"Ah-Ahem, I'm so sorry about that, um, Lopmon X, right?" Twilight Sparkle said as she sat down behind the rabbit-like Digimon.

"That is correct," Lopmon X said, panting as he tried to regain his breath from Twilight's tight hug. He shook his head from side to side before backing up and sitting down in front of Twilight. Then he leaned his head back until he was resting it against Twilight's forelegs, "And there is no need to apologize. I am glad that you were willing to be my friend. Feel free to call me whatever you wish. Lopmon X is a mouthful to say all the time."

"Really? You wouldn't mind if I...," Twilight blinked, then shook her head back and forth, "Wait! No! That's not what I should be focusing on! What are you?! What's happening in my home?!"

Twilight held her hooves out to indicate what had been happening while she was hugging Lopmon X. That being? All of her new friends were in the room and each one was talking with a different strange creature.

"Alright, squirt, if you want to be as cool as me, you've gotta be willing to go the distance!" Rainbow Dash said while spotting Chibimon as he did push-ups on the floor.

"Yeah!" Chibimon exclaimed in agreement, managing to do multiple push-ups despite his tiny arms and legs.

"So, I don't want to see you stop until you hit fifty push-ups! Got me?!"

"Just fifty?! Someone who wants to match you will do more than that! I'll do one hundred!" Chibimon proceeded to move even faster while still keeping track of his number of push-ups.

"That's what I want to hear! Go! Go! Go!" Rainbow continued to cheer on the Baby Digimon as it continued its routine.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy held Cupimon in her hooves while sitting in front of Rarity. She lifted him up and asked, "And what's this one's name, Cupimon?"

"Nyaromon," Cupimon stared at Rarity and frowned, "And I'd be careful if I were you, uh, Rarity? Nyaromon can be a bit...touchy."

"Darling, please," Rarity said with a confident smile on her face, "If there is one pony in Ponyville who knows how to treat a magnificent specimen such as this, it is I."

As she spoke, the Baby Digimon in question was lying on her left hoof. Its tail was hanging off the side while its eyes remained closed. A soft purring emanated from it, indicating that it was indeed comfortable. Rarity gently reached her right hoof up and gracefully began petting the Baby Digimon's head. It stirred but didn't wake as it remained seated on Rarity's leg.

"And, oh, how wonderful this Nyaromon is. Her tidy yellow coat perfectly complements the violet stripes on her tail. She and Opalescence would look beautiful together. You wouldn't mind if I adopted her, would you, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes at her friend.

Fluttershy shook her head, "Not at all. Oh, but, um, you may want to check with Nyaromon. I'm not sure if she would be, um, alright with it. Would she, Cupimon?"

Cupimon shrugged, "Depends. Nyaromon?"

The Digimon in question stopped purring when Cupimon called her name. She opened one bright orange eye and pointed it toward Rarity. Without a word, she raised her tail, wrapped it around Rarity's hoof, and then moved it over to its left ear. Years of caring for Opal led Rarity to instinctively rub her hoof against the back of the indicated ear. Nyaromon let out a satisfied purr before releasing Rarity's hoof and closing its eye again.

Rarity's smile grew, "I'll take that as a yes. Hmm, what should be your name, little one?"

While Rarity thought about a possible name, Fluttershy and Cupimon shared a knowing smile. She hugged Cupimon close and rubbed his belly with one of her hooves, "Thank you for helping her find a home, Cupimon."

"Ehehehe," Cupimon giggled, enjoying the attention he was receiving from Fluttershy. Sunmon and Moonmon had since jumped off the yellow mare's back. They were now sitting on the sill of a window near the door to Twilight's home, both staring at the sun in the sky.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Pinkie and Tokomon X were whispering to each other. No one could hear exactly what they were saying. But the words "party," "cupcakes," "everypony," and "plans" were being thrown around by both of them. Every now and then, one of them would bounce into the air, alternating every ten seconds. First Pinkie, then Tokomon X, then Pinkie, and so on. Next to them, Applejack stood in front of Bowmon with a smile on her face. Bowmon was staring up at her, his tongue out and panting, while his tail wagged behind him.

