Sugarcube Corner. The primary sweet shop in Ponyville. Ran by the earth ponies Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the store was also home to the well-known Party Pony, Pinkie Pie. Due to this, the place was regularly used as the venue for the Pink Pony's numerous parties.

And today was no exception...save for who the party was for!

"Cutemooonnn~!?" Pinkie called out, hopping her way through the crowd of ponies who had come to party. Her uncanny sense of where other ponies were hiding led her to the drinks table. She leaned her head down and pulled up the white sheet covering the table. As the light from outside banished the darkness under the table, a small pink bunny creature's eyes widened as the light fell upon it. She turned her head until her big pink eyes found Pinkie's face, with the remains of a cupcake falling off her cheeks.

Pinkie tilted her head at the Digimon, "What are you doing down here, silly? A 'Welcoming Party' needs the ponies we're welcoming to be here, ya know?"

"I-I-I know. I'm just...um...nervous," Cutemon fiddled with the half-eaten pink cupcake in her hand. She swallowed while using part of her scarf to hide her face, "I-I-I'm just gonna...stay down here and eat."

Pinkie giggled and grabbed Cutemon's body with her front hooves. Cutemon squeaked as Pinkie yanked her out from under the table and plopped her onto her back. She kept her eyes on Cutemon and said, "Then just stick by me! No pony can be nervous when they're with Pinkie Pie!"

"I-I-I don't-" Cutemon was interrupted as Pinkie hopped over to a group of multi-colored ponies. The mares and stallions all moved aside to let Pinkie through, the pony in question stopping in the middle of the small crowd.

"Hey, everypony! Say hello to my new friend, Cutemon!" Pinkie grabbed the Digimon in question around the waist and held her up for all the ponies to see. As they all waved or greeted Cutemon, the Digimon could only stare at the crowd with trepidation. She swallowed and waved back while whispering a return greeting. Pinkie then set her down and rummaged around in her mane. A second later, she pulled out two pink, flat balloons and handed one to Cutemon. She answered Cutemon's confused stare with a smile, took a deep breath, and then blew as hard as she could into her balloon. The pink plastic expanded more and more until it was as big as Pinkie's head. Then...

[b][i]POP[/i][/b]

...it exploded with a loud popping sound. Pinkie's face was covered in pink plastic, and the pieces of the balloon fell over the rest of the crowd. They all laughed while Pinkie pulled the balloon off her face. She was laughing too and turned to Cutemon, "Now, you try!"

"Me?! I-I-I don't know-"

"You can do it! It's easy. You just put your lips on the end and blow!" Pinkie mimed doing so with the remains of her balloon. Cutemon pursed her lips and pulled at the end of her balloon. Still nervous, she took a deep breath and blew into the balloon. It didn't expand as quickly as Pinkie's, and she stopped when it became as big as her arm. She tied the end of it to keep the air inside. Then, acting on instinct, she started folding and bending the balloon in multiple different ways. The ponies around her watched closely as she worked on the balloon, the plastic squeaking repeatedly as she did so. After a few moments, she stopped and held up the finished project.

The ponies all gasped as they beheld a balloon version of Pinkie Pie in the Digimon's hands. Cutemon's face somehow turned pinker as she fidgeted in place, "Um...tadaa?~"

Pinkie gasped and quickly grabbed the balloon from Cutemon's grasp. Her smile somehow grew even wider as she jumped for joy while keeping the balloon in her hooves. She beamed at Cutemon, "This is amazing! You've gotta show me how you made this, Cutemon!"

"Me too!" exclaimed one of the ponies in the crowd. It was soon joined by numerous other exclamations from ponies who wanted to learn how to do what Cutemon did. Cutemon looked around, her nervousness evaporating in the face of everyone's excitement.

She stood up straighter and held her hands together, "Well, o-okay. I'll need some more balloons, though."

"I've gotcha covered, sister!" Pinkie said, holding out enough balloons to cover both of her arms. Cutemon smiled and started passing the balloons out to the crowd of ponies.

