ISLA ZEBRA
120 MILES WEST OF EQUESTRIA
"Alright, move it! Lower the crate!" A crane drearily creaked and cranked, slowly lowered the gray, metal box, causing several branches on the surrounding trees to snap and fall. A bunch of ponies ran up to it with tasers held firmly in their mouths, or for the unicorns, with their magic.
Another pony pointed at the thick bulky chains lying on the ground. "Secure it!" Several of the unicorns present used their magic to reinforce the cage with the chains.
A purple alicorn trotted up to the surrounded cage, levitating a fully loaded shotgun. "Good girl," Twilight said. "Look at me."
A loud, screeching cry rang through her ears. "Come on, look at me!" She pumped the shotgun in frustration as her aura around the trigger darkened. This project had to go perfectly. No single flaw would be unnoticed, nor would it go uncriticized by those who opposed her idea.
Two bright yellow eyes glared at her, the scaly skin around them folding as it blinked.
"Good work, this one's definitely a raptor. No doubt about it. Go ahead, load it up."
An orange pony walked over to the large metal gate between them and the park. She pulled the large lever near the door, causing the gate to shake and raise. Cautiously, the mare then climbed up and motioned the box forward.
Ever so slowly, the box inched into the opening. It clicked in and the orange pony lifted the front of the cage. The raptor looked up at her, snarling, before screeching again then running inside.
"Another clean transfer," Twilight said with a grin. "Good work everypony."
The ponies cheered as they looked at the big sign above the metal wall. "Jurassic Park".
[][][]
APPALOOSA
A DIG SITE IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN
Redstone paddled through the river, her boat turning left and right with each stroke. Sweat rolled down her rose-colored face as a gentle breeze flung her short grey mane all about, and the heat of the sunlight burned through her skin.
Fragrance, her safety advisor, awaited her boats arrival at the end of the river. She stood on a tall crag which overlooked the river, and ate an apple as the red earth pony slowly approached. Flapping her wings rapidly, Fragrance took off and landed directly in Redstone's boat.
"Welcome back," Fragrance laughed as she folded her wings, "I take it the trip went without problems?"
"For the most part," Redstone mumbled, shifting her gaze into the ripples of water. "They refused to continue supplying our dig. City council just doesn't deem it necessary to continue our research on extinct, fossilized beings, especially dinosaurs. It won't help society."
"Won't help society?” Fragrance’s eyebrow rose. “By Luna, they must be out of their damned minds! Look at all the discoveries we've made! So many scientific innovations rely on the data we deliver!"
"It doesn't matter. We must continue to dig with the supplies and funding that we currently possess, and then the dig has to be placed on hiatus, indefinitely."
"I understand." Fragrance shook her head in frustration. Redstone finished paddling to shore, and both ponies climbed out. Fragrance picked up a rather large rock from nearby and removed a rope from beneath it, which was used to tie the boat to land.
The two mares continued walking, the wet and muddy rocks causing them both to slip and fall onto their flanks. "Let's make note of how difficult a passage this is."
"I figured that one out, Redstone."
As they climbed up the crag a bit more, dust and dry grains of sand coated the ground. Stallions and mares alike were taking huge swings at the rock with pickaxes, several were deep inside mining tunnels.
One tunnel echoed out a loud bang, causing about twenty miners to gallop out, screaming for their lives. "Get out," they yelled, "for the love of Celestia get out!"
"What's happening?" Redstone galloped her way over to the mob of workers.
"It caved in!" One of the workers wheezed.
"How? These tunnels were built to last!"
"W-we don't know! Did you get new supplies?"
The worker shook his head, too huffed to say another word
"No way we'll have the materials or the manpower to rebuild that tunnel! So much progress lost..."
"We've found more than enough surface bones," Tremor said, "just continue what we can with the excavation site."
Everypony nodded. Tremor took his hat off and wiped some sweat out of his dark grey mane. "Ah, Redstone!" He ran up to her and gave a flirtatious hug. "How was the trip up to the mayor?"
"Eh, crappy as always." She wrapped her hooves around his dark brown back. "Says its a waste of time."
"A waste, eh? What if they weren't extinct, then what? Would it be a waste then? A waste to understand these ferocious creatures?” He broke the hug, but still kept his hooves on her shoulders. “I hope a pterodactyl someday is discovered, living. And when it is, I hope that majestic bird does what it will to all prey, to the mayor. It would swoop in, quickly, giving her no reaction time. She would scream in terror as it slowly, but ever so painfully, cut open her throat. Oh yes, that beautiful creature would be causing her to cough and bleed as her esophagus and windpipe dangled out from the opening in her neck. No mercy, just slow and horrible death. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"She... Certainly wouldn't mess with us..."
Tremor narrowed his eyes "Damn straight."
