Equestria's Dinosaurs: The Tyrant Princeby Lord Shadow EclipseChaptersCh 1) New World, New Problem2) HuntingCh 3) AttackingCh 1) New World, New ProblemAuthor's Note I'm using a feathered T-rex in this story. Adult T-rexes may not have had feathers, but I think it looks cool, so I'm using it. Ch 1) New World, New Problem North America - Late Cretaceous Period Tex was having a good day. He took down a bull Triceratops and sustained no injuries. The meat from this kill could keep him fed for days. Tex fell asleep next to the carcass and woke up thirsty. He got up to go to the nearby river to get some water. "This seems like a great place for a new territory. Plenty of prey, a good source of water, and there don't seem to be any other predators for miles," Tex said to himself. "I'll make sure I keep this land for myself and chase off any other rexes." As he was about to head back to the carcass, something suddenly shone in the sky above his head. Tex looked up and saw a bright ball of light. It was as if a piece of the sun was falling towards him. "What the--?!" Tex shouted before the light knocked him out. + + It was like his head was filled with crawling ants when Tex woke up. He winced as he tried to stand up and shook his mane of iridescent dark green feathers before stretching. Tex blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around. Everything around him was crazy and weird. He wasn't laying alongside the riverbank and there was no Triceratops carcass in sight or smell. It was night and he was in a forest of trees filled with plump red fruit of some kind. A place like this would be perfect for attracting herbivores for him to take advantage of. But that didn't distract him from the fact that he wasn't in his own territory. "What the heck happened to me? And where am I?" he asked himself. "I might need to try to speak to another rex if I find one." Tex picked a random direction and started walking. This forest of red fruit trees didn't reach up to his height so he had an unobstructed view of his surroundings. The fruit trees grew for miles in every direction. It would be hard to find his way if it hadn't been for the one thing that stood out from the trees. Ahead of him was a wooden box of some kind suspended in a tree. Tex cocked his head while walking towards it. "What is this thing? Some kind of nest?" Tex asked the air. He walked up to the nest and took a cautious sniff. There were creatures sleeping in it, for sure. He didn't recognize the scent of these creatures compared to other dinosaurs or even the tiny mammals he lived with. Tex was still curious about what was sleeping in the nest. He saw that there were small openings in the nest where he could look inside so he craned his head to the side and peered in. Curled up inside the nest were three small critters. One of them was yellow and red with a large bow, another one was white with pink and purple hair, and the last one was a orange with purple hair and a pair of wings. Tex had never seen mammals so colorful before. "What kind of critters are these?" Tex asked. "They're weirdly cute." They smelled like something sweet like the fruit around him. The wind changed and carried another smell, one that was deeper and more earthy. It was some kind of animal. The smell lured Tex away from the treetop nest and towards the far end of this fruity forest. Tex walked for a good few minutes until he saw the weirdest thing ever. A gathering of strange structures stood in a small clearing. They were eerily similar to the treetop nest he found in the fruit forest. Maybe similar mammals lived in this nest, too. Off to one side of the big wooden nest was the source of the alluring smell. A crazy barrier kept a herd of fluffy white mammals. They were making a lot of racket after seeing the T-rex before them standing tall and imposing. Tex cocked his head in curiosity. "Why are these things here? Why are they in this crazy barrier?" he asked himself before shrugging. "Oh well. Makes eating easier." Tex thrust his head downward and snapped up one of the fluffy things in his jaws. Thanks to his species' superior jaw strength, bone literally exploded under the sheer amount of pressure and the fluffy thing's back legs were blown off instantly. He loved the warm taste of the mammal in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Then he helped himself to a few more of them despite the amount of noise they were making. He stopped once he heard a creaking sound coming from the big nest. Tex looked and saw a larger red mammal staring right up at him with a light in his mouth. The mammal looked at him with wide eyes. "Coprolites! What does this thing want?" he thought. "Does it expect me to share? No way that's happening. Maybe I'll give him a good scare." Tex turned his whole body to face the red mammal and breathed in deeply. He then thrust his large head forward and bellowed out a deep rumbling roar while ruffling the feathers on the top half of his body. The red mammal ran to the side and picked up what looked like a stick with a metal slab on the tip. It ran forward and hit Tex right on his nose which rightly stung. "That tears it!" he thought in fury. Lights began to emanate from the nest before Tex could retaliate. Now the red mammal was joined by few others. One was pink with purple hair, another was orange with golden hair, and a wizened old green one with white hair. They all looked up in shock at seeing Tex, too. "Just what are these crazy things?!" he thought. The red one tried to swing the stick at him again but Tex was too quick for him this time. He closed his jaws around it and snapped it in half easily. He spit out the broken half and roared again. The red one tried to run away but Tex grabbed his tail in his jaws. Tex lifted the screaming mammal off the ground with the intent to eat him but a rock struck his nose before he could. He looked and saw the orange one glaring at him with a few rocks in its hooves. "You let my brother go, ya big varmint!" she yelled. Tex snorted at her. Tex whipped his head around and threw the red one right at the orange one, his aim perfectly hitting the orange one. Tex laughed to himself while stalking towards them. If they were going to cause him more trouble then he may as well kill them both. Tex would've killed them if it wasn't for the old one of them. She ran up to the side of his head and squirted some kind of red liquid in his eye. Now his eye was aflame with pain. Tex reared back and bellowed in pain shaking his head and blinking to stop the burning pain. "Damn it! Are these things venomous?! Screw this, I'm outta here!" Tex thought and quickly ran away from the scene. Thanks to his burning right eye, he bumped into more of the trees as he left. The big male T-rex ran for a long time before he made it to a stream in the middle of a pretty dark forest. He dipped his head in the water to soothe the pain in his eye. Tex growled in anger at being driven away by mammals much smaller than him. "Damn mammals! I'll kill those three next time I see them!" he vowed. "But for now, I need to heal and rest." Tex curled his tail around himself and slept off the pain. He would make those three mammals pay for this. Pay... painfully. 