Raptania: Of Raptors and Ponies

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Map's New Destination
Chapter 2: The Bizarre New Creature
Chapter 3: Maniraptora
Chapter 4: A Wondrous City
Chapter 5: Lord after Lord
Chapter 6: Black as Night
Chapter 7: Dark Tidings on a Warm Day
Chapter 8: Time to Rise (FINALE)

Chapter 1: The Map's New Destination

Twilight sat at her throne in her castle and sighed defeatedly, resting her head on her forehooves. There was nothing to do. Friendship had been spread all around Equestria. It was as if every monster or problem in Equestria took an off day. Truth be told, she did love time to relax and unwind, but this kind of boredom was one she didn’t particularly care for, especially when she had already made every check list she could think of yesterday.

As she thought about reorganizing the castle library again, Rainbow Dash and the rest of her friends entered and sat on their respective thrones, activating the map before them. The holographic structures of pony civilization and natural landscape popped up immediately, and everything looked relatively calm. Almost too calm for the pony princess.

Rainbow Dash was the first one to break the awkward silence. “So we’ve spread friendship throughout Equestria. Now what do we do?” she asked impatiently.

“I don’t know, Rainbow. The map isn’t even showing anything” Twilight replied. She tapped the crystal table that sat in the center of the thrones and their marks were nowhere to be seen. Their cutie marks weren't even slightly buzzing. Not a flicker of light flashed on their flanks, and for once Rainbow was angry at the lack of cutie mark blinking.

"I really hope we're not going to sit here forever, cause this is SO BORING!" Rainbow sighed dramatically, flopping over the side of her throne for effect. Suddenly, as if the map heard her, it flashed to life and showed a large island that (to any human) looked similar to Great Britain, far off the eastern coast of Equestria.

"What is that?" Rarity asked, staring at the island intently.

"I don't know. I'm as shocked as you are." Twilight replied. The Mane 6's cutie marks began to flash and hovered around the southern region of the island. "But if the map wants us to go there, then we shall!" Twilight added.

"Hold up, sugarcube." Applejack said, "Ah’ve never seen this area before, and if you haven’t, then this could lead to a heap of trouble. Remember that village?”

"But we saved them. Even if we do end up in trouble, wouldn’t it be best if we helped anyways?” the alicorn argued.

“I’m with Twilight.” Pinkie added, “If we help this place out, then it means more friends and parties!”

“Uh, girls?” Fluttershy tried timidly.

“I do suppose the culture there could be worth examining,” Rarity chimed in. “I love seeing what other ponies- and other creatures, I suppose -can do with fabric!”

“Girls?” the pegasus tried again.

“Ah reckon’ yer right. And who knows what kinda grub they have there? The climate looks just right fer harvestin’ fruits like oranges.”

“G-girls!” Fluttershy raised her voice. “That island could be home to some dangerous creatures!”

“Like what, Flutters?” Twilight inquired.

“Erm… I can’t remember right now, but I think it’s bad news!” she squeaked.

“Relax, ‘Shy!” Rainbow put a hoof around the buttercream pony’s shoulders. “It’ll be great! Besides, if there are dangerous creatures, that means more adventure!”

“Which could end disastrously…”

"No it won't! Stop being so pessimistic 'Shy! We can do this!"

"Um.......also we don't really know where this place is.."

“Well that should be easy!” Rainbow flew over the crystalline map looking at it from every possible angle. “Uh, how do you scroll this thing?”

It was at this point Pinkie Pie jumped up in her throne. “Oh that’s easy peasy!” She then proceeded to leap onto the map table and trot in place to scroll the map back to the shore of Equestria. The small city of Baltimare came into view, along with a small ferry port.

“I-Is that Baltimare?” Fluttershy queried, not trying to focus on how Pinkie Pie could have possibly known how to scroll the map, nor how she knew which direction to scroll to find Equestria.

"Seems to be." Twilight answered. "It has all of Baltimare's landmarks."

"So what are we waiting for?" Rainbow declared as she sat up in her throne "Let's go there!"

"Hold yer horses Rainbow Dash" Applejack ordered. Rainbow immediately sat back down in her throne, slightly irritated at her friend's patience. "Not only do we still know nothing about this place," Applejack continued, "but we don't know we'll get there."

"Well that's simple, darling." Rarity answered, "We'll take the train to Baltimare, then the ferry to whatever this island kingdom is called."

"What about Spike?" Twilight asked. "I can't leave him here all by himself. Last time I did that the bills were 4 letters long. Each."

“Do you want him to come with us Twilight?” Fluttershy asked the alicorn. Twilight replied with a small nod. Spike was her best friend, her brother and her assistant all in one, and she loved him for that. Some ponies might have said that he was her lover, but she immediately denied anything like that. To her, he was like her son; and ponies who have relationships with their offspring are shunned upon.

“Well then let’s get him and go!” Rainbow said impatiently. She was eager to get to this new island as quickly as possible, and as such she didn’t really want Spike around. He was always such a burden to the team. Rainbow and the others slowly rose from their thrones and went to find Spike.

The 6 ponies walked through the enormous corridors until they found Spike’s bedroom. Twilight knocked on the crystal door thrice then awaited the purple dragon to open the door. He turned the doorknob slowly and opened the door. He gave his 5 friends and his crush a warm smile.

“Hey guys. What is it?” he asked softly.

“The map is showing a new destination. An island, far off the coast of Equestria.” Fluttershy explained. Spike’s ears perked up at the idea. A new adventure, and he gets to tag along?

“That sounds so awesome. Am I going with you?” he asked. He just had to be sure that was the case.

“Why of course Spike,” Rarity answered, “we couldn’t leave you here all alone.”

Spike blushed slightly at this. "Thanks guys. Anything I'll need for the trip?" he asked.

“Maybe some snacks because I already know this’ll be a long trip.” Rainbow replied, unenthused.

Spike looked a little down as he went to get his “you-won’t-play-an-important-part-so-why-not-just-be-cut-out” bag

“Oh second thought.” Applejack interrupted, “Ah’ll get some apples for the trip. I’ll carry them myself.”

Spike looked at his friend and smiled softly, knowing that she had saved him from being an unimportant seventh wheel in this adventure.

“So let’s get this story on the road already!” Pinkie blurted out.

Spike almost bounced out of his room with alacrity and joined the group as they all wandered out of the castle and onto the graveled path that snaked its way through the town towards the train station. Pinkie Pie had 8 balloons tied to her waist that Party Favor had given her for her birthday last month. She cherished all of his gifts and his visits.

The group followed the graveled path and reached the train station. Spike bought the whole group tickets to Baltimare and they all stepped into the first class carriage then took their seats.

“All aboard!” the conductor called out brashly. He then placed his whistle to his lips and exhaled sharply. The carriage doors closed and the train slowly left the station to go to Baltimare.

Chapter 2: The Bizarre New Creature

The train ride to Baltimare seemed to take forever. Each turn of the axles seemed to go slower and slower. Rainbow Dash could have sworn that a tortoise overtook them, the train was going that slow. She lay down in her chair and let out a long loud sigh. She didn’t like waiting normally, but now that a super special map mission was waiting, her impatience tripled, to the point where she would break into the cab and drive the train herself, if she wasn’t bound by her element and that ponies were watching.

“How long is this going to take?!” she snapped.

“Well according to the timetable here, the estimated arrival time is in three more hours.” Spike replied softly and helpfully. Rainbow glared at him in a way that meant that she hated him for mentioning how long it would take, since she clearly meant the question to be rhetorical. She groaned louder and more annoyed.

Fluttershy had grown completely and utterly tired of Dash’s complaining; so she broke her usual susurrus to tell her, “Dash, just be patient. You’re acting like a child.”

Dash immediately shut up. If there was anypony that could tell Dash what to do, it was Fluttershy. She could tell anypony what to do when she got assertive. The stare is able to halt a manticore; her voice can be as stern as Spoiled Rich. Dash could swear that Fluttershy was more assertive than any mother.

The train started to go faster as they passed a green light. Rainbow silently celebrated to herself whilst Twilight and Rarity went to the restaurant carriage to get some brunch. Lemon scones with butter. As if there could be anything better as a brunch. The two sat at a windowside table and watched the train pass Whinnyapolis station.

“It’s lovely countryside out here.” Rarity noted as she stuffed her muzzle with another scone. Twilight nodded and swallowed the scone she was eating.

“Indeed it is. I hope the island we’re going to is just as lovely.” she replied.

The two finished all of their scones and returned to their seats in the other carriage. The other passengers were all gawking at the pony princess they were sharing a carriage with; but Twilight did not care about the attention and fame. She had a mission to do, and not even Celestia herself could halt her. The ponies looked out the windows while Spike went to get them all snacks.

Fluttershy saw him about when she stopped him. “Um Spike, you don’t have to get us anything. Just sit with us.” she said with a soft smile. He smiled back at her and sat next to her. The train continued on its journey through the plains, each sleeper giving a chuff to the wheels and traction rods of the locomotive. The ponies around were pointing out the birds and scenery they could see like fillies; and their constant chat aggravated Rainbow. She would have told them to shut the buck up, but the train tannoy announced that they were approaching Baltimare; which caused Rainbow to cheer and the other ponies to gather their bags.

At last the train began to slow into Baltimare station. The group got up from their seats and wandered to the doors. The crowd acted like a sea and flowed around the carriage, parting to let Twilight and Spike through; but leaving the rest to barge through pony after pony, mule after donkey. Spike hovered his finger over the “open doors” button as the train entered the station.

Soon the train stopped and Spike pressed the button to open the doors. The group all stepped off the train and left the station and went through the concrete jungle to find the ferry port. They followed the green direction signs to the port and actually managed to get there in a relatively good time.

“Thank Celestia it wasn’t rush hour. Who knows how long it would’ve taken us to get here then?” Spike quipped and the others nodded in agreement.

They all went down to the only port with a boat in it. Perhaps they'd find some explanation there?

And that they did. Standing by a large ferry there was a creature that was about their size, but looked completely different. He had a long reptilian tail covered in long brown feathers. He stood on two long legs and his front legs were still long, but ended in blunt claws. His head was on a long feathered neck, and the head was the most bizarre thing about him. His head had a pouch on his neck, his snout was long and in his mouth there was around 220 tiny teeth. But at the back of his head there was a small bony crest.

He smiled at the group with a friendly smile then blinked his cerulean blue eyes at them.

"Hello," the creature said in a very English-sounding accent. "I'm Carnithimus."

"Y-y-you're a....." Twilight stuttered.

"A Pelecanimimus?" Carnithimus asked. "Yes, yes I am a Pelecanimimus. And you must be the dignitaries of Equestria."

"How did you know we'd be coming?" Rainbow asked the feathery Pelecanimimus, glaring at him doubtfully.

"Well because I was informed by King Unen, Fourth of his name and rightful ruler of Raptania, to come here and guide the Equestrian dignitaries around our lovely kingdom." Carnithimus replied, as if he had been practicing that line for a while.

"Wait, KING?!" Rarity said in a voice just as bewildered as the others.

"But Equestria is ruled by the Princesses." Twilight added.

Carnithimus replied with a chuckle. "The princesses of Equestria have no power in Raptania, except for raising the sun and moon. I'll explain it all on the ferry" he said. He then walked back to the ferry. The ponies looked skeptical.

"Uh..... I'm not sure." Twilight said wearily.

"Come on, Your Grace." Carnithimus said, "It's the only way to bring peace to our nations"

"Well I suppose so. Besides, the map wants us to go. So we shall." Twilight agreed as she followed Carnithimus into the ferry and her friends weren't far behind.

