had to say slightly quieter "Or Elecmon will get into another one of his fits."

"I heard that, Whamon..." Elecmon spoke in a deadpan tone within Whamon's head, slightly cross he would say that to him.

"But it's true, old friend" Whamon chuckled a bit.

The violent cheers and roars of the crowd filled with Digimon large and small was almost deafening for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, to say the least. Everything about the inside of the arena was intimidating; from the large statues of some sort of bug Digimon hanging overhead the door to gateway, to the shapes and sizes of some of the grotesque and powerful-looking Digimon on the other side where the two stood, more than likely waiting for their time to crush them.

Sweetie Belle began to shiver. She knew the situation she was in had a very little chance of her and Apple Bloom surviving. Speaking of, she knew Apple Bloom was scared as well. She could see it in her eyes. Sure, she may act tough and fearless, but her mother and sister once told her the eyes are the doorways to the soul. Finally, Apple Bloom broke her fake expression and began crying

"W-Well... this is the end, huh?" Apple Bloom stated, a few tears coming down her cheeks "We're gonna be turned inta monster food! Heck, we already ARE monster food!"

"Apple Bloom, wait, calm down!" Sweetie Belle tried to calm her friend "There has to be a way out of here..."

"You, little pony creatures!" a large, green monster with a gaping mouth filled with sharp, curved teeth, red and black straps on its arms and legs, horns on its head, white hair on its head and down its back, and a large bone-like club in its hand, pointed at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom "I, Ogremon, will smash you into oblivion!"

"Aren't ogres supposed to be dumb?" Sweetie asked "That's what my sister told me anyway. I mean, you are an ogre, right?"

"Me? Unintelligent as the creatures in folklore?!" Ogremon shouted, clearly having a rather ill temper "You wretched little brat... I'll destroy you, and then absorb ALL of your data, so you'll never be able to come back!"

"Absorb our... data?" Apple Bloom wondered curiously.

"That's right, youngin'..." spoke a familiar voice to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Mushroomon?" the two wondered.

"How are ya even able ta talk with us?" Apple Bloom questioned "Ah thought y'all were..."

"Ah know where ah am" Mushroomon confirmed "Durin' yer lil' nap, ah took the liberty o' attachin' a communication device ta each o' yer ears. Unlike mah friends, I'm more merciful ta newcomin' bait Digim- er... yer kind, ah would guess now. But this isn't important right now. What's important is that y'all survive the game."

"And how are we gonna do that?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Jus'... ugh..." he sighed, probably seeing something on his side of the talk "Jus' try ta avoid Ogremon's attacks until ah git back. Speakin' of, ah'll be right back."

He signed off.

"Well, that's just great!" Apple Bloom groaned "Now not only are we trapped in an arena with some ugly lookin' Digimon thin' over there, but now we have ta fight it."

"Apple Bloom, I don't think that's a good idea to-" Sweetie Belle's eyes widened, urging her friend to stop.

"And what's even with him anyway, that Ogremon?" Apple Bloom continued complaining "He's jus' some big bully wantin' ta hurt us. Ah dun think that's very nice."

"AB, you might wanna-"

"And that smell o' his is unbearable! It's like he's constantly lookin' over me and jus' waitin' ta throw his stupid stink all over me! Why, ah think he's even smellier than Big Mac after a full day o' workin'."

"Apple Bloom, what are you doing?" Sweetie Belle nervously asked her friend, looking at the towering Ogremon who was less than impressed with her display of words "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Wait for it..." Apple Bloom smiled.

"BONE CUDGEL!" Ogremon shouted, raising his bone club into the air and absorbing some surrounding energy into it before bringing it down onto Apple Bloom. She and Sweetie moved out of the way immediately, but as far as the former was concerned, everything was going according to her plan.

"Oh, and Ogremon begins the fight with a Bone Cudgel attack!" the announcer speaks loud and clear "It looks like our little decoys are still holding out though! Maybe they're tougher than they look!"

"Apple Bloom, are you crazy?!" Sweetie squeaked a bit.

"Relax, Sweetie Belle, ah have a plan" Apple Bloom nodded with confidence "Like Mushroomon said; jus' hold out until he gits back."