"Hey, boss!"
"What now?"
Tremor turned around and faced the source of the direction. "Boss," Fragrance said, "somepony is in the tunnel! They're digging themselves out with magic!"
"We don't have any unicorns. A tunnel that length would take a miner days!"
"Well, a unicorn is definitely in there!"
Tremor looked closer. Sure enough, a strange, purple light was hovering around the rocks as they slowly nudged forward. He gave a puzzled look as the entire mass made its way farther out of the tunnel.
Eventually, the light disappeared. Every rock it was holding tumbled out all over the crag, a lot of which fell directly into an excavation pit. Tremor flinched as he heard the familiar snapping sound of bones. More research lost.
"Hello!"
Tremor walked up to the purple alicorn, who had just emerged from the tunnel. "Listen here, princess, I don't like it when-"
"Princess? Oh, so you already know me? Good. I suppose introductions won't be necessary."
"Of course I do Twilight, everypony does. You just wrecked my entire excavation site!” He stretched his arm out to the broken bones. “Ruined years of research! Hours upon hours of digging, digging, digging! Gone!"
"Would it help if I told you that I can give you all the supplies you'll need for the next ten years?"
"....Keep talking."
"Here, follow me. Into your tunnel. I've set up a portal. Oh, and Redstone, you come too."
"Um, could we know what this is about?"
"I'll explain as we walk down."
.Tremor looked at Redstone, who shrugged "Supplies," she mumbled, temptingly.
Tremor mimicked Redstone's shrug and followed the two mares. The tunnels had become extremely dark, as the lights had all been demolished from the previous cave in.
"Sorry about the tunnel," Twilight said apologetically, "it had to be done for the portal."
"Oh, great, you wrecked the tunnel too."
"Anyway, I have a park that I'd like to set up, on a small island. It would be the main highlight of my princesshood this year. I just want some sort of acceptance, or verification. What better ponies to get it from than you professionals?"
"What do we have anything to do with a park?"
"Lots. Trust me on this one."
"So," said Redstone, "where is this island?"
"In a hidden place not too far from here, called Isla Zebra. Used to be the prime spot for the Zebras to live, until they all moved elsewhere."
"Why'd they move?"
"I don't know everything..."
"Sorry."
"There's the portal. Come on!" she beckoned for them.
Twilight didn't waste any time. She walked straight through the yellow, glowing boulder. The boulder rippled as her body passed through. Cautiously, Tremor and Redstone followed.
ISLA ZEBRA
300 METERS FROM JURASSIC PARK
The three ponies emerged from a second portal, built in the side of a mossy mountain. Tremor and Redstone’s jaws dropped at the lovely terrain while Twilight simply smiled the familiar landscape.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"It sure is," Tremor replied. "I don't know what kind of park could fail with this scenery."
"None," said Twilight, "especially not one of this specialty."
"What exactly is this supposed to be?"
"Let me show you."
Twilight started to approach a long, cobblestone staircase. Tremor and Redstone followed closely. It was at that moment Twilight noticed her first mistake.
"Oh, whoops!" The alicorn rushed back to the portal. "I should cut off this portal," she chuckled, "wouldn't want anypony following us."
Just as her horn lit up, the group found out somepony was following them. Fragrance leaped out of the portal.
"Oh," she said, looking at Twilight's frown, "sorry. I was just curious..."
Twilight sighed, and smiled. "It's fine," she said, "I suppose one more professional won't hurt."
Fragrance grinned. "So, where is this?"
"This is an experimental park that I've been developing. I want to open it for public use. Families, couples and singles alike will love it, I'm sure!"
"It's quite beautiful." Fragrance’s breath was taken away.
"Sure is. Enough stalling, keep up!"
Tremor, Redstone and Fragrance followed the purple mare up the staircase. Beautiful roses and daffodils were planted with perfection alongside the stone slabs. Fragrance stared at them in awe. She had always loved flowers, even more than dinosaurs.
When the ponies had found their way to the top, a few strange looking devices awaited them.
They were composed completely of metal pipes, with wooden wheels on the bottom. Similar to a wagon, they needed to be pulled by something. Instead of ponies, however, two neon balls of light were floating in the reins.
"Um," Redstone asked, "what type of technology is this?"
"This is a special device we've made here. I call it the Sparkle Shuttle.” Twilight gave a special ring to the name. “It's similar to a standard carriage, or wagon, but it isn't pulled by ponies. Instead, this is controlled by those two condensed energy balls. State of the art technology. We take the magical discharge in the air after a unicorn uses a spell, condense it into a ball, and use a different spell to manipulate the magic's purpose. This way nopony has to constantly cast a spell to keep these things running. Of course, we have also set them up so they can be turned off manually, and remotely, by unicorns back in the station."