"You'll never forget this." Carnithimus said. "I promise."

On the ferry, Carnithimus gave each of the Mane 6 a glass of wine as he began to explain all about Raptania....

"Raptania is comprised of 6 holds; Ore Rock in the North, Venator in the East, Mottisfort in the Northwest, The Capital in the South, Feinberg in the West, and The Dark Forest in the centre" he explained.

"Interesting," Twilight said. "So what is the city we are going to?"

"That would be Maniraptora." Carnithimus answered, "It's the largest city in Raptania, and the only place you'll find the unenlagiines." . Carnithimus then pulled out a large book and showed the ponies the unenlagiines. They looked like large Velociraptors, but their snouts were longer and more slender.

"They are the rulers of Raptania," Carnithimus explained, "They rule the kingdom in a fair and civil way."

"So why are we going there again?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"To sign a peace treaty between Raptania and Equestria." Carnithimus said, "Our nations have been meaning to join forces for a long time, but the princesses have never gotten round to doing so"

"Luckily we're here to sort that out" Twilight said as she raised her wine glass, "To make peace between our nations!"

The ponies, Spike and their new friend Carnithimus clinked their glasses together and took a drink.

The adventure had begun.....

Chapter 3: Maniraptora

Carnithimus’ lecture about Raptania and all its culture seemed to drag on and on. Rainbow Dash had almost fallen asleep, Pinkie Pie had gone off to entertain herself with the balloons from Party Favor and the others just kept listening to the Pelicanimimus blather on.

Fluttershy was the first one to speak up.

"So how varied are the maniraptors there?" she asked softly.

"Oh very varied. They’re the slender, quick ornithomimosaurs like myself," Carnithimus began. "There's the enormous and powerful deinocheirids, the tiny and stumpy-armed alvarezsaurs, the all-purpose oviraptorosaurs, the dragon-like scansoriopterygids, the huge plant-eating therizinosaurs, the messenger birds, the weather controlling 'primitive' dromaeosaurs then are the true dromaeosaurs and the troodontids. They are the lords and rulers"

"Wow" Twilight said. "Will we be meeting all the hold lords?"

"Well no." Carnithimus quickly replied. "The troodontids have refused to be a part of this. Lord Forsuthion is an extreme supremacist. He wants nothing to do with Equestria."

"So what hold does he rule?" Rarity asked.

"Mottisfort." Carnithimus replied. "Arguably the smallest hold. And there are 2 capitals to it; Kinaree and Martha. Martha is the one Lord Forsuthion has declared the true capital of Mottisfort. He calls Mottisfort the Bastard Hold. The smallest hold, made from a simple bonding of a few towns, no treaty needed."

Carnithimus looked up and smiled. "We're here" he gasped.

The ponies looked up as well, including Rainbow Dash, who had only woken up because Applejack kicked her in the shin. They all were amazed. They saw an incredible city, filled with sandstone houses ranging in size from a Ponyville house to the Town Hall. And along the river bank, they could see the residents of Raptania. There were small Parvicursors, which had very short arms which ended in a large claw. They had a long feathered tail, long thin scaly legs, and small birdlike heads with tiny teeth in the jaws. Adorning their heads was a pair of long feathers, which is their equivalent to a unicorn’s horn as some were using the feathers to levitate green fruits. There were fishermen Conchoraptor with short stout heads with a small crest, long arms, a fan of feathers at the end of their tails and short yet powerful legs. And most impressive of all, there was a gargantuan Deinocheirus. He looked so strange compared to the other residents, as he dwarfed all of them, had arms as long as a pony and had a massive hump on his back. But his head was the strangest part, a thin yet wide upper jaw with small eyes near the back of his head, and a deep and wide lower jaw, the mouth was a toothless beak. The ferry docked and the ponies, Spike and Carnithimus stepped off.

Rarity was the first to spot more than a few cultural differences. The shops were not simple stalls but rather large buildings with interiors that went on for miles. There was a massive theatre nearby. There was a street filled with raptor reporters called Down Street, the supposed home of a very important character in politics but in actuality does nothing helpful and instead makes the citizens pissed. The clothing that the dinosaurs wore was also tighter and more formal than the clothes that the ponies wore.

Applejack saw some tall leafy trees in the distance that were new to her and the others.

"What are those?" she asked.

"Those are gingko trees." Carnithimus said, "Their fruit is the main produce of Raptania."

"Can I go and see?" Applejack asked. She wanted to see how different Raptanian farming was to Equestrian farming.

"Not yet." Carnithimus replied, "We must go and see the king. And his children Prince Cabazi, Princess Buitre and Prince Quinn"

"THERE’RE TWO PRINCES?" Rarity asked excitedly. She immediately prettied her hair up with her porcelain manebrush.

"Yes." Carnithimus replied, "But they're not really interested in getting married as of yet."

Rarity huffed at this, and Twilight chuckled as the group walked towards the castle.

It was enormous, almost twice as large as Twilight's own, and was white as snow. A peaceful stream ran through the centre of the castle, and meadows surrounded it like a leafy fence. At the gate, there stood 2 guards, one of which was a tall, slender, blue Ornithomimus, and the other was a stocky, short, green Nomingia. They opened the doors and the ponies saw the interior of the castle. It was just as beautiful as it was on the outside. Clean tiled floors, long flowing red drapes and windows so clear you could see your own reflection. Up ahead stood the copper throne that was wide that allowed the ruler's tail to be on the throne, and seemed to be made from raptor claws. On the throne there sat an elderly grey Unenlagia. King Unen. He sat up and Carnithimus bowed, followed quickly thereafter by Twilight and her friends. King Unen let them rise and smiled.

"I see my dignitaries from Equestria are unharmed?" he said with a warm but meek smile.

"Yes, Your Grace." Carnithimus replied, "May I introduce to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike."

"It's an honour to meet you, Your Grace" Twilight bowed again

"Now now, there's no need for such honour." King Unen replied, "After all, it won't be long before Cabazi becomes First of his name"

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"It means that he will become king." King Unen replied, then he ordered a Parvicursor servant to fetch Cabazi, Buitre and Quinn. As he did so, a hazel Utahraptor walked up to him with a document.

"Here is the treaty like you asked for, Your Grace." he said, then he looked at Twilight and she looked back.

"This is my Hand, Ostrom" King Unen introduced, "He runs the library here."

"I'm....." Twilight began, but Ostrom interrupted her.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle. I know. I know all about you and your fiends' endeavours. You're practically a legend" he said kindly.

"Wow. I-I didn't know I was a legend here." Twilight said as she began to blush. As this was going on, King Unen walked to a table as a large black Austroraptor, a slender pink Buitreraptor and a mid-sized Neuquenraptor walked downstairs.

"Yeah Dad?" the Neuquenraptor said.

"Quinn, I'd like you to meet the dignitaries from Equestria." King Unen replied. Quinn looked at the girls and smirked.

"They seem nice, don't you think Cabazi?" he said as he ribbed the Austroraptor.

"Hm? Yeah, they are really nice." Cabazi replied as he scanned the ponies with his eyes. To him, they all seemed beautiful in their own rights. Fluttershy blushed lightly at this.

"Good on you two." King Unen said. "Now then, I've heard that this treaty business takes about 3 days. The first is to get you acquainted with the kingdom, the second is the meeting of the lords, and the third is the actual signing."

"Will my father be there?" Ostrom asked the elderly king.

"Yes Ostrom. Lord Achilles will be there, as will your brothers Drom and Zapsal." King Unen replied.

"So we should get exploring the city." Rainbow Dash said in as kind of a tone she could possibly manage.

"Of course." Carnithimus said. "I'll join you guys. I'll also make sure a guard goes with. Can't let any troodontid spies get you."

"Then let's go." Applejack said happily. She couldn't wait to see the ginkgo farms.

The ponies and Carnithimus left the throne room and then set off to explore the magnificent new city that lay ahead....

Chapter 4: A Wondrous City

As soon as the group slowly exited the magnificent castle, they were greeted by the Ornithomimus and Nomingia from before, but also a tall slender brown Struthiomimus, an assertive stocky grey Hagryphus and a pair of sleek maroon Kinnareemimus.

The Ornithomimus was the only one to speak. He spoke in a gentle yet strong tone that was also soft enough to melt chocolate.

“Hello Equestrian citizens. I’m Velox. I shall be an escort for one of you.” he said as he glanced over the ponies and dragon before him.

Immediately Rainbow Dash perked up slightly. This guy was clearly not as boring as the others, but she still didn’t like him that much. He looked at her and smiled in a friendly soft way.

“I’ll go with him,” Rainbow said to her friends, “if he can take me to the weather guys.”

“Uh, you guys can explore the city,” Twilight intervened, “I kinda wanna stick around the castle.”

“Okay Twilight,” Spike replied for the whole group, “I’ll be going down to the city, see what the shops and townsfolk are like.”

Twilight smiled as she went back inside the castle. Spike and a Kinnareemimus went south to the market and sandstone terrace houses. Rarity, Carnithimus and the other Kinnareemimus went west to go to the high-end fashion and jewellery stores, Rainbow and Velox went north to the weather areas, Pinkie and the Hagryphus went east to the fun housing area, Fluttershy and the Struthiomimus went southeast to the Botanic Gardens, and Applejack and the Nomingia went northwest to the gingko farms.

………………………………………………………………………….……

“The shops of Maniraptora seem to go for miles, Reed!” Spike noted as he and his escort wandered through the town.

“Oh yeah. There’s pawn shops, fruit shops, department stores, jewelers, general stores. You know it, we got it.” Reed replied to his dragon friend.

“A pawn shop, eh?” Spike wondered. He knew he had an old Ponex watch in his bag. Perhaps it was worth a lot of money? He saw a sign that said ‘Famous Silver and Gold Pawn Store’. He and Reed slowly pushed open the thin black steel and glass door and entered the mild store. There was plenty of raptors buying all kinds of trinkets and odds and ends. A bald-headed grey male Oviraptor was behind the counter, along with a rather pretty yet stocky beige female Falcarius. Spike almost hopped towards the counter and presented the Falcarius with the Ponex watch.

“Hi there. I’m Fall. What do you have here?” the Falcarius asked sweetly. She looked at Spike with slight amazement. He was the first dragon she had ever seen, and he was making a very good first impression of them.

“This is an authentic Ponex watch from the 1950s.” Spike told Fall, as if there were camera-raptors recording everything to put into a reality TV show that teaches the only history that the current generation will watch, on an ironically named television channel. Fall picked up the watch and held it close to her eye to inspect the golden watch.

“This is in perfect condition,” she noted, “You wishing to sell it?”

Spike responded with a nod. “How much are you willing to offer?” he asked

“Roughly 2 thousands bits.” Fall replied. Spike accepted the generous offer and Fall wrote it up. She also rather cheekily wrote down her phone number and email address on his receipt. She clearly wanted to stay in touch with Spike. She didn’t have romantic feelings for him, rather wanted to make a new friend.

Spike took the receipt and blushed slightly as he and Reed exited the pawn store and continued their trek through the town

………………………………………..……………………………………………

Rainbow and Velox wandered through the northern side of the city. Rainbow was looking for the Raptania weather team. Eventually they found them. A sleek black male Microraptor and a sleek blue female Zhenyuanlong were shifting the clouds.

"To you, Zhao!" the Zhenyuanlong said as she kicked a cloud towards him. The Microraptor kicked it and it disappeared.

"Not sure how that works, author." Zhao said to himself, "I mean, just kicking a cloud makes it disappear? Okay, author, your choice. Just as long as we raptors look accurate and the city feels believable."