"Okay, lil' fella. Let's see if you know any tricks. Roll over!" she said, and Bowmon quickly complied. He got stuck on his back for a few moments but managed to get back on his feet with some effort. He barked up at Applejack, and she smiled even wider. Then she held out her hoof and said, "Now, shake."

Bowmon tried to lift his paw but realized that his legs were too short to actually do as Applejack asked. Instead, he ran over and bumped his nose against Applejack's raised hoof. He barked in triumph, clearly pleased with the solution he had come up with. AJ chuckled and patted Bowmon on his head, "That'll do, lil' fella. Betcha Winona would love to meet ya."

Bowmon pressed his head against Applejack's hoof, his tail wagging even faster behind him. Lopmon X and Twilight locked eyes, with the former fully understanding what the latter meant. But any conversation they would have had was interrupted by Spike rushing over to Twilight. He had his right arm up and was pointing at it with his left hand. He spoke with a large smile on his face, "Twilight! Twilight! Check this guy out! He's another baby dragon like me, and he likes me."

The baby dragon-like Digimon made a strange cooing noise. Its wings were folded at its sides, while its tail was wrapped around Spike's outstretched arm. Its big purple eyes examined the room with wonder, but they always found their way back to Spike. Twilight blinked and then chuckled, "Um, that's nice, Spike. I'm glad you found another dragon to be friends with."

"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet! Check this out! Buddy, do that thing ya did before!" at Spike's insistence, the Digimon opened its mouth and released a small cloud of green gas into the air. Spike turned up towards the cloud and blew out a small stream of green fire. As soon as the flames made contact with the gases, the latter ignited and crackled like fireworks. Everypony's attention was drawn to the small spectacle, with exclamations of "ooh" and "aah" filling the air. When it disappeared, Spike turned back to Twilight with a bright smile on his face, "Did you see that? Pretty cool, right?"

"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't do it in a [i]library/i] made of [i]wood/i] and with many flammable and precious [i]books/i] all around you," Twilight frowned at Spike while she admonished him.

Spike flinched, then rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He chuckled nervously, "R-Right. Sorry, Twi."

Twilight's frown turned into a slight smile. She reached over and patted Spike on his head, "It's alright, Spike. And, besides, you did manage to get everypony's attention for me. So, thank you for that."

She turned her gaze back to the bunny-like Digimon lying down in front of her. Ignoring the urge to check how soft the cotton under its ears were, she spoke clearly to Lopmon X, "Anyway, can you please explain what is going on here? What or who are you? And what about all these...things?"

Lopmon X blinked up at Twilight, as if he didn't understand what she meant at first. Then his eyes widened in realization, "Ah! Yes. I apologize, Twilight. I was so comfortable lying next to you that I forgot about the current situation. Please, give me a moment. And, for the record, Spike, that one is called Babydmon."

"Bab-Babyduhmon?" Spike sounded out as Lopmon X got to his feet. Upon hearing the word, the now-named Babydmon flapped its wings. Spike looked over at it, then shook his head, "Nah, that's stupid. I'm gonna call you, Bab. Does that sound good to you, Bab?"

"Bab" cooed again, moving its head up and down in what was assumed to be agreement. Spike smiled and scratched the Digimon's scales with his free hand. Now standing straight, Lopmon X looked over at Spike and nodded, "That is fine. Babydmon is simply what he is. It is not his name."

"What it is? So, Babydmon is its species," Twilight unconsciously used her magic to grab a quill and scroll. As she stared intently at Lopmon X, she was already writing down what she had learned, "Is that the same for you?"

"Yes, in fact, it is true for all of us Digimon. Hmm, please give me a moment," Lopmon X said while looking around the room. When he spotted the solitary table in the center of the room, he swiftly walked over to it. Lifting his large ears, he used them as hands to hoist himself up onto the table effortlessly. He moved to the center, his ears long enough to hang over both edges of the table. He stood in the center of the table and cleared his throat to prepare for his speech.

Lopmon X looked around to ensure that everyone in attendance was looking at him. Once he was certain everypony, and Digimon, was looking at him, he put his hands behind his back and spoke loud enough for all to hear, "As has been repeated numerous times, I am a Digimon. As are Cupimon, Tokomon X, Bowmon, all of them. They are all Digimon."