2) HuntingAuthor's Note Part of this story is inspired by the story of Vladimir Markov. If you know, you know. 2) Hunting Merko's Airship Fleet Merko was really happy going down into the cargo hold of his flagship and witnessing the different dinosaurs he and his new business partner managed to capture. Nothing that was too big to fit down there, it was still filled with dinosaurs of all kinds of species. From large Parasaurolophuses to small Velociraptors, there were plenty of specimens ready for him to sell back at Kluegtown. And the Rangers weren't able to stop them thanks to Skinner's tactics. The merciless business-rat walked down into the cargo hold to look at his precious cargo. He got glares and snarls from each animal he passed, including one particularly vicious Allosaurus. A wailing cry from Merko's left led him to Trap Skinner. He was in the process of ripping one of the teeth out of a young Baryonyx with pair of pliers. The animal licked his bleeding mouth and moved to the back of his cage making an equivalent of a whimper. Merko smiled at seeing the hunter. "Collecting another trophy for yourself, I see," Merko said. "Though I wish you wouldn't damage the merchandise before we bring them to market." "I simply love reminders of my hunts. This Baryonyx was quite a good prey to go after. Even killed two of our hunters when he was cornered," Skinner said, displaying a necklace of theropod teeth with each belonging to different species. "And this is how I honor them." "Speaking of hunting, I think my men have found our best quarry yet," Merko said handing a paper to Skinner. "One of my spies in Ponyville reported that one of the Princess's friends had an encounter with... an unusually big predator." Trap took the paper and read it. His eyes lit up more and more as he continued to read. He dropped the paper and his lips curled into a smile that even Merko found creepy. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" he asked excitedly. "Let's make our way towards Ponyville!" + + Ponyville Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer were having a pretty good time forming their Dinosaur Rangers Team. They managed to develop branches of the team in every town and city in Equestria and even beyond to respond to reports of dinosaurs. And now they were mulling over different sighting reports and operations results. "Can you believe this, Starlight? A Quetzalcoatlus nesting in Griffonstone and a herd of Maiasaura in Dodge Junction?" Twilight asked. "There are apparently Titanosaurs in the Dragonlands, Pteranodons making a nesting colony in the Hippogriff Kingdom, and even a Megalosaurus in Manehattan," Starlight said. "Our teams have been doing pretty great at getting these animals safely secured and relocated to Sauria." Twilight's smile dropped when she looked over some of the other reports they've been getting for the past few months. It was more than infuriating to be hearing what some of the team had to say. "Yeah, but we've also been taking some hits from Merko and his goons. When we started, we used to beat them to the punch every time, but now they've been getting a lot better," Twilight said. "We've lost an Allosaurus, a few young members of a Pachycephalosaurus herd, and a whole pack of Velociraptors." "Where do you suppose they're getting these new skills from so fast?" Starlight asked. "It has to be either they're naturally getting better or someone's teaching them. Either way, we need to up our game if we're going to help these animals." "Right. It makes me wonder what other new dinosaur we'll find next." The doors to the castle library burst open startling Twilight and Starlight. Starlight's back hunched with the fur on her back standing up like a cat. The pair looked over to see a very anxious Applejack speed into the room with a limp. Her left foreleg was swollen at one joint and every shade of black and blue. Her eyes were wide with worry and her mane was a rat's nest. The rest of her family joined her including a confused-looking Apple Bloom. "Twilight! We need some help! There was a dinosaur attack on our farm last night!" Applejack cried. "What? A dinosaur attacked your farm last night?" Twilight asked before looking down at her friend's leg. "Is that why your leg's sprained?" "Yeah. Showed up and started eating some of our sheep. We tried to drive it away but then the big varmint threw Big Mac at me like a doll!" Applejack replied. "If Granny here hadn't squirted hot sauce in the beast's eye, we'd be dead and digested by now!" "What happened next?" Starlight asked joining in. Granny was the one to answer. "The critter ran off to the Everfree Forest," Granny Smith replied. "After tending my grandkids I found tracks leading back to the treehouse where Apple Bloom and her friends were sleeping!" Everything about that was scary to think about. A large predatory dinosaur hanging around where three fillies were sleeping was something out of a nightmare. Twilight gave Applejack a serious look before pulling out the dinosaur encyclopedia Sunset gave her. "Applejack, can you describe the dinosaur you saw?" she asked. "The varmint was real big, like around 12 feet in height and 40 feet long. It had a big head and two tiny 2-fingered arms and a coating of feathers on the back of the head, neck, back, and tail," Applejack replied. Twilight turned the book around to show a picture of an animal matching that description. The Apple Family was shocked to be seeing the image. "That's