The Zhenyuanlong facepalmed at this.

"Zhao, what have we said about breaking that wall in public?" she scolded

Zhao looked down. "To not do it." he replied.

"Good." the Zhenyuanlong said as she looked down and saw Dash and Velox. She flew down to them.

"Hey." Rainbow said gleefully, "You the captain of the weather team here?"

The Zhenyuanlong immediately shook her head.

"No." she answered, "I'm just in charge of Zhao. I'm Yuan."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rainbow Dash" Rainbow said. Yuan looked at her, then at Velox.

"You two dating?" she asked. Velox and Rainbow immediately blushed.

"What? Oh nonononononononono!" Rainbow replied.

"Well you two are going to be shipped by the fans anyway, you might as well make it canon right now." Zhao remarked, then Yuan gave him a look.

He sighed and said, "Shutting up."

"We're just trying to find Pyro and Olympic." Velox said.

"They're further up north." Yuan said as she pointed towards two orange-brown Pyroraptors clearing the clouds. Rainbow's eyes widened with joy as she and Velox wandered up to the Pyroraptors.

"Great." muttered Velox, "Now there's ANOTHER two ships for Rainbow. and now I'm starting to sound like Zhao"

The Pyroraptors kept clearing the clouds until the one with a forest fire cutie mark saw Rainbow Dash.

"Hey Olympic." he said, "There's a beautiful pony at 7 o'clock."

"Don't be silly Pyro." Olympic said, "There's no ponies in Raptania."

"Really?" Pyro asked. "Then who's that?" he pointed to Rainbow Dash.

"Hi." Rainbow said. Olympic's eyes widened when he saw her.

"My oh my aren't you beautiful" Olympic said, "I'm Olympic."

"I'm Rainbow Dash." Rainbow said and then she thought, "Why are these raptors trying to flirt with me? I mean, it's nice that they like me, but would they stop flirting with me?"

"That's a nice name." Olympic replied as he smiled.

"So you're in charge of the weather here?" Rainbow asked

"Yup." Olympic answered

"And I'm Vice-Captain." Pyro added

"Nice." Rainbow said, "I'm the captain of the weather team in Ponyville"

Olympic and Pyro smiled. "It's awesome to meet you." they said.

“It’s awesome to meet you guys too.” Rainbow answered.

“You know, there’s a lovely pub near here. Care for a pint?” Olympic asked, to avoid any awkwardness in the conversation.

Rainbow nodded. “Sure, if you guys are buying.” she smirked. The Pyroraptor brothers chuckled as they opened their wings and flew to the pub. Rainbow opened up her wings and flew as well, leaving Velox in the street ambling there grumpily.

............................................................................…………

Carnithimus, Rarity and their escort (who is called Kin for whoever is wondering) were wandering through the upper-class housing area and shops. There was a high-end wedding shop, a high-end furniture store that wasn’t all do-it-yourself and foreign in design, a high-end jewellery store, everything was high-end and pricey. They passed a very fancy and very massive train station, with a locomotive roster that resembled GER Class P43s (look them up), and teak clerestory carriages. Rarity was astounded by the vastly fancy culture. And the raptors were just as fancy with perfectly preened feathers, immaculate clothing and voices that were quintessentially posh.

Soon they encountered a little lavender female Apsaravis fluttering down to the cobbled streets. Carnithimus smiled as he approached his childhood friend.

“Apsara! I wasn’t expecting you to be around this part of the city.” he said as he hugged the little bird.

Apsara hugged him back softly. “Well I knew my pedantic Pelecanimimus pal would be here so I flew straight here.” she chuckled.

Her attention was quickly halted by seeing Rarity standing beside Kin. “Who is your new friend?” she asked.

“My name is Rarity, darling.” Rarity replied as she walked up to Apsara and held out her left hoof.

“Apsara. It’s a delight to meet you.” Apsara answered as she shook Rarity’s hoof using her left wing.

“Well it’s a delight to meet you too.” Rarity smiled.

Kin was the only one not happy. He never was. He had been taught to only show mediocrity as an emotion. But that didn’t stop him from being a walking philosopher.

“M’lady. Whilst the greetings are warm, soon it will be time for us to depart for the castle.” he spoke, in his soft British tone.

Apsara giggled at the Kinnareemimus. “You’re so weird Kin. Just speak casually for once.” she said amongst chuckles.

Kin shook his head and replied softly, “That is an impossible feat for me.”

Apsara giggled more as she continued her conversation with Rarity.

……………………………………………………….………………………

On the dirt paths of Ponyville or on these cobbled streets of Maniraptora, Pinkie bounded along through the spectacular city that she could very easily get lost in. She was most interested in the citizens. They looked so goofy and bizarre compared to ponies. And the jobs they were doing were equally bizarre in how they were carried out. Gigantoraptors carried huge piles of bricks to construction sites, instead of getting a machine or using magic. Shops were not open windows, but rather inside the buildings. Both the Rinchenia customer and the Elmisaurus shop owner were carrying out their transactions with no fuss. It was all a city of great fun to her and her Hagryphus escort.

But before she and you readers could start to think that this area of town was a purely oviraptorosaur populated area, she saw a Beipiaosaurus’ door being tended to by a very bizarre, forest green, male Yi. His bat-like wings folded and creased as he dug through his toolbox to find his electric lockpick gun to unlock the door.

“There we go ma’am.” he said calmly, “I’ve just got to go back to my workplace and we’ll have a new key for your door. In the meantime, you mustn’t lock the door from the outside.”

The Beipiaosaurus was happy and thanked the Yi for his work. He smiled, picked up his toolbox with his sparrow-like feet then was about to fly off when Pinkie Pie shouted at him in her excited greeting voice.

“HELLO THERE MISTER!” she exclaimed. The Yi was very surprised at this and almost hit his head off a shop sign. He sighed then flapped down to where Pinkie was.

“Um, hi. You have a problem with your lock?” he asked kindly. Pinkie immediately shook her head quickly, making her hair turn even fluffier than normal.

“Nope,” she began, “I just wanted to meet you because you look so awesome!”

The Yi blushed slightly at this comment. “Did she me shirtless or something?” he thought, but then replied, “Uh thanks.”

“I mean, how come all the other dinos have feathery wings but you have DRAGON WINGS?” she asked excitedly.

The Yi’s blush very quickly disappeared. “Oh. Well I’m an Yi qi. We have bat wings instead because our third finger is far more elongated than our others.” he remarked.

“Awesome. I’m Pinkie Pie. I’m here to sign a treaty between my home place of Equestria and Raptania.” Pinkie announced quickly, before finishing the explanation with a characteristic squee.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Pinkie Pie. I am Key, I’m kind of the main locksmith in Maniraptora, and the only Yi qi you’ll see here.” Key commented softly.

“Well I’ve gotta go back to the castle in a few hours, but I can hang out with you for the remainder of the time.” Pinkie replied, eager to get to know Key even better.

“I wish I could hang out, but I’ve got work to do. If you want to tag along though then that’d be fine.” Key answered. Pinkie quickly nodded then took Key’s toolbox and placed it on her back as the pair went to Key’s next job.

…………………………………………………………….………………

If there was such a thing as heaven, then Fluttershy was there in the Maniraptora Botanic Gardens. The bluebells were a vibrant cerulean, the violets stayed violet, and the air was refreshing pleasing. Her Struthiomimus escort was near the entrance, but she saw a familiar Austroraptor wandering through the azaleas.

“Cabazi?” she asked worryingly. He looked up and turned to face her.

“F-Fluttershy?” he said bewilderedly, blushing softly.

“Y-yeah. It’s me. What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“I come here to empty my head of the world around me.” Cabazi explained, “To clear my mind of all the chaos in Raptania.”

“But I thought that being royalty was exciting.” Fluttershy replied.

“Not when you can’t make any friends, go outside without fifteen thousand guards around you, have fun, or even speak to a ‘commoner’” Cabazi remarked, annoyed just by the thought of it all, “And soon all I’ll get to do all day is sit on an extremely uncomfortable copper throne.”

“Oh my. That sounds truly awful. I don’t think I could do that. I couldn’t be that alone.” Fluttershy gasped as she wandered closer to the Austroraptor prince. “He looks so lonely….” she thought.

“I don’t know how Dad manages to do it. But I know I’ll never be able to do that. I don’t even get to pick who I marry. The other lords make a vote and force me into a relationship that I don’t even want.” Cabazi vented quietly yet angrily.

Immediately Fluttershy hugged the feathery prince, causing him to blush deeply. “It’s okay Cabazi. I’m sure the lords will pick you a lovely bride.” she said softly.

Cabazi smiled and hugged the buttercream pegasus back. “You’re so kind Fluttershy. How come you don’t have a coltfriend?” he asked.

“Because no stallion really makes me click, if you get my meaning.” Fluttershy replied. It was true. No stallion did match her standards. Discord was making an attempt to, but she saw him as only a friend. But the longer she embraced the raptor prince, the more she saw him meeting her standards. She blushed deeply as she realised what she was doing, so she stopped hugging him and shuffled back slightly, looking into his silver eyes.

“I understand….” Cabazi muttered softly. He realised what was going on. He was breaking the rules. He was falling in love with somepony. She wasn’t royalty either, she was just a normal citizen. And the treaty wasn’t signed, so their love would be forbidden until then.

“So, it’s starting to get late.” Fluttershy added awkwardly.

“We should start heading back to the castle if we want to avoid traffic.” Cabazi noted.

Fluttershy nodded, then held out her right to hold Cabazi’s hand. He blushed as the two exited the Botanic Gardens to head back to the castle.

……………………………………………..……………………………

Applejack knew Equestrian farms inside and out. If there was a game show about them, she’d win it in a heartbeat. But Raptanian farms were different. The setup was similar, large buckets under the trees. But then the similarities end. The buckets are placed in large trailers which are carried to a quality inspector who sorts the ginkgoes. Once he has finished that, the trailers are delivered to wherever they are needed. Small locomotives at the train station carried wagon after wagon of the fruits to their destination. But Applejack noticed that instead of kicking the tree, the farmer jumped up into the tree to grab the fruits. She saw a yellow male Qiupalong doing exactly this. He managed to get two, but then he groaned.

“I wish there was a faster and easier way to do this.” he muttered.

Applejack knew she shouldn’t intervene, but she couldn’t help it. She walked up to the tree he was working on, prepared to buck the tree and gave it a powerful kick with her hind legs. The ginkgoes behaved like apples back home and fell into their respective baskets. The Qiupalong was impressed.

“Thank you very much,” he said, “I’m Harrows by the way.”

“Ah’m Applejack,” AJ replied, “So what are these fruits?”

“They’re ginkgoes,” Harrows answered, “Wanna taste?”

Applejack nodded, and almost instantly Harrows picked up a perfect quality ginkgo and handed it to Applejack. She tasted the soft fruit and smiled.

“This is delicious.” she said among chews.

“Well that’s of the good quality ones.” Harrows remarked as he lifted a pair of buckets and carried them to a trailer.

“So, how long you been doing this for?” Applejack asked as she finished off the ginkgo.

“All my life. I could pick ginkgoes before I said my first word.” Harrows answered jokingly, and Applejack chuckled lightly

Harrows also chuckled at the orange Earth pony who was giggling as well as blushing. The two eventually sat down under a tree to watch the sun slowly set.