Meanwhile, over in the midst of the crowd, a very worried filly and a constantly cross Digimon watched the two fillies run around the rather large Digimon. The former was chattering at her hooves, wanting to do something in order to help the two escape their fate. The latter, unsurprisingly, was laughing and cheering all the way.

"YEAH!! GO OGREMON, YA BIG PALOOKA!" he cheered.

"Impmon, don't you get it? Those are my friends down there!" Diamond worryingly explained to him, causing him to stop for a second to ponder for a moment.

"Eh, friends shmends. Who needs 'em anyway?" Impmon shrugged.

"Look, Impmon, I was once like you as well..." Diamond confessed "But I promise you that friends are-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, tuts" Impmon waved his hand in front of Diamond's muzzle, greatly angering her "I'm tryin' ta watch a game here, capeesh? I ain't got time for no games."

"Are you for real?!" Diamond grumbled "You stubborn... stuck-up..." she sighed to try and calm herself, though she was still a little cross "How could you not have a single friend? Even me when I was still a bully, I had Silver Spoon. But you just outright refuse friendship?!

"It never appealed ta me, a'ight?!" Impmon shouted "Now, lemme sit down and enjoy my game! It's bad enough I'm lettin' ya stay around with me for this."

"Please, Impmon, help me save my friends!" Diamond plead "You said it yourself that you were in a good mood today, right?"

"Eh, the time's come and gone, tuts" Impmon rolled his eyes "I'm feelin' more towards this fight than I am anytin' else, so why don't ya suck it up and WATCH THE GAME!! Your friends will just appear back at the Village of Beginnin's' again, no trouble!"

"Oh yes, you told me about that..." Diamond remembered "But my friends aren't Digimon, Impmon! They won't get a second chance at life if they're killed here!"

"Well, sucks ta be you" Impmon shrugged.

"Grrrrrr!!" Diamond growled before grabbing Impmon by one of his arms and flinging him on her back, carrying him away from the stands "You're coming to help me whether you like it or not! I owe everything to those two, and I plan on repaying them sometime soon!"

"Ey! Put me down, ya four-legged buffoon!" he squirmed around a lot "I demand ta see a lawyer about this! I said put me down, ya disgustin' whelp of a horse! Geez, c'mon, are ya braindead?!"

"No, just trying to do the right thing for once" Diamond simply explained "But I can't do this alone. You need to help me, Impmon! You have to help me!"

"I ain't helpin' no one!" Impmon whined "Ya can't make me!"

"Quit acting like a foal" Diamond stuck her nose up in the air and moved around all the other Digimon watching the fight, trying to locate the exit and the stairs she and Impmon trekked up to get this high up into the stands in the first place.

Despite the cheers coming from deep within the forest, signalling their other friends may be in serious danger, Rumble, Babs Seed, Silver Spoon and Candlemon all rushed through the dense woods, following the loud sound of the crowd and hoping, nay, praying that the others were okay. Of course, Candlemon being shaped the way he was, he required some assistance from the others. Thus, he rode upon his partner's back.

"We need to keep going if we are to save them!" he stated out of purest determination to get his partner's friends back "Quickly, hurry, hurry! The fight has already begun, but I can tell we still have time!"

"Candlemon, we're running as fast as we can..." Rumble spoke with an exhausted sigh before spreading his wings and starting to hover across the land, the same speed the others were going "Okay, time to fly then!"

"How much farther, Candlemon?" Silver Spoon questioned.

"It shouldn't bee all that much longer now, if memory serves" he recalled "The arena was built not too far from the cavern. I remember because I saw it being created with my own eyes, though that comparison will mean little to you."

"Well, I hope we can find it soon" Babs mentioned "Because if we can't..."

"Don't worry, Babs, we'll find it, I'm sure!" Rumble nodded with a smile.

"Thanks, Rumble" she nodded, still focusing on running through the forest "I need to stay hopeful that my cousin and friends are still alive. They gotta be alive, I know they are!"

The team stayed silent for a little while as they ran through the woods, contemplating on whether or not the others were out of harms way in this fascinating, yet extremely dangerous world. Would they too find their Digimon partners to help them along the way, or have they already? Questions like these flooded the heads of the three children anxiously hoping their friends were alright. They were too distracted to noticed the queer pair of eyes looking down upon them, chuckling with joy.