the one! That's the dino we saw!" Applejack said. Twilight looked at the picture and back to the others with a smile. "It looks like you guys had an encounter with the King of the Dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex! The most powerful predator that ever lived!" Twilight cried out. Applejack and her family were even more shocked. They fought and actually survived an encounter with an apex predator even amongst dinosaurs. Starlight held a hoof to her chin in thought. "If the T-rex was eating your sheep, then this guy must be hungry. We need to get him quickly before someone gets hurt or Merko's hunters come after him," Starlight said. "Unfortunately the rest of our friends and team have their own dinosaurs to deal with." "Looks like it's just us. We need to get our gear and go after the rex before Merko does," Twilight said. "Let's go!" Twilight, Starlight, and the Apple Family left to gear up to go after a full-grown T-rex. However, Applejack put a hoof in front of Apple Bloom. "Hey, I'm helping, too!" Apple Bloom said. Applejack looked down at her sternly. "No you ain't, missy! That dino was hanging around your treehouse last night. I can't risk you getting hurt if something goes wrong," Applejack said. "I need you and your friends to stay here in town where it's safe." "We can help, too! The more Rangers you have, the better!" Apple Bloom retorted. "I won't watch you get gobbled up like a mouse!" Applejack said loudly, stomping her hoof on the ground. Apple Bloom glared daggers at Applejack but didn't speak. "You and your friends just don't have the experience catching dinosaurs, much less one like this. You didn't see this critter or how strong he is. I need you here where I know, you'll be safe." Apple Bloom took off out of the castle. Applejack sighed and turned around to grab her gear. She would do her job as a big sister and keep her family safe, no matter what. + + With Tex Tex woke up angry with one thing on his mind: payback. He'd never been so humiliated by any creature, dinosaur or mammal. The thought that such small and weak mammals could actually hurt him and drive him away from food or territory filled him with boiling rage. Tex looked at his reflection in the river and saw that while the pain in his eye was gone it was red and bloodshot and his vision was slightly blurry in that eye now. An angry growl rumbled from his chest as he snarled in fury. "Those little rainbow rats! I'm gonna make them pay!" Tex vowed. He stomped his way through the forest at a decent pace. Smaller animals scurried out of the way as he trekked through. He paid them no mind as he had a goal firmly set in his mind. Tex followed his own tracks from last night all the way back to the mammals' nest. The white fluffy things he was eating last night were still there, thankfully. "Heeeeeeeere's Texy!" Tex called. He roared to get them to come out and face him. Nothing happened. The mammals didn't come out to face him like they did last night. Tex was confused. He walked through the front of their wooden nest and waited. What was wrong? Were they nocturnal and only came out at night? Did he thrash them so bad that he scared them off? He didn't come all the way back for no reason. He knew he could track them easily with his sense of smell. Tex would send these weak mammals a message. "You can run, but you can't hide from me!" Tex called. After filling himself up on some more of the fluffy things, he set about his work. Tex ran and rammed his huge head and body right through the thin wall of one of the mammals' nests. It was filled with hay and red fruit, which Tex took note of. "So these mammals eat this red fruit. And this must be where they store it. Well, I better help them with it," Tex said. He started to stomp right on the fruit until none of it was usable. He destroyed the rest of the storage nest and watched it crumble to the ground in satisfaction. Tex then turned his attention to the main nest. He rammed his head through it again and started to destroy it one step at a time. A bite through a beam there, a tail swipe here, and a few stomps and head-rams over there, and it was barely recognizable. Tex was panting with satisfaction. "I would've preferred fighting the mammals and eating them, but this is a good start," Tex said. "Now time to track them down." Tex sniffed the air until he caught their scents. They were relatively fresh, no more than a few hours old. Tex followed the scents all the way down a dirt path until he saw what looked to him like a colony of these mammals. Each of them were walking about amongst a collection of nests of varying sizes and colors. Tex snorted in frustration. "So these suckers think they can hide from me! We'll see about that!" Tex raged. Now a huge and powerful angry T-rex was barreling towards the town eager for a fight. Ch 3) AttackingTwilight's Castle Twilight, Starlight, and the adult members of the Apple Family were gathering equipment needed to tackle a large dinosaur like a T-rex. Net guns, tranq guns, sleeping spells, bait, camouflage, and a spray to mask their scents. Applejack noticed that her big brother was shaking a bit while holding a tranq gun. "Hey, ya nervous, bro?" Applejack asked. "How can I not be?" he replied. "That big beast picked me up with his jaws last night and threw me like a hacky-sack. What if... something even worse happens?" "Don't worry, youngin. We'll have that critter bagged and out of here in no time," Granny said, hoisting a net gun over her shoulder. Twilight, flanked by Starlight, came back fully kitted up. She dressed in full camo gear and had a pack full of weapons slung on her sides. "OK, since the T-rex ran off into the Everfree Forest after being driven off, we should begin our search there," Twilight said. "Is everyone ready?" "As ready as we'll ever be, Twi," Applejack said. "Let's get going!" The doors to the castle burst open with a frantic Derpy flying in. The poor thing looked like she'd seen a monster. She flew right up to Twilight and didn't even give her a chance to speak. "Princess! There's a monster attacking the town!" Derpy said. "WHAT?!" the group called. Everyone followed Derpy outside and were greeted by a terrifying scene. Ponies were running and flying away screaming from a large creature making its way through the buildings. Gray scaly skin with a