……………………………………………………..………………………

Twilight wandered through the polished castle hallways. There was more than enough headroom for the purple alicorn to glance at all the architecture and paintings that plastered the white marble walls. Eventually she came across a skinny grey male Parvicursor who was using his elongated head feathers to levitate his sixteenth platter of utensils. She sensed in him the same feelings as Spike, but very much expressed in a darker way. Spike being cheery and helpful out of his heart, and then this Parvicursor who looked agitated as all heck.

“Hello.” she said softly, in an attempt to be friendly. But all she got was a glare from his orange eyes.

“I have no time for you ponies. Can’t anyone see that wee Vic here has a lot more work to do?” he snapped as he quickly left.

Twilight looked shocked as she wandered back into the throne room. Vic wasn’t there thankfully, but she could see Rarity and Carnithimus returning, along with a lavender Apsaravis. She trotted up to them.

“So how did you enjoy the city?” she asked Rarity.

“Oh it was simply fabulous,” Rarity replied, “We even met Carnithimus’ childhood friend, Apsara.”

Apsara waved at Twilight, who waved back nervously. Reed and Spike were the next to enter the castle, followed by Fluttershy and Cabazi.

“So Spike, that’s why I prefer the brass armour instead of the silver one.” Reed explained to his new best friend as the pair walked up to the growing group of characters.

Applejack and Pinkie were next to return. The two were chatting about the raptors they met, and were almost competing about who met the best raptor.

Finally after another half-hour, Rainbow and Velox returned. They wandered in slightly drunk off Raptanian beer.

“Ah see you two enjoyed your time here.” Applejack smirked. Rainbow walked up to her and draped herself over AJ’s back.

“Mum, can we go home now?” she asked drunkenly.

The ponies and raptors all laughed as they went to their living accommodations and Celestia’s golden sun set.

Chapter 5: Lord after Lord

As Luna's silver moon rose over Raptania, it lit up the forest town of Martha with a white glow. The town was clearly in turmoil. There wasn’t a single building without a scrap of unrepairable damage on it. Every citizen was a troodontid or oviraptorosaur, every other type were gone. And all the citizens were wearing black steel armour. A small Sinornithoides rushed through the town and ran up to a large silver Alaskan Troodon wearing a black cloak.

"M'lord." he announced as he handed the Troodon the letter, "A letter." The Troodon snatched the letter and read it quickly.

When he finished reading it, he scrunched it up and threw it as far as he could.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed.

"What would you like to do, Lord Forsuthion?" the Sinornithoides asked.

"Bring me the Sickles." Lord Forsuthion ordered. The Sinornithoides nodded and ran off to fetch them. Lord Forsuthion placed his long clawed hands on the railing overlooking his town.

"Those ponies think they can disrupt my perfect ecosystem? Well they've got another thing coming!" he chuckled.

…………………………………………………….....................................................................................................................................

The next morning Twilight woke up early. She hobbled down the castle stairs when she found alvarezsaur after alvarezsaur rushing around cleaning and organizing the place. Ostrom was orchestrating it all, directing each alvarezsaur to its specific task. He was doing so with deadly efficiency.

"Ostrom? What's going on?" Twilight asked.

"I'm making sure the entire castle is spotless for my dad, mum and brothers arriving." Ostrom replied as he directed a Shuvuuia to clean under the benches.

"Who's your dad?" Twilight inquired.

"Lord Achilles, the only Achillobator to rule Varez without any of the citizens trying to stick their claw up his throat." Ostrom replied.

"Oh." Twilight said, "He must be a great guy.". Ostrom rolled his eyes.

"Only if you're with him for two days. Try being with him for seventeen years." he remarked.

"I'm sure he'll be alright now." Twilight chuckled.

Ostrom rolled his eyes and sighed, “Doubt it. I can move as far away as I want, he’s still my father.”

Twilight looked at the panicky Utahraptor with confusion. She never knew the feeling of hating her family. Sure she got mad at Shining Armour a few times, but she still loved him. Ostrom was showing almost pure hatred for all of his family, even his own father.

“Why are you so upset about them coming over?” she asked innocently.

“Because I’m the youngest yet largest of my siblings. There was a lot expected of me for my being a Utahraptor. But since I’m the youngest, I became the King’s Claw.” Ostrom answered.

“Oh. Well I’m guessing your brothers are also annoying?” Twilight said with a small smile.

“They are the Xiaoxford Dictionary definition of annoying,” Ostrom joked, “Drom is desperate for love, and Zapsal is pedantic.”

“That must suck.” Twilight said sympathetically. Ostrom nodded softly.

“Yeah. It really does suck.” he added. He was happy that the Princess of Friendship was being so kind to him, since his family was pretty much a group of jerks to him, excluding his mother.

“Well I’m going to go wake the others up. It was nice talking to you, Ostrom.” Twilight remarked as she walked up the ivory stairs to the living quarters. Spike and Reed walked downstairs as she went up them.

Spike and Reed managed to get a full two minutes of conversation out of Ostrom before the rest of the group wandered downstairs. Reed walked up to Twilight with a small smile on his face.

“Hello there Reed.” she said as a weak yet warm smile formed on her face.

“Good morning m’lady.” Reed replied formally.

Twilight responded to this with a small, pastel red blush on her cheeks. “Now now Reed, there’s no need to be so formal. After all, I’m not your princess.” she remarked.

Reed smiled again and commented, “Not yet, but me and Velox are thinking of becoming your guards if this treaty goes accordingly.”

“Really? My own guards?” Twilight asked herself, then answered to Reed, “It would be nice to have my own guards, but I don’t want there to be any form of relationship growing from it. I know that feeling, and it wasn’t a very good feeling.”

“I see. I’m guessing this guy returned the affection” Reed asked kindly.

Twilight replied with a nod. “He did, but I can’t return them now. He is just not my type.”

“I understand, m’lady. Now come along, and we’ll have breakfast.” Reed stated as he walked with her and Spike to the dining hall.

…………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………….……

After the group had a delicious breakfast, Spike and Reed wandered out of the castle and down the cobbled path. Spike had decided to visit Fall again and chat with his new friends. He almost admired her charisma and alacrity to everything.

Reed chuckled at the quips the purple dragon was making as they walked down to the pier. Fall was there letting the warm summer breeze flow through her beige feathers, her turquoise eyes blinking twice. Spike blushed at the Falcarius’ beauty, it was even more dazzling than the white unicorn he had loved for years.

“Hey there Spike!” Fall said happily as she waved at the dragon, who waved back awkwardly.

“H-hey Fall……” he murmured as he and Reed walked closer to the Falcarius.

Zhao, Yuan and Apsara were also walking along the pier, and Zhao was noting that Microraptors, Zhenyuanlongs and Apsaravises would be better off flying and that the author was restricting them just to let them interact with the other characters. Yuan’s reply to this was to simply slap the back of Zhao’s head. Yuan saw Spike, Reed and Fall and smiled softly.

“Hello there Reed! Hey Fall!” she yelled.

“Hello there Yuan. This is Spike.” Fall introduced, very slightly blushing.

“Why are you blushing?” Reed asked nicely, which caused Fall to blush a much deeper scarlet.

“It’s the heat, I swear!” she blurted out. Apsara giggled as she leaned on Yuan’s shoulder.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Spike. I’m Yuan, and this is Zhao and Apsara.” Yuan introduced in her nicest tone of voice.

“It’s nice to meet you guys too. Rainbow Dash and Rarity have told me a lot about you guys.” Spike replied.

“Well I hope they’ve said nice things about us all.” Apsara said calmly.

“Well the Lord’s Trains should be arriving in a minute. Wanna go to the train and meet them now?” Reed asked.

“All of us? You sure?” Yuan questioned.

“Of course. I know that ‘commoners’ shouldn’t be among the first to view the lords, but you’re with me. You guys should be fine.” Reed said with a soft and slightly cheeky smile. Apsara and Yuan squealed with girlish joy as they flapped above the others, hugging.

……………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………

The 6 new friends all began their journey up the streets towards the beautiful train station as steam locomotives with whitewall wheels and white roofs hauling royal carriages came to a halt in the station.

The first hold’s lord and lady to arrive was of Feinberg, which was no surprise seeing as the hold capital of Sullivan was closest to Maniraptora. A tall orange and black male Saurornitholestes sullivani accompanied by his wife, the much more slender white and blue female Saurornitholestes langstoni exited the train with their two sons, a black Atrociraptor and a scarlet Saurornitholestes sullivani. Lord Livan, the orange sullivani, saw Reed and smiled regally.

“It’s good to see the Maniraptora Guard at work, especially you Reed.” he noted as his eyes fixated on the maroon Kinnareemimus, who today was wearing his more regal silver armour. Reed bowed to Livan and Lady Rinth, and the others did too.

“It’s good to see you again m’lord,” Reed replied softly, “How is the child, m’lady?”

“Our housekeep Boldia is taking good care of the egg,” Lady Rinth answered monotonously, “I would assume that Lord Achilles and Lady Ada will be arriving shortly?”

“I have no idea m’lady, but I would assume so.” Reed responded as he and the others rose from their stance to greet Lord Livan and his sons

As they did so, another royal train entered the station and a tall beautiful silver female Velociraptor wearing a white cloak that wrapped around her slim shoulders and was fixed by her husband, a shorter stockier orange Tsaagan who also helped the Dark Forest representative, a very slender blue Alxasaurus named Xas, out of the train.

Xas smiled softly and nervously at the proper lords and ladies, then at Lord Sagan. “Thank you Sagan. It’s good to be in a proper city.” he said with another nervous smile as he shook Spike and Reed’s hands firmly , “Xas. Nice to meet you all.”

“What hold do you control?” Spike asked kindly, to which Xas’ reply was vague yet clear.

“Oh I wouldn’t call the Dark Forest my hold. I just control the town of Beipi. I’m no Lord, and do not consider my hold of much importance. But nevertheless, I must be present for the treaty signing, as Beipi is part of Raptania.” he replied.

Xas sighed as he and the other lords were led towards the castle.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Cabazi was normally panicky. It was part of his personality. But today he was approximately six times more panicky than normal. This was due to him having to meet all the lords, and at the same time he had to hide all of his feelings for Fluttershy. He had to be calm and content, and right now he was being the polar opposite of that. He took a deep breath or three and stood up straight as a Mononykus fixed his cloak and he walked into the main hall.

King Unen fixed his own cloak and ambled weakly to his copper throne and sat upon it, overlooking all of the work being done, and his Utahraptor friend Ostrom co-ordinating it all; sending alvarezsaurs with every nameable cleaning tool in the world all around the castle. Rarity, surprisingly, was helping with the curtains and carpets and making sure that Princess Buitre and Prince Quinn were sharply dressed to meet the lords. Quinn of course was complaining, but Buit was complimenting the Equestrian and her work with fabrics.

Twilight was wearing her ‘Princess dress’, the only one in existence nowadays seeing as Rarity burned the others, and she looked through the royal library with Pinkie Pie when they heard a knock on the door. Pinkie as usual bounced to the door and opened it, revealing the knocker to be Key.

“Key? What are you doing here, silly?” she asked as a wide smile began to plaster her face.

“Well I’ve got no work to do today at all, so I thought I’d come up here and hang out with you and your friends.” Key answered mildly as he saw Twilight and waved nervously.

“So this must be this Key you were talking about, Pinkie. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Twilight Sparkle.” the purple alicorn said with a smile

“I see. So you are the Princess of Friendship that will sign the peace treaty between our two nations?” Key asked softly

Twilight answered with a nervous chuckle, “Yeah. That’s me.”

“Well it’s nice of you to come. I know Raptania and Equestria have been attempting to get a treaty, but with Tirek, Discord and Princess Luna being banished, Princess Celestia must have had her hooves full.” Key remarked.