Rainbow slammed one hoof into another, "Ah! I just remembered! None of you ever said what being a 'Digimon' means."

"It's actually shorthand. The proper term is, 'Digital Monsters'."

"Digital?" Twilight asked, her quill still moving despite the confusion.

"M-M-Monsters?" Fluttershy squeaked as she looked at all the Digimon in the room. Then she shook her head, "But, um, you all don't, well, look that scary. Not that you looked scary before, or anything. Just, um..., I'm sorry,"

Fluttershy lowered her head in shame. But Cupimon just smiled at her, "It's alright, Fluttershy. We all understand."

"I'm more interested in the first part. What do you mean 'Digital'? How does that factor into what you all are?" Twilight asked, stepping closer to the table.

Lopmon X frowned and shook his head, "Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure. I don't think any of us know the reason. Or what it really means for us."

"Yeah!" Tokomon X's shout caught everyone off guard. The pink Digimon was hopping up and down on Pinkie's head, while the party pony herself jumped whenever he did. Tokomon X continued even as he bounced up and down, "Like when I try to remember where I came from, all I see is this weird white space, and then my brain starts hurting. Huh! Do you think we all came from a white void?! That'd be kind of weird, though. I mean a void is a void for a-"

"Tokomon X. Please stop," Cupimon said, and the pink Digimon quickly fell silent. He heard Twilight and Rarity whisper "There's two of them?"

Lopmon X shook his head and said, "Thank you, Cupimon. Fluttershy, you were the one who found us in our Digitama forms, correct?"

"Digitama?" Fluttershy looked confused.

"He means our egg forms," Cupimon explained to the mare.

"Oh, then, yes. I was putting my animals to bed when, um, I saw something lying in the road next to my house. When I went to check, I found your nine eggs. Then you hatched, and well, now we're all here in Twilight's house," she explained while hugging Cupimon a bit closer.

"And I assure you that you have our deepest gratitude for your help. We are extremely vulnerable as Digitama, and even our Baby forms are only somewhat capable of defending themselves from threats," Lopmon X bowed his head to Fluttershy.

"Excuse me," Twilight raised her hoof to get Lopmon X's attention, "you keep saying 'Baby' but I have a feeling that you don't mean a foal or an animal's offspring. It's more to do with whatever happened to you when you touched my horn."

Lopmon X's lips curled into a small smile, "Very astute, Twilight. You are completely correct. We Digimon have a unique maturation cycle. While we do age with time, we primarily grow through a process known as evolution. Through encountering certain stimuli, our forms change to a higher stage. All the Digimon in the room, except for myself, are in their Baby Stages. I, on the other hand, have reached my Child or Rookie Stage."

"Urgh, great, another egghead like Twilight," Rainbow Dash shook her head and walked over to Lopmon X. She put a hoof on the table and pointed her other one at him, "Can you talk like a normal pony and explain it?"

"He means that when we get stronger, we evolve into stronger forms. The rest of us will become Rookies like him if we get stronger," Chibimon said, finishing push-ups eighty and eighty-one in the process.

"See, like that?" Rainbow pointed one of her hind legs at Chibimon for emphasis.

Lopmon X took a deep breath and said, "I see. I apologize if my wording caused any confusion."

"Oh, don't worry about Rainbow, darling. She just likes it when things are simple to understand," Rarity assured him while placing Nyaromon in her empty saddlebag. The cat-like Digimon remained asleep as Rarity's magic floated it into the bag.

"Wait... go back," Twilight sounded confused as she frowned up at Lopmon X, "You said your growth cycle is called 'evolution'? As in, the process of creatures adopting specific traits over time based on environmental stimuli?"

"Yes, indeed," Lopmon X nodded.

"But...that...that doesn't make any sense!" Twilight stood up and walked over to the table. She pushed her quill and scroll toward Spike, and her assistant instinctively caught them out of the air. He quickly prepared to write down whatever Twilight was about to say, Bab flying off his arm to wrap its tails around the largest spike on his back. Twilight went to the table and poked Lopmon in the stomach with her right hoof, "But, if you really evolved when you touched my horn, why do you look the way you do now? When you came in here, you didn't even have arms or legs. Just your smaller horns. Your Child Form is a drastic departure from your Baby Form. In fact, how did you evolve so quickly from just that touch? Evolution is supposed to take years to accomplish."