"Heya there, crazies!" the pair of eyes dropped down, revealing a small, pale blue, furry Digimon with squinted, red eyes and long ears ending in three tuffs of furr on each ear. The sudden appearance of the Digimon shocked the four enough to halt them in their tracks and come to a complete stop.

"Hey! Why would you do that?!" Silver Spoon shouted at the Digimon.

"Sorry, uh... thing, but Pagumon doesn't reveal his secrets! Ahahahahaha!!" he laughed near uncontrollably for a moment before calming down "...ahhh... Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear you four had some missing friends?"

"Just ignore him, everyone" Candlemon rolled his eyes "That's a Pagumon, a mischievous little pest that loves getting into other people's businesses."

"H-Hey, now! Let's be rational about this, okay? You old fart!" Pagumon insulted him hopping up to a fallen tree branch to get to the same height as the others.

"E-Excuse me?!"

"So you're Pagumon, hmm?" Babs stepped up to face the small Digimon "Tell me, Pagumon, if that is your real name... Why would you try and scare us?"

"But... Pagumon is my real name" Pagumon looked a little confused by that statement before cheering up to answer the question "And to answer your little thought there, I did it because I could! I mean, you guys were right here, and I was right up there in the trees, and you were all like 'we have to save our friends', and I was all like 'hahaha, losers losing their loser friends', so I scared you!"

"Certainly a well thought out explaination..." Silver Spoon said sarcastically before noticing something below her "Hmm? Hey, everypony, my Digivice is glowing..."

"It's what?" Rumble looked down and saw the Digivice blinking the soft blue it did before "Oh, so it is. Candlemon, do you have any idea what this could mean?"

"Since I'm already Silver Spoon's partner, it's unlikely this light is for her" Candlemon deduced "Perhaps one of the Digivices inside its inventory senses another DigiDestined nearby, as well their... Digimon... part... ner..."

Everyone stopped the moment they put two and two together. They all turned around and looked right at Pagumon, who was blissfully unaware of the situation. He finally snapped out of his trance and looked around to see all eyes on him. Needless to say, he was slightly confused as to why.

"What? What's with all the looks?" he questioned.

"He can't be..."

"Oh for crying out loud."

"Is he... really a DigiDestined partner?"

"That's impossible" Candlemon stated "A Digimon with such a dark heart as Pagumon couldn't be the DigiDestined partner. There has to be something else around here that-"

"Candlemon, there's no other Digimon around here besides you and Pagumon" Silver stated "Don't feel bad though; I'm sure Pagumon will be able to not only prove himself, but also act on his best behavior. Am I right, Pagumon?!" she stared at him intensely, actually causing him to feel fear.

"AH! Y-Yes, fine, whatever!" he panicked.

"The real question though is who's the DegiDestined?" Rumble wondered before quietly muttering to himself "Please not me, please not me, please not me..."

"Well, open it up and check your inventory, Silver Spoon" Babs gave the go-ahead. Silver nodded and proceeded to bring out every single Digivice she had tucked away in her own device. The moment she pulled out the orange Digivice, however, a light sprung forth from its side that turned into a strap and proceeded to wrap itself around the front left leg of its intended owner. That owner, much to everyone's surprise, was Babs.

"So you're my new owner?" Pagumon wondered "Eh, I could've probably dealt better with that scrawny-looking guy over there. At least with him, I could boss him around! Hehehehe!"

"Hey! I'm not scrawny!" Rumble argued.

"Yes you are" Pagumon grinned.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"NO, I'm not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!!"

"NO!!!"

"Knock it off, you two!!" Babs immediately cut between them and stopped their bickering "First, I have to deal with you and Silver Spoon go at it, and now this? Fine, I can't stop you from arguing with Silver, but I'm not sure if I could take three bickering teammates... Speaking of team, weren't we supposed to be finding our friends?"

"Oh yeah... You guys were going for the arena, right?" Pagumon wondered "I can take you there, if you want. But first... you gotta do something very important for me! What you gotta do is-"

"I've locked in on the arena, you four" Candlemon stated "Well, I had to do something while you were all distracted, right? So, I re-synchronized myself a bit and hey-presto, I found the arena!"

"...wow, man" Pagumon scoffed "You just had to take all the fun out of it, didn't you?"

"I fear that if we trusted you, you would lead us somewhere else" Candlemon believed "It's bad enough you're a DigiDestined partner, but it will take a while for us to fully trust you."