covering of iridescent green and black feathers on the neck, back, and tail were prominent features along with a large head and small arms came into view from behind Sugarcube Corner. Twilight's eyes widened as a smile spread on her lips. "That's it. That's a T-rex alright!" Twilight squealed. The T-rex sniffed the air before turning his head to look directly at the ponies at the castle. A rumbling, threatening growl ushered from the powerful animal's throat before turning into a loud roar. Next came the animal charging right for them. + + Tex's POV The mammal colony scattered like Troodons as he barreled through. He made sure to stop every now and then to try to follow the scent of his foes. He found it all over a small stand made of wood and full of familiar red fruit. Tex stomped on it and decimated whatever was left. "Those things have to be around here somewhere! I can smell them varmints!" Tex grumbled. "Their scent is strongest around here!" He turned to go down a path through the colony where even more mammals were running or even flying away. The scent grew stronger and stronger the deeper he went into the colony. Some armored mammals wielding some weird pointy sticks tried to attack him but Tex ran through them and swiped them away with his tail. These puny things were no match for him. A few turns later brought him in front of a large crystal clump with the very mammals he was after. Tex narrowed his eyes and growled. "It's payback time!" he roared before charging right at them. + + Pony POV Everyone scattered when the T-rex came charging. Applejack narrowly dodged a full-force bite from the dinosaur while Big Mac was helping Granny get away. Starlight and Twilight charged their horns with magic to defend themselves. Poor Derpy simply flew back inside the castle to hide. "What's the T-rex doing here?!" Starlight asked. "Trap him now, questions later!" Applejack called bringing out her net gun. The T-rex swiped her away with his tail and sent her flying into the fountain. Big Mac struggled with his tranq gun when the massive beast turned to face him. A huge mouth with serrated banana-sized teeth was about to deliver Big Mac to the dinosaur's stomach until a blast of magic knocked the T-rex to the side. Big Mac turned to see Starlight charging up a sleeping spell. "Big Mac, get out of the way!" she called. Big Mac ran towards her side and tripped in his fear. The tranq gun accidentally fired a dart right into Starlight's neck. She winced and looked down at the dart. "You big... red... idioooooooooot," Starlight slurred until she fell to the dart's payload. Twilight groaned. "Looks like it's up to the rest of us!" Twilight called. Granny Smith tried to fire her next gun at the T-rex's jaws, but the gun jammed. "I'll have to teach Spike how to properly load them next time," Twilight muttered to herself. Twilight used her magic to grab Granny and teleport her to her side. The old mare was panting with anxiety. "I was sure I was about to be applesauce for a second there!" Granny said. "Stay back while I handle this, Granny. I can't have you getting eaten here," Twilight said. She turned to face the T-rex who charged at her again. His jaws slammed the empty air with a loud thumping sound. Twilight could feel the power of those jaws in the air. No wonder this species was so successful in their ecosystem. But his power may make it more difficult to capture him. She used her magic to grab her tranq gun and level it at the animal's neck before firing. The dart found itself imbedded in the T-rex's neck. He reeled back and roared in pain before shaking off the empty dart. He now glared at Twilight with fury. "Uh... sorry?" Twilight said with a meek smile. She grabbed Granny and Big Mac with her magic and carried them with her through the air while the T-rex gave chase. They weaved through the buildings as Twilight kept looking back towards their predatory pursuer. His pace was quickly slowing and his eyes were becoming more unfocused. "Almost there, almost there," Twilight muttered to herself. Twilight was so focused on looking at the T-rex that she didn't notice the wall of Sugarcube Corner until she faceplanted right into it. She and the Apple Family members fell to the ground while the T-rex stumbled his way over to them. He leaned his head down to devour them when his legs gave out. The large and powerful theropod tumbled over and finally fell to the tranq dart. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "We did it. We now have a T-rex," Twilight said. "Now we need to prepare to get this guy out of here and to Sauria." + + The Hunter Fleet Trap Skinner and Merko were standing on the bridge of their ship when one of their scouts showed up. The shark-like being handed Merko a piece of paper. The merchant opened it and read it with a scowl on his face before handing it to Trap. The proud hunter read it and tore it apart before brandishing his hunting knife and spinning it threateningly in his hoof. "What is the meaning of this?" Trap asked with a creepy calmness. The scout gulped in fear. "As the report says, the Princess and her friends caught this dino before we could get there," the scout replied. "The animal just barged into town and tore up the place giving the Princess time to take him down." Merko turned to Trap. "Any ideas from the Head Hunter himself? A dino like that could make us enough money to buy three cities!" Trap growled and sliced off the top of the scout's hat with blinding speed. The scout yelped in fear and fell back cowering and whimpering. He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Trap's eyes were burning with fury from under his manticore skull mask. "Unless you want to offer me your own teeth for my collection, I suggest you work twice as hard on our hunts," Trap said with the same creepy calm as before. "I'm not inclined to give up on such a powerful beast that easily. We'll just have to find a way to snake that dino right out from under the Princess's nose." Another scout ran onto the bridge with another report in her hands. The lizard being gave it to Trap. "Sir, we got a report from one of our returning scouts from the south," she said. Trap and Merko read the report and looked to each other in shock. Trap put away his knife and turned to Merko with a huge grin. "I think we can use this to our advantage," Trap said. "If this plan works, we can get that T-rex from the Princess easily."
