Jurassic-Questria

Droplets of water toppled off the leaves in consistencies similar to rain. Small creatures up above rather franticly ran the massive branches, shaking them. They were trying to hide, trying to get away from something. Some sort of apex predator. The sounds made by bugs, frogs, monkeys, lizards and any other creature native to the tropical rainforest seemed eerily absent. To make matters worse, Celestia’s radiant summer sun seemed to fade behind the clouds and tall canopies, making the forest dark enough to pass for night… even though it was high noon.

Okay, well, this probably isn’t good, but most predators can’t fly. So long as he kept his hooves off the ground, he should be safe. “Should”, being the key term. If any creature was still on the ground, more than likely, they were eaten. Gently, he flapped his wings. Hard enough to stay high off the ground… but not so hard that they made beaconing noise. He flew slowly, careful not to run into any rainforest branches, or get caught in any vines. He was making good headway, within an hour or two, he would likely be out to safety, or so he hopped. He wasn’t entirely certain where he was going, nor was he sure of what he was to expect. He just kept going because that was where it seemed best to go.

Something heavy… something tubular, and something scaly fell onto his back. Trying not to panic, for fear of making too much noise, he turned his head to look at what it was. It was long and it had no limbs. A serpent, one as green as the leaves above began to slither around and squeeze his stomach. It leered its blank yellow eyes up at him, the silted pupils shrinking to a creepy size. It’s forked tongue flicked a few times as its muscles expanded and contracted, moving it’s abnormal body further and further around him. Most ponies by now would have panicked in this situation, but Moonshy knew better. Trying to maintain a cool head, he attempted to slowly push it off using his fore hooves. He made a few inches of progress before the slick serpent caught on. The rainforest snake opened its mouth, revealing a long set of fangs. Bulbous sacks of some sort of liquid swelled in size and droplets of dark liquid began leaking from its teeth. These features… practically advertised the fact that it was a poisonous snake… AND IT WAS ABOUT TO BITE!

In a momentary surge of desperate panic, He flailed his body in unnatural ways, using every muscle he had to get this snake off of him. When his efforts didn’t appear to work, fear took over every instinct he had and made him think it a good Idea to fly as fast as he could away. A few seconds passed before he realized that he was unharmed. Looking back, the snake appeared to have fallen, the sudden jolt of movement shaking it off before any damage could be done. With a momentary sigh of relief, he turned his gaze back forward. Just in time to notice a branch mere inches from his face.

BANG! The splitting head pain made him black out for several moments, his mind regaining perception just in time to see himself smash into the ground. The soft grass and the number of branches he undoubtedly hit on the way down kept the fall from being lethal, but it still came with a tremendous amount of pain. His lungs felt like they had been shut off. His heart felt like it stopped, and his nerves still felt unconscious. Bit by bit though, his body slowly started to work again. He could once again feel his now rushing heartbeat. His lungs sucked in air once again, but there was still one issue. HE COULDN’T FEEL ANYTHING BELOW HIS WAIST! His spinal cord… it was broken! He screamed for help. He begged life to have mercy on him. He pleaded for Celestia, Luna, Cadence, anypony that could possibly hear his cry… but nopony came. After ten minutes, nopony even seemed to care for his wellbeing.

He lied there on the ground, helpless. Easy prey for anything. Even the tiny little ants that occupied the forest floor. With no hope of surviving. He sobbed. He wanted to see the smiling faces of his friends again, but now he couldn’t. He wanted to feel the warm touch of one he loved as he spoke the words “I do”. He wanted to see if he would ever have children. He wanted to see them grow up. But now… he would never have those opportunities. He would have to live the rest of his drastically shortened life weeping. Mourning over memories he would never have. He prayed… that if death came to him soon, that it would be quick.