"Sorry, Pagu" Babs shrugged "You can ride on my back there, if you want."

"Wait... you're actually letting me ride on your back?" Pagumon questioned "You're being nice to me?"

"Well, while what you did certainly wasn't nice, it wasn't exactly evil either" Babs explained "Forgive and forget, right? Now, are you ready to save our friends or what?"

"Forgive and forget, huh?" Pagumon pondered "...never heard of that before. Sound's weird, but hey, I actually kinda like it! It's got a nice ring to it, y'know?" he hopped onto his new partner's back and wrapped his ears around her body "Alright, let's get this show on the road already!"

"Sounds like a plan" Silver nodded after putting away the Digivices "Let's go and save our friends!"

"Right!" everyone nodded before they once again began running towards the arena, now with Candlemon's complete knowledge of where it was, riding off deeper into the forest. Of course, Pagumon found this as a perfect opportunity to explain himself.

"Hey, since I kinda came out of nowhere for you guys, I bet you're all wondering where I came from, right?" Pagumon began, much to everyone's dismay "I was hatched on a Tuesday... It was warm, but not exactly cold either. Simply the perfect weather for a Digimon to be born. I was the talk of the village, I was! Though, of course, all good things have to come to an end one day, right? But besides that, I'm sure you want to hear all about my favorite things ever, right? Well, personally, my favorite color ever is palish blue, mainly because that's what color I am, but I'm sure you already knew that..."

"I said ta lemme go, ya crazy horse!" Impmon continued to squirm around on Diamond's back. While it sort of hurt her at first, she eventually got used to his constant moving and now found it mildly annoying.

She had taken him down to the main level of the arena, where the betting station was. But leaving was obviously not an option for her. The moment she touched the floor off of the stairs, she threw Impmon onto the ground and stared at him coldly. While he didn't know why, Impmon was scared of her whenever he looked right into her eyes. What craziness was this anyway? A Digimon fearing an real world creature? It was an impossible thought, the cheek of it! Yet here he was.

"Look, Impmon," Diamond began, retaining her cross look "I don't care if you had friends or not during your life, but those are MY friends out there in the arena, and I plan on saving them. But I need your help."

"And I told ya NO!" Impmon shouted, still lying on the floor "I have better things ta do than mess with the likes a' those palookas in that death trap of an arena!"

"Do you not understand when I say they're my friends and they mean a lot to me?" Diamond scoffed.

"Your friends are probably already-"

"DON'T SAY IT, IDIOT!!" Diamond snapped, surprising Impmon "Don't... Don't say it..."

"Whoa... Looks like ya got a bit of venom in ya" Impmon chuckled.

"You... have no idea what it was like living the way I had to, Impmon" Diamond sighed "At least you didn't have to deal with parents who expected the very best out of everything you did. My world was all dark and I had literally nowhere to go..."

"H-Hey now, don't make this all sappy, yeah?" Impmon's smiled sort of faded away at the sight of a now crying Diamond Tiara.

"S-Sorry..." Diamon sniffed a bit "It's just that I would have been lost without those two, plus another. I want to do my best to make it up to them the best way I can, but I don't have any hope of going up against that thing. That's why I'm asking you one final time, Impmon... Will you please help me?"

"..." Impmon wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Before anyone could say anything more, a few footsteps were heard behind Impmon. They both looked at the area of the source, the gateway, and saw another pony filly with an orange coat and purple mane walk in with a cute-looking red Digimon on her back.

"Sc-Scootaloo?" Diamond wondered.

"Diamond Tiara?!" Scootaloo immediately started to smile. Without hesitation, she ran towards her friend and proceeded to hug her. Gigimon hopped off her back right before the two started to bond.

"Aww... That's cute..." his eyes sparkled with excitement. All Impmon could do was scoff at the scene.

"Eh, I don't know what you see in it, kid" he shrugged "Friendship is just another way a' sayin' people who'll stab ya in the back one day! Not that I have poicinal experience, mind ya!"

"You don't have friends? That's sad..." Gigimon somberly said before getting excited again "Maybe you should get some! Then you can be super best friends, like Scootaloomon and I!"

"Scootaloo... mon?" Impmon questioned before becoming annoyed again "AHHH! Ya stupid dumbmon! That's a real world dweller, not a Digimon!"