In a separate room, Rainbow Dash was standing to V-mon's right. She had a piece of chalk in her hoof next to a whiteboard. The whiteboard already had nine lines drawn on it, and Rainbow was waiting to add one more. She called out to her Digimon, "Come on, V-mon! You can do it! Just one more, and that will be your fifth set!"

The Rookie Digimon in question was currently on his back, holding up two piles of ponies. In one hand, he held three earth pony stallions who were lying limply in his grasp. In his other hand, he held three pegasi mares who were doing the same. A crowd had gathered around, all watching the blue Digimon as he struggled to push both his arms up. Sweat fell from V-mon's head as his arms trembled under the strain. He gritted his teeth and with one final grunt of effort, he lifted both his arms all the way up. Rainbow Dash quickly marked the last line on the board and pumped her hooves in the air. The ponies helping V-mon also cheered as he placed them on the ground.

He jumped to his feet from a sitting position, flexing both of his arms with a big smile on his face, "Did it! Told ya I could! What's next? What am I doing next?"

His head darted back and forth, looking for something else to do. Rainbow landed to his right and swatted his head with her wing, "Calm down, squirt. Take a moment to bask in the glory before heading off to the next challenge. It's supposed to be your party. Here!"

Rainbow held out her right hoof for V-mon to shake. V-mon looked down at the offered hoof and smiled. Without hesitation, he grabbed Rainbow's hoof...and then heard a buzzing sound.

"GGGGGGGGG!" V-mon's body jolted and shook as if he had been shocked. He instinctively let go of her hoof and fell to the floor. His body twitched as Rainbow started laughing.

"Hahaha! Gotcha!" Rainbow held up her hoof to show the red buzzer wrapped around it, "Need to be careful about who you shake hooves with, squirt! Haha!"

"Mmmmph," V-mon mumbled into the floor.

Rainbow leaned in close while holding a hoof over her ear, "What's that? Couldn't hear you from down there."

"Mmmph."

"Say again, squirt? Still can-woah!"

Rainbow was caught off guard when V-mon grabbed her front legs and stood up. He yanked her off her feet and held her up with both hands. His lips curled into a devious grin as he moved both his hands down to her torso, "You're wide open!"

The crowd gasped as V-mon placed his hands on the center of Rainbow's body and-

"Pffft-ahahahahahahaha!~"

-started to tickle her.

"S-St-Stop it! Hahahahaha!~ Yo-You-cahahahaha!" Rainbow was unable to speak as V-mon mercilessly tickled her. The crowd of ponies was unsure whether to laugh at what was happening or remain in stunned silence at how easily Rainbow Dash was brought down. Eventually, the rainbow-maned mare managed to push V-mon off her. The two stared each other down as Rainbow Dash got on all fours. She flapped her wings and sent a challenging smirk at V-mon, "Alright, you caught me off guard that time. But you better watch your back, cause I won't' let that slide."

"I'm ready any time, any place, Dash," V-mon met Rainbow's smirk with one of his own. Lightning seemed to spark between them as they waited for the other's next move.

Nearby, Rarity and Fluttershy glanced at Rainbow Dash and V-mon. The two were heading toward the food table with their Digimon on their backs. Ampurley was curled up on Rarity's back, her dog-like ears flopped on either side of her head, with her eyes closed. Cupimon, on the other hand, was wide awake and looking at the party around them. His eyes landed on V-mon and Rainbow, and he blinked in awe, "Those two are getting along rather well."

"Indeed. It is almost as if they were separated at birth," Rarity said while pulling out two stools at the table with her magic. As she and Fluttershy climbed onto the stools, Cupimon flapped his wings and landed on the table. Ampurley suddenly awoke and hopped onto it with him. Her eyelids were slightly lowered as she stared at Rarity expectantly. With a smile, the fashionista used her magic to pour punch into four glass cups. After putting straws into the glasses, she floated one to each of them. Cupimon was quick to grab his cup out of the air, while Fluttershy gently took hers and thanked Rarity for it.