Ch 1) New World, New ProblemAuthor's Note I'm using a feathered T-rex in this story. Adult T-rexes may not have had feathers, but I think it looks cool, so I'm using it. Ch 1) New World, New Problem North America - Late Cretaceous Period Tex was having a good day. He took down a bull Triceratops and sustained no injuries. The meat from this kill could keep him fed for days. Tex fell asleep next to the carcass and woke up thirsty. He got up to go to the nearby river to get some water. "This seems like a great place for a new territory. Plenty of prey, a good source of water, and there don't seem to be any other predators for miles," Tex said to himself. "I'll make sure I keep this land for myself and chase off any other rexes." As he was about to head back to the carcass, something suddenly shone in the sky above his head. Tex looked up and saw a bright ball of light. It was as if a piece of the sun was falling towards him. "What the--?!" Tex shouted before the light knocked him out. + + It was like his head was filled with crawling ants when Tex woke up. He winced as he tried to stand up and shook his mane of iridescent dark green feathers before stretching. Tex blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around. Everything around him was crazy and weird. He wasn't laying alongside the riverbank and there was no Triceratops carcass in sight or smell. It was night and he was in a forest of trees filled with plump red fruit of some kind. A place like this would be perfect for attracting herbivores for him to take advantage of. But that didn't distract him from the fact that he wasn't in his own territory. "What the heck happened to me? And where am I?" he asked himself. "I might need to try to speak to another rex if I find one." Tex picked a random direction and started walking. This forest of red fruit trees didn't reach up to his height so he had an unobstructed view of his surroundings. The fruit trees grew for miles in every direction. It would be hard to find his way if it hadn't been for the one thing that stood out from the trees. Ahead of him was a wooden box of some kind suspended in a tree. Tex cocked his head while walking towards it. "What is this thing? Some kind of nest?" Tex asked the air. He walked up to the nest and took a cautious sniff. There were creatures sleeping in it, for sure. He didn't recognize the scent of these creatures compared to other dinosaurs or even the tiny mammals he lived with. Tex was still curious about what was sleeping in the nest. He saw that there were small openings in the nest where he could look inside so he craned his head to the side and peered in. Curled up inside the nest were three small critters. One of them was yellow and red with a large bow, another one was white with pink and purple hair, and the last one was a orange with purple hair and a pair of wings. Tex had never seen mammals so colorful before. "What kind of critters are these?" Tex asked. "They're weirdly cute." They smelled like something sweet like the fruit around him. The wind changed and carried another smell, one that was deeper and more earthy. It was some kind of animal. The smell lured Tex away from the treetop nest and towards the far end of this fruity forest. Tex walked for a good few minutes until he saw the weirdest thing ever. A gathering of strange structures stood in a small clearing. They were eerily similar to the treetop nest he found in the fruit forest. Maybe similar mammals lived in this nest, too. Off to one side of the big wooden nest was the source of the alluring smell. A crazy barrier kept a herd of fluffy white mammals. They were making a lot of racket after seeing the T-rex before them standing tall and imposing. Tex cocked his head in curiosity. "Why are these things here? Why are they in this crazy barrier?" he asked himself before shrugging. "Oh well. Makes eating easier." Tex thrust his head downward and snapped up one of the fluffy things in his jaws. Thanks to his species' superior jaw strength, bone literally exploded under the sheer amount of pressure and the fluffy thing's back legs were blown off instantly. He loved the warm taste of the mammal in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Then he helped himself to a few more of them despite the amount of noise they were making. He stopped once he heard a creaking sound coming from the big nest. Tex looked and saw a larger red mammal staring right up at him with a light in his mouth. The mammal looked at him with wide eyes. "Coprolites! What does this thing want?" he thought. "Does it expect me to share? No way that's happening. Maybe I'll give him a good scare." Tex turned his whole body to face the red mammal and breathed in deeply. He then thrust his large head forward and bellowed out a deep rumbling roar while ruffling the feathers on the top half of his body. The red mammal ran to the side and picked up what looked like a stick with a metal slab on the tip. It ran forward and hit Tex right on his nose which rightly stung. "That tears it!" he thought in fury. Lights began to emanate from the nest before Tex could retaliate. Now the red mammal was joined by few others. One was pink with purple hair, another was orange with golden hair, and a wizened old green one with white hair. They all looked up in shock at seeing Tex, too. "Just what are these crazy things?!" he thought. The red one tried to swing the stick at him again but Tex was too quick for him this time. He closed his jaws around it and snapped it in half easily. He spit out the broken half and roared again. The red one tried to run away but Tex grabbed his tail in his jaws. Tex lifted the screaming mammal off the ground with the intent to eat him but a rock struck his nose before he could. He looked and saw the orange one glaring at him with a few rocks in its hooves. "You let my brother go, ya big varmint!" she yelled. Tex snorted at her. Tex whipped his head around and threw the red one right at the orange one, his aim perfectly hitting the orange one. Tex laughed to himself while stalking towards them. If they were going to cause him more trouble then he may as well kill them both. Tex would've killed them if it wasn't for the old one of them. She ran up to the side of his head and squirted some kind of red liquid in his eye. Now his eye was aflame with pain. Tex reared back and bellowed in pain shaking his head and blinking to stop the burning pain. "Damn it! Are these things venomous?! Screw this, I'm outta here!" Tex thought and quickly ran away from the scene. Thanks to his burning right eye, he bumped into more of the trees as he left. The big male T-rex ran for a long time before he made it to a stream in the middle of a pretty dark forest. He dipped his head in the water to soothe the pain in his eye. Tex growled in anger at being driven away by mammals much smaller than him. "Damn mammals! I'll kill those three next time I see them!" he vowed. "But for now, I need to heal and rest." Tex curled his tail around himself and slept off the pain. He would make those three mammals pay for this. Pay... painfully.
