Chapters It was a calm night. Nothing but the sounds of tree frogs and the hum of flood lights filled the air around the compound where ten ponies stood awaiting the arrival of a very special cargo. The trees shook and branches snapped as a large tractor with a front loader brought forth a large cage. The tractor approached the loading dock where three ponies stood, two at the sides to guide the crate into position and one atop the docking bay to lift the gate.
"Careful now, you don't want your legs to get caught between there." said a white unicorn with a beige vest who was overseeing the process.
The loader eased the crate forward until it was in position. The two ponies on the sides stepped back as the one on top eased the gate open.
"As soon as Derpy raises the gate, you three run her forward with the shock prods until she's in the enclosure." The unicorn told three earth ponies at his side. The three walked to the back of the crate and waited until the blonde pegasus opened the gate. The animal inside hissed as the three ponies approached. Derpy slowly eased the gate open, but with the sudden shift in weight the crate slid back and Derpy lost her balance and fell. When she hit the ground, she landed with her top half facing the unicorn and crew and her bottom half in front of the crate. The creature inside the crate let out a bone chilling roar; a terrible, ferocious scream from some other more primal time. The creature sprang forward and grabbed Derpy by her leg. Derpy screamed and kicked, but to no avail. The animal began to drag her into the crate.
"Work her back!" The unicorn said, grabbing hold of Derpy trying to pull her out of the grasp of the creature. The rest of the earth ponies all ran to Derpy's aid, armed with shock prods. They began shocking the animal, but it was no use. The animal tugged on Derpy trying to loosen the white unicorn's grasp. Derpy screamed in pain as she and the unicorn both fell with release of tension between them and the animal. The sickening sound of tearing flesh and snapping bone filled the air midst the snarls and the screams from the workers. It had taken off her leg! The animal snapped at one of the prods then picked up the leg and darted into the open enclosure. One of the earth ponies slammed the gate shut. The white unicorn now laid with Derpy as she slowly faded away.
"Don't worry" The unicorn began, holding Derpy "We're getting help, it's on it's way." Derpy shook her head slowly and looked up into the unicorn's eyes. "I just don't know what went wrong."
The halls of the Canterlot palace were quiet and peaceful. Filthy Rich always felt at ease when he came here, it was a sort of serenity. The halls and tapestries always seemed to soothe him. His hoofsteps echoed through the hallway as he approached the Princess' chambers. She had summoned him; no doubt about the accident in the park last week. Things were going very smoothly up until now. "It was only a delay" he thought, and he hated delays.
He walked up to one of the guards.
"The princess requested to see me."
The guard nodded and allowed him entrance.
"Princess Celestia" Filthy Rich said bowing "May I say you're looking as regal as ever?"
The princess smiled and nodded. "You may, but I fear it will not help you as much as you'd like. I trust you know why you've been summoned?"
"About what happened in the park?"
The princess nodded. "I'm afraid I must delay the opening of your park until I can give it an inspection."
"With all do respect, princess, I can assure you that the park is perfectly safe. There's no need to-"
"Somepony died, Mr. Rich. That hardly sounds safe to me." The princess said, cutting him off. "Now, I know you'd rather not wait, but I'm afraid that's how it is going to be. Unfortunately I'm very busy with matters in the Crystal Empire and it will take at least four months before I can inspect the park."
"Four months??" Filthy Rich said slack-jawed "That won't do! The park is set to open in a few weeks, I can't halt production any longer."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rich, but until I can inspect your park for myself, production has to be shut down."
Filthy Rich thought for a moment, refusing to let the subject go. "What if a group of ponies come to sign off on the island? That way I can continue production and you can attend to your business. The main tour of the park is set to be fully functional with the opening of the park and other rides are set to be open later in the year."
The princess gave some thought to his proposal. She was getting rather annoyed at this pony in front of her. "There are adequate living arrangements?"
Filthy Rich nodded. "Of course, the main visitor lodge has many rooms prepared already with many more being built and the cafeteria is completed also."
The Princess nodded. "Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable, but I remind you, Mr. Rich, that this is a serious inspection of the stability of your park. You'll have forty-eight hours to convince my team that your park is safe for visitors. Forty-eight hours and if they're not convinced, I'm not convinced. I'll shut you down."
"Princess Celestia" Filthy Rich said grinning " when those forty-eight hours are up, I'll be accepting your apologies."
"We will see in due time, Mr. Rich." The princess replied while she began to write a letter.
Twilight Sparkle stood at the train station waiting. Waiting for the train, and naturally, waiting for her friends. She had made somewhat of a career out of waiting for them. She chuckled at the thought. She looked up at the sun, now high in the sky.
"About noon " She thought. The train will be arriving soon. According to the princess' letter, She and the other girls were to go and inspect a resort, but Celestia was fuzzy on the rest of the details. It seemed odd that a resort would be dangerous enough to warrant an inspection by the spirits of harmony. This wasn't something they usually did. They fought dragons and saved Equestria numerous times, but who was she to complain? Free vacation! That wasn't something she was willing to pass up and once Rarity got word of it she practically twisted Twilight's leg until she agreed to go.
She heard the whistle of the train in the distance. She sighed. late as usual she thought to herself. A cloud floated lazily above her, blotching the sun.
"Heya,Twi" said a voice from atop the cloud.
"Hi Rainbow Dash, are the others coming?" Twilight asked, gazing up through her sunglasses.
"I think I saw Pinkie and Fluttershy headed this way, but as for Rarity and Applejack, the jury is still out." Dash replied as she glided down from atop her fluffy abode. Twilight looked to the distance and saw Pinkie, bouncing as she normally did, along side Fluttershy who sported a large sun hat.
"WOOHOO! VACATION!" Pinkie squealed as she bounced all around.
"I know you're excited,Pinkie, but this is a serious mission and we need to put that before vacation."Twilight said trying to hold Pinkie still No matter how awesome it's going to be! Twilight thought, containing her true excitement.
"Spike will take good care of my little critters won't he?" Fluttershy asked as she approached Twilight.
"Yes he will" Twilight smiled "He's starting to get a way with animals. Maybe you're starting to rub off on him" Fluttershy giggled at the thought as the train pulled up and stopped with a loud hiss. The passenger cars opened their doors and ponies flooded the station. A midst the crowds the four were approached by a gray-amber colored pony.
"Hello there, you must be Twilight Sparkle! The leader of the little excursion to the park." he said cheerfully as he extended his hoof.
"That's me." She said shaking his hoof
"I am Filthy Rich and may I say that I am absolutely delighted to meet you all finally in person, but isn't there still two missing?"
"Yes we're still wai-"
"HOLD THAT TRAIN!" Screamed a voice from down the street followed by another.
"Confound it, Rarity! Why th' hay do you need all this luggage? It's only two days we're stayin'!"
AppleJack and Rarity came into view, followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, each holding a considerable amount of bags. Filthy Rich signaled the conductor to wait a moment while Rarity loaded her bags.
"Hurry Rarity, we don't want everypony to be mad at us for stalling the train." Rainbow Dash said as she helped Rarity load her bags.
"Oh that won't be a problem, I've rented the whole train just for us! Spared no expense!" Filthy Rich grinned.
"Now you two fillies don't be givin' Granny Smith a hard time. She may still think she's pretty spry, but she's still an old timer" AppleJack said to the two fillies.
"Sweetie Belle, now you mind, do you hear me?" Rarity called out from the cargo car.
