Chapter 4: Welcome to Cryptid Park

“....Applejack, wake up!”

Applejack stirred as Fluttershy slowly shook the mare awake. Sleep was still in her head as she slowly rose up from her seat. The others were either talking or looking at her; which was a little strange.

“Uh….how close are we?”

“Almost there actually,” said Hooves. “We should be able to see the island in a few seconds.”

Now fully awake, Applejack looked out the window. The endless views of ocean met her eyes once again. But then, she looked to the right. “Oh….wow!”

Hooves looked out the window too, and smiled. “Ah, there it is.”

In front of the carriage was a large island. Cliffs and beaches surrounded the coastline, while large jungles spread inland. High mountains could be seen farther away, making the island look even bigger.

“That’s it,” said Hooves, “Isla Nublar.”

Fluttershy, Rose, and the others looked out at the island. They all looked surprised at the sheer size of it.

“Wow….just how many animals do you have on here?” asked Trixie.

“More than I can count,” said Hooves. “But I’ll save any more information for when we see them.”

The rest of the ponies were left wondering why they needed to see the animals before getting more information. But they remained silent as the carriage flew over the jungle and through the mountain pass.

Soon, the mountains gave way to a large opens space surrounded by more mountains. A small waterfall was flowing down one side, towards a small lake at the bottom. But as the pegasus’ flew into the opening, they began flying down towards a large runway near the lake.

“Woah,” said Applejack, hurriedly clinging to her seat.

“Sorry about this,” said Hooves. “Air pressure is a little low here, so we have to land almost immediately. But don’t worry, our pilots are experts at this.”

But next to him, Roseluck was quickly attaching her seatbelt. Seeing this, the others began to buckle up too. Hooves, not seeing a problem, kept his seatbelt off.

“Please be over soon….please be over soon,” said Fluttershy, who also had her eyes closed tight.

Applejack looked out the window, just as the carriage made contact with the ground. It rolled onward for a few feet before finally coming to a stop.

“There,” said Hooves, hopping out of his seat. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“Tell that to Fluttershy,” said Applejack to herself. The yellow mare was shaking like a dog, and was still holding tightly to her seat. “Come on sugarcube. Time to get off.”

As Applejack helped unhook Fluttershy, Hooves walked to the door and pushed it open. Roseluck followed behind him as he walked down the stairs and onto the paved runway. He took a deep breath, taking in all the smells of the island around him.

“Oh, it’s good to be back.”

He looked back at the doorway, seeing Applejack, a shaken Fluttershy, Trixie, and Mr. Barrister walk out. They all looked around, amazed by the sights around them.

“Well everyone, we’ve arrived in one piece.”

“Yes,” replied Trixie. “But where exactly is this “preserve” I was told about. Don’t tell me this is it?”

“Not exactly,” said Rose, “it’s more further inland.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So are we going to be hoofing it there? Or do you have another carriage for us?”

Hooves and Roseluck looked at each other, before each letting out a small chuckle. The four guests looked at each other, not know what they were laughing about.

“Oh, there’ll be no walking to the “preserve”,” said Hooves. “For you see, this is where the technology of the past meets the technology of the future.”

He turned around and began walking towards a small dirt road next to the runway. Roseluck followed behind him. “Come, you’ll all want to see this.”

Trixie and Mr. Barrister looked at each other questionably before following the two. Applejack looked at Fluttershy, who looked just as confused.

“You have any clue what he’s talking about?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No….sorry.”

“It’s fine,” replied Applejack as she followed the others. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

The six ponies began walking towards the dirt road….but soon they heard a noise. It sounded like a deep rumble, and it was coming from the roadway.

“What’s that,” asked Fluttershy, who was close to shaking again.

Hooves, who was now standing by the road, turned around and smiled at the group. “That, my friends, is our ride.”

Before the group could respond, the thing responsible for the rumbling moved into view. It looked like a cart...but it had a long front and rubber wheels. The passenger compartment had cream colored upholstery, and the outside was painted grey and red. On the side of the doors was a circle with a weird looking creature on it. There were words below it that said CRYPTID PARK. A pony sat in the front left side, holding onto a small wheel.