2) HuntingAuthor's Note Part of this story is inspired by the story of Vladimir Markov. If you know, you know. 2) Hunting Merko's Airship Fleet Merko was really happy going down into the cargo hold of his flagship and witnessing the different dinosaurs he and his new business partner managed to capture. Nothing that was too big to fit down there, it was still filled with dinosaurs of all kinds of species. From large Parasaurolophuses to small Velociraptors, there were plenty of specimens ready for him to sell back at Kluegtown. And the Rangers weren't able to stop them thanks to Skinner's tactics. The merciless business-rat walked down into the cargo hold to look at his precious cargo. He got glares and snarls from each animal he passed, including one particularly vicious Allosaurus. A wailing cry from Merko's left led him to Trap Skinner. He was in the process of ripping one of the teeth out of a young Baryonyx with pair of pliers. The animal licked his bleeding mouth and moved to the back of his cage making an equivalent of a whimper. Merko smiled at seeing the hunter. "Collecting another trophy for yourself, I see," Merko said. "Though I wish you wouldn't damage the merchandise before we bring them to market." "I simply love reminders of my hunts. This Baryonyx was quite a good prey to go after. Even killed two of our hunters when he was cornered," Skinner said, displaying a necklace of theropod teeth with each belonging to different species. "And this is how I honor them." "Speaking of hunting, I think my men have found our best quarry yet," Merko said handing a paper to Skinner. "One of my spies in Ponyville reported that one of the Princess's friends had an encounter with... an unusually big predator." Trap took the paper and read it. His eyes lit up more and more as he continued to read. He dropped the paper and his lips curled into a smile that even Merko found creepy. "Well, what are we waiting for?!" he asked excitedly. "Let's make our way towards Ponyville!" + + Ponyville Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer were having a pretty good time forming their Dinosaur Rangers Team. They managed to develop branches of the team in every town and city in Equestria and even beyond to respond to reports of dinosaurs. And now they were mulling over different sighting reports and operations results. "Can you believe this, Starlight? A Quetzalcoatlus nesting in Griffonstone and a herd of Maiasaura in Dodge Junction?" Twilight asked. "There are apparently Titanosaurs in the Dragonlands, Pteranodons making a nesting colony in the Hippogriff Kingdom, and even a Megalosaurus in Manehattan," Starlight said. "Our teams have been doing pretty great at getting these animals safely secured and relocated to Sauria." Twilight's smile dropped when she looked over some of the other reports they've been getting for the past few months. It was more than infuriating to be hearing what some of the team had to say. "Yeah, but we've also been taking some hits from Merko and his goons. When we started, we used to beat them to the punch every time, but now they've been getting a lot better," Twilight said. "We've lost an Allosaurus, a few young members of a Pachycephalosaurus herd, and a whole pack of Velociraptors." "Where do you suppose they're getting these new skills from so fast?" Starlight asked. "It has to be either they're naturally getting better or someone's teaching them. Either way, we need to up our game if we're going to help these animals." "Right. It makes me wonder what other new dinosaur we'll find next." The doors to the castle library burst open startling Twilight and Starlight. Starlight's back hunched with the fur on her back standing up like a cat. The pair looked over to see a very anxious Applejack speed into the room with a limp. Her left foreleg was swollen at one joint and every shade of black and blue. Her eyes were wide with worry and her mane was a rat's nest. The rest of her family joined her including a confused-looking Apple Bloom. "Twilight! We need some help! There was a dinosaur attack on our farm last night!" Applejack cried. "What? A dinosaur attacked your farm last night?" Twilight asked before looking down at her friend's leg. "Is that why your leg's sprained?" "Yeah. Showed up and started eating some of our sheep. We tried to drive it away but then the big varmint threw Big Mac at me like a doll!" Applejack replied. "If Granny here hadn't squirted hot sauce in the beast's eye, we'd be dead and digested by now!" "What happened next?" Starlight asked joining in. Granny was the one to answer. "The critter ran off to the Everfree Forest," Granny Smith replied. "After tending my grandkids I found tracks leading back to the treehouse where Apple Bloom and her friends were sleeping!" Everything about that was scary to think about. A large predatory dinosaur hanging around where three fillies were sleeping was something out of a nightmare. Twilight gave Applejack a serious look before pulling out the dinosaur encyclopedia Sunset gave her. "Applejack, can you describe the dinosaur you saw?" she asked. "The varmint was real big, like around 12 feet in height and 40 feet long. It had a big head and two tiny 2-fingered arms and a coating of feathers on the back of the head, neck, back, and tail," Applejack replied. Twilight turned the book around to show a picture of an animal matching that description. The Apple Family was shocked to be seeing the image. "That's the one! That's the dino we saw!" Applejack said. Twilight looked