"Yes I hear ya." Sweetie Belle said rolling her eyes. Filthy Rich walked up to the two fillies and bent down to their level.
"You girls aren't coming to the resort?" He asked
"No, our sisters said we can't go cause it's official business" Apple Bloom pouted.
"Why of course you two can come! I insist!" Filthy Rich said as he stood back up to look at AppleJack.
"Now Mr. Rich you ain't gotta do that, we wouldn't wanna trouble you none."
"Oh pish posh! It's no trouble to me! My park was designed for kids in mind anyway!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both beamed at Applejack, awaiting her approval.
"Well, okay. But you best be on your best behavior, Apple Bloom!" AppleJack said cutting a stern glance at her sister. The two fillies screamed with joy as they ran into the passenger car followed by Pinkie who shared their enthusiasm.
What did he mean his park was designed for kids? How could anything made for kids be dangerous? Twilight thought.
"What kind of a park is this?" Twilight said as she walked to Filthy Rich.
He gave her a smile "It's right up your alley."
____________________________________________________
They took the train all the way to Los Pegasus where they boarded a boat that would take them the rest of the way to the island. The boat was very nice, almost like a mini cruise ship. They all piled on joined by another pony who met them at the docks.
"Everypony, this is Dr. Whooves, he designed the computer systems for the park. He's going to be joining us this weekend." Rich explained. "Got a few bugs to iron out before the park opens." The brown pony said nothing. Just nodded and remained silent in his seat.
Sweetie Belle's ears perked up at the mention of computers. She rather enjoyed computers and she'd gotten quite skilled at them. She often fixed her parent's computer when it malfunctioned. She usually fixed it by tinkering around, but that's how pretty much anyone learned anything.
"Just out of curiosity" Filthy Rich began "How much do you all know about dinosaurs?"
The six exchanged confused glances. "You mean like big lizards?" Applejack asked with a quizzical expression.
"Actually," Fluttershy began "Recent studies have shown that dinosaurs have more in common with present day birds than reptiles. It's really rather fascinating!"
"But dinosaurs were huge! and today's birds are ittie bittie" Pinkie said holding her hooves accordingly.
"Well only the more famous ones were huge, but the average dinosaur wasn't any bigger than a small dog." Twilight added.
"You mean like Procompsognathus? They weren't any bigger than chickens." Apple Bloom stated, earning surprised looks from around the passenger room of the boat. Even Whooves, who stayed out of the conversation until this point, gave a shocked expression.
"I didn't know you knew anything about dinosaurs." Applejack said, ruffling her sisters hair.
"We learned about em in school once is all." Apple Bloom said, trying to hide the truth. The truth was that she found dinosaurs very interesting, but she didn't want anyone to know. She was afraid of being made fun of, because girls weren't supposed to like stuff like that.
"There have also been studies that led to evidence that dinosaurs were warm blooded, further strengthening the theory that dinosaurs are related to birds." Twilight said "But why do you ask?"
"Oh the park has a prehistoric type theme." Filthy Rich explained. "There are a few exhibits and such. I just wanted to know how much you all knew, so you wouldn't be at all bored. Speaking of which there it is!" He pointed to an island cloaked in fog. "The waters could be a little rough around the dock, so please bear with us."
The boat rock back and forth as it approached the dock. Rarity was breathing heavily and fanning her face trying not to get seasick. They heard the ramp lower then clank on the dock.
"Now if you all will just follow me now." Filthy Rich said as he walked onto the dock.
"What about our luggage?" Rarity asked.
"I'll have some workponies come and put them in your room."
They all emerged from the boat and walked onto the dock. Twilight slipped her sunglasses back on. the fog they had seen before didn't really cover the island, it just seemed to be on the water. She heard the sounds of the ocean hitting the dock and the sounds of the birds in the jungle. As they proceeded up the path, Twilight heard something else. It sounded like, Whales? No, whales were much more high-pitched than this. She turned to the others. They heard it too. Filthy Rich, however, seemed to be unaffected. The noise sounded again. It sounded like giant low-pitched horns. As they progressed up the hill the noises grew louder. Then they saw them. about 5 of them dotted the valley below.
"Holy shit." Rainbow Dash said under her breath. There in front of them, perhaps 50 yards away was a full grown Apatosaur. Twilight took off her glasses, her eyes wide.
"Is that? That? That?" She stammered.
"An Apatosaurus? Yes." Filthy Rich said. Holding back a grin.
"That's... That's a dinosaur!" Rarity said, mouth agape. Pinkie didn't move, she didn't speak, she just stood there frozen.
"What's their metabolism? Growth rate? How fast are they??" Fluttershy said, mere inches from Filthy Rich's face.
Filthy Rich chuckled. " Calm down, calm down. We'll explain everything on the tour. The Apatosaurs aren't too incredibly fast, but we've clocked our T-Rex at around 32-33 mph.'
Twilight's head snapped to Filthy Rich's direction. "You have a T-Rex?" She felt her knees quiver then buckle. Applejack and Dash both rushed to catch her. Filthy Rich laughed at this and turned to look over the valley.
"Ms. Sparkle, my Dear Fluttershy. Welcome to Jurassic Park."
The group continued up the path towards the visitor's center.
"That was a real dinosaur!" Applejack said, still not believing what she had just seen.
"They have it all wrong! The case is closed, that is a warm-blooded animal!" Fluttershy exclaimed.
"What I want to know is how you did it." Twilight said.
Filthy Rich chuckled. "I assure you, Ms. Sparkle, everything will be explained shortly." Pinkie Pie still said nothing. Her eyes still wide. How is this even possible she thought. They came to a large white building with a safari type theme. They walked through the big double doors and was greeted by a tan pony.
"Hello and welcome to Jurassic Park! My name is Caramel and I'll be taking you on the tour of the park. Does anyone need a bathroom break before we get started?" He said.
Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom all excused themselves to the mares room. While the rest conversed among themselves.
"Twilight." Rainbow dash began. "What do you think? is it some sort of magic?"
"I'm not sure. How else would they get extinct animals? Bit I don't know of any resurrection spells that powerful. I think something else is going on here."
The three ponies emerged from the bathroom. "Okay, let's get started shall we?" Caramel said, motioning the group to follow along. The group followed Caramel, leaving Whooves and Filthy Rich behind in the lobby.
"Now," Caramel began "I'm sure you're all wondering by this point how we did it? and the the answer to that is cloning."
"Cloning?" Twilight asked. "But you need genetic material to successfully clone an animal."
"Yes that was the initial problem we ran into. As you might already know; any, if not all, genetic material from bones is lost during the fossilization process. The calcium from the bones is slowly drawn out and it's unusable." They walked into a white room full of unicorns in white lab coats worked around the room. "So the only way to get dino DNA was to find a preserved specimen, such a mummified body or one frozen in ice, but since no pony has ever found a preserved specimen, we hit another snag. Until, that is, a solution presented its self." He motioned to a table with yellow color rocks sat. "Here."
"I'm afraid I don't understand." Fluttershy said.
"Those are amber stones, right? Fossilized tree sap." Rarity said.
"Yes that's right." Caramel said smiling. The group continued to look with glazed over looks.
"I'm still not following." Twilight said blankly.
"You may notice that all these stones have bugs in them. The mesozoic was the home of many unique insects. Biting insects. Even insects that sucked the blood of animals."
"Sucked the blood." Twilight repeated. "That's really quite clever."