"I know" Gigimon responded, oblivious to Impmon insulting personality "Nut I was hoping that if I started calling my partner Scootaloo, Scootaloomon, I would be able to make a digi-bond with her and speak to her without having to open my mouth. Wouldn't that be super, duper cool?"

"Talk with your mind, eh?" Impmon chuckled a bit "Heheh... That sounds pretty good, actually! Yeah, I think I might have me sum use for that... heheheh..."

"Scootaloo, I was so worried about you..." Diamond Tiara finally released herself from the hug "All I had as partnership was... well... Impmon. Believe me, having a southern Manehatten-speaking 'palooka', as he likes to call everypony, for an hour is absolute hay. I'm starting to think maybe a trip to Manehatten is a bad idea..."

"Haha! Well, it's good to see you're okay, DT" Scootaloo smiled "So this is Impmon, huh? Well, this here is Gigimon, and he's agreed to help me find the others."

"Speaking of others... Oh no..." Diamond worryingly said "Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are in the arena!"

"They're what?!" Scootaloo gasped "Are they hurt?!"

"Not yet, anyway" Diamond shook her head "But we have to try and help them! Impmon here has agreed to help us save them."

"Hey, I never said anythin' about helpin' ya!" Impmon shouted "But... I'm makin' second thoughts with that promise a' talkin' with your mind, yeah? If I can gets them ta work for me for a while, maybe I can get that power all for myself! And then... I can show everyone that Impmon is the greatest Digimon that ever-"

"You suck at inner thoughts, Impmon" Scootaloo rolled her eyes "But now to more important things. Diamond, do you know where the arena entrance gate is?"

"Right there" Diamond looked around her before finally pointing to a gate she believed went directly into the arena "Scootaloo, do you know what's behind that door?"

"No, but anyway I can, I plan on saving my friends!" she confidently nodded walking over to the gate and pulling down the lever, slowly opening the gate and letting in a little light "Besides, how bad could it possibly be, right? If Impmon really is going to help us, then he can cover for me while I totally take down that Digimon."

"I think you've underestimated the situation, Scootaloo..." Diamond Tiara shivered a bit.

"Relax, DT, and just protect Gigimon, okay?" Scootaloo nodded, looking out into the arena with a confident and determined smile.

That smile quickly faded away and became a look of absolute fear as soon as she saw the giant green monster smacking its bone club down upon the earth, trying to smash two fillies into the ground. She immediately recognized those fillies as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. She shakily stepped back a bit out of natural fear, but stopped herself. She knew what she had to do. With a deep breath, she charged right into the arena with a loud battle cry.

"Oh!! What's this?!" the announcer gasped "A surprise contestant?! But it's just another little pony thing! How will Ogremon fair against three of these peculiar things?!"

"Another one? Really?" Ogremon groaned, turning around and seeing the orange equine charging right at him "Oh, well at least this one's got guts. This actually outta be good..."

"Scootaloo, wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted. But it was too late. Scootaloo jumped up onto Ogremon's leg and bit down on it.

"OW!! You little miscreant!" Ogremon yelped a bit before attempting to knock Scootaloo off with his club. Before his club could hit her, however, she leg go of him and made him hit his leg, causing him to curse a bit.

"Nice to see you again, Scoots!" Apple Bloom grinned.

"Great to see you too, AB!" Scootaloo nodded with a grin "Gotta admit, this guy looks tough! And he tastes awful too..." she wiped her tongue clean of anything that came into her mouth from biting down on Ogremon's skin "Anyway, please tell me you two have a plan to take him out, because that was literally all I got."

"Ah have one in particular..." Apple Bloom nodded "But we're gonna have ta wait it out fer a bit. Think ya can handle that?"

"Yeah, I think I can!" Scootaloo nodded with slight confidence before shrinking down a bit after seeing that Ogremon had regained his balance and was now staring intensely at the three "I hope I can, anyway..."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Diamond Tiara, Impmon and Gigimon all watched as the others struggled to deal with Ogremon on their own. Diamond Tiara knew she couldn't just let them fight by themselves, and so did Gigimon. However, Impmon simply shrugged and went about his business.

"Impmon, you lazy bum!" Diamond snapped, slapping the poor thing across the face.