"Here you are, Ampurley," Rarity placed the glass in front of the Digimon and lowered the straw for her to sip from. Ampurley looked at Rarity, then at the cup. Keeping her passive expression, she lifted her head up and slowly drank the pink liquid through a straw. Rarity watched her with a happy sigh, "So elegant. I'm more of a cat pony myself, but I think I could make an exception for you, Ampurley. Your wonderful fur is already filling my mind with so much inspiration."

Fluttershy took a tiny sip from her drink before speaking to Cupimon, "Honestly, I'm so happy that everypony is getting along with you Digimon. It's good to, um, know that you're all being welcomed. Is there, um, anything specific you want to do while we're here? As long as it's not too, um, intense."

Cupimon stopped drinking his punch to hum in thought. He moved his head from side to side before looking back at Fluttershy. Then he smiled and said, "Well, I want to do whatever you want to do, Fluttershy."

"W-What?" Fluttershy actually sounded surprised, "Y-You're, um, sure? Cause I-I don't usually, um, play much with the other ponies."

Cupimon shrugged, "That's fine. I have fun just being around you. And, if you ever want to do something, tell me and we'll go do it."

"O-O-Oh. Thank you, Cupimon. That's sweet of you," she smiles and reaches over to rub his head. He giggles and leans into her hoof to enjoy the petting. However, he leaned a bit too far and loosened his grip on his drink. He scooted to the side and accidentally let go of it, causing the glass to fall over towards Rarity's side of the table.

Before either mare or Cupimon could notice what was about to happen, an orange blur dashed over to the drink and prevented it from tipping over completely. Despite the sudden wind pressure, Rarity's mane somehow remained perfectly fine, along with her drink. The two mares blinked before turning to see Ampurley holding onto the side of Cupimon's glass with her paw. She shot a glare at Cupimon, which made him flinch. He sheepishly grabbed his glass and said, "S-S-Sorry, about that, Ampurley. I'll be more careful."

She gave Cupimon a firm nod before walking back over to her drink. Rarity and Fluttershy shared a look before both started to giggle at the circumstances.

Elsewhere, a different scene than the previous ones was unfolding. Near the entrance of Sugarcube Corner, there was another crowd of ponies. But this one was much smaller than the others. The ponies were a bit more nervous and avoided getting too close to the newcomer. In fact, the only one who dared to get close to him was the first pony he befriended since coming here.

Applejack rubbed the back of her head while looking down at Loogamon. She chuckled and said, "Uh, don't worry 'bout all 'em, Loo. They're just nervous 'round new ponies. Well...new Digimon aye suppose."

"Loo" looked up at Applejack and spoke with no hint of malice in his voice, "It is alright, Applejack. I understand why they are reluctant to get to know me. My appearance isn't exactly welcoming."

"Ah wouldn't say that," AJ chuckled, only to be immediately contradicted when a dark brown stallion gasped and hid behind a potted plant upon seeing Loo. Sweat fell from her forehead as she gave Loo an understanding look, "Just give 'em some time to warm up to ya. Ya'll find that everpony in Ponyville is actually real nice."

"I shall take your word for it. Hmm," Loo looked around and spotted an orange stallion wearing a pinstripe hat and shirt. On his back was a large vanilla cake with red icing all around the top. He moved with the care of someone who had been doing this for a long time. Getting an idea, Loo spoke up, "Applejack? Could you come with me?"

"Uh, sure. Whatcha need?"

"What's that stallion's name?" he asked, pointing a claw at the stallion in question.

"Oh! That's Mr. Cake."

"One of the owners? Splendid. Could you call out to him while we head over to him?"

"Sure thing. Hey, Mr. Cake!" Applejack's voice carried across the floor as she walked alongside Loo toward the stallion. Mr. Cake stopped in his tracks to look over at Applejack and nearly jumped out of his fur upon seeing Loo moving with her. The cake on his back was the only reason he didn't run, but everyone could see his knees wobbling beneath him.

He swallowed audibly as AJ and Loo stopped close to him. He forced a smile and said, "H-Hi, Applejack. Um, is-is this one of those 'Digimon' that Pinkie made this party for?"

"Yep. This here's Loogamon. Though, aye call 'em Loo for short."