Caramel nodded "You see, the insects would bite an animal and get caught in the sap of a tree, where it would be encased and fossilized, preserving the animal's blood inside where it then comes here to be extracted by our Jurassic Park scientists. I could explain it all to you my self, but I think I'll leave it to a professional" A slender mare walked into the room with long straight dark grey hair. "This is our chief geneticist Dr. Octavia."
"How is everypony?" Octavia greeted as they entered another room filled with computers which displayed flashing random lines of code.
"Here is where we decipher the individual strands of DNA. Believe it or not all of these computers are analyzing just one fragment. We have to break the entire strand down so it's easier to manage. If you look at a screen like this once a second for 8 hours a day, it'd take still more than 2 years to look at the entire DNA strand. It's that big!" Octavia explained.
The group started to get bored. Especially Apple Bloom who kept looking at the door. She wanted to see the real dinosaurs, not their blood.
"Ah, I see that this little filly has spotted the stop on our tour. The hatchery."
They continued through the door into a room that was incredibly humid.
"We have to keep it warm in here" Octavia explained. "The eggs have to absorb all water from the outside, so that also explains the mist."
"Jurassic atmosphere" Fluttershy said.
"We presume anyway" Octavia said smiling. they moved from the hatchery to the nursery where a lone pony sat, her back to them. "What have you got for us today, Lyra?"
"Not much just a baby Raptor" Lyra said standing up revealing the tiny animal. Fluttershy beamed.
"A BABY RAPTOR!" She ran to pick up the animal which promptly jumped over her and onto Applejack's back. She let out a scream in surprise.
"Hey!" The baby animal began to rub up against Applejack's mane. "What's it doing?" She asked.
"She wants you to feed her." Caramel said.
"What does she eat?"
"Mice, but she just ate. We won't feed her again." Lyra said. Twilight walked up and examined the baby animal.
"Do you mind?" She asked as she levitated the baby raptor which shrieked.
"She doesn't really like to be held away from body contact." Lyra explained.
"It'll be alright" Twilight said still hold the raptor which started to shriek louder.
"Ms. sparkle, please" Octavia said "These animals come from a time where there were no ponies to prod a poke them. if you please.."
"i'm not hurting her."
Lyra, Octavia, and Caramel all shouted in unison. "Ms. Sparkle, Please put her down!" Twilight was startled by this and quickly sat the animal down on the floor, which ran back to Applejack. Cowering behind her leg.
"I'm sorry Ms. Twilight" Caramel said rubbing the bridge of his snout "But these animals are really delicate, especially in infancy. We've lost several already because of post natal stress. We even have to help them out of their eggs."
"You have to help them?" Pinkie Pie said, finally speaking. "What about the ones bred in the wild?"
"Oh these animals can't breed in the wild." Octavia said.
"How do you know?" Pinkie asked. She was starting to get an odd tone in her voice.
"Because all our animals are female." Octavia smiled. "We've engineered them that way."
"Engineered them that way?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway, it just takes an extra hormone at the right developmental stage to make the male. We just simply deny them that." They were out of the laboratory now and walking down a long hallway towards the control room.
"Here is where our security takes place. This entire park can be ran be ran with minimal staff for up to four days just in this single room." Caramel said. The room was dark and two ponies were lit up by the monitor they were focused on. "The white unicorn in the beige vest is our game warden, MonoChrome. and the pony beside him is our chief engineer Vinyl Scratch., but it looks like they're overseeing the departure of the boat. We'll leave them be for now. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Are there any fully grown raptors in the park?" Twilight asked.
"Yes.." Caramel hesitated. "They haven't been integrated into the park yet, we have to keep them in a holding pen."
"Can we see them?" Fluttershy asked.
"Of course. You just go out and around this building there is a path leading down toward the holding pen."
Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Apple bloom all walked out down and toward the pen. While Pinkie, Applejack and Dash stayed behind and talked among themselves.
"What's gotten into you, Pinkie? You don't seem like yourself." Applejack said
"Don't you guys see the faults of this park? The flaws? The things that are destined to fail? They've brought creatures into this world that have been gone for Celestia knows how long and these egotistical ponies think that just because they made them, patented them or whatever, that they can control them. Life cannot be contained how they are attempting to contain it in this park. Life will find a way. It will break loose, violently. What these ponies call discovery. I call the rape of the natural world."
Dash and Applejack exchanged glances at this sudden change. This was a scary thing to see pinkie go from her normal bouncy self to something dark and sinister. Whatever was going on in the park, Pinkie did not care for it. Not at all.
_________________________________________________________________
The 5 ponies stand outside the fence of the holding pen, looking disappointingly to the foliage inside. Rarity yawned.
"Where are they? I'm getting bo-" Fluttershy placed a hoof over her mouth and pointed silently. In the brush, hidden among the fronds was a two-foot long head that peered at them, un-moving. It watched them coldly for two long minutes. It slowly, ever so very slowly, raised it's clawed hand to move the leaves away from it's face. Twilight got a chill. It's hunting us! I bet it doesn't even know we see i- The attack came suddenly. The raptor darted from it's cover joined by two other raptors coming in from the sides. The three raptors jumped and kicked the fence setting off a heap of sparks. The little fillies and Rarity screamed and as if answering them one of the raptors shrieked back as it ran into the bushes.
"Holy shit!" Sweetie Belle said, quickly covering her mouth after realizing what she had said, expecting a lashing from her sister.
"You said it." Rarity replied in awe, still looking to where the raptors had been. The entire attack couldn't have taken more than 8 seconds. The fence fizzled and the hanging smell of decay and burnt flesh lingered in the air. Caramel came on the loud speaker.
"If you all will report to the front of the visitor's center we can start the tour of the island!" The 5 nodded at each other and headed back up toward the visitor's center.
The control room was dark and the whir of computers filled the air. Vinyl Scratch watched the monitor that showed the two pale green Ford Explorer tour vehicles pull in front of the visitor's center. She glanced at the big glass map at the center of the room, then to Whooves who entered data onto his keyboard. She noticed how messy his work station was. geez what a slob.. she thought. She always tried to avoid him as much as she could. There was just something about him that she didn't like, although she could never quite put her hoof on what it was.
The door to the control room hissed open as MonoChrome and Filthy Rich entered.
"The coast guard is tracking a tropical storm. I wouldn't worry though, it may swing south like the last one did." Chrome said as he approached one of the monitors.
Filthy rich walked to Vinyl Scratch as he wondered why he didn't build in Las Haygas. "Ms. Scratch, start the tour program if you'd please." Scratch nodded as she typed on her keyboard then spoke into a microphone.
_________________________________________________________________________
The speakers inside the cruisers crackled as Vinyl Scratch spoke. "If you'd all kindly pile into the vehicles, we can begin the tour." Rarity, Caramel, AppleJack, and the foals sat in the first vehicle while the rest all piled into the second vehicle.
"Please, keep all limbs inside the vehicle and keep the doors closed while the vehicle is in motion." Said a prerecorded voice.
"My goodness!" Rarity said, instantly recognizing the voice. "Is that Sapphire Shores?"
Filthy Rich spoke through the intercom. "Why yes it is! We spared no expense."
The cars lurched forward with an electric hum and set en route down the road towards the jungle.
"So" Dash began as she looked at Pinkie. "Why do you think the park is destined to fail?"
"Because of the sheer ignorance these people possess." Pinkie said.
Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged glances.
"What do you mean 'ignorance'?" Fluttershy asked "They seem pretty well prepared for whatever these animals can do."