"We didn't need that much information," Tremor mumbled.
Redstone stared at it. "Fascinating... What's the logo say on the side? Jurassic Park? Dinosaurs, is that the theme or something?"
"You could say that," Twilight chuckled. She tried to hide her growing excitement as she shot a beam out of her horn, colliding it with the neon balls.
Tremor looked at the Sparkle Shuttle. "Do we just get in, or...?"
"Yeah, let's go!"
Redstone didn't need to be told twice. She hopped right inside, the soft, cushioned interior relaxing her bones. "It's been a long time since I've had a carriage ride," she said.
Tremor followed and sat next to her. "If they weren't so damned expensive, maybe-"
"Hush, they're four bits in Appaloosa."
"I don't like 'em."
"Thought so."
Fragrance jumped in and sat next to Tremor. Twilight was last. She smiled. "Ready?"
"I've been in a wagon before," Tremor mumbled. This alicorn princess was too excited just for a park. It had better be good.
"Oh, I don't think you're used to this. Could you hold on to those metal bars in front of you?"
Redstone and Fragrance did so. Twilight grabbed it and looked at Tremor, who simply looked away. She shrugged. "Main gate!"
Tremor let out a shriek as the neon balls stretched out into thin lines, forcing the Sparkle Shuttle to go shooting forward.
Tremor clutched the bar now, as he noticed himself slowly lifting off of his seat.
"You see," Twilight yelled over the howling wind, "the energy goes so fast it appears to be streaking! That's actually just your mind playing tricks on you! Don't worry, this is perfectly safe! A magic bubble prevents you from falling out!"
"Gee," Redstone yelled, "how'd you come up with this? This is extraordinary!"
"Extraordinarily dangerous, maybe..." Tremor started to regret his decision.
"I don't know how I came up with it! Tremor, sir, please relax! We're not even going that fast! 70 miles per hour, actually! Like I said, the energy plays tricks on you!"
"Like hell!"
"Boss," Fragrance yelled, "lighten up! Think of this as a vacation!"
"Yeah!" Twilight yelled. "Besides, we must be close! We're slowing down!"
It was then that Redstone caught a glimpse of the scenery. A large jungle now surrounded them. They were simply zooming along on a dirt road, lined with torches for night time.
Fragrance dropped her mouth when the shuttle stopped moving. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. Her brain was overheating, her eyes must have had some sort of problem.
What stood before her wasn't anything she should have been able to see. Tremor and Redstone were still arguing over this trip's value, the trip's safety, and the trip's purpose. But not her. She saw what the trip was. She knew now.
It still didn't make sense. How was this possible? This couldn't be possible, there was simply no way in Equestria. Something like this... Surely if this were real, it would have been heard of.
In front of their vehicle was a large, metal doorway. The same, red "Jurassic Park" logo was slapped on the top. A giant set of wooden doors was hinged inside, and they had automatically opened upon their arrival. A tall electric fence surrounded the remaining area, but Fragrance could see through from her seat.
She saw the green, grassy knolls. She saw the beautiful trees, the small pond in the valley. And she saw the main attraction of the park. Dinosaurs wasn't the theme. It was the park.
On the top of the hill stood a giant creature. A creature Fragrance recognized. A triceratops was casting its shadow across the ground. A real triceratops, not bones. It was alive.
"Guys," Fragrance moaned, "look..."
"This is pointless, Redstone!"
"Think of all the incredible attractions they might have! Won't it be fun to a ferris wheel, or something?"
"There aren't any ferris wheels, guys..."
"Fragrance," Tremor said, frustrated, "what are you going on about?"
The shuttle slowly started moving again, easing its way into the park. It drove up to the top of the hill, and that's when they saw.
Tremor's jaw dropped. "Th-th-this isn't possible... So many years of research, I... I know this can't be possible..."
Twilight smiled. "Enjoy?"
Redstone gasped and hopped out of the shuttle, nearly falling over from excitement. Her entire body was shaking as she stared at the majestical beast.
"Triceratops! Luna be damned Tremor, that's a Triceratops!"
"No," Tremor said shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, "no, there must be some.. Way... Some gimmick here... No way this is real..."
"It's real," Fragrance mumbled, "and it has company..."
Another triceratops lingered its way up the hill and up to the other triceratops. It let out an angry roar before tackling it, their horns interlocking as they collapsed to the ground together.
"Uh oh," Twilight said, "they're going to squash us into pony pancakes if we don't hurry!"
"How did you do this?" Redstone was still outside of the Sparkle Shuttle.
"Redstone," Tremor yelled, "get your flank back in here, NOW!"
She didn't hesitate to listen. Once they were sure she made it, Twilight yelled at the neon energy. "The lab! Go!"