Lopmon X was caught off guard by Twilight's questioning. He had to take a moment to parse through her questions before he could come up with an answer. When he did, he straightened himself up and coughed into his hand, "W-Well, you see...when I say 'evolution,' I don't necessarily mean the 'natural' type. We Digimon evolve in a broader sense. For us, evolution simply means growth and becoming stronger. Not adapting to our environment. Thus the reason why my current form is extremely different compared to my Baby Form, Chocomon."

He moved closer to the edge of the table so he could stare into Twilight's large purple eyes. He held up both his hands and said, "As for why I evolved so quickly? Well, as I stated, our evolution is not based on environmental factors. It is based on stimuli. And some of the most potent and effective stimuli for us Digimon is-"

A sudden, loud growl brought Lopmon X's speech to a screeching halt. Spike nearly dropped his quill as the sound seemed to be right next to his ear. Everypony glanced around, looking for the source of the growling. But it soon became apparent when all the Baby Digimon suddenly fell to the floor and groaned.

"So...hungry," Chibimon said, his hands holding his rumbling stomach.

Cupimon groaned while pushing himself to his knees, "Forgot...none of us have eaten...anything since this morning." Fluttershy knelt down and tried to comfort the little Digimon by nuzzling her face against his cheek.

Bowmon whined in agreement, rolling around on the floor in pain. Babydmon had flopped over onto Spike's head, its wings blocking his eyes partially. Even Nyaromon had pushed her way out of Rarity's bag to express its hunger. Tokomon X's protrusions deflated as he flopped onto Pinkie's mane. Even Sunmon and Moonmon were slumped against each other on the windowsill, both frowning from hunger.

Lopmon X's own stomach growled, but he wasn't brought to his knees. He looked away from Twilight and coughed into his hand, "Um, perhaps we can continue this discussion after getting something to eat."

With a small smile, Twilight grabbed the quill and scroll from Spike's hand using her magic. She nodded at Lopmon X, "That sounds like a great idea. What do Digimon eat?"

"Anything!" Tokomon X suddenly shouted, jumping to its feet as drool fell from its mouth.

"As long as it's yummy!" Chibimon continued for the other Baby Digimon, suddenly finding the energy to stand on two feet.

Pinkie gasped and then shoved her two front hooves into her mane. After digging around inside it for a few moments, sticking her tongue out of her mouth in concentration, she shouted, "Aha!" When she removed her hooves, four blueberry muffins were lying across her legs. With surprising dexterity, she tossed a muffin to Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. When she saw that she only had one muffin left, she reached back into her mane with her left hoof. When she pulled it out and saw that nothing was on it, she shook her head and said, "Looks like I didn't bring enough for everypony. Sorry!"

"Don't fret, Pinkie Pie. Spike?" Twilight looked over at her dragon assistant. He saluted Twilight and dashed into the library's kitchen. There were multiple sounds of him rummaging through the pantries and fridge, followed by him repeatedly telling Bab to stop trying to grab something. Eventually, he walked out of the kitchen with a plate of two bright red apples and a hay sandwich. Bab had another apple in its mouth and was using its wings to hold it in place. Once the apple was still, it chomped down and ate it in one bite. A bit of apple juice splashed onto Spike, but the little dragon didn't seem to mind.

"Here you go, Twi," Spike held the plate up, and Twilight used her magic to pick up all the food.

"Thank you, assistant. Alright, everypony, eat up," she held the food in the air while lowering the muffin Pinkie had tossed to her down to Lopmon X, and moving the other sandwich over to Sunmon and Moonmon. The rabbit Digimon gently grabbed the food and thanked Twilight and Pinkie for the meal. Meanwhile, Fluttershy flew up and grabbed an apple for Cupimon. Fluttershy flew down to Cupimon and gently handed it to him. The Digimon looked up at Fluttershy with tears of joy in his eyes. Muttering a "Thank you" he took the apple and started to chew into it. Fluttershy patted his back as he ate, encouraging him to eat slowly.