"For starters, the fact that they claim that every animal in the park is female. Which I completely doubt. I mean you can't exactly go into the park and pull up the dinosaur's skirts and have a look just to make sure."
"But they said they altered the hormones of the embryo and all the animals come through the lab. So I would say that they have a pretty good idea of the gender of the animals." Twilight said.
"Next comes to the island itself. It's far too small to harbor a vast majority of animals."
"I'm sure they didn't clone an unreasonable amount of animals.... Unless you're suggesting that a group consisting entirely of female animals will breed." Fluttershy said giving pinkie a skeptical look.
"All I'm saying is simply life finds a way."
The cars silently stopped in front of the first enclosure. Sapphire's voice sounded through the car speakers.
"The first animal on our tour is dilophosaurus!" Apple Bloom got excited and pressed her nose against the window as Sapphire continued. "One of the earliest carnivores, we now know that dilophosaurus is poisonous. It spits venom from it's mouth much like a cobra and can cause blindness and eventually paralysis. Needless to say please keep the windows closed!"
"I don't see anything" Rarity said. They remained silent for a moment.
"There" Sweetie said, pointing. "Under the tree!"
Underneath the tree Sweetie indicating was a clump of bushes partially hiding a four-foot tall animal with two red crests on the top of the head. It was mottled green with faint black tiger-type stripes along its back. It stood motionless.
"What's wrong with it?" Applejack asked.
"They just haven't got used to the sight of the tour vehicles yet." Caramel explained.
"Are there any fully grown ones?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yes, but they generally stay close to the river." Caramel said.
"Wait, y'mean that one ain't even fully grown? How big do they get?" Applejack asked.
"The largest skeletons found were about ten feet tall." Apple Bloom explained.
"That's right" Caramel confirmed giving Apple Bloom a smile "You sure seem to have dinosaurs on the brain."
Apple Bloom blushed and looked at the floor. The cruisers lurched forward and continued the tour. Upon seeing the vehicles move the Dilophosaur darted back into the jungle.
The vehicles continued down the road then came to a ridge that over looked the plains below.
"If you look to the left, you may catch a glimpse of a herd of our three horned dinosaurs, Triceratops!" Sapphire Shores said. The passengers all looked out to the left of the car but saw nothing.
"It's pretty hot out right now, so they've probably found some shade trees to rest under." Caramel said into a hand held radio so the other car could hear. Fluttershy Grabbed the radio in her cruiser.
"How do the animals fair against the predators?"
"Oh we don't integrate predator animals with the herbivores. As you can imagine, that'd be a disaster! Not to mention costly." Caramel said
"Then what do they eat?" Twilight asked.
"We keep a stock of goats and other livestock here on the island."
"What would happen if one of the larger carnivores were to get out?" Fluttershy asked.
"I assure you that won't happen," Caramel began "we take extreme precautions, especially when it comes to our Rex. The fences surrounding the Tyrannosaur paddock have 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through them and a ten-foot deep by twenty foot wide concrete moat separating him and the sauropods."
The vehicles slowed to a stop in front of the next enclosure.
"Ah, speaking of which." Caramel said.
"Our next attraction on our tour is the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex! The king of all dinosaurs" Sapphire Shores said.
That's true Apple Bloom thought, I bet if a rex got into a fight with another theropod, like a Spinosaur, the T-rex would come out on top (*I'm looking at you, JP3 fans...*)
The occupants of the cars looked outward towards a small clearing beyond the fence, eager to catch a glimpse of the Tyrannosaur. Vinyl Scratch came on the radio.
"We'll try and tempt her into coming out, Just keep watching the fence."
An electronic whir sounded as a platform arose from the ground presenting a goat chained to a post.
"Oh no! I can't bear to watch this!" Fluttershy said as she turned away.
Nothing happened. The goat continued to bleat and eventually laid down, hot under the sun.
"Now eventually you might have DINOSAURS on your dinosaur tour, right?" Rarity asked Caramel with a disappointed look on her face. Caramel chuckled.
"The Tyrannosaur is a bit cautious when the tour vehicles come around. She's gotten even more so now that we put the young one in with her." Caramel said.
The Radio crackled followed by Twilight's voice. "You have two rexes?"
"Yes, but the second one is just a juvenile. They seem to keep their distance from each other, but our big girl is still picky as to when she emerges from her cover."
The cars continued on the tour. Pinkie glanced at the goat; still laying in the sun. She scoffed.
"The T-Rex doesn't want to be fed, she wants to hunt."
____________________________Control___________________________________
"That storm hasn't dissipated or changed course. I'm afraid we'll have to cut the tour short and pick back up again in the morning." Chrome said as he entered the control room.
"Where are they now?" Vinyl asked
"Over by the Stegosaurs. Colgate is out there tending to a sick stego." Chrome replied.
Vinyl picked up the receiver and spoke through the loud speakers.
"Attention: This is a storm evacuation. All non-essential personnel need to head to the docks. Drop what you're doing and leave now."
Whooves glanced up at the two and continued to type on his console. A video feed appeared on his screen labeled 'EAST DOCK1' He smiled. "All according to plan"
__________________________Stegosaurs_____________________________
The cool evening air blew as thunder sounded off in the distance.
"She's beautiful!" Fluttershy said as she walked closer to the Stego. The cars had stopped and the passengers all got out to join Colgate and get an up close look at the stego.
"It's all right, you can get closer. MonoChrome tranquilized her for me. She's sick" Colgate said motioning to to others.
"What are her symptoms?" Fluttershy asked as she peered into the animal's mouth.
"She seems to be suffering from Melia toxicity, from the consumption of west indian lilac berries, but there is no trace of berries in the animal droppings. We're stumped, and this happens every six weeks."
"Every six weeks?" Fluttershy asked
"Yes, the Stegosaurs usually make a big loop around their paddock and they reach this point every six weeks and they always seem to get sick when they are in this area." Colgate explained
Fluttershy thought as she walked around the field they were in. Twilight soon joined her.
"What do you think?" She asked Fluttershy.
"There." She pointed at a small pile of stones.
"They're just rocks." Dash said as she flew over to them.
"Yes, but this isn't the only pile like that. Look." She pointed and there was a smattering of small stone piles all around the field. They were worn smooth.
"So? We are by the ocean." Dash said
"I think I see where you're going with this, Fluttershy" Twilight said as she placed a hoof on her chin "Gizzard stones"
"I think so. Yes." Fluttershy said.
Dash rolled her eyes as she went back to talk to AJ and Pinkie.
"I believe I've solved your problem, Doctor" Fluttershy said as she and Twilight returned to Colgate and the Stego.
"Really?" Colgate said
"Yes, as you probably know, the Stegosaurs use gizzard stones to mash up plant matter for easy digestion. When they swallow new stones, they inadvertently swallow the toxic berries. Which would explain the six week intervals and the piles of stones dotting this area." Fluttershy said.
"Huh. I'll be damned." Colgate said, peering to the field. A large crash of thunder echoed across the island.
"Ladies, if you please, I must insist we get moving." Caramel said in a nervous tone.
"Um, if it's okay, I'd like to stay and help Colgate with the Stego." Fluttershy said looking to Colgate for permission.
"Sure, I'm in a gas powered Jeep. I can bring you back to the visitor center once we're done here." Colgate replied.
"I'd like to stay too, if that's okay." Rarity said as she stood by Fluttershy.