The shuttle didn't give any sort of warning. The vehicle shot out quickly, causing Redstone to smack her head right on the metal safety bar. Her now unconscious body flopped around in the seat as they zoomed from left to right, taking turns on a road they couldn't even see.
"It really doesn't need to go this fast," Twilight yelled, "that's just default! Sorry about that!"
"Fix your prototype," Tremor replied. He grabbed his marefriend's head and kept it still, so she wouldn't again receive such a powerful blow. She probably wouldn't be up for a while, now.
Fragrance could hear the cries of the various dinosaurs, but didn't know which belonged to which type. Nopony did. Except for Twilight, of course. She WAS their creator.
The group of ponies relaxed as they entered a long tunnel, a metal door automatically slamming shut behind them. “Twilight,” Tremor sighed, “get my girl a doctor.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”
“Really, I’m beginning to doubt the integrity of this facility. I don’t think it’s going to work. As of right now, I don’t accept this site. Your park would be shut down, if it were up to me.”
“Come on, sir, bear with me here. It’s not going to be that bad. Your friend was just being reckless. At no point in time did I tell her to get out of the-”
Tremor smashed his hooves against the bar. “ENOUGH!”
“Just trying to explain myself…”
They sat in silence the rest of the way. Tremor didn’t get Twilight. He didn’t understand her motives, and he didn’t understand how she could abuse such a power. Nonetheless, he was stuck in that speeding vehicle, with no way out.
The Sparkle Shuttle was now approaching a large, white building. On the top was a balcony, and on the front of that was the park's logo. There was also a sign that read, 'StableGen'.
"What's StableGen," Fragrance asked, "and what's this place for?"
"I'm glad you brought that up," Twilight answered cheerfully. "StableGen is my private organization. It's thanks to all of its members that this park is possible."
"And the place?"
"Oh, yes! Sorry! The building is our main laboratory! However, the lobby is open to tourists!"
Tremor sighed in relief as the Sparkle Shuttle finally came to a jerking halt, positioned perfectly in line with a group of other, empty shuttles.
With help from Fragrance, Tremor hoisted Redstone's unconscious body on his back. Walking was going to be quite difficult.
The instant Tremor tried to exit the vehicle, however, Redstone woke up.
"Woah," she said shaking her head back into reality, "why am I on your back?"
"Honey," Tremor calmly stated, "you've hit your head. You need help."
"Oh, really? Fascinating..."
"Actually," Twilight chimed in, "I could fix that right-quick if you let me."
"Work your magic," Redstone giggled.
Twilight closed her eyes and focused her magic on Redstone. Slowly, Redstone's small gash started mending itself, and she hopped off Tremor's back.
"Thanks for that," she said. "Tremor has a rough spine."
Don't mention it." Twilight smiled. "Alright, let's get to the tour."
They slowly made their way through the automatic sliding doors and stepped into the lobby.
"I don't feel very well," Redstone said. "I'm not sure your spell actually removed my symptoms. What exactly does that spell do?"
"It simply stitches up wounds, leaving no trace. If you're still experiencing issues, then-"
"Then she has brain damage," Tremor butted in. "She probably got a concussion. We need medical attention."
"Right," Twilight said. "Look, Tremor, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have let her get out."
"Damn right."
"But I did," Twilight continued, "and that's not something that can be changed. So let's just get her to the medical bay."
As they discussed their issues, Fragrance admired the structure of the lobby. A large skeleton of a pterodactyl was being held by wires dangling from the ceiling, making it hover above the ground in the center of the room. The spiral staircase leading upward off to the side led to a wall covered in metal with a sign that read 'Employees Only'.
Curious, she began making her way upward. "Twilight," she asked, "what's in this room?"
"That's the lab. I was planning to take you there, but now with an injured member, I'm sorry to say that will have to wait."
"Princess," a voice called, "they will hatch in fifteen minutes!"
Twilight and the others turned to the pony who just walked through the front door. His white lab coat was tinted pink, most likely due to the amount of chemicals he had been working with.
"That's great," Twilight started, before she remembered her situation. "Unfortunately, we have a problem." She pointed her hoof at Redstone and sighed. "She was injured on the Sparkle Shuttle."
"If you need me to, I'd be happy to take that fine mare to the medical bay for you."
"That'd be wonderful! Thanks, Ruben!"
"Hey, don't mention it." Ruben approached Redstone and took her outside.
"Don't worry Tremor," Twilight said, "she'll be good as new in no time."
"If you say so."
"Cheer up boss." Fragrance brushed Tremor's mane lightly. "Let's see how they've done this."
Tremor gave up. As much as he hated to think it, he knew deep down that he did indeed find the park to be quite incredible, and the idea of seeing the creation process close up was a very thrilling notion.