"EY!! What was that for, tuts?!" he yelled.

"For refusing to help my friends when I've asked you countless times!" Diamond scolded him "You should be ashamed of yourself. Do you even have shame?"

"Probably somewhere..." Impmon looked around, seeing nothing and finally shrugging.

"Diamond Tiara!" shouted a voice all to familiar to her. She turned back and saw none other than Silver Spoon with Babs Seed and Rumble tagging along with her, all looking as if they were out of breath. A weird candle-like Digimon was also on her back, seemingly perfectly fine and not tired at all, as well as a small pale blue puffball on Babs' back.

"Silver Spoon?" Diamond questioned "Everyone? You're just in time!"

"You won't believe the stuff we had to go through..." Rumble shuddered a bit, huffing from all the running and flying "There were... giant bugs called... Kuwagamon that were... chasing us, and... then we fell into a big hole... and..." Rumble collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"Wow, what a lightweight" the puffball on Babs' back snickered.

"Shut-up... Pagumon..." Rumble huffed.

"You must be these three's friends, correct?" the candle Digimon questioned "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Candlemon, guardian of the Digvices and partner to Silver Spoon."

"I'm Diamond Tiara, and this here is Impmon and Gigimon" Diamond quickly introduced herself to the new Digimon "But introductions are the least of our worries right now. Our other friends are trapped in the arena with some giant green Digimon!"

"Ogremon..." Candlemon analyzed through the gate "There isn't much I'll be able to do against a Champion rank Digimon with this form of mine. Especially with Ogremon, which you would need feet to avoid his attacks. Sadly, as you can see, I have no legs."

"So how are we supposed to help them?" Babs wondered before noticing Silver's Digivice glowing again "Hey, Silver Spoon? It's doing it again. Wanna take them out?"

"Oh, sure thing" Silver nodded, releasing the Digivices out from her inventory. The moment the blue and green Digivices appeared, they too began blinking, even faster than Silver's. The green one created the strap as usual and wrapped itself around Diamond Tiara's front left hoof tightly. The other flew off into the arena.

"Eugh... Green..." Diamond gagged at the color "Why couldn't I have gotten the yellow one? At least that one is vibrant and warm!"

"I dunno, tuts" Impmon devilishly smiled "Looks like a perfect match ta me!"

"YOU... will be quiet!" she stopped herself from doing something barbaric to Impmon.

"Guys, look! The other Digivice!" Babs pointed through the gate.

Over at where the original Cutie Mark Crusaders were fighting Ogremon, a wall near them was shattered to bits. The four currently fighting, yes even Ogremon, stopped what they were doing to see who had interrupted their battle. Through the dust and rubble came out a coughing Mushroomon, the very same one with the red band around its arm that had been nice to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

"Ugh... Sorry ah'm late" he apologized "Had a bit o' errands ta run. Anyway, will we take this guy down, or what?"

"Mushroomon? The country one?" Ogremon questioned "But you were always such a good foot soldier... though then again, I suppose your constant and passionate niceness was going to be your downfall one day."

"Ah dun think ah like the way thin's' are run no more" Mushroomon explained his reasoning "Ah hadn't really felt a spark 'till ah met with Apple Bloom here. Besides, a country man helps another country folk out when the time arises, am ah right?"

"With a heart as strong as a horse" Apple Bloom nodded.

"Bah! No matter!" Ogremon scoffed "Even if you have a Digimon with you now, brats, you'll still fall prey to me, Ogremon, and my bone club! Now... BONE CUDGEL!!" he absorbed energy into his club and attempted to smash the four once again. However, instead of dodging, this time he was stopped entirely.

"FUNGUS CRUNCHER!" Mushroomon shouted, firing hundreds of small, purple balls at the club from his hands. They all exploded on contact and destroyed the club out of Ogremon's hand, as well as causing his hand to glitch out a slight bit. It re-synchronized a few seconds later, but this caused the ogre Digimon to become fearful of the Rookie rank. To cause that much destruction with just one attack? It was almost unheard of.

"Nice one, Mushroomon!" Sweetie Belle cheered.

"Well, ah mean, ah try" Mushroomon blushed a bit.

"Such incredible power..." Ogremon chuckled "Gotta say, I'm actually impressed. But just because I'm disarmed doesn't mean I'm defenseless. Observe my magic power... PUMMEL WHACK!"