"Can I ride back with Apple bloom?" Sweetie asked looking to her sister.
"Of course you can, Sweetie" Rarity smiled. "Just mind Mr. Caramel."
AJ, Pinkie, Dash, and Twilight all climbed into the second car much to the disapproval of the foals. They tried to explain there was no room, and that they had business to discuss. In the end Caramel had to bribe them with the use of the night vision goggles. The foals and Caramel climbed into the first car just as a few droplets of rain drummed on the car and the sun slowly set behind the mountains.
Author's Note
This was FAR over due, and for that I apologize :( The laziness had taken me hostage.
"Visitor vehicles are returning to the garage." Vinyl said as she leaned back from her console.
Filthy rich sighed. So much for our first tour. he thought.
"Don't worry" Octavia said. "It could've been a lot worse." She gave Filthy Rich a slight pat on the back. Whooves glanced up, then back down to his screen. He typed 'begin protocol: feeny_rabbit.obj'. a new window appeared. 'Begin White Rabbit Protocol?' He brought up a stop watch set to count down from 20 seconds. He pressed 'Execute'. He then got from his console and spoke to the other ponies in the room.
"Anybody want a soda or something? I'm gonna head to the machine. The system is still compiling. Some minor systems may blink on and off, but it's nothing to worry about." The others nodded to him and he then left the room and smiled deviously. Walked down the hallway until he was out of sight of the control room and slipped around the corner into the lab. He came to a small cooler, about the size of a walk-in closet. He stood back out of sight of the security camera that swiveled on the ceiling, He began to count.
"Five...Four...Three...Two...One"
There was a hiss as the locks disengaged and the door slid open. The camera shut off and he walked inside calm and collectively. He pulled a shaving cream canister from his saddlebags and unscrewed the bottom; revealing a hidden compartment with 15 small slots circling the base. He approached two large pylons in the center of the room. He pulled the handle on one and lifted it, exposing racks of embryos. He took one of each. The theft only took less than a minute. All he had to do now was take the canister to his contact who was meeting him at the east dock. He would proceed there, get paid, come back, set the park straight and no one would be the wiser.
Whooves never liked working for Filthy Rich. In all honesty, he thought his boss was a jerk and his pay was laughable. So, when the opportunity arose to screw Filthy Rich over, he practically jumped at the chance. He took everything into consideration. The time needed, the "program compile", and where his contact needed to be. He thought of everything except this damn storm. He walked into the garage past the rows of tour vehicles to the gasoline powered jeep. He climbed in and noticed two metal cylinders in the floorboard of the passenger seat. Looks like a couple of rockets he thought as he motored out of the garage and into the darkness and the pouring rain.
__________Control__________
"What the hell?" Vinyl said as she looked around the room.
"What's going on?" Filthy Rich asked
"Security systems are shutting down." Vinyl said
"Well, Whooves said that some systems may go offline." Octavia said. It was then that the large map in the center of the room began to blink rapidly with red text scrolling atop the screen. 'WARNING! CATASTROPHIC POWER FAILURE'
"What now?" Filthy Rich said with a worried tone.
Vinyl now began to type rapidly. "Fences are failing all over the park!"
"WHAT!? Find Whooves! Get that slob in here now!" Filthy Rich yelled in fury.
MonoChrome looked outside to see the rows of flood lights shut off and engulf the island in darkness. He turned away from the window just missing the sight of headlights going down the road. "The raptor fences aren't out are they?" he asked
"No, they're still on." Vinyl said, still glued to the monitor.
"Why would he turn the other ones off?" Octavia asked.
"I'll have that bastard's head for this!" Filthy Rich growled.
"Where did the vehicles stop?" Chrome asked Vinyl.
__________Tour__________
The rain drummed heavily on the roof of the tour vehicles, matched only by the bleating of the goat that was still chained to the post. They had been sitting there for about ten minutes now. Caramel kept trying to raise the control room from his radio, but was only getting static, because of the storm most likely. Apple Bloom wore the night vision goggles and gazed eagerly around in the darkness,
"These are really cool!" She said
"Well, hurry up! I want a turn" Sweetie said
"In a minute" Apple Bloom said as she looked outside toward the fence. What if she got to see the Rex through these? That'd be cool! A real thrill! She looked to the sides of the car, then out the front, then out the back towards the second car, when she caught a glimpse of something darting across the road.
"Woah!" Apple Bloom said.
"What?" asked Caramel.
"I saw something go across the road."
"Really?"
The radio crackled. "Caramel, did you guys see that?" It was Twilight.
"I just caught a glimpse. Did you see it?" AB asked.
"Only for a second. It's too dark." Twilight replied.
Apple Bloom then realized that something wasn't quite right about the situation. Like something was wrong, Something missing. The goat was quiet. She whipped the goggles around to face the fence with a florescent green blur. The goat was gone. That could only mean one thing. She searched the other side of the fence to see if she could see the rex. She searched, but to no avail. She then realized that she was looking too low. She craned her head upwards and then she saw it. A huge square head a midst the foliage. It stood motionless; its' eyes glowing in the green of Apple Blooms goggles. She felt a chill run down her back.
"Holy shit." She heard Caramel say under his breath. She then heard the sound of a door opening then splashing foot steps. She whirred around to look.
"He just left us!" Sweetie yelled.
"Why? It's not like-" She stopped as she glanced back at the Rex. Then she realized what it was doing. Its' muscular two-digit hand was grasping the fence. The power was out! The fence wasn't electrified! She heard the sound of creaking metal as the huge figure stepped on the fence. The cables snapped as the rex bit down on them. The severed cables flew left and right revealing a space for the rex to casually walk through. It stepped out with a large boom that shook the cars. It bellowed in triumph. An ear splitting roar that struck fear well down into your very being. The four all sat motionless in disbelief and fear as the large animal lumbered further out of it's enclosure.
"Sometimes... I really hate being right all the time." Pinkie said in almost a whisper; eyes wide.
The big animal began to slowly walk towards the first car.
Apple Bloom watched in horror as the rex approached. The door! she thought.
"Sweetie! Close the door!" She yelled. The rex was right next to the car now. It sniffed the air and growled. Sweetie jumped into the driver seat and slammed the door closed. The animal's head snapped in the direction of the noise and peered into the car; watching the girls. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sat motionless, quivering in fear. The rex gave a growl, took a deep breath and roared. It was deafening, so much in fact that both the girls covered their ears in response. The Rex began to rock the car with it's snout. The girls began to scream. The big head went up out of view, then it's big foot swung up and struck the car sending it skidding across the road. The girls felt the world spinning and heard the sounds of glass shattering and the sounds of sharp teeth scraping across metal. It had kicked them then picked the car up in it's mouth! The whole car! Sweetie Belle screamed, tears streaming down her face. Apple Bloom looked out the window only to see the ground 15 feet below. Then she felt an odd sensation, almost like floating. It was then she realized that the rex had threw them! They struck the ground with a loud clang! Then Apple Bloom saw darkness.
______________________________________________
"Sweet Celestia! We have to help them!" Applejack yelled as she searched the car for something to help. She opened the glove compartment and found two road flares and stepped out of the right side of the car. She ran forward and stopped.
"HEY!" She screamed at the rex. The Animal looked in her direction , but it didn't seem to notice her. The rain came down heavy upon AppleJack, but she held her ground. She lit the flare and waved it around. "GET AWAY FROM THERE YOU VARMIT!" She threw the flare beyond the fence. The huge animal went to investigate the flare , but Twilight got out of the car holding her own flare in her magic.