Rainbow Dash, in contrast, held her muffin in her right hoof while pulling it back. She called out to Chibimon, "Heads up, squirt!" She tossed the sandwich to the Baby Digimon. Despite his previous display of weakness, Chibimon effortlessly leaped up and caught the muffin in his mouth. He grabbed the food with both hands as he began eating it. Rainbow Dash flew over and chuckled as the Digimon rolled around on the ground, biting at the muffin.

"Here you are, Nyaromon," Rarity cooed, pulling a small piece of the muffin with her magic and floating it over to Nyaromon. The cat-like Digimon sniffed at the food for a moment. Then it opened its mouth just wide enough for Rarity to float the piece inside. Once Rarity let the muffin piece drop onto its waiting tongue, Nyaromon daintily closed its mouth and silently chewed the food before swallowing. She then opened her mouth again, and Rarity repeated the action. The pure white mare's eyes flashed as inspiration suddenly hit her, "I've got it! Ampurley! That's a wonderful name for a magnificent Digimon such as you. Don't you think so?"

Nyaromon didn't respond. She simply continued eating the muffin pieces that Rarity floated into her mouth.

"Ah, yes. I apologize. A lady such as yourself would not speak with her mouth full," Rarity bowed her head as she continued to feed her Digimon.

In contrast to how Rarity fed Nyaromon, Applejack and Pinkie both simply handed their apple and muffin to their Digimon, respectively. Tokomon X took one look at the muffin before opening his mouth as wide as he could. A long, pink tongue shot out of its mouth and wrapped around the muffin before yanking it down its gullet. The Tokomon took a moment to chew before his eyes lit up with a bright pink light. He leapt off Pinkie's head and did a flip while shouting, "Wooohooo! That was the best thing I've ever eaten! What was that thing called?! Do you have more?! Please tell me you have more!"

"It was a blueberry muffin, silly," Pinkie answered while reaching up to pat Tokomon X on his head, "And nope! Don't got anymore sweets next to my noggin'. But don't worry. There will be plenty of sweet stuff to eat later."

"What are ya'll talkin'—woah!" Applejack pulled her hoof back, feeling Bowmon's tongue grabbing the apple from it. She watched as the little dog ate the apple whole, chewing it up and swallowing it within a moment. He belched before sitting down on his haunches and looking up at Applejack with a gleam in his eyes. Applejack chuckled before petting the Digimon's head, "Be careful with that tongue, lil' fella. That thing felt hotter than Granny's freshly made apple pies!"

Bowmon barked again...and then he suddenly froze in place. A bright white light suddenly encased his body, surprising Applejack so much that she took a step away from the Baby Digimon. The same thing started happening to Tokomon X, then Nyaromon, and so on and so forth. The only exceptions were Cupimon, Sunmon, Moonmon, and Lopmon X. The three former Digimon all stared in awe at what was happening. So much so, that they all stopped eating the food provided to them to watch it happen. Lopmon X, meanwhile, didn't seem surprised in the slightest.

All the ponies and the lone baby dragon squinted as the lights in the room became unbearable. Spike even fell to the floor, which unknowingly saved him when it caused Babs to fall to the ground next to him. As soon as he hit the ground, the light began to expand until it was the same size as Spike. Rainbow Dash was forced to land, lest her temporary blindness cause her to fall out of the air.

"Wha-What's happening? Are they...evolving?!" Twilight asked, her quill still moving as she tried to keep taking notes.

"Indeed," Lopmon X said casually as he took a bite of his muffin, observing his fellow Digimon evolve, "For Baby Digimon, one nutritious meal is typically sufficient for them to reach their Rookie Stage. However, it normally takes a day for this to happen."

"Then, why is it happening now?" Twilight asked as the lights began to die down. The ponies all blinked and rubbed their eyes to clear the blindness from them. Twilight was the first to clear her vision, and she immediately gasped upon seeing the changes to the Digimon in the room. Her quill actually stopped moving as she stared at the Rookies in awe.