Suddenly the three heard the giant castle doors open along with fanfare as the lady and lord of Ore Rock entered the castle, followed closely by Lord Livan and Lady Rinth. Xas quickly followed, but his entrance was not met with fanfare like the others. Instead, a blue Alnashetri declared him as “the Dark Forest representative” and backed off.

Spike and Reed followed the lords and Ostrom ran up to them worriedly. “Where’s my dad?” he asked the Kinnareemimus.

“Relax Ostrom. His train will arrive shortly. You have to be patient.” Reed answered. Ostrom made a growl of annoyance and returned to his station beside Cabazi, who had finally composed himself.

As the lords and ladies entered the hall, Fluttershy and the other ponies came in wearing their beautiful Gala dresses. Cabazi tried to not look at Fluttershy. He tried to ignore her and get on with the day, but love can destroy any male’s will. He saw her and his jaw nearly dropped open. To him she looked stunning. He stopped looking to shake the lords’ hands and he finally snapped out of a cheesy romantic state of mind.

Rainbow Dash walked past Kin and the Hagryphus guard and walked up to Xas, surprising the Alxasurus. He jumped back slightly but recomposed himself to shake the pegasus’ hoof.

“I didn’t know that The Dark Forest’s lord would be here.” Rainbow exclaimed, “You are so awesome!”

Xas’ soft blue cheeks grew a softer red blush as he chuckled, “Oh I’m no lord. I’m more of a mayor, barely even that. I’m that raptor that keeps the rest in check, but has no authority over them”

Spike walked past the two to talk to Lord Saagan, who had finished showing Veloci affection. The Tsaagan turned to face the dragon and smiled softly.

“Hello there. I remember you from the train station. You were with Reed.” he noted.

“Well yeah. I’m Spike.” the dragon replied as he lifted his chest up to seem more impressive.

“Well it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Spike.” Saagan said with a soft smile; which is rather difficult to do when you have jaws of sharp, serrated teeth. But Saagan, somehow, managed it; as if he had been doing all his life.

“Say, you seem like a very affectionate raptor. Do you have any relationship advice?” Spike asked as casually as he could manage, which was not very casually as he had not been taught to speak casually.

“Nope,” Saagan answered bluntly, then leaned in closer to Spike, “I didn’t marry Lady Veloci the way the other lords married their wives. Lady Veloci was to wed a Linheraptor, but she rejected him; she ran out into the streets of Chelonis and found me. She dragged me into the altar and just like that, we were wed. But I can give you this bit of advice: the woman is always right. Even when she’s wrong, she’s right.”

Spike stared at the lord with a blank expressionless face that could kill the mood of even a Pinkie party as he comprehended everything the Tsaagan had said. “I see. So, you wouldn’t be able to give me advice on confessing feelings?” he asked; slowly, quietly. He didn’t want this to be a conversation that everypony and raptor could hear.

“Why of course not. The most I could say when me and Veloci were getting married was a ‘hello’!” Saagan replied.

Spike nodded slowly as he then left the Tsaagan lord and in a flurry of fanfare and applause; finally, the lord and lady of Venator had arrived. A tall silver male Achillobator and a small beige female Adasaurus; both with a long green cloak draping over their shoulders; entered the castle followed by the two brothers; Ostrom’s brothers. The older, more red Dromaeosaurus was the first to hug his younger, yet larger, brother. He was followed by a smaller, black Zapsalis who joined the brotherly embrace. Ostrom’s face couldn’t look more exhausted if he tried. He wasn’t hugging his older brothers back; he never did; he only allowed them to embrace him and rub his head with their arms; if they could reach.

King Unen rose shakily from his copper throne and feebly ambled towards the Achillobator. “Lord Achilles,” he began as his wrinkled lips began to move, “It has been a long time since you have been in Maniraptora.”

Lord Achilles’ reaction to the elderly king’s words was rather typical of such a large raptor that was speaking to one much smaller than him. “Well indeed it has been. After all, I do have my own hold to rule,” he noted in a sharp tone, “How is my son? I hope he’s doing a good job for you?”

“He is. I am certain that he is the best Hand of the King this country’s ever had.” Cabazi answered for his father. He was doing so; not as a way to prove he was next in line; but rather as a way to save his father’s breath. King Unen turned to his son and smiled weakly.

Achilles laughed at this comment as Drom and Zapsal dragged Ostrom towards this convoy of raptors. A golden Aurornis flapped his wings towards a perch and sat atop of it, looking down on Ostrom and his brothers. He let out a chirping chuckle from his toothed beak as he flapped down beside Ostrom. “Good to see you again, Ostrom.” he said with a small smile made from small smooth teeth.

“It’s good to see you too, Auro.” Ostrom replied to the Aurornis messenger.

“A lot has changed since you left Ostrom. The buildings have been repainted; the alleyways have been cleaned and crime is at an all time low.” Auro told his old friend.

“All because I left? So you’re saying that because I left, Dad decided to fix up the city?” Ostrom asked glumly.

Auro replied with a laugh. “No way, mate. Achilles just got a firm talking to by Ada. It’s like what Saagan keeps saying; you can do you what you want, until the lady says no.”

Ostrom laughed nervously as every pony, raptor and the dragon went into the hall to have the feast.

………………………………………………………………………….………

Twilight felt so tiny in the hall; and it was not because the hall was massive. It was the sheer quantity of dinosaurs in the hall; and the variety of them. She was only half the size of most of them; and she was supposed to be a Princess. “Mind you,” she thought, “King Unen, Lord Livan and Lady Veloci are about my size too. But even then, why are these raptors so big? It’s like they’re either my size or smaller.”

As she thought about the size difference in the hall, Vic wandered by her, grumbling. Twilight might have felt tiny in the hall, but at least she is of good size; unlike Vic, who is dwarfed by ponies and raptors alike. He levitated platter after platter, grumbling at each one that entered his aura. His small stubby arms would have made a middle finger if his hand wasn’t one big thumb claw.

Velox, meanwhile was enjoying standing rather than sitting at the massive table that wrapped around the hall as a marble scarf that kept the gargantuan fireplace alight. He liked looking around the hall; he liked seeing the lords pleased; he was most certainly liking the view of Rainbow Dash. But every time he looked at her, he shook his head, thinking; “She’ll never feel the same way.”. Vic budged Velox multiple times as he went back and forth; but Velox simply didn't give a penny of interest.

After engaging Lord Achilles in a grand conversation about Raptania and its citizens, Twilight decided to chat with Velox to find out if what Reed had said was indeed true. Crawling between tall chairs with thin space between them; through Shuuvias, Kol, Mononykuses and Parvicursors carrying platters and plates and bottles and glasses; the purple alicorn finally reached the blue Ornithomimus. Her voice was small, but Velox could easily hear it.

“Hello there Velox.” Twilight began; although it took thirty seconds to form the full sentence; Twilight’s nerves getting the better of her.

Velox’s reply to the nervous alicorn seemed almost rehearsed. He knew she wanted to speak with him, and as such he had a reply prepared. Sharply but friendly, he responded, “Good evening, Twilight. Are you enjoying the feast?”

Once again, through a slur of ums and ehms, Twilight noted, “It’s going well, I guess. So Velox… I heard that you and Reed are planning on becoming my royal guards after the treaty is signed………”

“Why of course,” Velox responded, “I've always dreamed of going to Equestria; ever since I was a hatchling. The culture, the scenery, the citizens, the adventures; what more could an ornithomimid want?”

“I see. So, is it just you and Reed; or are others planning on going to Equestria?” Twilight asked, now very curious. How would the ponies react to there suddenly being dinosaurs in Equestria? Would there be peace? Would there be segregation? She didn’t want to find out the answer to those questions.

“The most I know of; a few raptors are thinking of moving,” Velox answered, then leaned closer to the alicorn and whispered, “But I do hear that every single raptor in Mottisfort, excluding those in employ of Forsuthion, are seriously considering relocation.”

“I see. Well, I gotta get back to my seat. It was great talking to you.” Twilight said as she backed away through the maze of chairs and alvarezsaurs; all while thinking, “I hope that Forsuthion isn’t going to do something horrible while we’re here. I don’t want my friends to be in the middle of a full-on war.”

The rest of the ponies were enjoying the many dinosaurs they had for company: Applejack might have struggled with Manehattan life, but she felt rather comfortable speaking to the lords; but only because Rarity was speaking on her behalf; Fluttershy felt at home speaking with the lone Patagonykus that sat next to her, as he looked rather like a cross between an ostrich, a chicken and a lizard; Pinkie Pie was as usual being hyperactive and buzzy around the raptors; Rainbow Dash was trying the best she could to be civil, although she would on occasion glance at Velox, and blush ever so slightly if he looked back; and Rarity was being very chatty, questioning, among other things: culture, clothing, tourist attractions, how certain things worked; she just wouldn’t shut her mouth. It was only the short instances she ate some food that she stopped, then after she swallowed she continued chatting.

While ponies and raptors alike were enjoying themselves, Ostrom was bored and slightly irritated. It was only the fact that he was located next to the King that kept him content. The sheer noise level, the clatter of cutlery, plates, bowls and wine glasses, the occasional cheer from the male raptors; it was too much for the Utahraptor to bear. Eventually, Unen rose from his large chair and the whole room went silent. Even the alvarezsaurs who had been moving constantly froze to ice.

“My dear friends,” the Unenlagia began, “Tomorrow, the most important document in Raptanian history will be signed, and we shall be united. We have come a long way since this great city was once a humble little settlement. We have seen war after war, treaty after treaty, king after king after queen. But now, we shall soon become one with Equestria. Soon we shall become an ally. Soon we shall become a friend!”

The entire hall filled with cheers, as the many voices formed one large wave of sound that flooded Ostrom’s poor little ears; and the hall once again resumed its normal activity. But Vic was no longer carrying plates or platters. He was walking towards the giant door that contained the excitement within the hall. But he only got a few feet before he was trapped behind the chair of the purple dragon.

Spike turned to face the grey Parvicursor and smiled in a friendly manner. “Hello there,” he said with the smile still on his face. Vic’s only answer was a snarl; which is rather difficult to do for an alvarezsaur, but Vic could manage it very well. Spike tried again, “I’m Spike. What’s your name?”

This time Vic replied with words, but in a growling voice he murmured silently, “Why is it any of your business? My name is Vic and I have no time to chat with others.”

“Why not?” Spike asked, “After all, it is a banquet.”

Vic rolled his eyes. “For you lot maybe,” he snarled, “But we parvicursorines get no banquets; or parties; or feasts; or holidays. It’s just work until your feathers fall out. I’m telling you now, things would be a lot different if the power was in…... different claws.”

Spike didn’t know what to say or do anymore. Clearly this Parvicursor was not to be talked to, so he pulled his chair in; or rather Vic used his magic to pull it in for him, and Vic walked out silently. “What is wrong with him? He seems creepy….” Spike thought, then shook off the thought as he was served another plate by a kind Ceratonykus.

……………………………………………………………........

Back in Martha; as the section of silver moon shone through the ruined town, Forsuthion was getting impatient. He was expecting every Sickle here by now, but one still hadn’t shown up. There was a definite space between the cream Linhevenator and the brown Segnosaurus. Forsuthion growled in impatience as eventually a grey Parvicursor wandered into the town.

“Apologies for being late, my lord,” the Parvicursor said with a bow, “But I couldn’t get out of that bloody banquet fast enough. That Equestrian dragon got in my way.”