"HEY! HEY! HEY!" She yelled, trying to get the attention of the rex. Twilight ran and the rex pursued.
"TWILIGHT FREEZE!" AJ yelled.
"GET THE KIDS!" Twi screamed in response, over the rain and crashing footsteps. Twilight ran with the rex in close pursuit. Rainbow dash got out to assist Twilight, but as she got out of the car the Rex was right beside her. The large carnivore raised her leg and kicked dash; leaving three bloody gashes across her side. Dash hit the ground with a scream of pain and quickly rolled under the car. The Rex tried to grab her but Twilight ran to her rescue. "HEY! OVER HERE!" She yelled trying to get its' attention. The big head swung quickly around and scooped Twilight up in it's mouth. She felt the powerful jaws squeeze tightly around her body. A few teeth punctured her side as the rex began to shake her. This is it... The end of Twilight Sparkle... she thought. but then she felt the rex release its' grip and she went flying. She felt the spaceless sensation of free fall take her then the wet smack of leaves and the hard scrape of branches... Then she slowly lost consciousness.
Applejack bucked a big rock and it smacked hard against the back leg of the animal.
"YOU WANT A MEAL, YOU GOTTA WORK FER IT!" She screamed. The rex was now irate and charged at AppleJack.
"WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU DOING!? WE HAVE TO RUN NOW! " Pinkie said as she grabbed AJ and ran into the jungle, with the Rex in close pursuit.
__________Whooves__________
The jeep whirred down the muddy path until he came to a gate labeled 'DANGER 10,000 VOLTS' but Whooves got it open with a gentle push. He got back into the jeep and continued. He was running late I should have been there by now.. he thought. They were probably starting to miss him at the control room. He had better start to think of an explanation for whe-- a large concrete wall appeared in the path and he stomped hard on the brakes forcing him to slide. He stopped just inches from the wall. He sighed in relief. He didn't remember any walls on the route.
He got out to see if he could further establish his position. He climbed over the small wall and looked down a steep embankment and he heard the gurgle of water. The river! he thought. He was at the river! That was way off course! He'd have to double back and find the right road. He was only a few minutes late, so he could make it if he hurried. "You're in it deep now, Whooves" he said to himself. As if answering him, he heard the soft hoot of an owl in the distance.
He clambered back over the wall and then stopped. He heard the hooting again. Only closer now. Come to think of it, that didn't really sound like an owl. He felt a chill run up his spine as he ran back to the car. He heard foliage snap and rustle to his side, and then he saw it. A ten-foot tall, mottled green animal stood there waiting for him. He stood frozen in fear, He couldn't remember what the animal was called because he never took the tour, but there was something about those red crests on top of its' head that gave him an uneasy feeling.
The animals head cocked back and Whooves felt a wet smack against his chest. He looked down to see what had hit him and he saw a frothy white substance. It spat on me! he thought as he gave a disgusted look. He looked back up and then he saw stars as the frothy white liquid flowed down his face. It spit in his eyes! His eyes stung and burned. He wiped what he could from his face and opened his eyes. Nothing. He saw nothing but white.
He was blind! It had blinded him! He stumbled aimlessly, swinging his hooves and shouting. "GET BACK!" He felt a sharp pain slash at his stomach. He grabbed his gut and fumbled with something warm and slimy. He was holding his intestines He fell to the ground and his head hit something cold and scaly. The animal's foot. Then he felt a new sensation. A kind of sharp pressure around his skull. He felt a kind of peace and serenity over take him. He suddenly didn't care what happened. He just had one last wish as he breathed his final breath: That it would all be over soon.
The Jeep bounced down the trail leading through the sauropod paddock.
"I'm sorry, that tree in the road caused us to be a tad late." Colgate said as she leaned forward to get a better look at the road through the rainy windshield.
"It's quite alright, darling" Rarity said. "We can all blame the storm." She added jokingly. They all three chuckled. They continued down the road until the headlight beams shined upon a line of small green animals crossing the road.
"What are those?" Fluttershy asked as she peered out the windshield.
"Those are Procompsognathus. They're mainly scavengers." Colagate said as she braked.
"Where are they going?" Rarity asked.
"Dunno, unless there's a dead animal nearby. We'd better go check it out." She accelerated and followed the compys through the jungle.
__________Control__________
MonoChrome stormed into the control room. "That son of a bitch took the other jeep!" he growled.
"What is he up to? Where did he go?" Octavia asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to beat the answers out of him myself." Filthy rich growled.
"After I'm done with him" Chrome said
Vinyl scratch typed at her console. She repeated the lines of code as she entered them. "Access main program...." 'ACCESS DENIED' "Access Main security grid...." 'ACCESS DENIED' "Access Main Program Grid..." 'ACCESS DENIED....AND YOU DIDN'T SAY THE MAGIC WORD!' That last line of text filled the screen. Little cartoon versions of Whooves blinked on all the screens around the control room.
"Ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word!" The cartoon began to wag his hoof.
"PLEASE!! SWEET CELESTIA I HATE THIS HACKING CRAP!" Vinyl said as she buried her head in her forelegs. She raised back up and grabbed the phone.
"What are you doing?" Filthy Rich asked.
"Calling his people in Los Pegasus." Vinyl said as she dialed, but she heard nothing but static coming from the receiver. She threw the phone down in rage.
"What's wrong now?" Octavia asked.
"He's cut the phones! We're completely on our own here!" Vinyl said as she accepted her defeat. "I cannot get Jurassic Park back online without Dr. Whooves."
The Control room fell silent. Filthy rich looked to Chrome. " Try and raise Colgate and tell them to get back then go and get the guests." MonoChrome nodded and reached for the radio.
__________Colgate__________
The three mares continued down the trail following the compys.
"Where ever they're headed, it's near the river; with the Dilos." Colgate said.
"Those are the ones that spit, right?" Rarity asked.
Colgate nodded. The radio began to crackle.
"Ol...g..te. ...need.....car.....gue..ts.....storm.....whoo...ve.."
"Come again, Chrome. You're breaking up."
"Need....car........trapped....."
"I think he says he needs our car." Fluttershy said
"Tux, why not use the other car in the garage?" Colgate said into the radio.
"NO!.....Dammit...not listening....car!"
"Sounds serious." Rarity said.
Colgate sighed. "Guess we better head back then." She stopped the car and put it in reverse. She backed away from the compys and turned around. As she did so, Fluttershy caught a glimpse of what she thought looked like car brake lights, but she disregarded the thought.
__________Tour__________
Apple Bloom rolled over in her seat. Every bone in her body ached. Her hair was stuck to her face by dried blood and her snout was swollen. She touched it and quickly cringed. Broken she thought. She sat up and quickly felt queasy. She promptly doubled over and vomited into the floor board of the wrecked cruiser. She wiped her mouth and crawled out of the vehicle.
The rain had nearly come to a stop and the cool night air blew through the jungle. Apple Bloom tried to recall the events that happened earlier. The rex got out, then it attacked me and... SWEETIE BELLE! the began to look around frantically, looking for her lost friend but to no avail. Had the rex come back? Where was Applejack and the others? Were they alright? All these thoughts poured into her head all at once. That's when she heard it. A small sniffling noise. She paused. It was coming from a drainage pipe off to the left. She tried to see, but it was too dark. The goggles! she remembered. She ran back to the wreck and pulled out her night vision goggles and slipped them on. The world lit up with the familiar florescent green glow she had seen before. She cautiously walked back to the pipe and peered inside. In the pipe sat Sweetie Belle curled up and rocking back and forth; tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom said. Immediately Sweetie stopped rocking
"APPLE BLOOM!" she said in a relieved tone. "I couldn't get you to wake up! I thought you were dead" she sobbed. Sweetie got up and Apple Bloom noticed a large shard of glass sticking out of Sweetie's leg.