at the picture and back to the others with a smile. "It looks like you guys had an encounter with the King of the Dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex! The most powerful predator that ever lived!" Twilight cried out. Applejack and her family were even more shocked. They fought and actually survived an encounter with an apex predator even amongst dinosaurs. Starlight held a hoof to her chin in thought. "If the T-rex was eating your sheep, then this guy must be hungry. We need to get him quickly before someone gets hurt or Merko's hunters come after him," Starlight said. "Unfortunately the rest of our friends and team have their own dinosaurs to deal with." "Looks like it's just us. We need to get our gear and go after the rex before Merko does," Twilight said. "Let's go!" Twilight, Starlight, and the Apple Family left to gear up to go after a full-grown T-rex. However, Applejack put a hoof in front of Apple Bloom. "Hey, I'm helping, too!" Apple Bloom said. Applejack looked down at her sternly. "No you ain't, missy! That dino was hanging around your treehouse last night. I can't risk you getting hurt if something goes wrong," Applejack said. "I need you and your friends to stay here in town where it's safe." "We can help, too! The more Rangers you have, the better!" Apple Bloom retorted. "I won't watch you get gobbled up like a mouse!" Applejack said loudly, stomping her hoof on the ground. Apple Bloom glared daggers at Applejack but didn't speak. "You and your friends just don't have the experience catching dinosaurs, much less one like this. You didn't see this critter or how strong he is. I need you here where I know, you'll be safe." Apple Bloom took off out of the castle. Applejack sighed and turned around to grab her gear. She would do her job as a big sister and keep her family safe, no matter what. + + With Tex Tex woke up angry with one thing on his mind: payback. He'd never been so humiliated by any creature, dinosaur or mammal. The thought that such small and weak mammals could actually hurt him and drive him away from food or territory filled him with boiling rage. Tex looked at his reflection in the river and saw that while the pain in his eye was gone it was red and bloodshot and his vision was slightly blurry in that eye now. An angry growl rumbled from his chest as he snarled in fury. "Those little rainbow rats! I'm gonna make them pay!" Tex vowed. He stomped his way through the forest at a decent pace. Smaller animals scurried out of the way as he trekked through. He paid them no mind as he had a goal firmly set in his mind. Tex followed his own tracks from last night all the way back to the mammals' nest. The white fluffy things he was eating last night were still there, thankfully. "Heeeeeeeere's Texy!" Tex called. He roared to get them to come out and face him. Nothing happened. The mammals didn't come out to face him like they did last night. Tex was confused. He walked through the front of their wooden nest and waited. What was wrong? Were they nocturnal and only came out at night? Did he thrash them so bad that he scared them off? He didn't come all the way back for no reason. He knew he could track them easily with his sense of smell. Tex would send these weak mammals a message. "You can run, but you can't hide from me!" Tex called. After filling himself up on some more of the fluffy things, he set about his work. Tex ran and rammed his huge head and body right through the thin wall of one of the mammals' nests. It was filled with hay and red fruit, which Tex took note of. "So these mammals eat this red fruit. And this must be where they store it. Well, I better help them with it," Tex said. He started to stomp right on the fruit until none of it was usable. He destroyed the rest of the storage nest and watched it crumble to the ground in satisfaction. Tex then turned his attention to the main nest. He rammed his head through it again and started to destroy it one step at a time. A bite through a beam there, a tail swipe here, and a few stomps and head-rams over there, and it was barely recognizable. Tex was panting with satisfaction. "I would've preferred fighting the mammals and eating them, but this is a good start," Tex said. "Now time to track them down." Tex sniffed the air until he caught their scents. They were relatively fresh, no more than a few hours old. Tex followed the scents all the way down a dirt path until he saw what looked to him like a colony of these mammals. Each of them were walking about amongst a collection of nests of varying sizes and colors. Tex snorted in frustration. "So these suckers think they can hide from me! We'll see about that!" Tex raged. Now a huge and powerful angry T-rex was barreling towards the town eager for a fight.
Ch 3) AttackingTwilight's Castle Twilight, Starlight, and the adult members of the Apple Family were gathering equipment needed to tackle a large dinosaur like a T-rex. Net guns, tranq guns, sleeping spells, bait, camouflage, and a spray to mask their scents. Applejack noticed that her big brother was shaking a bit while holding a tranq gun. "Hey, ya nervous, bro?" Applejack asked. "How can I not be?" he replied. "That big beast picked me up with his jaws last night and threw me like a hacky-sack. What if... something even worse happens?" "Don't worry, youngin. We'll have that critter bagged and out of here in no time," Granny said, hoisting a net gun over her shoulder. Twilight, flanked by Starlight, came back fully kitted up. She dressed in full camo gear and had a pack full of weapons slung on her sides. "OK, since the T-rex ran off into the Everfree Forest after being driven off, we should begin our search there," Twilight said. "Is everyone ready?" "As ready as we'll ever be, Twi," Applejack said. "Let's get going!" The doors to the castle burst open with a frantic Derpy flying in. The poor thing looked like she'd seen a monster. She flew right up to Twilight and didn't even give her a chance to speak. "Princess! There's a monster attacking the town!" Derpy said. "WHAT?!" the group called. Everyone followed Derpy outside and were greeted by a terrifying scene. Ponies were running and flying away screaming from a large creature making its way through the buildings. Gray scaly skin with a covering of iridescent green and black feathers on the neck, back, and