The first to catch her eye was the actual dragon standing next to Spike. What was once a small, green-scaled baby dragon smaller than Spike, was now a blue and red young dragon a head taller than Spike. It had grown long, muscular arms and legs, with its wings taking on a reddish hue. They now grew from the backs of its arms, just above its three-pronged claws. Its tails had fused into one long, thick, blue tail with a reddish tip. A yellow "X" was on the top of his muzzle, while four glowing red horns stuck out of the back of its head. A similar glowing scale protruded from its chest, shining brightly in the light of Twilight's home.

"W-W-Woah," Spike said, his mouth gaping at the much larger dragon standing next to him. Its yellow eyes turned to stare at Spike, who yelped at the sudden attention. The larger dragon got onto all fours and crawled over to Spike. Sweat poured down Spike's face as his body shook in fear. He spoke out loud, "B-B-Bab? I-I-Is that...you?"

The dragon stayed quiet for a moment...then its tongue shot out and licked the center of Spike's head. Caught off guard, Spike could only flail in surprise. He looked up at the now smiling, bright blue dragon as it spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, "Spike. Friend."

The Digimon proceeded to lather Spike's face with licks, causing the baby dragon to laugh while trying to push it off.

Over by Rainbow Dash, she heard a loud exclamation of triumph as her vision cleared. Turning to see the source, she saw that Chibimon had also transformed. Mainly evolving into a larger version of his former self. He now had proper arms and legs, each ending with five...things at the end of his arms instead of the nubs from before. His tail was longer, and he now had a full torso and head. A yellow "V" sat in the middle of his head, right between his big red eyes. Two large ears grew out of the top of his head and flopped around as he jumped up and down. When he stopped hopping, he turned to look at his back...only to frown at what he saw. He stomped his foot and exclaimed, "Dang it!" No wings! I wanted wings so I could fly like Rainbow Dash."

"Uh, I think you should focus more on how [i]you gained more than a few inches from eating a muffin!/i]" Rainbow flew down and yelled that into one of the Digimon's ears. Her eyes widened as she looked the Digimon up and down, "You're as tall as me now! What was in that muffin?"

"Nothing," the Digimon shrugged, "It was just what I needed to evolve. Now, I'm V-mon! And don't you worry! My next evolution is gonna give me wings! Just you wait!"

V-mon started shadow boxing at the air, leaving RD watching him with confusion.

As Rarity's vision cleared, she became aware of something lying across her back. She looked over her shoulder and saw...

"A puppy?" Rarity said, craning her neck to get a better look. She was proven correct. Lying across her back was a little puppy. Its fur was a bright yellow and covered most of its body. The only exceptions were the black tips at the ends of its floppy ears, and the white patches around its mouth and on the end of each of its feet. Rarity wasn't sure where it came from, but something about it seemed familiar for whatever reason. Unbidden, she whispered, "Ampurly?"

The puppy's green eye opened up.

Rarity gasped, "Oh my! It is you, isn't it? You've turned into...a dog?"

The Digimon didn't respond. It got onto its feet, stretched, yawned, then walked over and nuzzled its body against Rarity's neck. It then laid back down and closed its eyes again. Rarity shook her head and said, "Oh, this is just...this is so confusing. I think I need a moment to lie down."

"Here you go, Rarity!" Spike, having somehow gotten out from under Bab, appeared at Rarity's side holding a large satin pillow in his hands. Rarity lifted it up and soon lay down, while Spike stared at her with hearts floating above his head. Bab looked over at his friend with clear confusion in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Applejack took another step back from the new Digimon standing in front of her. She swallowed while observing what Bowmon had turned into. Instead of a small cub or puppy, it was now a fully grown wolf. At full height, it came up to Applejack's chin. Its fur had changed from a light shade of blue to a dark purple. In contrast, the middle of its chest, the end of its tail, and its large muzzle had pure white fur. Two pointed ears stood atop its head, and it stared at AJ with dark red eyes. A strange red gem sat in the middle of its forehead, and for some reason, belt straps were tied to its front paws. AJ couldn't help but stare at the creature's sharp claws and fangs. Chuckling nervously, she said, "Ahaha, not such a lil' critter anymore, are ya?"

Then the Digimon did something she didn't expect. It answered back.