“Well,” said Hooves, “what do you think?”

Applejack tilted her head, trying to get a nack for what it even was. But no matter what, she couldn’t think of anything.

“Uh...what is it?”

Hooves rolled his eyes, but still smiled. “It’s a self propelled cart. Or, as those in the lab like to call it, an Automobile.”

Mr. Barrister walked up to the machine, looking over it with a keen eye of interest.

“And just when were you planning on telling me about this?”

“We thought it best to keep the technology secret for now,” said Rose. “Until such time as the “preserve” was open.”

The rest of the group began walking towards the machine, looking over the many bits and pieces of it. Applejack kicked one of the tires, feeling the rubber it was made of.

“So, uh, are we all going to squeeze into this?”

“Of course not,” said Hooves. “Some of us will be in this one, and the others will be in that one.”

The group looked behind the automobile, and saw another one pulling up behind it. It came to a stop, and the driver waved a hoof at Hooves.

“Good,” said Hooves. “Come along everyone, we have animals to see.”

***

“This is bizarre,” thought Applejack as she watched the scenery fly by her. She was sitting in the back seat of the first automobile, with Trixie sitting to her right, and Fluttershy in the front passenger seat.

Hooves, Roseluck, and Mr. Barrister were in the machine behind them. They’d set off a few minutes ago, and already she could see a lot of differences from a normal cart or coach.

“It’s a lot faster,” she said to the driver.

“They can go up to 95 MPH,” he replied. “But because of the terran, we can’t take them above 60.”

“Are they dangerous to the animals that live here?” asked Fluttershy.

“Not unless they run in front of the auto. But that rarely happens here. We drive them away from the animal’s main nesting areas.”

Fluttershy sighed in relief. Applejack rolled her eyes; she should have know Fluttershy would have been more concerned about the animals and not what this machine could do.

But soon, the auto turned a corner, and was faced by a large gate. It was made of large irons poles, which had crisscrossing beams in between them. A purple aura surrounded them, and a large gated entrance sat before them.

“What in the name of Celestia is this?” asked Trixie.

“It’s, uh, one of the main gates to the area. We don’t want the animals going where personnel arrive. So we built this so they don’t come this way.”

“Oh, do they hurt that animals?” asked Fluttershy.

The driver didn’t respond, he just pulled up to the gate and turned to one of the guards stationed at the entrance. He nodded before turning to a control panel and pushing some buttons. The gates made a clanking sound before opening.

Slowly, the driver moved the auto through the opening and out the other side. The auto behind them followed suit, and the two continued on their way. The pony at the controls reset the functions and watched as the gates closed and the autos headed down the pathway.

Mr. Barrister, who was looking over some papers, looked back at Hooves. “The full 50 miles of security fencing is in place?”

“And the concrete moats, and the crystal-relay tracking systems,” replied Hooves with a smile. “But really Barrister, try to enjoy yourself. After all, where do you think this place gets it’s name?”

Mr. Barrister rolled his eyes. “Let’s get something straight Hooves; this is NOT a weekend excursion. This is a serious investigation into the stability of the island. The board wants answers, and I plan on finding them. In 48 hours if they’re not happy, I’m not happy. I’ll shut you down Hooves.”

But the stallion wasn’t fazed, as he let out a small chuckle, which Roseluck copied. “In 48 hours, I’LL be accepting YOUR apology.”

The two autos rolled along a cliff-side for a few minutes before entering a cluster of trees. The path wound through the cluster until it started running along a small river.

But when the autos started rolling next to it, a strange high-pitched noise moved through the air. Hooves smiled stood up in his seat. “Slow down,” he called, “they’ll want to see this!”

The two drivers slowed the autos down to a crawl, while the passengers looked around in confusion. Applejack turned around; looking back at Hooves and Rose.

“Hey Hooves, why are we slowing down?”

But Hooves didn’t need to answer. A second later, the cry rang out again. The ponies looked towards the river, and noticed a large colorful object moving below it’s surface. It slithered along like a snake, and moved so quickly it had disappeared down stream a second later.

