Equestria's Dinosaurs: The Utahraptor Pack

With the Main 6

The tall grass wasn't easy for the ponies to navigate. All the friends knew was that they had to follow Twilight with her tracking spell.

"Twilight, I hate to ask this, but can we please go back home so that we can formulate a new plan?" Rarity asked. "Simply following them of hoof could take a long time."

"I agree with Rarity, Twilight," Applejack said. "At the speed that girl was going, she could anywhere by now."

Twilight turned off her magic and sighed. Applejack was right. An animal that fast could be anywhere for miles. And it wasn't like they had any equipment to help them contain the dinosaur once they found her.

"Alright! New plan, we head back to Ponyville and come with a plan for capture and containment," Twilight said. "We'll figure out what to do with her afterward."

"And just how are we gonna catch her? She's got claws and teeth!" Rainbow inquired.

"With a bit of bait and a good net," Applejack said. "Me and Big Mac have had to do that with predators threatening our livestock before."

"That still doesn't answer the question of, how do we even try to find her?" Rarity asked.

"Wait, doesn't Winona sometimes help you track predators?" Twilight asked.

"I see what you're implying and I like it," Applejack said.

"Okay, then. Let's get to planning," Twilight said.

The group was heading to the train station when Twilight's journal started to buzz. Pulling out the journal, she read the "text" from Sunset.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle,

If you do have a dinosaur showing up in Equestria, then I have something for you that might help. It's a comprehensive guide to all currently-known species of dinosaur, so it may help you out with your "visitor". I'll be waiting by the statue portal for you to come and get it.

Love, Sunset Shimmer ;)"

"Well, that sounds like it'll come in handy," Twilight said.

"What is it, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Sunset's got a whole book on dinosaurs that she wants to give me. It could clue us in on our missing friend," Twilight replied.

"So what do we do, now? Head back to the castle and get the book?" Fluttershy asked.

If they wanted to learn more about the animal they were dealing with, then they needed this book. Twilight fired up her horn and teleported the lot of them back to her castle before anyone could speak.

"Well, that answers that," Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight walked over to her homemade portal in her library and fired it up. After a few moments, Sunset Shimmer flew out of the portal with a large, thick book clutched under her foreleg. Sunset gave it to Twilight who seemed more than a little happy to obtain the book.

"Hey, Princess," Sunset said. "Got you that dinosaur book. It contains things like a list of species, theories, and even cladistics."

Princess Twilight practically threw herself at Sunset, wrapping her hooves around he and even kissing her on the cheek, much to the blushing shock of Sunset.

"Thank you so much, Sunset! This will definitely help!" Twilight said.

Flipping through the various species in the book, Twilight finally found the dinosaur that matched the size and appearance of the one they were currently dealing with. Twilight showed everyone the image on the page.

"We're dealing with a dinosaur called a 'Utahraptor'. A large dromaeosaur that was feared throughout its ecosystem as a powerful predator," Twilight said. "And now one is here in Equestria."

"But why is a dinosaur here in Equestria? Dinosaurs are supposed to be extinct. At least they are in the human world," Sunset asked.

Now that was the question on everyone's minds. It was really weird that animals that are supposed to be extinct began to crop up in Equestria. But that was a problem to figure out in the future. The bigger thing to focus on right now was finding the one that's currently here and figure out what to do from there.

"Well, we need to get back out there to find the animal and make sure they're safe," Twilight said. "Let's head out!"

Before they could get back to tracking the Utahraptor, Sunset raised a hoof. "Um, is it OK if I go with you? I really want to see a real live dinosaur."

"Sure. We could use more hooves to help us," Twilight replied. "Let's get going!"

One teleportation spell later, and the group was right back in the field where they were tracking the Utah. They'd make sure to find her before something bad could happen to her.

• + +

Vora and Velt

A day and a half. A day and a half, the pair have been running. The trail was getting warmer and warmer which meant that they were getting close to the rest of their pack. Vora and Velt finally stopped at the river to drink. Velt's stomach growled, earning a sigh from him.

"Vora, would it be okay if we stopped for a bit to hunt?" he asked. "We haven't eaten anything the whole day."

"I'm sorry, Velt, but we need to keep going. Every minute we waste is a minute the kidnappers take our pack further and further away from us," Vora said. "We have to get our pack back."

Velt knew it was impossible to get Vora to stop. Whenever she set her mind to something, she stuck to it until it was done. That's what made her such a successful hunter in the pack. Velt simply sighed and struggled to get to his feet.

