The first thing Twilight Sparkle noticed when she opened her eyes was that she was no longer inside her lab, but in a forest of some kind. The sun was hidden behind thick clouds, and the air was rather humid.
Rubbing her head as she sat up, Twilight looked around, trying to get the ringing in her ears to go away. None of what she saw made sense. There was no grass, and the trees were strange, looking like nothing she knew.
"Girls?" She asked, looking around for her friends. They had all been together when the explosion had occurred, but now she was alone. Not even Spike was by her side, and Twilight pulled herself close at being so alone wherever she was.
Picking up her Geode, Twilight was glad at least she could still use her magic as she picked up a nearby stick. "At least that still works," she grumbled as she stood up. Nothing but trees as far as she could see.
A loud screech above her, made Twilight jump, looking up. But the trees were too thick to see anything. She sighed. "Great. Just great. I nearly blow us all up, I'm lost, I have no idea where my friends are. And I have no idea what that was. Can this day get any worse?!"
A scream off to her right, followed by a deep roar, accompanied a crashing and thrashing, causing Twilight to cover her mouth with her hands. "Me and my big mouth," she squeaked as she listened to the sounds of battle. It sounded like a fight to the death, whatever it was, and she was not keen to meet whatever was causing it.
After several moments, the noise died down. Twilight waited a moment, before sighing in relief that it did not come this way, whatever it was. Large, and very hungry, and that was more than enough for her as she sat down on a nearby log as she tried to make sense of what she needed to do next.
"Okay. I have no idea where I am. I don't know where my friends are, and there is something very large over in that direction. It's not much. But it is a start I guess," she said, trying to calm her racing heart. "But why don't I recognize anything? Nothing around me looks like it should. Why is that? This is not Equestria. Sunset has told me enough for me to know that."
This didn't make sense. Her experiments had not been about teleporting. After hearing what Starlight Glimmer had done during the Friendship Games with time, Twilight had become interested in trying to discover time travel herself. Not for the same reasons of course. But think of what they could learn if unlocked the ability to?
Today had been meant to show the girls her progress, even though Sunset was still not sold that this was a good idea. But something had gone wrong somewhere in her calculations, and now here she was, and her friends nowhere in sight. Just her luck.
A rustling in some nearby bushes made Twilight jump, afraid of what might come out. Looking around, she grabbed the largest stick she could and held it in front of her, trying not to shake. If something wanted to get to her, she would go down fighting if she had to.
But what came out of the bushes made her jaw drop. It was a small, four-legged animal. It looked at her curiously, before starting to browse on some nearby ferns.
Twilight tried to get her mind to work, but it seemed hopeless. "A Sauropod? That's impossible. They're extinct. Unless? That blast could not have sent us back in time? Could it?"
The Sauropod did not respond, and as Twilight watched, several more followed the first into the clearing, giving Twilight barely a look before they too started to browse on the ferns. Twilight was no expert on this kind of dinosaur, so she could not say what exactly they were.
After a moment, Twilight relaxed. The group was rather cute, and she would be lying if she said she had never been interested in prehistoric life. And she always had liked the herbivores more than the carnivores. Maybe it had something to do with loving The Land Before Time as she did.
"So it appears that we have been sent back in time. But when exactly? And where are we?" Twilight asked herself, tapping her chin. "We could be at any point. This was not part of the plan."
A loud crunching sound jolted her out of her thoughts. Looking around, she couldn't see anything, but the crunching was definetly coming closer. The Sauropod young had scattered into the underbrush, not a good sign. With no other idea, Twilight slid under the fallen tree she was on. It was just big enough for her as she pulled her hands and feet underneath as a clawed foot came down in front of her, followed by a Theropod's snout.
Twilight held her breath as the creature sniffed the ground, before snorting irritably, growling in digust. She knew enough of predators to know what this was. An Allosaurus. The horns above the eyes and the lower paired ridges than ran up to them gave it away, and judging by its size, it was a full adult. Just her luck.
The Allosaurus turned its head back and forth, and Twilight knew that it had smelled her to some extent. She could only hope that the smell of her magic and just her human scent would throw it off. At one point, it backed up, and Twilight could almost touch its foot, but kept her hands close to her.
"Go away, go away," she prayed to whatever gods might be listening. She watched in mounting horror as the Allosaurus stopped, before begining to turn its head directly in her direction, a low hiss escaping its lips. Her eyes widened as she prepared her magic, unsure if it would even do her any good.