He followed the two mares up the staircase. Twilight spoke a few words under her breath ('Starswirl the Bearded') and the door opened. Fragrance and Tremor let their jaws drop to the point that it was almost painful.
The lab was a bright, white room. Everything was white. Everything was shiny, new, clean and appealing to the eye. Many pieces of machinery and high-tech gadgets had been built into the wall. Hundreds of ponies, all wearing lab coats, were scattered about the room. Each pony was busier than Celestia herself, operating multiple machines at once. It was a beehive filled with ponies.
"Welcome to StableGen Laboratories," Twilight said. She gave a happy smile before saying, "Let me give you a tour!"
Tremor and Fragrance looked at each other in disbelief, each one thinking the same thoughts. The truly incredible masterpiece of a research facility they were now in was nearly too much to take in. After getting a weird look from Twilight, the two finally followed along.
They first stopped at a strange, glowing orb. "This is our magic deposit," Twilight explained. "We have unicorns refill it every few hours. It's the main power source for the entire building."
"It's beautiful," Fragrance said. "Can I touch it?"
"Well," Twilight said, "you can if you want to die an agonizing death."
Fragrance looked at her worriedly. "Uh... What?"
"Wow, you sure are gullible for a scientist! In all seriousness, you can touch it. Magic is magic. If it's not an actual spell, then there's really nothing there to touch. It's just energy waves."
Fragrance cautiously stuck her hoof out and pushed it through the light. "I feel all tingly," she said. "Is this normal?"
"Yeah," Twilight chuckled, "that just means you've got pressure pushing on your leg. I'd recommend taking it out soon. Last guy who left it in too long got his leg numbed, permanently. The pressure completely demolished his nervous connections."
Fragrance quickly took it out again. "Okay, is it dangerous or not?"
"Of course not. I'm just messing with you."
Fragrance groaned. "Let's just move on."
"Sure! What next... Oh! I forgot, the eggs!"
Twilight rushed into a nearby room, causing Tremor and Fragrance to run after her. The new room was quite small fairly warm, and well lit. In the center was a large table with a nest. Three eggs rested inside, and a unicorn was using his magic to slowly turn each one.
"Wow," said Tremor. "I've got to admit, this is pretty cool."
"Indeed it is," Twilight said. "Watch closely."
An egg, the unicorn was turning, started to crack. Quickly, the unicorn set down the egg and motioned for Twilight to come closer. She did so swiftly, a grin spreading across her face.
Tremor and Fragrance observed as Twilight peeled away the eggshell. A tiny dinosaur popped his head out, giving a high pitched screech. Tremor and Fragrance gasped at the sight. They both approached the table.
"No way," Tremor said, "is that a...?"
"Yes," Twilight spoke softly, "yes. This is a velociraptor."
"That's... Impossible..."
"It isn't," Twilight said excitedly, "and I think I should explain how it's done."
"Please do," Tremor said. "Please. This is absolutely incredible."
"Well," Twilight began, "a few years ago, a miner on a search for gold found a curious blue stone. This stone contained magic from millions of years ago. Condensed into a hard ball."
"Now, magic gains power as it ages, which is why certain artifacts, such as the Elements of Harmony, are even more effective now than they used to be. Those are a few thousand years old. Imagine something millions of years old!"
"He didn't know what it was at the time, so he gave it to Celestia and introduced it as a new element. Cestia instantly recognize the true nature of it, so it became my job to determine its strength. When I discovered the power of this gem, I had an idea. Starswirl the Bearded."
"He said long ago that anything is possible with magic. He even created several spells on his own which we never had thought to be possible. One of these was a reincarnation spell. He believed that, although a pony couldn't cast the spell, it was possible."
"His theory? We don't have enough magical energy, nor do we create enough magical energy in our entire lifetime, to perform such a spell. But this gem, my friends, it does."
"So," Tremor asked, "you take the gem's power and reincarnate a dinosaur with it? Then, you breed it with another reincarnated dino?"
"Precisely."
"That's cool and all," Fragrance said, "but where are we?"
Tremor hadn't realized it, but Twilight was actually leading them to a completely different location as she was talking. They were now in a room full of ponies operating terminals.
"This is the barrier control room," Twilight explained. "It keeps the magical chain running. The chain is basically a barrier, an invisible barrier, that prevents the carnivorous dinosaurs from touching us."
"So what's that?" Fragrance pointed to the largest terminal in the room, which was being worked on by the stallion from before.
"That's the main console. Ruben is in charge of that."
"Ruben," Tremor said as he approached the scientist, "is Redstone okay?"
"Oh," he replied, "hey! Yeah, she's got no damage. She was probably feeling a bit woozy from the shuttle ride. She's in the bathroom, but when she's done you can take her with you."