"Sweetie! We have to get that out!"
"I tried, but it hurts too much!"
Apple Bloom searched around and found a thick stick. She picked it up and handed it to Sweetie Belle.
"What's this for?" Sweetie asked.
"Bite down on it."
Sweetie's eyes grew wide as she realized what Apple Bloom was about to do. She quickly put the stick in her mouth and bit down. Without warning, Apple Bloom yanked out the 3-inch long piece of glass. The stick didn't help. Dark crimson blood started to gush from the wound and Sweetie let out an ear splitting scream. Apple Bloom quickly shushed her and removed her trade-mark bow from her hair and wrapped Sweetie's wound.
Tears flowed from her eyes once more.
"It'll be okay now that it's dressed." Apple Bloom said as she tried to calm Sweetie down.
Sweetie shook her head. "It's not that." she sobbed. "What happened to everypony? Are we the only ones left? I MISS RARITY!!" She was now sobbing uncontrollably. Apple Bloom was trying to calm her down, then suddenly both girls silenced themselves. They heard something coming through the brush. Something was running toward them. They could hear the sound of limbs snapping and the sound of leaves rustling. There was nowhere they could hide and nothing they could do, they sat frozen, awaiting their pursuer to expose themselves. It was incredibly close now. They could hear it's heavy breathing. Then, out from the brush came...
"RAINBOW DASH!" The girls screamed as they ran to hug her.
"Thank Celestia you girls are okay!" She said as she embraced them.
"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked, noticing Dash's side.
She gritted her teeth and lifted her wing to give the girls a better look and the three clotted gashes along her side.
"She kicked me." Dash said; recalling the events. "I rolled under the car to where she couldn't get me. Twilight ran to distract her, but I don't know here she went."
"What about my sister and Pinkie?" Apple Bloom asked with a tone of worry.
"Rexie chased them further into the jungle." Dash said grimly. She then changed her tone when she noticed tears starting to fill Apple Bloom's eyes. "I'm sure they're fine, Kiddo. Who better to get through Jurassic Park than the toughest pony in Ponyville?"
Apple Bloom wiped her eyes and smiled.
"Let's get back to the main road. Maybe someone will come looking for us." Dash said, smiling at the foals.
They continued to the road, when they heard somepony cough. They came to a fallen tree that over looked a small hill. They looked down and couldn't see anything. Apple Bloom slipped on her goggles and scanned the tree line.
"There" she whispered and pointed to a tree. At the base, super-imposed by the moving of brush in the wind, was Caramel.
Before the attack, Caramel ran into the jungle without looking back. He ran far until he found a suitable hiding spot. He climbed between two large rocks and waited. He heard the sounds of the attack up the hill. He began to feel guilty about leaving the kids there, but what could he have done? He was ashamed of how quickly he panicked. He always thought of himself as cool and collected under pressure, but then again he never had to deal with a seven ton animal before. So there he sat until things cooled down. He had started back up the hill until he heard the little unicorn scream. He wondered if the T-Rex had come back. Without any more thought he dove into the jungle and hid.
The jungle was eerily quite. Nary a tree frog or cicada sang in the jungle. The only sound was the wind. Dash and the kids watched and wondered what Caramel was doing. Dash started to get up, but Apple Bloom grabbed her leg and pointed. Down at the base of the hill stepped the juvenile Tyrannosaur. Dash shot down back behind the log and watched. The baby Rex sniffed and cautiously walked across the clearing past caramel and continued to the jungle on the other side. So that's what passed by before the attack. The little rex Dash thought. One by one the tree frogs and cicadas started to sing. With that Caramel emerged from his hiding spot and started up the hill. Dash and the kids stood up. Suddenly, to Caramel's left, the juvenile burst through the foliage and knocked him down. Caramel Screamed in terror, but the little Rex didn't attack further. Caramel scrambled to his feet and ran. The juvenile knocked him down again.
"QUIT THAT!" he screamed trying to get to his feet again.
It's playing with him Dash thought as she and the kids watched from behind their cover.
Caramel got up and began to walked backwards. The Rex knocked him down once more, but this time it ducked it's head and came back up with ragged chunks of flesh. Caramel let out a horrendous scream, then silence. Apple Bloom felt sick again and she ducked her head. The night vision goggles slid off her head and hit the ground with a metallic clank. The rex's head shot up and looked up the hill right at Dash and the kids.
"Let's go!" Dash screamed as she grabbed the kids and ran.
__________Apple-Pie__________
They ran for their lives with the T-Rex in close pursuit. They felt the thundering footsteps and heard crashing brush behind them. Pinkie's legs burned as they ran. They had ran into the Tyrannosaur paddock without a clue on where to go. They quickly came to the perimeter fence surrounding the paddock.
"WE GOTTA CLIMB!!" Applejack screamed as she threw herself against the fence and scurried up. The rex was now just 20 yards away. Pinkie and AJ climbed over the top and quickly made the descent into the trench below. They climbed out and looked to the rex who was now pacing along the fence, roaring in frustration. Then something caught it's attention. It then roared and stormed back into the jungle. AJ and Pinkie collapsed to the ground and breathed heavily.
"We have to go back" AJ said "We have to see if everypony is ok."
"Are you nuts?" Pinkie said. "We can't go back because of our old friend back there. We need to find a phone and call the control room."
AJ gave Pinkie a skeptical look. "Where in the hay are we supposed to find a phone way out here?"
"I remember them saying something about maintenance buildings dotted all over the park. I'm sure one of them has a phone." Pinkie said.
"I don't even know what part of the park we're at." AJ said as she looked around. "The only enclosure we came to before this one was somethin' about them three horned critters."
Pinkie nodded. "Then that's where we need to go."
They got up and stated off. They suddenly heard a noise. It sounded like a combination of a hiss and a growl that was carried softly by the wind. The two mares froze in their tracks. Pinkie let out a scream. Aj looked back to see a shadowy figure dart back into the jungle, leaving pinkie clutching her leg, which had a bloody ragged wound. AJ helped her up and they both ran deeper into the sauropod paddock while two big glowing yellow eyes watched them retreat.
__________MonoChrome__________
Chrome and Rarity sped down the maintenance road toward the Tyrannosaur paddock. She had offered to accompany him and she wanted to get Sweetie Belle back. She felt terrible for leaving her on the tour. Poor thing was probably terrified being out here stuck in the dark. The headlight beams shone on something amber colored in the road.
"What the hay?" MonoChrome said as he braked. He and Rarity got out of the car and walked along the beams of light. Rarity felt sick when she realized what it was. It was somepony's hind leg. She noticed the cutie mark; three horseshoes.
"Well, we found Caramel." Chrome said grimly as he levitated the severed leg allowing the last bit of blood to spill out on the fronds.
"What did that?" Rarity said while trying to keep down her lunch.
"The juvenile Rex." Chrome said. "Look at the laceration near the haunches of the leg. It wasn't cut off, but instead pulled and twisted. Would you care to look in the jeep and find a tarp or something? It doesn't feel right to leave it here."