A loud crack caused the creature to turn quickly. its tail coming within an inch or so of Twilight herself. Another loud crack deeper in the forest seemed to draw its attention more than she did, as the Theropod stomped off in search of whatever was causing the noise, disappearing into the treeline.
Twilight waited another moment after it disappeared before she came out from under her cover, her heart in her mouth at how close that had been. She almost screamed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, though, before being turned around to come face to face with... "Sunset!"
The fiery haired girl pulled her into a hug, one Twilight was happy to return. "Twilight! I'm glad that worked. I don't think our magic could have done much."
Twilight blinked, before seeing most of her friends behind Sunsset. "Girls! Where is Rainbow?"
Applejack shook her head in exasperation. "Being the distraction for that thing. I coulda licked it good though."
"Before it got its jaws around you, darling?" Rarity asked with an eye roll.
"I thought Allosaurus was extinct?" Fluttershy asked, watching where it had vanished.
"Yeah! What did I miss?" Rainbow Dash asked as she rejoined the group. "Is this like that Ray Bradbury story or something?"
Sunset pinched her nose, as she shot a pointed look at Twilight. "They are extinct, Fluttershy. I think we've gone back in time. I told you this was a bad idea, Twilight."
Twilight glared right back. "I didn't hear you offering any other ideas, Sunset! You had plenty of chances to stop me, and you didn't do a thing! I never wanted this to happen," she sniffed.
Sunset wanted to argue more, but the defeated look in friend's eyes took the fight out of her as she lay a hand on her shoulder. "I know, Twilight. But this was something I was worried about."
"Not to ruin the moment. But how are getting home?!" Pinkie asked, her usual enthusiasm seemingly undimmed by their circumstances.
Twilight and Sunset shared a worried look. "I left my Journal with your parents, Twilight. I told them that if something magic happened, to contact the princess immediately."
Twilight nodded, massaging her temples. "They know enough about it to know its real, and I have told them about other me. I think they believe me."
"Um. Girls?" Fluttershy whsipered, but no one paid her any mind.
"What can she do, though? We're stuck in time. Not some magical disaster," Applejack grumbled, earning a glare from Rarity.
"Girls," Fluttershy said a little louder, but still to no avail.
"It's better than nothing. And I trust Princess Twilight to know magic far more than we ever will. And with all of what Starlight knows about Temporal Magic, I have the feeling we'll be in good hands and hooves," Sunset said proudly.
"Girls!" Fluttershy finally shouted. She gulped as everyone looked at her, before point behind Twilight and Sunset. "We have bigger problems." When they all looked, their eyes widened in horror.
The Allosaurus from before stood there, watching them hungrily, and next to it stood another one, both eyeing the Rainbooms with interest.
"... Maybe if we don't move they won't see us?" Pinkie smiled hopefully.
Twilight pinched her nose. "Pinkie. That is a fake idea Jurassic Park made up. And that was Tyrannosaurus Rex anyway. Wrong dinosaur here."
Rainbow smirked at Applejack. "You wanted to rumble with one, AJ. Here's your chance." The apple farmer didn't look as thrilled now at the prospect of facing two of them.
"So now what do we do?" Rarity asked, begining to back up, as did all of the girls.
Twilight gulped. "Run. Just run!"
That was all it took, before the girls ran as fast as they could, hoping they could maybe lose the pair in the forest. The two Allosaurs were soon hot on their heels however, and any thoughts of trying to get home were pushed aside for just trying to stay alive for the moment.
Above the place where Twilight awoke, the air shimmered for a moment, before returning to normal.
Author's Note
I blame watching the short film HELL CREEK by Danny Donahue that got the gears rolling on this story. And watching videos by Ben G Thomas, CHimerasuchus, and Your Dinosaurs Are Wrong. Plus Walking With Dinosaurs and Planet Dinosaur.
As for the time period? It would be the Kimmeridgian Stage of the Late Jurassic. I didn't want anything from the Cretaceous. Kept going back and forth on which large Theropod the girls would meet. Figured Allosaurus was a safe bet.
Either was that, or Ceratosaurus, Torvosaurus, or Saurophaganx. Something big from the Morrison Formation at least. I like to think that Equestria Girls takes place in North America. Namely the United States, so here we are. This is just the first part of a larger story that will be the sequel. I just had to get this one out first, or I would've gone crazy from waiting.