Nature… was about to answer that prayer. Ironically, its answer came in the form of something… unnatural…

The bushes around him rustled as something large pushed its way through. Low guttural purring sounded from a distance and was soon joined by other creatures making the same sound. Closer they came, snapping twigs, and tearing leaves off the branches. Sweat beads trickled down Moonshy’s face. He turned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of what it was… but he didn’t see anything there. He didn’t know what it was that was hunting him… but whatever it was, hearing confirmed that it was definitely there, and it was going to strike at any moment. There was no hope of stopping it… moving in any way was hopeless. His hind would just drag along and slow him down, making it impossible to escape whatever was coming.

The beasts from wherever were close now, but still hiding for whatever reason. One bellowed out a loud “CAWV”, coaxing others into doing the same. They sounded as though they were calling something, more of their kind perhaps? He didn’t know… all he knew, was that he was paralyzed to the spot. The sounds made by the mysterious creatures meant only one thing. They were going to dine on pony this day.

The last thing he was to remember before… moving on, was the ear splitting unearthly screeches of the predators… and the closing of many long needle like teeth around his throat.

“Moonshy! Hey, MOONSHY! Wake up! You’ve got to see this!”

Moonshy jolted out of sleep. The fear of what happened confusing him to no end, and causing him to shout a little. He brought his hooves to his throat first, feeling for any injury. Next, jumped out of his seat and began to examine the rest of his body, looking like a dog chasing its tail as he did. He stood up on his hind legs and patted himself several times… testing his nerves to see if he was still alive.

I… I’m alive! Wait… how did I get here-? Oh… It was just a nightmare. Looking around, He noticed that he was getting several funny looks from the ponies around him. Embarrassed, Moonshy smiled sheepishly, taking several uneasy steeps back to his seat. “Um… uh… sorry about that. I’m just gonna,” He tried to get some leverage on the back of a seat using his right arm… but he missed it multiple times, almost toppling over onto the ground. It took him about three tries before he grabbed his goal. “S- sit down now… yeah, Nothing to see here. I’m not crazy… I promise.” With nervous haste, he rushed himself back down to the window seat, attempting to hide himself form any further staring.

“Um… Are you okay?” Asked a little orange Scootaloo.

“Yeah… I’m fine. Jus- Just a nightmare, that’s all.”

“Some nightmare… BUT HEY LOOK!” Scootaloo energetically sprigged from her spot next to Moonshy and onto his back. Looking out the window, she appeared to be enthralled with… the trees? He lifted his head to notice the… same gigantic tropical trees he saw in his nightmare.

“Aren’t those just the coolest trees you’ve ever seen? I can’t wait to climb a few of those!”

“Heh, heh… Yeah…” Moonshy croaked.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scootaloo inquired.

“Yeahhhh, it’s fine, I’m fine. Everything is just fine.”

Scootaloo cocked her head, oblivious to the reason behind Moonshy’s odd anxiety.

“Oh, he’s probably just got the morning gitters, that’s all Scootaloo.” Cherilee got up from her spot two seats in front and across from Moonshy. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom standing by her side. “Come now, we should head to the front of the train. You don’t want to get stuck in a line do you?”

Scootaloo lowered her head, she obviously wasn’t thrilled that she had to stay near her teacher at all times, but she couldn’t really rebel seeing as she was in a place she knew nothing of. One far away from Ponyville and made up of an entirely different climate. She just quietly groaned, rolling her eyes and traipsing forward.

The train blew its whistle several times, its chugs slowly coming to a halt as the wheels screeched to a finish. Everypony onboard shook backwards a little, signaling that the train was officially docked. All at once, ponies from everywhere got up out of their seats and reached overhead for their luggage. When it took Moonshy several minutes just to get halfway out of his train car, he realized that Cherilee had some extremely good foresight to get ready as early as she did. They were probably standing outside the station waiting for him and Valiant by now. It wasn’t until what seemed like an hour later that Moonshy was finally to step off the train.