Rarity walked to the back of the jeep and opened the back latch. She rummaged around in the back.
"Here's two tarps." She said as she levitated them in front of her.
"Thanks" Chrome said as he wrapped the leg in the tarp. He passed the shapeless lump to Rarity. "Try and wedge it back there so it doesn't roll around."
Rarity hesitantly levitated the bundle into the back and slammed the door. The two got back into the jeep and continued to the Rex enclosure. They topped the hill and for a moment the headlights shone straight into the air then they descended quickly revealing the carnage that had happened earlier. MonoChrome stopped the jeep and the two ponies quickly got out to assess the damage.
"Where's the other car!?" Rarity asked quickly. "That's where Sweetie and Apple Bloom were, and if that happened to Caramel, then..." her eyes began to water.
"I'm sure she's fine. Let's just find the other car before we jump to any conclusions." Chrome said, trying to comfort Rarity.
He noticed all the doors on the second cruiser were open. He deduced that all the Mares had gotten out and probably escaped. The fillies on the other hoof...
"There." He pointed to broken brush leading off to the side of the road. "The other car."
Rarity and Chroem ran to the wreckage of the car.
"SWEETIE BELLE! APPLE BLOOM!" Rarity called out.
"Quiet! We don't know what's lurking around" Chrome said as he shushed her. "Look.Two sets of small hoof prints leading off to that pipe. They didn't leave in a hurry."
They followed the tracks to the pipe where they were joined by a set of larger tracks.
"Look, at least one of the mares is with the kids." MonoChrome said. This eased Rarity's mind some.
"But where did they go? I would've stayed here and waited for somepony to come get me."
"So would I, but what if they couldn't stay?" Chrome said as he continued to follow the tracks. They came to a log where the tracks began to overlap then run into the jungle.
"Did the rex come back?" Rarity asked.
"The young one probably, but I believe your sister is alive and well." Chrome said placing a caring hoof on Rarity's shoulder. Rarity smiled and wiped a tear from her eyes. She began to speak, but Chrome put his hoof over her mouth. He listened; ears alert. Rarity removed his hoof.
"What is it?"
He said nothing. She listened. Then she heard it too. Wheezing, no louder than the wind. MonoChrome ran to the source of the sound, followed closely by Rarity. They ran past the second car, off into the jungle and discovered the mangled body of Twilight Sparkle.
"Sweet Celestia..." Rarity said
Twilight had a semicircle of tooth marks around her abdomen and her right back leg was twisted at a weird angle and coated in dried blood. Higher up on her leg was a vine that was wrapped tight.
"She's put a tourniquet on. Ms. Sparkle, can you hear me?" Chrome said
Twilight faintly nodded and said "Das..h .......kid.s......"
MonoChrome pulled a small canteen from his vest pocket and gave her a drink.
"What happened??" Rarity said, joining Chrome by her side.
"The rex... got out.... attacked." she said between drinks from the canteen.
"Is that what did this to you?" Rarity asked. Twilight nodded.
"It picked me up and shook me then threw me into the jungle. I broke the leg in the fall."
"What did you say about Dash and the kids?" Chrome asked as he put the canteen back into his pocket.
"They ran into the jungle not long before you two showed up."
They heard the rex roar in the distance. Chrome looked to Rarity.
"Think we should chance moving her?" He asked
Twilight raised up. "Please chance it." She said.
Chrome nodded then he and Rarity gently helped Twilight into the back of the jeep. They had to take the cover off the top of the jeep so Twilight could lay comfortably in the back. MonoChrome and Rarity folded the top of the jeep for storage. They would've been done with it a lot sooner, if it weren't for Rarity's pickiness. Twilight laid back, then felt something peculiar, and vaguely familiar. She glanced to the side and saw a puddle begin to ripple.
"You guys feel that?" She asked.
"Feel what, darling?" Rarity asked as she folded the rag top for the sixth time.
"I think we need to leave." Twilight said nervously.
"Why? What is it?" MonoChrome said, noticing her worry.
"That's an impact tremor, is what it is." Twilight said.
Chrome felt it too. "Um Ms. Rarity I think we should go. Now."
"Why? I still need to-"
Trees came crashing down revealing the Rex. It bellowed at the intruders. Rarity screamed.
"Start the engine!" Twilight shouted. Rarity and Chrome ran to the jeep and jumped in. Chrome started the engine, put the car in gear then sped off. The Rex was chasing after them.
"We might wanna go faster." Twilight said as she watched the Rex closing in on them. MonoChrome shot through the gears as quickly as he could. The Rex was still gaining.
"5th gear!" Twilight shouted.
"Oh Shit! Oh Shit!" Rarity kept repeating. MonoChrome glanced into his rearview mirror in time to see the Rex snap at Twilight. She screamed and backed up. She bumped the shifter and knocked the car out of gear. The jeep decelerated immensely.
"You're on the stick! Move!" Chrome shouted as he tried to move Twilight.
"LOOK OUT!" Rarity shrieked as she pointed to a low hanging tree ahead.
"Everypony down!" Chrome shouted as he ducked.
The tree slammed against the windshield; shattering the glass. The Rex simply burst through the tree and continued the pursuit. MonoChrome finally removed Twilight from the shifter and accelerated. The Rex eventually tired out and veered off into the jungle. MonoChrome smiled as his heart raced. He looked to Rarity who was grabbing her chest and breathing heavily.
"You think they'll have THAT on the tour?" Twilight said as they proceeded to the visitor's center.
__________Apple-Pie__________
Applejack and Pinkie ran through the jungle. Whatever had bitten pinkie, It now followed them. Not attacking, but keeping its distance. Each time Applejack glanced back, she saw the glowing eyes a short distance away. Pinkie's condition did not improve. She kept stumbling and AJ had to help her get her balance. Her wound didn't favor well either. It turned black and purple and began to travel up her leg. Pinkie fell over and her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Pinkie!" Aj said as she tried to wake her up. Pinkie's lifeless body just laid there. Aj heard the growl in the distance behind them and saw the glowing eyes approaching. Without hesitation she flung pinkie up on her back and continued to run through the jungle. She saw the top of a building beyond the trees and she suddenly burst out in to an open field. The maintenance shed! She opened the door and ran inside. Inside were rack of supplies; ropes, shovels, cables etc. She grabbed a flashlight from the shelf a flipped it on. She shone it on the wall, revealing stenciled on words reading: ''TRIKE MAINT. 1' she then shone the light on pinkie to check her wound. Her hair had lost it's normally bouncy texture and her coat had turned grayish pink. She looked around the shed, then found what she was looking for. She pulled down a first aid kit and opened it. Inside she found disinfectant, bandages, and gauze pads. She took out the disinfectant and knelt down beside Pinkie.
"This may sting a bit, sugarcube." she said as she sprayed pinkie's leg. She applied the gauze and wrapped the wound. Pinkie began to mumble incoherently.
"Mom.....Dad..... don't... send...away...." she mumbled.
I better get ahold of the control room fast. she thought to herself. She shone her light on the wall and saw a metal box. She opened it to find a telephone with codes on the inside of the door.
'SECURITY 555-7023'
She dialed the control room, but heard only static. She sighed and sat down in the floor. She felt her eyes get heavy and she gently drifted to sleep.
Author's Note
Sorry about this chapter not being as long as the others. I'll make it up to you all. I swear!