"Thanks."
A short while after that, Redstone came out of the nearby bathroom and greeted the group. "This place is very intriguing," she said.
"I know," Tremor said. "Sorry I was so rude earlier."
"I don't blame you," she said. "But hey, guess who gets to tour the park!"
"Who?"
"Us! Ruben's gonna take us!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, isn't that exciting? They've redesigned the Sparkle Shuttles, too. They should be slower now."
"Good to hear. When are we going?"
"Actually," Twilight butted in. "we were planning on sending you now."
"I'm good with that," Fragrance said. "Where's the ride?"
"Ruben will take you," Twilight replied.
“That I will,” the researcher said. “Twilight, I’ve hooked up the monitors in the security room. You can watch our voyage to see the first run, if you’d like.”
“Thanks Ruben, I’ll be sure to do that.”
Twilight smiled and walked away to a separate room. Ruben then turned to the other ponies. “Okay,” he said, “follow me. I can take us to the tour shuttle.”
Tremor, Fragrance and Redstone followed him through a nearby door into what appeared to be an attraction for an amusement park. A bunch of Sparkle Shuttles were lined up on a dirt road, each one equipped with a camera on the hood. A nearby vending booth, which was currently unoccupied, had a sign for 'Tour Videos'.
"Okay," Ruben said, "I need one of you in the first shuttle and two in the second."
"I guess I'll go front," Fragrance said. "Give you lovebirds some alone time."
"Hey," Tremor reminded her, "I still have your monthly paycheck."
"Note taken." Fragrance snickered.
"I'm simply ecstatic about this," Redstone cheered. "The entire establishment is absolutely mind-boggling!"
"Well," Ruben said, "I'm riding with you, Fragrance. The spell-drivers should keep you on course, but in the event that they don't, get out of the shuttle immediately. Got it?"
"Uh," Tremor muttered, "is that expected?"
"Of course not," Ruben reassured him, "just a simple precaution. Safety is important here."
"Could've fooled me..."
"Let's be on our way."
They loaded into their assigned vehicles. Twilight's voice came out of the first shuttle. "Are we ready?"
"Wait," asked Fragrance, "where is that coming from?"
"Speakers in the cameras. You should see a camera in each corner of the interior."
Sure enough, tiny cameras were installed inside the walls of the Sparkle Shuttles. "I know I've mentioned this before," said Redstone, "but this is fascinating..."
"Alright," Twilight said, "go time!"
The Sparkle Shuttles started to slowly make their way forward, following the dirt road. They were headed straight for a wall, but as they approached it raised up.
The Sparkle Shuttles left, and they were now following a path through a jungle. "Okay," Twilight said, "off to your right you'll see a brachiosaurus herd."
Tremor, Redstone and Fragrance quickly jolted their heads to the right. In the trees, a giant clearing had been created where an enclosure of brachiosaurus had been created. About ten of them were huddled together, staring directly at the moving vehicles.
Tremor laughed in awe. "This is so unreal..."
"Say," Redstone inquired, "what is that peculiar smell? Oh Celestia, it's putrid!"
Tremor sniffed. "Oh dear Luna, what the hell is that?" They both pinched their noses.
And then, he saw it. The gigantic mound of bad smells, piled up in a brown mass right by the fence of the enclosure. Yes, it was excrement. A pile of feces larger than that of a dragon.
"Oh my," Fragrance shrieked, "it's like somepony sloppily scooped a giant ball of chocolate ice cream on the ground!"
"Well great," Ruben muttered, "you've ruined one of my favorite luxuries."
"Everypony," Twilight said, "we seem to be having some technical difficulties. The video system has gone out. I'm going to try to fix it, but I'm also going to go ahead and send you to the next tour spot."
"Woah woah woah," Tremor retorted, "no way! If there's a problem with this machinery, there's no damn way I'm using it!"
"Relax," Ruben said, "it's going to be fine. The camera system is the only portion of our park that isn't operational."
Without getting a chance to reply, Tremor jerked in his seat as the two shuttles continued along their path.
Twilight paced around in the terminal room, yelling at the workers. "Come on, did I not give you all clear instruction to ensure everything was up and running before we started? They've been on edge about this already, and we need them to be convinced that it's 100 percent safe!"
"But ma'am-"
"No, Pink Star, you're in charge of this until Ruben gets back! Now fix this, hurry!"
"Twilight," Pink Star said softly, "this isn't you. You're acting so... Bossy."
Twilight sighed. Pink Star was right. She needed to relax. "Sorry, I just don't want anything to go wrong. Please find out what's going on, okay?"
"Sure, princess."
The shuttle had been moving for a while now. The jungle was hot and humid, causing the group to sweat buckets. Fresh, ripe fruit practically coated the entire ground. Bananas were composed the majority of the fruit, of course, but there were other types.