tail were prominent features along with a large head and small arms came into view from behind Sugarcube Corner. Twilight's eyes widened as a smile spread on her lips. "That's it. That's a T-rex alright!" Twilight squealed. The T-rex sniffed the air before turning his head to look directly at the ponies at the castle. A rumbling, threatening growl ushered from the powerful animal's throat before turning into a loud roar. Next came the animal charging right for them. + + Tex's POV The mammal colony scattered like Troodons as he barreled through. He made sure to stop every now and then to try to follow the scent of his foes. He found it all over a small stand made of wood and full of familiar red fruit. Tex stomped on it and decimated whatever was left. "Those things have to be around here somewhere! I can smell them varmints!" Tex grumbled. "Their scent is strongest around here!" He turned to go down a path through the colony where even more mammals were running or even flying away. The scent grew stronger and stronger the deeper he went into the colony. Some armored mammals wielding some weird pointy sticks tried to attack him but Tex ran through them and swiped them away with his tail. These puny things were no match for him. A few turns later brought him in front of a large crystal clump with the very mammals he was after. Tex narrowed his eyes and growled. "It's payback time!" he roared before charging right at them. + + Pony POV Everyone scattered when the T-rex came charging. Applejack narrowly dodged a full-force bite from the dinosaur while Big Mac was helping Granny get away. Starlight and Twilight charged their horns with magic to defend themselves. Poor Derpy simply flew back inside the castle to hide. "What's the T-rex doing here?!" Starlight asked. "Trap him now, questions later!" Applejack called bringing out her net gun. The T-rex swiped her away with his tail and sent her flying into the fountain. Big Mac struggled with his tranq gun when the massive beast turned to face him. A huge mouth with serrated banana-sized teeth was about to deliver Big Mac to the dinosaur's stomach until a blast of magic knocked the T-rex to the side. Big Mac turned to see Starlight charging up a sleeping spell. "Big Mac, get out of the way!" she called. Big Mac ran towards her side and tripped in his fear. The tranq gun accidentally fired a dart right into Starlight's neck. She winced and looked down at the dart. "You big... red... idioooooooooot," Starlight slurred until she fell to the dart's payload. Twilight groaned. "Looks like it's up to the rest of us!" Twilight called. Granny Smith tried to fire her next gun at the T-rex's jaws, but the gun jammed. "I'll have to teach Spike how to properly load them next time," Twilight muttered to herself. Twilight used her magic to grab Granny and teleport her to her side. The old mare was panting with anxiety. "I was sure I was about to be applesauce for a second there!" Granny said. "Stay back while I handle this, Granny. I can't have you getting eaten here," Twilight said. She turned to face the T-rex who charged at her again. His jaws slammed the empty air with a loud thumping sound. Twilight could feel the power of those jaws in the air. No wonder this species was so successful in their ecosystem. But his power may make it more difficult to capture him. She used her magic to grab her tranq gun and level it at the animal's neck before firing. The dart found itself imbedded in the T-rex's neck. He reeled back and roared in pain before shaking off the empty dart. He now glared at Twilight with fury. "Uh... sorry?" Twilight said with a meek smile. She grabbed Granny and Big Mac with her magic and carried them with her through the air while the T-rex gave chase. They weaved through the buildings as Twilight kept looking back towards their predatory pursuer. His pace was quickly slowing and his eyes were becoming more unfocused. "Almost there, almost there," Twilight muttered to herself. Twilight was so focused on looking at the T-rex that she didn't notice the wall of Sugarcube Corner until she faceplanted right into it. She and the Apple Family members fell to the ground while the T-rex stumbled his way over to them. He leaned his head down to devour them when his legs gave out. The large and powerful theropod tumbled over and finally fell to the tranq dart. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "We did it. We now have a T-rex," Twilight said. "Now we need to prepare to get this guy out of here and to Sauria." + + The Hunter Fleet Trap Skinner and Merko were standing on the bridge of their ship when one of their scouts showed up. The shark-like being handed Merko a piece of paper. The merchant opened it and read it with a scowl on his face before handing it to Trap. The proud hunter read it and tore it apart before brandishing his hunting knife and spinning it threateningly in his hoof. "What is the meaning of this?" Trap asked with a creepy calmness. The scout gulped in fear. "As the report says, the Princess and her friends caught this dino before we could get there," the scout replied. "The animal just barged into town and tore up the place giving the Princess time to take him down." Merko turned to Trap. "Any ideas from the Head Hunter himself? A dino like that could make us enough money to buy three cities!" Trap growled and sliced off the top of the scout's hat with blinding speed. The scout yelped in fear and fell back cowering and whimpering. He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Trap's eyes were burning with fury from under his manticore skull mask. "Unless you want to offer me your own teeth for my collection, I suggest you work twice as hard on our hunts," Trap said with the same creepy calm as before. "I'm not inclined to give up on such a powerful beast that easily. We'll just have to find a way to snake that dino right out from under the Princess's nose." Another scout ran onto the bridge with another report in her hands. The lizard being gave it to Trap. "Sir, we got a report from one of our returning scouts from the south," she said. Trap and Merko read the report and looked to each other in shock. Trap put away his knife and turned to Merko with a huge grin. "I think we can use this to our advantage," Trap said. "If this plan works, we can get that T-rex from the Princess easily."