"Greetings, Mr. Cake. I am very grateful to you, your wife, and Pinkie Pie for doing this for us," Loogamon bowed his head to the stallion, his voice cool and soothing.

Mr. Cake felt his fear lessen at the Digimon's manners. His voice grew steadier as he replied, "Oh, well, you're very welcome. We're always happy to help Pinkie throw parties for new friends."

"That is wonderful to hear. Hmm, that cake you are carrying. It is for everypony here, correct?"

Loogamon pointed at the cake on the stallion's back. Mr. Cake nodded his head, "Yes, sir! Just need to get it to the table and everypony can dive right in!"

Loogamon hummed in thought. Then he turned to Applejack and asked, "Would you mind grabbing the plates from the dessert table, Applejack?"

"Not at all. Why ya need 'em?" AJ's eyebrow rose questioningly.

"For what I'm going to do. Mr. Cake, could you please place the cake on the floor here? I promise that it will not get dirty or be ruined," Loogamon bowed his head again to show his seriousness.

Though a bit skeptical about what the Digimon was asking, Mr. Cake did as requested. If Applejack and Pinkie Pie trusted him, then why couldn't he? AJ had already run off to grab the plates by the time he put the cake down on the floor. By this point, numerous other ponies were watching the proceedings. All were curious as to what the wolf-like Digimon had in mind. Loogamon straightened himself up on his hind legs. He held up his front paws and extended his claws. The sound made most of the ponies gasp and flinch away as he started slashing at the cake. Everypony expected to hear and feel cake icing flying all around...but it didn't happen. In fact, the slashing only lasted for a few seconds.

"There we are," Loogamon's voice made all the ponies look at what he had done. What they saw made them all gasp in surprise. He had sliced the cake into twenty even slices. Not a single bit of icing or cake fluff was out of place on it. Even his claws were stainless. AJ whistled in awe as she handed the plates to Loogamon. The Digimon took a stack of them in his left paw, while using one of his right claws to carefully lift up a slice and place it on the plate. He then took the plate and handed it to Mr. Cake, "Here. Please, take this."

Stunned, Mr. Cake took the plate with his mouth wide open and stammered, "Uh, uh, uh, th-thanks. Um, you didn't have to do that."

Loogamon shrugged while picking up another slice, "I simply wished to give out some cake early. There should be enough to give each pony here one."

"But wait, what about you?" Mr. Cake sounded concerned.

"Oh, it is no trouble. I did not plan for any of this to go to me. It's more important that you ponies eat it," he said as he placed a plate with a slice of cake next to Applejack. Without missing a beat, he readied another slice and walked over to the dark brown stallion. The pony had emerged from behind the plant and watched the Digimon approaching him with awe. Loogamon held the cake out to him and said, "For you. I hope you enjoy."

The pony looked at the cake, then at Loogamon, and then back at the cake. After a bit, his expression softened, and he pushed the plate towards Loogamon, saying, "No, you have it. It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get some. And, I'm sorry for the way I acted."

Multiple ponies agreed, coming close to Loogamon to apologize or offer their slices to him. The Digimon didn't know what to do. He was stuck in the middle of the apologies, his eyes blinking as he tried to process what was happening. Applejack chuckled, picked up her plate, and started walking toward Loogamon. She said out loud, "Told ya. Just needed to let them warm up to ya."

Finally, over by the window near the door, Twilight was sitting across from Lopmon X. The two were looking at separate scrolls with furrowed brows. Sunmon and Moonmon were sitting together on the windowsill, their eyes locked on the sky above. Sitting on the floor near them were Spike and Babs. The Digimon was in his new Rookie Form, Dracomon X, and had multiple cupcake wrappers sitting around him. Spike was in a similar state as him, both throwing cupcakes into their mouths.

"This stuff is great, isn't it, Babs?" Spike said through a mouthful of cupcake. He put another one in his mouth before Babs could answer, his tail wagging behind him as he spoke.

"Great!" Babs exclaimed, dropping three cupcakes into his maw and chewing loudly.