“What in the name of Celestia was that?” asked Trixie.

“Something amazing,” called Hooves. “Speed up gentlecolts: let’s try and catch up!”

The drivers nodded, and soon the autos were zooming down the pathway. The river and trees flew past until they were replaced by a large open field. The river split away from the path, and the autos moved further into the field.

“Okay, stop here,” called Hooves. “This is the perfect spot!”

The two autos came to a slow stop, and Hooves hopped out of the back. Rose followed suite, and the two walked towards the Applejack and the others.

“Why have we stopped Hooves,” asked Applejack. She hopped out of the auto and looked around the field. “And what was that thing we saw in the river?”

“What that was will be revealed in time,” said Hooves. “For now, I’d pay more attention to the friend that’s sitting on your hat”.

Applejack looked confused, so she pulled her hat off her head and looked at the top. She gasped, because sitting on it was something she had never seen before.

It was a small round bug looking thing. It had a blue body, four small legs, and large transparent wings. It looked up at Applejack with large eyes, and hummed slightly and smiled.

“What in the hay is this,” asked Applejack.

Fluttershy flew out of the auto and over to the confused mare. She took a look at the creature, and instantly gasped.

“Oh my gosh….that’s a Parasprite!”

“A what,” asked Trixie as she walked towards the group.

“A parasprite,” said Fluttershy. She held out her hoof, and the parasprite flew from AJ’s hat and onto it. “I thought they were extinct!”

Hooves chuckled. “Oh they were….until we fixed that”.

Before the group could respond, they heard a noise coming from some nearby tall grass. The group turned to see what the noise was. Soon, something emerged from the grass; stopping a few feet from the group.

It was a creature: one with four legs, three horns, sharp teeth, and a long spiky tail. It’s eyes looked over the ponies cautiously, but soon it began to move closer to the group.

“What the hay is THAT thing?” asked Applejack.

“Oh my goodness; that’s a Slingtail,” said Fluttershy. She placed the parasprite in her mane and walked over to the creature. Instantly, she began to pet it. The creature let out a small growl and leaned into the pet; clearly enjoying it.

“How on earth is this possible,” asked Fluttershy. “The last Slingtail lived thousands of years ago”.

“Forget that,” said Trixie. “I want some answers Hooves!”

The mare trotted over to Hooves and looked him dead in the eyes. “Why is it that two extinct species are on this island. Why haven’t you told us anything about this preserve….actually, I can shorten this to one question. WHAT IS THIS PLACE!?”

Hooves, not looking worried or angry, chuckled slightly. “Alright, I’ll tell you”. He stepped around Trixie and walked towards the Slingtail, which he promptly started to pet as well.

“This place isn’t exactly a preserve….it’s more like an amusement park. But unlike most parks, our attractions are actually living. And when I say that, I mean real living CRYPTIDS!”

“Cryptids,” said Applejack. “But didn’t most cryptids live, like, thousands of years ago? Heck, I don’t even think Celestia was around when the last one died”.

“Indeed they did,” replied Hooves. “But we’ve found a way to bring them back to life. And it’s not just these two: we have Jackalopes, fruit bats, dragons….”

“DRAGONS!”

Everyone turned to Fluttershy, who was no longer petting the Slingtail. Instead, she was shaking like she was in the middle of a blizzard. “Did….did you say Dragon?”

“That is correct,” replied Hooves.

Fluttershy tried to form words, but she was only able to let out small noises instead. Applejack walked over to her and tried to calm her down, while Hooves just laughed.

“Applejack, Trixie, and my dear Fluttershy: Welcome To Cryptid Park!”

Hooves looked away from the group and out towards the open field. Because in the distance, by the river, he could see more Slingtails and Parasprites drinking and going about their lives.

Applejack, after making sure Fluttershy was okay, walked up next to Hooves. She watched the cryptids for a second before turning to him. “How did you do this,” she asked.

Hooves smiled. “I’ll show you”.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

By the way, if you like this story, check out some of my other popular ones: Like Pure Imagination and A Robot's Lament. I would love your feedback on them too.