The first thing that hit him when he got off, was the heat and humidity of the place. It was hot! He almost felt like he was boiling because of it. He didn’t know how, but his body instantly dampened. He sniffed himself, making sure he still smelled decent, out of consideration for others, and realized that this wasn’t sweat at all. Sweat smells salty and filled with body odor.

Glad I’m not wearing any clothes… or this would be a nightmare! He thought lightheartedly, trying to ignore the apprehension that carried over from his dream.

Apparently, this tropical part of Equestria wasn’t where this mysterious “Jurassic-Questria” was located. Ironically, it was located on a large island located about 90 miles (144km) from Equestria’s southeastern-most tip. Undeniably beyond Equestria’s border, but close enough that… it could pass for being part of Equestria… sort of. This island was named “Isla Dogger”, the very name of it seemed odd, and somehow made the hairs of the back of Moonshy’s neck raise.

Wait, what? Why is that word so frightening? “dogger” It’s like… I’ve heard that word somewhere before… and it meant something bad. But I don’t know what.

I don’t know Moonshy… but… it might just be you… over reacting. I mean, the nightmare did shake you up quite a bit.

Yeah… speaking of the nightmare… why won’t its impact leave my mind?

Some dreams are more intense than others… you know that. Some just love to stick in your brain longer than gum would an outdoor bench. It’ll fade eventually, assuming the rain erodes it down.

But… this one was, it was overly intense. The fact that I still remember EVERY detail is a bit troubling.

Well… try not to think about it.

Humph… easier said than done.

“Everypony boarding the S.S. Orcasaur, non-stop cruise boat to Isla Dogger, This way please!” A banana yellow unicorn stallion with orange eyes and a bland greasy mane stepped up. Across his chest and halfway down his body rested a light tan over shirt, designed like kakis. He wore a tan safari hat of the same shade along with a patch bearing the Jurassic-Questria symbol. His posture was that of a worn out employee stuck in a “dead end” job, causeing Moonshy to draw the assumption that he had been doing this for a while and got tired of it. Odd, seeing as the park has only been open for month… and they were JUST NOW getting their first guests. It seemed that the more Moonshy stayed… the more this place became suspicious. He started to grow a bit cynical, something he didn’t often enjoy doing.

Oh joy… more… traveling. We literally just got off a train… doesn’t anypony in this part of the world give anypony time to stretch their legs wings or horns? I’ve kind of been cramped in a train… and haven’t been able to fly in so long… no, okay, fine.

The boat was huge! Almost worth the line he had to go through to get to it. He almost felt violated of a right, for he wasn’t allowed to fly over them in any way shape or form. The mere act of opening his wings was enough to get him several dirty looks. So, out of guilt, he folded them back in. He didn’t want to seem inconsiderate after all… even though everypony else was unwittingly being inconsiderate to him. Grounding a pegasus is a major stab at their pride. The fact that they didn’t realize this was just…

Infuriating? No, no, Moonshy. Don’t think like that. That leads to racism. They don’t know pegasus culture, they’re not trying to be inconsiderate. Flight is an unfair advantage that they don’t have. Remember that and take pity alright? You’re not superior to them in any way shape or form.

Once everypony was loaded onto the cruise ship to take their day long journey across the sea, Moonshy analyzed the area around him. There were too many ponies onboard the ship. There were three levels to it, and each one was packed.

Oh shoot… too many sets of eyes… one of them is bound to recognize me. I can feel it. Well, there’s got to be someplace to go where I can avoid most contact! Every place has that one area where no one goes!

You could try the very back of the ship. Most eyes are looking forward, and if you keep your back to them, you’ll blend in… maybe.

Maybe? Ugh… what do odds have against reassurance!? Oh well… perhaps it’s better than nothing.

Closing his eyes, Moonshy listened to the beautiful noise of the ocean waves, and the seagulls that flew by with captivating squalls. He let the wind caress his face, and the refreshing sea spray tickle his form. Perhaps… the tropics weren’t all that bad. Ten minutes, twenty, thirty. An entire hour passed without interruption and he found that he lolled in the light of the tropical breeze. He entered a state of comfort… allowing him to get lost in thought once again. Something enjoyed doing whenever he had the chance. He imagined the magnificent sights he would undoubtedly see; the sort of things he would learn; the thrill he’d get from taking in unfamiliar sights. Perhaps most of all, he was excited for the time he would have. Time… to paint all the magnificent things he might see. He couldn’t help it, he was already planning his next series of works. They were going to contain new and wondrous creatures… the dracosaurs!

The… dracosaurs… their vicious teeth, their horrific noises, their unnatural existence. Oh Luna… PLEASE HELP ME!

“Hey Moonshy, Whatcha doing?” Valiant found Moonshy once again… how does he keep doing that? Being tapped on the shoulder, Moonshy resisted the impulse to jump back in frightful surprise.

“OH! uh… hey Valiant. I’m jus- I’m just thinking… that’s all.”

“What about?”

“I’m… not entirely certain I want to talk about it… the others on this ship might think me mad.”

Valiant looked around, everypony else seemed to be sitting down facing the front, or looking over the side, taking pictures of the various birds and sea life… Like they haven’t seen a seagull before? Come on! Nevertheless, some overly curious pony could be listening in right now. Keeping their head turned away as to not seem obvious. So, he reared up onto rail with Moonshy and scooted in closer, implying that they should keep their conversation quiet when talking.

“You know, In Azeroth; individuals who go “mad” tend to be wise and exceptionally smart. They see things others don’t. Their like… links to an ethereal realm, or, well, a lot of them are. Either way, my point is, crazy ponies are the ones we should be listening to. However, I do understand if you don’t want to talk about it. I just thought I should bring it to mind.”

Moonshy sighed submissively, in some obscure way… Valiant made a bit more sense than everything else at the moment. There was a short pause as Moonshy’s head was batting around some last minute debates. When those were resolved, he picked up on Valiant’s body language and spoke softly.

“Have you ever had nightmares Valiant?”

Valiant cocked his head, wondering if Moonshy was playing some sort mind game. For the answer was obvious… and the same with everypony. “Um… yeah, of course. Doesn’t everypony from time to time?”

“No… like, I mean, ones that stick with you hours after they happened… ones that were so real, you wondered if it was some sort of… augury.”

Valiant grew even more confused. He had heard the term before, but never really associated it with a dream. “Well, I can’t say I have… Doesn’t Princess Luna stop nightmares before they reach that level of intensity?”

“Only when she feels there is a lesson to be learned… that, and my last one was sort of… interrupted by a certain energetic little pegasi.” Moonshy said this with emphasis—but not distaste—as he was trying to convey who he was talking about. Valiant seemed to acknowledge the hint, seeing as he nodded with certainty. “I don’t think Luna was able to get to me before I woke up.”

“She is quicker than light when it comes to the dreams of her subjects. This much is certain. So I don’t think that was the case.” Valiant assured as he looked around again for anypony listening in. “It was probably just a very terrifying nightmare. Just try not to think about it.”

Again… easier said than done!

“… Thing is… I’m not sure I can. I mean, this one was particularly intense... Like, the only time I’ve had one JUST as intense as this one was…” Moonshy paused again. This time, it was because he made a realization… one that happed to be a particularly peculiar coincidence. It freaked him out to say the very least.

“Was what? … Moonshy? What are you talking about?”

“… was the Changelings.” He said with a bit of confusion in his voice. He paused again, trying to comprehend the connection he drew.

The nightmare I had before the changelings turned out to be a vision… It was intense… and somehow Chrysalis actually talked to me. The one I just had, I was eaten by a creature I couldn’t see… one that sounded surprisingly draconic. But dracosaurs have been extinct for millions of years… the UJRC couldn’t possibly have…

“the biggest breakthrough in genetic science…”

“Here we reconstruct these long dead creatures…”

“walking once again on Equestria’s life giving soil…”

HOW STUPID OF ME! HOW COULD I HAVE NOT SEEN IT SOONER!?

HANG ON MOONSHY! Before you go jumping to any conclusions… shouldn’t you, you know, ask someone?

“I’ll be right back Valiant!” Without hesitation, he launched himself off the rail and darted towards the opposite direction.

“Wha- Hey! Moonshy, where you going!?”

Stairs… no, I’m on the bottom level. That would take too much time… flight… Well… YES!

Not giving anypony a moment to breathe, Moonshy flapped his wings and shot himself up into the air. With flight now a factor, and all obstacles now averted, it didn’t take long to fly up to the helm. He got several harsh looks from the other ponies onboard, but this time, he didn’t care. Careful not to startle the captain of the ship, Moonshy landed softly behind him, about 3 meters away.

“Well, looks like somepony is eager for their turn at the helm-.”

“The Dracosaurs on Isla Dogger, are they… real?” The sea colored captain was taken aback by Moonshy’s out-of-nowhere question. His dark black ascot and snow white sailor’s outfit shaking from his startled gesture.

“Uh… what? Wait… WHAT? What’re you talking about?”

“The Dracosaurs on Isla Dogger, are they alive? Do they walk, jump, bleed… eat?”

“Well, uh, yes. They eat…” The captain paused for a second, picking up on Moonshy’s growing fear. “You don’t need to worry though, they are securely held behind thick stone walls. Walls which were designed by the best engineers Equestria had to offer.”

Not for long… wait… “had”

Moonshy! Stop this! You’re overreacting again. He said they were secured behind the most elite of walls. So long as you stay on the OPPOSITE side of them, you should be safe.

Supposedly nopony even understands these creatures! What if they underestimated their intelligence… and a few Dracosaurs managed to get out… what then?

Moonshy, the UJRC probably know more about these creatures than anypony else alive to date. They probably took the proper precautions and researched these creatures while they were very young. They probably-

The UJRC… don’t describe anything in their letters… or give us any warnings… OR ANYTHING! Do you know why that is?

No but-

It’s probably because they don’t WANT to tell us anything. They’re hiding something… and anypony who hides something with this sort of tightfistedness can’t be trusted.

“Turn this ship around!”

“What?”

“I said, turn this ship around! Right… now!”

“Hang on! Who are you to give me orders?”

“I will not stand by and let you sail these ponies to their deaths! There’s Children onboard this boat! Families!” He felt a violent nudge perforate his side. When he looked over, he noticed that a security guard was preparing to grab him. He grunted, only to feel another grapple his neck. Not willing to let this stand, Moonshy began to struggle harder, ignoring the harsh assaults on the side of his body.

“Now sir! I don’t know who you think you are but-.”

“No! NO! YOU’RE SENDING THEM TO THE FEEDING DISH! THEY’RE GOING TO GET EATEN! Hey! Let me go- OUFF!” WHAM! Moonshy felt the side of his head get slammed by something wooden… There was a splitting agony… and then everything faded to black.

No words could describe how confined Scootaloo felt being stuck with her teacher for this whole trip. She wanted to explore, she wanted find every nook and cranny she could, every shortcut there was. But it seemed her teacher… wasn’t going to let her out of sight. She always enjoyed knowing the ins and outs of everything, and she always loved racing through her world on her scooter. This time though, she didn’t have it… and she felt lost without it.

She thought this trip was going to be fun, but it appears her shortsighted overview of the idea made everything turn out for the worse. She leaned on the rail next to her seat, looking out over the stunning vast blueness of the sea all around her. The sun was getting ready to enter the twilight hours and flocks of seagulls flew to some place far ahead of them. But alas, the otherwise breathtaking view of the new world around her wasn’t quite enough. The humming of the boat’s massive steam engine called to her. She knew that where there was an engine, there was bits and pieces of salvage. Maybe she could… fashion herself a new scooter out of the pieces she found? Now there’s an idea. There’s just only one issue. Cherilee. Scootaloo looked over at her teacher. She was watching Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom play some sort of card game, giving them instructions on what to do in certain situations.