Twilight didn't seem to mind the loud chewing near her. Her attention was solely focused on the scroll containing all of her notes. She looked around it at Lopmon X and said, "Okay, so...um...you're really fine with me calling you Cornelius?"

Lopmon X looked around his scroll and nodded, "Indeed. It would be much better in the long run, as I doubt I'll be 'Lopmon X' forever."

Twilight nodded and cleared her throat, "Alright. So, Cornelius, let's go over everything we've told each other so far. We'll go in rotation from me to you and back again. Okay?"

"That sounds fine. Whenever you're ready, Twilight," Cornelius nodded, using his ears as a cushion.

"Okay. So, you Digimon evolve by forming friendships with other ponies. In fact, your evolutionary growth occurs faster when a Digimon forms a bond with somepony else. Is that right?"

"That is correct. Friendships and bonds are some of the most important things to us Digimon. As they can heavily impact who and what we become in the future," Cornelius looked at his scroll and pursed his lips, "According to you, ponies take care of all the natural functions of the environment. From the pegasi ensuring that different areas of the land have enough rainwater, to all the ponies working together to change the seasons from one to another. That is actually surprising to me."

"Really? It's something that's normal here."

"I know, but," Cornelius frowned and put a hand on his head, "it's just strange. My memories tell me that such natural processes are usually automatic. That the land usually takes care of itself without outside interference."

"What? Like the...Everfree Forest?" Twilight shivered as she said that name.

"Is that place particularly dangerous?"

"Yes! It's filled with all kinds of monsters, strange plants, and everything works without any pony intervention. The trees, the grass, everything grows all by itself."

"Hmm, interesting," Lopmon X wrote the information on his scroll. Then he turned to Twilight, "Apologies. I believe I accidentally asked two questions there. You may ask me two as well."

"Um, excuse us," both Cornelius and Twilight were caught off guard when they heard the tiny voices coming from the windowsill. They both turned to see Sunmon and Moonmon looking at Twilight. Sunmon spoke with anticipation in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes, "If everything is handled by ponies... does that include the sun?"

Twilight's smile grew a bit wider as she nodded, "Yes. Every day the sun is raised and lowered by our very own Princess Celestia. An alicorn of amazing grace, beauty, and compassion. She has ruled Equestria for a thousand years. It's thanks to her wise rulership that we have such a peaceful life here."

"She's just saying that because she's Celestia's favorite student," Spike laughed, causing Twilight to blush.

She shook her head to deny the accusation, but Sunmon didn't seem to be paying attention to that. His eyes were ablaze as he turned back to the window. He looked straight at the sun, the light not damaging his eyes in the slightest. His voice carried a sense of reverie, "Princess Celestia. I think I'd like to meet her one day."

"Does she control the moon too?" Moonmon asked, her tone just as curious as Sunmon's.

Twilight flinched, "Well, yes and no. Her sister, Princess Luna, usually moves the moon, but she hasn't been seen much recently. Not since my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony to turn her back to normal. I think she's been cooped up in her room at Canterlot Castle since then."

"Aw. She sounds like she's lonely. I'd bet she'd like a friend," Moonmon said, turning to look up at the sky with Sunmon.

Twilight blinked in surprise before turning to Cornelius. She nervously chuckled, "Hehe, those two are really living up to their names, huh?"

"You'll find that most of us Digimon do," Lopmon X said with a cheeky smile.

Twilight nodded, then spoke again, "Back on topic. So, when you touched my horn, do you think that the reason you evolved was because of my magic?"

"I'd say so," Lopmon X looked up and waved a claw through the air, "The magic of this world is very... dense is the best way I would put it. I can't say much as I don't have the capabilities to fully analyze it. But the slight sensation I felt when I touched your horn suggested that it is a potent power source. And, if what you've told me is any indication, it too can be influenced by the emotional state of the ponies using it. Which is similar to how we Digimon work."

"Uh huh, uh huh. Hmm, and you say you can't remember anything about where you come from? Even in your Rookie Form?"