Forsuthion looked shocked as he let the Parvicursor rise. “They have a DRAGON?!” he snapped, and the Parvicursor nodded.

“But only a little one, my lord. Harmless thing. Couldn’t kill a fly.” he replied.

“That no longer matters,” Forsuthion barked, “What matters is that tonight, the assassination is made. You know the drill; kill all witnesses and do the assassination as brutal as possible.”

The raptors all nodded in agreement, but the Parvicursor went up to Forsuthion in confusion. “What shall I do, m’lord?” he asked.

Forsuthion turned to him and said, “You get to do the killing blow, Vic.”. Forsuthion left the area, and allowed the Sickles to plan the attack…………………...

Chapter 6: Black as Night

Author's Note

WARNING: The following chapter contains scenes of gore that may be unsuitable for younger readers. Reader discretion is advised

Chapter 6: Black as Night

In the silver moonlight that poked through wooly clouds, Ostrom’s room in the castle was lit up; with a small beam of light striking his eyelid. But Ostrom was in such a deep sleep that not even an explosion could wake him. He was having a dream, or rather; a memory. The strangest thing about his dreams was that, no matter what, they were in black and white; as if he lived a long time ago.

His dream was of his younger self having fun with his private tutor, a male Xixiasaurus; which nowadays would be odd, but when he was young, troodontids were much friendlier and less confined to one hold. Young Ostrom was identifying the many different creatures that inhabited the world: from manticores to breezies; from dragons to parasprites; from gryphons to ponies; and his tutor was congratulating Ostrom, and noting that the young raptor displayed a vast array of vocabulary for his age. He ruffled the young raptor’s feathers and said to him, “Come on. It’s time to go home.”

Young Ostrom made a small scrunched-up face, but it quickly faded as he picked up the book he was reading from and held the Xixiasaurus’ hand as they went to the large savannah mansion-castle hybrid that was his home.

…………………………………………………………………….......…

The castle was empty, save for King Unen; and a few guards who were wandering around on patrol. But despite their alertness and their eyes being able to see in the dark, they did not notice a small grey feathered tail poking out from between the giant flowing white curtains. Vic pulled his tail into the curtains, his padded feet not making a sound as he shuffled. He was the only Sickle in this particular hall; but not the only one here. The Linhevenator was located in the hall where the banquet was held. A Jiangxisaurus was by the living quarters; and a Nqwebasaurus was searching the kitchens.

Vic was questioning if he and the other Sickles could even manage to pull the operation off. Even if it was night; there was still enough guards to put every Sickle’s head on a pike. He gulped at the thought; but shook it off as he silently and quickly darted between the curtains; slowly edging closer to the throne room. But before he could move to the next spot, he saw the leg of the Struthiomimus step directly in front of him; and stayed there. His halberd’s blunt end stabbed the ground an inch from Vic’s hiding place; and Vic was certain he was finished.

But before the Struthiomimus (who is called Sedens in case you’ve been wondering since Chapter 4) could unveil Vic’s location, his watch beeped to indicate quitting time. As Sedens left the area to go to his quarters, Vic thought, “Saved by a beep. Thank fuck.”. He waited for all the other guards to leave and he darted to the next curtain.

King Unen got up from his throne and began to walk to his chambers. But before he could, the door was slammed shut by the Segnosaurus; who with a herbivorous head, smiled villainously. The Linhevenator shut the exit to the left, Jiangxisaurus shut the exit to the right, Nqwebasaurus shut the exit behind Unen, and Vic slowly came out from behind the curtain; smirking menacingly.

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Young Ostrom’s eyes looked at his mentor Arin’s face as he looked out at the skyline. “S-sir…is something wrong?” he asked quietly.

Arin only glanced at young Ostrom for a second before replying, “I know it shouldn’t bother you, but I’m worried about my kind. Troodontids have never been in control, and in Mottisfort I’ve heard that a Troodon has been born there. And I’m worried about it. Troodons are among the smartest of all maniraptoriforms, and he’ll be wanting more control, especially because he’s in the smallest hold.”

“That shouldn’t worry you sir. Because I know that troodontids like you will always be friends with us. And you’ll always be here.” Ostrom responded with the childish enthusiasm that all young raptors have.

Arin made a faint half-chuckle and ruffled Ostrom’s feathers. “You’re a very bright raptor Ostrom. One day, you’ll be a magnificent advisor. You may be the youngest of your brothers, but I think you’re the one who is most destined to do great things.”

Ostrom smiled at his mentor as a Xixianykus called, “Master Ostrom! It is time for your dinner!”. Ostrom grunted as he left Arin to look over the skyline of Varez.

Arin eventually left that area and wandered through the castle’s halls. Eventually he bumped into Lady Ada; who apologised to him and he returned the favour. “It’s a lovely evening, Mister Arin.” she noted with a soft voice.

Arin nodded and responded, “It is. But we should be worried. Last I heard, Rhopus had unleashed his Sickles in Venator. I suggest we lock up tightly.”

“I would inform Lord Achilles of this, but he’s not one to take suggestions like that. Do not worry, Mister Arin, I’ll lock up Ostrom, Drom and Zapsal’s room when they go to bed.” Ada said to him. Arin smiled at the kindness of Ada; she clearly has been learning from her cousin Veloci. But he was still worried. The Sickles are the best assassins in the entire world, and them being in Venator meant only bad news. Someone would die on this night, and he didn’t want his best student to be among the deceased.

………………………………………………………………………….

That night, Ostrom couldn’t sleep. He had the nightmare again; the one with the Haast’s eagles ripping him to pieces. He got up from his bed and went to the door. He was surprised to see that it was locked, as was the window. He looked through the keyhole; and to this day he wished he didn’t. Arin was in front of the door, but not moving. A black Achillesaurus broke the Xixiasaurus’ neck and slammed Arin’s lifeless corpse into the ground. Ostrom was so petrified he couldn’t say anything; even though he wanted to scream in depression. He heard the Nankangia guards chase the Achillesaurus, and he saw his mother go up to the dead Arin, crying.

………………………………………………………………………….

Ostrom woke up from his nightmare/flashback and took several deep breaths. Why was it that tonight, of all nights, that he had that memory? He didn’t want to know, but out of his sheer feeling of paranoia, he got up from his bed and started to wander through the living quarters. The ponies were fine, the dragon was fine, the guards were fine. But where was the King? Ostrom looked panicky, but then he thought to himself, “He always stays up later.”

But he didn’t know what was really happening. Vic and his Sickles started to close the space between them and the elderly king; and then the homicide began. First the Nqwebasaurus bit Unen’s leg and pulled him down to the ground. Then the Linhevenator broke his tail and held him there. Unen’s face showed horror. He was an old raptor, a helpless soul. Surely they would have shown mercy?

No. The pain got more and more excruciating for Unen, with the Segnosaurus slowly edging its long claws along his arm. He looked at Vic shocked. “You traitor! How dare you?!” he shouted, hoping that someone would hear. Vic’s only reply was a dark chuckle as he used his magic to create a sharp sword that pointed at Unen’s neck.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Unen. But it’s time for Forsuthion to rule instead of an old croak like you.” Vic laughed. Unen repeated the word, “no” numerous times in a hope for mercy. Maybe the next one would work? The next one? Maybe this one?

But the only thing Unen saw as the sword slowly opened his skin up was Vic grinning as if he’s always wanted to do this. Unen’s blood started to squirt over the marble floor as Unen choked on the blood gargling into his throat. Vic laughed more and more as the sword went deeper and deeper into Unen’s Adam’s apple. He looked at how Unen’s grey feathers were becoming darkly stained with the liquid flowing down his body. Perfect. This is all Vic wanted. To see Unen’s blank expression as he died. It was oddly satisfying for Vic.

Ostrom looked around the library, then saw something he didn’t want to. A book was lying out on the table; with a page hanging by a single millimetre of paper. “What the…?” he thought as he looked at what book it was. The book read, “A Full Guide To The Sickles”. He read the hanging page and gasped. It was the typical Sickle attack plan. His eyes widened and teared up a bit. Why would this book be out? Why is this specific page nearly ripped out? Before he could realise exactly what had happened, every single trace of the Sickles being there had vanished, except the corpse of Unen, lying in the grass in the back garden. Ostrom was too tired now to hear anything. He slept on a bench inside the library as Celestia raised her star to shine over the world.

Chapter 7: Dark Tidings on a Warm Day

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Chapter 8: Time to Rise (FINALE)

As dawn swept over Raptania, the country came alive with a spark of energy. Radios in homes were on in a blur. Reporters and all who were in the news business were flocking in their thousands to the Capital. The coronation of a first of his name was a very big deal, and the whole world was getting in on it. Even in Equestria televisions or radios were switched to RBC Equestria to watch the event that in a few hours would unfold.

Under cloaks that could make a Deinocheirus inconspicuous, the Sickles moved slowly through crowd after crowd; no raptor batting an eye as Forsuthion made his way to the Sickles’ Maniraptora hideout, a large sandstone house with a roof of thick hay that sat atop slate tiles. Inside; sitting alone at the large mahogany table that could have a Gigantoraptor lain on it, there was a cream male Linhevenator who had his face hidden under a pointed blue hood. Forsuthion and the Sickles that entered behind him removed the cloaks and sat at various spots; Forsuthion sitting in the large ebony throne at the head end of the table.

As Vic sat down adjacent to Forsuthion the Linhevenator slowly raised his head, revealing only his snout from under the navy shadow that loomed over his eyes. Forsuthion did not look at him, but rather at the large sheets of paper that sprawled across his end of the table. Vic peered at each paper with joy, he had already killed one king, and now the chance to kill another was irresistible to him; and the chance was enticing the other Sickles too, except the Linhevenator, whose expression remained as blank as the walls which surrounded them.

“Right then,” Forsuthion began, “The coronation and treaty signing are in four hours, giving us a nice window to assassinate Cabazi. Get his brother too; but leave Buitre; I need a bride after all. If you see our inside man, leave him be; kill the other guards. And if so happen to come across one of those insignificant ponies or that dragon, kill them immediately.”

Vic slowly looked upwards and left as he scanned the news with his magic. He quickly regained focus on Forsuthion and announced, “M’lord, Twilight Sparkle is not the only pony princess who will be present today. I have received word that the two sisters and Mi Amore Cadenza will also be attending.”

Forsuthion let out a slight chuckle and laughed, “Finally. The princesses come to us. This day keeps getting better. So now not only can we kill the soon-to-be king and the prince, but also all four of the Equestrian princesses! Today is the Day of the Sickles; and it won’t end until I sit on the throne!”

The Sickles cheered at their leader, except the Linhevenator, who was elbowed by a brown Koparion who noticed his blank expression. “Lin Ven, chin up. The Sickles are gonna have victory!” it shouted in Lin Ven’s face. Lin Ven had had enough of all of the Sickles’ overzealous nature in this hall, so he silently rose from the only oak chair in the hall of mahogany, ebony and walnut and made his way to the door. Opening it wide, he left the massive hall and made his way to the castle. He did not take the front entrance, but rather he walked down to the castle’s rear, where he dumped his Sickle armour and weapons in the river’s fast flowing current and he went through the glorious marble door.

Reed and Kin were in the guards’ quarters, playing tennis as usual. Kin kept beating Reed; and Reed showed no sign of irritation from his brother’s victory. It was something Reed was very open to admitting about Kin; that Kin was an expert at tennis, and really should try for the world leagues. Kin could say the same for Reed and swimming; while Kin was still like a hatchling in the pool, Reed could easily be mistaken for a feathered marine reptile. Just as Kin was about to win another set, Captain Gryph entered the room and crushed the ball, commanding them to get back to work. Kin grumbled in a irritated manner as he and Reed wandered into the corridor, where they saw Lin Ven wandering past the entrance. Unsure of what to do, Reed asked, “May we assist you, mister?”