She’s not paying much attention to me at all… this is awesome! Let’s just hope she stays that way.

Analyzing the area around her, she was having trouble finding and escape route. If she just blatantly got out of her seat, Cherilee would notice. She had to do this sneakily… but how do you do that when you’re pushed next to a wall? That was when she noticed a slight gap in-between the seats and the wall. Lifting her arm from the railing, she got a better look at the gap right next to her. It was a tight squeeze… but she’s small enough… maybe she could just barely slip through. Yes, that is actually a very smart guess.

Making sure Cherilee wasn’t going to turn her head back anytime soon, she tested the gap using an arm, than the other arm, than her entire body.

Yes, a very tight squeeze… but I think I can make it.

Stepping carefully, Scootaloo made her way towards the back of the boat, staying low so that she avoided any prying eyes. Now, all she had to do was make her way down the steps and she’d be golden. Wait… but how was she going to get into maintenance without being noticed?

Meh, I’ll think about that later.

Once she got to the steps, she rushed down as quickly as her little legs could take her. Hoping that Cherilee didn’t see her. Once she got down to the bottom level, she scouted around the edge of the boat for the entrance to maintenance. In the process, she spotted a pair of gruff looking Unicorn Stallions wearing white hard hats make their way towards a large metal door.

Shipboard engineers, bingo! Now to get in. When they opened the door, she booked it as hard as fast as she could towards the door… only to be cut off by a pair of two gossiping mares.

No no no! Aww chickens… Scootaloo thought as the door slammed shut.

“Hey didn’t you hear? Some idiot got himself arrested this morning.”

“Yes I did actually! Something about… getting eaten by Dracosaurs? Pfft As IF! If you ask me, the colt’s just crazy.”

“Ha! Yeah, like OMG, dude had a total conniption fit. Really like, if you’re going to go insane, at least do it where no one can see you.” The two mares giggled it out… but something stuck to Scootaloo, making her go wide eyed with fear.

She gulped and said out loud “Eaten… B- By dracosaurs? Come on Scootaloo! Don’t be a chicken. Rainbow dash wouldn’t be acting like this! Besides… the dracosaurs are all dead… right?”

“Oh hey Scoots! What’s up?” A friendly voice spoke up from behind her.

“AH!” Scootaloo jumped, for the voice startled her… even though it sounded familiar. When she bounded around, she landed with her front facing the voice. Looking up, she noticed a Unicorn of charcoal black and crimson eyes look down at her. “Oh… Hey Valiant… Um, I’m just… exploring the ship.”

“Does Cherilee know where you are?”

“Pfft… Totally!” Scootaloo lied, Valiant’s right brow raising up a little bit.

“Uh, Huh… Well, I don’t suppose you know where Moonshy is do you? I haven’t seen him sense this morning. He sort of had a weird fit and flew off to the top of the boat… after that, He sort of just, vanished.”

“Um… no? No, I haven’t. I’m sorry.”

“Well, if you see him, tell him to come look for me alright?”

“Sure thing!” She stated nervously as he trotted off.

Now, let’s get back to it. The door is closed… so it might be locked. Well, let’s give it a try anyway. To Her surprise… the door handle wasn’t locked. She continued to push down until she heard a click.

SWEET! It’s unlocked… now, how do I open this without the ponies inside seeing me…

In her head, she developed a simple but possibly effective plan. She opened the door slightly, careful not to let it creek too much, and when it was open juuust open enough for her to slip in, she let it go and did just that.

Creeeeeekk SLAM! The noise it made caused her heart to skip a beat, as she sat straight up, afraid to move for a brief moment. Nopony inside seemed to notice, for there was no noticeable reaction from anywhere. She sat for about a minute as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

The area around her was dark, metal pipes and things of the like lined the walls and ceilings. Down the hall some ways, she could hear rattling… Not from the pipes, but from, Chains? What? Why would a boat need chains when everything is already bolted in? Curious, but maybe she could use those chains for something… perhaps as a way to pull the wheels when she installs the motor, like a bicycle chain.

As she walked down further, she couldn’t help but get a tad bit creeped out by the eerie noise of the chains. The dark hallways and pipes which occasionally shot out steam didn’t help either. Soon she found herself jumping at every slight movement. She had a bad feeling that something was going to go wrong… but, she still had to get parts for her scooter! She began to hyperventilate as things below deck grew creepier and creepier.

CAWV!

“Ahh!” She screamed, throwing herself against the nearest wall… the rattling of the chains grew more violent as she did so. That noise… it was so strange. She had never heard anything like it before, and it wasn’t pleasant to hear either. She didn’t know what it was… but it did not sound good. She wanted to run… but she still didn’t get the parts for her scooter, so, she found herself at a quandary. Risk being bored for the rest of her journey, but making it out… possibly unharmed. Or, hope to Celestia that her steps would be light, and she wouldn’t be noticed. Making it out with parts for a scooter and an entire time free of boredom.

Reluctantly… she chose to be boredom free. A choice she will come to regret, for what she was about to find will forever haunt her nightmares.

CAWV! CAWV, CAWV!

The strange sound boomed again, its deafening noise reverberating through the dark hallways. This time… the sound was followed by something that made it even more frightening, the desperate screams of terrified worker ponies. With them being so clear now… Scootaloo could tell exactly where they were coming from… they weren’t coming from further down… they were coming from up above!

She looked up. This part of the ceiling up above her was made up of some sort of metal meshing. It was like a screen, a window to the floor up above. Through it… she caught wind of a desperate struggle. Several unicorn ponies were using their magic to hold a chain, a chain witch strained and jerked with all some mysterious creature’s strength. They all pulled on the chain, panicking, attempting to keep this creature contained… but its strength was too much for them to handle. In one final jerk of the chain, and all the keepers’ grips were thrown off… THE CREATURE WAS FREE!

Realizing their defeat… they ran, they screamed for aid, but no aid could have saved them from it. The creature was fast, and extremely deadly. Before any of them could escape… it slaughtered them all using a vicious set of long black claws. Blood… red… BLOOD! So much blood, it began to seep down through holes in the floor, and into the hallway Scootaloo occupied. She didn’t even have a moment to think… adrenaline took over her system. The fight or flight response had never been stronger… and the meter was jammed onto the most extreme of the flight settings.

She ran, faster than she ever felt she could in her life. She didn’t know how fast she was running, but she didn’t care. The threat was too great to allow for any thinking. She heard something land far behind her, the creature… THE MONSTER, screeched, the terrifying tap of its talons growing faster and faster… gaining on her with every step. She dared not to look back, for looking back would slow her down… something that she couldn’t have happen if she was to survive this horrific encounter. She was inches from the door… and she could almost feel the creature’s hot wet breath on the back of her flank. She franticly opened the door, the light of the sun outside blinding both her… and hopefully the creature. All she knew to do… was to close the door behind her… and hopefully that would work. The last thing she saw before the metal separated her from the darkness… was a set of dangerous, needle like teeth; and a pair of burning yellow eyes. Eyes… that were starving… and merciless. This wasn’t anything she ever saw before… this was something different… this was—dare she admit it—a dracosaur!

SLAM! BANG! The door was secure, the dracosaur undoubtedly rammed into it. She was safe… but if this Island was filled with things like this… how long would that fact stand. How long would safety, a concept taken so much for granted, last while every day, creatures like this roam free.