Cornelius frowned and put a hand on his head, "Unfortunately, yes. It's... strange. Whenever I try to think about my origins, I just see white. I can get small snippets, but they don't make any sense without proper context. I imagine that my fellow Digimon are in similar states."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Maybe you'll get your memories back as you evolve. Speaking of which, when do you think you will evolve again? I believe you said there are five stages for you Digimon?"

"Yes. Baby, Child, Adult, Perfect, and Ultimate. Or, in a simpler manner, Baby, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. There isn't a definitive time frame between one stage and the other. And I can't think of anything that would indicate when it will happen at any given time. So, I wouldn't rely on it to clear up our collective amnesia."

"Oh. I see," Twilight frowned as her ears flattened out on her head.

Cornelius smiled, reached out, and patted Twilight on her head, "There's no need to worry, Twilight Sparkle. I'm certain things will become clear later. For now, I believe I can ask you two questions now."

Twilight blushed again but nodded at Cornelius. His smile faded, replaced by a confused frown, "I've been meaning to ask, what are those marks on your...uh...flanks, I believe? I've noticed that every pony here has them."

Cornelius glanced over the side of the table to observe Twilight's flank. She followed his gaze and then smiled, "Those are our cutie marks! A pony gets it whenever they find out what they're special talent is. Mine is magic!"

"You have a mark that tells you what you're talented at? Do you get that as you age?"

Twilight shook her head and said, "No, you have to discover it yourself. There are even some fillies and foals who have their cutie marks."

"Fascinating. Hmm, if you don't mind, I would-"

"Hey!" Twilight and Lopmon X both jumped when Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up next to their table. Twilight nearly dropped her scrolls, and Lopmon X nearly fell out of his chair. Pinkie looked between the two with a big smile and asked, "What are you doing over here, silly billies?! It's a party! You should be playing games and stuff!"

Cutemon leaned out from behind Pinkie's back with a party popper in her hand. She held it up and pulled the string at the back. It popped, and multiple streamers and ribbons fell over Twilight and Lopmon X. Both Cutemon and Pinkie laughed before dashing off to help with the party. Cornelius and Twilight blinked at each other in surprise. Then Cornelius started laughing while brushing the streamers off himself, "I suppose we have been staying here for a bit too long. Perhaps we should go engage in some, what was it, 'Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Pony'?"

Twilight smiled and pushed her chair back, "That sounds like a good idea to me. Don't eat too many cupcakes, Spike and Babs. You'll get stomach aches." Spike and Babs mumbled responses to Twilight but didn't seem to notice what she had said. Cornelius used his ears to lift himself off the table and land on Twilight's back. However, just as Twilight started to trot toward the party games, Lopmon X suddenly stiffened on her back. His ears shot up, and his eyes widened as he stood up straight. To Twilight's left, Babs was doing the same, dropping his cupcakes on the ground.

The same circumstance repeated itself with all the Digimon in the building. All of them had suddenly gone stiff and were standing completely still. They didn't move, even when the ponies poked or spoke to them. All at once, they turned towards the entrance door of Sugarcube Corner.

Loogamon put his plate of cake down and leaped to stand in front of the entrance door. He got on all fours and bared his fangs, growling, "Something's wrong. Everypony get away from the door!"

"What are ya tal-"

Before AJ could finish, the door to Sugarcube Corner was knocked off its hinges and flew straight at Loogamon. As the ponies screamed in panic, Loogamon raised his claws and cleaved the door into pieces. They fell harmlessly around him as the ones who had destroyed it dashed into the building.

There were five figures in total, all completely identical to each other. They all had pure gray fur with bright red eyes. The ears on their heads looked like wings, and their arms had three long black claws sticking out at the ends. Their tails all had black bands wrapped just underneath the tips. They stood on two legs with sharp fangs bared to all.

"Listen up!" the one at the front of the formation shouted, "From today onwards, this place is under the control of the Dark Area Invasion Army! All of you are hereby under our rule and-"

"Vee Headbutt!"

Whatever else the intruder was going to say was interrupted by V-Mon dashing forward and hitting him hard in the stomach with a headbutt.

Digimon appearing in this Chapter:

Gazimon