The white coloring of the Sparkle Shuttle had been dyed by all of the juice they had splattered on their trip. Of course, this attracted annoying gnats right to them.
The Sparkle Shuttle finally stopped moving. Tremor poked his head out and looked around. It was at this instant he screamed.
The tyrannosaurs rex roared mightily in Tremor's face before attempting to bite his head clean off. The dinosaur's jaw snapped back, and it seemed to be hurt in the recoil.
"I know I'm protected by a barrier," Fragrance begged, "but please Ruben, get us out of here!"
Ruben climbed out of the vehicle and approached the giant reptile. "It's perfectly safe. Watch." Ruben stuck his hoof out at the dinosaur's leg, causing the monstrous being to stagger back.
"I find this to be rather interesting," Redstone said.
"Oh please," Tremor said shivering in fear, "you find everything interesting. This is just downright terrifying."
The T. rex roared again, saliva spraying all over Ruben. It then continuously attempted to slash at him, but each time it's claw was sent flying back.
"Now," Twilight said, "you may have noticed what this is already."
"D-death?"
"Calm down Tremor. The energy barrier will protect you. The entire facility has to be shut down for those to go offline."
"I don't care! Get me out of here!"
The dinosaur continued to slash at Ruben.
"Fine, but I'm telling you, you'll be fine. You just-"
The sound all of a sudden gave feedback before going out completely. "Twilight?" Redstone poked the speaker. Nothing happened.
A large blast of force sent the Sparkle Shuttle, and the ponies in it, hurling several feet. A long tone with a decreasing pitch rang through their ears. When it finally ended, Tremor peaked out again.
"Ruben, what the hell's going on?"
"I told you, there's nothing to worry about!"
The T. rex ran, full speed, back to where Ruben was. It put its mouth over Ruben and started closing its jaw.
"See? Told you there's nothing to--- shit!"
The dinosaur roared as it lifted Ruben into the air by his tail. Ruben screamed vulgarities and flailed his limbs as he was dropped a bit farther into the carnivore's mouth. A loud scream, followed by a snap, was all the tourists needed to see. As blood trickled down on the ground, and Ruben disappeared into the dinosaur, the rest of the group took that as their cue to leave.
Fragrance, Redstone and Tremor screamed simultaneously as they bolted away. They didn't even bother to stay on the track, they just ran.
The roars of the T. rex became more and more audible as it stomped after them. There was no way they could outrun the thing, and they knew it.
"Okay," Tremor said, "Fragrance! Can you fly us both out of here?"
"No way! I can't carry that much weight!"
"Then what the hell do we do?"
Redstone frantically surveyed the area in front of her. "There," she yelled, "that tree trunk! It's hollowed out!"
The three of them had no time to argue with the plan. Quickly, the made their way into the fallen tree, crawling as close to the center as possible.
They huddled together in fear as the ground shook. Every step the reptile took was lowering the chance of their survival. The thought of ending up like Ruben made them sick.
Finally, it reached their hiding spot. The monster sniffed the tree trunk, its eye visible through the hole of the trunk. Fragrance was sobbing as quietly as possible, but tears were rolling down her face like waterfalls.
The dinosaur made its move. The creature used its right claw to roll the trunk. Tremor, Redstone and Fragrance screamed together as they started rolling down a hill, the dinosaur in pursuit.
The rough texture of the trunk was cutting their skin, causing several minor wounds all over their body. The T. rex roared as it whacked the log again. This time, it flung the ponies into a nearby stream. Unfortunately, the strength of the blow cause it to go completely underwater. Fragrance grabbed Tremor and Redstone and propelled them out of the water with her wings.
"Stay low," she said as she coughed up water. "Stay low, and swim out of here quickly!"
There wasn't any questioning for this plan. They swam away as fast as possible, not looking back. The T. rex was still occupied with the log, assuming they were still inside.
After they had gotten out of sight, Redstone, Tremor and Fragrance pulled themselves up onto the land. They each coughed up water and rolled over, panting.
"Damn," Fragrance said short of breath, "that was close."
"Redstone, Fragrance," Tremor said, "we need to get back to the Sparkle Shuttles."
"What for?" Redstone looked puzzled. "They're broken. No way they could withstand being launched around like that."
"Doesn't matter. They have they still have the condensed energy ball things. We can tell them to take us to the lab, and they'll direct us."
"Okay," Fragrance said, "good enough. But we should rest first."
"Fine. Let's get some water, sit down a bit, and then get moving."
"Sounds like a plan," Redstone agreed.
