The Devils in the Desert

by Mr Wool

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Adventure, Dark
Length: 1299

Something is terrorising Appleloosa.

Tyranno's first visit to Appleloosa isn't exactly ideal, the half eaten bodies of ponies and buffalo begin showing up and nopony knows what is doing it. Along with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Braeburn he sets out to find whatever creature is doing the killing and stop it at all costs. Nothing can prepare him for what he is about to find.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-02 20:24:01 UTC

Train Journey

Tyranno awoke from what was probably the most uncomfortable sleep of his life. The thought of having to sleep this way again made him cringe. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before due to the constant bumping of the train on the tracks was one on the contributing factors, he assumed that there was something wrong with the tracks or that there was something wrong with the train itself, after all the train did seem like it was pretty old, it had to be pulled by four stallions. Another thing was the heat, he didn't need a thermometer to tell him that it was hot. He looked over at Applejack who was sleeping in a bed across the way from him, Rainbow Dash was asleep on the bed above her.

"How can they sleep in such heat ?" He said quietly to himself. He looked out the window, nothing but desert and mountains. He hoped that this train journey would be over soon, it seemed to be taking forever, traveling for a long time wasn't the most ideal thing for him to do but after how much Applejack had told him about Appleloosa he figured he might as well take her up on her invitation to go with her while she visited her cousin Braeburn, Rainbow Dash also did the same, the rest were too busy to come.

The heat was now beginning to get unbearable inside the carriage. Tyranno opened the winodow next to his bed only to be hit in the face by a gust of hot wind and a bit of dust. "Oh my God !" he almost yelled out closing the window as quickly as he opened it. By now he had had it, he felt that if he didn't get off this train right now he was going to go crazy. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Applejack who was after waking up.

"Well good morning there sugarcube"

"Morning, how much of that did you see ?"

"Most of it, I take it ya didn't sleep well last night"

"That would be an underexaggeration, how could you sleep in this heat ?"

"Guess I'm just used to it, been coming here for years, besides I was just like you when I first went to Appleloosa, you'll get used to it"

"I hope so, how long's left ?"

"Maybe another two hours I reckon"

"Swell" he said with sarcasm in his voice.

"I know yer gonna just love Appleloosa ,and cousin Braeburn I gotta feeling the two of you are gonna be the best of friends"

"Yeah Appleloosa is cool, not nearly as cool as Cloudsdale though" said Rainbow Dash who was now waking up. "Too bad your not a pegasus pony Tyranno then I could show you around"

"Have you been listening in on us the whole time ?" asked Applejack.

"No, of course not" Rainbow Dash said only to receive a glare from Applejack "What ?"

A small smile came across Tyranno's face as he listened to the two begin to, he always enjoyed watching the two get into an arguement because it would usually end with the two trying to out do one another, he remembered Twilight telling him one time about how they had an Iron Pony Competition to see who the better athlete was, he knew though that despite the fact they usually got into arguements it was all in good fun even if Rainbow Dash didn't like to lose. After about five minutes they stopped and Rainbow Dash turned her attention away from Applejack and began reading a Daring Doo book that she had brought with her. Tyranno was amazed when he found out that Rainbow Dash liked reading, with all she bragged about her flying abilities and her overly confident attitude you would never her to be the reading type.

"Hey Applejack I'm gonna see if I can get some sleep for the rest of the trip wake me when we get there"

"Sure thing"

Tyranno put his head to the pillow and looked out the window. Watching the desert pass by he felt himself slowly beginning to drift off, his eyes began to slowly close only to open again, this happened several time until finally they stayed shut.

"Somepony please help me !" a light brown earth pony with a black mane cried out desperately tryingto find his way back to town. He had been out camping with some friends. Things seemed to be going well for them, then they were attacked by who knows what ? Now he was all alone without any way of getting back. He scanned the area not looking for the town, but for any sign of what attacked him and his friends, he couldn't see anything, he was safe or so he thought.

The creature watched its prey from a distance as it ran away trying to get to safety unaware of the creatures prescence near him. It kept its eyes focused solely on its prey as it waited for the right moment to strike. It had hunted enough times to know that the panicked breathing of its prey meant that it was going to be an easy kill. Its prey then stopped dead in its tracks.

The pony looked behind himself. This time he swore that he was after hearing something. His breathing was becoming more heavy and fast. He had been out running in the desert all night, he hadn't eaten anything or had anything to drink in a long time and out in the desert heat it had taken its toll on him very quickly and all the running wasn't any help.

"Oh no !" He began running again. The creature began the chase.

The prey was moving fast, but the hunter was much faster, not that it needed to move fast, it didn't take long for it to catch up with him, it grabbed hold of its preys leg, pulling it down to the ground. The pony screamed in pain, as he felt the creatures mouth biting into his back leg and tearing it off, a loud snap was the first indication that it was after breaking the bone off. It was the most agonizing thing he had ever felt. The next thing thing he felt was the creatures mouth digging into his chest breaking some of his ribs inwards. He continued screaming in pain while the creature dug deeper into his chest til it reached the part that it was looking for, the heart. Instantly it grabbed a hold of it in its mouth and pulled it out so fiercly that it ended up breaking the rest of his ribs, not that it mattered to him anymore now, he was dead. The creature crushed its preys heart in mouth, making it easier to be eaten. Once it had finished the heart it moved onto the stomach taking out the bits it didn't like. It continued to eat until it finally had its fill,once it was done it left the half eaten body of its prey lying out in the desert. The ponies of Appleloosa continued to go about their day to day business blissfully unaware of the impending danger that was approaching them, it would only be a matter of time.

If you have read my other story Beast of Equestria then you should know that in this story my OC Tyranno doesn't have his ability to change form, Beast of Equestria has never happened. Also the I should mention the Idea for this came from reading the comic series Jurassic Park: Devils in the Desert, so if you have read that comic series then you probably know what the creatures are,also this isn't a crossover just to be clear.