Ogremon raised his arms and began firing what could only be described as dark energy at the four, exploding whatever ground it touched. Understandably, they were all blown back from the attack. Thankfully, they had only been slightly bruised. But unfortunately for Scootaloo, Ogremon decided to end her life first.

"You're new here, so I'll kill your friends last" he cruelly said "At least they put up a fight. Now... PUMMEL WHA-"

His attack was interrupted by a strange floating object that appeared before him and Scootaloo. Obviously they both had a few questions, but none had time to ask them as the object began emitting a strange light that turned into a black strap. The device then flew right at Scootaloo's front left hoof and attached itself to her. The screen then turned blue fully, never once blinking.

"What the heck?!" Scootaloo spoke confusingly. Before she could question anything else, a small stream of light came spiraling out of the machine and directly at the arena's gateway. There, the odd light began surrounding Gigimon, much to his fear and concern.

"Wh-What's this light?" he asked before getting enveloped in it.

But instead of feeling pain, he felt warmth and comfort. Instead of feeling afraid, he felt determined, though he didn't know why. Then, he felt his body begin to warp, though no pain was to be found as he turned into something new.

Gigimon Digivolve to...

---

GUILMON

The light eventually dissipated and revealed that Gigimon had turned into something completely new. He was taller, without a doubt, as well as had arms now with three claws. His legs had strengthened and now dawned claws of their own. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth and his tail was elongated, but his most interesting feature was the black hazard symbol on his white belly.

Needless to say, the others were quite surprised by this new transformation, save for Candlemon, who merely passed it off as something he'd seen previously. The fillies and colt of the group were absolutely flabbergasted that cute little Gigimon could become something that powerful-looking, and while Pagumon was a Digimon himself, he was still taken by surprise by the whole thing. Out of anyone, however, Impmon was the most interested.

"Digivolution... without absorbing data?!" his eyes widened in surprise "How is that even possible?!"

"I... digivolved?" the new Digimon wondered still with the same voice Gigimon had, looking at his new arms and claws "I... digivolved! Yeah, I digivolved into Guilmon! Scootaloomon, I'm coming!" he ran out into the arena and straight at Ogremon.

"Well, time to start placing bets" Pagumon hopped up and down on Babs' back "I bet Guilmon's data is gonna get absorbed!"

"Pagumon, try to be nice for once, okay?" Babs scolded him.

"Right, right, sorry..." he rolled his eyes.

Over by the others, Ogremon had watched as another new Digimon entered the arena. He looked dumbfounded that the arena officials were allowing so many Digimon into the ring during his fight.

"Another one? Really?" Ogremon questioned "Hey! Announcer! Are you seeing this?!"

"Ogremon, you should know this better than anyone" the announcer chuckled a bit "In the Kuwagamon arena, there ARE no rules! Everything is perfectly allowed. This is a chaos battle, is it not?"

"You gotta be kidding me..." Ogremon sighed.

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon shouted, firing a ball of fire right at Ogremon, mildly annoying him but at least leaving a burn on his shoulder "Scootaloomon, you're safe!"

"Gigimon? Is that you?" she wondered.

"Not Gigimon anymore, Scootaloomon" Guilmon shook his head "I'm Guilmon now, and I'm here to defend you!"

"Defend... me" Scootaloo smiled, remembering what Whamon said "Alright then, Guilmon, use that Pyro Sphere attack of yours again! Show that bully we mean business!"

"Before y'all do, if ah may interrupt?" Mushroomon began "Why not combine our attacks? Jus' trust me on this one, okay?"

"I trust you" Guilmon nodded.

"If Guilmon trusts you, I trust you" Scootaloo nodded.

"Then in that case..." Mushroomon smiled and threw some more of his small, exploding purple spheres at Ogremon "FUNGUS CRUNCHER!"

"Guilmon, now! At the balls!"

"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon fired another ball of flames, this time at Mushroomon's Fungus Cruncher attack. The balls immediately caught fire and exploded even more violently than last time, thankfully missing the smaller ones in the arena and dealing massive damage to Ogremon. As soon as the smoke cleared, the five looked back at the damage they caused. There Ogremon stood with a giant hole in his body. He was starting to glitch out.