Tremor walked over to the river and looked in. The murky stream, despite his exhaustion, didn't really look all that refreshing. Redstone joined him, viewing the water very closely. "Hey," she said, "look!" Redstone pointed a hoof at the pile of brown material at the bottom of the stream. "There's our pollutant."
"Yuck!" Fragrance walked up and took a peek. "We just swam in that!"
"Sure smells like it," Tremor mumbled to himself.
"Well," Fragrance sighed, "maybe we can just lie down and talk a bit."
The three of them found a flat spot of grass and leaves to make themselves comfortable on. "So," Redstone started, "what do we talk about?"
"How about Tremor's cutie mark? How'd you get that thing?"
Tremor looked at the brush and glasses on his flank. "What, this thing? I got it a long time ago, in school. I was digging around in the playground and found a skeleton."
"Weird," Fragrance said. "You know Tremor, you're a lot calmer than usual. What's up?"
"I don't know. Guess I just didn't like the idea of her destroying my dig just for me to see a theme park. And the fact that absolutely none of this has turned out well so far doesn't help."
"Yeah," Redstone said, "that would be quite the annoyance. Fragrance, what about you? You've got some sort of gray... Flower. What's that for?"
"Oh," she said, "I actually don't know. It was weird. I got it during my sleep. Guess I'll never really know what my talent is."
"That's too bad," Tremor said. "It's not something you would want to miss."
"What about you, Redstone?"
Redstone smiled. "I'm glad you asked! You see, this x is made of rubies. That's because-"
A loud roar stopped her from talking. It was back. And it had seen them.
"Wait," whispered Tremor, "don't move a muscle."
The monstrous creature towered over them, staring through its gigantic green eyes. It snorted at them, baring its teeth as it did so. Redstone wanted to scream, and the feeling only intensified when she could feel its breath on the back of her mane.
She sobbed as the dinosaur continued to breathe out heavily on her. As the sound of her crying grew more and more audible, the dinosaur got increasingly more aggressive. Finally, it roared again and stood up.
"Okay," Tremor yelled, "run!"
Redstone let out a scream as she began galloping up the hill. Tremor and Fragrance weren't far behind. The ground shook as the monstrous dinosaur gained distance on them. It roared and slashed at them, each swipe closer than the last.
Twigs and branches snapped under their hooves as they ran faster, making their best effort to escape the tyrannosaur. The thought of Ruben alone was enough to give them the adrenaline they needed.
"There," Redstone panted, "the Sparkle Shuttle!"
Her hoof flew into the air and pointed at the crashed vehicle.
"Great," Tremor said, "we're back! Now we can die here instead!"
"He's right, Fragrance said, staggering her breath as she vaulted over a log. " There's no way they're operational!"
"Maybe they are," Redstone shouted. "It's our only chance. Get in it!"
They reached the vehicle and hopped into it. The entire thing was smashed beyond repair, and one of the neon balls was fading. Regardless, it appeared functional.
"Uh," Fragrance hesitated, "the... The lab?"
The Sparkle Shuttle started moving very slowly, only a little bit faster than they could run."
"Oh please," Tremor said, "this is ridiculous!"
The T. rex found its way out of the trees and on the path. Not only that, but it was quickly gaining on them.
"Come on," Redstone said, "go faster! They really dumbed down the acceleration!"
"Hey! Hey, can you hear me?"
A voice was speaking over the audio devices.
"Yes," Fragrance shouted, "help!"
"Okay," they said, "my name is Pink Star. I designed those things myself. If you're moving, even at all, it means the magic field is slowly coming back. All you have to do is smack the handle bar. Should cause the thing to go faster."
"Why? Why would that help?"
"Look, that's just how we fixed it okay? We reduced the speed by putting some of the magical energy into the bar. Now, if you don't move it, you're mincemeat. I hear that dinosaur."
That much was true. The roars and footsteps had become quite audible. The dinosaur wasn't any more than a few hundred meters away from them now.
"Move!" Tremor smashed his hoof down on the metal bar, hard. The bar vibrated as a gaseous flow of color spread out from it, going directly into the neon balls. The faded one was restored, and the intact ball was brightened.
"There," Redstone screamed, "it worked!"
Sure enough, the vehicle was speeding along now, taking extremely sharp turns around trees and rubble that had been thrown about by the magical blast. The T. rex was now in pursuit of them, but it was much slower than the magic vehicle.
The trio cheered with glee as they saw the dinosaur get farther and farther away, hearing the roaring drown in the ambience of the jungle. Tremor laid back in his seat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Fragrance hugged Redstone in an attempt to comfort her.
"Thanks," said Redstone. She wiped away her tears with a hoof. "I think I'm alright."
"Well," said Tremor, "I'll be damned if that mare continues this project. I say no to this park. No way."
With that comment, they sat in silence for the remainder of their very quick and uncomfortable drive back.