"That I am not, Applejack," the Digimon said while sitting down on its haunches, "I have evolved into my new form; Loogamon. Thank you, for helping me."

"Ya'll can talk?!" Applejack shook her head in disbelief.

"Yes. Most Digimon gain the ability to talk when we reach our Child Stages," Loogamon said as he approached Applejack. Once he was close enough, he held out his front paw and "smiled" up at her, saying, "And now, I believe I can actually 'shake' like you asked me to. Shall we try that again?"

"Uh, sure?" AJ placed her front hoof in Loogamon's paw. The Digimon gently gripped her hoof and shook it up and down. AJ just stared at what was going on, completely floored by the current events.

"Oooh! Oooh! All your Digimon look so cool!" Pinkie exclaimed as she plopped down on her rump. She reached up to grab her Digimon, "I wonder what mine looks like? Did he become an even bigger Tokomon or something?"

She grabbed the new weight on her head and pulled it down so she could see what it was. What she saw made her gasp in shock, "Oh. My. Gosh."

"What?" everypony looked toward Pinkie...and then they repeated the question, "What?!"

This is because Pinkie was no longer holding the pig-like Tokomon X.

She was holding a rabbit-like Digimon instead.

Its body was just as pink as Tokomon X's, but thinner and more feminine. It had two arms with the same weird things that V-mon had at the end, while its feet were covered with red socks. A dark pink scarf was tied around its neck, and a peculiar headset rested on its head. Two ears pointed upwards from its forehead just above its round, button-like pink eyes.

Pinkie stared at her new Digimon, and it stared back at her. After a few seconds, it nervously waved at Pinkie before speaking in a small voice, "Um, hello, Pinkie Pie. Um, I'm Cutemon and-"

"Darn straight you are!" Pinkie interrupted, pulling the Digimon into a tight hug. She rocked back and forth while speaking, "You are the cutest little thing ever! I didn't think it was possible, but I was proven so wrong! Digimon are awesome!"

Cutemon could do nothing but squeak in surprise as Pinkie hugged her tightly.

Twilight rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was seeing things. But when Cutemon remained in Pinkie's grasp, she knew that she wasn't. And that only made her confusion over what was going on even worse. All the other Digimon? Their evolutions made sense. Yeah, Lopmon X's was a bit of a stretch, but she could somewhat see the through-line there. The other Digimon had essentially evolved into larger versions of themselves, even if Nyaromon somehow transformed into a puppy dog.

But this?

Tokomon X, a Digimon with the body structure of a pig, [i]somehow, /i] turned into a Digimon with the body structure of a bunny rabbit!

And somehow gained a scarf, socks, and a headset in the process.

"This—This—This doesn't make any sense!" Twilight's gaze shot to Lopmon X, who had just finished eating his muffin, "What is going on?!"

Lopmon X smiled and put his arms behind his back. The picture of innocence, his nonchalant tone never wavered as he said, "As I said, we Digimon have a unique maturation cycle. One that is not always sensible. Especially considering one particularly powerful stimulus that allowed for all of them, and myself, to reach our Child Stages so quickly."

"And that is?" Twilight's voice conveyed both frustration and curiosity. Her quill and scroll stood at the ready, even though it was already mostly full of notes.

Lopmon X raised one of its claws like a finger and said with total seriousness, "Friendship and love."

From the Everfree Forest, the five invaders came. Their sickly orange eyes locked onto Ponyville. In their minds, the mission they were given repeated itself over and over again.

Find the locals.

Conquer their lands.

And create a base for those who would come after them.

Moving on all fours, the five of them made their way toward Ponyville, ready to put their plan into action.

For the record, I'm gonna be using the English and Japanese names for the first three Digimon Stages interchangeably. So, for those who don't know:

In-Training = Baby

Rookie = Child

Champion = Adult

I'm only doing it for these three, as they are pretty interchangeable. However, I will be using "Ultimate and Mega" for the final two Stages, instead of "Perfect and Ultimate". Mainly cause I like the first two more. They sound more fitting.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

Rookies/Child Stages

Dracomon_(X-Antibody)

V-mon

Cutemon

Meicoomon's Unnamed Child Form

Loogamon