Lin Ven looked at the Kinnareemimus twins with curiosity; if it weren't for Reed wearing brass and having green eyes, contrasting with Kin wearing silver and having blue eyes; Lin Ven couldn't be able to tell them apart. Even their cutie marks were similar; he thought that one was simply a reflection in a mirror. Eventually he mustered up enough courage to answer, “I am here to warn the king of a tremendous threat. That, and I am here to cleanse myself of what my former covenant did.”

Reed looked at Kin, and he looked back. Both faces expressed such emptiness; as if they were having a telepathical argument as to who should ask this visitor about this “covenant” he was talking about. Political? Sports? Or something darker? Kin lost this argument and eventually asked Lin Ven, “Covenant? What do you mean?”

Thankfully for Lin Ven, this twin had a darker, more English voice. But unfortunately the twin had asked what he was dreading, what the covenant was. “Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that. They've caused chaos very recently for the country and I’d rather not be affiliated with that.” he answered quietly.

Despite Lin Ven’s best efforts to be cryptic, even a hatchling could figure out what covenant he was referring too. Once again the twins looked at each other and assessed the situation. They hadn't brought their weapons, and leaving a Sickle on his own was just asking for trouble. So Kin backed down, and Lin Ven gulped audibly at his movement. “You’re a Sickle,” Reed sharply stated, “What do you want?”

“Well to fully describe what I have done in this one day: I have sat in the Sickles’ hideout listening to that cockfaced Forsuthion come up with a plan that will never work; I wandered through seas of crowds; I’ve dumped everything Sickle related of mine in the Capital River; and now I'm talking to you.” Lin Ven explained to Reed. As he went on, Kin stopped and wandered back into view, without a weapon. He could see that the Linhevenator was genuinely speaking with honesty.

Reed stared at his brother, but did not question why he had no weapon, as he had heard the Linhevenator’s words and felt rather surprised. In every book that even mentioned Sickles, it had connotations of lack of mercy, villainy and ruthless. But this Linhevenator was displaying the polar opposite connotations; pity, kindness and sorrow. Reed lingered on these connotations before Kin wandered back to being beside him; also lingering on connotations. “So you’re here for redemption?” they asked at the same time, making things difficult for Lin Ven to tell them apart again.

Before Lin Ven could utter even a slight word, Captain Gryph wandered back into the room. He had heard everything the hooded Linhevenator had spoke, and he was furious. Barging through the twins and commanding them to get upstairs he grappled the Linhevenator with tremendous strength. Lin Ven didn't put up a fight, nor did he even struggle; he let the Hagryphus drag him into the interrogation room as everyone in the castle started to stir.

……………………………………………………………………………….

To say that the sheer level of activity sprawling through Maniraptora this morning irritated Vic would be a truly immense understatement. Whilst his small stature allowed him to slip past dinosaur after dinosaur, his ears were flooded by the fanfares, cheering and singing and he was sure that sea of sound would soon start to be polluted with his ears bleeding. But by some miracle he reached the castle safely intact and he passed through a window on the ground floor. Sliding nooks and crannies, Vic looked around the throne room for good assassination angles, escape routes and whatever else would help achieve success. He had accounted for everything; everything except the purple dragon staring at him from the hallway in shock and disgust.

Spike was now regretting his “get up as soon as you wake up” routine, but at the same time; the idea of him being the only one that knew gave him a sense of power. But he didn't want this traitorous alvarezsaur’s hidden nature to be a secret; even if Spike was just a guest here, many workers and residents of the castle had known Vic for years, trusted him, respected him; and Spike saw that he was a rat; scratch that, more than any old rat; a filthy, diseased rat that lived deep below the streets in the darkest corner of the sewers. Spike got closer to the Parvicursor and said in a deeper, angrier tone, “Traitor. You’re a Sickle. You let them in. You killed Unen.”

Vic’s first response was to act like the dragon had not seen him; but as Spike edged closer he decided that the feeble thing should pay for spotting him. He chuckled and turned to face Spike; and responded, “Bravo. You figured it out. Aren't you a smart cookie? So tell me, if you’re so clever, then how can you not realise that unenlagiines have ruled for far too long? Surely there should be new rulers, ones more intelligent, like perhaps a Troodon? Forsuthion should be on that throne, and you Equestrians should bow before him.”. As he said this, his magic feathers created a long wooden staff. Just when Spike thought he was getting it easy, the staff’s farther end revealed a reflective silver scythe that had a edge sharper than diamond.

“I don’t care if you think he should rule, the unenlagiines are kings for a reason. And even if you succeed here, you won’t get to Equestria, and we will stop your tyranny you hedonist.” Spike retorted, desperately knocking on doors to get someone’s attention. Vic chuckled at the panicking dragon and got even closer to Spike’s face. It was obvious that Vic was about to assault Spike; but before he could Spike opened his mouth and blew flames more powerful than the ones he used at the Equestria Games straight into Vic’s face, scorching nearly every feather on the Parvicursor’s face. Vic’s yelp in pain was interrupted by a growl as he used the scythe to knock Spike across the room. It was at this point that the doors simultaneously swung open as the ponies, Ostrom and Carnithimus entered the throne room.

As they entered, the ponies ran up to Spike, who apart from some cuts and bruises was rather okay. Carnithimus stayed back as Ostrom’s brow furrowed and he snarled, revealing large serrated teeth. If he had no civilised nature, he would have picked Vic up and ripped him to pieces. But Ostrom had control, and used his green eyes to glare at Vic. “You heartless bitch Vic.” he barked. Vic would have responded with a threatening growl if he wasn't a Parvicursor; the most threatening sound he could make was a canary chirp. So instead he lifted the scythe and pointed it at Ostrom.

“Step down, Utahraptor. We need a Hand for King Forsuthion, so just be nice or have your head chopped off, understand?” Vic snarled through tiny teeth as the edge of the scythe curled around Ostrom’s neck. Ostrom dared not move. He wanted to negotiate with the Sickle, but the look on the alvarezsaur’s face showed that he was beyond reasoning. Ostrom wasn’t even thinking about what would happen next; so he had no idea Twilight knocked the scythe away and stood between Vic and Ostrom.

“Get away from him, Vic. I know you’re tired of being a servant, but you could do so much more than this. And even if Forsuthion was to get rule, what’s to say that he won’t make you his personal servant?” Twilight exclaimed as Vic snarled more. He tried to pick the scythe back up, but Twilight used her magic to disintegrate the weapon.

“You know nothing, alicorn. A raptor like Forsuthion would not put his second-in-command in a slave position. And you have no power here anyway. So move aside, lass; and let me finish this.” Vic replied as he created a claymore sword and swung it down on the princess and Ostrom. But before it could hit, Vic’s grey aura around the edge was halted by an odd coloured aura. It was a mixture of white and sandy gold; and its shape was most peculiar. It had the structure of a troodontid, it floated slightly above the group. And Ostrom recognised its face anywhere.

“Arin! It...it’s you! But how?” he stammered. As if they heard, Lady Ada and Lady Veloci simultaneously entered the room. Their auras were still going; Ada’s providing the sandy gold in Arin’s spirit, Veloci providing the white. Ostrom looked at his mother and she smiled brightly. “You did this for me?” he asked her softly.

Lady Ada slowly stepped closer to her confused son, tears of joy forming in her eyes. “You wanted him back for so long, and as a way to say goodbye, your aunt and I decided to grant your wish. I love you, Ostrom; and you’ll be an excellent brother to the hatchling,” she replied softly as she embraced her youngest, yet largest, son tightly.

Twilight walked towards the pair and smiled; but inside she was slightly jealous at how Ostrom was so much closer to his mother than she was with her own. Compared to Ada and Ostrom, the distance between her and her mother would’ve been an ocean. “So you’re having another child?” she asked to break the tension. Ada looked at the purple alicorn and nodded softly; and Twilight used her magic to create tissues for Ada, Ostrom and her own eyes. In the emotional moment, Vic made an attempt to escape, but as he did, the other parvicursorines walked into the room; Albertonykus, Ceratonykus, Shuuvia, Kol, the lot. Each had a glare that bore into Vic’s brain; they used their magic to collectively lift the failed Sickle and toss him into a cage.

Arin looked at the large group and smiled, but they were more confused than ever. Applejack and Rainbow were pondering if they even did anything and if that was it; Rarity and Fluttershy were wondering if they were even needed here; and Pinkie was hungry. Arin chuckled as he floated over to them, and explained, “Now I know you lot don’t think you’ve been of any help here, but your elements have actually helped in this problem. Pinkie, your Optimism - or whatever it’s called now, Laughter I think - allowed the citizens to realise that your kind are not a dull bunch; Rarity’s Generosity in helping Buitre and Quinn meant that they were able to consider mixed towns; Applejack’s Honesty and Rainbow’s Loyalty boosted Ostrom and the citizens’ spirits. And Fluttershy, you did the most; you helped Cabazi overcome the depression he felt; you showed kindness to one who had never been taught personal compassion. And for all this, I thank you.”. After saying this, he waved his goodbyes and disappeared, causing Veloci and Ada to nearly pass out from the magic power.

Although imprisoned, Vic was far from finished with the ponies. Growling in a threatening manner, he tried to use his magic to escape the titanium bars that separated him from the rest; but using what little strength she had left, Veloci got up from the ground and used the dribble of magic still residing in her feathers to knock the Parvicursor unconscious. After she did this, she let out a fit of shallow coughs and her weak eyes focused on Ostrom and the ponies. “Thank you all so much. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must rest.” she sighed weakly as she ambled out of the room to her room, or the nearest one to lie in. Ada would’ve done the same, but she had passed out entirely; so Twilight lifted her up and took her to a bed.

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Forsuthion tapped the large mahogany table impatiently; Vic had been away for over an hour and had not reported back, which angered the Troodon lord immensely. The Sickles were all concerned for their leader’s mentality, and were getting increasingly angry at the Parvicursor as a result. Eventually, Forsuthion gave up on waiting and barked, “Right. You lot, come with me. Vic’s clearly failed us, Lin Ven’s gone off on his own wee adventure, and we’ve got royalty to kill.”. Every Sickle rose from their chair putting their cloaks on as Forsuthion smirked and put his own cloak on, exiting the hideout to lead his army towards the castle.

While Forsuthion’s squadron made a beeline for the castle, Cabazi slowly began to rise from his slumber. He had been forced into the King’s chambers; and it was peculiar to not see Quinn or Buitre in the room with him, yet satisfying. He got dressed into his most regal clothes; which had been laid out for him, and left the chamber. When he entered the throne room, he saw what could only be described as a ruckus. “What in Ceiba’s name happened in here?” he asked commandingly. The alvarezsaurs did not want to show Vic in the cell, but their king wanted to know, so they couldn’t say no. A blue Albertonykus used his magic to pull the cage into Cabazi’s view.

While Cabazi never truly trusted the Parvicursor, it was still a shock to find out that one of his employees was a Sickle. He ordered a black Kol to fetch Captain Gryph and some other guards; and the longer Cabazi was there, the more hurt Fluttershy felt; that the distance of love was now too immense to even attempt a crossing. As Cabazi sat at a bench in the room, Gryph entered; clutching Lin Ven’s neck scruff and dragging the troodontid like a prize. “M’lord.” he barked, “This Sickle decided to hand himself over. I think an execution is in order.”. Gryph made no notice of the alvarezsaurs taking Vic away in the cage; all his attention was on Cabazi and his prize.