"W-Well..." Ogremon stuttered, not out of fear but from his glitch "I g-g-g-guess if I was-was-was going to g-g-go out-out-go out, an explosion would be-be-be-be... explosion would be the b-b-b-best way to... to... to... die."

With those final words, Ogremon exploded into hundreds upon thousands of what appeared to be glass shards. Each and every one of those shards was absorbed into both Guilmon and Mushroomon. The crowd roared with excitement at the defeat of the Digimon, much to the pride of the five.

"Did we do it?" Sweetie Belle wondered "Is he gone? Is he... dead?"

"He's not dead, sweet pea" Mushroomon assured "A small bit o' his data was sent back ta Primary Island ta be reborn in the Village o' Beginnin's'. We simply defeated him, is all."

"Oh, thank goodness..." Sweetie Belle sighed "He was a bully, but even bullies don't deserve to die."

"But we did it!" Scootaloo hugged Guilmon "We won!"

"Yay! We won, we won!" Guilmon cheered.

"That was actually kinda fun" Apple Bloom laughed "Well, one thin's' fer sure: ah ain't bored no more!"

"You guys!" Rumble called out as the others as they and his friends ran toward them "You guys did it!"

"Are any of you hurt?" Babs worryingly asked them.

"Nah, ah'm good, cus" Apple Bloom confirmed "But what's that thin' on Scootaloo's hoof?"

"Long story short, that's a Digivice" Candlemon explained "They're legendary machines that are used by the DigiDestined. Actually, you know what? I think I'll explain this later. Right now, this is the last place in the digital world that I want to be in."

"Agreed" Mushroomon nodded.

"Mushroomon? You don't wanna stay here with yer friends?" Apple Bloom asked.

"The others aren't really mah friends, y'know" he explained "They're jus' kinda foot soldiers that do whatever higher ranked Digimon tell ya ta do. Ah dun think ah like livin' that life... Ifin it's alright with y'all, I'd love ta start traveling with ya! See the sights, meet the Digimon, y'know, stuff like that."

"What do you think, Candlemon?" Diamond Tiara wondered.

"We already have a lot of folks here, but I'll allow it on two conditions" he cleared his throat "Condition one: One of you new ones must be a DigiDestined. Condition two: Mushroomon must be the DigiDestined's partner. If those criteria are met, then I'll allow him to join us. If not, he can travel on his own."

"Low blow, man" Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"I think Mushroomon might be in luck!" Silver Spoon watched as one of the Digivices, the black one, began glowing like all the others. The same strap appeared and immediately connected itself with Apple Bloom's front left hoof, much to her surprise. She looked at it with curiosity and intrigue.

"A Digivice activates when a DigiDestined and their partner are close by" Candlemon recalled before turning to Mushroomon "Welcome to the team then, friend."

"Aww, shucks" Mushroomon blushed a bit "Happy ta be here."

"Now, I promised somepony back on Primary Island I would take Gigimon... or rather Guilmon now, back when I found you all" Scootaloo remembered "I think we should head there. The Digimon running the place is actually really nice!"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Sweetie agreed "Though, how will we get there? Didn't you say it was an island?"

"I have my ways" Scootaloo giggled a bit. Everyone soon began walking out of the arena afterwards. However, Impmon stayed behind for a moment to ponder on something.

"So, they're DigiDestined, eh?" he spoke aloud, though quietly as to not attract their attention "And those Digivice thin's'... They allow a Digimon ta digivolve without needin' ta absorb data? Interestin'... Maybe if I snag me one myself, I could digivolve as much as I wanted ta! I'd be invincible! But now's not the time, Impmon. Just play along, and you'll get your spoils soon..."

He then began to follow the group, chuckling a bit as he did.

"Hey! Where are you all going?!" the announcer tried to call them back "The battle isn't... Oh, whatever... Next contestant!"

Author's Notes:

Ogremon

Pagumon

Guilmon

Wow! Long chapter, but I think it was worth it! We finally had our first digivolution and Digimon attack, so all in all, I think this was a pretty good chapter. Probably a little too talkative, but otherwise good.

Next time, our heroes will be going back to Primary Island and the Village of Beginnings! But it looks like Impmon has his own agenda planned out. Will he be able to pull it off, or will he get caught first?

Find out next time! Wait, I already said that... Well, still!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on everyone!