"Alright, dear. Let's get our pack back," Velt said.

The pair took off at speed, stopping every now and then to track the scent. The kidnappers had apparently taken them down the river to a desert area. Sand and rocks stretched for miles in all directions. At least the scent kept them on track. The sand made it difficult for them to keep traction and they had to slow down their running speed. Vora made sure to claw those kidnappers nice and good for making them run on sand.

(That Night)

Vora could tolerate a lot of things but the baking sun and running on sand wasn't one on that list. Both Utahs were panting from the heat and the running, but the fact that the scent was growing stronger. Vora and Velt knew that the pack and their kidnappers had to be close. The scent led to a circle of rocks that jutted upwards out of the sand. Alongside the scents of their packmates, Vora could also smell the mammals that took them. Vora flexed her toe claws in anger.

"Are you ready, babe?" Vora said.

"I'm always ready," Velt said. "Let's get them out of here."

"You go around the left and I'll go to the right. We'll take these mammals by surprise and break the others free. A surprise attack will get them to scatter."

"Sounds good."

Vora and Velt split up and walked around the edges of the rocks and peeked in through the gaps. Gathered in the center were several mammals like the ones that Vora encountered while they were surrounded by what looked like weird boxes made of stone rods. And inside these boxes were Vora's packmates! Vora and Velt may not have eaten in nearly two days, but they would make sure to use their remaining strength to free the rest of the pack.

With a single leap, Vora and Velt both landed in the midst of the mammals and shrieked threateningly. The mammals screamed and scattered as expected and now were going to get weapons. Vora and Velt ran amongst them in the chaos to the boxes as the packmates saw their alpha.

"Big Sis! Is that you?!"

"It's Vora and Velt!"

"Please! Get us out of here!"

Vora and Velt bit down on the weird rods and pull them apart, but they didn't budge. No matter how had they pulled, they couldn't break the boxes apart. One of Vora's sisters looked at her with pleading eyes and a spoke in a quivering voice.

"Sis, please get us out of here. I don't want to stay here."

It broke Vora's heart to hear one of her sisters like this. She looked at her sister with eyes that screamed "heartbreak".

"Don't worry. I'm going to get you all out of here, I promise," Vora said.

A familiar scream called from behind Vora. She turned around to see that Velt had been wrapped up by some kind of vine web that the mammals carried. Vora left to get him free, but a rock was thrown at her leg. She felt something snap in her leg an she fell to the ground shrieking in pain. Some of the mammals approached her and kicked her across the jaw to knock her out.

"That'll teach it a lesson," one of the mammals said. "What do we do with them now, boss?"

A mammal wearing a tan vest walked forward and looked at Vora and then to Velt. "We only have one empty cage and we can't fit the two of them in it. Take the one in the net and leave this one here. The desert will take care of it for us."

"Sure, Dr. Caballeron," the mammal said.

Caballeron and his crew worked to round up the Utahs and left Vora there to die. As they left, a single tear left Vora's eye. One. Single. Tear.

• + +

Twilight and the Group

Good thing that they were now in the desert. It would make tracking the runaway dinosaur easier with visible footprints and the tracking spell Twilight was using. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew a fair distance ahead to scout for it. Meanwhile, Twilight and Sunset were looking at the prints on the ground.

"I thought you said you were looking for one dinosaur," Sunset said.

"We were, but now there are two sets of footprints," Twilight said. "A breeding pair, maybe?"

"Now that's a thought. More of these animals breeding. Could be something terrifying," Rarity said.

"If they have any babies, I could throw them a nesting party!" Pinkie said, ideas already swarming in her mind.

Applejack was now starting to look worried and wiped sweat from her forehead. "If those critters start breedin', then what do we do then?"

"Applejack has a point," Sunset said. "At first, we were dealing with one dinosaur, but now we're dealing with two. And if these dinosaurs are here, there could be more."

That was a possibility that Twilight hadn't considered until now. If this was possible, then she should expect to see even more dinosaurs at some point. And if that did happen then Twilight and the Princesses need to find a way to find them a place to live where they won't come into conflict with ponies. She'd have to find a way to handle that later. Right now, they had to find these two Utahraptors. Rainbow and Fluttershy came back with worried looks.

"Girls! We found the Utahraptor!" Fluttershy said.

"She's injured, so we need to hurry!" Rainbow said.

"Let's get going, girls!" Twilight called. "We need to help her!"