Cabazi rose to look at Lin Ven, to which Lin Ven responded, “Firstly Hagryphus, the proper terminology is ‘Your Grace’. Secondly, as I have told you numerous times, I am no Sickle, therefore no execution is in order. And thirdly your Grace, may you please relieve my bindings?”. At first Cabazi was skeptical, but when Gryph struck the helpless Linhevenator and commanded him to be quiet Cabazi felt obligated to intervene. He gave Gryph a stern look to release Lin Ven, and Gryph reluctantly obeyed. As Lin Ven fell to the floor, a Shuvuuia released the ropes that bound him and tended to whatever wounds he had. Now free, Lin Ven looked at Cabazi and explained, “Your Grace. I feel that it is my duty to inform you that your captain is a fiend. A cold-hearted, abusing backstabber.”

It was that last word that lingered in Cabazi’s mind; he wanted to know why Gryph was what the Linhevenator was saying he was, but truth be told Cabazi was actually rather scared to ask; for he had little experience as a king and having to fire his captain was too overwhelming. He ordered Gryph to leave, hoping to resolve that matter at a later date, then he turned to Lin Ven and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?”

Lin Ven thought long and hard about his response, as it could be what let him keep his head. Before Cabazi could ask again, he answered, “My name is Lin Ven, your Grace. I was a Sickle until four hours ago, in fact I was on the mission that let Vic murder your father. But I came back to not only warn you all that they are returning today to attempt to kill all of you, but to also rid myself of all the suffering, all the pain, all the guilt. I am no Sickle; I’ve wanted out for years, but it is this day that I finally decided to step up and do the right thing.”

Rainbow Dash was unfazed by Lin Ven’s speech; she was unaware whether to trust him or not; as she had had trust issues in the past. “How do we know if we can trust you? For all we know you could still be a Sickle and broadcasting this stuff to that Forsuthion guy!” she asked brashly, making sure that the other ponies were aware of her thoughts. Rarity and Applejack exchanged questioning glances, but they let Rainbow be Rainbow.

Lin Ven was confused by this pegasus’ brash actions, as he had told the complete truth. But not wanting to disappoint the rainbow-maned pony he responded, “I hate that Troodon, for he has given all troodontids a bad reputation. I can no longer walk around normally without getting a glance or two, but then again that may have something to do with what I’ve done with the feathers I have for magic.”. As if to prove his point, he finally lifted his hood to reveal that the feathers that were meant to be on his head were embedded into his skin.

Rainbow slowly flew back to the group, ashamed for snapping at the poor guy, and as such Applejack silently scolded her and Rarity gave her a look of shame. Twilight walked forward to Cabazi to assist in his decision making; and the two contemplated ideas like prison, having a parole officer, being made a servant. But eventually Twilight’s negotiation warmed in Cabazi, and he said to Lin Ven, “My good sir. For your courage and honesty, and due to how I honestly can’t be bothered dealing with major issues right now, you are to become one of my Guards. I assume you have met Sedens; go to him and get comfy.”

Lin Ven looked at him, then looked at Twilight. He saw something in their eyes he hadn’t be shown ever since… she helped him; compassion. He got up from the crouching stature he was in and saluted to Cabazi before leaving the room that in only two hours had seen enough commotion for an entire television show. Everyone started to prepare for Cabazi’s coronation, but Fluttershy was very unsure if she even wanted to be up there, seeing the one she loved slip away from her. But as Rarity fixed up the buttercream pony’s dress she assured her friend that there will be plenty of males like Cabazi, and if there weren’t then Fluttershy always had Discord. Fluttershy smiled softly at her fashionista friend as they and everyone else prepared for the coronation.

………………………………………………………………………………....

The large balcony upon which Cabazi was to be coronated was receiving more attention from camera-raptors than the lords and ladies themselves, almost as if it were the balcony itself to be coronated. However as the alicorn princesses Celestia, Luna and even fair Cadence arrived with their escorts the attention shifted ever so slightly; so as to not overwhelm the poor balcony, which had never had a televised coronation. Ostrom was preparing the speech he had to give before placing the crown on Cabazi’s head, and had taken quite nicely to Twilight being used as a practice Cabazi. Twilight smiled softly, not for the fact that a dazzling crown was being placed atop her head, but rather that she was about to be there for the coronation of a king, and that that king was a new friend of hers.

In his chamber, Cabazi was pacing back and forth, preparing the speech he had to make after being crowned. Normally, Cabazi was very good at preparing speeches; once he had made an entire speech on the fly; but this event was different. The country, nay, the entire world was tuned in watching; and Cabazi was swept over with a cloud of anxiety, it was only Albie the blue Albertonykus that kept Cabazi from hyperventilating and passing out. Eventually, the time came. Kin, Reed, Velox, Sedens, even the brand new guard Lin Ven were arranged into their rows in the corridor. Lin Ven was much happier that a comfortable helmet hid his head featherbuds; although he would have preferred wielding a much more effective weapon than a halberd.

But time is like a leaf in a hurricane , and before anyone could realise it, it was time for the coronation. Ostrom quit practicing with Twilight, although he wished that he didn’t have to; the alicorn princesses entered the castle to stand beside the new king; and at last Cabazi left his chamber, draped in a gorgeous silver cloak that accented his face in a classy way. He marched softly between the rows of guards and stepped out on the balcony to accompany Ostrom and the princesses.

Cabazi waved shyly to the swarm of raptors before him and immediately they fell quiet, to the point of which one could hear the slight brush of a feather. Cabazi got out a miniature book of notes and he announced, “Citizens of Raptania, I am to take it upon myself to be lawfully just and rule this country with kindness and brilliance. However today Raptania is no longer alone. The nation of Equestria, whom we have been wanting to make allegiance with for years, is finally going to be our ally; and because of this, both of us can develop as nations. For Equestria is a land of compassion, of warm hearts, and of friendships.”. As Cabazi finished, the ponies smiled and every raptor cheered. All except the Sickles, and before anyone could act, Gryph grabbed Cabazi, and various Sickles held the ponies, guards and Ostrom as Forsuthion walked towards the captured king.

Forsuthion smirked victoriously as he edged closer to the struggling captives, especially Cabazi, who was bewildered at the sudden attack; and how Forsuthion got into the city in the first place was even more confusing. But before he could open his mouth to speak, Forsuthion wrapped his claws around Cabazi’s snout and shushed him. “Well well well, you think you can make peace with those pathetic mammals? Need I remind you of our nature? We eat mammals like them. There’s no possible way for us to be “friends” with our prey.” he snarled.

Twilight was no longer going to sit around and let this maniacal Troodon have his way; so teleporting herself out of her captor’s grasp and gettin between Forsuthion and Cabazi she stood grandly and said, “Listen, while I may know much about your kind or your culture, I do know that is important to respect another’s way of doing things. For you see-”

But before she could finish her speech, Forsuthion turned to face her; glaring angrily at the alicorn before him. His sheer frustration was evident, especially as he angrily interrupted, “Oh would you just shut up! Trying to force your pathetic little “friendship” upon us is just insulting. Besides, what do you honestly you can accomplish with that? You think I’m gonna just let this fish-eater rule over a nation of fifty percent carnivores? You’re very much mistaken!”

Twilight eyes widened in shock; a friendship speech had only once been interrupted, by Starlight Glimmer, but never on such an aggressive scale. There was clearly no reasoning with this mad raptor; so she was preparing to launch a very powerful magic shot, but before she could Lin Ven pounced on the Troodon and used his sickle claws to hold the Troodon down. “Forsuthion your tyrannical dreams end here. Did you honestly expect your plans to work? Because I can tell you now, as long as I’m still alive I’m going to keep you behind bars.” he barked. The crowd below them was still in awe from the activity going on, to the point that some were questioning whether or not it was all real, perhaps just a ruse to strengthen Cabazi’s word and make them back him more.

But fake this was not, and Forsuthion’s growls in pain was further proof to quell this suspicion; and Lin Ven’s general frustration then focused on Gryph, pure primal anger venting from his eyes. Retracting his claws from the almost defeated Troodon, he ran to Gryph and Cabazi and quickly immobilised the villainous Hagryphus, clawing Gryph’s unprotected arms and face to the point where Forsuthion and the other still villainous Sickles were forced to yield. Cabazi rose and brushed off any grit and potential scales that were plucked off from Lin Ven’s fighting and declared, “Forsuthion, Gryph, Vic; you are sentenced to spend life on the Isle of Deinos Max Security Prison. And as for the rest of you Sickles, you have a choice. You can either cleanse yourself of your crimes and become members of my guard; or you can be like your lord, and spend time at Prisoner’s Rest.”

Upon hearing these choices, all the Sickles immediately released their “victims” and apologised; and after that Ostrom cleared his throat to announce to the world that Raptania’s new king Cabazi, First of his name, had been crowned; which resulted in a crowd cheering louder than the return of Princess Cadence. But for Fluttershy, it meant something different; something she wouldn’t dare to explain. To her, the coronation only meant that the man she was now in love with was now too far away to reach. So when Cabazi wandered closer to her and placed his hand on her cheek, she immediately blushed and whispered, “I...I thought you were to marry someone else, and that I couldn’t be with you.”

Cabazi looked at her with confusion at first, but then as he processed what the buttercream pony had said he chuckled slightly, looking into her bewildered eyes. “I’m going to see if I can change that. After all, you’re the only one I would want to be with,” he replied, and as he said that Fluttershy hugged him, crying softly with joy. After the two shared a tender moment, the treaty signing took place. It was a simple event; the ponies, the lords and Cabazi sat around the large oak desk in the banquet hall as the terms were read out and each pony (and Spike) signed wherever Equestrian signing was needed; followed by the lords signing wherever Raptanian signing was needed. When the signing was finished, Ostrom announced that the raptors were now Equestria’s ally and the ponies and Spike exited the castle to meet Celestia.

Twilight stood before her former mentor and bowed, knowing her job was complete. However, something was missing in Twilight’s mind; she was used to everything flowing nicely, and while yes this trip was bumpy, it still didn’t seem right to her that it had just simply ended, with no repercussion or anything. So looking at Celestia, she asked, “So what’s going to happen now that Raptania and Equestria are allies? Will life be any different?”

Before Celestia could answer Twilight’s question, a familiar blue Ornithomimus cleared his throat; which caused the group to turn around, and they found a big surprise. Almost all of the friends they had made on the way: Velox, Reed, Kin, Ostrom, Zhao, Yuan, Apsara, Carnithimus, Key, Auro and even Fall; they were all standing behind the ponies smirking, and Twilight knew exactly what was going on. She smiled gleefully, as life in her town of Ponyville was soon going to be a lot more interesting……….

THE END

Author's Note

Hey there everyone, thank you SO much for reading my very first MLP fanfic. It took a long time to finish, and it's been a very bumpy journey. I'd like to thank my-

"Okay ginge I'll take it from here. Hey guys Zhao here and this guy has had so much fun writing this story, like you would not believe. He would love it if you guys were to do artwork of the series, and he hopes that it has inspired you lot to read up about dinosaurs, especially us Maniraptoriformes. We're pretty damn awesome. Oh hang on, ginge wants to talk again. See you lot later."

...... Thanks Zhao for stealing half my thank you speech. Anyway, the raptors will be returning for a follow-up story or two, so there's that to look forward to. So that's all from me for now. See you guys for my next story :derpytongue2: